Sounding Drum by Larry Jay Martin









An Uneven Read at Best

 Published in 1999.

Rockefeller Center
Sounding Drum is a book that does not know what it wants to be. It is partially a legal/business thriller and partially a "buddy book" farce. It features a group of New York City American Indian friends, led by attorney Stephen Drum, that go against the mafia, a blackmailer/assassin, the federal government, the New York State government, the New York City government and all of the odds to put an Indian reservation in New York City with an accompanying "Indian" casino in Rockefeller Center.

 Sounding Drum is frustrating, however, because the thriller aspects are not consistent and the fun "buddy book" parts only kick in during the last 50 pages or so. It makes for a herky-jerky read and is ultimately unsatisfying. That is why I am giving it a 2 stars out of a possible 5 stars.

 This book can be found on Amazon here: Sounding Drum.

Reviewed on February 12, 2005.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts over the last 30 days

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 2 -LEGACY'S END (graphic novel) by Charles Soule

Image
Published in 2018 by Licensed Publishing. Written by Charles Soule. Art by Guiseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini, and David Curiel. Synopsis This series tells the story of how Anakin Skywalker completes his transformation to Darth Vader under the dangerous and abusive tutelage of Emperor Palpatine. Meanwhile, Vader and his team are searching for Jedi survivors of Order 66. The series starts with the end of Star Wars: Episode III. There are two main plotlines in Darth Vader: Legacy's End . Vader has a lead on the librarian of the Jedi Temple. She is rebuilding the library in a safe location from scattered sources and memory when she realizes that she has to return to the library to destroy a list of force-talented youngsters that the Jedi had compiled to recruit to join their academy before they were defeated. She is not nearly the warrior that Vader is, but she is very clever and knows the library like the back of her hand... The second story line is about an assassination squad th...
Read more

EXIT STAGE LEFT: THE SNAGGLEPUSS CHRONICLES (graphic novel) Written by Mark Russell. Illustrated by Mike Feehan

Image
Published by DC Comics in 2018. Part of the Hannah-Barbera Beyond series. 2019 GLAAD Media Award winner for Outstanding Comic Book Synopsis: DC Comics and Hanna-Barbera set out to reimagine some of their late 1950s to 1970s Saturday morning television cartoons, including The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Wacky Races, and Space Ghost. Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles is the last installment of the series. The graphic novel is set in the Red Scare/McCarthyism era. Congressional subcommittees are looking for Communists in all fields, but they are particularly concerned about Communist entertainers who may be negatively influencing Americans. Snagglepuss is a very successful New York City playwright. He lives in a world where humans and anthropomorphic animals interact as equals. He moved to New York from Mississippi years ago, but he still speaks in a Southern accent and often uses pithy folksy aphorisms. He is married to an actress, but that is a sham marriage. In rea...
Read more

BATMAN - ONE BAD DAY: CATWOMAN (graphic novel) by G. Willow Wilson

Image
Written by G. Willow Wilson Art by Jamie McKelvie Synopsis The One Bad Day series is a look at some of the biggest Batman villains in a book just dedicated to that villain. A lot of them, but certainly not all of them, take a sympathetic look at that villain. Batman - One Bad Day: Catwoman is one of the more sympathetic takes.  Catwoman is looking through an auction catalog for high end jewelry when she finds an unusual listing for a piece of post-World War II French jewelry that commemorates the end of Nazi occupation. It is a rare piece with a message of a return to freedom for France's artists its reserve price is $30,000. It is also a piece her mother sold to a pawn shop for only $200 when Catwoman was a child in order to attempt to make her rent money that month. Catwoman decides to take back the jewelry and right a wrong... My Review This one was interesting because the stakes, in reality, are really pretty low - a piece of jewelry that is worth thousands instead of millions...
Read more

UNCOMMON VALOR: A STORY of RACE, PATRIOTISM, and GLORY in the FINAL BATTLES of the CIVIL WAR by Melvin Claxton and Mark Puls

Image
Published in 2005 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. The Emancipation Proclamation was effective on January 1, 1863 - it included a provision that former slaves were to "be received into the armed service of the United States". The Union Army was a little slow to enact this provision, but by 1864 there were plenty of African American Union soldiers ready to go into the field. Uncommon Valor follows one of those units during the Petersburg campaign of 1864-1865. This history primarily follows Christian Fleetwood , an African American Baltimore clerk. Fleetwood was born free, but living in a slave state was a constant reminder of his second class status. He had been considering joining the army for a long while, trying to determine if it would be a blow for freedom, or just choosing to support one oppressive regime in order to fight an even more oppressive regime. If that was the case, he might as well sit it out and let both sides clobber one another. Sgt. Major Christian Fleetwoo...
Read more

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 3 - THE BURNING SEAS (graphic novel) by Charles Soule

Image
Published in 2018 by Licensed Publishing. Written by Charles Soule. Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, David Curiel, and Java Tartaglia with Guru-eFX Synopsis This series tells the story of how Anakin Skywalker completes his transformation to Darth Vader under the dangerous and abusive tutelage of Emperor Palpatine.  In the first story of  Darth Vader: The Burning Seas , Mon Cala has been reluctant to join Palpatine's empire. Governor Tarkin has been sent to Mon Cala to negotiate with their king. Mon Cala is the home world of fan favorite Admiral Ackbar. Ackbar is only Commander Ackbar in this story, but he plays a prominent role. Meanwhile, Vader and his team have been sent to Mon Cala to hunt down a Jedi that the Empire suspects is helping Mon Cala in their negotiations. When the shuttle carrying the Empire's negotiation team is destroyed by a bomb, all out war erupts... The second story ties in with the movie Rogue One. It is set on the planet Geonosis where the Empire is working o...
Read more

CHECHEN WARS: A HISTORY from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History

Image
Published in 2023 by Hourly History. I chose to read this short history about Chechnya in order to be a bit more informed about Putin's wars in Chechnya and then apply that knowledge to the war in Ukraine. What I read does not inspire confidence. Chechnya is an unfortunate victim of geography - it lies in a buffer zone between traditional great powers - the Russians, the Ottoman Turks, and the Persians. Even worse, they are on a natural land bridge between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Throw in a religious difference between Russia and the Chechens and you have even more trouble. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Chechnya made a serious effort at independence that ended up in multiple military incursions by the Russians and decades of on and off irregular warfare (think guerrilla warfare plus outright terrorism). For their part, the Russians responded with their own forms of irregular warfare - assassinations, possible false flag operations, and more. As I read this, th...
Read more

BATMAN - ONE BAD DAY: PENGUIN (One Bad Day series) (graphic novel) by John Ridley

Image
Published by DC Comics in 2023. Story by John Ridley. Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith, and Arif Prianto. Synopsis Batman - One Bad Day: Penguin finds the hero (!) of the story, Batman's infamous foe Penguin, completely down and out. He has $20 and is sitting on a park bench in the rain. He is taped and bandaged up from a beating. He is unshaven and disheveled. He is waiting for a is waiting to meet a young person to sell him a gun. He has been pushed out of his role of crime boss of Gotham by a former subordinate. He plans to go into the city and take back his organization - but all he has is one little snub-nosed pistol, one bullet, and no friends. Turns out he didn't really need to pistol or the bullet - it's your friends that count. My Review I truly liked this comic. The way the story went surprised me and I really enjoyed it. Penguin can be a surprisingly sympathetic figure for a super-villain. His origin story isn't the roughest, but just about everyone has ...
Read more

MONEY, LIES, and GOD: INSIDE the MOVEMENT to DESTROY AMERICAN DEMOCRACY (audiobook) by Katherine Stewart

Image
Published in 2025 by Bloomsbury Publishing. Read by Patricia Rodriguez. Duration: 11 hours, 36 minutes. Unabridged. In Money, Lies, and God ,  Katherine Stewart takes a hard look at the intertwined worlds of MAGA, Christian Nationalists, big money backers (old money and new tech money), the Claremont Institute , White Replacement Theory folks, militias, and groups like Moms for Liberty.  It looks like a lot to connect but, in reality, it's not too hard. Think of your stereotypical Christian Nationalist mega-church. They're going to be MAGA voters. They are exposed to materials produced by think tanks like the Claremont Institute or Focus on the Family that are financially supported by big money backers. Moms for Liberty will already be there, hyping up the dangers of public schools and certain reading materials. Some megachurches host faith and freedom conferences that are strong on the politics and feature a bit of Christianity. The author, Katherine Stewart I was distressed...
Read more

THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT (Elvis Cole #1) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Image
Winner of the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original. Winner of the McAvity Award for Best First Novel. Originally published in 1987. Published in 2008 by Brilliance Audio. Read by Patrick Lawlor. Duration: 8 hours, 9 minutes. Unabridged. I have been reading Robert Crais' Elvis Cole novels for 15 years and I just assumed that I had already read all of the early ones years ago. But, when I checked my blog I found that I had not read 7 of them - that is more than a third of the series!  The Monkey's Raincoat is the first in this 20 book series.  Synopsis Two women come to meet Elvis Cole in his office. Cole is a decorated Vietnam veteran turned private detective. The women want Cole to find the Mort, the husband of one of the women and their son. Mort picked the boy up from school, but they never came home. Elvis starts to dig around and quickly discovers that Mort's talent agency is in trouble. The more he uncovers, the more it becomes obvious that Mort has been hiding m...
Read more

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 1 - IMPERIAL MACHINE (graphic novel) by Charles Soule

Image
Published in 2017 by Licensed Publishing. Written by Charles Soule. Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Cam Smith Synopsis Imperial Machine is the first entry in a four-part series about Star Wars' most iconic character: Darth Vader.  The series starts with the last scene of Episode III - the moment where Anakin Skywalker truly becomes the infamous Darth Vader. But is he really and truly Darth Vader at this point? No, he has only started his long trip to being a Sith Lord and the Emperor is ready to train him. The Emperor's training mostly consists of Vader going out to figure it out the hard way. For example, Vader has lost his light saber and Palpatine sends him out to take the light saber of a Jedi in combat. Then, Vader must corrupt the crystal inside, which makes it glow red.  The problem is, there are hardly any Jedi left thanks to Order 66 and the other events at the end of Star Wars: Episode III. My review This was an engrossing story. Palpatine is abusive as a teacher - so...
Read more