The Man in the Rockefeller Suit
Mark Seal
“The bigger the lie, the more it will be believed.” – paraphrased from Joseph Goebbels
There is something simply unbelievable in the stories of serial imposters like Frank Abaganle and “Clark Rockefeller”. How, you ask yourself, could so many people possibly believe such twaddle? And yet they do. Far above the class of metal-siding salesmen, these world-class liars create entire personas for themselves. Their tightly woven stories, embellished with the most garish and outrageous of stories, are costumed and acted day and night. The mask never slips. When someone gets too close, another mask is made in its place. While most imposters create their new selves to acquire wealth and power, in the case of German...
In the Courts of the Sun
Brian D’amato
By far the best book I’ve read in months, D’amato creates a fantastic near-future and recreates the lost Maya civilizations. As 2012 nears, the end of the Maya calendar, a large-scale disaster strikes. The disaster, followed by the end of civilization, are both predicted in a Maya codex. Jed DeLanda, a Maya descendant and expert in the future-fortelling Game, becomes involved with a conglomeration of groups interested in stopping the end-time. In short order, DeLanda finds the rich and powerful powers-that-be have the ability to send a copy of his mind back in time, with the hope that he can find out what the final disaster is and avert...
Still Life with Crows
Still Life with Crows – Lincoln Child and Michael Preston
I realized that this book is fast becoming a favorite as I have read it 3 times in the last year and a half. While the main character, Agent Pendergast, is part of an ongoing series it is not necessary to have read any of the other titles. Stepping out of the plot line narrative, Pendergast has a “vacation ” in the desolate Kansas farmlands. A small farming town is rocked by a series of serial-killer type murders, each more bizarre than the last. Located 20 miles from the next nearest town, the close-knit citizens of this tiny town slowly come to realize that killer most be local. Child and Preston create some really well fleshed-out and believable characters, including a...
The Rule of Four
Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason
I saw this book compared to Da Vinci Code, but I disagree. I enjoyed this one. Yeah, is does have some of the over the top “hidden messages from the past” stuff in it, but on the whole it was a bit more believable (I didn’t make pppppppft sounds every few pages). More than anything, I think Caldwell and Thomason did a good job in creating likeable, realistic and fleshed-out characters, particularly the academics who become so enmeshed in their research of the dead and gone that the here and now is another world to them. Another good summer read.
Utopia
Lincoln Child
And speaking of Utopia…. We just so happened to be listening to Lincoln Child’s thriller in the car. This is a perfect summer beach read – fast-paced, exiting, lots of techie-details, (eat yer heart of Crichton) and interesting likeable characters. Utopia, the wondrous amusement park of the future, is described so clearly it seems a shame it doesn’t really exist. Satisfyingly long and rich with plot and detail.