Month: March 2017

  • Probing the past in L.A.

    Bob Moyer takes a look at the latest book in a series he’s long enjoyed. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer HEARTBREAK HOTEL. By Jonathan Kellerman. Ballantine Books. 351 pages. $28.99 The duo of LAPD Detective Milo Sturgis and child psychologist Alex Delaware has taken on a number of demeanors over the many volumes of their adventures…

  • A most misunderstood president

    Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor HERBERT HOOVER: A LIFE. By Glen Jeansonne. Berkley. 464 pages. $28. Also available from Penguin Audio, read by Mark Deakins. 16 hours, 28 minutes. $29.95. Head west across Interstate 80 from Chicago, and you’ll come across a National Park Service surprise in West Branch, Iowa: The Herbert Hoover National Historic…

  • Can Jack be back?

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE CUTTHROAT. By Clive Cussler and Justin Scott. Penguin Audio. Read by Scott Brick. 9 ½ hours; 8 CDs. $45. Also available in hardback from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Isaac Bell, the chief investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, would not normally be assigned to find an attractive young woman…

  • The art of death in Detroit

    Bob Moyer takes a look at paperback original novel from a prolific writer of mystery stories. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer SHOT IN DETROIT. By Patricia Abbott. Polis Books. 302 pages. $15, paperback. The 12 bodies in this book don’t get dead the same way. Some are gunned down, some are stabbed, and one is…

  • Fighting Irish – a tale for our times

    Paul O’Connor reviews a new biography of a 19th-century immigrant who battled discrimination against himself even as he fought for freedom for those who were enslaved. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN. By Timothy Egan. Brilliance Audio. 14 hours, 9 minutes. Read by Gerard Doyle. $11.95 Audible Download. Also available in paperback. Mariner Books. 384…

  • Poverty, material and spiritual

    This memoir/sociological analysis came out last summer, but Bob Moyer finds that it’s just as relevant now as it was during the thick of the presidential campaign. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer HILLBILLY ELEGY. By J.D. Vance. Harper. 261 pages. $27.99. According to J.D. Vance, you may be a hillbilly if you do the following during…

  • Pirates, beware

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI: Lieutenant Putnam and the Barbary Pirates. By James L. Haley. Books on Tape. Read by Paul Boehmer. 15 ½ hours; 13 CDs. Also available in hardcover from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 464 pages. Wow, what a book – a naval adventure tale full of action, interesting characters…