Eating and Sleeping With the Enemy (Bruce Poon Tip novel) Not quite what I expected in a horror novel. A rather sweet vampire story about a woman who moves in with her boyfriend’s parents after he leaves her for another woman. A nice fantasy with a paranormal twist. The Last Horror Writer (Bruce Poon Tip novel) Like a sequel to Eating and Sleeping, The Last Horror Writer takes the lead character from Eating and Sleeping on a road trip to an old English manor. Unfortunately, the trip never gets started, and we have to cut to the mystery of a writer’s disappearance. This is a nicely creepy crime story. The Rite (Dan Brown novel) The Rite turned out to be an interesting novel, but it certainly doesn’t feel like the work of a literary writer. The story makes a good effort to give the reader the perspective of the vampire during the transformation, but it isn’t the same as the perspective of the shtriga’s victims. I can’t give this one a rating higher than 3. The Night Stalker (Robert Harris novel) The Night Stalker is a good thriller with a nice supernatural twist and some nice philosophical ideas (there are lots of good books about the idea of a soul). As one might expect, this novel doesn’t really explore many of the ideas presented. This is a fun and entertaining thriller, but not one that does much to expand the world of Harris’ Nightside world. The Last Rung on the Ladder (Dan Brown novel) The Last Rung on the Ladder wasn’t a terrible book, but it didn’t really stick with me. It was a lot like The Da Vinci Code, in that the book seemed to follow a formula, but this formula was really quite boring. It was as if Brown threw in the supernatural for the hell of it. I suppose it was marketed as a novel about ghosts, but it was really just a long, boring explanation of The Da Vinci Code. This isn’t a bad book, but it just wasn’t engaging or entertaining. 3 stars The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown novel) I am not a huge fan of Dan Brown, but this was an entertaining book. It wasn’t a very good story, but it was fun to read and I kept up with the plot. Still, it was no where near as good as The Da Vinci Code. I wish that there was more to The Lost Symbol than just another cryptic puzzle book with no real mystery. I was almost hoping that Brown was doing something more than just retelling the Da Vinci Code, but the whole book is pretty much just a retelling. The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch novel) This was a nice, fast-paced novel. I’m not as sure that Lynch has hit his stride as an author as I am of the books of Glen Cook, but he is an interesting writer and he shows some potential. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Steig Larsson novel) Larsson’s book takes the classic whodunit into a whole new direction. The murderer, who is named for the murderer in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, uses technology to commit his crime. This novel offers a new spin on the whodunit. If you like mysteries, it is worth a read. The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon novel) After reading The Da Vinci Code and several books by Dan Brown, I don’t think I can give a Robert Langdon mystery 5 stars. I didn’t dislike this book, but I wasn’t exactly enamored with it. Langdon had a few good lines in this book, but the premise was very thin and the writing was pretty uninspired. Still, I think it is better than The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol was better than The Angels of Death, but that’s not saying much. I give it 3 stars. The Angels of Death (Robert Langdon novel) Robert Langdon makes an appearance in this murder mystery. The Angels of Death is a slightly better mystery than The Da Vinci Code, though I’m not sure why. Both seem to follow a formula that makes the whodunit a tedious, predictable exercise. The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown novel) A re-read of this slightly revised edition of The Da Vinci Code from the library. I tried to read the Da Vinci Code and it didn’t do much for me, so I’m not looking forward to another try. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown novel) I’ve read the Da Vinci Code and I don’t remember much about it. If I really wanted to tell you something about it, I could, but I wouldn’t tell you much. A while ago, I decided to try a re-read, so I went back and read it again. I was disappointed with it, but not as much as I expected. Brown never does a good job of letting the reader in on the clues that are so central to the novel. It was really obvious to the reader that Brown was planting clues, but the clues he left had no real impact on the plot. That wasn’t entirely Brown’s fault, because the author did a terrible job with the pacing, which left an unnecessary feeling of unease hanging over the book. So even if I don’t remember much, this book didn’t seem to leave me with much of an impression, which was a good thing. I still don’t know that much about the conspiracy, but I suppose that’s Brown’s point, and it certainly made for an interesting story. 3 stars The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown novel) Well, what do you expect from a re-read? I read the Da Vinci Code at least twice during my youth, but somehow I never read this particular edition. It’s nice to revisit these classics, though, and it certainly beats reading Dan Brown’s latest book, or so it seems. The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon novel) I just couldn’t get myself to read Langdon’s latest book. For one thing, he starts out by explaining the details of some secret code. I know he did this so that he could leave hints and clues for readers, but I was really a bit put off by that. Also, this book seemed less action-oriented than the previous Robert Langdon novels, which is fine. But it’s not really for me. I think my time is better spent reading books that have more substance and can offer me something more than the usual suspects and secret codes. So it goes, it was back to the mystery books. The Secret History (Ben Macintyre novel) If anyone is still reading, Ben Macintyre followed up his best seller, The Man from St. Petersburg, with a historical fiction novel that took the reader to the world of 19th-century Russia. I found this book slow and boring and it didn’t really have much mystery to it. I didn’t learn a lot about Russia in this novel. Still, I suppose if you enjoy reading historical fiction, this could be something to try. The Secret History (Ben Macintyre novel) The sequel to The Secret History didn’t get much better than the first book, but it was an enjoyable read. It does have some intriguing story elements, but I don’t think it is the sort of book that will stand the test of time. The Unseen (Ben Macintyre novel) After the excellent first two books of the Man from St. Petersburg series, Ben Macintyre’s third book does the story a disservice. The book tries to tell us everything that happened and does it in such a way that the whole story seems to be about the author’s search for a mysterious object. If you like a slow pace and lots of details, you will probably enjoy The Unseen. If you expect a thriller, you will be disappointed. The Drowning Eyes (Dan Brown novel) This is a sequel to The Da Vinci Code and this time there are a few more ideas to get around in than a puzzle book. I did enjoy this book, but it is pretty basic. It lacks a lot of the twists and mystery that I found in The Da Vinci Code. Purgatory (Dan Brown novel) This is a continuation of The Da Vinci Code and in the process it is probably a more of a sequel to The Lost Symbol than to The Da Vinci Code. This story has a lot more twists and turns than either book, so if you like twists and turns, you will probably enjoy Purgatory. That being said, this book was still pretty much a bore, except when Brown gets a chance to throw in a bit of irony. There are also a few interesting details in the book, but it was mostly an exercise in telling a long story with very little emotion. The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon novel) I finished reading The Lost Symbol, and I have to say that, despite my lack of enthusiasm for Dan Brown’s latest book, I did enjoy it. Despite his writing style, Brown does write pretty well. The