Dead or Alive - B

Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy and Grant Blackwood is a fun read.  I've read a bunch of Tom Clancy novels, not all by any means, but enough that I consider myself a fan.

Clancy's last "Jack Ryan" offering, Teeth of the Tiger, which introduced characters Jack Ryan Jr. and his fraternal twin cousins, Dominic and Brian Caruso, as well as the new black ops center where they are headquartered, The Campus, was capital "H" HORRIBLE.  By far the worst Clancy novel I had read.  (Sometimes, when people don't want to go out on a limb, they'll give you the "it's in the conversation for [the worst meal ever] [the best game I've ever seen], etc.  But you want me on that limb, you need me on that limb).

I thought that Clancy had lost it.  In Teeth of the Tiger, he seemed like he mailed it in.  First, it was much shorter than most Clancy offerings which made it seem like he had just lost interest.  Plus, have I mentioned that the novel was bad?  Because it was.  Capital "B" BAD.

I have to say, now that I'm a Kindle geek, I don't study book covers as much any more.  [I will say that I enjoyed my foray into Barnes and Noble yesterday, and I did find some new books to put on the neverending Kindle Wish List.  I wonder how long that damn list will be when I die, 'cause I'm not getting through the whole thing.  So many books, so little time.]  I mention this because I again note that Dead or Alive was written by Tom Clancy and Grant Blackwood, and that had I known that Grant Blackwood had likely done most of the writing, I probably would not have downloaded the book.  But I didn't, and I did, and the point is moot.

Dead or Alive centers on The Campus' search for a fictional bin Laden known as the Emir.  There are ancillary plots as well which serve primarily to re-energize the Jack Ryan/John Clark (yes, Clark is here) franchise and set up an obvious sequel (or obvious sequels).  Is the novel formulaic?  Yes.  Black ops organization tries to figure out a terrorist plot, knowing that the Emir is in the middle of it.

Just because it's formulaic, however, it doesn't mean that it's not a fun read. It is.  The characters are much better defined this time around.  The plot moves fairly smoothly for a typically long Clancy read.  And it's nice to spend a couple of evenings with old friends.

Live long, read and prosper.  We'll leave the lights on for you.

Spy vs. Spy - And Another Thing

I was reminded of one forgotten Spy today when I saw someone carrying the newish George Bush memoir.

Spy:  Most serious readers like the ability to see what other people are reading.  This is a particular hobby of mine while on vacation.  I like to stroll around the pool and get some reading ideas.  The Kindle makes this, of course, impossible (unless you don't mind being extraordinarily creepy by cozying up to someone to either "spy" (See how I worked that in?  Brilliant!) or being unbelievably nosy by simply inquiring as to what someone is reading).

Live long, read and prosper.  We'll leave the lights on for you.

Spy vs. Spy - Our New Feature

We’re introducing a new feature here at TheBlog called “Spy vs. Spy.”  You may recall the comic feature from Mad Magazine.  I was shocked, and pleased, to learn that Mad Magazine is still being produced and that Spy vs. Spy lives on in its pages.

Our new feature is really nothing more than “Point-Counterpoint,” but we here at TheBlog thought that “Spy vs. Spy” was a cooler name for the feature.

Now that I’ve been test-driving my Kindle for over a month, I think I have a bead on its best and worst features.  I have also used an Ipad for reading, but while the graphics on the Ipad are, of course, phenomenal, the Ipad is comparatively clunky to tote around while my Kindle is the size of a slim paperback book.

Spy:  Love, love, love the integrated dictionary.  I was reading the newish Mantle biography, “The Last Boy,” and the author was relating how Mantle (and really all men) liked childish humor.  Mantle would make “dingleberry” jokes.  Now, “dingleberry” shows up as a misspelling in my Word documents, but the integrated Kindle dictionary nailed the definition.

Spy:  The integrated dictionary is not that easy to use.  You have to, using the arrows, move the cursor to immediately precede the word you want defined.

Spy:  The battery life is phenomenal.  I am a little maniacal about making sure that the wireless is off when I am merely reading, but even with intermittent wireless use, the battery will last for weeks.

Spy:  You don’t buy the Kindle for the graphics.  The e-ink is readable  but decidedly low tech.  While you quickly get used to it, the brief pause from screen to screen is a little annoying.

Spy:  The option to download a book sample is awesome.  With print books, sometimes I pick one up and decide that “I’m not in the mood.”  But I’ve paid for the book.  It sits on the nightstand, starting to smell like fish that, well, sat on the nightstand.  The book ultimately makes it to the Island of Unread Books.  With the Kindle sample, if “I’m not in the mood,” I just hold on to the sample until I might later get in the mood.

Spy:  The lack of a touch screen is a significant drawback.  Navigating with arrows and a cursor is clunky and low-tech.  A touch screen is the only feature that I can think of that would necessitate an upgrade to a new model.

Spy:  I went on vacation a few weeks ago, and I didn’t decide what I was going to read before I left.  I decided at the airport.  Then, when I finished that book, I surfed the Amazon store and bought another.  No lugging heavy books.

Spy:  The experimental browser is fairly pitiful.  I understand that it’s just experimental, but surfing on 3G is, of course, slow.  WiFi is a little faster, but even then you are limited by the aforementioned arrow/cursor navigation system.

Spy:  It’s nice to be able to read two books at one time.  Sometimes I get a little bored and put a book down.  I read another for a little while, then pick the first one back up.  With the Kindle, I can bring multiple books with me at one time and flip between them.

Spy:  It’s too easy to buy books.  I know that sounds like a Spy but it’s not.  You can rack up large charges pretty quickly.  $9.99, $11.99 and especially $14.99 can add up.

Spy:  I also like the multi-device functionality.  If I buy a book for Kindle, I can read it on my Kindle, my wife’s Ipad, my computer or my blackberry.  Not that I’d ever read a book on my blackberry, but it’s still cool.

Spy:  There’s something about a physical book.  Something about its feel, its smell, etc.  Plus, it’s nice to be able to flip pages and see how many pages you have until the end of a chapter or a page break.  The Kindle is not conducive to this, and if you don’t think ahead to bookmark a page, you can very easily lose your place if you scroll ahead several screens.

What about you?  And if you have a Nook or a Sony, what do you think?

Live long, read and prosper.  We’ll leave the lights on for you.

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King - A-

Indiana: There's a big snake in the plane, Jock!
Jock: Oh, that's just my pet snake Reggie.
Indiana: I hate snakes, Jock! I hate 'em!
Jock: Come on! Show a little backbone, will ya!

Dear Steve:

Can I call you Steve?  Thanks.

The first book of yours that I ever read was Night Shift.  I was in 7th or 8th Grade.  That collection of stories caused a number of sleepless and restless nights for that 13 year old.

The most enduring legacy from that collection is my lifelong fear of rats.  Yes, Steve, rats.  I don't know what they ever did to you, but they obviously peed in your Wheaties.  They'd have had to for you to portray them as evil incarnate as often as you do.

Rats tend to show up most prominently in your short stories and novellas.  I thought that I beyond getting freaked by rats, but then I read 1922 from "Full Dark, No Stars."  And you did it again!  I'm a 44 year old man having nightmares about rats! 

I gotta tell you, though, "Full Dark, No Stars" was a fun read.  In my opinion, your best in a while.  I liked the characters in Duma Key a lot, but other recent works like Cell and Under the Dome were sort of retreads, weren't they?  And don't get me started on the last two books of the Dark Tower series.  What a letdown.

"1922," about a father and son after an unspeakable act, was the perfect first story in this collection.  I greatly enjoyed the revenge story, "Big Driver."  "A Good Marriage," about a husband's secret life, was terrific.  "Fair Extension," about a deal with the devil, was the weakest of the four stories in my opinion.  Even though weaker, the story was still disturbing and thought provoking.

Anyway, please, enough with the rats.

Signed, a big fan.

Live long, read and prosper.  We'll leave the lights on for you.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - B+

I didn't think that this book was "all that."  I enjoyed it--don't get me wrong.  I also recommend it.  But I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around why Amazon.com picked "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot as its No. 1 book of 2010.

The book is partly a detective story, partly a science book and partly a human interest story.  Skloot does a fine job of intertwining the different aspects.

Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 from ovarian cancer.  Prior to her death, some of her cancer cells were harvested for research. Ms. Lacks' cells proved to be miraculously productive--or "immortal"--and were instrumental in aiding in medical discoveries from the cure of polio to treatments for AIDS.  The so-called "HeLa" cells are still used today in medical research.

As was customary in the 1950s, her cells were taken without Ms. Lacks' knowledge.  In addition, virtually nothing was known about the cell donor by anyone who experimented using the cells.  The cells were essentially harvested anonymously.

Ms. Skloot proved to be fascinated by the story and spent many years learning about Ms. Lacks and her family.  "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" essentially takes the reader through Ms. Skloot's investigation as she first discovers the history of the cell line and, once she identified Ms. Lacks as the donor, gradually earns the trust of Ms. Lacks' living family to learn about her.  At the same time, Ms. Skloot relates Ms. Lacks' history that she learns.  Ms. Skloot also spends a great deal of time on the science, discussing the ethical and other issues involved in harvesting cells for research as well as the history of the HeLa cells.

Again, I do recommend "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks."  It is a fascinating story.  As far as books that came out this year, though, I have a difficult time putting it in the same class as, for example, "Matterhorn" (which showed up as No. 3 on Amazon's list).

Live long, read and prosper.  We'll leave the lights on for you.