Alexandre Figueiredo

Yes... I did it again!

It has all begun with Michael Crichton's books. My father had bought 'The Andromeda Strain' and lent it to me after reading it. The book is great! It is one of those wonderful fast paced thrillers whose recently deceased author got us used to.

I liked it so much that I ended up reading some more of his books. 'Timeline', a science fiction novel that tells the story of historians who travel to the Middle Ages to save a friend who had already traveled back, in time, before them, was the second. The third was 'Rising Sun', a book about a murder in the Los Angeles headquarters of Nakamoto, a fictional Japanese corporation. This novel taught me a lot about Japanese culture. Then, 'Sphere' (I believe you have all watched the movie), followed by 'State of Fear', with its interesting theory about global warming, followed the previous three.

Shortly afterwards, the media book of the decade was published, advertised and talked about everywhere. Yes, I had just found out about Dan Brown, the originator of the 'Da Vinci Code' paranoia. So I read it... I read it shortly after everyone else on the planet did. Believe me or not, I enjoyed it! I enjoyed it enough to read 'Angels and Demons' (my favorite), 'The Digital Fortress', and 'Deception Point', one after the other.

Now, I did it again! Jeffery Deaver's 'The Vanished Man' was the guilty one. This book is something! It is about a psychotic illusionist who commits a series of brilliantly executed crimes in New York using magic, escapist and illusionist techniques. One of the people involved in his chase is Lincoln Rhyme, personified by Denzel Washington in 'The Bone Collector'. As most of the times (if not all), my father had bought the book. But this time I read it before he did. For the first time, I was the one who said: "Damn! This thriller rocks!". And I'm glad I did it. A few days later I had two more Jeffery Deaver's books waiting for me in my parents' bookshelves. 'The Sleeping Doll' and 'The Devil's Teardrop' just confirmed what I already knew - Jeffery Deaver is another one of my favorite authors.

So, having read five Michael Crichton books and four Dan Brown's, today, once again thanks to my father, I am going to start reading my fourth Jeffery Deaver book - 'Death Of A Blue Movie Star'. I am sure I am going to enjoy it more than the recent Death of a Blue Team, in the Champions League, against Man United :-(