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Depressing, yet compelling
Paul O’Connor reviews a book he meant to read long ago, one that still offers important lessons. Like Paul, I find that I will listen to the audio version of difficult books I cannot make myself read in print. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor A BRIGHT SHINING LIE: JOHN PAUL VANN AND AMERICA IN VIETNAM.…
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Reacher tackles a ghost and a host of bad guys
Bob Moyer is taking time out from his travels to catch up on some of his favorite authors. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer. PAST TENSE. By Lee Child. Delacorte Press. 382 pages. $28.99. Wow. It takes a good writer to drive a single plot competently down a path to a satisfying destination. It takes a…
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“In my life…”
Paul O’Connor returns to Briar Patch Books with a review of a book published in the spring of 2016. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor PAUL MCCARTNEY: THE LIFE. By Philip Norman. Little, Brown and Company. 816 pages. $32. For those Americans of a certain age, The Beatles represent more than music. Although John, Paul and…
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A little coincidence…
Bob Moyer keeps trying to catch up on all the books he’s read and intends to review, but there are so many ways to have fun and put off writing. … Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer SHELL GAME. By Sara Paretsky. William Morrow. 385 pages. $27.95 Over the course of 17 novels, she’s been beat…
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Driving out the dark spirits
Don’t you just love it when a reviewer introduces you to a promising-sounding series with a lot of books in it? Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DESOLATION MOUNTAIN. By William Kent Krueger. Atria Books. 320 pages. $26 When the mining company moved out of the Iron Lake area, it left behind a ravaged landscape and…
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A book for those who love books, bookshops and mysteries
I somehow misplaced this review when Bob Moyer submitted it last fall. He politely nudged me to find and post it. And now I won’t rest until I have the book. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE BOOKSHOP OF YESTERDAYS. By Amy Meyerson. Park Row Books. 364 pages. $32.99. Some books are scary. Not Halloween…
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Stephanie Plum’s latest adventure is delicious
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson LOOK ALIVE TWENTY-FIVE. By Janet Evanovich. Penguin Audio. 7 hours; 6 CDs. Read by Lorelei King. $32. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Stephanie Plum, the not-very-intrepid bounty hunter in Trenton, N.J., somehow finds new ways to career more or less unscathed through her zany, dangerous and outrageous…
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The never-ending war
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE RECKONING. By John Grisham. Random House Audio. 18 hours; 15 CDs. Read by Michael Beck. $45. Also available in print from Doubleday. As John Grisham’s latest novel opens, Pete Banning, a highly decorated World War II hero, family man and scion of a respected cotton-farming family in northern Mississippi,…