In search of lost treasures…

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We first read Berry’s The Templar Legacy. I liked the action and enjoyed the adventure; I felt like I traveled through Europe through that book. I know I wrote two posts about reading it.

I wouldn’t say The Amber Room is exactly like it, it’s probably less complicated and less mysterious. But it is, nevertheless, also about looking for treasures long thought to have been lost. The difference here though is that there’s no shaking truth to be learned in the end. No beliefs to be shattered.

Disappointingly, it wasn’t the page-turner I had anticipated it to be though it did have it’s fair share of action. Christian Knoll came out more like a horny pig in the end than the calculated thief-killer that he was being played out to be at the beginning. I also couldn’t help but wish there was a different ending for Suzanne Danzer. She could have been so much more; and there was show of some remorse for the killing she had had to do in her life. I really thought she and Knoll would band together in the end.

What happened to the Cutlers was quite predictable, I mean, it was written all over. There was no clarity there though, in terms of why they had split up in the first place.

Their relationship made me think about my own relationships, specifically how having too much differences could be really hard on two people. In the past, boyfriend and I would speak harshly to each other – just as Rachel sometimes does to Paul – and then regret having said anything. I used to think that was more of Alfred’s problem, that he was the one who could really say hurtful things when he’s mad. He’s changed a lot after all these years and I do see his effort in restraining himself from saying anything he would regret. I remember saying in the past that we can’t take back words we’ve already uttered, even after saying sorry or being forgiven. The cut stays. I remind myself today not to make that mistake because I know I can be hurtful too.

Running from the Law

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Those who have known me for awhile, specially those who have visited us at home (here at 19th street, back at Fairview, and especially back at our old house in the Seminary) would know how widely read my family and I are. Between all four of us, we own or have purchased hundreds of books through the years. In the last 5 years or so, second-hand or previously owned books have also graced our doors.

There is a small second-hand bookshop at The Loop, located at the ground floor of our office building and I’ve spent a lot of time there since it opened late last year. I passed by the bookshop twice last week, and ended up purchasing several books on each visit. There was one by Clive Cussler – a Dirk Pitt novel that managed to slip by my dad; a Scottoline that I knew my mom (and I) would enjoy; a Steve Berry novel that would also interest us all; a chic lit novel by Weiner that I’ve also been wanting to purchase but didn’t want to get at full price. And there were more.

From all the books I’ve bought recently, I’ve finished Lisa Scottoline’s Running from the Law. It probably isn’t her best work, certainly not the most memorable one that I’ve read by her, but it was a good read. It’s a lawyer/crime novel but it doesn’t get you feeling like you want to become one, unlike others in the same genre. It did nor reawaken my dreams of becoming a lawyer myself, certainly not. I guess what sets Running apart is that it focused more on the conflicts that the heroine was going through during that very important case of her career.

I guess what didn’t make it memorable was the author’s seeming conservatism in terms of letting us into the girl’s psyche. Readers will know there was something wrong, but never really why it had gone wrong. It left a lot to one’s imagination, which isn’t necessarily bad. There wasn’t much mystery in the court case, but there were lots in the protagonist’s personal life. There were questions left hanging, but maybe it was only so because I wasn’t totally into the book while I was reading it?

What’s all the mystery behind the Rita Morrone’s mother? How did LeVonne end up in Vito’s employ? What was the source of Rita’s commitment issues, was it simply because Paul wasn’t really the one for her? Okay, so that’s not a lot of questions, but that’s where I was left hanging.

Overall, it was well worth reading. At a stressful time in my life, it was the perfect novel – not too complicated, easy to digest.