Gone Tomorrow

Gone Tomorrow is the most recent book published in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. I have read most of the books in this series, and really enjoy them. I recently bought this one along with another at Barnes and Noble, and read this one over break. Reacher is the main character, an ex-military policeman with no residence and no permanent ties to anything. He basically drifts around all over the United States, doing odd jobs and getting involved in numerous cases and mysteries. This particular case pertains to an investigation into a top secret Delta Force mission that occurred in the 1980's. Reacher is dragged in to it when he witnesses the women with the information shoot herself in the head on a subway at 3 a.m. in Manhattan. He is interviewed by NYPD officials, private investigators, and then federal agents. Then it gets bizarre. The agents refuse to identify themselves, and Reacher decides to look in to this incident further himself. He enlists the help of the dead woman's brother and a helpful NYPD Detective, and together they begin to track down lead after lead. They are lead on a wild goose chase which connects to ex-soldiers, army missions, and even a congressman running for Senator. This book is a thriller, and always keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Killing Pablo

Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden is the story of the hunt for the infamous Colombian drug dealer Pablo Escobar. Escobar, leader of the Medellin Cartel, was the biggest cocaine supplier to the United States throughout the 1980's and 1990's. He owned numerous mansions in Colombia, a residence in the United States, and controlled half of the Colombian government. This led to major problems during the manhunt for him. A majority of the government officials were on his payroll, and the ones that weren't were blackmailed or threatened in to helping him. Eventually, the situation got out of hand and the United States had to get involved. Agencies such as the C.I.A., F.B.I., and Delta Force got involved. These agencies spent months looking for Pablo, through car bombs, shootouts, and government blockades (at one point, Pablo ordered a group of prison guards to point their guns at the warden--they obliged). However, after a foot chase through the streets of the city of Medellin, Pablo was shot and killed. This was a great book, and I was shocked at the level of corruption in the Colombian government. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting true story.

Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice, by an anonymous author is the story of a young girl who starts life on the straight laced side, until she is exposed to drugs. Her life then goes on a downward spiral from there. She runs away from home, starts dealing drugs, and sells her body. Yet somehow, after all of this, she was able to get off of the drugs and return to a normal life...for a while. Her former friends were brutal to her, and would not allow her any peace. She would constantly be called names like a goodie goodie, and would be pushed and jostled in the hallway at school. One day, she was even sexually assaulted. Finally, towards the end of her diary, she was babysitting for a neighbor when it happened. Someone laced some chocolates with Acid and slipped them to her. She went on a bad trip for a week. She had to spend time in a mental hospital which was sick, and somehow managed to make it out alive. She found new friends who stayed away from drugs, and was on the right path. In her last entry everything seems like she is on the right path. Unfortunately, we are left with a message at the end she died two weeks later from a drug overdose, unsure of whether it was intentional or murder. Although this was a quick, easy read it was still a good book.

Blue Blood

I just finished the book Blue Blood by Edward Conlon. This is the autobiography of a New York City Housing Police Officer in PSA 7 in the South Bronx. It documents his career from a regular patrolman to the Narcotics Division to becoming a detective. The book also includes some of his family history, from uncles and distant relatives who were also police officers. Conlon remembers many events from his older days, such as calls where he would he would have to fight with criminals or deal with death. Although it is a very serious topic, Conlon adds some humor to his discussion. He is always able to lighten the mood by adding a little joke here and there. It is very interesting to hear the extensive cases that Conlon investigated once he got to the Narcotics Division and the Detective Division. This was a great book, and I highly reccomend it.

Small Arms

Over the vacation, I also read the book Small Arms by Martin J. Dougherty. This book is more of an explanation of different types of guns and how they work. It involves all types, from pistols to rifles to sub-machine guns to shotguns, and includes civilian weapons as well as police and military weapons. It included hundreds of different kinds of guns, and then followed with a few paragraphs and a picture explaining the details of each gun, or small arm. I have always had an interest in guns (don't worry, I don't have one and don't plan to use one in any violent way). I have never been hunting and never will go hunting, but I could spend hours admiring the guns that they use. This book has them all, from the common ones like the Glock 17 and the AK-47 to the uncommon ones like the Detonics Pocket 9 or the CETME Model 58. There are plenty of guns in here that I had never heard of, and it was cool to see some new ones.

Get Shorty

I just finished the book Get Shorty by Elmore Leanord, and can't wait to see the movie. This was a great book about a loan shark from Brooklyn who moves to Miami, then L.A. and becomes involved in the movie business. I read the New York Times book review for this book, called "The Shylock is the Good Guy" by Nora Ephron. Although the review was not written very well, I do agree with the point it made that this was a great book. The review jumps from event to event in the book very fast in the beginning, but evens out when it gets to the main part of the book. When Chili Palmer, the main character, becomes a representative for a famous movie producer, the heat is on. The review gives information about the characters, but does not go all of the way through. For instance, its description of one of the characters is "a female lead who used to scream at slime people in Harry Zimm's movies...". Personally, I do not thank that it was written very well and does not seem like a professional author. Fortunately for her, she was still writing a review on a great book.

A Hope In The Unseen

I just finished the book "A Hope In The Unseen" by Richard Suskind, and I think that it was a great book. This book was the story of a boy who attending an extremely dangerous high school in Washington D.C. At Ballou Senior High School, Cedric Jennings (the main character of the book) is at the top of all of his classes. He is one of only a handful of people in his entire class planning on attending college. Although he is made fun of and accused of "wanting to be white", he persists through it all and is accepted in to Brown University. At Brown, he has trouble assimilating in to the culture of a university that is mostly white. He sticks to himself due to his trouble adapting, but slowly opens up. He meets another Black student named Chiniqua, and they start dating. He attends parties with her at the all black dorm, and begins to make more friends. Although he hits rocky points with his stereotypically white room mate Rob, they eventually are able to become friends. Cedric is able to adapt to the culture much better then he had originally thought.