Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Classic With a Fantastic Final Line

The Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie

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Best for: Those looking for a quick, satisfying read. In a nutshell: Leonard is accused of killing an elderly woman, Emily. He believes his wife will serve as his alibi. Will she? Worth quoting: “Everything has something to hide, something they would do anything to protect.” Why I chose it: I enjoyed “The Unexpected Guest,” and have been checking out what is available of Christie’s at my local library. Review: I listened to this, and it was read by Christie’s grandson. Cool idea, but his […]

Sometimes, darker is better

You Like It Darker by Stephen King

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Stephen King has collected his most recent dark thoughts into a series of short stories in You Like It Darker, with some genuine thrills in the mix (most of these being the longer of the short tales contained within). Though not every short story was a hit, I find King as reliable as ever in the short-story game. Of the collection, I’ll slice it up into Superb, Good, and Middling Superb Laurie – A story of a lonely man who welcomes a dog into his […]

The past and the present walk into a bar

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

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Slough House: a grimy station across from London’s Barbican Estate, tucked away above a Chinese restaurant that’s perpetually closed. It’s where MI5-rejects are sent in the hopes that they will quit, thus saving the service the headache of firing them. Against all odds, it has been drafted in protecting a visiting Russian oligarch with whom the British government is interested in striking a deal, or at least set up some sort of connection the way governments do. Two Slow Horses are ordered to babysit, though […]

Family and Monsters

Family Force V: Book One by Matt Braly

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Part Power Rangers, part Transformers, part Voltron and all superheroes and space monsters is how I describe Family Force V: Book One. Matt Braly’s graphic novel (read via an online reader copy, due mid June 2025) will be worth the wait for you or your preteen/teen reader. This coming of age story is one we know (your destiny is forced on you, but you choose the path that takes) is not new, but the way it’s presented is fun, humorous and cute. It is not […]

When Life was bored, Death took a holiday

Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis by Dave Maass, Patrick Lay, Ezra Rose and Richard Bruning

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Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis by Dave Maass, Patrick Lay, Ezra Rose and  Richard Bruning, is a lofty graphic novel undertaking. Over the top. Beautiful and Ugly. It is not an allegory of the Holocaust, but its roots are there. This is a story of how the General Overall  takes with his War. It is fiction, and it is history. It is the past, present and future. Bored, flamboyant Life wants something to happen to stop their boredom. And Death gives it. They are […]

Harley’s Boys…er… Hyenas

Harley Quinn's Bud and Lou: Trouble Times Two by Ben Hed

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The title, Harley Quinn’s Bud and Lou: Trouble Times Two by Ben Hed is exactly what you expect from a hero/villain comic/graphic novel, and that makes this a fun read. It is comforting, and yes, it is cheesy and goofy and has way bad puns, but I want more of Bud and Lou! They are perhaps the coolest hyenas since The Lion Kings Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed.  Hed is the author and illustrator of several comics, but the only one I know I have read […]



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