Another Marvelous Genre Blend The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton (2024) – When human carelessness results in a black killing fog covering the world, a small group of people survive on a protected island. After 90 years, the leader of the group decides to tell everyone the truth. Her... Continue Reading →
Life Mirrors Art
Holmes In Life Conan Doyle For The Defense: How Sherlock Holmes's Creator Turned Real-Life Detective and Freed a Man Wrongly Imprisoned for Murder by Margalit Fox (2018) – The true story of a sensational British murder, a quest for justice and the world’s most famous detective writer. Why I Like It – A perfect combination... Continue Reading →
Storytelling Pared To The Essentials
The Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway (1938) is a collection of 49 short stories by the American master. They cover Hemingway’s career from his early days as a war correspondent to the full bloom of his distinctive and influential style. The original publication, “The Fifth Column and The First Forty-Nine stories, Hemingway’s only play, “The... Continue Reading →
A War Within A War
A Classic About War, Betrayal, Naivete and Death The Quiet American by Graham Greene (1955) – Thomas Fowler is a British journalist covering the war in French Indo-China (Viet Nam). Cynical and aloof, he has created a quiet cocoon for himself. A life bounded by the carefully managed press opportunities performed by the French authorities,... Continue Reading →
Of The Apocalypse, Salvation and Death
Dive Deep To Find Truths You May Not Want To Know Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney (2021) - Forty years ago, an asteroid threatened Earth with destruction. It was Akira Kimura that identified and then neutralized the threat, making her the savior of humanity. When she feels threatened, she calls on her former bodyguard/friend... Continue Reading →
A Less Than Glorious Summer
Struggling Against The Tide The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck (1961) - The only remaining valuable part of Ethan Hawley’s long, aristocratic family’s history is the name. His father squandered the family fortune and now his son works as a grocery clerk in his hometown. To regain his self image and the respect... Continue Reading →
Atlas Hugged
Atlas Hugged by David Sloan Wilson (2020) - Years after his grandfather disappeared, and his father grew rich from the legend of John Galt, John Galt III begins a movement to repair and replace his ancestors destructive philosophy. In its place, he offers a revolution of the mind and spirit. I'll get this out of... Continue Reading →
The One Where I Confess My Failure
I've Never Read "Dracula" That's right. After decades of sometimes obsessive reading, across genres, for school and for pleasure, I have never read the iconic vampire novel. In my defense, I'm not much of a horror fan. I prefer Stephen King's more science fictiony titles ("The Stand", "The Dead Zone") to his outright horror. I... Continue Reading →
Where It All Began
Neil Gaiman takes us on a trip below Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (1997) - Richard Mayhew isn't special. He's a nice guy with an ordinary life. Until he stops to help a young woman bleeding on the sidewalk. From that moment, his life would never be ordinary again. Mayhew enters the world that exists below... Continue Reading →
Fire, History, and Intrigue
Masks and riddles, captivating and elusive, this is Venice The City of Falling Angels (2005) by John Berendt The historic La Fenice Opera House in Venice burns and around it, one of the most unique cities in the world tries to understand. Will it be rebuilt? Can it be rebuilt? John Berendt takes us inside... Continue Reading →