well, the title pretty much just about, in a roundabout sort of way, to be sure, tells you what you need to know of the two latest books what i have read. these books were, on the whole, somewhat disappointing, look you see.
this would be disappointing at the very best of times. it is, however, all the more sad as the two novels were written by writers (no kidding) who i have a preference for. but, then again, i suppose, this is not the first time both of them have left me feeling let down; allowing for the fact that i know they didn't deliver novels i did not enjoy just to spite me.
actually "not enjoy" might be strong, but as usual, we go on with a look at the two novels, and a kind of quick, spoiler(ish) free overview.
righty-ho, The Moscow Cipher is the latest or if you will most recent Ben Hope adventure off of Scott Mariani. it's one which is kind of ok in parts, but considerably also "this will do" in nature, as if the author was knocking something out for contractual obligations or "just because". similar with The Rooster Bar off John Grisham, which is a misleading reading experience that echoes The Last Juror and i absolutely do not mean that in any good way.
anyway, from here on out please note that a magnificent, partially colourful *** SPOILER WARNING *** is in place. further, or if you will also, the links are for pure convenience alone, dear reader, and are not any sort of endorsement, affiliation or what have you to do with me.
provenance of my copy? actually this was a Father's Day gift back in June, so values and place of purchase should not really be revealed. but, since you insist, perhaps Tesco or Asda, for £4. since Tesco appears to have stopped "2 for £7" on paperbacks. also, Tesco now charges more for cigarettes than anywhere else, so i guess Tesco are saying they want no business from me.
right, that got distracted somewhat, let us try less Tesco, more this book, shall we. plot? plot. Ben Hope is back on his farm in France training soldiers and what have you when an old, fabulously wealthy friend drops by. he has reason to believe his niece (or granddaughter or similar) has been kidnapped by her father in Moscow, and he believes only Ben Hope can find and rescue her. reluctantly, and with more money and resources than he could possibly need, off he goes to Russia to help. and, of course, discovers that the kidnapping is not entirely what it seems......
something akin to a nice touch here is the novel plays on the current flavour of the month topic, that Russia is "meddling" (or interfering) with life in the "west", and points out that Russia, or if you will the Soviet Union, has always made attempts to do such; it is nothing new and it doesn't work. yes, no, really - America elects particularly bad Presidents frequently with no need of assistance from the rest of the world. credit where it is due, Mr Mariani; this expression is not done with a heavy hand.
the book kind of falls apart with some contrived, implausible and convoluted plot developments and twists which are more ridiculous than usual. and this is in the context of a series of books which once featured a laser that was going to cut our planet in half or something. no, no, no, if the baddies are quite aware of the damage that Ben Hope can do and they capture him, they are not going to "keep him alive and turn him", they are going to kill him. but, for the sake of the plot, guess what.
after the last 3, 4, 5 or so of these novels were really good and enjoyable, this feels like a tired step backwards. some good ideas and a fair few exciting bits (if you like explosions and battles and all that sort of thing), but ultimately it feels like a "this will do" book from the author. disappointing.
of provenance? i am pretty sure it was the Tesco "book of the week" thing for all of £3, so there you go, Tesco might want me to keep shopping with them.
plot? well, as i said earlier, reminds me of the incident with The Last Juror. the description on the back of that novel made it sound exciting, interesting and good - yet none of the bits described happened until the last 20 pages or so. and this is exactly what happens here with The Rooster Bar. for example, the character what dominates the first 100 or so pages is not mentioned on the back. also, it mentions the FBI. by around page 300 of a 374 (or so page novel), i noted with some interest that they had not actually made any sort of appearance.
if the plot is not described on the book itself, what am i supposed to do here? there is some "classic" John Grisham on the go, for a start. and by that i mean his tendency for simplified, simplistic, idealistic and likely to upset people "assumptions" on how A or B, like, totes for real certainly leads to X or Y. basically, everything John Grisham could grab - bipolar treatment, immigration, student loans, bar exams, legal qualifications and a few other things - gets thrown at a plot which isn't really a plot, just a motion of events which takes nonsensical turns and comes to an unsatisfactory, nonsensical conclusion. even then, there's never a real sense of it being an ending. and please, no sequel to this, thanks.
he can (and has) write (written) a lot worse than this. also, he has come back with much better. i really, really hope that happens here. the latest John Grisham novel is something which always excites me, for him at his best lets me escape the realities of life for a while as i become engrossed in it. sadly that did not at all happen with this one. hey ho.
so, then, that's that. if for some reason you are a fellow fan of either or both of these writers yet felt the need to wait for me to comment on them, my comment is not so good. you can, i suspect, safely skip them and read something else. which, as hopefully has come across in the above, makes me quite sad.
anyway, on we go, or off i go, on to the next reading adventure.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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