Rough Weather (Spenser mystery) by Robert B. Parker

Strong start. Best Spenser novel in a while.

Published in 2008 by Putnam Adult.

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 comments as well. Will Spenser ever age? No, I'm sure not. One of the early novels mentions that Spenser was at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War (1950). That makes Spenser at least 76 years old in Rough Weather. Good thing he doesn't age - how sad would that fistfight be?

Robert B. Parker 
(1932-2010)

Spenser notes that he reads the newspaper every morning: "Every year there were more stories about shoes, and celebrities, and hot restaurants, so every year I read less." Amen to that.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Rough Weather.

Reviewed on January 15, 2009.

Roadkill (abridged audiobook) by Kinky Friedman

Kinky Friedman "on the road again" with Willie Nelson

Published in 1997 by Macmillan Audio

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.

Kinky Friedman
and Willie Nelson

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 Killing Frost by Michael A. Black

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.

Reviewed on May 7, 2006.

Spy for the Night Riders: Martin Luther (Trailblazer Books #3) by Dave Jackson

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.

Sixkill (Spenser #39) by Robert B. Parker

A fitting end to a series

Published in 2011 by G.P Putnam's Sons.

With the publication of Sixkill, Robert B. Parker's last completed Spenser novel is on the shelves and Spenser's tale is done. It is tempting to make this review a review of the entire series, and I may fall into that temptation a little bit because Spenser and Parker have been part of my life for the better part of twenty years. But, most importantly, Sixkill is Robert B. Parker ending the series on a high note.

As any fan of the series knows, half of any Spenser book is already written - witty back and forth of a non-PC nature, annoying psycho-babble with Susan talking about why Spenser does what he does ("And, I suspect, if you didn't do what you do, you'd become someone else..."- p. 191), a rundown of all of the people that Spenser could contact to help, if needed (because Hawk is not in this one - he is still off in Central Asia), and eventually Spenser annoys enough people with his nosing around that they send someone to get rid of him and he tracks down the bad guy by figuring out who sent someone to kill him. But, we love this stuff or we wouldn't be reading the 39th Spenser novel.

Robert B. Parker 
(1932-2010)

In Sixkill a comic actor with a very creepy off-stage personality named Jumbo Nelson is accused of raping and murdering a local girl while filming a movie on location in Boston. Spenser's police friend Quirk thinks that Jumbo may actually not be guilty of anything more than being in the room while a combination of sex games, drugs and alcohol resulted in an accidental death and asks Spenser to look into it. Spenser gets into a one-sided fistfight with Jumbo Nelson's bodyguard, a twenty-something Cree Indian named Zebulon Sixkill, causes Sixkill to lose his job and eventually agrees to train Sixkill. It turns out Sixkill is a lost soul looking for a mentor and Spenser fits the bill (and also fill the role of Hawk when it comes to adolescent, but amusing, good-natured racial commentary).

The inside cover notes that Sixkill is "The last Spenser novel completed by Robert B. Parker" which means the reality of Parker's death comes home at last for this reviewer. I can only assume by the wording that Parker had partially completed manuscripts and storylines and those will be completed by someone else, much like Parker did with Raymond Chandler's Poodle Springs and Perchance to Dream. I would suggest going with another established author (like they did for Raymond Chandler) who likes wisecracking private detectives and asking Robert Crais to finish them up and then letting the series rest.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on June 17, 2011.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Sixkill by Robert B. Parker.

The White Tiger: A Novel by Aravind Adiga

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 - and, maybe, because of that they are neither and maybe nothing at all.  It is also certainly not told from the perspective of those new members of the international economy that man the phone banks that deal with the complaints of American customers.

Aravind Adiga

Balram Halwai comes from a small rural town in India and he wants to be more than a rickshaw-puller like his father. His father was a good man but, ultimately, he died because he was too poor to stop working and too poor to get adequate medical care (or any at all thanks to corruption). A government official came to the local school and told Balram Halwai that he was the white tiger - the rarest of all creatures. In this case, he was referring to Balram Halwai's academic talents and he promised a scholarship for the boy - which promptly disappeared in the corruption of the education system. So, Balram Halwai becomes a chauffeur and eventually works for the wealthy family that practically owns and operates his tiny village like a medieval fiefdom.

Balram Halwai uses and manipulates the system and the people in it playing by no rules at all until he ends up wanted for murder and running his own company (all of that is revealed in the first chapter so I am not writing spoilers).

This is a harsh book. Balram Halwai is hardly a likable character and no one else is either. Everyone, including the family buffalo uses everyone around him and sucks them dry. But, this is an antidote for the reader that things that everyone lives in quaint suburban neighborhoods and drives their SUV to Super Target every weekend after soccer practice.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on June 16, 2011.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The White Tiger: A Novel.

Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables by Phil Vischer

Fascinating, insightful, thought-provoking and entertaining.

Originally published in 2007.

Much like the original VeggieTales stories, Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables is a well-written story told with lots of humor and with much more depth than you might think.

On one level it's a fascinating story of the rise and fall of a media giant. I was fascinated on that level because I went right along with them - we had VeggieTales videos at our house before we even had kids because we saw them at the Christian bookstores playing on the VCRs in the back just in the way that Vischer describes in the book. 

Our house has the cool Pirates Who Don't Do Anything toy boat from the Jonah - A VeggieTales Movie , the Larry Mr. Potato-Head-type dress up character, stuffed dolls that talk, videogames (including a theme park game which is ironic considering that Vischer talks about how much he wanted to build a real one) and lots and lots of videocassettes and DVDs from all of their various distribution deals that Vischer describes (Word, Lyrick, HIT, and so on). I even have a VeggieTales necktie - something that he brings up as maybe the strangest incarnation of VeggieTales mania.

Phil Vischer

So, following Big Idea on this story of its rise and eventual fall is and of itself interesting reading for a fan. But, like a VeggieTales video, there is a section at the end that tells you what you learned in this story. What Phil learns falls into two categories - how to run a business better and, more importantly, the folly of doing something to please God without actually doing something that God wants you to be doing (okay, I said that poorly, Vischer does a better job so read the book).

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables

Reviewed on January 17, 2009.