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Index Interviews: Kelley Armstrong Danger and Opportunity: The Birth of Regina Cutter by Cecelia Tishy Nine Tips For Aspiring Romance Writers by Claire Delacroix Return to This Issue's Index Return to Homepage Subscribe
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Mystery/Thriller Book ReviewsThe Final Solution by Michael Chabon4th Estate, November, 2004Hardcover, 131 pages ISBN: 006076340X Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
In 1944 England, most of the country's young men are at war.
In a small village lives "the old man," an 89 year-old retired
detective who keeps bees and matches in all respects the descriptions of
the legendary Sherlock Holmes (who as we all know retired to Sussex
to concentrate on his beekeeping). When a visitor to the village
turns up dead, the local authorities call in the old man to
assist with the puzzling crime. The detective is fascinated by
a mysterious nine year-old German refugee named Lucas. Lucas is is mute
and has a pet parrot which speaks German. Mostly, the parrot just spews
out a bewildering array of numbers. Could it be a code? Could
national security be involved somehow? Holmes has his work
cut out for him.
This delightfully odd story was originally published as a novella in The Paris Review. Chabon, who won the Pulitzer Prize for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, plays coy with the identity of the detective; he never comes out and says the detective is, indeed, Sherlock Holmes. This cerebral mystery and character portrait, with haunting description of London during the Blitz and life in a small English village, merely whets the appetite for a new full-length novel from the talented Mr. Chabon. --Claire E. White State of Fear by Michael CrichtonHarperCollins, December, 2004Hardcover, 603 pages ISBN: 0066214130 Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
Michael Crichton has squandered some of his
science thriller capital with his latest novel, State of Fear.
Yes, he earned some capital. But why spend it so foolishly on
a message that stands counter to scientific fact itself?
Intertwined within the thriller is the message that
we don't have enough evidence to conclude that global warming
is a serious threat. Yet even a quick Google search turns up scores
of credentialed scientists and organizations, such as NASA, the Pentagon,
and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who disagree with
Crichton's statements.
While it is perturbing that Crichton has given some fodder to
the Dittoheads and the anti-global warming activists,
there are still some exciting moments to be found in the novel.
Certainly there is enough action,
espionage and cutting-edge technology to keep Crichton fans
interested. But Michael Crichton, the amazing, groundbreaking
author of SF thrillers -- who even has dinosaurs named after him -- is
capable of so much more.
--Greg Knollenberg Click Here to Return to the Book Reviews Index ** To visit the archives of mystery books reviewed in The IWJ, please click here. |
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