BOOK PLEDGE UPDATE - VALPOT'S 41 - 45

Valpot read the following books recently - here's what she has to say about them:


41. The Partner - John Grisham
Better written than other books of his that I've read (much less waffle and padding), nonetheless I felt the plot of this story was too thin (and predictable) for a full length novel. The final twist, apart from the routiness of it, didn't fit well with his depiction of the character involved. It was an obvious cheat. Having said that, well, it's readable.
Rating: Half-way Decent

42. Blood-Drenched Altars
This is a history of Mexico, particularly how advanced a country it was prior to the series of revolutions and Marxist governments which destroyed it. And continue to do so to this day, although the book - disappointingly - only went up to 1930. Very interesting.
Rating: Interesting

43. The Boy in Striped Pyjamas
Wonderful, fantastic, amazing, book of the year - not. I had reservations about this book because of all the hype, and the fact that the author said he wouldn't dare write a story from the point of view of a Jew in a concentration camp. Unfortunately, for me anyway, the "voice" of the book was not genuine, the protagonist was unconvincing as were his family, and what could have been a very moving book was too false and self-conscious to be readable.
Rating: Almost Darren Shan


44. Demon Seed
I saw the film and thought it was very 70's, and not much good. Dean Koontz practically re-wrote this book a few years ago - I'd imagine it was a great improvement on the first. It's (was) an original idea, and the computer as narrator is very chilling.
Rating: Not Bad

45. When Eight Bells Toll
Haven't read this Alastair McLean for a while. It's a well-written thriller, although you have to laugh at the 35 year-old actress with the face of an eighty-year-old. Formula McLean but enjoyable.
Rating: Not Bad.