25 Words or Less On Books

Prince of Fire, Daniel Silva

2010-10-08T04:20:00.001+02:00

I'm not a Silva fan and the plot is very tired (Israeli master spy chasing Palestinian master spy), but some of the viewpoints about the Arab/Israeli conflict are interesting, more so for being expressed in a crime novel.

Bittersweet, Nevada Barr

2010-10-07T14:48:00.000+02:00

Some are born lesbians; some are called. A comanion piece to Brokeback Mountain. Starts as a sage, finishes as a Maupassant short story. Well written, not so well edited.

Sizzlin Sixteen, Janet Evanovich

2010-10-07T14:46:00.002+02:00

Vinnie is kidnapped. Not her best, but I wasn't at my best, either.

A Dying Light in Corduba, Lindsey Davis

2010-10-07T14:44:00.002+02:00

Falco in Spain among the oil producers. Bet there are a lot of uses of olive oil you didn't know about, including delivering babies.

The Boat of a Million Years, Poul Anderson

2010-10-07T14:43:00.002+02:00

Linked short stories on immortals. Could have been shorter.

A Perfect Execution, Tim Binding

2010-10-07T14:42:00.002+02:00

Who'd have the executing people could be boring?

The Triumph: A Novel, John Kenneth Galbraith

2010-10-07T14:41:00.000+02:00

Fashionable writing for the sixties. If you missed them, read it now.

Monsier, Lawrence Durrell

2010-10-07T14:40:00.000+02:00

The Alexandria Quartet may be the last Durrell I'll ever read. This is TAQ in Avignon.

Bad Chili / Rumble Tumble, Joe R Lansdale

2010-10-07T14:38:00.000+02:00

Funny crime series about two Texas friends: 1 straight and white; 1 black and gay. Recommended.

Anna Pigeon (Series), Nevada Barr

2010-10-07T14:28:00.002+02:00

All the rest of them. This is a fine series, set in the U.S. National Parks. Entertaining, well-written and educational. What more could you want?

Time to Depart, Lindsey Davis

2010-10-07T14:27:00.000+02:00

Another Falco. Criminal mafia in Rome.

When You are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris

2010-10-07T14:26:00.000+02:00

Sedaris gives up smoking and other stories.

Emil and Karl, Yankev Glatshteyn (Yid., Jeffrey Shandler, Translator)

2010-10-07T14:16:00.000+02:00

Two children, one Jewish, one the son of Socialists, losetheir parents in 1940 Vienna. A picture of Austria at the beginning of the war that I can't decide if compelling or not. Meant for children.

Emil and Karl

2010-10-07T14:14:00.000+02:00

Two children, one Jewish, one the son of Socialists, losetheir parents in 1940 Vienna. A picture of Austria at the beginning of the war that I can't decide if compelling or not. Meant for children.

Murder on the Waterfront, Michael Jahn

2010-10-07T14:09:00.002+02:00

I waited a long time to find something in this series, but I'm not into celebrity politicians, grumpiness or the high-life.

Bitter Lemons of Cyprus, Lawrence Durrell

2010-10-07T14:07:00.000+02:00

Four pages in and I was metaphored for life.

The Art of Being Belgian, Richard Hill

2010-08-19T15:08:00.000+02:00

Easy read and good key to Belgium. The only drawback is Hill assumes some knowledge on the part of his readers that they probably don't have or they wouldn't be reading this.

The Woman in the Fifth, Douglas Kennedy

2010-08-17T14:52:00.000+02:00

Harry Ricks loses everything, escapes to Paris & meets the secretive Margit. Like all Douglas Kennedy, this is unputdownable, but I found the denouement less satisfying than his other books

Forty Words for Sorrow, Giles Blunt

2010-06-26T18:08:00.000+02:00

Well-written tale of serial killings in frozen Canadian North chased by Catholic guilt-ridden detective and his Francophone partner. Description of torture devices not too overdone.

Stone Cold by David Baldacci

2010-06-22T15:38:00.000+02:00

Another Camel Club outing. Annabelle is still being sought by the gambler she conned out of $40 million; Oliver is being sought by the CIA and the son of a former CIA killer/colleague. Plots are all over themselves and *exciting*. Unputdownable.

Blood Lure by Nevada Barr

2010-06-18T14:54:00.000+02:00

Anna Pigeon tracks grizzlies and a murderer in Glacier National Park. Entertaining as always, but Barr seems to have developped a taste for the passive verb.

Address Unknown by Kressman Taylor

2010-06-18T14:48:00.000+02:00

A short story printed as a book, I would suggest that Address Unknown redeems the short story, except that it was written in 1938 when short stories still had form. Written as an exchange of letters, it follows the rise of Hitler with a twist in the tale. Most satisfying.

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada

2010-06-14T15:42:00.000+02:00

Also known as Everyone Dies Alone. Life in wartime Berlin among the ordinary, the minor crooks, the Gestapo and an old couple who resist by leaving messages on postcards throughout the city. Even tone makes sudden violence the more shocking. (I read this in French.)

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Alison Weir

2010-05-25T20:32:00.000+02:00

We are warned in the preface that much speculation is involved in trying to write a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Stlll, I think a historian should know that the Langue d'Oc is a language and not a dialect of French (she spent a few paragraphs on this) and that the Langue d'Oeil is French. Also, I think a historian should have been able to find out that a cythara actually is a lute, not maybe a lute. And this was only Chapter 1.

Not having a lot of faith in Weir's abilities as an historian or researcher, I gave it up.

The Brass Verdict, Michael Connelly

2010-05-21T17:38:00.001+02:00

Excellent story, as all of Connelly's books are, but the presence of both Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer) and Harry Bosch was contrived and didn't do justice to Bosch.

13 1/2 by Nevada Barr

2010-05-19T22:20:00.000+02:00

No Anna Pigeon, no National Parks. Just fine writing, suspense, and twists and turns that always keeps you guessing.

Azincourt, Bernard Cornwell

2010-05-16T14:41:00.000+02:00

The story is exciting in spite of Cornwell's repetitiveness, and the battles of Soissons, Harfleur and Azincourt are faithfully told. This even gets a "history" tag as well as historical fiction.

Prizzi's Honor, Richard Condon

2010-04-01T12:34:00.000+02:00

Before the Sopranos and the Corleones, there were the Prizzis. In this world, Condon treats the Prizzis as normal and reserves his ire for the politicians and other powers that be. In this one, the Prizzis turn "respectable." Very funny.

A Special Relationship, Douglas Kennedy

2010-03-30T20:13:00.000+02:00

My new surgeon recommended Kennedy and this is my second: absolutely unputdownable. American foreign correspondent marries British FC in Egypt, gets pregnant, suffers the all-time worst post-partum depression in history and winds up, friendless, in court. Kennedy writes in the first person as a woman. Masterful (mistressful?) job.

It's not 25 words. I'll practice.

I'm Back

2010-03-30T20:08:00.000+02:00

I miss my little reviews. Not to mention that I forget what I read so quickly. So here we go, again -- but no numbering!

130. In Praise of Slowness, Carl Honoré

2009-12-30T12:23:00.001+01:00

An entertaining and enlightening survey of the Slow movement: Slow Food, slow sex, slow schooling, slow work, slow music. . . a slower, better life.

My second break with the 25-Word Rule. In Praise of Slowness may not be my last book for the year, but I think it will be my last entry in this blog. It's been interesting exercise in conciseness, not to mention seeing how many books I read, but Honoré has made me look at the down side. Numbers start being important -- and they aren't. I find I reject magazines in favour of books because it will affect what I can post. Length and difficulty begin to count -- negatively. The blog frequently feels like a chore since I already am listing the books on Book Mooch and, occasionally, Book Crossing. Maybe if I feel strongly about a book, it can be logged on my regular blog.

129. Blind Eye, James B. Stewart

2009-12-30T12:22:00.000+01:00

Investigation into how doctor managed serial killings over many years. And, incidentally, how doctors are too arrogant to listen to nurses or patients.

128. Shadows in Bronze, Lindsey Davis

2009-12-30T12:21:00.000+01:00

No. 2 in Falco series. The pleasure in these is still sense of place, although the mysteries are O.K.

127. Paris Was Yesterday, Janet Flanner

2009-12-30T12:19:00.001+01:00

Short dispatches to the New Yorker on the doings of the beautiful people (not necessarily rich) in Paris from 1925-1939.

126. The Next Century, David Halberstam

2009-12-30T12:13:00.001+01:00

Written in early 90's, prescient portrait of new century.

125. Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth, Xiaolu Gue

2009-12-30T12:12:00.000+01:00

Young girl leaves country for life in Beijing. Fun and interesting if real portrait of Chinese youth.

124. Trouble, Jesse Kellerman

2009-12-14T17:00:00.000+01:00

Still writes well and drags you into his plots, but I'm not into sado-masochism. Gave up half-way.

123. Robert Kennedy and His Times, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

2009-12-14T16:59:00.000+01:00

Schlesinger was too enamoured of the Kennedys and it was too soon (1978) to write an objective biography. Gave up early.

122. Love, Lies and Liquor, M. C. Beaton

2009-12-14T16:58:00.000+01:00

Agatha Raisin. Either Beaton had writers block when starting or someone else wrote the opening chapters. Worst written, best plot. Murder, dope, gambling, robbery, action.

121. The Widening Gyre, Robert Parker

2009-12-12T18:15:00.000+01:00

Political blackmail, sex, cocaine, and discussions of self and love from Spenser.

120. It Must've Been Something I Ate, Jeffrey Steingarten

2009-12-11T19:02:00.000+01:00

Another volume of food erudition from the food editor at Vogue. He does get anal about pot-au-feu, but he's entertaining.

119. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace. . . One School at a Time, Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

2009-12-05T18:31:00.003+01:00

A must-read about the power of education and the determination of one man to educate the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Read and help.

118. The Women of Brewster Place, Gloria Naylor

2009-12-01T17:02:00.001+01:00

"A novel in 7 stories" about Black women, but these women are more Universal than Black. American Book Award winner.

117. Blood Relatives, Ed McBain

2009-12-01T17:01:00.000+01:00

The most excellent thing about police procedurals is it doesn't matter if you guess whodunnit. It's the procedure -- and the writing -- that counts.

116. Serpent Gate, Michael McGarrity

2009-11-28T16:29:00.000+01:00

A cop killing and major art theft are part of Kevin Kearney's work load -- and his own Prof. Moriarity, Enrique DeLeon. Excellent series.

115. Ceremony, Robert B. Parker

2009-11-26T18:02:00.001+01:00

Spenser breaks up porn ring and finds unusual solution for runaway girl. Parker does it, again.

114. Driving Over Lemons, Chris Stewart

2009-11-26T18:01:00.001+01:00

Stewart, wife buy derelict Spanish farm, bring it back to productivity on hard work and little money. They speak Spanish, blend in. What a relief!

113. The Freedom Line, Peter Eisner

2009-11-26T17:59:00.001+01:00

Remarkable Belgian underground rescue of allied airmen. Slow start for those growing up on resistance films; takes off when point of view switches to airmen.

112. The Saddlebag, Bahiyyih Nakhjavani

2009-11-26T17:58:00.001+01:00

Cross between A Canterbury Tale and The Arabian Nights. Well done, I think, but not my style.

111. Most Secret War, R. V. Jones

2009-11-26T17:56:00.001+01:00

Well-written with humour about British Scientific Intelligence 1935-1945, but a bit technical for the likes of me.

110. Games to Keep the Dark Away, Marcia Muller (Audio)

2009-11-26T17:55:00.001+01:00

Suspicious deaths in hospice generate more murders. Muller may have been the first in the modern female detective genre, but Sue Grafton does it better.

109. Heart of a Soldier, James B. Stewart

2009-11-26T17:54:00.000+01:00

Welsh born, British solder, African, mercenary, U.S. soldier, Chief of Security for Morgan Stanley on 11 September : Rick Rescorla's story is a great adventure.

108. The Country of the Blind, H. G. Wells

2009-11-26T17:53:00.000+01:00

Three short stories by "the father of modern science fiction" reflecting on sight and biological warfare.

107. Cold Service, Robert B. Parker

2009-11-26T17:50:00.001+01:00

This time it's Hawk who is hurt. Spenser to the rescue. Well, nobody rescues Hawk; Spenser to arms!

106. Sunstroke, Jesse Kellerman

2009-11-01T19:59:00.000+01:00

Unrequited love disappears in Mexico and worshipful secretary begins a search with many surprises. Jesse Kellerman writes better than both his parents put together

105. Obelix and Co., Obelix et Compagnie, Goscinny

2009-11-01T19:58:00.000+01:00

Thirty years after the first try, I still don't much like them, but they're funnier in English than French. How odd!

104. The Partners: Inside America's Most Powerful Law Firms, James B. Stewart

2009-11-01T19:55:00.003+01:00

"Some of the most important, economic, social and political developments" of our time: Iran hostages, IBM anti-trust, the world of the Rockerfellers and more. Gripping.

103. Bruno, Chief of Police, Martin Walker

2009-10-27T19:24:00.001+01:00

Well done French cosy with good mystery left over from WWII.

102. Barrel Fever & Other Stories, David Sedaris (Audio)

2009-10-27T19:23:00.000+01:00

Not up to his later stuff.

101. Monsignor Quixote, Graham Greene

2009-10-27T19:21:00.001+01:00

An "entertainment" with loveable priest and loveable Marxist mayor in conversation. Don Camillo in Spain? I didn't finish that one, either.

100. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, Alexander McCall Smith

2009-10-23T15:19:00.001+02:00

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency gently solves crimes. I think I'm tired of this series. Especially when the solution is on the cover.

99. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, Kate Summerscale

2009-10-23T15:18:00.001+02:00

"In the Wilkie Collins tradition." I don't like Wilkie Collins, either. True crime; death of an infant; scandale; secrets of a Victorian family. Best-seller.

98. Cette Chanson Que Je N'Oublierai Jamais, Mary Higgins Clark

2009-10-23T15:16:00.003+02:00

Epouse se marie avec possible meurtrier et le sauve. Je n'aime pas Clark, vraiement, mais j'aime le façon que les français renomment les romans.

97. Calypso, Ed McBain

2009-10-23T15:16:00.001+02:00

An early 87th Precinct. Top police procedural when Calypso singer is murdered.

96. Moving Pictures, Terry Pratchett

2009-10-23T15:14:00.001+02:00

I didn't like this nearly as much as the rest of the Industrial series, but a movie fan probably would.

95. Napalm & Silly Putty, George Carlin (audio)

2009-10-23T15:13:00.000+02:00

George Carlin: what can you say?

94. The Tin Roof Blowdown, James Lee Burke

2009-10-23T15:12:00.001+02:00

His best. The descriptions of New Orleans after Hurricaine Katrina are enough to break your heart. The crime story is pretty good, too.

93. Locked in the Cabinet, Robert B. Reich (audio, abridged)

2009-10-23T15:10:00.001+02:00

Life as Labor Secretary in Clinton's cabinet. Maybe I'd have enjoyed the unabridged version more.

92. Amateur City, Katherine V. Forrest

2009-10-23T15:09:00.000+02:00

Kate Delafield mystery set in sales office. Good crime writer and her lesbianism just flows with the story.

91. The Girl in the Picture, Denise Chong (Audio)

2009-10-23T15:07:00.001+02:00

If you lived through Viet Nam, you'll know what girl and what picture. Excellent biography of Kim Phuc and background on Vietnamese history and culture.

90. Out, Natsuo Kirino

2009-10-03T14:05:00.001+02:00

Award winning crime novel of which I read enough to know that it's too gritty for me. Well written, though.

89. The Life and Times of the Thunderbold Kid, Bill Bryson

2009-09-28T20:52:00.000+02:00

Fantastic and funny, although slightly depressing in the last chapter as Des Moines and the world move on. But that's life. Wonderful nostalgia.

88. People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks (Did Not Finish)

2009-09-24T20:29:00.001+02:00

A wonderfully-written novel (of course), but as straight novels are not my favourite things, Wikipedia will do better for telling me about the Sarajevo Haggadah.

87. The Silver Pigs, Lindsey Davis

2009-09-23T15:40:00.000+02:00

Mystery of disappearing silver ingots in ancient Rome and Britain. Magnificent sense of place. You are there, not reading about it from the future. Worth a second shot at the series. (Grammar maven: Since she loves Roman history, Davis might consider studying Latin -- or English -- grammar and learning something about pronouns and case. Very irritating lapse.)

86. The Hornet's Nest, Jimmy Carter

2009-09-21T12:34:00.001+02:00

The South's part during the Revolution. Not very well put together, but interesting for the picture of everyday life as well as the war history.

85. Renato's Luck, Jeff Shapiro (Audio)

2009-09-21T12:31:00.001+02:00

Lovely story of life in a small Italian village. Everyone has problems and they get solved in unexpected ways.

84. Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon, M. C. Beaton

2009-09-21T12:30:00.000+02:00

The perfect wife, the poisoned husband: business is booming for Agatha.

83. The Deadly Dance (Agatha Raisin), M. C. Beaton

2009-09-21T12:29:00.002+02:00

Agatha has started her own detective agency. Same amount of fun and better plots.

82. A Secret History of the IRA, Ed Moloney

2009-09-21T12:27:00.002+02:00

Well-written, accessible history of the IRA, concentrating on the years from the 70s. Extremely detailed and not usually for the general reader.

81. A Savage Place, Robert B. Parker

2009-08-19T12:02:00.000+02:00

Reporter investigates racketeering in movie biz and Spenser is bodyguard. I never get tired of these.

80. The Sweetheart Season, Karen Joy Fowler

2009-08-17T12:02:00.000+02:00

Fowler is a wonderful writer with an unexpected way with words. Not really about baseball. A coming-of-age novel about women (for a change) in 1947.

79. Walkin' the Dog, Walter Mosley

2009-08-10T17:15:00.000+02:00

Mosleys Blacks are different from thee and me (white people) and worth listening to. Fine short stories about the street philosopher/ex-con Socrates Fortlow.

78. Poodle Springs, Raymond Chandler & Robert B. Parker

2009-08-10T17:14:00.000+02:00

Four draft chapters from Chandler of Phillip Marlowe novel finished seamlessly by Parker. Not top-notch Chandler or Parker, but fun.

77. Hold Tight, Harlan Coben (Audio)

2009-08-10T17:12:00.000+02:00

Tangle of plots that come together beautifully at the end. Variety of kid-parent relationships from a man who obviously loves his.

76. Den of Thieves, James B. Stewart

2009-08-09T16:10:00.002+02:00

Pulitzer Prize winning account of junk bond scandals of the 80s. Cops! Robbers! Excitement! Keep your money under your mattress.

75. The Man in My Basement, Walter Mosley

2009-08-05T15:47:00.001+02:00

Good story and discussion of good and evil, but, really, I'm beginning to worry about Mosley's state of mind.

74. Two Women, Martina Cole

2009-07-29T14:27:00.000+02:00

Chick-lit among the low-lifes of the East End. Middling writing, great story telling, excellent dialogue, no surprises, no brainer. I enjoyed it.

73. Cuba Diaries, Isadora Tattlin

2009-07-29T14:26:00.000+02:00

The contrast of priviledged existance -- 8 servants -- and lack of basic necessities -- almost everything -- well told with exasperation and humour by "American housewife".

72. Early Autumn, Robert B. Parker

2009-07-29T14:25:00.000+02:00

This time Spenser rescues kid from his parents and becomes the parent we all wish we'd had. Crime, too. Have I said I love Spenser?

71. Los Alamos, Joseph Kanon

2009-07-20T22:18:00.001+02:00

Good mystery, interesting historical background, irrelevant O.K. love story, but why the critics raved as though we're on for a Pulitzer is beyond me.

70. Looking for Rachel Wallace, Robert B. Parker

2009-07-17T19:12:00.001+02:00

Sir Lancelot, in his persona as Spenser, gets hired and fired by radical lesbian feminist. Then she is kidnapped. Get the white charger.

69. Smoke Signals, Alexandra Fanny Brodsky

2009-07-16T19:23:00.003+02:00

I never knew there were rich and powerful Jews in Czarist Russia, but the large Brodsky were such people. In an interesting introduction, Alexandra relates the family's lives, businesses and charitable activities up to the time of the Communist revolution when they lost everything and were exiled.

The main part of the book recounts her childhood in Berlin and, later Brussels, and could well have been written by your average 10-year-old. It is an awful book, a round of family visits and childhood friends every bit as boring as your own were. A typical episode: Alexandra's father and brother have an errand in the part of the city where her school is located. She hopes they will pass by at recess, so they can say hello. They're late and she's already back in class, but can see them from the window. I ask you: who cares?

68. Born Jewish: A Childhood in Occupied Europe, Marcel Liebman

2009-07-16T19:21:00.004+02:00

Liebman's family -- parents and three brothers -- stayed in Brussels throughout WWII. His older brother was arrested and died in Auschwitz, but the rest of them, hidden by neighbours, helped by strangers and sheltered in Catholic schools, survived the war. A final chapter that feels tacked on, explains Liebman's conversion to Communism and his anti-Zionism. You can sympathise, even while doubting he got it right.

67. When the World Closed Its Doors, Ida Piller-Greenspan with Susan M. Branting

2009-07-16T19:19:00.003+02:00

The night that Piller-Greenspan was married, the Germans invaded Belgium. This is the account of the young couple's ingenious and courageous efforts to escape to Portugal and freedom. With Piller-Greenspan's strange, but moving, illustrations.

66. Nothing for Tears, Lali Horstmann

2009-07-16T18:35:00.016+02:00

I am breaking my rule here, as I have more than 25 words (each) to say about these next four books, which I read as a group. (I find that I am more articulate when I'm annoyed.)

Nothing for Tears recounts the last months of WWII and the fall of Berlin in the Russian sector. I occasionally read books like this because I'd prefer to think that not all Germans were bad and to remind myself that some of them underwent undeserved hardships. Undeserved, however, is not the adjective that comes to mind in the case of the Horstmanns.

Here is Lali describing a snobbish waiter in a restaurant for the elite: "It was not persecution or crime that shocked him, but the unbearable humiliation of being governed by [Hitler] whose humble origin he considered far beneath his own in birth and education." This from a woman whose circle of friends "collected postcards of the Nazi leaders . . . and would send [them] to one another. We tried to convey to each other, 'Look how ridiculous they are, no one as phoney can touch us. . .'" One gets the impression that winning the war, at least, might have redeemed the Fuhrer in their eyes.

Even as the bombs dropped and the Russians approached, driving most of their friends west or out of the country, the Horstmanns stayed put, Herr Horstmann, a veritable caricature of German arrogance, being convinced that nothing could possibly touch them. The Tarter hordes are descending and his main concern is that Lali has not arranged the flowers to his taste. One can imagine that his death in a Russian concentration camp 2 years later of starvation could possibly have been the result of his refusal to eat inferior food.

Lali did better. She scavenged for food, hid in neighbouring villages when necessary (her husband stayed home), and organised and worked with the peasant women in her vegetable garden, all the while agonising over whether to leave or to trust her husband's judgment.

Her actions, however, didn't have much effect on her attitudes. When she meets the chauffeur of an Embassy friend in the railway station, he pleads with her to put in a word for him, so that he will keep his job and not be sent to the Russian front. "I was disturbed at being confronted with a man in such an agony of mind, and was relieved to learn some time later that he had succeed in escaping." No indication that she put herself out to intercede for him, but she was disturbed.

As three villagers are taken off by the Russians, replacements for three escaped POWs, she thinks, "Human beings were treated as ingredients in a chemical process, with an Asiatic indifference which was foreign to Europeans." Not that I hold any brief for the Russians, but I haven't heard that they had ovens in their concentration camps. Later she muses, "These terrible [Russian] camps are one of the most significant phenomena of our times. . . crushing not only the lives but the personalities of human beings." It is well after the war when she writes this, at a time when it is no longer possible to plead ignorance of the German camps.

In a couple of days, recovering my equilibrium, I remembered that the arrival of the Russians and their Tartar troops was interesting in a horrible way and something I hadn't read before. If only the story had a more sympathetic narrator.

65. Maskerade, Terry Pratchett

2009-07-06T12:10:00.001+02:00

One of the best. Opera, ghost, wannabee singers, witches and Italian tenors. There's murder in the opera house.

64. T is for Trespass, Sue Grafton

2009-07-02T08:58:00.000+02:00

Identity theft and preying on the aged and infirm. It's so easy! Another excellent Kinsey Millhone.

63. The Simeon Chamber, Steve Martini

2009-06-28T21:07:00.000+02:00

Not literature, but a good page-turner. Sir Francis Drake's 1579 California landing and a ghost blimp in 1942 lead to murder & mayhem 30 years later.

62. Killer's Choice, Ed McBain

2009-06-27T20:33:00.000+02:00

Annie Boone is shot in her employer's liquor store. The early 87th precinct investigation has Rashomon-like overtones and, being 87th precinct, is excellent.

61. Mexican Hat, Michael McGarrity

2009-06-22T19:46:00.001+02:00

Secrets, new and old, and poaching generate murder and mayhem in New Mexico's Gila Wilderness. This man can write!