Monday, December 20, 2010

Reading matters

I can find a tightly plotted action thriller a worthwhile read. Although I doubt if James Barrington's series featuring the derring do of his agent Paul Richter would have caught my eye if the back cover blurb hadn't announced that much of the action is set in Dubai. For a good while I have wondered when the Sandlands would finally be seen as a promising arena in which to locate stories of intrigue and whether such narratives would rise above predictable cliché.

Barrington's formula is short on characterization but generous with mostly well researched local colour and technical details. 

He ends the book with a delightful touch of irony. A grateful Dubai government thanks Richter for 'saving the world as we know it' by fixing to his advantage one of those tombolas which always seem so promising in the Duty Free mall at the airport. 

Reading Barrington's offering... in two fast mid-week sessions... interrupted my more leisured consumption of Sebastian Faulks' book, A Week In December, to which I shall return on Friday at the beach.

No comments: