Book Review : The Litigators by John Grisham
Written By: amodini
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Jul•
29•20
Author : John Grisham
Genre : Legal Thriller
Publisher : Random House
Pages : 400
Rating : 2/5
I recently read The Rainmaker and loved it. So, in search of a change of pace and a better read after the disappointing “The Wife Between Us”, I picked up The Litigators. Unfortunately for me – this book disappointed also – that’s two in a row!
David Zinc, a young but jaded attorney walks away from his well-paid job at a fancy law firm and ends up at a “boutique” law firm. Or at least that’s the way Finley & Figg describe themselves. The 2 man law firm is into ambulance chasing and filing divorce cases. When Wally Figg gets wind of a class action lawsuit involving the drug Krayvoxx, the firm jumps on the bandwagon. Are the millions of a tort settlement about to fall into their laps?
The Litigators started well and I was quite enjoying myself. But the writing and the plot degraded as the book went on. There is very little plot, no twists and no raison d’être of this book. The prose is trite, curt and emotionless, like a description of events as read from a journal. It’s like Grisham got tired of fleshing out the details and just decided to end it as quickly as possible, as un-wordily as possible.
The characters are flat and not like-able, except maybe David. Unlike the fiery Rainmaker which had a young, earnest underdog of a lawyer trying to do the right thing, the characters in this book are just in pursuit of filthy lucre – not a great theme. David does bring some of the earnestness and the “goodness” but it’s too little too late.
60% into the book I started to skim. Then it went fast, thankfully.
Audiobook Review : The Wife Between Us
Written By: amodini
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Jul•
01•20
Author : Sarah Pekannen and Greer Hendricks
Narrators : Julia Whelan
Genre : Thriller
Publisher : Pan Macmillan
Listening Length : 11 hours 13 minutes
Rating : 2/5
Narrator Rating : 4/5
You might have guessed, from the title, that there is an aggrieved wife in this tale. Blond, beautiful Vanessa has been left by handsome, rich, successful husband Richard in favor of newer model Nellie. Vanessa wants to warn Nellie off of Richard, so she stalks Nellie everywhere. Will Nellie listen to what Vanessa has to say?
So, the premise looks really good, and I got sucked in. For a while Vanessa seemed like an unreliable narrator – possibly bipolar, loves the drink a little too much, not very dependable etc. That however didn’t go anywhere. And neither did this book.
There was too much telling and not enough showing. There were a couple of twists, but they didn’t add to much. The book went on and on and nothing much happened. The prose is poor, and there is a lot of description which doesn’t add depth or detail – just pointless description really. The characters were poorly fleshed and not very likeable.
I was very tempted to give up this book halfway, but I plodded on. Audiobooks are not as easy to skim as print ones. Julia Whelan (who also narrated Gone Girl) narrates this and does a great job of this, but this is no Gone Girl.
Audiobook Review : The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
Written By: amodini
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Jun•
03•20
Author : Margaret Atwood
Narrators : Ann Dowd, Mae Whitman, Bryce Dallas Howard
Genre : Dystopian/Sci-fi
Publisher : Random House Audio
Listening Length : 13 hours 18 minutes
Rating : 4.5/5
Narrator Rating : 4.5/5
The Testaments is a sequel to The Handmaids Tale, set 15 years after the events of that book. Atwood wrote this in coordination with the Hulu series, which depicts many of the events not in the book version of The Handmaid’s Tale. So if you have been watching the series on Hulu (like I have), The Testaments feels more like a continuation of that than the book.
The Testaments is told from the point of view of three women : Aunt Lydia, leader of the Aunts in Gilead, Agnes Jemima, the biological daughter of Offred and her husband Luke from the pre-Gilead days, who was forcibly snatched and adopted into the home of Commander Kyle, and Daisy/Nicole – Offred’s daughter with Nick, whom Offred has managed to smuggle into Canada.
In this book, we learn that Baby Nicole has become a figure of reverence in Gilead, it often making claims against Canada to return her. Baby Nicole, now known as Daisy, and a teenager in Canada has no idea who she is, but has to grow up quickly when her “parents” are murdered by Gilead operatives. Meanwhile, her elder half-sister Agnes, at 13, escapes an arranged marriage to an aging Commander by becoming a Supplicant Aunt with Aunt Lydia’s help. Aunt Lydia of course has her own axe to grind, and brings Agnes and Nicole together to help achieve her goals.
The book’s main protagonist is Aunt Lydia, who in her manuscript (The Ardua Hall Holograph) tells us about the fall of the United States and initial setup of the “Aunt” institution in Gilead, detailing many of the tortures inflicted on herself and other women to make them succumb to Gilead’s draconian rules for women.
You pride yourself on being a realist, I told myself, so face the facts. There’s been a coup, here in the United States, just as in times past in so many other countries. Any forced change of leadership is always followed by a move to crush the opposition. The opposition is led by the educated, so the educated are the first to be eliminated.
From Agnes, we get to hear of her schooling in Gilead as she and her friends, the other Commander’s daughters, are groomed to be dutiful women and obedient future wives. Nicole, almost insouciant by comparison, tells us of life in Canada, and the change in her life, once apprised of her true identity.
The plot of the book revolves around unearthing a Gilead spy who has been sending information to Canada. Also, Mayday is planning to retrieve vital information from this very same spy and use it to expose corruption and Gilead to hasten its downfall. The book alternates between testimonies from the 3 main characters, to give us the complete suspenseful picture.
The Testaments is faster-paced than The Handmaid’s Tale, and fleshes out the protagonist’s characters to let us understand their predicaments, and motivations for doing what they do. While politically-savvy Lydia is the most compelling character, Atwood’s skilled detailing makes Agnes and Nicole’s accounts also very interesting. Aunt Lydia is voiced by Ann Dowd, the actress playing her in the Hulu series, and makes this already great book even better.
Highly recommended.
Book Review : The Lost Man by Jane Harper
Written By: amodini
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May•
06•20
Author : Jane Harper
Genre : Mystery
Publisher : Macmillan
Pages : 363
Rating : 4.5/5
This is my first book by Jane Harper and I’d been expecting a murder mystery. But The Lost Man is not a traditional murder mystery – there is no detective, no case, no legal wrangles. The book goes in quite a different direction, but I am happy to say, it is a most entertaining one.
Cameron Bright has been found dead in the middle of the Australian outback. It is clear he died of heat-stroke, parched for water and trying to escape the relentless sun, but it is not clear why, Cameron, an experienced cattle rancher would stray so far from cover or put himself in such a precarious position. Did he want to die?
The family is bereft – he leaves behind a grief-stricken mother, a stunned wife and two daughters and two brothers, who were also his closest neighbors. The small community mourns Cameron since he was well-liked and respected. As the news breaks, local law enforcement gets involved, but it is Cameron’s older brother Nathan who tries his best to find the person responsible.
The Lost Man is a slow burn. It starts off with Cameron’s death and builds the characters slowly through anecdotes and nostalgic references. The story is well-layered and new facts are revealed as the book goes along. Harper draws her characters very well and makes their actions believable. The prose is not overly complicated, but it is descriptive and gives you a good feel for the people, the unforgiving land and the family dynamics.
I loved that every chapter ends with a little twist, so I could not stop reading. Also the book is very unpredictable – and you can’t really guess where it is going! Highly recommend this page-turner – Harper sure knows what she is doing; I look forward to reading more of her work.
Audiobook Review : The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
Written By: amodini
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Apr•
08•20
Title : The House of Silk
Author : Anthony Horowitz
Narrators : Derek Jacobi
Genre : Mystery/Adventure
Publisher : Hachette Audio
Listening Length : 10 hours 24 minutes
Rating : 4/5
Narrator Rating : 4.5/5
There’s a new Sherlock Holmes mystery in town and it’s penned by Anthony Horowitz! In this book, Holmes and Watson investigate a crime for art dealer Edmund Carstairs. Carstairs fears that he and his family are in danger from an old foe, the leader of the “flat cap” gang. One thing leads to another, and the detective duo find that all trouble emanates from the mysterious, hidden House of Silk. Such is its power that heads of government and institutions protect it. When the intrepid duo dig deeper, they are soon in grave danger!
The House of Silk is well-plotted and reads almost like a Doyle original. Horowitz does a great job of recreating familiar locales like Baker Street and old characters like Mrs Hudson. Holmes employs his famous powers of deductive reasoning and Watson, is as usual, amazed! The story is fairly intricate with twists you don’t see coming, so it keeps you engaged. Watson has a greater role in this book that any other Holmes novel I’ve read – so that was a tad unusual.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to more of Horowitz’s storytelling. Derek Jacobi did an excellent job of voicing the various characters, and made this entertaining mystery even better!
