Storm Front   John Sandford
Complicated, deeply entertaining and satisfying novel set in Mankato about a BCA agent who gets caught up in international smuggling. Pretty good characters, swift prose, and an engaging, and mostly convincing, plot. Good enough to be plenty of fun.

The Salinger Contract   Adam Langer
Entertaining, though implausible, thriller about a writer hired to write a novel that only one person will ever read. Some interesting twists, and good practical moral ambiguity in the characters. And, as would, no doubt, be the case, no really happy ending. Beautiful prose which is what kept me going.

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II   Iris Chang
A good history of the massacre that occurred in Nanking in December 1937 when the Japanese took the city. Unfortunately, not really a balanced account. Chang’s writing uses too many adjectives instead of letting the innate horror of the action speak for themselves. Also, she talks too much about herself, and writes as if raping a woman is far worse than torturing and mutilating a man. The basic information, especially about the subsequent cover-up, is good. Too bad her intentionally inflammatory language, and her obvious personal dislike of the Japanese, taints the work.

Work Done for Hire   Joe Haldeman
Entertaining thriller about a former military sniper who is recruited to kill someone after he has been back from the war and is a successful writer. Good until the clumsy, rushed ending. But a quick read.

Mortality   Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens’ last book written while he was dying of cancer of the esophagus. Everything in it that I loved about his other work, insight, humor, and stiletto-sharp reason. Sad but really good.

The Rosie Project   Graeme Simsion
Absolutely delightful comic novel about a genetics professor with Asperger’s who creates a scientific project to find a woman with whom he is compatible. Laughed out loud, and wasn’t even disappointed with the clumsy, predictable ending. Couldn’t put it down, read the whole thing in one sitting.