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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 12, 2024 13:40:52 GMT -5
 Target Lancer by Max Allan Collins You knew it had to happen. With Nate Heller's penchant for getting involved in cases with possible conspiracies it was a forgone conclusion that he had to get to the JFK assassination. Rather than going to Dallas, Collins explores a little known incident in Chicago seemed to presage November 22, 1963. The plot, which was alleged by former Secret Security Agent Abraham Bolden (who is fictionalized in Collins' book) was that a four man assassination team was planning to assassinate JFK during a planned visit to Chicago on November 2, 1963. Collins deftly weaves the likes of Jimmy Hoffa, Johnny Roselli, Richard Caine and a whole lot more into a conspiracy to kill the president. That Collins had previously tied Heller in to the creation of Operation Mongoose just made it that much clearer that Heller was going to become involved in the Kennedy assassination. This was really a page-turner, easily one of the better books in the series. Collins absolutely nailed it by going with the earlier Chicago incident rather than having Heller in Dallas. Not the best in the series, but Collins pulls this one off when I really expected not to care for it. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 12, 2024 16:06:58 GMT -5
I’m just about finishing End of Days by Robert Gleason, which I bought for a buck at the Rotary book fair a few weeks ago.
What an odd book. It’s a struggle to go through, honestly, but I must give it several points for trying something a little different in the genre of nuclear war fiction. It’s very much on the trippy side, as if the writer wanted to make us think he was on drugs when he wrote it.
The book is very big (nearly 800 pages in this paperback edition) and three quarters of it could have been edited out. But wouldn’t that have damaged the very nature of the work? The plot doesn’t seem to be the crucial point here, and far less so than the unorthodox alternance between action scenes and long stream of consciousness digressions.
The world of 2011 is facing a great threat: Russia has not yet become the Putin autocracy it is today, and its loose nukes are easily obtained on the black market -or just by walking into an abandoned military compound. Russian officers can easily be bought. A trio of rich siblings from a make-believe Middle Eastern country (we wouldn’t want to offend real world people, right?) get their hands on a lot of boom-booms and engineer the end of the world. Russian subs reach most of the great coast cities in the world and start launching missiles. The trio also impersonates the Russian defence minister (whom they’ve previously murdered) thanks to deep fakes and goad the brand new American president (his predecessor and all the previous cabinet now being radioactive ash) to launch a counterattack, which he does.
All through this apocalypse, we are treated to pages and pages depicting the adventures of a rat escaping the sinking of a ship, escaping a laboratory, fleeing to the sewers, and pages and pages of nuclear missiles actually telling us of their personal feelings. The one headed for Graceland is actually a big Elvis fan, wouldn’t you believe it! Some missiles recite poetry, some sing, and there are a LOT of such weapons in need of sharing their thoughts.
Did I mention the visions of a blind singing nun called Cassandra? No? They're in there too. Plus the musings of an orbital A.I. Then it all goes Mad Max for a while, except that somehow phones, TV and planes still mostly work.
Plenty of unnecessary scenes of torture as well, which is entirely weird and kind of disturbing. The author seems to have something for cattle prods and copper wire around the gonads.
I went and took a look at comments on Amazon; the surplus of one-star reviews confirmed my opinion: it's not a crowd pleaser.
Ah, well… It was only a dollar.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 13, 2024 8:27:18 GMT -5
The Anubis GatesTim Powers, 1983  ( Also reviewed in brief upthread by MRP.) In 1802, an old sorcerer casts a spell near London to summon the powers of the god Anubis which – according to his master, yet another sorcerer who has been alive for millennia – will restore the glory of ancient Egypt, reclaiming from history the lands of the once glorious kingdom now languishing under foreign rulers (mostly recently French and British). However, the spell apparently goes awry and instead creates a series of ‘holes’ in the timestream backward and forward from that point. In the present (well, 1983), a dumpy, middle-aged English lit prof from southern California named Brendan Doyle is hired by an eccentric, dying rich guy named Darrow to hold a lecture on Samuel Taylor Coleridge in London. Once he gets there, he is told some wild story by Darrow that he has found portals in the timestream and that he and a bunch of other pretentious rich tossers are going back to 1810 to attend a lecture by the poet himself, and Doyle is needed to provide some expert guidance for the others – Doyle hardly believes any of it, until they are indeed all transported back in time and he meets Coleridge in the flesh, and then gets stranded, alone, in 1810. Over the next roughly 8 months, Doyle goes from one peril to another, all tinged with sorcery – not just due to the nefarious plots of the ancient Egyptian sorcerers, but also the cynical, ruthless designs of Darrow, who had more in mind than simple time-travel tourism. After initially getting his bearings in the world of professional beggars in the streets and sewers of London, Doyle ends up doing a little more time travel, to the preceding century and back, then to Egypt and back, during which time he learns much about the deeper background of many historical events of the time and how all of his (mis)adventures are connected to a rather obscure early 19th century English poet named William Ashbless. Ultimately he will literally never be the same man again… Like everything I’ve read by Powers, this is a very densely-plotted story, making it difficult to summarize. However, I can say that I think it’s the book by Powers that I liked the most – even though it, like the others, had some aspects I found a bit questionable (story details that were not necessarily plot holes, but didn’t make too much sense or strained the suspension of disbelief – can’t say any more without spoiling the hell out of it, though). Powers is one of those guys I always mean to try and have never gotten around to reading. Wanted to get through Anubis Gates before addressing this comment; I’ve now read five of Powers’ books (four of which I’ve now reviewed in this thread), and generally I’ve liked but not loved them, which I think I’ve made clear in my reviews. Even so, they are mostly enjoyable, esp. those that read like really good blends of historical fiction and fantasy, and you can’t help but be impressed with the amount of research Powers must do to put them together.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 16, 2024 0:32:46 GMT -5
Man of War
Alexander Kent
One might think it a bit strange to read a book that is #26 of a series at random, but some times that happens when you get random stuff at library book sales. There's a method to my weirdness though.
Naval fiction has a certain flow to it, so it's not like one it totally lost, and you can get the feel of the style of the author still, to see if the series might be good.
Sure, the character bits probably would have been more impactful if one had read the previous books with the characters.. it seems this certain is almost generational, going back 30+ years to the first one with Sir Richard (this is apparently the 3rd book with his nephew Adam, who is the central character).
I few of the mentions of previous adventures (surely contained in the previous books) were a bit silly, but most sounded pretty good.
The 1st half of the book was all about the ship that had clearly been used in at least a few previous adventures getting put out to pasture and Adam awating (and of course getting) a new assignment, so that part definitely was not great as a reader with no rooting interest in any of the people.
The upside is the author spent alot of time with historical analysis... talking about then end of the great age of naval battles and its impact on England... and its not often you get a look at England's attempt to fight the slave trade.
I'll definitely pick up others in the series if I come across them.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 18, 2024 11:09:46 GMT -5
 Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen
My third book by Hiaasen (and the third he wrote) and, I'll be honest, if this one hadn't grabbed me I was tempted to give up on him. But this one definitely grabbed me...so I'll keep him in the rotation. Mick Stranahan is an ex investigator for the States Attorney who was put out to pasture after shooting a judge (usually a righteous kill). Now he just kind of hangs out in his stilt house and leads the life of a beach bum...that is until someone decides that he needs to die. Judicious use of a stuffed marlin saves the day and pulls Stranahan back in to an unsolved missing persons case. We get a very bad plastic surgeon (in more ways than one), an ex-Amish killer with a very bad skin condition and a weed whacker for a hand, a thinly veiled version of Geraldo Rivera who is just as annoying and just as incompetent and a whole lot of silly fun. I've noticed a number of people kvetching about the "number" of women that Stranahan sleeps with in the book. A.) it's a genre convention. You got to deal with that sort of thing. B.) It's two. Two women. And both of them actually make sense. So...just a dumb complaint. There are legit avenues to critique the book (I do think it's very good) but that ain't one of them. This is a fun book and it definitely shows growth by Hiaasen as a writer. |
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Post by berkley on Nov 18, 2024 11:45:57 GMT -5
Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen
My third book by Hiaasen (and the third he wrote) and, I'll be honest, if this one hadn't grabbed me I was tempted to give up on him. But this one definitely grabbed me...so I'll keep him in the rotation. Mick Stranahan is an ex investigator for the States Attorney who was put out to pasture after shooting a judge (usually a righteous kill). Now he just kind of hangs out in his stilt house and leads the life of a beach bum...that is until someone decides that he needs to die. Judicious use of a stuffed marlin saves the day and pulls Stranahan back in to an unsolved missing persons case. We get a very bad plastic surgeon (in more ways than one), an ex-Amish killer with a very bad skin condition and a weed whacker for a hand, a thinly veiled version of Geraldo Rivera who is just as annoying and just as incompetent and a whole lot of silly fun. I've noticed a number of people kvetching about the "number" of women that Stranahan sleeps with in the book. A.) it's a genre convention. You got to deal with that sort of thing. B.) It's two. Two women. And both of them actually make sense. So...just a dumb complaint. There are legit avenues to critique the book (I do think it's very good) but that ain't one of them. This is a fun book and it definitely shows growth by Hiaasen as a writer.
Were the other two you read from earlier in his career than this one? If so, maybe I'll skip his first few whenever I get around to trying Hiassen.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 18, 2024 21:01:46 GMT -5
Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen
My third book by Hiaasen (and the third he wrote) and, I'll be honest, if this one hadn't grabbed me I was tempted to give up on him. But this one definitely grabbed me...so I'll keep him in the rotation. Mick Stranahan is an ex investigator for the States Attorney who was put out to pasture after shooting a judge (usually a righteous kill). Now he just kind of hangs out in his stilt house and leads the life of a beach bum...that is until someone decides that he needs to die. Judicious use of a stuffed marlin saves the day and pulls Stranahan back in to an unsolved missing persons case. We get a very bad plastic surgeon (in more ways than one), an ex-Amish killer with a very bad skin condition and a weed whacker for a hand, a thinly veiled version of Geraldo Rivera who is just as annoying and just as incompetent and a whole lot of silly fun. I've noticed a number of people kvetching about the "number" of women that Stranahan sleeps with in the book. A.) it's a genre convention. You got to deal with that sort of thing. B.) It's two. Two women. And both of them actually make sense. So...just a dumb complaint. There are legit avenues to critique the book (I do think it's very good) but that ain't one of them. This is a fun book and it definitely shows growth by Hiaasen as a writer.
Were the other two you read from earlier in his career than this one? If so, maybe I'll skip his first few whenever I get around to trying Hiassen.
Yeah. I’ve read his first three novels, this being the third. The other two weren’t actively bad, just kind of meh with some definitely problems. This one was pretty enjoyable. Probably a bit too long, but quite good. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 19, 2024 9:16:40 GMT -5
The Black PagesNnedi Okorafor, 2021  During their rampage in Timbouctou, Mali, al Qaeda forces burn down a library, and when one particular very ancient book catches fire it frees Faro, who assumes the appearance of woman draped in blue beads but who is something much more. Amidst the blaze, she sees a plain, unmarked black book that’s seemingly impervious to the flames, and she picks it up and flies out of the library. On that same day, Issaka, a grad student living the US, arrives in town to visit his family. When he finally makes his way home, he learns that his father and uncles have spirited away most of the actual valuable manuscripts from the library and hid them in his childhood bedroom. And then the next morning he wakes up and briefly sees a woman in blue beads sitting cross-legged on the floor who then disappears when he blinks his eyes. Not knowing what to make of it all, he starts rummaging through his backpack and finds a mysterious black book, with entirely black pages. Meanwhile, an odd icon that looks like a blue bead appears on his iPad screen. Over next few days, Issaka’s life gets turned completely upside down and enters a new phase that will, with Faro’s help, put him in touch with his ancestral past. Another outstanding piece by Okorafor, which is only available on Amazon as an ebook. It's number 2 in a series of short stories called ‘Black Stars’ that features works by several notable Black authors. (I recently learned that I still have some gift card cash so I spent it on a few ebooks – the only thing I can afford to buy from Amazon in the US.)
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 20, 2024 9:22:53 GMT -5
Just Out of Jupiter’s ReachNnedi Okorafor, 2023  Another recent e-book purchase from Amazon (previous one reviewed just above). This one focuses on a space traveler named Tornado Onwubiko, a woman originally from Nigeria, who is only one of seven humans found genetically compatible to bond with a new type of living space vessel. All seven of them are on a ten-year mission to explore the solar system and beyond, and the only time they are allowed to actuallymeet is five years into the mission, when their vessels meet and connect with each other just in orbit around Jupiter – and this book focuses on that week-long visit. This one is pretty amazing – Okorafor tells a novel’s worth of story in about 30 pages. Also interesting that she revisits the idea of living spaceships, something she also featured in her short novel Binti and its sequels. Edited to add: again, the like one I reviewed just above, this is part of a series, called The Far Reaches, to which several notable SF authors have contributed (including, besides Okorafor, Ann Leckie and John Scalzi). By the way, I’d highly recommend going to the ‘online fiction’ section of Okorafor’s website, as there are a number of stories there available for free.
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Post by DubipR on Nov 20, 2024 10:13:09 GMT -5
Tales of the Thieftaker by D.B Jackson  I'm a big fan of the D.B Jackson's Thieftaker series. The series is historical fiction thriller filled with magic and political espionage. In Pre-American Revolution Boston, the life of Ethan Kaille as a thieftaker who makes his living solving crimes with a help of the use of magic gets thrusted into the political world and the things to come in American history. What makes Jackson's series so good is how detailed his knowledge of Boston's streets of 1765 are. From the dirt of the cobblestones to the people living and working from the docks to the government are fantastically weaved into a great world. Kaille as the antagonist has a great background and his life makes for personal demons and political sides comes into play. The Tales of the Thieftaker were the short stories Jackson wrote online on his website for sale, collected into one book. The highlight is the novella "The Ruby Blade" which such a great paced read about a big piece of Kaille's Thieftaker series. If you like historical fiction, I do recommend picking up this series. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 20, 2024 15:32:37 GMT -5
 The Moving Target by Ross MacDonald Strangely enough I've never read a Lew Archer novel. I did read a collection of short stories about Archer probably ten years ago, but I have only the vaguest memory of even reading it. Yeah, I'm a bad hardboiled detective fan, because he's supposed be the heir to the Continental Op, Spade and Marlowe. I'm also aware that the general consensus is that the series doesn't really kick in to high gear until The Galton Case. But, for me, that is not the way. Lew Archer is an L.A. P.I. Former cop who is now private and doing a lot of divorce work (as P.I.'s are wont to do). This time, however, he's called to a small town on the coast to find a missing millionaire. Of course the millionaire has a much younger wife who doesn't really love him, a confused daughter, and a number of unsavory known associates. This has all the hallmarks of a snatch job and one of the things that Archer needs to do is keep incompetent small town cops from messing things up. Honestly, this is an okay start. It's not special, but there's a lot to like here. The mystery isn't really all that mysterious. In some ways there's almost the feel of a procedural here. MacDonald's prose is nowhere near on the level of Chandler or even Hammett...at least not at this point. But what's really interesting is that Archer is an observer of both humans and their situation. My gut tells me we aren't going to delve in to Archer as a character as much as we are going to see his views of those with whom he interacts...along with a fair bit of insight in to what made post-war America and particularly Southern California tick. This isn't a great mystery. It's a good, but not great novel. But it absolutely hints that there are potentially great things to come. And that journey can be as compelling as jumping headlong in to the best stuff. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 21, 2024 12:10:27 GMT -5
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Nov 21, 2024 17:23:09 GMT -5
I adore the Toth trilogy, but this third book on animation is my favorite of the bunch. Just a pure treat.
-M
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 23, 2024 17:16:24 GMT -5
Naturalist Society
Carrie Vaughn
I got this as a free kindle download as with a 'first reads' promotion, which I had for a couple long trips in the dark to sporting events for my daughters... it seems like it could be a pretty unique book.
As it turns out, the fantasy part really took a back seat to the discussions of women's role in society at the time (which was interesting) and the weird love triangle (which was not).
The concept of learning about nature to use its power is very cool.. but the author clearly isn't sure how that should work, and while figuring it out IS part of the book, its just too random. Like, one character can stop time... where do you get that from? And some of it is goofy, like thinking of a red bird lets you set things on fire.
If you take the 'arcane taxonomy' part at face value, its a pretty fun historical fiction set in the 1880s when people were racing to discover each last bit of our world.
I could potentially read a future book, depending on what direction the story goes (Since the love triangle was mostly settled the parts I was more interested in my be more important.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 25, 2024 6:20:21 GMT -5
FledglingOctavia Butler, 2005  Wow, I stayed up late last night just to finish this, and my head is still swimming from all of the impressions and themes explored here in one way or another. Fledgling is Butler’s take on vampires, which she gives her own twist, mainly in that she places them squarely in the realm of SF rather than fantasy or horror (although some may see the implications of certain aspects of her vision as horrifying). Here, the vampires, who call themselves the Ina, are a separate species who have lived alongside humans for millennia. Their origins are murky, with some of them speculating that they may even have extraterrestrial origins. Also, while they pretty much exclusively feed on human blood (they eat raw meat only when they have to heal from a severe injury), they never drain them completely, and in fact bond with humans, who they call symbionts and who live with them in something of a mutually beneficial arrangement. (The vampire saliva has some kind of chemical in it which makes humans take pleasure in their feeding and also makes them emotionally and physically/sexually attracted to them). All of this is told through the prism of the story of the main character, Shori, who at the start is alone, naked and severely injured (near death) and has complete amnesia. Her body quickly heals, because she initially kills and eats a few (mostly) animals, and when she is seen shambling on the side of the road wearing some charred clothing she’d found in a burnt-out abandoned house by a young construction worker, she instinctively turns him into a symbiont. After that, she also starts to piece together what happened to her (but she never regains her memories of her former life). And although she has the appearance of a roughly 10-year old Black girl, we later learn that – while still a child in vampire terms – she is over 50 years old. It’s then further revealed that she is the product of genetic experimentation to mix human DNA into the vampire line, which has everything to do with what happened to her. I could go on and on about this; it’s a wonderfully well-written novel that has you flipping the pages, and, as I indicated, it gives you so much to think about. Also, there are some aspects that make you really uncomfortable, something deliberate on Butler’s part (one of these is the fact that Shori, like all of the Ina, has sexual relationships with her symbionts, which is pretty unsettling when you know she looks like a pre-adolescent girl). Otherwise, Butler was apparently writing a follow-up to this one, but this never came about due to her untimely death in 2006.
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