Review: The Sins of the Father

The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It would be injustice to give this book less than stars. Continuing with the Clifton family saga, the book gets more interesting with the second volume. More twists and turns with a liberal sprinkling of adventure, this is a delightful story from Archer, the master story-teller. I finished this in a marathon reading session over two days flat, my shortest time yet in a long while. It was so engrossing that you constantly want to know what happens in the next page.

Can't wait to get my hands on the third volume.

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Review: The Point of a Gun

The Point of a Gun by Steven W. Kohlhagen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The plot is about a mole in the top echelons of USA's national security team, one of the five teams reporting to the President, who conducts extra-judicial killings of terrorists and anti-social elements posing a threat to the national security, a la vigilante style along with a team. The whole book is about finding out who the secret spy is and the motive behind the killings. The climax is predictable and more than half-way through the book, the identity becomes almost apparent.

The plot is decent although it becomes a bit of a drag at places when the characters keep on guessing about the unknown mole in their midst. The instances where the vigilantes embark on their missions (which is a bit too many) is interesting. However, I felt that number of these missions could have been curtailed and the length of the book could have been reduced. At some places, I felt it could have been edited better.

Cannot say that this is one of the best thrillers read.

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Review: The Diamond Magnates

The Diamond Magnates by Brian Roberts
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had to stop midway through the book in a really long time. This was not what I expected. The title of the book conjures up images of diamond barons (De Beers, Oppenheimers et al) and their detailed history as to how they came to establish billion dollar businesses. But here the author gives a detailed history of early diamond merchants namely three of them J B Robinson, Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato (nope, never heard of them) who were prominent South African figures in the late 1800s and early 1900s and how they had established their businesses through sheer hard work and determination. While the author's research efforts are definitely good, I am really not interested if the content and expectations do not match.

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Review: A Blind Eye

A Blind Eye by Jane Gorman
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

A very mediocre book which I did not enjoy at all. There was no real plot to speak of. After about 150 pages, I was so bored that I wanted to stop midway. Finally managed to complete this. The plot is about an American officer who is sent on a goodwill mission to Poland. He gets involved in the investigation of murder of a woman who happens to be his cousin's daughter.

The drab setting does not help garner interest. The plot is very superficial with absolutely no thrill element although marketed as a thriller. Avoidable.

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