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Prepare to be charmed
Also a big fan of Lee Smith, I reviewed this book earlier for the Greensboro News & Record: http://www.greensboro.com/go_triad/arts/books/review-dimestore-a-writer-s-life/article_f691fad4-cd46-5b96-9c54-3269b6c73c98.html Not to be outdone, Bob Moyer has reviewed it for Briar Patch Books. Such a fine book merits a lot of attention. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DIMESTORE. By Lee Smith. Algonquin Books. 202 pages. $24.95.…
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A wild tale, well told
The 1970s were crazy times, but enough time has elapsed to allow a good researcher and writer to make sense of the senseless. Paul O’Connor says Jeffrey Toobin has done just that. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor AMERICAN HEIRESS: THE WILD SAGA OF THE KIDNAPPING, CRIMES AND TRIALS OF PATTY HEARST. By Jeffrey Toobin. Doubleday.…
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A writer’s own stories
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE PIGEON TUNNEL: STORIES FROM MY LIFE. By John le Carre. Read by the author. Penguin Audio. 10 CDs; 11 ½ hours. $40. Also available in hardcover from Viking. Imagine that you could visit John le Carre, the highly successful author of British spy novels, who will turn 85 in…
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Where’s the gold?
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson CURIOUS MINDS. By Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton. Read by Lorelei King. Random House Audio. 7 hours; 6 CDs. $47. Also available in print from Bantam Books. For just plain fun, I adore Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, and I’ve also enjoyed some of Evanovich’s forays into other series, sometimes…
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In a strange land
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DODGERS. By Bill Beverly. Read by J.D. Jackson. Random House Audio. 10 ½ hours; 9 CDs. $40. Also available in print from Crown. I’m ashamed to admit that, after having received the review copy I had requested of Bill Beverly’s unforgettable new book, I dragged my heels about listening to…
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Murder – or is it? – in WWII New York
Many newspaper reporters dream of one day writing a novel. Dan Fesperman is living the dream – he just published No. 10. Paul O’Connor isn’t a big fan of mysteries, but he found this one quite entertaining. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE LETTER WRITER. By Dan Fesperman. Knopf. 372 pages. $26.95 The last few…
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Danger lurks in gritty Texas
Here’s a review of a second novel by a fellow newspaper veteran who is a transplant to North Carolina. The review, now with a couple of modifications, first ran in the Greensboro News & Record. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson WINNING TEXAS. By Nancy Stancill. Black Rose Writing. 226 pages. $16.95, paperback. In real world…
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A (very different) tale of Vietnam
Long before he was a public school teacher and principal, my husband, Lloyd Brinson, was a Marine officer who served in Vietnam. Who would have thought he’d find so much of value in a children’s novel set in contemporary times in that country? Reviewed by Lloyd Brinson LISTEN, SLOWLY. By Thanhha Lai. HarperCollins. 272 pages. $16.99,…
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Portrait of the artist as a young resistance fighter
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson A COUNTRY ROAD, A TREE. By Jo Baker. Read by David Rintoul. Random House Audio. 10 ½ hours; 9 CDS. $40. Also available in print from Knopf. Ah, what a heady thing to be an aspiring young writer in Paris – until the Nazis come goose-stepping in. In her new novel,…
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Channeling Robert B. Parker
A new writer is keeping an old favorite series alive, and Bob Moyer thinks that’s quite OK. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer Robert B. Parker’s SLOW BURN: A Spenser Novel. By Ace Atkins. Putnam. 304 pages. $27. Robert B. Parker may have passed from this mortal coil, but Spenser, his iconic Boston P.I., still packs…