fredag den 7. maj 2010

Raymond Khoury, The Sign (2009)


This thriller is the writer´s third novel. Khoury was born in Lebanon but lives in London today.

In the prologue we meet a person who is plunging into a deep cleft in a jeep, pursued by a helicopter. He takes his time and bears it quite philosophically, I´d say.

Other ingredients are a top-secret project, Antarctica, Egypt, global warming, a fire ball in the sky, religious fanatics, non-religious fanatics, and a conspiracy, of course. In short, a bunch of macho men with no sense of judgement, spiced up with one important female character, the ambitious TV journalist Gracie Logan.

A librarybook, read as part of my 2010 Global Reading Challenge, Antarctica.

Did I like it? Not much, but I finished it, and it is probably a fairly good novel of its kind.
Will you like it? If you are one of my faithful readers, I am not at all sure. Well, if you like Dan Brown, you might.

Raymond Khoury, Tegnet (2009)

Denne thriller er forfatterens tredje roman. Khoury blev født i Libanon, men bor i London i dag.

På første side møder vi en person, som er ved at styrte i døden i en jeep, forfulgt af en helikopter. Han tager sig god tid og behersker sig meget pænt, synes jeg.

Et indtryk af Khourys stil:
”Pludselig eksploderede deres brystkasser i mørkerøde skyer, da Maddox plaffede dem ned uden så meget som at sætte farten ned bare lidt.”

Andre ingredienser er et tophemmeligt projekt, Egypten, Antarktis, global opvarmning, en ildkugle på himlen, religiøse fanatikere, ikke-religiøse fanatikere og selvfølgelig en konspiration. Kort sagt, en bunke machomænd med dårlig dømmekraft, tilsat en enkelt kvindelig rolle, den ambitiøse tv-journalist Gracie Logan.

En biblioteksbog, læst som del af min 2010 Global Reading Challenge, Antarktis.

Syntes jeg om den? Nej, men jeg fik den læst, og jeg tror egentlig, den er en ganske god roman af slagsen.

9 kommentarer:

Anonym sagde ...

Dorte - I like the way you express your final analysis of the book. And I have to say that I agree with you...

Dorte H sagde ...

Margot: I am afraid there are very few books for women about Antarctica. My daughter pointed one out today, however. A Danish explorer (female!) has realized her dream by writing a crime novel about Antarctica. It is written in Danish, but I will try to get it from the library and review it anyway.

Felicity Grace Terry sagde ...

Well, I like Dan Brown but I also tend to agree with you. Actually I have read quite a lot about this book and people seem to be split fairly evenly as to liking it or not. A library read - probably. To be added to my wish list - no.

Kelly sagde ...

The only Dan Brown I've read is The Da Vinci Code, which I enjoyed. I've never felt compelled to read any of his others, though. This one sounds like it might be along the same lines.

I'll admit the fire ball in the sky piques my curiosity.... but only if it's branching out to sci-fi, which I doubt it is.

pattinase (abbott) sagde ...

Not a big Dan Brown fan. I admire you for finishing books-I leave them scattered here and yon, unfinished.

Anonym sagde ...

Dorte - I know what you mean! I am so glad your daughter found a lead for you, though. I will look forward to reading what you think of it.

Dorte H sagde ...

Tracy: some people love fast-paced thrillers of this kind, and that is just fine. I know I don´t so I didn´t expect much :D

Kelly: there may be science and there is certainly fiction, but no sci-fi for you.

Patti: two good reasons to finish it:
1)it was a free library book.
2) if I didn´t, I would have to find another one about Antarctica (and perhaps have to BUY the thing).

Margot: sadly she was mistaken. The author *is* an experct on Antarctica, but the novel takes place on a Norwegian island :(

Bernadette sagde ...

I must say I'm quite glad to be done with Antarctica though IN COLD PURSUIT by Sarah Andrews was pretty good - at least it was a proper murder mystery

Dorte H sagde ...

Bernadette: this one was certainly loooooooong :(