Silken Prey by John Sandford

I read this in July, although it was published in 2013, I found it at a book sale and could not pass it by.  I have read several of John Sanford's Prey series featuring investigator Lucas Davenport, all set in Minnesota and most on my Kindle.  I seldom include a review of my kindle reads here.  the entire 406 pages reads along nicely, and true to Sandford, I can never figure out the way the crime will be resolved. In this a MN political "fixer" is kidnapped.  Davenport is investigating another case when the trail leads him to the disappearance and then back to the Minneapolis Police Dept.  A treacherous dangerous female  with grand political aspirations including running for president with specific ideas of how the world should be, is central to the story.  Ruthless does not adequately describe the character Taryn Grant. Pg 123, "..she had the money wrapped up, she looked terrific, she had a mind that understood the necessary treacheries, a silken Machiavelli." 

A few quotes, pg. 16,  "You're saying the media is dangerous, immoral, and antidemocratic?"   "Well,,,,yes" Henderson said.  "They don't recognize it in themselves, but they're basically criminals.  In the classic sense of that word."  I am not a fan of mainstream media and found that appropo. 

pg. 135, "She wore it like a gown.  He'd seen it often enough in government work, people who felt that they were better than their job, and better than those around them; a princess kidnapped by gypsies and raised below her station."

Pg 399...lameduck session and complain all he wanted about Taryn Grant, but nothing would be done, because Grant was a winner.  In Lucas' opinion, a good part of Congress seemed to suffer from the same psychological defects that afflicted Taryn Grant......
their bloated self-importance, ther disregard of anything but their own goals, their pre-occupation with power..."  Oh another fitting description of Congress.

Another winner by Sandford,  5  *****.

Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

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Another very  interesting historical book by O'Reilly.  I read this several months ago but I am a laggard at posting my reviews.  As with all his Killing books, the author includes fascinating sidebars to emphasize the historical content.  The only slight criticism I have about this book is there are so many footnotes on most pages especially in the first half of the book, that I found those disruptive.  I read each one as they appeared and that resulted in then rereading the passage referenced with the additional information.  All the footnotes were compelling reading and I wondered why the authors did not merely include them along in the main body of the page as they amplified understanding.  This is by no means a solid negative about this work, just a comment.  Otherwise I absolutely enjoyed every page.

 I have not read much about the Pacific in WWII, and have  been fascinated with Truman and MacArthur. The background information on both makes this all the more interesting.  The maps that are included, especially of the Philippines in 1941 were very enlightening to me to begin to better understand the sieges, battles and strategies of the war over there against the Japanese.  I knew little about Peleliu before so the details about the importance of that island and its airstrip were educational to me as well.  The authors explain very comprehensively the culture of the Japanese and how the emperor was considered  a god to the Japanese people, this clarifies how surrender was considered disgraceful to them.

Another 5 ***** book which I heartily recommend, especially for a somewhat  brief presentation about the war with the Japanese, dropping the A-bomb and the dismissal of General MacArthur by President Truman.