Fault Lines (Michael Stone #2) by Anna Salter

Great thriller

Published in 1999 by Pocket Star

Psychologist Michael Stone (a female, despite the name) has spent quite a bit of time interviewing Alex B. Willy, pedophile and sadist. When he gets out of prison due to a technicality, she knows he'll come after her because she is the only one who knows the twisted way his mind actually works, despite his charming demeanor. We follow Stone as she tries to work through her out-of-whack personal life, some demanding clients and the omni-present threat of Willy. Interestingly, Willy is not fleshed out much as a character. This works well, in that Willy becomes more of an unknown threat to the reader - a man capable of anything - but we don't know where he is likely to come from or what he is likely to do.

Fault Lines is surprisingly well-done, (I say surprising because a lot of thrillers featuring psychiatrists tend to get bogged down in jargon) and Stone is prickly but likable. Her world is peopled with interesting, but not terribly well-developed characters. This is a part of a series so I'd assume that the characters will be better developed as time goes on.

Salter is well-qualified to write about the life of a therapist as has co-authored a number of books about recovering from rape and child abuse and trauma.

All in all, a great little read.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Fault Lines by Anna Salter.

Reviewed on October 12, 2004.

Monte Walsh

More of a portrait, less of a traditional movie

Released in 2003.

Monte Walsh is not a plot-driven movie so much as it is a portrait of that moment in time when the Old West was disappearing and the men who made the Old West what it was had to adjust, die or just fade away.

It is beautifully shot and there is a lot of attention to detail. If one is looking for a ton of action, this is not the western you are looking for. But, if you love cowboy movies this one is a real treat. It would make the watcher wistful for those days when the horse ruled the west, except that you know that Monte Walsh would have none of that pointless sentiment.

No living actor looks more like a cowboy should than Tom Selleck and I'd be thrilled if he focused on those movies for the rest of his career.

I rate this movie 4 stars out of 5.

This movie can be found on Amazon.com here: Monte Walsh.

Reviewed on October 4, 2004.

Vespers (abridged)(audiobook) by Jeff Rovin

Good story - not terribly original, but fun nonetheless.

Published by Random House Audio in 1998.
Read by Boyd Gaines
Approximately 3 hours

Abridged.

I heard Vespers as an abridged audiobook and I will talk about that aspect at the end.

If you saw any of Hollywood's animal disaster B movies (Giant ants, snakes, bugs, etc. that attack humanity) than you get the idea behind this book. Normally placid bats are attacking people and gathering in a murderous swarm above New York City. Meanwhile, something else - something very large - is killing people in the subway tunnels. Will the animal expert and the rough cop be able to save the day?

Even though the plot is formulaic, I still found myself wanting to know what happened next. I couldn't wait to pop the tape in the player as soon as I got in the car!

The audiobook is read by Boyd Gaines who does a phenomenal job. Every character has a unique and distinct voice in accent. 5 stars for him, if I could.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Vespers by Boyd Gaines. 

Reviewed on September 29, 2004.

Lawless (Nikki Hill #4) by Christopher Darden and Dick Lochte

I admit it, I saw the name on the cover and picked it up...

Originally published in 2004.

...and after the first 50 pages I thought to myself, "Uh-oh. He's done it again and screwed up for all of the world to see." In case you were under a rock during the O.J. Simpson trial - Darden was the male prosecutor. And, it first it did seem that Lawless was floundering and going to be another bust for Darden.

Christopher Darden
during the
infamous O.J. trial.

However, what I mistook for floundering was actually the plot being carefully laid out - including intricate subplots, betrayals (lots of betrayals) and bizarre dead ends that mislead the reader to the very last page. When you finally get a handle on what the bad guys are up to you then wonder which guys are the bad guys, which are the good guys and who is just out for themselves. When this book finally played out, it was well worth the initial confusion.

I'll be looking for more of their books.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: LAWLESS by Christopher Darden and Dick Lochte.

Reviewed on September 29, 2004.

Rising Phoenix by Kyle Mills

An excellent, gripping, morally challenging novel.

Published by HarperAudio in 2000.
Read by Campbell Scott.
Duration: Approximately 3 hours.
Abridged.

I am reviewing Rising Phoenix as an abridged audiobook and will make specific comments on that aspect of it at the end of this review.

I have drudged and slogged my way through a number of books and books on tape lately and this one was like a bolt of lightning - it came out of nowhere and really was a welcome surprise for me. I won't go into many of the plot details - however, this is a great bit of writing. 

The premise is thought-provoking, to say the least. The main idea is that someone decides to poison the supply of illegal drugs in order to truly scare everyone straight. The idea of drugs killing you are no longer just an abstract possibility, it is an immediate reality.

In a nice twist, the antagonist is well-developed and the protagonists are not. The story is plot-driven and by that I mean we don't get bogged down in unnecessary details, such as focusing on weapons at great length, etc. - as can sometimes happen in a techno-thriller.

Really a top notch piece of work.

As for details concerning the book as an audiobook - it is read by Hollywood actor Campbell Scott (known for his work in Dying Young). He does a first-rate job - he reads the characters so differently that you really don't notice that the same man is reading all of the different parts.

Good work all around.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Rising Phoenix by Kyle Mills. 

Reviewed on September 23, 2004.

The Pursuit of Happiness in Times of War by Carl M. Cannon

A Truly Enjoyable Meandering History

Published in 2003 by Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.

Publishers Weekly criticized this book The Pursuit of Happiness in Times of War for not truly exploring the meanings behind Jefferson's famous phrase from the Declaration of Independence that lists among the rights of all people the rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." To be fair to Cannon, he does explore that and both explicitly and implicitly tells the reader that the genius of the phrase is that it is so hard to define. It can be used by people from all over the political landscape to define their goals and they are all using it correctly (I think he does this rather brilliantly in the chapter concerning anti-war protesters vs. George W. Bush.)

The Publishers Weekly review correctly points out that Cannon's focus is, at times, lacking. However, the text is still informative and well-written. I would compare it to a pleasant conversation that strays a bit from its original focus but eventually does return.

Franklin, Adams and Jefferson editing 
the Declaration of Independence.

Cannon pulls quotes from a great multitude of sources and he correctly, in my mind, expounds on his thesis that one of the Great Themes of the American Experience is expanding the concept of the "pursuit of happiness" and making it apply to more and more people within our own society and also throughout the world. His view that this is one of the goals of the invasion of Iraq is so consistent with Bush's own statements and my own observations that it shocked me to read it in print. Why was I shocked? I was shocked because this was the first time I read it in print - he is the first journalist I've seen to analyze it in this way and I feel that he is one of the few who actually has an intellectual grasp of what Bush's goals are in Iraq (be they successfully reached or not and Cannon really does not address the correctness or not of the war in Iraq - he is merely looking into motivations.)

His quotes from leaders of nations that were once part of the Soviet Bloc and are now part of the Coalition of the Willing in Iraq are so concise and insightful that I was struck dumbfounded in many ways.

On a pet peeve note, Cannon has lots of end notes - many with excellent additional commentary. I wish his publisher had seen fit to make them footnotes so that I would not have had to keep two bookmarks in the book and continually have to flip back and forth.

I rated this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Pursuit of Happiness in Times of War by Carl M. Cannon.

Reviewed on September 22, 2004.

Acts of Malice (abridged audiobook) by Perri O'Shaughnessy

A lot of soap opera, a little legal thriller

Published by Brilliance Audio in 2003.
Duration: Approximately 3 hours.
Read by Laurel Merlington
Abridged

I listened to Acts of Malice as an abridged audiobook and I'm hoping some of the problems I have with the book were really due to the abridgment.

Problems:

1. her son Bob - he never speaks. He never does anything but be the perfect son who never, ever does anything wrong while mom sometimes spends outrageous hours out of the home. Watch out for this kid - he's going to be trouble!

2. Her son Bob says nothing, nothing at all about mom getting married to a man she just started re-dating while he's off on a trip to Germany (apparently unplanned since the tapes bring it up as he's packing the day before).

3. I don't know about you, but I think it would be pretty unethical to start dating the prosecutor during your defendant's murder trial.

4. The book spent much more time on the character's conflicted feelings (not conflicted about how this affair would affect her client's case, mind you, just hot and bothered about dating this man again) and not much on the case. If the story had focused, a 3 hour audiobook would have lasted about an hour. That means I was listening to 2 hours of romance novel on tape! Aaaargh!!

I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on September 21, 2004. 

NOTE: Despite the fact that I like the cleverness of the name (2 sisters combined their names to make a new name) and the fact that their books always sound interesting, I do believe that this is the last Perri O'Shaughnessy book I've read or listened to.  Always great looking covers on the books, but you know the old saying about books and covers...

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Acts of Malice by Perri O'Shaughnessy.