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A review by trin
The Good Son by Michael Gruber
3.0
I read this thriller because [a:Laura Miller|183852|Laura Miller|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1252031376p2/183852.jpg] recommended it on her Twitter; it was entertaining, and even makes some overtures toward deeper political meaning, but reading it, I was never able to forget that I was, in fact, reading a silly thriller. It’s an airport book that failed to let me forget that it’s an airport book. So much Action! and so many Twists!—I kept wanting to reach for the popcorn, or keep my eye out for Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman, in case they should choose to wander on. Not that there’s anything wrong with that—I like a good thriller—but I was never able to lose myself in this book, and that’s less good.
Interesting to compare this with another violently yellow book, [b:The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo|2429135|The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1293975922s/2429135.jpg|1708725]. The latter certainly has its silly thriller moments, but unlike The Good Son, its world utterly convinced me, its politics seemed less pasted on, and it completely swept me away. This may be a character thing: Gruber’s people are all very, very clever and very, very cold. And maybe that’s why I was never able to shake that cold, anonymous airport feeling.
Interesting to compare this with another violently yellow book, [b:The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo|2429135|The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1293975922s/2429135.jpg|1708725]. The latter certainly has its silly thriller moments, but unlike The Good Son, its world utterly convinced me, its politics seemed less pasted on, and it completely swept me away. This may be a character thing: Gruber’s people are all very, very clever and very, very cold. And maybe that’s why I was never able to shake that cold, anonymous airport feeling.