Good Novels According to Flex

John Grisham
The Firm
The Pelican Brief
Runaway Jury
The Testament
The Client
The Rainmaker The Brethren
A Time to Kill
Street Lawyer

Michael Chrichton
The Sphere 
Jurassic Park
Lost World

     I have really enjoyed the novels that have been written by Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Michael Crichton and others. 

     I must admit that I did not start off reading Mr. Clancy's books.  I did not become interested in them until after I watched The Hunt for Red October.  From that I was hooked.  I have read all of his main series of books but do not own all of them.  The ones that I will discuss are the ones that I own.  Red Storm Rising is the first Tom Clancy novel that will introduce you to to some of the characters in the following novels.  This is a longer book than Hunt for Red October but does provide an excellant example of the research that the author does before writing a novel. Hunt for Red October is an excellant example of the work that Mr. Clancy is capable of.  This book is short than most of the others but contains a great deal of action and suspense built in.  Clear and Present Danger the movie is significantly different from the book that I highly recommend everyone to read the book if you have watched the movie.  You have missed out on a lot.  Without Remorse is an excellant book.  The reader is introduced to the History of John Clark.  What a history it is.  The Sum of All Fears discusses the situation that might occur if some foreign power was able to get their hands on a nuclear warhead and tried to attack the United States.  Executive Orders has Ryan as the President of the United States.  He is having to try to resolve several domestic problems while handling the developing international problems.  Good Book.  Rainbow Six tells a good story but in this reader's opinion it was not as well written as the previous books.  Mr. Clancy's newest book, The Bear and the Dragon,  is another excellant book in a long line.  The story comes back to Jack Ryan as he is President but also included in the story line is the people of Rainbow Six.  The ending of the book was not quiet up to my expectations but the overall book is still good.  To discuss these books or any other books, feel free to email me.  I have not read the Special Ops books so please don't ask questions about those books.

     John Grisham is another very popular author that I enjoy reading.  Like most readers, I started off reading his books by starting out with The Firm.  If you want to see a movie in which the movie is almost nothing like the book, watch the movie The Firm starring Tom Cruise.  The book has twists and turns in it that the movie doens't even hint at.  Also, the ending of the book is completely different from that of the movie. For more discussion about these discrepancies and other similar ones, check out my book versus movie page.  The Pelican Brief, I am glad to say, is more like the book.  I was truly impressed with both.  Denzel Washington does some good acting to coincide with Grisham's good writing.  Runaway Jury describes a situation that is a very real concern from many of the big firms of today.  The Testament describes a situation in which a very rich man leaves his money to someone who does not really want it and the rest of his family fights for it.  This is the first of Grisham's books that I have read that really has some involvement with religious individuals.  Street Lawyer is another one of Grisham's books that has taken more of a turn from a good story to one of injustice done to the homeless and poor people on the streets.  I read this book in one day.  Good book but not as much depth to it as many of the books have.  The Client, the Rainmaker, and the Brethren are the few Grisham's books that I have not read.  A Time to Kill was an excellant book what was well portrayed on film but I would definitely recommend the book.

     Michael Crichton is another good novelist that I have read.  His most popular works are Jurassic Park and The Lost World.  I have not read either.  I have read The Sphere.  It has been a long time ago but I still remember a great deal about it.  The suspense was well established for a main stream audience but not for a younger crowd.  I would recommend this book to teenagers or young adults.  He has written another book, I can not remember the name, that inspired a movie.  The movie was the 13th Warrior with Antonio Banderas.