Book Review: The Last Days of the Incas

The Last Days of the Incas, by Kim MacQuarrie

Source: Amazon.com

From the book's cover:

The epic story of the fall of the Inca Empire to Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in the aftermath of a bloody civil war, and the recent discovery of the lost guerrilla capital of the Incas, Vilcabamba, by three American explorers.

In 1532, the fifty-four-year-old Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro led a force of 167 men, including his four brothers, to the shores of Peru. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards, the Inca rulers of Peru had just fought a bloody civil war in which the emperor Atahualpa had defeated his brother Huascar. Pizarro and his men soon clashed with Atahualpa and a huge force of Inca warriors at the Battle of Cajamarca. Despite being outnumbered by more than two hundred to one, the Spaniards prevailed—due largely to their horses, their steel armor and swords, and their tactic of surprise. They captured and imprisoned Atahualpa. Although the Inca emperor paid an enormous ransom in gold, the Spaniards executed him anyway. The following year, the Spaniards seized the Inca capital of Cuzco, completing their conquest of the largest native empire the New World has ever known. Peru was now a Spanish colony, and the conquistadors were wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.

But the Incas did not submit willingly. A young Inca emperor, the brother of Atahualpa, soon led a massive rebellion against the Spaniards, inflicting heavy casualties and nearly wiping out the conquerors. Eventually, however, Pizarro and his men forced the emperor to abandon the Andes and flee to the Amazon. There, he established a hidden capital, called Vilcabamba—only recently rediscovered by a trio of colorful American explorers. Although the Incas fought a deadly, thirty-six-year-long guerrilla war, the Spanish ultimately captured the last Inca emperor and vanquished the native resistance.

Book Review: Argo

Source: Amazon.com

Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History, by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio

From the book’s cover:

The true account of a daring rescue that inspired the film ARGO, winner of the 2012 Academy Award for Best Picture

On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal and a quake in global politics still reverberating today. But there is a little-known drama connected to the crisis: six Americans escaped. And a top-level CIA officer named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them before they were detected.

Disguising himself as a Hollywood producer, and supported by a cast of expert forgers, deep cover CIA operatives, foreign agents, and Hollywood special effects artists, Mendez traveled to Tehran under the guise of scouting locations for a fake science fiction film called Argo. While pretending to find the perfect film backdrops, Mendez and a colleague succeeded in contacting the escapees, and smuggling them out of Iran.

Antonio Mendez finally details the extraordinarily complex and dangerous operation he led more than three decades ago. A riveting story of secret identities and international intrigue, Argo is the gripping account of the history-making collusion between Hollywood and high-stakes espionage.

Book Review: Cujo

Source: Amazon.com

Cujo, by Stephen King

From the book’s cover:

Cujo (1981) is a psychological horror novel by Stephen King about a rabid dog. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982, and was made into a film in 1983.Cujo's name was based on the nom de guerre of Willie Wolfe, one of the men responsible for orchestrating Patty Hearst's kidnapping and indoctrination into the Symbionese Liberation Army. Stephen King discusses Cujo in On Writing, referring to it as a novel he "barely remembers writing at all". The book was written during a period when King was drinking heavily. Somewhat wistfully, King goes on to say that he likes the book and that he wishes he could remember enjoying the good parts as he put them down on the page.

Book Review: Under the Dome - A Novel

Under the Dome: A Novel, by Stephen King

Source: Amazon.com

From the book’s cover:

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.

Book Review: LT's Theory of Pets

LT's Theory of Pets, by Stephen King

Source: Amazon.com

From the book (?) cover:

A Rare Live Stephen King Recording!
Stephen King delivers a haunting, heartfelt performance as he shares a story about the bonds between husbands, wives and pets. LT has a theory about pets, particularly his Siamese cat. It had been their cat not just his cat, but that was until he came home one day to a note on the fridge. His wife had left him. The cat stayed behind...
Recorded live at London's Royal Festival Hall, LT's Theory of Pets demonstrates yet again that Stephen King is a master storyteller.

Book Review: Firestarter

Source: Amazon.com

Firestarter, by Stephen King

From the book’s cover:

Innocence and beauty ignite with evil and terror as a young girl exhibits signs of a wild and horrifying force.

The Review:

That isn't much of a book cover blurb, now is it?

My first impression, early into Firestarter, was: "An interesting spin on Carrie." In fact, and this may be just because I'm feeling really burnt out lately by life (as I write these notes), I wasn't too excited with Firestarter at first. For one thing, the narrator of the audiobook isn't the best. The delivery sounds like one of those '60s-type readings that makes it feel... well, corny. And not in a good way. The timbre of his voice annoyed me, personally.

Book Review: Different Seasons

Source: Amazon.com

Different Seasons, by Stephen King

From the book’s cover (summary from StephenKing.com):

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption--the most satisfying tale of unjust imprisonment and offbeat escape since The Count of Monte Cristo.

Apt Pupil--a golden California schoolboy and an old man whose hideous past he uncovers enter into a fateful and chilling mutual parasitism.

The Body--four rambunctious young boys venture into the Maine woods and in sunlight and thunder find life, death, and intimations of their own mortality.

The Breathing Method--a tale told in a strange club about a woman determined to give birth no matter what.

Book Review: Black House

Black House, by Stephen King and Peter Straub

Source: Amazon.com

From the book’s cover:

Former Los Angeles homicide detective Jack Sawyer, now living in a small Wisconsin town, is called on by the local police chief: Can Jack help his inexperienced force solve a string of gruesome murders that has struck the region? Although Jack cannot recall the events twenty years ago that led him to a parallel universe to save his dying mother, he senses an otherworldly force behind the killings. Drawn back to the Territories and his hidden past, Jack must now encounter the ferocious evils sheltered inside a terrifying house at the end of a deserted tract of forest.

Book Review: Blaze: A Novel

Source: Amazon.com

Blaze, by Richard Bachman

From the book’s cover:

Once upon a time, a fellow named Richard Bachman wrote Blaze on an Olivetti typewriter, then turned the machine over to Stephen King, who used it to write Carrie. Bachman died in 1985 ("cancer of the pseudonym"), but this last gripping Bachman novel resurfaced after being hidden away for decades -- an unforgettable crime story tinged with sadness and suspense. Clayton Blaisdell, Jr., was always a small-time delinquent. None too bright either, thanks to the beatings he got as a kid. Then Blaze met George Rackley, a seasoned pro with a hundred cons and one big idea. The kidnapping should go off without a hitch, with George as the brains behind their dangerous scheme. But there's only one problem: by the time the deal goes down, Blaze's partner in crime is dead. Or is he?

Book Review: American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

 

Source: Amazon.com

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice

From the book's cover:

Gripping, eye-opening, and powerful, American Sniper is the astonishing autobiography of SEAL Chief Chris Kyle, who is the record-holding sniper in U.S. military history. Kyle has more than 150 officially confirmed kills (the previous American record was 109), though his remarkable career total has not been made public by the Pentagon.

In this New York Times bestselling memoir, Kyle shares the true story of his extraordinary decade-long career, including his multiple combat tours in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and elsewhere from 1999-2009.

Kyle’s riveting first-person account of how he went from Texas rodeo cowboy to expert marksman and feared assassin offers a fascinating view of modern-day warfare and one of the most in-depth and illuminating looks into the secret world of Special Ops ever written.