Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson Penguin, $20.00, 146 pages, ISBN 978-0-670-01578-8 Have you ever seen the hit drama series Longmire, on the A&E television network? If so, maybe you, like me, are a fan of the hard-working Wyoming Sheriff named Walt Longmire. Whether you’ve seen the show or not, read any of the series of books about him, or not, you’re in for a real treat with this
Star of Istanbul by Robert Olen Butler Mysterious Press, $25.00, 369 pages, ISBN 978-0-8021-2155-4 The Great War, or World War One, as it’s now known, has long been an area of interest to me. My Grandfather on my Father’s side of the family fought in it. The Great War was the first mechanized war and the effects were both brutal and horrific. The Ottoman Turk empire collapsed; the Brits
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews Scribner, $26.99, 434 pages, ISBN 978-1-4767-0612-2 Move over John LeCarre and Ian Fleming. Take a seat Graham Green, John Gardner and Vince Flynn . . . there’s a new spy novel sheriff in town and he’s packing plenty of talent, byzantine plotting and exquisite details based on thirty-three years of experience collecting clandestine intelligence in “denied-access” areas of the world with the CIA. Red
The Blood of Heaven by Kent Wascom Grove Press, $25.00, 455 pages, ISBN 978-0-8021-2118-9 In 1804, the United States was partitioned, with Spain, France and Great Britain, a young America and numerous Indian Nations laying claim to various parts of her. It was a time when America was in its formative stage, when new land and territory stretched to the western horizons, and the idea of a manifest destiny
Suspect by Robert Crais Putnam, $27.95, 309 pages, ISBN 978-0-399-18148-3 Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD is a mental condition suffered by some individuals who’ve been subjected to intense, loud and life-threatening situations. Anyone who’s been in a life and death situation can suffer from it. The US Armed Forces have for years denied the existence of PTSD, labeling sufferers of the condition as malingerers, or shirkers, refusing treatment and shunning
Little Green by Walter Mosley Doubleday, $25.95, 291 pages, ISBN 978-0-385-53598-4 I’m asked, from time to time, Why bother reading fiction? A number of answers spring to mind, such as; to entertain myself; to see how other people think; to educate myself by associating with smart people among others. But the best reason I can think of to read fiction right now is, to develop empathy for our fellow
They Don’t Dance Much by James Ross Mysterious Press, Open Road Integrated Media, $14.99, 288 pages, ISBN 978-1-4532-9620-2 This week’s Mysterious Book Report is a blast from the past: a piece of crime fiction that was first published in 1940, but for some reason was never the big success it was expected to be with the general public, although it received great reviews from the likes of Raymond Chandler,
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent Little Brown, $26.00, 322 pages, ISBN 978-0-316-24391-9 This week’s book review is a debut novel by an Australian author of great talent and outstanding promise; an author we’ll be paying attention to for a long, long time. Her novel is titled Burial Rites and the author’s name is Hannah Kent. She’s a graduate student who’s finishing her PhD at Flinders University in Adelaide, South
Never Go Back by Lee Child Delacorte Press/Random House, $28.00, 400 pages, ISBN 978-0-385-34434-0 I’ve said any number of times that I don’t often review the major, ‘A List’ authors, but every once in a while there’s an exception. This week is one of them. I mean-hey, what’s not to like about a big, hunky, existentialist dude who owns nothing but the clothes on his back and travels about
Let It Burn by Steve Hamilton Minotaur Books, $25.99, 276 pages, ISBN 978-0-312-64022-4 One thing you may not have picked up from all the cops n’ robbers shows we all watch nightly on the telly—as we have since we’ve had television, and the radio dramas before them, is this: all arresting and prosecuting officers of the law take a keen interest in the whereabouts of the miscreants they’ve put