Out Cold

Sometimes you get caught up in a series, and keep reading the books even though the quality slides or stays the same but you realize it is not that good. William G. Tapply writes this series featuring lawyer Brady Coyne. I came to them through a reference in Philip Craig's books. They eventually wrote three together; the third just published this season, though Craig died last spring.
Anyway, I think I was drawn to the Coyne books by that connection, by their Boston setting, by the fishing references. They are light, but move along. Publisher's Weekly, quoted on Tapply's site has it right: "Longtime series fans will be most rewarded," but I'm not sure it's worth the time. ***, just barely.

Crime Beat by Michael Connolly

Michael Connolly is one of the best writers of crime fiction I know of -- see my previous entries on his work. This is a collection of his newspaper writing, stories that inspired elements of his fiction. It would be more interesting if each story had a new bit with it saying "I got the idea for... from...." It's good journalism, but it is still daily writing from a decade or more ago. If you're into true crime stories you might use these to inspire a Google for more info. If you're a Michael Connolly completist you might need to read the whole book; my copy was due back at the library before I got done, and I just took it back. ** seems harsh, but there you have it. The introduction is really good, though.

The Overlook by Michael Connolly

The Overlook is another Harry Bosch book by Michael Connolly. I don't think he's slipped by much if any. Harry has a new assignment and new partner, and he's on a case that draws FBI interest. It looks like a Homeland Security issue. *** in Michael Connolly terms, **** in mystery/thriller terms.

The Watchman by Robert Crais

Robert Crais is the bomb! He's still getting better, I think, or maybe just maintaining at a very high level. All the Elvis Cole books are very good, and the others are edge of the seat intense. This Joe Pike book is between the two and seems to be part of a pattern of him edging Elvis into a grittier, more noirish vibe. ****
Soon I'll be reading the latest Michael Connelly, and this is as good as the average Connelly; the distinction may be purely one of taste.

Benedict Arnold's Navy

In the wake of my Patrick O'Brian enthusiasm, I discovered James L. Nelson. I really enjoyed his Isaac Biddlecomb series, which brought to mind the great Kenneth Roberts. Then his Thomas Marlowe books tapped into my love of pirate adventure going back through Treasure Island to Look Out for Pirates!, the first book I ever "read" independently (I had every word memorized).
Other readers of Kenneth Roberts know of his heroic march to Quebec, but Benedict Arnold's Navy reveals even more dimensions of greatness in the man, prior to his betraying the US to the British. This was a very good work of nonfiction, well-researched and clearly written. Compared to the fiction works above, it may be overwritten in it's attempted thorough evenhandedness. As a fan of nautical fiction I might only give this ***, but making allowances for it being nonfiction, and as a reader of revolutionary war history, ****.

Stagger Lee

A great book. I see now it won an award as the best of 2006. Fun and informative. ****
If you're interested in the story behind the song(s), but you aren't a fan of graphics, you'll still dig it. If you like graphics but never cared about Stagger Lee, this'll pull you in. Really rich.

Spare Change by Robert B. Parker

I did read the Sunny Randall book, as promised. It was as reliable, or predictable, as expected. The climax strained the willing suspension of disbelief to the breaking point, and yet was moving. Go figure. Parker has his strengths and/or I'm a sap. ***

I also read The Dark Knight Returns the ten-year-old Batman graphic novel by the now super-hot Frank Miller (Sin City, The 300) *** also.

New Avengers Civil War

I probably would have liked this even better if I knew what came just before and just after, though I know Captain America soon ends up dead. When I was in my teens Captain America was my favorite comic book. I also collected about the first twenty issues of Luke Cage, so it was cool to see him again. This book contains the stories from the "magazines" New Avengers #21-25. ***

High Profile by Robert B. Parker

I can't kick my Robert B. Parker addiction. I just raced through High Profile; easy to do because he only puts enough plot for a short story (in this case two) into each novel. The rest is just literary gymnastics. ***
Jesse Stone, with Sunny Randall in the side plot for good measure. I should have an entry on a Sunny Randall book in a couple days.

Empire of Blue Water by Stephen Talty

The story of Henry Morgan, Port Royal, Jamaica, and how they impacted the weakening of Spain's New World empire. Very well done ****

Some Books I Neglected to Log

Last month I finally finished The Book Thief. I had trouble getting into it because of the device of having death narrate it, describing things using extravagant similes, because of the interjections of odd fonts and drawings; I'm a little put off by such attention-distracting affectations. Also, given its setting in WWII Germany, you know right from the start that it can't have a totally happy ending. Eventually I did get past all that, and I was absorbed by the last 2/3 of it. I'll give it ***, though if the above doesn't bother you, if you like having your emotions jolted, you might rate it as ****.
I finished it during a road trip to Cleveland. On that trip we also listened to a fantasy book set in Venice called The Water Mirror *** Be warned: it's the first in a series. And some kind of prequel to the Peter Pan story, featuring the schoolboy who would become Hook. It was awful: * at best, we didn't quite finish it, and I was glad. I wouldn't have listened past two chapters if I had free choice.

Thwonk by Joan Bauer

Thwonk is the story of a teenage girl who gets the unexpected help of a cupid. "Be careful what you wish for" as they say. It is kind of middle-school-girl romantic with an imaginarily mature-and-yet-immature view of high school life (Maybe sort of like Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli). It's probably best suited for girls about thirteen or fourteen years old who've watched a lot of Boy Meets World or Saved by the Bell or whatever tripe is being dished out these days. Still, it was fun, and moving at the end, and worth the three hours I spent reading it. I've read a couple of Joan Bauer's other books: Stand Tall, and Hope Was Here, and they both were great; Hope Was Here might be a five star book. Thwonk: ***

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

If you've read all the others, this is a very satisfying conclusion. I'm not going to put in any spoilers, or much detail at all. I cried many times. The climactic action starts more than 100 pages from the end; I was there at ten o'clock last night and couldn't stop until I finished. This is one of the great fantasy series of all time, and it does transcend the genre, and this book is better than some of the middle ones (being the end makes it even that much better). *****

Gun, with Occasional Music

Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem, is a hard-boiled sci-fi detective story that keeps you reading with a combination of the suspense of the mystery and the mysterious world it occurs in. The story doesn't quite succeed in rising to the heights it aspires to, but it is a lot of fun. I think sci-fi fans would be more ready than mystery fans to cut it the necessary slack, but maybe they're the ones who will share my disappointment with the end. ***(*)
I just bopped over and checked out a review on a sci-fi site that supports my original idea: http://www.sff.net/people/Richard.Horton/gunwith.htm

Die Trying by Lee Child

I've reviewed one of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books before; I think it was Echo Burning. Everything I said about that one is true of this one. Die Trying is actually the second book in the series. I think if you came to it as the first or second Reacher book you ever read, you'd think it was a terrific example of the genre, and question very little. It took me a while to get into it (because I was questioning things), but the last half is wall-to-wall action and suspense. Jack Reacher is one part McGyver, one part Parker, one part Bob Lee Swagger, and one part Conan the Barbarian. It is a terrific example of the genre, it just incorporates all the weaknesses of the genre. ****

Lincoln's Greatest Speech by Ronald C. White Jr.

I was assigned this book for an AP Language teaching workshop I'm due to attend in two weeks. It's very brief, as the speech itself (the second inaugural) was brief. I have previously read Gary Will's Lincoln at Gettysburg with great interest (reread parts of it later). I'm fascinated by the sort of rhetorical analysis these books contain, by Lincoln himself, by the Civil War, and by those times in general. I give this book ****, but if you don't want to read a book in which each paragraph of a speech gets a chapter of analysis dedicated to it, you won't want to read this. I enjoyed whole pages on what "attributes" and "malice" and "charity" meant in the context of the speech.
Here, however. is some interesting historical trivia: the only photo of Lincoln making a speech is of this one, The only piece of furniture on the platform Lincoln spoke from was a white Iron table made by Major Benjamin Brown French from fragments of the recently-replaced iron dome of the Capitol, John Wilkes Booth is visible in the picture behind Lincoln, Lincoln recognized Frederick Douglass in the crowd and later insisted on hearing his opinion of the speech, Douglass called it, "a sacred effort."
Here's the picture:

Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now

Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles is a look at the Beatles, the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership, and McCartney's role in the avant-garde art scene in London in the late '60's. Miles was a part of that scene, of McCartney's social circle, and eventually, of Apple. In the '90's he interviewed McCartney for hours over a span of years for this book. You have to already know a lot about the Beatles, and want to know more, to appreciate it. The greatest benefit of it is in not so much setting the record straight, but giving light from another angle. The highlights for me were the parts about writing the songs; I had to grab my copy of the complete lyrics and regularly look at it as I read. It would be nice to have a copy of the Lennon interview in which he gave his take on who did what on each song, and be able to put them side by side. According to this book there is only a little disagreement between the two of them on two songs.
I could have done without the art parts, but they were probably the parts Miles enoyed the most; as I was slogging through the middle bit I was thinking that the 100 pages or so that were about the art scene and the Indica book store were probably a shortened version of the book he really wanted to write.
***if you are interested in the Beatles or McCartney.

Michael Connolly Echo Park

I think in the latest flyer from QPB one of their staff wrote that Michael Connolly's books were ones you'd read on the subway proudly, as if to tell people they should also read him. I say the same: his weak efforts are better than some pretty good writers' best books. Harry Bosch is one of the great characters of modern detective fiction. Start with Angels Flight or Trunk Music if you haven't read him at all; you'll get to this one soon enough. ****

Hunter's Moon

Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford novels are worthy heirs to the Travis McGee books, but at number fourteen and adding fast they've "jumped the shark." The soap-opera elements are getting hard to keep track of, and the characters and situations grow more and more outrageous. After a couple of late night false starts, once I got going on this one it kept me hooked. Ford is working with a cancer-ridden ex-President of the US (see what I mean about outrageous?) to kill a man they both want vengeance against. If you like the Doc Ford books, or if you like your mystery/suspense on the hardboiled side of the formula, you'll like this one. ***+

Age of Bronze: Sacrifice

Sacrifice is the second in a projected seven-volume retelling of the Trojan War in graphic novel AKA comic book format. Shanower is telling the full story, integrating myth and literature from throughout the classical ages. As one very familiar with the Illiad and Odyssey, but little familiar with later sources (for example, I gave the Aeniad a half-hearted skim for a college course 25 years ago), I'm getting a lot of blanks filled in by reading it. I give it **** and consider its genre to be both graphic novels and mythological material; as either it is terrific.

Booze, Broads, & Bullets: Frank Miller's Sin City

Several of the shortest Sin City pieces I've read, some no more than 2 - 3 pages. I can't get the chronology or characters straight in these books. The style of the art doesn't aid clarity either. I think I really need to watch the movie. Still I give this collection ***

Siege: Castles at War by Mark P. Donnelly and Daniel Diehl

Looks like this book was created as a companion volume or in conjunction with a program that aired on the History Channel. It is framed around an imaginary seige of a "typical" castle during the Hundred Years War. If you are interested in the mechanics of castle building and attacking this will provide plenty of detail. I have to say that I abandoned it for a while at about the 2/3 point, and struggled when I returned to it. The info is great, but detailed to the point of tediousness, with four examples where one would do. Still, if you care for this info it is a great resource, therefore ***

RUSE Enter the Detective

This book features the first six chapters of the ongoing series. I hope it continued. The setting is like a fantastical version of Sherlock Holmes's London. The detective is very Holmes inspired. The narrator is a female Dr. Watson but with supernatural or science-fiction (it isn't clear but I'm leaning toward the first) -like powers that she seems not to fully understand. It was fun to read and I'm going to look for sequels. ****

Searching for the Sound by Phil Lesh

If you want the best book on the Grateful Dead, read Dennis McNally's; if you want a sensationalistic inside scoop that concentrates on drug use and the negative, read Rock Scully's; if you want the best book about music by a member of the band, read Mickey Hart's; if you want the best look at the acid tests and the Dead's part in them, read Tom Wolfe's. If you just want to make the mosaic image you have of the Dead a little clearer, go ahead and read Phil Lesh's. **

Raymond Chandler Playback

Raymond Chandler Playback adapted by Ted Benoit, illustrations by Francois Ayroles. This is not Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe Playback, but an adaptation of the never-produced film script he wrote and later adapted himself into a Marlowe novel (it may be his worst Marlowe, and I didn't realize until I read the introduction to this work that by the time he was writing the novel he was rewriting the same story for about the fourth time and bored to tears with it even though it had made him a mint of money). As a Chandler student I loved the introduction, but Ayroles' illustration style doesn't help this work much IMHO. Still, Chandler at his worst is better plotting and characterization than most modern graphic novel writers at their best. For fans of graphic novels and/or Chandler ***
Here's a link to a Thrilling Detective page on Chandler. Maybe this is a good place for me to state my conviction that when it comes to the hard-boiled detective story Dashiell Hammett created the road, Raymond Chandler roared down it in a low-slung coupe, Ross MacDonald paved and flattened it into a superhighway, and all anyone else has been doing for the last thirty years is riding in circles on it on a bicycle.

Greetings from E Street by Robert Santelli

You can probably tell by the title and the picture that this is a "biography" of the E Street Band. If you are a fan of Bruce Springsteen you'll love it. It's also full of pockets and foldouts with facsimiles of posters, backstage passes, set lists, and all kinds of cool stuff that you can take out and hold in your hand. The version I checked out of the library doesn't look like the picture above; I wonder if that is a slipcase? If you like Springsteen and the band the only thing that could have kicked this up a notch would be a companion CD and/or DVD ***+ It made me want to get out all my old Springsteen and listen to it in a marathon, then run out and buy some more.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

Bill Bryson is a very funny man, and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid might be his funniest book yet.
I liked his books on language, loved A Walk in the Woods and his collection of columns, enjoyed all his travel books, and even appreciated his science book, but, yes, this is his best *****
Check out this link from his publisher for an animated excerpt from the book.

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. ****

The Hard Way

The Hard Way is Lee Child's tenth Jack Reacher novel; I've managed to get my hands on maybe six of them so far. Jack Reacher is like a modern-day Lone Ranger. In this book he gets mixed up in a kidnapping and with some nasty mercenary soldiers. Lee Child is a terrific suspense writer. ****

Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage The Graphic Novel

I found this with the rest of the graphic novels and comic books I've been writing about lately, at my local library. I checked this one out because I have to teach American Literature next year, and differentiate the curriculum. I thought it was a passable retelling, though not exceptional, and the visual elements were kind of underwhelming. *** at best, maybe only ** Here's a link to a more detailed review that concurs with and expands on mine

Rising Stars

J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars is a series of comic books about a goup of people who receive extraordinary powers in utero. I really enjoyed book one, Born in Fire and book two, Power. ****
Straczynski's name above links to a wikipedia entry on him. Rising Stars links to a site dedicated to his work. He also created Babylon 5

Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore

Click on the picture to go to Amazon.com
Bettany Hughes sets out to find the reality behind the myth of Helen of Troy. She adds much nuance. The early chapters with details about the Myceneans, Minoans, and Hittites are especially informative. Later chapters trace interpretations of Helen throughout history. Hughes's television work has given her a strategy for raising suspense that extends the book by a good fifty pages and grows wearing after a while. Still ****

The Death of Achilles by Boris Akunin

This is the fourth Fandorin mystery by Akunin that I've read. They are romantic in the classic mystery style, like a Sherlock Holmes story. Certainly they need some patience, but they lie in the sweet spot that formula mystery series rarely find: familiar enough for comfort, unique enough not to seem cliche, without being unique for the sake of being unique. For a good review click on the post title. ****

The Chronicles of Conan, Vol. 3

Near the tail end of my adolescent love for comic books I was enamored of both the Barry Smith-drawn Conan, and the many paperback books of Conan stories popular at the time. The other day I couldn't resist picking this up at the library, and taking a brief hiatus from the two "serious" books I'm reading (one far more serious than the other -- give me a through the weekend, I'll write them both up here). It includes "Hawks from the Sea," which I think is the original comic that made me conscious of Smith's art. The prose is purple, bombastic, overblown. Most of the art does not rise to the level of "Hawks..." I wasn't disappointed, but I couldn't recommend it. **

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Great entry at Wikipedia on this comic book series that inspired the movie. I found it great fun. One must have quite a bit of literary background to get the references. I didn't know until I read the entry in Wikipedia that every character had previously existed in fiction. That's a project! ****

Polly and the Pirates by Ted Naifeh

I like the comment in the review on Ted Naifeh's web site: "more for the young-at-heart than the young." A graphic novel about a girl at a boarding school who finds out she's the daughter of the Pirate Queen. Lots of cartoon pirate fun. ****

The Greatest Story Ever Sold

Bush loyalists (how can there still be any) would view this as a partisan attack, but I think a big point Rich makes is that the media abdicated its traditional role and continues to do so. Just today I heard a BBC radio guy talking about how people are beginning to doubt the truthfulness of the reasons given for the Iraq war. Well, Rich shows that it's been a lie from the start (not honest difference of opinion, not carelessness with language -- a calculated lie), and the media let the lie slide. ***** Everyone should care, and everyone should read it, but if you care and you aren't going to read it, at least go to his web site and look at the time line.