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Choosing the words, telling the stories
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE DICTIONARY OF LOST WORDS. By Pip Williams. Ballantine Books. 371 pages. $28. Pip Williams’ remarkable debut novel is imaginative, original, intelligent and delightful. The Dictionary of Lost Words is also a book for our times – really, a book for all times. The questions it raises about the power…
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A good story – that raises questions
Bob Moyer, aficionado of mysteries and thrillers, also has an abiding interest in nonfiction books about the Holocaust. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE SPIRAL SHELL: A French Village Reveals Its Secrets of Jewish Resistance in World War II. A Memoir. By Sandell Morse. Schaffer Press. 239 pages. $24.95. Sandell Morse did not know what…
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The boy is back
Bob Moyer takes a look at the latest book by one of America’s most respected mystery and thriller writers. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer EDDIE’S BOY. By Thomas Perry. Mysterious Press. 274 pages. $26. Thomas Perry never fails to produce a pager-turner. His protagonists, whether in stand-alone novels or series installments, Native American females or…
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Reacher “Just Happens” to be at it again
Bob Moyer reviews the latest in one of his favorite series (and one of mine, also, once he introduced me to it). But, as he explains, this involves a “new Jack Reacher.” Reviewed by Robert P Moyer THE SENTINEL. By Lee Child and Andrew Child. Delacorte Press. 351 pages. $28.99 Jack Reacher is the star…
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Faded dreams and vanished worlds
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE SWEET TASTE OF MUSCADINES. By Pamela Terry. Ballantine Books. 288 pages. $27. Pamela Terry has a winner in “The Sweet Taste of Muscadines,” her debut novel. The book is billed as a Southern novel, and it is – in the best sense of that descriptive. The geography is right:…
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Anchored in the dilemma
Bob Moyer, an avid reader, often goes through books at a rapid pace. But those tend to be mysteries. This novel, he says, forced him to slow down. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer JACK. By Marilynne Robinson. Farrah Straus Giroux. 309 pages. $27. Marilynne Robinson has produced three novels centered on the fictional village of…
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The ticking bombs…
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE KING’S JUSTICE. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Bantam Books. $17, paperback. Over the course of eight previous novels, Maggie Hope has been an assistant to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a code breaker, a spy, a prisoner…. She’s come way too close for comfort to a serial killer trying to emulate…
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The most important client
Bob Moyer has a way of making we want to get a book and start reading right away! This one sounds particularly good. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE LAW OF INNOCENCE. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 42 pages. $29. Mickey Haller is the Lincoln lawyer. He does most of his business in the back…
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Not for the faint hearted
There were the holidays, you know. Oh, and he recently moved to a new house. And other things intervened. But Bob Moyer is back in book-reviewing mode now, and the world rejoices. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DEAD GIRL BLUES. By Lawrence Block. LB Productions. 218 pages. $24.99. She’s dead. Her blues are over. The…