Looking For a Good Book

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PHOTO FINISHED – Christin Brecher

Posted by Daniel on March 23, 2023
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews. Leave a comment

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Liv Spyer is your (slightly above) average New Yorker … lives in a tiny apartment, works a relatively mindless job in her grandparents’ key shop while trying to make it as a photographer. She will also try solving a murder.

Regina Montague is the photographer to the stars in New York – coordinating a team of top-notch shutterbugs to capture the the elite, upper-class socialites at special events.  She happens to be in the key shop where Liv is working, when she gets a call that one of her photographers isn’t able to make it to the Holiday Debutante Ball – the socialite event of the season. Liv quickly jumps on the opportunity, pointing out her photos hanging about the shop and offering her services (knowing that putting Regina Montague on her resume would greatly help her career).

It’s not a an easy decision for Regina, but she needs the photographers to cover the event and she decides to give Liv the chance.

The event mostly goes well, with Liv even getting the opportunity to flirt a bit with an eligible bachelor. At the end of the ball, however, billionaire Charlie Archibald is murdered and Regina is framed to be the killer.

Aside from losing the opportunity to work for the famous Montague agency with Regina in jail, Liv is convinced that Regina is not guilty and sets about to prove her innocence.

This is a cozy mystery – not typically a genre that I would seek out, but as I’ve been enjoying mysteries lately and the gimmick (there’s always a gimmick, it seems, with a mystery series) of photography appealed to me (and because it’s a first book in a series and not mid-way through), I wanted to give this a try. And while it’s not an outstanding book, it definitely has potential and worth reading.

A mystery featuring an amateur detective is generally only going to be as good as the main character (think C.J. Box’s Cassie Dewell or Joe Pickett mysteries, Craig Johnson’s Longmire, Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, etc [although each of these would not be considered an amateur]) so it’s important that we find Liv to be likeable and relatable. Fortunately she is both. Note that I referred to her as a “typical” New Yorker earlier (relatable) and her personality is such that it gets her in with the elite photography organization and also in with the elite social class. A pushy, aggressive attitude wouldn’t accomplish this, but the determined, confident Liv does.

The character and the situation really are the driving forces here, and the mystery itself is just … ‘meh.’ Though I admit that I generally feel that way in cozy mysteries … cozies tend to lack the grit and excitement of a mystery to me.

I am definitely interested enough to read the next book in the series, hopefully building more on the photography aspect as well as the adventures in New York.

Looking for a good book? Photo Finished by Christin Brecher is a modern, cozy mystery set in New York’s upper social class, with a lower-middle-class, go-getting photographer as the protagonist.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Photo Finished

author: Christin Brecher

series: A Snapshot of NYC #1

publisher: Kensington Cozies

ISBN: 9781496738813

paperback, 288 pages

LOST IN THE MOMENT AND FOUND – Seanan McGuire

Posted by Daniel on March 21, 2023
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Reviews, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

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Of all of author Seanan McGuire’s different series, I think I am enjoying this one the most. The underlying tone that traverses the books is really intoxicating.

This book, like most in this series, can be read as an individual book (there’s a beginning, middle, and an end … no cliffhangers to goad you into buying more books [no, the writing will do that]). Those familiar with the series will have some additional background that will prove helpful.

This book is particularly dark and a lot of reviewers are using the word ‘triggering’. McGuire does give us an author’s note at the start, warning readers about what’s ahead and that to bear with the story as it will work out.  In other words, fully aware of the potential triggering effect. When you have a story about children which includes grooming, abuse, and exploitation, even though it’s not a book for children, some readers are bound to have strong, visceral reactions.

Antoinette (“Antsy”) witnesses her father’s death and then becomes prey for adults looking to take advantage of her.  She manages to run away before anything too terrible actually happens, but the threats and plans for what was to happen to her seem explicit and troubling.

Antsy escapes through a Door (readers of the series will understand the difference between a door and a Door) and finds herself in a shop for Lost Things.  Appropriate, of course, being a lost thing herself.

Lost and confused, she stays there, interacting with customers in the shop and learning more about the Doors before making a decision for herself – taking control in a way that child normally wouldn’t have the strength or determination to do.

Along the way, we also learn a little more about the Doors and Antsy will make her decision to leave the shop – not an easy decision to make – knowing that this will be for good.

Looking for a good book? If you like fantasy or dark fantasy, you really should read Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire. If you haven’t read the series, do yourself a favor and go go back and start at the beginning.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Lost in the Moment and Found

author: Seanan McGuire

series: Wayward Children #8

publisher: Tordotcom

ISBN: 9781250213631

hardcover, 146 pages

THE FINAL STRIFE – Saara El-Arifi

Posted by Daniel on March 17, 2023
Posted in: MYTHOLOGY, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mythology/Legend, Reviews, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

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In a cruel empire, in a different world, there is a caste system at work in which people are sorted by the color of their blood. Red blood (“Embers”) is for the elite group, in control of everything. Blue blood (“Dusters”) is for the working class. And those with clear blood (“Ghostings”) are relegated to being slaves.

Three women, Sylah, Anoor, and Hassa, come from different backgrounds but a bond builds between them as they each have the same goal of changing the world. Sylah is an expert at combat but she has an addiction problem that prevents her achieving what she wants.

Anoor finds herself in the running for role in society. She will have to compete in a number of categories against other, well-trained, highly-competitive contestants and the winner will be ‘the chosen one’ and will have the opportunity to change society.  Anoor’s weakest area is physical combat, and she seeks Sylah’s training to hopefully give her edge.

I was reading the hype for this book (ie: the PR from the publisher) and what got me most interested in checking this out was that this has “its roots in the mythology of Africa and Arabia.”  I really like the idea of pulling stories from old mythology and I am completely new to the world of African and Arabian mythology.

The cast system based on blood color was also a new idea for me, and I generally liked it, though perhaps I wouldn’t have minded a little more background on this.  Which is a little ironic, given what I’m about to comment on next.

I like the themes.  I like the characters.  I like the general world-building.  I did not like how so much of this book is purely set-up.  This is the first book in a trilogy and this book is over 600 pages long.  The length isn’t so much a problem except that the actual story doesn’t really start until at least the last quarter of the book.

What this means is, we have 400+ pages that is really nothing more than set-up so that we can get ready for books 2 and 3 with book 1 being only about 150 pages worth of story.

It is a very exciting 150 pages, and there’s a twist near the end that I didn’t anticipate and which I really liked (however, I have a couple of questions about how things were accomplished, which are never addressed).

I should also note that the setup is not actually all the interesting – I was bored for most of the book.  Setup for the sake of setup is dull and I believe this is an all-too-often sign of a debut author.

The actual story, in the last portion of the book, was very exciting and had me on the edge of my seat, but I’m not sure it was enough, given the bulk of the book prior to it, to have me wanting to read the next volume.  I guess I will wait to see what my reaction is when the next volume comes out.

Looking for a good book? The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi is a debut novel, the first of a trilogy, based on African and Arabian mythology. There’s some exciting story and wonderful characters, but there’s a whole lot of set-up one has to get through to get to the story.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Final Strife

author: Saara El-Arifi

series: The Ending Fire Trilogy #1

publisher: Del Rey

ISBN: 9780593356944

hardcover, 608 pages

DEFINITELY DEAD – Charlaine Harris

Posted by Daniel on March 15, 2023
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, ROMANCE, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Reviews, Romance, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

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Sookie’s got a new boyfriend and he’s a real tiger.  No, really.  He’s a tiger.  A were-tiger.

If you don’t know Sookie Stackhouse by now, the Louisiana bayou waitress who can read the minds of other humans, but can’t read the minds of the dead (like her ex-boyfriend, vampire Bill Compton, and her ex-boyfriend, vampire Eric Northman) then there’s really no point in picking up this, the sixth book in the Sookie Stackhouse series.  Also … where the heck have you been?

In this volume in the series, Sookie learns that her cousin Hadley has passed away.  Hadley has left everything to Sookie and she is encouraged, by the Queen of Louisiana … well, the vampire Queen of Lousiana … to come and get her inheritance.  Hadley, it seems, was the secret lover of the vampire queen. But why the urgency?  The queen once gave Hadley a gift, a gift that had been given to her by the king, and if she doesn’t display that gift soon, all hell will break out at the vampire ball.

Along the way, Sookie will learn more terrible things about Bill, the man she still loves even though she doesn’t want to, will be beholding to Eric yet again, will make love to her were-tiger new boyfriend Quinn, and be set upon by werewolves.

I had a moderately fun time with this.  It’s pretty much just McDonald’s chicken nuggets in the culinary comparison to literature, but sometimes you just want a goofy read that doesn’t make you think too hard.  That would be this kind of book.

The only thing that really surprised me here (and not too much) was how straightforward and simple the plot was.  Dead Hadley’s got something the vampire queen needs and Sookie’s going to get it.  And, yup, she does.  Even the new information about Bill is hardly more than a passing paragraph or two – not even a subplot.

But, there’s vampires, werewolves, witches, and were-tigers, naked people and just a little bit of sex.  And it’s neatly wrapped up in author Charlaine Harris’s swiftly moving prose.  If you can’t read this in a day or two, you’re spending too much time on it!

Looking for a good book? Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris is the sixth book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Like the others, it’s simple and fast-moving with plenty of action – both physical fighting and sex. If you’ve started the series, go on, read this one too.  If you haven’t read any of the books in the series, don’t start here.  Go watch TrueBlood instead.

I bought a copy of this book at a used book store.

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Definitely Dead

author: Charlaine Harris

series: Sookie Stackhouse #6

publisher: Ace Books

ISBN: 0441014917

paperback, 324 pages

THE RUMOR GAME – Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra

Posted by Daniel on March 13, 2023
Posted in: Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: 3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, Young Adult. Leave a comment

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At Foxham Prep, the very ritzy private school for the children of Washington, DC’s elite, students are groomed to become the next generation of socialite elites and giants of industry. But they’re still students – partying, dating, fighting, and making up rumors about one another. But harmful rumors here could have such a lasting effect as to potentially alter career options. This all comes to the fore for some of the girls currently at Foxham.

Cora is the captain of the cheer squad. She’s the ‘it’ girl at Foxham. Bryn used to have it all. With Cora as her best friend and the perfect boyfriend and an all-but-guaranteed path into politics. But one mistake on Bryn’s part starts a scandal that spirals beyond her control.

The talk of the school, though, is Georgie. An overweight Geek a year ago, Georgie has had a complete makeover and now heads are turning when she’s around. Her popularity rises quickly and now even Cora’s popularity is in danger of being eclipsed by Georgie.

But the quickest way to take down a rising star is with rumors, fueled by students and fanned to flames by social media.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a strictly YA, not a fantasy novel, full of pathos and angst. I don’t remember what it was about this book that had me wanting to read it (it must have been some really well written advertising copy) because this is not the kind of book I’d ordinarily want to dig in to.

What I like about this book is how it addresses bullying and rumors and how nasty social media can be, without being overly didactic. That’s not an easy task.

While the characters here are the elite – children of the wealthiest families in D.C. – I think most readers (typically high school teens) can relate to the issues. Our characters are elite in order to (presumably) have more to lose, making the stakes higher, creating more drama.  I’m not sure we need that, but I think readers will put themselves into these roles handily enough.

Bullying, rumors, and social media are common enough issues at any school around the country (around the world?) that this will be identifiable to most readers. There is an anti-rumor/bullying theme that runs through here, giving the characters (and readers) hope for different outcomes. But really, there are no easy solutions. And because of that, I find these books either unrealistic (if they pretend there are easy solutions) or incredibly depressing.  I’m not sure I need either. But I recognize that there is a reading public that will gratefully devour a book like this. The writing is fine. The pace is quick, but the plot is a bit slow to develop.

Looking for a good book? The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra rushes head first into a high society private high school and takes on themes of bullying, rumors, and how quickly rumors spread on social media (and how they can’t be taken back). Teen readers who love the angsty feelings in books will enjoy this.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Rumor Game

authors: Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra

publisher: Disney

ISBN: 9781368014144

hardcover, 480 pages

THE SELF-MADE WIDOW – Fabian Nicieza

Posted by Daniel on March 9, 2023
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews. Leave a comment

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Not too long ago (in the book, Suburban Dicks), Andie Stern, soccer-mom mother of five and former FBI profiler, now living in West Windsor, New Jersey, solved a decades-old murder and conspiracy. Andie’s husband (as well as the local police) is hoping she’ll go back to being a quiet suburban mother and to that end she has a group of mom-friends she affectionately refers to as the Cellulitists.

But when the husband of one of her new friends is found dead and her friend, Molly Goode, is the focus of attention, Andie can’t help but get involved, along with journalist Kenny Lee once again. Andie’s investigation won’t win her any new friends and will likely endanger the friendships she’s made, but that won’t stop her. But those protecting secrets, affairs, and a whole lot of money might stop her.

I had a lot of fun reading Suburban Dicks and really looked forward to this. Author Fabian Nicieza (co-creator of the character of Deadpool) has done a really nice job with the character of Andie Stern. She’s not quite the reluctant hero … she’s got the skills, and the history to do her detective work, as does Kenny, accustomed to some investigation in his journalism work, but she’s trying to simply be mom and wife and let others do their work.  But when you’re good at what you do and you know you can do better, it’s hard to step aside. This not-quite-reluctant-maybe-tepid hero is a nice change from either the reluctant hero or the cop-turned-PI hero.

While a clever enough name, I found the Cellulitists to be a bit too much of a stereotype of a suburban group of ‘Karen’s.  I’ve read other books with groups of ladies like this (The Muffia comes immediately to mind) and there’s really nothing unique about this particular group, and unfortunately we spend a lot of time setting them up.

This isn’t as strong as the first book, but it’s still a very good urban detective fiction novel. The language is about as rough as the criminals, which shouldn’t be a surprise coming from the creator of Deadpool.

I didn’t really find the value in Lee in this book. I think I would have been fine if Andie had starred in this book alone, but overall I like this team of Stern and Lee and I’ll be on the lookout for their next adventure.  Will West Windsor become the new Cabot Cove … a tiny town with a high murder rate? Or will Andie be drawn to some other locations?

Looking for a good book? The Self-Made Widow, by Fabian Nicieza, is a fun, urban detective story with you average mom/neighbor taking the lead.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Self-Made Widow

author: Fabian Nicieza

series: Suburban Dicks #2

publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

ISBN: 9780593191293

hardcover, 400 pages

THE GOLDEN HORN – Poul Anderson

Posted by Daniel on March 7, 2023
Posted in: HISTORICAL FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: 3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Historical Fiction, Reviews. Leave a comment

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This is the story of one of the most famous Vikings, Harald Sigurdharson (aka Harald Sigurdsson, aka Harald Hardråde) who will become Norway’s King Harald III. We begin with teenage Harald, fighting alongside his brother, King Olaf II, known as Olaf the Stout. There is an uprising against King Olaf due to his devotion and support of Christianity and Olaf is killed in the skirmish. Harald escapes to Russia and finds work as a mercenary.

Harald finds success, makes many friends in his rough life, and he’ll call upon them as he works his way back to Norway to claim his rightful place on the throne.

Although author Poul Anderson is a noted science fiction/fantasy author, I have not read many works by him, and those I did read were back in the 1970’s.  His writing didn’t make a big (or positive) impression on me and so I’ve mostly ignored his rather large body of work. This reprint caught my eye due to the Viking theme. I was not aware that it was very much historical fiction – all the characters, locations, and battles being actual people, places, and fights according to historical records. Had I known, I probably would have jumped into this read much sooner. My appreciation of the book, however, was not likely to have been very different.

This might have worked better as a history book than a novel. At least it reads very much like the history books that I grew up with – facts and figures, who met with whom, who fought with whom, how did person ‘A’ get to point ‘B’? Ready for the test? Meaning … this was dry.

Some readers and writers just don’t click, and I think Poul Anderson is one of those writers that doesn’t work for me.  Such great material – clearly something I would really be fascinated with, and yet I struggled to get through this. A Viking warrior! One who would become one of the greatest kings in Norway! How do you make this so dull?!

It’s clear that Anderson did a great deal of research and had a passion for the subject. I appreciated the historical perspective, but it almost seems as though Anderson wanted to make sure he was accurate, more than telling a ripping good yarn. That’s just an impression, and I sure could be mistaken.

When I went to Wikipedia to look up some background information on the book I notice that this book (the first book of a trilogy) is co-written with Poul’s wife, Karen.  Goodreads does not mention this on the book page.

I had high hopes, but this didn’t appeal to me.

Looking for a good book? The Golden Horn by Poul Anderson, the first book in The Last Viking trilogy, is historical fiction – strong on history, slow on storytelling.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Golden Horn

author: Poul Anderson

series: Last Viking #1

publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Kindle Edition, 212 pages

HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE – Grady Hendrix

Posted by Daniel on March 3, 2023
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, Uncategorized. Tagged: 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Reviews. Leave a comment

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Whoa!  Strap yourself in and hold on because Grady Hendrix has another tightly strung, gut-wrenching horror novel that will keep you up at night.

Siblings Louise and Mark Joyner are absolutely devasted at the death of their parents at the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Mark and Louise haven’t gotten along for years and would rather not be in each others’ company but the circumstances have forced them to work together to clear the family home and put it on the market.  But upon arriving they notice how strange their parents’ final days must have been as mirrors are covered by newspapers and the attic door has been nailed shut. There isn’t much up there other than some old family puppets.

But when worn, one particular puppet won’t come off and it controls the movements of the wearer.  Louise is forced to cut off her own brother’s arm to save him. But she can’t do the same when her daughter puts the puppet on her hand.

I am not generally a fan of horror stories featuring dolls or puppets – it seems like they’ve been done to death (pun intended) – so there was definitely a moment or two when I rolled my eyes. Fortunately this is a horror novel by Grady Hendrix, who fuses the horror with humor better than anyone else I’ve read, making this a delightful read.

There’s a small cast of characters here and Louise and Mark are just a little bit bland, letting Punkin the Puppet take the leading role.  This is just a bit odd because most of the book is about setting up the characters of Louise and Mark, giving us a reason to care about them so that we can want them to survive the horror about to befall. It’s a lot of setup and I’m not entirely sure the payoff is there.

The payoff comes because of a minor character … Barb, ‘an expert on cursed dolls.”

“Don’t worry!” Barb laughed, seeing Louise’s expression. “Dolls and puppets come under the same department as far as the Lord is concerned. I do dolls, I do puppets, I once even did a blow-up s-e-x doll. Now, that one was wild, let me tell you. Come on inside and let’s pray together.”

Barb plays a small role here, but she (along with Aunt Gail, who introduces us to Barb) steals the book – I laughed out loud a number of times with her.

The final quarter of the book is a fast-paced rollercoaster ride – not only exciting but fear-filled. It was an absolute page-turner and it makes up for the earlier, slower-moving set-up.

This isn’t my favorite Grady Hendrix, but it’s well worth reading.

Looking for a good book? How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix is an often funny, yet still dark horror novel that is worth reading, but fair warning it relies on the horror trope of possessed dolls/puppets.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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How to Sell a Haunted House

author: Grady Hendrix

publisher: Berkley

ISBN: 9780593201268

hardcover, 400 pages

ARMAGEDDON 2419 A.D. – Philip Francis Nowlan

Posted by Daniel on March 1, 2023
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

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Philip Francis Nowlan’s Armageddon 2419 A.D. is a sci-fi classic, a book I’ve long wanted to read and I finally got around to it. For those who think you’ve never heard of this book, chances are you know of it by the name of the central figure … Buck Rogers.

It’s 1927 and WWI vet Anthony Rogers, working for American Radioactive Gas Corporation, is trapped in a cave-in with some radioactive gas which puts Rogers into suspended animation. It is nearly 500 years before he wakes up. He does so just in time to save a beautiful woman, Wilma Deering, and he learns that some awful things have happened in 500 years. The United States is in chaos, having been conquered by Asian powers. Small bands of rebels fight against their oppressors with limited success.

With Deering’s help to connect with the rebels, Rogers shows them how to work together, giving them hope and spurring a revolution.

Although this was my first time reading the book, I’ve been familiar with the character for about as long as I’ve been reading and watching science fiction. There are drawbacks to this, though, as I seriously couldn’t read this without picturing Gil Gerard and Erin Gray as Buck and Wilma respectively, and while they may have worked in 1979-81, neither is really how we might picture Armageddon heroes today.

The story shows signs of age – the writing a bit melodramatic and the prose over the top. It’s not nearly as dry as fiction from the 19th century, but it doesn’t have the excitement of a space opera saga today. It’s also almost uncomfortably ‘pure.’ There’s no sex or even suggestions of lusty romance, despite Rogers’ first meeting is with Wilma (come to think of it, this really is a lot like the 1979 television series).

There were some stereotypes that in today’s reading feel obvious and very politically incorrect but when I think about the fact that this was written prior to WWII but includes ‘radioactive gas’ and an invasion from an Asian culture. Was Nowlan prescient or very ‘up’ on world events?

I’m glad to have read this finally, the book is a classic and will remain so for a long time, I suspect, but reading this is interesting from a ‘this is a classic’ interest, and not for the actual storytelling anymore.

Looking for a good book? Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan is a classic scifi story of a man of ‘today’ who wakes up in the future to save whatever us left of what he once loved.

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Armageddon 2419 A.D.

author: Philip Francis Nowlan

publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy

90 pages, Kindle edition

PAPERBACK JACK – Loren D. Estleman

Posted by Daniel on February 27, 2023
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Noir, Reviews. Leave a comment

Jacob Heppleman is back on U.S. soil after fighting for Uncle Sam in Europe in the Second World War. Heppleman finds a different world, one that he needs to get a grip on, fast, if he’s going to survive. Before the war, Heppleman eked out a living as a hack writer, supplying stories to the pulp magazines, but now the pulps have been going out of business, with direct-to-paperback books taking their place.

Heppleman can’t scrape together enough dough to buy a pawnshop typewriter, so he steals one instead, but without the pulps, his paycheck before the war, who will he write for? The head of a new publishing company, Blue Devil Books, assures Jacob that there’s a hot market in the drugstore racks for tawdry crime novels – sold as much (or more) for their covers as for the stories – and that Jacob should be one of the primary in-house writers.

Jacob becomes the unlikely best-selling author who takes great pride in his authenticity – which comes from his befriending several underworld figures who, in turn, like being the source for the larger-than-life characters.

But when Hollywood takes an interest in the books, so does Congress and the moral guardians.  Soon Heppleman is a target for politicians and the Mob and he’s going to have to do some fancy writing to create a neat ending for himself.

I loved everything about this book.

Author Loren D. Estleman really captures the mood and sense of the 1950’s detective fiction, making our protagonist both a writer of such potboilers and the subject of the same.

Heppleman is a reluctant central figure (I’m hesitant to say ‘reluctant hero’ because there’s no real heroics that go on here). He’s a writer who prefers to let his characters take the lead while he stays in the background, but he relishes doing his own investigative work so that he can use what he learns in his books – giving them an air of legitimacy.

Even reluctant, though, Heppelman is steadfast. He makes no excuses for what he writes and he holds his own in the morality hearings, which does make him a bit more heroic, but only a bit.

I found this to really feel like a hard-boiled detective mystery of the 50’s, but also a bit like an historical fiction novel. There’s a good bit of history and while the events here may be fictional, they have their roots in reality. I loved learning a few things about this era and Estleman makes a point, in his “Recommended Reading” at the end of the book, of recognizing some of the writers who navigated these kinds of events.

Late in the book, when Heppleman is older and attending conventions – now an icon as a writer of the ‘golden age’ – when asked why his books (and those of his contemporaries) are only just getting the respect that was denied them in the day, he delivers a speech that I consider the message of the entire novel.  “The world caught up.” He tells the questioner.

Many of us were just back from the war. You can’t see cities being bombed, corpses piled in concentration camps, and dish out happy endings. We wrote about a world that had changed, and we pointed out where it took a wrong turn. For that we were called smut peddlers. Then along came political scandals, pointless wars, and men’s peckers on movie screens where Shirley Temple used to sing and dance. It took all that for everyone else to see what we saw. So now we’re serious artists who weren’t afraid to tell it like it was.

Maybe I’ll use some of this speech myself the next time someone asks why I’m suddenly interested in 1950’s noir fiction.  I finally caught up to it.

Looking for a good book? Paperback Jack by Loren D. Estleman is a noir-like, hard-boiled novel of a writer of noir-like, hard-boiled novels in the post-WWII era.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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* * * * * *

Paperback Jack

author: Loren D. Estleman

publisher: Forge Books

ISBN: 9781250827319

hardcover, 240 pages

TERMINAL PEACE – Jim C. Hines

Posted by Daniel on February 23, 2023
Posted in: HUMOR, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Humor, Reviews, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

Somehow I missed the first two books in this trilogy, but if you’re going to come to a series late, reading the ending is the way to go.

Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos is a janitor. She and her crew were trained to clean spaceships, not to fight battles. But a war is on the rise and Mops and her crew are in the thick of it, fighting not only for themselves, but for all of humanity. This is one time they don’t want to get flushed down the toilet.

I really like a good, humorous scifi story and it’s been awhile since I really got a good laugh while reading some good scifi (Adam Christopher’s Raymond Electromatic Mysteries series a few years back, and before that we’re probably talking Spider Robinson or Ron Goulart). Seriously … janitors stuck fighting a war with aliens? It’s a great set-up and fortunately author Jim C. Hines develops it well.

The cast of characters are really delightful. They’re funny, unique, and very easily identifiable. Typically I would say that I really prefer the character driven novels, but despite a delightful cast, this doesn’t feel like a character-driven story.  Rather, it’s a circumstance-driven story that relies on these specific characters to make it work. It’s a small distinction, but I do believe this is a case where all the parts come together and none of them would be strong enough alone to pull it off.

I got the story quite easily – all the background info needed is supplied gently through the course of this book, but I do think it would have been really good to get more information on the background of the characters. While I don’t feel I’m missing anything vital to the story, I do think I’m missing a little depth to them and it’s likely something I would have gotten through the course of the other two books.

Looking for a good book? You could read Terminal Peace by Jim C. Hines as a solo book, but I wouldn’t recommend starting here. Based on this volume alone, this looks like a fun series to read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for n honest review.

* * * * * *

Terminal Peace

author: Jim C. Hines

series: Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse #3

publisher: DAW

ISBN: 9780756412807

hardcover, 336 pages

THE CAMBODIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD – Tom Vater

Posted by Daniel on February 21, 2023
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews. Leave a comment

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Maier is a German detective, a former war correspondent, who is hired to track down the heir to a Hamburg coffee empire. The hunt will take Maier into some of the darkest corners of Cambodia where he will encounter many horrifying, historical figures that Cambodia might otherwise prefer to keep secret, such as the White Spider, a Nazi war criminal who reigns over an ancient Khmer temple deep in the jungle.

Maier will uncover an event of mass murder that is far from over and he realizes that he will have to be the one to stand up and stop the murderer before more innocent lives are lost.

It’s been about nine years since I read the second book in this Maier Mystery series and I’d been hoping to get back and read this first installment.  It’s hard to play catch-up when there are so many great new books released every year!

As with my reading of the other volume in the series, I’m impressed with the character of Maier. He seems like the epitome of the anti-hero. While he’s not exactly looking to become the hero, he’s also not turning his back on it or trying to get rid of the responsibility. He sees a job and he gets it done.

I noted in my review of the second book that Maier maybe relies on luck or good fortune to see him through a job but I didn’t notice that as much here. The few times this might occur, I think an argument could be made that he provides for his own good fortune, setting himself in opportunities where good luck is likely to occur.

The book is dark and often depressing. This isn’t your typical mystery – it starts that way (the search for a missing person) but it becomes an epic, slow-moving thriller with a movie vibe to it. Author Tom Vater brings the story to life with authentic characters and a deep, involved story.

Looking for a good book? The Cambodian Book of the Dead by Tom Vater is a dark, missing person mystery that becomes a major, mass murder thriller.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Cambodian Book of the Dead

author: Tom Vater

series: Detective Maier Mystery #1

publisher: Exhibit A

ISBN: 9781909223189

paperback, 416 pages

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