Ajitabh Pandey's Soul & Syntax

Exploring systems, souls, and stories – one post at a time

Tag: fiction

  • The Rozabal Line by Ashwin Sanghi

    the_rozabel_line_book_coverThe Rozabel Line is another book which is about the life and death of Jesus Christ combined with fiction. I guess this kind of historical fiction was started by Dan Brown in Da Vinci Code wherein he has traced the bloodline of Jesus Christ.

    Ashwin has done a good amount of research  and there are about 209 references given at the back of the book. Most of the book quotes various historical timeframes and what happened then based on the latest research. The actual amount of fiction is quite less and is loosely knitted around the research material.

    I like this book for the historical information and research references rather than the actual plot. Also the switching of context from history to fiction was quite random.

    Overall the research done by author impresses me, but perhaps this book lacks a strong plot and good editing.

  • Personal by Lee Child

    Personal Book CoverIf I remember correct this is the second book in which Reacher travels outside the United States. But the first time he did was not using his own passport and then only a certain part was spend outside the US. In this story he travels to Paris and then to London and most of the plot is outside the US.

    Its a bit different from other Jack Reacher series books. Its a little more descriptive than the previous books. In this book, Reacher needed lot of data from various places in order to get going. You can clearly see Reacher’s vulnerability outside the US.

    However, overall Lee Child has done a very good attempt on taking the Reacher series in a different direction. This is not my favourite Reacher book, but its good.

  • The Eagle Has Flown by Jack Higgins

    The Eagle Has Flown Cover ImageAnother excellent 2nd world war story by Jack Higgins. This is in continuation of the first book in Liam Devlin Series – The Eagle Has Landed.  This book is written in the same style as the previous one. Jack Higgins is the one who is being told the story by Liam Devlin. In this book, Liam Devlin is sent by Himmler to London in order to rescue Col Steiner from the British intelligence agency. And this book interestingly turns out to be yet another plot to kill Hitler. The book writing style is quite catching and does not let you easily leave the book in between.

    Just like other Jack Higgins books which I have read earlier there is no unnecessary description and no unnecessary heroism in this book and I kind of like it that way.

  • Chasing The Dime by Michael Connelly

    Chasing The Dime Cover ImageThis is an excellent story by Michael Connelly. A little different type of crime plot. The main character of this story is Henry Pierce, who owns a company doing research on molecular computers. Henry’s company has recently achieved a breakthrough, but they are also looking for active private funding. They need to hold off to the patent filing for their innovation until one of the investors have gone through the research and still disagrees for the funding. Meanwhile Henry has recently broken with his girlfriend, Nicole. Nicole who was also working with Henry in his firm is now leaving the firm also and Henry moved away to a different apartment.

    With a new phone number at the apartment Henry started receiving calls for some Lily. His curiosity led him to investigate Lily and he found out that she is an escort who is now missing. And then the plot begins. Henry’s curiosity led him to a state where he was being investigate for a murder which he did not commit. However, using some scientific investigative techniques and breaking the problem scientifically Henry was able to uncover the plot to trap him.

    I would not divulge more details about it further here. I liked the book, and I hope you would also like it.

  • Confessional by Jack Higgins

    Confessional Book CoverThe Liam Devlin character is quite special in a way that he is not everywhere in the book and rather the author gives each and every character in a chance to be in the book and do justice to the story. At the end of this book I felt pity towards the bad guy and I must admit I kind of started liking him. He was the one who was in the book everywhere rather than the main character. Always three steps ahead of Devlin, he finally died but even then he won in a sense.

    The story is very simple and strong and it keeps moving smoothly, always binding the user and wanting to finish it quickly. Devlin once again agreed to work for British in order to find a hidden KGB moul somewhere in Ireland who was disrupting the peace activities between IRA and British and always creating chaos. The chase started in Dublin and ended in Canterburry.

    I would give three stars out of five.