The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver
Deaver’s first Lincoln Rhyme novel that was adapted to the silver screen of the same title in 1999 starring Denzel Washington (Remember the Titans, Crimson Tide) as Rhyme and Angelina Jolie (Wanted, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) as Amelia Donaghy, though she has a different last name in the book. This book is for the lover of gritty and suspenseful crime mystery/dramas. Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme character an equally contemporary Sherlock Holmes. The detective who implements science to solve crimes. In this first installment, “a diabolical killer is challenging Rhyme to a terrifying and ingenious duel of wits. With police detective Amelia Sachs by his side, Rhyme must follow a labyrinth of clues that reaches back to a dark chapter in New York City’s past — and reach further into the darkness of the mind of a madman who won’t stop until he has stripped life down to the bone” (Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2373.The_Bone_Collector?from_search=true). I remember finding this book at my local Half Price Books store in the early 2000s, and I’ve been following the Rhyme character ever since. Deaver’s meticulous research methods make his writing a blend of Michael Crichton and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I recommend this book to anyone in the market for a well-written, gritty crime mystery featuring a plot that will surely keep you guessing to the final climax!
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
“An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price. Until something goes wrong” (Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40604658-jurassic-park?ac=1&from_search=true). I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoyed the movie, I did when it was in theaters and still do. As is usually the case this book is an even richer adventure than the Spielberg adaptation, and I loved the movie too. The story interweaves corporate espionage and greed with a fast-paced thrill ride and offering ethical quandaries about the moral nature of scientific experimentation. Crichton was one of those writers who liked to weave a morality tale into his writing, and considering he was a practicing medical doctor prior to becoming a NYT bestselling author he offers fascinating what-ifs and equally terrifying well-thens!
The Demon Haunted World – Science as a Candlelight in the Dark by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
“Science is a way of thinking more than it is a body of knowledge.” –Carl Sagan. Imagine having the mental toolset to be able to evaluate virtually any given claim from secret aliens at Area 51 to the pseudoscience of tarot cards and anything in between. Dubbed in the 2nd chapter as a “baloney detection kit” Sagan lays out the fundamental how-to process for cultivating a science-based skepticism. Nearer the end he explores the ethics of science and how it can be misused using the hydrogen bomb as an example. I recommend this book to those interested in a more concrete guide to scientific skepticism, and a curiosity about how ethics applies to science and technology.
The Magic of Reality: How we know what’s really true by Dr. Richard Dawkins
“Magic takes many forms. Supernatural magic is what our ancestors used in order to explain the world before they developed the scientific method. The ancient Egyptians explained the night by suggesting the goddess Nut swallowed the sun. The Vikings believed a rainbow was the gods’ bridge to earth. The Japanese used to explain earthquakes by conjuring a gigantic catfish that carried the world on its back—earthquakes occurred each time it flipped its tail. These are magical, extraordinary tales. But there is another kind of magic, and it lies in the exhilaration of discovering the real answers to these questions. It is the magic of reality—science,” (Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11256979-the-magic-of-reality?ac=1&from_search=true). This book, much like The Demon Haunted World, is yet another of the non-fiction titles that goes further than just calling some of our (Western) and other cultures’ deepest held beliefs, but it also examines many of those myths’ origins. What I really like about this book is its non-aggressive approach to explaining introductory elements of all the hard-science disciplines like biology, geology, physics, etc. With the aide of colorful and evocative imagery Dawkins makes science more friendly to the layman in safe-for-all-ages prose.
Code to Zero by Ken Follett
“A man wakes up to find himself lying on the ground in a railway station, his mind stripped bare of all recollection. He has no idea how he got there; he does not even know his own name. Convinced he is a drunken down and out, it isn’t until a newspaper report about a satellite launch catches his eye that he suspects all is not what it seems…” (Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5052.Code_to_Zero?ac=1&from_search=true). This became my favorite book in high school; it attributed to one of my two moments of “15 minutes of fame,” I proved to my geometry teacher I could absorb his lecture and read this book. And even though I correctly answered his challenge I was of course asked (more like demanded) to put the book away. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a gritty, page-turning thrill ride set during the height of the Cold War. The author makes likeable characters, sets an excellent pace, and keeps you guessing to the end. To quote one critic who mirrored my sentiments, “a book that won’t let [fans] get back to their lives until they’ve finished” (South Florida-Sun Sentinel via Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Code-Zero-Ken-Follett/dp/0451204530).
