DWD's Reviews

Strong start. Best Spenser novel in a while. Robert B. Parker  (1932-2010) By my count Rough Weather may be the 35th Spenser novel. As others have noted, the traditional elements of a Spenser novel are here - Susan and Spenser's deep discussions about Spenser's code of honor, Spenser and Hawk trading witty banter, Spenser pulling at the loose ends of the case until someone tries to kill him. It's a formula, but I like the formula. The book starts out differently and with much more action than is normal in a Spenser book and I'd give the first half 5 stars. But it eventually slows down to the point that I'd give the last half a mere 3 stars. Thus, the average score is the final score - 4 stars. Interestingly, Rough Weather is the only Spenser book that I can remember that actually mentions time passing as the series progresses. Spenser notes to Rita Fiore that she's been pursuing him for 20 years. Hawk and Susan also make some sort of ...

Kinky Friedman "on the road again" with Willie Nelson Kinky Friedman and Willie Nelson Read by Kinky Friedman. Duration: about 3 hours. Abridged. Kinky, feeling like he has to get out of New York City for a change of pace, jumps at the chance to ride with Willie Nelson for part of his tour. However, Willie is not acting like himself and soon one of Willie's roadies is shot. Kinky looks into it and crazy characters from Willie's life spill into Kinky's seriously odd world of friends. The mystery in Roadkill is not too hard, but it is worth the listen just to hear Friedman's odd twists of phrase. Lots of fun. An audiobook note: I was disappointed to discover that Willie Nelson did not read his own parts in the book. He has read audiobooks before and this seemed like a natural fit. I give this one 4 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Roadkill by Kinky Friedman. Reviewed on May 7, 2006.

A good beginning to a new series Published in 2002 by Five Star. Ron Shade is a Chicago-based PI in the vein of Robert B. Parker's Spenser. However, he is not a clone in any stretch of the imagination. Since A Killing Frost is one of Michael A. Black's first fiction books, it is expected for there to be a few hiccups along the way. However, Black's effort was well-done with less problems than many established authors have exhibited. The plot involves the disappearance of an illegal alien. Shade is hired to find him. Along the way, his car is stolen and he finds romance and romantic difficulties. Like a Spenser novel, it is not the suspense of finding out whodunnit that keeps the reader turning pages. Rather, it is the interest in finding out how the hero will stick it to the bad guys. Solid read. I rate this one 4 stars out of 5 and I'll be looking for the sequels. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: A Killing Frost by Michael A. Black . ...

Good history - for 4th to 8th graders I am reviewing this as a high school world history teacher who is looking for high-quality historical fiction of all skill levels that I can add to my classroom library. While Spy for the Night Riders: Martin Luther is too easy for the average high school student, it would be a good fit for the 'reluctant reader' or the student interested in the Reformation. The plot moves along pretty quickly and does a good job of telling about Martin Luther's big moment at the Diet of Worms and his travels immediately before and after his hearing. Some previous knowledge of the Reformation would be helpful. I give this one 4 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon here:  Spy for the Night Riders (Trailblazer Books Book 3) Reviewed on May 6, 2006.

Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize Published in 2008. Aravind Adiga 's The White Tiger: A Novel is many things. It is a fascinating look at modern India and how it is still stuck in a sort of feudalistic state combined with the very modern world of democracy, high technology and international influences. It is also the story of corruption and how one young man rose above the masses to become an entrepreneur by using that corrupt system for himself. It is the story of how a young man who has lost his moral compass can make it through tricks, hard work and murder. Most importantly, it is very, very readable - a well-written story that pulls the reader into its world.  For many, this look at the third world - with its rampant corruption, absolute poverty and, sadly, a strong sentiment of "life is cheap" will come as a surprise. This is not the sanitized travelogue view of India. The characters are between cultures - they are old India and new India at the same time - an...

An entertaining look at the Lewis and Clark adventure Published in 2003. Lewis and Clark's famous Voyage of Discovery lasted from 1803-1806. Besides Lewis and Clark there were a number of French trappers, Seaman (Lewis' dog) soldiers, frontier hunters, Clark's slave named York, Sacagawea and her son and George Drouillard, a half-French/half-Shawnee man brought along with the dual role of sign-language interpreter and hunter. Meriwether Lewis called Drouillard "One of the two or three most valuable members of the expedition..." A memorial in Jefferson City, Mo.  from left to right:  York (sitting),  Meriwether Lewis,  Seaman the dog,  William Clark, and  George Drouillard (crouching) In Sign-Talker , James Alexander Thom tells the story of Drouillard, focusing on his journey with Lewis and Clark. This book is James Alexander Thom at his descriptive best - the descriptions of camp life, hunting with Drouillard and the look into his presumed spiri...

It's Star Trek. It's William Shatner. What More Can You Ask For? Published by Simon and Schuster Audio in 2001. Read by William Shatner Duration: 3 hours, 6 minutes Abridged William Shatner in Star Trek: Generations The audiobook lasts about 3 hours and is read by William Shatner, who is also one of  the authors. I admit, I picked Star Trek: The Return on a whim - the fact that it was read by Shatner himself was a big plus. Shatner is nothing, if not interesting. His book is much like the man himself (at least his well-known public persona) - lots of action, bluster, bravado, noise and Shatner's well-known and unique speaking style. This book takes place immediately after the events of the Star Trek: Generations movie. If you haven't seen the movie lately, don't fret. Shatner uses it as a launching point only and goes on his own way. At the end of Star Trek: Generations , Kirk has been killed by sacrificing himself to save a planet and poss...

The strong points are very strong but there are flaws Originally published in 2007 by Scribner. America, 1908 covers some of the key cultural, political, manufacturing and just plain odd events that happened in 1908 in the United States in an easy-to-read, often fun format. These include the Race to the North Pole, the New York to Paris automobile race, the introduction of the Model T, the last time the Cubs won the World Series for more than a century, the Wright Brothers proving to the world that they really could fly (and do it for hours, not just seconds) and a series of horrible race-based lynchings. While I enjoyed learning more about the Wright Brothers and the Model T, other parts seemed more than a bit skewed towards events in New York City (the Cubs win their last World Series and it's told from the point of view of the New York Giants?) and against rural areas and the South (the only references to the South are from newspapers mentioning events in NYC or ...

A nice twist on the detective story Spencer Quinn and his dog The premise of Dog On It is a simple one. It's a buddy book. Partners fighting crime like Holmes and Watson, Spenser and Hawk and now Bernie and Chet. Except for one important point - Chet is Bernie's dog. The story is told from the point of view of Chet, a trained police dog that never quite graduated from the academy to a "leaping" incident that "involved blood." Chet understands enough about human society so that the story doesn't bog down but he has that easily distractable live-in-the-moment quality that all dog lovers recognize. The mystery is pretty good, too. Bernie is hired to find a 15 year old girl who may be a runaway and may be the victim of foul play due to her father's shady real estate deals. Chet's unique perspective and talents as a dog and Bernie Little's ability to make the occasional intuitive leap make the Little Detective Agency a real th...

A solid, more upbeat sequel to Dead Irish Although The Vig is intended to be a stand alone, I would strongly recommend reading the previous Dismas Hardy book entitled Dead Irish to understand some of the self-torment on the part of Dismas Hardy that continues into this book. John Lescroart For those that have read Dead Irish , this book is not nearly so dark and tortured. Not that it's a comedy since there are plenty of people dying, being set up in criminal schemes and hard choices are faced by many of the main characters. However, the overall climate of the book is much less severe. As to the general plot - an old colleague of Hardy's named Rusty from the DA's office warns him that a murderer who had threatened to kill them both when he was released was being released soon. Rusty's houseboat becomes the scene of an apparent double murder and it turns out that lots of people had a motive to kill Rusty, including an ex-cop, a jealous husband,...

Strong plot + annoying writing habits = 4 stars Published in 1996. The Judge is my second Martini book (the first as an audiobook) and I am almost embarrassed to say that I really liked it. I didn't realize that I was such a literary elitist (especially if you looked at the stuff I've reviewed) but deep-down inside I guess that there are just some books that I want to hate simply because everyone else likes them. Well, there's a reason why Martini's books have been perennial best-sellers - they're entertaining legal thrillers. Plot synopsis: Shenanigans in the police union have attracted the attention of an abrasive judge. He is leading a grand jury investigation into the union's finances when he is arrested for prostitution and later murder. Steve Martini Paul Madriani is dragged into the case as the judge's defense attorney as a favor to a friend and soon everyone is stuck in a web of intrigue that involves the police, the prosecutor ...

  Like all Morrell books, a good bit of action David Morrell Synopsis: Brotherhood of the Rose is set in the Cold War era in the world of big time spies. Two orphans living in an orphanage, Saul and Chris, were singled out for education and training that led to them being paired together as super spies working for the CIA. Now, the man who trained them - the man they consider to be their father - has betrayed them. Saul and Chris avoid all sorts of troubles as they unravel an international plot against them and combat the international forces arrayed against them. My review: Like in all of Morrell's books, there is plenty of well-written action and interesting characters. Plenty of thought went into this world of conspiracy. The action is detailed, but not overly so. It is not Morrell's best work, but it is certainly worth the read. I give this one a solid 4 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here:  The Brotherhood of the ...

A cautionary tale buried inside some first-rate action. Published in 2012 by Crown. The Profession is a near-future sci-fi action-adventure tale with a great deal of political analysis and some history tossed in as well. Set in the year 2032, the world has become a different place, but not at all unrecognizable. The chaos in the Middle East still reigns supreme on the international scene because oil is still king ($8/gallon gasoline is threatening to collapse America's economy). Iran and Iraq are still fighting, terrorism still exist, the oil states in the Middle East are, at the same time, both strong and unstable. The United States is in the middle of an election that seems to be addressing none of the real issues that the country faces and none of the candidates inspire anyone to anything but changing the channel of the television when they appear. Steven Pressfield America is still acting as the world's de facto policeman, although this role is enhanced by a new c...

I had not read a Stephen King book since Insomnia . Originally published in 2006. I just walked away because I was so disappointed in that book. Before that, I read every Stephen King book as soon as it came out, but Insomnia was so disappointing that I just swore off his books for several years. So, it's been 12 or 13 years since I've even picked up a Stephen King book. I thought it was time to try again. I was tempted by the book description on the dust jacket of Cell . So, what was the verdict? Enjoyable read. At times, I could not put it down. Stephen King No one writes gore better than King. He adds detail that makes you feel like you were there. King's easy reading style sucks the reader right in and the reader wants to know what is going to happen next. Uncharacteristically, King fails to do much in the area of character development, outside of the main character of Clay. Too bad. One cannot help but to compare Cell to The Stand . It would be ...

(Too) Quick and Fun! Like others who have reviewed Life's Little Annoyances: True Tales of People Who Just Can't Take It Anymore , I first learned about it by way of a piece about it on CNN and I am glad that I asked for it for Christmas. Full of short vignettes (1-3 pages) about the inanities of modern life and some people's amusing ways of dealing with it, this is the perfect bathroom book, if you know what I mean. My favorites include: *the man who dealt with the 'adult' bookstore in his community by giving every customer he saw as he drove by a friendly honk on the horn in an attempt to make the customers wonder if someone they actually knew really saw them patronizing a porn shop. Ian Urbina *the man who mailed all kinds of things to the credit card companies in those nifty return envelopes that they include with their offers, including their shredded offers, other junk mail and even strips of metal! *the guy who has a website that...

Much like his mentor, Gross provides a readable, entertaining read Andrew Gross Much like his mentor James Patterson, Andrew Gross has written a readable crime novel with plenty of twists and turns, lots of personal stuff thrown in and written in a pleasant, accessible style. Don't Look Twice: A Novel is the second in a series about Ty Hauck but you do not have to have read the first to follow what's going on in this installment. The story is chock full of short chapters and the trail is complicated, but not impossibly so. My one pet peeve is the Spanish in the book. It only appears on two pages in my Advance Reader's Edition but it is awful. "Victor no es aqui" is not proper or even remotely adequate Spanish. This is Spanish One material. It sounds like something from a translator website. C'mon now, Mr. Gross. There are millions of native speakers throughout the country. Find one and have him or her vet your Spanish in the future. It ...

An interesting head-to-head biography about two gentlemen who went head-to-head quite often during the Civil War. Published in 2006 by Simon and Schuster. James F. Simon's Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney shines an interesting light on two overlooked aspects of 19th century American history. The first overlooked aspect is the Supreme Court, specifically the person of Roger Taney (pronounced Tawney), the Chief Justice most famous for what may be known for all time as his single worst legal opinion, and one of the most controversial and ill-considered opinions of all time - Dred Scott. Roger Taney   (1777-1864) Simon tells the story of Taney's life, including his surprisingly liberal views on slavery and his legal defense of blacks who were seized illegally to be sold into slavery, the fact that he freed most of his family's slaves and even provided a modest pension for the elderly ones. Taney even defended an the rights of an abolitionist preacher to preach his m...

C.S. Lewis' most famous work of fiction. Originally published in 1950 I f you are familiar with Lewis non-fiction writings ( Mere Christianity , etc.) were all that Lewis had written he would have left a wonderful legacy. However, Lewis has a large library of fictional works as well. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is my only my second piece of Lewis fiction (the other being The Screwtape Letters ) and I found it to be a quick, enjoyable read. The characters are likeable but not particularly well-developed, but that is understandable considering that he intended it to be a fairy tale. How much character development is there in a fairy tale? Christian themes are very strong throughout the book, but the story can be read without any previous study into Christianity. If you are unsure of the themes or want to make sure that you are not missing any, I would recommend that you pick up any of the half-dozen or more companion study guides that Amazon offers. There are...

Originally Published in 2010 by Lulu Press. As the month of May is coming close, this Indianapolis resident and attender of 25 straight Indy 500 races and all of the Brickyard 400s (17, I think) knows what it means to be in love with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So, I picked up this book in order to see what another gigantic fan had to say about this experience. Charles West, unlike me, did not grow up visiting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (my mother's parents lived just a few blocks from the main gate and I clearly remember attending several qualification days and hearing Tom Carnegie's sweet velvet baritone call out, "It's a neeeew traaaaack recoooord!")  Instead, West grew up in Texas and most of his memories were radio broadcasts and delayed TV broadcasts. He also clearly remembers seeing Johnny Rutherford's yellow Pennzoil Chaparral on display as a little boy - that hooked him. For me, it was hearing that distinctive whine of the engines in the...

Ridiculous but entertaining. Published in 2011 by William Morrow. Usually I have a low tolerance for over the top nonsense in my thriller novels. I tend to not like the stories with the unstoppable good guy whose training takes over and causes him to wipe out legions of his opponents. But, this one hit the spot for some reason. The premise of Spycatcher is really quite simple: Will Cochrane is a member of MI6 - the British version of the CIA. He is their super-spy, code-named Spartan. He is nearly unstoppable and pretty much has carte blanche to do whatever he wants to defend the UK. A new intelligence leak from Iran has discovered the existence of a similar type of super spy in Iran and he is planning a very big hit against the West. Cochrane is dispatched to stop him. The chase runs through Eastern Europe and America and of course ends in a dramatic, utterly unrealistic confrontation after sniper fights, special forces commando raids and lots of high level meetings in which C...