Lesa's Book Critiques: Inside Man by John McMahon

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Inside Man by John McMahon

Friday's Forgotten Books: Dead Head by Dr. Allen Wyler

Long before my health stuff started getting serious and Sandi’s cancer stuff hit, I would read a medical thriller now and then. I was looking for something else on my blog, found this, and thought I would share again. From the archive…

 

Following up on his novel, Deadly Errors, the author has crafted yet another superb and at times very disturbing medical thriller. For neurosurgeon Russell Lawton, the conference where he has presented his paper on connecting a robotic hand to the neurons in a monkey’s brain by way of on interface between the two has been routine though the material isn’t. If it works, someday paralyzed humans might be able to move their limbs by way of thinking it to happen. What has been a concept deep in the realm of science fiction is gradually becoming modern reality.

 

Stopped after his speech by a beautiful woman masquerading as a reporter, he agrees to be interviewed and follows her willingly outside of the Moscone Convention Center. That will be the last willing thing he does as he is soon grabbed and removed from the street by Islamic terrorists. Before long, he is in the air in a private jet on his way back to his laboratory at the National Institutes of Health.

 

With his young daughter a hostage and faced with death, Dr. Russell Lawton has no choice but to cooperate. The terrorists are demanding his help and they are proposing something so unthinkable at every level that Dr. Russell Lawton is revolted to the very core of his being. Beyond the incredible medical challenges, the very idea they insist will be done raises huge moral and ethical challenges. And yet, Dr. Lawton has no choice if he wishes to save his life, his daughter’s, as well as other potential victims.

 

What follows is an incredible read that propels the reader on an emotional roller coaster. Dr. Allen Wyler again uses his extensive medical background to bring forth insight into a complex medical problem. Those very detailed bits of medical information are skillfully woven into the story and do nothing to slow it down.

 

At the same time, unlike most thrillers, the main characters in this book soon to be released are rich and detailed. Dr. Lawton’s emotional agony both in terms of his daughter as well as what he has been asked to do come alive for the reader. This is also true of other characters unwittingly drawn in such as FBI Special Agent Sandra Phillips who is part of the secondary and independent storyline of the kidnapping of Lawton’s daughter.

 

The result is an excellent fast paced read full of medical information and surgical procedures, action, and deep moral questions. This thriller with a currently scheduled release date of February 6, 2007, written by Dr. Allen Wyler is not easy to put down once finished and sure to leaven the reader with a lot of imagery and questions about the possible medical breakthrough and its meaning.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4jeGaOL

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple © 2007, 2010, 2025

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – JOHN SANDFORD’S TOXIC PREY

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – JOHN SANDFORD’S TOXIC PREY

Review: Toxic Prey: A Lucas and Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford

 

The fate of the world and most of its inhabitants is the subject of Toxic Prey: A Lucas and Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford. Dr. Lionel Scott has a vision to save a planet besieged by global warming and human overpopulation. Kill a lot of people. Create a new pandemic far more lethal and wider ranging than Covid. Kill billions of people to stop the strain on the world and possibly reverse the coming collapse.

 

Letty Davenport is sent to England by her boss, Senator Christopher Colles. Officially, she works for the Department of Homeland Security, but the reality is that she is sort of a fixer type for Colles. She is sent to England to talk to three of Lionel Scott’s friends and find out what they know about Scott and if they know where he is.

 

There is a concern as the good doc previously worked at U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and was currently working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Scott is an infectious disease specialist and has a lot of knowledge in his head. That knowledge could be dangerous if used by others.

 

Met by Alec Hawkins of MI5, Letty is shown Oxford, and A few other things. It soon becomes clear that Lionel Scott has a history of depression and a fascination with the possibilities of the Gaia hypothesis. 

 

Simplifying greatly, the theory is that the Earth is a living organism and all life on Earth live in a sort of harmony and are protected by the Earth. That balance has been destroyed by human overpopulation. If you remove billions of humans from the planet, the survivors would live in a world that would steadily improve as nature healed itself. Climate change would immediately stop and would probably reverse. Species and plants would rebound, improving the quality of life for the humans that remained. Those humans would have improved access to housing, resources, etc.

 

It becomes clear to Letty that Scott might be trying to make that event happen by way of a virus. He has the medical skills to engineer one. He probably has folks with him that believe in the same mission. She knows she needs help and starts raising the alarm.

 

Before long, Lucas Davenport, Letty, Hawkins, and many others are in New Mexico on Scott’s trail and trying to stop the end of the world before it starts.

 

A top-notch thriller that offers an all too real scenario, Toxic Prey is a mighty good read. Intense, often violent, it carries readers along at a rapid pace as Lucas, Letty, and others do everything they can to stop a group of people committed to wiping out the vast majority of the human population. Toxic Prey is not only a mighty good read, it is also a scary predicator of what could be done by one man with knowledge and resources easily bought online. 

Make sure you read Lesa's review here.   

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:    https://amzn.to/48HmDAz

My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, through NetGalley with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024

Scott's Take: Superman: Action Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo by Phillip Kennedy Johnson

 

Superman: Action Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo by Phillip Kennedy Johnson follows up his previous Superman Action comics series.  This read incorporates plot points from his previous run so folks can start here and follow along. Clark and Lois have adopted the two kids Clark rescued from War World. They gave also helped settle the refuges in Metropolis those who chose to stay on Earth. Life is going fairly well.

 

Metropolis is being protected by Superman and the rest of his family. With the town being patrolled by 5 super powered Kryptonians and 2 heavily armed geniuses, the city should be safe even with the rise in anti-alien sentiment. A new group calling itself Blue Earth is increasingly becoming violent and engaging in terrorist activities to spread their hate. They are angered by the presence of aliens and the use of alien technology by Steel in his new company, Steelworks. Steel wants to use the tech from War World to make the world a better place.

 

Metallo, a Superman villain, soon makes his presence known utilizing new alien tech to strike out against Superman and his family. For some reason, Metallo is more unhinged than usual.

 

Metallo has never been that interesting to me, but the author does a good job of humanizing him in this volume and fleshing him out as a character. There is also a spoiler villain who is pretty terrifying in this story.  There is a lot of body horror in this volume since some citizens are turned into robotic creatures against their will. There are scenes where their flesh is being taken away from them. The fights are pretty brutal since it is established that the people are already dead inside.

 

The art is incredible. The author sprinkles the story with a lot of interesting small details and character development. Whether it’s showing that that Supergirl has a sweet tooth, how Jon is dealing with the fact he is no longer an only child, or how the kids are trying to adjust to living life on Earth. For example, the author shows the kids preferring to sleep on the floor because the beds are too soft. One of the kids ties herself up at night using the bedspread because she is used to being chained up as she slept.

 

 

For some reason, the Knight Terror tie ins are skipped in this collection and will not be in the second volume either. The second volume for this book is also untitled with no publication date, at this time.

 

The tie ins for this book, as well as several other ones from other series, are released together in Knight Terrors: Knightmare League. I personally think they should have included the appropriate tie ins here in Superman: Action Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo as the tie ins consist of the super twins (the new kids) dealing with PTSD elements after the events of this volume. One of the villains in this volume causes long term trauma to the kids.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed this volume. I have enjoyed all the Superman related things Phillip Kennedy Johnson has written.

 

I am looking forward to the second volume of this series (no title and no release date) and the event, House of Brainiac, when they do come out. Superman is getting an event series which he has not had in years as Brainiac and his family attacks.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/48YSZ9e

 

 

My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024

 

Review: Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford

 

I first told you about this book back in early February. As today is publication day, I am running my review again.

 

Officially Letty Davenport is still an investigator for the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security. However, her real boss is Senator Christopher Colles, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. After a few months of letting everything settle down after her last situation (The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel), he has a new mission for her in Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel.

The National Security Agency would like her to infiltrate a hacker group known as “Ordinary People.”

The group recently took control over the entire Russian train system and had control for months. For weeks they moved freight and equipment wherever and whenever as they wanted with the Russians powerless to stop it or take back any sense of control. As their final act, they completely shut the system down for days about a year before Russia invaded Ukraine. The Russians eventually paid a lot of money for them to release their control of the system.  

According to two NSA agents, based on chatter and other unspecified sources they will not reveal, the group might be planning to turn the gas off in a northern city. Winter is here and temperatures are way below freezing in a lot of cities of the United States. If the natural gas supply to a city was cut off, many people would die.

The NSA plan is to send Letty and one of their computer people out to California to work undercover. They are to try to meet folks who are in the group. There are some vague leads that they can pursue and once out there and undercover, the NSA agents hope that Letty and their computer guy can obtain more solid leads into the people and what they are planning to do. It is going to take some work, but their computer expert can talk the talk. They need Letty for her gun skills and to keep him safe.

Letty knows from the start the NSA folks are playing spook and therefore not telling her everything. Before long, things get complicated and  violently messy. Which is pretty much the way Letty likes it. Not that her undercover partner shares her enthusiasm for guns, blood, and bullets.

Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford is a complicated thriller and one that develops the Letty character a little more from the first book. She is given a hobby and an outlet that fits her to a T while also allowing her to publicly show off her skills. At the same time, the mission is complicated and constantly gets more complicated. Because of the peril of working undercover, she reveals more of herself to others as the story unfolds.

The result is a fun fast moving read that makes Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford well worth your time. Because the events of The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel are thoroughly detailed and discussed, it would be best to read that book before reading the new book.

Make sure you read Lesa Holstine's review today at her place. 

 

My reading copy was an ARC from NetGalley in advance of the April 11, 2023 publication date.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Review: Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford

 

Officially, Letty Davenport is still an investigator for the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security. However, her real boss is Senator Christopher Colles, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. After a few months of letting everything settle down after her last situation (The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel), he has a new mission for her in Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel.

The National Security Agency would like her to infiltrate a hacker group known as “Ordinary People.”

The group recently took control over the entire Russian train system and had control for months. For weeks they moved freight and equipment wherever and whenever as they wanted with the Russians powerless to stop it or take back any sense of control. As their final act, they completely shut the system down for days about a year before Russia invaded Ukraine. The Russians eventually paid a lot of money for them to release their control of the system.  

According to two NSA agents, based on chatter and other unspecified sources they will not reveal, the group might be planning to turn the gas off in a northern city. Winter is here and temperatures are way below freezing in a lot of cities of the United States. If the natural gas supply to a city was cut off, many people would die.

The NSA plan is to send Letty and one of their computer people out to California to work undercover. They are to try to meet folks who are in the group. There are some vague leads that they can pursue and once out there and undercover, the NSA agents hope that Letty and their computer guy can obtain more solid leads into the people and what they are planning to do. It is going to take some work, but their computer expert can talk the talk. They need Letty for her gun skills and to keep him safe.

Letty knows from the start the NSA folks are playing spook and therefore not telling her everything. Before long, things get complicated and  violently messy. Which is pretty much the way Letty likes it. Not that her undercover partner shares her enthusiasm for guns, blood, and bullets.

Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford is a complicated thriller and one that develops the Letty character a little more from the first book. She is given a hobby and an outlet that fits her to a T while also allowing her to publicly show off her skills. At the same time, the mission is complicated and constantly gets more complicated. Because of the peril of working undercover, she reveals more of herself to others as the story unfolds.

The result is a fun fast moving read that makes Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford well worth your time. Because the events of The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel are thoroughly detailed and discussed, it would be best to read that book before reading the new book.

 

My reading copy was an ARC from NetGalley in advance of the April 11, 2023 publication date.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Review: The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford

Many of us longtime fans of the Lucas Davenport series by John Sandford have expected a spin off series featuring his adopted daughter, Letty. That series is now here with the first book, The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel which releases in April.

In the aftermath of a black bag style operation for Senator Christopher Colles, Republican of Florida, Letty Davenport is getting some blow back from his staff. She accomplished the mission she was sent to do, skirted the lines legally, and got the goods. Some of his staff have questions about her methods. It does not help that she comes from a radically different life experience, dresses nothing like her Washington, D. C. coworkers, and has absolutely nothing in common with them. They bore her. She does not fit in or play well with others and is sick of the internal crap from folks who don’t see the world and people like she does. Her unique childhood gives her a different perspective. It also gave her a set of skills that she has built on over the years with the help of her father.

Letty hates her job and plans to quit. The recently completed assignment in Tallahassee was the most interesting thing she has done during her tenure working for Colles. It also serves a reminder that it is time to quit and find something else to do. Instead of allowing her to quit, Colles has an idea about a different job that could be far more interesting.

Senator Colles sits as Chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee. That means he is very aware of numerous issues in the Department of Homeland Security. What he wants is for her to stay, become his liaison to the Homeland Security Inspector General’s Office, label her a “researcher” (code for Investigator), and turn her lose on cases that Colles believes are important and fit her skill set. The Inspector General’s will give her carry permit. That means she can carry a gun to protect herself. She won’t have arrest powers, but she will be able to work cases and investigate things. Colles will give her own small office and freedom to do her job. The rest of the staff will, for the most part, leave her alone.

It isn’t long before her and DHS agent John Kaiser are grating each other’s nerves due to age and far different life experiences while headed south to work a case. First stop is Oklahoma City where they get a slew of briefings about oil thefts that are happening in the Permian Basin of West Texas. Somebody is stealing a little bit here and there from various operators. While it is not hurting or endangering the big operators who are losing a very small percentage of their oil, for the person doing it and getting the money, the financial haul could be huge.

Where the oil is going, who is selling it, and what that money being raised is used for, are three important questions. Especially the final question in this time of concern over domestic terrorism. Letty and Kaiser need to identify the thieves as well as their method and their endgame.

That means a trip to the oil fields in Texas, stakeouts at night, and day time surveillance while dealing with the locals, civilians and police. It isn’t long before they are in the thick of it with many lives, including their own at stake.

The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford is a fast moving and enjoyable read. Folks who believe the author is a left leaning idiot who hates the right, far and otherwise, will no doubt righteously scream on social media about how they quit very early in the book and will never read another.  Those of us born and raised Texans will see some of the obvious criticism about life here, wince a little, and nod as the criticisms are accurate. Those who expected, as this reader did, a more obvious distinction between a Letty novel and a Lucas Davenport novel might be a little disappointed. If one removes the flash back scenes, the book reads as if it is a Lucas Davenport novel and not a separate series.

Though in the big picture that is a good thing. Letty can hold her own when she finds herself in violent confrontations. The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford is a violent action filled read, that moves forward at a steady pace as events escalate. As often happens in Sandford’s books the last few years, the bad actors are identified early on, and readers soon understand why they are doing what they are doing.

The result is a solidly good novel and a good foundation for what should be an interesting series. The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford is well worth your time. Might just make you think about things as well, regardless of your pollical party lens.

 

 

My reading copy was an ARC via NetGalley. Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, the book is currently scheduled to be released on April 12^th in a variety of formats.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022