Ian Hamilton has blown away Steig Larsson with his protagonist Ava Lee. You will love the Ava Lee character; grit, intelligence, and courage are but a few of her traits. I enjoyed the geography of Richmond Hill and Guyana. Guyana will surely be a tourist destination soon. hmmm.

I like this compelling story and liked the juxtaposition of Malta and Venice in the same historical era. I thought the book was a tad short with limited pages on big font. Roberta Rich has woven a wonderful story and could have delved into some of the characters to provide color. I hope her next book is just as good with a little more meat. Buy this book despite my criticism of length, it is an absolute great read.

I would have given this review a five star rating. However, he did not mention the rise of the Colonies and seems to have lumped us as British. Too bad, Vimy Ridge was important to Canadians as Gallipoli was to the Ausies but neither contribution to the war effort was even mentioned. I would have thought that the Americans would have placed the fact that Canada, their neighbour, was in the war would have lent some sway in bringing the Yanks into the melee. Not a sniff from Ken Follett.

In fairness the book was very large at just under 1000 pages. I suspect the way Ken writes he would have had to add a layer of characters to weave Canada and Australia into the historical novel and perhaps the book would be another 300 pages. Other countries with great contribution to the war were equally ignored.

The book was enjoyable to me to learn the details of the history of the genesis of the war. What a great way to learn history. If only my old high school history were made as interesting. Good read, good story. and a real setup for a sequel. Read it and enjoy.

My wife read this book first and insisted I read it as well. This is the second John Shors book I have read. The first, Beside a Burning Sea, made me want to read more from John Shors without the prompting from my wife. I was not disappointed. John writes with concise prose and with great eloquence. Although written as a work of fiction, one can imagine the reality that the Vietnam Children must still be faced with today. It will make you want to join his charity and not regret a small gesture of generosity to others. Small donations can make a world of difference to the street children of the former Siagon now Ho Chi Minh City. Purchase this book without regret because you will enjoy it and want to pass it on to others.

Laura Hillenbrand will absolutely WOW the reader. This is a real page turner of a well researched true story. It reads like the finest of novels and it really makes you stop and think...this really happened. This is the first book by Laura that I have read and I will now look up Secretariat. Keep writing Laura, you are one fine writer. Other than the publisher's notes I will not give the story away other than to say read it.

In some ways this book reminds me of Rohinton Misty's, "Family Matters". As with "Family Matter's", this book delves into the nitty gritty of a somewhat strange, yet familiar, family. I found the book a little long and that I was rushing the read to get past certain sections. Franzen has tried to include all the family members in detail throughout his book. As a result of the multiple layers, I found that no character rose to the top as a favorite. "Family Matters" was too detailed about members of an Indian family and I was tired of thinking of dirty laundry. I would say the same about "Freedom". Reading it was a lot like non-volunteer voyeurism and I did struggle.

I had just finished Sabastien Junger's book "War" prior to reading Matterhorn. It is interesting to compare the books as one was written by an embedded reporter in an Afghanistan regiment writing a factual account. The other is from the war in Viet Nam written as a novel by an author who was involved in that war. The book War is a great read and should be read by anyone contemplating the armed forces. What is most interesting is that when you get down to the nitty-gritty of feet on the ground both books emphasis the comradeship among the soldiers. Truly wars are fought in the trenches where mean are motivated by their fellow soldiers not a political idea. Documentary and fiction are essentially the same.

Matterhorn should be a great book and is a great book. Karl Mariantes has hit the nail on the head about the feel and sense of any war. He shows due respect to the NVA that were often demeaned in other books. Honour is among fellow soldiers is surely the greatest motivator of men in dire circumstances.