G.W.H. Davison

The Spy Who Swapped Shoes by Geoffrey Davison
Stephen Fletcher Espionage Thriller #1

Set in the 60’s Cold War era Stephen Fletcher, on a train, goes undercover. He takes the place of someone being sent to England – undercover – and hopes to pull it off. The story is reminiscent of older spy stories I read in high school and had more telling than doing so might put off those who are younger and into the action-packed thrill ride some current readers seem to thrive on.

This book was well written and made me feel time period it occurred in. I felt I got to know the characters fairly well but kept thinking that one might have to take the story with a grain of salt in regard to how believable it would be in real time and real life. Fletcher is definitely not Bond but perhaps more real...maybe?

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in the series? Maybe

Thank you to NetGalley and Sapere Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars… (lisätietoja)

Basics: 1996, softcover, 144 pages, color photos of 252 species, no range maps

Like others of its kind, this compact guide provides color photos for 252 species found on the island of Borneo. This represents about 40% of the nearly 580 birds found here. A fair sampling of the various families is given.

These photos are pretty good for 90% of the birds, despite all of them being somewhat small as necessitated by the size of the book. Just one photo is given for each bird. For the other 10% of the birds, these photos show a pose from behind or below that is not helpful or, a pose that does not show the necessary field marks well enough. Some of the photos are too dark or too distant. A couple of birds are slightly obscured by foliage.

The text is a brief paragraph that focuses primarily on the description of the bird to aid in identification. This will be helpful some of the time. For some birds, a comparison is made to a similar species. Some additional short notes are offered on behavior and habitat.

Use this guide like you should all its similar congeners – only as a practice tool in conjunction with a complete field guide.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Indonesia by Strange
2) The Birds of Borneo by Smythies
3) A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali by MacKinnon/Phillipps
4) Guide to the Birds of Wallacea by Coates/Bishop
5) Birds: A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore by Strange
6) A Field Guide to the Birds of West Malaysia and Singapore by Jeyarajasingam/Pearson
7) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore by Davison/Fook… (lisätietoja)