The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri =)

The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri will sweep you away to Sicily (with hopefully good weather!)  These characters have the same resonance as Precious Ramotswe in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith.  You want to know what is happening with them. (Yes I  know they are not real, but...)  Again, an example of this, with Hurricane Sandy in the North East recently, the opening of the novel was poingant from the opening paragraphs...

"He had just fallen asleepafter a night worse than almost any other in his life, when a thunderclap as loud as a cannon blast fired inches from his ear startled him awake.  He sat up with a jolt, cursing the saints.  Sleep seemed a distant membory, never to return.  It was useless to remain in bed."

"He got up and went over to the window, and looked outside.  It was a textbook storm:  sky painted uniformly black, bone-chilling lightning bolts, billows ten feet high charging forward, shakng their great white manes.  The surging sea had eaten up the beach, washing all the way up under the veranda.  He glanced at his watch: not quite 6 am."

What I don't understand just yet, mid way into C5, is the opening dream sequence that Montalbano recalls in the first chapter.  We shall see... 

Again, another poisoning.  I haven't read so many mysteries with poisinings in I don't know how long!  From page 50-51, "Poison, my friend.  With what?  Common rat poison.  Montalbano was so obviously bewildered that Pasquano noticed.  Do you find that distrubing?  Yes.  Nowadays, poison is--  No longer in fashion?"

"Listen, I would strongly advise all aspiring murderers to use it.  A gunshot makes such a racket that the neighbors are sure to hear it; stabbing spatters blood all over the place: on the floor, the walls, your clothes...  Whereas poison...  Don't you agree?"

This book was better than expected.  I could not put it down at the end.  I had to find out what happened.  The dream sequence in C1 does have bearing at the end of the novel.  The tie in comes with  the character of Laura B.  The opening dream sequence represents things in life that you have not acted upon that you wish you had.  (Or that is my take based on how the author has the events unfold at the end of the novel.)  I don't know if I agree with the way he ended the novel with Laura, especially if there is going to be another book in the series.  The tensions with Livia are still very high, Laura would have been an interesting diversion?  Also, I would like to have know more about Laura.  Everything we find out about her comes from Montabano.  She needed to have more of a voice in the story to make the experience complete.  Cat was usual great comic relief and made me laugh! I would high recommend this book for anyone to read.

Salvation of a a Saint - Nice Read

Salvation of a Saint by Kiego Higashino (The Devotion of Suspect X) is a good read.  All the characters are back, including a new detective Kaoru Utsumi.  She adds a slight touch of wisdom and humor to physics professor Manabu Yukawa- Detective Gallileo.

Judging from my last post on Brenner and God, I was none to happy.  This book pulled me out of the dumps and made me want to read more.  The writing is excellent and the plot twists make you want to keep going.  You think you know who did it and why, but it is always changing.  The author makes you think and provides you with clues that make you push forward. 

Kusanagi's flirtation with Ayane Mashiba, the wife of the victim, was very interesting and the fact the the victim was poisoned was an uncommon way to go.  The victim himself was an interestingly cold and calculating figure compared to his wife.  Also, the comparison noted between detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi.  Lots of fun comparisons and things to keep you thinking!

I enjoyed both books, but liked The Devotion of Suspect X better.  There was a lot of back and forth between the coffee and the water filter.  It fit within the plot, but I found myself drinking more coffee (unfiltered water here!)

So go out and read this one =) Enjoy!

Brenner and God - Sophmoric at Best

Brenner and God by Wolf Hass, translated from German, is one of the most contrived writing pieces I have read in a long time.  The book is 215 pages and I had to put the book down on page 60 due to the constant repitition of thoughts running through the main characters head on the dissapearance of the young girl he was driving around. 

The ida of the book is interesting, along the lines of Carl Hiaasen, who the publishing house paid to positively review the book???  First person, inside your head mystery.  Sadly falls short.  Brenner doesn't have a brain worth reading about.  Hass's writing style is collegiate at best.  The mystery is secondard to the bad writing.

There is an outline of a plot.  Big money kidnaps a little girl.  But that falls aside to the intrigue of who slept with who, that is not well connected to the plot.  The constant use of the word cesspit, meaning cess pool is also beyond annoying.

Don't waste your time.  At this rate, I could even get publish.  (OK- maybe not, but you see my point!)