Total Books: 4 Total Pages: 1579 Longest: 433 Shortest: 326
Genres: 2 (History – 1, Thriller – 3)
This month’s reading comprised 3 thrillers (one each from the legal, psychological, and archaeological sub-genres) from some of my favorite authors and 1 historical account for my monthly non-fiction selection.
Ernest Dempsey’s The Inventor’s Tomb, his 23rd Sean Wyatt archaeological thriller, started like a recent episode of Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown with an amazing discovery in the ancient city of Petra.
However, unlike Josh Gates, the fictional archaeology team of Sean and Tommy find themselves in mortal danger as they chase clues through the ancient world trying to discover a legendary scroll attributed to Archimedes before it can be found by an unscrupulous colleague. I found myself as usual going down the rabbit hole a few times doing my own research into the geographical and historical background of the novel. Another fun read in the series.
Next up, last year’s latest Lincoln Lawyer novel, Resurrection Walk, by Michael Connelly.
Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer, and his half-brother, retired LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, are teamed up trying to prove the innocence of a woman convicted of killing her sheriff deputy husband. The characters of Haller and Bosch have been well-established by Connelly over the past several decades, but he continues to evolve and grow their characters in this novel, providing another enjoyable read.
Another long-time favorite author of mine is David Baldacci. He has written several enjoyable series and stand-alone novels, which I usually read as soon as they come out, but I somehow missed this one from 2023.
Simply Lies is a stand-alone psychological thriller, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find the main character, Mickey Gibson, appear again. A former police detective, Mickey is now a work-from-home mom hunting down financial cheats primarily by tracking them online.
The synopsis on Amazon best describes the main plot:
When Mickey gets a call from a colleague named Arlene Robinson, she thinks nothing of Arlene’s unusual request for her to go inventory the vacant home of an arms dealer who cheated ProEye’s clients and fled. That is, until she arrives at the mansion and discovers a dead body in a secret room—and nothing is as it seems.
Not only does the arms dealer not exist, but the murder victim turns out to be Harry Langhorne, a man with mob ties who used to be in Witness Protection. What’s more, no one named Arlene Robinson works at ProEye.
In the blink of an eye, Gibson has become a prime suspect in a murder investigation—and now her job is on the line until she proves that she was set up. Before long, Gibson is locked in a battle of wits with a brilliant woman with no name, a hidden past, and unknown motives—whose end game is as mysterious as it is deadly.
Lots of twists and turns in this one, but a quite satisfying ending.
My non-fiction selection this month was inspired by recent events in the Middle East – specifically the attacks on Hamas and Hezbollah using pagers and walkie-talkies attributed to Israel’s secret services, Mossad.
The 2012 book, Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service by Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal provides a look at several historical missions over many decades – some more successful than others, some which were put together in a short time frame, and others requiring years of setup and infiltration.
The authors’ sources included interviews with many of the operatives, plus other first-hand accounts, articles, and books. Let’s just say that the next time I’m reading a fictional spy/espionage novel, I may not find the scenarios so far-fetched!
Until next time, read what pleases you!
Notes By Nancy 
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