book capsules

Gone for Good, by Harlan Coben
My second foray into a Harlan Coben thriller and I was only slightly disappointed. The first book I'd read of his, Just One Look, was so packed with suspense that this one seemed a little slow and hollow. I found it difficult to care about the characters as much as I cared about the caper. It had a great finish, perhaps even better than Just One Look, but it was too slow in the development. In the book, Will Klein must contend with his girlfriend's disappearance and the simultaneous reappearance of his long-lost brother, Ken, who ran off 11 years earlier, a suspect in a murder case involving Will's first love. Grade: B



Dr.No, by Ian Fleming
Last year I discovered the James Bond of literature - and I was surprised to find I liked him even more than the big screen Bond, which is saying a lot. In reading Goldfinger, I found a character who was drawn just fully enough, and just fresh enough, to make me want to return again and again. With Dr. No, we encounter the beginnings of an intriguing story, with the murder of an English spy and the business of Bond - fresh off medical leave from his last assignment - being reprimanded by his director and fitted with a new gun. He is subsequently sent on a "recovery" assignment to Jamaica to solve this quaint murder mystery. Along the way, Bond finds genuine romance with a well-drawn character, made famous in the first Bond film - Honeychild Rider. Bond, Honeychild, and his trusty aid Quarrel, are all wonderful, but their nemesis and their adventure are not a match for the brilliant light they radiate, and so the plot seems clunky and light in comparison. Grade: B-