The Venetian Betrayal

I am a huge Steve Berry fan, and I have to read all of his books right when they come out. The Venetian Betrayal did not disappoint! Former government agent Cotton Malone is told to meet a friend at a museum in Denmark where he lives. Because he has worked with the friend before and knows that she could only be needing to meet for secretive reasons, he decides to stake out the museum the evening before the meeting. Knocked unconscious and dragged inside the museum, he wakes up to a sickly-sweet smell and the realization that he is covered in fuel. Narrowly escaping the fire that is quickly set to the building, Cotton is thrust into another adventure that takes him to the heart of a struggle that involves terrorism, the use of bio-warfare, and the draft of Alexander the Great.

This is a great book, though I can't quite figure out how the title is directly related. But no matter, the title is not important when you have a great thriller to read!

The Subtle Knife

I read this book over the Christmas vacation, and I was enthralled! This is a great sequel to The Golden Compass. In order to keep from spoiling the book, I can't give you very many details from the beginning of the book, as they relate to the end of the previous book. However, Lyra teams up with a young man and they enter into a quest to save his father and find the truth about Dust. Along the way, they aquire a knife that lends them special powers that will help them in their struggles. I recommend that you have the third book, The Amber Spyglass, ready and waiting because The Subtle Knife leaves you hanging and needing more!

A Death in Vienna

Third, and last, in Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon trilogy dealing with unresolved Holocaust issues. When his friend is nearly killed in a bomb blast at his Vienna office for Holocaust War Time Crimes and Inquiries, Gabriel Allon sets on the trail to discover who harmed his friend. His search takes him all over the world, eventually leading him to the man who helped try and cover up the world's worst genocide. And the man is living freely in Vienna, taking his coffee and paper everyday just like an ordinary free man. But Gabriel has another reason for wanting to bring this man to justice; when his mother was a girl, she was sent to Birkenau and was terrorized by the same man. Gabriel will stop at nothing to get justice, not just for his mother, but for everyone who was a victim.

Click here to buy a copy: A Death In Vienna by Daniel Silva

Brandenburg Gate

This is a fascinating book about spies and espionage in East Germany right before the fall of the Berlin Wall. We follow the story of Dr. Rudi Rosenharte, a former Stasi spy, who is forced by his old employers to meet up with a former lover and agent, who he also knows is dead. In order to ensure his cooperation, the Stasi have captured his twin brother and are holding him in a notorious prison. Soon, the Americans and British find Rudi and force him to return to East Germany as a double agent. Rudi doesn't know who to trust, or who will make him do something that will end his beloved twin's life. A great novel with great cliffhangers! This book was so much fun to read, and the plot twists were incredible!

Click here to buy a copy: Brandenburg Gate by Henry Porter

A Wrinkle in Time

This is, by far, the best book that I have ever read. And the best part? There are four my right after it in the series! Any way, this is the story of Meg, who has mousy hair, glasses, and a very short temper. She is always getting in trouble, especially when people make fun of her baby brother and the fact that her dad has been gone from the family for almost a year. And then one day, a terrible storm ravages the house and a strange woman shows up, talking of tesseracts, other dimensions, and that she knows where their father is. Of course, Meg doesn't believe her, but at her baby brother's request (he's actually a six-year-old genius), Meg and Charles Wallace go off to find the strange woman. They find themselves on a whirl-wind adventure across time and space, discovering the best things about themselves and that they must have courage if they want to save their father.

I love this book, and I read it and its partners at least once a year. Every one, and I do mean EVERY ONE should read this book at least once in their life time. Click here to buy a copy right now! A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

The Golden Compass

I felt the need to read this book with all the recent hype surrounding the movie. If you liked The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, you will definitely like this book! Young Lyra lives at Jordan College in Oxford, but we realize that the Oxford she inhabits is in a time very different from ours. In her world, some mythical group called The Gobblers are kidnapping children. No one knows what is really going on, but Lyra intends to find out. Her adventures take her to the very northern regions of the world on a quest to discover who the Gobblers are, what they are doing to children, and stop them at all costs.

This was a great adventure, and like I said, much like CS Lewis' works. Read it for the sheer joy of reading and adventure!

Click here to buy a copy: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Seville Communion

In the heart of Spain, a small parish church is being threatened by the mother church, and to defend herself, the parish kills. Sent to investigate the deaths at the church, Father Lorenzo Quart discovers a rivalry between the church and those who seek to profit from it. Arturo Perez-Reverte writes fantastic tales of Spain - treason, sword fighting, and church scandals are in abundance, no matter what novel of his that you read!

Click here to buy: The Seville Communion by Arturo Perez-Reverte