Great Escapes #1

A Death in Vienna, by Daniel Silva

Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and sometime Israeli secret agent, is in Venice working on a Bellini alterpiece when he is summoned to a meeting with Ari Shamron. You’ll recall that Shamron is the retired head of Israeli Intelligence but still pretty much runs things. There has been a bombing in Vienna and Eli Lavon, the head of the small office of Wartime Claims and Inquiries, has been killed. Gabriel is usually reluctant to take on assignments for Shamron but Eli was an old friend so he is eager to find out why he was murdered. When he gets to Vienna he is contacted by Max Klein, who feels responsible for Eli’s death. Max had confided to Eli that he had recognized a Nazi war criminal, now the father of the leading candidate in the election to lead Austria. When Eli started to look into Max’s claim, he was murdered. Are the two events related? Gabriel’s investigation will lead him to confront events of the past on a broad tapestry and also on a personal level as he discovers what happened to his mother during World War II. The author has stated that this novel is the concluding volume of his series dealing with the events of the Holocaust. I’ve enjoyed all of the books immensely and I hope Gabriel Allon will return.

Odd Thomas, by Dean Koontz

Odd Thomas is indeed odd—he can see dead people. He lives in the small California town of Pico Mundo and works as a fry cook in a restaurant. From time to time dead people appear to him. They are unable to speak and are troubled about something, which has prevented them from moving on to the next life. In addition to the dead people, Odd is also able to see mysterious, ghostly creatures he calls bodachs. These bodachs show up when something bad is about to happen—usually one or two of them. Now, however, hundreds of them have come to town and Odd is worried that something very bad is in the works. He also senses that a strange man who has come into the restaurant is involved in something evil. Can Odd, with a little help from Elvis (who has not left the building yet), figure out what’s going to happen and somehow prevent it? This was good, with a nice twist at the end, but I wish it had been written with a little more Dean Koontz and a little less Stephen King.

Reckless Abandon, by Stuart Woods

Oh, to be Stone Barrington, the ex-cop New York lawyer. Dining most nights at Elaine’s, a big, lovely townhouse in Turtle Bay, a getaway cottage in Connecticut, a private plane, and at least one beautiful woman throwing herself at him at any given time. Of course, he is also routinely attacked with knives and clubs, shot at, abducted, rammed while driving his Mercedes, not to mention thrown overboard in the middle of the ocean and left to drown. So, there is a downside. Still… Stone’s latest adventure finds him keeping company with Holly Barker, the police chief of Orchid Beach, Florida. Holly met Stone by accident when he witnessed her fiance’s murder in a bank robbery about a year ago. Now, she’s in New York hunting Trini Rodriguez, a vicious man who killed fourteen people in her town and is hiding out in the city. She’s got a tall assignment finding the man because he’s a member of the Florida mob and has plenty of connections and he’s also being protected by the FBI—don’t ask why. Holly is determined and she's not about to stop until she gets her man. Or men—if you count Stone! It’s usually a lot of fun when an author brings together characters from two different series and that’s the case here—a nice, enjoyable read.

I’ve enjoyed Mr. Cussler’s Dirk Pitt series of adventure/suspense novels and he has developed a second series featuring a character called Kurt Austin. Like Pitt, Austin also works for NUMA, the National Underwater and Marine Agency. And, like Pitt, he is single, dashing, wisecracking, fearless, and lives in the Washington DC area. Austin is younger than Pitt and collects antique guns rather than antique automobiles but other than that they seem pretty interchangeable. The action in this novel starts with Austin and his colleague, Joe Zavala, being summoned to rescue the captain and several crew members of a ship that sunk as a result of a collision with another ship. They are still alive due to an air pocket but time is rapidly running out. Kurt and Joe successfully rescue the crew members using a new underwater device that they helped develop following the Russian submarine disaster. After the rescue, Kurt starts investigating what caused the collision and discovers that it wasn’t an accident but a deliberate attempt to discredit an environmental group by a shadowy, sinister company. This company is involved in massive fish farming and genetically altering fish and is poised to decimate certain ocean fish fields with its altered fish, cornering the market as a result. But, not so fast! Like Pitt, Austin is nothing if not persistent. Despite being nearly blown up and stabbed-- among other things--he is determined to prevent the marine disaster. This was an enjoyable read with some interesting flashbacks to past events, including a great cameo by a German Nazi zeppelin airship that was lost in the Arctic. If you haven’t discovered this series yet, this book serves as a good introduction.