Review: Rusty Nail by J.A. Konrath

After ridding Chicago of the sadistic serial killer the Gingerbread Man detective Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is surprised to receive a new snuff video and evidence that he is back. Is it a copycat or was he not working alone? Blood is thicker than water and psychopaths too have family.

Konrath has a certain degree of renown in the writerly circles for often going the non-traditional route in publishing and promoting his books. I heard a lot about him and reading his blog peaked my curiosity enough to pick up Rusty Nail at the store when the bright green cover caught my eye. It sat on the shelf for a while until finally its time came and I settled in to read.
From the very first pages it was clear that this was going to be a gory story with enough creepiness to deserve a spot on the most twisted episode of Criminal Minds. There was plenty of graphic detail to send my imagination into overdrive but not so much as to save it from doing any work. One device stuck with me in particular: the killer tells the victim that he's going to be fed his own intestines and then in a later chapter asks the victim a question and comments that he can't answer because his mouth is full. Nothing else, just that, and you immediately imagine all the horror of the situation, you don't need to see any of it described on the page.
If horror was all there was to the book I wouldn't have continued reading, however fortunately Jack and her friends provided enough levity to balance out the terror. They are clever, fast with a witty retort, and the way Konrath writes them is vastly entertaining. There's also depth and humanity to them - Jack's personal life is a mess and the competent detective has trouble dealing with more downs than ups, and her partner has to contend all the discomforts associated with medical procedures that are routine for a man of a certain age. They are people who actually have lives outside of the office, not some superheroes fighting crime every day and going to hybernate in their work locker in the off hours, and seeing them when they're vulnerable was touching and endearing.
There was plenty of action with competitive shooting and hand-to-hand combat to the death, races against time and lives on the line. I did enjoy those sequences although sometimes they got bogged down in too much detail. I had the same problem with Jack's daily routine - do we really need to know the brand, style and color of every item of clothing she puts on in the morning? Yes, she is fashion and label-conscious, but I don't know anyone who catalogues their outfit every day. In fact, had some of the attention Konrath dedicated to Jack's wardrobe been used to keep the physical descriptions of other characters straight the book would've been better - unless there's a wig or a trip to the salon in the picture (which I'm sure would've been mentioned) going from a bob to long hair in less than a week is just not realistic.
The idea of drink names for book titles is interesting but when I started reading I couldn't imagine how a beverage could have anything to do with what was going on in the book. After all this isn't a drunkard's chronicle. Konrath didn't disappoint though - the title tied in nicely with the story and the way the rusty nail appeared in the beginning and the end brought the narrative a full circle in a very satisfying fashion.
There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this book but while this would be a good choice for those who like a police thriller with a generous helping of stomach-twisting violence this was too gory for my taste. On a number of occasions I started to wonder how Konrath came up with the ideas for the next torture and then realized that I didn't really want to know. I'd recommend Rusty Nail to fans of the genre but I myself will not be reading more of Konrath's work unless he scales back on the horror.

Review: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

While in Paris for a conference Robert Langdon, the famed expert on symbology, becomes the prime suspect in the investigation into the death of the curator of Louvre. With the help of Sophie Neveu, the curator's estranged grand-daughter, Langdon must uncover the mystery of the Holy Grail and find the killer terrorizing an ancient secret society.

I remember a time when this book was the absolute talk of the town and I wondered what was so revolutionary about it that it had people split into camps either rejecting or embracing its ideas. I haven't even heard of Dan Brown back then and only became interested enough in his work to wishlist the book on PaperBackSwap after watching the movie by the same name with Tom Hanks playing Robert Langdon. When it arrived it was no mere mass market paperback. It was an illustrated special edition hardcover with glossy pages and color pictures of the things and places described in the book. It was fascinating. It was like reading a history book that actually did something other than bore me to the point of stupidity. I blew through the thick volume in no time at all, immediately wishlisted the other books by Dan Brown and went back to savor the illustrations one more time - I have to admit, they added to the experience.
One thing about Brown's Langdon and the rest is that they are likable. Even the villains are sympathetic because they are misguided in one way or another but for the most part they are motivated by faith or thirst for knowledge as opposed to greed or prestige. I actually felt sorry for Silas, the albino priest, because he really believed that he was doing God's work and suffered for it.
What wasn't very apparent when I first read the book but is more so now that I've read two more by Brown is that strong female leads are a staple in his novels. While Langdon is the fount of knowledge who comes up with ideas as for the location of the subject of their search and can gain access to otherwise off-limit places because of his renown it is the women who protect the professor and figure out the logistics of getting him out of jams. Sophie Neveu is no exception and it was great fun reading about a woman with such an unusual profession and life.
Pacing in this book is characteristic of other Brown's work - Langdon and Neveu are always on the go in their mad race against time and the police and that's a lot of action even for a hefty volume such as this. It sucks you in and I haven't met a person yet who hasn't been reading faster than usual to get to the bottom of the mystery, impatient to find the characters at their destination. Because of this there isn't too much character development but we do get a sense of who these people are when the events happen, what motivates them and what their backgrounds are, which is more than adequate for an action thriller.
The only thing that slowed down the story were the explanations connecting the pieces of the puzzle into one whole. While necessary, they sometimes went on for too long and kept me from finding out the location of the Holy Grail and I was really tempted to skip over those passages but read on because I didn't want to miss anything important.
As far as the controversial subject goes I really didn't see what all the fuss is about. Yes, it is a very non-traditional take on Jesus and his disciples and it is very convincingly written but this is a novel and anyone who starts taking it particularly close to heart should remember that a novel is by definition fiction, make-believe if you will, and has no claim on historical accuracy. Its purpose is entertainment and here it is masterfully fulfilled. Thumbs up to Dan Brown for writing a book I couldn't put down.

Review: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

When Robert Langdon receives a last-minute invitation to speak at a lecture in Washington, DC from his good friend Peter Solomon he doesn't realize that there's no lecture, that his good friend didn't invite him and that there is a fiendish villain manipulating the powerful Mason's friends and family in his pursuit of supernatural powers and revenge. Again Langdon is in a race against time but now his friend's life and national security are on the line, as well as the mystery of the lost symbol.

After reading Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code I looked forward to this book and when it finally came in the mail I set to devour it in a weekend. The beginning was very promising. Robert Langdon is once again plucked out of his academic routine by a mysterious phone call. There is an ancient secret that has to do with the Masons. The villain is especially chilling in his ability to be an outsider who is somehow in the thick of things. The police and the secret service are on Langdon's heels and it's impossible to tell whether they're the good or the bad guys. So far so good. Except that's when things started getting different.
For one thing there's not a murder. There is a kidnapping and a threat of a murder which gives the story a new level of intensity. The scientist here is a brilliant woman working in the field of revolutionary Noetic Science, who also happens to be the kidnapped man's sister. (If you're wondering what in the world Noetic Science is here's an example from the book: Katherine Solomon studies the physical, quantifiable effect of positive thinking on matter and weighs a human soul.) And finally the lost symbol is a secret glyph that stands for a word that according to legend can unlock the gates between our world and the other side and imbue the dark priest with demonic powers. Told you it was getting different.
Of course Brown is a master of weaving improbable tales into a believable narrative so I sat there white-knuckling the couch as people died, the identity of the villain was revealed and the fate of the most powerful politicians in the country hung by the thinnest thread over the abyss of unthinkable scandal. I waited with baited breath to discover what this much guarded lost symbol was and what it stood for and then... then the house of cards collapsed. I could not believe it. The elaborate structure of incredible imaginings, breathtaking plot developments and sympathetic characters crumbled in a way that made me think that Brown had to quickly wrap up the story because it didn't really have anywhere else to go and couldn't think of a good way to do it. Without giving away the exact resolution I can say that my level of dissatisfaction with the ending could only compare to the dreaded "and then he woke up and realized that it was all a dream" scenario. I quite literally turned the last page, flipped back, turned the last page again and thought to myself "Er... What?!?" Not much in terms of eloquence but that was the extent of my confusion.
So there you have it. I really did enjoy the first 4/5 of the book. It's always fun to follow Langdon in his tweeds and loafers on his mad dashes in pursuit of truth with the timer ticking; the spiritual side of me understood the whole idea of Noetic Science and I was really sorry to see those who died go (as King said, kill your darlings, and Brown does just that here); the extent of research that goes into Brown's books is staggering and the "lectures" consistently tickle my historical curiosity but the ending spoiled this book for me and there's not much I can do about this lingering sense of dissatisfaction. If you've read the book let me know what your thoughts are. If you're considering reading it don't let me dissuade you, may be you'll love it and it'll make perfect sense to you.

Review: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

Robert Langdon is a Harvard professor of symbology and a world-renowned expert on the subject. His quiet life is turned upside down when he receives a fax with the symbol of the Illuminati branded on a murdered man's chest and an insistent summons to help with the investigation.

I enjoyed this book tremendously for the adventure, the history, the quick pace and the light romance. I literally couldn't put it down and stayed up into the wee hours of the morning reading because I had to find out who Janus was, what it is he was after and where the secret Illuminati lair was.
It was interesting to see the conflict between good and evil in this story and Mr. Brown's interpretation of it. You can't get away from it - it's in the title itself. It was fascinating to see how the same things could be perceived to be on the opposite ends of the spectrum depending on the viewpoint of the examiner: are science, knowledge, education and progress good or are they to be shunned in favor of almost blind faith? Is murder justified if it's a means to a righteous end? Can goodness become evil if it goes untempered?
I couldn't help but grow fond of Robert, Vittoria and even the frosty Maximillian Kohler. They each have a story that makes them who they are and this humanity makes them all but walk off the page. For the same reason the villain is that much more chilling - I know there are people in this world who are at the same level of delusional conviction and will do anything to achieve their goals.
The academic explanations tended to slow down the pace but not enough to pull me out of the story. It was more like listening to a highly educated person carry on a conversation in which their field is involved - they just can't resist telling you all the different things they find fascinating and venture off into the realm of lecture before they catch themselves but when it's all said and done you still find that you're glad they told you all those things.
I would recommend this highly satisfying read to fans of edge-of-your-seat mystery with elements of history. Just be prepared to not sleep much until you turn that last page.