Three Airplane Books, Sanford, Connelly and Child--A Review

Good, cheap white wine, a calm but vibrant neighborhood, a good airplane book--these great and elusive ideals are sought by all. Here are three candidates for a great airplane book: "A Darkness More Than Night" by Michael Connelly, "61 Hours" by Lee Child and "Mind Prey" by John Sanford. Each of these books have the author's signature hero(es): The profiler McCaleb and the detective Bosch in Connelly's, Reacher the loner warrior in Child's, and Sanford's Lucas Davenport, the entrepreneurial  detective. All of these men have the peculiar modern requirements of disaffection, failed relationships and melancholy and they are distinguished from each other by their personal anger-violence ratio.

Sanford's story has the least to offer. I underline every book--interesting facts or presentation--and this is the first book in a long time where I underlined nothing. Aside from a cute little engagement ring theme, there was little engaging. There was some obnoxious looming threat to children, the default position of every writer.

I have a bit of trouble with Connolly; he is very grisly. I found The Poet almost unreadable. This offering was less so and clever, if contrived. The story line was nicely done with some good misdirections. Generally an adequate read.

I liked Child's book best. It does have some outrageous plotting, so outrageous that the reader suspects misdirection, but it is well enough written with some legitimate characters and is daringly placed in a very limited setting, snowbound in a small town in South Dakota. There is an appealing phone relationship developed in the story which softens the imposing Reacher. (I have no idea how Cruise is going to play him in the upcoming movie which sounds as if it is planned as a franchise production.)

All three served their purpose of distraction, Child best, Sanford least.