Part I A Tribute to James Lee Burke Twenty-some years ago, at a time when we only had one vehicle, I was waiting in the car for my wife, June, to get off work, listening to a woman named Terri Gross interview a crime-fiction writer about his latest book. The writer’s name was James Lee Burke and his book featured an iconic character he’d created: a Louisiana police detective
Mrs. God by Peter Straub Pegasus Crime, $23.95, 185 pages, ISBN 978-1-60598-304-2 Mrs. God by Peter Straub is a different kind of a ghost story; it’s a murder mystery and a wee bit of a horror novel to boot. I have to say it’s one of the more bizarre pieces I’ve read in quite some time. The story is about professor William Standish, who receives a prestigious and coveted
Amped by Daniel H. Wilson Doubleday, $25.00, 275 pages, ISBN 978-0-385-53515-1 Here’s a great oxymoron for you: hallucinatory reality. Makes you scratch your head and go, “Huh?” doesn’t it. That’s what I did when I heard it on NPR this morning. Of course, I was half asleep at the time, so I checked it first thing when I turned the computer on; but no, I had it right. Hallucinatory
The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon Harper, $25.99, 278 pages, ISBN 978-0-062-20628-2 Do you ever get the urge, to just jump in the car with a full tank and drive until you run out of gas . . . never having a destination in mind . . . never knowing where you’re going until you get there? It’s a great daydream for a little while, leave all
Wolves Eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith Simon & Schuster, 2004, $25.95, 337 pages, ISBN 0-684-87254-4 Books which will transport all of us through time and space; books that know no borders, no limits and allow the reader to peek over the shoulder and into the lives of all the characters the world has to offer. Take this week’s MBR No. 70 for example . . . Wolves Eat
Wildwood Boys by James Carlos Blake Wm Morrow/Harper Collins, 2000, $24.00, 369 pages, ISBN 0-380-97749-4 It’s been such a busy couple of weeks in fact, that I haven’t had time to read much. But hey! Don’t worry, I’ve got a great MBR anyhow; it’s a selection from my best books of the year list and historical fiction to boot. Wildwood Boys highlights the life of William T. Anderson, a
Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor Harcourt, pap.2002, $14.00, 401 pages, ISBN 978-0-15-602966-9 It’s been so dry out here that every known frog in the state has moved to Minnesota. It’s been so dry that rattlesnakes have to carry canteens and travel in squads . . . and one of ‘em had better be a doctor. Yessir. And that’s a fact. So, this week’s MBR No. 68 is about
The Yard Dog by Sheldon Russell Minotaur, 2009, $24.99, 292 pages, ISBN 978-0-312-56670-8 Waaay back in the early 1960’s, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth and regular gasoline was 32.9 cents per gallon at my dad’s Texaco station on Main Street in Grahamsville, New York, a high school teacher named Manville B. Wakefield sparked an interest in American History in me that has remained all my life. It was
Never Tell by Alafair Burke Harper, 348 pages, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-199916-1 This will be a special . . . and different . . . MBR. Special because it’s number sixty-six, which always reminds me of the Mother Road from The Grapes of Wrath, also known formally as the Will Rogers Highway; it is, of course the iconic Route 66. It was born as part of the US
Ghosting by Kirby Gann IG Publishing, PBK, $15.95, 286 pages, ISBN 978-193543947-9 Ghosting by Kirby Gann is a new genre loosely termed “southern noir.” Noir, as regular readers of the MBR know, is dark, gloomy and generally concerns the troubled members of society, the outsiders, outlaws and outlandish ones among us . . . many of whom are involved in all types of criminal activity. Traditionally, noir stories take