Gray Ghost by William G. Tapply

Gray Ghost by William G. Tapply is the second book in a new series for Tapply. The hero is Stoney (Stonewall Jackson) Calhoun. Struck by lightning, Stoney cannot remember anything before that event. He lives in the woods of Maine and works as a fishing guide and fishing supply shop co-owner. Stoney's constantly rediscovering old skills: he knows how to kill people with his hands, for example, and in this book he learns that he once played basketball. Gray Ghost was as easy to read as any of Tapply's Brady Coyne books, but with most of the action in Portland and on Casco Bay I got hung up on some geographical issues. South Portland is treated as if it is part of Portland, Cape Elizabeth is moved to where South Portland is, a deep-water cove is described as being in a place only a very small boat can get to (and there's no cove there), a dive bar is placed in an alley off Wharf St (which in reality is an alley). Why?
All the distraction of those inaccuracies kept me mulling about the story and led me to realize that the characterizations are unrealistic and generate plot holes. So know what you're getting, but it's still a ***
Here's a link to my last Tapply review.
I mention Tapply's recently deceased friend and sometime cowriter Philip Craig in that one. I couldn't help thinking that this new character, named Jackson, living in the woods, surviving an injury that ended some kind of law enforcement career, and loving fishing is in some ways a tribute to Craig's J.W. Jackson.

Mad Dogs by James Grady

Mad Dogs by James Grady **** approaching the magical 5. If you follow the link in the header you'll see a blurb about this book being a seamless blend of styles.
Grady, of course, wrote Six Days of the Condor, paranoid spy thriller that was the basis for the tightened up movie Three Days of the Condor. Very noir, very Seventies. Mad Dogs updates the concept to the 2000's, including a brief homage to the older one. Cool! Hot! Crazy!
Dan Brown wishes he could write this well, and so do a lot of other people.
You'll only put it down to take a few deep breaths.

Howard Zinn's A People's History of American Empire

Howard Zinn's A People's History of American Empire is a comic book version of the book that shows how America's foreign policy has had less to do with democracy than capitalism. It's a graphic, but no comic book. This is heavy stuff, but condensed and comprehensible. ****