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- Almost Friends / Philip Gulley **** The lastest 'Harmony' novel and just as funny
as the previous ones. This series is similar (and better!) than Jan Karon's
'Mitford' series. Gulley is a Quaker minister who writes simply and sweetly and
has created a group of oddball "love 'em and hate 'em" characters of Harmony,
Indiana. Highly recommended.
- Southern Fried / Cathy Pickens *** This is kind of a southern version of Janey
Evonivich's Stephanie Plum series. Filled with off-beat southern 'good ole boys
and girls'.
- Dead and Gone / Manly Wade Wellman ** Read this for research of my NC
killers project. Published in 1954, this is a volume of murder stories from the
Tarheel state from the 1800s.
- You Don't Scare Me / John Farris *** Farris has written some of the most
interesting horror/ thriller/ suspense books of the past 30 years. His novel,
Sacrifice, is one of my all time favorites and The Fury was made into a typically
cheesy 1970s horror film. This new novel deals with the aftermath of rape and
murder and how one woman deals with the psychological (and paranormal)
baggage that followed her during the following decade. It explores an idea I
have always pondered: if a human commits suicide is that soul really dead, or is
it doomed to an eternal afterlife in some Netherworld?
- Devil In A Blue Dress / Walter Mosley *** Everybody raves about the 'Easy
Rawlins' mystery series so I decided to give them a try. Good, but I'm hoping the
series gets better. I'll try a couple more before making a final judgement.
- Please Don't Kill Mommy! / Fanny Weinstein & Ruth Schuman ** What an awful
title for a book. I read this as research for an upcoming true crime book about
North Carolina. Tim Boczkowski's first wife by died in a questionable bathtub
drowning ; four years later, his second wife drowned in their hot tub. A
coincidence? ... hardly.
- Nature Girl /Carl Hiaasen **** Another gem! I have read every Hiaasen book as
it was released (including his non-fiction) and the novels are as good as it gets.
How do you describe a Hiaasen novel to someone who has never read one?
Frantic comedic chaos is what they are about. Low-lifes, greedy fishermen, an
ex-governor who lives the life of a hermit in the swamp and prepares meals
from roadkill, Seminole Indians with an attitude .... All that and more! Read
them all!
- Iron Orchid / Stuart Woods ** At one time, I read every Stuart Woods novel as it
was published. He started off strong. His first novel, Chiefs, won the Edgar
Award for best novel in 1981. And the next few books were all well-written,
compelling literate mystery thrillers. But after Palindrome (my personal favorite)
came the first Stone Barrington novel and I quickly grew bored. And a new book
seemed to be coming out every 4 months,. However, I picked this novel up for
free and read it. Don't bother. Less compelling than an episode of any TV cop
show.
- Anne Bonny / Chloe Gartner *** First published in 1977, this is a fast-paced
historical romance novel that follows the life and career of the infamous
Charleston female pirate. Very fun and adheres very close to the historical
record, but with a dose of novelistic imagining.
- Of Saints and Shadows / Christopher Golden *** Good horror novel which
actually has some fresh ideas about vampires. First volume of a series called
The Shadow Saga.
- The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken / Terry Teachout ** An interesting bio of
the journalist and hater of middle-class America. Well-researched, but like
many public literary figures of the early 20th century, Mencken was NOT a
person you would want to hang out with.
- Secrets of the Freemasons / Michael Bradley *** An entertaining (if thin) history
of Freemasonry, including the rumors and the history. Pales in comparison to
Jim Marrs' Rule By Secrecy. Good, but not nearly enough. I will definitely be
reading some of the books listed in the bibliography. I found the Masonic / Jack
the Ripper connection quite fascinating.
- Reborn / F. Paul Wilson *** RE-READ. Volume one of a longer series of books
which is followed by Reprisal and Night World. The books follow the birth of
what many religious leaders in the world consider to be the 'AntiChrist'. Well-
written and thought provoking religious horror. Wilson is a practicing physician
and all his books are well-rooted in science and medicine. A thinking man's
Robin Cook who can actually write coherently.
- Wizard's First Rule / Terry Goodkind **** RE-READ. I read this when it was first
published in 1994 and enjoyed it. However, I stopped reading fantasy books
soon after that because I became bored with the genre. Recently, I decided to
start reading fantasy again and discovered that Goodkind had continued this
story into a series called "Sword of Truth" and now there are seven books. So, I
re-read the first book, and it was as good as I remembered. Now .... only six
more books to read.
- The Triumph of the Thriller: How Cops, Crooks and Cannibals Captured Popular
Fiction / Patrick Anderson *** Welcome to the real world of popular literature,
Mr. Anderson. Years ago I stopped reading book reviews in almost EVERY
publication due to the fact that most book reviewers are literary snobs who find
entertaining books "beneath" them. For years, I've known that Dean Koontz and
John D. MacDonald are every bit the good writer as is John Irving and Philip
Roth. This book makes Anderson's case that yes, crime fiction and horror and
other "mainstream" fiction can be equal to highbrow shit.
- Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA / Richard Hoagland & Mike Bara *** A
voluminous document of Hoagland's 30 year mission to hold NASA's feet to the
fire in relation to the truth of the Apollo moon missions and the controversial
"face on Mars". Why is the U.S. government now in such a rush to return to the
moon? What else did the astronauts return from the moon other than rocks? At
times, it is necessarily a tedious read due to the magnitude of technical details
... but overall, a stunning indictment of the duplicitous nature of NASA.
- The Boys Are Back In Town / Christopher Golden *** A good horror book that
slowly reveals a deep secret among the students Eastborough High School.
- Brother Odd / Dean Koontz **** Third installment of the "Odd Thomas" series.
This time, Odd has taken up residency in a monastery to try and recover and
make sense of his life after the tragic events of the previous novel. Forever Odd.
However, in Odd's life, something odd ALWAYS happens - even in the serene
surroundings of a monastery.
- All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek / Dave Marinaccio
** A silly, kind of boring book. The author relates how bits of Star Trek
episodes have guided his decisions in real life.
- A Long Way Down / Nick Hornby ** One of the few writers whose books make
better movies than they do as books: High Fidelity, About a Boy, Fever Pitch.
Four people meet on a rooftop on New Year's Eve to commit suicide. Darkly
funny.
- The Nymphos of Rocky Flats / Mario Acevedo *** A former Iraqi soldier comes
back as a vampire and investigates an outbreak of nymphomania at a
government installation. It's as funny as it sounds. Kudus to Acevedo for pulling
off a coup ... managing to combine David Duchovny's two TV shows into one
novel - X-Files meets Californication - BEFORE the second show was even on
the air!
- Dime Store Magic / Kelley Armstrong DNF Looked promising at first. A novel
about the American Coven of Witches in a power struggle ... but I just couldn't
get into it. Unfortunately, I also bought Industrial Magic at the same time, but
have no plans to read it.
- Charleston Mysteries: Ghostly Haunts in the Holy City / Cathy Pickens *** A small
(158 pgs, less than 20,000 words) but interesting book that is set up as a kind of
walking tour of Charleston's oddest locations - ghostly happenings, murder
sites, and pirate executions. For me, it was kind of "okay, so what?". As I read I
had the tendency to think, "but what about this story, or that one?" but being a
tour guide in Charleston, I can see the appeal for the tourists.
- Psi Spies: The True Story of America's Psychic Warfare Program / Jim Marrs ***
Everyone knows I love Jim Marrs, but I was a bit disappointed in this book. I
thought I would learn more than I already knew about the U.S. Army's top-secret
program of 'remote viewing', but maybe I had read too much too much on the
subject already to be really surprised by anything in the book. However, Marrs
did validate my opinion of Capt. Ed Dames - he's a prick.
- The Tomb / F. Paul Wilson **** I read this novel when it was released in 1984,
and loved it. I loved the main character even more - Repairman Jack. There are
currently nine 'Repairman Jack' novels on the market, and I've decided to read
all of them again ... in order. Jack is one of those great characters - an outcast
in society like Travis McGee or Andrew Vachss' Burke - who makes his living
"fixing" things for people.
- The Gods of Newport / John Jakes *** After the flat (and boring) Charleston and
Savannah, I was hesitant to read this one. However, it was a fun book.
Sometimes you just need to read a trashy historical novel about the rich elite
snobs of high society. Perfect book to read while on a cruise to Nassau,
Bahamas.
- Dark Rivers of the Heart / Dean Koontz **** (Re-read) Another book I read on
the cruise. Dark Rivers has always has been one of my favorite Koontz novels,
dealing with an out-of-control govt. agency and two people whose lives are
destroyed by their strive for individualism. A bit of Atlas Shrugged in a suspense
novel.
- About Time / Jack Finney **** Jack Finney is one of the old masters, author of
at least 2 legitmate classics: Invasion of the Body Snatchers & Time and Again
(the best time travel novel ever written). This a collection of 12 stories dealing
with various aspects of time travel.
- Forbidden Religion / J. Douglas Kenyon, ed. **** A thought provoking collection
of essays detailing the true history of the heretical religious teachings that
established faiths (Catholics, Jews, Protestants, etc...) have spent centuries
trying to suppress. Definitely not a book for close-minded Christians who boast
that they "take the Bible literally".
- The Devil In The White City / Erik Larson **** In the running for the best book I
read this year. Fascinating story about the planning, building and running of the
1893 Chicago's World Fair, and of serial killer, H.H. Holmes, who used the
allure of the fair to stalk and murder dozens of people in his self-constructed
hotel/horror house.
- Killing Floor / Lee Child *** Good, but very violent thriller. First in a series that
features Jack Reacher, an ex-military policeman who lives the life of a drifter
and always seems to get into trouble.
- 1776/ David McCullough *** Follows the day-to-day life of George Washington in
the pivotal year 1776. Full of great historical tidbits.
- The Book of Useless Information / Noel Botham ***** I love this book! The title
says it all. In what other book can you learn that Miss Piggy's measurements are
27-20-36, it is illegal to hunt camels in Arizona and that Michael Jackson is
black?
- Armageddon's Children / Terry Brooks -DNF. I have enjoyed some of Brooks'
books. As a teenager, I was into the first three Shannara books. But, Brooks
does have the tendency to be a bit tedious.
- Music Lust / Nic Harcourt *** Ever find yourself in a bar arguing over music ...
Zepplin or Deep Purple ... the greatest rockers from Ireland? (hint: it's not U2.)
This is your book. A take off on Book Lust.
- The 60 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time / Jonathon and John Whalen ** A great
idea for a book, but disappointing in reality. First big complaint: the obvious
liberal bias by the authors. Every conservative politician is described in
extremely nasty terms. In a chapter about D.C. sexual politics, Bill Clinton is
NOT EVEN MENTIONED! Also, in the chapter dealing with human eugenics (the
practice of sterilizing so-called 'inferior' humans to prevent them from pro-
creating) they never mention Margaret Sanger, probably due to her status as a
liberal icon and the 'mother of Planned Parenthood'. The Second big complaint:
the continual use of the non-word “co-conspirator”. The use of this non-word
screams of the lack-of-knowledge of the English language by the authors AND
the editors.
- The Casebook of Forsenic Detection / by Collin Evans *** Interesting exploration
of several historic murder cases that were solved by forensic investigation.
- The Bad Place / Dean Koontz **** How can you not love this twisted book? How
twisted is it? I can't tell you, it would ruin the delicious surprise.
- The Fifth Profession/ David Morrell *** A bit sub-par for Morrell . Paid “executive
protectors” find out their memories may not be the truth! It gets a bit convoluted
toward the end, and I never believed the romance.
- Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die/ Michael Largo **** An
irreverent look at the truth behind the way humans kick-the-bucket! From A-Z, all
the ways people have died. Funny as hell, in a dark dark way. Loved it!
- Somewhere In Time / Richard Matheson ** Another one of the greats! But I was
a little disappointed in the book. The movie (starring Christopher Reeve and
Jane Seymore is better!) A time-travel romance that is clever but . . . it just didn't
grab me emotionally, which is important in a book that is essentially, a romance.
- The Last One Left / John D. MacDonald *** For me, MacDonald is one of the
great writers of the 20th century. You can have your John Updikes and Philip
Roths, the darlings of the so-called "elite media". First of all, MacDonald is
NEVER boring and can write as astute observations as any of those "serious"
writers. Problem is: those "serious" writers write about other writers, college
professors and book editors going through a life-altering crisis. MacDonald
writes about crooked bankers, lawyers, low-life drifters, beach bums and other
ne'er do wells. This book is about a woman's quest to steal $800,000 at any
price, and with no regard who she hurts and kills along the way. What fun!
- First Lady / Michael Malone **** I love Michael Malone. This is the 3rd book in a
series that features the police department of fictional Hillsborough, NC. The first
book Uncivil Seasons is one of the best mysteries I have ever read. And the
follow-up Time's Witness is also good. For most of the 1990s Malone was the
head writer for the TV soap opera One Life To Live, all the while being married
to the head of the English department at Duke University. Delicious irony there,
huh?
- Under the Black Flag / David Cordingly ***** The best overall pirate history book
available. Highly recommended.
- Ender's Game / Orson Scott Card ***** Re-read this for the fifth time, and it's
still one of the best novels I ever read (sci-fi or not). If you've never read it, or
don't like sci-fi, read it anyway. Eight-year-old Andrew "Ender" Wiggen is a
childhood genius and recruited to the International Federation's Battle School
to train for the future war against the alien race called "the buggers". Twice
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