Ultimatum

 

By Richard Rohmer

5 Stars

Thriller

Adult

The author of this book has lived an incredibly full life, and as of the writing of this, he's still alive at 102 years old. The book was a number-one-selling book in Canada in 1973. I encountered it in my high school library within a few years of that and enjoyed it enough to eagerly read the sequel as soon as I found it in the same library.

This book was written with the oil crisis as a backdrop. America needs resources, and Canada has resources. They haggle and disagree, and finally the USA decides they need to annex Canada. I won't spoil the story about what happens. I will say that the premise of the story, for most of my life, came across as a little bit ridiculous; then Donald Trump got elected and decided to have a tariff war with us, spouting some very offensive rhetoric. I think that this book would really resonate with Canadian readers today. As a proud Canadian, I appreciated it and feel like giving it less than five stars would somehow feel disloyal. 

It's a worthy read, and I do recommend it even for readers who are not Canadian.

Sharpe's Escape

 

By Bernard Cornwell

5 Stars

Historical Fiction

Adult

I was introduced to Richard Sharpe and his right-hand man, Harper, through YouTube clips. I've never actually watched an entire episode of the show. My daughter was at a used bookstore and got me a couple of these novels because she thought I'd probably enjoy them. I read this one not expecting to like it as much as I did. Because there are 22 novels in the series at this point, I was expecting it to strike me as a little bit formulaic.  I thought the book was excellent. I wasn't disappointed with any of it.

The novel is built around the Bussaco Campaign of 1810. French General Massena objective was Lisbon, hoping to kick the British clear out of Portugal. Wellington is retreating, scorched earth to a defensive line he had built north of the city. In following those orders, Richard Sharpe clashes with Ferragus, who is the main villain of the book. Ferragus and his brother think that the French are going to win, and they are betraying the British and French by trying to sell a massive quantity of food to the French. They believe that by doing this, they will save their family's wealth for the future. Sharpe and his troops stumble across the initial goodwill shipment and destroy it, earning the villains' eternal hatred. Their personal feud plays out against the backdrop of the British victory at Bussaco, where the French advance is temporarily checked, then the sacking of Coimbra, and finally a major skirmish in front of Wellington's defensive works. 

What I liked about the book was the superb descriptions of the battles first, and the pacing and flow of the story. It is believably well written. Sharpe is maybe a bit more of a rogue than I was expecting from the clips online I'd viewed. This is a book I highly recommend. I do have another in the series in my home library and I'm looking forward to reading it as well in the not-too-distant future. 

A History of the True Church

 

By Andrew N. Dugger & Clarence O. Dodd

3.5 Stars

Religion/History

Adult

I was aware of this church history before I ever went to Ambassador College. Its contents were referred to in articles and lectures I read and heard. To some, it is controversial, but whether you agree or disagree with its conclusions, it has had a big impact on the Churches of God following the split with the Seventh Day Adventists. I do not know how this book is viewed by the Adventists. At least part of it would not be viewed favourably. For any Catholic readers, be forewarned that it is deeply anti-catholic. As well, while I have read a great deal on the subject, I do not consider myself qualified as a Church of God historian. Read it yourself and draw your own conclusions.

If there were a copy of this available for sign-out at the Ambassador College library, I would have read it at the beginning of 1986. As I "reread" it, I seem to only remember excerpts, so I think I might be misremembering. I'm not certain a copy was available. I don't remember at all what the book itself looked like. The cover I made is based on a description of it from my online research. No online image of it is available to me. I knew a lot about the book from other sources. I just know that I read that section of the library, including a small book about the Waldensians, which I have not been able to positively identify. Forty years is quite a long time.

The foundational premise of the book is that the Church of God has always existed in one form or another since its founding on Pentecost outside of the Roman Catholic Church. As a Sabbatarian myself, I want to believe that that is true. This book does claim unbroken apostolic succession for the Churches of God. I don't think that's provable, and my personal bible study doesn't convince me that that is even necessary. The book relies heavily on Baptist historians who made an effort to trace Protestantism's history, bypassing the Catholic Church.

The book is organized by century and presents its argument for each time period. I found the book to be difficult to read. It is dry and is peppered with references to other works. The organization lets you read it a bite at a time. This gave me a chance to stop and digest as I went.

If you are interested in studying the history of Sabbatarian Christian churches, this is a must-read. A copy of it is available through this link: https://www.friendsofsabbath.org/reader/Further_Research/e-books/A%20History%20of%20the%20True%20Church%20%20(Dugger%20and%20Dodd).pdf

The Afghan

 

By Frederick Forsyth

4 Stars

Thriller/Suspense

Adult

To this point, I have loved every book I've read from this author. This one disappointed me a little, even though I still think it's a great read.

Mike Martin is the protagonist of this novel. I remember him from "The Fist of God". In this book, he is older; in fact, he seems to be riding off into the sunset. He's renovating a building to retire in, doing most of the work himself. When he gets the call to go back into action, no real motivation is provided for him to do so. Any motivation is implied. If you've read the preceding books, it makes sense. I'm struggling with it, though, as I approach my own retirement. Risk my life for an unknown threat? It's hard for this reader to fully buy into that without some kind of explained incentive.

Terry Martin is the protagonist's brother. In "The Fist of God," he felt like an important character. This time, not so much. He's a professor and works for the government as an Arabic linguistic expert on an on-call basis, along with several other experts. They just agree with what is feared. He's really not needed. Then he boasts about his brother's abilities, which gets the attention of the counter-terrorism people. After his brother's previous exploits, that prodding is entirely unnecessary. A lot of time is spent on his backstory and his character development; once he's made this less-than-spectacular contribution, he disappears from the story. I feel like he's a token character who needed either a bigger role or no real role at all. 

Those two things bothered me and are the reason for the one-star deduction. Outside of that, the story was terrific. It was a page-turner, and I have no problem keeping it as part of my personal library. I do recommend this book, but I think that the other books he's written that I've read are all a bit better.

That's Me In The Middle

 

By Donald Jack

5 Stars

Historical/Humour

Adult

I'm a little biased in that I absolutely loved the whole series while I was in high school. I'm slowly adding the series to my personal library and, of course, reading them at the same time all over again. This is the second book in the series, and it does not disappoint.

I've spent some time studying creative writing since my first read-through, and I'm noticing more about the structure of the writing itself. The first three books in the series were clearly written as a trilogy. This is the second act. The word middle in the title is no accident. It's the middle of the trilogy, the middle of the First World War and the middle of Bandy's character arc. Despite his stumbling and bumbling his way through the war a reaches a kind of personal high. He's an ace pilot. He marries the love of his life, and he gets promoted along the way. I appreciate that the author spent a great deal of effort fitting the story within an accurate historical context. I have a greater appreciation for that now than I did when I first found this series.

Our anti-hero Bandy continues to be honest, heroic and oblivious. Frustrating and angering his superiors as he stumbles his way through the war, politics and his own personal life. The wedding night scene (completely clean) is hysterically funny.

I recommend that anyone who wants to read this book should read the first three books in order. They really do belong together. If you liked the first one you'll like the others as well.

Lagrange Five

 

By Mack Reynolds

3 Stars

Science Fiction

Adult

This is a mystery story set on a utopian space colony. The story opens with a guy going on a bike trip/picnic/campout within the confines of this orbiting space colony. Of course, I'm right into this. He falls prey to a mysterious illness and has to be rescued by the authorities, sedated and sent back to Earth. The illness is some kind of claustrophobia on steroids. For some reason, it is worse on this particular colony than on the others. 

Rex Bader is a private investigator and is hired to solve the mystery here. He is typical of the genre. He has a love interest, Susie Hawkins, who is a doctor but seems more like a secretary. The book does get accused of sexism from some, but if you take the time to read the private eye genre from the 1970 and 80s, you wouldn't expect anything less.

Whip Ford is the red herring in the story. He is a caricature of an angry black man. It's not intended to be racist, but his race is pointed out every time he comes on the stage. I was a little uncomfortable with that at the time, and would be even more so today. Along with that is the minimum intelligence requirement to become a colonist. A minimum IQ of 130 is needed. The author absolutely beats those two elements to death. In that regard, the book has not aged well.

The bad guys in the story are all Middle Eastern. At the time this was written, there had been the 70s oil crisis, and when it came out, there was the Iran hostage crisis. I don't think that too many people in Western nations were bothered by that at the time.

After saying all that, I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than the three-star rating would seem to indicate. I'm not going to go out of my way to read more of his work, but I don't regret reading this one. He put a lot of effort into writing something scientifically plausible, and in regard to world-building, the book is excellent. 

The Weekend Novelist

 

By Robert J Ray

5 Stars

Non-Fiction/Writing

Adult

I'm going to start this review by clarifying exactly which edition I read and used. The cover was exactly like the one pictured, and there were no co-authors. The primary companion to this edition was Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist. It also makes references to The Great Gatsby, which at this point I have not read.

This book proposes a fifty-two-week program to help you write a novel while you still have to live the rest of your life. It is filled with useful exercises. I did not rigidly adhere to the program. At the same time, had I not read and used what I learned from this book, I would not have completed a single manuscript. That is the primary reason it gets five stars from me. I used this book, the inspiration of National Novel Writing Month and help from others on Writing.com to write my first novel manuscript. I found a publisher. It didn't make me rich, but I can call myself a real writer. I did not pay someone to publish my book. Getting this book is really where it started.

The program outlined in the book does work, and I continue to refer to its pages to help me continue with my writing. Just remember you don't have to hold to it like it's cast in concrete. Writing is a creative process, and everyone is different. Even when you seem to have found the perfect way to get the words flowing, there'll come a day when it isn't working.

History of the Seventh Day Church of God

 

By Richard C. Nickels

4 Stars

Religion/History

Adult

I read this book between semesters at the end of 1985 and the beginning of 1986. One of my classes in the coming semester was Church History, and this was part of my personal study leading up to that. This book covers the period from the time of the split between the Seventh Day Adventists and the Churches of God Seventh Day until recently. The current edition available as a PDF online features changes and additions that were not there when I read it. I have the newest edition downloaded to my own computer.

For me, this book was a treasure trove of information and inspiration. It allowed me to put my own experiences in the Worldwide Church of God into a historical context. I would venture to say that this book is the primary reason for me staying with most of my beliefs, along with some of the other studying on the subject that I did at that time.

The history recorded here is a little bit dry. It is heavily footnoted. A great deal of effort and care went into the research for this book. Had I not been so very interested in the subject, I'm not sure I would have ploughed all the way through it. I found it to be a challenging read. That is my only real criticism of the book: the readability. If the subject is important to you, it is a worthwhile read. It's worth downloading your own copy.

Link for anyone interested: 

https://www.friendsofsabbath.org/Further_Research/History%20of%20the%20Sabbatarian%20Movement/historysdcog/index.htm

Please note the cover illustration is my own making based on what I remember. The fonts are probably wrong the colour is probably off. I could not find an actual cover image online.

The Chrysalids

 

By John Wyndham

5 Stars

Science Fiction

Young Adult/Adult

This review comes after a reread. This book was used in school curricula in some places. Not where I grew up. I originally found it in my school library back in the mid-to-late seventies. I loved the book then. Recently, I visited a local used book store and found a hardbound copy and decided to buy it. I started rereading it to check to see how well I remembered the story, and couldn't put it down. The other book I was reading got put on hold so that I could zip right through this one again. In my view, it is a great book. Easily one of my all-time favourites. As a writer myself, I appreciated how the story was put together. The story's beginning and ending resonate superbly. The pacing is excellent.

This is one of a few post-apocalyptic stories that I read in the same basic time frame. This is the one I remember the best. It's also the one I like the most. It is set in the town of Waknuk in what is now Labrador in Canada. Same end of Canada I live in right now, although it certainly isn't close. It is projected several hundred years in the future, when, for whatever reason, the climate is a great deal warmer than now. Society is rebuilding, and one of its major problems is mutation. Plants, animals and people have difficulty breeding true. They have made a religion out of trying to maintain purity. Terrific believable world building.

Our protagonists are David Strorm, Rosalind Morton and David's younger sister, Petra. They are telepathic, and they are not alone. Unfortunately, telepathy would be regarded as a deviation, and if their secret is discovered, they would be sterilized and banished to The Fringes. I won't spoil the story. You'll need to read it for yourself. I think it would be worth your time. 

For me, a great book. I'm very pleased to have a copy of this classic in my personal library and highly recommend it.

Stand By for Mars!

 

By Carey Rockwell

4 Stars

Science Fiction

Children/Young Adult

This was the first science fiction book I ever read. It was part of my parents' library at home, and I have no idea how they acquired it. I don't know why they had it. I don't know if anyone else in the family ever actually read it. The illustration at the beginning of this review is not the cover. It was the first illustration inside the book. The memory of that picture, for some reason, always stuck with me. The cover itself was blah.

This series of books is from an old TV/Radio series: Tom Corbett Space Cadet. This book is the first in a series of, I believe, nine books. This is the only one I've read. The author is a pseudonym, and the book was written by in-house writers, much like other more successful and enduring series like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

The story starts with three stock characters arriving at the Space Academy to train for and join the Solar Guard. Tom Corbett is the perfect leader/hero. Roger Manning is the brilliant but arrogant jackass. Astro is the big galoot. They have the talent for greatness and the personality friction to spice up the story. All the other characters come across as stock characters as well, and this is really my only complaint about it. The three main characters gain depth as the story progresses and end up being memorable. They eventually become the crew of their own ship, the Polaris. Without spoiling the story, which is a good one, this book is their first big adventure together. The adventure helps them overcome their differences and pull together as a team.

In the US, this book is in the public domain and is available for free here:

 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19526

It was kind of fun to find this and skim through it. It's amazing how much of the story I retain after almost 55 years. That's also probably the best endorsement I can give.

Mao's America A Survivor's Warning

 

By Xi Van Fleet

5 Stars

Political

Adult

I consider myself publicly apolitical, but I do have opinions and thoughts on the subject. I just choose to keep a lot of that to myself. This is my first review of a political book, and I will try to be objective. It is interesting and well organized. I had no trouble maintaining interest as I read. I appreciated the endnotes because personal-experience books usually don't include them. It gives a clear picture of how she comes to her conclusions.

Xi Van Fleet experienced the communist takeover of China and lived through the various stages of the revolution. She eventually came to America for schooling, married an American, and settled in the USA. She noticed parallels in leftist American politics that reminded her of her experiences in her native country. In many ways, she sees the same progression and thinks that they are leading to the same bad results. I think she analyzed those parallels very well and made a compelling case. I definitely believe it is worth reading and thinking about. 

One of the main things I draw from her account is the sheer level of corruption that exists in politics, both left and right. The dividing of people so that they can be manipulated. I see it on both sides of the political divide. 

Debt of Honor

 

By Tom Clancy

4 stars

Action/Adventure/Suspense

Adult

This is the second Tom Clancy book I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I will eventually write up a review of Clear and Present Danger when I get a chance to do a little reviewing of the book itself. Many of the characters recur in this novel, and it made it easy for me to get into the story. Jack Ryan, John Clark, and Domingo Chavez are central characters once again, along with others.

The primary bad guy is a Japanese businessman called Razio Yamata. He is a very powerful investment leader who wields a great deal of power behind the scenes. He has a plan to make Japan great again. He maneuvers to create a conflict between Japan and the United States. That conflict loosely follows a Pearl Harbor-type script. To save the day, our three intrepid heroes have to work very hard. Don’t want to give away anything.

It is a long book in the sense that it does require a significant time commitment to read. That is the pattern I see in most of his work, so I knew what I was getting into. I do appreciate that the author takes the time to explain everything. There are a lot of short forms used, and I imagine that I’ll get less confused on that count the more of his work I read. I do have to stop for a second sometimes to make sure I understand.

I do have a couple of quibbles. Someone in the story gets stabbed with a steak knife and dies instantly. That doesn’t strike me as believable. I know he needed to be gotten rid of to advance the storyline, but I’m sure the author could’ve come up with something better than that. The other issue I have is the buildup between fleets in the Indian Ocean. The climax to that thread in the story was a bit of a letdown. 

The story, of course, is pretty intense. I enjoyed it, and when I can find the time, I’ll read another one of his books with pleasure.

Three Cheers For Me

 

By Donald Jack

5 Stars

Historical/Humour

Adult

I discovered this book and the accompanying series while I was a student in high school. At that time, I devoured books at a phenomenal rate. I discovered quite a few great authors and read some terrific books. This series was my favourite. This book is the opening salvo in the series and won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour. I’m not sure how popular The Bandy Papers were outside of Canada.

Bartholomew Bandy is an anti-hero. The son of a preacher, bland looking, physically and socially clumsy. He will make you laugh at some of the situations he gets into, but he is incredibly human and relatable at the same time. We meet him as he prepares to ship off to war in Europe. He starts WW1 as an infantryman in the trenches. Chaos follows him into the chaos that is already there. This book is top-notch comedy, but at the same time, it doesn’t minimize the war that is the backdrop of this story. He survives the trenches and joins the Royal Flying Corps. He proves to be a natural pilot. While training, his engine fails, and he makes a forced landing on an estate called Burma Park. He falls in love with the place and Katherine Lewis, the young woman living there. His encounter with the plumbing there is memorably hysterical. The rest of the book is split between flying at the front and then spending leave in England.

On reading the book a second time, I still heartily recommend it. I look forward to rereading the next four books in the series and eventually reading the four that I never knew about after graduating from high school.

Gray Mountain

By John Grisham
4 Stars
Legal Thriller
Adult

This book arrived in my library courtesy the local used book store. My daughter found it and knew that I had previously enjoyed one of his books. What she didn’t know was that I read a Reader’s Digest version of one of his novels if that actually counts.

This is a legal thriller. The heroine is Samantha Kofer a New York lawyer working for Big Law who starts the story getting furloughed for a year without pay because of a major economic crisis. She is told to work as an intern for free and after a year maybe she would get her job back along with all her benefits. She ends up finding an internship in a little hick village in the Appalachians, deep in coal country for a free legal clinic. She’s a big city girl and she’s a fish out of water, not sure of what she wants and not sure of her future.

The antagonists in all this is the big coal corporations. They are taking advantage of the little people. The story revolves around this conflict. She finds herself getting sucked deeper and deeper into a fight she doesn’t really want to get involved in. She is more of a people person than she gives herself credit for. She finds herself caring about the clients and what becomes of them.

Some of the reviews I read of this book were harsh. Outside of the main character’s vacillations which became a little wearisome, I liked the book.

When the Dikes Broke

 

By Alta Halverson Seymour

5 Stars

Historical Fiction

Children’s/Young Adult

I got a copy of this book through school before I was a teenager. I’m not sure if my copy survived all my changes of address. I had it in my personal library for many years. I am of Dutch decent and that is one of the main reasons I was interested in the story. The events are real. My parents, I believe, moved to Canada just before this happened. The flooding did not reach the areas where my family is from.

The story revolves around the van Rossem family. The family wakes up to find their house flooding. They are rescued but some members of the family get separated from the rest of the family. The story outlines the family’s ordeal.

Loved the book. Read it several times, even though I know how the story goes.

The Guns of Navarone

 

By Alistair MacLean

5 Stars

Action/Adventure/Suspense

Adult

Keith Mallory has been chosen to lead a small team of commandos to destroy an impossible target in an effort to clear the way for the Navy to rescue more than a thousand soldiers who are in peril. His team includes Dusty Miller, an explosives and sabotage expert, Casey Brown, an engineer, Andy Stevens, a mountain climber like Mallory, and Andrea, a seemingly indestructible Greek soldier who seems to get bigger and stronger as the story unfolds.

They encounter setbacks and obstacles at every turn. Physical barriers, enemy soldiers, and enemy spies. The author beats the crap out of his protagonists. Once it gets going, the book is a page-turner and is very hard to put down. For me, this is a reread. I read it when I was in high school. Now I have my own private copy for my personal library. 

This book made me a fan of Alistair MacLean. I would happily read all his books if I had the time. This one comes highly recommended.

Needful Things

By Stephen King
2 Stars
Horror/Suspense
Adult

I hear that Stephen King is a better writer than this book would seem to indicate. I’m not into horror, and this book gives me no desire to seek out any more of his work. I got the book from a thrift store for next to nothing, because I wanted to see how he writes. I was disappointed.

There is a scene where he rips off Edgar Allan Poe. Okay, I’m sure he did that as some kind of tribute, and maybe that makes it all right. Meh. Every single English literature and creative writing professor I ever had would have crucified me for doing something like that.

Second, he would throw in random sexual references in at least one scene where that was unnecessary unless you wanted to add some interest to a scene that really wasn’t very good. I understand the technique, and I don’t view it as a mark of good writing.

The climactic scene required a leap in logic. I’m not ashamed to say that I did not see that coming. I did not feel smarter after reading that.

That being said, I did read the whole thing, which means the writing was not completely atrocious. Stephen King fans seem to like it. I don’t feel any guilt about rating it a two. I usually don’t review or rate anything less than three, but I think Mr. King is tough and can take it.

His Majesty's Yankees

 By Thomas H. Raddall

5 stars

Adventure/Historical Fiction

Adult

This book sat apparently untouched in my parents' library while I was growing up. In my teens, I decided to pull it out and read it. I’m not sure anyone else in my family ever did. The book turned out to be far better than I was expecting. Someone in my family still has the family copy of this. I don't know who, but I suspect someone. No worries, I hope it gets read by many. My daughter did find me my own copy in a local used book store. A nice little surprise.

The book is set in the maritime provinces of Canada, mainly Nova Scotia, during the American Revolution. The main character is David Strange, the youngest member of his family, and the story revolves around him and his family. The family is torn between loyalty to Britain and loyalty to the cause of their fellow colonists. The research on the history in this book is superb, and the story is memorable enough. I read the story about forty-five years ago and remember it well enough to review it without having to find a copy and reread it. The rebel assault on Fort Cumberland is particularly well written. I have visited the site and have written an article on this site that might be of interest. Fort Beausejour/Fort Cumberland

This book did win the Governor General’s Award when it was published, and if you can get access to a copy and Canadian history is something that interests you, this book should be well worth your while.

The Silent Corner

By Dean Koontz
5 Stars
Action/Adventure/Suspense
Adult

In my opinion, this is one of Dean Koontz’s best. I wish I’d discovered his work sooner.

The heroine is Jane Hawk. She is an FBI agent who goes rogue. Her husband committed suicide under questionable circumstances. When she digs into the case, she is warned off, and she and her son are threatened. She goes on leave, hides her son somewhere safe, and continues her investigation underground. What she finds is chilling. The bad guys are truly evil. As usual, I will not give away the story. This is the beginning of a series, so while the ending is satisfying, there are things left unresolved for the next saga in the series. I’m truly tempted to devour the whole rest of the series before I read anything else, but that will work at cross purposes to why I’m reading these books in the first place.

The writing is, of course, excellent. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. I was not tempted to flip ahead in the book because I didn’t want to miss anything. I also didn’t want to put it down. At the beginning of the book, you will spend most of your time in Jane’s head. There is what felt like a head hop at one point, but I didn’t find it very confusing. I also felt that one of the helper characters didn’t acquit himself quite as well as I expected from the buildup. These are minor quibbles that didn’t really bother my enjoyment of the book at all.

Great read. Highly recommended.

The Triumph of the Sun

 

By Wilbur Smith
4 Stars
Action/Adventure/Suspense
Adult

This book was given to me by a family friend. I had not heard of this particular author beforehand. Before I get into the review, I will advise any of my readers that this book contains a lot of graphic violence and graphic sex scenes. I would label the sex scenes as erotic (by my own definition) in nature. I would not go so far as to call them porno/smut. I did not know that going in. I would not have read it knowing that.

The main characters are Rebecca Benbrook: young, beautiful, intelligent, and responsible beyond her years; however, when it comes to men, she’s naive and stupid. Penrod Balantyne: young soldier, courageous, dashing, handsome, but he’s a man-whore. Emir Osman Atalan: the main villain, courageous, handsome, intelligent, absolutely ruthless. There are four more characters of slightly lesser importance that I will mention. Ryder Courtney: a merchant, courageous, handsome, intelligent, rich, but a little bit boring. The twins Saffron and Amber Benbrook are younger sisters. They mature through the course of the book. Finally, the Mahdi: a religious leader who unites the warring tribes of Sudan in rebellion. There are many other important characters throughout the book, but everything revolves around the ones I’ve mentioned. 

The book begins with the siege of Khartoum in 1884 and flows from there. This book is very well written. The descriptions were excellent, although in a few places near the beginning, I felt they dragged a bit. Maybe I’m just an impatient reader, but I did have to fight the urge to skip ahead through some of it. After one of the sex scenes, I wasn’t far from putting it down and not picking it back up. Everything you would expect in a well-written novel was there, though. The characters were complex and, for the most part, believable. The action scenes were riveting. There was foreshadowing, symbolism, and parallels, and it all made sense. I found the climax a little predictable, but the ending was satisfying. My star deduction in the rating is based on the writing itself, not the graphic depictions that some may disapprove of. Some people enjoy that in a book.

One small thing baffles me. There is a minor character toward the end of the book that is a part of a family where all the men are handsome and the women beautiful, but for some reason, it’s pointed out a couple of times that he is butt-ugly. It stood out so starkly, and I’m not sure why the author did that.