The Glister had a great premise: boys are disappearing in a small town that is dominated by an abandoned chemical plant. It seems certain that the plant has poisoned the town, both physically and mentally. The townspeople are deeply distrustful on the land where the plant was situated and of what went on there. Is it somehow responsible for the… Read more
This is the book Spenser fans have been waiting for – it’s certainly the one I’ve been waiting for. I have all of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novels in my library. In some cases, I have them in hardcover, paperback and audio versions (yeah, I can be a bit obsessive). In all those novels, Spenser has talked very little about… Read more
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane has plenty to recommend it: the Salem Witch Trials, crazy grad school mentors and a hot, agnostic steeplejack. Certainly sounds like a good start to a story, combining historical fiction, a bit of mystery and maybe something a little supernatural. It starts with a very interesting question about the Salem witch trials, one that… Read more
If anyone needed this self-help book, it was me. I actually have at least one thing in common with author Gail Blanke – both of our mother’s were extremely organized, while both of us struggle to keep ourselves organized. That’s a good start. In addition, as I have mentioned before, I am a packrat. I need to go through things… Read more
My bookshelves are not terribly political. A biography or two, a bit of humor about our political system, but not much else – I figure it’s bad enough I have to see politicians on the news every day, I have no desire to read about them in my leisure time. I accepted The Obama Revolution for review primarily because it… Read more
If all chick lit were this well-written, I would read more of it. This is definitely one to put on your beach-reads list. Lola is funny and engaging, her friends are totally over the top, and her situation is unique enough to be interesting, but in some ways it is all too familiar. It makes for a charming, funny little… Read more
If you’re going to write great cop fiction, you need two things: great cops and great villains. Richard Montanari has both in his Philadelphia police series and his latest installment, Badlands, delivers an exceptionally creepy villain. This particular killer leads detectives on a scavenger hunt around Philadelphia, leaving clues and bodies for them to find. A dead runaway in a… Read more
I received this 20th Anniversary Edition of Fatal Light from the good folks at the Santa Fe Writer’s Project. I admit that Vietnam War history is not an subject that I have really explored. I’ve read a few things here and there, school assignments, mostly, but I am very glad I decided to tak this one on. Fatal Light is… Read more
Skeleton Creek is young adult fiction for kids who grew up online — think Harriet the Spy meets The Blair Witch Project. Two bored teenagers manufacture a mystery in their hometown, which leads to a real mystery and some dangerous consequences. When one of them is seriously injured, the other continues the investigation, videotaping her adventures and posting them online.… Read more
It’s a parent’s worst nightmare: one minute your child is there – the next minute, he’s gone. In The Disappearance, Joshua and Nathalie Sandler’s son, Daniel, disappears and their lives change completely. The Sandlers are a very happy family. Joshua runs a furniture sales business; Nathalie is a professional cellist. Daniel is 14 years old, generally a pretty good kid.… Read more