Speedweeks: 10 Days At Daytona by Sandra McKee

Disappointing

So, Speedweeks: 10 Days At Daytona is yet another coffee table book. See, what it is is that I have a friend who knows I am a NASCAR fan so he didn't know what else to get me for Christmas so he got me 3 NASCAR books. One of them was this one and I was fairly disappointed, mostly due to the fact that the title does not accurately describe the book. Nor does it accurately describe Speedweeks, 

Daytona Speedweeks is a racing happening - a racing festival. There are a multiple motorsports events, culminating in the Daytona 500. Check their website!

This book, however, focuses primarily on the Daytona 500 (90%) and barely mentions the other events. In fact, some events it doesn't mention at all. I have no problem with the NASCAR Cup level focus, just give the book a different title, like The Daytona 500. This, truly, is a book that you cannot judge by its title.

I give this book 2 stars out of 5. The title thing annoyed me, but there was also nothing here about the history of the speedway or of the race. Beautiful book but not much here of substance.

This book can be purchased on Amazon here: Speedweeks: 10 Days At Daytona.
 
Reviewed in February of 2005 (edited in 2011 and 2025 to update the events offered during Speedweeks)..

America's Strangest Museums: A Traveler's Guide to the Most Unusual and Eccentric Collections by Sandra Gurvis

Originally published in 1998.

As the title suggests, America's Strangest Museums: A Traveler's Guide to the Most Unusual and Eccentric Collections is a tour of more than 100 bizarre little museums people (and a few corporations) have set up across the USA ( and a couple in Canada). Some include:

-The Museum of Menstruation (started by a single man in his 50s)

-The Tooth Fairy Museum (now closed)

-The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (closed now, unfortunately)

-Spam has a museum.

-So does Combat, the bug spray company. They also have a contest in which you can send them dead roaches dressed up in dioramas.

-The Bull Hall of Fame.

My favorite is The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in Massachusetts.

Since I am a proud Hoosier, I'm pleased to note that Indiana offerings include:

-The Old Jail Museum in Crawfordsville

-The Dan Quayle Center and Museum in Huntington

-Drake's Midwest Phonograph Museum in Martinsville

-The Bird's Eye View Museum in Wakarusa.


Anyway - fun book. Makes you wonder a bit about your fellow man and his collecting habits.
 
I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon here:
America's Strangest Museums: A Traveler's Guide to the Most Unusual and Eccentric Collections  

Reviewed in February of 2005.

Nest of Vipers by Linda Davies

Not so hot.

Originally published in 1995.

Nest of Vipers features Sarah Jensen, a young, gorgeous, exceedingly bright (When are we going to have a book about an ugly, old not-so-bright heroine?) currency trader who is asked by the British version of the Federal Reserve President to go undercover at a trading house and see if they are using inside information to make millions of pounds. Much trouble ensues.

The female lead is a little too well-connected (she always knows just the right person to help her when she needs something) and I was kind of bugged that the characters used dollars and pounds interchangeably in their financial wheelings and dealings. Maybe that's the reality of international currency exchange and the power of the United States. If so, "Go USA!"

Back to the book - It's better than reading nothing, but you might want to read an old National Geographic instead.
 
I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon here:  Nest of Vipers 

Reviewed in February of 2005.

Lizard Skin by Carsten Stroud

Great book, except for the end.

Published in 1992.

Lizard Skin features veteran Montana state trooper Beau MacAllister, a wise-cracking good ol' boy who has great instincts and is not too concerned with protocol. Beau is called to a truck stop to stop a robbery in progress - but the whole thing seems fishy to him and he ends up shooting the supposed victim in the butt during a 3 way fight between Beau, the "victim" and several Indians using compound bows. Beau suspects something is amiss and tugs on this loose thread until 

The characters in this story are well-written - Beau is particularly well developed, especially for a cop novel. The DA character (Vanessa Ballard) is quite memorable and "feels" like a real person, rather than a caricature. Even McAllister's nemesis, Dwight Hogelan, shows signs of growth during the book.

Carsten Stroud

All of this makes the end of Lizard Skin very disappointing. The first 90% of the book is a great cop thriller - but the end is very hoaky and formulaic. It is like he finished the book under pressure and ran out of time. For example, he was maneuvering an Indian character into becoming a second Crazy Horse destined to lead a spiritual revival of the Plains Indians. However, 50 pages of character development was quickly dismissed in one page at the end. Why bother?

Due to the disappointing end of this novel I have to lower the rating for this book from 5 stars to 3 stars.
 
Reviewed in February of 2005. 

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Lizard Skin

The Fourth Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders

A formula book with some redeeming features.

First things first. Lawrence Sanders wrote formulaic murder mysteries. The Fourth Deadly Sin one was also formulaic, but better than most of his stuff.

A New York psychologist gets murdered with a ball peen hammer in his own office and a dark and stormy night. A retired detective is pressed back into duty to lead an interesting team of detectives that is sorting through some of his patients, friends, employees and wife to try to figure out who did this dastardly crime.

Lawrence
Sanders
(1920-1998)

The old cop, Delaney, has one interesting vice. Rather than drinking when depressed over the progress their making, he eats cold sandwiches made of leftovers over the kitchen sink, which irritates his wife to no end.

An interesting theme is developed - Delaney asserts that truly beautiful women (in this case the wife - literally everyone comments about her striking looks ) often are (self-)limited in other capacities because they can get by with just their looks. For example, they don't have to develop specialized skills or learn to how to get along with difficult people or situations because everyone caters to them.

Anyway, I'll give this book 3 stars out of 5.  The detectives and their different styles were interesting, but I had pretty much figured out who did it about half way through.

This book can be found on Amazon here:The Fourth Deadly Sin (The Edward X. Delaney Series Book 4)   

Reviewed on February 12, 2005.

Mind Prey (Lucas Davenport #7) by John Sandford

Quite the Thriller!

Originally Published in 1995.

Mind Prey is the seventh in a series of novels featuring Lucas Davenport, a tough police detective in Minnesota. It is the third and definitely the best that I have read in the series.

Davenport is more than a detective, he also designs role-playing and computer simulation games, a hobby that blossomed into a multi-million dollar business. The twist in this plot is that the bad guy is a psycho who happens to love role-playing games. He kidnaps one of his former therapists to fulfill some of his twisted fantasies and then gets a bigger thrill when he discovers that the designer of some his favorite games is on the case. (Imagine a 'Dungeons and Dragons' player matching wits against Gary Gygax and you've got the scenario)

Mind Prey is really quite a good thriller - it was very difficult to put the book down while reading the last 75 pages.

This book can be found on Amazon here:  Mind Prey   

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.
 
Reviewed on February 12, 2005.

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.