The Secret Servant, Daniel Silva (Putnam)

Gabriel Allon, one of Israel’s most dangerous and brilliant operatives, is sent to Amsterdam on what is supposed to be a quick in and out mission. Dutch citizen Solomon has sent Israel good Intel for years and has made many enemies because of his his speaking out against Islamic fundamentalism. Now that he was killed Allon is supposed to look for his files and wipe away any connection between the dead man and Israel.

He meets one of Solomon’s informants, who tells Allon that Solomon was going to tell his handler that a terrorist cell was slipped into England and there would be an attack someplace in the country. Finding verification, he warns London but it is too late, the American ambassador’s daughter is kidnapped and bombs are exploded at a stop on the underground, at Piccadilly Circle, and other crowed places. The Sword of Allah is behind the kidnappings and al Qaeda is behind the bombings. The terrorists want to destabilize Mubarik’s regime where the martyrs were recruited so that a fundamentalist government could come into power. The Sword of Allah says it will exchange the hostage for the prisoner Sheik Abdullah dying from cancer in an American jail. Allon is the only one who has the ruthless qualities necessary to rescue the hostage but he has to evade capture and death from his many enemies.

As action thrillers go, THE SECRET SERVANT is one of the best to come along in the last year. Daniel Silva starts off at the speed of light and the plot only defies physics by accelerating. What sets this book apart is it has depth because the author shows by the actions of the characters why the Muslim fundamentalists feel like they do (similar to Congressman Ron Paul at the Republican debates), how governments cope with constantly being in a state of red alert and how the terrorists mold the minds of the youth generation after generation in hopes of reestablishing a Caliphate in the Mideast. Mr. Silva also shows why there is so much Muslim unrest in Europe. This is the thinking person’s thriller. – Harriet Klausner

First Harry Potter Review in New York Times!

Yes, we at Blog On Books know that the 7th and final Harry Potter book (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”) doesn’t hit stores till this Saturday. However, as we continually strive to bring you the latest reviews and book news, we thought it was fitting that we link you to the first official review of the new book, care of our friends at the New York Times. NOTE: There are some minor spoilers in the review, so Potter fans beware! Click here to read the review!

IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas, Chuck Klosterman (Scribner)

If you are familiar with Klosterman’s work in such fine publications as Esquire or Spin, you know that his one article alone can sometimes be the most impactful of that month’s read. His fourth book, which is partially compiled from those essays, shows why many believe Klosterman is perhaps America’s greatest critical/cynical observer of the modern life since gonzos like HST and Lester Bangs roamed the earth. (without the drugs of the former.) CK’s stand-back-and-see what’s-really happening take on everything from a Britney Spears photo shoot (is she just not self-aware or secretly extra savvy?), to a Dublin spin in Bono’s Maserati, to senseless Olympic ‘faux-patriotism’ fandom, reality TV and the myth of monogamy, seriously question one’s own thinking with it’s detached analysis and an overwhelming sense of “Oh, really?”. (Plus, he’s the only guy I know who bothers to make a list of bands that are ‘accurately rated.’) Of course, whether trying to be or not, this self acclaimed Gen-Exer is often dropkick hysterical. The book is divided into three sections – “Things That Are True,” “Things That Might Be True” and “Something That Isn’t True at All,” the latter of which is the author’s attempt at short fiction. What is true is that Klosterman wins on most all counts. Whether you agree with him or not, he puts his views front-and-center (or not) and let’s you know that he doesn’t necessarily look at life through the same filters as everyone else. In short, Klosterman rocks. – Tim Devine

Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector, Mick Brown (Knopf)

Veteran U.K. music journalist Mick Brown was the last reporter to interview Phil Spector before he was arrested and charged with the murder of Lana Clarkson. During their rambling four-hour discussion, the legendary producer tellingly admitted,

A Woman In Charge, Carl Bernstein (Knopf)

Until the last few years it would have been considered unusual to have a biographical tome delivered in the middle of one’s continued political assent (as opposed to years later.) But modern day campaigns have dictated that the ‘approved’ biography be released almost as a marketing tool of the political aspirant. Such is not the case here. Famed investigative reporter Bernstein spent the last eight years researching and writing this extensive book interviewing over 200 friends, enemies, staffers and acquaintances creating a broad and balanced portrait of one of the most polarizing figures in modern American politics. From her domineering father to her Methodist upbringing in Park Ridge, Illinois, to her Yale law school days, political and legal life in Arkansas and finally to eight years on Pennsylvania Avenue, Bernstein paints a highly detailed picture of a woman who is gloves-off ambitious, determined in action, but sometimes confused in her approach and one who must continually make complex judgments (not always successfully – first term health care reform, for example) yet learn from her mistakes. Her long and twisting relationship with husband Bill is given a wide berth here as well. Bernstein pulls back the curtain on headlines from Whitewater to Clintongate as we learn much of the background now from the other half’s side. Her’s is a view that while generally concealed under a calm demeanor, is as conflicted and frustrated as it is often headstrong. The only regret is that, unlike what the title might imply, we get only a small view of what HRC is like when she really is in charge, meaning the years since she got out from under the shadow and served in the US Senate. The historical importance of this book is now inextricably tied to what happens at the polls. – Tim Devine

Pools, Kelly Klein (Rizzoli)

Sensual, reflective, glimmering, surreal. The notion of the swimming pool means many things to many people. From the large public pool arenas from the turn of the century to the private, architectural masterpieces of the late 20th century, Kelly Klein’s ‘Pools’ captures the art and majesty of the swimming pool in all it social and radiant beauty. Since it’s original publication in 1992, Kelly Klein’s ‘Pools’ (with a forward by Esther Williams) has been one of the most sought after large format photography books in the out-of-print world. Now, with this new long awaited edition by Rizzoli, the magical aura of the pool is captured again in both luscious and historical photographs from the likes of Jacques Henri Latique, Edward Weston, Herb Ritts, Robert Mapplethorpe, Greg Gorman, Bruce Weber and others. Pools from Beverly Hills to Europe to Japan to San Simeon’s Hearst Castle are depicted in breathtaking spender spanning a full century of coverage in both black and white and color. For someone who didn’t even have a pool at the time of the book’s original publication, Klein has assembled a vast compendium of the scope of the manmade aquatic experience as both a physical pastime as well as an aesthetic window into the liquid life. As a summer treat or as a historical perspective, ‘Pools’ is a welcome refresher and certainly one of the best coffee table art books of the year. – Tim Devine

The Hollywood Book Festival, Los Angeles

The 2007 Hollywood Book Festival is set for Saturday, July 28 at Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood. The annual program celebrates books that deserve greater recognition from the film, television, game and multimedia communities along with workshops, author appearances, live entertainment and more. The festival, which is FREE and open to the public, takes place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Barnsdall Art Park, located at 4800 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028. Vendor applications are still being taken for the day festival. Call the office at 323-665-8068 for details. Competition winners will be announced on July 28 at the Hollywood Book Festival and posted online in the days after. For more info, go to: www.hollywoodbookfestival.com.

A Thousand Spendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead)

With his highly anticipated follow up to the international best seller , The Kite Runner (over four million copies in print worldwide), Afghani/American author Khaled Hosseini brings another engrossing story of the trials and tribulations of modern day life in far away Afghanistan. In only his second effort, the Hosseini writing style is again deceptively simple, clean yet captivating as he tells the tale of two women of different generations who are torn by the same issues (a forced marriage, misogyny, brutality, etc.) over nearly three decades of life in this troubled country. It’s easy to lose yourself in this book and not realize that while it is ostensibly a tale of a small group of people and their relationships (the brutal husband Rasheed and his two wives; first Mariam, then years later, the younger Laila), it is also a story about the bigger backdrop of politics and war in the never-ending turbulent region. (Their lives are constantly at the mercy of situations brought on by the anti-Soviet forces, the battle for control of Kabul, the modern day Taliban, etc.) It is these exact issues that bring the two women together into the same household and the book chronicles their harrowing ordeal to survive, grow, and somehow love throughout the often brutal and difficult events of this wartorn country over the last thirty years. A Thousand Splendid Suns is easily one of the years best books and is already following nicely in the footsteps of his first well received release.?
- Katherine Kelly @ BlogOnBooks

Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer, Chris Salewicz (Faber & Faber)

The lead sheet that comes with this book says “The importance of the Clash to modern music is almost impossible to overstate.” A strong statement, to be sure, but one that is hard to argue. And while the band was certainly not solely one man’s vision, Strummer (nee John Mellor) was the captain of it’s apocalyptic view. Salewicz, a longtime writer for England’s New Musical Express (NME) is in a fortunate position to write this revealing, up-close-and-personal account of the frontman’s life as he covered the punk revolution from it’s inception in the UK as well as having been a longtime friend of the subject at hand. (He even wrote his obit for the Independent in London.) In his three years of researching the book, Salewicz leaves no stone unturned – interviewing all of Joe’s main band mates, managers, A&R men, etc. as well as a multitude of friends, wives, lovers and professional cohorts – taking us through his early days with the 101′ers all the way to the band’s final stadium shows with the Who and even past the last show with Mick Jones at California’s famed ‘Us’ festival. What comes across is a man full of contradictions – a sometimes angry spokesman for the beaten down proletariat, a man who when approaching his ‘wilderness years’ remained full of self doubt, through to his rebuilding of position with the Pogues and finally his latest band the Muscaleros. As both a journalist as well as a close friend, Salewicz gives perhaps the best view yet into this conflicted soul who fronted what many consider to be the most important band in rock’n'roll. Cheeseburger! – Tim Devine

The Traveler’s Web, Randolph Hock (Cyberage Books)

It is no secret that the travel business has been dramatically affected by the advent of online resources. Once reliant on travel agents for fact finding and itinerary planning, recent studies show that over 80 million American travelers now go to the internet to research, book or plan trips to their favorite destinations. That’s the good news. The downside is there is so much information online that it’s sometimes hard to know what you don’t know! Now, even that problem is solved with Ran Hock’s new release, ‘The Traveler’s Web.’ In it, Hock makes straight an often unwieldy array of travel information and options that can appear random and disparate. The book covers everything from transportation resources (plane, trains, automobiles, cruises, boats, barges, ferries, even canoes!), to hotels, guides, meals, resorts, parks, festivals, museums, attractions, exchange rates, insurance, maps, kids travel, senior travel, cybercafes and even a few websites dedicated to the subject of how to pack (have you ever heard of onebag.com?). It’s all intelligently organized and features a healthy array of screenshots to show just how functional the web can be in meeting even the smallest of a traveler’s needs. As with many web books, circumstances are constantly changing, so Hock has developed a companion website that has links and updates to all the information in the book. www.extremesearcher.com If summer travel is on your list, grab a copy of this 400 page complete resource well before you take off. – Tim Devine

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