Murder At The Opera

See, I told you it takes forever for me to read a book anymore! I just finished the book "Murder at the Opera" by Margaret Truman. This is the next book in our ward's book club. I have no idea who recommended it, but I think Margaret Truman is the daughter of Pres. Harry Truman. Anyway, I wasn't really impressed with the book to be honest. There were some things I guessed (which I can never do correctly with an Agatha Christie), and it just wasn't all that suspenseful.

I suppose the purpose of a book club is to get you to read things you woudn't normally read, so that was accomplished. I just think there are too many good murder/mystery authors out there to waste your time with a mediocre one.

The next book on the ward book club list is "The Last Lecture", which I've already read, so I think I'm going to read something else now! Trouble is, there are too many options. But I need to read something I can recommend to others, so I think I'll read "The Art of Happiness" by the Dalai Lama. Hopefully it won't take me a month, but it may!

The Lion's Game

I finished Octavian Nothing early last month, so I thought I'd squeeze in a Nelson DeMille before I started on the next book. Usually these only take me a few days because they're quick reads and captivating. Not anymore! With a new baby it took me forever to read! I think it was about a month and it should have taken a week. Oh well! Now I know. I will definitely not finish A Tree Grows in Brooklyn before book club, but I can try.

This book was written in 2000 and is about a mideastern terrorist who kills over 300 people on a plane. Kind of scary that Nelson DeMille wasn't that far off. Obviously 9-11 killed over 3000 people, but the fact that planes were involved indicates to me that it was known our airlines weren't that safe from terrorists and that they could easily use them.

That aside, it's a book with a recurring character, John Corey, an NYPD dectective that now works for an anti-terrorist organization of the government. Corey is a crass male chauvinist, but it works and you like him for it. For a Nelson DeMille, this book didn't have too much language or sex. They can get pretty explicit sometimes, but this one was good.

I enjoy the mystery and the chase, but this book was slow for me, not just because of Jack, but I think it was because of the writing. DeMille usually keeps the books from Corey's perspective (written in first person), but in this book each chapter went back and forth betweent the terrorist in first person and Corey. I don't think it worked as well. There are other Corey books I have enjoyed more.

So, I won't ruin the story for you by telling you how it ends, but I will say this: if the CIA is anything like its portrayed in this book, I don't trust them and don't think they should get away with the things they do. Let's just leave it at that!