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Murder in the White House by Margaret Patterson is an eminently forgettable mystery. Location, location, location may rule in real estate, but it’s not enough to make up for boring plot.

After all these years (and several re-readings of The Hunt for Red October), finding a pure Tom Clancy novel that I’ve missed helped fill several hours of travel. Without Remorse delves into the background of John Clark, a constant Jack Ryan companion in many of the novels. Clark was memorably played by Willem Dafoe in the 1994 film Clear and Present Danger. (Dafoe is too small, but otherwise matched the character of this novel.)

Without Remorse takes place in the 1960s and early 1970s, prior to the Ryan universe. Here’s a plot summary, courtesy of Wikipedia. I’m just glad this was written by Tom Clancy, instead of being part of “Tom Clancy’s” world, penned by any number of other folks.

Orson Scott Card is profligate, and I’ve loved several of his books, notably Ender’s Game and a few others in that series. The Worthing Saga collects several related short stories and novellas in a single paperback. I appreciated the Trantor-like setting for several of the later stories, but overall, this was a struggle to complete.

The Most Dangerous Game by Gavin Lyall takes the thread of the well-known short story about man hunting man, and weaves it into a larger spy/mystery story. Nothing special, very much a genre book…fair work, but no need to seek out this 1963 thriller.

The pursuit of victory: the life and achievement of Horatio Nelson pursues a personage whose fictional counterparts have entertained me for years. After multiple readings of C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower novels, and a pleasant perusal of the entire Aubrey-Maturin series, I could not miss the opportunity to learn the facts behind the legend. Roger Knight is a scholar, and The Economist crowed: “This superb work is the definitive Nelson biography.” I enjoyed it, especially the coverage (and maps & charts!) of the battles which made Nelson’s reputation.

If you’re looking for another opinion, “Commander of Sea, Myth and Tea Towel” is the NYTimes review.

Web Project Management, by Ashley Friedlein, lingered on my shelf for years. A quick, skimming read, and I learned very little, unfortunately. Maybe that’s because it’s from 1999. Even though it’s tool-agnostic, the book felt dated.

Spectres in the Smoke is Tony Broadbent’s second novel, following The Smoke. The successful cat burglar Jethro pulls a caper against Oswald Mosley’s neo-Nazis this time, with some loose ends to clean up afterwards. Hoping Broadbent stays on a roll here, and more Jethro novels are coming.

I was hoping The Sand Pebbles by Richard McKenna would be a lost classic of historical fiction. Maybe it was better as a film, but I suffered through this book, only finishing it because of pure stubbornness. Skip it.

Several of the books I’ve read this summer were enjoyable, but they won’t earn a lasting place on the shelves. The Egyptologist from Arthur Phillips will. Layered with wonderful madness, The Egyptologist illuminates the reader without ever letting the characters in on the secret. The self-deception of the lead character is willful, horrific, and terribly, morbidly funny. Not an easy start, The Egyptologist accelerates throughout.

Published in 2004, The Egyptologist earned a spot on Stephen King’s top ten list for 2006, based on when he read it.

Pathological liar of dubious identity goes bonkers while looking for a hidden tomb in the Egyptian desert after World War I. Tragic, pathetic, blackly funny…and with a strange, growing undercurrent of horror. You have never read a novel like it.

He’s right, I haven’t. I can’t even imagine anything like it. Phillips has a few earlier novels I may explore.

Note: I’m a sucker for those who create their own myths in the sands of Egypt, like Giovanni Battista Belzoni, on whom I spent too much time in college. On page 47, we read: “The ex-circus performer Belzoni’s exploits with the British consul Henry Salt.”

Like several of the books I bought this summer, I grabbed The Smoke at Compass Books in San Francisco International Airport (SFO). As much as I enjoy bookstores, I rarely step into them…better for the wallet. But I’m a sucker when travelling.

Anyway, the staff recommendation of Tony Broadbent‘s first book convinced me to weigh down my bag a bit more. Worth the weight, literally: it’s fun to peer into the life of a “moral” criminal, wrapped up in historical post-WWII London. Our cat burglar hero Jethro mixes Lovejoy and a more down-to-earth James Bond. A fun, fun find.