Ian's Updates en-US Fri, 02 May 2025 21:10:30 -0700 60 Ian's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg UserStatus1056258124 Fri, 02 May 2025 21:10:30 -0700 <![CDATA[ Ian is on page 221 of 281 of King Solomon's Mines ]]> King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard Ian Anderson is on page 221 of 281 of <a href="/book/show/12401006-king-solomon-s-mines">King Solomon's Mines</a>. ]]> UserStatus1050358383 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 13:13:31 -0700 <![CDATA[ Ian is on page 185 of 281 of King Solomon's Mines ]]> King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard Ian Anderson is on page 185 of 281 of <a href="/book/show/12401006-king-solomon-s-mines">King Solomon's Mines</a>. ]]> Review5227895931 Wed, 08 Jan 2025 23:47:41 -0800 <![CDATA[Ian added 'Cause For Alarm']]> /review/show/5227895931 Cause For Alarm by Eric Ambler Ian gave 4 stars to Cause For Alarm (Mass Market Paperback) by Eric Ambler
bookshelves: need-cover, needs-cover-photo, thriller, was-dads, spy, take-photo, do-i-want-to-keep, owned, reviewed
Cause for Alarm is set at a very specific point in history prior to WW II, when fascist Italy and fascist Germany were not quite sure of each other. The hero is an ordinary man who finds himself out of his depth. Young engineer Nicholas Marlow loses his job the day after he has proposed to his girlfriend. Given the economic conditions in Britain at the time he has trouble finding a new job until his ability to speak Italian gets him a job at the Spartacus Machine Tool Company in Wolverhampton. The company makes a machine used to manufacture artillery shells and the job turns out to be running the company’s Italian office in Milan. His predecessor, Ferning, was killed in a hit-and-run accident and Ferning’s assistant Bellinetti is upset at Marlow’s interest in files in the Milan office. He meets 2 odd people, an American offering lots of advice and an opera-loving Yugoslav General who wants Marlow to provide him with information about the Spartacus Machine Tool Company’s Italian clients which include Italian arms companies. The Italian secret police also start taking an interest in him.

Eric Ambler sets up a believable situation where an innocent man is manipulated into spying and gets caught up in an espionage tussle between 3 countries (one country trying to exploit paranoia between the other two). Ambler is lucky he got the book published as quickly as he did because, in the following year, real-world events changed the relationships between Italy, Germany and the UK making the plot historic rather than current very suddenly. In addition to the theme of international espionage, there is also the issue of commercial gain versus patriotism and commercial gain versus morality running through the book. But it all plays a back seat to Marlow’s fight to escape the situation he’s blindly walked into and get back to his girlfriend in Britain.

This is the first Eric Ambler book that I have read but hopefully not the last. ]]> UserChallenge60560165 Wed, 08 Jan 2025 23:18:21 -0800 <![CDATA[ Ian has challenged himself to read 10 books in 2025. ]]> /user/show/33134387-ian-anderson 11627
He has read 1 book toward his goal of 10 books.
 
1 of 10 (10%)
Create your own 2025 Reading Challenge » ]]> UserChallenge50505509 Thu, 31 Oct 2024 11:46:59 -0700 <![CDATA[ Ian has challenged himself to read 10 books in 2024. ]]> /user/show/33134387-ian-anderson 11634
He has completed his goal of reading 10 books in 2024!
 
12 of 10 (120%)
Create your own 2024 Reading Challenge » ]]> UserQuote91050249 Tue, 03 Sep 2024 16:46:11 -0700 <![CDATA[Ian Anderson liked a quote by Jack Finney]]> /quotes/12302958
Ian Anderson shared a quote
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� She was too attractive, likeable, and good-looking, and the danger in that was obvious. � � Jack Finney
]]> UserQuote91050217 Tue, 03 Sep 2024 16:40:01 -0700 <![CDATA[Ian Anderson liked a quote by Jack Finney]]> /quotes/7290636
Ian Anderson liked a quote
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� it occurred to me that professors must get so they unconsciously act the way people think professors ought to act; � � Jack Finney
]]> Review6133930795 Fri, 26 Jan 2024 21:12:59 -0800 <![CDATA[Ian added 'The Saint Sees It Through']]> /review/show/6133930795 The Saint Sees It Through by Leslie Charteris Ian gave 3 stars to The Saint Sees It Through (Paperback) by Leslie Charteris
bookshelves: owned, thriller, detective, unusual-words, reviewed, do-i-want-to-keep
Unlike other fictional characters that have appeared in film and TV shows, such as James Bond and Hercule Poirot, I haven’t seen on screen and I knew next to nothing about him, except that second-hand books featuring him seem to fetch higher prices than other books of a similar age. So when I saw a Simon Templar book for $2 in my local charity shop I bought and read it to see what I had been missing.

The Saint Sees It Through is the 26th story featuring The Saint. It is a standalone novel set in post-WW II New York (and written in 1946). The Saint is introduced on page 3 as “the Robin Hood of modern crime�. However, what he is trying to do in New York is unclear for the first 30% of the book. During this introduces us to a set of characters centred around a nightclub called Cookie’s Cellar painting opinionated word pictures of them, their doings and their surroundings. He goes about this with a supercilious sense of humour and a vocabulary that might have you reaching for your dictionary occasionally (unless words like “cuspidor� and “peripalpebral ecchymosis� convey their meaning to you without a break in concentration). Despite that, it is a fast read. The exposition is brief and blends in with the action. There is nothing complex about the plot.

As I read the book I felt that The Saint was more of an inspiration for the Sean Connery and Roger Moore portrayals of James Bond than Ian Fleming’s written version was. He is cool, suave, confident, well-educated, funny and very good-looking. The Saint is investigating something. Unlike many other detective stories, this isn’t a murder investigation. While solving the mystery is important to The Saint, it is less important to the reader. This is more of a thriller than a detective story. The Saint is involved in an escalating series of dangers that also threaten the people closest to him. The book also seems to have a didactic message relating to the unlying crime.

If this is representative of the series then I would be happy to read more of The Saint and his adventures. ]]> Review6073331318 Sat, 06 Jan 2024 20:30:41 -0800 <![CDATA[Ian added 'Death in the Clouds']]> /review/show/6073331318 Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie Ian gave 3 stars to Death in the Clouds (Hercule Poirot, #12) by Agatha Christie
bookshelves: borrowed, detective, reviewed
This is the second Hercule Poirot story I have read and the twelfth Hercule Poirot story published. Written and set in 1935 it takes advantage of the growing popularity of air travel to have the murder taking place on the midday flight from to . [spoilers removed]

Having the murder set on a plane ensures that the number of potential suspects is finite, which fits the standard murder mystery tradition. There is no shortage of red herrings and misdirection but no direct evidence that points to anyone. Gradually Poirot uncovers more evidence and motivations. Strangely both the London police and Paris police are happy to have him hanging around their investigations even though he keeps most of his information and deductions secret from them. Poirot develops a soft spot for one of the beautiful young women on the plane.

After two Hercule Poirot novels, I am none the wiser on how he makes a living. But it is clearer from this book how he goes about his investigations. ]]> Review6073331318 Tue, 02 Jan 2024 14:16:17 -0800 <![CDATA[Ian added 'Death in the Clouds']]> /review/show/6073331318 Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie Ian gave 3 stars to Death in the Clouds (Hercule Poirot, #12) by Agatha Christie
bookshelves: borrowed, detective, reviewed
This is the second Hercule Poirot story I have read and the twelfth Hercule Poirot story published. Written and set in 1935 it takes advantage of the growing popularity of air travel to have the murder taking place on the midday flight from to . [spoilers removed]

Having the murder set on a plane ensures that the number of potential suspects is finite, which fits the standard murder mystery tradition. There is no shortage of red herrings and misdirection but no direct evidence that points to anyone. Gradually Poirot uncovers more evidence and motivations. Strangely both the London police and Paris police are happy to have him hanging around their investigations even though he keeps most of his information and deductions secret from them. Poirot develops a soft spot for one of the beautiful young women on the plane.

After two Hercule Poirot novels, I am none the wiser on how he makes a living. But it is clearer from this book how he goes about his investigations. ]]>