Cut, Paste, Kill

REVIEWS OF UNUSUAL SIZE

BOOKS

5 THINGS ABOUT...

CUT, PASTE, KILL

by Marshall Karp

2010, 296 pages, ARC

1 - This is the fourth book featuring the detective duo Lomax and Biggs. This time, they find themselves caught up in the crimes of a serial killer that believes they are righting society's wrongs, killing those that deserve it. At each scene the killer leaves an intricate scrapbook about the victim. A kind of vigilante with a Cricut.

2 - Like all of Karp's work, this book is funny. Sometimes extremely funny, so don't read it in a place that you might be embarrassed by sudden outbursts of the giggles, like church or a bathroom stall.

3 - There were a few great twists in the story. One was maybe a little over the top, but it fit with the story and though I should have, I never saw it coming.

4 - Carefully researched for scrapbooking accuracy and at times dark, CUT, PASTE, KILL still reads like a breeze, light, fast and funny. An excellent addition to Karp's series.

5 - Semi-Perfect! (Inside Joke, read the book!)

5/5

This was a very fun book, written by an author that knows how to make fans- by being smart, witty and honest. If you need further proof, check out his blog, his hilarious Facebook posts or pick up one of his other books. You will be glad you did. 

His last novel, Flipping Out was my favorite book of last year and CUT, Paste, Kill is a strong contender again this year. As always, stupendous!

CUT, PASTE, KILL is out on June 8th, order your copy now!

Catching Up On My Writing About Reading

REVIEWS OF UNUSUAL SIZE

A million books! Give or take. It's been far too long since I've updated my reading list and reviews on here. I'm not sure why. If I'd just write the dang review right after I read it, I wouldn't have such a daunting pile of books in front of me! Onward!

BOOKS

5 THINGS ABOUT...

TANNER'S TWELVE SWINGERS
by Lawrence Block
1999, 272 pages

1 -   The third book in the increasingly over-the-top Tanner series finds our sleepless hero travelling across the country, collecting an increasingly screwball collection of refugees.

2 -   I found myself getting annoyed with Tanner's character as this story progressed. At first, I loved the idea - a man that never sleeps and uses the extra 8 hours a day to learn languages, read books and champion lost causes but it seems to have changed to championing radical military groups from assorted countries, which I find much less appealing.

3 -   Tanner is still a great guy though and despite the escalating goofiness, I enjoyed the ride.

4 -   It should be interesting to see where the series goes with the next book.

5 -   Block initially resisted the title, preferring The Lettish Tomatoes, but I like the title quite a bit.

 6/10
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TROUBLE IN PARADISE

by Robert B. Parker

1998, 304 pages

1 -   Police Chief Jesse Stone has to protect his sleepy town from an elaborate and not very well planned out robbery scheme.

2 -   Jesse Stone remains a very appealing character. He has a distinct set of ethics and despite the self loathing is a good man. That kind of character is fun to read about, which would explain why there are over thirty Stone novels and a series of movies starring Tom Sellick.

3 -   Speaking of whom, Stone compares himself to the actor at one point, which made me wonder which came first, I would assume the movies.

4 -   The character of Crow is a good one. Nasty and mysterious, though you never really get a good feel for why he's so bad.

5 -   I felt this book ended far too abruptly, with everyone kind of just giving up, dying or escaping in a few pages.

6/10
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NOW & THEN

by Robert B. Parker

2007, 322 pages

1 -   This was the first Spenser novel I've read, though I used to watch the show regularly as a kid.

2 -   Spenser is just as cool in the books and Hawk is even cooler.

3 -  Spenser gets caught up in a simple infidelity investigation that turns complex, with spies, murder and government secrets.

4 -   Soon, Spenser has to call in his buddies to protect his lady. They were my personal favorite about the book. Loved them.

5 -   Robert B. Parker died recently and I've just started reading his work. There's a good reason he's so respected. His books are fun to read and have excellent characters.

 8/10
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BLACKMAILER

by George Axelrod

  1952, 202 pages

1 -   Old-School crime from the author of The Seven Year Itch.

2 -   Another extremely fine release from the good folks over at Hard Case Crime, with a gorgeous new Orbik cover and the retro-sweet touches that make me googly eyed.

3 -   Satiric, fun and nasty, a hapless book publisher has to unravel the secret behind a prestigious and previously unknown manuscript from a recently deceased Nobel Prize-winning author. But if it's unknown, why do so many people seem to know about it, and why do they all want him to print it?

4 -   Swishes hollywood starlets, thinly veiled homages to authors and personalities around in a tumbler to create a delightful little drink.

5 -   Did I mention how much I love Hard Case Crime? Look at that cover above, then go here to see the original. Back? Isn't this new cover a peach? I raise my glass to HCC for reprinting these gems and scattering them out for a modern audience. And making them look good.

8/10
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VOID MOON

by Michael Connelly

2000, 450 pages

1 -   A rarity for Connelly, a one-shot featuring a "villain" as the main protagonist.

2 -   Years ago, Cassie Black went to prison for her part in a casino robbery gone horribly wrong. Out on parole, she tries to leave her old life behind. Until she learns something that forces her to take a job back in Vegas, to the same casino where her beloved died all those years before

3 -   Standard Connelly, which is to say a quick read with original characters. I liked it, but I never got the feel of Vegas that I usually get from books like this.

4 -   A couple of silly parts in here too, and the villain was never as stone-cold as they made it sound on the cover. In fact, he seemed a bit bumbling.

5 -   My cover, featuring a white and black casino chip in an eclipse is much cooler than the cover online.

7/10
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PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS -

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

by Rick Riordan

2005, 375 pages

1 -   I wanted to not like this. But I did.

2 -   Percy Jackson is kind of the Middle Grade fiction that gets on my nerves. Modern feeling, with a sarcastic and snarky main character, a gimmick, and a huge following.

3 -   I read this because it's my nephew's favorite book and I promised him I would, if he would read the second one when I finished. He's read this installment six or seven times but hasn't read the second.

4 -   I was surprised at how likeable Percy ended up being, though his female friend is pretty forgettable to me. The idea, while gimmicky, is pretty well executed, too.

5 -   I love Riordan's previous adult novels, modern detective books. Check them out! (It's also possible that this is why I didn't want to like the Percy Jackson books, I like Rick's adult stuff too much to want him to stop writing them.)

 8/10
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DAY BY DAY ARMAGEDDON

by J.L. Bourne
 2009, 224 pages

1 -   Zombie mayhem written in diary form! Originally self published online, the book now has a proper release, a sequel and hollywood nosing around.

2 -   Too bad it's so dire.

3 -   The characters are thinly fleshed out, even the main character, who seems like a generic army boy. Stupid, well versed in gun terminology, conveniently able to fly a plane... Ugh. I'm really afraid that others will read the zombie novel I'm writing and say the same thing about it, but I got so annoyed with the main character here.

4 -   The zombies seemed to change their definitions slightly throughout the story, and not in the good way, more like the author forgot whether they could do something and just winged it.

5 -   All the same, it was a fast read and won't disappoint fans of the genre too much. I liked it enough to finish it on my computer when my version on the nook konked out 3/4 of the way through, I just really disliked the Hoo-Rah dumb jock main character.

6/10
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THE POSTMAN

by David Brin
 1997, 336 pages

1 -   When the world ends, a lone shyster finds a postman's uniform and mailbags and inadvertantly starts a revolution of civilization.

2 -   I dig the concept of this book, and Brin creates a very bleak but realistic world for the postman.

3 -   It starts out great, really strong, with one of my favorite post-apocalyptic worldviews and interesting people living in it.

4 -   Then it throws in genetic supermen, over the top war sequences, silly coincidences and an all too pat ending. Blast!

5 -   No Tom Petty.

7/10
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BLACK CHERRY BLUES

by James Lee Burke
 1990, 384 pages

1 -   I love Dave Robicheaux and the Louisianan world that Burke has created. Dave is a real person with a lot of little ticks and mannerisims that make him such a kick to read about.

2 -   To be honest, I don't actually remember what the story was in this novel... But I recall liking it. Something with a bad guy and fishing and... I can't remember.

3 -   (After checking....) Oh yeah! Robicheaux goes to Montana and stomps around Missoula a bit on the trail of a missing person. Which, by the way, I got the feeling that Burke actually visited Missoula for the novel. He manages to get the feel for the country along with details of the area spot on.

4 -   I always want a Dr. Pepper with fresh lime while I read these books.

5 -   The version of this book I read on my nook calls the town he visits "Poison, MT" I don't know if it was an intentional choice to use a fictional town, or if the computer program that converted this to a digital book misread the very real town of Polson, MT, which happens to exist roughly where he describes Poison in my text here...

9/10
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MONSTER PLANET

by David Wellington
2007, 320 pages

1 -   I liked the first one of these books.

2 -   Then the zombies started talking, gaining telepathic powers and other nonsense.

3 -   Then it got worse.

4 -   This book, the third, got even worse.

5 -   That's right, I'm criticizing a zombie book for being over the top and silly. A line must be drawn somewhere!

1/10

Reviews Of Unusual Size!

I'm still trying to find a format I really like for my reviews... let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas, fair readers!

KILLER'S CHOICE

by Ed McBain

 1958, 157 pages

A twisty, hardboiled delight!

Dialogue that goes on for pages and you wish would never end

Not a huge fan of the title 

The characters in this are a treat, colorful and awesome. Especially the character's names.

 Fairly predictable but satisfactory ending

4/5

SHOOT HIM IF HE RUNS

by Stuart Woods

 2008, 392 pages

An author I'd never read before, he writes fast paced, fairly light hearted thrillers.

Great sense of humor running through the book.

A few scenes seemed tacked in for length and tittilation, not something I generally poo-poo, but they felt out of place.

A pretty great villain that wasn't given much to do.

In retrospect, no one really did much in the entire book.

2/5

AT RISK

by Patricia Cornwell

 2006, 289 pages

A somewhat hackneyed thriller about a murder, a new crime detection method and a governmental race.

I often found myself bored and distracted while reading.

All of the main characters were too full of themselves and their little quirks.

It felt at times like the author was pretty pretentious too, though that may have been influenced by her goofy photo on the back cover

I got this book at a rest area just over the Idaho border, part of the truly excellent BookCrossing program, a voluntary read and release phenomenon - check 'em out! What a fun idea! Too bad the book was a letdown, but it just inspires me to get ones out there that I do like and admire.

1/5

HONEYMOON

by James Patterson & Howard Roughan

2005, 406 pages

Goofy, obvious plot about a scheming, money-hungry black widow and a detective investigating her.

The cover and for that matter, the title really have nothing to do with the story.

Though eye-rollingly bad at times, the book was still a page-turner, moving quickly and enjoyably.

These books always make me wonder what percentage each author actually writes.

It warns you not to give away the ending. Too bad the book does halfway through...

2/5

NIGHT THUNDER

by Ruby Jean Jenson

1995, 397 pages

A chilling idea for the plot, only executed well about 3/4 of the time.

There were a surprising number of typos in the book, and a lot of phrases that were worded almost the same as previous ones, distracting my mind from the story.

80% of the story is told from the POV of children. I assume this was intended to increase the tension, but it usually just made me annoyed at the way she wrote children.

The villains were scary and I found myself wishing that I got to learn more about their backstory rather than yet another sentence describing their half-smile of perfect features.

There's something about horror novels written in the 80's and 90's that all seem to have the same feel to their writing, it's something intangible. I can only describe it as "awkward sentences designed to evoke suspense that usually don't" This book had a lot of them.

2/5

THE SOMNAMBULIST

by Jonathan Barnes

2007, 353 pages

A wry, witty and macabre detective novel, set in Victorian England.

Characters so inspired and original that you could read an entire book about them drinking tea and wandering around town and it would stay compelling.

Gorgeous narration, both clever and sneaky, poetic and evocative.

Drags a bit at the end, yet feels rushed and too pat at the same time.

I can't wait to track down Barnes' next novel!

4/5

It's A Dog's Life...

Now Playing -
Beep Beep by The Playmates

Life - 

Today was my first day back at work after an abbreviated rotation, putting me on a better schedule for the holidays. Because it was only three days off, rather than my typical six, I was scrambling to do all of the things I don't do when I'm working, not to mention the additional drama that we've been dealing with. To that end, I slept very little and kept my night rotation, averaging less than four hours a night. Because our dogs are used to sleeping with us in the bedroom during the day/night, me sleeping so little and being home really threw off their groove. They spent most of the three days pouting and sighing sleepily. Poor guys.

It is officially COLD here. We had roughly three days of Autumn, before 'Ol Jack decided to move in. And I still have a pretty significant chunk of yard work to do.

Really, that's all I have to report today.

Book Reviews - 

THE STRAIN
by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
2009, 401 pages

A stunning combination of new ideas and classic folklore  --  Suspenseful and Terrifying  --  Near Perfect  --  Can't wait for the next book in the trilogy!  --  Del Toro and Hogan's story create a beautiful and creepy image in your head

5/5


THE HUNTED
by Wayne Barcomb
2009, 309 pages

Stereotypical Characters in an Original Plot  --  Female Serial Killer!  --  Kind of boring  --  Russo, the main character is a bit too handsome to be realistic  --  Wine can be a pain in the butt in Barcomb's universe!

2/5


SECRET PREY
by John Sandford
1998, 384 pages

Sandford's character, Lucas Davenport feels grumpy and unlikeable  --  An obvious villain  --  Some great supporting characters  --  A weak entry in the "Prey" series  --  Far too much banking intrigue

2/5


HONEY IN HIS MOUTH
by Lester Dent
2009, 248 pages

Intentionally despicable characters make life hard for each other and everyone else  --  Written in 1959, by the creator of Doc Savage, this is the first publication  --  Kind Of A Hardboiled Freaky Friday for the Whiskey and Dames set  --  Great period dialogue  --  Gorgeous Cover and Book Design

3/5

This was the first book I've received as a member of Hard Case Crime's mail order club, and it's so cool to get a classic crime rag in the mail every other month. The dictator is dead, long live Hard Case Crime!

Writing - 

Got a couple hundred words in, nothing much.

The Last Sentence - 

It's like a horrible, plus-sized nightmare!

From - "Graves" (WIP)

Book Reviews - Bride Of Recent Reads

Whoops, almost a month between reviews again! I've gotta stop taking so long. This set took me so long to type up that I've read two books since I started! Still, thirteen books in 28 days aint too bad.

I have fallen in love with Hard Case Crime, publishers of fine reprint and original hardboiled crime novels. They all have a stylin' new cover, painted exclusively for the book, lurid titles, excellent retro design. I love them ever so much. They even have a mail order service. Forget magazines, I want a new novel in the mail every month! Maybe next month I'd get Satan Is A Woman, or Losers Live Longer! Hooray for old-school crime!

THE COLORADO KID
By Stephen King
2005, 184 pages

What a great book. I've read online that a lot of people were either in love with, or despised the ending of this book. Without giving anything away, I fell solidly into the Love category. I wish King would write more stuff like this! Two old newsmen tell a roundabout story of a fellah's death to a young female reporter. There's both more and less to the story than it seems.

8/10


BUST
By Ken Bruen & Jason Starr
2006, 254 pages

Bust was the first HCC novel I read, and it was a great choice. Psychopathic hitmen, sexy women, rich men. Double-crossing each other left and right, with just the right amount of sex and violence. A perfect, old school crime novel.

9/10


THE LAST MATCH
By David Dodge
2006, 319 pages

My first real disappointment with the HCC line. If i'd read the afterword first, I would have gotten a pretty good handle on why I don't care for this novel. It was written by a woman's father, she edited and revised it, and from what I can tell, both of them were pretty pretentious about the story. These kinds of books need a sense of fun, not a feel that they think they're writing something important.

3/10


GRIFTER'S GAME
By Lawrence Block
1961, 205 pages

I love Lawrence Block. His writing always gives me a real feel for the era, and his deliciously immoral characters give me happy feelings inside. Read this.

8/10


THE VENGEFUL VIRGIN
By Gil Brewer
1958, 220 pages

Man, this book got me the funniest look from my nephew (in-law) when he walked in and saw me reading it. Nothing like a book with the word VIRGIN on it, with a shot of a blonde with a gun and money in front of a fire to shock a ten-year-old! Sweet ride from the author of Satan is a Woman. A pretty, naive and crazy young girl convinces the TV repair man to bump off an old man and run away with his money. Sounds so simple...

7/10

SLEEP WITH THE FISHES
By Brian M. Wiprud
2006, 239 pages

I've liked Wiprud ever since I picked up Stuffed at a used book store in Newport a few years ago. His characters are wacky, but not so over the top as to be completely unbelievable, and the stories are a rollicking good time. Unfortunately, Sleep left me a bit flat. I don't know if it was the fishing or that the main character seemed a bit less developed than his norm, but It left me craving one of his earlier books. It kind of seemed like a Hiassen book, actually. Good, but not qute as good as it could have been.

6/10

THE PISTOL POETS
By Vistor Gischler
2005, 340 pages

Gischler is one of those authors that I like a lot, but have a hard time remembering him when I go to buy a book or am shopping in a bookstore without my used list on me. I bought Gun Monkeys, one of his earlier books in a creepy old used book store in Northern Montana, and never saw another until last year when I managed to track down the rest. The story of Poets, which gets pretty convoluted has a teacher waking to find a dead student in his bed, a drug dealer trying to go straight, a reclusive professor, and a few little surprises along the way. I really got a kick out of this, though there were a few aspects that left me thinking I'd missed a paragraph explaining things. I'm also anxiously awaiting the arrival of his newest, Go Go Girls Of The Apocalypse. That's right, Go Go Girls Of The Apocalypse. a title so good that I had to write it twice.

7/10

JAKE RANSOM AND THE SKULL KING'S SHADOW
By James Rollins
2009, 397 pages

I really wanted to like this. I dig Rollins' adult novels, they're Indiana Jones style adventures with enough intrigue and black ops in them to keep you guessing and his first kids book looked to be more of the same, but for a younger set with a more over the top theme. Unfortunately, the plot is VERY over-the-top, with too many convenient answers. It was still fun, a great adventure and I'll read his others in the series when they're written, but this one left me rolling my eyes a few times too often to fully recommend it. Also, he uses the name Brontosaurus at one point, is that an accurate dinosaur name now?

6/10


THE BRASS VERDICT
By Michael Connelly
2008, 422 pages

Connelly is a great writer, and his Lincoln Lawyer character is one of my favorites, second only to Det. Harry Bosch, yet this installment left me feeling pretty flat. The two never really seemed to mesh, Bosch especially coming off as flat, though that may have been because we saw him from Mickey Haller's view. Still, I get the impression that he could write a quick thriller on the pot, and this one still had a twisty plot and good dialogue.

7/10


EVIL GENIUS
By Catherine Jinks
2005, 486 pages

Man, I checked this book out from the library expecting a completely different novel. Somehow, I thought with the catchy phrases, cartoony design and big logo that I'd chosen a kids book, completely disregarding the fact that I'd grabbed it from the young adult section. It's about a kid that goes to an evil villain high school/college, where miscreants are trained for a life of crime. I had expected a book about a 12 or 13 year old doing that, instead, getting a teen with all of the angst and hormones that go with it, but that didn't make it a bad book. It was still funny, clever and a great read, just not what I'd thought I was reading.

7/10

EMERALD FLASH
By Charles Knief
1999, 292 pages

I loved this book. Funny, poignant and really action packed, this was my favorite from Kneif so far. His character, Private Eye, John Caine is a fellow in his late forties that is about as hard as they come. He lives on a boat, enjoys Hawaii and gets his butt kicked a lot. He always gives back better than he gets though and walks away with the girl. The settings for the book are gorgeous and his supporting cast, especially crime lord Chawlie and officer Kimo are very memorable.

9/10


WORLD WAR Z
By Max Brooks
2006, 342 pages

Overrated. I love the cheeky humor and daily usefulness of Max Brooks Zombie Survival handbook, but this overblown, "History" of a zombie war that never was left my calling out for brains and staggering around. It wasn't horrible and there were a few slivers of brilliance, but there was too much focus on silly things. Some people I know love it. Good for them.

3/10



FUZZY NAVEL
By J.A. Konrath
2008, 271 pages

Aww, man, did this book piss me off. Which is part of why I loved it. Joe Konrath's books all feature the detective Jack Daniels, her portly partner, her smarmy ex-partner, her mom, a friend, her evil cat and her boyfriend, as well as some of the best, soulless criminals around. For Fuzzy Navel, he crams all of them into a single house, surrounds it with snipers and shreds the walls with bullets. I read this in one setting and after the cliffhanger ending, if I'd had the next book, I would have read it too. Good, suspenseful, yet hilarious book.

9/10

Book Reviews

Man, this a lot of books for one set of reviews... I didn't think it had been that long, but its been 27 days since the last one... Odds are I missed a book at some point.

THE SPELL OF THE SORCERER'S SKULL
JOHN BELLAIRS


1984, 170 PAGES

A classic. This is probably one of my favorite Bellairs, has some fun images and great ideas, topped off by Gorey art - What's better, I ask? Hooray to my friend Mike's dog for chewing the cover so that they had to buy it from the library.

8/10

SERPENT
CLIVE CUSSLER

1999, 470 PAGES

One of the better Cussler's, in my opinion. Age old mysteries surrounding who really reached the Americas first, undersea explorations, treasure, no cameo by the big man himself, rock and roll!

7/10


STOWAWAY
KAREN HESSE

2000, 319 PAGES

I would imagine a HUGE amount oif research went into this book. Written from the diary view of a young stowaway on Captain Cook's Endeavour, it gives a great feel for daily ship life. It wasn't extremely engaging, and with true life historical novels like this, I always feel that the research plays a much bigger part than the actual writing, but a good book. Fun Fact - Books like this, with short diary entries are perfect reading for bathrooms!

7/10


THE STONES ARE HATCHING
GERALDINE McCAUGHREAN

1999, 230 PAGES

I checked this book out, primarily because if I ever get published, I would be very close to her name on bookstore shelves. Damn, I'm glad I did. Her style of writing is fascinating and beautiful, with sentences that I read twice, just because I liked them so much. Very Highly reccommended.

9/10


WICKED BREAK
JEFF SHELBY

2006, 247 PAGES

Whoo-hoo! A slacker/surfer/PI old-school mystery! Cracking story, wise-ass men and an interesting plot. Surfs Up!

7/10


SAND DOLLARS
CHARLES KNIEF

1998, 322 PAGES

Hawaiian detective, houseboats, hot nights, hotter ladies, even hotter lead, money, violence, humor, geriatric gunmen! Oh yeah, one other thing, enjoyment!

Only nit-pick... I can only assume that last name is made up... Cheesy!

8/10


THE FIGURE IN THE SHADOWS
JOHN BELLAIRS

1975, 155 PAGES

This book is currently late being returned to the Marshall Public Library. My current fine is $1.30. If I could only get my hands on a magic amulet that would help me erase my fine!

7/10


ROSES ARE RED
JAMES PATTERSON

2000, 404 PAGES

A semi-early patterson novel, his famed detective Alex Cross finds himself against a bank robber and killer named the mastermind who may just live up to the name. It spends a lot of time building an ineteresting case, but seems to run out of bullets a bit too soon.

5/10


THE CABINET OF WONDERS
(THE KRONOS CHRONICLES: BOOK 1)
MARIE RUTKOSKI

2008, 258 PAGES

Loved everything about this book, from the gorgeous cover, to the creative world, to the perfect storyline, pretty much perfect! I must buy this asap.

9/10


THE SIGN OF THE SINISTER SORCERER
(A JOHN BELLAIRS MYSTERY)
BRAD STRICKLAND

2008, 168 PAGES

I hadn't planned to get yet another Bellairs/Strickland book, but this had a giant Three on the cover, so my friend Thom would have disowned me for passing it up. Sorcerers, baseball and creepy puppets, pretty much par for the course in creepy, gothic, 1950's Michigan.

6/10


KOCKROACH
TYLER KNOX

2007, 356 PAGES

This was a last minute grab at the library, and damn, I'm glad I did. A Cockroach turns into a man, learns what that means, eats, mates, creates a criminal syndicate and survives, like all cockroaches. Amazingly great book. Riveting.

9/10


THE KING IN THE WINDOW
ADAM GOPNIK

2005, 410 PAGES

I'm still really torn about this book. I love the ideas and some of the imagery is striking, but it seemed kind of uneven in places and they placed unneccesary emphasis on a few things that never played right to me. Nice young adult fantasy about a boy who is accidentally nominated the king of the window wraiths.

6/10

Book Review - Bride of Recent Reads

Flipping Out
Marshall Karp

2009, 304 pages

Man, I wish Karp would write all of the books I read. I've read his first two novels and when I realized that Flipping Out was released, I immediately rented it from the library until I could buy my own copy. He's that much fun to read, guys. Flipping Out blends just the right amount of mystery, humor, thrills and suspense, wrapped around a plot that I'm sure some authors wish they'd thought of, but so that they could put it to use in real life! Detectives Lomax and Biggs, Karp's witty creations delve into the murders of a couple of cop's wives who were also involved in an ingenious scheme involving a murder book series and house flipping. As it becomes increasingly apparent that one of their wives may be next, they have to race against the clock to solve the mystery. Great book. A very serious contender for my favorite book of the year. The author is also a dog person, so he gets awarded extra points.

10/10


The Mansion In The Mist
John Bellairs

1992, 176 pages

My Bellairs rampage continues unabated. Anthony Monday ends up spending a fateful vacation on an island in a rustic house with a dark secret - a passage into a terrible world where the residents are planning to destroy our own! This book has one of my favorite Gorey covers, especially the back panel and I'm now obsessed with the idea of spending a vacation in a creepy old house in the middle of an otherwise abandoned island. Sadly, I'm not sure that those kinds of places really exist any more. The book was fun, though it seemed like the plot was a little rushed.

6/10


The Attorney
Steve Martini

2001, 448 pages

When lawyer Paul Madriani's rich friend approaches him to ask his help in finding his missing granddaughter, Paul thinks it will be a simple kidnapping case. When the woman suspected of orchestrating the kidnapping (By the granddaughter's own junkie mother) turns up dead and leads start getting twisty, he soon finds his hands full. Pretty decent read. I liked the idea and the main character has a lot of appeal, but for some reason I had trouble getting too into it.

6/10


Silent Prey
John Sandford

2008, 400 pages

Sandford's character Davenport (Which is a couch, according to my grandmother...) joins a Manhattan team to track down a serial killer that he had captured before. A couple of good twists, but pretty much your basic "Cop hunts serial killer" formula. I did like the addition of the vigilante police crew, killing deserving villains. It was a nice extra touch to the tale.

6/10


Dark Harbor
David Hosp

2006, 496 pages

A great find! I picked this up at a yard sale for a dime, I'd never heard of the author before, but it was a freakin' dime and I read a lot. Within a week, I'd seen the book in 4 other places. How odd. It was like it was haunting me. Dark Harbor, set in Boston, is a novel about a serial killer named Little Jack. I enjoyed the book quite a bit. I thought the main characters were pretty engaging and the story had some nice surprises. I'll have to check out more by Hosp.

7/10


The Spell Of The Sorcerer's Skull
John Bellairs

1985, 176 pages

I really hadn't planned on reading two Bellairs books this update, but while visiting my friend, he showed me the copy of this book that he'd been forced to buy after his dog ate parts of it. I hadn't read The Spell Of The Sorcerers Skull in a very long time, so when he offered to loan it to me, I got suckered in. Eventually, I'll run out of his books and there will be an update without a book by Clive Cussler, Lemony Snickett or Bellairs... maybe. I do find a ton of Cussler books for very cheap at the thrift stores....

Anyway, fun book with haunted clocks, tiny skulls, snow, a priest, bushy beards and the word Phooey!

8/10


Sea Legs
Alex Shearer

2006, 320 pages

I liked this book almost instantly, but it took a me a while to really get into it, and then I kind of lost interest after certain visitors arrive for some reason.

Written from the point of view of the eldest of twins, Sea Legs is irreverent and funny. Boiled down, two brothers sneak onto their father's cruise ship to see what his job is like and spend some time on the ocean, being troublemakers. I really liked all of the characters in here, and some of Eric's comments are hilarious. Great book. Was planning to check out more by the author but I couldn't remember his name at the library.

8/10

Quarterly Reading Update - 2nd Quarter, 2009

In the second quarter of 2009, I read 37 novels for a total of 12,202 pages. That's an average of 134 pages per day.

That is a huge surprise to me. Now granted, I read 14 children's books, which have larger fonts and less wordage per page as a general rule, but that still impressed me since I also wrote my first novel in that quarter and worked a lot on editing and proofreading my wife's as well. No wonder my lawn was so long the other day, apparently I spend all my time reading!

Here's the list:

– Spider Legs by Piers Anthony and Clifford Pickover

– Killer Heat (An Alex Cooper Novel) by Linda Fairstein

– Sea Change by James Powlik

– Pipsqueak by Brian M. Wiprud

– The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn by John Bellairs

– A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 1 - The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snickett

– A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 2 - The Reptile Room by Lemony Snickett

– The Woods by Harlan Coben

– Fresh Disasters by Stuart Woods

– Bad Boy Brawly Brown by Walter Mosley

– The Freakshow by Bryan Smith

– Higher Authority by Stephen White

– The Bancroft Strategy by Robert Ludlum

– Series of Unfortunate Events Book 3 - The Wide Window by Lemony Snickett

– Bullet Blues by Bob Burton

– Manhattan Is My Beat by Jeffery Deaver

– Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick
– Beach Road by James Patterson & Peter De Jonge

– The Dark Secret Of Weatherend By John Bellairs

– A Series Of Unfortunate Events Book 4 – The Miserable Mill By Lemony Snicket

– Gun Shy By Ben Rehder

– The Last Oracle By James Rollins

– The Bell, The Book and The Spellbinder By Brad Strickland

– Shockwave By Clive Cussler

– Unspeakable By Sandra Brown

– Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man By Wendelin Van Draanen

– The Book Of Lies By Brad Meltzer

– A Series Of Unfortunate Events Book 6 - The Austere Academy By Lemony Snickett

– The Beasts Of Clawstone Castle By Eva Ibbotson

– Shadow Of Power By Steve Martini

– The Mansion In The Mist By John Bellairs The Attorney By Steve Martini

– Silent Prey By John Sanford

– Dark Harbor By David Hosp

– Sea Legs By Alex Shearer

– The Spell Of The Sorcerer's Skull By John Bellairs
– Flipping Out By Marshall Karp

Some great books here and some not so great. The Series of Unfortunate Events continues to underwhelm seriously, my Bellairs obsession continues unabated, I found a few new authors that I enjoyed, like Steve Martini and David Hosp. The always stupendous Marshall Karp came out with a new one, which is currently fighting with Bad Boy Brawly Brown as my favorite book of the year so far.

On a separate note, my manuscript was officially delivered to the offices of Random House in New York. Someday soon someone that isn't family or close friends may be deciding whether I can write... Crap.

Book Review - Son of Recent Reads

THE BELL, THE BOOK AND THE SPELLBINDER
By Brad Strickland

2001, 149 pages

This was the first book by Brad Strickland, who took over John Bellairs' characters after he died. I enjoyed it quite a lot, Strickland seemed to have a good grasp on the characters and locations, and the story was a typical over-the-top romp. Pretty Fun.

7/10

SHOCK WAVE
By Clive Cussler

1996, 567 pages

An international diamond company is using a revolutionary new mining procedure, in addition to slave labor to unearth massive amounts of of the hard stone, as part of an elaborate plan to destroy the diamond and gemstone industry and make the owner, Arthur Dorsett a very rich and powerful man. Unfortunately for him, his new technique is killing people and animals every time it's used and Dirk Pitt gets wind of it. Better watch out, Dorsett, cause we all know Dirk Pitt and Co. never fail.

Shock Wave was a typical Cussler book, that is, fun, kind of silly and exciting. He added himself into the story again for some annoying reason, but other than that, I liked it.

6/10

UNSPEAKABLE
By Sandra Brown

1998, 486 pages

Bleah. Overly dramatic and cheesy, I was very unimpressed with this book. Struggled to finish it.

2/10

SAMMY KEYES AND THE SKELETON MAN
By Wendelin Van Draanen

1998, 172 pages

How fun! A sassy, feisty little lady sleuth. Written from Sammy's POV and full of fun characters, I really enjoyed this book! Gonna have to find more of 'em, though the authors name is kind of difficult to remember...

8/10

THE BOOK OF LIES
By Brad Meltzer

2009, 464 pages

I dug this book. The ending seemed a little goofy, and I know some people had issues with the logic, but seriously, anyone that doesn't take a book with a conspiracy involving the creators of superman and the weapon that killed Abel with a grain of salt is far too stuffy.

7/10

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS BOOK 5 - THE AUSTERE ACADEMY
By Lemony Snickett

2000, 240 pages

Better than book 4, the Lowly Lumberjacks, or whatever, but still the kids foiling a transparent plot by Count Olaf. They did throw in a different set of orphans and started hinting a bit at a greater conspiracy, which would be nice. The overly aggressive and excessively strong-pinchered crabs annoy.

4/10

THE BEASTS OF CLAWSTONE CASTLE
By Eva Ibbotson

2007, 256 pages

Loved this kids book. A couple of kids recruit some ghosts to work in their castle, scaring tourists so that they can help their family support some rare white cattle that exist exclusively in their little field in England. It was a little simple, clearly focused more for a bit younger age than John Bellairs and the like, but a lot of fun. I dug that the kids just took for granted the existence of ghosts, and it was written with a very lighthearted and British style.

8/10

SHADOW OF POWER
By Steve Martini

2008, 464 pages

This was the first book I've read by Martini, a writer of legal thrillers. It seemed to flow pretty smoothly, and I liked the premise, though the later chapters got a little over the top with world reactions. Really to give much more of the plot than "Lawyer defends racist bellboy who may or may not have killed an author who just wrote an incendiary racially themed book" would give it away, but I thought the story was pretty engrossing and satisfactory.

7/10

Book Review - Quick Reviews of Recent Reads

Unfortunately, I've been kind of lax at the updating lately, between replacing the hot water heater, helping my brother move, trying to get some art and writing done and heading back to work, things seem to have gotten away from me. To help get things back up to speed, here's some super short reviews of my recent reads.

The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn
by John Bellairs
1978, 181 pages

John Bellairs was always one of my absolute favorite writers growing up, and this book is one of my faves amongst them. The book I read was my original copy from when I was a kid, and I enjoyed it every bit as much now. He has a knack for telling a great mystery with realistic characters. I always wanted to be a person in his stories. Highly Recommended!

10/10

Series of Unfortunate Events Book 1 - The Bad Beginning
by Lemony Snickett
1999, 162 pages

I've decided that I would try to write a young adult mystery novel recently, and to that end figured I should read some recent books as well as revisit some of my old favorites, so Lemony Snickett seemed a natural choice. The first book was a lot of fun, told with just the right amount of sarcasm and fun, the black humor plays really well in it.

7/10

Series of Unfortunate Events Book 2 - The Reptile Room
by Lemony Snickett
1999, 190 pages

The second Lemony Snickett didn't play as well, it seemed incredibly short, the bulk of the book seems to take place in less than a day of time, and events seem to happen far to quickly. Still a fun read, but it seems more like the chapter of a book, rather than a full installment.

4/10

The Woods
by Harlan Coben
2007, 416 pages

Most certainly NOT a kids book, the story of a lawyers search for his missing sister and the mystery of what really happened in a horrible event at summer camp years ago. Gripping and great. While I saw the ending coming, it was still very well told.

7/10

Fresh Disasters
by Stuart Woods
2007, 352 pages

A hardboiled novel about a libidinous litigator and his outlandish acquaintances. A little short seeming, but fun as hell to read!

8/10


Bad Boy Brawly Brown
by Walter Mosley
2008, 320 pages

One of my absolute favorite books to read in a LONG time. The story of Easy Rawlins, a black man in 1964 L.A. doing a few "Favors" for people, that gets caught up in a world of murder, cults and conspiracies. I love the character, loved the writing even more. Mosley is now one of my top 10 crime authors, and the photo on the back fits my image of the author exactly. Very cool book.

9/10

Book Review - PIPSQUEAK by Brian M. Wiprud

Pipsqueak by Brian M. Wiprud
2004, 294 pages

Brian M. Wiprud is a crazy man. His stories are usually off the wall and crazy, but also a tremendous amount of fun, with complex stories weaving between his cast of insane characters.

Pipsqeak is the tale (Or Tail...) of Garth Carson, a man that makes his living renting taxidermied animals to various movies, advertising and pretty much whoever needs a stuffed lion named Fred. While trolling thrift stores for forgotten gems, he stumbles across a squirrel puppet from an old TV show, a robbery in progress, a murder and eventually cults, hair pomade, balls in the head of a rodent, a Russian hot dog stand and all sorts of wackiness. Pipsqueak is cool, funny and demented, and I loved the ride.

Wiprud writes in a style that makes you feel like you're sitting in the main character's living room as he regales you with his adventures of the last day, a way of writing that adds a lot of humor and character to the book, and it is immensely readable. I've rad one of his other books, and enjoyed it just as much, I look forward to reading Tailed, another one I picked up on our recent vacation.

9/10

Next - Bad Boy Brawly Brown by Walter Mosley

Book Review - HUNT WITH THE HOUNDS by Mignon G. Eberhart

Hunt With The Hounds by Mignon G. Eberhart
1950, 192 pages

What a treat this slim novel turned out to be! I've always been a fan of classic mystery novels, at least the design and covers, but I don't know that I've ever really read one. A couple of months ago, we stumbled across a few at the thrift store and falling in love with the covers, Hunt With The Hounds in particular, I snatched them up, determined to read them. I started Hunt that day, but only made it a page in before heading for something else. Turns out, detective novels were written a bit differently back in those days. Finally, last week, I dove back in, determined to read the whole book. It's a short one, only 192 pages, but the writing style is very different from modern novels. Take the first 3 paragraphs of the book:

There had been, as Ruby said later, no other kill that day. That was Wednesday, the ninth of October, an unseasonably cold and rainy day, the day of the Dobberly Meet, the day Ernestine was murdered. She was murdered about twilight with the shadows of fog and coming night blurring trees and shrubbery together in an amorphous mass that seemed to advance and watch and then retreat, like unwilling witnesses who would not come forward.

It had not been a good hunting day; a small grey fox had eventually given them a thirty-minute run and gone to earth on the far side of Hollow Hill; so Ruby had been characteristically literal and accurate.

The day Jed Baily's trial ended was much the same kind of day, except it was in the spring, in March. There was Red Bud and White Dogwood along the misty blue hills, and the meadows we vividly green; it was, however, again unseasonably cold and rainy. By chance it was again the day of the Dobberly Meet but probably in its many years of existence had that particular meet had so sparse a field. The trial took place at the Bedford county courthouse; it was a narrow, cramped white clapboard building with a clock tower.

Great stuff, but hard to read at first. I write with a lot of commas, often in inappropriate places, but this book put me to shame. It tells the story of a small but affluent Virginia community, scandalized by the murder of one of their own. Ernestine, the lovely wife of Jed Baily had been killed, shot in the back in her home. It opens with her circle of friends awaiting the verdict of the trial of her husband Jed, and with an innocent verdict, aided by the testimony of Ernestine's dear friend Sue, who was also in love with Jed, the focus of the investigation turns to the other members of the close knit circle of friends. My favorite part of the book was that you never really knew who did it. I changed my opinion a couple of times throughout, and you were never really sure whether the friends were telling the truth or covering for each other. There are love triangles, twisty fox chases, opulent mansions, bumbling police, more dead bodies pop up, and a lot happens in a book so short.

I loved the time frame this book takes place in, with it's old school automobiles, fox hunts, attitudes about love and marriages. There's also some sort of intangible thrill from holding an old book of this sort, a kind of trashy paperback time machine, that makes me imagine a far classier time, when people wore vests and hats, and getting shot in the conservatory was as natural a location for murder as the library, rather than an alley or office building. Mignon D Eberhart, the "Mistress Of Mystery" wrote 59 novels between 1929 and 1988, and at her peak, sold more than Agatha Christie. Should be fun to track more of her work down.

8/10

Next - Touched By The Gods by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Book Review - CHILLWATER COVE by Thomas Lakeman

Chillwater Cove by Thomas Lakeman
2007, 379 pages

It seems like there are 3 ways to write a book; Meticulously planned and plotted, with every twist and turn of the story anylized and thought out, Creating a story idea, a world and characters, and letting the writing dictate how the story ends, and creating a clear beginning and end and letting the middle tell itself. I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure Lakeman used the third method for writing Chillwater Cove. The beginning starts very strongly, with FBI Agent Peggy Weaver in the nitty gritty of a trafficking bust that goes suddenly and horribly awry, and in the aftermath, she stumbles across some pictures. Of her dear friend that was abducted and abused when they were children. This was a great way to lead into the story, and I was looking forward to what came from it. Unfortunately, once she returned home to Tennesee to talk to Samantha, her friend, about it, things start to meander pretty badly, and I lost interest quickly.

Her father is the sherrif of a small college town, still set in their racist and hateful ways, and he and Peggy have a troubled relationship that never quite rings true in the book, it always feels more like silly squabbling, rather than a deepset, long lasting problem. As Peggy investigates the nature of her friend's abduction, things get more complicated, throwing in Melungeons, dirty cops, racist spartan societies, conspiracies, land schemes, horse breeding and artificial women.... essentially, it gets muddled pretty quickly, and Lakeman seems to have trouble keeping some of this straight, there are plots that end too easily, others that drag on for too long, and some that never materialize when they should have.

However, just at the end, when you think everything should be wrapping up, yet you find yourself looking at the surprising number of pages still left, it gets good again, and the story takes on a faster pace and tighter plotting. It still seemed to leave a few plots dangling, and certain things seemed a little over the top, but Chillwater Cove manages to pull it out in the end, and becomes a pretty enjoyable book.

6/10

Now Reading - Hunt With The Hounds by Mignon G. Eberhart