read: The Defector by Chris Hadfield ★★★★★

The Defector by Chris Hadfield
★★★★★

I fully enjoyed Chris Hadfield's first foray into thriller fiction and am glad to see it was no fluke. He's followed it up with a crackerjack spy thriller that is stuffed with technological details a la Tom Clancy and nuanced double-dealing inspired by John Le Carre. I was thoroughly entranced by ex-test pilot Kaz's naïve, yet eyes-wide-open, plunge into the cold waters of Cold War spying, along with his quick-witted, realistic and gritty response. Recommended for fans of old-school NASA and espionage stories.

Disclosure: Thank you to Netgalley and Mulholland Books for providing a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.

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Devil's Gun by Cat Rambo ★★★★

Devil's Gun by Cat Rambo
★★★★

The sub-title of this could easily be "The Continuing Adventures of the Crew of 'You Sexy Thing'". The thin thread of a plot is supposedly a search for someone Captain Niko cares a lot about, although she spends much time fretting about her motives and her ability to lead the crew. The crew, for their part, are also wrestling with fallout from the adventures of the previous book and their own motivations and desires. A few new characters are introduced in the middle of the book to amp up the tension a little and create a worthy side quest or two. And then a few subplots are resolved before we fade to 'To Be Continued."

The characters and situations are fun and easy to read about. Like the first volume, the story plays fast and loose with science fiction and fantasy tropes, not bothering to have anything rely on actual physics or comprehendible magic. It's all just for giggles and grins and could easily be a graphic novel. I liked the first book of the series more. The plot had more drive. But I'm still on board and enjoying the ride on this sentient spaceship and look forward to the next volume.

Disclosure: Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for providing a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.

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Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson ★★★★

Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson
★★★★

This non-scholarly, yet deeply researched, book about the people of Polynesia (everything in the triangle formed by Hawai‘i, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and New Zealand (Aotearoa) should satisfy anyone curious about the region, its history and its people. It's structured around the chronology of European discovery, anthropology and archeology of the islands, beginning with Cook and continuing to the present, each century and decade peeling away another layer of the mystery. Not all of the questions have been answered. But a clearer overall understanding as begun to emerge from the mists of time.

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read: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead ★★★★

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
★★★★

This is no crime thriller, though crimes are committed and witnessed. There's not much of a plot, although the storytelling keeps the reader turning pages. There are side stories and flashbacks galore all meshing into a rich tapestry of Harlem in the mid-twentieth century.

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read: The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks ★★★★

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks
★★★★

Tom Hanks knows a thing or two about making movies. After all, he's written several, directed several and acted in a truckload of them. Having enjoyed his collection of short stories, Uncommon Type, I knew I would read his novel set in the world of movie making as soon as it came out. I enjoyed it. A lot.
That being said, his writing style might not be for everyone. And even I found getting through the first bunch of chapters a bit of a grind. It's all backstory. And it jumps around like collection of barely connected short stories. And there are a couple of mini comic books thrown in for good measure.
Then around page 95 we finally land on the core story of getting a movie made and I was thoroughly hooked. Mind you, the chapters still read like a set of short stories - point of view jumps all over the place - and there are diversions and footnotes all over the place. But I found myself swept along by the narrative just the same.
This should be a fun read for anyone who is a fan of the movies.

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read: The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin ★★★

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
★★★

This is an ambitious book. The ideas are wildly imaginative and perhaps ground-breaking. It tries to portray itself as hard science-fiction, which perhaps it is. Maybe worth of 4 or 5 stars. But the story, translated from Chinese, has two problems for me that kept me from enjoying much of it and knocking it down a couple of stars. 

First, the human side, the story, comes across as clunky and old-fashioned and full of too much 'telling'. I never connected with any of the characters. They were all two-dimensional. And too many things happened because they were convenient to the story. I kept thinking that this was where something was lost in translation.

Second, some of the science stuff, especially the portrayal of an alien world and its culture, was so way out there that it came across more like fantasy than hard science fiction. The book tried to explain it all in such excruciating detail that even a nerd like me could feel my eyes glazing over.

The contrast between this and a series like The Expanse is palpable. The authors of the Expanse made their world full of real people with real motivations and emotions and then gave them inexplicable science problems to deal with. I have a feeling that whoever is adapting this to television is doing some heavy lifting in the area of story development.

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read: The Last True Templar by Boyd Morrison & Beth Morrison ★★★★★

The Last True Templar by Boyd Morrison
★★★★★

This is a fast-paced treasure hunt and race through medieval Europe. The reader is along for the ride with excommunicated English knight Gerard Fox and his capable companion and love, Willa, after they rescue a noblewoman from bandits in a small village in Tuscany. When they all return to Lady Luciana Corosi's castle, her husband's plot to kill her is revealed and all three are forced to escape. We soon find out that not only is Luciana's life in jeopardy, so is the fate of a vast fortune hidden by the Knights Templar before their demise. Luciana's husband will use it to wield unbeatable economic power, unless Fox, Willa and Luciana find it first.

I was completely charmed by the accurate and detailed portrayal of life in medieval Italy and France. Happily, the authors' storytelling chops ensure that all that detail does not bog down the characters or the plot, which keeps marching along at quick pace. I sometimes take a couple of weeks to get through a novel. But I devoured this in a few days. Recommended.

Disclosure: Thank you to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for providing a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.

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