The Scarlet Letters

Genre: Mystery
Author: Daniel Nathan and Manfred Lepofsky under the pseudonym Ellery Queen
Title: The Scarlet Letters


First Impressions:
This book is a typically older book than the kind I usually enjoy reading. No science fiction or time machines, but a great plot- which a lot of newer books lack. The chapters are all assigned an alphabetical letter which makes more and more sense as the book pursues.

It turned out to be a real page turner. I was hooked to the point of sacrificing sleep, and finished it, while trying to maintain a facade of a real life, in two days.

Main Characters:
Ellery Queen is the writer/detective whom begins trailing his secretary's best friend for purely protection reasons, but throughout the course his motives change completely. Nikki Porter is his loyal secretary and even more die-hard loyal friend to Martha Lawrence, the woman being followed. Martha is married to Dirk Lawrence, a failed writer of somber detective stories.

In a nutshell:
At the beginning, everything appears fine, but soon the real issues come forth as Dirk develops an extreme jealousy complex and Martha becomes more and more emotionally fragmented. Nikki moves in to avoid Dirk's tantrums eventually seriously hurting Martha, posing as his secretary. What she doesn't realize is that her involvement in this couple's marriage is actually going to work for someone's benefit- a clever twist, and opens an entirely new can of worms. Suddenly a man appears in Martha's life whom seems to take all her worries away and both Nikki and Ellery fear the worst: adultery. Without spoiling it, let's just say its definitely a great mystery when the case goes out of Ellery's hands and into a crazy maze.

Nina's Take:
I loved this book. It kept me glued from page 1 to page 239. Once I thought I had it figured out and was literally trembling at the climax, I was blown away by the truth. It's all too good and a reminder that often times, things are not as they seem. A must read for anyone over the age of 16.

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

"The Athena Project"

Genre: Action/ Sci-Fi
Author: Brad Thor
Title: The Athena Project


First Impressions:
I'd never heard of Brad Thor until my friend suggested reading "The Athena Project". I checked it out of my local library and noticed right away the cover boasted "Number One Best Selling New York Author". New Yorkers are difficult- so if they liked this book, it must be action packed.


So I opened it up and continue reading. Thor is the kind of author that ends each chapter cliff hangingly, nail-bitingly, edge of the seat suspense. It works sometimes, but he uses it indiscriminately and without regulation at the end of each of the 60-something chapters.


Main Characters:
The Delta team of highly trained female spies: Gretchen Casey, the Texan fireball and leader of the group. Alex Cooper, the analytical, rather subdued type. Megan Rhodes, an athletic, tall blonde and Julie Erricson- greatly adventurous. Their boss is Hutton- kind of like Charlie in Charlie's Angels. There's a great deal of bad guys, like Armen Ambressian, a independent entity that is recruited by the lowest of the black and dark market to carry out evil schemes with no connection to the actual culprit. George Cahill is the mad scientist whom is working tirelessly on the Engeltor, recruited by Ambressian. Jack Walsh is practically head of Special Operations group, whom deploys the operation the Delta team has to go through. 


In a nutshell:
If we mixed in a mad scientist, Charlie's Angels, and teletransport, we've got ourselves The Athena Project. An operation veiled in mystery throws an all girl team of four macho-women into the lion's mouth of the world's most dangerous men. Their mission is to secure an object the US Gov is after, the Engeltor, or Angel's Gate. A device believed to have been designed and built by a Nazi recruited scientist named Kammler. Post war, nazis believed there would be the rise of the Fourth Reich and did their best to cover all their intel from anyone else while they were running for their lives. The goverment hand picked four of the best looking, most active, highly intelligent women and use them to find and recover most wanted targets- hence the name, the "Athena Project"- named after the Greek goddess.


The Engeltor operates in a way as a fax would, but instead of digital information, it's actual physical objects they are intending to send through. The chase of finding who, why, and when is what the Delta team of four is after. What they don't know is that halfway around the world someone else is also very interested in the device and will stop at nothing to achieve it. It's a thrill/suspense/action packed book, full of car chases, explosions, double and triple spies, and everything else you'd expect in one of these sci-fi undercover books.


Nina's Take: I was expecting a little more plot, a little more depth on the actual object, and the scientific intelligence that it was based on, but it left a lot of loose ends to "just because" and saturated the book in more aggression than anything. i think more than anything it was a book to satisfy the feminine ego of the "can do it too, and possibly better'" attitude and play out every guy's fantasy. Me, not being either hardcore feminist nor a dude, felt the plot and characters were a bit cheesy at times. So, if you're looking for practically all action and light sci-fi, this is the book to read, but if you actually enjoy the sci-fi part of the book, then I'd suggest you stick to something else.


Nina's Ranking: 3.5 out of 5