Bangkok 8 by John Burdett

Pete and Gus both really liked Bangkok Eight, and so did I. I see on Amazon that there's a sequel. I liked the character of the detective, the writing style, the noir mood, and the non-traditional resolution. ****, which matches the reader ratings on Amazon; lots of really good reviews there if you want details, click on the link.

Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell

Lords of the North is the third book in Bernard Cornwell's story of Alfred the Great, told by a Saxon who was raised by Danes and hates but admires and serves Alfred. Typical Cornwell in the battle scenes. Very confusing in its plot convolutions and the elements of the story that circle around from the previous two books. Classic of ***, if you like Cornwell or are interested in that time period, you'll like this book.

Dark Light

Randy Wayne White is a former fishing guide whose column I used to enjoy when he wrote for Outside. He writes a suspense series featuring Marion "Doc" Ford, a mixture of Travis McGee with the Doc character from Tortilla Flat.
Some of the early Doc Ford books are excellent, and the middle ones are very good, the last few have really strained credulity, or been based on some specific reality in a way that made it seem as if White is out of inspiration but has to get another book written because that's his job. Still, they remain good. This one is ***

In the Lake of the Woods

I have to admit that I started In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien four times before I finally stayed with it to the end. Really that has more to do with its seriousness and intensity, and its unsettling ambiguity, than with any literary weakness. Even when I read it through it was very discomforting, and the memory lingers through these days of the VT shooting incident. Maybe O'Brien is right that there not only are no easy answers, there are no answers at all. ***
Lots of Reader reviews at Amazon, and a reading group guide at the publisher's website.

Heart of a Soldier

The Heart of a Soldier: a story of Love, Heroism and September 11th by James B. Stewart.
Rick Rescorla was a Cornishman who came to the U.S., enlisted in the Army and served in Vietnam. He won medals for his actions in the Ia Drang battles written about in We Were Soldiers Once, and Young, though he was written out of the movie version. A photo of him is on the cover of the first publishing of the book.

As head of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, he supervised evacuation of their personnel on Sept. 11, last seen heading back upstairs to look for more people to help.
Great, great story ****
This is a picture of him on that day.

Sharpe's Fury by Bernard Cornwell

I love Bernard Cornwell's books. By now his Sharpe books are merely excuses for him to write about interesting battles from the Napoleonic wars, but, hey, he does it as well as anyone. Also, if you read much of him you realize he has a formula, but it's a good one. So this book gets *** If you haven't read Sharpe yet, don't start here. Read them in chronological order, either of the writing or of the action. By the way, he's not the heir to Patrick O'Brian that the recent blurb calls him. He's closer to Alexander Kent, but really he's an original, and O'Brian is an original.

Dick Francis Under Orders

I started reading Dick Francis in early 1980 with Whip Hand and went through a short time period when it was one Dick Francis and one quart of Miller every day. I discovered back then that you don't have to know or care about horse racing to enjoy a Dick Francis book.
Since then I've eagerly awaited his annual effort. A few years ago I heard his wife died and he decided to stop writing. This book gives credit to his son for getting him to write it. It isn't quite as good as his best, but it is still very good, and I'm happy that he returned to Sid Halley, the former jockey of Whip Hand.
Dick Francis's very best transcend the genre, based on that high standard, this book is only ***, but compared to the competition ****
Click on the post title to read reviews at Amazon.

Always Say Goodbye

Stuart M. Kaminsky has a bunch of detective series characters. For a while I read his Toby Peters mysteries, but they had that extra level of predictability that just wore out their welcome with me.
This book features Lew Fonesca. I've read the previous books in the series. Lew is depressed because his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident. He wants to curl up in a ball in his little room in Sarasota, Florida. In this book he returns to Chicago to find out who killed his wife. There's something about these books that always manages to move me. ****