What non sci-fi/fantasy book are you reading?

[BruTak]

"Garden of Beasts" by Jeffery Deaver.

In 1936, Mob hitman Paul Schumann is caught by government agents. They give him a simple choice, he can go to Berlin as part of the entourage for America's Olympics team and kill the man behind Hitler's secret rearmament scheme. Or he can go to the electric chair.

[BruTak]

"G-Man" by Stephen Hunter.

Tenth novel to feature former USMC sniper Bob Lee Swagger.

In the present day, the demolition of Swagger's grandfather's old house leads to the discovery of a sealed metal box, when it's opened it's found to contain items dating back to the mid 1930s - a corroded federal agent's badge, a well preserved .45 automatic pistol, a $1000 bill, a mysterious gun part, and an even more mysterious diagram - all belonging to Charles Swagger.

In 1934, Sheriff Charles Swagger is co-opted into the newly formed Division of Investigation (soon to become the FBI) to aid a unit in the apprehension/elimination of America's most wanted criminals - John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd.

Bob Swagger must unravel the mysteries of why his grandfather was seemingly written out of FBI history, and just who is dogging his steps as he searches for the truth.

[hedwig]

"Crucible" by James Rollins, 14th book in a series about the Sigma Force. Sigma is a team of covert operatives who get involved in all sorts of national and international things that could bring about the end of the world, usually by extremely wealthy people bent on controlling the world. The team is often split into two groups taking on various aspects of the problem. The current book was originally called "The Hammer of Witches", and involves a centuries old group of people bent of ridding the world of anyone who might be a witch or even believes in witches. They have currently murdered a group of female scientists who have been working on creating an artificial intelligence for good purposes, and in the process have kidnapped the pregnant girlfriend of one of the Sigma Force members and the 2 daughters of another, and seriously injuring the wife of another Sigma member. Fascinating back and forth between the story and the science behind AI' and what they could possibly become. In fact, a brilliant young woman has already created an AI. Unfortunately two factions are out to get it and will let nothing stop them from doing so,

[Gatefan1976]

Been reading some Clive Cussler lately for some archeological fun.

[BruTak]

Been reading some Clive Cussler lately for some archeological fun.

Quite partial to Cussler's work myself.

Solid adventure yarns, clearly defined good guys and bad guys, and a sprinkling of humour. What more could you ask for?

[Gatefan1976]

Quite partial to Cussler's work myself.

Solid adventure yarns, clearly defined good guys and bad guys, and a sprinkling of humour. What more could you ask for?

Dirk Pitt, or Juan Callibro?

[BruTak]

Dirk Pitt, or Juan Callibro?

More of an Isaac Bell fan, or the Fargos.

[BruTak]

"A Fever of the Blood" by Oscar de Muriel.

Second in the "Frey and McGray" series of detective mysteries set in late 19th century Edinburgh.

[Womble]

"Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow", by Yuval Noah Harari. It's a non-fiction book, a kind of futurism exercise that takes a look at human development and projects it into the future. Main points are:

War, famine and disease have ceased to be an existential threat for humanity, being reduced to localized and manageable problems. Therefore the goals of previous human development have been accomplished and new goals are required.

Humanism - humanity's worship of itself and its desires - has become the dominant religion which gives meaning to the world, and it will push humans to pursue the new goals of humanity - immortality, happiness and godlike powers.

Pursuit of immirtality will dictate the next phase of human development, which will involve bioengineering, cyborg engineering and creation of non-organic life.

Humanism is destined to be replaced by the next religion - dataism, universal faith in the power of algorithms and big data. ultimately an omnipresent data-processing supersystem indistinguishable from god. The decoupling of intelligence from consciousness will force us to decide which of the two is of greater importance.

I take issue with many of his points (most notably with the description of intelligence as being reducible to algorithms which can be replicated by artificial intelligence. Computers have, up until now at least been built on principles different from how human mind works, and it is fairly easy to demonstrate - just try to replicate an image from memory and compare the accuracy. A computer would reproduce it flawlessly because it would save it as an image; human memory recalls an image in a completely different process based on impressions and familiarity not photographic reproduction), but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

[hedwig]

Overlord - an Event Group thriller This is the 6th in a series of books about the Event Group which has been around for well over 100 years. They have a massive secret facility beneath Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, which is run by military and scientific groups. They investigate all sorts of supposedly mythical things around the world in the present day and from history and they have stored in their facility artifacts from their investigations. The current book ("Overlord") is about a discovery made on the moon by 3 moon rovers investigating a huge crater on the moon. One of the rovers slides down into crater and finds the bones of what looks like a human. Other discoveries are made, leading to nearly an all-out war on earth by nations trying to be the first to get men on the moon in order to claim the discovery and whatever weapons might be found for their own countries. Trying to stop all of this is a religious madman who is disgustingly wealthy from the money his ministry drags in and he has hired people to destroy any rockets going to the moon (regardless of how many humans are killed), because it is against God's will to be doing something so profane. The Event Group is involved in trying to stop the religious group, as well as help the U.S. succeed in being the first to the moon.

So far, I have enjoyed all the previous books; they are intriguing and have kept my interest throughout, and have many likable characters, as well as some really, really nasty bad guys.

The first book in the series ("Event") involved an alien space ship in the current time being shot down by another alien ship in the desert near Roswell, and the involvement of the Air Force in investigating the incident. Also discovered is a tiny alien who is befriended by an old gold miner who winds up helping our government in what happens once the investigation starts.

I highly recommend this series.

[BruTak]

Sounds good. I'll be sure and keep an eye open for them.

[UhSir]

I'm reading the Alex Cross series by James Patterson, currently on book three. I'm not thrilled with the writing style but the stories keep my brain active. I need that a lot these days.

[Morgania]

I'm currently reading A Pirate Looks at Fifty by Jimmy Buffett.

[Gally_Josh]

Reading Silent Spring of Rachel Carson on apknite FreeEbooks. This is a classic tho, also related to science, but thrill to read.

[BruTak]

"Back Up" by Paul Colize, translated by Louise Rogers Lalaurie.

Berlin, 1967: Four members of the British rock band Pearl Harbour die at the same time but in separate locations. Inexplicably, the police conclude natural causes are to blame.

Brussels, 2010: A homeless man is hit by a car outside the Gre du Midi, leaving him with locked-in syndrome, able to communicate (sometimes) by blinking.

Journalist Michael Stern's interest is piqued. How did the members of Pearl Harbour die, and how is this linked to the homeless man in Brussels?