This novel was my first taste of Murakami, and while I found it a fascinating (and not Japan-specific) foray into the minds of 20-30 somethings, I found Murakami’s story rather emotionally chilly. Of course, any book which devotes at least half of its pages to death, death wishes, and repressed sexual urges, is bound to be more than a little chilly, even downright depressing, but the book is saved by a combination of sometimes lovely prose, a mystery that kept me turning pages almost despite […]
An ambitious, delightful but very messy Shakespeare murder mystery
This Shakespearean “who-dun-it” is a delightful contribution to this particular genre of historical mystery. It is a glorious mash-up of DaVinci Code-like code-breaking and world-hopping combined with the inexhaustible debate over the disputed authorship of Shakespeare’s plays, and of course, the identity of Shakespeare himself. The chapters jump back and forth between the period of Shakespeare and the present-day, where people within the literary, academic and theater worlds are dying like Shakespeare’s characters, and no one has a clue who the bad guy is, including […]
A stunningly spooky book for one intended for youth
Although described as intended for children 10 and up, this extremely well-written debut novel would have scared the pants off me at that age. It’s the story of Thomas Ward, a 12-year-old farm boy and the seventh son of a seventh son, who is destined to become a Spook, someone with special skills to keep the dark things away from the innocent village folk. Thomas is sent off by his mom to apprentice under Old Gregory, who has gone through 27 previous apprentices and is […]
Another Kellerman psychological thriller worth reading
Author Kellerman gives us a slowly-unravelling psychological thriller in Victims, featuring his usual “dynamic duo” child psychiatrist and police consultant Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis. In this case, a murder involving surgical disembowelment, followed shortly thereafter by the same ritualistic disemboweling of another victim. The first victim is a nasty piece of work who no one liked, and the second a mild-mannered beloved husband, with no apparent link between the two victims. Milo and Alex are floundering when victims three and four follow in […]
Funny exciting spoof of today’s terror/anti-terror geopolitics
If you love spy stories and spoofs of spy stories, you’ll love this debut novel by that sharp-tongued dry-humored wit named Hugh Laurie, best known to Americans for his brilliant but irritating Dr. House television character. Laurie’s hero in The Gun Seller is Thomas Lang, a former Scots Guard turned man-for-hire whose first line in the book is “Imagine that you have to break someone’s arm.” He goes through all the ways such thuggery can be accomplished, and it is not until several paragraphs in […]
An appeal to Americans to shake off the chains of economic injustice and complacency
This non-fiction contribution by the highly-respected African-American author addressing some of the many problems afflicting the United States today is a must-read. Written in 2000 in a presidential election year (but today more timely than ever), the socially-conscious Mosely intended his book-length essay to awaken the majority of Americans—black and white—who go through life too easily content to wear what he calls the chains of economic oppression, cultural ignorance and racial prejudice. Thus the title of his discourse. Moseley says that while it is […]
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