Lisey and Robert Ludlum

I've finished a few books during the past few weeks and it's been quite a mixed bag. Stephen King, Robert Ludlum and the ole' backup Clive the good Cussler.

I highly doubt that despite the (general) reading enjoyment there would be any point in reviewing one of Cussler's work. No reflection on his talents and anyone would agree that CC has a unique place in contemporary American literature, but.. let's say that a Dirk Pitt or Curt Austin novel is like a fast melting candy as opposed to classic adventure novels like Alistair McLean's work which is more comparable to a .. goblet of good port :)

I read "The Ambler Warning" by Robert Ludlum and bravely proceeded to reading the "The Paris Option". The first book of Ludlum's I read was the "The Matarese countdown" and I was quite impressed by it. But at the end of 2 1/4 more books, I have worn out my affinity with his work. Out of the two, the first one was better but again, the plot is not very developed and has holes the size of barn doors. I believe that a solidly believable plot is the cornerstone of a good espionage novel, mainly because we're supposed to be dealing with a population of highly intelligent operatives and counter operatives (ie. the "Intelligence" community :) So it's pretty hard to swallow that a 2 year long plan by a villain mastermind comes to a crashing end incriminating him and his chief accomplice since he gets caught on video admitting his involvement :O

The second Ludlum became one of the (rare) breed of books that I start reading and never finish. 1/3 of the way into the book it's waiting in my book rack (spine is looking crooked at me as I type) pending return to the library.

Stephen King's "Lisey's Story" makes a first for me, the first that I started reading in hardback and ended in e-book that is. I had borrowed the book some time ago and had to return it un-read to the library and was also unable to renew it since it belonged to the floating collection. Lisey is the widow of a successful American writer Scott Landon, who has had a couple of real secrets behind his success. The first is a brutal childhood mainly thanks to his gene pool which comes with a hidden bonanza, Insanity! This leads to Scott and his Brother leading a very un-natural and tortured childhood with their loco dad. We do come to realize that being loco however does not stop a father from loving his children.. in his own way.

The second secret is the more intriguing plot device, we all have heard about the "wellspring of creativity" that writers go to "draw" their inspiration. Well, Scott's is more literal than symbolic. There really is a place that he can go to, an otherworldly place which he calls "Booo-ya-moon" which is both a frighteningly beautiful and exceedingly terrifying place. Lisey ends up re-discovering suppressed memories about this world to both escape a homicidal lunatic and to finally lay the ghost of Scott to rest.

Even though the read is enjoyable, the plot line is too parallel to the one in "Rose Madder" only difference between the two alternate worlds in the books is that Rose's world is based on Greek mythology and Boo-ya-moon is a psychedelic contemporary alternate reality (Acid high anyone?)