Month: February 2019

  • Back from the dead

    I’m catching up with all the reviews Bob Moyer sent we when he was catching up. And now you can catch up on your pleasurable reading. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer ONLY TO SLEEP. A Philip Marlowe Novel. By Lawrence Osborne. Hogarth. 256 pages. $26. The world’s oldest hard-boiled detective is alive and living between…

  • Flavia on the case(s)

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE GOLDEN TRESSES OF THE DEAD. By Alan Bradley. Random House Audio. Read by Jayne Entwistle. 9 hours; 7 CDs. $35. Also available in print from Delacorte Press, 323 pages. $26. A new novel starring Flavia de Luce, the precocious young English girl who uses her extensive knowledge of chemistry…

  • 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.…

  • 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…

  • The right touch

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson When Stuart Woods is good, he’s really quite good, but sometimes he seems to be just cranking out yet another Stone Barrington ode to the joys of being ridiculously wealthy. A Delicate Touch, No. 48 in the series (which started in 1991), is better than most of Barrington’s recent adventures.…