The Hollow, Connelly - A*

       It has been nine years since Harry Bosch was the lead character in a novel. Michael Connelly has published eleven novels since. As Harry is deep in his seventies, has a new knee, and, I believe, cancer, it's hard to envision many more in the future. Thus, a well-deserved lifetime award for this series and all of Connelly's contributions over the decades. Remarkable.

       Harry works two cold cases, one going back to his days in a juvenile home described as a prison, and the other a quarter-century-old cold case murder with Ballard. The murder case is straightforward, but the sixty-year-old one is fascinating. The fella he suspects was behind the murder of one of his friends is now an international arms-dealing psychopath. Harry works with the Feds, but only for a while. In addition to the usual excellent police procedural, there are some interesting legal twists and turns. Another tour de force.

The Cauldron: The Making Of The Modern Middle East, Montefiore - B

        "The Middle East is an arc of territory that extends from Morocco's Atlantic coast to the Persian Gulf." The "gritty and gnarly realities of geography" are as vivid and critical today as they have been for millennia. This history starts in the early 20th century, when almost all of the Muslim world was part of occupying empires. Indeed, only Morocco, Persia, and Saudi Arabia were independent.

       The British occupied Egypt in 1900 to secure their access to the Suez Canal. Its connection to the Raj became paramount to its foreign policy for the next five decades. In 1908, in northwestern Iran, an event took place that would transform the Middle East forever. An English company found oil. The First World War started well for the Ottomans, but soon turned, and defeat was at every turn. In late 1917, the UK announced its support for "a Jewish home in Palestine." At war's end, almost all of Arabia was a British Mandate. Peace did not stop the internecine fighting in the crumbling empire.

        Perhaps the most important post-war event was Kemal's consolidation of Turkey. He defeated the Greeks and eliminated them from Asia Minor, and quashed further discussions of Armenian and Kurdish states. He abolished the Sultanate and created the Turkish Republic. The only other actor of the decade to accomplish as much was Reza Khan, who led a coup to take over the failing Persian state. He was soon made Shah. One observer who was very concerned about a godless soldier assuming the title was a twenty-three-year-old seminarian, Ruhollah Khomeini.

       During the Second World War, the Arabs preferred Germany as a way to escape British and French imperialism, and for its anti-Jewish policies. Ironically, German repression increased the number of Jews emigrating to Palestine. The Jews supported Britain, the Arabs plotted and planned, Rommel came very close to reaching Cairo, and Iran was occupied by Britain and the USSR.

        Stalin ignored his Yalta promises and demanded to stay in Iran and further insisted that Turkey allow him access to the Straits. Both gambits failed, and Turkey joined NATO. The British reversed their position on a Jewish homeland, offered one to the Arabs, and barred Jewish immigration. The UN tried to negotiate a compromise in Palestine, failed, and the Zionists successfully defended their new homeland, which they named Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Jews either left their Arab countries or were forced to emigrate to Israel.

        The post-war West wished to keep both Egypt and Iran, the two largest and most powerful Muslim nations, away from the Soviets. A military coup in Egypt exiled the king, and Nasser assumed control. A few years later, he upset the existing order by accepting Soviet MiGs from Czechoslovakia and nationalizing the Suez Canal. The French proposed that Israel invade the Sinai and that the British and French would intervene and recover the Canal. Eisenhower disapproved, quashed the arrangement, and the Israelis withdrew from the Sinai. A decade later, in 1967, Nasser mobilized his armed forces, and the Israelis preemptively attacked and defeated the Arabs in the Six-Day War. Nasser died three years later. His inner circle said he died in June 1967, as he was shattered by the crushing defeat inflicted by Israel. From that point on, the US enthusiastically supported Israel, a fellow democracy and anti-Soviet bastion. Six years later, Sadat thought he could force a peace by crossing the canal into the Sinai. His initial surprise attack was successful but quickly repelled. In 1978, Sadat and Begin signed the Camp David Accords, settling matters between the two nations.

         Nineteen fifty-three saw the Shah eliminate a populist prime minister with CIA help. In 1967, he announced himself King of Kings. Four years later, he held a 2,500th-anniversary party celebrating the founding of the Persian Empire. It was extraordinarily extravagant by anyone's standards and offended the country's religious and poor. Iran's oil revenue quadrupled during the 1970s, but his reforms destabilized the nobility, and industrialization sent millions to the cities. Discontent roiled the country while Khomeini watched from afar. Tensions increased, and the very ill Shah left Iran in January 1979. The following month, Khomeini returned, and the Islamists took over the country. Their revolution was "a world-changing epochal moment" as significant as those of 1789 and 1917. "Islamic religious extremism was unleashed across the region." The executions began, and it is believed the mullahs killed 100,000 people in their first year. In November, they captured the US embassy and murdered the faithful in Mecca. Two years later, Iraq invaded Iran. The long-drawn-out war was a stalemate.

         The troublesome Saddam decided to invade Kuwait in 1990. The US sent troops to Saudi Arabia, which, among other things, confirmed in the mind of the al-Qaeda leader, bin Laden, that jihad must be pursued against the secular Arabs and the American-led Crusader alliance. The following January, the US-led coalition destroyed the Iraqi armed forces. Nonetheless, the never-ending bickering, quarreling, and killing continued in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Oman, and Iran. The al-Qaeda attacks of September 11th changed the Middle East and the world. The US declared a war on terror, took down the Taliban, and chased bin Laden from Afghanistan. Bush somehow equated Iraq with 9/11 and destroyed its armed forces in 2003. The ensuing occupation was a cataclysmic failure as a fierce counterinsurgency pushed back. It was led by the Iranians. They organized the Quds forces "to orchestrate clandestine warfare, political control, secret espionage and special tasks across Muslim lands, based on the doctrine that Iran would defend itself in Arab states with Arab blood." They backed Hezbollah's further destruction of Lebanon and endless bloodshed in Gaza.

       Netanyahu aggressively diminished the status of the residents in the West Bank and Gaza while the US was encouraging the Israelis and Saudis to come to terms. Quds trained Palestinians for an attack in 2023, and on October 7th, the Palestinians fired 4,300 missiles and invaded with 7,000 men. The next day, Hezbollah launched missiles from Lebanon. Israel suffered its greatest losses in its history and retaliated for much longer than ever before. Because the Arab losses were much greater than the Israeli losses, Hamas won the international public relations battle. After a failed Iranian drone attack, Israel responded by defeating Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon. In 2025, when the nuclear inspectors reported that Iran was three weeks away from having nine bombs, the US and Israel attacked. After the destruction heaped upon the country, the economy nearly collapsed, and the people took to the streets. The mullahs killed more people in a few days in January than the Shah did in four decades. Israel and the US attacked in February, and Iran responded throughout the region. "The cauldron churned and the flames blazed."

        "The Middle East continues to be a region where the sword decides who rules and where people measure themselves by the virtues of battle." Some solution to the incredible complexities of the region lies in the hands of its mightiest powers: Turkey, Israel, and Iran. It is Iran, though, that is the linchpin and most complicated player. The author believes it will ultimately collapse from within. "Revolutions seem impossible before they happen, and inevitable after," once said Hannah Arendt. Hopefully, since the vast, vast majority of people in the region simply wish for peace, freedom, education, and prosperity, they will eventually prevail over the extremists throughout the Middle East.

         I have read a few of Montefiore's books, and I do not think this is his best work. Nonetheless, it has been highly acclaimed by the professional reviewers. He casts his net wide, far and wide, citing endless tiresome plots by tribal misfits, absurd quarrels, and pointless assassinations. I am reminded of a taunt made by T.E. Lawrence to Prince Ali in the film Lawrence of Arabia: "So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people, greedy, barbarous, and cruel." Perhaps it's just a line written by a screenwriter, but it certainly describes much of what this book has been about. That said, they did not attack Israel for half a century until the mullahs funded and provoked the 2023 war. Clearly, any hope for the future requires the end of hate and extremism in Iran.

Redwood: The Untold Story Of The Cold War's Most Extraordinary Spy, Macintyre - B-

         In 1981, a KGB agent came to the aid the West because he was seeking medical help for ED. He offered information on a potential communist coup in Iran that would allow the Soviets to occupy the country and control the Persian Sea. This had been the highest U.S. concern in the region since WWII.

         Vladimir Kuzichkin was born in 1947, attended a privileged university where he studied Iran and Farsi, and was admitted to the security services. His future counterpart was Oxford-educated Ian McCredie.

         In Tehran, the KGB, CIA, MI6, and SAVAK were all spying on each other. While focusing on the new Great Game, all of the agencies missed the rumblings that led to the Iranian Revolution. One of the few who saw it coming was Kuzichkin, who was also becoming disgruntled with the USSR's moral failures. As Iran fell into unimaginable chaos, McCredie was finishing up years of training to go there. He was finally dispatched to Tehran in 1981. Kuzichkin was struggling with his impotency, and the stress in his life escalated when his two best 'illegals' were arrested. In October, he walked into the British embassy and asked to defect. The case was assigned to McCredie. At their first meeting, Kuzichkin poured out 90 minutes of pure gold, information of considerable consequence, and then told McCredie about his impotence. MI6 provided him with a Minox camera for photographing documents, a supply of good vodka, and red pills that were no more than a placebo. The stress continued to wear him out, and his alcohol consumption was prolific.

         Although he provided a vast amount of information to MI6, it was the details of the Tudeh's plans to overthrow the government in a communist coup that garnered the most attention. Kuzichkin was becoming fearful, paranoid, and almost at the point of a breakdown, so the British decided to extract him. McCredie obtained a passport and arranged a pickup in Turkey. Kuzichkin drove over 500 miles in a Soviet diplomatic car, got out, and walked into Turkey. He was soon in London. After an extensive debriefing, he was resettled under an assumed name. The U.S. and Britain remained unsure of how the counterinsurgency in Afghanistan was progressing, and were very anxious about a communist coup in Iran. Thus, they flew Kuzichkin to Pakistan to meet with the Iranian security services. He provided them with extensive information about the personnel and plans of Tudeh. The ensuing crackdown killed hundreds, if not thousands, dismantled the communist party in Iran, and also dragged in innumerable left-leaning Iranians. Ironically, for the U.S. and the West, Kuzichkin's defection significantly strengthened the hand of the theocratic Iranian mullahs.

        As Alex Larkin and living in the South Downs, he became an acupuncturist,* married, and fathered a child. Drinking continued to destroy his life, and he died of a heart attack at 62. McCredie had a long and successful career at MI6. Clearly, not the author's best.

* Coincidentally, one of his patients was none other than Alec Guinness.

Chain Reaction, Child & Child - A*

         This is a lifetime achievement award for the series occasioned by decades of excellent entertainment. I recently did the same for Gabriel Allon. I'd love to also acknowledge Ian Rutledge, but I fear that series is over.

       In this the 31st in the series, a former Army colleague finds and reaches out to Reacher for assistance. She's now a Brigadier General running a secret investigative unit in the Army. It is characterized as the Army's FBI. Someone has killed one of her men, and she's concerned about a leak in her operation. She, Reacher, and her number two track down the bad guys to a Palo Alto law firm. The lawyer is a middleman, and his client sounds an awful lot like a younger and more evil Elon Musk. From Colorado to the Bay Area and back, the two sides do battle, but in the end—as always—Reacher triumphs. This should go down as one of the best Reachers of all time.

The Shock Of The Light, Hall - B

         The twins, Tessa and Theo, are born in England in 1916. Theo goes to Cambridge, Tessa to the Sorbonne; he to the RAF, her to the SOE. Tess's drop into France goes awry, but she survives. On her own, she finds a job on a farm until the Resistance finds her. She goes to work, but is soon captured and turned over to the Gestapo. No one in her family has any idea where she is or what she is doing. Theo is shot down on D-Day but survives and goes home to Oxford and his parents. After four years of flying Spitfires, his war is over. He goes to London to try and find out what happened to his sister. When he learns of the mission, he sets out for Paris. He lands a job with the security services and focuses on what happened to Tessa. He eventually learns that she likely died at Ravensbrück. The British government is embarrassed by the fact that it sent mostly unprepared, upper-class women to their deaths in France. Thirteen of the thirty-nine who parachuted in died. Tessa, because she was the only one to survive her drop, is thought to have been a traitor. Decades later, with the help of a young history doctoral candidate, the truth is found and Theo is overwhelmed with joy. Pretty good—plus, it thoroughly explores the role of twins in each other's lives and the overwhelming pain of losing the other

Quicksand: America's Pursuit Of Powere In The Middle East, Wawro - B++ Part II

Cont’d. from a September 26 post of Part One

        Like Johnson before him, Nixon was focused on Vietnam while the Soviets plotted and planned in the Middle East. The Nixon Doctrine said Iran, Israel, and Saudi Arabia were the pillars of US foreign policy in the region. The Saudis had more oil than anyone, and a military that could only be described as incompetent. The Shah readily agreed to the president's request for help, and in exchange became the principal buyer of Pentagon weapons in the world. The Israelis ignored the State Department's urgings for them to treat their recent conquests as temporary occupations. Armed with the latest Soviet equipment, Syria and Egypt attacked Israel in October 1973. As the IDF was totally unprepared, the Arabs were initially successful. However, very quickly, the Israelis rolled back the Arab gains as the US began an airlift larger than the one to Berlin in 1948. The Soviet naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean were on high alert, and the Kremlin was considering sending troops to Egypt and Syria. With the temperature rising and Nixon sidelined by Watergate, Kissinger and Dobrynin arranged a cease-fire. It was over, and in Egypt, Sadat began taking steps that would lead to the Camp David Accords.

         Because of Iran's vast oil reserves and long border with the USSR, American presidents considered it a critical ally during the Cold War. The US poured weapons into Iran as the Shah propelled the country into the modern era. But there were substantial undercurrents of opposition, particularly among religious leaders. Throughout the 1970s, the regime became more oppressive and out of touch with society. Its massive corruption and the Shah's over-the-top lifestyle were fodder for the revolutionaries. The US sought stability by relying on a regional strongman whose rule was very unsteady. A longtime State Department-Iraq hand predicted the Shah would "fold" and be "swept away because of his failure of will." The cancer-ridden Shah left Tehran in late 1978, and the Ayatollah arrived in February. The American foreign policy establishment was out of touch and watched as the Ayatollah concentrated power. The Iranians took over the American embassy after Carter let the Shah into the US and established loathing of the "Great Satan" as a national policy. The new Iran severed diplomatic relations with Egypt and Israel and began supporting the radicals in the Muslim world. US policies in the Middle East were a shambles.

         In April 1978, a Marxist party seized power in Afghanistan. The Sovietization of the country led to a vast "Islamic backlash." The US response was to support a Soviet-style Third World subversion. The Saudis poured billions into the insurgents' hands. The funds created an "endowed terrorism university graduating sixteen to eighteen thousand guerrillas" annually. The Soviets were overwhelmed and began to pull back in the mid-1980s. The Saudi Osama bin Laden was bored in Afghanistan and began to think about bringing jihad to Israel and America.

         Iraq invaded Iran in 1980, and the US enthusiastically backed Saddam a few years later. America later surreptitiously sent money and equipment to Iran, then backtracked as the war ended in 1988. Saddam was deeply in debt and very much despised the US. Struggling economically, Saddam decided to make mayhem in the Gulf and, in 1990, invaded Kuwait. The hawks in the Bush administration viewed it as a major crisis and the centrists as a manageable problem. The US was on the horns of a dilemma, and the Saudis refused to ask for help. When it was evident that Saddam intended to invade Saudi Arabia, Riyadh changed its mind. Bush organized an international coalition with the support of the US Congress. The aerial bombardment began, and a 100-hour ground war destroyed Iraq's armed forces, but did not proceed to Baghdad or remove Saddam. Returning Kuwait to its people and rulers still left Saddam as a festering problem for a decade plus. Primarily, it provided motivation to bin Laden. He deplored the fact that US troops were stationed in the country that was home to Mecca. He viewed it as a religious offense. As the US has frequently done, it analyzed issues strategically without considering local religious or political movements. Bin Laden built an extremist ideology that allowed the killing of innocents in direct contradiction to the Koran. He achieved his dreams on September 11, 2001.

         America responded by bombing the Taliban, his hosts in Afghanistan. Notwithstanding the number of bombs dropped, the US did not break the Taliban or find bin Laden. Rumsfeld dismissed any consideration of ground troops because he was already thinking about invading Iraq. Bin Laden and almost all of his senior lieutenants escaped to Pakistan. The US had completely mishandled its attempt to find bin Laden and decapitated the Afghan government.

         A year after September 11, the administration published the Bush Doctrine, stating that the US would topple totalitarian regimes, spread democracy, and preempt terrorist attacks. Iraq, with its 300 million barrels of oil reserves, became the US's prime target. Cheney and his team began to demonize Iraq and Saddam, even though most felt strongly that he had been contained and was no more than a nuisance. Those tasked with selling the war to the public disparaged and dismissed those opposed. If you weren't on board, you were gone, as groupthink prevailed. They believed a Western-friendly democratic Iraq would allow access to its oil and the construction of US bases and thus become a foundation for the US in the Gulf. It was the epitome of wishful thinking in lieu of a plan. Even Israel declared Saddam its only real concern. The Economist said Bush's war cabinet was "medieval inquisitors looking for witches." To make matters worse, Rumsfeld took the position that the US could occupy and govern a country with 25 million people, divided into conflicting religious minorities, with 160,000 men. The army knew it would take almost half of its worldwide strength to accomplish the administration's goals and that the US plan would lead to "chaos." Cheney said we "would be treated like liberators" after a "cakewalk."

         Operation Iraqi Freedom was an astounding military success. The US crushed the Iraqis and entered Baghdad in a matter of weeks. "The Saddam regime collapsed like a house of cards." A new government did not sprout up and welcome the Americans with open arms. The US removed all Baathists from government and disbanded the army. Thus, the most capable people in the country were out of work, with "few prospects beyond being paupers, criminals, or insurgents." There was a security vacuum, leading to multiple factions seeking their own narrow ends, and since there were arms everywhere, occupation troops came under fire. Outsiders, such as ISIS, entered the country, and the Kurds fought for their own freedom. The chaotic predictions of those opposed to the war came true. The Coalition Provisional Authority, tasked with putting the country back together, had no strategic plan and was understaffed with inexperienced people. The US turned to counterinsurgency as it now occupied a country in full revolt against it. Bush's final years in office saw him outsource the war to David Petraeus.

         "From the Balfour Declaration to the Bush Doctrine, the United States has struggled to find its stride in the Middle East. American strategy has been muddled and confused over the years because it has been addressed politically, not strategically." Every president since Truman has supported Israel, and the Jewish lobby has effectively wielded its power. "Modern European history and the Cold War explain many of America's problems in the Middle East." Policies in Germany sent hundreds of thousands of Jews to Palestine, and Soviet threats to the oil in the Gulf were considered a red line. The US has been faced with an insoluble and intractable conundrum—how to reconcile its politically motivated support for Israel and its, and Europe's, reliance on oil pumped by the cynical, corrupt, and imperious Saudis.

          For my money, this is a fabulous book. It is well-written, and it is incredibly detailed. Its premise in opposition to America's aggressive foreign policies resonates with me. Chest-thumping hubris without any local knowledge is foolish and dangerous. After all, Barack Obama said, "Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail."

Where The Road Ends, Freeman - B++

          In the twelfth, and apparently last in the series as it has been structured, the Duluth PD faces a plethora of crimes and challenges. On the way home from a party, and after a few drinks, Maggie shoots a burglar she thought was a murderer. It turns out he was unarmed and not the murderer. The DA wants to put her in jail. A very messy murder throws up too many unanswerable questions that bring into play the local crime lord. Related to both events is a high school girl missing for six years and trying desperately to communicate with anyone from her solitary captivity. The crime lord even goes after Stride. The author suggests that we will again see Jonathan, Serena, Maggie, and Cat, but gives no hint as to how, where, and when. One of the great series.

The Ghosts of The Mountains: Unraveling The Secrets of The Snow Leopard, Surywanshi - B

         This is the story of a recent study of the elusive cat that lives high in the Himalayas. The landscape at those elevations is snow, rock, and glaciers. The cat has perfect camouflage that allows it to disappear in the snow and rocks. It is the only large carnivore that lives exclusively at those altitudes. It has a long tail that helps it balance itself, and is capable of wrapping around the animal for warmth. Its paws have the same effect as snowshoes. The primary prey of the leopard is the blue sheep. Scientists from India studied the interaction of prey, predator and local livestock.The conclusion was that increasing the number of herbivore prey would enhance the sustainability of the snow leopard population, which is estimated at a few thousand. The precarious life of the leopard is threatened by climate change and human development, such as mining and road construction. Whether this extraordinary animal survives depends on the consequences of the two preceding human activities.

A Stranger In Corfu, Preston - B

         On Corfu in the mid-90s, a village that had been the Med HQ for Britain's security services is now a place of rest. Its guests range from young, recently wounded and recovering MI6 agents to old fossils too ditzy and filled with state secrets to be left unobserved. Nina, only 24 but already put through the hell of a six-month incarceration in Bosnia, is walking with one of the older fellas one day when shots ring out. A month later, a different long-term resident drowned under mysterious circumstances. Most of the seniors were recruited by Philby and were communist double agents. A few months later, another one of the old ones is dead—this time weighed down and drowned. London assures them there is no connection and that there is nothing to worry about. Then, another one is shot. Apparently, someone at HQ is clearing up and burying all of the old-era commies at the behest of their former KGB handler, who now has a shot at the Russian presidency. And Arkady's daughter with one of the Oxbridge recruits is the MI6 Chief, with a shot at PM or the Foreign Office.

        I find it fascinating that the English still write about Philby, the 1930s Oxbridge fascination with communism, and its always-ongoing consequences. The book excels at assessing old age and the reminiscences of things done well and those not.

Dr. Zhivago, Pasternak - B+

       Yuri Zhivago is ten years old when his mother dies and he is sent to the Gromeko's, family friends who raise him in Moscow. About the same time a widow moves to Moscow with her daughter Larissa. Mme. Guichard was beholden to and regularly bedded by her late husband's lawyer, Viktor Komarovsky. The sinister Komarovsky took advantage of Lara, who eventually tried to kill him. Yuri, a young physician and his wife Tonya are at the party where Lara shoots, but only slightly wounds, Viktor. Lara escapes to a position as a tutor and attends university. She meets and marries Pasha Antipov and moves to Yuriatin in the Urals to teach school. 

        In Moscow, Yuri works in a hospital as those wounded in the war flow in. That first autumn of war, Tonya gives birth to a son, and days later Yuri is sent to the front. In Yuriatin, Pasha enlists in the army, is commissioned as a lieutenant, goes to the Hungarian front, and disappears during the Brusilov offensive. Lara has been trained as a nurse, decides to go find him, and volunteers for the front. When Yuri is concussed by an explosion, Lara attends to him. She learns that Pasha is dead and she and Yuri fall in love, but never act on their feelings.

           Yuri's return home is disappointing after so many years away.  Moscow is a mess, his home is now shared, and they face endless privation. Yuri's half brother, Evgraf, a rising star in the party suggests they go to the family's country estate, Varykino . The trip to the Urals is long and troubling, but worth the effort. Varykino is in excellent condition, they can hunt, farm, and build a near normal life. Yuri finds work as a doctor. While visiting the local library, he sees Lara. They talk, slowly rekindle their feelings and eventually become lovers. Yuri is torn by his love of two very different woman. One day as he is returning to Varykino from Lara's, he his kidnapped and put to work as a doctor for the Red Army. He suffers through years of seeing the randomness and brutality of the civil war tearing Russia apart.

          Yuri is freed, returns to Yuriatin, and moves in with Lara. They live happily until the world around them again goes astray. Pasha is alive, is now known as Strelnikov, and is a general in the Red Army, and a hunted man. Yuri learns the devastating news that Tonya and his family have been exiled and now live in Paris. Yuri and Lara move to Varykino and have a wonderfully happy, final winter. It is at Varykino that Yuri writes his Lara Poems. Komarovsky arrives, and tells Lara that because of her connection to Strelnikov, both she and her daughter are in danger. He tells Yuri there are some who believe he deserted the Red Army and offers to take all of them east to Vladivostok. They agree, but Yuri lets them leave without him.

           Back in Moscow, Yuri knows he has lost everything, the two woman he loved and his family. He contentedly marries Marina,  lives a quiet life, and dies of a heart attack. At his funeral, a heartbroken Lara asks his brother to help her find her and Yuri's daughter, Tanya. She and Yevgraf also work for a dew days on Yuri's papers, and one day she is arrested and disappears. No one knows where or how she died. Later, during WWII Tanya learns from two of Yuri's good friends who her parents were: Yuri and Larissa. Old Russia, Yuri, and Lara are all gone, but Tanya lives, and of equal import Yuri's poetry survives as his legacy.

             This is one of the most famous novels of the 20th century because of its sweeping, brilliant depiction of the havoc unleashed upon Russia and millions of its people. It is also important to note that its release was a politically electrifying event in 1957. Khruschev's famous speech denouncing Stalin was a year earlier, and Pasternak gave a copy to a Italian communist who smuggled it to the west. Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize In Literature. He was expelled from the Soviet Writers Union, and had to beg to not be exiled. The fabulous 1965 film with brilliant cinema photography and a great score won five Academy Awards.

           

           

              

The French Illusion, Grisham - B

         Chelsea and Paul Tanner are enjoying their honeymoon in Paris when they are kidnapped and held for ransom. Chelsea's dad easily comes up with the $2 million ransom while Paul's parents struggle to. The kidnappers release Chelsea, but not Paul. Everything goes quiet. When the FBI and CIA are brought in, they come to an unpleasant conclusion. This is the third time that French kidnappers have kept the husband after releasing the wife. All three men are former military and current government lawyers. Paul is moved to Algeria, where he is starved, beaten, and waterboarded. After months, he learns why when he chats with his chief captor, Nabeed. Nabeed was at Abu Ghraib, a dark site in Poland, and Guantanamo for a total of eight years. He was completely innocent, as was his brother, whom the US murdered in captivity. He is now seeking revenge. The US hatches a plan to send another couple to France and see if they can trace their whereabouts after another kidnapping. Plenty of action in this one with the usual tidy Grisham conclusion.