13. & 14. Dance of Death; The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Disclaimer: This review covers the second and third installments of the "Diogenes Trilogy," and as such, I will talk about how book one, Brimstone, ended.

Avast, ye reader. Beyond, thar be (slight) spoilers.

When we last saw our intrepid special agent, Aloysius Pendergast, he was dead (to the world at large) after being buried/bricked-in alive. We the readers knew he had survived, and for a fell purpose. His brother, Diogenes, a madman (make sure to make the mustache-twirling motion), had special, sinister plans for him. In fact, it was So ended Brimstone.

With that volume's infernal mystery wrapped up, and the supernatural wholly discounted, it's time to switch gears to the largely unrelated two-part Diogenese story. Seriously, starting the second book several years after I read the first, I could not help but wonder how they got away with considering this a trilogy. I guess it's because it isn't, in fact, but more a standalone book that ends with a loose prologue for the duology that follows.

Dance of Death keeps our cast of characters largely in tact, especially after the miraculous and totally not unanticipated return of Pendergast, while adding a few familiar faces in from previous Preston/Child joints. Lt. D'Agosta and Pendergast ward Constance carry the A-story, stopping Pendergast's villainous brother Diogenes before he can enact his nefarious plan (again, twirl that invisible mustache). It's all very high-stakes. We have a few B-stories, dealing with reporter Smithback, returning curator Margot Green, Laura Hayward and Nora Kelly (from Thunderhead; I had to look her up when it became obvious that she had a published backstory).

To go into the minutiae of the these side jaunts doesn't really matter too much, and, to tell the truth, this volume showed itself as only part of a story. Yes, I read it at a decent clip and it made me snag the next and closing installment of the story from the shelf right after I finished...but that was the plan anyway - to read these back-to-back. It piqued my interest enough to continue, and did end on a humdinger of a cliffhanger...

...the fallout of which made for a spectacular final installment (in the sense that it was an amazing spectacle, and a generally satisfying box of requisite twists and plot inversions). The Book of the Dead made it all interesting again, and the true nature of Diogenes' plot, involving the Museum of Natural History, was pulpy goodness. Curse of the Tomb! I love a good Egyptian exhibit even without threats from beyond. We are also treated to cataclysmic climaxes of the two major storylines (and a mid-story feat by Pendergast that we never doubted he could pull off).

Pendergast, somewhat tied up and off the playing field for part of this book, nonetheless is felt on every page. Earlier Preston/Child Pendergast thrillers gave us a unique protagonist, but this sequence of books delivered by slapping some meat on the good agent's thin motivations and backstory. You can have a cool-for-the-sake-of-cool character as a one-off, but it's hard to push through with a series when you don't answer all the questions - and add more to boot.

This is a closing chapter on part of Pendergast's life. His career and adventures continue (in...five books since then? Something like that), but he's no longer the cipher first presented in The Relic, or just another Sherlock Holmes pastiche, this time with some Southern Gothic for flair.

You'll notice I haven't mentioned much about the plots. Here's what the jacket said about Dance of Death:

Two brothers.
One a top FBI agent.
The other a brilliant, twisted criminal.
An undying hatred between them.
Now, a perfect crime.
And the ultimate challenge:
Stop me if you can...

That's the story of both books, in a nutshell. The mechanics, the puzzle box mysteries, side stories that provide small tidbits that illuminate the dramatic portion of the plot at that exact right moment - you've read these book before, seen these movies. It's formulaic, but not in a bad way. These two writers have something special going on, and though they padded this above "ultimate challenge" enough to make it two books, I can't fault them on their command and craft.

Dance of Death - 3.5/5
The Book of the Dead - 4/5

Overall "Diogenes" Trilogy - let's just say "recommended" for mystery/suspense fans and "required" for Preston/Child groupies

-EMH

12. The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke

Another day, another dead prostitute. This will be the third dead hooker book in a row. Not the trend I was going for.

My father-in-law, long a reader of James Lee Burke and detective books in general, praised the Dave Robicheaux series as a benchmark for the genre. With a gothic setting (Louisiana, a character on its own with a Southern culture distinct from the rest of the Deep South) and "real," flawed characters caught up in complex stories, to paraphrase, I was sure to love them.

I forget where I picked up The Neon Rain, first in a series, though I'm inclined to think my in-laws gave it as a gift a few Christmases ago. It would fit, and I had shown interest. Let me start off by saying I can see the attraction, but it took me some time to get into it. Taken as a whole, the novel is littered with strong dialogue and controlled plotting, an accomplished entry to the field.

Robicheaux is a New Orleans cop, a bit of a maverick, a recovering alcoholic, better than most at his job and like a scent hound when he gets on the trail. Of course his investigation of the dead young woman's death (not what it seems, he tells the close-minded sheriff) lands him in someone's crosshairs, and is just the start of his tumble down the rabbit hole. Bayou drug lords, gun running, Feds with dark agendas, cops - both rural and urban - with ulterior motives, a good looking social worker out to change the world (and maybe...one man's heart?): Burke takes his detective through a twisting, frustrating path on his way to justice.

Published in 1987, The Neon Rain would have felt very timely, what with its arms smugglers at the center of the plot. And there's a healthy distrust of the government (and authority in general, as they cover-up the dead girl's murder as suicide/overdose and...more than that would start giving away the wending plot). The story moves around various unsavories, including government officials, contains more than one sharply-written kidnapping, and soaks us in the violence and corruption Robicheaux sees in the world (in a good way).

Common to a lot of detectives and PIs, Robicheaux is a broken man, to varying degrees, and the love of a good woman will go a long way to mending him. So, par for the course, there is a romantic subplot, but it adds a good flavor and helps alleviate what could be a depressing story start to finish without this little ray of sunshine. Was it all entirely believable? Your mileage will vary.

Though this is the first Robicheaux novel, it's not Burke's first rodeo. His style is, to quote about every review out there, "evocative." That's the defining adjective. Rich, colorful, confident and engaging also work. Speaking to the last - and as I said above - it took a bit for me to really invest in this world. You'll fall into his vision of NOLA, but his language (which can get a little purply) was a slight hurdle for this reader*.

So did I like it? Well, I did buy the next two books.

3.75/5

-EMH

*I think that's partially on me for reading two detective novels prior this with a very different prose style. Connelly is a bit starker in his description, befitting the difference of LA cop mystery vs. New Orleans gothic. Not that I want all books in a genre to read identically; I entered this read with different expectations. Still, the man EVOKES with only slightly more restraint than an 80s hair rocker getting dressed.

10. & 11. The Concrete Blonde; The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly

Our good friend, Adam Shreve, swears by Connelly. While he's read many, he also listens to the audiobooks while driving, puttering, pretending to work. There's something to say about an author who reads as well as he is heard. Connelly is harder-boiled than a lot of his police procedural/bestselling crime fiction peers, but his prose is still clear.

The Concrete Blonde is the third in the "Harry Bosch" detective series, and at the time I read it I considered it the best. The story was well-paced and -drawn, mixing the normal detective work established in the two "Black" books with some courtroom drama. It was a welcome change of pace. In short, we Harry gets a tip on a serial killer, "The Dollmaker," confronts the man and shoots him dead when it looks like he's pulling a gun. Forensics match some of the victims, not all, and his widow sues for the unjustified, "cowboy" shooting. During the trial, another victim surfaces (a blond buried in concrete). Detecting and drama ensue. A new longer term antagonist is introduced (I think; haven't read that book). There are some great action scenes, a nice blind alley in the investigation and solid development of the supporting cast.

Behind all of this, we're getting a better sense of "Harry Bosch" at the same time Connelly is. The Dollmaker case was  mentioned back at the series' beginning, and I remember looking forward to finding out the whole story before I'd even finished The Black Echo. I'm happy to report I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I liked this book so much, I went right back to my shelf and pulled out the next installment (this is the benefit of buying authors in bulk, once you know you like them).


Regretfully, I was not as caught up in the search for Bosch's mother's killer. The Last Coyote, a reference to Bosch as part of a fading breed of cop, finds the detective on administrative leave, undergoing psych evaluation. In his off time, he decides to really throw himself into finding out more about his mother's killer. She was a prostitute, and the case was left unsolved, but why would that stop Harry Bosch?

Technically, this is a fine novel. The story is labyrinthine, as befitting a pulp detective novel, but I just didn't connect with it. His construction, as with before, is still strong; no one can argue - at this stage of his career - that he isn't a gifted wordsmith. And yet...I thought he twisted a few too many times just for the sake of a twist. And that could be because I came off a really good, LA-centric cop book. The two, read back-to-back, don't gel quite how I wanted them to. Could that be my fault? Eh.

The book winds through the old case, an old gangster, politicians and tycoons in a way that seems - from this point in time - a little rehashed. The cops are corrupt, the prostitutes have hearts of gold and a little boy (young Bosch) is made to suffer in the dark for decades. Okay, but I just wasn't a fan of the road the story took or the turn-offs it took. It's not bad, per se, but just wasn't the resolution to the "mother's murder" backstory I thought would make dramatic sense. Compared to other writers' comparable works, it's good, but Connelly set his own bar high and this came up lacking.


The Concrete Blonde - third in the Bosch series, and the strongest to that point. 4.5/5
The Last Coyote -  fourth, and a bit of a misstep. 2.5/5


-EMH

9. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

BONESHAKER
By Cherie Priest

Steampunk is one of the current "it" sub-genres of Sci-Fi (or western or fantasy or - honestly, it's either the nexus for every genre or deserves to be elevated a little), much like vampire or zombie fiction have broken out of Horror. In each case, we've moved past the novelty phase and are threatened with over-saturation.

In BONESHAKER, why, we're treated to steampunk AND zombies...in an alternate history!

BONESHAKER is the first entry in Priest's Clockwork Century universe, currently five novels and growing. The background is simple: in an attempt to create a drilling machine to find gold, Seattle inventor Leviticus Blue assembled the massive "Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine." On its maiden test, the machine rampages through blocks of underground Seattle, damaging a great deal of real estate and opening some sort of "blight gas" pocket or deposit. This heavy gas kills whoever inhales it in modest amounts and then reanimates the corpses. After it is apparent the gas isn't stopping and the "rotter" epidemic isn't going away, the vast majority of residents flee the city and throw up a wall around it.

Nearly two decades later, Blue's widow Briar Wilkes discovers that her son, Zeke, has disappeared into the city to find clues to his father's work in an attempt to - just maybe - clean up his reputation. What follows is the adventure the two (separately) have, the former trying to get into the city and find her son, the latter trying to survive. Along the way, we meet the living and dead residents of the city, airship (dirigible) pirates, blight-distilling drug dealers, mercenaries, ne'er-do-wells and hear rumor of a brilliant inventor at the heart of the moribund city who may hold the answers.

Let's get the criticism out of the way. It's slow at times, the world-building inventive, but not pervasive, and the characters not nearly as sympathetic as Priest might want. Where the story runs down in between spurts of action or engrossing exposition, a reader might find their eyes glazing slightly. Not that this is indicative of a bad book, but with the background and sketch of a story that we read on the back cover, you wouldn't think to encounter these speed bumps.

That said, most of the book was a pleasure to read. I did not entirely care about all of the denizens of greater Seattle, but I was invested enough to want to see to their well-being. (I realize that's a backhanded compliment, but take more positive than negative from it.) Briar is a strong lead, not always likable  but very capable. In this somewhat fantastic environment, she makes sense and doesn't stretch incredulity.

I haven't read much in the "steampunk" genre, so I can't truly comment on how this one novel reflects the genre, but it does shine a light on Cherie Priest. What criticisms I have about the book aren't fatal flaws; this in an early book by the author, not her fifteenth. There are already several more "Clockwork Century" novels, pseudo-sequels, in your local bookstores, and reviews for those have been - at times - more positive than with BONESHAKER. The action, world-building potential and dynamic (enough) characters ensure that I'll be picking up at the least one of those follow-ups.

3.5/5

-Erik

8. The Fall (Strain Trilogy #2) by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan

THE FALL (Strain Trilogy #2)
By Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The thrill is gone! There. Review done.

(Ah, I joke. We all know I'm too long-winded.)

This is a "volume two," always a tricky part of a trilogy to work out. Some end up being fantastic (The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II), while others are a little more lackluster (The Two Towers [film moreso than book]*, Matrix Reloaded). When you know there's going to be a follow-up, as a writer or creator you cheat yourself out of penning a solid stand-alone piece, since you can leave whatever plot threads you want dangling for the concluding volume.

With The Godfather Part II, there was no thought to III filming in a year or two. Unfortunately, with THE FALL, part 3 is very much in mind.

For those just joining the story, here's a brief recap: THE STRAIN introduced a great set-up for movie-like slam-bang action and new(ish) take on vampirism. A plane lands at JFK under autopilot, and everyone on it is mysteriously dead. The CDC sends Ephraim Goodweather (someone had fun with the Baby Book of Names) to investigate. Across NYC, Abraham Setrakian, antiques dealer, knows something is afoot. Eldritch Palmer, megabucks CEO of the Stoneheart Group, steeples his sickly fingers and cackles at what he is unleashing. Enter: vampires.

Well, not exactly. The dead from the plane start to rise in truly gory, horror-movie fashion (more modern than classic) and thus begins the pandemic. And these infant vampires running loose aren't a bunch of True Blood human-esque vamps or emo-Twilight punks. They are creatures, with intelligence (hive mind, some individual control) with classic weaknesses to sunlight and silver, but no fangs. Instead, they have a whip-like stinger in place of their tongue that lashes out with a sticker of its own. Also, there IS a "head" vampire of legend, and it's this legend that drives Setrakian - the only truly rounded character.

You can imagine the novel doesn't end on the best of notes, but also not the worst.

The sequel or second part of the story begins right on its heels. The plot is basic: stop the vampires from spreading beyond the immediate NYC-commuter area. If you truly consider that sentence, you'll realize why there's a part 3. There are a series of stop-gap measures taking place, lots of action, a little romantic tension and the ever-present threat of these few vampires spreading out and becoming more than a deadly nuisance.

That's it. The first book had the investigation of the plane, the "mystery" of Setrakian and the vampire overlord, the appearance and physiology of the vampires, how they stalked their prey (Dear Ones, or ones they loved) and a terrific amount of tension. It was a disaster movie with vampires and science, a little cheesy and trite, but not so much to really deny it space on your shelf.

Chuck Hogan's previous work is unknown to me, though I hear as a mystery-action writer, he does a better-than-average job. Guillermo del Toro is the big name selling this, as we expect bizarre, fantastic creations every time he sets pen to paper. Worlds beyond ours come to life at his beck and call, right? I'm not a big fan of del Toro**, but bumps aside, he does present some interesting creations in these vampires and their mythology (as of this volume).

The more I read THE FALL, the more I realized this was one large book that they'd split up for profit. It's a vampire epic called THE STRAIN, and should not be more than one big volume. As has been said in other "official" reviews and by the few peers I know have read it, THE FALL doesn't have the same level of slow-boil tension as the first generation of vampires slowly seep back into society, corrupting as they go, that the first book have. Nor does it benefit from the same end-game (or, more accurately, it has the same end-game, but BIGGER LOUDER EXPLODIER, than before).

I would be far more forgiving of this story if it was the next set of chapters in THE STRAIN: A Vampire Epic. Trilogies are all the rage - multi-part stories, anyway, that are sold pre-plotted to the publisher with the promise of a lower investment for "x" times the backlist sales, volume number dependent. And author, or in this case authors, has an idea that's bigger than a normally marketed novel and cuts it up, pads it and makes a finite series. I believe I mentioned The Matrix previously.

But there comes a point when you (whether the "you" here is a writer, agent, editor or publisher) need to take a step back and think that maybe the public will love your story in one part! Hey, how about a thick $35 hardcover instead of three $28 ones; it's a monetary gift to your fans. You'll also feel better about what your turned out, as the pressure to produce three equal-sized volumes means you need words and story and plot and character to fill the dreaded empty pages.

THE FALL doesn't stand by itself at all. Nor is it a stellar second volume. If you take this trilogy as one book cut in three, it does a serviceable, but by no means admirable, job of moving the plot forward in a (melo)dramatic, action-packed way. But it irks me a little that these two solid writers obviously inflated a shorter outline to fit a certain multi-volume package. A lot rests on the concluding part of this epic***.

2.75/5

-Erik

*One must remember that TTT was originally just the middle chunk of The Lord of the Rings, though I think Peter Jackson tried to draw it out as a more individual story. That, to me, was a poor choice. It's the weakest overall of the films.

**I like Hellboy a lot, but the sequel was weak and barely plotted. Pan's Labyrinth was sharp, inventive and worth the praise, but his design sensibility felt rehashed from the Hellboy work. Blade II was a bust. Aaaaand what else has he really done of late? He ditched The Hobbit - a move I praise him for, as he would have moved the hobbits' eyes to their hands or made Golum a seven-foot tall, spindly creature so Doug Jones could bump Serkis to the curb - and everything else is coming up bust. Pacific Rim has promise, but it's just giant monsters vs. giant robots - with a huge budget. I wouldn't trust him with that, though I would give him some scratch to make At the Mountains of Madness - because there aren't any monsters to screw up. It's just tension and horror and ice.

***I read it recently. Review to follow. Ehhhh....

New & Upcoming Books (Oct. 2012)

Our shelves have far too many books at the moment to justify buying new books. But...

We've got a "shortlist" of potentially great books coming up in the 4th quarter of the year. Let us start with OCTOBER, to keep things brief.

Get your pens, open a tab to your Amazon Wish List, fiddle with your Nook or start memorizing:

 THE TWELVE (Book 2 in The Passage Trilogy)
by Justin Cronin
Oct. 16

Probably the biggest book hitting the shelves before year-end as far as I'm concerned. Cronin's first entry in this trilogy, THE PASSAGE, was a literary horror sci-fi epic post-apocalyptic wonderfest. Set on the near future and a hundred years hence, it followed the survivors of a nation (world?) wide "vampire" pandemic. I could drape this book in hyperbole and it would still deliver for whoever picks it up. THE TWELVE takes place in Year Zero of the outbreak and then (we hope) catches up to the "100 years present," where we were cruelly left with a cliffhanger. Cronin was known for mainstream or literary ("New York," as I've termed it) fiction prior, but he's chiseled his name into the annals of genre history with this series.

THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS
by David Wong
In Stores

In this sequel to JOHN DIES AT THE END (which is on my shelf, but unread. Our good friend Buck Spidero finished it recently and gave it a modest to positive review) -> zombies. That's about the size of it. Zombies. Early reviews are good for this horror-comedy, and based on what I've read of the original and a further (possibly spoilery) plot intro, it promises much entertainment.

And check out that cover! Whoever does his marketing is quite clever. I'm sure, had the previous installment been unknown to me, this would have grabbed my attention regardless on my next bookstore outing.

BACK TO BLOOD
By Tom Wolfe
Oct. 23

An expansive author, Wolfe here tackles Miami's tricky immigrant scene - as well as a raft of other "issues." Classic or dud? He doesn't seem to have much middle ground. For the literary crowd, or George W Bush (hey, he read I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS).

It's hard not to be skeptical of his ability to write the frothing cast laid out in the jacket copy (black, Haitian, white, Russian, youth, Ivy-league, crack-dealer, gang-bangers, concept artists, sex addicts). I remember that being a major source if criticism of I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS: how can he, old white man, write a vibrant college girl as lead character, plus her attendent peers, with any semblance of true understanding and empathy? Is it all research, as one reviewer said, with no soul?

THE RACKETEER
By John Grisham
Oct. 23

A judge is murdered and a jailed lawyer knows who did it. Mystery! Law! Murder! Grisham! I haven't ready many of his recent outings, but I know some of you love him.

DARKNESS RISING (The East Salem series)
By Lis Wiehl and Pete Nelson
In Stores

Chanced across this one on a mystery website that  now I can't find. Long/short, it picks up where its predecessor (WAKING HOURS) left off in the town of East Salem. The supernatural is making a disturbing appearance in our world, specifically behind the walls of St. Adrian's Academy. Our two sleuths (a forensic psychiatrist and ex-football star) "race" to uncover the growing mystery. Sounds simple, but I like a good supernatural mystery, and the first is averaging 4 stars out of 100 reviews - not too shabby.


We'll look at November and December books soon.

-Erik

7. Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem

My paperback's cover

AMNESIA MOON
By Jonathan Lethem

Whew! So that happened.

Lethem is a favorite author of mine. His creativity is always on display as he toys with sci-fi concepts and twines literary sensibilities to what, in other hands, would be just "clever" genre works. Instead, he writes classics in whatever genre he dabbles.

AMNESIA MOON is an early book of his, before he hit it big with the major critics (that would be Motherless Brooklyn, National Book Critics Circle Award winner, four years later). It came out after the trippy future-noir Gun, With Occasional Music, and was also a bit "out there," as the old fogies might say.

We are arriving on the scene after the apocalypse. Chaos, our protagonist  lives in an abandoned megaplex on the outskirts of town. The world has been ravaged by nuclear war, and food is hard to come by. Mutants are prevalent. A warlord by the name of Kellogg controls the food and surrounding area that was once Wyoming.

Or this is how it appears when Chaos first looks at it. How it's always been to him, but...has it? Every night he has the same dream, but further away from the town, he dreams his own Dream. And so does everybody else.

Original cover...or at least a better one

Reality is a plaything to Lethem, as Chaos leaves (along with a fur-covered "mutant" girl who just wants to get away) and discovers the nuclear war didn't happen and that everything is different just a little way down the highway, and beyond that and beyond.... There are snippets in the background, glimpses of something "before," but it's so difficult for him to grasp it. So he keeps on traveling.

What is "real" alters from community to community, and the mystery of why this is happening and how Chaos (or is it Everett Moon?) fits in drives this series of linked tales (as originally drafted; they work more/less seamlessly as a novel).What is apparent is that, at some point in the near-past, there was a global event, a cataclysmic event that also heralded what I will refer to as a meta-crisis (to borrow from the 10th Doctor), splintering the perception of reality, where Dreams can take root in the real world.

One version of  "what's happening" has everything covered in a green fog and vision a high commodity. Another is a reality-TV centered suburban dystopia. Yet one more features an alien invasion. And this is all in corridor between Wyoming and the coast.

It's probable you won't find a piece of apocalyptic lit quite like this.

4/5

-Erik

5. Almost President by Scott Farris

ALMOST PRESIDENT: The Men Who Lost the Race But Changed the Nation
By Scott Farris

I wanted to absolutely love this book, and I came away really enjoying it. Political history from the early 20th and 19th centuries has fascinated me for some time now, especially as people say, "Politics has never been this bitter, this ugly, this slanderous!"

Take a minute and read about ANY of the elections this country has had ever. I'd say our politics is red in tooth and claw, but we (mostly) stop short of actual violence. I digress.

This book is summed up neatly on its cover: a look at the presidential candidates who did not win, but nevertheless managed to alter the political and/or cultural landscape in some way. (He says it better.) We start with three-time loser Henry Clay, master statesman, and end with the odd trio of Gore, Kerry and McCain. In between are eight others of major note, and after the bulk of the book, Farris quickly bios the rest of the losers start to finish (those who lost and never won, as opposed to a Nixon, who lost in 1960 only to win eight years later).

Are you interested in knowing more about some of people who dramatically changed the course of the nation - without holding its highest office? Fan of history and elections? Politics? Biography? This is a stand-out book, truly. But part of what you get out of it is influenced by what you bring in, to paraphrase Yoda.

Farris is a journalist and one-time "almost" politician himself, as well as a veteran of several political campaigns - Democrat campaigns. That isn't meant to sound dirty, by the by, but I do think it colors his view of these twelve lead politicians. As we have established (and you would know if you read The Political Hoedown), I lean to the right and so view some of these politicians and their impacts differently.

Most were enigmas to me going in. I've read a bit on 19th century US history, primarily anecdotal stuff as I've not had the fortitude to crack open the scholarly tomes dotting my shelves (What Hath God Wrought; Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men; The House; etc.). But I don't know too much about Henry Clay or Stephen Douglas. Likewise, William Jennings Bryan, Al Smith and Thomas Dewey are all just names (though the first I know through the version of him found in Inherit The Wind as well as his "Cross of Gold" speech which just picture! Just imagine seeing something that dramatic unfold with its 30+ minute tumultuous ovation, certainly alien in this generation). It isn't until Adlai Stevenson that these names start to bring a greater relevance to those of my generation. He's followed by Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Ross Perot and the trio of millennial candidates mentioned above.

Throughout the book, we are treated to what the politicians did that was perhaps more important or of greater impact than the normal presidential campaign loser. Henry Clay's stature kept the Civil War from breaking out earlier, Stephen Douglas provided the glue that held the Democratic Party together - in in favor of the Union - when the Civil War did break out, Al Smith was the first major ticket Catholic, Dewey and Stevenson brought intellectualism to the fore, &etc.

From what I know of US political history, his conclusions are fair and accurate. Though he is a self-identified Democrat, that's not a sticking point for his reporting and analysis - with perhaps one exception (and to conservatives, it's a biggee): Barry Goldwater, the arch-conservative (R) candidate in the 1964 campaign who lost in a landslide to LBJ. Farris is correct in the claim that he changed the ideological trajectory of the party from the "Rockefeller" moderate wing (heralded by Dewey, made manifest in Ike) to a more socially conservative/proto-libertarian angle.

Ronald Reagan is the beneficiary of that shift, but the rest of what Goldwater "did is specious, in that Farris assigns blame and a degree of shame on the man. Aside from ideology, due to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, many Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats) defected to vote for Goldwater. The prevailing thought is that these were all racist voters (well...majority? Super majority? Talk among yourselves) and that, now, the Republican Party was the party that embraced the "white" vote in its negative connotation. Eek. And it's put on Goldwater.

I'll give Farris the conservative shift, but not the "bigotry" angle. That was a rebellion against party, but not necessarily for Republicans, who voted in greater percentage majority for the Civil Rights Act than the Democrats (GOP opponents, like Goldwater, said you couldn't "legislate morality" or raised state's rights issues. The former has merit to this day, in that we can't tell someone how to feel about someone else, but it was a losing argument on such an issue - for good reason).

But I sort of digress. That chapter simply made raised my hackles some, as I dislike the racist association left-leaning authors and "thinkers" will place on Republicans (or non-Democrats).

The rest of the book was very solid and entertaining, if not always so deep. I hoped for a little more detail on some policy minutiae, but that's me. I think a section on those who attempted to get the party nomination but failed, through in-fighting, scandal or death, would have been a welcome addition. Many of them became major forces in US politics (Ted Kennedy, anyone?).

With an election upon us, this is a great book to read on either side. Should Romney lose to Obama, perhaps he'll end up in a future edition as one of millennials who lost but went on do greater things. I'm sure he'd prefer the alternative.

3.5/5

-Erik

4. A Knight of the Word; 6. Angel Fire East

A KNIGHT OF THE WORD

ANGEL FIRE EAST
By Terry Brooks

Books 2 & 3 of the WORD & VOID Trilogy


My introduction to Terry Brooks was the adaptation of The Phantom Menace (Star Wars Episode 1, for ye commoners), a serviceable work. Unlike many other fantasy fans, I did not pick up the Sword of Shannara series until recently, concerned with the many reviews that considered it derivative.

RUNNING WITH THE DEMON, first in the WORD & VOID trilogy, was then my first wholly original Brooksian outing. I didn't know at the time if it fed into a larger world or was just part of this particular trilogy. I remember buying it at the Kroger in Oxford, OH, interested in the cover and dark, urban fantasy premise. Was this another Neil Gaiman-esque read?

No. No no no.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed it enough to buy these sequels and finish the story, but it wasn't literature or a genre-straddling opus (American Gods was recently in my memory). The story introduces our two heroes, the improbably named Nest Freemark, a teen with inborn magic ability being raised by her loving, irascible grandparents; and John Ross, a mysterious traveler and "knight of the Word," cursed to dream a grim future every night that changes - usually darker - with his actions. Together, they battle a demon trying to start the world on the road to Armageddon in rural Illinois.

Fast forward five years, and we're now in the brief timeline of A KNIGHT OF THE WORD. Here, John Ross takes a far larger role, as he is sought by the evil forces of the Void. For John has forsaken his Word vows and taken up as a regular person, with a normal job and friends. No more the wanderer, seeing friends and innocents die while he does "the best he can" to avoid the future he sees in his dreams (specifically here he grapples with a school shooting that he tried but failed to prevent).

Nest is set to put him back on the right path, away from the growing temptation of the Void's human agent(s), so in time he can be on the battlefield against the darkness.

All very dramatic, but overwritten. Brooks is a solid writer, but no Tolkien or even Robert Jordan, who in his early books spun quite a few strong phrases. The action is largely predictable, the outcome rarely in question (it is just book 2) and the characters aside from our leads as thin as the pages you still find yourself eagerly flipping. That's a key part of Brooks' appeal; he can assemble a good plot. I rarely found myself truly bored, just a little disappointed that all aspects didn't live up to their potential.

Which brings us to ANGEL FIRE EAST, final volume in this trilogy, where the potential needs to pay off in a big way. We have demons coursing their way through the lives of these two struggling heroes, throwing obstacles and tragedy at them like confetti. And so it came to pass that ten years following John Ross' fall from grace a gypsy morph (? not a fan of the name, but hey) was born, a being of pure magic that could be a powerful weapon for either Word or Void in the grand overall battle.

Being so chosen by destiny, John finds the creature and has to figure out how to keep it alive long enough to choose a final form and allegiance. He turns to the only "good" friend he has, Nest Freemark. Back in Hopewell, IL, site of their original meeting, the two must now plan to prevent an ancient, terrifyingly strong demon and his minions from snatching or killing the morph.

Who lives? Who dies? I can say there's a surprising mix, and I was happily surprised (though frustrated nonetheless) at how Brooks chose to close out this story. Much of the book is this back and forth between the two camps, with some flashbacks for good measure, telling of the escalating conflict. Some decent magic, a few action scenes and a final page-flipping conclusion that could make an uninitiated Brooks fan wonder if there is more to the story.

Start to finish, I enjoyed the series. These two books provided a welcome distraction to a busy time in my life and literally flew by. Based on how much I enjoyed them, I'll probably pick up the (but of course!) continuation of the story, even if it takes place years hence, with different characters. The writing is decent, the few lead characters given plenty of opportunity and page-space for development and growth - even if some is for naught - the action sufficient for this sort of fantasy and it can stand out  on the racks as not the same as the next Jim Butcher or Neil Gaiman or Charles de Lint or etc. urban/dark fantasyist.

3.5/5 for each book, but the series overall is 4/5

-Erik

3. To Your Scattered Bodies Go

TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO
By Philip Jose Farmer

Winner of the Hugo Award! blares the strip across the top of the cover. For a sci-fi/fantasy fan, that's a big deal. It's essentially the Pulitzer or National Book Award for this wing of  "genre" lit. The category is very exclusive and includes some all-time great works: Dune, Starship Troopers, The Forever War, Neuromancer, A Fire Upon the Deep, American Gods, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. 

I have a bunch of them on my shelves, and it's how I chanced upon this novel.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go is the first book in the Riverworld (more later) series, published in 1971. This will sound awful, but I don't tend to look for "older" books* when there's so much great, creative, new work coming out with pleasing frequency. I do trust the genre award lists to act, at the very least, as a a guide to "good reading" or at least strong authors (not all of the award-winning books are the authors' best). When perusing the list, I happened upon this series and it made its way onto my "buy" list. And so five or six years ago, I picked up this book, and two of its sequels (on binges, I tend to buy authors in bulk. See Martha Grimes; I went from 0 -> 10 after one Friends of the Library sale).

The story is full of possibility: everyone who has ever lived wakes up, naked, within short distance of a massive river that appears to have no end. The nations, ethnicity, creeds, etc. are all mixed up. While their basic needs are seen to by mysterious "grailstones," they are left otherwise to their own devices. Our viewpoint character is famed British explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton, who finds himself together with a disparate group of lost souls (the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice, all grown up, Hermann Goering, a neanderthal, a sci-fi author, an alien and a few sporadic others) trying to make sense of what's going on. Queue adventure.

I won't say much more about the plot, save that Burton - ever the explorer - will not remain sedentary and seeks to find the source of the great river, a task for which he is uniquely suited. In his quest, he finds all variety of human civilization and temperament as he sails every on up the mighty river valley.

While the plot did meander at points, and the origins of the piece as two distinct - but linked - novellas is apparent in structure, it's an enjoyable yarn and light meditation on society. As it is part of a series of stories, the end isn't as final as you might want. But that's the fun the Riverworld saga. In future volumes, we will meet different (real world, [in]famous) travelers on the River, find out more of the origins of this alien place and see the various character strands wound together to a purported satisfying conclusion

The major flaw I found in the writing of this volume was a vagueness - not of plot or character, but with his description. There were some confused passages where the action, the point A to inexplicable point J, was not clear. Perhaps a future re-reading will show that I wasn't as attentive a reader as the book deserved.

Farmer died in 2009, but before then he wrote four sequel novels and several short stories; he even opened the universe to other authors in two anthologies. I haven't read anything beyond the back copy of the other books, but this first volume is enough to keep me interested in the others on the shelf.

3.75/5

-Erik

*Of the Hugos for best Novel since 2000, we have nine on our shelves, and a quick glance at upcoming reading reveals recent works by Stephenson, Grossman, Scalzi, Mieville, Sanderson, Brockmeier,  MM Smith, Stross, Abraham, Scholes, etc. Far more current than classic fiction. 

2. Airframe

AIRFRAME
by Michael Crichton

Who amongst us hasn't read a Michael Crichton book? I'd imagine that, next to Stephen King, there is no late 20th Century author whose work has been as widely absorbed as our late techno-thriller maestro, The Hon. Michael Crichton, M.D.

(To forestall the protest from the JK Rowling fans, I mean authors who have a varied oeuvre, as opposed to a series. If not George Lucas or Gene Rodenberry might trump everyone.)

ANYWAY.

This isn't one of his more well-known works. Its movie adaptation (or TV mini-series, depending on the source) has yet to materialize, due in part to the material. AIRFRAME is about a mid-air "incident" that results in the death of several people. The airline faces lawsuits, the manufacturer of the plane the same, there's a major deal in the balance and the media loves a crash and cover-up.

All of Crichton's books have a degree of technological detail and assumed knowledge thereof that many of their peers lack. It's not that other authors are bad, but Crichton was a smart man and researched. When he made stuff up, he had such a wealth of background material that he could make it sound real. Here, he doesn't need imagination. The details about airplanes, turbulence and aerodynamics are all very real - and that adds to both my enjoyment and others' boredom.

I found the investigation into what went wrong (and the side-plots of cover-ups and corporate shenanigans) fascinating, but that's because I don't know much about the mechanical operation of that beauty of engineering, the airplane! And in a way, that's the main character, not Norton aircraft quality assurance VP Casey Singleton, who heads the investigation. For the few weeks after reading this, were I asked, I might actually be able to explain lift in terms beyond the layman's.

This is a small story, in many respects. There is no big scientific leap taking center stage; the fate of the world, time/space or even any lives are not at stake. Instead, this is a real-life tech-mystery mixed with investigative journalism and a view of what some will do to close a deal. Casey has the unenviable job of finding what went wrong when there are no real indications of error. Did the pilot fall asleep? Was there a glitch that didn't get recorded in the plane's system? How about the parts -was something actually a Chinese knock-off added into the assembly without anyone's notice?

Frankly, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Others, again, were bored by the talk of wind sheer, ailerons, and elevators that don't carry people on cables. Unlike other Crichton, the chapters were short, the pace brisk. We got more/less right into the heart of the story and stayed with it for a speedy 350pp. The characters weren't drawn with Faulkner's sophistication, but existed as "more real" than anything you'd find in a James Patterson sizzler. A beach read...? Eh, remember that most get to the coasts via plane, and after reading about a near-crash, you may cash in your ticket for a train pass.

This is a perfect one for the snowy day with nothing to do. You'll polish it off in no time.

My enjoyment was high, the technological knowledge presented impeccable (though not futuristic or all-new), but compared to his other books it was a little light on substance, character development and some manner of thematic heft. To be fair, I need to knock off a half-star for that.

3.5/5

-Erik

1. From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain

 FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF DR. BRAIN

by Minister Faust


I love superheroes. Comics, movies, prose - whatever. I think it's terrific that the genre is seeing a revival of sorts outside of the traditional grid medium of comic books and in books and big-screen adaptations. While there aren't many of the former (and we all know the blockbuster status of the latter), I do my best to hunt down what's out there and give it a whirl.


Sometimes, I'm pleasantly surprised (DEVIL'S CAPE by Rob Rogers) by the attention paid to crafting a believable narrative around people flying, shooting beams from their fingertips or controlling marsupials with their minds.


This go-around, the result is a bit more scattershot.


The book itself isn't a traditional narrative. Though it has the "title" FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF DR. BRAIN, the book "in-universe" is actually Dr. Brain's bestselling "Unmasked! When Being A Superhero Can't Save You From Yourself: Self-Help Guide for Today's Hyper Hominids." As such, you get cutaways to Dr. Brain theorizing on the motivations, backgrounds and psychological afflictions of the "Fantastic Order of Justice" members featured in the book's main story.


And that main story, while not new to a comic book fan, is still fertile soil. The most powerful superhero in the world (Hawk King) has died, some argue under mysterious circumstances. The members of his team,  many in varying states of mental breakdowns now that they have both defeated all of the traditional villainous forces and have nothing to do, are all forced to turn to Dr. Eva Brain-Silverman for grief counseling and working through their team and interpersonal issues (for the supposed betterment of society). The key members of FOOJ, according to jacket-copy:

OMNIPOTENT MAN–a body with the density of steel, and a brain to match

THE FLYING SQUIRREL–aging playboy industrialist by day, avenging krypto-fascist by night

IRON LASS–mythology’s greatest warrior–but the world might be safer if she had a husband

X-MAN–formerly of the League of Angry Blackmen . . . but not formerly enough

THE BROTHERFLY–radioactively fly

POWER GRRRL–perpetually deciding between fighting crime or promoting her latest album, clothing line, or sex scandal




Most think it ludicrous, acting cold, indifferent or wildly offensive. All have a chance to address their issues over the course of the book, though I will stop short of saying whether any experience true "breakthroughs" other than the physical (as in, through a wall, ceiling, window, teammate, etc.). For me, I could be happy with a story based around these therapy sessions (without the textbook asides and reader exercises) and have Hawk King's death be just a catalyst, not a central plot point.



But that pychobabble is only part of the story. The other is the investigation by X-Man (a black superhero who posits some radical - and very true - theories on all of the other heroes; the author's voice) into the death of Hawk King and who benefits and loses. For those who have read Watchmen, envision a post-Black Panther activist crossed with Rorschach. His character arc, while not a perfect match, has a lot of the same touch-points. Of all the characters, he is given the best attention to detail, the most rounding. It's his story and worldview that ultimately drive the book, and much of the "therapy" really takes a backseat to peeling the layers away from his character and the mystery at the core of Hawk King's death. 



And many times, I took umbrage at the way Faust wrote the story because of X-Man's investigation, his reasoning, his cynicism. His main antagonist in the story isn't a villain or cosmic emperor; it's Flying Squirrel, the crotchety old man/golden age hero cross of Batman, Dick Cheney and a generic robber baron. Take the worst from all, mix, write. Faust takes pointed aim at US policy and culture through the bright red bulls-eye that is Flying Squirrel, pouring as much venom in as he hurls out at everyone he thinks is inferior to him (hint: that is a big group). He and X-Man are always at loggerheads about everything, usually with Squirrel parroting stereotypical right-wing hate speak at the free-thinking, eyes-open-to-the-REAL-world underdog hero that is X-Man.



(Those who know me are aware that my personal political beliefs run a little to the right of the middle lane, and it grates on my nerves when no thought is given to balance - or even a neutral presence - in representing modern ideologies. That goes for both sides, as writers who consider left-of-centers all tree-hugging, abortion-crazy, hippy, commie seditionists are as much to blame.)



When I read fiction or watch a movie, I try to absent personal political philosophy so I can enjoy the story. Largely, I was able to do that. For my gripes about the mixed style of the book (self-help Q & A, asides from the therapist, and Dr. Phil-logizing tossed with a superhero mystery), I can see and respect the plot, world-building and satire. What Faust overall has to say about society isn't all that far off the mark. Faust is known for writing about race relations, and whether you think there is a bit of hyperbole behind the allegories, he both knows his stuff and brings an awareness of deep-seated issues that mainstream "cape" stories ignore.



I don't mind seeing a Superman-type portrayed as a few IQ points above a tree stump or the other spandex types as jaded, vapid egoists who would rather kill their fellow heroes than think twice about "why" they did it. Each of the heroes he delves into or name-checks is creatively thought out, the situations that drive the plot very clever at times and the overall depiction of "real world" superheroes closer to the mark than many would like to consider. However, I would have appreciated a little more ideological balance. A viewpoint for the "common" man.



Maybe the problem there is Dr. Brain herself, who I still don't know if I like as a narrator, character or person. In a way, she may be the book's ultimate antagonist, as she can ideally "see" everything and what does she do with the knowledge? Perhaps Faust has written in a "common" man, a regular citizen who, like so many of us, sees the fire spark but fails to look for water until all that's left is a pile of cinders.

(Did I give away the ending? No. It all twists around. We know Dr. Brain survives, because she writes the book. Beyond that...who's to say? Enjoy.)



3/5


-Erik

Note: for those looking to read this book, and comic aficionados will want to at least hit up a library, Faust has retitled it "SHRINKING THE HEROES" for e-book (and prospective paper) release. The trade dress is changed (for the worse; stick with art over cheap photoshopping!) and it is listed first and foremost as a political satire of the Bush Administration, as opposed to "what do superheroes do when they've won? Have mid-flight crises." Neither is fully accurate. Were I to run across the new description, it would not have found a place on my shelf. I don't see the aim as Bush so much as those who find enemies to justify a dubious action (that is an historical political motive, and present day one as well) and failing to adequately analyze the roots of societal and political issues.

0. No Way to Treat a First Lady

NO WAY TO TREAT A FIRST LADY 

by Christopher Buckley

(I started this one in 2011, but finished it just after the New Year.)

Long/short: the first lady wakes up next to her dead husband, the philandering president of the US of A. All surface evidence points to her as the murderer, or her actions. Enter: lawyers, comedy, inept media & courtroom satire. Result? Hilarity.

Christopher Buckley has made a name for himself as a witty novelist, and many of you appreciate his wry stylings even if you aren't aware: the film Thank You For Smoking was based off of his book of the same name. It surpasses the film, as most "based on" books do, and was my first introduction to his sharp pen.

NO WAY TO TREAT A FIRST LADY (NWTTAFL?) is the third book I've read by Buckley and very obviously influenced by the Clintons' dynamic. Though the deceased president in question isn't exactly Bubba (he has a distinguished military career, more reminiscent of JFK), first lady Elizabeth MacMann is a slightly less ambitious version of dear Hillary. He sweeps her off her feet in law school (stealing her away from another lawyer-to-be, Boyce Baylor), they marry, but his pants don't drop just for her.

The book concerns itself with the investigation into the president's death (a subdural hematoma caused by a hurled spittoon, the hurler being Elizabeth) and the media frenzy surrounding the trial. Each trial chapter is an exercise in good comedy, be it slapstick, dumb humor or the crisp, dry barbs that we expect from a good PG Wodehouse (though sauced up a bit more, as this is America). Baylor is brought in to represent former lover Elizabeth, creating a winning dynamic in all of their chapters. Nick Naylor, protagonist of Thank You... returns here as a public relations guru for the fading starlet who fooled around with the president the night he died.

And of course you have a scheming Vice President-now-President, looking to smear Elizabeth in any way possible, a mainstream media more concerned with the degree of the first lady's guilt than if she even is guilty and an all-too gullible public. It's reality!

NWTTAFL is a quick read, less than 300pp, and a fun distraction from our current political shenanigans. You'll remember a time when the biggest hooplah was over a stain on a dress, as opposed to losing cases of guns, a guttering economic recovery or foreknowledge of a terrorist attack.

Knowledge of Washington, DC., politics or policy is not needed. We've all seen the news, suffered through media circuses over "trials of the century/millennium/epoch." And we can all use a good laugh.

4/5

-Erik 

Starting late...situation normal.

Welcome to the start of my book-blogging for 2012! What do you mean it's September? Obviously you don't run on "Erik" time.

Over the course of the next year [read: three months and change] you'll get the astonishing privilege of reading little reviews of and thoughts on the books that fly off of our myriad shelves to my waiting, eager hands.

No e-readers here, as I've made far too much of a financial commitment to paper to switch before the Rapture.

So what sort of nonsense and ballyhoo will I read this year? I don't know, maybe something by that irascible firebrand,  [insert controversial - and probably political - author here], the dystopian kid future thing with the killing and the angst, or perhaps that one book, you know, with the slapping and the moans that made you feel dirty to just see a woman reading on the train*?

Who can honestly tell? The future...is unwritten!**

Giddy up! Allons-y! Et cetera!


-Erik

*No. A thousand times no.
**Technically, this future has already happened and we're just visiting its wake. Sorry.