Author: John Buchan
Title: The 39 Steps
Description: Richard
Hannay, newly arrived in England just before WWII meets a neighbor with a
secret; when the neighbor turns up dead in Richard’s flat, Hannay takes up the
secret and goes on the run.
Review source: This
was a book club selection; it’s old enough to be free on kindle.
Plot: This is an
action-packed thriller; it’s so short that there really isn’t time for the
reader to (metaphorically) take a breath. Hannay is on the run from one bad guy
after another; at the same time he’s trying to solve the mystery and save the
world.
Characters: This
isn’t a book about character. Hannay and all of the other folks who appear are
completely interchangeable.
Writing style: You’ve
probably put it together by now; this isn’t my favorite type of book. I haven’t
seen the movie(s) based on the book, but the book really reminds me of those
thriller movies that have chases, fights, and blood, but at the end of the
movie you can’t remember a single character’s name.
Audience: It’s a
spy novel with some detective elements.
Wrap-up: I’m
really bad at those kinds of books where you have to do a lot of visualizing of
the action, and this book is mostly like that. It wasn’t my favorite of the
book club picks. 2.5/5*
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