“Blind Tasting”
Author: A.C. Houston
I recently reviewed “Blind Tasting” but I’ll be honest and say that due to the title I wasn’t really sure what to expect at first. Would this be a fictional book about food? Would it feature a blind critic? More importantly, would it be good? Needing to know more I read the jacket blurb. Okay… The premise sounded interesting enough even if it did seem somewhat far-fetched.
Initially the book was difficult for me to get into. Not because it was boring or poorly written. It wasn’t. It’s just that I’m not very fluent in “geek speak” and that was the first thing that jumped off the page at me in paragraph one, chapter one. I’m also not the most computer literate person and so, knowing this, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to read slower. This way I could hopefully better understand phrases like “plenoptic illumination function” or “NP-complete.” *chuckle* Don’t worry; the characters don’t talk like that all the time.
Let me move on to the “meat and potatoes” of the story. Cory Wilder is the main character and he exemplifies the meaning of the word “geek.” Three guesses who used that memorable phrase “plenoptic illumination function…” Besides being incredibly smart, he’s also attractive; he has a great job and a gorgeous girl-friend. What more could a guy, geek or otherwise, really ask for? Unfortunately Cory’s world is suddenly turned upside down. He has two choices. He can sit around and mope or he can pick himself up and start putting his life back together. One evening he comes up with a verifiably crazy idea. Can he train his beloved dog to identify and match wines? His two best friends, Dawn and Rob, throw themselves wholeheartedly into seeing if they can make this project work. I’m not going to provide any more of the story but I’d be willing to bet the title of the book probably makes more sense now…
In closing, I’m giving “Blind Tasting” a five-star rating. I don’t normally give out five’s but I feel this book deserves every one of them. It was well written. The premise was unique. The story was interesting albeit unusual and, truth be told, I couldn’t put it down. It was also apparent throughout the book that the author, A. C. Houston, is extremely knowledgeable about computer technology, biochemistry, wines and dogs. I felt “Blind Tasting” was kind of like Sherlock Holmes meets Nancy Drew meets MacGyver. I would also consider A. C. Houston to be the upcoming Clive Cussler type author for a technology loving generation.