The Fifth Vial | by Michael Palmer

The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer
(St. Martin’s Press, 2007, 372 pages)

Michael Palmer is a new author I tried and enjoyed since we started “SCC Library Reads” two years ago. This book does not disappoint. The story has multiple plot lines with different settings and characters. It took me a while to get into it and to figure out who was who. Natalie Reyes, a medical student from Boston, flies to Brazil for a conference but ends up being kidnapped. Dr. Joe Anson, a brilliant physician and scientist in Africa, is developing a potentially life-saving drug.  Ben Callahan, a skeptical and depressed private investigator from Chicago, investigates the disappearance of someone suspected of being killed for his bone marrow.  All their lives seem detached from each other at the beginning. As the story evolves you will see the pieces fitting together. The plot is full of twists and turns. The story addresses the bio-ethical issue of organ trafficking. If you are into medical thrillers, this is the one to read.

Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality | by Manjit Kumar

Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar
(W.W. Norton, 2010, 448 pages)

What an intense, rich and satisfying read! It’s like eating a piece of dark chocolate cheesecake. You savor each bite slowly while appreciating the layers of the crust, the cheesecake and a chocolate mousse topping (if you are lucky!). That’s my experience of reading this book. I didn’t want the book to end. Manjit Kumar is a trained physicist and a writer with a matter-of-fact and engaging writing style. The amount of research Kumar did for this book was mind-boggling. Kumar draws on primary and second sources to piece together the history of the development of quantum theory. The book covers the personal lives of the most influential physicists in the early 20th century. It’s full of colorful characters and amazingly detailed stories. Although the book is centered on the great debate between Bohr and Einstein, Kumar features some not-so-famous scientists who made important contributions. I enjoyed these chapters too.

Kumar does a great job balancing biographical details of the scientists and brilliant interpretations of their ideas and achievements. Some of the science was over my head. It may require a basic understanding of differential equations and linear algebra. Still, I adored the book and appreciated the occasional humor. Ludwig Boltzmann was an Austrian physicist who made fundamental contributions to the kinetic theory of gases. Kumar describes him as “short and stout with an impressive late 19th-century beard,” and “a better physicist than a pianist.” I was surprised to find out that Erwin Planck, Former Undersecretary of State, a resistance fighter in the Third Reich, was the youngest son of Nobel Laureate Max Planck (the originator of the quantum theory). Erwin was one of the key plotters in 1944’s “20 July Plot,” an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Erwin was arrested and hanged in Berlin. Max Planck wrote: “He was a precious part of my being. He was my sunshine, my pride, my hope. No words can describe what I have lost with him.” Based on what I learned about Erwin Planck, I plan to watch the 2008 film “Valkyrie.” You may have heard a more popular story involving Einstein as a tobacco thief. Einstein’s doctor had banned him from buying any tobacco. Instead, Einstein often helped himself to Bohr’s tobacco pot. The story was quite funny. It’s on page 325, or you could Google the story.

This is a fun popular science read. If you are interested in the subject but want to read shorter books first, you may want to try Quantum Reality by Nick Herbert and In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat by John Gribbin.

The Racketeer | by John Grisham

The Racketeer by John Grisham
(Doubleday, 2012, 343 pages)

I picked this up from my public library’s Most Wanted book shelf.  John Grisham is one of the few fiction authors I regularly read before we started with the Missouri Book Challenge two years ago.  This was a page-turner and a great legal thriller. You can read Jean’s review on this book here. Maxwell Bannister is a former lawyer caught in a big indictment thanks to not practicing due diligence when accepting a case. Bannister is sentenced to 10 years in a federal prison. He lost his wife, child, career and dignity. He spends the first couple of years in prison formulating a complex plot to be free and get revenge against the justice system that wronged him.  The story takes many unexpected turns. Plot twists are surprising but not far-fetched. The Racketeer grabbed my attention from the beginning all the way until the end.

The Drop | by Michael Connelly

The Drop by Michael Connelly
(Little, Brown, and Co., 2011, 388 pages)

I’m always fascinated to hear stories where advanced DNA processes helped solve old crimes. That’s the reason I checked out this book. This is my first Michael Connelly book. Harry Bosch is a detective working at an LAPD cold case unit.  Bosch receives new DNA evidence on a 20-year-old unsolved case. The DNA results are a match to a criminal by the name of Clayton Pell. The problem is that Pell was 8 years old when the murder case happened. Bosch and his partner Chu study the old case file and wonder about the likelihood of an 8 year old committing the crime. Did the lab make an error or did the cold case unit contaminate the material? Bosch is quickly pulled out of this case when the body of the city councilman’s son is found on the ground outside a hotel. Bosch is assigned to this apparent suicide case at the request of the councilman. The councilman’s long standing hostile history with Bosch and the LAPD makes this an unusual request. The plot is straight forward and predictable. It’s a good read, not great.

Blasphemy | by Sherman Alexie

Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories by Sherman Alexie
(Grove Press, 2012, 465 pages)

Sherman Alexie is a Native American writer. I’ve read a few books of his and liked them. I’m glad I read this one. It was provocative, thoughtful and funny. Blasphemy consists of 31 short stories, some old and some new.  Alexie’s characters are Spokane Indians who are male, female, young, old, educated or illiterate in Washington State.  Alexie is a great story teller with a terrific sense of timing.  His observations are meticulous, humorous and brutally honest.  His stories deal with subjects that many of us are not comfortable with: poverty, sex, racism, addiction, alcoholism, domestic abuse and homelessness. A few stories are disturbing and sad and left me heartbroken. However, I enjoyed all of the new stories as well as a few old favorites. You’ll enjoy it if you are a Sherman Alexie fan or if you just want to have a peek at modern day Native American experiences.

Fatal | by Michael Palmer

Fatal by Michael Palmer
(Bantam Books, 2002, 397 pages)

This novel of Palmer’s involves several controversial topics and multiple plot lines. Matt Rutledge is a Harvard-trained doctor who has returned to his hometown of Belinda, West Virginia. He is convinced the local mining company is causing illness and death with its toxic pollution. He’s researching and looking for ways to get the mine shut down. Nikki Solari, a coroner from Massachusetts, arrives in Belinda to attend her best friend’s funeral. She tries to find out more information about the symptoms of chemical poisoning her friend was showing before her death.

The other plot line has to do with the safety of a new vaccination.  Ellen Kroft, a retired school teacher from Maryland, is concerned that a new vaccine endorsed by the First Lady has not been adequately tested. She was a committee member that evaluated the vaccine. Murders and kidnappings are committed by greedy locals who are involved with a pharmaceutical company.

Ultimately, Matt, Nikki and Ellen come together and join forces in Belinda. It’s an exciting and suspenseful novel.  And bad guys lose, of course .  On a separate note, Palmer writes phonetically for several characters’ dialogues. These are the people who live quite remotely from the town. They have a different accent than the town people. These dialogues slowed me down a bit. Palmer also provides resources at the end of the book on mining safety, pollution and vaccinations.

The Patient | by Michael Palmer

The Patient by Michael Palmer
(Bantam Books, 2000, 324 pages)

Jessie Copeland is a neurosurgeon working at Boston’s Eastern Massachusetts Medical Center. She’s also an engineer leading a team working on an experimental robot named ARTIE. ARTIE is at the testing stage for internal brain tumor surgery. Claude Malloche, an international terrorist and assassin with an inoperable brain tumor, selects Jessie and the robot ARTIE to operate on him. Malloche and his team demand a guaranteed success and hold the hospital and the city hostage with a threat of toxin release. Another key character is Alex Bishop, a former CIA agent, who’s after Malloche to get his revenge for his brother’s murder. The good people in the book are likeable, and the bad guys are convincing. But some characters could use a bit more in-depth development.  The story has a good plot and a few twists. It held my interest.

I just started on Palmer’s medical thrillers. He was a physician himself and worked twenty years as a full-time practitioner of internal and emergency medicine. It was a treat to get an inside look into some of the detailed medical procedures. The operations of an ER and a large hospital are mind-boggling.  Give it a try if you are a fan of this genre. My only complaint is it ended abruptly with a few loose ends left untied.

Judging a Book by Its Lover | by Lauren Leto

Judging a Book by Its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere
by Lauren Leto
(Harper Perennial, 2012, 269 pages)

When I saw this book at my public library, I had to check it out. The title coincided with the SCC Library’s display title for this month: “You Can’t Judge a Book by its Film.” The book is a collection of essays, lists and stories. It’s about books, authors, book lovers and anything book-related. Leto inserts witty and humorous observations throughout the book.  Some the fun chapters are: “Ten Rules for Bookstore Hookups,” “Rules for Public Reading,” “How to Fake It,” and “Petition to Change the Term from Bookworm to Bookcat.”  My favorite chapters are “What Your Child Will Grow Up to Be If You Read Them…” and “Stereotyping People by Favorite Author.” Most comments and descriptions are enjoyably clever and sarcastic; some do seem a bit mean-spirited. I got annoyed at times and had to remind myself not to take it seriously. Overall, it’s a quick and fun read.

Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse: My Life in Comedy | by Phyllis Diller; with Richard Buskin

Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse: My Life in Comedy by Phyllis Diller; with Richard Buskin
(J.P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2005, 266 pages)

I loved this book! It was fun to get a glimpse into the life of this famous comedian and actor. Phyllis Diller was born poor to elderly parents and lived most of her childhood in poverty in Ohio. After high school, she studied piano at the Sherwood Music Conservatory in Chicago for three years. She married at age 20 and had six children. Diller writes of her two failed marriages, struggles to put food on the table, and painstaking effort on starting her comedy career at the age of 40. She was a hardworking, brave, talented and funny woman.

The book is also filled with interesting stories of her writing TV and radio ads, appearing as a piano soloist with some 100 symphony orchestras, posing nude for Playboy magazine, getting old, and having plastic surgeries later in life. Also, I just have to mention that the Diller family lived in Webster Groves in St. Louis during the 1960’s. Diller performed at the St. Louis Muny and the Fox Theatre, too. A quick and witty read.

A Planet of Viruses | by Carl Zimmer

A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer
(University of Chicago Press, 2011, 109 pages)

A friend brought back this copy from ALA for me. Having read and enjoyed other books by Zimmer, I immediately put this one on my to-read list. It was a quick read, easy and enjoyable.  The book consists of short essays, a bibliography and an index. It’s an excellent introduction to viruses living within us and on our planet.  Zimmer does a great job on making the book accessible. He helps readers to understand viruses and their impacts through interesting and sometimes scandalous stories. He also incorporates many new research findings and developments in microbiology and medical fields.  I enjoyed reading the chapters on the flu, HIV and SARS as well as little-known viruses in the oceans. Actually, I liked the chapter on marine phages the most.  If you are into science and want to learn some amazing facts on viruses, this is the book for you.