so, another two (2) books read, look you see. and so it is time for the inevitable, if not entirely unavoidable, comments on them. but, that said, my verdict (for such what is worth) on both is right there in the title of this post. for those in a rush neither are bad as such, yet essentially carry an air, or sense, of why bother to them.
normally, or usually, i think the pattern is that i subject myself to whatever it is Scott Mariani has thrown out as the second of two books what i have gone done read. it wasn't really intentional to in some way switch that pattern, if (indeed) that pattern is a thing.
to stick with the usual there shall (or will) be a picture of both, a brief overview, and then a look at both in isolation, or separately. more so than ever in this case, however, you are seriously warned that there is both unavoidably and well and truly a *** SPOILER WARNING *** in place. can't say for which of the two novels exactly, but if your intention was to read either then rather not read any more of this.
from (i think) left to right, which is how i read them, The Templar Secret is adventure number 30(!), or so i suspect, for the character Ben Hope as created by Scott Mariani. it's sort of kind of all right, but the whole series has been getting quite stale. as for The Exchange, well, John Grisham has brought back the lawyer Mitch from (arguably) his most famous (but certainly not his best) novel, The Firm, although this really isn't a "sequel". well written as you would expect, but brief to the point of being flimsy and, ultimately, a rather pointless book.
again, then, a *** SPOILER WARNING *** is hereby declared. seriously, or really, do not read any more of this post if you have any intention of reading either novel. or just read on if for some reason you wish to pretend that you have and vaguely sound like you know what you are talking about within whatever social circle you have that will be decidedly larger than mine.
provenance of my copy? undoubtedly Tesco, but oddly not as one of their "book of the week" things. it is usually that when Mariani brings a new one out you get it even cheaper than the book of a week when you buy the Daily Mail too. i think book at lower price + Daily Mail comes in at £4.00 rather than the £4.50 book of the week thing, and usually there is a recycle bin for you to immediately put the newspaper in.
the plot? Ben Hope and his chums have decided that their existing base for training people in the art of protection and rescue is too small, so they are looking for new premises. the French government is selling off a dilapidated "chateau" (or whatever) quite cheap, so they go for a gander. whilst having a look an odd American is lurking in the cellar of it, apparently excited by some strange carvings on a wall down there. some shady sinister people are watching this, and don't like that people are looking at it. quite a lot of violence and tragedy follows as a consequence......
i am not giving any more spoiler warnings (except just then), as it turns out this is the last Ben Hope adventure, at least for the foreseeable. no, he doesn't get killed off, but someone close to him does, which kind of prompts a change of outlook. there's a kind of "victory lap" sense to the whole book, mind, bringing it "full circle" by having the lady Ben became friends with in the first novel come back. also, well, Templar Secret is a nice reference to whatever the first one was all about (can't remember), plus the first book became a success in part, at least, thanks to people being able to say "well, if you liked reading The Da Vinci Code you will like this". there were worse ways to retire (or rest) the character than this novel.
for a review (or what have you) of the novel "in its own right", well, the plot is fundamentally flawed to the point of it being really f*****g stupid. them what are watching those watch the chateau are extremely rich and very powerful. with the French government just wanting rid of the property, it would have made more sense for them to, you know, just buy the property itself and fence it off (or destroy it) than have people hang around and start fights with anyone who looked at it. granted a level of suspension of disbelief is required with reading fiction, but then with each twist and turn in this novel you find yourself asking "yeah, but why didn't they just by the place themselves".
plot? after years on the run (the novel The Firm ended somewhat differently to the celebrated film) Mitch and his wife return to a sort of normal life, with Mitch (all things considered) rather surprisingly making it to partner of a major international law firm. he is tasked with suing the Libyan government on behalf of a Turkish construction company for non-payment of a pointless bridge. whilst in Libya to (ostensibly) look at the bridge, his associate is kidnapped, with a rather hefty ransom demand (eventually) being made.......
easily the biggest issue here is that there is no point whatsoever to it being the character of Mitch at the kind of centre of it. nothing to do with his past is of relevance to the story or events. you keep reading thinking "is there a twist, is this revenge at last", but no. the only time his past ever really gets a mention is when he, for no apparent reason, decides to pop by and say "hello!" to one of the lawyers he put in jail. that seems to happen purely to pad out a really short novel.
basically the "points" being made by this novel, but never explored in any detail, are that resource rich countries run by violent dictators and populated by terrorist factions are dangerous, law firms tend to be rich and reluctant to hand over money for any reason and governments will do shady deals with shady people for, if nothing else, the sake of appearance. nothing "new" as such there, but oddly Grisham doesn't seem particularly angry or inclined to comment; he just gives them flashes of mention and seems to shrug, saying "that's the way it is".
as usual, it's really well written and not bad to read. just not engrossing or captivating like the work he is amply capable of. sure, it's not as bad as that time he wrote a novel which was basically an account of various Italian dishes (The Broker i think) or that time he wrote 75% of a novel about church picnics (that was definitely The Last Juror), but worrying that this novel is in the vicinity of them. especially as it was so the most recent i read of his, The Boys From Biloxi, was him at his brilliant best.
ultimately this fails the "name" test. as in if this novel had been submitted to a publisher anonymously, or with a pseudonym, would it have got published? the answer is "would it f*** as like", with the expanded answer being great writing, too flimsy, go back and add some substance. also some actual, tangible point to it all beyond stating the obvious on the state of the world.
mostly, or for the most part, i read these at a rate of a couple of chapters each day, in the morning, whilst waiting for some cream to dry as part of the way things now work with my medical odyssey. some of the John Grisham one (i think 50 - 60 pages) was, however, read whilst i was at the laundry. not sure any of that is relevant or had bearing, but if you think my reading might have been distracted by circumstance, well, that's up to you.
right, that's that for them books. as i am keen to point out i did (mostly) enjoy reading them, even if the conclusion of such was a sense of being spectacularly underwhelmed. yes, by the way, i am indeed aware that Scott Mariani has come up with a new (apparently historical) protagonist for his future novels. it is sat here, but i won't be reading that one next.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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