Eric’s Comments (group member since Dec 31, 2016)

Eric’s comments from the What's Next? group.

Throwback Cold War spy thriller, written in classic style.

Set in the early 1960s, the first novel in a planned trilogy, and easy to visualize as a future movie script. Overall, an easy, fast paced read, although there are several threads and loose ends that don't fully relate to each other.

An original - and at times raw -- debut novel. I expect this book will appear on many "best of" lists this year.

The book focus on three versions of the same story -- think, Sliding Doors for fans of the movie -- across 35 years, with the update for each alternative shared for the same time period before jumping ahead to the next 7-year point in time. Emotional connections with characters vary with the context as the author explores themes of nature versus nurture.

4.5 stars rounded down.

New novel from the author of Americanah", "Purple Hibiscus" and "Half of a Yellow Sun", and her first work of fiction in over 10 years.

The story is mostly set b/t Nigeria and the US and covers the relationship between 4 Nigerian women, alternating points of view - their dreams, careers, relationships and families. The story also touches on challenges of being an immigrant and the pros and cons of assimilation.

Fans of the author will enjoy reading her prose again. Themes are complicated, however, reflecting an increasingly messy world. Grief (or sadness) and death overhang the novel, reflecting experiences in and around the Covid pandemic, plus the author's personal life.

The book is uneven, with some threads stronger than others, and perhaps could have been blended more. 3.5 rounded up.

Gabriel Allon #25.

Well done art heist thriller. No need to have read the series. Nice break from terrorism and politics.

4.5 rounded down.

#1 of new series from Thursday Murder Club author.

Same light, witty style. Page turner and good for summer reead. Howver, characters and plot not as strong as the other series.

4 stars.

Surprisingly inspirational tale of a man’s lonely encounter with a sick horse, i.e., broken man meets broken animal. Hopeful despite the description of “sad and ruined people”, the story is a series of flashbacks that fill in the timeline for the main character, who has spent his lief as a musician in and out of bands while struggling with relationships and alcoholism. The music - and writing songs - is both his purpose and means of connecting with people, and making sense of his life. 5 stars.

Cormac Reilly #3. Solid detective page turner. While 3rd in a series, the books are independent and do not need to be read in order.

Frederick Forsyth's classic debut novel. Given his recent passing, I finally picked up this book; I should not have waited so long.

Reads like historical fiction. Meticulous descriptions and brilliantly written. The art of assassination -- in this case a fictional attempt on the French President -- plus a clinic on world class detective work.

Recommended read. 5 stars.

“… that was London Rules for you: force others to take you on your own terms. And if they didn’t like it, stay in their face until they did.”

Slough Horses #5. The new season will air starting in Sept.

Solid book. Same great, witty writing. If already a fan of the series, you will enjoy. 4.5 rounded down.

“ … all you can do in this life is to learn to accept loss.”

Debut novel from Paul Lynch, who won the Booker Prize in 2023 for “Prophet Sing”.

Dark themes. Hard land and old grudges. Violence. Talented writer and great prose in parts but the story dragged in parts and did not resonate with me.

3.5 rounded down.

New non fiction book by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Geraldine Brooks. Her previous book, "Horse", was a best seller. "Horse" was written before and after the events in this book.

"Memorial Days" is a highly personal telling of the death of her husband, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Tony Horwitz, who collapsed and died on Memorial Day in 2019.

The book balances the events immediately after Tony's death with the author's efforts to grieve three years later and serves as a tribute to him. It is also a therapeutic approach to grief and loss.

“Credit Suisse was the poster child for banking screwups.”

History of CS and Swiss banking. Useful and thorough overview, although a bit one sided at times. While the red thread of scandal and cultural failures guided the narrative, CS had a strong client franchise and was respected for their thought leadership and advice, even as they were taking outsized risks that led to the final result. That part of the history was missing. Banking is built on trust. In the end, depositors and regulators lost faith the bank could be fixed. 3.5 stars rounded down.

“… she isn’t frightened of the dead. It is only the living who have the power to harm.”

Author of “Migrations” and “Once There Were Wolves”. A fictional island inspired by Macquarie) Island, a remote location thousand of miles offshore b/t Australia and Antartica

Page turner. Similar to the author's first books, the story revolves around ecological themes. However, the focus is on the family and intertwining mysteries with climate change more of the backdrop.

Recommended read.

Tommy and Tuppence #2.

Lighter tone than typical AC mystery. Witty banter and less serious. Each chapter is a self contained detective story, drawing from famous detectives in literature, including AC at the end!

3 stars. Entertaining but light.

Winner Booker Prize 2017. Highly original.

Based around the death of Willie, Abraham Lincoln's 11 year old son, the story is set in the cemetery where Willie is interred. Narrated by ghosts who populate the cemetery, in a sort of purgatory b/t life and the after life, the prose reads more like theater with the narration interspersed with quotes -- mostly fictional but not all -- about the President and drawn from the Civil War. NB - "Bardo" is a Tibetan term, meaning an “in-between” state.

Themes include parental grief around the loss of a child, the horrors of war, and the impact of choices in life. In the end, will Lincoln free the souls the same way he freed the slaves?

4.5 stars rounded down.

Acclaimed debut collection of short stories by the same author of "Small Things Like These" and "Foster".

Great writing but only a few powerful stories. The best are the stories based in Ireland.

“Like the mighty red, history was a flood”.

Strong novel from the author of The Nightwatchman, Winner of 2021 Pulitzer Prize.

Coming of age story in a small N Dakota farming town in the Red River Valley under economic pressure post the 2008 financial crisis. Environmental stress and rejuvenation are also key themes, with the river in the title an important supporting character

Great writing and characters.

4.5 stars rounded down

“ … pursuing an idea takes … fourteen times as much effort as having it.”

“If an idea begat a discovery, and a discovery begat an invention, then the innovation defined the lengthy and wholesale transformation of an idea into a technological product (or process) meant for widespread practical use. Almost by definition, a single person, or even a single group, could not aline create an invention.”

“… marketing studies could only tell you something about the demand for products that actually exist.” [Sometimes] “people had to imagine [what] might exist.”


History of Bell Labs from the late 1930 to the mid 1970s, when the hub of innovation was in NJ and not Silicon Valley. Essential reading for innovators and engineers.

Bell Labs worked b/c scientists were embedded in a business with regular needs for innovation, and protected by a government-approved monopoly. The monopoly also offset the innovator’s dilemma; the company was guaranteed a business even if it disrupted itself.

In addition to the inventions, Bell Labs pioneered the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach, grouping experts across physics, chemistry, metallurgy, process engineering, etc., to tackle problems together.

Bell Labs’ track record of success is incredible, and paved the way for the move from analog to digital. The (non exhaustive) list includes transistors, Information theory & computers, semiconductors, solar powered cells, satellite communications, the Unix operating system and C computing language, technology for digital photography, and the foundation for cell phone technology.

4.5 rounded up.

“Never apologize, never explain … Never admit you made a mistake”.
- London Rules

“Oh, it will be accurate … It just won’t be entirely true.”


The latest book (2023 published) from the author of the Slough House series. While not technically in the series, the plot relies on many of the same characters, and their history, particularly in Berlin after the wall fell.

The book displays the author's same gift for language and satirical observations. However, the new characters are not as compelling; when the focus is on them, the story drags.

3.5 stars rounded up.

“ Do something meaningful. Or maybe just mean everything you do.”

A story of friendship, wrapped in tragedy. The mystery drives the narrative but is not the reason to ready the book, which focuses on characters in a small MIssouri town who find each other. Page turner with an epic feel.

4.5 stars rounded up. Recommended read.