Burn by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

"Burn" by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge. This book is published by Random House in 2014 and has 368 pages. This is the seventh book of Michael Bennett series and the first I read.

Michael Bennett is a FBI agent from major crimes division. He is forced into witness protection when his friend, a fellow FBI agent is brutally taped and murdered. He has ten adopted children and their governess Merry Catherine. His wife is dead.

After coming out of witness protection he is assigned to head a squad to help the most needy, a political idea. It's kind of a demotion. Here he meets a rag tag bunch of subordinates. One of his subordinates is murdered. Suddenly biological father of one of his daughter surfaces. Michael lands himself in three cases simultaneously, one of which is high profile.

What is the strange case? Who is murdered? Who is the man claiming to be father of his daughter? What about high profile diamond heists?

Author has used easy narration style. The pace of story is not forced, it's natural flow. Characters of Michael & Merry are portrayed as responsible, caring and silently in love.

Considering the length of the book, has the author stuffed it with to many cases (three)? Probably! But since the cases converge eventually, it's OK.

Elaborate plans of diamond heists to mask something else seems far fetched. It is not properly justified. The very end seemed abrupt and a bit of anti climax.

Although this is the seventh book of the series, you don't feel inadequate or at a loss even if you have not read the previous six books. Credit to the author.

A good book. Read if you have time.

Saving Faith by David Baldacci

"Saving Faith" by David Baldacci. This book is published by Pan Books in 2003 and has 453 pages.

Saving Faith is an interesting name. And it's neither about philosophy nor about spirituality. It's a thriller and 'Faith' is name of the female protagonist.

Danny Buchanan is a lobbyist in Washington DC. Over a period of time he develops empathy towards poor children in Africa and starts to use his money for them and use his lobbying to get grants for Africa. Being a lobbyist he regularly bribes lawmakers. Faith Lockhart is his partner and is like a daughter to Danny. Faith decides to expose Danny to FBI. Someone tries to kill her but she is saved by Lee Adams, a private detective, by chance.

Why does Faith go to FBI?  Why does she betray Danny, who is like a father? Who tries to kill her? How does Lee happen to be there? Why CIA is involved? Can they save Faith? How long?

The book is gripping. Although it's a thriller, it's not action packed. The story takes place in America circa 2003. The book contains corruption, good cops, good and bad politicians, traitors, chases, love, deceptions, betrayal and solidarity

Can a person in America hide from FBI & CIA at the same time? Looks impossible isn't it? Read the book to know more.

It is surprising to read that the secret audio and video recording was done on tapes rather than hard disks and that it was done locally and not remotely. Sophisticated agencies would not be using that in 2003.

The trick used by the protagonists towards end to win the final battle seems relatively elementary. One wonders why the villain can not foresee it.

Narration is decent. One does not sit on the edge of his chair but does not get bored either. Character of Danny is a unique one and everyone would like to meet such a man in real life. But does such a man exist?

A good book. Read if you have time.

A wanted man by Lee Chil

"A wanted man" by Lee Child. This book won "National Book Award" (An award for British writers) in 'Thriller and crime novel' category in 2012. More than a million copies of this novel have been sold.

This is the 17th book of Jack Reacher series but the first one I read. Jack, the protagonist, is ex-military police.

A man is murdered by two men. There is a eye witness. County sheriff starts the investigation. Soon FBI special agent Jessica Sorenson takes over the investigation. State department and CIA are also interested. Hunt for the killers begins. Eye witness goes missing.

Jack Reacher, a huge ex army police investigator, hitches a ride with 2 men and a women, who claim to be a team working together. Jacks finds discrepancies in their statements, that a common man would have easily missed. The women in the car communicates to Jack by blinking eyes while other two are asleep (don't know why she does not simply mouth the words) and tells him that the two men have hijacked her car.

Who are the two men? Who is the murdered man? What is the motive? These two guys seem to be resourceful, how come? Can FBI track them? What role does Jack play?

Lee Child has displayed amazing power of deduction. Identifying inconsistencies and drawing conclusions has been shown as Jack Reacher's forte. A lot of time is spent traveling on straight roads in the american dessert. Not much happens for long stretches of time in the book but you still do not get bored. Readers are hooked to the story. This, I think, is the key to success of this book.

The climax was supposed to be full of action, but turns our to be a low key affair.

Read if you have time. It's also OK to give it a miss.

Act of terror by Marc Cameron

"Act of terror", a novel by Marc Cameron. This is his 2nd book after 'National Security'.

America faces strange attacks. The attacks are perpetrated by seemingly American citizens having no link to terrorism and working in reputed institutes like Airforce, FBI, CIA etc.

Who are these people? Why are they doing this? What has it to with an orphanage at Tajikistan -Afganistan border? Who is behind this? Will America survive?

Jericho Quinn is tasked to find out. There is an attempt on the life of his daughter and ex-wife. A new character of Veronica Garcia, an American with Cuban mother and Russian father, is introduced. There is a hint of romance between them at the end.

Story takes place in USA, China, Tajikistan and Afganistan. This book also has motorcycle chases. In the climax Quinn jumps from a chopper riding bike. Little too far fetched.

Pace of story is not uniform. Reader tends to loose interest a couple of times. Although the book is not bad, the raised expectations after first book, are not fulfilled.

The racketeer by John Grisham

"The Racketeer" a novel by John Grisham.

Grisham is well known for his legal thrillers. This one is a borderline legal thriller. It has no court room drama.

Malcom Bannister, a black lawyer and ex marine, is sentenced for 10 yrs for money laundering. He claims to be innocent, his only fault being choosing wrong client.
A fedral judge is murdered with his girlfriend. His locker opened. Why was the judge killed? Banister may or may not have some vital info about the murder and killer.

Does the FBI get the info from Banister? What is the price? Is the murderer found? Who is the racketeer?

The story takes place in America and Carrebien. The pace is good, although it slows down in a couple of places. Writing style of this book seemed to be different from the previous Grisham books. Moreover this book is written in present tense (but not continuous present), which is a novelty.

There is a big twist to the story towards end that I did not see coming. It changes all the equations.                      

Its a good change from hard core Grisham legal thrillers. Although this book is not in the same league as 'The runaway jury' its a good one. If you don't like legal thrillers but would still like to read John Grisham, this is your book.