Month: October 2015

  • The deepest mystery of all

    Bob Moyer takes a look at a new stand-alone novel by the author of one of his favorite series, and he likes what he sees. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE MURDERER’S DAUGHTER. By Jonathan Kellerman. Ballantine Books. 364 pages. $28. Early in this one-off, stand-alone book, the new kid, The Murderer’s Daughter, meets with…

  • Not ‘Hitler’s Pope’

    Chances are, you’ve heard more than once the criticism that the Pope was silent while Hitler was perpetrating the Holocaust. Paul O’Connor reviews a fascinating book that tells the story of what was going on behind the scenes. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor CHURCH OF SPIES: THE POPE’S SECRET WAR AGAINST HITLER. By Mark Riebling.…

  • Another romp with Fox and O’Hare

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson Some books are perfect for listening while driving on long interstate stretches or crammed into an airplane seat. Janet Evanovich’s various series fit this category well. They’re highly entertaining, and they don’t require deep thinking. Stephanie Plum, Evanovich’s intrepid bounty hunter and endearing klutz, is by far my favorite, but…

  • History with a lesson

    Paul O’Connor reviews a history that can tell many Americans much they don’t know about the Eastern Front in World War II, including an important lesson about how to wage a war. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE DEVIL’S ALLIANCE: HITLER’S PACT WITH STALIN, 1939-1941. By Roger Moorhouse. Tantor Audio (through Audible.com), $22.04. Read by…

  • Money and power

    Thank goodness Tom Dillon has wide-ranging tastes in books. He reads and reviews some fascinating ones we might otherwise overlook. Reviewed by Tom Dillon THE RICHEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED. By Greg Steinmetz. Simon and Schuster. 283 pages. $27.95 hardback. Augsburg in Bavaria, my home for much of the 1960s, is a middling-size German city…

  • Shhh!: Librarians tracking killers

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson BOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING. By Jenn McKinlay. Read by Allyson Ryan. Books on Tape (Penguin Random House).  Six CDS; 7 ½ hours.  Also available in print. Sometimes, you just need a light, cozy mystery to entertain you. For a lover of books, if that mystery has a library as a…

  • Lincoln, military genius

    Paul O’Connor somehow missed this excellent Civil War history when it was published a few years ago, and he’s glad he found it now as an audio book. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor TRIED BY WAR: ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF. By James M. McPherson. Penguin Audio. 8 CDs. Read by George Guidall. $31.50.…

  • Hardboiled, served up right

    Whether he’s in L.A. with Easy Rawlins or Manhattan with Leonid McGill, Walter Mosley delivers some fine books. Bob Moyer has a great time with the latest. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer AND SOMETIMES I WONDER ABOUT YOU. By Walter Mosley. Doubleday. 272 ages $26.95. What’s happened to the gunsels, the dames, the twists, the…