What I'm Reading Now

Although Cornwell's last few novels haven't been as good as the earlier ones, I'm too attached to the characters to give up on them now.

F

"Bestseller Cornwell's solid 17th thriller to feature Dr. Kay Scarpetta (after Scarpetta) finds Scarpetta—who's the senior forensic analyst for CNN—probing the murder of a Central Park jogger as well as looking into the disappearance of Hannah Starr, a wealthy financial planner. Quizzed on-air about previously undisclosed details of the perplexing Starr case, Scarpetta realizes that the tentacles of the case reach further than she imagined. Her niece, forensic computer whiz Lucy Farinelli, has her own reasons for digging into Starr's disappearance, along with Lucy's girlfriend, New York County ADA Jaime Berger. NYPD Det. Pete Marino, another series staple, is also in the loop as a member of Berger's task force. But it's the dark past of Scarpetta's psychologist husband, Benton Wesley—particularly his presumed death in Point of Origin and shocking reappearance five years later in Blow Fly—that binds the disparate pieces together and make this one of Cornwell's stronger recent efforts." --Publishers Weekly

What I'm Reading Now

I LOVE this series:

In the #1 New York Times bestseller Moscow Rules, Gabriel Allon brought down the most dangerous man in the world. But he made one mistake. Leaving him alive…

Over the course of a brilliant career, Daniel Silva has established himself as the “gold standard” of thriller writers (Dallas Morning News), a “master writer of espionage and intrigue” (The Cincinnati Enquirer), and the creator of “some of the most exciting spy fiction since Ian Fleming put down his martini and invented James Bond” (Rocky Mountain News). Now Silva takes that fiction—and his hero, the enigmatic art restorer and assassin Gabriel Allon—to a whole new level, delivering a riveting tale of vengeance that entertains as well as enlightens.

Six months after the dramatic conclusion of Moscow Rules, Gabriel has returned to the tan hills of Umbria to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, and restore a seventeenth-century altarpiece for the Vatican. But his idyllic world is once again thrown into turmoil with shocking news from London. The defector and former Russian intelligence officer Grigori Bulganov, who saved Gabriel’s life in Moscow, has vanished without a trace. British intelligence is sure he was a double agent all along, but Gabriel knows better. He also knows he made a promise.

Do you know what we do with traitors, Gabriel? Many things have changed in Russia since the fall of Communism. But the punishment for betrayal remains the same. Promise me one thing, Gabriel. Promise me I won't end up in an unmarked grave.

In the days to come, Gabriel and his team of operatives will find themselves in a deadly duel of nerve and wits with one of the world's most ruthless men: the murderous Russian oligarch and arms dealer Ivan Kharkov. It will take him from a quiet mews in London, to the shores of Lake Como, to the glittering streets of Geneva and Zurich, and, finally, to a heart-stopping climax in the snowbound birch forests of Russia. Faced with the prospect of losing the one thing he holds most dear, Gabriel will be tested in ways he never imagined possible. And his life will never be the same.

Filled with breathtaking turns of plot and sophisticated prose, and populated by a remarkable cast of characters, The Defector is more than the most explosive thriller of the year. It is a searing tale of love, vengeance and courage created by the writer whom the critics call "the perfect guide to the dangerous forces shaping our world" (Orlando Sentinel). And it is Daniel Silva's finest novel yet.

Serial Reading

I love books that come in series. It’s fun to follow a character, or even a whole community of characters, through the years, to see them change, grow, and age. I wait and watch for the author’s next release, like anticipating a visit from an old friend.

I guess the two I’ve been following the longest are Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta and Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon. These series are very different from each other, but both are based around a character who fascinates me.

One great thing about a series is that, unless the author abandons the character (which can seem like a death in the family to faithful readers), you’ve always got another read lined up, even if you have to wait for it.

But it’s fun too, to discover a series that’s already been written, or is at least well on its way. Then you can have a marathon reading session, buying them all at once and reading them straight through.

There are a couple of series that I’m planning on reading this way, in the distant, after-dissertation future. One is Alexander McCall Smith’s Ladies Detective Agency, which has been recommended to me several times over the last couple of years by readers whose opinions I respect. Another is the (gasp) Harry Potter books. I know. I’m so out of touch. I may even read the Twilight series—not so much because I’m fascinated by teenagers and vampires but because of the impact these books have made on young readers, many of whom I’ll probably have in future classes.

Any suggestions for other series that I should check out?