DWD's Reviews

Originally published in 1938 in "Five-Novels Monthly" magazine Re-published by Galaxy Press in 2011. I read this as a kindle e-book, which seemed sort of appropriate considering L. Ron Hubbard's standing as a world class science fiction author. When this story was originally written in 1938 my standard-issue Kindle HD tablet would seem to be nothing short of science fiction.  You may not be aware that Hubbard wrote plenty of westerns back in the days of pulp serial magazines (and long before his name became synonymous with Scientology). His familiarity with western life came from his childhood in Montana when Montana was still only a few steps away from its rough-and-tumble cowboy past. Branded Outlaw is an all out Western adventure with all of the familiar elements fans of Westerns are readily familiar with. Lee Weston is coming from Wyoming after being summoned by his father to his ranch in New Mexico. When he arrives he finds his father dead and a smolderi

Published in 2013. In his sophomore effort author James Blakley introduces a new character but stays in familiar territory. His previous book, The Steel Deal , featured a private investigator that stumbled into something much larger than he had imagined when he took a case, In The K-Frost Caper  Luna Nightcrow, a Cherokee insurance investigator from Oklahoma, is sent to Miami to look into a suspicious life insurance application. It seems that the company paid out life insurance money a few years ago for the drowning death of a man with the unlikely name of Kelvin Frost. His body was never recovered and now a person was applying for more life insurance in Miami with the same unlikely name.  The Miami Skyline. Photo by Marc Averette The company, Charmed Life Mutual, already sent one investigator but he has dropped off the grid so Luna Nightcrow is sent to investigate this Kelvin Frost person and find the other investigator. But, when she arrives in Miami she discovers that t

Just Does Not Live Up to the Promise of Its Title Published by Endeavour Press Ltd. in 2013 Estimated length: 361 pages I am a huge student of the Civil War. I own more than one hundred books (fiction and non-fiction) on the topic, a fact that my wife tolerates but only sort of understands. I think that there is something to be learned in well-researched historical fiction as well as the history texts because excellent historical fiction has the ability to place the reader in someone's shoes at the moment. Taking on the topic of the Civil War in historical fiction can be a thankless undertaking - misstate the caliber of a weapon and the purists are all over you. Go on about slavery too much and the revisionists are after you. Fail to mention it at all and everyone else is after you. I thought Frye did just fine with all of those aspects in this book. I read nothing that did not seem correct as far as the details went.  With God on Their Side is about a Confederate General

This is a list of the best of the best of the 101 books and short stories that I read or listened to in 2013. They did not have to be released in 2013. I broke the books into several categories. The reviews are linked.  * indicates the best book in that category. Fiction books: * Breaking Point (Joe Pickett #13) by C.J. Box His Majesty's Dragon (Temeriare #1) by Naomi Novak Suspect by Robert Crais Unthinkable (Jane Candiotti and Kenny Marks #4) by Clyde Phillips Short Story: * That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made by Eric James Stone Overtime in the Woods by Ryan Sean O'Reilly Sledge by Ernie Lindsey Cage Life by Karin Cox Non-Fiction books: * Under the Wire: Bestselling World War II of an American Spitfire Pilot and Legendary POW Escape Artist  by William Ash and Brendan Foley A Dream So Big: Our Unlikely Journey to End the Tears of Hunger by Steve Peiffer with Gregg Lewis A Portrait of Jesus  by Joseph F. Girzone Blood and Smoke: A T

I decided to take the plunge and see what all of the hype was about. Originally published in 1985. Winner of the Nebula Award (1985). Winner of the Hugo Award (1986). Ender's Game is a classic and I had not read it until now. Why? I don't know. I was reading a lot of science fiction when it came out, but I just missed it. Of course, I couldn't miss all of the sequels and prequels that came in the ensuing years but I figured that I was just too far behind to catch up.  But, when the movie came out this fall a cousin of mine told me that he had gone to see it because he read it multiple times as a kid and loved it. So, I decided to take the plunge and see what all of the hype was about. The positives: Orson Scott Card. Photo by Nihonjoe -Orson Scott Card creates an interesting, integrated universe to tell this story. It holds together well and has a solid internal consistency. -The descriptions of the command school battles and the way that the command sch

Published in 2011 by Little, Brown and Company I am a big fan of the Harry Bosch series, having read 15 of the 16 books in the series and given all but one top marks. The Drop continues that excellent trend. This is a gritty mystery story (really, it is two mysteries) with a number of twists and turns and a morally ambiguous ending. Michael Connelly. Photo by Mark Coggins Bosch is part of the D.R.O.P program - the Deferred Retirement Option Plan. This allows police officers to work up to five years past their mandatory retirement age, with the department making the decision as to how long he will work. When the story starts Harry has 3 years left in the DROP program and he is working cold murder cases with a young partner named David Chu.  Harry sees the end of his career coming and he wants to get as many cases solved as he can. When a DNA hit on a rape/murder from the late 1980s points to a convicted child molester who would have been nine years old when the victim was