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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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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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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,…
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Crime, life and most of all, books
Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE MAN WHO CAME UPTOWN. By George Pelecanos. Little, Brown. 263 pages. $27. Have you read the collection of Appalachian short stories Kentucky Straight? How about westerns by Elmore Leonard, or The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien? Michael Hudson has. In fact, he has read everything Anna the prison librarian…
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Spenser: The magic continues
Bob Moyer takes a look at the latest Spenser novel and finds it worthy of the tradition. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer ROBERT B. PARKER’S OLD BLACK MAGIC (SPENSER). By Ace Atkins. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 336 pages. $27. Spenser, the singularly named Boston P.I., shares both a name and a proclivity for poetic expression with…
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Murders and miracles
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson HOLY GHOST. By John Sandford. Penguin Audio. 10 hours; 8 CDs. Read by Eric Conger. $40. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Virgil Flowers from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is back in one of his best novels yet. The setting is Wheatfield, Minn., a tiny, middle-of-nowhere…
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A novel to savor
In many circles, Bob Moyer is better known for his haiku than for his book reviews. I offer him this lead-in to his latest review: Finest French cuisine Clever detective at work Bob is in heaven Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer A TASTE FOR VENGEANCE. A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel. By Martin Walker.…