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Sins of Fathers: A Spectacular Break from a Criminal, Dark Past: A Spectacular Break from a Dark Criminal Past

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When Sins of the Fathers was offered to me to read and review, I jumped at the chance, because the book revolved around a specific event I don’t recall ever having heard about — the assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler in 1938 by a group of courageous Germans in the “inner-circle.” I am aware of the Munich Pact with Hitler, which Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed, which basically sold-out Czechoslovakia to Germany. I recall the quote from a letter Winston Churchill wrote to Lloyd George just before the Munich Conference, stating: “I think we shall have to choose in the next few weeks between war and shame, and I have very little doubt what the decision will be.” But somehow, I don’t remember this particular underground movement and its attempts at a coup or how Chamberlain threw a wrench in the works. Read the full article A young woman is brutally murdered in her apartment. Her male roommate is found at the scene and arrested. The suspect then hangs himself in his jail cell making further investigation unnecessary and closing the case as far as the police are concerned. Matt is hired by the victim’s estranged step-father to find out “who his daughter was” when she was killed. She had mysteriously dropped out of college and the newspapers were had running stories that she was a prostitute. The step-father wants Matt to investigate to find out the truth about her. There was only one problem. In a very real sense, my arrangement with Hanniford was more than a dodge around the detective licensing laws and the income tax. The money he gave me was a gift, just as the money I’d given Koehler and Pankow and the postal clerk had been. And in return I was doing him a favor, just as they had done me favors. I was not working for him. So with a few years behind me out of the real world, I get a yen for a good crime novel, watch Criminal Minds and I said it was about time when Booth and Bones finally did it. I have to give goodreads group Pulp Fiction a plug for steering me to some excellent reads in the genre. Give them a look. http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/5... This book had much to say about women's right, how much thinking about women is still very narrowed, untrue and unfair.

The Sins of the Father is the second book in Jeffrey Archer’s highly acclaimed The Clifton Chronicles, Archer’s most ambitious work in four decades as an international bestselling author. T]he authors’ command of the relevant historical information is simply extraordinary . . . this is a gripping work of historical fiction, authentic and captivating.An impressive blend of literary drama and historical commentary.” By the end of the book there's a question about the rightful heir to the Barrington title and fortune: Is it Hugo's legitimate son Giles; or Hugo's (presumably) illegitimate son Harry? This is the cliffhanger that ends the narrative. WWII is now in full swing and Giles Barrington (Emma's brother and Harry's best friend), who'd rather party than fight, nevertheless joins the Wessex Regiment. Giles turn out to be a brave and capable soldier whose experiences on the battlefield - and in a POW camp - are impressive and compelling.

I wondered whether it was worse for men to do the wrong things for the right reason or the right things for the wrong reason. It wasn’t the first time I wondered, or the last. Yes, a little bit of humor that also tells you a little bit about Matthew Scudder’s mindset. Hard to call him a straight arrow. In fact, I was wondering what Matthew did about sex for himself since he is a PI. And we all know PIs need some. Bingo, he calls Elaine on the phone and takes a cab over to see her. The short story of that is that alcohol does not always enhance sex like some think.

The story of the evil villain,Hugo Barrington reaches its conclusion as well. Harry's mother Maisie Clifton is courted by multiple suitors. There were two reasons why it just fell short of the elusive 5 stars. The narrator was good but not great, at times it was hard to differentiate between who was talking and he had a weird way of really extending the length of saying "yeeeeeeeesssss" or "nooooooooooo". It grated after a while. The other reason was the title gave the ending away! I was able to see what was coming from a distance away so what should have been a great twist was somewhat signposted. Oh well. .There were some editing issues in this book - the kind that you see in badly formatted ebooks. I'm chalking this up to the same kind of thing, since the edition that I read was put out in the 90s, when the book would have been almost 20 years old already. There was one case of "must of" instead of "must've", but I can't recall if that was in dialogue or not. (I usually ignore it if it is in dialogue, since that could be patois rather than bad writing.)

Summarizing, it was a gripping historical fiction, written by a very educated author. Definitely worth trying. But considering what I have written at the beginning and that I had many times enough of those revenge, fighting for power, and comparing it to two other books by Howatch I give it 4 stars. Yet, again, compared to most pieces of the genre it is more like 5 stars-novel.Overall, I enjoyed the pace, the narration and the attempt to wrestle with moral ambiguity. I also found it enjoyable to read a mystery that didn't feel the need to venture into thriller territory or multiple murders. It's kind of a popcorn level mystery book: easy, light, non-substantive. For me, a three and half star read, but good enough that I'll be looking for the next in the series. Fans of intricate family sagas and/or soap operas would probably like 'The Clifton Chronicles' and I strongly recommend this book to them. Along the way I had my favorite good cops who never wrote "cleared by arrest" until the case was worked and they and I knew we were ready to roll into a court room. I came to know a few cops who lost the faith along the way. Some cases do that to you. Four years directing a domestic violence and sexual assault program did me in. A year and a half in private practice was more than enough for me. Just call me semi-retired, and hoping to teach. It won't be law. I imagine that the Scudder series is one of those that just keeps getting better with each book. I hope that's the case, anyway - not because the first book wasn't great, but rather because it gives me something to look forward to as I read through them. With all this talk and investigation on father and child relationships by the time the case is closed he finds himself wanting to rekindle his relationship with his boys. You find a real connection in this story with Matthew Scudder and find he’s a real character of today that’s dealing with a real world of good and evil. You will want to be there with him in the future novels after reading this one, battling through the rough and enjoying the smooth.

This is the first book in the Matthew Scudder series. The series is seventeen books with the final one published in 2011. I sought out the first book in the series out of curiosity. Judging from used book prices and availability, first books in a series must be something that people collect. The cops aren’t really interested in the why. They have a brutally slashed body and a guy muttering crazy things covered in blood. Guy hangs himself in his cell. High fives all around...open and shut case. This novel doesn't stand alone - you must read Only Time Will Tell first - and has no more than a couple of chapters of plot relevant to the bigger saga. Or perhaps 1.9 chapters, given that the single thread defining this novel is left incomplete. As a result, this short book is stuffed with exceptionally dull filler. Past sins, present values, forgiveness and redemption all inform this subtle modern morality tale. But it is the sheer human misery and lifelong damage done by abuse – so often belittled when churches speak only of “historic cases” – that are most harrowing and make The Choice such a compelling read.Now, Scudder works as an unlicensed private investigator, continues to drink his corn-mash and coffee combo and his only real friends are the police captain who sends him referrals (for a fee) and the hooker he spends time with occasionally. Matt refuses to keep written records of any kind and his jobs consist of doing “favors” for “friends” (i.e., clients) in exchange for cash “gifts.” Well that's enough about me, what about the book? The mystery is very secondary here; in fact, I didn't think the mystery seemed all that important. Much more vital to the story is our introduction to weary, troubled, lonesome ex-cop Matt Scudder and his booze-soaked life in the Big Apple. Scudder has had a very bad thing happen that's driven him out of the force and away from his wife and sons into a solitary life of unlicensed private investigating. People come to Scudder with questions they want answered. For a variable fee, he'll try to help them out. Asuperb and exciting blend of intrigue and history that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end." The ending is by far one of the best, if not the best ending of any book I’ve ever read. That's saying a mouthfull, too.

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