-
What do bison, prairie dogs, nuclear weapons and cable TV have in common?
As I’ve said before, it’s a pleasure to receive a review from Tom Dillon, because he writes well, thinks clearly and reads interesting books. He’s also willing to try something different. Reviewed by Tom Dillon LAST STAND: Ted Turner’s Quest to Save a Troubled Planet. By Todd Wilkinson. Lyons Press. 378 pages. $18.95, paperback. Authorized…
-
For sheer entertainment, listen to a Clive Cussler tale
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson When it comes to audiobooks, I’m a more eclectic reader than I am with the printed volumes. Sure, I love listening to books I’d probably read or have read anyway – I’ve listened to all the novels of Jane Austen, for example, and whenever I get a new installment in…
-
When the smoke clears
A new novel from Deobrah Crombie is always a welcome arrival. She’s one of those much-to-be-envied American writers who have made a career of writing detective stories set in contemporary London. Too bad about all the time she has to spend traveling from her home in Texas to do research across the pond… Reviewed by…
-
Small packages – when less is more
So many of the audio books I “read” go on and on. That can be good if you want to get hooked into a book that will be with you for a while, say on a long road trip. But it’s refreshing to encounter a couple of novels that are more understated. Each of these…
-
Wacky and oh, so true
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson Understandably, when newspaper reporters try writing fiction, they’re likely to have a newspaper reporter as a major character. Stephen Roth, who spent 12 years in the trenches as a reporter for newspapers in Missouri and Florida, gives us a good one in Pete Schaefer, an aspiring novelist who’s stuck in…
-
Grand and terrible
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson I’d seen the large monument in the cemetery at Hospital Point on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. It’s a structure of rocks, topped by an ice-glazed cross and an anchor. I suppose I’d even read the inscription. But there are a lot of monuments on the…
-
The dreariness of conformity
Charles Davenport Jr. of Greensboro, a new contributor, takes a look at a 1993 book that’s much in the news because of a movie adaptation. Reviewed by Charles Davenport Jr. THE GIVER. By Lois Lowry. Houghton Mifflin. 225 pages. $9.99. In the movie theater about a month ago, I saw an interesting preview for a…
-
Crime and politics in Scotland
It’s always a pleasure to read a book review by Tom Dillon. He reads such interesting books. This time, he’s enjoying a bit of detective fiction, but as you might expect, it’s a bit more complicated than shoot-’em-up and whodunit. SAINTS OF THE SHADOW BIBLE. By Ian Rankin. Little, Brown and Co. 389 pages. $26…
-
Beware the wild New Jersey Chihuahuas
What fun! Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson TOP SECRET TWENTY-ONE. By Janet Evanovich. Read by Lorelei King. Random House Audio. 6 hours; 5 CDs. $32. How many wacky adventures can Stephanie Plum get into? How many cars can be destroyed? How often can her apartment be trashed? How long will her relationship with Joe Morelli…