91. Deep Fathom - James Rollins

Why do I punish myself? I really didn't enjoy this offering as much as I have some of Rollins' other novels but I read the entire thing anyways. Perhaps it's because my choices of late have all been terrible and I had nothing else to read... Since I actually finished the book last week and (a) can't remember a lot about the plot and (b) can't be bothered to flip through my copy to refresh my memory, here's the summary from James Rollins' official website:

Ex-Navy Seal Jack Kirkland surfaces from an aborted underwater salvage mission to find the Earth burning. Solar flares have triggered a series of gargantuan natural disasters. Earthquakes and hellfire rock the globe. Air Force One has vanished from the skies America's president on board.

Now, with U.S. on the narrow brink of a nuclear apocalypse, Kirkland must pilot his oceangoing exploration ship, Deep Fathom, on a desperate mission miles below the ocean's surface. There devestating secrets await him - and a power an ancient civilization could not contain has been cast out into modern day. And it will forever alter a world that's already racing toward it's own destruction.

Sounds exciting doesn't it? Meh. What the write up fails to mention is the former friend/now sworn enemy chasing Kirkland around the globe on a personal vendetta. Zzzzzzz. There's really nothing new in Rollins' novel - we've seen most of this before. Move the story back about 50 or 60 years and it reminded me of a really bad Indiana Jones plot. Hmmm, kind of like Crystal Skull. Oh....wait....no surpirse really. Rollins penned the novelization of the latest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise.

Thank goodness there's only one more of his books that I might consider reading. I don't know how much more I can subject myself to...

90. Thunderstruck (Erik Larson)

If the first book on my self-imposed summer reading list is anything to go by, I'm in for a great summer! Thunderstruck is the real-life story of Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, a mild-mannered, quiet homeopathic doctor who murdered his wife and ran off with his secretary. The age old story... Erik Larson, however, is a masterful storyteller and weaves Crippen's story with that of Gugliemo Marconi, inventor of the wireless telegraphy, the invention which would allow investigators to find and capture the Doctor and his lover as they sailed across the Atlantic.

The two stories seem unrelated for most of the book but after Crippen's wife disappears and his lover begins wearing her clothes and jewellry in public, alerting friends and eventually the police, the pieces begin falling neatly into place. The ability for investigators and ships to be able to communicate across the Atlantic and between ships at sea not only helped capture Crippen but gave Marconi and his company the world-wide recognition that his system did work and just how useful it could be (along with it's "successful" use on board both the Lusitania and the Titanic).

Crippen's tale of love and murder is not a new one; we've heard similar stories throughout history but Larson presents it to the reader in such a compelling way that you can't help but find yourself reading page after page, unable to put it down. Thankfully, the chapters are relatively short, alternating between Marconi and Crippen, so finding a spot to eventually stop and insert your bookmark isn't difficult. Last summer, I had read Larson's The Devil in the White City and loved it. At the time, I was a bit put-off by his somewhat fictional style of story telling but this time, I didn't have any issues. I highly recommend Thunderstruck and found myself as caught up in the tale as newspaper readers around the world who followed the hunt for Crippen daily (thanks to the use of Marconi's wireless to relay messages and updates from the middle of the ocean to reporters on both sides of the Atlantic).

Inside the front cover of the hard cover version of the book is a reproduction of Bacon's New Map of London 1902 and a few points of interest relevant to this story have been pointed out including the location of the murder scene and the prison where Crippen and his lover, Ethel Le Neve, were incarcerated and another where the doctor eventually met his fate (she was acquitted). I was struck by the inclusion of one of these, Holloway Prison, as I was sure I had walked by the entrance to the prison grounds when I got lost on my first day in London. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, I found that this was correct. Curious now, I took a closer look at the map and was suprised to discover that the murder scene was mere blocks (less than 1 mile!)from the B&B I stayed in while in London a few months ago. Egads! It woudln't really have mattered though as the Crippen's house on Hilldrop Crescent was destroyed by a bomb during the war.

Go out and read today! A great mystery!

89. Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It (Elizabeth Royte)

Our resident Bad Tempered Zombie recently read a couple of books on the tarsands and our oil dependency. Her reviews are fabulous, make sure you check them out (and the books themselves) and she inspired me to do a bit more research into an environmental topic that I found fascinating (in a bizarre WTF sort of way). During my search for just the right book/topic, Amazon recommended Elizabeth Royte's Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It.

I've bought my fair share of bottled water - most folks in North America have had one of those single serving sizes at some point through out their lives. Many of us also have water coolers in our offices or workplaces but have you ever stopped to consider where that water comes from, how it ended up in a plastic container, or who's brilliant idea it was to SELL it to people? Water is a basic human necessity, it covers most of our planet and yet millions of us shell out a couple of bucks every once in while (for some, every day) to drink something that comes from the tap for free. Every time I bought a bottle or used our office's cooler, I would shake my head in wonder at what I was doing (although it didn't stop me). After reading Ms. Royte's well researched book, I won't be "buying" bottled water any more*.

Royte begins her book with a look at the small town of Fryeburg, Maine, a sleepy little town which is being overrun by large tanker trucks rolling through their quiet streets on their way to fill up with water from the same source as the town's municipal water supply. Nestle's Poland Spring label uses water from Fryeburg, bottles it and sells it at huge profit to unsuspecting consumers who, taken in by the image of timid deer drinking from a crystal clear spring, think they're drinking the healthiest option out there. Liquid the way nature intended. Little do we know. As she fills us in on how Fryeburg fell prey to Nestle's need for "pure sources", Royte explains how we got to this point in the first place. It's almost comical to think that bottled water was, at one point, somewhat of a status symbol. Or it would be if it wasn't so completely insane.

The outrageous success of bottled water, in a country where more than 89 percent of tap water meets or exceeds federal health and safety regulations, regularly wins in blind taste tests against name-brand waters, and costs 240 to 10,000 times less than bottled water, is an unparalleled social phenomenon, one of the greatest marketing coups of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (p.40-41).

Bottlemania not only looks at the evolution of bottled water but examines the processes involved in getting it from the source to the vending machine or office cooler. The includes such awe-inspiring highlights such as it takes 17 million barrels of oil to make the plastic bottles for the American market alone each year and that only 60-70% of the water used by bottling plants end up on shelves; the rest ends up as waste. Some companies which sell us water convince us to buy their products under the auspices of either helping the environment or donating money to water conservation projects in third world countries. Routinely the money donated is a pittance compared to the profits these companies rake in from our desire for fast and convenient water on the go. While Royte does mention a few organizations which direct most if not all of their profits towards their causes, including Robert Kennedy's Water Keepers and Edmonton's own Earth Water which comes from Edmonton's municipal water supply, it doesn't negate the impact of getting it into the bottles and onto the shelves.

To be fair, Royte doesn't let tap water off so easily and takes a look at what goes into and what comes out of both bottled water and tap. While tap water and municipal treatment plants are hardly perfect, the overall process of making water drinkable is far less damaging to the environment. Not to mention the fact that municipal water supplies are subject to strict FDA quality standards while the bottling industry is self-regulated. When you consider all the things that can and do end up in your water (bacteria, waste, pollutants, sediment, chemicals), I know which I'd chose.

Given that the question of ownership in regards to water and other natural resources is such a hot topic these days, I highly recommend reading Bottlemania. Royte's book will be a wake-up call to many and is also a good starting point for those who'd like to learn more. The six page bibiliography she includes provides the reader plenty of options for further reading. Definately RECOMMENDED!

Elizabeth Royte is also the author of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash which I'll be checking out later this summer.

* I freely admit to being a hypocrite as I still have a soda or juice now and again which have similar impacts on the environment but am working on curtailing that bad behaviour.

88. Compass (Alan Gurney)

I wasn't expecting much from this short book which has been sitting on my Amazon wishlist for the past 6 months or more. To be honest, I was pretty sure it would be dry, boring, and lull me to sleep like the gentle waves on a calm sea. Imagine my surprise then when I found I couldn't put it down.

The pages of Alan Gurney's Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation are filled with anecdotes about the quirky characters involved in the development of the compass over the years and the lengths they went to in order to develop an accurate compass. From the earliest days where sailors used a simple magnetized needle in a bowl of water to the intricate workings of modern computerized mapping systems, Gurney plots an easily navigable course for landlubbers and seasoned sailors alike.

The only downside is Gurney's failure to explain concepts such as magnetic deviation in more detail. He provides just enough information so that the rest of the book will not overwhelm the average reader but at only 276 pages, I would have appreciated a bit more detail on such an important topic central to the compass' development. Other than that, I'd certainly give Compass a thumbs up. I'm guessing it's not everyone's cup of tea but it certainly appealed to me.

87. Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson)

Everyone's heard of Treasure Island. The classic tale of young Jim Hawkins who becomes the owner of a pirate's treasure map when the man dies in his family's inn. With the aid of the local doctor and the wealthy squire, they hire a ship and crew and head off in search of buried treasure. Little do they know, the crew is made up of the pirate's former shipmates who are determined to claim the treasure for themselves and will stop at nothing, including mutiny and murder, to get it.

Stevenson's tale of adventure, buried treasure and one-legged pirates was originally written as a children's tale and I had to keep reminding myself of this as I was reading it. Personally, I found the book too short, lacking in detail and the ending? I was having flashbacks to Crime and Punishment where it seemed as though Dostoyevsky had run out of steam and tacked on a happy ending to make his publisher's deadline. While I wasn't expecting the final pages to be soaked in blook, I was expecting something different. I'm sure that the Muppet film version had a slightly different ending.

Would I recommend Treasure Island? I have mixed feelings. Should you decide to read it, don't expect to be blown away. Stevenson was responsible for kicking off the world's fascination with pirates and pirate adventures. Ideas such as "X marks the spot", buried treasure, and pirates with wooden legs and parrots on their shoulder cand now be found in just about every novel or film made about pirates. I was glad that I read Treasure Island but not overly impressed. This is one I'll be passing onto my brother and sister in law for them to read to the kids complete with funny pirate voices and all. They'll find it exciting.

86. Ice Hunt (James Rollins)

From the author's website:

Carved into a moving island of ice twice the size of the United States, Ice Station Grendel has been abandoned for more than seventy years. The twisted brainchild of the finest minds of the former Soviet Union, it was designed to be inaccessible and virtually invisible. But an American undersea research vessel has inadvertently pulled too close - and something has been sighted moving inside the allegedly deserted facility, something whose survival defies every natural law. And now, as scientists, soldiers, intelligence operatives, and unsuspecting civilians are drawn into Grendel's lethal vortex, the most extreme measures possible will be undertaken to protect its dark mysteries - because the terrible truths locked behind submerged walls of ice and steel could end human life on Earth.

Meh. As with his other books, I found a great deal of what Rollins submits the reader to unbelievable. However, that didn't stop me from continuing to read and eventually finish the book. While his books tend to read like really bad, Dean Cain-starring, B-rated action adventure movies, he's got what it takes to keep you interested. To be honest, if this HAD been a really bad, Dean Cain-starring, B-rated action adventure movie...I would have turned it off after about the first 1/2 hour (unlike my brother who loves really bad Dean Cain-starring, B-rated action adventure movies).

If you can get past the questionable science, the slightly Jurassic Park-inspired plot, and the sometimes convoluted story, you might enjoy it. Ice Hunt could actually have been a pretty good political thriller with a bit of science thrown in - I found myself comparing it to The Hunt for Red October and hoping that the reanimated prehistoric walking killer land whales weren't a part of the story. Alas, it fell short and I had bizarre dreams of massive, man eating fish sticks with Russian accents chasing me down the hallway.

Read it or Skip it, it won't make a difference one way or the other.

85. Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and her Missing Crew (Brian Hicks)

On December 4, 1872, the crew of the Dei Gratia spotted a sail in the distance. While coming across another ship in the middle of the Atlantic in itself was unusual, it was the way the ship was tossing around on the waves, seemingly out of control, that caught the Captain's eye. When the Dei Gratia drew close enough to investigate, they discovered the ship was abandoned. What was even more mysterious was the fact that they couldn't discover a reason why - there was little or no structural damage, all the crew's personal effects were still present and the cargo was accounted for. The ghost ship, the Mary Celeste, was towed to Gibraltar where the Dei Gratia's crew expected to pick up a salvage reward. What they recieved instead was a criminal investigation and a place in maritime legend tied to a ship with a mysterious past.

What happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste and why did they abandon a perfectly sound ship? Any number of scenarios had been put forth over the years by sailors, historians, writers, and crackpots. From the possibility of abduction by pirates off the Azores, unexplained weather phenomenon, and insurance fraud to tales of Atlantis, abduction by aliens and attacks by giant squid, everyone seemed to have their own take on the mystery, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The legend surrounding the disappearance of the crew grew over the next century as fact and fiction blended together until it was practically impossible to determine the difference. The ship's shadowy past, and the problems it's various owners continued to have after her crew's disappearance, did nothing to put the mystery to rest.

Brian Hicks looks at some of the most notorious, and the most plausible, of the theories which have circulated over the years and sets out to disprove them. While the idea of being kidnapped by pirates or ripped off the deck by oversized calamari makes for a thrilling story, according to Hicks the real reason behind the Mary Celeste's disappearing crew is much more benign but still makes for an eerie tale. Ghost Ship is a great read for sea lovers and mystery fans alike. And at just over 250 pages, it's a quick read. Highly recommended.

84. The Billionaire's Vinegar (Benjamin Wallace)

Beginning around the 1950's, wine collecting (especially older, rare vintages) began to take off in North America. The hobby had been a pasttime in Europe and the UK for years but it came later to the United States. As collectors became eager to outdo one another in obtaining even older vintages by the top French Chateaux, bottles soon were priced out of the range of your average collector. Auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christies created whole departments devoted to authenticating and auctioning off fragile bottles of fermented grape juice to the highest bidders. Long forgotten cellers full of increasingly valuable liquid assets began to slowly run dry. Then, in 1985, a mysterious German collector popped onto the scene with an impossible find - a basement full of 200 year old bottles belonging to a long dead former President; and he was ready to sell.

The first bottle auctioned off quickly becomes the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold and collectors are eager for more despite questions over it's authenticity from the President's own historical society. The sale of the bottle, and a couple of it's companions, infuses new energy into the quest for the ever more elusive wines and the mysterious German does not disappoint. Its not until a few years after the original bottle's sale that some of his customers begin to question his finds. Old vintages taste surprisingly young, some suddenly appear in sizes that most experts, including the Chateaux owners themselves can't find evidence of being bottled, and he refuses to reveal the exact locations of his finds. Is this mysterious German collector (and his rare vintages) a fraud or is he the luckiest collector of them all?

Benjamin Wallace takes the reader on an interesting, albeit at times confusing, journey into the world of wine. It's a secret world full of private clubs of elite oenophiles with names like "The Group", wine tastings that last for days and outrageous sums of money being spent on what just might be the most expensive balsamic vinegar ever. The story Wallace tells is, as I said, an interesting one but every page is riddled with dates, Chateaux names, and the names attributed to the various sizes of bottles different wineries or Chateaux use. To be fair, there's no way of really getting around this if he's to tell the story acurately but for someone such as myself who doesn't normally consume wine and wouldn't know the difference between a Burgundy and a Bourdeaux even if I bathed in them, it became quite the chore. It wasn't until halfway through the book that I finally understood the difference between a vertical and a horizontal tasting (vertical is a tasting where one wine in a number of different vintages is sampled and a horizontal is where many different "brands" of a particular type of wine from the same year are sampled).

I would certainly recommend The Billionaire's Vinegar to fellow readers. It's a fascinating glimpse into a world few of us know anything about, and with a mystery that's sure to keep you turning page after page. My only suggestion? Grab a glass of your favourite vino to enjoy while you read, whether it costs $1.99 a bottle or $150,000.

83. Deep Storm (Lincoln Child)

Have I really not finished a book since October? Apparently so. They should revoke my library card.

Book 83 on my quest to read a thousand books is Deep Storm by Lincoln Child, one half of the very popular Preston and Child writing duo. Don't know who they are? Hmm, perhaps they're not that popular after all... The pair are responsible for Relic, Mimic (both of which have been made into forgettable movies) and a host of other novels, some of which were incredibly horrible. However, they occasionally score a winner such as they did with Riptide which I reviewed earlier this year. Rather than bore you with my poor attempt at summarizing the plot, here is the write up from the back of the paperback version:

On an oil platform in the middle of the North Atlantic, a terrifying series of illnesses is spreading through the crew. When expert naval doctor Peter Crane is flown in, he finds his real destination is not the platform itself but Deep Storm: a top secret aquatic science facility, two miles below on the ocean floor. And as Crane soon learns, the covert operation he finds there is concealing something far more sinister than a medical mystery.

Short and sweet, I enjoyed it. I was prepared not to based on my attempt at reading the duo's "Book of the Dead" with it's cheesy characters and pathetic plot. However, Deep Storm pulled me into it's literary depths in the first chapter despite suggestions of Atlantis and alien lifeforms. The story was almost nonstop action and I was turning page after page eager to discover what happened next. Always the sign of a good read. Some of the characters, mainly those in the military, were fairly stereotypical (Admiral Richard Ulysses Spartan anyone? Uggh) and a good portion of the "science" side of the plot made me shake my head but all in all, I would recommend this.

Be warned though whether you're reading books penned by the pair or individually, it's a hit or miss. If at first you don't succeed, try another...and then maybe another. Give up if the third is a dud as well....

82. High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed - Michael Kodas

The world's tallest mountain has long held a fascination for thrill seekers. However, unlike the earliest attempts by the likes of George Mallory and Edmund Hillary, Everest has lost much of it's romantic allure for many climbers. If you think everyone goes to Everest to climb, think again. Today, the achievement of reaching the summit is secondary to many. For a large number of folks who journey to the top of the world, the lure is money, fame and personal gain.


Michael Kodas, a journalist, visited Mount Everest in 2004 along his wife (a fellow journalist) and a number of other climbers hoping to reach the top and to report on their journey for his newspaper. The story that emerged however was not one of personal achievement. What he came away with was a tale of stolen equipment, extortion, death threats, inexperienced guides, and a dark side to Everest that the public rarely hears of. If it was merely his word, you might think that it was not a real life situation but rather the plotline of the latest thriller. Unfortunately it happens more often than one would think (or hope).

High Crimes gives the reader a close up look at the dark side of the world's most famous mountain as it chronicles Kodas and his team's preparations for their Everest expedition and its complete disintegration which began the moment they set foot in the Himalayas. The biggest of their problems was not the lack of oygen or the weather which can turn in a matter of minutes. For Kodas and his team, the biggest obstacle for a successful climb was their guide, George Dijmarescu. Saddled with extreme mood swings, a thirst for fame and fortune, and a lack of interest in the success, or the safety, of the people he was supposed to be guiding, it's not surprising that many of the expedition's members didn't reach the top or turned back for base camp before getting into serious trouble. Kodas and another team member at one point compared their time on Everest to a bizarre version of Survivor. As things continued to avalanche....Lord of the Flies. Kodas's team was fortunate that their guide's actions didn't result in the death of one of their members. Not everyone on Everest that year though was as lucky.

Kodas also lays out the tragic story of Dr. Nils Antezana, a 69 year old climber who was left to die on the other side of the mountain at the same time as Kodas's team was trying to keep themselves together long enough to make a summit attempt. The two men had never met but the similarities between the two expeditions was eerily similar, right down to their inexperienced, selfish guide who cared nothing for his client other than the money which would help him get to the top himself. Both Kodas's and Antezana's guides lied about their credentials, their climbing experience and their pasts. Kodas came home in one piece; Antezana did not.

While reading about the two expeditions, Kodas also gives the reader a glimpse at how the atmosphere on the mountain has changed (and I don't mean the air quality). Prostitution, extortion, theft, physical violence and a lack of concern for fellow climbers are the norm these days. Life saving food, stove fuel and oxygen tanks routinely "go missing", forcing many climbers to go without, to pay exorbitant prices to replace them (if even possible) or, more likely, to head back down the mountain and abandon their dreams of summiting. The world's tallest mountain is also the world's least regulated. Just about anyone can climb the mountain or more appropriately buy a permit to climb. There is no security unless you bring your own and there is essentially no law other than "anything goes".

Throughout the book (and central to both Kodas's and Antezana's stories), the reader is presented with one of the worst aspects of mountain climbing, not necessarily specific to Everest but certainly the place that gets the most press: the abandonment of climbers to weak/tired/injured to carry on under their own steam.


Sir Edmund Hillary summed it up best when he said "'I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mt. Everest has become rather horrifying...People just want to get to the top. They don't give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress, and it doesn't impress me at aall that they leave someone lying under a rock to die'" (p. 6).


While there are certainly examples of folks who have given up their own dreams to stop and aid a fellow climber (including the rescue of Lincoln Hall), it's far from being the norm. Having travelled so far, spending enormous sums of money, and presumably months of training, it's difficult for many to give it all up; especially for someone they don't know who might be just taking a much needed break. The number of people required to mount a successful rescue is often 10 - 15 people per climber in order to be able to safely carry the injured/incapacitated climber down the mountain, across crevasses, etc. Most of the climbers in the lower camps are already weak or recovering from their own summit attempts and unable (or unwilling) to help. And then there's the issue of oxygen. Due to theft and malfunctioning equipment, many teams have barely enough oxygen for themselves with little or none to spare. Oxygen is the most important commodity on the mountain and is quite literally the difference between living and dying.

High Crimes is an intriguing look at the dark side of a sport many of us don't see and I highly recommend it. My only complaint is the back and forth narrative, switching between the two stories which are each peppered with numerous flashbacks and background information. At times I found it difficult to remember where I was in the timeline, and which story as the two have a number of overlapping characters. However, once you get used to the style, it was great to be able to compare what was happening on both sides of the mountain at the same time. Get your hands on a copy and read it today!

81. Next - Michael Crichton

An oranguatan than can swear in two human languages. A chimp named Dave that thinks (correctly) he's almost human. Giant tortoises that glow in the dark with corporate logos. What do these things have in common? They're three of the many interwoven stories in Michael Crichton's most recent scientific/medical thriller, Next.

Once again, Crichton delves deep into the mysterious world of genetics and cloning to take the reader on a rollercoaster ride of action and adventure filled with all the thrills, spills and chills found in his previous offerings (Sphere, Jurassic Park, State of Fear, etc). This time around though it's not Pterodactyls and Velociraptors that he's cloning - it's something a bit closer to home. Genetically altered apes as well as the very building blocks of life, our genes (and the information they contain) are the main cast of characters in this work of fiction. Throw in a bounty hunter with no conscience, a parrot with an attitude, and the billions of dollars that are at stake and you've got yourself a formula for success.

As I mentioned, Next follows the same pattern as most of Crichton's novels and includes a great deal of what will likely appear to be technical mumbo jumbo to the average reader. Unfortunately, unlike even Jurassic Park which dealt with a somewhat similar topic, Next is even heavier on the scientific jargon than any of his novels I've read. Crichton is a doctor by trade and, given the subject matter, it would be difficult to explain the science behind the story without getting quite technical. However, for your average joe, I think this could end up being a distraction and turn off a lot of readers. Additionally, he inserts a number of 'articles' from various journals, newspapers, and television interviews. While they relate to the plot of the story and appear at appropriate times, I found it unnecessary and an unwelcome intrusion into the narrative. He could easily have done away with them without causing the story to suffer at all.

My only other complaint? While I enjoy his work and have read most of his fiction, I find he tends to write for the screen rather than the printed page. Perhaps it's just my own bias since so many of his novels have been turned into movies but it often seems as though he's trying to picture how it would work on film rather than as a book. Unfortunately for Crichton, his movies tend to be pale comparisons to what he ends up writing.

I recommend checking it out if you're a fan of Crichton's previous works and are familiar with his highly technical science-speak.

80. The Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett

Summary from terrypratchettbooks.com:

They say there are only two things you can count on ... But that was before DEATH started pondering the existential. Of course, the last thing anyone needs is a squeamish Grim Reaper and soon his Discworld bosses have sent him off with best wishes and a well-earned gold watch. Now DEATH is having the time of his life, finding greener pastures where he can put his scythe to a whole new use. But like every cutback in an important public service, DEATH's demise soon leads to chaos and unrest -- literally, for those whose time was supposed to be up, like Windle Poons. The oldest geezer in the entire faculty of Unseen University -- home of magic, wizardry, and big dinners -- Windle was looking forward to a wonderful afterlife, not this boring been-there-done-that routine. To get the fresh start he deserves, Windle and the rest of Ankh-Morpork's undead and underemployed set off to find DEATH and save the world for the living (and everybody else, of course).

Death is one of my favourite characters in the Disc World series but I didn't enjoy Reaper Man as much as I would have hoped. That's not to say it wasn't a fun read - it certainly was. It's only when you hold it up against some of Pratchett's other works (Guards! Guards!, The Colour of Magic, etc) that it seems to fall a bit short. Still recommended but if you've read any of the other Disc World novels, you might end up a bit let down.

79. The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World - A.J. Jacobs

The Know-It-All chronicles the author's self-imposed struggle to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica, all 33000 pages, every entry from A-ak to Zywiec, in the hopes that at the end he'll become the smartest person in the world. Ok, maybe not the smartest person in the world but smarter than he was when he started. For an entire year, Jacobs has to constantly defend his idea to family, friends, co-workers, geeks, freaks, experts, religious leaders, and ... himself while trying to absorb, process and hopefully retain some of what he's reading. Interspersed with funny anecdotes about his personal life and his desire to prove just how smart he's becoming, Jacobs provides the reader with a condensed, Cliff-Notes version of the encyclopaedia brimming with some of what he felt were it's more interesting and offbeat bits of information. As he describes it, the Britannica has "[s]ex, violence, MTV pacing". He keeps running totals of decapitations, famous men who've married their (often much younger) cousins, and a list of what he feels are the best and worst jobs out there. Along the way he has a few setbacks such as when he's able to join MENSA on a technicality, his next to last showing in a crossworld puzzle championship, or the day he spent at his old elementary school only to realize that 10 year olds seem to be smarter than he is.

Interesting, entertaining, informative, funny? Yes. Humble? Not exactly. Jacobs' quest (and the book documenting his year long reading blitz) is not, as the title claims, to become the smartest person in the world. That's a secondary goal, almost an afterthought. The real purpose behind the challenge seems to be his need to one-up his over-achieving father (who also attempted to read the encyclopaedia but gave up after the first few letters), to finally stump his overbearing brother-in-law who really does seem to know it all at times, and to have quantitative proof that he is, in fact, smart/intelligent.

If you can get past Jacobs' need to constantly reassure himself and stroke his own intellectual ego, The Know-It-All is a hilarious read. It's also divided up into chapters according to the letters of the alphabet making it easy to read. My only other complaint is that the insight into his personal life often makes him come across as an annoying ass. I have a feeling that if I had to spend more than 5 minutes with him in real life...one of us wouldn't survive the encounter. He is also, at times, highly insulting. Under the heading for dragonly: "It can eat its own weight in thirty mnutes. Just like Roger Ebert." Under the heading of Suez Canal: "Jessica (Simpson)'s got a brain the size of a midget moth (wingspan three millimeters)." Oh, and he spelled Wayne Gretzky with an "s". I guess he missed the Britannica's entry on hockey.

Jacobs is also the author of The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. I'm looking forward to picking up a copy to see if it's as entertaining (overall) as The Know-It-All was. Thankfully I'm already prepared to disregard his overuse of the word "humble" in the title...

78. Sex with the Queen - Eleanor Herman

Since the first cave dwelling Neanderthal figured that there had to be a better way to get a bit of tail other than hitting it over the head, men have asked themselves that eternal question: What do women want? Love, power, happiness, money, security. And sex. Lots of sex. Why should royal women be any different than the rest of us? In Sex with the Queen (a companion to her earlier Sex with Kings), Eleanor Herman shows us the steamy sex lives of some of histories most famous female sovereigns.

Mixed in amongst names we all recognize (Catherine the Great, Queen Victoria, Princess Diana), we're introduced to a number of royal adulteresses that we may not be so familiar with, and the men who were fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to share their beds. A slightly more explicit read than Sex with Kings without being smutty, Herman's book shows the reader that despite wearing a crown, the Queens she holds up for examination want the same thing we all do - to be loved. However, the means they use to achieve that love, and to keep it, are far more than most of us could dream of.

While love affairs on both sides of the bed were often silently accepted, the moment it became public knowledge and threatened the crown, the royal women who dared step outside of their marriage vows faced harsh punishments. Some, such as the many wives of England's Henry VIII, faced execution; others imprisonment, the loss of their children, banishment, humiliation and, the lightest of the punishments, divorce and loss of title. The men they dared to love? Their fates were almost always more severe than that of their majestic mistresses.

Herman's book is a bit unfocused for the first few chapters but she soon finds her stride and settles in. Unlike her earlier book on kings and their kept women, Sex with the Queen is much more organized. After learning her lesson with the mish mash of information she provided the reader with in Kings and the constant repetition of information, its female counterpart is laid out chronologically (with the exception of the first few general chapters), taking examples from some of the greatest ruling matriarchs throughout Europe and Russia.

The reader will easily get over their initial voyeuristic feelings and relish in exploring the sexual exploits of histories most influential women. An easy, delightful read.

77. Men at Arms - Terry Pratchett

"They call me MISTER Vimes."

Captain Vimes of the Night Watch is about to have the life most folks only dream of. In a few days, he's going to become a very rich man, set to marry one of the wealthiest women in Ankh-Morpork, retiring from a thankless job and will soon be living a life of luxury. Especially now that the Night Watch has been forced to begin a program of affirmative action when it comes to hiring new recruits and it's not focused on race. It's based on species. Suddenly the Watch is filled with Dwarves, Trolls and ... gulp ... women! Or what look like women, at least in the light of day. Thinks seem almost perfect.

On the eve of Vimes' wedding, however, all hell breaks out in the city: killer clowns, mysterious assassins, dead Dwarves, and a strange new weapon with a mind of its own. Yes, a perfect time for Captain Vimes to retire. Almost. Except that he doesn't really want to retire. This is the first real bit of police action he's encountered in his career and he doesn't want to have to watch from the sidelines. Unfortunately for Vimes, that might be just where he ends up if he doesn't keep his nose out of this nasty business. Throw in a talking dog with a crush on a werewolf and this could turn into one of the weirdest days ever in Ankh-Morpork.

The second volume in the City Guard stories from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, Men at Arms is a hilarious take on the classic detective novel. Highly recommended.

76. The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the True Roles of Women in Prehistory - Adovasio, Soffer, and Page

Big, brutish cavemen dragging women by their hair. Groups of grunting, heavy browed hunters standing triumphantly over their fresh kills, women and children nowhere to be seen. A lone male hunched over a pile of kindling, sheltering it from the rain, banging some rocks together trying to light a fire as his mate and offspring cower helplessly in the background. These are the images we're often presented with when it comes to gender roles from the dawn of humankind. We've all seen them. Whether it's the cheesy dioramas in our museums, films, popular novels, or even on the Flintstones, women are often relegated to the background incapable at times of anything more complicated that having sex, giving birth, and cooking food on a stick. In The Invisible Sex, Adovasio, Soffer, and Page attempt to overturn these widely held beliefs on gender roles in prehistory.

The book looks at a number of scenarios in which we're often presented as the men being the dominant, if not only, participant (eg: food provider, tool maker, guardian, inventor, shaman, leader) and present the reader with substantial arguments showing how these are quite possibly not true. There are even a number of chapters dedicated to giving the reader a crash course on the evolution from ape-like ancestor to anatomically modern human, and how many of the theories surrounding the remains found might, in fact, be just a tad bit sexist.

Even though I'm not as current on prevailing theories in the archaeological community as I would like to be, I feel that I can safely say these types of stereotypical views on the role of women in the distant past have begun to change (at least in the academic world). During my time in university, oh so many years ago now, we were often presented with the idea that women were not passive wall flowers, waiting for their big strong menfolk to take care of them and their offspring but rather could easily (and quite probably) were active participants in the development of stone tools, culture, community, and language, and ensuring they and their offspring survived.

Personally, I didn't feel as though Adovasio et al. provided much in the way of new information and their book does little to add to our knowledge of exactly what gender roles may have existed - and how can they? That is the nature of the archaeological record; it can't tell us the kinds of things the authors set out to explain as we are led to believe by the title of the book. They haven't really "uncovered" anything. The book, however, is an interesting examination of what the role of women in prehistory might have been. It is written as a "popular" book, meant for the general public and not necessarily for those in the fields of archaeology or anthropology. As such, it would make for an interesting read for the average joe (or jane) although the chapters on evolution could easily confuse many readers.

All in all, Captain recommended.

75. Faust Eric - Terry Pratchett

Eric is the Discworld's only demonology hacker. Pity he's not very good at it.

Twelve year old Eric Thursley wants what every other adolescent boy wants: to be immortal, to rule the world and have the most beautiful woman in the world fall madly in love with him. So, he does what any other teenage boy dabbling in demonology does: he summons a demon to grant him three wishes. Unfortunately, Eric's hasn't quite perfected the art of calling creatures from the various circles of hell to do his bidding and doesn't exactly end up with a demon. What he DOES end up summoning (thanks to a one in a million chance) is the Discworld's most inept wizard, Rincewind.

While he may not be a demon, somehow Rincewind has acquired the ability to grant Eric his wishes. The only problem? The wishes turn out to be exactly what Eric's asked for. The two (and the eternally faithful luggage) are on the run for their lives through time, space and Hell itself from stone-age heathens bent on bloody sacrifice and a Demon lord with a fondness for potted plants, interoffice memos, and top notch customer service.

Faust Eric is the 9th Discworld novel I've read so far and Rincewind is fast becoming my favourite recurring character (although I'm eagerly awaiting the reappearance of the City Watch). It's also the shortest so far at only 155 pages which meant I finished it off a day and a half. Another hilarious adventure from Terry Pratchett. Definately Captain recommended!!!

74. Tea: Addiction, Exploitation and Empire - Roy Moxham

Because I'm lazy I'm leaving the description of the book up to Amazon.ca:

Moxham (The Great Hedge of India) tells the story of how Britain's thirst for tea meshed with its thirst for empire, with devastating repercussions throughout the world. He points out that after tea first came to England from China in the 1700s, it was in great demand but heavily taxed, which led to an increase in smuggling and eventually played a role in England's loss of the American colonies. He then shows that as tea consumption rose, the East India Company paid for Chinese tea with Indian opium, with consequences that resonate in China to the present day. Then, in the mid-1880s, the East India Company began growing tea in India, which culminated in the importation of slave labor from China, Malaya and Bengal. Flogging, low wages, inadequate food, substandard housing and nonexistent medical care contributed to miserable conditions for these workers. Once tea workers started to unionize and nationalism threatened British domination of the tea industry in India, the British turned to Africa. Moxham concludes his provocative book with a description of the year he spent in 1960 as assistant manager on a tea estate in Nyasaland (now Malawi), where the British planters were still arrogantly confident of their racial superiority and fiercely opposed to Nyasaland's growing independence movement. Moxham's searing history of the commodity that has for centuries been so important for England's economy provides plenty of food for thought to go with that next cup of tea.

Overall, I suppose I'd recommend Tea: Addiction, Exploitation and Empire to those who might be interested. However, I was mildly disappointed with both the content and Moxham's writing. Moxham's narrative was, for the most part, boring and simple. There were groups of pages were it was a struggle to get through: whole paragraphs which consisted of sentences suchs as: Some were this, some were that, and yet others were this. And while he provided a plethora of hard facts and figures, he never really explored the meat of his title (Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire) in detail. Moxham seems to get distracted by the history of they types of workers in various tea-growing locations rather than focusing on tea and it's impact. And yes, I understand the importance of "coolies" and plantation workers in the history of tea, but this takes up a good 2/3 of the book which isn't long to begin with. Perhaps I've just been spoiled by far more in depth writers such as Elizabth Abbott in her discussion of the history of sugar. which also touches on the subject of the introduction of (and subsequent addiction to) tea in Britain. Moxham's book is short - only 250-ish pages (1/2 the size of Abbott's) which could certainly account for the lack of any real substance. Sadly, the most interesting parts of the book are the beginning and the end where he discusses the year he spent as a 20-something working on a tea plantation in Africa. I would have gladly passed up the information he did provide for an entire book detailing his experiences.

Other than his own experiences, the best part of the book was the second last chapter entitled "New Empires". Moxham tracks the rise (and fall) of some of the great tea empires: Twinning, Lipton, Lyons. He also discusses the introduction of the "tea bag" and the domination of some of the large supermarket chains (Sainsburys and Tesco foremost amongst them) and how it's all tied to tea. By far the more interesting than the rest of the book (with the exception of his personal experiences as noted above).

Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire is a so-so introduction to the subject of Tea but if you're looking for something that offers a bit more insight, you might wish to check out his bibliography at the end. Some of the sources he cites sound as though they might be a tad bit more interesting. All in all a good starting point but don't expect anything too insightful.

73. The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson

The Devil in the White City (Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America) reads like a great murder mystery because it is one. Unlike the tales of Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes, this one...is real. Written almost as if it were a novel, the book is the tale of two men: one, an architect responsible for overseeing the construction of the Chicago world fair; the other, a charasmatic doctor with a habit of wooing beautiful women who end up suddenly disappearing without a trace.

The two men's stories are seemingly unrelated. The one thing they do have in common though is Chicago's World Fair in 1893. Nicknamed the White City for it's majestic all white architecture (on the main buildings), it will be the crowning achievement for the architect, provided he can pull it off. Numerous delays due to labour strikes, bad weather, and the overwhelming amount of planning involved all threaten to derail the official opening. For the Doctor, it's clean streets lit by electric lights provide plenty of easy prey, most of whom seem to vanish with little notice amongst the hundreds of thousands who visit the fair each week.

The positives? The writing style. For those readers who often steer clear of non-fiction, they needn't worry. This is NOT a history book. Written in a style characteristic of the latest fictional murder mystery or thriller, it's sure to please. Switching back and forth between the tales of both men, Larson's choice of writing style keeps the reader hooked and eager to turn each page to see what will happen next. Even though the hardcover edition of the book weighs in at almost 400 pages, you'll be able (and willing) to read through this book in no time. I managed to polish it off over the course of a weekend. Additionally, the tale of H.H. Holmes (born Herman Webster Mudgett) is one I don't think many people are familiar with. His crimes were committed during the late 19th century and, despite killing anywhere from 9 - 200 people (estimates vary) which would make him one of America's first, and possibly most prolific, seriel killers, I can safely say that I don't ever remember hearing about him before this book.

The negatives? The writing style. While I enjoyed reading the book immensely, it didn't always have the ring of "true crime" to it. The fictional style Larson employs includes a great deal of what can only be described as speculation and artistic license regarding the thoughts of Holmes' victims and other "characters" in the book. However, this can be overlooked given how engaging a read it was. And again - footnotes. If Larson had chosen to take a more traditional approach to writing non-fiction, he may have decided to include at least numbers to reference the notes at the back of the book. However, based on how he's chosen to present the story, it's easy to see why he's chosen to not include the numbers. While I understand, it's still frustrating to come across the foot/endnotes purely by accident when you're halfway through the book. After having this happen with a previous book, I've learned my lesson and will be reading through the tables of contents in future books more closely, as well as flipping through to see if there's something I might want to refer to before diving into the first chapters.

If you're interested in true crime, murder mysteries, or 19th century American architecture, I'd definately recommend The Devil in the White City. Highly entertaining (but not in a gruesome, morbid sort of way ... I'm not like that ... really .... I'm not ...)

72. Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett

They're baaaaaa-aaaccck. That's right, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick are back in action and they've got their work cut out for them this time.

In the far away land of Genua, fairy tales really do come true, especially when someone uses magic to make it happen. Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Bears, and of course, Cinderella. Except her name's not Cinder, it's Ember. And one of her fairy godmothers' is the one behind the weird happenings, determined to have Emberella marry the prince she created out of a frog; all so that she can eventually take over power.

When her other fairy godmother passes away and leaves her defective wand to novice witch, Magrat, it looks like all hope is lost. But you can't keep a good witch down, let alone three. Granny, Nanny and Magrat head off to Genua in the hopes of finding the source of all the problems and a good bowl of gumbo. What they find are zombies, warped fairy tales, and someone Ganny never thought she'd see again.

71. A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire - Amy Butler Greenfield

I had a feeling this was going to be one of those books I often find I pick up with only mild interest and discover that even that was just a bit too much enthusiasm. It was with some surprise that I found myself unable to put it down.

A Perfect Red is the story of our fascination with one colour throughout history. An exciting adventure filled with piracy, empire, conquest, fashion, culture, international trade and espionage, closely guarded secrets, and...one tiny bug. Don't worry, you read that correctly. You see, the book is not just a detailed history of the lengths we've gone to in order to acquire that perfect shade of red; it's although the rise and fall of a small Mexican pest. An insect that helped create the Spanish Empire (it quickly became New Spain's most valuable export after silver) , contributed to major international wars, set fashion trends for centuries, led to the development of chemical warfare, and the refinement of patent laws.

Red dye has been used in one form or another since prehistoric times. We know from archaeological evidence, including cave paintings, that Europe's early inhabitants used red ochre. It's always been associated with passion, love, sacrifice, blood, and war. In many cultures, it was the exclusive right of the nobility to wear. Some countries even had laws forbidding peasants to wear it. The domain of high priests, kings, and emperors alike, red has always been considered a sign of wealth and status. From Roman statesmen to Renaissance painters, everyone wanted that perfect shade.

This is equally a history of that tiny little bug, Cochineal, as it is a history of the quest for colour. And it's a fascinating history. While Europe and Asia struggled to find a dye source that would satisfy their desire, the native peoples of Mexico had been using (and domesticating) this tiny little insect for centuries, achieving what the supposedly more "advanced" Old World could not. When the Spanish arrived on the shores of Mexico and began their conquest of the New World, they overlooked the real treasure for the longest time in favour of the sparkle of gold and silver.

I could go on and on quite a bit about this book. It really was a surprising find. A few weeks ago, I had popped my head into a discount book store in the downtown area expecting to find a lot of books that somehow managed to be published but which no one wanted to read. That's exactly what I found. However, I also managed to find this little gem. Not only was it less than half the advertised price on the cover, it would have been well worth paying the full price. You don't have to have an interest in textiles or dyes to enjoy this book. It starts off a bit slow in the first chapter but the author quickly finds her speed and takes you on a fascinating adventure (just be prepared to read the word Cochineal over and over and over again).

As great as it sounds (and it was pretty darned interesting), there were a few problems with the book. First of all, the footnotes. About halfway through the book, I finally realized that there were some. This was unfortunate. I could have looked at the table of contents but I was eager to dive right in and didn't bother. I'm glad that she's included them but there's no indication in the text of the book that you should flip back to read a reference about a particular passage, quote, or fact. When you do make your way to the notes section, they're thankfully divided by chapter and by the page number. However without a corresponding reference on that page... you get my drift.

The other problem is that while she's spent a great deal of time and research exploring the history of red dye throughtout our history, she barely touches the reasons behind our passion for this particular colour. Ms. Butler Greenfield constantly refers to our all consuming desire for this particular colour and the great lengths to which individuals and whole nations have gone to find the perfect shade. But the question in my head the whole time is - WHY? Why are we so besotted? This is never explored and I think would have been worthwhile to have looked into. At only 261 pages, The Perfect Red wouldn't have suffered in the least for an extra 50 odd pages dedicated what drives us to want red so badly throughout history above all other colours .

All in all, a surprisingly good read and definately Captain Recommended.

70. Excavation - James Rollins

Simple plot summary: an archaeological excavation uncovers the 500 year old mummy of a Spanish priest buried in the Andes along with the ruins of an ancient temple structure. The head of the dig returns with the mummy to the US and discovers it's skull is filled with gold. Or so he thinks. It turns out to be a unknown, gold-like substance. The students left behind on the dig get trapped within the ruins and have to make their way through the temple and the caverns beyond to survive. Along the way they're chased by albino tarantulas and creatures that, from their description were last seen in The Descent. The rest of the book is filled with chases involving a killer (literally) band of secretive monks, a lost Incan village and gold that isn't gold which will transform itself into whatever you wish for, and, of course, more sunlight-deprived cave dwelling humanoids. Who may or may not be from outerspace.

Terrible. Well, not completely but 415 pages of my life I wish I could have avoided. Rollins' characters were carbon copies on those that you'll find in any other cheesy novel or film - they lacked substance and, at times, I found his blatant stereotyping of them offensive. The plot of a work of fiction should be given some leeway in terms of outright believability but this pushes the limit. Monks trying to recreate Jesus/God in order to bring him to life? And the Incans who succeeded in resurrecting one of their own gods? Hmmm, a quick look at the plot of his latest novel, The Last Oracle, and you begin to see that it's just a tad bit similar. And it's not just similarities between these two books. Halfway through Excavation and I was having flashbacks to the first Rollins book I read, Amazonia. Plenty of the same themes running through that novel as well, although it was far more believable and much more enjoyable. I was not surprised to discover on his website that Rollins will be penning the novelization of this summer's big screen dud: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Who better than to write the book version of one of the most unbelievably bad cheesy films than a cheesy novelist?

In the "acknowledgements" portion at the beginning, Rollins makes a point of thanking Eric Drexler, the author of Engines of Creation, whom he writes was the inspiration for the science behind Excavation. It's easy to tell that Rollins, a real-life veterinarian, was blown away by Drexler's book - he refers to him a number of times throughout the novel when the subject of nanotechnology is discussed. I don't know much about this field of expertise but I do know that relying on just one source for your material is not recommended. To be honest, if this "science" had been left out and a few minor changes made, this might have been a half decent book.

Because I enjoyed my first experience with his writing (somewhat), I'll give him one more shot. However, I wouldn't recommend running out and buying one of his books to start with - try to find a copy at your local library or your neighbourhood used book store.

NOT recommended.

69. Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition - Owen Beattie and John Geiger

In 1845, Sir John Franklin led his two ships, the Terror and the Erebus, on a voyage of exploration. His goal: to discover the Northwest Passage through the Arctic to Asia. Despite having an able crew, the latest technology and plenty of supplies, Franklin's expedition ended in disaster within the Arctic's frozen seas. A number of follow up expeditions were undertaken to try and discover Franklin's horrible fate. While three graves were discovered, along with a number of artifacts, very little could be learned about what happened to the ships and their crew.

Fast forward almost 150 years later. University of Alberta anthropologist, Owen Beattie, and a team of researchers head to a small island in the Canadian Arctic to try and uncover the truth. Could it have been that most feared enemy of sailors in the 19th century, scurvy? Perhaps restless natives, blood thirsty polar bears, madness, famine? Surprisingly, it was part of the seemingly innocuous cargo lying silently in their ship's hold that precipitated their ultimate demise.

"The source of their defeat was not the ice-choked seas, the deep cold, the winters of absolute night, the labyrinthine geograph or the soul destroying isolation." (p. 254) While all of these played a part, it was the one thing that they believed would help counteract the effects of scurvy many were beginning to experience during their first winter on the ice which doomed them before they had even left port in England. It was....their food.

Growing up, I remember watching a documentary on Beattie and his team's efforts in Canada's north to uncover the truth behind the failed expedition. Years later, I was fortunate enough to attend lectures he gave while I was a student at the University of Alberta. Frozen in Time is a fascinating look at one of exploration's great mysteries and the book is filled with portraits of key players, sketches by team members, and photographs of Beattie's work with the graves on Beechey Island (including the autopsies of the bodies of three crew members).

Captain reommended.

68. Ancient Obscenities: Or Things You Shouldn't Know about the History of Mankind - Paul Bahn and Bill Tidy

I'll let the Amazon description speak for itself:

With a unique blend of narrative, anecdote, and cartoon, this book reveals and revels in those aspects of the past that have been ignored, glossed over, or even suppressed—the bawdy, the scatological, and the downright bizarre. Our ancestors were not always serious, fearful creatures. They were human like ourselves and shared our earthy sense of humor based on bodily functions, bawdiness, and slapstick. So it's time to take the fig leaf off the past and take a long hard look at the world that would have had the Victorians reaching for their smelling salts. So, if you want to know what your average Egyptian slave thought of Pharaoh or what a Roman legionary thought of his commander, you will find the answer here—in hilarious graphic detail. It is a must-own for history lovers.

67. Amazonia - James Rollins

A former US Special Forces soldier stumbles out of the jungle after disappearing mysteriously four years earlier. What's even more disturbing is the fact that the arm he had lost on a previous mission has miraculously regenerated. However, he's also brought with him a mysterious illness that rapidly spreads across the US and the race begins to find a cure, discover the secrets of a long lost tribe and find out what happened tohis expedition four years earlier. What follows is a cross between medical mystery, archaeological action adventure, and a race to save the world. Sure it won't go down as one of the great works of literature but it was mindless entertainment and a fun read. I haven't checked out any of his other works but I probably will. A nice bit of fiction to throw in amongst the plethora of non-fiction that I usually read. Can see it being made into a movie - the writing reminded me a lot of Clive Cussler whom I also enjoy reading now and then. Not great, not bad. Give it a try.