Brian H

I listened to this book.  I think if I had to read it, I would have rated it even lower.  The story had no flow and not sure there was even a story.  Maybe if I read this book 50 years ago, I would have appreciated it.  I don’t recommend this book.

Coming soon

I really enjoyed reading this book. Couldn’t put it down, I think because it was fast paced, and I was rooting for the main character to survive. I could feel her heat and loneliness. I thought the book was fast-paced and held my attention. However, if I could give some advice to the author, I would say that the crazy strength and other survival actions from a non-in shape woman were unrealistic also reduce repetitive information, like that the Antarctic winters are so much more harsh than summer. I felt there were some personal agenda items from the author related to global warming and “the current president“ (implied) that I personally am tired of. Even with this, the book kept my interest, and I plan to read his next book.

Later

Well, the book was pretty good in the end.  I disliked the two main characters, especially the husband.  I was routing for the detective.  Despite this, the story kept me interested and there were lots of surprises.  I especially liked the ending, definitely did not predict.  

While I had trouble getting through the book, it dragged on sometimes, it is a must read.  It is depressing but many concepts related to Big Brother watching and controlling all aspects of our life sometimes feel valid to current times.  Consider watching the movie, pretty good adaptation and much shorter.

The story revolves around Lachlan (Lockie) Kite, a poor kid from Scotland who somehow gets accepted at an expensive and prestigious boarding school, Alford.  He is recruited into Box 88, a covert US/UK espionage group while in school.  The book alternates between Lockie in school and his current middle aged version which starts at the funeral of his best friend from Alford. I found this technique very effective in holding my interest.  I also liked the way the story weaved in real life events like the downing of the plane in Lockerbie Scotland and fatwa against Salomon Rushdie in Iran.  The character development is outstanding.  The author clearly gets across how Lockie grows from a naive boy in school to a skilled spy.  I highly recommend this book.  Lots of suspense and it keeps you hanging for the next novel in the series.

Overall, I liked the book.  This story comes at a time when everyone is frazzled with all aspects of life, job, family, house etc. and artificial intelligence is now a reality.  Everyone is really afraid of this technology taking over so the story is very timely.  Hurwitz does a great job developing the characters and I especially liked his description of the autistic daughter.  The family decides to procure an advanced AI robot to solve all their problems.  The book kept my interest throughout, but my only complaint was the ending was too predictable.

This book was just ok.  I thought the characters were not developed early enough or in enough detail for me to be invested.  The main characters behaviors were inconsistent with what you would expect from seasoned assassins in their 60’s.  They behaved like teenagers which made the story less believable.  I also found the ending part of the story unbelievable.