DWD's Reviews

I enjoyed it but would a young adult who has never heard of the Spenser books? I've read just about everything Robert B. Parker has written. I'm a huge fan of the Spenser series and I really did enjoy Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel , a look at the frequently alluded to but never before fleshed out childhood of Spenser in "West Flub-dub", somewhere out west. Fans of the series will enjoy it. It consists of Spenser and Susan talking about Spenser's childhood (with plenty of psycho-analysis thrown in) interspersed with flashbacks to Spenser as a young man in a series of "coming-of-age" stories). Robert B. Parker Will Young Adult (YA) readers care? The weakness of the book for YA's is the modern talk between Spenser and Susan. New readers will wonder who they are and not get the references to Spenser's hyper-developed sense of self - Parker spent years developing these characters. The regular reader will have no problem with the...

I read Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon as the literary equivalent of a one night stand - nothing serious, no commitments. This is not deep literature that requires a set of Cliff's Notes. I was looking for a change of pace. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon fit the bill perfectly. Spotty character development, sci-fi weapons, lots of talk about honor and commitment (that works until it gets too syrupy towards the end). All of the good guys have big square jaws (or are pretty tomboys) and have wonderful biographies - a walking recruiting poster. The bad guys carry fetish swords and use prostitutes and plan to hijack China's foreign policy as part of their ill-defined personal vendettas. Clunky writing and two-dimensional characters abound. But, the action scenes are intense and flow nicely. It is what it is - action-adventure writing without much else. I rate this book 3 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon . Reviewed on Sep...

A speech, little noted at the time, becomes a powerful gift to the ages Published in 2009 by Basic Books One of Churchill's most famous phrases comes from one of his shortest speeches - his first speech as Prime Minister delivered in Parliament as German forces were literally destroying the French army. The first paragraphs are administrative, describing his assembled government. The last paragraph is gold, pure gold. Winston Churchill (1874-1965) flashing his famed "V" for victory. Churchill lays out his war aims and makes it clear that it will be hard, "an ordeal of the most grievous kind." He identifies the Nazis as "a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime" and notes the policy as victory no matter the cost because "without victory, there is no survival." He bids any and all allies to come join Britain. There, in a few powerful sentences written by Churchill himself (oh, if only tha...

12 discs 14 hours read by Dick Hill* Edgar Award winner - 1993. First, let me say that Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch stories are the best series currently being published. I've read and heard books throughout the series and let me heartily recommend hearing the Harry Bosch books rather than reading them. Why? First of all, narrator Dick Hill has an amazing voice and he captures Harry Bosch perfectly. There is no one better. Secondly, Connelly's books really are well-written. I listen to a lot of audiobooks while I commute. Most are fine, but you can always tell the so-so authors. Their prose does not do well when read aloud while Connelly's shines. Combine it with Hill's voice and you have an experience, not just a book. (I'm not kidding, try it - I get two weeks of enjoyment by listening on the way to and from work rather than just two days in the traditional book format). So, is The Black Echo a good book? Not just good, it's great. Mic...

A surprising little book What do I mean by surprising? I already knew how much of a role faith played in the founding of our country, so I was not surprised by that aspect of Forged in Faith: How Faith Shaped the Birth of the Nation 1607-1776 . Rather, I found myself thinking that Gragg was slanting the facts to make a point and leaving out crucial details, only to find, when I turned the page, that he addressed those details and addressed them fairly. For example, he extols the virtues of the religious liberties enshrined in Massachusetts Colony's legal system in Chapter 5 (p. 57). I found myself thinking - "Yeah, but what about the Quakers?" It is addressed briefly on page 60 and again on page 73 (it turns out, some of the Quakers were quite annoying when promulgating their religious beliefs, including one woman who walked naked through a Puritan church service while haranguing the pastor about the need for simplicity in one's life!) Gragg makes his point ea...

Gives a solid background on one of America's iconic generals There have been thousands of generals that have served in the United States Military. Very few officers ever get "name" recognition. Washington, Grant, Pershing, MacArthur, Eisenhower. Patton stands right there with them, unique in the group of generals that I named because he was the only one that was always a subordinate officer, meaning that he was never in charge of an entire theater of war. But, Patton inspires images of a general of action - impulsive, moving, always pushing, leading from the field. Modern tank warfare may have been perfected by Patton in the sense that he truly understood the need to coordinate air, naval, armor and GI's. He did more than understand it in theory - he actually did it on the ground in real life. Patton: The Pursuit of Destiny is an attempt to dig behind the image to find out a little about the real Patton - a romantic family man (also a philanderer), the little...

Published in 2008 by Brilliance. Unabridged audiobook. Duration: 7 hours, 19 minutes. Read by James Daniels. In my mind, Robert Crais has the second best series in fiction going right now, just after Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. Solid, quirky, oftentimes funny, good detective stories throughout. Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner Joe Pike are on a dark, depressing case in Chasing Darkness . Three years earlier Cole had proven that a man could not have committed a horrific murder. Now, that man is found dead with evidence that he committed not only that murder but 6 others. Cole is sure that his work in the original case is correct and this man is being set up after his death and the real murderer is still wandering the streets. Cole and Pike start to pull on some loose threads and soon they have more trouble than they bargained for. Chasing Darkness is not as good as other Cole novels such as The Last Detective . This one starts out rather slowly but it buil...