The Twelve Passengers

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express may be one of the most difficult mysteries ever written. Her narrative of the detective Hercule Poirot on the Orient Express seems to have no solution at all. All twelve suspects have excellent alibis. All evidence seems to contradict itself. And it seems that even M. Poirot is baffled.

The mystery begins on the Orient Express as the train is traveling through Europe to Calais. One night, during a terrible snowstorm, the train is snowed in and cannot proceed. That morning, one man, a Mr. Ratchett, is found dead in his carriage, stabbed numerous times with a knife. Hercule Poirot sets to work on the case with his friend M. Bouc (the director of the train and representative of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons Lits) and Dr. Constantine (a medical doctor from a different coach). Not much is known about the case from the beginning, but there is one fact everyone is sure of: the murderer had no way to leave the train, ergo, he or she is one of the passengers.

There are twelve passengers on the Calais Coach of the Orient Express, each of which are viable suspects for the murder:

• Countess Elena Andrenyi: wife to Count Andrenyi
• Count Rudolph Andrenyi: a Hungarian diplomat, travelling to France
• Col. Arbuthnot: a British colonel, returning from India
• Mary Debenham: a British governess, returning to Great Britain from Baghdad
• Princess Natalia Dragomiroff: a Russian noblewoman
• Antonio Foscarelli: an Italian businessman
• Cyrus Hardman: an American typewriter ribbon salesman
• Caroline Hubbard: an American woman, returning home after visiting her daughter in Baghdad
• Hector MacQueen: the American secretary to Mr. Ratchett
• Edward Masterman: the British valet to Mr. Ratchett
• Greta Ohlsson: a Swedish missionary, travelling home for a vacation
• Hildegarde Schmidt: the German lady's-maid to Dragomiroff

Christie makes this case as difficult as possible, taking the reader for a thrilling ride through lies, plot twists, and stunning revelations. While Poirot gets closer and closer to finding out the identity of the murderer and the solution to the mystery, the reader gets more and more enthralled in the plot of the book. Every clue discovered brings M. Poirot, the funny little Belgian, closer and closer to the solution. Every mystery lover will delight himself in using his little grey cells along with Poirot as he discovers the solution to the murder on the Orient Express.

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Orient-Express-Hercule-Mysteries/dp/0425200450/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231822795&sr=8-2

Grade: 8.5

Second Foundation

Second Foundation very successfully wraps up Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. In the second book, Foundation and Empire, the Mule searches for the elusive Second Foundation. In Second Foundation, the search for the Second Foundation is the main plot of the book.

The Second Foundation is the organization that was established by Hari Seldon at the same time as the Foundation. Seldon created the Second Foundation as a philosophical and psychohistorical organization to contrast with the First Foundation's affinity to science. It was originally meant to assist the Foundation in its upholding of the Seldon Plan, but had now started spoiling the Empire's plans and also infiltrating the minds of some of the greatest scientists of the Foundation.

The first part of the book, "Search by the Mule", concerns the Mule and his Empire. Two Imperial subjects, General Han Pritcher and Bail Channis, are sent by the Mule to search all over the Galaxy to try to find where the Second Foundation could be hidden.

The second part of the book, "Search by the Foundation", is about a few members of the Foundation. The bigger part of the second part concerns Arcadia Darrell, a young teenage girl. She, her father (the renowned scientist Toran Darrell), and a few of her father's friends make it their mission to figure out as much as they can about this Second Foundation that has been controlling the minds of so many people.

Second Foundation is the excellent finale to the acclaimed Foundation Trilogy. The plethora of characters with varying personalities and knowledge contrast with each other to make the reader guess where this Second Foundation can be hidden. Asimov keeps the reader's eyes bound to the book until the very last page. It is a superb novel with an excellent plot and an excellent writing style. It is a very successful ending to a very successful trilogy.

http://www.amazon.com/Second-Foundation-Novels-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293362/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229745970&sr=8-2

Grade: 9

Foundation and Empire

My previous book review was written about Isaac Asimov's book Foundation. This science fiction book has come to be one of the most famous in science fiction history. The first sequel written about this book, titled Foundation and Empire, is the subject of this review.

Foundation and Empire is even better than its predecessor. The novel is split up into two parts: "Part I: The General" and "Part II: The Mule". The whole novel is mostly about the war between the Foundation, the organization established by Hari Seldon; and the Empire.

Part I is about General Bel Riose of the Empire as he plays a key role in the war between the Foundation and the Empire. It is also about Emperor Cleon II (current monarch of the Empire), Ducem Barr (a man from the planet Siwenna), and Lathan Devers (a trader from the Foundation). The Foundation is a small entity compared to the beast of the Empire, but they must hold their ground if they intend for the Seldon Plan to succeed.

Part II takes place about 100 years later, after the Empire is much weaker than it had been, and it relates the rise of the Mule. The Mule is a very powerful man whose goal is to reinstate the Empire, thus becoming the sovereign of the Universe. Under the Mule, the Empire fights the Foundation, and it seems that they have met their most dangerous foe. Not much is known about the Mule at all, and Part II is told from the point of view of Toran and Bayta Darell, a newlywed couple from a trading planet belonging to the Foundation.

Foundation and Empire surpasses Foundation in my opinion. Whereas the first book had five short parts to it, each with their unique characters and scenarios, the second book has only two parts. The characters are much more developed and the story-line is much easier to understand in Foundation and Empire. Isaac Asimov proves here for the second time his prowess at writing.

http://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Empire-Novels-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293370/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229053943&sr=8-2

Grade: 9