As well as the tumbledown pasteboard shacks erected on the outskirts of Arrakis by Herbert (the lesser) and Anderson (the least).

But it's a real slog. They can't write for beans — seemingly innocent of pace, point, focus, interest, drama, wit or the details of the universe they're trying to mimic — nor can they portray a character with anything greater than monomolecular depth.

I may give up on the prequels and sequels and just read the ones Frank Herbert wrote himself.

An anonymous hit-man, called Michael Schaeffer, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and later in England in the 3-books in the Butcher’s Boy series.

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/P_Authors/Perry_Thomas.html


Book 51 of 2012

Sounds like an interesting premise, though. How do you like it?

because I'm not adept at gangster or lawman talk, but it held my interest. I already have the next one, Sleeping Dogs, but have 2 new books to read first as the library only gives 2 weeks.

Regarding his name, the book never mentions it, only the SYKM site. He's much better at killing than they are at finding. Lots of Mafia people killed in this one....

Believe he's a DU poster. Just downloaded it, so I'll be starting it today.

Last edited Sun Jun 10, 2012, 09:05 PM - Edit history (1)

3rd due in July....and without looking it up, I think he posted under "smoogatz" or something like that...

and it is pure Kim Stanley Robinson, which is to say excellent. I have the last 150 pages to go and I really don't want to fiinish it because this book is just that good.

Next will be something by Luis Alberto Urrea. He was interviewed on Book TV and he was very impressive . I almost immediately bought The Devils Highway and The Hummingbird's Daughter. This will be a departure from my recent genre, I like to mix it up occasionally.

I think I have seen The Hummingbird's Daughter mentioned here. If you read it, how was it? Did you like it? adore it? slog through it? Have you read anything else written by him?

to make a compilation CD of all the covers I could find of "Little Wing."

Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray , Clapton---It was awesome!

Pot boiler so far.

And a darn good one. Stephenson's apparently decided to let his storyteller side run free and it's a marvel to behold.

Though otherwise vintage Stephenson.

although the title always makes me think of when you try displaying a binary file on a command window and the cursor blips all over the place. Or old ASCII games on VT220s...

Butcher's writing, whether here in the Alera Codex or in the Dresden Files, goes away rapidly.

I'm about halfway through, and I have to say that this is one of the more compelling fiction reads I've come across in a long, long while.

The book is set in 1922, as a middle-aged woman from Kansas accompanies a young Louise Brooks (silent screen actress) on her first trip to New York. The plot is not about their trip as much as why the woman wants to take it. Unexpected twists and exquisite character development abound.

Highly, highly recommended.

(Another good read along this same line is "The Paris Wife," by Paula McLain, about Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Thompson.)

Teeny Templeton, a short pastry chef and cooking instructor, in Charleston, South Carolina. I might have enjoyed this when I was in my 20's....the first 100 pages were painful, but it kept my interest till the end (speed-reading).

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/W_Authors/West_Michael-Lee.html

Book 52 of 2012

Okay, this is really low-brow, and certainly not a "guy" book (should I take the risk and call it chick-lit?), but it is for cat and dog lovers. Cats Can't Shoot by Clea Simon. This follows Dogs Don't Lie. Pru is a self-described animal behaviorist with a knack for criminal detection. The books are seriously lightweight, but a lot of fun. And if you're a cat lover, all the better.

Stolen Prey, the latest by John Sandford. This is a Davenport novel, not a Virgil Flowers novel. As usual, good story, characters, etc. Sandford is a super storyteller.

Another Time, Another Life by Leif Persson. I don't quite know how to describe this because I'm not sure yet where it's going. The opening story is the police response to a terrorist attack in Stockholm in 1975. It is, safe to say, a debacle of the highest order. Without a real conclusion to this incident, the novel moves on to a murder in 1989, and, as far as I can tell, there's only one overlapping character, whose career seems to have taken something of a downturn since 1975, though this guy is a good cop. In contrast to him and his temporary partner are the team leader, a corrupt cop if ever there was one, and his partner, whom he despises; the attitude is reciprocated. Again, not sure where it's going, but it's riveting. If you're a fan of Scandinavian crime fiction, you'll enjoy it. If not, don't bother. This is not an "entry level" Scandinavian crime novel.

Out of Season by Steven F. Havill. This is book no. 7 (or 8) in a lengthy series featuring an aging undersheriff in a tiny New Mexico county and his colleagues. Like the Simon books, the books are light reading, but entertaining. The characters are quirky and endearing, and their development, for better or worse, is nicely done. The only objection that I have to the series is its timing. I would swear that book one is set in 1986, with one of the characters, the department's sole detective, is about to give birth, in February 1987. I recall this pretty well because the expected delivery date was the same as my son's, just a year later. Then, in book 2, we appear to have jumped to 1996. The undersheriff, who was 62, is now 66 or so (first discrepancy), and the baby is reported to have been born around Christmas of 1996 and is an infant - not possible. Maybe I missed something, but I don't think so. The stories are a bit far-fetched, and the main character prides himself too much on being a dinosaur - old, fat, anti-technology - that he becomes a caricature. But the stories are entertaining, and you find yourself caring about them as if they were real.

The first 15 books of this series had a different writer, and were some of the best fiction I've read. Characters with soul, unique personalities...

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/T_Authors/Tanenbaum_Robert-K.html

There's been a different ghost writer since Hoax and I could cry seeing what happened to the original series. I spent about a half-hour with this brand new book and couldn't take anymore. No more Tanenbaum for me..


Book 0 of 2012

Lacey Flint, Detective - England.....2nd in the series.

Decent mystery, but I could use a bit of humor now and then..

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_Authors/Bolton_S-J.html




Book 52 of 2012

by Henning Mankell. It's the first book in the Kurt Wallander crime series.

also read The Dogs of Riga, and they were both good, even if a bit gloomy. I think it was around the time of the Berlin wall, and it was a unsettled and gloomy time in Europe