The Bat by Jo Nesbo

Jo Nesbo, The Bat, translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett (Originally published in Norway as Flaggermusmannen by H. Aschehoug & Co., Oslo, 2997; this edition New York: Vintage Books, 2012), 369 pages.

This book is apparently the first of a crime series featuring a character known as Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad. In this first book of the series, Harry Hole is dispatched to Sydney, Australia to observe a murder investigation into the death of a Norwegian tourist. Harry Hole initially observes the local detectives and offers assistance, but eventually becomes immersed and involved in the case by helping the local detectives and their investigators, and ultimately running the investigation. His willingness to get involved before asking for permission help to get results by solving not only the case of the deceased Norwegian tourist, but also other murders that occur during the investigation. Harry’s actions succeed despite his self-destructive alcoholism. He uncovers what appears to be a series of related murders, and solves them.

The Bat is a well written crime novel. The translator’s efforts made the book very readable, and combined with Nesbo’s gift for storytelling, produce a very good crime story. Nesbo’s command of the crime story idiom is strengthened by the exotic setting of Sydney. Nesbo’s knowledge of local customs and history enhances the story. Some features of the story stretch the bounds of reality: in practice I think it highly unlikely that Sydney’s police force would allow anyone from outside their force run a major homicide investigation. Observer status is believable, but running the case seems highly unlikely. This does not matter because this is a work of fiction where the story is limited by the author’s imagination. This quibble aside, Nesbo’s The Bat, is an entertaining story in a city I know that is not New York, Los Angeles or London. For entertainment value, this book succeeds on every level. It is no wonder that Nesbo sold many books.

Killing Floor by Lee Child

Lee Child, Killing Floor, (New York: The Berkley Publishing Group; 1997), 536 pages.

Killing Floor is Lee Child’s first book. It introduces the world to a new character called Jack Reacher, a retired soldier and military policeman now exploring America by foot. Reacher is a modern hobo, a man without roots who keeps a low profile and goes where he wants when he wants by foot or public transport. In Killing Floor, Reacher is arrested on suspicion of murder while passing through a small town in Georgia. After a brief period in a jail holding cell where an attempt was made on his life, Reacher helps the local police force investigate the murder. In doing to, he reveals a criminal enterprise that corrupted most of the small town, the town mayor, and part of the police force. Reacher’s brother, a federal investigator, is also killed by the conspirators. By working with the remaining honest local police that includes a female officer he becomes involved with, Reacher races to solve the murders and their relationship to the corruption and conspiracy before the conspirators can kill him and the other investigators.

Child’s innovation in Killing Fields is that his character in this crime book is not a policeman, attorney, or someone connected in some way with a legal institution. Reacher was part of the military justice system, but is now a highly skilled but rootless hobo. Reacher has great intellectual ability and physical strength: he is strong and unafraid and never gives up or backs down. He is the kind of man that can look after himself. He is intimidating when crossed or angered to the extent that people fear him. Despite his lack of connection with the community, he gets involved in that community largely because of noblesse oblige, and because he hates the big smug people that think that they can get away with things. Even though this is the first book I’ve read by Lee Childs. He is a skilled storyteller who keeps the reader engaged and turning the pages. Based on this first book, I’ll be reading more of Lee Child’s works that feature Jack Reacher.

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly, The Fifth Witness, (New York: Grand Central Publishing; 2011), 439 pages.

This book continues Connelly’s series of “Lincoln Lawyer” novels based on his character Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer. Haller operates his law practice out of his car – a Lincoln. In The Fifth Witness we see how Haller shifted his law practice away from criminal defense into the booming area of foreclosure prevention. The recession caused (paying) criminal defense work to dry up in Los Angeles, hence the move into the only growing area of legal work in Los Angeles - foreclosures. When one of Haller’s foreclosure clients is charged with murder of the banker foreclosing in her home, Haller returns to criminal law to defend her. The Fifth Witness is a courtroom drama about Haller’s defense of his client. A major feature of Haller’s defense is his attempt to propose an alternate theory of the murder, and suggest an alternate killer. A large part of this defense is his piecemeal exposure of the fraudulent activities of the mortgage company, that company’s links to organized crime, and the attempt by the victim to expose the illegal activities of the mortgage company.

This is a book about a criminal trial, and as such, it’s an entertaining story as are most books by Connelly (the exception may be the non-fiction book he published containing reprinted articles he wrote during his time as a police beat reporter). Connelly knows how to keep the reader’s interests; in this book, those skills are on display throughout. Connelly does not appear to be an idealist. His main character Haller is a street lawyer that does not want to know if his client “did it.” Haller’s major concern as a lawyer is to mount an effective criminal defense that he hopes will acquit is client. This single-mindedness and drive appears to have cost Haller his two marriages. Haller is no Atticus Finch, but he is the sort of lawyer you would like to represent you because of his resourcefulness, ruthlessness, and desire to have his client’s be acquitted. These quibbles aside, The Fifth Witness is another entertaining book from Connelly. It’s the perfect book to read if you are kept indoors on a rainy day, or for passing the time during a long trans-Atlantic plane flight.

The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

Chris Anderson, "The Long Tail: Why The Future of Business is Selling Less of More," (New York: Hyperion; 2006), 267 pages.

Wired Magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson sums up in this book how commerce is changing due to the internet. He callas his critique "the theory of the long tail," and it boils down to this: society's purchases are shifting away from mainstream products and markets toward a huge number of niches. Without the constraints of physical shelf-space in traditional retail outlets, and without the other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly targeted goods and services can be economically attractive as traditional retailing. In the age of the internet or the long-tail, business should acknowledge the following:

• There are more niche goods than hits.
• The costs of reaching those niches is falling dramatically, making it possible to offer a massively expanded variety of products.
• Consumers must be given ways to find these niches to cause demand for products in these niches.
• Once there is massively expanded variety and ways to find it, there will be hits and niches but the hits relatively less popular and the niches more specialized.
• There are so many niche products that collectively they can comprise a market rivaling the hits.
• The demand for goods and products is diverse as the population itself.

Anderson's argument is well thought out and convincing. The book is based on an article that he wrote for Wired Magazine. It is rational and supported by many examples, diagrams and charts. It works in that it shows how the internet expanded the range of options for consumers by having a vast range of goods made available to them at wholesale prices. For businessmen, the interest is in recognizing that there are many profitable niches for then to sell to people via the internet. If the book has a flaw it is that it labors the point. Anderson takes up a lot of pages in a book to make his point previously made in a magazine article. I'm not sure that we learn all that much more by reading the book. It does, however, explain the new phenomenon of internet retailing, and is surely be a must-read book for internet marketers and business owners interested in making the most of the opportunities that the internet provides.

The Most Dangerous Detective by Steve Bishop

Steve Bishop, The Most Dangerous Detective, (Amazon Create Space Books, 2012), 369 pages.

Corruption occurs in all sorts of places, and manifests itself in different ways. This book exposes the police and political corruption that occurred in the Australian state of Queensland from the late 1950s through the late 1980s. According to Steve Bishop, a core of official corruption existed in Queensland, from police on the beat all the way through the state police force through to two separate police commissioners, judges, politicians, barristers, and members of the executive branch of government. This systemic corruption was eventually exposed in a judicial inquiry that exposed the extent of the corruption that forced the prosecution and eventual conviction of numerous police and politicians including a police commissioner.

Bishop’s book is a roughly chronological treatment of the growth of police and political corruption in Queensland in the second half of the 20^th century. He initially focuses on the activities of a detective Glenn Hallahan, a man of considerable reputation earned by his work on solving a triple murder. Hallahan’s detective work led to the arrest, conviction, and eventual execution of the alleged murderer. According to Bishop, the conviction was won through false evidence, perjury, and a forced confession. Following this successful prosecution of an innocent man, Hallahan’s career took off under the initial guidance of corrupt detective Francis Bishoff, who later became Police Commissioner. Hallahan regularly colluded with two other officers, Tony Murphy and Terry Lewis (himself later elevated to Police Commissioner), to profit from their positions of authority. Hallahan used perjury and illegal actions to frame people for crimes. Bishop shows how Hallahan regularly committed perjury to win convictions and close cases and therefore be considered for promotion. Hallahan’s illegal activities did not stop there. He also committed and conspired with others to commit a variety of crimes, including the following:

• Running protection rackets for illegal bookmakers.
• Running protection rackets for brothels and prostitutes.
• Arranging armed robberies, including in some instances, hiring felons from other states to commit the robberies.
• Arranging for the importation of illegal narcotics from South East Asia.
• The murder of potential witnesses.

Proceeds from various protection rackets were shared with other members of the so-called Rat Pack, namely detectives Tony Murphy and Terry Lewis with approval of their mentor Francis Bishoff, who eventually was made Police Commissioner. Bishop writes in great detail how for over two decades Hallahan and his Rat Pack colleagues neutered multiple judicial inquiries into police corruption, and fought internal affairs investigations started by a new incorruptible Commissioner appointed from outside the Queensland Police, and found a battle to rid the force of this Commissioner.

Bishop’s book is a damning inditement of the political accommodation of corruption in the Queensland Police Service from the late 1950’s through to the later 1980’s. Bishop does not condemn all police and he is quick to acknowledge the work of honest police. We should not think that corruption doesn’t occur. To think that it can is naïve. People in positions of authority, such as police and their political overseers, can sometimes be tempted to act illegally, or turn a blind eye to graft and corruption. This book shows the consequences of such corruption becoming systemic, where the corrupt obtain political protection so that they brazenly carry on their illegal activities in the open, seemingly above the law. Bishop’s book shows how it was done in Queensland, and the impact of this corruption on the police and their political masters.

This is a detailed book, much more so than a regular non-fiction book. Bishop’s research is conclusive and damning. He writes with an almost prosecutorial zeal to expose the truth with the overwhelming weight of evidence. With all the previous act of perjury, cover-ups, judicial inquiry white-washes, it at times, appears that Bishop is going to do what so few have done before, namely, tell the truth about all the scandals, all the corruption, and all the lies. Bishop names names, and point fingers, and pulls no punches. So effective is he that I was left shaking my head over how bad things were. Given the impact of this book, particularly the range and scope of corruption it reveals, this book should be widely read in Australia (for obvious reasons) and in other places by people interested in the impact of unchecked police and political corruption.

Angels of Vengeance by John Birmingham

John Birmingham, Angels of Vengeance, (New York: Del Rey / Random House; 2012), 514 pages.

Angels of Vengeance is the third book in John Birmingham's After America series. The first book, Without Warning, is an alternative history that speculates on the immediate aftermath of an energy wave that destroys all human life in the Unites States (apart from Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska). The second book in the series, After America, covers the medium term impact of the "new" United States including the new President based in Seattle, systemic international piracy and looting of the eastern seaboard (especially in New York), and the emerging political problems between an increasingly independent Texas and the federal government. The third book of the series, Angels of Vengeance, supposedly the final book of the series, brings to a close the intertwined stories of three major characters. We see if a highly trained assassin achieves her goal of getting revenge against an old enemy that made an attempt on the lives of her family. We also see how a former English aristocrat turned smuggler, now exiled in Australia, resolves her feud with a spurned client that is now a major contractor to the United States government, as well as being a close confidant of the United States President. We also follow the story of a Mexican girl who lost her family at the hands of Texas outlaws. We follow her journey of revenge to see if she can kill the person ultimately responsible for the death of her family. The lives of these three women are interwoven, and play out against a background of growing political tension between the President and the Governor of Texas.

Angels of Vengeance appeals to readers of alternative history and speculative fiction. In this book, Birmingham brings to a close a story that shows how unpleasant the world would be without the positive influence of the United States. This book deals quite well with the back story of the previous two books so that it is not essential for you to have read them to be able to enjoy this book. I would, however, recommend that these books be read in sequence for maximum enjoyment. This book differs from its predecessors by concentrating chiefly on three characters. The action is also less frequent in this book with a climax somewhat more subdued that I expected. Such may be the case with the final book of a series. Most notable is the change in the character of the story in this book compared with the previous two. Angels of Vengeance focuses on if/how three characters try to exact revenge on their enemies. All activity seems focused towards those goals. The previous two books are less goal focused, and more speculative. By that I mean they deal with questions of what would happen if the United States suddenly disappeared, and the global consequences of such an event being worked out on a global scale. Angels of Vengeance focuses on revenge and retribution. This is a bit odd to me. After starting a book series by asking a big question (what would happen if the United States suddenly disappeared?), the author appears to have ended the series with a small answer: revenge, retribution, and death. Perhaps a fourth book will be written that ends with a more optimistic answer to the original big question. Without such a book, I feel a bit cheated that the author chose to end the series this way. I was left asking myself "is this it?" Despite these quibbles, this book is an exciting page turner that is worth reading by lovers of fiction and alternative history stories. Go buy it and read it.

The Reversal by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly, The Reversal, (New York: Little, Brown and Company; 2010), 389 pages.

In The Reversal, Michael Connelly gives us another Los Angeles-based fictional crime story, this time its one that brings together two of Connelly’s most intriguing characters, veteran Los Angeles Police Department detective Harry Bosch and “Lincoln Lawyer” Mickey Haller. The two are (naturally) brought together by the intersection of a murder investigation and the court room. In this book, a convicted serial killer is granted a re-trial more than twenty years after his conviction. Defense attorney Haller is convinced by the district attorney to switch sides and re-prosecute the case. Bosch is chosen as the lead homicide investigator. Connelly employs a shifting narrative to tell the story; he writes one chapter from the perspective of prosecutor Haller, does the next chapter from the perspective of detective Bosch, alternating back and forth through the entire book.  The story shows what the characters must do to get a conviction in a case where the evidence is old, where the witnesses are either dead or missing, where the suspect is out on bail potentially looking to commit new crimes.

The Reversal again demonstrates Connelly’s skill as a natural storyteller of crime thrillers and police procedure. He engages his readers by bringing together two entertaining and believable characters in Bosch and Haller. He takes nothing for granted and provides sufficient back-story for both new readers of his fiction, as well as his regular readers of his past works. Connelly knows Los Angeles, and knows how it courts and police department operate. In typical Connelly fashion, the story is fast-paced, engaging, and peppered with numerous twists and turns, and surprise detours. Even though this book is engaging, it is somewhat bleak in that it’s regularly punctuated with death, crime, corruption, violence, cynicism, and the hard-nosed characters that seem comfortable with the grime of crime. The book is somewhat notable for its absence of joy, humor, fun or delight. Such are the lives of Connelly’s stern committed, driven principle driven characters. But this should be expected in any crime novel; anything other than this would be unusual at least, if not inauthentic. Nonetheless, The Reversal is very well written, and is a fine example of crime writing and legal/court room storytelling, that is further proof of the assertion that Connelly is one of America’s finest crime fiction writers.

The Litigators by John Grisham

The Litigators by John Grisham, (New York: Dell / Random House; 2011), 488 pages.

In The Litigators, John Grisham gives the reader another story based around a lawyer dissatisfied with the practice of law. In this book, the central character is a young Harvard graduate practicing law in a large Chicago law firm in the relatively obscure field of bond underwriting. He earns a very high income, works very long hours, hardly ever sees his wife, and is miserable. One day he decides to go to a bar instead of work, gets drunk, and ends up at the end of the day at the office of two sleazy ambulance chasing lawyers. He decides to work for them on commission, just as they start a questionable and ill-founded class action against a pharmaceutical company. Both the sleazy lawyers and the young hot-shot are pleased: the sleazy lawyers get someone to run their litigation, and the young hot-shot learns how to run a real case through the courts. While the class action case slowly falls apart, the young hot-shot learn how to make a case, how the civil courts operate, and the sleazy side of certain mass tort cases. All these skills are put to use in a case he runs concurrently, a product liability case on behalf of a young child that was seriously injured though led poisoning from a toy. Through litigating an unfounded founded class action against a pharmaceutical company, our young lawyer learns the nobility and satisfaction that comes from fight for justice on behalf of the injured. By the end of the book, our young lawyer redeems himself, puts his family life on the right track, and sets things right with the two sleazy ambulance chasers that took him in.

Readers interested in a fast paced and exciting legal drama will not be disappointed by The Litigators. This book fits into John Grisham’s general model for a legal thriller in that the young lawyers who discovers that the legal profession can be both deadly dull and sleazy, can redeem himself and so something good an honorable in that profession, in an Atticus Finch kind of way. I’m not aware of any serious errors or gaps in this book. There may be some technical errors known only to legal experts that work in the civil courts of Chicago, but only they would notice them if they were there. If there is a weakness, or element of implausibility, it’s the way our young hot-shot chose to make his career change. Is it plausible that a young Harvard hot-shot would leave his six-figure job in a big city law firm without any pre-planning, and after spending the day in a bar, go and work for a couple of sleazy ambulance chasers? Likely or not, it doesn’t matter. This is fiction, and in this book, the story works. It is because the young hot-shot makes such a dramatic and unexpected change that his redemption is so satisfying. Perhaps through the hot shot lawyer, Grisham has a message for us all: no matter how much you dislike your job, you have certain skills that can be put to use in an honorable and satisfying way that can benefit society. All you have to do is make a change and work really hard.

This book is worth reading. It’s a fast paced story that manages to entertain as well as provide an example for those that want to change their life. Go read it.

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik

Adam Gopnik, Paris to the Moon, New York: Random House; 2000), 338 pages

In 1995, writer for The New Yorker Adam Gopnik moved form New York to Paris. While in Paris, he continued to write for The New Yorker, principally about Parisian life. This book is a compilation of a number of essays written for The New Yorker. The book's chapters are loosely chronological and based on a particular subject such as strikes, Christmas, sports, culture shock, world cup football (or soccer), food, famous chefs, and famous places to eat. All of these topics, presumably, were important to Gopnik and his New Yorker reading audience.

If you are the type of person person who likes to read The New Yorker, likes Paris, or read glowing book reviews/essays in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle or Chicago Sun-Times, then you'll probably enjoy this book. You'll probably empathize with the wealthy white guy problems Gopnik encounters when he moves to a predominantly white country where he speaks the local language and has to deal with the daily struggles of finding the authentic Parisian cafe or bistro. Sure, this is a well written book that nicely deals with Gopnik's wealthy white guy problems, but that is the problem: the book is too much about Gopnik and his culture shock. According to Gopnik, Paris is different to New York. Who would have thought it! Big deal! I'm not surprised. I bet New York is different too. Some of us haven't been there either. The flaw with this book is that Gopnik is the focus of the book. We read of how Paris affects him and his family. This super-narcissism detracts from the book. We readers would have been better served if Gopnik wrote more about Paris and France while he and his feelings melted into the background. If you are a New Yorker who likes reading books about Paris, you'll probably get something out of this book, but for the rest of you, given the author's east-cost super narcissism and his preoccupation with rich white guy problems, you'll probably find better value elsewhere.

"What Should I Do With My Life,” by Po Bronson

Po Bronson, "What Should I Do With My Life,” (New York: Ballantine Books; 2003), 434 pages.

In What Should I Do With My Life, Po Bronson tells the stories of people who tried to find the answer to that question. Bronson surveyed and interviewed many people that were looking to change the direction of their life, to do something more meaningful, to do the thing they were put on this earth to do. This book contains the stories of how they worked out the answer to that question. Bronson interviewed many people, and included in this book the stories of a selection of the people he interviewed.

This book’s strength is it’s sympathetic but arms-length portrayal of people working out what to do with their life. Each story is unique. Each story portrays people from a variety of backgrounds and countries, and shows how they discovered the answer to the question of what to do with their life. Some people found the answer in front of them, some travelled, some made bold changes, some make small changes, and others had to try many different jobs and professions to find the answer. The stories in this book show that there is no one answer to this question. People looking to work out what to do with their life may find an answer, but that answer is likely to come to them in one a variety of possible ways.

Readers looking for guidance should note that the author does not give specific advice to the reader. He doesn’t provide a quick self help formula or a list of things to do. Bronson teaches or guides by example. His book’s message is that if you are looking for the answer to the question “What Should I Do With My Life,” you may benefit from this collection of stories of people that asked the same question and struggled to find an answer. You too can learn from these people and work out the answer for you, but only you can answer this question.

This book will appeal to readers looking for their life’s purpose, calling, or vocation. It doesn’t provide specific answers, but it will provoke questions. Ultimately this book teaches the reader that there may not be quick fixes, that you may stumble and search to find the answer, and that you may benefit from the example of others that have also asked this question. This selection of stories benefits readers asking the same question. If you are wondering what to do with your life, this may be the book for you.

Not Taco Bell Material by Adam Carolla

Adam Carolla, Not Taco Bell Material, (New York: Crown Publishing; 2012), 330 pages.

This autobiography tells the story of Carolla's rise from neglected child of welfare-dependant parents living in a crummy house with a dirt lawn in North Hollywood to his current status as a millionaire businessman. Carolla discusses his upbringing by framing them around the various houses and apartments he lived in, and what he got up to while living in them. He details a series of depressing residences, and the major memories of his upbringings linked to those places. With comic flare, profanity, and at times vulgarity, we see how Carolla stumbled through school ill-equipped for life. Upon graduating from high school he was barely able to read. With few options and no  guidance or  encouragement from his parents, he took up a series of menial jobs such as carpet cleaning, digging ditches, carpentry and being a boxing instructor. Always possessed with the gift of the gab, Carolla eventually worked out that he could either continue to work with his hands, or develop his ability to be funny. After much failure, persistence, and by making his own luck, Carolla broke into radio (initially for no pay) and later became a paid host of a nationally syndicated radio show. Carolla subsequently moved into developing and staring in a number of television shows, stand-up comedy, acting, movie production, as well as developing a podcasting network. From humble beginnings, Carolla has become a very successful businessman.

This book is a very funny telling of Carolla’s life. He can be crude, vulgar, funny, but most of all honest. No one in his life is spared, including his family and close friends. It is a very funny book but at the same time quite serious. He is critical of a school system that could let him graduate fro high school barely able to read. He is critical of television, movie and radio executives that have few creative skills, but world class expertise in ruining projects. It’s also a damning indictment of his parent’s hands-off parenting. Despite this, it’s inspirational because Carolla shows that despite his lousy childhood and his absent parents, that it was possible to develop and use his talents to make a success of his life. This is the real point of this book: in spite of your background, with hard work, a lot of failure, and setback, hard work and dedication and grit can bring you success.