My introduction to local, Boston author Ben Mezrich came via his book "Bringing Down the House" about a group of MIT students who made millions card counting in Las Vegas. I was addicted to this book. It was smart, funny, sexy and toward the end, intensely suspenseful. I think I read it in a day and a half. I was hooked on Ben.
When I learned Ben was publishing a book about the origins of Facebook, I pre-ordered it. I read "The Accidental Billionaires" with the same ferocity with which I devour my US Weekly. The book read like the juiciest tabloid story full of wild characters and evil villains. It was sensational.
Both of these books became movies, "21" starring Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth and "The Social Network" which as you know, went on to win three Academy Awards. Needless to say, I will read any Ben Mezrich book and support any film based on his writing.
Mezrich's latest book "Sex on the Moon" is the story of Thad Roberts, a NASA intern who becomes drunk on power and the opportunities available to him inside this government center of wonder and proceeds to steal lunar rocks from the NASA headquarters in Houston, TX.
Unlike the other two Mezrich books I've read, this one lacked that heart pounding suspense factor that I've come to expect and to crave. I wanted to feel nervous, anxious and excited. Can Thad pull it off? Will he get caught? What will happen to him? But I didn't.
Instead the book reads like a psychological analysis of Thad Roberts as a man. His childhood in the Mormon community, his expulsion from his parents' home for having pre-marital sex, his failed relationship with his first wife, his sincere love affair with science, his awe of NASA and most importantly, his need for adrenaline.
To be honest, this book doesn't measure up to the previous two. While it's still strong writing and a great portrait of a individual struggling to define himself, "Sex on the Moon" lacked that Ben Mezrich touch that lured me in all those years ago.
After finishing this book, I've now moved onto "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. Yes, I know, it's trendy and the big Hollywood adaption is coming out, but honestly, 100 pages in, I am loving it!
What are you reading?
