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Flutes, feathers, fly-tying and a surprising mystery
Paul O’Connor takes a look at a true-crime book published six years ago, one that should satisfy those who love reading truly orReviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE FEATHER THIEF: BEAUTY, OBSESSION, AND THE NATURAL HISTORY HEIST OF THE CENTURY By Kirk Wallace Johnson. Viking. 243 pages, hardcover. $27. Also available in softcover, $18, by…
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Politics, power and pillow talk
Kingmaker or gold digger? Paul O’Connor takes a look at a recent biography of the most famous seductress in the 20th century. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor KINGMAKER: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction and Intrigue. By Sonia Purnell. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Louise Brealey. 16 hours, 58 minutes. Also available in…
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A recipe for trouble
Paul O’Connor takes a look at a memoir from someone who’s seen in person how Vladimir Putin operates and what he’s trying to achieve. The author puts what’s happening in the U.S. now into troubling perspective.. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor. MIDNIGHT IN MOSCOW: A MEMOIR FROM THE FRONT LINES OF RUSSIA’S WAR AGAINST THE…
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A cat, books, a story … need we say more?
Need a change of pace? Bob Moyer reviews a novel that is probably unlike anything you’ve read in a long time. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS. By Sosuke Natsukawa. Translated by Louise Heal Kawai. Harpervia. 208 pages. $15.19, paperback. A cat. Books. What more do you want you want? Well,…
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Good story, great writing
Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer BEEN WRONG SO LONG IT FEELS LIKE RIGHT: A King Oliver Novel. By Walter Mosley. Mulholland Books. 336 pages. $29. “You been wrong so long it feels like right to you.” That’s just one of the great sentences in book three of Walter Mosley’s Joe King Oliver series, in which…
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The personal, and the political
Bob Moyer says this accomplished new novel by Bernhard Schlink tells us a lot about modern-day Germany and the new-Nazi movement. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE GRANDDAUGHTER. By Bernhard Schlink. HarperVia. 336 pages. $28.99 Bernhard Schlink gave us one of the most accomplished novels of the 20th century, capturing the zeitgeist of post-war Germany.…
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A good story, and some pointers too
Do you need some really entertaining reading – escape reading, in more ways than one? Bob Moyer offers a review of a book he thinks you’ll find a good distraction in these troubled times. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer HERO. By Thomas Perry. Mysterious Press. 277 pages. $27.95 $27.95 Thomas Perry gives the reader not…
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The pain, the horror – and the love
One of the lesser-known atrocities committed by the Nazis is central to a new novel that caught Bob Moyer’s attention. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer SUNFLOWER HOUSE. By Adriana Allegri. St. Martin’s Press. 336 pages. $29. Atrocities committed by the Nazis during the Third Reich have been thoroughly documented, examined and commented upon. It is surprising…
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War is hell, and it has lessons for us
Paul O’Connor takes a look at what he considers an outstanding novel, set during the war that turned Yugoslavia into a hell on earth in 1992. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor. BLACK BUTTERFLIES. By Priscilla Morris. Alfred A. Knopf. 278 pages, $28, hardcover. For those old enough to remember the 1984 Winter Olympics, the thought…