You know why I haven't been blogging? I've been too busy reading Nelson DeMille's tomes. I finished The Lion's Game and couldn't wait to read the next, Night Fall. Fortunately, my reading was interrupted by the Fourth of July celebrations. My reading orgy stopped because the Fourth of July, is not only a celebration in the USA, it's a special celebration. The country is 250 years old, so all the stops were pulled out. The weather cooperated to make sure the celebrations continued as planned. Coincidentally, the FIFA World Cups are still going on here, so there're more celebrations. Plus, ta-da!
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This is my 55th wedding anniversary. That's not a typo. Hubby and I have been married 55 years. We didn't do anything to celebrate, now, because hubby fell and is recuperating. We play on going on a harbor cruise to see the Tall Ships in Boston, in a few weeks. More about that, after the fact.
Back to the two books. The Lion's Game has protagonist John Corey pitted against the jihadist, Asad Khalil. Khalil was a kid when the US bombed his family. Hence, his training in extreme Muslim. He is strictly Old Testament, "an eye for an eye." Khalil knows he'll be caught eventually and killed. Khalil welcomes this. It is insurance into heaven. He will be a martyr.
Corey uses his New York cop smarts, more than his Federal anti-terrorist experience to go after Khalil. Khalil does kill too many in his revenge lust, but Corey leans so hard on him, that he escapes--barely. So you know they'll be a sequel.
I don't mind Corey's sarcasm. His quick come-backs have me laughing out-loud. I am intrigued by his observations and deductions.
All of the above, seduced me into immediately getting into Night Fall. The beginning is genius. A couple involved in an extra-matrimonial affair and video-taping their romp in the ocean when an airplane explodes in the background. It is taped. Was it shot down? The tape tells the story but they're not turning it over to the authorities. Would you? It would devastate their families.
The story begins five years after the plane crash. Corey's wife never believed the official story that there was a mechanical malfunction, when 200 witnesses saw a rocket blow up the plane. So, she gets her husband, John Corey involved. His meticulous detective work finds the evidence of what really happened.
