- Galilee / Clive Barker *** Another odd and compelling novel by Barker, who usually writes in the horror or dark
fantasy genre. Galilee skirts the edges of horror and fantasy and adds a little bit of melodrama and southern gothic. It
traces the history enduring Barbarossa clan and their odd relationship with the Kennedy-esque Geary family.
- The Beardless Warriors / Richard Matheson *** Matheson, a Grand Master of Horror, has written some of the
most iconic stories of the 20th century. I am Legend (filmed 3 times), The Shrinking Man, Somewhere In Time, What
Dreams May Come and Hell House are just a few. Not to mention several dozen of the most famous Twilight Zone
episodes including the infamous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." He served in WWII as an infantry foot soldier, which
serves as the inspiration for this realistic novel. Two weeks in the life of a small platoon working through France,
Belgium and Germany during the latter days of the war.
- Born In Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry / John J. Robinson **** Highly entertaining and well-
researched history that persuasively links Freemasonry's origins with of the Knights Templar, who according to author
Robinson, went underground after the infamous mass arrest of the order on Friday, October 13, 1307.
- The Haunted Air / F. Paul Wilson **** Jack gets involved with the Kenton brothers, flim-flam "psychics" whose
house harbors some dark secrets - the burial ground for sacrificed children for a secret ritual.
- Hosts / F. Paul Wilson *** Repairman Jack is unknowingly hired by his estranged sister to investigate the sudden
trance-like behavior of her friend. Meanwhile, Jack also has to also risk public exposure when a man on the subway car
in which Jack is riding goes berserk and begins randomly shoot passengers.
- Burr / Gore Vidal *** Excellent historical fiction - with the accent on "fiction". This is definitely a revisionist's view
of the founding fathers. George Washington is portrayed as an ineffective military leader, and Vidal's hatred of
Jefferson is quite clear. However, it is "fiction". Aaron Burrr is by far one of the most interesting Founding Fathers. And
Burr's Charleston connection (Burr's daughter, Theodosia) was once former 1st Lady of South Carolina) is always fun. I
deducted my review one star just because Vidal is such an insufferable asshole.
- Secret Societies / Sylvia Brown *** Basically a CliffNotes version of the history of Secret Societies. Brown, of
course, is the celebrated psychic and medium, and much of this book details her opposition to organized religion (no
problem here with that sentiment), but if you really want to read about this subject, go read Jim Marrs' Rule By
Secrecy.
- Strip Tease / Carl Hiaasen *** Not the best Hiaasen novel ... not even close. But unfortunately, this is the novel
Hollywood chose to film. I'm guessing it's because it deals with strippers. Hollywood doesn't miss an opportunity to use
strippers as main characters; after all, that means you have to show the woman at work... at a strip club. Still, this is a
typically wacky and funny story: not-so-bright congressman becomes infatuated with a stripper who is having custody
problems.
- PSIence: How New Discoveries in Quantum Physics and New Science May Explain the Existence of
Paranormal Phenomena Marie D. Jones *** A trip down the rabbit hole to the odd place where science and the
paranormal converge. A layman's guide to sting theory, worm holes, multiple universes, time travel and energy fields. I
s ghost nothing more than a energy flucuation in the Zero Point Field. Very fascinating.
- The Historian / Elizabeth Kostova ** MONUMENTALLY DISAPPOINTING! This is a novel with an exciting
premise - a historian researches the facts that form the basis of Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) and discovers some of the
vampire history may be true and that the evil may still be alive in some manifestation. From that point the novel
becomes an annoying series of first person narratives 1. A professor writing letters to a historian to explain his
research into the Dracula myth; and then the professor disappears. 2. The historian (now a father) writing a letter to his
daughter explaining all the events that happened to him after he went looking for his professor. And then the father
goes missing and, 3. The daughter (who is supposed to be the narrator of the book, takes up the search for her father
(and mother and the professor) at the same time. The letter the father writes for the daughter goes on and on and on
and on ... Obviously, Kostova did tons of research for this book and it shows --- ALL OF IT SHOWS. The characters are
supposed to be on an urgent search to save some one's life but they feel the need to take a stroll around each city they
visit and point out the historic sites. It's as if Kostova was damned sure all her research was going to make it into the
novel ... even if the only thing it added to the story was 300 extra pages. All the praise heaped upon this book cites the
travelogue part as to what makes the book "more than just a horror novel". I love critics who NEVER read horror
novels commenting on what makes a good one. You want good horror novels, read authors who write them. Dan
Simmons, Robert McCammon, early Stephen King (and ONLY early Stephen King), and John Farris.
- No Way To Treat A First Lady / Christopher Buckley *** First lady Elizabeth MacMann is arrested for the
murder of her husband, the President, in the White House. The subsequent trial becomes the largest media event in
American history. Buckley, a Beltway insider, plays it for all the sarcastic humor that is worth. Which is quite a bit.
- A Prisoner of Birth / Jeffrey Archer ** A modern re-telling of The Count of Monte Cristo which tried hard, but
just misses being good. Danny Cartwright is arrested for the murder of his best friend (and future brother-in-law) on the
day he is engaged to be married. Sentenced to 22 years in prison Danny patiently bides his time, escapes and manages
to get his revenge on the men who framed him.
- All The Rage / F. Paul Wilson *** Another Repairman Jack novels. This time, Jack gets involved with a new drug
that is sweeping the underground of New York ... a drug that amplifies a person's natural anger and aggression. When he
learns the secret of the drug's origin he is in the for shock!
- Harlem On My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900-1968 /Allon Schoener ** An almanac of
newspaper stories written about Harlem from dozens of publications around the world. Packed with more than 3000
photos of Harlem during the time period.
- Brave New World / Aldous Huxley **** I hadn't read this since high school and it is an even more amazing book
today. It was considered a fantasy when it was released in 1932, but some of the concepts are now uncomfortably
modern. The world the novel describes is a dystopia. Set in London of 2540 AD, humanity lives in a carefree, healthy,
and technologically advanced society; however, art, science, religion, and all other forms of human expression have
been sacrificed to create this "Brave New World". Warfare and poverty have been eliminated and everyone is
permanently happy due to government-provided conditioning and drugs. The irony is that all of these things have been
achieved by eliminating many things that humans consider to be central to their identity - family, culture, art,
literature, science, religion, and philosophy. It is also a hedonistic society, deriving pleasure from promiscuous sex and
drug use, in the form of soma, a powerful psychotropic rationed by the government that is taken to escape pain and bad
memories through hallucinatory fantasies, referred to as "Holidays". Additionally, social stability has been achieved
and is maintained via deliberately engineered and rigidly enforced social stratification. Sounds a lot like several current
politician's campaign platforms, doesn't it?
- Third Degree / Greg Ilies ** Disappointing. Iles has written some literate, and compelling mystery thrillers. But this
is not one. Laurel Shields is having an affair ... her husband, a doctor, is under investigation for some questionable
Medicare billing and discovers an incriminating love letter ... well, you don't need to know anymore. Very pedestrian.
- Boomsday / Christopher Buckley *** It's not often you read a novel in which there is NO character you like.
However that is part of the genius of this book. Everybody is a jerk and self-serving.Cassandra is a DC spin doctor who
blogs a proposal to cope with the Social Security crisis: Boomers should be given tax credits and other incentives to
commit suicide by age 75. It becomes the hottest topic during a presidential campaign. Bitterly funny. Buckley also
wrote one of the funniest books of the last 20 years in Thank You For Smoking.
- Born Standing Up / Steve Martin **** Very interesting memoir of Martin's formative years. From his first job
working at age 10 working at the Disneyland magic shop to his massive success as a stand-up comedian in the 1970s
and 80s. What comes across is Martin's full awareness of what he was doing, and sensing that his act was wearing thin.
His shows had become less of him performing than he acting as host for a large party in a 20,000 seat arena. Realizing
his days as a stand-up were numbered, he made the transition to movies. Also ... the book is very funny. Imagine that.
- Jack: Secret Histories / F. Paul Wilson **** One of my goals this year is to re-read every Carl Hiaasen novel,
and re-read Wilson's Adversary Cycle and most of the Repairman Jack novels. Wilson is re-writing the last book of the
Adversary Cycle (titled NightWorld) and I'd like to be up-to-snuff with the story when it comes out. Imagine my
surprise when I discover THIS book, a Repairman Jack novel geared to the Youth market. We get to meet Jack as a 13-
year old boy in rural New Jersey where he has his first encounters with events that mold him into the odd hero we will
come to love. A secret burial ground, a ultra-secretive Lodge in town, black helicopters, an odd pyramid device that
only Jack can open ... all this and more.
- Liberal Fascism/ Jonah Goldberg **** An amazing book of intellectual political history. Goldberg explores the
roots of 19th century fascism into the modern liberal politics through a new prism. Challenging the status quo has made
many in the media pissed. For comparison: Note how much media coverage former Bush White House spokesperson
Scott McClellan is getting for his ghost-written "memoirs", and the fact that you have never heard of Goldberg's
amazingly researched book.
- The Name of the Wind/ Patrick Rothfuss **** Wow. An audacious debut novel. At age 10 Kvothe is admitted to
the University to begin his study in becoming an arcarnist. Many people are calling it a "Harry Potter for adults" which
is a simple and misguided description. Written as a "story-within-a-story", it is, however, a darkly entertaining fantasy
novel which is a disturbing portrayal of how heroism can go bad. This is Volume 1 of a trilogy. Anxiously awaiting the
second book.
- Conspiracies / F. Paul Wilson *** One of the weaker Repairman Jack novels, but bad Repairman Jack is better
than most top notch crime fiction these days.
- Native Tongue / Carl Hiaasen **** Another comic gem. This time it takes place at the Florida Kingdom of Thrills
where the rare blue-tongued voles are kidnapped, a whale dies and the body of a missing biologist is found inside the
behemoth's intestine ... and that's just the first 50 pages.
- Testament / David Morrell **** Within the first page of this book horrific things happen to a family in such a
causal way that it takes almost 10 pages to realize it. And by then ... the main character, Reuben Bourne understands his
life has completely changed. One of the best all-out action thrillers EVER. Simple, precise and crackling with
action.
- The Rough Guide to Jazz *** Comprehensive book with more than 2000 critical biographies, and 3000+ reviews
of LPs and CDs. Great way to get an introduction to the entire spectrum of jazz music.
- Legacies / F. Paul Wilson **** Repairman Jack returns! The sequel to The Tomb features everyone's favorite
"fixit" guy, Jack. Great combination of action/P.I./crime novel. Jack is the greatest.
- The Man With the Iron-On Badge / Lee Goldberg *** Fairly humorous mystery. Harvey Mapes is a security
guard at an exclusive gated community in Southern California. He spends his free times reading hard-boiled detective
novels and watching TVLand reruns of Mannix, The Rockford Files, etc ... So when he is asked by a resident to follow
the wife, Mapes thinks: "How hard can this be?" He quickly discovers that everything he has learned in TV cop shows
and tough guy novels doesn't translate well to real life.
- Now & Then / Robert B. Parker DNF. There is only one reason to read the Spenser novels these days: waiting for
Susan Silverman to die. I looked at the back page first, and the book ended the way the last 15 Spenser books have
ended- Spenser and Susan discussing the theraputic value of everything they have just gone through and what great
people they are because they discuss the murders and violence while dining at pretentious restaurants.Parker, who
used to write some of the best breezy detective fiction, has become an embarrassing parody of himself. This is the
literary equivalent of listening to ANYTHING recorded by the Rolling Stones after 1978.
- Thunderstruck / Erik Larson ** Larsen wrote an amazing book called The Devil in the White City and this is the
follow-up. Fairly disappointing. The mixture of Marconi's attempt to make wireless radio into a world standard is
mixed with a scandalous murder of the early 20th century is alternately interesting and boring.
- Jelly Roll, Jabbo & Fats: 19 Portraits in Jazz / Whitney Balliett **** Interviews with 19 jazz figures. Bought
the book as research for Jabbo Smith and got a bonus: it also includes an interview former Jenkins' Orphanage
drummer Tommy Benford. Excellent!
- Jazz Anecdotes / Bill Crow *** Very good. Musician and writer Crow has compiled thousands of stories and
anecdotes about the jazz world and musicians. Very fun to read.
- Early Jazz / Gunther Schuller *** Very readable book about the first two decades of jazz music.
- Fingerprints of the Gods / Graham Hancock *** A fascinating study of the jigsaw puzzle of Earth's ancient
monuments which makes the argument that these are the 'fingerprints' of as-yet-unidentified civilization of
technological and scientific sophistication.
- Rhett Butler's People / Donald McCaig . Rhett Butler should challenge the Margaret Mitchell estate to
a duel for the insult of this book! Why can’t they leave Gone With The Wind alone? First there was Scarlett by
Alexandra Ripley, which was as exciting as listening to Ashley Wilkes read the Atlanta phone book. Then there was the
“unauthorized” parody The Wind Done Gone, by Alice Randall, which told the GWTW story told from the viewpoint of
a slave on Tara, Mammy’s daughter. The best thing about that novel was its length (short). And now we have Rhett
Butler’s People, which covers Rhett’s life from 1843 to 1874. Donald McCaig, author of the award winning Civil War
novel, Jacob’s Ladder, spent six years researching and writing the “authorized” novel for the Margaret Mitchell estate.
He delivered the chapters to his editors as he finished them. The lawyers for the Mitchell estate were then invited to
weigh in with criticism. “It was a rocky road,” Mr. McCaig said with understatement. “There were a lot of people
involved and a lot of different needs. It’s a much more complex environment than most novels are written in.” And it
shows. The book begins with the most stereotypical scene in all antebellum fiction – the duel at dawn, two men
meeting of the field of honor. That is as creative as the novel gets. The narration of the first chapters is confusing.
Several characters are introduced quickly and the author offers little help for the reader to identify the speakers in long
sections of dialogue. By the time the duel happens, it is very anti-climatic since it is déjà vu for anyone who has read any
other Civil War era novel. McCaig was not the Mitchell’s estate first choice as author. They had approached Pat
Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides and The Lords of Discipline. As a Southern writer who is based in the Charleston
area, Conroy would have been an intriguing choice. However, Mr. Conroy had reservations about the authorial
freedom that the estate’s lawyers would give him and withdrew from negotiations. Mr. Conroy publicly joked that he
would open his sequel with this line: “After they made love, Rhett turned to Ashley Wilkes and said, ‘Ashley, have I ever
told you that my grandmother was black?'" For those who long for a return trip to Tara … go back and read
Margaret Mitchell’s 1937 Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is still good.
- Dies The Fire / S.M. Stirling **** Excellent! I've always loved these end-of-the-world apocalyptic novels. Some of
my favorites are The Stand by Stephen King, Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, and Swan Song by
Robert R. McCammon. Dies The Fire is close to being that good. The first in a series of novels dealing with The Change
- an electrical storm over Nantucket produces a blinding flash of light and plunges the world into a new Dark Age where
all mechanical and electronic devices are inoperable. I will be reading the remaining books in this series.
- Basket Case / Carl Hiaasen ** The fifth Hiaasen book I've read this year and by far the most difficult one to finish.
It is also the less enjoyable, for reasons that have nothing to do with the story line. For some reason, Hiaasen chose to
write the novel in present tense. ALWAYS a bad decision.
- The History of Jazz / Ted Giola *** A very readable volume that I read for two purposes: research for my Doin'
the Charleston project, and for enjoyment.
- America's Musical Life: A History / Richard Crawford *** A fairly comprehensive volume that puts
America's musical heritage in a historical context. From the native Americans and the African slave influence and
European folk and classical influences. Research reading for my Doin' the Charleston manuscript.
- X-Rated Bloodsuckers/ Mario Acevedo *** Second in the Felix Gomez series. This time out, vampire / P.I.
Gomez searches for a killer among the L.A. porn industry, and almost falls in love!
- Lucky You / Carl Hiaasen ***** What can I say? I love Hiaasen. This one is the strange saga of two winners of the
Florida lottery. One is a black woman named JoLyane who wants to take her share of of the $28 million and save a plot
of land from becoming another strip mall. The other winner of the ticket is Bode Gazzer, a dim-witted white
supremecist who decides it is his duty to have the entire lottery prize - he certainly doesn't want to share it with an
uppity black woman. As you can imagine ... comic chaos ensues.
- The Color of Light / William Goldman *** Goldman is an unusual writer. He started as a playwrite (Blood,
Sweat & Stanley Poole) and then became a serious novelist (The Temple of Gold; Soldier in the Rain) and THEN he
became a bestselling thriller writer (Marathon Man; Magic). And somewhere in between all that, he became one of the
best screenwriters to ever hit Hollywood. His first original screenplay won him an Academy Award (Butch Cassidy &
the Sundance Kid, a true classic); he also managed to win a SECOND Oscar for All The President's Men. He also found
the time to write one of my favorite books of all time (not to mention the classic movie) The Princess Bride. That being
said, The Color of Light is a penetrating look at a writer who has <
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