Scott's bookshelf: read en-US Tue, 08 Jul 2025 09:58:27 -0700 60 Scott's bookshelf: read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Monster Blood (Goosebumps, #3)]]> 6135929
Something scary is happening in GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND, the all-new, all-terrifying series by R. L. Stine. Just how scary? You'll never know unless you crack open this classic prequel!

Evan visits an eerie old toy store and buys a dusty can of Monster Blood. But then he notices something weird about the slimy green ooze. It keeps growing. And growing. And growing.

And all that growing has given the Monster Blood a monstrous appetite. . . .]]> 128 R.L. Stine 0545035201 Scott 5
Evan befriends a girl named Andy in the neighborhood. They buy an old jar of slimy green goo called "Monster Blood", which appears to have no purpose other than to be slimy.

Evan's dog manages to eat some, and a few days later, the dog has doubled in size. The goo also appears to be growing, quickly outgrowing its small jar. It also appears to be breathing, as if it's alive...

R.L. Stine's "Monster Blood", part of his best-selling Goosebumps series, is another fun, gross, creepy horror story for kids.]]> 3.64 1992 Monster Blood (Goosebumps, #3)
author: R.L. Stine
name: Scott
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/15
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: childrens, horror, r-l-stine, goosebumps
review:
Due to the fact that his dad has been transferred and the family has to move, Evan has to stay the summer with his Aunt Kathryn. Besides being really old and weird, she's also completely deaf.

Evan befriends a girl named Andy in the neighborhood. They buy an old jar of slimy green goo called "Monster Blood", which appears to have no purpose other than to be slimy.

Evan's dog manages to eat some, and a few days later, the dog has doubled in size. The goo also appears to be growing, quickly outgrowing its small jar. It also appears to be breathing, as if it's alive...

R.L. Stine's "Monster Blood", part of his best-selling Goosebumps series, is another fun, gross, creepy horror story for kids.
]]> <![CDATA[Welcome to Dead House (Goosebumps, #1)]]> 6675977
But their parents don't believe them. You'll get used to it, they say. Go out and make some new friends.

So Josh and Amanda do. But these creepy new friends are not exactly what Mom and Dad had in mind...

Because they want to be friends...FOREVER....]]> 123 R.L. Stine 0545158885 Scott 5
1) It's common knowledge that kids don't listen to parents, but Stine knows that parents don’t listen to kids either, or, if they do, they really can’t do anything to help. Parents are basically ineffectual creatures, as kind and loving as they are sometimes. Truth is: kids are on their own out in the world.

2) Stine knows something that most, if not all, adults tend to forget or ignore: kids are a lot smarter than they are given credit for. They have to be, after all. (See #1.)

3) Stine understands kids’ basic fear and mistrust of all adults. Let’s face it: your parents are no good against zombies, killer dolls, or blob monsters. That’s a given. But even worse than ineffectual parents are those other adults. You know: your science teacher, your church pastor, the garbage man, that old creepy guy who lives two doors down. They all have something to hide, and you know it. No adult can adequately be trusted.

4) Stine tells it like it is. He isn’t going to sugarcoat it for the “sensitive” kids. Those kids are always the first ones to be slaughtered anyway. No, Stine’s target audience may be kids ages 9 to 13, but he’s not gonna dumb anything down. (See #2.) He’s also not gonna necessarily end everything on a happy note. Because that ain’t real life, kids. It’s best that you learn that lesson now…

5) Stine is actually a decent writer. He'll probably never win a Pulitzer, but he’s writing at a reading level for middle school age children and tweens, and that doesn’t mean his stories can’t be enjoyed by older kids or adults. Stine is a ten times better writer than James Patterson any day of the week. Indeed, I think Stine could hold his own against Stephen King or Brian Keene, and I think those guys are the best in the horror biz. For what he does, Stine does it really well, and I’m a converted Stine fan.]]> 3.71 1992 Welcome to Dead House (Goosebumps, #1)
author: R.L. Stine
name: Scott
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/24
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: childrens, horror, hauntings-and-haunted-houses, r-l-stine, goosebumps
review:
“Welcome to Dead House” is the second book by R.L. Stine that I have ever read, and here is a few things that I have already determined as to why he is as popular as he is:

1) It's common knowledge that kids don't listen to parents, but Stine knows that parents don’t listen to kids either, or, if they do, they really can’t do anything to help. Parents are basically ineffectual creatures, as kind and loving as they are sometimes. Truth is: kids are on their own out in the world.

2) Stine knows something that most, if not all, adults tend to forget or ignore: kids are a lot smarter than they are given credit for. They have to be, after all. (See #1.)

3) Stine understands kids’ basic fear and mistrust of all adults. Let’s face it: your parents are no good against zombies, killer dolls, or blob monsters. That’s a given. But even worse than ineffectual parents are those other adults. You know: your science teacher, your church pastor, the garbage man, that old creepy guy who lives two doors down. They all have something to hide, and you know it. No adult can adequately be trusted.

4) Stine tells it like it is. He isn’t going to sugarcoat it for the “sensitive” kids. Those kids are always the first ones to be slaughtered anyway. No, Stine’s target audience may be kids ages 9 to 13, but he’s not gonna dumb anything down. (See #2.) He’s also not gonna necessarily end everything on a happy note. Because that ain’t real life, kids. It’s best that you learn that lesson now…

5) Stine is actually a decent writer. He'll probably never win a Pulitzer, but he’s writing at a reading level for middle school age children and tweens, and that doesn’t mean his stories can’t be enjoyed by older kids or adults. Stine is a ten times better writer than James Patterson any day of the week. Indeed, I think Stine could hold his own against Stephen King or Brian Keene, and I think those guys are the best in the horror biz. For what he does, Stine does it really well, and I’m a converted Stine fan.
]]> Missing (Fear Street, #4) 176576 Welcome to Fear Street.

Don't listen to the stories they tell you about Fear Street. Wouldn't you rather explore it yourself… and see if its dark terror and unexplained mysteries are true? You're not afraid, are you?

"Please help… Our parents are missing!"

What would you do if your parents didn't come home, didn't call, left no note? At first, Mark and Cara Burroughs aren't terribly alarmed. Their parents have stayed out late before. But then other things start to go wrong. Mark's girlfriend Gena breaks up with him and suddenly disappears. The police don't seem at all interested in finding Mark and Cara's parents. And their mysterious cousin who boards with them seems to be spying on their every move!

When murder strikes, Mark and Cara learn their terror is only beginning. Someone wants them to disappear too! But why? The answer lies deep in the Fear Street Woods. But will they live long enough to find it?]]> 168 R.L. Stine 0671694103 Scott 5 Fear Street, published in the late-'80s. It is more suspenseful, exciting, and believable than any of the crap books Patterson publishes. Plus, Stine wrote---and still writes, I'm sure---his own books.

The plot: Mark and Cara's parents don't come home from work one night. They are still missing the next day. The phone is dead. Roger, the college student boarder who lives in the attic apartment is acting strange. There's a white van parked continuously down the street. And what's up with the little white monkey head medallion that the kids find in their parent's bed?

What the hell is going on?

I won't tell you. Just find a copy of this book and read it.

And fuck James Patterson.]]> 3.55 1990 Missing (Fear Street, #4)
author: R.L. Stine
name: Scott
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/26
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: 80s, crime, fear-street, horror, mystery, r-l-stine, young-adult
review:
R.L. Stine is a ten times better writer than James Patterson. Don't believe me? Read "Missing", the fourth book in Stine's horror series for young adults, Fear Street, published in the late-'80s. It is more suspenseful, exciting, and believable than any of the crap books Patterson publishes. Plus, Stine wrote---and still writes, I'm sure---his own books.

The plot: Mark and Cara's parents don't come home from work one night. They are still missing the next day. The phone is dead. Roger, the college student boarder who lives in the attic apartment is acting strange. There's a white van parked continuously down the street. And what's up with the little white monkey head medallion that the kids find in their parent's bed?

What the hell is going on?

I won't tell you. Just find a copy of this book and read it.

And fuck James Patterson.
]]> <![CDATA[The Overnight (Fear Street, #3)]]> 656729
But it's no fun at all when Della gets lost in the woods, and the dangerous stranger appears, whispering threats, driving her to a violent act.

Suddenly all of her friends are involved, prisoners in a conspiracy of silence, trying to conceal the terrible truth. But someone saw what Della did. And he's threatening them all, forcing them back to Fear Island to find the evidence they forgot to bury...]]> 160 R.L. Stine 0671746502 Scott 3
Then again, who needs adult chaperones, right?

The third book in R.L. Stine's late-80s young adult horror series Fear Street, "The Overnight" is a decent enough thriller. Somewhat predictable, more than a bit cheesy, Stine's novel still delivers a few decent jump scares and plot twists to keep readers engaged.

It probably helps if you're a young reader who hasn't read a lot of other more sophisticated adult thrillers. Also, it may help if you are still living in the '80s.]]> 3.55 1989 The Overnight (Fear Street, #3)
author: R.L. Stine
name: Scott
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1989
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/12
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: 80s, fear-street, horror, r-l-stine, young-adult
review:
The six students in the Nature Club are stoked to go on an overnight camping trip on Fear Island, but when the only adult chaperone is called away on a family emergency for the weekend, it looks like the camping trip is cancelled.

Then again, who needs adult chaperones, right?

The third book in R.L. Stine's late-80s young adult horror series Fear Street, "The Overnight" is a decent enough thriller. Somewhat predictable, more than a bit cheesy, Stine's novel still delivers a few decent jump scares and plot twists to keep readers engaged.

It probably helps if you're a young reader who hasn't read a lot of other more sophisticated adult thrillers. Also, it may help if you are still living in the '80s.
]]> <![CDATA[The Surprise Party (Fear Street, #2)]]> 176637
That's when the terror began...the phone calls...the threats...the bizarre acts of violence. "Cancel the party—or else," the whispered voice on the phone told her. Meg was scared, and with good reason. Whoever wanted the party stopped woud try anything—even murder! But why? The dark Fear Street woods held the answer...if Meg dared to discover the truth!]]> 167 R.L. Stine 0671735616 Scott 2
Throw a party!

The protagonist, Megan, in R.L. Stine's second Fear Street book, "The Surprise Party" is pretty dumb. Also, clueless, insensitive, and self-absorbed. So self-absorbed that she doesn't get the hint from all her friends that a surprise party is a Bad Idea. After getting threatening notes and phone calls, she still doesn't get the hint. She also doesn't seem to notice that her boyfriend, Tony, is going a bit psycho.

This was pretty dumb, overall. (A part of me believes that Stine was intentionally making a clever commentary on teenagers' insensitivity and cluelessness. You decide.) It will, however, not stop me from reading more Fear Street novels in the future.]]> 3.52 1989 The Surprise Party (Fear Street, #2)
author: R.L. Stine
name: Scott
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1989
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/03
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: 80s, horror, young-adult, r-l-stine, fear-street
review:
What do you do when your best friend, who has been away for a year after her boyfriend was killed in a bizarre hunting accident, comes back to town for a visit?

Throw a party!

The protagonist, Megan, in R.L. Stine's second Fear Street book, "The Surprise Party" is pretty dumb. Also, clueless, insensitive, and self-absorbed. So self-absorbed that she doesn't get the hint from all her friends that a surprise party is a Bad Idea. After getting threatening notes and phone calls, she still doesn't get the hint. She also doesn't seem to notice that her boyfriend, Tony, is going a bit psycho.

This was pretty dumb, overall. (A part of me believes that Stine was intentionally making a clever commentary on teenagers' insensitivity and cluelessness. You decide.) It will, however, not stop me from reading more Fear Street novels in the future.
]]> <![CDATA[The New Girl (Fear Street, #1)]]> 3200792 Welcome to Fear Street.

Don’t listen to the stories they tell you about Fear Street. Wouldn’t you rather explore it yourself…and see if its dark terrors and unexplained mysteries are true? You’re not afraid, are you?

Dying for a Kiss

She’s pale as a ghost, blond, and eerily beautiful—and she seems to need him as much as he wants her. Cory Brooks hungers for Anna Corwin’s kisses, drowns in her light blue eyes. He can’t get her out of his mind. And the trouble has only begun: Shadyside High’s star gymnast is losing sleep, skipping practice, and acting weird. All the guys have noticed, but only Cory’s friend Lisa knows the truth: Anna Corwin is dead and living on Fear Street. Now Cory must explore its menacing darkness to discover the truth. He has already been warned: come to Fear Street and you’re dead!]]> 168 R.L. Stine 0671746499 Scott 3 Fear Street, is the story of a horny high school boy who falls in love (lust) with a girl who may or may not be a ghost. Whatever. As long as she puts out, he's happy. Until her brother shows up...

Stine apparently wrote this series before he started writing his more-popular and best-selling series for middle readers Goosebumps. Nobody could accuse Stine of being a stellar wordsmith, but he told creepy stories that kids of all ages absolutely loved.

There's a Netflix TV show based on Fear Street. I have not watched it yet. *

* 7/8/2025 addendum: I've since watched one of the four Fear Street movies, and I enjoyed it a lot. While not based on any particular Stine book, the movie definitely captures the creepy and fun vibes of Stine's novels. Word of warning: the films are not intended for children under the age of 13. Of course, for that matter, neither are the books...]]> 3.36 1989 The New Girl (Fear Street, #1)
author: R.L. Stine
name: Scott
average rating: 3.36
book published: 1989
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/18
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: 80s, horror, young-adult, fear-street, r-l-stine
review:
Surprisingly suspenseful and entertaining, "The New Girl", R.L. Stine's first book in his '80s series for teens, Fear Street, is the story of a horny high school boy who falls in love (lust) with a girl who may or may not be a ghost. Whatever. As long as she puts out, he's happy. Until her brother shows up...

Stine apparently wrote this series before he started writing his more-popular and best-selling series for middle readers Goosebumps. Nobody could accuse Stine of being a stellar wordsmith, but he told creepy stories that kids of all ages absolutely loved.

There's a Netflix TV show based on Fear Street. I have not watched it yet. *

* 7/8/2025 addendum: I've since watched one of the four Fear Street movies, and I enjoyed it a lot. While not based on any particular Stine book, the movie definitely captures the creepy and fun vibes of Stine's novels. Word of warning: the films are not intended for children under the age of 13. Of course, for that matter, neither are the books...
]]> <![CDATA[The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference]]> 2612 The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.]]> 301 Malcolm Gladwell 0316346624 Scott 0 currently-reading 4.01 2000 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Scott
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What Stalks the Deep (Sworn Soldier, #3)]]> 222376665 The next novella in the New York Times bestselling Sworn Soldier series, featuring Alex Easton investigating the dark, mysterious depths of a coal mine in America

Alex Easton does not want to visit America.

They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted.

But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin—who went missing in that very mine—well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do...]]> 192 T. Kingfisher 1250354927 Scott 0 to-read 4.61 2025 What Stalks the Deep (Sworn Soldier, #3)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Scott
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Star Wars: The Crystal Star 263012 Star Wars saga as the ultimate space adventure unfolds in The Crystal Star.

Princess Leia's children have been kidnapped. Along with Chewbacca and Artoo-Detoo, she follows the kidnappers' trail to a disabled refugee ship, from which children are also missing. Here she learns of a powerful Imperial officer with a twisted plan to restore the Empire. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are cut off from Leia by the death of a nearby star, which has caused a disruption in the Force. They have gone to the planet Crseih to investigate a report of a lost group of Jedi. Instead they find a charismatic alien named Waru whose miraculous healing powers have attracted a fanatic following. As Leia follows the path of her children across space, Luke and Han draw closer to the truth behind Waru's sinister cult. Together they will face an explosive showdown that will decide the survival of the New Republic . . . and the universe itself!]]> 413 Vonda N. McIntyre 0553571745 Scott 4
That McIntyre's novel is clearly written for a young adult audience is both weirdly appropriate and disturbing. Nevertheless, the book still manages to be entertaining, and it still captures the spirit of "Star Wars".

The issue the novel deals with is human trafficking and the contemporary slave trade, an issue that is as hot-button today as it was when McIntyre first published this book (1994), but one that rarely receives much attention in mainstream media and by our nation's leaders. McIntyre is clearly aware of the lack of thought and interest by politicians, journalists, and everyday citizens of this issue, and she does not hide her harsh criticism of them in the novel.

The book starts with a violent kidnapping of the three children of Princess Leia and Han Solo. Leia, the President of the New Republic, is involved in trade negotiations, while Han and Luke are off on a mission in another star system. The children are being watched by Chewbacca, who is severely injured in the attack that precedes the kidnapping.

Leia stops the negotiations to find her children, jetting off in her personal starship Alderaan with Chewbacca and R2-D2. Her investigation leads her to a fleet of ships long-forgotten in a desolate part of space. The ships contain cryogenically-frozen slaves deposited there by the Empire, left to die. When she resurrects some of the slaves, she discovers---to her horror---that the slave trade is still going on, long after the Empire fell, and has been going on all along under the noses of her and the other leaders of the New Republic. She discovers a secret conspiracy of New Republic politicians who have been profiting from this slave trade, most of whom are secretly planning a coup of Leia and a rebuilding of the Empire.

Across the galaxy, Han and Luke are discovering the same thing, completely unaware of what is happening to Leia and the children. Their investigation of a space station near a rare crystal star discovers a growing "cult" led by a former Imperial officer named Hethrir, who has been stealing children across the galaxy for his personal plan to resurrect the Empire and place himself in the role of the new Emperor. He attempts to do this with the help of a powerful alien entity named Waru, which apparently has the ability to heal the sick and the injured, but also has the ability to drain the Force from others.

All the while, the children---twins Jaina and Jacen, and toddler Annakin---must use their own resources and powers of the Force to escape their prison and rescue the hundreds of other children that have been kidnapped.

McIntyre tells an exciting and action-packed story, but her social commentary about a very important issue makes this one of the better Star Wars novels.]]> 3.10 1994 Star Wars: The Crystal Star
author: Vonda N. McIntyre
name: Scott
average rating: 3.10
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2015/08/16
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: movie-tie-in, star-wars, science-fiction, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
Vonda N. McIntyre's "The Crystal Star" pits the beloved characters of the original "Star Wars" films into an interesting and socially important situation. In doing so, it elevates the book out of the simple space opera genre and into the realm of socially-conscious science fiction. Not that other novels in the Star Wars Expanded Universe haven't made attempts at poignancy and relevance to current events. "The Crystal Star" just does it in a rather blatant way.

That McIntyre's novel is clearly written for a young adult audience is both weirdly appropriate and disturbing. Nevertheless, the book still manages to be entertaining, and it still captures the spirit of "Star Wars".

The issue the novel deals with is human trafficking and the contemporary slave trade, an issue that is as hot-button today as it was when McIntyre first published this book (1994), but one that rarely receives much attention in mainstream media and by our nation's leaders. McIntyre is clearly aware of the lack of thought and interest by politicians, journalists, and everyday citizens of this issue, and she does not hide her harsh criticism of them in the novel.

The book starts with a violent kidnapping of the three children of Princess Leia and Han Solo. Leia, the President of the New Republic, is involved in trade negotiations, while Han and Luke are off on a mission in another star system. The children are being watched by Chewbacca, who is severely injured in the attack that precedes the kidnapping.

Leia stops the negotiations to find her children, jetting off in her personal starship Alderaan with Chewbacca and R2-D2. Her investigation leads her to a fleet of ships long-forgotten in a desolate part of space. The ships contain cryogenically-frozen slaves deposited there by the Empire, left to die. When she resurrects some of the slaves, she discovers---to her horror---that the slave trade is still going on, long after the Empire fell, and has been going on all along under the noses of her and the other leaders of the New Republic. She discovers a secret conspiracy of New Republic politicians who have been profiting from this slave trade, most of whom are secretly planning a coup of Leia and a rebuilding of the Empire.

Across the galaxy, Han and Luke are discovering the same thing, completely unaware of what is happening to Leia and the children. Their investigation of a space station near a rare crystal star discovers a growing "cult" led by a former Imperial officer named Hethrir, who has been stealing children across the galaxy for his personal plan to resurrect the Empire and place himself in the role of the new Emperor. He attempts to do this with the help of a powerful alien entity named Waru, which apparently has the ability to heal the sick and the injured, but also has the ability to drain the Force from others.

All the while, the children---twins Jaina and Jacen, and toddler Annakin---must use their own resources and powers of the Force to escape their prison and rescue the hundreds of other children that have been kidnapped.

McIntyre tells an exciting and action-packed story, but her social commentary about a very important issue makes this one of the better Star Wars novels.
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Planet of Twilight (The Callista Trilogy, #3)]]> 758692 400 Barbara Hambly 0553575171 Scott 3
At first, I wasn’t sure that I understood why. I am, perhaps, alone in thinking that Hambly is more than a competent writer. In fact, I think she seems capable of very beautiful writing, even for a Star Wars book. She also has a keen instinct for character development: her focus on Princess Leia Organa-Solo and her emotional state---as President of the New Republic, mother of three children, husband of Han Solo, and survivor of her destroyed home planet Alderaan---displayed an emotional depth that I have never encountered before or since in another Expanded Universe novel. (To be fair, I have not come close to reading all of them.)

There is also an element of darkness within her writing. (I have never read anything else by her, but I imagine that her fantasy and horror fiction are exceptionally creepy and goosebump-inducing.) She utilized it extremely well in “Children of the Jedi”, with her descriptions of abandoned tunnels populated by former miners who had been so driven to insanity that they had become homicidal subterranean creatures, as well as in her setting of a derelict Imperial dreadnaught that was haunted by the spirit of a dead Jedi Knight. At times, one almost forgot one was reading a Star Wars novel, as the tone seemed more appropriate for a Stephen King novel.

I realize now, of course, why fans seem to despise Hambly, especially “Children of the Jedi”.

There were, at least, two vital elements missing from that book: 1) humor, and a sense that it wasn’t taking itself too seriously. Not that Hambly didn’t attempt some humor, but most of the time, she was writing with a very Gothic seriousness that seemed somewhat inappropriate and, well, off-putting for a Star Wars novel. Part of the appeal of "Star Wars" was that it was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek homage/parody of space operas and the Saturday matinee sci-fi B-movies. The best books in the SWEU series capture this tone perfectly. Hambly doesn't. 2) Space battles. I’m pretty sure that this is one of the very rare few SWEU novels that doesn’t involve a climactic space battle scene, replete with plenty of Tie fighter and X-wing dogfights. Hambly tends to keep most of the action on the ground, which is okay, except that readers kind of expect the space stuff. (It is called "Star Wars", after all.)

Aside from all that, I am of the opinion that Hambly is simply too mature of a writer for the SWEU. I don’t mean this as an insult to the countless other writers who have contributed to the series. My whole point is that Hambly seems to write at a different literary level than, say, Kevin J. Anderson or Timothy Zahn, and one that approaches the Star Wars universe from a perspective that is, essentially, too grown-up for Star Wars fans.

(I expect to get a lot of shit for that statement.)

It would be like Terrence Malick attempting to direct a “Jurassic Park” movie. Yes, the film would be gorgeously filmed, with lots of amazing establishing shots and slow pans, but there probably wouldn’t be a lot of action. On top of that, most of the film would probably be devoted to existentialist diatribes on man’s smallness within the universe and scientific ramblings on the dangers of genetic manipulation. Oh, and Sean Penn would most likely be in it. The film wouldn't necessarily be bad---on the contrary, it would probably be excellent and garner an Oscar nod---but it wouldn't be a "Jurassic Park" film. People going into a "Jurassic Park" film would be greatly, and justifiably, disappointed.

Not that Hambly is doing anything close to what Malick does in film. She is still staying within the parameters of genre formula, but her approach is different. It is, however, not necessarily better, nor is it necessarily in the spirit of "Star Wars", which is what I think many SWEU fans are picking up on.

“Planet of Twilight” is Hambly’s second and, as far as I know, last book she wrote for the SWEU. It is unfortunate but not all that surprising that she has never been invited back to write more for the series. I happened to like “Planet of Twilight” but not necessarily as a Star Wars novel.

“Planet of Twilight” is, at its heart, a vampire novel. It’s a pretty creepy one, too, juxtaposed with the fact that it is set within the Star Wars universe. While it doesn’t succeed fully (read Joe Schreiber’s “Death Troopers” for an extremely successful attempt at bringing horror into the Star Wars universe), it is still an entertaining and engaging horror thriller.

The plot: President Leia Organa-Solo has reluctantly agreed to come to Nam Chorios, at the behest of the planet’s ambassador, in order to help settle a growing dispute and prevent a potential civil war between the planet’s inhabitants. A faction comprised of anti-technology cult members is threatening the livelihood of the mostly poor farmers on the planet. Before she can even make a decision, however, she is abducted.

Unaware of Leia’s kidnapping, Luke arrives on Nam Chorios to investigate a lead in the disappearance of Callista, the former Jedi Knight and Luke’s ex-girlfriend. Going in undercover as a mechanic, Luke finds temporary shelter with some friendly farmers.

Meanwhile, an inexplicable plague has been sweeping through nearby planets and passing spaceships within Nam Chorios’s space. Scientists are at a loss to explain it.

Leia, struggling with fears about her newfound powers of the Force, discovers that she has been kidnapped by a hideous vampiric creature bent on taking over the galaxy. Fearing that the creature has already wiped out most of the inhabitants in this system, Leia takes it upon herself to attempt to destroy the creature before its evil spreads.

“Planet of Twilight” works best when one reads it as a horror novel. The description of Dzim, the vampiric creature that is modeled loosely on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, is thoroughly nightmarish. Besides a somewhat ridiculous and (perhaps unintentionally) humorous origin story, Dzim is a creepy and disgusting villain. The creepiness factor is cranked up, too, with his “children of the night”: telekinetically controlled rat-like creatures that live abundantly on the surface of Nam Chorios.

Hambly weaves in several other storylines, including a related subplot involving a weapons manufacturer trying to foment war to make a profit, and also includes some fun cameos of other characters from previous SWEU books.

Overall, I liked “Planet of Twilight”. I still think Hambly is a writer of great talent, although it appears that her talent may be suited more for the fantasy and horror novels that she is best known for and not necessarily for the SWEU.]]> 3.04 1997 Star Wars: Planet of Twilight (The Callista Trilogy, #3)
author: Barbara Hambly
name: Scott
average rating: 3.04
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/10
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: science-fiction, star-wars, movie-tie-in, fantasy, horror, old-canon-legends
review:
I was dismayed, but not that shocked, to see the overwhelming number of negative reviews of Barbara Hambly’s novel “Children of the Jedi” on 카지노싸이트. A quick perusal of fan reviews gives one the clear notion that Hambly is NOT well-liked by Star Wars Expanded Universe (SWEU) fans. Indeed, she seems to be much-hated.

At first, I wasn’t sure that I understood why. I am, perhaps, alone in thinking that Hambly is more than a competent writer. In fact, I think she seems capable of very beautiful writing, even for a Star Wars book. She also has a keen instinct for character development: her focus on Princess Leia Organa-Solo and her emotional state---as President of the New Republic, mother of three children, husband of Han Solo, and survivor of her destroyed home planet Alderaan---displayed an emotional depth that I have never encountered before or since in another Expanded Universe novel. (To be fair, I have not come close to reading all of them.)

There is also an element of darkness within her writing. (I have never read anything else by her, but I imagine that her fantasy and horror fiction are exceptionally creepy and goosebump-inducing.) She utilized it extremely well in “Children of the Jedi”, with her descriptions of abandoned tunnels populated by former miners who had been so driven to insanity that they had become homicidal subterranean creatures, as well as in her setting of a derelict Imperial dreadnaught that was haunted by the spirit of a dead Jedi Knight. At times, one almost forgot one was reading a Star Wars novel, as the tone seemed more appropriate for a Stephen King novel.

I realize now, of course, why fans seem to despise Hambly, especially “Children of the Jedi”.

There were, at least, two vital elements missing from that book: 1) humor, and a sense that it wasn’t taking itself too seriously. Not that Hambly didn’t attempt some humor, but most of the time, she was writing with a very Gothic seriousness that seemed somewhat inappropriate and, well, off-putting for a Star Wars novel. Part of the appeal of "Star Wars" was that it was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek homage/parody of space operas and the Saturday matinee sci-fi B-movies. The best books in the SWEU series capture this tone perfectly. Hambly doesn't. 2) Space battles. I’m pretty sure that this is one of the very rare few SWEU novels that doesn’t involve a climactic space battle scene, replete with plenty of Tie fighter and X-wing dogfights. Hambly tends to keep most of the action on the ground, which is okay, except that readers kind of expect the space stuff. (It is called "Star Wars", after all.)

Aside from all that, I am of the opinion that Hambly is simply too mature of a writer for the SWEU. I don’t mean this as an insult to the countless other writers who have contributed to the series. My whole point is that Hambly seems to write at a different literary level than, say, Kevin J. Anderson or Timothy Zahn, and one that approaches the Star Wars universe from a perspective that is, essentially, too grown-up for Star Wars fans.

(I expect to get a lot of shit for that statement.)

It would be like Terrence Malick attempting to direct a “Jurassic Park” movie. Yes, the film would be gorgeously filmed, with lots of amazing establishing shots and slow pans, but there probably wouldn’t be a lot of action. On top of that, most of the film would probably be devoted to existentialist diatribes on man’s smallness within the universe and scientific ramblings on the dangers of genetic manipulation. Oh, and Sean Penn would most likely be in it. The film wouldn't necessarily be bad---on the contrary, it would probably be excellent and garner an Oscar nod---but it wouldn't be a "Jurassic Park" film. People going into a "Jurassic Park" film would be greatly, and justifiably, disappointed.

Not that Hambly is doing anything close to what Malick does in film. She is still staying within the parameters of genre formula, but her approach is different. It is, however, not necessarily better, nor is it necessarily in the spirit of "Star Wars", which is what I think many SWEU fans are picking up on.

“Planet of Twilight” is Hambly’s second and, as far as I know, last book she wrote for the SWEU. It is unfortunate but not all that surprising that she has never been invited back to write more for the series. I happened to like “Planet of Twilight” but not necessarily as a Star Wars novel.

“Planet of Twilight” is, at its heart, a vampire novel. It’s a pretty creepy one, too, juxtaposed with the fact that it is set within the Star Wars universe. While it doesn’t succeed fully (read Joe Schreiber’s “Death Troopers” for an extremely successful attempt at bringing horror into the Star Wars universe), it is still an entertaining and engaging horror thriller.

The plot: President Leia Organa-Solo has reluctantly agreed to come to Nam Chorios, at the behest of the planet’s ambassador, in order to help settle a growing dispute and prevent a potential civil war between the planet’s inhabitants. A faction comprised of anti-technology cult members is threatening the livelihood of the mostly poor farmers on the planet. Before she can even make a decision, however, she is abducted.

Unaware of Leia’s kidnapping, Luke arrives on Nam Chorios to investigate a lead in the disappearance of Callista, the former Jedi Knight and Luke’s ex-girlfriend. Going in undercover as a mechanic, Luke finds temporary shelter with some friendly farmers.

Meanwhile, an inexplicable plague has been sweeping through nearby planets and passing spaceships within Nam Chorios’s space. Scientists are at a loss to explain it.

Leia, struggling with fears about her newfound powers of the Force, discovers that she has been kidnapped by a hideous vampiric creature bent on taking over the galaxy. Fearing that the creature has already wiped out most of the inhabitants in this system, Leia takes it upon herself to attempt to destroy the creature before its evil spreads.

“Planet of Twilight” works best when one reads it as a horror novel. The description of Dzim, the vampiric creature that is modeled loosely on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, is thoroughly nightmarish. Besides a somewhat ridiculous and (perhaps unintentionally) humorous origin story, Dzim is a creepy and disgusting villain. The creepiness factor is cranked up, too, with his “children of the night”: telekinetically controlled rat-like creatures that live abundantly on the surface of Nam Chorios.

Hambly weaves in several other storylines, including a related subplot involving a weapons manufacturer trying to foment war to make a profit, and also includes some fun cameos of other characters from previous SWEU books.

Overall, I liked “Planet of Twilight”. I still think Hambly is a writer of great talent, although it appears that her talent may be suited more for the fantasy and horror novels that she is best known for and not necessarily for the SWEU.
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Darksaber (The Callista Trilogy, #2)]]> 513210 448 Kevin J. Anderson 0553576119 Scott 4
Clearly, the place to start with this is the "Thrawn" trilogy by Timothy Zahn, a series I read years ago and loved. While I remember some of that series, my memory fails when it comes to the details. Perhaps someday I will return to that trilogy for a re-read. In any case, Zahn's series helped to jumpstart the whole Expanded Universe, inviting a whole slew of authors to join in the fun by adding their own flavor and ideas to the universe created by George Lucas.

The Thrawn trilogy was followed by a trilogy written by Kevin J. Anderson. In that series, Luke has started up a new Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. Meanwhile, a new threat arises against the New Republic: an ill-tempered ginger named Admiral Daala, who has the distinction of being the first and only female Admiral in the Imperial fleet. She's a total bad-ass. I remember really liking that series, as well, but, again, my memory is a bit hazy on the details. There was something about the ghost of an evil Sith Lord who tries to possess Luke at some point, I think. And a new weapon called a Sun Crusher that, well… seriously, if you can't figure out what it does then you really shouldn't be reading at all…

In between those series were a few stand-alone novels. Dave Wolverton's "The Courtship of Princess Leia" was, in my opinion, pretty ghastly. Barbara Hambly's "Children of the Jedi" was decent, although fans across the board have lambasted it.

"Darksaber" was the novel published immediately after "Children of the Jedi", I think. Anderson returns as the author of this one, and it may be due to the fact that the previous two authors made a mess of things, so he was invited back to clear things up, which he does, nicely.

"Darksaber" is (almost) everything one comes to expect from a Star Wars novel: exciting, action-packed, fun, and with just the right amount of pathos and comedy to even things out.

Anderson carries on a few story lines started in "COTJ", most notably the love story between Luke and Callista, a former Jedi Knight who died, was a ghost trapped in the computer of an Imperial dreadnought, and returned to life by inhabiting the body of another Jedi. (Go ahead, roll your eyes. It's as silly trying to explain it as it was reading it…) Anyway, somehow in the transition of bodies, Callista lost her ability to use the Force.

Luke and Callista fly off together to revisit various places (Tattooine, Dagobah, and Hoth) where Luke thinks he can contact either Yoda or Obi-Wan for advice on Callista's "condition".

President Leia Organa Solo is conducting negotiations with Durga the Hutt, but it's not going so well. Unbeknownst to her and the New Republic, Durga has recruited Bevel Lemelisk, one of the original architects of the Death Star, to create a new weapon, one that will be as powerful as the Death Star but hopefully minus the weak spots.

Meanwhile, far out in the deep reaches of space, Admiral Daala (who was thought to be dead by the New Republic) is rebuilding the Empire by reunifying the fleet and, unlike the Old Empire under Palpatine, including non-humans and females as officers and soldiers.

Anderson's story is told at such a break-neck pace one may get whiplash. Cleverly tying in many loose ends and story lines from previous novels, "Darksaber" is, in my opinion, one of the best of the post-ROJ Expanded Universe novels.]]> 3.43 1995 Star Wars: Darksaber (The Callista Trilogy, #2)
author: Kevin J. Anderson
name: Scott
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2015/08/02
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
Okay, so it's fairly obvious (to those who have been keeping track of my recent reading list) that I've been on a Star Wars reading kick. My goal (unrealistic as it is) is to eventually have ALL of the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels (post-Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, that is. While I have read a few Old Republic and Clone Wars novels, I'm not as enthralled by them as I am with the New Republic, New Jedi Order, and Legacy novels.) before the new J.J. Abrams film arrives in theaters in December, if for no other reason than because it would be a fun if completely dubious achievement.

Clearly, the place to start with this is the "Thrawn" trilogy by Timothy Zahn, a series I read years ago and loved. While I remember some of that series, my memory fails when it comes to the details. Perhaps someday I will return to that trilogy for a re-read. In any case, Zahn's series helped to jumpstart the whole Expanded Universe, inviting a whole slew of authors to join in the fun by adding their own flavor and ideas to the universe created by George Lucas.

The Thrawn trilogy was followed by a trilogy written by Kevin J. Anderson. In that series, Luke has started up a new Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. Meanwhile, a new threat arises against the New Republic: an ill-tempered ginger named Admiral Daala, who has the distinction of being the first and only female Admiral in the Imperial fleet. She's a total bad-ass. I remember really liking that series, as well, but, again, my memory is a bit hazy on the details. There was something about the ghost of an evil Sith Lord who tries to possess Luke at some point, I think. And a new weapon called a Sun Crusher that, well… seriously, if you can't figure out what it does then you really shouldn't be reading at all…

In between those series were a few stand-alone novels. Dave Wolverton's "The Courtship of Princess Leia" was, in my opinion, pretty ghastly. Barbara Hambly's "Children of the Jedi" was decent, although fans across the board have lambasted it.

"Darksaber" was the novel published immediately after "Children of the Jedi", I think. Anderson returns as the author of this one, and it may be due to the fact that the previous two authors made a mess of things, so he was invited back to clear things up, which he does, nicely.

"Darksaber" is (almost) everything one comes to expect from a Star Wars novel: exciting, action-packed, fun, and with just the right amount of pathos and comedy to even things out.

Anderson carries on a few story lines started in "COTJ", most notably the love story between Luke and Callista, a former Jedi Knight who died, was a ghost trapped in the computer of an Imperial dreadnought, and returned to life by inhabiting the body of another Jedi. (Go ahead, roll your eyes. It's as silly trying to explain it as it was reading it…) Anyway, somehow in the transition of bodies, Callista lost her ability to use the Force.

Luke and Callista fly off together to revisit various places (Tattooine, Dagobah, and Hoth) where Luke thinks he can contact either Yoda or Obi-Wan for advice on Callista's "condition".

President Leia Organa Solo is conducting negotiations with Durga the Hutt, but it's not going so well. Unbeknownst to her and the New Republic, Durga has recruited Bevel Lemelisk, one of the original architects of the Death Star, to create a new weapon, one that will be as powerful as the Death Star but hopefully minus the weak spots.

Meanwhile, far out in the deep reaches of space, Admiral Daala (who was thought to be dead by the New Republic) is rebuilding the Empire by reunifying the fleet and, unlike the Old Empire under Palpatine, including non-humans and females as officers and soldiers.

Anderson's story is told at such a break-neck pace one may get whiplash. Cleverly tying in many loose ends and story lines from previous novels, "Darksaber" is, in my opinion, one of the best of the post-ROJ Expanded Universe novels.
]]> Star Wars: Scoundrels 13573427 But even he can’t do this job solo.

Han Solo should be basking in his moment of glory. After all, the cocky smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon just played a key role in the daring raid that destroyed the Death Star and landed the first serious blow to the Empire in its war against the Rebel Alliance. But after losing the reward his heroics earned him, Han’s got nothing to celebrate. Especially since he’s deep in debt to the ruthless crime lord Jabba the Hutt. There’s a bounty on Han’s head—and if he can’t cough up the credits, he’ll surely pay with his hide. The only thing that can save him is a king’s ransom. Or maybe a gangster’s fortune? That’s what a mysterious stranger is offering in exchange for Han’s less-than-legal help with a riskier-than-usual caper. The payoff will be more than enough for Han to settle up with Jabba—and ensure he never has to haggle with the Hutts again.

All he has to do is infiltrate the ultra-fortified stronghold of a Black Sun crime syndicate underboss and crack the galaxy’s most notoriously impregnable safe. It sounds like a job for miracle workers . . . or madmen. So Han assembles a gallery of rogues who are a little of both—including his indispensable sidekick Chewbacca and the cunning Lando Calrissian. If anyone can dodge, deceive, and defeat heavily armed thugs, killer droids, and Imperial agents alike—and pull off the heist of the century—it’s Solo’s scoundrels. But will their crime really pay, or will it cost them the ultimate price?]]> 393 Timothy Zahn 0345511506 Scott 3
While it has all the fun and excitement one has come to expect from Zahn's writing, "Scoundrels" is not his best work. Clearly modeling the story after the film "Ocean's Eleven" (the George Clooney/Brad Pitt version, not the '50s Rat Pack version starring Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, although I'm sure the book might have actually been improved had Zahn included some musical numbers), "Scoundrels" pits Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, and nine more characters into the plot of a heist film.

The book is set immediately after "Episode IV", and Solo is fresh from his success at helping the Rebel Alliance destroy the Death Star at Yavin. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to enjoy his success, as he still owes a lot of money to Jabba the Hutt. Rather than risk his new friendship with Princess Leia Organa and ask her for a loan, he devises a scheme to rob one of the richest crime lords on planet Wukkar. He compiles a team (yes, of eleven people) and immediately sets in motion a daring heist of a device that contains blackmail information of thousands of the galaxy's rich and famous, an object that would be worth billions of space credits on the black market to the highest bidder.

Of course, Solo first has to rebuild his friendship with Calrissian, who is still mad at him for a job that went sour years ago, and he has to deal with the possibility that one of his eleven hand-picked thieves may be an Imperial spy. Or worse.

While Zahn's plot has plenty of nifty little twists and turns, as well as some clever cameo appearances of well-known characters from other Expanded Universe novels, "Scoundrels" is, essentially, a one-trick pony. Still immensely readable, of course, but ultimately not as memorable as Zahn's earlier books in the series.]]> 3.83 2013 Star Wars: Scoundrels
author: Timothy Zahn
name: Scott
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/27
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: science-fiction, star-wars, movie-tie-in, fantasy, heist, old-canon-legends
review:
To Star Wars fans, the name Timothy Zahn is revered. His original three-book "Thrawn" series basically started the whole Expanded Universe, and he has since written almost a dozen more books set within the Star Wars universe. "Scoundrels" is his most recent.

While it has all the fun and excitement one has come to expect from Zahn's writing, "Scoundrels" is not his best work. Clearly modeling the story after the film "Ocean's Eleven" (the George Clooney/Brad Pitt version, not the '50s Rat Pack version starring Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, although I'm sure the book might have actually been improved had Zahn included some musical numbers), "Scoundrels" pits Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, and nine more characters into the plot of a heist film.

The book is set immediately after "Episode IV", and Solo is fresh from his success at helping the Rebel Alliance destroy the Death Star at Yavin. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to enjoy his success, as he still owes a lot of money to Jabba the Hutt. Rather than risk his new friendship with Princess Leia Organa and ask her for a loan, he devises a scheme to rob one of the richest crime lords on planet Wukkar. He compiles a team (yes, of eleven people) and immediately sets in motion a daring heist of a device that contains blackmail information of thousands of the galaxy's rich and famous, an object that would be worth billions of space credits on the black market to the highest bidder.

Of course, Solo first has to rebuild his friendship with Calrissian, who is still mad at him for a job that went sour years ago, and he has to deal with the possibility that one of his eleven hand-picked thieves may be an Imperial spy. Or worse.

While Zahn's plot has plenty of nifty little twists and turns, as well as some clever cameo appearances of well-known characters from other Expanded Universe novels, "Scoundrels" is, essentially, a one-trick pony. Still immensely readable, of course, but ultimately not as memorable as Zahn's earlier books in the series.
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Children of the Jedi (The Callista Trilogy, #1)]]> 555313
Halfway across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker has undertaken an equally dangerous expedition that, if it fails, could have fatal consequences for Leia, Han, and Chewbacca. Haunted by ominous dreams and guided by a force he cannot identify, Luke journeys to a remote asteroid field over the planet Pzob. There he discovers the automated dreadnought Eye of Palpatine - from the days of all-out war.

Camouflaged deep within a nebulous gas cloud and dormant for thirty years, Eye of Palpatine is governed by a super-sophisticated artificial intelligence system known as The Will. Taken aboard the dreadnought, Luke is counselled by the spirit of Callista, a Jedi Knight who gave her life to stop the ship once before. Now Luke must learn from her how to destroy it once and for all. The Will has awakened. The Eye of Palpatine is on the move. Its mission: the total annihilation of Belsavis.]]> 416 Barbara Hambly 0553572938 Scott 3
Hambly is a talented writer who clearly has a knack for developing character depth. In this book, in particular, she gives the character of Princess Leia much more characterization and play within the story than other books I have read in the series. Hambly delves deeper into Leia's emotional life, especially in regards to her grief and mourning over the loss of her entire home planet, Alderaan, an aspect of her character that I have never adequately seen displayed in either the films or other novels prior to this.

Set several years after the events of "Return of the Jedi", "Children of the Jedi" sees Han and Leia married, with three children. Leia is President of the New Republic. Luke has set up the Jedi Academy on Yavin, and has been scouring the galaxy searching for young recruits. They are all on a diplomatic mission to the planet Belsavis when one of Han's old smuggler buddies shows up with a strange warning. His message is almost indecipherable, as he has clearly gone mad, but he manages to elicit a few understandable words: "children of the Jedi" being the most clear.

Apparently, long ago, several Jedi, after the Purge, brought their children to this planet to escape the Jedi Massacre that was led by Emperor Palpatine. Rumors of their settlement persist, but no one has any memory of them.

Luke, in his separate investigation in another part of the galaxy, has discovered an Imperial Dreadnaught called the Eye of Palpatine, left to rot in a forgotten corner of space. Unfortunately, no one remembered to give the abort orders to the ship's computer, which seems to have developed into a powerful Artificial Intelligence calling itself the Will, that has a telekinetic control over the remaining life forms on board the ship. It is still intent on its original mission, which is the destruction of Belsavis.

Meanwhile, Han and Leia's investigation uncovers the existence of a former spy of the Emperor's living amongst the people of Belsavis. They, unfortunately, aren't sure who the spy is. All the while, weird inexplicable mechanical "accidents" are occurring all over the planet.

Overall, this was a decent and very readable Star Wars adventure.]]> 3.27 1995 Star Wars: Children of the Jedi (The Callista Trilogy, #1)
author: Barbara Hambly
name: Scott
average rating: 3.27
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/22
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
Of the many Star Wars Expanded Universe novels I have read, Barbara Hambly's "Children of the Jedi" ranks somewhere in the middle. I've certainly read much better books in the series, but I've also read worse. Coming off the heels of reading Dave Wolverton's horribly cheesy "The Courtship of Princess Leia", this book was superb.

Hambly is a talented writer who clearly has a knack for developing character depth. In this book, in particular, she gives the character of Princess Leia much more characterization and play within the story than other books I have read in the series. Hambly delves deeper into Leia's emotional life, especially in regards to her grief and mourning over the loss of her entire home planet, Alderaan, an aspect of her character that I have never adequately seen displayed in either the films or other novels prior to this.

Set several years after the events of "Return of the Jedi", "Children of the Jedi" sees Han and Leia married, with three children. Leia is President of the New Republic. Luke has set up the Jedi Academy on Yavin, and has been scouring the galaxy searching for young recruits. They are all on a diplomatic mission to the planet Belsavis when one of Han's old smuggler buddies shows up with a strange warning. His message is almost indecipherable, as he has clearly gone mad, but he manages to elicit a few understandable words: "children of the Jedi" being the most clear.

Apparently, long ago, several Jedi, after the Purge, brought their children to this planet to escape the Jedi Massacre that was led by Emperor Palpatine. Rumors of their settlement persist, but no one has any memory of them.

Luke, in his separate investigation in another part of the galaxy, has discovered an Imperial Dreadnaught called the Eye of Palpatine, left to rot in a forgotten corner of space. Unfortunately, no one remembered to give the abort orders to the ship's computer, which seems to have developed into a powerful Artificial Intelligence calling itself the Will, that has a telekinetic control over the remaining life forms on board the ship. It is still intent on its original mission, which is the destruction of Belsavis.

Meanwhile, Han and Leia's investigation uncovers the existence of a former spy of the Emperor's living amongst the people of Belsavis. They, unfortunately, aren't sure who the spy is. All the while, weird inexplicable mechanical "accidents" are occurring all over the planet.

Overall, this was a decent and very readable Star Wars adventure.
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia]]> 161540
Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!]]> 374 Dave Wolverton Scott 2
"The Courtship of Princess Leia" is, as the title suggests, the story of how Han Solo eventually woos Leia's hand in marriage. Published in 1994, "TCOPL" takes place two years after the events of the film "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi". Rumor has it that Wolverton intended it to be a trilogy. Based on the structure of the novel, that rumor makes sense. It seems rushed, and there are many disjointed elements within the story that may have been fixed if Wolverton had been given time to develop them in three separate novels.

The New Republic is gaining ground, building alliances with many new worlds that were oppressed by the Empire. Pockets of Imperial forces still survive throughout the known galaxies, so skirmishes still persist. Leia Organa, the President of the New Republic, is swamped with work. She doesn't have time for a relationship.

Han Solo, a general and a noted war hero now, is busy himself. He and Chewbacca are still leading squadrons into occasional battle. His only downtime are the occasional times he can get back to Coruscant to see Leia.

Unfortunately for Han, Prince Isolder of the Hapes consortium (a group of planetary systems controlled by a somewhat benevolent Queen) has made a proposition with Leia. He has asked for her hand in marriage, and in return, the New Republic will control the Hapes consortium. Leia, a born politician, sees the benefit of the proposition, and she is actually considering marrying Isolder.

Seeing red, Han does something drastic: he "kidnaps" Leia and flies her off to Dathomir, a planet that Han won in a card game. He hopes that he can convince Leia that he is the man for her. Hot on their trail, of course, is Isolder, with the help of Luke Skywalker.

Dathomir, it turns out, is home to powerful Force-sensitive witches. A war has been waging there for a long time, apparently, between good witches and evil ones, called Nightsisters. The planet is also guarded by Imperial troops, supposedly left there years ago by Emperor Palpatine, who was even afraid of the Force witches. The Nightsisters, however, basically control the Imperial troops. On the upside, the good witches are allied with rancor beasts. (Yes, the same creature that tried to eat Luke in "ROTJ".)

I'm not making any of this stuff up, by the way.

This book is pretty bad, mainly because Wolverton can't decide whether he's writing a fantasy adventure or a romance novel, because there are elements of both genres in the book, and neither one are approached very well.

As critic-proof as the Star Wars novels are, this one is pretty bad.]]> 3.62 1994 Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia
author: Dave Wolverton
name: Scott
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1994
rating: 2
read at: 2015/05/20
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: movie-tie-in, science-fiction, star-wars, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
Dave Wolverton has the distinction of having written one of the cheesiest and worst Star Wars Expanded Universe novels that I have read so far. I'm probably being generous giving this a two-star rating.

"The Courtship of Princess Leia" is, as the title suggests, the story of how Han Solo eventually woos Leia's hand in marriage. Published in 1994, "TCOPL" takes place two years after the events of the film "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi". Rumor has it that Wolverton intended it to be a trilogy. Based on the structure of the novel, that rumor makes sense. It seems rushed, and there are many disjointed elements within the story that may have been fixed if Wolverton had been given time to develop them in three separate novels.

The New Republic is gaining ground, building alliances with many new worlds that were oppressed by the Empire. Pockets of Imperial forces still survive throughout the known galaxies, so skirmishes still persist. Leia Organa, the President of the New Republic, is swamped with work. She doesn't have time for a relationship.

Han Solo, a general and a noted war hero now, is busy himself. He and Chewbacca are still leading squadrons into occasional battle. His only downtime are the occasional times he can get back to Coruscant to see Leia.

Unfortunately for Han, Prince Isolder of the Hapes consortium (a group of planetary systems controlled by a somewhat benevolent Queen) has made a proposition with Leia. He has asked for her hand in marriage, and in return, the New Republic will control the Hapes consortium. Leia, a born politician, sees the benefit of the proposition, and she is actually considering marrying Isolder.

Seeing red, Han does something drastic: he "kidnaps" Leia and flies her off to Dathomir, a planet that Han won in a card game. He hopes that he can convince Leia that he is the man for her. Hot on their trail, of course, is Isolder, with the help of Luke Skywalker.

Dathomir, it turns out, is home to powerful Force-sensitive witches. A war has been waging there for a long time, apparently, between good witches and evil ones, called Nightsisters. The planet is also guarded by Imperial troops, supposedly left there years ago by Emperor Palpatine, who was even afraid of the Force witches. The Nightsisters, however, basically control the Imperial troops. On the upside, the good witches are allied with rancor beasts. (Yes, the same creature that tried to eat Luke in "ROTJ".)

I'm not making any of this stuff up, by the way.

This book is pretty bad, mainly because Wolverton can't decide whether he's writing a fantasy adventure or a romance novel, because there are elements of both genres in the book, and neither one are approached very well.

As critic-proof as the Star Wars novels are, this one is pretty bad.
]]> The Last Jedi (Star Wars) 10879846
The Emperor’s ruthless Order 66 has all but exterminated the Jedi. The few remaining who still wield the Force for good have been driven into exile or hiding. But not Jax Pavan, who’s been steadily striking blows against the Empire—as a lone guerrilla fighter and a valued partner of Whiplash, a secret Coruscant-based resistance group. Now he’s taking on his most critical mission: transporting a valued Whiplash leader, targeted for assassination, from Coruscant to safety on a distant world. It’s a risky move under any circumstances, but Jax and his trusted crew aboard the Far Ranger, including the irrepressible droid I-Five, are prepared to pit their combat skills and their vessel’s firepower against all Imperial threats—except the one Jax fears most. Reports have raced across the galaxy that the dark lord of the Sith has fallen in a duel to the death with a Rebel freedom fighter. But Jax discovers the chilling truth when he reaches out with the Force . . . only to touch the dark, unmistakable, and malignantly alive presence that is Darth Vader. And Jax knows that Vader will stop at nothing until the last Jedi has fallen.]]> 460 Michael Reaves 0345511409 Scott 3 7/8/2025 addendum: This book, published in 2013, is not to be confused with the 2017 film of the same name. It's confusing, I know. You'll be alright...

Michael Reaves, whose input in the Star Wars Expanded Universe has been notable (at current count, he's written nine books in the Star Wars book franchise), brings back his character Jax Pavan in "The Last Jedi", this time with co-author Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff.

While I enjoyed "The Last Jedi", it did not have the same spark and appeal that the first three Pavan books (The Coruscant Nights trilogy) had for me. Not that "The Last Jedi" wasn't exciting and entertaining. It was. The Reaves/Bohnhoff writing team continues all the excellent character development and storytelling that Reaves started in the Coruscant Nights trilogy. My complaint has nothing to do with the technical aspects of the writing.

My first complaint, which is petty and not even really a complaint, is that "The Last Jedi" breaks from the formula of the first three books by transplanting Pavan off the planet Coruscant and having him gallivanting around the galaxy. I realize that this opens the door for a wide variety of more fun and excitement, but I was growing used to the idea of Pavan working within the heart of the Empire. I also liked the loosely-noir structure of the series, in which Pavan is a former Jedi Knight turned private eye/gun for hire. The wise-cracking sidekicks, the femme fatales, the shadowy Imperial agents hounding him around every corner: this is "The Maltese Falcon" within the Star Wars universe.

I suppose it was inevitable that Pavan would have to, at some point, leave Coruscant. It makes sense, and the noir structure of the Coruscant Nights trilogy was a limiting factor in the ultimate development of Pavan's character, a character that is quickly becoming a fan favorite. He does, after all, embody the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance. (His character, and some of the others in the series, are also, I'm guessing, the inspiration for the new TV show "Star Wars Rebels" on Disney XD, a show mainly targeted for tweens and teenagers but is actually compelling enough for adults to enjoy.)

Another complaint I have with "The Last Jedi" is that it is almost too ambitious. There is a lot of stuff, plot-wise, going on in the book. In my opinion, Reaves/Bohnhoff could have easily turned this one book into another trilogy, taking the time to expand on some of the story lines within it, especially the Whiplash attempt to assassinate Emperor Palpatine, the capture of Thi Xon Yimmon, and Pavan's possession of Drath Ramage's mysterious holocron---all of which are fascinating story lines that Reaves/Bohnhoff could have devoted whole novels to. While adding to the extremely fast pacing of the novel, this overambitious plotting ultimately makes the book seem rushed, and I felt like I may have been missing a few details along the way.

Overall, though, "The Last Jedi" is another good read in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and I hope it is not the last we see of Jax Pavan.]]> 3.95 2013 The Last Jedi (Star Wars)
author: Michael Reaves
name: Scott
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2014/11/15
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: science-fiction, star-wars, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
7/8/2025 addendum: This book, published in 2013, is not to be confused with the 2017 film of the same name. It's confusing, I know. You'll be alright...

Michael Reaves, whose input in the Star Wars Expanded Universe has been notable (at current count, he's written nine books in the Star Wars book franchise), brings back his character Jax Pavan in "The Last Jedi", this time with co-author Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff.

While I enjoyed "The Last Jedi", it did not have the same spark and appeal that the first three Pavan books (The Coruscant Nights trilogy) had for me. Not that "The Last Jedi" wasn't exciting and entertaining. It was. The Reaves/Bohnhoff writing team continues all the excellent character development and storytelling that Reaves started in the Coruscant Nights trilogy. My complaint has nothing to do with the technical aspects of the writing.

My first complaint, which is petty and not even really a complaint, is that "The Last Jedi" breaks from the formula of the first three books by transplanting Pavan off the planet Coruscant and having him gallivanting around the galaxy. I realize that this opens the door for a wide variety of more fun and excitement, but I was growing used to the idea of Pavan working within the heart of the Empire. I also liked the loosely-noir structure of the series, in which Pavan is a former Jedi Knight turned private eye/gun for hire. The wise-cracking sidekicks, the femme fatales, the shadowy Imperial agents hounding him around every corner: this is "The Maltese Falcon" within the Star Wars universe.

I suppose it was inevitable that Pavan would have to, at some point, leave Coruscant. It makes sense, and the noir structure of the Coruscant Nights trilogy was a limiting factor in the ultimate development of Pavan's character, a character that is quickly becoming a fan favorite. He does, after all, embody the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance. (His character, and some of the others in the series, are also, I'm guessing, the inspiration for the new TV show "Star Wars Rebels" on Disney XD, a show mainly targeted for tweens and teenagers but is actually compelling enough for adults to enjoy.)

Another complaint I have with "The Last Jedi" is that it is almost too ambitious. There is a lot of stuff, plot-wise, going on in the book. In my opinion, Reaves/Bohnhoff could have easily turned this one book into another trilogy, taking the time to expand on some of the story lines within it, especially the Whiplash attempt to assassinate Emperor Palpatine, the capture of Thi Xon Yimmon, and Pavan's possession of Drath Ramage's mysterious holocron---all of which are fascinating story lines that Reaves/Bohnhoff could have devoted whole novels to. While adding to the extremely fast pacing of the novel, this overambitious plotting ultimately makes the book seem rushed, and I felt like I may have been missing a few details along the way.

Overall, though, "The Last Jedi" is another good read in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and I hope it is not the last we see of Jax Pavan.
]]> <![CDATA[Patterns of Force (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights, #3)]]> 2861968
Throughout the galaxy, a captured Jedi is a dead Jedi, even in Coruscant's most foul subterranean slums, where Jedi Knight Jax Pavan champions the causes of the oppressed with the help of hard-nosed reporter Den Dhur and the wisecracking droid I-5YQ. But Jax is also involved in another struggle--to unlock the secrets of his father's death and his own past.

While Jax believes that I-5YQ holds some of those answers, he never imagines that the truth could be shocking enough to catapult him to the frontlines of a plot to kill Emperor Palpatine. Worse yet, Darth Vader's relentless search for Jax is about to end . . . in triumph.

The future looming over the valiant Jedi and his staunch pals promises to be dark and brief, because there's no secret whatsoever about the harshest truth of all: Few indeed are those who tangle with Darth Vader . . . and live to tell the tale.]]> 288 Michael Reaves 0345477588 Scott 4
What I have enjoyed about the adventures of Pavan is that they are independent of, but still distantly related to, the storylines of the original six George Lucas films. The events of the Coruscant Nights series takes place several years after the events of "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and many years prior to "Episode IV: A New Hope". It delves deeper into the aftermath of the Purge (the hunting down and assassination of all Jedi Knights by order of Emperor Palpatine) and hints at the embryonic formation of the Rebel Alliance. It also manages to be its own exciting series, with well-developed characters and events peripheral to the original Star Wars mythos.

In this book, Jax and his partners (a ragtag bunch including a Force-sensitive droid named I-5YQ, a former journalist named Den Dhur, a female warrior Twi'lek named Laranth Tarak, and a former assistant to Darth Vader named Haninum Tyk Rhinann) stumble upon a young boy named Kajin Savaros, who is the most Force-sensitive human Pavan has ever met. The Force runs so strong within Kaj that the boy can't control his own abilities. Pavan learns that Lord Vader himself wants the boy, and the Sith Lord has sent a team of his best assassins, called Inquisitors, to find him, alive. Vader also wants Pavan alive, although Pavan can't figure out why. He thinks it may have something to do with something his friend, Anakin Skywalker, once told him years ago, before Skywalker was supposedly killed during the Purge...]]> 3.85 2009 Patterns of Force (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights, #3)
author: Michael Reaves
name: Scott
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2014/11/10
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
Among the many talented authors within the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Michael Reaves is quickly shaping up to be my favorite. His third novel in the Coruscant Nights series (it was, up until recently with the publication of his fourth book "The Last Jedi", a trilogy), "Patterns of Force" marks a joyous return of Jax Pavan, one of the few (he fears the only) surviving Jedi Knights of the Purge who "moonlights" as a private detective/gun for hire on the dark streets of Coruscant, now overrun with Imperial troops.

What I have enjoyed about the adventures of Pavan is that they are independent of, but still distantly related to, the storylines of the original six George Lucas films. The events of the Coruscant Nights series takes place several years after the events of "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and many years prior to "Episode IV: A New Hope". It delves deeper into the aftermath of the Purge (the hunting down and assassination of all Jedi Knights by order of Emperor Palpatine) and hints at the embryonic formation of the Rebel Alliance. It also manages to be its own exciting series, with well-developed characters and events peripheral to the original Star Wars mythos.

In this book, Jax and his partners (a ragtag bunch including a Force-sensitive droid named I-5YQ, a former journalist named Den Dhur, a female warrior Twi'lek named Laranth Tarak, and a former assistant to Darth Vader named Haninum Tyk Rhinann) stumble upon a young boy named Kajin Savaros, who is the most Force-sensitive human Pavan has ever met. The Force runs so strong within Kaj that the boy can't control his own abilities. Pavan learns that Lord Vader himself wants the boy, and the Sith Lord has sent a team of his best assassins, called Inquisitors, to find him, alive. Vader also wants Pavan alive, although Pavan can't figure out why. He thinks it may have something to do with something his friend, Anakin Skywalker, once told him years ago, before Skywalker was supposedly killed during the Purge...
]]> <![CDATA[Street of Shadows (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights, #2)]]> 2815631
Deep in the bowels of Coruscant, Jedi Jax Pavan ekes out a living as a private investigator, a go-to, can-do guy for the downtrodden. Now a mysterious Zeltron knockout named Deejah approaches Jax with a case that needs to be cracked: to find out who killed her artist lover Volette, brutally murdered hours after his triumphant unveiling of a dazzling new light sculpture with obvious links to lightsaber pyrotechnics.

Finding Volette’s killer won’t be easy–too many secrets, too many suspects, and all kinds of motives. But with the droid I-5YQ’s help, and ex-reporter Den Dhur’s excellent snooping skills, the investigation is soon operating like a well-oiled machine.

Unfortunately, there’s a far more efficient machine hunting Jax. It’s a deadly game of cat-and-mouse as the clock starts ticking toward the final explosive showdown . . . to see who strikes first and who will die first.]]> 306 Michael Reaves 0345477545 Scott 3
Pavan has gone into hiding, but he's hiding out on Coruscant, the capital city of the Empire. It's there, he figures, that he can do the most good for the Resistance, helping to secretly shuttle out Rebel spies and those with knowledge and skills that would benefit the steadily-growing Resistance movement. He also occasionally helps out those in need in the lower slum sections of Coruscant, for a fee. He does need to eat after all.

His most recent case is to solve the murder of a well-known Caamasi artist known as Ves Volette, whose beautiful light sculptures caused controversy due to the not-so-subtle anti-Empire feelings they evoked. Needless to say, there are plenty of suspects for Pavan to investigate. Close to a hundred billion of them actually, not excluding Darth Vader or the Emperor himself.

"Street of Shadows" is, like Reaves' previous novel "Jedi Twilight", pulpy good fun, an entertaining mix-up of classic noir and Star Wars. Reaves isn't the best of writers, but he knows how to have fun with, and deftly blend, both genres.]]> 3.82 2008 Street of Shadows (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights, #2)
author: Michael Reaves
name: Scott
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2013/12/26
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, fantasy, old-canon-legends, noir, science-fiction
review:
Jedi private detective Jax Pavan returns in the second book of Michael Reaves' Coruscant Nights series, "Street of Shadows", set in the Star Wars universe. On the Star Wars timeline, Pavan's adventures take place after the terrible Purge, in which the Emperor has ordered all Jedi Knights hunted down and killed. It is a dark time in the galaxy, as planets are forced to become enslaved by the Emperor's iron-fisted rule or face death and destruction. Meanwhile, the Emperor's second-in-command, the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader, has taken it upon himself to hunt down and kill the remaining Jedi survivors of the Purge.

Pavan has gone into hiding, but he's hiding out on Coruscant, the capital city of the Empire. It's there, he figures, that he can do the most good for the Resistance, helping to secretly shuttle out Rebel spies and those with knowledge and skills that would benefit the steadily-growing Resistance movement. He also occasionally helps out those in need in the lower slum sections of Coruscant, for a fee. He does need to eat after all.

His most recent case is to solve the murder of a well-known Caamasi artist known as Ves Volette, whose beautiful light sculptures caused controversy due to the not-so-subtle anti-Empire feelings they evoked. Needless to say, there are plenty of suspects for Pavan to investigate. Close to a hundred billion of them actually, not excluding Darth Vader or the Emperor himself.

"Street of Shadows" is, like Reaves' previous novel "Jedi Twilight", pulpy good fun, an entertaining mix-up of classic noir and Star Wars. Reaves isn't the best of writers, but he knows how to have fun with, and deftly blend, both genres.
]]> <![CDATA[Jedi Twilight (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights, #1)]]> 758715
Jax Pavan is one of the few Jedi Knights who miraculously survived the slaughter that followed Palpatine's ruthless Order 66. Now, deep in Coruscant's Blackpit Slums, Jax ekes out a living as a private investigator, trying to help people in need while concealing his Jedi identity and staying one step ahead of the killers out for Jedi blood. And they're not the only ones in search of the elusive Jax. Hard-boiled reporter Den Dhur and his buddy, the highly unorthodox droid I-5YQ, have shocking news to bring Jax-about the father he never knew.
But when Jax learns that his old Jedi Master has been killed, leaving behind the request that Jax finish a mission critical to the resistance, Jax has no choice but to emerge from hiding-and risk detection by Darth Vader-to fulfill his Master's dying wish.

Don't miss the continuing adventures in the Coruscant Nights series, coming this Fall!]]> 343 Michael Reaves 0345477502 Scott 3
Reaves clearly grew up reading lots of paperback writers. His collection was obviously replete with just as many by authors like Mickey Spillane and Ross McDonald as it was with Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein.

In "Jedi Twilight", former Jedi Knight Jax Pavan is forced to go into hiding after Emperor Palpatine's Order 66, what is commonly referred to in the Star Wars universe as "The Purge". By order of the Emperor, all Jedis were branded as enemies of the state and were to be killed on sight. A few Jedis, scattered throughout the galaxy, survived the massacre. Unfortunately, they are now the Galaxy's most wanted. The Emperor's second-in-command, Darth Vader, has taken it upon himself to seek and destroy any remaining Jedi.

Pavan now moonlights as a private investigator, helping those in the lower levels of Coruscant, the "slums" beneath the great towers of the rich and powerful. When an old Republic Army buddy, Nick Rostu, shows up with news that Pavan's former Jedi Master, Even Piell, is dead, Pavan finds himself on a mission to finish what Piell started. Unfortunately, he's not completely sure what the mission is. He knows it has something to do with a missing droid, rumored to have belonged to an ancient Sith Lord. Strangely enough, someone else wants the droid just as badly: Darth Vader himself.

Along the way, Pavan picks up a rag-tag team: Den Dhur, a down-and-out reporter looking for his next big story; I-5YQ, a droid who possesses the uncanny ability to feel emotions and an accompanying smart-ass attitude; and Laranth Tarak, a female Jedi who also survived the Purge, who is tough as nails but also has a secret crush on Pavan.

The plot is relatively lame, but Reaves has fun creating some likable characters. While the novel, at times, feels more like an episode of "Futurama", with its humorous repartee between the characters, than it does its most obvious source of inspiration, "The Maltese Falcon", it is still an entertaining addition to the Expanded Universe. There are two more books in the series.]]> 3.78 2006 Jedi Twilight (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights, #1)
author: Michael Reaves
name: Scott
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2013/12/09
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: movie-tie-in, science-fiction, star-wars, fantasy, noir, old-canon-legends
review:
Somewhen between "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith" and "Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope" is the setting for the Star Wars novel "Jedi Twilight" by Michael Reaves, the first in his Coruscant Nights series. It's a fun action/adventure that pits a Sam Spade-like private detective within the Star Wars universe. The result is fun sci-fi noir that reminds readers of the pulp influences that helped inspire and infuse the world(s) that George Lucas created.

Reaves clearly grew up reading lots of paperback writers. His collection was obviously replete with just as many by authors like Mickey Spillane and Ross McDonald as it was with Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein.

In "Jedi Twilight", former Jedi Knight Jax Pavan is forced to go into hiding after Emperor Palpatine's Order 66, what is commonly referred to in the Star Wars universe as "The Purge". By order of the Emperor, all Jedis were branded as enemies of the state and were to be killed on sight. A few Jedis, scattered throughout the galaxy, survived the massacre. Unfortunately, they are now the Galaxy's most wanted. The Emperor's second-in-command, Darth Vader, has taken it upon himself to seek and destroy any remaining Jedi.

Pavan now moonlights as a private investigator, helping those in the lower levels of Coruscant, the "slums" beneath the great towers of the rich and powerful. When an old Republic Army buddy, Nick Rostu, shows up with news that Pavan's former Jedi Master, Even Piell, is dead, Pavan finds himself on a mission to finish what Piell started. Unfortunately, he's not completely sure what the mission is. He knows it has something to do with a missing droid, rumored to have belonged to an ancient Sith Lord. Strangely enough, someone else wants the droid just as badly: Darth Vader himself.

Along the way, Pavan picks up a rag-tag team: Den Dhur, a down-and-out reporter looking for his next big story; I-5YQ, a droid who possesses the uncanny ability to feel emotions and an accompanying smart-ass attitude; and Laranth Tarak, a female Jedi who also survived the Purge, who is tough as nails but also has a secret crush on Pavan.

The plot is relatively lame, but Reaves has fun creating some likable characters. While the novel, at times, feels more like an episode of "Futurama", with its humorous repartee between the characters, than it does its most obvious source of inspiration, "The Maltese Falcon", it is still an entertaining addition to the Expanded Universe. There are two more books in the series.
]]> Star Wars: Knight Errant 8323122
A thousand years before Luke Skywalker, a generation before Darth Bane, in a galaxy far, far away . . .

The Republic is in crisis. The Sith roam unchecked, vying with one another to dominate the galaxy. But one lone Jedi, Kerra Holt, is determined to take down the Dark Lords. Her enemies are strange and many: Lord Daiman, who imagines himself the creator of the universe; Lord Odion, who intends to be its destroyer; the curious siblings Quillan and Dromika; the enigmatic Arkadia. So many warring Sith weaving a patchwork of brutality—with only Kerra Holt to defend the innocents caught underfoot.

Sensing a sinister pattern in the chaos, Kerra embarks on a journey that will take her into fierce battles against even fiercer enemies. With one against so many, her only chance of success lies with forging alliances among those who serve her enemies—including a mysterious Sith spy and a clever mercenary general. But will they be her adversaries or her salvation?

Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!]]> 372 John Jackson Miller 0345522648 Scott 3
Miller, who wrote the series of novellas that comprised the "Lost Tribe of the Sith" series, is a decent writer whose specialty is action and building suspense. Lots of that in this novel.

Unfortunately, there's really not a lot of anything else, like character development or plot. Perhaps it's because Holt's character is already well-established in her comic book series (which I have not read), so fans already know her back-story, but i personally would have liked to understand her motivation a little more. She is an interesting character: a vengeful, solitary Jedi with a vaguely tragic history (It is mentioned briefly that she was recruited by the Jedi as a young child after her home world was attacked by Siths and her family was enslaved. That's about it for back-story.)

Also, the novel isn't so much a novel as a series of stories. It basically follows the format of a comic book series, and I wouldn't be surprised if this novel was a re-worked scripting of several comic book stories into one whole. The stories are inter-connected but slightly disjointed, as if Miller contrived them to make them fit.

I'm probably being petty, though, because most Star Wars fans won't care. Overall, "Knight Errant" is an okay read, but it's definitely not one of the better ones in the Star Wars Expanded Universe series.]]> 3.64 2011 Star Wars: Knight Errant
author: John Jackson Miller
name: Scott
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2013/10/12
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, comic-book-tie-in, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
John Jackson Miller's novel "Knight Errant" is a novelization of his popular Dark Horse comic book series about an ass-kicking young Jedi named Kerra Holt who is stuck in Sith-occupied space during the era of the Old Republic, attempting to save the enslaved peoples of each planet upon which she arrives. It's basically a western, and Holt is the archetypical western lone gunman (in this case, gun woman) riding into town on a horse (land speeder) and bringing justice via a six-shooter (lightsaber).

Miller, who wrote the series of novellas that comprised the "Lost Tribe of the Sith" series, is a decent writer whose specialty is action and building suspense. Lots of that in this novel.

Unfortunately, there's really not a lot of anything else, like character development or plot. Perhaps it's because Holt's character is already well-established in her comic book series (which I have not read), so fans already know her back-story, but i personally would have liked to understand her motivation a little more. She is an interesting character: a vengeful, solitary Jedi with a vaguely tragic history (It is mentioned briefly that she was recruited by the Jedi as a young child after her home world was attacked by Siths and her family was enslaved. That's about it for back-story.)

Also, the novel isn't so much a novel as a series of stories. It basically follows the format of a comic book series, and I wouldn't be surprised if this novel was a re-worked scripting of several comic book stories into one whole. The stories are inter-connected but slightly disjointed, as if Miller contrived them to make them fit.

I'm probably being petty, though, because most Star Wars fans won't care. Overall, "Knight Errant" is an okay read, but it's definitely not one of the better ones in the Star Wars Expanded Universe series.
]]> <![CDATA[Revan (Star Wars: The Old Republic, #1)]]> 10687840 There’s something out there:
a juggernaut of evil bearing down to crush the Republicâ,
unless one lone Jedi, shunned and reviled, can stop it.

Revan: hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior. A Jedi who left Coruscant to defeat Mandalorians and returned a disciple of the dark side, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was high. His memories have been erased. All that’s left are nightmares and deep, abiding fear.

What exactly happened beyond the Outer Rim? Revan can’t quite remember, yet can’t entirely forget. Somehow he stumbled across a terrible secret that threatens the very existence of the Republic. With no idea what it is, or how to stop it, Revan may very well fail, for he’s never faced a more powerful and diabolic enemy. But only death can stop him from trying.]]> 289 Drew Karpyshyn 0345511344 Scott 2
There is much back-story necessary to understand the context of this story, most of which is explained very briefly in the book through rather boring bits of exposition and/or awkward sections of dialogue.

Karpyshyn is, at most, a competent writer, but it is clear that he enjoys video games (and designing them, according to his bio) from the way the book is structured. Like a video game, the main character is given a task, and he is then sent off to different increasingly difficult levels to accomplish this task. He encounters allies along the way, and there are many fight sequences. Basically, the book is a video game.

I find video games excruciatingly dull and tedious, which is why I don't play them, so it's no wonder that I didn't enjoy this book that much. Gamers, and especially those familiar with "KOTOR", will probably get much more enjoyment out of this.]]> 3.99 2011 Revan (Star Wars: The Old Republic, #1)
author: Drew Karpyshyn
name: Scott
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2012/11/08
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, the-old-republic, old-canon-legends, video-game-tie-in
review:
Drew Karpyshyn's "Revan" is not the best Star Wars book I have read. It is, in fact, my least favorite so far, although part of the problem may lie with the fact that it is based on or inspired by a video game series with which I am unfamiliar. Apparently, "Knights of the Old Republic" is an old-school video game that was immensely popular among the gaming set. (Indeed, gamers I know say that this game was the pinnacle of gaming excellence. I can't verify that, as I've never played it.)

There is much back-story necessary to understand the context of this story, most of which is explained very briefly in the book through rather boring bits of exposition and/or awkward sections of dialogue.

Karpyshyn is, at most, a competent writer, but it is clear that he enjoys video games (and designing them, according to his bio) from the way the book is structured. Like a video game, the main character is given a task, and he is then sent off to different increasingly difficult levels to accomplish this task. He encounters allies along the way, and there are many fight sequences. Basically, the book is a video game.

I find video games excruciatingly dull and tedious, which is why I don't play them, so it's no wonder that I didn't enjoy this book that much. Gamers, and especially those familiar with "KOTOR", will probably get much more enjoyment out of this.
]]> <![CDATA[Fatal Alliance (Star Wars: The Old Republic, #3)]]> 7493770 bestselling author Sean Williams brings the world of the game to life in his latest novel, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance.

Tassaa Bareesh, a matriarch in the Hutt crime cartel, is holding an auction that’s drawing attention from across the galaxy. Representatives of both the Republic and the Sith Empire are present, along with a Jedi Padawan sent to investigate, a disenfranchised trooper drummed out of the Republic’s elite  Blackstar Squad, and a mysterious Mandalorian with a private agenda. But the Republic’s envoy is not what he seems, the Empire’s delegate is a ruthless Sith apprentice, the Jedi Padawan is determined to do the right thing and terrified that he can’t, the trooper hopes to redeem her reputation, and the Mandalorian is somehow managing to keep one step ahead of everyone.
                                                
None of these guests—invited or uninvited—have any intention of participating in the auction. Instead they plan to steal the prize, which is locked inside an impregnable vault: two burned chunks of an exploded star cruiser, one of which may hold the key to the wealth of an entire world.

But the truth about the treasure is dangerous and deadly. And in the end, Sith and Jedi, Republic and Empire, must do something they’ve never done before, something that all the agents of good and evil could never make them do: join together to stop a powerful threat that could destroy the galaxy.]]> 417 Sean Williams 0345511328 Scott 3
"Fatal Alliance" is a "Cannonball Run"-like galactic chase involving smugglers, bounty hunters, Republic troopers, Imperial spies, a young Sith and her master, and a young Jedi and his master. They are all racing to be the first to retrieve an object on auction on the planet Hutta. The galactic gangsters, the Hutts, retrieved it during a pirate attack. No one knows what it is or who made it, but it appears to be powerful. Once all the parties have arrived at the auction, though, events take a turn for the worse. Now, those who were once (and still are) enemies are forced to work together against an even greater and stranger enemy. Not everyone is who they appear to be, and everyone has some kind of secret that may be vital in stopping the enemy.

I'm not gonna lie: this book was silly good fun. Like the Star Wars movies, it's entertainment for entertainment's sake, so it's pointless to pick it apart. It's not Pullitzer Prize-winning material, so I'm not going to bitch and moan about lack of character development or holes in the plot. Who cares? Star Wars fans will read it, and enjoy it, regardless. Those who aren't Star Wars fans won't read it, and why would they? I will say that Williams actually does a pretty good job of developing each of the main characters, which, from a practical standpoint, was necessary considering the mystery-like structure of the novel. Each of the characters has personal motivations that help to explain why they do what they do in the novel. The result is some suspenseful little plot twists and turns throughout.]]> 3.74 2010 Fatal Alliance (Star Wars: The Old Republic, #3)
author: Sean Williams
name: Scott
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2013/09/08
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, the-old-republic, fantasy, old-canon-legends, video-game-tie-in
review:
Sean William's "Fatal Alliance", the third novel in the Star Wars Old Republic series (although all of them are stand-alones, not connected in any way with each other other than the fact that they are set in the Star Wars universe), is a surprisingly decent action thriller that has somewhat restored my faith in the Expanded Universe series, specifically the Old Republic series-within-a-series. Based on a popular video game series that I have never played nor will I ever play, the Old Republic books are set roughly 1,000 years before the events of the first Star Wars movie. It is the legends and mythologies surrounding the never-ending struggle between the Siths and the Jedis, leading up to the formation (actually, the Re-formation) of the Empire under Emperor Palpatine and his Sith Lord, Darth Vader, and the Purge (the galaxy-wide assassination of all Jedi knights). The rest, as they say, is history for Star Wars fans.

"Fatal Alliance" is a "Cannonball Run"-like galactic chase involving smugglers, bounty hunters, Republic troopers, Imperial spies, a young Sith and her master, and a young Jedi and his master. They are all racing to be the first to retrieve an object on auction on the planet Hutta. The galactic gangsters, the Hutts, retrieved it during a pirate attack. No one knows what it is or who made it, but it appears to be powerful. Once all the parties have arrived at the auction, though, events take a turn for the worse. Now, those who were once (and still are) enemies are forced to work together against an even greater and stranger enemy. Not everyone is who they appear to be, and everyone has some kind of secret that may be vital in stopping the enemy.

I'm not gonna lie: this book was silly good fun. Like the Star Wars movies, it's entertainment for entertainment's sake, so it's pointless to pick it apart. It's not Pullitzer Prize-winning material, so I'm not going to bitch and moan about lack of character development or holes in the plot. Who cares? Star Wars fans will read it, and enjoy it, regardless. Those who aren't Star Wars fans won't read it, and why would they? I will say that Williams actually does a pretty good job of developing each of the main characters, which, from a practical standpoint, was necessary considering the mystery-like structure of the novel. Each of the characters has personal motivations that help to explain why they do what they do in the novel. The result is some suspenseful little plot twists and turns throughout.
]]> <![CDATA[Deceived (Star Wars: The Old Republic, #2)]]> 8015504 AN -3500

Dark Malgus sert un but, la guerre, et un maître, le Côté Obscur, pour lesquels il s'apprête à mettre à feu et à sang la Cité galactique. En leurs noms, il a détruit le Temple Jedi de Coruscant, dans une bataille historique au cours de laquelle le Maître Ven Zallow a été assassiné. Mais à l'heure des machinations politiques, l'Empereur n'a plus besoin de son champion et cherche à le faire disparaître...
Et il n'est pas le seul. Une jeune Jedi est prête à tout pour venger la mort de son Maître, elle s'appelle Aryn Leener et elle ne reculera devant aucun sacrifice, quitte à enfreindre toutes les règles.
Deux destinées, deux révoltes vont se croiser dans une galaxie devenue l'enjeu de sinistres complots...



]]> 285 Paul S. Kemp 0345511387 Scott 3
So, you may be asking why, if I found the first in the series to be less-than-stellar, I would choose to read the second, my answer would be three-fold: 1) I am always willing to give anyone or anything a second chance, especially book series. 2) This second novel, "Deceived" is NOT written by the same author as the first. In this one, Paul S. Kemp mans the literary helm. 3) It's a "Star Wars" book. I'm pretty much a sucker for anything "Star Wars".

I'm actually glad I gave this series a second chance because I liked the second book much better. It's better written, for one. (Not by much, to be completely honest, but immensely more readable than the first.) It's also a stand-alone, so there is no need to read the first one, nor is there a need to actually read the third. "Deceived" is its own beginning, middle, and end.

The plot involves three main characters, all of whom are pretty prototypical characters for a "Star Wars" novel:

*Zeerid Korr: a smuggler working for gangsters, rugged and deadly when he has to be but, deep down, he's a soft touch. (Sound familiar?) His motivation is his young daughter, being cared for by his sister. Their lives are being kept secret because he knows that his ruthless employers would use them as leverage against him. He wants out of the smuggling trade, but he knows he could never find another (legitimate) job that pays as well.

*Darth Malgus: a Sith Lord who gleefully envisions the destruction of all Jedi Knights. He leads a full-frontal assault on the planet Coruscant, the capital world of the Republic, and specifically against the Jedi Temple. His attack is a success, but a contingent of other Sith Lords wants to negotiate peace with the Jedis. Malgus just wants endless war.

*Aryn Leneer: a Jedi Knight away on Alderaan for peace negotiations. She senses a disturbance in the Force when her Jedi Master Ven Zallow is killed by Malgus. Against all her Jedi training, she rushes back to Coruscant to avenge his death.

Within the "Star Wars" universe, this has probably all been done before, but for geek fans like myself, it never gets old.]]> 3.91 2011 Deceived (Star Wars: The Old Republic, #2)
author: Paul S. Kemp
name: Scott
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2013/09/03
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, the-old-republic, fantasy, old-canon-legends, video-game-tie-in
review:
Video game afficionadoes ("gamers" as they like to call themselves) talk lovingly about a video game called "The Knights of the Old Republic", based on George Lucas's Star Wars franchise. I have never played it, know nothing about it other than it exists, and I will most likely never play it as i do not play video games. The setting is roughly 200 years before the events of the first "Star Wars" film. I read the first in the "Old Republic" series, a book called "Revan", based on a popular character in the video game. I was not impressed. I was, actually, extremely disappointed with that one.

So, you may be asking why, if I found the first in the series to be less-than-stellar, I would choose to read the second, my answer would be three-fold: 1) I am always willing to give anyone or anything a second chance, especially book series. 2) This second novel, "Deceived" is NOT written by the same author as the first. In this one, Paul S. Kemp mans the literary helm. 3) It's a "Star Wars" book. I'm pretty much a sucker for anything "Star Wars".

I'm actually glad I gave this series a second chance because I liked the second book much better. It's better written, for one. (Not by much, to be completely honest, but immensely more readable than the first.) It's also a stand-alone, so there is no need to read the first one, nor is there a need to actually read the third. "Deceived" is its own beginning, middle, and end.

The plot involves three main characters, all of whom are pretty prototypical characters for a "Star Wars" novel:

*Zeerid Korr: a smuggler working for gangsters, rugged and deadly when he has to be but, deep down, he's a soft touch. (Sound familiar?) His motivation is his young daughter, being cared for by his sister. Their lives are being kept secret because he knows that his ruthless employers would use them as leverage against him. He wants out of the smuggling trade, but he knows he could never find another (legitimate) job that pays as well.

*Darth Malgus: a Sith Lord who gleefully envisions the destruction of all Jedi Knights. He leads a full-frontal assault on the planet Coruscant, the capital world of the Republic, and specifically against the Jedi Temple. His attack is a success, but a contingent of other Sith Lords wants to negotiate peace with the Jedis. Malgus just wants endless war.

*Aryn Leneer: a Jedi Knight away on Alderaan for peace negotiations. She senses a disturbance in the Force when her Jedi Master Ven Zallow is killed by Malgus. Against all her Jedi training, she rushes back to Coruscant to avenge his death.

Within the "Star Wars" universe, this has probably all been done before, but for geek fans like myself, it never gets old.
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith - The Collected Stories]]> 13023324
Five thousand years ago. After a Jedi ambush, the Sith mining ship Omen lies wrecked on a remote, unknown planet. Its commander, Yaru Korsin, battles the bloodshed of a mutinous faction led by his own brother. Marooned and facing death, the Sith crew have no choice but to venture into their desolate surroundings. They face any number of brutal challenges—vicious predators, lethal plagues, tribal people who worship vengeful gods—and like true Sith warriors, counter them with the dark side of the Force.

The struggles are just beginning for the proud, uncompromising Sith, driven as they are to rule at all costs. They will vanquish the primitive natives, and they will find their way back to their true destiny as rulers of the galaxy. But as their legacy grows over thousands of years, the Sith ultimately find themselves tested by the most dangerous threat of all: the enemy within.]]> 410 John Jackson Miller 0345511379 Scott 4
True fans knew that there were so many more stories to be told in this galaxy far, far away. Hundreds of authors have contributed their own stories in what has become the Expanded Universe.

John Jackson Miller published nine e-stories set roughly 5,000 years before the events of the original film. These stories have now been published in one volume. "Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories" starts with the Sith spaceship Omen crash-landing on a remote planet called Keshtah after a space battle with a Jedi cruiser.

For those unfamiliar with the history of the "Star Wars" universe, here's a little mini-primer: Siths and Jedis were two warring factions who fought a long and deadly war throughout the universe for thousands of years. Jedis engaged in peaceful endeavors, using the Force for good. Siths subscribed to a philosophy of self-aggrandizement and the subjugation of other races. Jedis eventually won the war, and the Siths died away and passed away into legend, until they were resurrected by the evil Lord Palpatine, who turned a young impressionable Jedi knight into a Sith Lord known famously as Darth Vader. Together, these two created an evil Empire bent on conquering the universe. They also set in motion a campaign to eradicate the Jedi, which almost worked, except for a few surviving Jedi knights who went into hiding. Vader unknowingly had a son named Luke Skywalker who, with the help of an aging Jedi Knight named Obi Wan Kenobi, learned the ways of the Jedi Knighthood and eventually defeated Vader and led the way for the destruction of the Empire and the creation of the New Republic. I just realized that I probably know more about the history of the "Star Wars" universe than I do about the history of my own country... *

Anyway, the small (roughly 600 members) Sith crew of the Omen have no choice but to make Keshtah their new home, as they lost all means of communication when the ship crashed.

They soon discover that an indigenous population exists on the planet, an intelligent but technologically primitive race called the Keshtari.

The first several stories focus on the events after Omen's crash, when the Sith use the Keshtari as slave labor. A young Keshtari woman named Adari leads a successful slave revolt and flees to the other side of the planet.

Centuries later, the Sith population has grown, but constant in-fighting and numerous coup attempts have left its toll.

The Sith of Keshtah are in danger of being extinct, until a Sith historian named Varner Hilts unites them all for one purpose: an attack upon the newly-discovered continent on the other side of the planet.

Unfortunately, the legacy of the Keshtari heroine Adari quickly comes back to haunt them.

Miller has done a great job of creating an entire tangential storyline to the original "Star Wars" universe. Each story is vividly conceived and well-told.

Only a few stories seem contrived and ultimately irrelevent, including one in which a single Jedi pilot crashlands on Keshtah, pretends to be a Sith, and inevitably falls in love with a Sith. As cheesy as it sounds, it actually kind of works, and its presence within the collection does serve a very limited purpose.

The last story, "Pandemonium", which is more of a novella, is the best of the collection.

If you are a fan of the SWEU, you will most likely enjoy this book, as it brings more depth and back-story to an already-crowded and steadily-growing mythos that can only be comparable to other sci-fi legends such as Tolkein's Middle Earth and Frank Herbert's Arrakis.

* Sorry, that was a lot of unnecessary man-splaining. Or, more to the point, nerd-splaining...]]> 3.82 2012 Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith - The Collected Stories
author: John Jackson Miller
name: Scott
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/10
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, the-old-republic, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
As a "Star Wars" fan, it has always fascinated me how truly visionary George Lucas was when he created the original "Star Wars" film in 1977. It was a fully-formed universe, with a history, a philosophy, and believable characters whose stories didn't stop after the credits rolled.

True fans knew that there were so many more stories to be told in this galaxy far, far away. Hundreds of authors have contributed their own stories in what has become the Expanded Universe.

John Jackson Miller published nine e-stories set roughly 5,000 years before the events of the original film. These stories have now been published in one volume. "Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories" starts with the Sith spaceship Omen crash-landing on a remote planet called Keshtah after a space battle with a Jedi cruiser.

For those unfamiliar with the history of the "Star Wars" universe, here's a little mini-primer: Siths and Jedis were two warring factions who fought a long and deadly war throughout the universe for thousands of years. Jedis engaged in peaceful endeavors, using the Force for good. Siths subscribed to a philosophy of self-aggrandizement and the subjugation of other races. Jedis eventually won the war, and the Siths died away and passed away into legend, until they were resurrected by the evil Lord Palpatine, who turned a young impressionable Jedi knight into a Sith Lord known famously as Darth Vader. Together, these two created an evil Empire bent on conquering the universe. They also set in motion a campaign to eradicate the Jedi, which almost worked, except for a few surviving Jedi knights who went into hiding. Vader unknowingly had a son named Luke Skywalker who, with the help of an aging Jedi Knight named Obi Wan Kenobi, learned the ways of the Jedi Knighthood and eventually defeated Vader and led the way for the destruction of the Empire and the creation of the New Republic. I just realized that I probably know more about the history of the "Star Wars" universe than I do about the history of my own country... *

Anyway, the small (roughly 600 members) Sith crew of the Omen have no choice but to make Keshtah their new home, as they lost all means of communication when the ship crashed.

They soon discover that an indigenous population exists on the planet, an intelligent but technologically primitive race called the Keshtari.

The first several stories focus on the events after Omen's crash, when the Sith use the Keshtari as slave labor. A young Keshtari woman named Adari leads a successful slave revolt and flees to the other side of the planet.

Centuries later, the Sith population has grown, but constant in-fighting and numerous coup attempts have left its toll.

The Sith of Keshtah are in danger of being extinct, until a Sith historian named Varner Hilts unites them all for one purpose: an attack upon the newly-discovered continent on the other side of the planet.

Unfortunately, the legacy of the Keshtari heroine Adari quickly comes back to haunt them.

Miller has done a great job of creating an entire tangential storyline to the original "Star Wars" universe. Each story is vividly conceived and well-told.

Only a few stories seem contrived and ultimately irrelevent, including one in which a single Jedi pilot crashlands on Keshtah, pretends to be a Sith, and inevitably falls in love with a Sith. As cheesy as it sounds, it actually kind of works, and its presence within the collection does serve a very limited purpose.

The last story, "Pandemonium", which is more of a novella, is the best of the collection.

If you are a fan of the SWEU, you will most likely enjoy this book, as it brings more depth and back-story to an already-crowded and steadily-growing mythos that can only be comparable to other sci-fi legends such as Tolkein's Middle Earth and Frank Herbert's Arrakis.

* Sorry, that was a lot of unnecessary man-splaining. Or, more to the point, nerd-splaining...
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Tyrant's Test (The Black Fleet Crisis, #3)]]> 977111
Faced with an alarming image of Han as a battered hostage of the Yevetha, Chewbacca takes on an urgent mission. Meanwhile, Leia calls upon the Senate to take a stand and eliminate the Yevetha threat - even at the cost of Han's life.

As a former Imperial governor takes his battle to the runaway Qella spaceship, Luke's continuing search for his mother brings him dangerously close to Nil Spaar's deadly forces. And as the Yevetha close in on the forces of the New Republic, Luke takes a desperate gamble with an invisible weapon...]]> 366 Michael P. Kube-McDowell 055357275X Scott 4
In this one, Leia makes a tough but necessary decision as President of the New Republic in the war against the Yevethans.

Meanwhile, Chewbacca, and several of his Wookie relatives including his son, Lumpy, decide to make a dangerous attempt at a rescue mission to save Han from the Yevethans.

Also meanwhile, Luke discovers Akanah's secrets, which may be used as a secret weapon against the Yevethans, if she agrees to it.

Also also meanwhile, Lando and the droids, still stuck on the vagabond ship, discover its real purpose as it arrives at a seemingly long-dead planet that still harbors life deep beneath its frozen surface. Bravo, Mr. Kube-McDowell!]]> 3.42 1996 Star Wars: Tyrant's Test (The Black Fleet Crisis, #3)
author: Michael P. Kube-McDowell
name: Scott
average rating: 3.42
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2012/01/07
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
"Tyrant's Test" is the third and final book in Michael P. Kube-McDowell's Black Fleet Crisis series. Highly enjoyable, fast-paced, and written with intelligence and respect for the Star Wars universe and characters created by George Lucas, this series is a must-read for Star Wars fans.

In this one, Leia makes a tough but necessary decision as President of the New Republic in the war against the Yevethans.

Meanwhile, Chewbacca, and several of his Wookie relatives including his son, Lumpy, decide to make a dangerous attempt at a rescue mission to save Han from the Yevethans.

Also meanwhile, Luke discovers Akanah's secrets, which may be used as a secret weapon against the Yevethans, if she agrees to it.

Also also meanwhile, Lando and the droids, still stuck on the vagabond ship, discover its real purpose as it arrives at a seemingly long-dead planet that still harbors life deep beneath its frozen surface. Bravo, Mr. Kube-McDowell!
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Shield of Lies (The Black Fleet Crisis, #2)]]> 264013
Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!]]> 338 Michael P. Kube-McDowell 0553572776 Scott 4
In this one, President of the New Republic, Leia Organa Solo, is being faced with impeachment. On top of that, her husband, Han, who led a failed mission to confront the Yevethans, has been taken as a prisoner of war. The isolationist Senate does not want the New Republican naval fleet to engage itself in another intergalactic war. After all, it has only been 12 years since the Rebel Alliance defeated the Empire at the Battle of Endor. (Refer to "Return of the Jedi".)

Meanwhile, Luke is being led around the universe by a mysterious woman named Akanah, who claims to know where Luke's real mother is hiding, assuming she is alive. Luke is beginning to suspect that not everything is quite kosher with this woman.

Also meanwhile, Lando, Threepio, and Artoo are still stuck on the vagabond ship with no way of contacting anyone. The ship, which is an organic "living" ship, seems to have taken a liking to its new inhabitants and is ultra-protective. On to book three!]]> 3.41 1996 Star Wars: Shield of Lies (The Black Fleet Crisis, #2)
author: Michael P. Kube-McDowell
name: Scott
average rating: 3.41
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2012/01/05
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
"Shield of Lies", Book 2 in Michael P. Kube-McDowell's Black Fleet Crisis series is just as exciting and pulpily fun as one would hope to get from a Star Wars novel.

In this one, President of the New Republic, Leia Organa Solo, is being faced with impeachment. On top of that, her husband, Han, who led a failed mission to confront the Yevethans, has been taken as a prisoner of war. The isolationist Senate does not want the New Republican naval fleet to engage itself in another intergalactic war. After all, it has only been 12 years since the Rebel Alliance defeated the Empire at the Battle of Endor. (Refer to "Return of the Jedi".)

Meanwhile, Luke is being led around the universe by a mysterious woman named Akanah, who claims to know where Luke's real mother is hiding, assuming she is alive. Luke is beginning to suspect that not everything is quite kosher with this woman.

Also meanwhile, Lando, Threepio, and Artoo are still stuck on the vagabond ship with no way of contacting anyone. The ship, which is an organic "living" ship, seems to have taken a liking to its new inhabitants and is ultra-protective. On to book three!
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Before the Storm (The Black Fleet Crisis, #1)]]> 138350
Yesterday's Rebels have become today's administrators and diplomats, and the factions that fought against imperial tyranny seem united in savoring the fruits of peace. But the peace is short-lived.  

A restless Luke must journey to his mother's homeworld in a desperate and dangerous quest to find her people.  An adventurous Lando must seize a mysterious spacecraft that has weapons of enormous destructive power and an unknown mission.  And Leia, a living symbol of the New Republic's triumph, must face down a ruthless leader of the Duskhan League, an arrogant Yevetha who seems bent on a genocidal war that could shatter the fragile unity of the New Republic... and threaten its very survival.]]> 309 Michael P. Kube-McDowell 0553572733 Scott 4
So, anyway, I just recently watched the original Star Wars trilogy again, for the 153rd time, and it still remains awesome. Now, of course, I am back on a Star Wars book-reading kick. There are roughly several hundred-plus novels in the "Expanded Universe" of Star Wars, novels which have carried on the adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, et al beyond creator George Lucas's six films.

I have only read about a dozen of these novels. I would say that 60% of what I have read is decent, 10% is garbage, and 20% is actually excellent writing. ** (I wish I could say that a very scientifically-based rubric of my own device went into those figures, but, alas, no. I kinda just made it up based on what I liked and disliked.)

I'm reading Michael P. Kube-McDowell's three-novel Black Fleet Crisis series now, starting with Book 1: "Before the Storm", and I have to say that it falls into the 20% category of excellent writing.

It's much better than Kevin Anderson's "Jedi Academy" trilogy and on a par with Timothy Zahn's superb "Thrawn" trilogy, in my opinion. Sadly, if you haven't read those series prior to this, parts may seem confusing as McDowell does reference characters and events from them. But, unless you are a die-hard Star Wars fan-boy like myself, you won't care.

Plot synopsis: The story takes place twelve years after the events of "Return of the Jedi". Leia and Han are married with three children, twins Jacen and Jaina, and baby Anakin. Leia is President of the New Republic, and she is currently in negotiations with the stubborn Yevethans to join the Republic. Unbeknownst to her, the Yevethans may not just be stubborn but plotting something nasty against the Republic.

Meanwhile, Admiral Ackbar learns of a missing "Black Fleet" of old Imperial star destroyers, rumored to have been destroyed but never confirmed. If it still exists, and it falls into the wrong hands, the New Republic would not be able to stand up to a fleet of that magnitude. Okay, actually it would be able to---I just wanted to use Ackbar's famous phrase.

Also meanwhile, Luke is feeling somewhat antsy and depressed and leaves the Jedi Academy to go searching for his long-lost mother (here is where the expanded universe kind of falls apart, because this was written obviously before the second prequel trilogy and McDowell obviously does not know, as we all now do, that Luke's real mother, Amidala, is dead).

Also also meanwhile, Lando Calrissian, Artoo, and Threepio are on a secret mission to investigate a mysterious ship that they have dubbed the "vagabond". When they attempt to sneak on board, the ship (which they begin to suspect is actually "alive") kidnaps them and hyper-drives them to a far corner of an unexplored galaxy. All of this is very fast-paced and exciting, and I pretty much devoured it in a sitting. I'm just starting the second book and loving it as well...

* That's sarcasm, btw...

** My math sucks.]]> 3.42 1996 Star Wars: Before the Storm (The Black Fleet Crisis, #1)
author: Michael P. Kube-McDowell
name: Scott
average rating: 3.42
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2012/01/03
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
Every once in a while, I have to let my sci-fi geek get its freak on (I have no idea what the hell I just said there), which usually entails a lazy day of watching six hours straight of cheesy science fiction movies. My wife loves it when I do this.*

So, anyway, I just recently watched the original Star Wars trilogy again, for the 153rd time, and it still remains awesome. Now, of course, I am back on a Star Wars book-reading kick. There are roughly several hundred-plus novels in the "Expanded Universe" of Star Wars, novels which have carried on the adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, et al beyond creator George Lucas's six films.

I have only read about a dozen of these novels. I would say that 60% of what I have read is decent, 10% is garbage, and 20% is actually excellent writing. ** (I wish I could say that a very scientifically-based rubric of my own device went into those figures, but, alas, no. I kinda just made it up based on what I liked and disliked.)

I'm reading Michael P. Kube-McDowell's three-novel Black Fleet Crisis series now, starting with Book 1: "Before the Storm", and I have to say that it falls into the 20% category of excellent writing.

It's much better than Kevin Anderson's "Jedi Academy" trilogy and on a par with Timothy Zahn's superb "Thrawn" trilogy, in my opinion. Sadly, if you haven't read those series prior to this, parts may seem confusing as McDowell does reference characters and events from them. But, unless you are a die-hard Star Wars fan-boy like myself, you won't care.

Plot synopsis: The story takes place twelve years after the events of "Return of the Jedi". Leia and Han are married with three children, twins Jacen and Jaina, and baby Anakin. Leia is President of the New Republic, and she is currently in negotiations with the stubborn Yevethans to join the Republic. Unbeknownst to her, the Yevethans may not just be stubborn but plotting something nasty against the Republic.

Meanwhile, Admiral Ackbar learns of a missing "Black Fleet" of old Imperial star destroyers, rumored to have been destroyed but never confirmed. If it still exists, and it falls into the wrong hands, the New Republic would not be able to stand up to a fleet of that magnitude. Okay, actually it would be able to---I just wanted to use Ackbar's famous phrase.

Also meanwhile, Luke is feeling somewhat antsy and depressed and leaves the Jedi Academy to go searching for his long-lost mother (here is where the expanded universe kind of falls apart, because this was written obviously before the second prequel trilogy and McDowell obviously does not know, as we all now do, that Luke's real mother, Amidala, is dead).

Also also meanwhile, Lando Calrissian, Artoo, and Threepio are on a secret mission to investigate a mysterious ship that they have dubbed the "vagabond". When they attempt to sneak on board, the ship (which they begin to suspect is actually "alive") kidnaps them and hyper-drives them to a far corner of an unexplored galaxy. All of this is very fast-paced and exciting, and I pretty much devoured it in a sitting. I'm just starting the second book and loving it as well...

* That's sarcasm, btw...

** My math sucks.
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Champions of the Force (The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #3)]]> 513207
Suspended helplessly between life and death, Luke Skywalker lies in state at the Jedi academy. But on the spirit plane, Luke fights desperately for survival, reaching out physically to the Jedi twins. At the same time, Leia is on a life-and-death mission of her own, a race against Imperial agents hoping to destroy a third Jedi child - Leia and Han's baby Anakin - hidden on the planet Anoth.

Meanwhile, Luke's former protégé Kyp Durron has pirated the deadly Sun Crusher on an apocalyptic mission of mass destruction, convinced he is fighting for a just cause. Hunting down the rogue warrior, Han must persuade Kyp to renounce his dark crusade and regain his lost honor. To do it, Kyp must take the Sun Crusher on a suicide mission against the awesome Death Star prototype - a battle Han knows they may be unable to win… even with Luke Skywalker at their side!]]> 373 Kevin J. Anderson 055329802X Scott 3
Meanwhile, Leia and Admiral Akbar lead a contingent to stop an Imperial attack on planet Anoth, which is the secret location of Han and Leia's youngest son, Annakin. The Empire, knowledgable of Annakin's dark lineage, wants to kidnap the child and raise him in the Dark Side, like his legendary grandfather, Darth Vader.

Han and Lando go off in search of Kyp Durron, a renegade Jedi, possessed by the spirit of a long-dead Sith Lord, bent on destroying any solar system in which remnants of the Empire still have a stronghold. Unfortunately, he has the capability of doing this with his doomsday weapon called the Sun Crusher.

"COTF" nicely finishes this entertaining series and leaves a few pleasant cliffhangers for future books.]]> 3.67 1994 Star Wars: Champions of the Force (The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #3)
author: Kevin J. Anderson
name: Scott
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at: 2010/06/24
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
A very good conclusion to the Jedi Academy trilogy by Kevin Anderson, "Champions of the Force" finds Luke Skywalker down but not out. While his body is in a coma, his life-force is still strong, and he attempts to use the Force by telepathically connecting with his niece and nephew, Jacen and Jaina Solo, both of whom are strong in the Force.

Meanwhile, Leia and Admiral Akbar lead a contingent to stop an Imperial attack on planet Anoth, which is the secret location of Han and Leia's youngest son, Annakin. The Empire, knowledgable of Annakin's dark lineage, wants to kidnap the child and raise him in the Dark Side, like his legendary grandfather, Darth Vader.

Han and Lando go off in search of Kyp Durron, a renegade Jedi, possessed by the spirit of a long-dead Sith Lord, bent on destroying any solar system in which remnants of the Empire still have a stronghold. Unfortunately, he has the capability of doing this with his doomsday weapon called the Sun Crusher.

"COTF" nicely finishes this entertaining series and leaves a few pleasant cliffhangers for future books.
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Dark Apprentice (The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #2)]]> 760111
While the New Republic struggles to decide what to do with the deadly Sun Crusher—a new doomsday weapon stolen from the Empire by Han Solo—the renegade Imperial Admiral Daala uses her fleet of Star Destroyers to conduct guerrilla warfare on peaceful planets. And now she threatens the watery homeworld of Admiral Ackbar.

But as the battle for a planet rages, an even greater danger emerges at Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy. A brilliant student delves dangerously into the dark side of the Force and unleashes the spirit of an ancient master of the evil order that warped Darth Vader himself. Working together, they may become an enemy greater than any the New Republic has ever fought… more powerful than even a Jedi Master can face.]]> 368 Kevin J. Anderson 0553297996 Scott 3
Having set up his new academy on planet Yavin, Luke discovers an evil presence lurking in the shadows. After the mysterious death of one Jedi apprentice, Luke finds out that the spirit of a long-dead Sith Lord haunts the planet. He confronts the evil spirit, only to be subsumed by the Dark Side. Stuck in a coma, Luke's unanchored life-force is forced to watch as the Sith Lord possesses one of his apprentices, Kyp Durron, who steals the doomsday-weapon Sun Crusher in order to exact vengeance on the Empire.

Meanwhile, an Imperial plot to kidnap Han and Leia's youngest son, Annakin, is hatched by a ruthless Imperial General. Admiral Daala, still alive but suffering serious losses to her fleet of Imperial ships, decides to take the fight to the New Republic by planning an attack on Coruscant.

"Dark Apprentice" is a fun read but not as solid a narrative as the first book. Being the second in the series, Anderson sets up a lot of tangential plotlines that are either unnecessary or don't have closure because they are to be continued in the next book. In essence, "Dark Apprentice" is a bridge book, only integral in that it connects book one to book three. Still, Anderson does provide some interesting history to the Star Wars universe, namely the ancient Jedi battles that led to the creation of the Siths.]]> 3.64 1994 Star Wars: Dark Apprentice (The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #2)
author: Kevin J. Anderson
name: Scott
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at: 2010/06/16
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, fantasy, old-canon-legends
review:
The second book in Kevin Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy, "Dark Apprentice" continues the story of Luke's search for Jedi knight apprentices.

Having set up his new academy on planet Yavin, Luke discovers an evil presence lurking in the shadows. After the mysterious death of one Jedi apprentice, Luke finds out that the spirit of a long-dead Sith Lord haunts the planet. He confronts the evil spirit, only to be subsumed by the Dark Side. Stuck in a coma, Luke's unanchored life-force is forced to watch as the Sith Lord possesses one of his apprentices, Kyp Durron, who steals the doomsday-weapon Sun Crusher in order to exact vengeance on the Empire.

Meanwhile, an Imperial plot to kidnap Han and Leia's youngest son, Annakin, is hatched by a ruthless Imperial General. Admiral Daala, still alive but suffering serious losses to her fleet of Imperial ships, decides to take the fight to the New Republic by planning an attack on Coruscant.

"Dark Apprentice" is a fun read but not as solid a narrative as the first book. Being the second in the series, Anderson sets up a lot of tangential plotlines that are either unnecessary or don't have closure because they are to be continued in the next book. In essence, "Dark Apprentice" is a bridge book, only integral in that it connects book one to book three. Still, Anderson does provide some interesting history to the Star Wars universe, namely the ancient Jedi battles that led to the creation of the Siths.
]]> <![CDATA[Star Wars: Jedi Search (The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #1)]]> 760110
While Luke Skywalker takes the first step toward setting up an academy to train a new order of Jedi Knights, Han Solo and Chewbacca are taken prisoner on the planet Kessel and forced to work in the fathomless depths of a spice mine. But when Han and Chewie break away, they flee desperately to a secret Imperial research laboratory surrounded by a cluster of black holes - and go from one danger to a far greater one….

On Kessel, Luke picks up the trail of his two friends, only to come face-to-face with a weapon so awesome, it can wipe out an entire solar system. It is a death ship called the Sun Crusher, invented by a reclusive genius and piloted by none other than Han himself….]]> 355 Kevin J. Anderson 0553297988 Scott 3
Luke Skywalker is a Jedi Master (after having fallen to the Dark Side and being rescued by Han and Leia, apparently in another series prior to this novel) with a single-minded goal of training new Jedis. Thus, "Jedi Search".

Sci-fi author Anderson has written a pretty exciting novel in the post-"ROTJ" Star Wars universe, part one of his Jedi Academy trilogy. He pays tribute and reference to the previous novels, most notably Timothy Zahn's excellent "Thrawn" trilogy, Kathy Tyers's "Truce at Bakura", as well as some other books that I somehow missed reading (a serious oversight that I will correct the next time I make it to the book store). I thoroughly enjoyed Anderson's novel, which is as suspenseful and entertaining as one would expect from a Star Wars novel.

There are several parallel storylines going on in the novel, the main one involving the capture of Han Solo and Chewbacca by thugs from Han's smuggling days. He and Chewie manage to escape only to find themselves captured by a rogue Imperial fleet, led by the ruthless Admiral Daala, which for the past decade has been stationed near a black hole, unaware that the Empire has fallen, until Han tells them. They have been secretly developing a new super-weapon called the Sun Crusher. (Three guesses as to what it does...) Needless to say, the gang's all here and ready to kick some more Imperial ass. And if you've read this far into my review, I commend you on your geekiness.]]> 3.68 1994 Star Wars: Jedi Search (The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #1)
author: Kevin J. Anderson
name: Scott
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at: 2010/06/08
date added: 2025/07/08
shelves: star-wars, science-fiction, movie-tie-in, old-canon-legends, fantasy
review:
The events of Kevin Anderson's "Jedi Search" take place many years after the events of "Return of the Jedi". Princess Leia is married to Han Solo, and they have three children. What used to be the Rebel Alliance is now the New Republic, a fledgling democracy of many united worlds that has replaced the Empire. Remnants of the Empire still linger throughout the galaxy, however, in the form of rogue Imperial Star Destroyers and hidden Imperial outposts, so the New Republic still finds itself occasionally involved in skirmishes and interplanetary warfare.

Luke Skywalker is a Jedi Master (after having fallen to the Dark Side and being rescued by Han and Leia, apparently in another series prior to this novel) with a single-minded goal of training new Jedis. Thus, "Jedi Search".

Sci-fi author Anderson has written a pretty exciting novel in the post-"ROTJ" Star Wars universe, part one of his Jedi Academy trilogy. He pays tribute and reference to the previous novels, most notably Timothy Zahn's excellent "Thrawn" trilogy, Kathy Tyers's "Truce at Bakura", as well as some other books that I somehow missed reading (a serious oversight that I will correct the next time I make it to the book store). I thoroughly enjoyed Anderson's novel, which is as suspenseful and entertaining as one would expect from a Star Wars novel.

There are several parallel storylines going on in the novel, the main one involving the capture of Han Solo and Chewbacca by thugs from Han's smuggling days. He and Chewie manage to escape only to find themselves captured by a rogue Imperial fleet, led by the ruthless Admiral Daala, which for the past decade has been stationed near a black hole, unaware that the Empire has fallen, until Han tells them. They have been secretly developing a new super-weapon called the Sun Crusher. (Three guesses as to what it does...) Needless to say, the gang's all here and ready to kick some more Imperial ass. And if you've read this far into my review, I commend you on your geekiness.
]]> The King in Yellow 36423133 I cannot forget Carcosa where black stars hang in the heavens; where the shadows of men's thoughts lengthen in the afternoon... I pray God will curse the writer, as the writer has cursed the world with the beautiful, stupendous creation, terrible in its simplicity, irresistible in its truth - a world which now trembles before the King in Yellow.

The four uncanny and terrifying tales contained between these covers are all linked by their reference to a certain notorious play, a cursed, forbidden play that has spread like a contagion across the world, a play in which the second act reveals truths so terrible, and so beautiful, that it drives all who read it to lunatic despair: The King in Yellow.

These stories are some of the most thrilling ever written in the field of weird fiction. Since their first publication in 1895 they have become cult classics, influencing many writers from the renowned master of cosmic horror H. P. Lovecraft to the creators of HBO's True Detective.

Contains: ‘The Repairer of Reputations’, ‘The Mask’, ‘In the Court of the Dragon’, ‘The Yellow Sign’]]> 160 Robert W. Chambers 178227376X Scott 5
Chambers experienced an uptick in popularity in the last few years due to the first season of the HBO TV show “True Detective”, in which the titular story, “The King in Yellow” played an important role in the plot. There was, thanks to the show, a resurgence in sales for the almost 130-year-old book.

In 2017, Pushkin Press published a beautiful edition of Chambers’s classic book. Be aware, though, that this edition only includes the first four stories of the original ten-story collection.

This was a conscious choice, due to the fact that the remaining six stories of the collection had very little, thematically, with the first four. It is the first four stories that act as an interconnected whole, almost like a short novella in four parts.

The first story, “The Repairer of Reputations”, sets the scene: a futuristic New York City of 1920 (keep in mind the book’s publication date of 1895), where the United States is recovering from a major war against Germany. And, yes, it is hair-raisingly creepy how prescient Chambers was about this.

The U.S. of this extrapolated 1920 is experiencing a period of immense post-war wealth and prosperity. Cities have exploded in size and population due to great technological advances. (Again, it’s damn frightening how accurate Chambers was with his predictions.) There is one disturbingly horrifying caveat to this seemingly utopian world: suicides have inexplicably risen to the point that the U.S. government has not only legalized euthanasia but has set up, around the country, buildings called Lethal Chambers where people can go to painlessly shuffle off their mortal coils.

If, like me, you are suddenly thinking, What the f…?, that’s merely the beginning of the unending weirdness.

Within each story, reference is made to a recent play entitled “The King in Yellow”, which has been banned from bookstores and libraries owing to its inexplicable capacity to drive readers literally insane and/or suicidal. Very little is revealed about the play’s contents, although what is revealed is that the so-called King in Yellow is a demonic presence that rules over a dead kingdom called Carcosa. It is the second act of the play that drives people crazy. Suffice it to say, very few people know what happens in Act Two.

I can’t in good conscious say much more about each story for fear of letting spoilers slip except that each one gets progressively more surreal and horrifying, and the banned play is always lurking about in the background as either a direct or indirect cause of the story’s events.

There is a dream-like quality to these stories which adds to both their beauty and horror. It is quite clear to see its influence on “New Weird” writers such as Paul Tremblay, Laird Barron, and Jeff VanderMeer.

It should also come as no surprise that H.P. Lovecraft once called “The King in Yellow” “one of the greatest weird tales ever written”.]]> 3.79 1895 The King in Yellow
author: Robert W. Chambers
name: Scott
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1895
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/29
date added: 2025/07/07
shelves: horror, lovecraftian-cosmic-weirdness
review:
While perhaps not as popular as Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce—-two of his literary contemporaries—-Robert W. Chambers is among the more influential 19th-century writers that helped to shape modern horror fiction. His book of short stories, “The King in Yellow”, published in 1895, is still considered to be one of the best exemplars of “weird” fiction, the progenitor of modern horror and the template for the “New Weird” genre.

Chambers experienced an uptick in popularity in the last few years due to the first season of the HBO TV show “True Detective”, in which the titular story, “The King in Yellow” played an important role in the plot. There was, thanks to the show, a resurgence in sales for the almost 130-year-old book.

In 2017, Pushkin Press published a beautiful edition of Chambers’s classic book. Be aware, though, that this edition only includes the first four stories of the original ten-story collection.

This was a conscious choice, due to the fact that the remaining six stories of the collection had very little, thematically, with the first four. It is the first four stories that act as an interconnected whole, almost like a short novella in four parts.

The first story, “The Repairer of Reputations”, sets the scene: a futuristic New York City of 1920 (keep in mind the book’s publication date of 1895), where the United States is recovering from a major war against Germany. And, yes, it is hair-raisingly creepy how prescient Chambers was about this.

The U.S. of this extrapolated 1920 is experiencing a period of immense post-war wealth and prosperity. Cities have exploded in size and population due to great technological advances. (Again, it’s damn frightening how accurate Chambers was with his predictions.) There is one disturbingly horrifying caveat to this seemingly utopian world: suicides have inexplicably risen to the point that the U.S. government has not only legalized euthanasia but has set up, around the country, buildings called Lethal Chambers where people can go to painlessly shuffle off their mortal coils.

If, like me, you are suddenly thinking, What the f…?, that’s merely the beginning of the unending weirdness.

Within each story, reference is made to a recent play entitled “The King in Yellow”, which has been banned from bookstores and libraries owing to its inexplicable capacity to drive readers literally insane and/or suicidal. Very little is revealed about the play’s contents, although what is revealed is that the so-called King in Yellow is a demonic presence that rules over a dead kingdom called Carcosa. It is the second act of the play that drives people crazy. Suffice it to say, very few people know what happens in Act Two.

I can’t in good conscious say much more about each story for fear of letting spoilers slip except that each one gets progressively more surreal and horrifying, and the banned play is always lurking about in the background as either a direct or indirect cause of the story’s events.

There is a dream-like quality to these stories which adds to both their beauty and horror. It is quite clear to see its influence on “New Weird” writers such as Paul Tremblay, Laird Barron, and Jeff VanderMeer.

It should also come as no surprise that H.P. Lovecraft once called “The King in Yellow” “one of the greatest weird tales ever written”.
]]> <![CDATA[Filthy Rich: The True Story Behind the Jeffrey Epstein Sex Scandal]]> 28501552
Jeffrey Epstein rose from humble origins to the rarefied heights of New York City's financial elite. A college dropout with an instinct for numbers--and for people--Epstein amassed his wealth through a combination of access and skill. But even after he had it all, Epstein wanted more. And that unceasing desire--especially a taste for young girls--resulted in his stunning fall from grace. From Epstein himself, to the girls he employed as masseuses at his home, to the cops investigating the appalling charges against him, FILTHY RICH examines all sides of a case that scandalized one of America's richest communities. An explosive true story, FILTHY RICH is a riveting account of wealth, power and the influence they bring to bear on the American justice system.]]> 400 James Patterson 178089547X Scott 4
This can be taken several ways, of course. In common parlance and slang, “suck” is often used to describe something that is offensive or awful. In another way, “suck” can be used to describe the act of drawing people in, either inadvertently or intentionally, to something by sheer force of gravity or will.

I personally agree, for the most part, with the former, but my use of the word in this review is more in line with the latter definition.

Take Jeffrey Epstein. He was a rich guy in Palm Beach who did stuff with money (many rich people do stuff with money: it’s why they’re rich), usually other people’s money, and, in turn, made a whole shit-ton more money.

Now, this, in itself, does not make him suck. And, in truth, the act of making a shit-ton of money is not necessarily why rich people suck. It usually has more to do with how they use their money.

See, Epstein used his money frivolously, although he would have disagreed vehemently. Epstein loved massages; often getting two or three full-body massages on a daily basis. Now, using one’s money frivolously to buy massages doesn’t necessarily make one suck. It makes one frivolous.

The reason Epstein sucked is because he used underage girls---some as young as 14---to do the massages. The rub? He would occasionally be naked, he would occasionally force the girls to be naked, he would occasionally molest them, and, in some cases, he would forcibly have sex with them. Then, he would pay them anywhere from $200 and up to ensure that they would shut up about it.

For a lot of these girls, $200 was a lot of money, especially for only an hour’s work. For many, Epstein’s other sexual predilections were simply an annoyance they felt that they had to put up with. Only a few of these girls figured out the truth of what was going on: they were being raped and then paid off by the rapist to remain quiet.

In all, Epstein sucked in nearly forty different girls into his web of perversion. In 2005, the police in Palm Beach started an investigation. What happened after the police had enough to take him to court, though, was another form of rape, of justice.

“Filthy Rich” is a nonfiction account of Epstein’s horrific sexual crimes and the subsequent crime committed by the justice system and Epstein’s billionaire friends who, for decades, let him get away with his crimes. Written by James Patterson, John Connolly, and Tim Malloy, the book describes how---with enough money, power, and leverage---one can almost get away with just about anything in this country.

I say “almost” because Epstein initially served time. Never mind that it was a slap on the wrist and a slap in the face to his victims. In 2008, as part of a plea deal, he served only 13 months (in which he was allowed occasional “leave” to go home during the day, as long as he was back in his prison cell at night) and was given impunity for any future accusations of sexual offense.

If you think that is sickening, think about this: he was convicted of hiring a prostitute, which means that the justice system clearly deemed a 14-year-old girl who was forced to have sex with a forty-something man a prostitute, simply because she accepted the $200 he paid her. And if you have the audacity to respond to that with “Well, technically, that is the definition of a prostitute” then you suck.

In July 2019, Epstein was federally convicted of sexual trafficking. Thankfully, he only served a month of that conviction before he either committed suicide or was murdered in his jail cell. It doesn’t really matter because it was a win for justice either way.

Epstein sucked in these girls, whose lives would never be the same, but he also managed to suck in an array of enablers, apologists, and accessories who turned a blind eye, ignored, or simply let him do the horrible things he did. People like Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and Alan Dershowitz. Fellow rich assholes who also suck.

I’ll be honest: I’m not a fan of Patterson, so I almost didn’t read this book. I’m glad I did, though. Much of Patterson’s trademark shitty fourth-grade-level writing is at a minimum in this, as nearly 75% of the book is actual transcripts from police interviews or courtroom proceedings, letters, or other primary sources.]]> 3.32 2016 Filthy Rich: The True Story Behind the Jeffrey Epstein Sex Scandal
author: James Patterson
name: Scott
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2019/12/11
date added: 2025/07/07
shelves: nonfiction, crime, true-crime, rich-people-suck, rape-culture, pedophilia
review:
Rich people suck.

This can be taken several ways, of course. In common parlance and slang, “suck” is often used to describe something that is offensive or awful. In another way, “suck” can be used to describe the act of drawing people in, either inadvertently or intentionally, to something by sheer force of gravity or will.

I personally agree, for the most part, with the former, but my use of the word in this review is more in line with the latter definition.

Take Jeffrey Epstein. He was a rich guy in Palm Beach who did stuff with money (many rich people do stuff with money: it’s why they’re rich), usually other people’s money, and, in turn, made a whole shit-ton more money.

Now, this, in itself, does not make him suck. And, in truth, the act of making a shit-ton of money is not necessarily why rich people suck. It usually has more to do with how they use their money.

See, Epstein used his money frivolously, although he would have disagreed vehemently. Epstein loved massages; often getting two or three full-body massages on a daily basis. Now, using one’s money frivolously to buy massages doesn’t necessarily make one suck. It makes one frivolous.

The reason Epstein sucked is because he used underage girls---some as young as 14---to do the massages. The rub? He would occasionally be naked, he would occasionally force the girls to be naked, he would occasionally molest them, and, in some cases, he would forcibly have sex with them. Then, he would pay them anywhere from $200 and up to ensure that they would shut up about it.

For a lot of these girls, $200 was a lot of money, especially for only an hour’s work. For many, Epstein’s other sexual predilections were simply an annoyance they felt that they had to put up with. Only a few of these girls figured out the truth of what was going on: they were being raped and then paid off by the rapist to remain quiet.

In all, Epstein sucked in nearly forty different girls into his web of perversion. In 2005, the police in Palm Beach started an investigation. What happened after the police had enough to take him to court, though, was another form of rape, of justice.

“Filthy Rich” is a nonfiction account of Epstein’s horrific sexual crimes and the subsequent crime committed by the justice system and Epstein’s billionaire friends who, for decades, let him get away with his crimes. Written by James Patterson, John Connolly, and Tim Malloy, the book describes how---with enough money, power, and leverage---one can almost get away with just about anything in this country.

I say “almost” because Epstein initially served time. Never mind that it was a slap on the wrist and a slap in the face to his victims. In 2008, as part of a plea deal, he served only 13 months (in which he was allowed occasional “leave” to go home during the day, as long as he was back in his prison cell at night) and was given impunity for any future accusations of sexual offense.

If you think that is sickening, think about this: he was convicted of hiring a prostitute, which means that the justice system clearly deemed a 14-year-old girl who was forced to have sex with a forty-something man a prostitute, simply because she accepted the $200 he paid her. And if you have the audacity to respond to that with “Well, technically, that is the definition of a prostitute” then you suck.

In July 2019, Epstein was federally convicted of sexual trafficking. Thankfully, he only served a month of that conviction before he either committed suicide or was murdered in his jail cell. It doesn’t really matter because it was a win for justice either way.

Epstein sucked in these girls, whose lives would never be the same, but he also managed to suck in an array of enablers, apologists, and accessories who turned a blind eye, ignored, or simply let him do the horrible things he did. People like Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and Alan Dershowitz. Fellow rich assholes who also suck.

I’ll be honest: I’m not a fan of Patterson, so I almost didn’t read this book. I’m glad I did, though. Much of Patterson’s trademark shitty fourth-grade-level writing is at a minimum in this, as nearly 75% of the book is actual transcripts from police interviews or courtroom proceedings, letters, or other primary sources.
]]> <![CDATA[The Billionaire's Baby & The Wrong Fiancé]]> 41861622
Determined to be her own woman, former reckless party girl Marisa Martinez starts a chocolate business and rents a small house in Passion Grove. But when one hot night with billionaire businessman Naim Ansah leads to an unexpected pregnancy, the sexy, complex man refuses to let her do everything by herself. Losing some independence has Marisa pondering the future of their relationship, and if love can truly overcome every obstacle.

THE WRONG FIANCƒ

Millionaire playboy Bennett Randal knows about the girl code—no woman will date a friend’s ex. But his former fiancée’s friend Devyn Clark is the feisty Southern beauty he’s always wanted. Suddenly, the sexy art dealer is in big trouble and needs Bennett’s help to keep her job and reputation. And when their sizzling attraction can’t be contained, someone has to change the rules…]]> 448 Niobia Bryant 1335005889 Scott 2
All that said, I really tried to get into Niobia Bryant’s “The Billionaire’s Baby”, but several things prevented me from doing so: mainly, Bryant’s not a great writer. She’s not horrible, and, technically, she is able to string a readable sentence together, but, unfortunately, those sentences---especially when combined into paragraphs, then chapters, and ultimately as a whole book---were just not very interesting.

Another problem I had with the book was the story’s conflict: there was none. Or if there was one, it was something that no normal person from a lower to upper-middle-income bracket would ever understand. I call them “rich people’s problems”. They are, technically, not “problems”. They are either inconveniences or temporary setbacks for people who have every single one of their basic needs met and want for nothing. They are complaints made by people who really have absolutely nothing to complain about.

The people in Bryant’s novel are not really even people. They are a species unto themselves, one that I could not relate to in any way, shape, or form. I couldn’t exactly like or dislike any of them because I could not recognize any of them as any normal human being that I have ever known. I do not run in any circles with people this rich, and I doubt any of these rich people would stoop so low as to even say “fuck you” to someone like me.

Here’s the gist: Marisa is a spoiled rich brat who is trying to straighten her life out after a lifetime of partying, drinking, whoring, and blowing through her trust fund. She’s had a ‘come to jesus’ moment when it comes to money. She wants to “earn” her way through life, not be given every little thing. So, she’s started a business doing the one thing she loves to do and happens to be good at: making chocolate. She’s done this all by herself, of course (with a couple million dollars in loans as a start-up cost from her cousin). But, yeah, all by herself.

She has a one-night stand with her (and this is where it gets confusing: second cousin? third cousin? brother-in-law-twice-removed-by marriage? I don’t even know) whatever, Naim (pronounced “Nah-eem”). He’s a billionaire co-CEO of some company that does something with “tech”.

Anyway, fast-forward several months. Marisa is pregnant. Naim finds out and wants to help, if not by marriage than at least by being a co-parent. Marisa, of course, is thrilled, as long as Naim doesn’t utilize any of his vast billions to provide for her or the baby because, you know, she wants to do it the right way: in abject poverty. Or some stupid bullshit reason like that.

She seems more upset that Naim wants to pay her medical bills in toto, with cash, than the fact that the guy is a playah who seemingly dips his (10-inch) wick into every female crevice that he comes across. It’s cool, as long as he doesn’t do billionaire stuff.

Eventually, of course, they come to realize that they love each other, and happily ever after. That’s it for the story. Seriously. I’ve seen Tyler Perry romantic comedies with more believable narrative arcs.

The only decent thing in the novel is the initial sex scene, which is pretty steamy and a heavy R-rating. Then, the rest of the novel is played at a tepid PG. Lame.

There’s also some very weird and unbelievable classist aspects of the story that I didn’t buy, like the super-rich aunt who has secretly been having an affair with her chauffeur but needs to keep it on the down-low because it would ruin her and cause serious problems for the chauffeur. Is this shit really a problem in the 21st-century? Maybe on “Downton Abbey”, or in “Driving Miss Daisy”, but not in modern-day Manhattan.

Anyway, “The Billionaire’s Baby” wasn’t very good.]]> 4.26 2019 The Billionaire's Baby & The Wrong Fiancé
author: Niobia Bryant
name: Scott
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2020/04/18
date added: 2025/07/07
shelves: contemporary-romance, romance, rich-people-suck
review:
I will preface this review by saying that I am not, never have been, nor will I probably ever be a billionaire. Add to that: I do not, can not, and probably will never experience, let alone understand, the problems involved with having too much disposable income. Might as well throw in: I don’t have a lot of sympathy, empathy, or even an occasional sense of what many people would call Christian goodwill toward billionaires. Fuck ‘em. As if they need my sympathy anyway.

All that said, I really tried to get into Niobia Bryant’s “The Billionaire’s Baby”, but several things prevented me from doing so: mainly, Bryant’s not a great writer. She’s not horrible, and, technically, she is able to string a readable sentence together, but, unfortunately, those sentences---especially when combined into paragraphs, then chapters, and ultimately as a whole book---were just not very interesting.

Another problem I had with the book was the story’s conflict: there was none. Or if there was one, it was something that no normal person from a lower to upper-middle-income bracket would ever understand. I call them “rich people’s problems”. They are, technically, not “problems”. They are either inconveniences or temporary setbacks for people who have every single one of their basic needs met and want for nothing. They are complaints made by people who really have absolutely nothing to complain about.

The people in Bryant’s novel are not really even people. They are a species unto themselves, one that I could not relate to in any way, shape, or form. I couldn’t exactly like or dislike any of them because I could not recognize any of them as any normal human being that I have ever known. I do not run in any circles with people this rich, and I doubt any of these rich people would stoop so low as to even say “fuck you” to someone like me.

Here’s the gist: Marisa is a spoiled rich brat who is trying to straighten her life out after a lifetime of partying, drinking, whoring, and blowing through her trust fund. She’s had a ‘come to jesus’ moment when it comes to money. She wants to “earn” her way through life, not be given every little thing. So, she’s started a business doing the one thing she loves to do and happens to be good at: making chocolate. She’s done this all by herself, of course (with a couple million dollars in loans as a start-up cost from her cousin). But, yeah, all by herself.

She has a one-night stand with her (and this is where it gets confusing: second cousin? third cousin? brother-in-law-twice-removed-by marriage? I don’t even know) whatever, Naim (pronounced “Nah-eem”). He’s a billionaire co-CEO of some company that does something with “tech”.

Anyway, fast-forward several months. Marisa is pregnant. Naim finds out and wants to help, if not by marriage than at least by being a co-parent. Marisa, of course, is thrilled, as long as Naim doesn’t utilize any of his vast billions to provide for her or the baby because, you know, she wants to do it the right way: in abject poverty. Or some stupid bullshit reason like that.

She seems more upset that Naim wants to pay her medical bills in toto, with cash, than the fact that the guy is a playah who seemingly dips his (10-inch) wick into every female crevice that he comes across. It’s cool, as long as he doesn’t do billionaire stuff.

Eventually, of course, they come to realize that they love each other, and happily ever after. That’s it for the story. Seriously. I’ve seen Tyler Perry romantic comedies with more believable narrative arcs.

The only decent thing in the novel is the initial sex scene, which is pretty steamy and a heavy R-rating. Then, the rest of the novel is played at a tepid PG. Lame.

There’s also some very weird and unbelievable classist aspects of the story that I didn’t buy, like the super-rich aunt who has secretly been having an affair with her chauffeur but needs to keep it on the down-low because it would ruin her and cause serious problems for the chauffeur. Is this shit really a problem in the 21st-century? Maybe on “Downton Abbey”, or in “Driving Miss Daisy”, but not in modern-day Manhattan.

Anyway, “The Billionaire’s Baby” wasn’t very good.
]]> <![CDATA[The Alpha Deception (Blaine McCracken, #2)]]> 1005520 357 Jon Land 0449131181 Scott 3
Silly name aside, McCracken is a hero in the same vein as Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt, with a little bit of James Bond and Indiana Jones thrown in, as well. Apparently the market for men's action-adventure was not nearly saturated enough back then, because Land went on to write eleven books in the McCracken series.

"The Alpha Deception" is actually the second book in the series, but it's the first I've read. Don't worry, though, because you probably don't need to read the first book to understand what's going on. While I enjoyed the book, I couldn't help but feel that Land took a "kitchen sink" approach to writing it. Basically, he threw a lot of stuff into it, some of which works, some of which didn't.

Without giving too much of the plot away, the book involves a particle beam weapon that can destroy entire cities from orbit, a rogue group of Soviet hardliners bent on destruction of the U.S.A., a precious and rare gem that may or may not have come from the lost continent of Atlantis, Hasidic Jew assassins, a sea monster, and a Native American named Johnny Wareagle who can talk to animal spirits (of course) and has the magical ability of sneaking into any office anywhere in the Pentagon.

Having just written that, I'm surprised that this is not a Thomas Pynchon novel.

This book is silly and ridiculous, but it's also harmless good fun. If you enjoy Clive Cussler, you'll probably like this series by Land.]]> 3.95 1987 The Alpha Deception (Blaine McCracken, #2)
author: Jon Land
name: Scott
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1987
rating: 3
read at: 2015/06/30
date added: 2025/07/07
shelves: action-adventure, espionage, maritime, science-fiction, warfare
review:
Jon Land, a prolific author who has written numerous books in numerous series, began a series in the 1980s featuring an ex-military war hero named Blaine McCracken.

Silly name aside, McCracken is a hero in the same vein as Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt, with a little bit of James Bond and Indiana Jones thrown in, as well. Apparently the market for men's action-adventure was not nearly saturated enough back then, because Land went on to write eleven books in the McCracken series.

"The Alpha Deception" is actually the second book in the series, but it's the first I've read. Don't worry, though, because you probably don't need to read the first book to understand what's going on. While I enjoyed the book, I couldn't help but feel that Land took a "kitchen sink" approach to writing it. Basically, he threw a lot of stuff into it, some of which works, some of which didn't.

Without giving too much of the plot away, the book involves a particle beam weapon that can destroy entire cities from orbit, a rogue group of Soviet hardliners bent on destruction of the U.S.A., a precious and rare gem that may or may not have come from the lost continent of Atlantis, Hasidic Jew assassins, a sea monster, and a Native American named Johnny Wareagle who can talk to animal spirits (of course) and has the magical ability of sneaking into any office anywhere in the Pentagon.

Having just written that, I'm surprised that this is not a Thomas Pynchon novel.

This book is silly and ridiculous, but it's also harmless good fun. If you enjoy Clive Cussler, you'll probably like this series by Land.
]]> Economics in One Lesson 3028 Economics in One Lesson is a classic economic primer. But it is also much more, having become a fundamental influence on modern “libertarian” economics of the type espoused by Ron Paul and others.

Considered among the leading economic thinkers of the “Austrian School,” which includes Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich (F.A.) Hayek, and others, Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993), was a libertarian philosopher, an economist, and a journalist. He was the founding vice-president of the Foundation for Economic Education and an early editor of The Freeman magazine, an influential libertarian publication.  Hazlitt wrote Economics in One Lesson, his seminal work, in 1946. Concise and instructive, it is also deceptively prescient and far-reaching in its efforts to dissemble economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a new orthodoxy.

Many current economic commentators across the political spectrum have credited Hazlitt with foreseeing the collapse of the global economy which occurred more than 50 years after the initial publication of Economics in One Lesson. Hazlitt’s focus on non-governmental solutions, strong — and strongly reasoned — anti-deficit position, and general emphasis on free markets, economic liberty of individuals, and the dangers of government intervention make Economics in One Lesson, every bit as relevant and valuable today as it has been since publication.]]> 218 Henry Hazlitt Scott 0 to-read 4.16 1946 Economics in One Lesson
author: Henry Hazlitt
name: Scott
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1946
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource]]> 217869789 An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller

From the New York Times bestselling author and MSNBC and podcast host, a powerful wide-angle reckoning with how the assault from attention capitalism on our minds and our hearts has reordered our politics and the very fabric of our society

“An ambitious analysis of how the trivial amusements offered by online life have degraded not only our selves but also our politics.” —New York Times

“Brilliant book… Reading it has made me change the way I work and think.”—Rachel Maddow

We all feel it—the distraction, the loss of focus, the addictive focus on the wrong things for too long. We bump into the zombies on their phones in the street, and sometimes they’re us. We stare in pity at the four people at the table in the restaurant, all on their phones, and then we feel the buzz in our pocket. Something has changed for most of human history, the boundary between public and private has been clear, at least in theory. Now, as Chris Hayes writes, “With the help of a few tech firms, we basically tore it down in about a decade.” Hayes argues that we are in the midst of an epoch-defining transition whose only parallel is what happened to labor in the nineteenth attention has become a commodified resource extracted from us, and from which we are increasingly alienated. The Sirens’ Call is the big-picture vision we urgently need to offer clarity and guidance.

Because there is a breaking point. Sirens are designed to compel us, and now they are going off in our bedrooms and kitchens at all hours of the day and night, doing the bidding of vast empires, the most valuable companies in history, built on harvesting human attention. As Hayes writes, “Now our deepest neurological structures, human evolutionary inheritances, and social impulses are in a habitat designed to prey upon, to cultivate, distort, or destroy that which most fundamentally makes us human.” The Sirens’ Call is the book that snaps everything into a single holistic framework so that we can wrest back control of our lives, our politics, and our future.]]> 336 Christopher L. Hayes 0593653114 Scott 0 to-read 3.99 2025 The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource
author: Christopher L. Hayes
name: Scott
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress―and How to Bring It Back]]> 214175076 A provocative exploration about the architecture of power, the forces that stifle us from getting things done, and how we can restore confidence in democratically elected government—“the best book to date on the biggest political issue that nobody is talking about” (Matthew Yglesias)

America was once a country that did big things—we built the world’s greatest rail network, a vast electrical grid, interstate highways, abundant housing, the Social Security system, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and more. But today, even while facing a host of pressing challenges—a housing shortage, a climate crisis, a dilapidated infrastructure—we feel stuck, unable to move the needle. Why?

America is today the victim of a vetocracy that allows nearly anyone to stifle progress. While conservatives deserve some blame, progressives have overlooked an unlikely culprit: their own fears of “The Establishment.” A half-century ago, progressivism’s designs on getting stuff done were eclipsed by a desire to box in government. Reformers put speaking truth to power ahead of exercising that power for good. The ensuing gridlock has pummeled faith in public institutions of all sorts, stifled the movement’s ability to deliver on its promises, and, most perversely, opened the door for MAGA-style populism.

A century ago, Americans were similarly frustrated—and progressivism pointed the way out. The same can happen again. Marc J. Dunkelman vividly illustrates what progressives must do if they are going to break through today’s paralysis and restore, once again, confidence in democratically elected government. To get there, reformers will need to acknowledge where they’ve gone wrong. Progressivism’s success moving forward hinges on the movement’s willingness to rediscover its roots.]]> 416 Marc J. Dunkelman 154170021X Scott 0 to-read 3.87 Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress―and How to Bring It Back
author: Marc J. Dunkelman
name: Scott
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mark Of The Assassin (Michael Osbourne, #1)]]> 93800
When a commercial airliner is blown out of the sky off the east coast, the CIA scrambles to find the perpetrators. A body is discovered near the crash site with three bullets to the face: the calling card of a shadowy international assassin. Only agent Michael Osbourne has seen the markings before—on a woman he once loved.

Now, it’s personal for Osbourne. Consumed by his dark obsession with the assassin, he’s willing to risk his family, his career, and his life—to settle a score…

A PEOPLE PAGE-TURNER OF THE WEEK]]> 504 Daniel Silva 0451209311 Scott 5 espionage
We are definitely living in weird times.

****A Testimonial****
I remember once reading a book in which terrorists fly a passenger jet into the U.S. Capitol, instantly wiping out the President, the entire Congress, and the Supreme Court all in one fell swoop. I remember thinking how outrageous and silly that was at the time. The book was “Debt of Honor” by one of my all-time favorite authors at the time, Tom Clancy. It was published in 1994.

I remember once, perhaps as a young child and maybe even as late as high school, believing that, as imperfect and flawed as it sometimes was, our federal government was actually a pretty trustworthy institution. Our government (so I believed) actually had our best interests at heart, and it was looking out for us.

Then, somewhere around September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four passenger jets and launched them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and (thanks to many brave souls who took back the cockpit) an empty field in Pennsylvania, things started to change. Not for the better, obviously.

I can’t pinpoint my mistrust of the government and my dislike for most elected officials to that day. Clearly, those feelings had been building and growing gradually as I grew older and more knowledgable of the world. I can’t say that 9/11 was the reason that made me rethink the common decency of humanity and the belief that mankind is basically good. Again, those feelings had been creeping into my soul for some time before then.

I can say that, for myself, 9/11 represented a demarcation between innocence and innocence lost. Maybe it was for the country, too, but I’m pretty sure that the country wasn’t that innocent long before those planes hit.

****

My mention of Tom Clancy was not accidental or simply random. I was in middle school, I think, probably eighth grade, when I first read “The Hunt for Red October”, a book that I loved beyond words. I began to voraciously read every Clancy book after that: “Red Storm Rising”, “Patriot Games”, “Clear and Present Danger”, “The Sum of All Fears”.

I’m not sure why I loved them at the time, other than the fact that they were exciting, fast-paced thrillers. At the time, I think I loved the fact that the hero, Jack Ryan, was a patriot. He loved his country and his family in equal measure. Arguably, his country was his family. By that I mean that he believed in his country. He trusted it. He trusted his government. He trusted his president. He trusted the soldiers and law enforcement officers who enforced the laws of the land. He trusted that no one person or persons or corporation should have so much power, and he trusted that his government would ensure that no person, persons, or corporation would ever achieve such power.

I think I loved Clancy because he wrote fantasy stories. About a world that may have, at one point, actually existed in reality but more than likely simply existed in his imagination. I didn’t think they were fantasy stories at the time, obviously, which is why I think I loved them.

I haven’t read Clancy in years, probably decades. My love affair ended after reading a book called “Rainbow Six”. It was the last book I ever read by him. I’m not sure when I read it, although given the fact that it was published in 1998, I would have been in my late-20s.

I can’t even remember why I disliked it, although it may have had something to do with the ridiculousness of the plot, which, as far as I recall (and keep in mind, this is all from memory, so my recall may not adequately represent the truth), it was about a group of eco-terrorists who wanted to unleash a biological weapon during a highly public setting. I think it was the Olympics.

I remember having a vehemently angry reaction to the book, probably completely out of proportion to what it deserved, but I do remember thinking that Clancy didn’t seem to understand the point of eco-terrorism. He didn’t seem to understand environmentalism at all, really, and that’s when it kind of struck me: my political worldview had changed drastically from the time I had read “The Hunt for Red October” to the time I had read “Rainbow Six”. I remember thinking: it’s kind of weird how our political views shape us to the point that we can have such visceral negative reactions to something as silly as an action-adventure military thriller.

I believe it might have been at that point that I realized I was one of those bleeding heart liberals.

****

I’m probably remembering that book wrongly. Or at least giving it an unfair negative read based on faulty memory. Maybe someday I’ll go back and re-read it. I have nothing against the late great Clancy due to that one book. I just simply stopped reading him.

In truth, Clancy still remains an important part of my literary history, helping me to shape my political worldviews as a teenager, in much the same way that Philip Roth helped to shape my views in college and beyond. Both authors remain a part of very specific times in my evolution.

Throughout the years, various authors have become an important part of my “self”. I learn from them like professors. I engage in conversations with them. I fall in love with them and I get vehemently angry with them. I take parts of their wisdom and incorporate them into my soul. Sometimes I reject them for newer views or beliefs that I believe are stronger and more profound.

Sometimes, when I discover a new author that I absolutely love, it’s better than sex.

****

Okay, that was an admittedly awkward statement, but I’m sure many readers will understand what I’m trying to say.

I’ve recently discovered one of those amazing new authors. His name is Daniel Silva, and I’m absolutely in love.

Besides being a great writer (the guy can write a paragraph the way some gourmet chefs prepare a meal), Silva also tells a great story. That’s one of those combos---great writing and great storytelling---that’s actually pretty hard to come by in literature.

Another thing about Silva is that I share similar political views with him. At least, for now, in my life.

In “Mark of the Assassin”, Silva’s hero is a Clancy-esque CIA spook. Michael Osborne hates when his wife refers to him as a “spy”. That evokes too many connotations and ridiculous images from movies and TV shows. He refers to himself as a “case officer”. He spends most of his time at a desk, behind a computer screen, analyzing data and files.

Osborne has been working a file for years, ever since his first girlfriend was murdered in Europe by an assassin with a signature kill: he shoots his victims three times in the face.

Recently, the body of a Palestinian terrorist was found with three bullet wounds to the face. Unfortunately, the terrorist was holding a rocket launcher that had just brought down a U.S. passenger jet.

Unbeknownst to Osborne, the President of the United States, James Beckwith, in an attempt to win re-election, gets into bed with a weapons manufacturer and a creepy Fundamentalist Christian, Mitchell Elliott, to coordinate the terrorist attack in order to build up public support for military action and to help Elliott’s company’s bottom line.

Elliott, it turns out, is part of a global criminal conspiracy simply called The Society. It is comprised of super-wealthy billionaires, many of whom are CEOs of well-known corporations, whose sole purpose is to incite international incidents or wars so that their companies will make a profit.
The Society utilizes the very same assassin that Osborne has secretly been hunting for years, a mysterious man named Delaroche. Now that Osborne is getting close to the truth of Beckwith’s secret, Delaroche is hired to kill Osborne.

“The Mark of the Assassin”, despite being published in 1998 (strangely enough, the same date “Rainbow Six” was published), resonates with current events so frighteningly and believably, one would almost think it was written a few months ago. Parallels to the weird world we live in aside, the novel is just a great espionage suspense thriller, one that will bring to mind the best of authors like Robert Ludlum, John le Carre, and, yes, even Clancy.]]> 4.00 1998 The Mark Of The Assassin (Michael Osbourne, #1)
author: Daniel Silva
name: Scott
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2018/02/03
date added: 2025/07/06
shelves: espionage
review:
There was a time, believe it or not, when it was actually shocking to hear stories of corruption and wrongdoing perpetrated by elected officials. Likewise, there was a time when conspiracies involving government officials, multinational corporations, and foreign parties colluding to commit crimes was looked at as simply theories, and unbelievable ones at that.

We are definitely living in weird times.

****A Testimonial****
I remember once reading a book in which terrorists fly a passenger jet into the U.S. Capitol, instantly wiping out the President, the entire Congress, and the Supreme Court all in one fell swoop. I remember thinking how outrageous and silly that was at the time. The book was “Debt of Honor” by one of my all-time favorite authors at the time, Tom Clancy. It was published in 1994.

I remember once, perhaps as a young child and maybe even as late as high school, believing that, as imperfect and flawed as it sometimes was, our federal government was actually a pretty trustworthy institution. Our government (so I believed) actually had our best interests at heart, and it was looking out for us.

Then, somewhere around September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four passenger jets and launched them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and (thanks to many brave souls who took back the cockpit) an empty field in Pennsylvania, things started to change. Not for the better, obviously.

I can’t pinpoint my mistrust of the government and my dislike for most elected officials to that day. Clearly, those feelings had been building and growing gradually as I grew older and more knowledgable of the world. I can’t say that 9/11 was the reason that made me rethink the common decency of humanity and the belief that mankind is basically good. Again, those feelings had been creeping into my soul for some time before then.

I can say that, for myself, 9/11 represented a demarcation between innocence and innocence lost. Maybe it was for the country, too, but I’m pretty sure that the country wasn’t that innocent long before those planes hit.

****

My mention of Tom Clancy was not accidental or simply random. I was in middle school, I think, probably eighth grade, when I first read “The Hunt for Red October”, a book that I loved beyond words. I began to voraciously read every Clancy book after that: “Red Storm Rising”, “Patriot Games”, “Clear and Present Danger”, “The Sum of All Fears”.

I’m not sure why I loved them at the time, other than the fact that they were exciting, fast-paced thrillers. At the time, I think I loved the fact that the hero, Jack Ryan, was a patriot. He loved his country and his family in equal measure. Arguably, his country was his family. By that I mean that he believed in his country. He trusted it. He trusted his government. He trusted his president. He trusted the soldiers and law enforcement officers who enforced the laws of the land. He trusted that no one person or persons or corporation should have so much power, and he trusted that his government would ensure that no person, persons, or corporation would ever achieve such power.

I think I loved Clancy because he wrote fantasy stories. About a world that may have, at one point, actually existed in reality but more than likely simply existed in his imagination. I didn’t think they were fantasy stories at the time, obviously, which is why I think I loved them.

I haven’t read Clancy in years, probably decades. My love affair ended after reading a book called “Rainbow Six”. It was the last book I ever read by him. I’m not sure when I read it, although given the fact that it was published in 1998, I would have been in my late-20s.

I can’t even remember why I disliked it, although it may have had something to do with the ridiculousness of the plot, which, as far as I recall (and keep in mind, this is all from memory, so my recall may not adequately represent the truth), it was about a group of eco-terrorists who wanted to unleash a biological weapon during a highly public setting. I think it was the Olympics.

I remember having a vehemently angry reaction to the book, probably completely out of proportion to what it deserved, but I do remember thinking that Clancy didn’t seem to understand the point of eco-terrorism. He didn’t seem to understand environmentalism at all, really, and that’s when it kind of struck me: my political worldview had changed drastically from the time I had read “The Hunt for Red October” to the time I had read “Rainbow Six”. I remember thinking: it’s kind of weird how our political views shape us to the point that we can have such visceral negative reactions to something as silly as an action-adventure military thriller.

I believe it might have been at that point that I realized I was one of those bleeding heart liberals.

****

I’m probably remembering that book wrongly. Or at least giving it an unfair negative read based on faulty memory. Maybe someday I’ll go back and re-read it. I have nothing against the late great Clancy due to that one book. I just simply stopped reading him.

In truth, Clancy still remains an important part of my literary history, helping me to shape my political worldviews as a teenager, in much the same way that Philip Roth helped to shape my views in college and beyond. Both authors remain a part of very specific times in my evolution.

Throughout the years, various authors have become an important part of my “self”. I learn from them like professors. I engage in conversations with them. I fall in love with them and I get vehemently angry with them. I take parts of their wisdom and incorporate them into my soul. Sometimes I reject them for newer views or beliefs that I believe are stronger and more profound.

Sometimes, when I discover a new author that I absolutely love, it’s better than sex.

****

Okay, that was an admittedly awkward statement, but I’m sure many readers will understand what I’m trying to say.

I’ve recently discovered one of those amazing new authors. His name is Daniel Silva, and I’m absolutely in love.

Besides being a great writer (the guy can write a paragraph the way some gourmet chefs prepare a meal), Silva also tells a great story. That’s one of those combos---great writing and great storytelling---that’s actually pretty hard to come by in literature.

Another thing about Silva is that I share similar political views with him. At least, for now, in my life.

In “Mark of the Assassin”, Silva’s hero is a Clancy-esque CIA spook. Michael Osborne hates when his wife refers to him as a “spy”. That evokes too many connotations and ridiculous images from movies and TV shows. He refers to himself as a “case officer”. He spends most of his time at a desk, behind a computer screen, analyzing data and files.

Osborne has been working a file for years, ever since his first girlfriend was murdered in Europe by an assassin with a signature kill: he shoots his victims three times in the face.

Recently, the body of a Palestinian terrorist was found with three bullet wounds to the face. Unfortunately, the terrorist was holding a rocket launcher that had just brought down a U.S. passenger jet.

Unbeknownst to Osborne, the President of the United States, James Beckwith, in an attempt to win re-election, gets into bed with a weapons manufacturer and a creepy Fundamentalist Christian, Mitchell Elliott, to coordinate the terrorist attack in order to build up public support for military action and to help Elliott’s company’s bottom line.

Elliott, it turns out, is part of a global criminal conspiracy simply called The Society. It is comprised of super-wealthy billionaires, many of whom are CEOs of well-known corporations, whose sole purpose is to incite international incidents or wars so that their companies will make a profit.
The Society utilizes the very same assassin that Osborne has secretly been hunting for years, a mysterious man named Delaroche. Now that Osborne is getting close to the truth of Beckwith’s secret, Delaroche is hired to kill Osborne.

“The Mark of the Assassin”, despite being published in 1998 (strangely enough, the same date “Rainbow Six” was published), resonates with current events so frighteningly and believably, one would almost think it was written a few months ago. Parallels to the weird world we live in aside, the novel is just a great espionage suspense thriller, one that will bring to mind the best of authors like Robert Ludlum, John le Carre, and, yes, even Clancy.
]]> <![CDATA[The Marching Season (Michael Osbourne, #2)]]> 93798
He soon discovers that his father-in-law is marked for execution. And that he himself is once again in the crosshairs of a killer known as October, one of the most merciless assassins the world has ever known...]]> 512 Daniel Silva 045120932X Scott 5
It’s a narrative uncomfortable to a lot of people, but it’s the truth: white non-Muslim men commit most of the world’s terrorist acts. White men have been doing it far longer and more effectively. Anyone who studies European history knows this.

Daniel Silva’s 1999 novel “The Marching Season” (a direct sequel to his novel “The Mark of the Assassin”), focuses on the long and fruitful white terrorist tradition of the United Kingdom involving the age-old hatred and violence between the Protestants and the Catholics. In case you don’t know, those are not Muslim sects. They are Christian sects.

For centuries, the Republicans (Catholics who want nothing to do with England) and the Loyalists (Protestants who want Ireland to unite with England) have been battling it out in Parliament as well as in the streets, oftentimes with bloody consequences. Tens of thousands have died since the 17th century (the century many scholars argue is the official start of what is called “The Troubles”).

Perhaps the most familiar terrorist organization after the PLO and Al-Qaeda, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) has been plotting and committing bombings and assassinations since the late-‘60s. But they aren’t the only terrorist groups at work in the UK.

In 1998, The Good Friday Agreement was reached that essentially cemented the relationships and sovereign rights of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the UK. While many argue that it’s not perfect, it has managed to bring about a semblance of peace between all parties.

Of course, this is a problem for those who profited and capitalized on The Troubles, namely companies and weapons dealers who are funded by war and strife. In Silva’s novel, a fictional group known as the Society works to undermine the Good Friday peace accords by funding an Irish terrorist organization who is against the peace accords.

CIA analyst Michael Osborne, who barely made it out of “The Mark of the Assassin” alive, has been called out of retirement to head a CIA unit in the UK in the hopes of quelling and ending the new terrorist group. Reluctantly, Osborne agrees, but only because his father-in-law has been chosen by the President to be the new Irish Ambassador.

Meanwhile, the assassin known as Delaroche, is still alive and active. Thought to be killed at the end of the last novel, Osborne has had his suspicions. Recent assassinations have had a familiar Delaroche aroma about them, but few people at Langley believe that Delaroche is even alive. The Society, of course, is working to keep Osborne, and his father-in-law, out of the way. Permanently.

Once again, Silva has written a taut, edge-of-the seat suspense thriller in the Tom Clancy mold. In truth, “The Marching Season” has more than a few major similarities with Clancy’s classic novel “Patriot Games”, but at least Silva is copying from the best. (“Patriot Games” is one of my favorite Clancy novels.)

The action and suspense never lets up in this one, and the end almost guarantees a follow-up novel in the Osborne series.]]> 4.03 1999 The Marching Season (Michael Osbourne, #2)
author: Daniel Silva
name: Scott
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2018/05/20
date added: 2025/07/06
shelves: action-adventure, espionage, terrorism
review:
There is still today a very weird (and racist) thought among many people that terrorists are only brown-skinned Arabic or Middle-Eastern Muslims, and that white Christians are solely victimized horribly throughout the world (and in the United States especially) and never the victimizers. This, of course, goes against the facts. (, and also: )

It’s a narrative uncomfortable to a lot of people, but it’s the truth: white non-Muslim men commit most of the world’s terrorist acts. White men have been doing it far longer and more effectively. Anyone who studies European history knows this.

Daniel Silva’s 1999 novel “The Marching Season” (a direct sequel to his novel “The Mark of the Assassin”), focuses on the long and fruitful white terrorist tradition of the United Kingdom involving the age-old hatred and violence between the Protestants and the Catholics. In case you don’t know, those are not Muslim sects. They are Christian sects.

For centuries, the Republicans (Catholics who want nothing to do with England) and the Loyalists (Protestants who want Ireland to unite with England) have been battling it out in Parliament as well as in the streets, oftentimes with bloody consequences. Tens of thousands have died since the 17th century (the century many scholars argue is the official start of what is called “The Troubles”).

Perhaps the most familiar terrorist organization after the PLO and Al-Qaeda, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) has been plotting and committing bombings and assassinations since the late-‘60s. But they aren’t the only terrorist groups at work in the UK.

In 1998, The Good Friday Agreement was reached that essentially cemented the relationships and sovereign rights of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the UK. While many argue that it’s not perfect, it has managed to bring about a semblance of peace between all parties.

Of course, this is a problem for those who profited and capitalized on The Troubles, namely companies and weapons dealers who are funded by war and strife. In Silva’s novel, a fictional group known as the Society works to undermine the Good Friday peace accords by funding an Irish terrorist organization who is against the peace accords.

CIA analyst Michael Osborne, who barely made it out of “The Mark of the Assassin” alive, has been called out of retirement to head a CIA unit in the UK in the hopes of quelling and ending the new terrorist group. Reluctantly, Osborne agrees, but only because his father-in-law has been chosen by the President to be the new Irish Ambassador.

Meanwhile, the assassin known as Delaroche, is still alive and active. Thought to be killed at the end of the last novel, Osborne has had his suspicions. Recent assassinations have had a familiar Delaroche aroma about them, but few people at Langley believe that Delaroche is even alive. The Society, of course, is working to keep Osborne, and his father-in-law, out of the way. Permanently.

Once again, Silva has written a taut, edge-of-the seat suspense thriller in the Tom Clancy mold. In truth, “The Marching Season” has more than a few major similarities with Clancy’s classic novel “Patriot Games”, but at least Silva is copying from the best. (“Patriot Games” is one of my favorite Clancy novels.)

The action and suspense never lets up in this one, and the end almost guarantees a follow-up novel in the Osborne series.
]]> <![CDATA[The Kill Artist (Gabriel Allon, #1)]]> 93794 The story features a vivid and fascinating supporting cast, including the magus-like Ari Shamron, a beautiful French Jewish model who is seeking retribution for her family's death in the Holocaust, and a marvelously comic down-at-the-heels London art dealer. Set these colorful and varied characters against a brilliant background of political intrigue and vengeance at the highest levels and a manhunt that covers three continents, and the result is a smart and electrically exciting global thriller.

]]> 501 Daniel Silva 0451209338 Scott 4
Among the other important characters are:

***Jacqueline Delacroix, a beautiful French supermodel who is also an Israeli spy. She uses her seductive charms and feminine wiles to help lure suspected or known terrorists into compromising positions for intel-gathering. During her last mission with Gabriel, the two became more intimate than their cover-identities required. Shortly after, Tariq’s car-bomb killed Allon’s son and left his wife a vegetable. She is conflicted: while she has tremendous guilt about what happened during the last mission, she can’t help but still be in love with Allon.

***Julian Isherwood, a British art dealer who has no illusions about the fact that he is getting older and the business is not as lucrative as it once was when he was younger. Allon is his most sought-after restorer, but he also knows that Allon’s other life as a spy may drag him away from his studio work and thus ruin Isherwood.

***Ari Shamron, a Mossad spymaster, recruited and trained Allon, his best agent. Allon is also his most troubled agent, for reasons that go beyond the fateful day involving Allon’s wife and son. Shamron and Allon are as different as night and day: Allon loathes violence, while Shamron revels in it; Allon does not believe that everything that the Israeli government has done is for the best, while Shamron can not believe otherwise; Allon believes that revenge leads to spiritual death, while Shamron believes that revenge is a biblical necessity. Strangely, though, they make a superior team.

The plot: When the Israeli ambassador to France is killed during a terrorist attack, Shamron clearly sees the calling card of the terrorist known as Tariq. He coaxes Allon back into the field with the promise of closure. Then, Shamron recruits Jacqueline to work with Allon. Sparks fly. Some of them are romantic ones.

There is, as is to be expected from Silva, suspense and action galore in “The Kill Artist”, but along with all of that is an even stronger thread of human drama. Silva creates believable, likable characters, and even his villains are sympathetic to an extent. They may do monstrous things, but they never come across as completely monstrous. They are simply broken people with irrational feelings of hatred and revenge.]]> 3.97 2000 The Kill Artist (Gabriel Allon, #1)
author: Daniel Silva
name: Scott
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2018/02/15
date added: 2025/07/06
shelves: action-adventure, espionage, israel, palestine
review:
“The Kill Artist” is the first novel in the popular Daniel Silva series to feature his Israeli spy/art restorer extraordinaire, Gabriel Allon. In this novel, readers are given a glimpse at the tragic backstory of Allon---his son was killed in a car bomb explosion meant for him, while his wife survived only to live in a vegetative coma-like state---and introduced to Allon’s arch-nemesis, a Palestinian terrorist named Tariq.

Among the other important characters are:

***Jacqueline Delacroix, a beautiful French supermodel who is also an Israeli spy. She uses her seductive charms and feminine wiles to help lure suspected or known terrorists into compromising positions for intel-gathering. During her last mission with Gabriel, the two became more intimate than their cover-identities required. Shortly after, Tariq’s car-bomb killed Allon’s son and left his wife a vegetable. She is conflicted: while she has tremendous guilt about what happened during the last mission, she can’t help but still be in love with Allon.

***Julian Isherwood, a British art dealer who has no illusions about the fact that he is getting older and the business is not as lucrative as it once was when he was younger. Allon is his most sought-after restorer, but he also knows that Allon’s other life as a spy may drag him away from his studio work and thus ruin Isherwood.

***Ari Shamron, a Mossad spymaster, recruited and trained Allon, his best agent. Allon is also his most troubled agent, for reasons that go beyond the fateful day involving Allon’s wife and son. Shamron and Allon are as different as night and day: Allon loathes violence, while Shamron revels in it; Allon does not believe that everything that the Israeli government has done is for the best, while Shamron can not believe otherwise; Allon believes that revenge leads to spiritual death, while Shamron believes that revenge is a biblical necessity. Strangely, though, they make a superior team.

The plot: When the Israeli ambassador to France is killed during a terrorist attack, Shamron clearly sees the calling card of the terrorist known as Tariq. He coaxes Allon back into the field with the promise of closure. Then, Shamron recruits Jacqueline to work with Allon. Sparks fly. Some of them are romantic ones.

There is, as is to be expected from Silva, suspense and action galore in “The Kill Artist”, but along with all of that is an even stronger thread of human drama. Silva creates believable, likable characters, and even his villains are sympathetic to an extent. They may do monstrous things, but they never come across as completely monstrous. They are simply broken people with irrational feelings of hatred and revenge.
]]> <![CDATA[Indiana Jones and the White Witch (Indiana Jones: Prequels, #8)]]> 429147
With the aid of a young mistress of Wicca, the age-old religion of white witchcraft, Indy and Gale risk their lives on a round-the-world quest for the long-lost treasures. Racing them to find it is a cunning and ruthless criminal mastermind who has set his sights on world domination. But Indy and Gale have formidable the powers of Wicca, the sword of the legendary Merlin, and Indy’s own adventurous brand of magic.]]> 336 Martin Caidin 0553561944 Scott 3 3.63 1994 Indiana Jones and the White Witch (Indiana Jones: Prequels, #8)
author: Martin Caidin
name: Scott
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at: 2009/06/25
date added: 2025/07/06
shelves: action-adventure, archaeology, movie-tie-in
review:
In "Indiana Jones and the White Witch" by Martin Caidin, Jones goes in search of the legendary sword, Excalibur. He, of course, gets involved with a sassy British pilot named Gale... and her sister Caitlin! Uh oh! Raucous mayhem abounds.
]]> <![CDATA[Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi (Indiana Jones: Prequels, #1)]]> 429146
Their adventure spans the globe from Chicago to Paris to Greece, where, bullwhip in hand, Indy descends into the bottomless pit of the serpent god and finds a sacred stone that holds the key to the oracle's prophecies. But Dorian has designed an even more sinister fate for young Indy: she means to make him her lover, her priest, and her pawn in a plot to kill the king. Will Indy find the source of Pythia's powers—or will he find himself sacrificed at Dorian's altar, a victim of her deadly ambition and desire?]]> 293 Rob MacGregor 0553289314 Scott 3
It's set during Indy's college days, as a young Greek Linguistics scholar named Henry Jones Jr. falls for his sexy (but much older) archaeology professor. Adventure and romance ensue as Indy and his hot prof jet off to Paris and then Greece to find an ancient Greek artifact that is reputed to give the possessor the power to see the future. Entertaining stuff, if you are an Indy fan.]]> 3.53 1991 Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi (Indiana Jones: Prequels, #1)
author: Rob MacGregor
name: Scott
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 2009/06/19
date added: 2025/07/06
shelves: action-adventure, archaeology, movie-tie-in
review:
Rob Macgregor wrote this novel, "Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi"---the first in a series of books based on the popular character created by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg---in '91, long before the "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", and just as The Young Indiana Jones series was starting on TV.

It's set during Indy's college days, as a young Greek Linguistics scholar named Henry Jones Jr. falls for his sexy (but much older) archaeology professor. Adventure and romance ensue as Indy and his hot prof jet off to Paris and then Greece to find an ancient Greek artifact that is reputed to give the possessor the power to see the future. Entertaining stuff, if you are an Indy fan.
]]> Falling 59366221
There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.

What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.

For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.

The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.

Enjoy the flight.]]> 306 T.J. Newman 1982177896 Scott 5 action-adventure, terrorism
Now, thanks to T.J. Newman—-a former flight attendant-turned-multi-millionaire-author—-I have to worry about whether the captain’s family has been kidnapped by terrorists and have given him the unthinkable choice of having his family die or crashing the plane on purpose.

Thanks for that, Ms. Newman. Because of you, I am never stepping on another plane, ever.

That’s essentially the plot of Newman’s novel “Falling”, a book that, once started, is virtually impossible to stop reading. It is one of the most intense, crazy-insane, and—strangely—-moving action thrillers that I have read in a while. The inevitable movie is already in production, but I can already guess that it won’t be better or as good as the book. This is a must-read for action fans.

There’s a lot to unpack in this seemingly simple thrill-ride. Newman tackles political apathy, bad U.S. foreign policy, the true importance of flight attendants, and good communication skills in a marriage. Also, Morse code and baseball play really important roles.

Seriously, this is a great book. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened when reading, and beware of turbulence…]]> 3.88 2021 Falling
author: T.J. Newman
name: Scott
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/02
date added: 2025/07/06
shelves: action-adventure, terrorism
review:
The Covid-19 pandemic turned me off to flying, but I honestly hated flying long before then. I hated the tight, claustrophobia-inducing, uncomfortable chairs you are forced to sit in for hours, the person sitting next to you that always wants to have a conversation when all you want is to sleep, the crappy food, and the in-flight entertainment (invariably a movie in which a dog dies, inexplicably, and/or an episode of “Will & Grace”, inexplicably).

Now, thanks to T.J. Newman—-a former flight attendant-turned-multi-millionaire-author—-I have to worry about whether the captain’s family has been kidnapped by terrorists and have given him the unthinkable choice of having his family die or crashing the plane on purpose.

Thanks for that, Ms. Newman. Because of you, I am never stepping on another plane, ever.

That’s essentially the plot of Newman’s novel “Falling”, a book that, once started, is virtually impossible to stop reading. It is one of the most intense, crazy-insane, and—strangely—-moving action thrillers that I have read in a while. The inevitable movie is already in production, but I can already guess that it won’t be better or as good as the book. This is a must-read for action fans.

There’s a lot to unpack in this seemingly simple thrill-ride. Newman tackles political apathy, bad U.S. foreign policy, the true importance of flight attendants, and good communication skills in a marriage. Also, Morse code and baseball play really important roles.

Seriously, this is a great book. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened when reading, and beware of turbulence…
]]> <![CDATA[Craving (Steel Brothers Saga, #1)]]> 34515463 Your Escape Into A World of Dark Mysteries & Spicy Romance.

After being left at the altar, Jade Roberts seeks solace at her best friend’s ranch on the Colorado western slope. Her humiliation still ripe, she doesn't expect to be attracted to her friend’s reticent brother, but when the gorgeous cowboy kisses her, all bets are off.

Talon Steel is broken. Having never fully healed from a horrific childhood trauma, he simply exists, taking from women what is offered and giving nothing in return...until Jade Roberts catapults into his life. She is beautiful, sweet, and giving, and his desire for her becomes a craving he fears he'll never be able to satisfy.

Passion sizzles between the two lovers...but long-buried secrets haunt them both and may eventually tear them apart.]]> 288 Helen Hardt Scott 2
1) It's gussied up porn. In and of itself, that's not enough reason to dislike it, of course. I love porn, but porn disguised as romance is, well, silly. (Hardt's writing is not deplorable, strangely enough; it's actually decent enough to keep my interest, and her sex scenes are, well, impressive.) It's still porn.

2) The characters are not that likable. Again, not a reason to dislike the book, but the two main protagonists are both unlikable in very different ways: Jade, because she falls so easily in bed at the finger-snap and pants-drop of Talon, the bad-boy with a troubled past, who is really just a mentally screwed-up asshole who uses his (albeit tragic and horrible) past as an excuse to essentially rape her. And let's be honest: what he is doing to Jade is rape, and just because she is having multiple orgasms with his ginormous cock doesn't make it any less rapey. And I'm just going to say it: I can't stand the whole bad-boy-with-a-troubled-past-and-a-huge-cock trope, which is pretty much 98% of every romance novel I've read. You know what trope I'd love to see more of? The nerdy-nice-guy-who-is-slightly-overweight-with-an-average-size-cock. I can get behind that one.

3) The book is part of a series, which is fine, but when the author leaves every single storyline without any closure, it is not a novel anymore. It's Part One of a larger work with many other parts. Cliff-hangers are kind of a pet peeve of mine. In rare cases, they can be handled well. Not in this case. It just pissed me off. (Despite this, I will probably read the next couple books in the series just to find out what happens. Damn you, Ms. Hardt!)

All that said, the sex scenes were pretty impressive. And there were a lot of them. That's the only reason it's getting two stars from me.]]> 3.88 2016 Craving (Steel Brothers Saga, #1)
author: Helen Hardt
name: Scott
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2025/07/04
date added: 2025/07/04
shelves: contemporary-romance, rape-culture, romance, wtf-did-i-just-read
review:
I can't in good conscience give Helen Hardt's novel "Craving" more than two stars for several reasons:

1) It's gussied up porn. In and of itself, that's not enough reason to dislike it, of course. I love porn, but porn disguised as romance is, well, silly. (Hardt's writing is not deplorable, strangely enough; it's actually decent enough to keep my interest, and her sex scenes are, well, impressive.) It's still porn.

2) The characters are not that likable. Again, not a reason to dislike the book, but the two main protagonists are both unlikable in very different ways: Jade, because she falls so easily in bed at the finger-snap and pants-drop of Talon, the bad-boy with a troubled past, who is really just a mentally screwed-up asshole who uses his (albeit tragic and horrible) past as an excuse to essentially rape her. And let's be honest: what he is doing to Jade is rape, and just because she is having multiple orgasms with his ginormous cock doesn't make it any less rapey. And I'm just going to say it: I can't stand the whole bad-boy-with-a-troubled-past-and-a-huge-cock trope, which is pretty much 98% of every romance novel I've read. You know what trope I'd love to see more of? The nerdy-nice-guy-who-is-slightly-overweight-with-an-average-size-cock. I can get behind that one.

3) The book is part of a series, which is fine, but when the author leaves every single storyline without any closure, it is not a novel anymore. It's Part One of a larger work with many other parts. Cliff-hangers are kind of a pet peeve of mine. In rare cases, they can be handled well. Not in this case. It just pissed me off. (Despite this, I will probably read the next couple books in the series just to find out what happens. Damn you, Ms. Hardt!)

All that said, the sex scenes were pretty impressive. And there were a lot of them. That's the only reason it's getting two stars from me.
]]> <![CDATA[The Forbidden Door (Jane Hawk, #4)]]> 49831637 “We’re rewriting the play, and the play is this country, the world, the future. We break Jane’s heart, we’ll also break her will.”

She was one of the FBI’s top agents until she became the nation’s most-wanted fugitive. Now Jane Hawk may be all that stands between a free nation and its enslavement by a powerful secret society’s terrifying mind-control technology. She couldn’t save her husband, or the others whose lives have been destroyed, but equipped with superior tactical and survival skills—and the fury born of a broken heart and a hunger for justice—Jane has struck major blows against the insidious cabal.

But Jane’s enemies are about to hit back hard. If their best operatives can’t outrun her, they mean to bring her running to them, using her five-year-old son as bait. Jane knows there’s no underestimating their capabilities, but she must battle her way back across the country to the remote shelter where her boy is safely hidden . . . for now.

As she moves resolutely forward, new threats begin to emerge: a growing number of brain-altered victims driven hopelessly, violently insane. With the madness spreading like a virus, the war between Jane and her enemies will become a fight for all their lives—against the lethal terror unleashed from behind the forbidden door.

]]> Dean Koontz Scott 4
In the fourth Hawk novel by Dean Koontz, "The Forbidden Door", something unforeseen has happened. (As it happens, it was not completely unforeseen, by one of the Techno-Arcadian scientists who helped create the nanobot device that infiltrates victims's brains to turn them into pliant brain-slaves. He had predicted that one in a million victims might have an extemely violent reaction to the implant; instead of becoming a subservient robot, one could revert back to an animalistic primal neanderthal.)

Well, the unforeseen has happened. Only it's not just one in a million. The neural computer link-up between the implanted---the so-called "whispering room"---has more than exacerbated the problem. Adjusted people by the dozens are suddenly having "malfunctions", turning them into homicidal zombies.

Now, Jane doesn't just have Techno-Arcadian assassins to deal with but hordes of zombified victims wreaking havoc in the city streets and in homes throughout the small western town that is ground zero for the outbreak.

This series has steadily increased in intensity and terror, and I'm only one book away from the fifth and final (maybe) book in the series.

Koontz has managed to blend a lot of doomsday Big Tech fears with current political hot-button issues into a series that seems terrifying because of its potential verisimilitude and, at the very least, its subtly humorous take on Trumpian Q-Anon America.

This was an audiobook narrated by Elisabeth Rodgers.]]> 3.92 2018 The Forbidden Door (Jane Hawk, #4)
author: Dean Koontz
name: Scott
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/06/10
date added: 2025/07/04
shelves: dean-koontz, horror, science-fiction, rich-people-suck, conspiracy-theories, technology, zombies, action-adventure, military, mystery
review:
The stakes have never been higher for rogue FBI agent and America's Most Wanted Jane Hawk, as she fights to survive the Techno-Arcadian conspiracists, save her son, and reveal to the public the evil plans of world domination by the super-wealthy cabal.

In the fourth Hawk novel by Dean Koontz, "The Forbidden Door", something unforeseen has happened. (As it happens, it was not completely unforeseen, by one of the Techno-Arcadian scientists who helped create the nanobot device that infiltrates victims's brains to turn them into pliant brain-slaves. He had predicted that one in a million victims might have an extemely violent reaction to the implant; instead of becoming a subservient robot, one could revert back to an animalistic primal neanderthal.)

Well, the unforeseen has happened. Only it's not just one in a million. The neural computer link-up between the implanted---the so-called "whispering room"---has more than exacerbated the problem. Adjusted people by the dozens are suddenly having "malfunctions", turning them into homicidal zombies.

Now, Jane doesn't just have Techno-Arcadian assassins to deal with but hordes of zombified victims wreaking havoc in the city streets and in homes throughout the small western town that is ground zero for the outbreak.

This series has steadily increased in intensity and terror, and I'm only one book away from the fifth and final (maybe) book in the series.

Koontz has managed to blend a lot of doomsday Big Tech fears with current political hot-button issues into a series that seems terrifying because of its potential verisimilitude and, at the very least, its subtly humorous take on Trumpian Q-Anon America.

This was an audiobook narrated by Elisabeth Rodgers.
]]> <![CDATA[The Crooked Staircase (Jane Hawk, #3)]]> 40104483 "I could be dead tomorrow. Or something worse than dead."

Jane Hawk knows she may be living on borrowed time. But as long as she's breathing, she'll never cease her one-woman war against the terrifying conspiracy that threatens the freedom--and free will--of millions. Battling the strange epidemic of murder-suicides that claimed Jane's husband, and is escalating across the country, has made the rogue FBI agent a wanted fugitive, relentlessly hunted not only by the government but by the secret cabal behind the plot. Deploying every resource their malign nexus of power and technology commands, Jane's enemies are determined to see her dead . . . or make her wish she was.

Jane's ruthless pursuers can't stop her from drawing a bead on her prey: a cunning man with connections in high places, a twisted soul of unspeakable depths with an army of professional killers on call. Propelled by her righteous fury and implacable insistence on justice, Jane will make her way from southern California to the snow-swept slopes of Lake Tahoe to confront head-on the lethal forces arrayed against her. But nothing can prepare her for the chilling truth that awaits when she descends the crooked staircase to the dark and dreadful place where her long nightmare was born.]]> Dean Koontz Scott 4
The third book in Koontz's series involving a rogue FBI agent who is trying to save the world from billionaire elites that are using nanotechnology to shape a new world order, "TCS" sees Jane Hawk capturing one of the top men in the conspiracy. Unbeknownst to Hawk, though, the bad guys are narrowing in on the very thing that is her motivation and reason to live.

It's hard to write anything about this novel without giving spoilers. Needless to say, it's intense, and it provides more than enough set-up for the fourth book...

I "read" this as an audiobook, read by Elisabeth Rogers.]]> 3.99 2018 The Crooked Staircase (Jane Hawk, #3)
author: Dean Koontz
name: Scott
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/15
date added: 2025/07/04
shelves: action-adventure, dean-koontz, science-fiction, conspiracy-theories, technology, terrorism, series-detective, rich-people-suck, police-procedural, mystery, military
review:
Suspense at its most nerve-wracking, Dean Koontz's novel "The Crooked Staircase" is an exercise in keeping the reader engrossed from beginning to end. He succeeds marvelously.

The third book in Koontz's series involving a rogue FBI agent who is trying to save the world from billionaire elites that are using nanotechnology to shape a new world order, "TCS" sees Jane Hawk capturing one of the top men in the conspiracy. Unbeknownst to Hawk, though, the bad guys are narrowing in on the very thing that is her motivation and reason to live.

It's hard to write anything about this novel without giving spoilers. Needless to say, it's intense, and it provides more than enough set-up for the fourth book...

I "read" this as an audiobook, read by Elisabeth Rogers.
]]> <![CDATA[The Whispering Room (Jane Hawk, #2)]]> 34962255
"No time to delay. Do what you were born to do. Fame will be yours when you do this."

These are the words that ring in the mind of mild-mannered, beloved schoolteacher Cora Gundersun - just before she takes her own life, and many others', in a shocking act of carnage. When the disturbing contents of her secret journal are discovered, it seems certain that she must have been insane. But Jane Hawk knows better.

In the wake of her husband's inexplicable suicide - and the equally mysterious deaths of scores of other exemplary individuals - Jane picks up the trail of a secret cabal of powerful players who think themselves above the law and beyond punishment. But the ruthless people bent on hijacking America's future for their own monstrous ends never banked on a highly trained FBI agent willing to go rogue - and become the nation's most wanted fugitive - in order to derail their insidious plans to gain absolute power with a terrifying technological breakthrough.

Driven by love for her lost husband and by fear for the five-year-old son she has sent into hiding, Jane Hawk has become an unstoppable predator. Those she is hunting will have nowhere to run when her shadow falls across them.]]> 517 Dean Koontz 0345546806 Scott 5
Dean Koontz's "The Whispering Room" is the frightening and suspenseful sequel to "The Silent Corner", which introduced his bad-ass heroine Jane Hawk. Imagine a cross between Lisbeth Salander, the computer genius heroine from the "Girl Who..." books started by the late Stieg Larrson, and Lee Child's Jack Reacher. Jane's definitely more brain than brawn, but her FBI weapons training and martial arts background come in handy now and then.

The fact that Jane is on the FBI/NSA/Homeland Security's Most Wanted list should not deter one from rooting for her. She's one of the good guys, out to save her son's life, her own, and everyone else in the world from an underground consortium of evil---and super-wealthy---assholes who literally want to take over the world. Not to get too deep into an already-complicated plot, but they are using a combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI), nanotechnology, and simple brain-washing techniques to turn average citizens into mindless automatons. The ones who fight back? Let's just say that no amount of Tylenol will help those migraines.

Along the way, Jane meets allies in her fight. Average every-day heroes who can see past the bullshit of the evening news. She may be a lone wolf, but she recognizes the fact that she can't save the world on her own.

Koontz has created a great heroine and a fascinating---and terrifyingly plausible---series for our times.]]> 4.07 2017 The Whispering Room (Jane Hawk, #2)
author: Dean Koontz
name: Scott
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/28
date added: 2025/07/04
shelves: action-adventure, dean-koontz, science-fiction, technology, military, mystery, police-procedural, rich-people-suck, series-detective, terrorism
review:
It's strange times we're living in. So strange that even George Orwell would have been like "WTF?"

Dean Koontz's "The Whispering Room" is the frightening and suspenseful sequel to "The Silent Corner", which introduced his bad-ass heroine Jane Hawk. Imagine a cross between Lisbeth Salander, the computer genius heroine from the "Girl Who..." books started by the late Stieg Larrson, and Lee Child's Jack Reacher. Jane's definitely more brain than brawn, but her FBI weapons training and martial arts background come in handy now and then.

The fact that Jane is on the FBI/NSA/Homeland Security's Most Wanted list should not deter one from rooting for her. She's one of the good guys, out to save her son's life, her own, and everyone else in the world from an underground consortium of evil---and super-wealthy---assholes who literally want to take over the world. Not to get too deep into an already-complicated plot, but they are using a combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI), nanotechnology, and simple brain-washing techniques to turn average citizens into mindless automatons. The ones who fight back? Let's just say that no amount of Tylenol will help those migraines.

Along the way, Jane meets allies in her fight. Average every-day heroes who can see past the bullshit of the evening news. She may be a lone wolf, but she recognizes the fact that she can't save the world on her own.

Koontz has created a great heroine and a fascinating---and terrifyingly plausible---series for our times.
]]> <![CDATA[The Silent Corner (Jane Hawk, #1)]]> 32148091 Meet Jane Hawk—a remarkable new heroine certain to become an icon of suspense, propelled by the singular narrative genius of #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz.

“I very much need to be dead.”

These are the chilling words left behind by a man who had everything to live for—but took his own life. In the aftermath, his widow, Jane Hawk, does what all her grief, fear, and fury demand: find the truth, no matter what.

People of talent and accomplishment, people admired and happy and sound of mind, have been committing suicide in surprising numbers. When Jane seeks to learn why, she becomes the most-wanted fugitive in America. Her powerful enemies are protecting a secret so important—so terrifying—that they will exterminate anyone in their way.

But all their power and viciousness may not be enough to stop a woman as clever as they are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless—and who is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.]]> 434 Dean Koontz 0345545990 Scott 5
"The Silent Corner", while as taut and engaging as Koontz's horror novels, tackles a different type of horror, one that is perhaps frighteningly more plausible than the monsters and supernatural entities that populate many of his books. Indeed, this novel could almost be ripped from the headlines of a very near future. Hell, it could be about tomorrow.

Jane Hawk is an FBI agent happily married to her Marine husband. They have a healthy happy little boy and a life that is relatively care-free and undisturbed. Until...

Jane's husband inexplicably kills himself. A man with no history of depression, with everything to live for, and a bright future. His enigmatic suicide note sheds no light on his decision, and, in fact, creates more questions than it answers.

Jane does what she does best: investigate. And her investigation stumbles on a disturbing rise in inexplicable suicides across the country. Perfectly healthy, happy successful people are taking their lives.

One day, she receives a terrifying threat---not towards her but her child. Unfortunately for the people who doled out the threat, Jane is not easily cowed. In fact, she is the type to double down and fight back even harder.

What follows is a suspense thriller with science fictional undertones that seem frighteningly plausible as it deals with hot-button contemporay issues like nanotechnology, mind control, and artificial intelligence. It's an action-adventure story that would make Jack Reacher shit his drawers.

Jane is a bad-ass action protagonist, and this novel is the first in a series, one that I look forward to devouring.]]> 3.79 2017 The Silent Corner (Jane Hawk, #1)
author: Dean Koontz
name: Scott
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/04
date added: 2025/07/04
shelves: action-adventure, military, mystery, police-procedural, politics, rich-people-suck, science-fiction, series-detective, suicide, technology, terrorism, dean-koontz
review:
Long ago, Dean Koontz started his career in science fiction, writing pulpy space thrillers that sold in drug store paperback racks. He gradually found his niche in horror, breaking into a market that brought him fame and recognition. Today, he has the kind of bestseller status that few authors can claim.

"The Silent Corner", while as taut and engaging as Koontz's horror novels, tackles a different type of horror, one that is perhaps frighteningly more plausible than the monsters and supernatural entities that populate many of his books. Indeed, this novel could almost be ripped from the headlines of a very near future. Hell, it could be about tomorrow.

Jane Hawk is an FBI agent happily married to her Marine husband. They have a healthy happy little boy and a life that is relatively care-free and undisturbed. Until...

Jane's husband inexplicably kills himself. A man with no history of depression, with everything to live for, and a bright future. His enigmatic suicide note sheds no light on his decision, and, in fact, creates more questions than it answers.

Jane does what she does best: investigate. And her investigation stumbles on a disturbing rise in inexplicable suicides across the country. Perfectly healthy, happy successful people are taking their lives.

One day, she receives a terrifying threat---not towards her but her child. Unfortunately for the people who doled out the threat, Jane is not easily cowed. In fact, she is the type to double down and fight back even harder.

What follows is a suspense thriller with science fictional undertones that seem frighteningly plausible as it deals with hot-button contemporay issues like nanotechnology, mind control, and artificial intelligence. It's an action-adventure story that would make Jack Reacher shit his drawers.

Jane is a bad-ass action protagonist, and this novel is the first in a series, one that I look forward to devouring.
]]> Pirate 1118972 My Love,
They call me privateer—cold, ruthless, brazen and bold. Yet, from the first moment I saw you, I was overcome. You were but a helpless child, orphaned and innocent, when I rescued you from almost certain defilement and death—and whisked you off to my Caribbean island hideaway to be shockingly pampered by my loyal crew.
And now you are a woman—as beautiful as the dawn...and as wildly unpredictable as the winds and the sea. You are in my blood, cara mia; your breathtaking loveliness haunts my dreams. But to have you, I first must tame you—to awaken you to the dangerous ecstasy of a pirate's passions...and a lover's touch.]]> 394 Fabio Lanzoni 0380770466 Scott 2 romance, unreadable-garbage
So, I, um, read the book.

I'm sorry, really I am, but it just kept staring at me from the coffee table. It just kept sitting there, waiting to be read, and you know how I am with lonely books. I'm a sucker for them, even the trashy ones. I just figured, what's the harm in opening it up and reading, like, the first two pages. Just, you know, give it a chance, see what it has to offer. It's not like I have to commit to it or anything...

But you know me. I'm the type of guy who, once I start a book, I have to finish it. Call it OCD, anal retentiveness, whatever. I couldn't just stop after the first two pages, let's be realistic. It meant nothing, though, really. Just a quick, harmless read. Silly, really... And yet, it haunts me. It's laughable purple prose, it's ridiculous plot, it's constant reference to things like "engorged member" and "heaving bosoms". I just can't shake the memory of it. It was just a bodice-ripper, a throw-away, a trashy romance, a--- oh, who am I kidding?

I actually liked it. God, it feels so liberating to say that: I liked it. It was entertaining. It was fun. Sure, it wasn't great. Even though Fabio isn't a great writer, at least he knows how to use spell-check. And there's a little bit of Fabio on every page. (Oh, no, wait, that's just "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" that spilled off the toast I was eating while I read...) Granted, it could have used a little less build-up to the first sex scene (which happens right around page 268), the little tease that it is, but once you get there, DAMN, it's good! And the sex scenes happen every other page, it seems, after that. Real torrid, steamy stuff. And yet innocently playful. No kinky, weird shit, either, unless you consider a 40-year-old pirate having sex with his 19-year-old virgin ward that he's been watching over since she was 12 and passing off as his "niece". Yeah, okay, that's kinda wrong... But other than that, it's pretty decent stuff.

Do I feel embarrassed? A little. Would I read it again? Absolutely! Uh, I mean, No, actually, no, no, I wouldn't...]]> 3.44 1993 Pirate
author: Fabio Lanzoni
name: Scott
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1993
rating: 2
read at: 2013/04/09
date added: 2025/07/03
shelves: romance, unreadable-garbage
review:
No, wait, let me explain... I originally bought this as a joke. It was in the paperback rack at the library book sale. (As if I would pay full price for this, seriously?) It's one of those ironic book purchases; you know, the kind that you're not seriously considering reading, you just thought it would be funny to have on the coffee table when friends came over and everybody has a good laugh over it. I mean, it can't actually be any good, right? I mean, look at it: all paperbacky and stuff, with a shirtless Fabio on the cover, his golden locks of hair flowing in the breeze, his chiseled pectorals, that penetrating stare, that--- Pfft, what a big moron that guy is, huh? His name, handwritten (as if he actually "wrote" the book; the first page says "in collaboration with" Eugenia Riley, and we all know he probably gave her some ideas but that she wrote the whole thing) in big print. And the title, "Pirate" in big BOLD letters, like, LOOK AT ME! I'm a BOOK! Seriously, who reads this crap...

So, I, um, read the book.

I'm sorry, really I am, but it just kept staring at me from the coffee table. It just kept sitting there, waiting to be read, and you know how I am with lonely books. I'm a sucker for them, even the trashy ones. I just figured, what's the harm in opening it up and reading, like, the first two pages. Just, you know, give it a chance, see what it has to offer. It's not like I have to commit to it or anything...

But you know me. I'm the type of guy who, once I start a book, I have to finish it. Call it OCD, anal retentiveness, whatever. I couldn't just stop after the first two pages, let's be realistic. It meant nothing, though, really. Just a quick, harmless read. Silly, really... And yet, it haunts me. It's laughable purple prose, it's ridiculous plot, it's constant reference to things like "engorged member" and "heaving bosoms". I just can't shake the memory of it. It was just a bodice-ripper, a throw-away, a trashy romance, a--- oh, who am I kidding?

I actually liked it. God, it feels so liberating to say that: I liked it. It was entertaining. It was fun. Sure, it wasn't great. Even though Fabio isn't a great writer, at least he knows how to use spell-check. And there's a little bit of Fabio on every page. (Oh, no, wait, that's just "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" that spilled off the toast I was eating while I read...) Granted, it could have used a little less build-up to the first sex scene (which happens right around page 268), the little tease that it is, but once you get there, DAMN, it's good! And the sex scenes happen every other page, it seems, after that. Real torrid, steamy stuff. And yet innocently playful. No kinky, weird shit, either, unless you consider a 40-year-old pirate having sex with his 19-year-old virgin ward that he's been watching over since she was 12 and passing off as his "niece". Yeah, okay, that's kinda wrong... But other than that, it's pretty decent stuff.

Do I feel embarrassed? A little. Would I read it again? Absolutely! Uh, I mean, No, actually, no, no, I wouldn't...
]]> <![CDATA[Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution (The American Revolution Series)]]> 16158546 Nathaniel Philbrick, the bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower, brings his prodigious talents to the story of the Boston battle that ignited the American Revolution.

Boston in 1775 is an island city occupied by British troops after a series of incendiary incidents by patriots who range from sober citizens to thuggish vigilantes. After the Boston Tea Party, British and American soldiers and Massachusetts residents  have warily maneuvered around each other until April 19, when violence finally erupts at Lexington and Concord.  In June, however, with the city cut off from supplies by a British blockade and Patriot militia poised in siege, skirmishes give way to outright war in the Battle of Bunker Hill. It would be the bloodiest battle of the Revolution to come, and the point of no return for the rebellious colonists.

Philbrick brings a fresh perspective to every aspect of the story. He finds new characters, and new facets to familiar ones. The real work of choreographing rebellion falls to a thirty-three year old physician named Joseph Warren who emerges as the on-the-ground leader of the Patriot cause and is fated to die at Bunker Hill. Others in the cast include Paul Revere, Warren’s fiancé the poet Mercy Scollay, a newly recruited George Washington, the reluctant British combatant General Thomas Gage and his more bellicose successor William Howe, who leads the three charges at Bunker Hill and presides over the claustrophobic cauldron of a city under siege as both sides play a nervy game of brinkmanship for control.

With passion and insight, Philbrick reconstructs the revolutionary landscape—geographic and ideological—in a mesmerizing narrative of the robust, messy, blisteringly real origins of America.]]> 398 Nathaniel Philbrick 0670025445 Scott 5
I could be wrong about my fellow Americans. Maybe everyone knows the ins and outs and whys and wherefores of the Revolutionary War, and I'm the only one that has a rather pathetic knowledge of my own country's history. I've studied elementary and high school history textbooks, though, and they are pretty slim on details and in-depth examination of the Revolution. Let's be honest: If you know about the Boston Massacre, the Battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, and George Washington crossing the Delaware, then you have the basic building blocks of an understanding of one of the most important periods in our country's history. Hell, it's a start.

I love history. I want to say that upfront, because I also admit that I have a pretty pathetic knowledge of history. Comedian Nate Bargatze jokes about how he doesn't read: "I don't read any books. I don't do it. And I think that matters. I do think that matters. Reading, I believe, is the key to smart." Admitting that you're dumb is one thing, but admitting that you know how to not be dumb is really important, too.

So, like Bargatze, I admit: I haven't studied a lot of history. And I think that makes a difference. Studying history, I believe, is the key to understanding why we are in the situation we are in today. Looking at our past helps in understanding the present and in shaping a better future. I believe that.

When tackling a specific period in American history---the Revolutionary War, for example---it helps to start at the very beginning. One could start with David McCullough's wonderful "1776", and that would be an excellent starting point, but in 1776, the war was more than half-way over. To fully understand the whys and wherefores, one arguably needs to go back a year (or even two or three) before '76.

Nathaniel Philbrick's excellent 2013 book "Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, a Revolution" brings to vivid life an important, definitive battle in the Revolution. Through a plethora of primary sources, Philbrick's extensively-researched and incredibly entertaining book gives the amateur historian a wealth of history to mull over.

The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which is across the Charles River from Boston. Boston had been overtaken by the British, and patriots (those who were, if not for independence, against British occupation) had been slowly evacuating the city in droves.

Prior to Bunker Hill, the battles of Lexington and Concord in April jump-started the war by pushing back the British, which was a surprise to everyone involved. Known as "the shot heard round the world", these two battles gave the patriotic colonists something valuable: confidence that they actually had a chance against the enormity of the British Empire.

The Battle of Bunker Hill (important piece of trivia: the battle didn't actually happen on Bunker Hill but on a nearby hill called Breed's Hill, but everyone involved thought they were on Bunker Hill, so the name stuck) resulted in a loss for the patriots, but due to the extremely large casualty list on the British side (1000 British, including many important high-ranking officers) that resulted in a sense of uncertainty for Britain and a growing sense of confidence for the patriots, the battle settled any questions that colonists who were on the fence had: they were all in.

The resultant successful take-over of Boston by patriotic forces, led by General George Washington, cemented the colonists' support for the war. Everyone in the American colonies knew that this was it: fight for independence or be hung for treason.

Don't be turned off by the prospect of Philbrick resorting to graphic depictions of battle scenes where the participants are reduced to stock figures or casualty statistics. This is not that kind of history book. Philbrick is, at all times, well-aware---and aims to make us aware---that these were human beings on both sides of the war, often scared and worried about their loved ones back home. They were human in their foibles, mistakes, compassions, and heroisms.

Philbrick does what a good historian should do: make us understand why our American ancestors felt they needed to do what they did for succeeding generations.]]> 4.03 2013 Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution (The American Revolution Series)
author: Nathaniel Philbrick
name: Scott
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, nonfiction, warfare, revolution
review:
We may know, roughly, that the American Revolution was the war that brought about independence for the fledgling United States of America, but I would hazard a guess that most Americans---based on what little they learned from school textbooks---haven't a clue about what the Revolution truly meant to the 18th-century colonists who, at first, wanted their overseas government to show them the respect they deserved.

I could be wrong about my fellow Americans. Maybe everyone knows the ins and outs and whys and wherefores of the Revolutionary War, and I'm the only one that has a rather pathetic knowledge of my own country's history. I've studied elementary and high school history textbooks, though, and they are pretty slim on details and in-depth examination of the Revolution. Let's be honest: If you know about the Boston Massacre, the Battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, and George Washington crossing the Delaware, then you have the basic building blocks of an understanding of one of the most important periods in our country's history. Hell, it's a start.

I love history. I want to say that upfront, because I also admit that I have a pretty pathetic knowledge of history. Comedian Nate Bargatze jokes about how he doesn't read: "I don't read any books. I don't do it. And I think that matters. I do think that matters. Reading, I believe, is the key to smart." Admitting that you're dumb is one thing, but admitting that you know how to not be dumb is really important, too.

So, like Bargatze, I admit: I haven't studied a lot of history. And I think that makes a difference. Studying history, I believe, is the key to understanding why we are in the situation we are in today. Looking at our past helps in understanding the present and in shaping a better future. I believe that.

When tackling a specific period in American history---the Revolutionary War, for example---it helps to start at the very beginning. One could start with David McCullough's wonderful "1776", and that would be an excellent starting point, but in 1776, the war was more than half-way over. To fully understand the whys and wherefores, one arguably needs to go back a year (or even two or three) before '76.

Nathaniel Philbrick's excellent 2013 book "Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, a Revolution" brings to vivid life an important, definitive battle in the Revolution. Through a plethora of primary sources, Philbrick's extensively-researched and incredibly entertaining book gives the amateur historian a wealth of history to mull over.

The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which is across the Charles River from Boston. Boston had been overtaken by the British, and patriots (those who were, if not for independence, against British occupation) had been slowly evacuating the city in droves.

Prior to Bunker Hill, the battles of Lexington and Concord in April jump-started the war by pushing back the British, which was a surprise to everyone involved. Known as "the shot heard round the world", these two battles gave the patriotic colonists something valuable: confidence that they actually had a chance against the enormity of the British Empire.

The Battle of Bunker Hill (important piece of trivia: the battle didn't actually happen on Bunker Hill but on a nearby hill called Breed's Hill, but everyone involved thought they were on Bunker Hill, so the name stuck) resulted in a loss for the patriots, but due to the extremely large casualty list on the British side (1000 British, including many important high-ranking officers) that resulted in a sense of uncertainty for Britain and a growing sense of confidence for the patriots, the battle settled any questions that colonists who were on the fence had: they were all in.

The resultant successful take-over of Boston by patriotic forces, led by General George Washington, cemented the colonists' support for the war. Everyone in the American colonies knew that this was it: fight for independence or be hung for treason.

Don't be turned off by the prospect of Philbrick resorting to graphic depictions of battle scenes where the participants are reduced to stock figures or casualty statistics. This is not that kind of history book. Philbrick is, at all times, well-aware---and aims to make us aware---that these were human beings on both sides of the war, often scared and worried about their loved ones back home. They were human in their foibles, mistakes, compassions, and heroisms.

Philbrick does what a good historian should do: make us understand why our American ancestors felt they needed to do what they did for succeeding generations.
]]> <![CDATA[Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America]]> 55959466 From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans.

America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory. It is the story of the pilgrims on the Mayflower building a new nation. It is George Washington’s cherry tree and Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin. It is the fantastic tale of slaves that spontaneously teleported themselves here with nothing but strong backs and negro spirituals. It is a sugarcoated legend based on an almost true story.

It should come as no surprise that the dominant narrative of American history is blighted with errors and oversights—after all, history books were written by white men with their perspectives at the forefront. It could even be said that the devaluation and erasure of the Black experience is as American as apple pie.

In Black AF History, Michael Harriot presents a more accurate version of American history. Combining unapologetically provocative storytelling with meticulous research based on primary sources as well as the work of pioneering Black historians, scholars, and journalists, Harriot removes the white sugarcoating from the American story, placing Black people squarely at the center. With incisive wit, Harriot speaks hilarious truth to oppressive power, subverting conventional historical narratives with little-known stories about the experiences of Black Americans. From the African Americans who arrived before 1619 to the unenslavable bandit who inspired America’s first police force, this long overdue corrective provides a revealing look into our past that is as urgent as it is necessary. For too long, we have refused to acknowledge that American history is white history. Not this one. This history is Black AF. ]]> 432 Michael Harriot 0358439167 Scott 5 all the information. There are perspectives that, historically, have, for whatever reason, been dismissed, ignored, or forgotten.

The fact that a large percentage of human beings in this country, until the middle of the last century, have never experienced the same freedoms and opportunities that a majority of Americans have experienced is not a new fact. It is, however, one that, within the past fifty years, is finally being voiced.

Elementary, middle school, and high school textbooks are slow to catch up with this trend. In many textbooks (especially some in Texas), the Civil War was a war fought over state’s rights. Period. It’s only half the truth. The Civil War was fought over state’s rights; specifically, the state’s rights to own slaves.

Slavery was a vile institution that white people in this country—-whether they owned slaves or not—-benefitted greatly from, economically. This is a fact, one that can’t be erased from history.

But slavery wasn’t the only horrible thing for which white people in this country are responsible. There’s the genocidal campaign against Native Americans (“Indians”, as Christopher Columbus mistakenly called them, as he brutally massacred many of them), the subjugation of women, the vilification of Mexicans, the mistreatment (and, in the case of the Japanese during WWII, internment) of Asian people.

Michael Harriot’s “Black AF History” is an eye-opening, humorous, and brutal exercise in historical revisionism, and a necessary one. It’s not revisionism in the false sense that most conservatives view revisionism. In other words, it’s not an alteration or an attempt to twist history to conform to modern standards. That’s the kind of bullshit backlash arguments that white supremacist historians make. This is a “re-vision” of history, or an attempt to add to the existing story through the addition of voices and perspectives that have historically been left out of the story.

For example, the Revolutionary War has always been taught as colonial America fighting back against the King’s unfair taxation, which is true. What isn’t mentioned is the role slavery played in the war, as Britain was toying with the idea of abolishing slavery (they finally did so in 1833), which worried the colonial leaders as slavery was a vital part of the economy. If slavery was abolished, a large percentage of the colonial workforce would suddenly have to be financially compensated. Plus, free slaves meant they could choose not to work, which means white people would have to fill those jobs, and no white person really wanted those jobs. Some historians argue that slavery wasn’t an issue in the revolution. Some agree that it was a minor issue. Harriot’s take is that, if you know white people, it’s not hard to see that many white people wouldn’t like the idea of giving up their slaves. Sure, taxation without representation was the main issue, but it’s silly to think slavery—-and the potential loss of a vital money-making institution—-didn’t play some part in the decision-making.

Don’t worry: most of Harriot’s book isn’t this controversial. A lot of it is just fascinating and heretofore unknown people and incidents that have been left out of history books, mainly because they were black. For example, a gospel singer named Rosetta Tharpe is credited for inventing Rock & Roll music, which is why she was inducted in the R&R Hall of Fame and Museum in 2017. Don’t take Harriot’s word for it, though: Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, and even Elvis Presley at some point in their careers acknowledged the major influence that Tharpe had on their music.

Harriott is also a foodie, like me. His description and histories of South Carolina cuisine such as chicken bog and chicken perlo—-both dishes created by slaves based on their ease of availability and the fact that it could easily be made into batches that could feed dozens—-is mouthwateringly delicious in his detail.

“Black AF History”, besides being enlightening and educational, is also just fun as hell. Harriot incorporates a lot of his own childhood, being home-schooled by his parents and a slew of aunts and uncles, as well as a huge record album and book library where he discovered the works of Earth, Wind, & Fire and W.E.B. DuBois, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, and lots of science fiction.

This should be required reading for every high school AP History class.]]> 4.60 2023 Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America
author: Michael Harriot
name: Scott
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/18
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, nonfiction, black-studies, memoir, slavery, southern, economy, politics, race-relations
review:
I love history, but I have, lately, had the sneaking suspicion that many of the history books I have been reading are unfairly one-sided and biased. Most, if not all, of the history books I have read have been written by white men. This is not to say that the information in them is wrong. It simply means that it’s not always all the information. There are perspectives that, historically, have, for whatever reason, been dismissed, ignored, or forgotten.

The fact that a large percentage of human beings in this country, until the middle of the last century, have never experienced the same freedoms and opportunities that a majority of Americans have experienced is not a new fact. It is, however, one that, within the past fifty years, is finally being voiced.

Elementary, middle school, and high school textbooks are slow to catch up with this trend. In many textbooks (especially some in Texas), the Civil War was a war fought over state’s rights. Period. It’s only half the truth. The Civil War was fought over state’s rights; specifically, the state’s rights to own slaves.

Slavery was a vile institution that white people in this country—-whether they owned slaves or not—-benefitted greatly from, economically. This is a fact, one that can’t be erased from history.

But slavery wasn’t the only horrible thing for which white people in this country are responsible. There’s the genocidal campaign against Native Americans (“Indians”, as Christopher Columbus mistakenly called them, as he brutally massacred many of them), the subjugation of women, the vilification of Mexicans, the mistreatment (and, in the case of the Japanese during WWII, internment) of Asian people.

Michael Harriot’s “Black AF History” is an eye-opening, humorous, and brutal exercise in historical revisionism, and a necessary one. It’s not revisionism in the false sense that most conservatives view revisionism. In other words, it’s not an alteration or an attempt to twist history to conform to modern standards. That’s the kind of bullshit backlash arguments that white supremacist historians make. This is a “re-vision” of history, or an attempt to add to the existing story through the addition of voices and perspectives that have historically been left out of the story.

For example, the Revolutionary War has always been taught as colonial America fighting back against the King’s unfair taxation, which is true. What isn’t mentioned is the role slavery played in the war, as Britain was toying with the idea of abolishing slavery (they finally did so in 1833), which worried the colonial leaders as slavery was a vital part of the economy. If slavery was abolished, a large percentage of the colonial workforce would suddenly have to be financially compensated. Plus, free slaves meant they could choose not to work, which means white people would have to fill those jobs, and no white person really wanted those jobs. Some historians argue that slavery wasn’t an issue in the revolution. Some agree that it was a minor issue. Harriot’s take is that, if you know white people, it’s not hard to see that many white people wouldn’t like the idea of giving up their slaves. Sure, taxation without representation was the main issue, but it’s silly to think slavery—-and the potential loss of a vital money-making institution—-didn’t play some part in the decision-making.

Don’t worry: most of Harriot’s book isn’t this controversial. A lot of it is just fascinating and heretofore unknown people and incidents that have been left out of history books, mainly because they were black. For example, a gospel singer named Rosetta Tharpe is credited for inventing Rock & Roll music, which is why she was inducted in the R&R Hall of Fame and Museum in 2017. Don’t take Harriot’s word for it, though: Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, and even Elvis Presley at some point in their careers acknowledged the major influence that Tharpe had on their music.

Harriott is also a foodie, like me. His description and histories of South Carolina cuisine such as chicken bog and chicken perlo—-both dishes created by slaves based on their ease of availability and the fact that it could easily be made into batches that could feed dozens—-is mouthwateringly delicious in his detail.

“Black AF History”, besides being enlightening and educational, is also just fun as hell. Harriot incorporates a lot of his own childhood, being home-schooled by his parents and a slew of aunts and uncles, as well as a huge record album and book library where he discovered the works of Earth, Wind, & Fire and W.E.B. DuBois, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, and lots of science fiction.

This should be required reading for every high school AP History class.
]]> <![CDATA[Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth]]> 55411740
Every nation needs its creation myth, and since Texas was a nation before it was a state, it's no surprise that its myths bite deep. There's no piece of history more important to Texans than the Battle of the Alamo, when Davy Crockett and a band of rebels went down in a blaze of glory fighting for independence from Mexico, losing the battle but setting Texas up to win the war. However, that version of events, as Forget the Alamo definitively shows, owes more to fantasy than reality. Just as the site of the Alamo was left in ruins for decades, its story was forgotten and twisted over time, with the contributions of Tejanos--Texans of Mexican origin, who fought alongside the Anglo rebels--scrubbed from the record, and the origin of the conflict over Mexico's push to abolish slavery papered over. Forget the Alamo provocatively explains the true story of the battle against the backdrop of Texas's struggle for independence, then shows how the sausage of myth got made in the Jim Crow South of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. As uncomfortable as it may be to hear for some, celebrating the Alamo has long had an echo of celebrating whiteness.

In the past forty-some years, waves of revisionists have come at this topic, and at times have made real progress toward a more nuanced and inclusive story that doesn't alienate anyone. But we are not living in one of those times; the fight over the Alamo's meaning has become more pitched than ever in the past few years, even violent, as Texas's future begins to look more and more different from its past. It's the perfect time for a wise and generous-spirited book that shines the bright light of the truth into a place that's gotten awfully dark.]]> 416 Bryan Burrough 1984880098 Scott 5
The fact that Kilmeade’s book—-and what Texans have been, and are still, taught about the Alamo in schools—-is mostly horseshit shouldn’t be surprising, given what we know about Kilmeade and Texas. And the United States, for that matter.

History is wonderful and exciting, but you couldn’t tell that from listening in on an average American middle school or high school history class. Mostly, it’s the sound of crickets or students snoring. The teachers aren’t necessarily to blame, either, as there are so many factors—-outdated textbooks, lousy content standards, more class time devoted to standardized testing than actual learning—-that make history so boring for kids. We are basically raising a nation of children to not give a shit about history, which is not only shameful but dangerous.

Thankfully, there are historians out there who still give a damn. Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford have collaborated on one of the best history books I have read in a while, “Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth”. It’s a lightening-rod title, and it’s meant to be.

Much of this book may not resonate too strongly with anyone who is not a history buff or from Texas, as it is almost exclusively an issue that affects only Texas historians and academics, but it has repercussions for all Americans and encompasses a lot of hot-button issues such as the rise of white supremacy, political correctness, and critical race theory.

It’s more than a book of history. To be clear, this book is actually more historiography than history. Historiography is the study of the way history is told and the different methodologies through the years that have shaped history. It is the way history is interpreted and revised through the lens of any particular era.

For example, for many decades following the famous 1836 battle at the Alamo Mission near what is now San Antonio, TX, Texans considered the fallen defenders (estimated between 180-260 men) against an army of roughly 1800 Mexican soldiers to be heroes. Indeed, the Hero mythology surrounding men like Sam Houston, William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett elevated them to almost God-like status, and any criticism of them was akin to sacrilege.

Now, historical revisionists are looking at these so-called “heroes” in a different light and pointing out that much of their “heroic” actions they are known for probably didn’t actually happen and was based solely on fictional accounts in popular novels, movies, and TV shows. Much like the events of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, AZ, a lot of what we think we know about the event was simply not historically accurate.

There is also the strong element of racism in the Alamo’s historiography, as many Texans of a certain generation grew up calling Mexicans “murderers” in much the same way that ignorant Christians still brand Jews as “Christ’s murderers”. In truth, the cruelty and viciousness of the Mexican army was, in many ways, exaggerated tenfold, simply to create a narrative in which Mexicans were the villains of a story where, truthfully, there were no actual heroes or villains.

And, of course, there is the over-arching shadow of slavery that covers this entire story, a shadow which has—-up until recently—-been all but erased from much of Texan’s knowledge of the Alamo. That early Texans engaged in a violent revolution against Mexico primarily over the right to own slaves is still an important piece of information that tends to get glossed over in Texas school books.

Historical revisionists have, in the past couple decades, tried to set the record straight, but they are getting major push-back from a largely conservative right-wing contingent who deride the revisionists as leftists who are taking “political correctness” too far.

The good news is that many more voices are being heard that lend a different and fresh viewpoint to the story of the Alamo. More Mexicans, blacks, Native Americans, and women are entering the story, none of which take away from the importance of the event. If anything, their voices simply add more depth to a story that has always been slightly one-sided.

“Forget the Alamo” is a must-read for anyone who loves history. It’s also a must-read for anyone who has a hard time accepting the “official story”. True history often shows itself when enough people dig deep to find the actual story.]]> 4.24 2021 Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth
author: Bryan Burrough
name: Scott
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/20
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, nonfiction, politics, race-relations, slavery, southern, whiny-conservatives
review:
Sadly, what I know about the Alamo comes almost exclusively from Brian Kilmeade’s book “Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers”, a book that I actually enjoyed, despite the fact that it was written by Kilmeade, a FOX News anchor who has said and done some boneheaded things in his career.

The fact that Kilmeade’s book—-and what Texans have been, and are still, taught about the Alamo in schools—-is mostly horseshit shouldn’t be surprising, given what we know about Kilmeade and Texas. And the United States, for that matter.

History is wonderful and exciting, but you couldn’t tell that from listening in on an average American middle school or high school history class. Mostly, it’s the sound of crickets or students snoring. The teachers aren’t necessarily to blame, either, as there are so many factors—-outdated textbooks, lousy content standards, more class time devoted to standardized testing than actual learning—-that make history so boring for kids. We are basically raising a nation of children to not give a shit about history, which is not only shameful but dangerous.

Thankfully, there are historians out there who still give a damn. Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford have collaborated on one of the best history books I have read in a while, “Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth”. It’s a lightening-rod title, and it’s meant to be.

Much of this book may not resonate too strongly with anyone who is not a history buff or from Texas, as it is almost exclusively an issue that affects only Texas historians and academics, but it has repercussions for all Americans and encompasses a lot of hot-button issues such as the rise of white supremacy, political correctness, and critical race theory.

It’s more than a book of history. To be clear, this book is actually more historiography than history. Historiography is the study of the way history is told and the different methodologies through the years that have shaped history. It is the way history is interpreted and revised through the lens of any particular era.

For example, for many decades following the famous 1836 battle at the Alamo Mission near what is now San Antonio, TX, Texans considered the fallen defenders (estimated between 180-260 men) against an army of roughly 1800 Mexican soldiers to be heroes. Indeed, the Hero mythology surrounding men like Sam Houston, William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett elevated them to almost God-like status, and any criticism of them was akin to sacrilege.

Now, historical revisionists are looking at these so-called “heroes” in a different light and pointing out that much of their “heroic” actions they are known for probably didn’t actually happen and was based solely on fictional accounts in popular novels, movies, and TV shows. Much like the events of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, AZ, a lot of what we think we know about the event was simply not historically accurate.

There is also the strong element of racism in the Alamo’s historiography, as many Texans of a certain generation grew up calling Mexicans “murderers” in much the same way that ignorant Christians still brand Jews as “Christ’s murderers”. In truth, the cruelty and viciousness of the Mexican army was, in many ways, exaggerated tenfold, simply to create a narrative in which Mexicans were the villains of a story where, truthfully, there were no actual heroes or villains.

And, of course, there is the over-arching shadow of slavery that covers this entire story, a shadow which has—-up until recently—-been all but erased from much of Texan’s knowledge of the Alamo. That early Texans engaged in a violent revolution against Mexico primarily over the right to own slaves is still an important piece of information that tends to get glossed over in Texas school books.

Historical revisionists have, in the past couple decades, tried to set the record straight, but they are getting major push-back from a largely conservative right-wing contingent who deride the revisionists as leftists who are taking “political correctness” too far.

The good news is that many more voices are being heard that lend a different and fresh viewpoint to the story of the Alamo. More Mexicans, blacks, Native Americans, and women are entering the story, none of which take away from the importance of the event. If anything, their voices simply add more depth to a story that has always been slightly one-sided.

“Forget the Alamo” is a must-read for anyone who loves history. It’s also a must-read for anyone who has a hard time accepting the “official story”. True history often shows itself when enough people dig deep to find the actual story.
]]> <![CDATA[American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America's Jack the Ripper]]> 59808343
Boston had its Strangler. California had the Zodiac Killer. And in the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland had the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.

On September 5th, 1934, a young beachcomber made a gruesome discovery on the shores of Cleveland’s Lake the lower half of a female torso, neatly severed at the waist. The victim, dubbed “The Lady of the Lake,” was only the first of a butcher’s dozen. Over the next four years, twelve more bodies would be scattered across the city. The bodies were dismembered with surgical precision and drained of blood. Some were beheaded while still alive.

Terror gripped the city. Amid the growing uproar, Cleveland’s besieged mayor turned to his newly-appointed director of public Eliot Ness. Ness had come to Cleveland fresh from his headline-grabbing exploits in Chicago, where he and his band of “Untouchables” led the frontline assault on Al Capone’s bootlegging empire. Now he would confront a case that would redefine his storied career.

Award-winning author Daniel Stashower shines a fresh light on one of the most notorious puzzles in the annals of crime, and uncovers the gripping story of Ness’s hunt for a sadistic killer who was as brilliant as he was cool and composed, a mastermind who was able to hide in plain sight. American Demon reconstructs this ultimate battle of wits between a hero and a madman.]]> 342 Daniel Stashower 1250041163 Scott 5
The true story of the honorable law-man Elliot Ness, who, with the help of his hand-picked team of police officers, helped to bring down Al Capone in Prohibition-Era Chicago is a fascinating story in and of itself, but few people nowadays know or even care that Ness’s story didn’t end in 1930s Chicago.

Daniel Stashower’s book “American Demon” continues where “The Untouchables” left off. Part-biography, part-true crime, “American Demon” is a fascinating and suspenseful read about a little-known moment in history.

Those of us from Cleveland, Ohio probably know a little bit more about Elliot Ness and the infamous Torso Murders than our fellow Americans, only because the story has become a part of our regional folklore. Leaning more towards legend and myth, much of what we know about the Cleveland Torso Murderer (also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run) is—like Ness’s takedown of Capone—-conflated by misinformation and fictional embellishment.

Here are facts: for roughly six years throughout the late-1930s, the city of Cleveland was plagued by a series of gruesome murders of primarily homeless victims. The bodies were decapitated and bisected. Body parts and heads washed up or were found primarily in an area of the city known as Kingsbury Run. All told, twelve victims were discovered. The case is, to this day, still considered unsolved.

Coinciding with these serial killings, Elliot Ness—-fresh from his experience in Chicago—-moved to the Cleveland area and became Cleveland’s Public Safety Director. Working with the mayor and city law enforcement, Ness, in his early months on the job, helped clean up Cleveland of its illegal gambling and prostitution rings by busting many mobsters, as Cleveland, at the time, had a strong mafia influence.

Things were going well for Ness at first. Unfortunately, as the Torso murders continued, the general public started to worry that Ness wasn’t doing enough to stop the killings. Gradually, local politicians and the media—-previously boisterously pro-Ness—-began to turn on him, calling him an inefficient and lackadaisical safety director.

According to Stashower, this criticism of Ness was somewhat unfair. Ness, known to be taciturn and tight-lipped, tended to keep things to himself, especially ongoing cases. He also did a lot under the radar of the public and the media. Much like his hand-picked “Untouchables” in Chicago, a secret group of undercover detectives that reported solely to Ness worked non-stop to find clues about the Torso murderer. Much of the information gleaned from these detectives were, until very recently, never made public.

Stashower, who clearly conducted a lot of research for this book, comes to the conclusion that Ness believed that the killer’s identity had been uncovered. Ness had once said that the case of the Torso Murders was, in his mind, closed. Unfortunately, due to the fact that most of the evidence was circumstantial and that the prime suspect had ties to local politicians who fought to keep his name out of the papers, Ness was never allowed to go on record with the name. Fortunately, Stashower doesn’t have that restriction.

“American Demon” manages to piece together a true-crime story that has never adequately been told. Legends and fictionalized accounts of the Cleveland Torso Murders have popped up throughout the years, but anything resembling the truth was unavailable. That is, until Stashower’s excellent book came along.]]> 3.45 2022 American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America's Jack the Ripper
author: Daniel Stashower
name: Scott
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/09/14
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: nonfiction, history, police-procedural, serial-killer, true-crime, 30s, cleveland, ohio-history
review:
Brian De Palma’s 1987 film “The Untouchables” is one of those great Hollywood films; a fantastic confluence of epic scenery, wonderful acting, and stylish action sequences. It is still one of my favorites of all time, but, until recently, I didn’t know the full story. The film is based on true events and real people, although the film plays extremely fast and loose with historical accuracy.

The true story of the honorable law-man Elliot Ness, who, with the help of his hand-picked team of police officers, helped to bring down Al Capone in Prohibition-Era Chicago is a fascinating story in and of itself, but few people nowadays know or even care that Ness’s story didn’t end in 1930s Chicago.

Daniel Stashower’s book “American Demon” continues where “The Untouchables” left off. Part-biography, part-true crime, “American Demon” is a fascinating and suspenseful read about a little-known moment in history.

Those of us from Cleveland, Ohio probably know a little bit more about Elliot Ness and the infamous Torso Murders than our fellow Americans, only because the story has become a part of our regional folklore. Leaning more towards legend and myth, much of what we know about the Cleveland Torso Murderer (also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run) is—like Ness’s takedown of Capone—-conflated by misinformation and fictional embellishment.

Here are facts: for roughly six years throughout the late-1930s, the city of Cleveland was plagued by a series of gruesome murders of primarily homeless victims. The bodies were decapitated and bisected. Body parts and heads washed up or were found primarily in an area of the city known as Kingsbury Run. All told, twelve victims were discovered. The case is, to this day, still considered unsolved.

Coinciding with these serial killings, Elliot Ness—-fresh from his experience in Chicago—-moved to the Cleveland area and became Cleveland’s Public Safety Director. Working with the mayor and city law enforcement, Ness, in his early months on the job, helped clean up Cleveland of its illegal gambling and prostitution rings by busting many mobsters, as Cleveland, at the time, had a strong mafia influence.

Things were going well for Ness at first. Unfortunately, as the Torso murders continued, the general public started to worry that Ness wasn’t doing enough to stop the killings. Gradually, local politicians and the media—-previously boisterously pro-Ness—-began to turn on him, calling him an inefficient and lackadaisical safety director.

According to Stashower, this criticism of Ness was somewhat unfair. Ness, known to be taciturn and tight-lipped, tended to keep things to himself, especially ongoing cases. He also did a lot under the radar of the public and the media. Much like his hand-picked “Untouchables” in Chicago, a secret group of undercover detectives that reported solely to Ness worked non-stop to find clues about the Torso murderer. Much of the information gleaned from these detectives were, until very recently, never made public.

Stashower, who clearly conducted a lot of research for this book, comes to the conclusion that Ness believed that the killer’s identity had been uncovered. Ness had once said that the case of the Torso Murders was, in his mind, closed. Unfortunately, due to the fact that most of the evidence was circumstantial and that the prime suspect had ties to local politicians who fought to keep his name out of the papers, Ness was never allowed to go on record with the name. Fortunately, Stashower doesn’t have that restriction.

“American Demon” manages to piece together a true-crime story that has never adequately been told. Legends and fictionalized accounts of the Cleveland Torso Murders have popped up throughout the years, but anything resembling the truth was unavailable. That is, until Stashower’s excellent book came along.
]]> <![CDATA[The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America]]> 40961561
Egan narrates the struggles of the overmatched rangers against the implacable fire with unstoppable dramatic force. Equally dramatic is the larger story he tells of outsized president Teddy Roosevelt and his chief forester, Gifford Pinchot. Pioneering the notion of conservation, Roosevelt and Pinchot did nothing less than create the idea of public land as our national treasure, owned by and preserved for every citizen. The robber barons fought Roosevelt and Pinchot’s rangers, but the Big Burn saved the forests even as it destroyed them: the heroism shown by the rangers turned public opinion permanently in their favor and became the creation myth that drove the Forest Service, with consequences still felt in the way our national lands are protected  —  or not —  today.]]> 349 Timothy Egan Scott 5
The Great Fire of 1910—-also called the Big Blowup or the Big Burn—-could have been, unbelievably, a lot worse. Many more towns could have been destroyed and hundreds more lives would have been lost if it weren’t for one small government agency that hardly anybody knew existed and that was always one Congressional session away from being defunded: the U.S. Forest Service.

Timothy Egan’s wonderful book “The Big Burn” describes in horrific detail the events of those two days in an area of the Rockies covering parts of Idaho, Montana, Washington, and British Columbia. He tells the story of the brave and thankless young firefighters and forestry servicemen, many of whom gave their lives that day and many of whom are remembered, if at all, as footnotes in history. Egan gives many of these brave men names and faces.

It is the work of two men, though, that Egan attributes to the success of the Forest Service and its exalted place in this story—-Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot.

You may be familiar with the first name, of course. The boisterous, bigger-than-life character that was the 26th president of the U.S. (1900-1908), Roosevelt’s progressivism, strong campaigning for wildlife conservation, and the foundation of our national park systems laid the groundwork for early environmentalist efforts in this country.

The second name you may be less familiar with. Pinchot, a friend of Roosevelt’s, became the first official Forester of the Forest Service. The Service itself—-while existing in a very different form, function, and size prior to its distillation into the USFS in 1905—-is now the governmental agency in charge of overseeing the 154 national parks and 193 million acres of land in this country. Much of the authority that the USFS has today is, in large part, due to Pinchot’s efforts to turn a much-maligned and underfunded agency into one that many conservationists and environmentalists still consider a vital force.

There was a time in our history, Egan shows us, where the idea of protecting the environment and respecting our pristine wildlife was a foolish notion. Roosevelt and Pinchot’s views were considered by some to be, at best, ridiculously romantic and for others, at worst, dangerous.
It was the Gilded Age: a time of great wealth for some and great poverty for many others. The time of railroad tycoons and industrialists. The Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts. It was a time of raucous unchecked capitalism, something that Roosevelt saw as extremely dangerous and destructive. He foresaw the capitalist fat-cats railroading across the vast forests and prairies and mountain ranges of the West and destroying the beautiful natural world, so he did something about it. He attacked Big Business where it hurt them the most: the pocketbook. He created the national parks systems as a way to protect, for future generations, the natural world. At least, a part of it. It would be a place where no railroads could be built, no trees could be cut for the lumber industry, no vast swaths of forests could be cut down to build shopping malls or football stadiums or hotels.

But Big Business wasn’t going to take it lying down, course. Richard Ballinger, a political stooge for land barons, once told Pinchot that “[y]ou are hindering the development of the West. In my opinion, the proper course is to divide it up among the big corporations and let the people who know how to make money out of it get the benefits of the circulation of money. (p.95)” Ballinger’s views weren’t unique. It was the same view held by most of Congress.

If there is a villain in this story (and there must be, of course) it is Senator Weldon Heyburn, the man in Congress who had it in for Pinchot the minute Pinchot became the first Director of the USFS. He had hated Roosevelt and his progressive ideals, and he hated the idea of vast acres of protected lands going to waste out West. He made it his mission to completely underfund and strike down any policies that would help the USFS. This is also the same man who was on record as being against child labor laws. His actions would come back to haunt him in the months and years following the 1910 fire, when the USFS was seen as the true heroes of this story.

Egan’s book is a joy to read, which is an odd thing to say about a book about a huge natural disaster that resulted in 87 deaths, but Egan is that rare magical type of historian who manages to take boring dates and names and statistics and put a human face on them.]]> 4.25 2009 The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America
author: Timothy Egan
name: Scott
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2022/03/22
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, nonfiction, rich-people-suck
review:
Like all conflagrations, this one was inevitable—-but only in retrospect. The conditions were right, and each element that led to its inevitability had been coming together perfectly for years, if not decades. Ignorance, greed, myopia: all contributed to the perfect storm that resulted in an endgame of three million acres of destruction, 87 deaths, and well over a billion dollars in property damage. All of it happened within just two hot days in mid-August. It is considered the largest wildfire in American history. It happened in 1910.

The Great Fire of 1910—-also called the Big Blowup or the Big Burn—-could have been, unbelievably, a lot worse. Many more towns could have been destroyed and hundreds more lives would have been lost if it weren’t for one small government agency that hardly anybody knew existed and that was always one Congressional session away from being defunded: the U.S. Forest Service.

Timothy Egan’s wonderful book “The Big Burn” describes in horrific detail the events of those two days in an area of the Rockies covering parts of Idaho, Montana, Washington, and British Columbia. He tells the story of the brave and thankless young firefighters and forestry servicemen, many of whom gave their lives that day and many of whom are remembered, if at all, as footnotes in history. Egan gives many of these brave men names and faces.

It is the work of two men, though, that Egan attributes to the success of the Forest Service and its exalted place in this story—-Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot.

You may be familiar with the first name, of course. The boisterous, bigger-than-life character that was the 26th president of the U.S. (1900-1908), Roosevelt’s progressivism, strong campaigning for wildlife conservation, and the foundation of our national park systems laid the groundwork for early environmentalist efforts in this country.

The second name you may be less familiar with. Pinchot, a friend of Roosevelt’s, became the first official Forester of the Forest Service. The Service itself—-while existing in a very different form, function, and size prior to its distillation into the USFS in 1905—-is now the governmental agency in charge of overseeing the 154 national parks and 193 million acres of land in this country. Much of the authority that the USFS has today is, in large part, due to Pinchot’s efforts to turn a much-maligned and underfunded agency into one that many conservationists and environmentalists still consider a vital force.

There was a time in our history, Egan shows us, where the idea of protecting the environment and respecting our pristine wildlife was a foolish notion. Roosevelt and Pinchot’s views were considered by some to be, at best, ridiculously romantic and for others, at worst, dangerous.
It was the Gilded Age: a time of great wealth for some and great poverty for many others. The time of railroad tycoons and industrialists. The Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts. It was a time of raucous unchecked capitalism, something that Roosevelt saw as extremely dangerous and destructive. He foresaw the capitalist fat-cats railroading across the vast forests and prairies and mountain ranges of the West and destroying the beautiful natural world, so he did something about it. He attacked Big Business where it hurt them the most: the pocketbook. He created the national parks systems as a way to protect, for future generations, the natural world. At least, a part of it. It would be a place where no railroads could be built, no trees could be cut for the lumber industry, no vast swaths of forests could be cut down to build shopping malls or football stadiums or hotels.

But Big Business wasn’t going to take it lying down, course. Richard Ballinger, a political stooge for land barons, once told Pinchot that “[y]ou are hindering the development of the West. In my opinion, the proper course is to divide it up among the big corporations and let the people who know how to make money out of it get the benefits of the circulation of money. (p.95)” Ballinger’s views weren’t unique. It was the same view held by most of Congress.

If there is a villain in this story (and there must be, of course) it is Senator Weldon Heyburn, the man in Congress who had it in for Pinchot the minute Pinchot became the first Director of the USFS. He had hated Roosevelt and his progressive ideals, and he hated the idea of vast acres of protected lands going to waste out West. He made it his mission to completely underfund and strike down any policies that would help the USFS. This is also the same man who was on record as being against child labor laws. His actions would come back to haunt him in the months and years following the 1910 fire, when the USFS was seen as the true heroes of this story.

Egan’s book is a joy to read, which is an odd thing to say about a book about a huge natural disaster that resulted in 87 deaths, but Egan is that rare magical type of historian who manages to take boring dates and names and statistics and put a human face on them.
]]> <![CDATA[The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear]]> 56132724
The horrific conditions inside the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois, are overseen by Dr. Andrew McFarland, a man who will prove to be even more dangerous to Elizabeth than her traitorous husband. But most disturbing is that Elizabeth is not the only sane woman confined to the institution. There are many rational women on her ward who tell the same story: they've been committed not because they need medical treatment, but to keep them in line - conveniently labeled "crazy" so their voices are ignored.

No one is willing to fight for their freedom and, disenfranchised both by gender and the stigma of their supposed madness, they cannot possibly fight for themselves. But Elizabeth is about to discover that the merit of losing everything is that you then have nothing to lose...]]> 540 Kate Moore 1492696722 Scott 5 2022 Addendum: I read this in October last year, and it blew me away. Since Womens History Month is in full swing, I figured it might be a nice time to revisit some of these books by and about women who have had an impact on society, working to improve the lives of other women.

My vote for Best Nonfiction Book of 2021 is Kate Moore’s “The Woman They Could Not Silence”. It captures one’s attention immediately and keeps one rapt from beginning to end. It is equal parts terrifying and inspiring. It is one of the most frightening horror stories I have read in recent years, made all the more horrifying by the fact that it is a true story.

The fact that the majority of the book takes place in an insane asylum should give the reader some idea of where it is going, and he or she wouldn’t be wrong. But, as Moore says in the very beginning, “This is not a book about mental health, but about how it can be used as a weapon.”

Elizabeth Packard was a loving housewife and mother of six, living in Illinois. In 1860, just as the Civil War was in its very early stages, her husband Theophilus, a Presbyterian minister, was secretly planning on having her committed. He felt that she was insane, and that her state of mind posed a threat to both him and her children. What was his reasoning for this diagnosis? Quite simply, his wife was a pro-abolitionist. He was not. He considered her insane because she had a mind of her own.

Now, you and I, living in the 21st century, would think that he was the insane one. Unfortunately, Mrs. Packard was a married woman living in Illinois in 1860. Under Illinois law, Mrs. Packard had absolutely no legal rights whatsoever. Women essentially waived their rights away when they got married. They became property of their husbands, and their husbands could make any and all legal and financial decisions for their wives. This included deeming their wives insane and having them committed, without a trial and without any ability for wives to appeal.

So, one day, a group of men, including the sheriff, arrived at the Packard home and dragged Mrs. Packard away. She was sent to the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, IL, run by an esteemed doctor, Andrew McFarland. It was in Dr. McFarland that she saw a man of intelligence. Certainly she could get him to see reason.

Beneath McFarland’s kind and gentle disposition, however, lurked a dark and dispassionate soul. It took some time for Mrs. Packard to realize it, and by then, she had been thrown into the deepest, darkest pit of the hospital: a Ward where lost causes and truly dangerous inmates were hidden from view of the public and forgotten.

What nobody imagined or considered was the fact that Mrs. Packard was not only sane but also far more intelligent than anyone gave her credit for and determined to regain her freedom at all costs.

What follows is a taut, thrilling story of a battle of wills and intellect that resulted in one woman bringing down an entire institution, revolutionizing the field of mental health in this country, and lighting the spark that would eventually lead to the feminist movement.

As history, Moore’s book is important as it illuminates a story that was, even in its own time, subsumed by a bigger story: the Civil War. Moore manages to recognize, and mirror, the events of the war with Mrs. Packard’s story, juxtaposing the struggles of the nation—-North against South, black vs. white—-that paralleled Mrs. Packard’s struggles of women vs. men.]]> 4.29 2021 The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear
author: Kate Moore
name: Scott
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/10/27
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: female-issues, history, mental-illness, nonfiction, law, politics
review:
2022 Addendum: I read this in October last year, and it blew me away. Since Womens History Month is in full swing, I figured it might be a nice time to revisit some of these books by and about women who have had an impact on society, working to improve the lives of other women.

My vote for Best Nonfiction Book of 2021 is Kate Moore’s “The Woman They Could Not Silence”. It captures one’s attention immediately and keeps one rapt from beginning to end. It is equal parts terrifying and inspiring. It is one of the most frightening horror stories I have read in recent years, made all the more horrifying by the fact that it is a true story.

The fact that the majority of the book takes place in an insane asylum should give the reader some idea of where it is going, and he or she wouldn’t be wrong. But, as Moore says in the very beginning, “This is not a book about mental health, but about how it can be used as a weapon.”

Elizabeth Packard was a loving housewife and mother of six, living in Illinois. In 1860, just as the Civil War was in its very early stages, her husband Theophilus, a Presbyterian minister, was secretly planning on having her committed. He felt that she was insane, and that her state of mind posed a threat to both him and her children. What was his reasoning for this diagnosis? Quite simply, his wife was a pro-abolitionist. He was not. He considered her insane because she had a mind of her own.

Now, you and I, living in the 21st century, would think that he was the insane one. Unfortunately, Mrs. Packard was a married woman living in Illinois in 1860. Under Illinois law, Mrs. Packard had absolutely no legal rights whatsoever. Women essentially waived their rights away when they got married. They became property of their husbands, and their husbands could make any and all legal and financial decisions for their wives. This included deeming their wives insane and having them committed, without a trial and without any ability for wives to appeal.

So, one day, a group of men, including the sheriff, arrived at the Packard home and dragged Mrs. Packard away. She was sent to the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, IL, run by an esteemed doctor, Andrew McFarland. It was in Dr. McFarland that she saw a man of intelligence. Certainly she could get him to see reason.

Beneath McFarland’s kind and gentle disposition, however, lurked a dark and dispassionate soul. It took some time for Mrs. Packard to realize it, and by then, she had been thrown into the deepest, darkest pit of the hospital: a Ward where lost causes and truly dangerous inmates were hidden from view of the public and forgotten.

What nobody imagined or considered was the fact that Mrs. Packard was not only sane but also far more intelligent than anyone gave her credit for and determined to regain her freedom at all costs.

What follows is a taut, thrilling story of a battle of wills and intellect that resulted in one woman bringing down an entire institution, revolutionizing the field of mental health in this country, and lighting the spark that would eventually lead to the feminist movement.

As history, Moore’s book is important as it illuminates a story that was, even in its own time, subsumed by a bigger story: the Civil War. Moore manages to recognize, and mirror, the events of the war with Mrs. Packard’s story, juxtaposing the struggles of the nation—-North against South, black vs. white—-that paralleled Mrs. Packard’s struggles of women vs. men.
]]> <![CDATA[A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America]]> 52576769 480 Philip Rucker 198487750X Scott 5 8/30/2024 addendum: This is what happens when a team of great reporters does their job really well, conducting great interviews and researching the shit out of a subject who, daily, sticks his foot in his dumb mouth...

“A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America” is Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig’s behind-the-scenes reportage of the Trump White House in all its Technicolor surrealism and insanity. It covers the first three years of the presidency, up until his first impeachment trial over abuse of power regarding Ukraine. Trump’s last year in office is enough to fill an entire book, which is exactly what Rucker/Leonnig did in their follow-up book “I Alone Can Fix It”, which I also plan on reading.

Rucker and Leonnig are both reporters for The Washington Post, and they are both Pullitzer Prize winners. I realize, to some, neither of those things will be impressive. Indeed, to a significant percentage of the population, those are two reasons not to read the book, as these are the people that believe Rucker/Leonnig represent the “fake news” industry, the sole purpose of which was to destroy Trump’s presidency. Personally, I think Trump did a good job of destroying his own presidency from within.

From Day One, as Rucker/Leonnig point out, Trump had an unusually weird relationship with the Truth. There was Reality, and then there was Trump’s Reality, and never the twain shall meet. Take, for example, Trump’s assertion that his inaugural attendance was the largest (nay “yugest”) attendance of any inauguration ever, This was, of course, in clear contradiction of the facts, but facts—-as we were to learn—-were quite negotiable and prone to change in Trump’s world.

Cabinet members, aides, and staff members were also subject to change frequently, as Trump, early on, began a carousel of hiring and firing. Of course, there was also the numerous people who resigned willingly. Among the latter was U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who has been on record as saying that Trump’s presidency was a “shitshow”. Amazingly, Mattis lasted in his post until September 2019. He handed in his resignation after Trump decided to pull U.S. troops out of Syria immediately, in direct contradiction of recommendations by his national security advisers. Mattis, since, hasn’t had many nice things to say about Trump. Go figure.

The winner has to be Rex Tillerson’s famous under-the-breath comment that Trump was “a fucking moron”. Rucker/Leonnig set up the scene and the context of the statement in full detail in the book. Tillerson—-someone I had neither good or ill feelings about—-gained a bit of respect in my eyes after reading what led up to the statement. After bashing military commanders—-calling them “dopes and babies” to their faces—-and saying that the U.S. should be charging countries like South Korea a shitload of money to have U.S. bases there—-Trump’s lack of tact and intelligence finally got to him. Tillerson couldn’t take it anymore. According to Rucker/Leonnig (who interviewed the soldiers, aides, and commanders in the room), Tillerson stood up with his back to Trump and said, “I’ve never put on a uniform, but I know this. Every person who has put on a uniform, the people in this room, they don’t do it to make a buck. They did it for their country, to protect us. I want everyone to be clear about how much we as a country value their service. (p. 268)”

It’s sad that something as simple as saying “the men and women of the U.S. military deserve our respect” should go without saying, but Trump will never understand or appreciate that sense of self-sacrifice. So, kudos to Tillerson for at least trying to get through to him.

There’s a lot to talk about in this book. I could talk about Trump’s visit to Pearl Harbor in which he turned to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and whispered the question, “What’s this all about? What’s this a tour of?” Seriously. It’s on p. 255.

Or I could talk about the humorous near-miss that Chris Christie had when Trump, after firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, asked him to be the AG. Christie, smartly, turned it down.

Or I could talk about Trump’s nearly psychotic rants as a response to Mueller’s investigation.

I could, but I won’t. Rucker/Leonnig do a much better job of it. This is top-notch journalism at its finest. Never mind the grumbles of “fake news” from that fucking moron over there in Mar-a-lago.]]> 4.10 2020 A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America
author: Philip Rucker
name: Scott
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/08/25
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, nonfiction, politics, trump-studies, presidents-u-s-a
review:
8/30/2024 addendum: This is what happens when a team of great reporters does their job really well, conducting great interviews and researching the shit out of a subject who, daily, sticks his foot in his dumb mouth...

“A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America” is Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig’s behind-the-scenes reportage of the Trump White House in all its Technicolor surrealism and insanity. It covers the first three years of the presidency, up until his first impeachment trial over abuse of power regarding Ukraine. Trump’s last year in office is enough to fill an entire book, which is exactly what Rucker/Leonnig did in their follow-up book “I Alone Can Fix It”, which I also plan on reading.

Rucker and Leonnig are both reporters for The Washington Post, and they are both Pullitzer Prize winners. I realize, to some, neither of those things will be impressive. Indeed, to a significant percentage of the population, those are two reasons not to read the book, as these are the people that believe Rucker/Leonnig represent the “fake news” industry, the sole purpose of which was to destroy Trump’s presidency. Personally, I think Trump did a good job of destroying his own presidency from within.

From Day One, as Rucker/Leonnig point out, Trump had an unusually weird relationship with the Truth. There was Reality, and then there was Trump’s Reality, and never the twain shall meet. Take, for example, Trump’s assertion that his inaugural attendance was the largest (nay “yugest”) attendance of any inauguration ever, This was, of course, in clear contradiction of the facts, but facts—-as we were to learn—-were quite negotiable and prone to change in Trump’s world.

Cabinet members, aides, and staff members were also subject to change frequently, as Trump, early on, began a carousel of hiring and firing. Of course, there was also the numerous people who resigned willingly. Among the latter was U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who has been on record as saying that Trump’s presidency was a “shitshow”. Amazingly, Mattis lasted in his post until September 2019. He handed in his resignation after Trump decided to pull U.S. troops out of Syria immediately, in direct contradiction of recommendations by his national security advisers. Mattis, since, hasn’t had many nice things to say about Trump. Go figure.

The winner has to be Rex Tillerson’s famous under-the-breath comment that Trump was “a fucking moron”. Rucker/Leonnig set up the scene and the context of the statement in full detail in the book. Tillerson—-someone I had neither good or ill feelings about—-gained a bit of respect in my eyes after reading what led up to the statement. After bashing military commanders—-calling them “dopes and babies” to their faces—-and saying that the U.S. should be charging countries like South Korea a shitload of money to have U.S. bases there—-Trump’s lack of tact and intelligence finally got to him. Tillerson couldn’t take it anymore. According to Rucker/Leonnig (who interviewed the soldiers, aides, and commanders in the room), Tillerson stood up with his back to Trump and said, “I’ve never put on a uniform, but I know this. Every person who has put on a uniform, the people in this room, they don’t do it to make a buck. They did it for their country, to protect us. I want everyone to be clear about how much we as a country value their service. (p. 268)”

It’s sad that something as simple as saying “the men and women of the U.S. military deserve our respect” should go without saying, but Trump will never understand or appreciate that sense of self-sacrifice. So, kudos to Tillerson for at least trying to get through to him.

There’s a lot to talk about in this book. I could talk about Trump’s visit to Pearl Harbor in which he turned to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and whispered the question, “What’s this all about? What’s this a tour of?” Seriously. It’s on p. 255.

Or I could talk about the humorous near-miss that Chris Christie had when Trump, after firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, asked him to be the AG. Christie, smartly, turned it down.

Or I could talk about Trump’s nearly psychotic rants as a response to Mueller’s investigation.

I could, but I won’t. Rucker/Leonnig do a much better job of it. This is top-notch journalism at its finest. Never mind the grumbles of “fake news” from that fucking moron over there in Mar-a-lago.
]]> <![CDATA[The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI]]> 17262123
It begins in 1971 in an America being split apart by the Vietnam War . . . A small group of activists—eight men and women—the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI, inspired by Daniel Berrigan’s rebellious Catholic peace movement, set out to use a more active, but nonviolent, method of civil disobedience to provide hard evidence once and for all that the government was operating outside the laws of the land.
           
The would-be burglars—nonpro’s—were ordinary people leading lives of purpose: a professor of religion and former freedom rider; a day-care director; a physicist; a cab driver; an antiwar activist, a lock picker; a graduate student haunted by members of her family lost to the Holocaust and the passivity of German civilians under Nazi rule.

Betty Medsger's extraordinary book re-creates in resonant detail how this group of unknowing thieves, in their meticulous planning of the burglary, scouted out the low-security FBI building in a small town just west of Philadelphia, taking into consideration every possible factor, and how they planned the break-in for the night of the long-anticipated boxing match between Joe Frazier (war supporter and friend to President Nixon) and Muhammad Ali (convicted for refusing to serve in the military), knowing that all would be fixated on their televisions and radios.

Medsger writes that the burglars removed all of the FBI files and, with the utmost deliberation, released them to various journalists and members of Congress, soon upending the public’s perception of the inviolate head of the Bureau and paving the way for the first overhaul of the FBI since Hoover became its director in 1924.  And we see how the release of the FBI files to the press set the stage for the sensational release three months later, by Daniel Ellsberg, of the top-secret, seven-thousand-page Pentagon study on U.S. decision-making regarding the Vietnam War, which became known as the Pentagon Papers.
           
At the heart of the heist—and the book—the contents of the FBI files revealing J. Edgar Hoover’s “secret counterintelligence program” COINTELPRO, set up in 1956 to investigate and disrupt dissident political groups in the United States in order “to enhance the paranoia endemic in these circles,” to make clear to all Americans that an FBI agent was “behind every mailbox,” a plan that would discredit, destabilize, and demoralize groups, many of them legal civil rights organizations and antiwar groups that Hoover found offensive—as well as black power groups, student activists, antidraft protestors, conscientious objectors.

The author, the first reporter to receive the FBI files, began to cover this story during the three years she worked for The Washington Post and continued her investigation long after she'd left the paper, figuring out who the burglars were, and convincing them, after decades of silence, to come forward and tell their extraordinary story. 

The Burglary is an important and riveting book, a portrait of the potential power of non­violent resistance and the destructive power of excessive government secrecy and spying.]]> 538 Betty Medsger 0307962954 Scott 5 “It had never occurred to [J. Edgar Hoover] that some people cared so much about the Constitution and the right to dissent it guaranteed that they would be willing to risk their freedom in order to get access to his secret files to determine if he and the FBI were destroying that right. Since the Cold War, he had expected Americans to behave like lambs. The possibility that some Americans could be lions and break into his secret den was unimaginable. (p. 135)”

”A propagandist more than a cop, Hoover helped inaugurate a merciless publicity environment that again and again depicted the United States as a society under siege. (p. 259)” ---Stuart Ewen, historian


For boxing fans, the evening of March 8, 1971 was an historic occasion. “The Fight of the Century”, as it became known, pitted boxing greats Joe Frazier against Muhammad Ali. Madison Square Garden, where it took place, was standing room only. Across the country, millions stared at their TV sets to watch the fight.

Unbeknownst to most people, another historic event took place that night, one that the participants involved in didn’t want anyone to know about. Eight people, after many weeks of planning, broke into a seemingly innocuous building in the small town of Media, Pennsylvania. The building was the site of an FBI office that housed hundreds of thousands of files. The eight burglars successfully broke in and stole away into the night with those files. They literally got away with the perfect heist.

The repercussions of that burglary would be felt for decades to come and would alter the landscape of the entire country. This isn’t hyperbole. This is what happened.

Betty Medsger, a young journalist for The Washington Post at the time, has spent a majority of her life investigating the truth behind the Media burglary, a case that the FBI spent thousands of manpower hours and millions of dollars to solve, unsuccessfully. Medsger herself uncovered a major clue through fate, as two of the burglars turned out to be friends of hers. They confessed to the crime to Medsger and helped her flesh out the story. And what a story.

Medsger’s research and hard work culminated in the 2014 book, “The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI”, a fascinating, horrifying, and unputdownable read, to say the least.

It was no secret that Hoover was on a crusade to root out communism in the United States. What was a secret was the unethical and, in many cases, illegal methods by which he went about it. Not only that, but Hoover’s crusade to “clean up” the U.S. employed an ever-widening broom that swept up anti-war activists, black people, homosexuals, feminists, and anybody who criticized the government or the FBI (and specifically Hoover). The guy hated anybody who wasn’t white, wealthy, and “patriotic”, as defined by his own personal narrow definition of patriotism.

Hoover was, by all accounts, both terrified and livid about the Media burglary (MEDBURG as it became known in FBI files). He reallocated agents and resources to finding the burglars in order to both keep the files from seeing the light of day and destroying their lives. Neither things happened.

The burglars, after careful reading, doled out the files to every major news publication in the country, as well as elected officials that they felt would find the information useful. Once the information in the files hit the evening news, it was the end of Hoover. It was also the start of a domino effect within the FBI and the government, one that would eventually lead to Daniel Ellsburg’s release of the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal that would bring down President Richard Nixon.

There would also be a major sea-change in the way Americans viewed their government. The information revealed in the MEDBURG files finally confirmed to the few Americans that suspected the truth that their own government was truly out to get them. They weren’t just being paranoid. Americans who, prior to MEDBURG, completely trusted their government, began to realize that their government did not always have their best interests at heart. These views linger today.

Sadly, of course, the government’s secret illegalities and improprieties also still linger today, probably in worse and more damaging ways. Hoover’s legacy of capitalizing on people’s fears and insecurities, his almost gleeful desire to pit Americans against each other, and his hatred and obsessive campaign to stifle dissent is alive and well in our present government.

The eight burglars of the MEDBURG incident are, in my opinion, heroes. And Medsger should be commended for finally telling their story in this compelling book.]]> 3.98 2014 The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI
author: Betty Medsger
name: Scott
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2020/09/19
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, nonfiction, true-crime, civil-rights, crime, law, politics, 70s
review:
“It had never occurred to [J. Edgar Hoover] that some people cared so much about the Constitution and the right to dissent it guaranteed that they would be willing to risk their freedom in order to get access to his secret files to determine if he and the FBI were destroying that right. Since the Cold War, he had expected Americans to behave like lambs. The possibility that some Americans could be lions and break into his secret den was unimaginable. (p. 135)”

”A propagandist more than a cop, Hoover helped inaugurate a merciless publicity environment that again and again depicted the United States as a society under siege. (p. 259)” ---Stuart Ewen, historian


For boxing fans, the evening of March 8, 1971 was an historic occasion. “The Fight of the Century”, as it became known, pitted boxing greats Joe Frazier against Muhammad Ali. Madison Square Garden, where it took place, was standing room only. Across the country, millions stared at their TV sets to watch the fight.

Unbeknownst to most people, another historic event took place that night, one that the participants involved in didn’t want anyone to know about. Eight people, after many weeks of planning, broke into a seemingly innocuous building in the small town of Media, Pennsylvania. The building was the site of an FBI office that housed hundreds of thousands of files. The eight burglars successfully broke in and stole away into the night with those files. They literally got away with the perfect heist.

The repercussions of that burglary would be felt for decades to come and would alter the landscape of the entire country. This isn’t hyperbole. This is what happened.

Betty Medsger, a young journalist for The Washington Post at the time, has spent a majority of her life investigating the truth behind the Media burglary, a case that the FBI spent thousands of manpower hours and millions of dollars to solve, unsuccessfully. Medsger herself uncovered a major clue through fate, as two of the burglars turned out to be friends of hers. They confessed to the crime to Medsger and helped her flesh out the story. And what a story.

Medsger’s research and hard work culminated in the 2014 book, “The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI”, a fascinating, horrifying, and unputdownable read, to say the least.

It was no secret that Hoover was on a crusade to root out communism in the United States. What was a secret was the unethical and, in many cases, illegal methods by which he went about it. Not only that, but Hoover’s crusade to “clean up” the U.S. employed an ever-widening broom that swept up anti-war activists, black people, homosexuals, feminists, and anybody who criticized the government or the FBI (and specifically Hoover). The guy hated anybody who wasn’t white, wealthy, and “patriotic”, as defined by his own personal narrow definition of patriotism.

Hoover was, by all accounts, both terrified and livid about the Media burglary (MEDBURG as it became known in FBI files). He reallocated agents and resources to finding the burglars in order to both keep the files from seeing the light of day and destroying their lives. Neither things happened.

The burglars, after careful reading, doled out the files to every major news publication in the country, as well as elected officials that they felt would find the information useful. Once the information in the files hit the evening news, it was the end of Hoover. It was also the start of a domino effect within the FBI and the government, one that would eventually lead to Daniel Ellsburg’s release of the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal that would bring down President Richard Nixon.

There would also be a major sea-change in the way Americans viewed their government. The information revealed in the MEDBURG files finally confirmed to the few Americans that suspected the truth that their own government was truly out to get them. They weren’t just being paranoid. Americans who, prior to MEDBURG, completely trusted their government, began to realize that their government did not always have their best interests at heart. These views linger today.

Sadly, of course, the government’s secret illegalities and improprieties also still linger today, probably in worse and more damaging ways. Hoover’s legacy of capitalizing on people’s fears and insecurities, his almost gleeful desire to pit Americans against each other, and his hatred and obsessive campaign to stifle dissent is alive and well in our present government.

The eight burglars of the MEDBURG incident are, in my opinion, heroes. And Medsger should be commended for finally telling their story in this compelling book.
]]> <![CDATA[George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution]]> 17707603 When General George Washington beat a hasty retreat from New York City in August 1776, many thought the American Revolution might soon be over. Instead, Washington rallied thanks in large part to a little-known, top-secret group called the Culper Spy Ring.

Washington realized that he could not beat the British with military might, so he recruited a sophisticated and deeply secretive intelligence network to infiltrate New York. So carefully guarded were the members identities that one spy s name was not uncovered until the twentieth century, and one remains unknown today. But by now, historians have discovered enough information about the ring s activities to piece together evidence that these six individuals turned the tide of the war.

Drawing on extensive research, Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger have painted compelling portraits of George Washington s secret six:

Robert Townsend, the reserved Quaker merchant and reporter who headed the Culper Ring, keeping his identity secret even from Washington; Austin Roe, the tavern keeper who risked his employment and his life in order to protect the mission; Caleb Brewster, the brash young longshoreman who loved baiting the British and agreed to ferry messages between Connecticut and New York; Abraham Woodhull, the curmudgeonly (and surprisingly nervous) Long Island bachelor with business and family excuses for traveling to Manhattan; James Rivington, the owner of a posh coffeehouse and print shop where high-ranking British officers gossiped about secret operations; Agent 355, a woman whose identity remains unknown but who seems to have used her wit and charm to coax officers to share vital secrets.

In" George Washington s Secret Six," Townsend and his fellow spies finally receive their due, taking their place among the pantheon of heroes of the American Revolution."]]> 235 Brian Kilmeade 159523103X Scott 3 Fox & Friends, has said and done things that would make any sensible and intelligent person cringe is true, but it didn’t stop me from reading his book, “George Washington’s Secret Six: the Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution”.

Maybe it’s because I don’t watch Fox & Friends, so I don’t know who Kilmeade is. Or maybe it’s because I’m such a sucker for history, I will read just about anything history-related (especially early Colonial American history). Whatever the case, I read it. It was pretty good.

That may not sound like a glowing endorsement (Trump himself has a blurb on the back, calling it “[a] historical gem.” As if he actually read the book...), but as someone who has read books by authors and historians like Alan Taylor and Nathaniel Philbrick (both Pulitzer Prize winners, by the way), it’s as glowing an endorsement as I’m allowing myself.

Kilmeade (along with co-author Don Yaeger) are not historians. They may like history, but that does not make them historians. Both Kilmeade and Yaeger are, according to their own bios, sports writers. I’m certainly not saying that sports writers can’t write books about history. I’m merely saying that sports writers and historians probably come at things differently. Maybe it’s wrong, but a history book by Taylor or Philbrick is going to hold a little more weight, for me, than anything by Kilmeade or Yaeger.

Politically, as mentioned before, Kilmeade has proven himself to be one of the many pro-Trump stooges on FOX News. His generally ultra-conservative views were a red flag, for me, when I was considering reading this. I hate thinking that, but it’s true. History should be nonpartisan, but as with everything nowadays, history is political. To be fair, this book did not appear to be pushing any agenda other than information and entertainment.

It should also be noted (and hopefully not in a judgmental or negative way) that Kilmeade/Yaeger have written in a style that is fairly simplistic and seemingly targeted toward a young adult audience. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, but if we are to compare Taylor and Philbrick’s writing styles with Kilmeade/Yaeger, it would be apples to oranges. This is not a qualitative argument. I’m not saying one style is better than another. I’m merely pointing out a difference.

Maybe it’s not fair to compare Kilmeade to rock-star historians like Taylor and Philbrick, but Kilmeade basically opened the door himself to such comparisons when he decided to write a book about an important and overlooked aspect of the American Revolution, namely the Culper Ring, the secret inner circle of spies created by George Washington himself as a way of gathering vital intelligence on the British. The identities of the spies were a secret up until 1929, when historian Morton Pennybacker accidentally discovered the names of several of the spies in the records of the Townsend family, a well-to-do New York family.

The rest, as they say, is history. And Kilmeade/ Yaeger has succeeded in writing an entertaining and readable one. Strangely enough, it is also somewhat apropos to today’s current political climate as a book that points out the importance of intelligence gathering, a point that Kilmeade (who published this in 2013) may have a different take on today, given his status as a pro-Trump stooge.

The two have also co-written two other books of history involving our founding fathers. I plan on reading them as well.]]> 3.79 2013 George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
author: Brian Kilmeade
name: Scott
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2018/11/26
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: espionage, history, nonfiction
review:
That Brian Kilmeade, one of the co-hosts of the FOX News morning show Fox & Friends, has said and done things that would make any sensible and intelligent person cringe is true, but it didn’t stop me from reading his book, “George Washington’s Secret Six: the Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution”.

Maybe it’s because I don’t watch Fox & Friends, so I don’t know who Kilmeade is. Or maybe it’s because I’m such a sucker for history, I will read just about anything history-related (especially early Colonial American history). Whatever the case, I read it. It was pretty good.

That may not sound like a glowing endorsement (Trump himself has a blurb on the back, calling it “[a] historical gem.” As if he actually read the book...), but as someone who has read books by authors and historians like Alan Taylor and Nathaniel Philbrick (both Pulitzer Prize winners, by the way), it’s as glowing an endorsement as I’m allowing myself.

Kilmeade (along with co-author Don Yaeger) are not historians. They may like history, but that does not make them historians. Both Kilmeade and Yaeger are, according to their own bios, sports writers. I’m certainly not saying that sports writers can’t write books about history. I’m merely saying that sports writers and historians probably come at things differently. Maybe it’s wrong, but a history book by Taylor or Philbrick is going to hold a little more weight, for me, than anything by Kilmeade or Yaeger.

Politically, as mentioned before, Kilmeade has proven himself to be one of the many pro-Trump stooges on FOX News. His generally ultra-conservative views were a red flag, for me, when I was considering reading this. I hate thinking that, but it’s true. History should be nonpartisan, but as with everything nowadays, history is political. To be fair, this book did not appear to be pushing any agenda other than information and entertainment.

It should also be noted (and hopefully not in a judgmental or negative way) that Kilmeade/Yaeger have written in a style that is fairly simplistic and seemingly targeted toward a young adult audience. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, but if we are to compare Taylor and Philbrick’s writing styles with Kilmeade/Yaeger, it would be apples to oranges. This is not a qualitative argument. I’m not saying one style is better than another. I’m merely pointing out a difference.

Maybe it’s not fair to compare Kilmeade to rock-star historians like Taylor and Philbrick, but Kilmeade basically opened the door himself to such comparisons when he decided to write a book about an important and overlooked aspect of the American Revolution, namely the Culper Ring, the secret inner circle of spies created by George Washington himself as a way of gathering vital intelligence on the British. The identities of the spies were a secret up until 1929, when historian Morton Pennybacker accidentally discovered the names of several of the spies in the records of the Townsend family, a well-to-do New York family.

The rest, as they say, is history. And Kilmeade/ Yaeger has succeeded in writing an entertaining and readable one. Strangely enough, it is also somewhat apropos to today’s current political climate as a book that points out the importance of intelligence gathering, a point that Kilmeade (who published this in 2013) may have a different take on today, given his status as a pro-Trump stooge.

The two have also co-written two other books of history involving our founding fathers. I plan on reading them as well.
]]> <![CDATA[Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI]]> 29496076 A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history.

In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.

Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. One Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, watched as her family was murdered. Her older sister was shot. Her mother was then slowly poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more Osage began to die under mysterious circumstances.

In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes such as Al Spencer, “the Phantom Terror,” roamed – virtually anyone who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll surpassed more than twenty-four Osage, the newly created F.B.I. took up the case, in what became one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations. But the bureau was then notoriously corrupt and initially bungled the case. Eventually the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only Native American agents in the bureau. They infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest modern techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most sinister conspiracies in American history.

In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. The book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward Native Americans that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly riveting, but also emotionally devastating.]]> 359 David Grann 0385534256 Scott 5
Forced onto reservations in Oklahoma and northern Texas, the Osage ultimately made peace with their captors. The white man had won. In an unbelievably cosmic case of irony, however, it was discovered that the Osage reservation had been built on land that held some of the largest oil reserves in the country. By the 1920s, most of the members of the Osage tribe were wealthy beyond belief. Some were multi-millionaires, building mansions in the dry Oklahoma country, driving fancy cars, and giving their children the opportunities and luxuries that they were never given or ever imagined capable of having.

As the saying goes, though, money is the root of all evil, and evil lurked in the Oklahoma hills.

Author David Grann’s recent book, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a nail-biting account of greed, malevolence, racism, and murder in the 1920s. While it reads like a suspenseful murder mystery, it is all the more disturbing in that it is nonfiction.

During the 1920s, whole families of the Osage tribe were mysteriously being murdered. They were dying of mysterious illnesses, most likely attributed to poisoning of some kind, while others were found shot or stabbed to death. In one famous case, an entire Osage family home was bombed, killing everyone inside, including a white servant.

Newspapers all across the country called it the “Reign of Terror”. Attempts at investigations were stymied due to the fact that local law enforcement, business owners, judges, and politicians were more than likely to be benefitting, financially, from the murders. In a few cases, white law enforcement officers and private detectives who were digging too deep to find the truth were also being killed. It is estimated that over 60 people were murdered during this period. Everyone knew that justice would not be found at the local or state level for the Osage tribe.

So, a few members of the tribe travelled east to Washington, D.C., to beg help from a fairly-new governmental agency. The agency was called the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was led by a man named J. Edgar Hoover.

The FBI investigation, under the leadership of Tom White, immediately ran into some trouble. Agents continually were stonewalled by members of the community (mostly white) who refused to give up information. White and his agents also couldn’t trust the local law enforcement. Even the coroners who conducted autopsies on the victims couldn’t be trusted, as White suspected them of concealing or destroying evidence.

What saved White, a former Texas Ranger, and his agents was something unexpected: science. At the time, fingerprinting was just starting to be used in law enforcement. National databases didn’t yet exist, but the use of fingerprinting helped them to get information that they normally may have missed.

Eventually they built up a strong case against several men in the community, some of them known criminals but others well-known and well-liked pillars. One of those men was William Hale, a self-professed “friend of the Osage” who was beloved by his fellow townspeople as well as members of the Osage. White had built a strong case that suggested Hale was ordering the murders of the Osage tribe in order to get life-insurance money. His nephew was married to an Osage woman, who was worth (in 1920s dollars) millions. White’s evidence against Hale was strong, but would it matter if Hale (as he confidently claimed) had rigged the juries and bought enough of the townspeople to ensure that he would walk?

Grann’s book is a fascinating and disturbing examination of an incident in American history that has been glossed over and forgotten. It paints an ugly picture of a virulent and violent racism that has never really gone away, as the recent rise in racist hate crimes and white nationalism can attest.

At the same time, though, it is a surprisingly strong endorsement of the importance of the FBI, and the reason why it was created in the first place. Certainly, the FBI could use a boost these days.]]> 4.12 2017 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
author: David Grann
name: Scott
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2018/04/18
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: crime, history, native-american, true-crime, nonfiction, western
review:
At the turn of the last century, some of the wealthiest people in the United States were those that most people would not have expected to be wealthy. They lived on government-allotted land. English, for many, was their second language. Many racist white people in this country barely considered them human. They were Native Americans, specifically members of the Osage tribe. Hundreds of years before the white man started appearing on the shores of this country, the Osage ruled a vast area of the Midwest. They once were numbered in the millions. Today, only about 10,000 members of the Osage tribe are extant.

Forced onto reservations in Oklahoma and northern Texas, the Osage ultimately made peace with their captors. The white man had won. In an unbelievably cosmic case of irony, however, it was discovered that the Osage reservation had been built on land that held some of the largest oil reserves in the country. By the 1920s, most of the members of the Osage tribe were wealthy beyond belief. Some were multi-millionaires, building mansions in the dry Oklahoma country, driving fancy cars, and giving their children the opportunities and luxuries that they were never given or ever imagined capable of having.

As the saying goes, though, money is the root of all evil, and evil lurked in the Oklahoma hills.

Author David Grann’s recent book, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a nail-biting account of greed, malevolence, racism, and murder in the 1920s. While it reads like a suspenseful murder mystery, it is all the more disturbing in that it is nonfiction.

During the 1920s, whole families of the Osage tribe were mysteriously being murdered. They were dying of mysterious illnesses, most likely attributed to poisoning of some kind, while others were found shot or stabbed to death. In one famous case, an entire Osage family home was bombed, killing everyone inside, including a white servant.

Newspapers all across the country called it the “Reign of Terror”. Attempts at investigations were stymied due to the fact that local law enforcement, business owners, judges, and politicians were more than likely to be benefitting, financially, from the murders. In a few cases, white law enforcement officers and private detectives who were digging too deep to find the truth were also being killed. It is estimated that over 60 people were murdered during this period. Everyone knew that justice would not be found at the local or state level for the Osage tribe.

So, a few members of the tribe travelled east to Washington, D.C., to beg help from a fairly-new governmental agency. The agency was called the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was led by a man named J. Edgar Hoover.

The FBI investigation, under the leadership of Tom White, immediately ran into some trouble. Agents continually were stonewalled by members of the community (mostly white) who refused to give up information. White and his agents also couldn’t trust the local law enforcement. Even the coroners who conducted autopsies on the victims couldn’t be trusted, as White suspected them of concealing or destroying evidence.

What saved White, a former Texas Ranger, and his agents was something unexpected: science. At the time, fingerprinting was just starting to be used in law enforcement. National databases didn’t yet exist, but the use of fingerprinting helped them to get information that they normally may have missed.

Eventually they built up a strong case against several men in the community, some of them known criminals but others well-known and well-liked pillars. One of those men was William Hale, a self-professed “friend of the Osage” who was beloved by his fellow townspeople as well as members of the Osage. White had built a strong case that suggested Hale was ordering the murders of the Osage tribe in order to get life-insurance money. His nephew was married to an Osage woman, who was worth (in 1920s dollars) millions. White’s evidence against Hale was strong, but would it matter if Hale (as he confidently claimed) had rigged the juries and bought enough of the townspeople to ensure that he would walk?

Grann’s book is a fascinating and disturbing examination of an incident in American history that has been glossed over and forgotten. It paints an ugly picture of a virulent and violent racism that has never really gone away, as the recent rise in racist hate crimes and white nationalism can attest.

At the same time, though, it is a surprisingly strong endorsement of the importance of the FBI, and the reason why it was created in the first place. Certainly, the FBI could use a boost these days.
]]> <![CDATA[Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution (The American Revolution Series)]]> 26109390 From the New York Times bestselling author of In The Heart of the Sea, comes a surprising account of the middle years of the American Revolution, and the tragic relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold.
 
In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental Army under an unsure George Washington (who had never commanded a large force in battle) evacuates New York after a devastating defeat by the British Army. Three weeks later, near the Canadian border, one of his favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeds in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have ended the war. Four years later, as the book ends, Washington has vanquished his demons and Arnold has fled to the enemy after a foiled attempt to surrender the American fortress at West Point to the British. After four years of war, America is forced to realize that the real threat to its liberties might not come from without but from within.

Valiant Ambition is a complex, controversial, and dramatic portrait of a people in crisis and the war that gave birth to a nation. The focus is on loyalty and personal integrity, evoking a Shakespearean tragedy that unfolds in the key relationship of Washington and Arnold, who is an impulsive but sympathetic hero whose misfortunes at the hands of self-serving politicians fatally destroy his faith in the legitimacy of the rebellion. As a country wary of tyrants suddenly must figure out how it should be led, Washington’s unmatched ability to rise above the petty politics of his time enables him to win the war that really matters.]]> 427 Nathaniel Philbrick 0525426787 Scott 4
Thankfully, historian Nathaniel Philbrick cares. In his book “Valiant Ambition”, Philbrick highlights the roughly four years (1775 - 1779) in which Arnold went from hero to turncoat, an event which did not happen overnight. Philbrick’s tale humanizes Arnold in a way that no textbook ever can, and he reveals some not-so-wonderful things about the American government during its infancy stages that most textbooks have kept secret.

Alternating between Arnold and General George Washington, Philbrick’s book tells a fascinating and exciting story of the early battles of the American Revolution. Indeed, the first half of the book is a war buff’s sweet dream, as Philbrick writes about the pivotal battles at Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, and Saratoga. Not being a war buff, I found the first half of the book merely interesting. It’s extremely well-written, to be sure, but descriptions of battles, numbers of casualties, wounded, captured, etc. aren’t my cup of tea. Thankfully, Philbrick---a decent writer as well as historian---intersperses enough human drama to make it readable for someone like me.

The second half really came to life for me, as Philbrick focuses on Arnold’s gradual spiral into treason.

Arnold, who was seriously injured in the leg from a bullet wound during the Battle of Saratoga (he had just recovered from a similar leg injury at the Battle of Quebec City a year before), was deemed unfit for service. At this point in Arnold’s military career, this was just fine. He had grown annoyed at the Continental Congress, which he felt was displaying the same kind of corruption and incompetency as the British government it was fighting against.

Arnold was pissed that Congress had not promoted him within the Continental Army but had, instead, promoted five junior officers ahead of him. He felt, rightly, that his proud service was deserving of a promotion. He resigned from the Army, but Washington---sympathetic to Arnold’s unjust treatment by Congress---convinced Arnold to stay.

He rejoined the Army and served under General Horatio Gates in New York. Arnold despised Gates, and the feeling was mutual. At the Battle of Bemis Heights, Arnold defied orders from Gates and pushed back against the British. The resulting battle left the British open to further attack, and they eventually surrendered. Arnold’s actions led to victory for the Continental Army, but Gates ignored Arnold’s part in it and ended up taking credit for the success anyway.

This was the battle in which he received his serious wound. He accepted a position as military governor of Philadelphia in 1778 and settled down to a somewhat quieter existence in the City of Brotherly Love. It’s also where he began to entertain thoughts of treason.

Arnold met and fell in love with Peggy Shippen, a rich girl whose father had Loyalist sympathies. Hurting for money, Arnold considered the kind of financial reward he might receive from the British for vital information and service. That, and the respect that he felt he deserved and wasn’t getting from the Continental Congress. Peggy was also feeding him not-so-subtle encouragements to become a turncoat, as she felt that her wealthy family would have much more success in Britain than in Philadelphia.

All of this eventually came to a head when, in 1779, Arnold held secret negotiations with British military leaders to give up Fort West Point, New York to the British in exchange for a large sum of money and an eventual position in the British military.

Philbrick’s telling of Arnold’s treachery, the unsuccessful British takeover of West Point, and Arnold’s last-minute escape to the safety of the British is as suspenseful as any novel and is just begging to be turned into a movie.

“Valiant Ambition” is a great book about the American Revolution, but it’s also an eye-opening look at an American life that is given short shrift in textbooks and history lessons. Arnold may be a hated figure in American history, but he was still a fascinating flawed human being with a valuable story to tell.]]> 4.10 2016 Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution (The American Revolution Series)
author: Nathaniel Philbrick
name: Scott
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/01/11
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, nonfiction, biography, military, politics, revolution, warfare
review:
Everybody who has ever taken a high school American history class (and stayed awake in it) is familiar with the name Benedict Arnold and why he’s famous. In case you’re one of the ones who slept through that class, Arnold was NOT the inventor of the Eggs Benedict. He was a hero of the American Revolution who became a traitor by joining the British side. Other than that, most people don’t know or care who Arnold was.

Thankfully, historian Nathaniel Philbrick cares. In his book “Valiant Ambition”, Philbrick highlights the roughly four years (1775 - 1779) in which Arnold went from hero to turncoat, an event which did not happen overnight. Philbrick’s tale humanizes Arnold in a way that no textbook ever can, and he reveals some not-so-wonderful things about the American government during its infancy stages that most textbooks have kept secret.

Alternating between Arnold and General George Washington, Philbrick’s book tells a fascinating and exciting story of the early battles of the American Revolution. Indeed, the first half of the book is a war buff’s sweet dream, as Philbrick writes about the pivotal battles at Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, and Saratoga. Not being a war buff, I found the first half of the book merely interesting. It’s extremely well-written, to be sure, but descriptions of battles, numbers of casualties, wounded, captured, etc. aren’t my cup of tea. Thankfully, Philbrick---a decent writer as well as historian---intersperses enough human drama to make it readable for someone like me.

The second half really came to life for me, as Philbrick focuses on Arnold’s gradual spiral into treason.

Arnold, who was seriously injured in the leg from a bullet wound during the Battle of Saratoga (he had just recovered from a similar leg injury at the Battle of Quebec City a year before), was deemed unfit for service. At this point in Arnold’s military career, this was just fine. He had grown annoyed at the Continental Congress, which he felt was displaying the same kind of corruption and incompetency as the British government it was fighting against.

Arnold was pissed that Congress had not promoted him within the Continental Army but had, instead, promoted five junior officers ahead of him. He felt, rightly, that his proud service was deserving of a promotion. He resigned from the Army, but Washington---sympathetic to Arnold’s unjust treatment by Congress---convinced Arnold to stay.

He rejoined the Army and served under General Horatio Gates in New York. Arnold despised Gates, and the feeling was mutual. At the Battle of Bemis Heights, Arnold defied orders from Gates and pushed back against the British. The resulting battle left the British open to further attack, and they eventually surrendered. Arnold’s actions led to victory for the Continental Army, but Gates ignored Arnold’s part in it and ended up taking credit for the success anyway.

This was the battle in which he received his serious wound. He accepted a position as military governor of Philadelphia in 1778 and settled down to a somewhat quieter existence in the City of Brotherly Love. It’s also where he began to entertain thoughts of treason.

Arnold met and fell in love with Peggy Shippen, a rich girl whose father had Loyalist sympathies. Hurting for money, Arnold considered the kind of financial reward he might receive from the British for vital information and service. That, and the respect that he felt he deserved and wasn’t getting from the Continental Congress. Peggy was also feeding him not-so-subtle encouragements to become a turncoat, as she felt that her wealthy family would have much more success in Britain than in Philadelphia.

All of this eventually came to a head when, in 1779, Arnold held secret negotiations with British military leaders to give up Fort West Point, New York to the British in exchange for a large sum of money and an eventual position in the British military.

Philbrick’s telling of Arnold’s treachery, the unsuccessful British takeover of West Point, and Arnold’s last-minute escape to the safety of the British is as suspenseful as any novel and is just begging to be turned into a movie.

“Valiant Ambition” is a great book about the American Revolution, but it’s also an eye-opening look at an American life that is given short shrift in textbooks and history lessons. Arnold may be a hated figure in American history, but he was still a fascinating flawed human being with a valuable story to tell.
]]> <![CDATA[The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine]]> 26889576 The #1 New York Times bestseller: "It is the work of our greatest financial journalist, at the top of his game. And it's essential reading."—Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair

The real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn't shine and the SEC doesn't dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower- and middle-class Americans who can't pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren't talking.




Michael Lewis creates a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 bestseller Liar's Poker. Out of a handful of unlikely-really unlikely-heroes, Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our time.]]> 291 Michael Lewis 039335315X Scott 4 “I think there is something fundamentally scary about our democracy. Because I think people have a sense that the system is rigged, and it’s hard to argue that it isn’t.” ---Charlie Ledley

Michael Lewis’s book “The Big Short” is intense, fascinating, disturbing, and hilarious, and I only understood about 45% of it.

No, the book is not written in Aramaic or Pig Latin or Mandarin Chinese. It’s actually written in English, and while I actually understood all the words in the book, the order in which the words were placed confused me. For example, I know what “credit” and “default” and “swap” mean separately, but when placed together as the term “credit default swap”, also referred to as a “CDS”, my brain stopped working. Even when it was defined for me.

Here’s the definition, by the way, according to Investopedia.com: “A credit default swap is a particular type of swap designed to transfer the credit exposure of fixed income products between two or more parties. In a credit default swap, the buyer of the swap makes payments to the swap’s seller up until the maturity date of a contract. In return, the seller agrees that, in the event that the debt issuer defaults or experiences another credit event, the seller will pay the buyer the security’s premium as well all interest payments that would have been paid between that time and the security’s maturity date. A credit default swap is the most common form of credit derivative and may involve municipal bonds, emerging market bonds, mortgage-backed securities or corporate bonds. A credit default swap is also often referred to as a credit derivative contract.”

Huh?

There’s shit like this all throughout the book. I swear to God, I’d think Lewis is just making stuff up, except that there’s a whole weird subculture of people who speak like this and actually understand what that shit means. They’re called Wall Streeters, and they are fucking insane.

Not that my inability to decipher Wall Street jargon detracted from my enjoyment of the book. On the contrary, slogging through all that ridiculous garbage gave me a better understanding and a deeper appreciation of how completely fucked-up a system like Wall Street really is.

Wall Street is beyond broken right now. It’s Too Big to Fix.

That’s pretty much the conclusion of the nine men at the heart of the story: Steve Eisman, Michael Burry, Charlie Ledley, Jamie Mai, Vincent Daniel, Danny Moses, Porter Collins, Ben Hockett, and Greg Lippmann. Of the several hundreds of thousands of people working on Wall Street, these nine guys were the only guys who were smart enough to see the credit and housing bubble collapse coming long before it happened. They didn’t just predict it, either. Knowing full well that the actions of only nine guys couldn’t do squat to stop it, they did what any intelligent Wall Streeter would do: they capitalized on it.

Okay, here’s my attempt to explain the 2008 collapse, in a nutshell:

Before the housing bubble burst, which was the instigator for the collapse, there was a tremendous amount of gambling on Wall Street involving subprime mortgage loans. Also called “predatory loans”, these were mortgage loans given to people with low credit at higher-than-normal interest rates precisely because they were high-risk. This was happening a lot, mainly because the housing market was so ridiculously good. Everyone and their uncle was attempting to buy up property because everyone and their uncle was being told that it was a phenomenal investment. Because, hey, prices of houses could only keep going up, right?

Essentially, this is pretty much what everyone on Wall Street actually thought. Due to this completely ridiculous belief, there was an explosion in popularity of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). I won’t even try to explain what these things were, because basically no one---including Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan---could adequately explain what they were, either. Whatever they were, they were literally making billions of dollars for investors, which is why they were so popular. No one, however, questioned what was behind these CDOs, which was essentially bad home loans for people who couldn’t afford them in a housing market that could implode at any second.

And implode it did, marking the start of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

Anyone with any common sense or a keen eye should have seen what was coming, but Wall Street is not known for common sense, keenness of perception, or any sense of rationality whatsoever. That, or they put way too much faith in themselves, the system, and humanity.

As Hockett began to realize, after pain-staking research into the matter, “These people believed that the collapse of the subprime mortgage market was unlikely precisely because it would be such a catastrophe. Nothing so terrible could ever actually happen. (p.148)”

Eisman was one of the few that saw what was coming, mainly because he had, years before, figured out that the entire system was designed for one thing and one thing only: “Fuck the poor.”

Wall Street didn’t care that thousands of Americans were being evicted, having houses foreclosed, going bankrupt, and losing jobs. That’s not an indictment, that’s a fact.

“However corrupt you think this industry is, it’s worse (p.103),” said Moses.

I’m not going to lie and say that “The Big Short” is an easy read. It’s not, for many reasons, not the least of which is that you basically need a glossary and an MBA to fully understand the technical stuff. It’s hard to read, also, for its depiction of rampant greed and lack of compassion.

Lewis’s real focus isn’t on the technical stuff but on the fact that Wall Street is just like Las Vegas. Not today’s Vegas, with the shiny new buildings and attempts at family-friendly entertainment. No, Wall Street is the old Vegas: grimy, gritty, rotten, and run by horrible people obsessed by one thing: money.]]> 4.34 2010 The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
author: Michael Lewis
name: Scott
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/17
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: economy, history, wall-street, nonfiction
review:
“I think there is something fundamentally scary about our democracy. Because I think people have a sense that the system is rigged, and it’s hard to argue that it isn’t.” ---Charlie Ledley

Michael Lewis’s book “The Big Short” is intense, fascinating, disturbing, and hilarious, and I only understood about 45% of it.

No, the book is not written in Aramaic or Pig Latin or Mandarin Chinese. It’s actually written in English, and while I actually understood all the words in the book, the order in which the words were placed confused me. For example, I know what “credit” and “default” and “swap” mean separately, but when placed together as the term “credit default swap”, also referred to as a “CDS”, my brain stopped working. Even when it was defined for me.

Here’s the definition, by the way, according to Investopedia.com: “A credit default swap is a particular type of swap designed to transfer the credit exposure of fixed income products between two or more parties. In a credit default swap, the buyer of the swap makes payments to the swap’s seller up until the maturity date of a contract. In return, the seller agrees that, in the event that the debt issuer defaults or experiences another credit event, the seller will pay the buyer the security’s premium as well all interest payments that would have been paid between that time and the security’s maturity date. A credit default swap is the most common form of credit derivative and may involve municipal bonds, emerging market bonds, mortgage-backed securities or corporate bonds. A credit default swap is also often referred to as a credit derivative contract.”

Huh?

There’s shit like this all throughout the book. I swear to God, I’d think Lewis is just making stuff up, except that there’s a whole weird subculture of people who speak like this and actually understand what that shit means. They’re called Wall Streeters, and they are fucking insane.

Not that my inability to decipher Wall Street jargon detracted from my enjoyment of the book. On the contrary, slogging through all that ridiculous garbage gave me a better understanding and a deeper appreciation of how completely fucked-up a system like Wall Street really is.

Wall Street is beyond broken right now. It’s Too Big to Fix.

That’s pretty much the conclusion of the nine men at the heart of the story: Steve Eisman, Michael Burry, Charlie Ledley, Jamie Mai, Vincent Daniel, Danny Moses, Porter Collins, Ben Hockett, and Greg Lippmann. Of the several hundreds of thousands of people working on Wall Street, these nine guys were the only guys who were smart enough to see the credit and housing bubble collapse coming long before it happened. They didn’t just predict it, either. Knowing full well that the actions of only nine guys couldn’t do squat to stop it, they did what any intelligent Wall Streeter would do: they capitalized on it.

Okay, here’s my attempt to explain the 2008 collapse, in a nutshell:

Before the housing bubble burst, which was the instigator for the collapse, there was a tremendous amount of gambling on Wall Street involving subprime mortgage loans. Also called “predatory loans”, these were mortgage loans given to people with low credit at higher-than-normal interest rates precisely because they were high-risk. This was happening a lot, mainly because the housing market was so ridiculously good. Everyone and their uncle was attempting to buy up property because everyone and their uncle was being told that it was a phenomenal investment. Because, hey, prices of houses could only keep going up, right?

Essentially, this is pretty much what everyone on Wall Street actually thought. Due to this completely ridiculous belief, there was an explosion in popularity of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). I won’t even try to explain what these things were, because basically no one---including Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan---could adequately explain what they were, either. Whatever they were, they were literally making billions of dollars for investors, which is why they were so popular. No one, however, questioned what was behind these CDOs, which was essentially bad home loans for people who couldn’t afford them in a housing market that could implode at any second.

And implode it did, marking the start of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

Anyone with any common sense or a keen eye should have seen what was coming, but Wall Street is not known for common sense, keenness of perception, or any sense of rationality whatsoever. That, or they put way too much faith in themselves, the system, and humanity.

As Hockett began to realize, after pain-staking research into the matter, “These people believed that the collapse of the subprime mortgage market was unlikely precisely because it would be such a catastrophe. Nothing so terrible could ever actually happen. (p.148)”

Eisman was one of the few that saw what was coming, mainly because he had, years before, figured out that the entire system was designed for one thing and one thing only: “Fuck the poor.”

Wall Street didn’t care that thousands of Americans were being evicted, having houses foreclosed, going bankrupt, and losing jobs. That’s not an indictment, that’s a fact.

“However corrupt you think this industry is, it’s worse (p.103),” said Moses.

I’m not going to lie and say that “The Big Short” is an easy read. It’s not, for many reasons, not the least of which is that you basically need a glossary and an MBA to fully understand the technical stuff. It’s hard to read, also, for its depiction of rampant greed and lack of compassion.

Lewis’s real focus isn’t on the technical stuff but on the fact that Wall Street is just like Las Vegas. Not today’s Vegas, with the shiny new buildings and attempts at family-friendly entertainment. No, Wall Street is the old Vegas: grimy, gritty, rotten, and run by horrible people obsessed by one thing: money.
]]> <![CDATA[Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans]]> 20697466
Empire of Sin re-creates the remarkable story of New Orleans’ thirty-years war against itself, pitting the city’s elite “better half” against its powerful and long-entrenched underworld of vice, perversity, and crime. This early-20th-century battle centers on one man: Tom Anderson, the undisputed czar of the city's Storyville vice district, who fights desperately to keep his empire intact as it faces onslaughts from all sides. Surrounding him are the stories of flamboyant prostitutes, crusading moral reformers, dissolute jazzmen, ruthless Mafiosi, venal politicians, and one extremely violent serial killer, all battling for primacy in a wild and wicked city unlike any other in the world.]]> 432 Gary Krist 0770437060 Scott 4
Historian Gary Krist’s fascinating book “Empire of Sin” is a rollicking, exciting, and moving account of the Crescent City, a colorful history summed up in Krist’s subtitle: “A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for New Orleans”.

“Empire of Sin” highlights the years 1890 to 1920 and focuses on the legendary Storyville, the bustling business district of New Orleans notorious for its brothels, bars, and being the birthplace of jazz music. Sadly, Storyville met its demise in 1917, during the First World War, but its memories---good and bad---live on.

At the heart of the book are several significant figures in New Orleans history, some familiar, some forgotten.

*Police Superintendent Frank T. Mooney: His efforts to put a stop to the violence perpetrated by the Black Hand, an organization of criminals---mostly comprised of Italian and Sicilian immigrants---that was considered by some to be the embryonic form of the contemporary Mafia, made him both a hero and a target. His final case---the mysterious serial killer known as “The Axman”---would prove to be his undoing as Superintendent. Unable to solve the killings (The Axman murders are still one of New Orleans’ most notorious unsolved cases), Mooney retired in late 1920 and spent his final days happily running a railroad in Honduras until his death in 1923.

*Josie Lobrano: One of the more famous madams in Storyville, Lobrano “remade” herself into a wealthy brothel-owner with high connections and a clientele of some of the city’s richest and most powerful.

*Louis Armstrong: The world-famous jazz musician with the distinct voice was born and raised in New Orleans. His life and his rise to fame was a rocky one, as he experienced personal tragedies and a rampant racism by a White upper- to middle-class that hypocritically denigrated jazz as “nigger music” associated with the worst vices that the city offered and yet secretly couldn’t get enough of the unique sound.

*Tom Anderson: Perhaps the most powerful man in New Orleans during the years described in the book, this boisterous and fun-loving redhead was a savvy businessman who knew how to cultivate the right connections. Referred to by most New Orleanians as the unofficial “Mayor” of Storyville, Anderson owned some of the most successful bars and brothels in the district. He eventually used his money and power to get elected as a State Representative, creating an almost unstoppable political machine. His tumultuous love life (he was married numerous times, all to former prostitutes) and his complete faith in people’s demand for sin would, unfortunately, be his downfall, as Prohibition swept across the land along with a more vocal and politically powerful anti-sin movement.

*the Axman: One of New Orleans’ most vicious and elusive criminals, the Axman got his name for his weapon of choice. Nearly a dozen victims---mostly Italian grocers and their spouses, inexplicably---were attributed to the Axman, who would sneak in unannounced into people’s bedrooms and kill them during their slumber. There were never witnesses, and the killer rarely left any hard evidence, so the identity of the Axman was never found. Today, historians and forensic experts suspect that it was likely that two or more perpetrators committed the heinous crimes. Also, some of the murders originally attributed to the Axman are now thought to be the work of copy-cat killers and/or crimes of passion that were staged to look like Axman killings after the fact.

Fans of Erik Larson’s “The Devil in the White City” and Karen Abbot’s “Sin in the Second City” will enjoy Krist’s addition to the growing compendium of historical nonfiction about the sinful pasts of our nation’s cities.]]> 3.71 2014 Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans
author: Gary Krist
name: Scott
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2015/01/30
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: nonfiction, history, true-crime, serial-killer
review:
New Orleans is a city with its fair share of tragedy and despair throughout its history, and yet it continues to stand back up, brush the dust off, and go on. We can learn a lot from New Orleans.

Historian Gary Krist’s fascinating book “Empire of Sin” is a rollicking, exciting, and moving account of the Crescent City, a colorful history summed up in Krist’s subtitle: “A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for New Orleans”.

“Empire of Sin” highlights the years 1890 to 1920 and focuses on the legendary Storyville, the bustling business district of New Orleans notorious for its brothels, bars, and being the birthplace of jazz music. Sadly, Storyville met its demise in 1917, during the First World War, but its memories---good and bad---live on.

At the heart of the book are several significant figures in New Orleans history, some familiar, some forgotten.

*Police Superintendent Frank T. Mooney: His efforts to put a stop to the violence perpetrated by the Black Hand, an organization of criminals---mostly comprised of Italian and Sicilian immigrants---that was considered by some to be the embryonic form of the contemporary Mafia, made him both a hero and a target. His final case---the mysterious serial killer known as “The Axman”---would prove to be his undoing as Superintendent. Unable to solve the killings (The Axman murders are still one of New Orleans’ most notorious unsolved cases), Mooney retired in late 1920 and spent his final days happily running a railroad in Honduras until his death in 1923.

*Josie Lobrano: One of the more famous madams in Storyville, Lobrano “remade” herself into a wealthy brothel-owner with high connections and a clientele of some of the city’s richest and most powerful.

*Louis Armstrong: The world-famous jazz musician with the distinct voice was born and raised in New Orleans. His life and his rise to fame was a rocky one, as he experienced personal tragedies and a rampant racism by a White upper- to middle-class that hypocritically denigrated jazz as “nigger music” associated with the worst vices that the city offered and yet secretly couldn’t get enough of the unique sound.

*Tom Anderson: Perhaps the most powerful man in New Orleans during the years described in the book, this boisterous and fun-loving redhead was a savvy businessman who knew how to cultivate the right connections. Referred to by most New Orleanians as the unofficial “Mayor” of Storyville, Anderson owned some of the most successful bars and brothels in the district. He eventually used his money and power to get elected as a State Representative, creating an almost unstoppable political machine. His tumultuous love life (he was married numerous times, all to former prostitutes) and his complete faith in people’s demand for sin would, unfortunately, be his downfall, as Prohibition swept across the land along with a more vocal and politically powerful anti-sin movement.

*the Axman: One of New Orleans’ most vicious and elusive criminals, the Axman got his name for his weapon of choice. Nearly a dozen victims---mostly Italian grocers and their spouses, inexplicably---were attributed to the Axman, who would sneak in unannounced into people’s bedrooms and kill them during their slumber. There were never witnesses, and the killer rarely left any hard evidence, so the identity of the Axman was never found. Today, historians and forensic experts suspect that it was likely that two or more perpetrators committed the heinous crimes. Also, some of the murders originally attributed to the Axman are now thought to be the work of copy-cat killers and/or crimes of passion that were staged to look like Axman killings after the fact.

Fans of Erik Larson’s “The Devil in the White City” and Karen Abbot’s “Sin in the Second City” will enjoy Krist’s addition to the growing compendium of historical nonfiction about the sinful pasts of our nation’s cities.
]]> <![CDATA[The Secret History of Wonder Woman]]> 21855259 Examines the life of Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston and his polyamorous relationship with wife Elizabeth Holloway and mistress Olive Byrne, both of whom inspired and influenced the comic book character's creation and development.
-Abstract from WorldCat]]> 410 Jill Lepore 0385354045 Scott 4 2017 Addendum: "Wonder Woman" currently continues to break box office records, and it should: it's an amazingly entertaining film that manages to reinvigorate the failing DC studios as well as put an end to the ridiculously sexist belief that superhero movies are for boys only. I read and reviewed this book in December 2014. It's a fascinating account of the true origins of Wonder Woman and a biography of WW's creator, William Marston. The movie does an excellent job of capturing the feminist ideology that Marston laid out in the original WW comics and which, sadly, got downplayed and completely subverted when Marston left the comic book series in other, less capable, hands.

Comic book fans may know the secret origin of Wonder Woman, but, up until Jill Lepore’s book “The Secret History of Wonder Woman”, they didn’t know the full story. It’s a fascinating, weird, sometimes-funny, more-often-than-not disturbing, and surprisingly moving tale that involves the early days of feminism, pop psychology, polygamy, bondage, and satin tights.

The scantily-clad Amazon in her red-gold-and-blue bikini, metal bracelets, and golden lasso made her debut in December 1941 in the pulpy pages of All-Star Comics #8. A month later she was in Sensation Comics #1, a comic devoted solely to her by the famous comics publisher, Maxwell Charles Gaines.

Wonder Woman was the brain-child of William Moulton Marston: a Harvard graduate, an ardent feminist, a crank psychologist, the inventor of the lie detector, and a secret polygamist.

If there is one thing one should know about Marston it is that he loved women.

Okay, that makes him sound like a cad, or a player. He was neither. In truth, Marston was deeply devoted to the idea of gender equality, long before it was cool to do so. He was a strong supporter of the woman suffrage movement, and he believed intensely in the idea that women would one day rule the world in a matriarchal system that would usher in an era of peace and scientific breakthroughs the likes of which has never been seen in human history.

There was, apparently, something extremely charming about Marston. In pictures of his early college days, he was a thin, bookish kid with thick-framed glasses. He was, by today’s standards anyway, the epitome of a "nerd". He dated Sadie Elizabeth Holloway, a student at Mount Holyoke College, who was an activist for many women’s rights issues---voting rights and birth control, primarily. They married in 1915, after Holloway graduated.

While the logistics of Marston and Holloway’s marriage are speculative, it’s clear that Holloway didn’t have a problem with her husband engaging in extra-marital affairs with other women. In fact, when Marston met a divorcee named Marjorie Huntley, she would repeatedly visit the Marston household. In Holloway's own words, the trio comprised a happy “threesome”. Regardless of what may or may not have happened behind closed doors, the relationship between Holloway and Huntley was more than amicable and remained so their entire lives.

Huntley, of course, would not be the last of Marston’s charmed women. While teaching briefly at Tufts, Marston met and fell in love with a young student named Olive Byrne. The feelings were mutual. When Marston brought her home to live with them, Holloway was not keen on the idea. While her relationship with Byrne later developed into a close friendship, it started off rocky, especially when Marston delivered an ultimatum: either Byrne stays or I leave.

Holloway chose to stay with Marston and Byrne. As it turned out, the living arrangement worked out well for Holloway. Byrne, a very affectionate young woman, helped raise Marston’s and Holloway’s children, as Holloway was not very good with children. She apparently liked them better in theory rather than as actual mouths to feed. It also freed up her schedule to be able to work full time, which she absolutely wanted. Holloway was a successful career woman in a time when women simply did not have, or want, careers. Indeed, Holloway, as it turned out, would be the primary money-maker in the household.

For all the letters and degrees that Marston acquired in his many years of college and graduate school, and for as book-smart as he was, he wasn’t very successful at holding down jobs. Of course, his shady business practices, eccentric behaviors, and his penchant for “fudging” numbers in the many journal articles he wrote were most likely the reasons he was constantly getting fired.

Despite his flaws, however, Marston was the inventor of a revolutionary technology that is still being used today: the lie detector. In its primitive form, Marston’s machine would be able to detect subtle changes in a person’s blood pressure that would indicate whether they were telling the truth or a lie.

Sadly, Marston was unable to get the legal profession at the time to truly grasp the significance of the technology. In a famous murder case, Frye v. United States, Marston “proved” that the defendant, a young back man named James Frye, was innocent of the crime of which he was accused, but the judge would not accept his evidence as admissible, owing to the fact that it was a completely new and untested---and therefore untrustworthy---technology. It would be many years later that lie detector results could be used as admissible evidence. Even more unfortunate for Marston, other people later improved upon his idea and are often (incorrectly) credited for inventing the lie detector.

How Marston---a failure at keeping a job, a crank psychologist, and a secret polygamist---came to invent Wonder Woman is understandable only by placing him in the context of his time.

During his many days of unemployment (and he was unemployed quite a bit), Marston would often lounge all day in his pajamas reading nothing but comic books. He would tend to buy every comic book on the newsstand. He was a voracious comics lover.

Comic books, at that time, were under attack. Parent’s groups, church groups, child psychologists, politicians, librarians: everyone had a say on how comic books were destroying the minds (and the moral values) of our nation’s youth.

Marston, who apparently still had a reputable (enough) name in the field, was still publishing articles for a wide variety of publications. One of those magazines, Family Circle, published an article by Olive Byrne, in which she interviewed the famous psychologist William Marston. (Granted, no mention was made of the fact that she lived with him in a polygamist household with his first wife and that she had already had two children with him.)

In the article, Marston gave a glowing endorsement of comic books, claiming that they were “pure wish fulfillment” for children. Working on reader’s patriotism, Marston added, “And the two wishes behind Superman are certainly the soundest of all; they are, in fact, our national aspirations of the moment---to develop unbeatable national might, and to use this great power, when we get it, to protect innocent, peace-loving people from destructive, ruthless evil. You don’t think for a minute that it is wrong to imagine the fulfillment of those two aspirations for the United States of America, do you? Then why should it be wrong or harmful for children to imagine the same things for themselves, personally, when they read ‘Superman’? (p.185)”

M.C. Gaines, the publisher of DC Comics (the home of Superman and Batman, two of the most popular comic book heroes at the time), liked what Marston was saying in the article. He liked it so much that he hired Marston to be a Consulting Psychologist on the DC Comics’ Editorial Advisory Board.

It was during his stint on the board that Marston pitched the idea for Wonder Woman, borne out of his many feminist ideals, pop psychological fancies, and an observation that he had noted about comics for a long time---a clear lack of any strong female superheroines.

The rest, they say, is history. At least, the history we all know about Wonder Woman: Daughter of Queen Hippolyte, ruler of the Amazons on Paradise Island, cut off for centuries from the cruelties and madness of the masculine world, Princess Diana finds an American Army officer, Captain Steve Trevor, washed up on shore after his plane crashes in the Atlantic. She nurses him to health, falls in love with him, and returns with him to the U.S., where she dons her secret identity of Diana Prince, a mild-mannered secretary working at the War Department. Unbeknownst to Trevor and the rest of the world, Diana is also the brunette with the super powers that swoops in occasionally in her invisible jet to save the day.

Wonder Woman’s success was immediate and huge. Marston had successfully called it: there was a huge demand for a strong superheroine. Other comic book companies tried to ride the wave by creating a slew of other super female characters, most of them unsuccessful. Wonder Woman was the first and the best.

Over the years, her popularity waxed and waned, depending on who was writing the stories. For a long period in the 50s and 60s, the series was being written by men who did not share Marston’s feminist beliefs. Marston died of cancer and complications with polio on May 2, 1947.

Byrne and Holloway lived together, happily, for the rest of their lives. They were vocal feminists until their deaths.

Lepore’s book is a must-read for anyone who grew up reading comic books and, specifically, fans of Wonder Woman. It is also a fascinating history of American feminism and a humorous and moving biography of a unique individual.

Thank you, Ms. Lepore, for letting the secret out...]]> 3.73 2014 The Secret History of Wonder Woman
author: Jill Lepore
name: Scott
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/12/18
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: comic-book-tie-in, biography, female-issues, history, nonfiction, psychology, wonder-woman
review:
2017 Addendum: "Wonder Woman" currently continues to break box office records, and it should: it's an amazingly entertaining film that manages to reinvigorate the failing DC studios as well as put an end to the ridiculously sexist belief that superhero movies are for boys only. I read and reviewed this book in December 2014. It's a fascinating account of the true origins of Wonder Woman and a biography of WW's creator, William Marston. The movie does an excellent job of capturing the feminist ideology that Marston laid out in the original WW comics and which, sadly, got downplayed and completely subverted when Marston left the comic book series in other, less capable, hands.

Comic book fans may know the secret origin of Wonder Woman, but, up until Jill Lepore’s book “The Secret History of Wonder Woman”, they didn’t know the full story. It’s a fascinating, weird, sometimes-funny, more-often-than-not disturbing, and surprisingly moving tale that involves the early days of feminism, pop psychology, polygamy, bondage, and satin tights.

The scantily-clad Amazon in her red-gold-and-blue bikini, metal bracelets, and golden lasso made her debut in December 1941 in the pulpy pages of All-Star Comics #8. A month later she was in Sensation Comics #1, a comic devoted solely to her by the famous comics publisher, Maxwell Charles Gaines.

Wonder Woman was the brain-child of William Moulton Marston: a Harvard graduate, an ardent feminist, a crank psychologist, the inventor of the lie detector, and a secret polygamist.

If there is one thing one should know about Marston it is that he loved women.

Okay, that makes him sound like a cad, or a player. He was neither. In truth, Marston was deeply devoted to the idea of gender equality, long before it was cool to do so. He was a strong supporter of the woman suffrage movement, and he believed intensely in the idea that women would one day rule the world in a matriarchal system that would usher in an era of peace and scientific breakthroughs the likes of which has never been seen in human history.

There was, apparently, something extremely charming about Marston. In pictures of his early college days, he was a thin, bookish kid with thick-framed glasses. He was, by today’s standards anyway, the epitome of a "nerd". He dated Sadie Elizabeth Holloway, a student at Mount Holyoke College, who was an activist for many women’s rights issues---voting rights and birth control, primarily. They married in 1915, after Holloway graduated.

While the logistics of Marston and Holloway’s marriage are speculative, it’s clear that Holloway didn’t have a problem with her husband engaging in extra-marital affairs with other women. In fact, when Marston met a divorcee named Marjorie Huntley, she would repeatedly visit the Marston household. In Holloway's own words, the trio comprised a happy “threesome”. Regardless of what may or may not have happened behind closed doors, the relationship between Holloway and Huntley was more than amicable and remained so their entire lives.

Huntley, of course, would not be the last of Marston’s charmed women. While teaching briefly at Tufts, Marston met and fell in love with a young student named Olive Byrne. The feelings were mutual. When Marston brought her home to live with them, Holloway was not keen on the idea. While her relationship with Byrne later developed into a close friendship, it started off rocky, especially when Marston delivered an ultimatum: either Byrne stays or I leave.

Holloway chose to stay with Marston and Byrne. As it turned out, the living arrangement worked out well for Holloway. Byrne, a very affectionate young woman, helped raise Marston’s and Holloway’s children, as Holloway was not very good with children. She apparently liked them better in theory rather than as actual mouths to feed. It also freed up her schedule to be able to work full time, which she absolutely wanted. Holloway was a successful career woman in a time when women simply did not have, or want, careers. Indeed, Holloway, as it turned out, would be the primary money-maker in the household.

For all the letters and degrees that Marston acquired in his many years of college and graduate school, and for as book-smart as he was, he wasn’t very successful at holding down jobs. Of course, his shady business practices, eccentric behaviors, and his penchant for “fudging” numbers in the many journal articles he wrote were most likely the reasons he was constantly getting fired.

Despite his flaws, however, Marston was the inventor of a revolutionary technology that is still being used today: the lie detector. In its primitive form, Marston’s machine would be able to detect subtle changes in a person’s blood pressure that would indicate whether they were telling the truth or a lie.

Sadly, Marston was unable to get the legal profession at the time to truly grasp the significance of the technology. In a famous murder case, Frye v. United States, Marston “proved” that the defendant, a young back man named James Frye, was innocent of the crime of which he was accused, but the judge would not accept his evidence as admissible, owing to the fact that it was a completely new and untested---and therefore untrustworthy---technology. It would be many years later that lie detector results could be used as admissible evidence. Even more unfortunate for Marston, other people later improved upon his idea and are often (incorrectly) credited for inventing the lie detector.

How Marston---a failure at keeping a job, a crank psychologist, and a secret polygamist---came to invent Wonder Woman is understandable only by placing him in the context of his time.

During his many days of unemployment (and he was unemployed quite a bit), Marston would often lounge all day in his pajamas reading nothing but comic books. He would tend to buy every comic book on the newsstand. He was a voracious comics lover.

Comic books, at that time, were under attack. Parent’s groups, church groups, child psychologists, politicians, librarians: everyone had a say on how comic books were destroying the minds (and the moral values) of our nation’s youth.

Marston, who apparently still had a reputable (enough) name in the field, was still publishing articles for a wide variety of publications. One of those magazines, Family Circle, published an article by Olive Byrne, in which she interviewed the famous psychologist William Marston. (Granted, no mention was made of the fact that she lived with him in a polygamist household with his first wife and that she had already had two children with him.)

In the article, Marston gave a glowing endorsement of comic books, claiming that they were “pure wish fulfillment” for children. Working on reader’s patriotism, Marston added, “And the two wishes behind Superman are certainly the soundest of all; they are, in fact, our national aspirations of the moment---to develop unbeatable national might, and to use this great power, when we get it, to protect innocent, peace-loving people from destructive, ruthless evil. You don’t think for a minute that it is wrong to imagine the fulfillment of those two aspirations for the United States of America, do you? Then why should it be wrong or harmful for children to imagine the same things for themselves, personally, when they read ‘Superman’? (p.185)”

M.C. Gaines, the publisher of DC Comics (the home of Superman and Batman, two of the most popular comic book heroes at the time), liked what Marston was saying in the article. He liked it so much that he hired Marston to be a Consulting Psychologist on the DC Comics’ Editorial Advisory Board.

It was during his stint on the board that Marston pitched the idea for Wonder Woman, borne out of his many feminist ideals, pop psychological fancies, and an observation that he had noted about comics for a long time---a clear lack of any strong female superheroines.

The rest, they say, is history. At least, the history we all know about Wonder Woman: Daughter of Queen Hippolyte, ruler of the Amazons on Paradise Island, cut off for centuries from the cruelties and madness of the masculine world, Princess Diana finds an American Army officer, Captain Steve Trevor, washed up on shore after his plane crashes in the Atlantic. She nurses him to health, falls in love with him, and returns with him to the U.S., where she dons her secret identity of Diana Prince, a mild-mannered secretary working at the War Department. Unbeknownst to Trevor and the rest of the world, Diana is also the brunette with the super powers that swoops in occasionally in her invisible jet to save the day.

Wonder Woman’s success was immediate and huge. Marston had successfully called it: there was a huge demand for a strong superheroine. Other comic book companies tried to ride the wave by creating a slew of other super female characters, most of them unsuccessful. Wonder Woman was the first and the best.

Over the years, her popularity waxed and waned, depending on who was writing the stories. For a long period in the 50s and 60s, the series was being written by men who did not share Marston’s feminist beliefs. Marston died of cancer and complications with polio on May 2, 1947.

Byrne and Holloway lived together, happily, for the rest of their lives. They were vocal feminists until their deaths.

Lepore’s book is a must-read for anyone who grew up reading comic books and, specifically, fans of Wonder Woman. It is also a fascinating history of American feminism and a humorous and moving biography of a unique individual.

Thank you, Ms. Lepore, for letting the secret out...
]]> <![CDATA[Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety]]> 6452798 A myth-shattering exposé of America’s nuclear weapons

Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs deep to uncover secrets about the management of America’s nuclear arsenal. A groundbreaking account of accidents, near misses, extraordinary heroism, and technological breakthroughs, Command and Control explores the dilemma that has existed since the dawn of the nuclear age: How do you deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? That question has never been resolved—and Schlosser reveals how the combination of human fallibility and technological complexity still poses a grave risk to mankind. While the harms of global warming increasingly dominate the news, the equally dangerous yet more immediate threat of nuclear weapons has been largely forgotten.

Written with the vibrancy of a first-rate thriller, Command and Control interweaves the minute-by-minute story of an accident at a nuclear missile silo in rural Arkansas with a historical narrative that spans more than fifty years. It depicts the urgent effort by American scientists, policy makers, and military officers to ensure that nuclear weapons can’t be stolen, sabotaged, used without permission, or detonated inadvertently. Schlosser also looks at the Cold War from a new perspective, offering history from the ground up, telling the stories of bomber pilots, missile commanders, maintenance crews, and other ordinary servicemen who risked their lives to avert a nuclear holocaust. At the heart of the book lies the struggle, amid the rolling hills and small farms of Damascus, Arkansas, to prevent the explosion of a ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States.

Drawing on recently declassified documents and interviews with people who designed and routinely handled nuclear weapons, Command and Control takes readers into a terrifying but fascinating world that, until now, has been largely hidden from view. Through the details of a single accident, Schlosser illustrates how an unlikely event can become unavoidable, how small risks can have terrible consequences, and how the most brilliant minds in the nation can only provide us with an illusion of control. Audacious, gripping, and unforgettable, Command and Control is a tour de force of investigative journalism, an eye-opening look at the dangers of America’s nuclear age.]]> 656 Eric Schlosser 1594202273 Scott 4
It has been a blend of the thankless dedication and hard work of a few good men, blind luck, and divine intervention that we have not blown ourselves to kingdom come in the past 70 years since we learned to harness atomic power.

Don't fall into the argument, either, that the apparent lack of nuclear accidents in that time demonstrates that we must have a pretty good handle on these things. There have actually been plenty of accidents, many of which have never---until Schlosser got a hold of the documents---been released to the general public until now.

At the center of the book is a real life suspense thriller. On the evening of September 18, 1980 at a missile silo in the middle of farmland just north of the small Arkansas town of Damascus, two members of a maintenance crew for the Titan II nuclear missile were working on the missile when one of the men accidentally dropped a socket---something which happened quite frequently during routine maintenance, normally without incident---which hit the fuselage on the way down in just the right spot, accidentally nicking the fuel line. The silo began filling with poisonous smoke.

Thus begins an edge-of-the-seat race against time, involving dozens of brave men---some of whom died that day and some of whom survived---whose names would never make it into history books or on plaques. Indeed, some of the men would actually be blamed by the military for causing the accident in the first place. Schlosser, in writing this book, sets the record straight.

Interspersed throughout the book is a detailed and fascinating history, from the early days when atomic power was merely in its theoretical phase, to the days of Los Alamos and Robert Oppenheimer's deadly creation, to its uses in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the nuclear bomb tests and arms race of the '50s Cold War to attempts at disarmament in the '70s and '80s to the horrifying reality of today's War on Terror.

As Schlosser illustrates throughout the book and ultimately points out in his epilogue, the creation and build-up of our nuclear arsenal has created a monster so powerful and grand as to potentially be unstoppable.

Blaming young men for accidents like Damascus is not only irrelevant but completely misplaced: "The instinct to blame the people at the bottom not only protected those at the top, it also obscured an underlying truth. The fallibility of human beings guarantees that no technological system will ever be infallible. (p. 461)"]]> 4.24 2013 Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
author: Eric Schlosser
name: Scott
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2014/07/07
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, politics, science, warfare
review:
Eric Schlosser, who exposed the fast food industry for the totally unsafe and unhealthy obesity-causing multi-billion dollar lobbying group that it is in his book "Fast Food Nation", turns his sights on the frightening issue of nuclear weapons and our country's nuclear arsenal in "Command and Control", the title of which is meant to be ironic, as any sense that we have of a command and control over these weapons is strictly an illusion.

It has been a blend of the thankless dedication and hard work of a few good men, blind luck, and divine intervention that we have not blown ourselves to kingdom come in the past 70 years since we learned to harness atomic power.

Don't fall into the argument, either, that the apparent lack of nuclear accidents in that time demonstrates that we must have a pretty good handle on these things. There have actually been plenty of accidents, many of which have never---until Schlosser got a hold of the documents---been released to the general public until now.

At the center of the book is a real life suspense thriller. On the evening of September 18, 1980 at a missile silo in the middle of farmland just north of the small Arkansas town of Damascus, two members of a maintenance crew for the Titan II nuclear missile were working on the missile when one of the men accidentally dropped a socket---something which happened quite frequently during routine maintenance, normally without incident---which hit the fuselage on the way down in just the right spot, accidentally nicking the fuel line. The silo began filling with poisonous smoke.

Thus begins an edge-of-the-seat race against time, involving dozens of brave men---some of whom died that day and some of whom survived---whose names would never make it into history books or on plaques. Indeed, some of the men would actually be blamed by the military for causing the accident in the first place. Schlosser, in writing this book, sets the record straight.

Interspersed throughout the book is a detailed and fascinating history, from the early days when atomic power was merely in its theoretical phase, to the days of Los Alamos and Robert Oppenheimer's deadly creation, to its uses in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the nuclear bomb tests and arms race of the '50s Cold War to attempts at disarmament in the '70s and '80s to the horrifying reality of today's War on Terror.

As Schlosser illustrates throughout the book and ultimately points out in his epilogue, the creation and build-up of our nuclear arsenal has created a monster so powerful and grand as to potentially be unstoppable.

Blaming young men for accidents like Damascus is not only irrelevant but completely misplaced: "The instinct to blame the people at the bottom not only protected those at the top, it also obscured an underlying truth. The fallibility of human beings guarantees that no technological system will ever be infallible. (p. 461)"
]]> <![CDATA[Mafia Summit: J. Edgar Hoover, the Kennedy Brothers, and the Meeting That Unmasked the Mob]]> 15793080 320 Gil Reavill 0312657757 Scott 3
Gil Reavil's fascinating true-crime book "Mafia Summit" describes an incident that, for many, has become a folk legend, one that did not involve gunplay or violence of any kind, but the repercussions of it started a chain reaction that led to the virtual destruction of the organized crime syndicate known as the Mafia. Of course, the Mafia still exists today, but its heyday of splendor and glamour has long since passed, and much of the credit is due to primarily three men.

It was a rainy Thursday when Police Sergeant Edgar Croswell noticed the limousine driving through the wooded back roads of his small town. It was one of many odd vehicles he noticed driving up to the property owned by Joe Barbara, a local well-to-do businessman whom Croswell had been keeping an unofficial eye on.

For all intents and purposes, Barbara was a legitimate business owner, but Croswell had had a hunch, for years, that something about the old man wasn't kosher. After running the plates of a few cars, Croswell and his fellow law enforcement officers began to understand what was going on.

Various members---mostly bosses, underbosses, and "made" men---of different mob families were traveling from as far as New York City, Miami, Cleveland, Chicago, Vegas, and L.A. to meet at Barbara's lavish estate. Apparently, the Mob was meeting for a summit, the purpose of which was unclear to Croswell and his men, but the very fact of their presence meant something big was happening.

When Croswell gave the order to approach the property, the mobsters inside panicked. Despite some of the more colorful embellished versions of the story, a violent gun battle never took place. No one was killed or injured, but many mobsters---there were close to 60 in attendance---were caught jumping out windows and running through the muddy forests in three-piece suits and expensive shoes. Some of them got away, but many of them were held for questioning. For a time, at least.

When Croswell realized that he had no actual crime for which to hold them, he was forced to release them. The damage, however, had been done.

Much of the damage was done to J. Edgar Hoover's credibility. The famous director of the FBI had, for years, told the general public that the Mafia was a fairy tale, that it didn't exist. Organized Crime was, for the most part, a myth. And the general public bought it.

Until the photos of mobsters jumping out the windows of Joe Barbara's house were splashed on the front pages of almost every newspaper in the U.S.

Literally overnight, the Mafia was the topic of conversation for everyone. Clearly, Hoover had been wrong. Not only that, but Hoover's obsessive and myopic preoccupation with "communists" had helped the federal law enforcement agency to seriously overlook the very real threat of organized crime members who had, like the alleged communists, infiltrated and/or corrupted law enforcement and government officials with bribes and pay-offs.

In the right place at the right time, Robert Kennedy, brother of the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, became attorney general and went after the Mob like white on rice.

Perhaps, as Reavill theorizes, as an attempt to overcome the accusations of nepotism or an Oedipal projection of hatred of his father, Joe Kennedy (notorious for his many mob connections), Bobby's passion for destroying the Mafia became less of a job and more of a religion.

Arrests and convictions happened in droves. Bobby pissed off a lot of mafiosi, receiving constant death threats, many by people who could easily pull it off. (Many JFK conspiracy theorists use this fact to support their theory that the Mafia had JFK murdered as a warning to his brother to back off, a theory that Reavill doesn't discount completely, although he does make the point that members of the mafia are notorious for their inability to shut their mouths and keep secrets, so for a secret conspiracy to remain quiet for this long seems pretty unrealistic.)

Reavill's reportage is fascinating and fairly thorough. At the very least, it makes for an exciting read. At its best, Reavill's book examines the complex lives of three very extraordinary men---Croswell, Hoover, and Kennedy---whose intersection in history resulted in something grand and powerful.]]> 3.64 2013 Mafia Summit: J. Edgar Hoover, the Kennedy Brothers, and the Meeting That Unmasked the Mob
author: Gil Reavill
name: Scott
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2013/05/08
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: nonfiction, mafia, true-crime, history
review:
November 14, 1957 was an extremely important day in American history that nobody knows about. It was the day that the Mafia in the U.S. began its steady decline and fall, and it started with an observant police sergeant running the license plate of a Chrysler Crown Imperial limousine, a car that seemed out of place for the small Upper New York town of Apalachin.

Gil Reavil's fascinating true-crime book "Mafia Summit" describes an incident that, for many, has become a folk legend, one that did not involve gunplay or violence of any kind, but the repercussions of it started a chain reaction that led to the virtual destruction of the organized crime syndicate known as the Mafia. Of course, the Mafia still exists today, but its heyday of splendor and glamour has long since passed, and much of the credit is due to primarily three men.

It was a rainy Thursday when Police Sergeant Edgar Croswell noticed the limousine driving through the wooded back roads of his small town. It was one of many odd vehicles he noticed driving up to the property owned by Joe Barbara, a local well-to-do businessman whom Croswell had been keeping an unofficial eye on.

For all intents and purposes, Barbara was a legitimate business owner, but Croswell had had a hunch, for years, that something about the old man wasn't kosher. After running the plates of a few cars, Croswell and his fellow law enforcement officers began to understand what was going on.

Various members---mostly bosses, underbosses, and "made" men---of different mob families were traveling from as far as New York City, Miami, Cleveland, Chicago, Vegas, and L.A. to meet at Barbara's lavish estate. Apparently, the Mob was meeting for a summit, the purpose of which was unclear to Croswell and his men, but the very fact of their presence meant something big was happening.

When Croswell gave the order to approach the property, the mobsters inside panicked. Despite some of the more colorful embellished versions of the story, a violent gun battle never took place. No one was killed or injured, but many mobsters---there were close to 60 in attendance---were caught jumping out windows and running through the muddy forests in three-piece suits and expensive shoes. Some of them got away, but many of them were held for questioning. For a time, at least.

When Croswell realized that he had no actual crime for which to hold them, he was forced to release them. The damage, however, had been done.

Much of the damage was done to J. Edgar Hoover's credibility. The famous director of the FBI had, for years, told the general public that the Mafia was a fairy tale, that it didn't exist. Organized Crime was, for the most part, a myth. And the general public bought it.

Until the photos of mobsters jumping out the windows of Joe Barbara's house were splashed on the front pages of almost every newspaper in the U.S.

Literally overnight, the Mafia was the topic of conversation for everyone. Clearly, Hoover had been wrong. Not only that, but Hoover's obsessive and myopic preoccupation with "communists" had helped the federal law enforcement agency to seriously overlook the very real threat of organized crime members who had, like the alleged communists, infiltrated and/or corrupted law enforcement and government officials with bribes and pay-offs.

In the right place at the right time, Robert Kennedy, brother of the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, became attorney general and went after the Mob like white on rice.

Perhaps, as Reavill theorizes, as an attempt to overcome the accusations of nepotism or an Oedipal projection of hatred of his father, Joe Kennedy (notorious for his many mob connections), Bobby's passion for destroying the Mafia became less of a job and more of a religion.

Arrests and convictions happened in droves. Bobby pissed off a lot of mafiosi, receiving constant death threats, many by people who could easily pull it off. (Many JFK conspiracy theorists use this fact to support their theory that the Mafia had JFK murdered as a warning to his brother to back off, a theory that Reavill doesn't discount completely, although he does make the point that members of the mafia are notorious for their inability to shut their mouths and keep secrets, so for a secret conspiracy to remain quiet for this long seems pretty unrealistic.)

Reavill's reportage is fascinating and fairly thorough. At the very least, it makes for an exciting read. At its best, Reavill's book examines the complex lives of three very extraordinary men---Croswell, Hoover, and Kennedy---whose intersection in history resulted in something grand and powerful.
]]> <![CDATA[Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul]]> 219780
Not everyone appreciated the sisters’ attempts to elevate the industry. Rival Levee madams hatched numerous schemes to ruin the Everleighs, including an attempt to frame them for the death of department store heir Marshall Field, Jr. But the sisters’ most daunting foes were the Progressive Era reformers, who sent the entire country into a frenzy with lurid tales of “white slavery-the allegedly rampant practice of kidnapping young girls and forcing them into brothels. This furor shaped America’s sexual culture and had repercussions all the way to the White House, including the formation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

With a cast of characters that includes Jack Johnson, John Barrymore, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., William Howard Taft, “Hinky Dink” Kenna, and Al Capone, Sin in the Second City is Karen Abbott’s colorful, nuanced portrait of the iconic Everleigh sisters, their world-famous Club, and the perennial clash between our nation’s hedonistic impulses and Puritanical roots. Culminating in a dramatic last stand between brothel keepers and crusading reformers, Sin in the Second City offers a vivid snapshot of America’s journey from Victorian-era propriety to twentieth-century modernity.]]> 356 Karen Abbott 1400065305 Scott 4
Prostitution was a business, and a flourishing one at that. One brothel in particular, the Everleigh Club in Chicago during the turn of the century, is the fascinating subject of Karen Abbot's book, "Sin in the Second City".

The Everleigh sisters, Minna and Ada, were the famous madams of this brothel. It was so well-known and popular that there was a waiting list of prostitutes hoping to become one of the Everleigh girls. Cultivating strong political relationships with many figures in local and federal government, enforcing strict rules and regulations for both the working girls and patrons of their establishment, and ensuring a safe and healthy work environment for their girls, the Everleigh sisters were clearly progressive thinkers and advocates for better working conditions for the ladies in the world's oldest profession. Besides proper health care, the Everleigh sisters also believed in education for their girls.

Legitimizing the brothel was not to be, however, due to a reform movement that swept the nation at the time. Started primarily by ministers, politicians, and temperance-minded housewives, this movement began as a fear-driven attempt to eradicate the "white slave trade", which many saw as an epidemic of our nation's young women being kidnapped, raped, and forced to live out the rest of their (short) lives as prostitutes.

Several famous books (and even a genre of "white slave trade" motion pictures) added fuel to an already out-of-control conflagration of misinformation and utter nonsense. According to "scientific" studies, the average life expectancy of a white slave (a ruined young lady forced into prostitution) was only five years. These young women either died from untreated venereal disease, suicide, or murder.

Of course, it's telling that tied into this white slavery craze was a deep-rooted racist, anti-immigrant, and Anti-Semitic sentiment, as it was "well-known" that most white slavers were Italians or Jews.

Brothel after brothel were shut down in highly-publicized raids, but relatively untouched was the charismatic and soft-spoken Everleigh sisters, who lived to be in their 80s and cultivated deep friendships with such famous literary figures as Theodore Dreiser and Irving Wallace.

Abbot's book is as entertaining as it is scandalous, with a cast of colorful characters, including Vic Shaw, the loud-mouthed big-bosomed madam that hated the Everleigh sisters so much that she tried to frame them for murder... twice!; Big Jim Colossimo, a spaghetti-loving gangster who may or may not have been executed by his own bodyguard, a young Alphonse Capone; the Reverand Ernest Bell, a devout minister who almost single-handedly led the crusade against the evil brothel owners of Chicago; and a slew of others with names like Hinky Dink Kenna and Bathhouse John Coughlin.

"Sin in the Second City" is a fun little foray into the red-light district of American history.]]> 3.62 2007 Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul
author: Karen Abbott
name: Scott
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2012/02/01
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, nonfiction, sexuality
review:
It's hard to believe that there was a time in American history where many of the major cities not only had open brothels but whole districts devoted to them.

Prostitution was a business, and a flourishing one at that. One brothel in particular, the Everleigh Club in Chicago during the turn of the century, is the fascinating subject of Karen Abbot's book, "Sin in the Second City".

The Everleigh sisters, Minna and Ada, were the famous madams of this brothel. It was so well-known and popular that there was a waiting list of prostitutes hoping to become one of the Everleigh girls. Cultivating strong political relationships with many figures in local and federal government, enforcing strict rules and regulations for both the working girls and patrons of their establishment, and ensuring a safe and healthy work environment for their girls, the Everleigh sisters were clearly progressive thinkers and advocates for better working conditions for the ladies in the world's oldest profession. Besides proper health care, the Everleigh sisters also believed in education for their girls.

Legitimizing the brothel was not to be, however, due to a reform movement that swept the nation at the time. Started primarily by ministers, politicians, and temperance-minded housewives, this movement began as a fear-driven attempt to eradicate the "white slave trade", which many saw as an epidemic of our nation's young women being kidnapped, raped, and forced to live out the rest of their (short) lives as prostitutes.

Several famous books (and even a genre of "white slave trade" motion pictures) added fuel to an already out-of-control conflagration of misinformation and utter nonsense. According to "scientific" studies, the average life expectancy of a white slave (a ruined young lady forced into prostitution) was only five years. These young women either died from untreated venereal disease, suicide, or murder.

Of course, it's telling that tied into this white slavery craze was a deep-rooted racist, anti-immigrant, and Anti-Semitic sentiment, as it was "well-known" that most white slavers were Italians or Jews.

Brothel after brothel were shut down in highly-publicized raids, but relatively untouched was the charismatic and soft-spoken Everleigh sisters, who lived to be in their 80s and cultivated deep friendships with such famous literary figures as Theodore Dreiser and Irving Wallace.

Abbot's book is as entertaining as it is scandalous, with a cast of colorful characters, including Vic Shaw, the loud-mouthed big-bosomed madam that hated the Everleigh sisters so much that she tried to frame them for murder... twice!; Big Jim Colossimo, a spaghetti-loving gangster who may or may not have been executed by his own bodyguard, a young Alphonse Capone; the Reverand Ernest Bell, a devout minister who almost single-handedly led the crusade against the evil brothel owners of Chicago; and a slew of others with names like Hinky Dink Kenna and Bathhouse John Coughlin.

"Sin in the Second City" is a fun little foray into the red-light district of American history.
]]> <![CDATA[Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea]]> 701780 -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

This enthralling true story of maritime tragedy and visionary science begins with a disaster to rival the sinking of the Titanic.

In September 1857, the S.S. Central America, a side-wheel steamer carrying passengers returning from the gold fields of California, went down during a hurricane off the Carolina coast. More than 400 men--and 21 tons of gold--were lost. In the 1980s, a maverick engineer named Tommy Thompson set out to find the wreck and salvage its treasure from the ocean floor.

With knuckle-biting suspense, Gary Kinder reconstructs the terror of the Central America 's last days, when passengers bailed freezing water from the hold, then chopped the ship's timbers to use as impromptu liferafts. He goes on to chronicle Thompson's epic quest for the lost vessel, an endeavor that drew on the latest strides in oceanography, information theory, and underwater robotics, and that pitted Thompson against hair-raising weather, bloodthirsty sharks, and unscrupulous rivals.

Ship of Gold is a magnificent adventure, filled with heroism, ingenuity, and perseverance.]]> 552 Gary Kinder 0375703373 Scott 4 history, maritime, nonfiction
Kinder tells an exciting well-researched story about the 1857 sinking of the Central America, an American passenger ship, off the coast of North Carolina. Roughly 400 people perished, and several millions of dollars worth (adjusted) of California gold was lost in treacherously deep waters. It was apparently the worst maritime disaster until the Titanic, and until the 1980s, no one knew exactly where it was.

Not that it mattered, because the technology didn't exist to retreive anything from that depth. That is, not until an intrepid and ingenuous engineer named Tommy Thompson (an OSU grad, no less) was struck by the "treasure-hunting" bug and set out on a well-funded expedition with state-of-the-art underwater submersible and artifact retrieval technology.

This is a great sea-faring adventure told extremely well. The first part literally grabs the reader and doesn't let up, as Kinder describes the events of the hurricane that leads up to the sinking of the Central America. Kinder uses first-hand narratives to capture the emotionally draining stories of the survivors.

The second part, equally fascinating (although admittedly not as exciting) tells the story of Thompson's attempt to get his expedition underway. Rounding up legal teams and scrounging up fund-raisers may be exciting to some, but at times these parts do drag.

Thankfully, Kinder knows how to keep the reader engaged and never dwells too long on the boring bits. There are a few scenes of suspense, when rival treasure-hunters (some not as legal-minded as Thompson) attempt to horn in on their scene. The climactic "discovery" and recovery scene is well worth the wait.

This book is probably what James Cameron's "Titanic" could have been if it wasn't bogged down by the stupid love story. "Ship of Gold" is just pure manly adventure story.]]> 4.26 1998 Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea
author: Gary Kinder
name: Scott
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2009/03/28
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: history, maritime, nonfiction
review:
"Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea" by Gary Kinder reads like a Clive Cussler novel but is actually nonfiction.

Kinder tells an exciting well-researched story about the 1857 sinking of the Central America, an American passenger ship, off the coast of North Carolina. Roughly 400 people perished, and several millions of dollars worth (adjusted) of California gold was lost in treacherously deep waters. It was apparently the worst maritime disaster until the Titanic, and until the 1980s, no one knew exactly where it was.

Not that it mattered, because the technology didn't exist to retreive anything from that depth. That is, not until an intrepid and ingenuous engineer named Tommy Thompson (an OSU grad, no less) was struck by the "treasure-hunting" bug and set out on a well-funded expedition with state-of-the-art underwater submersible and artifact retrieval technology.

This is a great sea-faring adventure told extremely well. The first part literally grabs the reader and doesn't let up, as Kinder describes the events of the hurricane that leads up to the sinking of the Central America. Kinder uses first-hand narratives to capture the emotionally draining stories of the survivors.

The second part, equally fascinating (although admittedly not as exciting) tells the story of Thompson's attempt to get his expedition underway. Rounding up legal teams and scrounging up fund-raisers may be exciting to some, but at times these parts do drag.

Thankfully, Kinder knows how to keep the reader engaged and never dwells too long on the boring bits. There are a few scenes of suspense, when rival treasure-hunters (some not as legal-minded as Thompson) attempt to horn in on their scene. The climactic "discovery" and recovery scene is well worth the wait.

This book is probably what James Cameron's "Titanic" could have been if it wasn't bogged down by the stupid love story. "Ship of Gold" is just pure manly adventure story.
]]> 11/22/63 10644930
In 2011, Jake Epping, an English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, sets out on an insane — and insanely possible — mission to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

Leaving behind a world of computers and mobile phones, he goes back to a time of big American cars and diners, of Lindy Hopping, the sound of Elvis, and the taste of root beer.

In this haunting world, Jake falls in love with Sadie, a beautiful high school librarian. And, as the ominous date of 11/22/63 approaches, he encounters a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald...]]> 849 Stephen King 1451627289 Scott 5
It's easy to exaggerate the effects of such incidents in history, but who's to say life wouldn't have been better if someone had stopped Lee Harvey Oswald from firing his rifle from the Book Depository that day? Jake Epping, the protagonist of Stephen King's wonderful novel "11/22/63", is convinced the world would have been better if JFK had survived. Not only that, but Jake has the means to enact change in history: he has a time machine.

Okay, it's not really a time machine. It's a broom closet in an old diner. When you step into it, you leave the present and arrive into 1958. You can come back, always two minutes later, regardless of how long one stays in the past, but when you step through it again, it's always going to be 1958 at exactly the same time on exactly the same date. Weird and unexplainable (which is par for the course for a King novel) as it is, Epping doesn't think much on the cosmic ramifications of his time-traveling. All he knows is that he CAN change time but that the past doesn't like it when you change it. The past bites back.

Thus begins one of the best King novels since "Under the Dome". Playfully conjuring references to other fun time-travel stories, most notably the "Back to the Future" films, the TV show "Quantum Leap", and Ray Bradbury's classic short story "A Sound of Thunder", "11/22/63" takes the reader on a fantastic journey that one won't want to end. As always, King creates nail-biting suspense, goosebump-raising creepiness, and, of course, characters with which one can't help falling in love. There are twists and turns galore throughout the plot, but King never forgets to remind us that this is ultimately a story about humanity.]]> 4.33 2011 11/22/63
author: Stephen King
name: Scott
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2013/05/25
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: horror, stephen-king, time-travel, science-fiction, fantasy
review:
There are moments in life that have an impact on history. Most recently, we can all remember where we were when the events of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred. For most of us, it will always seem like yesterday. It is imprinted in our brains, and it has changed us. For many people of a certain generation, the assassination of JFK in Dallas changed their lives forever. It was, for many, a death of innocence for the country, and it was the beginning of a darker time in America.

It's easy to exaggerate the effects of such incidents in history, but who's to say life wouldn't have been better if someone had stopped Lee Harvey Oswald from firing his rifle from the Book Depository that day? Jake Epping, the protagonist of Stephen King's wonderful novel "11/22/63", is convinced the world would have been better if JFK had survived. Not only that, but Jake has the means to enact change in history: he has a time machine.

Okay, it's not really a time machine. It's a broom closet in an old diner. When you step into it, you leave the present and arrive into 1958. You can come back, always two minutes later, regardless of how long one stays in the past, but when you step through it again, it's always going to be 1958 at exactly the same time on exactly the same date. Weird and unexplainable (which is par for the course for a King novel) as it is, Epping doesn't think much on the cosmic ramifications of his time-traveling. All he knows is that he CAN change time but that the past doesn't like it when you change it. The past bites back.

Thus begins one of the best King novels since "Under the Dome". Playfully conjuring references to other fun time-travel stories, most notably the "Back to the Future" films, the TV show "Quantum Leap", and Ray Bradbury's classic short story "A Sound of Thunder", "11/22/63" takes the reader on a fantastic journey that one won't want to end. As always, King creates nail-biting suspense, goosebump-raising creepiness, and, of course, characters with which one can't help falling in love. There are twists and turns galore throughout the plot, but King never forgets to remind us that this is ultimately a story about humanity.
]]> Powder Burn 41015197 289 Carl Hiaasen Scott 0 to-read 3.88 1981 Powder Burn
author: Carl Hiaasen
name: Scott
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Basket Case 13063 400 Carl Hiaasen 0446695645 Scott 4
Hiaasen basically hates everybody in Miami, Florida, and he writes lovingly about that hate in his hilarious novels.

"Basket Case" is probably his most straightforward attempt at writing a murder mystery. Told from the first-person perspective of Jack Tagger, an obituary writer for a no-name local newspaper, "Basket Case" follows Tagger as he investigates the mysterious death of Jimmy Stoma, the front man for Jack's favorite rock band from the '70s, Jimmy and the Slut Puppies.

The official word is accidental drowning, but Tagger suspects murder, and when two other former Slut Puppies bite the bullet, his suspicions are confirmed. Unfortunately, he has no evidence. Fortunately, what he does have is Emma, his sexy young editor who has more than a crush on him, a frozen lizard in his freezer, a weird but not altogether surprising fascination with death, and more intelligence than the idiotic hitmen hired to kill him. (One of them is simply named Loreal. Yeah, after the shampoo...)

This is good stuff. Hiaasen may not be Pulitzer Prize material, but he's damn funny and is a good source for scathing social commentary. He'll make you laugh. What more do you want?]]> 3.82 2002 Basket Case
author: Carl Hiaasen
name: Scott
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2011/09/27
date added: 2025/07/01
shelves: crime, humor, florida-is-a-f-ed-up-state
review:
Carl Hiaasen is funny. But he's probably not so funny to a lot of people, namely politicians (Republicans and Democrats alike), the Aryan Brotherhood, trailer trash, people who spend thousands on plastic surgery, plastic surgeons, Colombian drug dealers, tourists, pedophiles, supermodels, criminals, and dog-haters. I suppose if you're not in one of those demographics, you won't be offended by Hiaasen's salty disposition.

Hiaasen basically hates everybody in Miami, Florida, and he writes lovingly about that hate in his hilarious novels.

"Basket Case" is probably his most straightforward attempt at writing a murder mystery. Told from the first-person perspective of Jack Tagger, an obituary writer for a no-name local newspaper, "Basket Case" follows Tagger as he investigates the mysterious death of Jimmy Stoma, the front man for Jack's favorite rock band from the '70s, Jimmy and the Slut Puppies.

The official word is accidental drowning, but Tagger suspects murder, and when two other former Slut Puppies bite the bullet, his suspicions are confirmed. Unfortunately, he has no evidence. Fortunately, what he does have is Emma, his sexy young editor who has more than a crush on him, a frozen lizard in his freezer, a weird but not altogether surprising fascination with death, and more intelligence than the idiotic hitmen hired to kill him. (One of them is simply named Loreal. Yeah, after the shampoo...)

This is good stuff. Hiaasen may not be Pulitzer Prize material, but he's damn funny and is a good source for scathing social commentary. He'll make you laugh. What more do you want?
]]> <![CDATA[Don of the Dead (Pepper Martin, #1)]]> 382859 She sees dead people.

Beautiful, smart, and chic, Pepper Martin never had to work a day in her life — until her surgeon daddy was convicted of fraud, her wealthy fiancé took a powder, and the family fortune ran bone dry.

Suddenly desperate, the inexperienced ex-rich girl was forced to take the only job she could get: as a tour guide in a cemetery. But a grave situation took a turn for the worse when a head-on collision with a headstone left her with an unwanted ability to communicate with the disgruntled deceased... and now Pepper has a whacked Mafia don demanding that she hunt down his killers — and threatening to haunt her until she does.]]> 325 Casey Daniels 0060821469 Scott 3
Funny, cute debut novel from Cleveland native Casey Daniels about a spoiled rich girl named Pepper Martin who is suddenly given the ability to communicate with dead people. Actually, only one dead person, Gus Scarpetti, a Cleveland mafia don who was killed thirty years ago.

He recruits her (unwillingly) to play detective and discover who ordered his "hit". To Gus's and her own surprise, it turns out she's actually good at playing detective.

It may seem like a silly premise, but Daniels turns what could have been a ridiculous story into a pretty good mystery thriller with well-developed characters and a clear respect for the genre. First in a series. Fans of Charlaine Harris and Christopher Moore will enjoy Daniels.

(I've already cast the movie: Amy Adams as Pepper Martin and Robert De Niro as Gus.)]]> 3.69 2006 Don of the Dead (Pepper Martin, #1)
author: Casey Daniels
name: Scott
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2008/09/17
date added: 2025/07/01
shelves: chick-lit, humor, mystery, supernatural-thriller, series-detective
review:
Think "Legally Blonde" meets "The Sixth Sense", and you have "Don of the Dead".

Funny, cute debut novel from Cleveland native Casey Daniels about a spoiled rich girl named Pepper Martin who is suddenly given the ability to communicate with dead people. Actually, only one dead person, Gus Scarpetti, a Cleveland mafia don who was killed thirty years ago.

He recruits her (unwillingly) to play detective and discover who ordered his "hit". To Gus's and her own surprise, it turns out she's actually good at playing detective.

It may seem like a silly premise, but Daniels turns what could have been a ridiculous story into a pretty good mystery thriller with well-developed characters and a clear respect for the genre. First in a series. Fans of Charlaine Harris and Christopher Moore will enjoy Daniels.

(I've already cast the movie: Amy Adams as Pepper Martin and Robert De Niro as Gus.)
]]> How to Be Good 4268 305 Nick Hornby 3426615355 Scott 4
While it's been a few years since I read this, the book resonated with me. I'm pretty sure, at the time, I was re-evaluating my status as a devout Christian, and the question of how to be good in a world that, occasionally, favored the bad was foremost on my mind.

When I read this I had just entered my 30s, and my 20s had been rough. I had spent a lot of my 20s getting drunk, going to strip clubs and raves, trying (unsuccessfully) to have one-night stands, and taking pleasure in pissing off friends and family. I was, not to put too fine a point on it, an asshole.

It was right around this time, too, that I reconnected with some friends who invited me to a Bible study. Unlike many Christians, these guys weren't judgmental, boorish, or arrogant about their Christianity. They were pretty open and honest about it, and they knew the kind of lifestyle I was leading. They didn't seem to care.

Long story short: I became a Christian. I've had my ups and downs since, but I've always tried to live by Christ's Golden Rule.

Hornby encapsulates a 21st-century philosophical and existential dilemma: How can we be good when so many things around us are tempting us to be bad?]]> 3.25 2001 How to Be Good
author: Nick Hornby
name: Scott
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2003/12/22
date added: 2025/07/01
shelves: british, humor, relationships, religion
review:
Nick Hornby tackles suburbia, white liberalism, marriage, and life according to the Gospels in a secular world in his excellent book "How to Be Good".

While it's been a few years since I read this, the book resonated with me. I'm pretty sure, at the time, I was re-evaluating my status as a devout Christian, and the question of how to be good in a world that, occasionally, favored the bad was foremost on my mind.

When I read this I had just entered my 30s, and my 20s had been rough. I had spent a lot of my 20s getting drunk, going to strip clubs and raves, trying (unsuccessfully) to have one-night stands, and taking pleasure in pissing off friends and family. I was, not to put too fine a point on it, an asshole.

It was right around this time, too, that I reconnected with some friends who invited me to a Bible study. Unlike many Christians, these guys weren't judgmental, boorish, or arrogant about their Christianity. They were pretty open and honest about it, and they knew the kind of lifestyle I was leading. They didn't seem to care.

Long story short: I became a Christian. I've had my ups and downs since, but I've always tried to live by Christ's Golden Rule.

Hornby encapsulates a 21st-century philosophical and existential dilemma: How can we be good when so many things around us are tempting us to be bad?
]]> <![CDATA[The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder]]> 35786 370 Mark Crispin Miller 0393322963 Scott 5 didn't have a narcissistic sociopath sitting in the Oval Office that made W. look like a saint and a genius? Those were the days. Innocent days.]]> 3.58 2001 The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder
author: Mark Crispin Miller
name: Scott
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2003/04/08
date added: 2025/07/01
shelves: nonfiction, politics, humor, presidents-u-s-a
review:
Ah, remember the time when we thought George W. Bush was the worst president ever? Remember when we thought his use of the word "nucular" and other hilarious malapropisms were indicative of an ignoramus who somehow got elected to the most powerful position in the land? Remember when we didn't have a narcissistic sociopath sitting in the Oval Office that made W. look like a saint and a genius? Those were the days. Innocent days.
]]> <![CDATA[Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind]]> 219838010 One of the hottest stand-ups working today, Nate Bargatze brings his everyman comedy to the page in this hilarious collection of personal stories, opinions, and confessions.

Nate Bargatze used to be a genius. That is, until the summer after seventh grade when he slipped, fell off a cliff, hit his head on a rock, and “my brain got, like, dented or something.” Before this accident, he dreamed of being “an electric engineer, or a brain doctor, or maybe a math person who does like, math things for a living.” Afterwards, a voice in his head told him, “It’s okay. You’re dumb now. All you got is standup.”* But the “math things’ industry’s loss is our gain because Nate went on to become one of today’s top-grossing comedians who breaks both attendance and streaming records.
 
In his highly-anticipated first book, Nate talks about life as a non-genius. From stories about his first car (named Old Blue, a clunky Mazda with a tennis ball for a stick shift), life as a Southerner (Northerners constantly ask him things like, do you believe in dinosaurs?), and his first apartment where a rat chewed a hole right through the wall to how his wife keeps him in line and so much more. He also reflects on such topics as Vandy football and the origins of sushi (how can a Philadelphia roll be from old-time Japan?).
 
Nate’s book is full of heart and it will make readers laugh out loud and nod in recognition, but it probably won’t make them think too much.
 
 
*Nate’s family disputes this entire story]]> 240 Nate Bargatze 1538768461 Scott 5 humor, memoir, nonfiction
A large part of his appeal is the fact that Bargatze is a "clean" comic. He never uses profanity, and his jokes never involve awkward sexual innuendo. I have watched his Netflix specials with my 11-year-old daughter and never worried once that she was hearing something inappropriate for her age. Even my wife finds him hilarious, and she normally detests stand-up. He is proof that one can be funny without dropping countless "f" bombs or constantly talking about one's penis or vagina.

His book, "Big Dumb Eyes", is basically his stand-up routine in written form. In other words, it's hilarious. It's also a quick read, as another part of his appeal is that he's not afraid to make fun of himself, including the fact that he's a college drop-out who isn't very smart. (I will hazard a guess that part of his "dumb" schtick is just that: a schtick. One that he's cleverly cultivated over the years. The fact of his rising success is proof that he's smarter than he acts.)

Besides all the silliness, the book does delve into some semi-serious and heart-warming episodes in his life, including how he met his wife and the birth of his daughter. He also talks quite unashamedly about the fact that he was born and raised in a devout Christian home, and that he is, still to this day, a (semi-) regular church-goer. This is actually kind of refreshing. Mostly, though, it's hilarious.]]> 3.82 2025 Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind
author: Nate Bargatze
name: Scott
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/06/29
date added: 2025/07/01
shelves: humor, memoir, nonfiction
review:
One of my favorite stand-up comedians currently is Nate Bargatze, who has, apparently, been working the stand-up circuits for many, many years. It has been fairly recently, however, that his career has skyrocketed to the point that his name is almost a household one. He has had several successful Netflix specials, appeared on SNL as host twice, and now has a best-selling book out. As someone who is very critical and nit-picky about stand-up comedians, I would have to say that his success is well-deserved.

A large part of his appeal is the fact that Bargatze is a "clean" comic. He never uses profanity, and his jokes never involve awkward sexual innuendo. I have watched his Netflix specials with my 11-year-old daughter and never worried once that she was hearing something inappropriate for her age. Even my wife finds him hilarious, and she normally detests stand-up. He is proof that one can be funny without dropping countless "f" bombs or constantly talking about one's penis or vagina.

His book, "Big Dumb Eyes", is basically his stand-up routine in written form. In other words, it's hilarious. It's also a quick read, as another part of his appeal is that he's not afraid to make fun of himself, including the fact that he's a college drop-out who isn't very smart. (I will hazard a guess that part of his "dumb" schtick is just that: a schtick. One that he's cleverly cultivated over the years. The fact of his rising success is proof that he's smarter than he acts.)

Besides all the silliness, the book does delve into some semi-serious and heart-warming episodes in his life, including how he met his wife and the birth of his daughter. He also talks quite unashamedly about the fact that he was born and raised in a devout Christian home, and that he is, still to this day, a (semi-) regular church-goer. This is actually kind of refreshing. Mostly, though, it's hilarious.
]]> The Peculiar Gift of July 219848366 With a dash of magic and an ensemble cast of oddball, small-town characters, this feel-good novel explores forgiveness, family, and the sense of humor it takes to live with the ones we love the most.

Ebey’s End is a small town on an island off the Pacific coast, reachable only by ferry (assuming the gods are with you and it’s not a Tuesday). It’s a comfortable, familiar (but okay, fine, sometimes lonely) life for its resident grocer Anita Odom. That is, until fourteen-year-old July shows up on her doorstep.

Taking in the recently orphaned daughter of an estranged cousin had not been on Anita’s to-do list. In fact, it’s a terrible idea. Anita is ill-suited, ill-prepared, and absolutely certain the entire enterprise will end in disaster—for both of them.

From the moment she arrives, July seems to “know” what each customer at the Island Grocery needs. They’re small: a housekeeping magazine slipped into old Mr. Daly’s basket or a coconut cream pie pressed into the hands of Pastor Chet. But one by one, these gifts start to change the lives of nearly everyone in town in ways much larger than they—or July—could have imagined.

It's not long before secrets are exposed and questions emerge, and everyone in Ebey’s End has to open their hearts a little wider to make room for it all.]]> 416 Ashley Ream 0593853725 Scott 0 to-read 4.05 2025 The Peculiar Gift of July
author: Ashley Ream
name: Scott
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cabin Fever: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic]]> 59089200 The true story of the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, which set sail with a deadly and little-understood stowaway--COVID-19--days before the world shut down in March 2020. This riveting narrative thriller takes readers behind the scenes with passengers and crew who were caught unprepared for the deadly ordeal that lay ahead.

In early 2020, the world was on edge. An ominous virus was spreading on different continents, and no one knew what the coming weeks would bring. Far from the hot spots, the cruise ship Zaandam was preparing to sail from Buenos Aires, Argentina, loaded with 1,200 passengers--Americans, Europeans and South Americans, plus 600 crew members.

Most passengers were older than sixty-five. There was concern about the virus on the news, and it had already killed and sickened passengers on other Holland America ships. But that was oceans away, and escaping to sea at the ends of the earth for a few weeks seemed like it might be a good option. The cruise line had said the voyage (three weeks around the South American coastline to see some of the world's most stunning natural wonders and ancient ruins) would carry on as scheduled, with no refunds. And it would be safe.

Among the travelers there is a retired American school superintendent on a dream vacation with his wife of fifty-six years, on a personal quest to see Machu Picchu. There is an Argentine psychologist taking this trip to celebrate her sixty-fourth birthday with her husband, though she finds herself fretting in her cabin on day one, trying to dismiss her fears of what she's hearing on the news. There is an Indonesian laundry manager who's been toiling on Holland America cruise ships for thirty years, sending his monthly paycheck to his family back home.

Within days, people aboard Zaandam begin to fall sick. The world's ports shut down. Zaandam becomes a top story on the news and is denied safe harbor everywhere. With only two doctors aboard and few medical supplies to test for or treat COVID-19, and with dwindling food and water, the ship wanders the oceans on an unthinkable journey.]]> 256 Michael Smith 0385547404 Scott 0 to-read 4.08 2022 Cabin Fever: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic
author: Michael Smith
name: Scott
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Absolution (Southern Reach, #4)]]> 210367505 TOP SECRET: A clear and present threat exists. Open-ended. Existential. Confirmation via uncanny op. Nature of same: Unknown. Initiating entity: Unknown. Priority: High.

Ten years after the publication of Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance – award winners and international bestsellers all, the first the basis for a now-classic film – Jeff VanderMeer brings us back for a surprise fourth and final foray into Area X.

Absolution opens decades before Area X forms, with a science expedition whose mysterious end suggests terrifying consequences for the future – and marks the Forgotten Coast as a high-priority area of interest for Central, the shadowy government agency responsible for monitoring extraordinary threats.

Many years later, the Forgotten Coast files wind up in the hands of a washed-up Central operative known as Old Jim. He starts pulling a thread that reveals a long and troubling record of government agents meddling with forces they clearly cannot comprehend. Soon, Old Jim is back out in the field, grappling with personal demons and now partnered with an unproven young agent, the two of them tasked with solving what may be an unsolvable mystery. With every turn, the stakes get higher: Central agents are being liquidated by an unknown rogue entity and Old Jim’s life is on the line.

Old Jim’s investigation culminates in the first Central expedition into what has now been labeled Area X. A border has come down, and a full team – well trained but eccentric – has been assembled to find Area X’s “off switch” somewhere in the volatile, dangerous terrain that has mysteriously defied all attempts to be explored, mapped, or controlled. A landscape that, one way or another, seems to consume all who enter it.

Sweeping in scope and rich with ideas, iconic characters, and unpredictable adventure, Absolution converges the past, present, and future in terrifying, ecstatic, and mind-bending ways. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time.]]> 441 Jeff VanderMeer 0374616590 Scott 0 3.59 2024 Absolution (Southern Reach, #4)
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Scott
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/29
shelves: currently-reading, science-fiction, new-weird
review:

]]> King of Ashes 219833252 A son returning home.
A dangerous debt.
Secrets about to ignite . . . and a family consumed by flames.

Roman Carruthers left the smoke and fire of his family's crematory business behind in his hometown of Jefferson Run, Virginia. He is enjoying a life of shallow excess as a financial adviser in Atlanta until he gets a call from his sister, Neveah, telling him their father is in a coma after a hit-and-run accident. When Roman goes home, he learns the accident may not be what it seems. His brother, Dante, is deeply in debt to dangerous, ruthless criminals.

And Roman is willing to do anything to protect his family. Anything.

A financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, Roman must use all his skills to try to save his family while dealing with a shadow that has haunted them all for twenty years: the disappearance of their mother when Roman and his siblings were teenagers. It's a mystery that Neveah, who has sacrificed so much of her life to hold her family together, is determined to solve once and for all.

As fate and chance and heartache ignite their lives, the Carruthers family must pull together to survive or see their lives turn to ash. Because, as their father counseled them from birth, nothing lasts forever.

Everything burns.]]> 333 S.A. Cosby 1250832063 Scott 5 crime, noir
S.A. Cosby's "King of Ashes" is the first book I have read by the author. I have already placed several holds on his other books at my local library. This dude can fucking write a crime thriller.

Roman Carruthers rushes back to his home town after his father is in a car accident and falls into a coma. His sister, Naveah, and brother, Dante, have stayed in the small town of Jefferson Run, VA, and there is some bitterness and resentment toward Roman, who has made it big in the big city as a financial consultant.

Roman's father's accident was, it turns out, no accident. The town is being run by a dictatorial duo of gangsters with a crew of violent misfits. They were threatening Roman's dad to use his business---a crematorium---as a way to get rid of problems. Now, they have their sights set on Roman.

Roman is no fighter, and he knows he can't defeat this gang with muscle and guns. He does, however, have a certain set of skills: he has the ability to make a ton of money for people, through shady investments that skirt the letter of the law. He also knows how to play groups of people against other groups.

What ensues is a complex plot of double and triple crosses that, if successful, will see his family safe and secure. If, however, any part of the plan goes south, it will mean death and destruction for a lot of people.

Cosby has redefined "noir" for the 21st century. It is intense, violent, gut-wrenching, and terrifying.]]> 4.21 2025 King of Ashes
author: S.A. Cosby
name: Scott
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/06/28
date added: 2025/06/28
shelves: crime, noir
review:
Holy crap, this was a brutal novel, but brutal in a good way. By that I mean that it does exactly what a good crime thriller is supposed to do: builds breath-taking suspense and keeps the reader on the edge of his or her seat.

S.A. Cosby's "King of Ashes" is the first book I have read by the author. I have already placed several holds on his other books at my local library. This dude can fucking write a crime thriller.

Roman Carruthers rushes back to his home town after his father is in a car accident and falls into a coma. His sister, Naveah, and brother, Dante, have stayed in the small town of Jefferson Run, VA, and there is some bitterness and resentment toward Roman, who has made it big in the big city as a financial consultant.

Roman's father's accident was, it turns out, no accident. The town is being run by a dictatorial duo of gangsters with a crew of violent misfits. They were threatening Roman's dad to use his business---a crematorium---as a way to get rid of problems. Now, they have their sights set on Roman.

Roman is no fighter, and he knows he can't defeat this gang with muscle and guns. He does, however, have a certain set of skills: he has the ability to make a ton of money for people, through shady investments that skirt the letter of the law. He also knows how to play groups of people against other groups.

What ensues is a complex plot of double and triple crosses that, if successful, will see his family safe and secure. If, however, any part of the plan goes south, it will mean death and destruction for a lot of people.

Cosby has redefined "noir" for the 21st century. It is intense, violent, gut-wrenching, and terrifying.
]]> <![CDATA[The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (Cat Who..., #1)]]> 1194772 216 Lilian Jackson Braun 039914286X Scott 0 to-read 3.64 1966 The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (Cat Who..., #1)
author: Lilian Jackson Braun
name: Scott
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Just Add Water: My Swimming Life]]> 220160860 A New York Times bestselling memoir from Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and the most decorated US female Olympian in history: Katie Ledecky.
Katie Ledecky has won more individual Olympic races than any female swimmer in history. She is a four-time Olympian, a nine-time gold medalist, a twenty-one-time world champion, eight-time NCAA Champion, and a world record-holder in individual swimming events. At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, she became the most decorated US female Olympian of all time. Time and again, the question is posed to her family, her coaches, and to her—what makes her a champion? Now, for the first time, she shares what it takes to compete at an elite level.

Again and again, Ledecky has broken records: those of others and, increasingly, her own. She is both consistent and innovative—consistent at setting goals and shattering them, and innovative in the way she approaches her training. A true competitor, she sets her goals by choosing the ones that feel the scariest. But, crucially, she never sacrifices the joy of competition, even in the face of adversity. Her positive mental outlook and a great support system provides the springboard to her success.

Just Add Water charts Ledecky’s life in swimming. It details her start in Bethesda, Maryland, where she played sharks and minnows and first discovered the joy of the pool; her early foray into the Olympics at the tender age of fifteen where, as the youngest member of the American team, she stunned everyone by winning her first gold medal; her time balancing competition and her education at Stanford University; how she developed a champion’s mindset that has allowed her to persevere through so many meets, even under intense pressure; and how she has maintained her dominance in a sport where success depends on milliseconds. You learn how every element of her life—from the support of her family to the tutelage of her coaches, from her childhood spent in summer league swimming to the bright lights of Olympic pools in London, Rio, and Tokyo—set her up to become the champion she is.

In the end, Katie’s story is about testing yourself against the difficult, and seeing who you become on the other side.]]> 256 Katie Ledecky 1668060213 Scott 0 to-read 4.20 2024 Just Add Water: My Swimming Life
author: Katie Ledecky
name: Scott
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Kent State: What Happened and Why]]> 380436 512 James A. Michener Scott 0 to-read 3.93 1971 Kent State: What Happened and Why
author: James A. Michener
name: Scott
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1971
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Man-Eater in History]]> 40308171 In Champawat, India, circa 1900, a Bengal tigress was wounded by a poacher in the forests of the Himalayan foothills. Unable to hunt her usual prey, the tiger began stalking and eating an easier food source: human beings. Between 1900 and 1907, the Champawat Man-Eater, as she became known, emerged as the most prolific serial killer of human beings the world has ever known, claiming an astonishing 436 lives.

Desperate for help, authorities appealed to renowned local hunter Jim Corbett, an Indian-born Brit of Irish descent, who was intimately familiar with the Champawat forest. Corbett, who would later earn fame and devote the latter part of his life to saving the Bengal tiger and its habitat, sprang into action. Like a detective on the tail of a serial killer, he tracked the tiger’s movements, as the tiger began to hunt him in return.

This was the beginning of Corbett’s life-long love of tigers, though his first encounter with the Champawat Tiger would be her last.]]> 304 Dane Huckelbridge 0062678841 Scott 0 to-read 3.80 2019 No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Man-Eater in History
author: Dane Huckelbridge
name: Scott
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word]]> 178527
It’s “the nuclear bomb of racial epithets,” a word that whites have employed to wound and degrade African Americans for three centuries. Paradoxically, among many Black people it has become a term of affection and even empowerment.

The word, of course, is nigger , and in this candid, lucidly argued book the distinguished legal scholar Randall Kennedy traces its origins, maps its multifarious connotations, and explores the controversies that rage around it.

Should Blacks be able to use nigger in ways forbidden to others? Should the law treat it as a provocation that reduces the culpability of those who respond to it violently? Should it cost a person his job, or a book like Huckleberry Finn its place on library shelves?]]> 208 Randall Kennedy 0375713719 Scott 4 6/25/25 addendum: While I am not an eradicationist, I couldn't, in good conscience, let this review stand without some revision. So, I have gone through and changed the word (with the exception of the few mentions of the title itself) to an edited version. I couldn't even re-read my own review without feeling sick to my stomach at the sight of the word.

It is, inarguably, the most loathsome word in the English language. It has cost people jobs, sparked murders, and has been used to denigrate and oppress an entire race of people. Just seeing the word in print is enough to spark outrage in some people. Indeed, I am sure that some people will see the title of this book and refuse to even consider that it may contain anything of merit. How could it, after all, with a title like “Nigger”?

Randall Kennedy, a legal expert and a Harvard professor, wrote this book in 2002. He confronts the word, in all its permutations, head-on in a short (176 pages) but engaging book about the etymology, historical definitions, legal ramifications, and negative and positive uses of the word “n----r”. If one’s sensibilities can allow one to get the past the ugly little word in the title, “Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word” is actually a fascinating and educational read.

The word derives from the Latin word for “black”, niger. No one can adequately determine when or why Europeans started using it to designate dark-skinned Africans, but it became a popular and widespread term. Various spellings of the word (niggor, negar, neger) have been found in countless documents, but at some point the familiar spelling, n----r, became the acceptable spelling.

Historically, the word started out not as a derogatory term but simply a way to distinguish race, in the same way the words “Jew” or “Oriental” were used. Over time, the word gradually took on negative connotations, and by the 1800s, it was commonly used as an insult.

Here, in the United States, the word quickly established itself as a highly-charged derogatory term, tied inextricably with the institution of slavery. “N----r” was a word used by whites to keep blacks “in their place”, which was, more often than not, submissive, quiet, and completely obedient. Blacks who were not submissive, talked back, or disobeyed orders were labelled “uppity n----rs” and were severely punished.

Even after the Civil War and through the Civil Rights Movement---and even to the present-day---the word has been a tool by racists and white supremacists as a way to continue to denigrate and dismiss black people and their contributions to society.

Strangely enough, though, the word has also been re-purposed, according to Kennedy, within the black community---especially young men and women---to be a term of empowerment. “My n----r” is often used as an expression of inclusion and acceptance among young black men and women, usually but not necessarily always within the context of gang camaraderie.


Legal Issues
A majority of Kennedy’s book is devoted to the legal uses and ramifications of the word. He talks about four specific types of litigation in which the word “n----r” has played a role.

The first type involves cases “in which a party seeks relief after it is revealed that officials within the criminal justice system---jurors, lawyers, or judges---have referred to blacks as n----rs. (p.58)”

Kennedy admits that these cases are difficult to prosecute, primarily due to the federal protections given to jurors, judges, and lawyers, although there have been a few cases that it has been attempted. In one famous case, a district attorney was removed from his position by a judge after an altercation with a black man, who sued him for calling him a “n----r”. The DA appealed, but the Supreme Court upheld the decision, saying that his was a “classic” case of the fighting-words doctrine of the First Amendment, which allowed certain words, based on the context, to go unprotected, owing to the fact that the words were used to induce violence.

Interestingly, Kennedy agrees with the court’s ruling, but he criticizes the fighting words doctrine as sometimes enabling people to avoid showing self-restraint in situations in which people are confronted with violence-inducing insults. He writes, “[L]egal authority instructs everyone to exercise self-discipline even in the face of inflammatory taunts. The fighting words doctrine weakens that salutary message. (p.69)”

The second type “encompasses cases in which an individual who kills another seeks to have his culpability diminished on the grounds that he was provoked when the other party called him a nigger. (p. 58)”

It is, according to Kennedy, unlikely that a judge or jury would reduce a person’s punishment based on the provocation of the racially-charged word, but it is not impossible. He notes that some states allow juries to consider the provocation excuse as a basis for their judgment.

Again, Kennedy states that there are worthy arguments against this provocation excuse, chief among them is the fact that millions of black people have endured being called “n----r” without being induced or provoked to murder. To use the provocation excuse, some argue, would be an implicit acceptance of the racist notion that black people have no self-control and are easily induced to violence.

The third type “involves controversies surrounding targets of racial invective who sue for damages under tort law or antidiscrimination statutes. (p.58)”

Kennedy cites two well-known cases as examples of this. One case, Nims v. Harrison, involved a black schoolteacher who sued several graduating seniors for racist and hateful comments published in a newsletter about her. Some of the comments called her a “stupid bitch”, a “fucking whore”, and a “gigaboo [sic]”. Others included threats of rape and murder, and one simply said, “Die n----r”. She won the case in appellate court, only after her case was initially dismissed by a judge in trial court.

The fourth type “consists of situations in which a judge must decide whether or not to permit jurors to be told about the linguistic habits of witnesses or litigants. (p.58)”

The most famous example of this type was during the O.J. Simpson trial. L.A.P.D. homicide detective Mark Fuhrman had a reputation for loosely using the word “n----r” in casual references to black people. Prosecution asked Judge Lance Ito to prevent the defense from asking questions about Fuhrman’s history and past use of the word “n----r”, claiming that it would clearly hurt their case. Judge Ito allowed the defense to question Fuhrman. When asked if he ever used the word in his everyday speech, Fuhrman vehemently denied ever using the word. Months later, of course, audiotape was presented in which Fuhrman was caught repeatedly using the word. The prosecution was right: it hurt their case. Simpson was acquitted.

N----r v. Niggardly: Is it possible to be racially oversensitive?
Thankfully, the use of the word “n----r” as an insult is on the wane, but it has raised many new questions on how to best combat racism. Can people be too sensitive when it comes to hearing the word? Is a zero-tolerance policy acceptable? How do you explain predominantly black genres of music such as hip-hop, in which black rappers repeatedly use the word?

Kennedy touches on some of these issues at length. He writes that, with progress, problems have arisen in regards to how people overreact to the word. There are, according to him, four major ways that people can overreact and/or negatively capitalize on racial sensitivity.

One way is through unjustified deception. Kennedy cites several case examples in which people have falsely claimed to be the victims of racism in order to receive attention or some kind of gain, financial or otherwise. For example, in 1995, a black woman and her white boyfriend claimed to be the victims of racism. Someone had vandalized their apartment building by spraying hateful messages (“N----rs live here”) on their walls. It was later proven that they, themselves, had graffitied their own apartment building in order to escape lease payments.

A second way is through over-eagerness to detect insult. The more well-known example of this is David Howard, a Washington, D.C. city employee who was fired for using the word “niggardly”, a completely innocuous word meaning “miserly or frugal” and nothing whatsoever to do with the word “n----r”. Regardless of this fact, several black employees took offense to it. In the end, Howard was forced to resign.

A third way is an attempt to repress “good” uses of the word “n----r”; for example, the repeated attempts by parents across the country who, yearly, petition to have Mark Twain’s classic novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” removed from school reading lists and library book shelves. More often than not, these people have labelled the book “racist” without actually having read it. This is a sore subject for me, as “Huck Finn” is one of my favorite novels of all time. It is absolutely NOT racist, and it is, in fact, Twain’s excoriation of racism, especially in regards to Southern society.

The fourth way is overly harsh punishment of those who use the word indiscreetly. Kennedy looks at two types of this kind of overreaction: regulationist and eradicationists.

Regulationists are those who would institute policies and create more laws that would prevent a problem that isn’t really a problem. As an example, Kennedy cited a college that instituted a zero-tolerance policy of the use of the N-word after an isolated incident involving a stupid and misguided student prank. The policy has never been taken to task, namely because the problem of the overuse of the N-word on campus was never an issue before or after the incident.

Eradicationists are simply those who believe that all uses of the n-word are wrong and should be punished. These types of people would call for the publishers of Kennedy’s book to be fired and that the book should be immediately removed from shelves, regardless of the content. Thusly, my review would probably be attacked for its flagrant use of the word throughout, and they would probably attempt to petition 카지노싸이트 to have me removed from the site.

In the end, Kennedy admits that the word “n----r” is a conundrum, a word which no one can adequately tame or control. It is, he writes, “destined to remain with us for many years to come---a reminder of the ironies and dilemmas, the tragedies and glories, of the American experience. (p.176)”]]> 3.79 2002 Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word
author: Randall Kennedy
name: Scott
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2015/03/05
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves: black-studies, law, nonfiction, race-relations
review:
6/25/25 addendum: While I am not an eradicationist, I couldn't, in good conscience, let this review stand without some revision. So, I have gone through and changed the word (with the exception of the few mentions of the title itself) to an edited version. I couldn't even re-read my own review without feeling sick to my stomach at the sight of the word.

It is, inarguably, the most loathsome word in the English language. It has cost people jobs, sparked murders, and has been used to denigrate and oppress an entire race of people. Just seeing the word in print is enough to spark outrage in some people. Indeed, I am sure that some people will see the title of this book and refuse to even consider that it may contain anything of merit. How could it, after all, with a title like “Nigger”?

Randall Kennedy, a legal expert and a Harvard professor, wrote this book in 2002. He confronts the word, in all its permutations, head-on in a short (176 pages) but engaging book about the etymology, historical definitions, legal ramifications, and negative and positive uses of the word “n----r”. If one’s sensibilities can allow one to get the past the ugly little word in the title, “Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word” is actually a fascinating and educational read.

The word derives from the Latin word for “black”, niger. No one can adequately determine when or why Europeans started using it to designate dark-skinned Africans, but it became a popular and widespread term. Various spellings of the word (niggor, negar, neger) have been found in countless documents, but at some point the familiar spelling, n----r, became the acceptable spelling.

Historically, the word started out not as a derogatory term but simply a way to distinguish race, in the same way the words “Jew” or “Oriental” were used. Over time, the word gradually took on negative connotations, and by the 1800s, it was commonly used as an insult.

Here, in the United States, the word quickly established itself as a highly-charged derogatory term, tied inextricably with the institution of slavery. “N----r” was a word used by whites to keep blacks “in their place”, which was, more often than not, submissive, quiet, and completely obedient. Blacks who were not submissive, talked back, or disobeyed orders were labelled “uppity n----rs” and were severely punished.

Even after the Civil War and through the Civil Rights Movement---and even to the present-day---the word has been a tool by racists and white supremacists as a way to continue to denigrate and dismiss black people and their contributions to society.

Strangely enough, though, the word has also been re-purposed, according to Kennedy, within the black community---especially young men and women---to be a term of empowerment. “My n----r” is often used as an expression of inclusion and acceptance among young black men and women, usually but not necessarily always within the context of gang camaraderie.


Legal Issues
A majority of Kennedy’s book is devoted to the legal uses and ramifications of the word. He talks about four specific types of litigation in which the word “n----r” has played a role.

The first type involves cases “in which a party seeks relief after it is revealed that officials within the criminal justice system---jurors, lawyers, or judges---have referred to blacks as n----rs. (p.58)”

Kennedy admits that these cases are difficult to prosecute, primarily due to the federal protections given to jurors, judges, and lawyers, although there have been a few cases that it has been attempted. In one famous case, a district attorney was removed from his position by a judge after an altercation with a black man, who sued him for calling him a “n----r”. The DA appealed, but the Supreme Court upheld the decision, saying that his was a “classic” case of the fighting-words doctrine of the First Amendment, which allowed certain words, based on the context, to go unprotected, owing to the fact that the words were used to induce violence.

Interestingly, Kennedy agrees with the court’s ruling, but he criticizes the fighting words doctrine as sometimes enabling people to avoid showing self-restraint in situations in which people are confronted with violence-inducing insults. He writes, “[L]egal authority instructs everyone to exercise self-discipline even in the face of inflammatory taunts. The fighting words doctrine weakens that salutary message. (p.69)”

The second type “encompasses cases in which an individual who kills another seeks to have his culpability diminished on the grounds that he was provoked when the other party called him a nigger. (p. 58)”

It is, according to Kennedy, unlikely that a judge or jury would reduce a person’s punishment based on the provocation of the racially-charged word, but it is not impossible. He notes that some states allow juries to consider the provocation excuse as a basis for their judgment.

Again, Kennedy states that there are worthy arguments against this provocation excuse, chief among them is the fact that millions of black people have endured being called “n----r” without being induced or provoked to murder. To use the provocation excuse, some argue, would be an implicit acceptance of the racist notion that black people have no self-control and are easily induced to violence.

The third type “involves controversies surrounding targets of racial invective who sue for damages under tort law or antidiscrimination statutes. (p.58)”

Kennedy cites two well-known cases as examples of this. One case, Nims v. Harrison, involved a black schoolteacher who sued several graduating seniors for racist and hateful comments published in a newsletter about her. Some of the comments called her a “stupid bitch”, a “fucking whore”, and a “gigaboo [sic]”. Others included threats of rape and murder, and one simply said, “Die n----r”. She won the case in appellate court, only after her case was initially dismissed by a judge in trial court.

The fourth type “consists of situations in which a judge must decide whether or not to permit jurors to be told about the linguistic habits of witnesses or litigants. (p.58)”

The most famous example of this type was during the O.J. Simpson trial. L.A.P.D. homicide detective Mark Fuhrman had a reputation for loosely using the word “n----r” in casual references to black people. Prosecution asked Judge Lance Ito to prevent the defense from asking questions about Fuhrman’s history and past use of the word “n----r”, claiming that it would clearly hurt their case. Judge Ito allowed the defense to question Fuhrman. When asked if he ever used the word in his everyday speech, Fuhrman vehemently denied ever using the word. Months later, of course, audiotape was presented in which Fuhrman was caught repeatedly using the word. The prosecution was right: it hurt their case. Simpson was acquitted.

N----r v. Niggardly: Is it possible to be racially oversensitive?
Thankfully, the use of the word “n----r” as an insult is on the wane, but it has raised many new questions on how to best combat racism. Can people be too sensitive when it comes to hearing the word? Is a zero-tolerance policy acceptable? How do you explain predominantly black genres of music such as hip-hop, in which black rappers repeatedly use the word?

Kennedy touches on some of these issues at length. He writes that, with progress, problems have arisen in regards to how people overreact to the word. There are, according to him, four major ways that people can overreact and/or negatively capitalize on racial sensitivity.

One way is through unjustified deception. Kennedy cites several case examples in which people have falsely claimed to be the victims of racism in order to receive attention or some kind of gain, financial or otherwise. For example, in 1995, a black woman and her white boyfriend claimed to be the victims of racism. Someone had vandalized their apartment building by spraying hateful messages (“N----rs live here”) on their walls. It was later proven that they, themselves, had graffitied their own apartment building in order to escape lease payments.

A second way is through over-eagerness to detect insult. The more well-known example of this is David Howard, a Washington, D.C. city employee who was fired for using the word “niggardly”, a completely innocuous word meaning “miserly or frugal” and nothing whatsoever to do with the word “n----r”. Regardless of this fact, several black employees took offense to it. In the end, Howard was forced to resign.

A third way is an attempt to repress “good” uses of the word “n----r”; for example, the repeated attempts by parents across the country who, yearly, petition to have Mark Twain’s classic novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” removed from school reading lists and library book shelves. More often than not, these people have labelled the book “racist” without actually having read it. This is a sore subject for me, as “Huck Finn” is one of my favorite novels of all time. It is absolutely NOT racist, and it is, in fact, Twain’s excoriation of racism, especially in regards to Southern society.

The fourth way is overly harsh punishment of those who use the word indiscreetly. Kennedy looks at two types of this kind of overreaction: regulationist and eradicationists.

Regulationists are those who would institute policies and create more laws that would prevent a problem that isn’t really a problem. As an example, Kennedy cited a college that instituted a zero-tolerance policy of the use of the N-word after an isolated incident involving a stupid and misguided student prank. The policy has never been taken to task, namely because the problem of the overuse of the N-word on campus was never an issue before or after the incident.

Eradicationists are simply those who believe that all uses of the n-word are wrong and should be punished. These types of people would call for the publishers of Kennedy’s book to be fired and that the book should be immediately removed from shelves, regardless of the content. Thusly, my review would probably be attacked for its flagrant use of the word throughout, and they would probably attempt to petition 카지노싸이트 to have me removed from the site.

In the end, Kennedy admits that the word “n----r” is a conundrum, a word which no one can adequately tame or control. It is, he writes, “destined to remain with us for many years to come---a reminder of the ironies and dilemmas, the tragedies and glories, of the American experience. (p.176)”
]]> Joseph Anton: A Memoir 13532186
So begins the extraordinary story of how a writer was forced underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of an armed police protection team. Rushdie was asked to choose an alias that the police could call him by. He thought of writers he loved and various combinations of their names. Then it came to him: Conrad and Chekhov—Joseph Anton.

How do a writer and his family live with the threat of murder for more than nine years? How does he go on working? How does he fall in and out of love? How does despair shape his thoughts and actions, and how does he learn to fight back? In this remarkable memoir, Rushdie tells that story for the first time; the story of the crucial battle for freedom of speech. He shares the sometimes grim, sometimes comic realities of living with armed policemen, and the close bonds he formed with his protectors; of his struggle for support and understanding from governments, intelligence chiefs, publishers, journalists, and fellow writers; and of how he regained his freedom.

Compelling, provocative, and moving, Joseph Anton is a book of exceptional frankness, honesty, and vital importance. Because what happened to Salman Rushdie was the first act of a drama that is still unfolding somewhere in the world every day.]]> 636 Salman Rushdie 0812992784 Scott 5 6/25/25 addendum: There are fanatics in every religion, to be sure, but there are some religions where the fanatics appear to outnumber the non-fanatics. Salman Rushdie's "Joseph Anton" is an important reminder about the vital necessity of free speech. I could (and I have) criticized my own religion, Christianity, countless times without worrying about Christian nut-jobs trying to kill me. I can't even imagine what life is like for Rushdie, who simply wrote a book criticizing Islam, and since then, has had to constantly look over his shoulder for the Muslim nut-jobs trying to kill him.

On February 14, 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa against an author named Salman Rushdie for his recently published novel, “The Satanic Verses”, a book which the aging ruler found to be offensive against his religion, Islam. The fatwa (an official, although not legally binding, decree) called for the immediate assassination of Rushdie.

Within hours, Rushdie’s posh lifestyle of book tours, dinners out at restaurants, spending quality time with his family, etc. was essentially over. Living in Britain, Rushdie was immediately placed under protective custody by the British government. An entire police force was utilized to watch him around the clock. For the next several years, Rushdie could not eat, sleep, or piss without fear of an Iranian death squad sneaking up on him.

All because he said some naughty things about Islam.

If you are unaware of all of this, you were either living under a rock throughout the 1980s or you are millenial who has no clue about anything because you never learned history in high school and you are too busy listening to your iPod. (This judgmental and curmudgeonly statement is probably already dated, because I still have a flip phone.)

Rushdie’s 2012 memoir, “Joseph Anton”, is a beautifully written self-reflective account of his fatwa years. (While recent Iranian leaders have stated that the death sentence against Rushdie has been “finished”, it has never officially been lifted.) Rushdie, who now lives in the United States, can now fly international flights, walk the streets, go shopping, go to movies, and eat at restaurants without dozens of police officers in SUVs hovering nearby, but he will probably always live with the fatwa hovering precariously in his periphery.

Since the fatwa, and precisely because of it, Rushdie has become a more vocal activist for protection of artists around the world who are being censored, oppressed, and imprisoned by their respective governments. Freedom of speech and expression is not guaranteed, something that we Americans tend to forget and take for granted. Even in this country, our constitutional right to free press, speech, expression, and religion has continuously been under fire.

Rushdie’s title is the name that he chose, at the behest of the police officers protecting him, as his “code name”. It is the first two names of his two favorite authors, Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekov, authors known for protagonists who have suffered great pains for doing the right---if not the easy or popular---thing.

There is something almost biblical about Rushdie’s story, which is ironic since what Rushdie is advocating for is secularism and anti-religiosity, or at the very least a softening of the extremist legalism endemic to most religions.

Rather than make himself the hero of his own story, however, Rushdie self-deprecatingly points out that he was just a normal guy thrust into an extremely abnormal situation, one that was so absurd and surreal that it may not have been believed if it wasn’t actually happening to him. How he reacted and behaved was a product of the strangeness and newness of the situation: how the hell would you react if an entire nation wanted you dead?

Indeed, much of the memoir is devoted to Rushdie’s gracious love and gratitude to the friends and family that stuck by him throughout the years. It is also, in many ways, a love letter to the many police officers and British governmental workers who helped protect him and fought for him. He is well aware, also, of the collateral damage that his situation created: many of his publishers, agents, and translators received death threats themselves, and at least one was actually murdered by parties unknown. Not to mention numerous deaths of protestors in Middle Eastern countries where Rushdie’s book was immediately banned.

There are, sadly, many people who still feel that somehow this is all Rushdie’s fault, that if he had simply shut up in the first place and not written such a controversial book, none of this would have happened. These people have no understanding of the concept of free speech, or freedom in general.

Rushdie puts it simply: “At the heart of the dispute over The Satanic Verses, he [Rushdie] said, behind all the accusations and abuse, was a question of profound importance: Who shall have control over the story? Who has, who should have, the power not only to tell the stories with which, and within which, we all lived, but also to say in what manner those stories may be told? For everyone lived by and inside stories, the so-called grand narratives. The nation was a story, and the family was another, and religion was a third. As a creative artist he knew that the only answer to the question was: Everyone and anyone has, or should have that power. We should all be free to take the grand narratives to task, to argue with them, satirize them, and insist that they change to reflect the changing times. We should speak of them reverently, irreverently, passionately, caustically, or however we chose. That was our right as members of an open society. In fact, one could say that our ability to re-tell and re-make the story of our culture was the best proof that our societies were indeed free. In a free society the argument over the grand narratives never ceased. It was the argument itself that mattered. The argument was freedom. But in a closed society those who possessed political or ideological power invariably tried to shut down these debates. We will tell you the story, they said, and we will tell you what it means. We will tell you how the story is to be told and we forbid you to tell it in any other way. If you do not like the way we tell the story then you are an enemy of the state or a traitor to the faith. You have no rights. Woe betide you! We will come after you and teach you the meaning of your refusal. (p.360)”]]> 3.62 2012 Joseph Anton: A Memoir
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Scott
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2018/12/05
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves: memoir, autobiography, nonfiction
review:
6/25/25 addendum: There are fanatics in every religion, to be sure, but there are some religions where the fanatics appear to outnumber the non-fanatics. Salman Rushdie's "Joseph Anton" is an important reminder about the vital necessity of free speech. I could (and I have) criticized my own religion, Christianity, countless times without worrying about Christian nut-jobs trying to kill me. I can't even imagine what life is like for Rushdie, who simply wrote a book criticizing Islam, and since then, has had to constantly look over his shoulder for the Muslim nut-jobs trying to kill him.

On February 14, 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa against an author named Salman Rushdie for his recently published novel, “The Satanic Verses”, a book which the aging ruler found to be offensive against his religion, Islam. The fatwa (an official, although not legally binding, decree) called for the immediate assassination of Rushdie.

Within hours, Rushdie’s posh lifestyle of book tours, dinners out at restaurants, spending quality time with his family, etc. was essentially over. Living in Britain, Rushdie was immediately placed under protective custody by the British government. An entire police force was utilized to watch him around the clock. For the next several years, Rushdie could not eat, sleep, or piss without fear of an Iranian death squad sneaking up on him.

All because he said some naughty things about Islam.

If you are unaware of all of this, you were either living under a rock throughout the 1980s or you are millenial who has no clue about anything because you never learned history in high school and you are too busy listening to your iPod. (This judgmental and curmudgeonly statement is probably already dated, because I still have a flip phone.)

Rushdie’s 2012 memoir, “Joseph Anton”, is a beautifully written self-reflective account of his fatwa years. (While recent Iranian leaders have stated that the death sentence against Rushdie has been “finished”, it has never officially been lifted.) Rushdie, who now lives in the United States, can now fly international flights, walk the streets, go shopping, go to movies, and eat at restaurants without dozens of police officers in SUVs hovering nearby, but he will probably always live with the fatwa hovering precariously in his periphery.

Since the fatwa, and precisely because of it, Rushdie has become a more vocal activist for protection of artists around the world who are being censored, oppressed, and imprisoned by their respective governments. Freedom of speech and expression is not guaranteed, something that we Americans tend to forget and take for granted. Even in this country, our constitutional right to free press, speech, expression, and religion has continuously been under fire.

Rushdie’s title is the name that he chose, at the behest of the police officers protecting him, as his “code name”. It is the first two names of his two favorite authors, Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekov, authors known for protagonists who have suffered great pains for doing the right---if not the easy or popular---thing.

There is something almost biblical about Rushdie’s story, which is ironic since what Rushdie is advocating for is secularism and anti-religiosity, or at the very least a softening of the extremist legalism endemic to most religions.

Rather than make himself the hero of his own story, however, Rushdie self-deprecatingly points out that he was just a normal guy thrust into an extremely abnormal situation, one that was so absurd and surreal that it may not have been believed if it wasn’t actually happening to him. How he reacted and behaved was a product of the strangeness and newness of the situation: how the hell would you react if an entire nation wanted you dead?

Indeed, much of the memoir is devoted to Rushdie’s gracious love and gratitude to the friends and family that stuck by him throughout the years. It is also, in many ways, a love letter to the many police officers and British governmental workers who helped protect him and fought for him. He is well aware, also, of the collateral damage that his situation created: many of his publishers, agents, and translators received death threats themselves, and at least one was actually murdered by parties unknown. Not to mention numerous deaths of protestors in Middle Eastern countries where Rushdie’s book was immediately banned.

There are, sadly, many people who still feel that somehow this is all Rushdie’s fault, that if he had simply shut up in the first place and not written such a controversial book, none of this would have happened. These people have no understanding of the concept of free speech, or freedom in general.

Rushdie puts it simply: “At the heart of the dispute over The Satanic Verses, he [Rushdie] said, behind all the accusations and abuse, was a question of profound importance: Who shall have control over the story? Who has, who should have, the power not only to tell the stories with which, and within which, we all lived, but also to say in what manner those stories may be told? For everyone lived by and inside stories, the so-called grand narratives. The nation was a story, and the family was another, and religion was a third. As a creative artist he knew that the only answer to the question was: Everyone and anyone has, or should have that power. We should all be free to take the grand narratives to task, to argue with them, satirize them, and insist that they change to reflect the changing times. We should speak of them reverently, irreverently, passionately, caustically, or however we chose. That was our right as members of an open society. In fact, one could say that our ability to re-tell and re-make the story of our culture was the best proof that our societies were indeed free. In a free society the argument over the grand narratives never ceased. It was the argument itself that mattered. The argument was freedom. But in a closed society those who possessed political or ideological power invariably tried to shut down these debates. We will tell you the story, they said, and we will tell you what it means. We will tell you how the story is to be told and we forbid you to tell it in any other way. If you do not like the way we tell the story then you are an enemy of the state or a traitor to the faith. You have no rights. Woe betide you! We will come after you and teach you the meaning of your refusal. (p.360)”
]]> <![CDATA[Amy: My Search for Her Killer: Secrets and Suspects in the Unsolved Murder of Amy Mihaljevic]]> 910120
So begins this strange and compelling memoir, which delves into the investigation of one of Northeast Ohio's most frustrating unsolved crimes. Ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic disappeared from the comfortable Cleveland suburb of Bay Village in the fall of 1989. Thousands of volunteers, police officers, and FBI agents searched for the girl. Her picture was everywhere - anyone who watched the local TV news remembers the girl with the sideways ponytail. Tragically, Amy was found dead a few months later. Her killer was never found.

Now, 15 years later, journalist James Renner picks up the leads. Filled with mysterious riddles, incredible coincidences, and a cast of unusual but very real characters, his investigation quickly becomes a riveting journey in search of the truth.]]> 252 James Renner 1598510193 Scott 5
It’s a bedroom community with a downtown area consisting of two shopping plazas, a city hall, three restaurants, a convenient food store, a service station, and several small office buildings for the town dentist, eye doctor, and podiatrist. The biggest buildings in town are probably the middle school and the high school, both of which are on Wolf Road, the main street that runs the length of town.

The city has changed somewhat since I was a kid but not much. The family-owned Avellone’s Pharmacy is now a Walgreens, the town’s only gas station closed years ago, and the Baskin-Robbins was, for a time, home to a jeweler’s. The old middle school that I went to was torn down in the ‘90s and now has a modern-looking penitentiary-like school that houses grades 5 through 8.

The one thing that hasn’t changed at all is the town’s insularity. Often called “the bubble”, Bay has, as far as I can recall, always had a reputation for being a fairly isolated, predominantly white, and affluent neighborhood. Neighboring communities call us “snobs”. We’re not all snobs, to be sure, but I can absolutely understand why the city has that reputation. The predominantly white part is still pretty accurate. Several black people I have met say that they almost invariably get pulled over by Bay cops, for no reason whatsoever, any time they have the misfortune of driving into town.

The other thing that hasn’t changed is the strange and somewhat erroneous belief that Bay is an extremely safe community, completely untouched by crime and tragic happenings that afflict other communities. You know, the ones on the “other side of the tracks”.

In reality, Bay is probably, statistically, just as prone to the same amount of robberies, domestic disputes, rapes, and murders as any other city in northeastern Ohio. We just don’t talk about that.

Except for the Sam Sheppard murder and the kidnapping/murder of Amy Mihaljevic.

Everybody who lives in Bay knows these two stories well. They are taught to everyone at a young age, not in school but in underground gossip circles. There is a strange mixture of shame and pride about these tragedies: we pretend to find them horrible but, deep down, we think it’s exciting to have two nationally-famous unsolved crimes in our sleepy little burg. It’s fucked up, but it is what it is.

Here’s the basic facts of the Mihaljevic case: Four days before Halloween in 1989, ten-year-old Amy was abducted in broad daylight in front of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor. Dozens of witnesses probably witnessed the crime but actually saw nothing. Or, at least, they weren’t admitting it.

Three months later, Amy’s body was discovered by a jogger in a field on a rural stretch of highway in Ashland County. Despite a huge investigation and manhunt by local, state, and FBI detectives, the killer has never been caught. It is, to this day, an open and active investigation.

James Renner was only a year older than Amy was when she was kidnapped. He remembered seeing her picture every night on local and national news for weeks. In fact, he fell in love with her.

Amy’s face and her subsequent murder haunted Renner for years. Her story was the impetus for his eventual career as a journalist and a writer and an amateur hunter of serial killers. His obsession with her case is the subject of his fascinating memoir “Amy: My Search for Her Killer”.

I probably read this book with a slightly different take than other people who aren’t from Bay. Because it’s odd reading a true crime book about the small town you grew up in and still live in. It’s very surreal reading about people that you not only know but have weird connections to. (My wife, also from Bay, had a best friend in high school that dated Amy’s older brother. She remembers going to block parties and seeing Mr. and Mrs. Mihaljevic. Some of her parent’s friends have creepy and uncomfortable stories about the Mihaljevics that they probably never shared with anyone, let alone the police.)

About Renner’s depiction of Bay: he nails it.

Amy’s story is sad, creepy, frightening, and disturbing. There are so many bizarre twists and theories and tangential stories about the Mihaljevic case, all of which sound plausible. Renner writes in detail about every possible angle and theory, interviewing police detectives, family members, friends of the family, witnesses, suspects, complete strangers that just want to add something to the murder as a way of gaining attention for themselves or because they are mentally unstable or because they are simply lonely and want to be a part of a bigger story, as fucked up as that sounds.

Renner writes like a dream, telling Amy’s story with the compassion it deserves and the suspense and horror that it inherently possesses.

Having a young daughter, I also read the book from the empathetic perspective of a protective parent. I can’t imagine what Mr. and Mrs. Mihaljevic went through, and I never want to go through that. I never want anyone to go through that.

After finishing Renner’s book, I hugged my baby girl a little tighter.]]> 4.01 2006 Amy: My Search for Her Killer: Secrets and Suspects in the Unsolved Murder of Amy Mihaljevic
author: James Renner
name: Scott
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2018/08/31
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves: true-crime, memoir, nonfiction
review:
I moved to Bay Village, OH in 1979, when I was seven years old, and I grew to love it. On a map of northeastern Ohio, Bay (the “Village” tends to get dropped in regular conversation by people who live in the Cleveland area; everyone knows what you’re talking about) is the size of a Trident stick of gum right on the lake (Erie, in case you’re not from around here), just west of Cleveland.

It’s a bedroom community with a downtown area consisting of two shopping plazas, a city hall, three restaurants, a convenient food store, a service station, and several small office buildings for the town dentist, eye doctor, and podiatrist. The biggest buildings in town are probably the middle school and the high school, both of which are on Wolf Road, the main street that runs the length of town.

The city has changed somewhat since I was a kid but not much. The family-owned Avellone’s Pharmacy is now a Walgreens, the town’s only gas station closed years ago, and the Baskin-Robbins was, for a time, home to a jeweler’s. The old middle school that I went to was torn down in the ‘90s and now has a modern-looking penitentiary-like school that houses grades 5 through 8.

The one thing that hasn’t changed at all is the town’s insularity. Often called “the bubble”, Bay has, as far as I can recall, always had a reputation for being a fairly isolated, predominantly white, and affluent neighborhood. Neighboring communities call us “snobs”. We’re not all snobs, to be sure, but I can absolutely understand why the city has that reputation. The predominantly white part is still pretty accurate. Several black people I have met say that they almost invariably get pulled over by Bay cops, for no reason whatsoever, any time they have the misfortune of driving into town.

The other thing that hasn’t changed is the strange and somewhat erroneous belief that Bay is an extremely safe community, completely untouched by crime and tragic happenings that afflict other communities. You know, the ones on the “other side of the tracks”.

In reality, Bay is probably, statistically, just as prone to the same amount of robberies, domestic disputes, rapes, and murders as any other city in northeastern Ohio. We just don’t talk about that.

Except for the Sam Sheppard murder and the kidnapping/murder of Amy Mihaljevic.

Everybody who lives in Bay knows these two stories well. They are taught to everyone at a young age, not in school but in underground gossip circles. There is a strange mixture of shame and pride about these tragedies: we pretend to find them horrible but, deep down, we think it’s exciting to have two nationally-famous unsolved crimes in our sleepy little burg. It’s fucked up, but it is what it is.

Here’s the basic facts of the Mihaljevic case: Four days before Halloween in 1989, ten-year-old Amy was abducted in broad daylight in front of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor. Dozens of witnesses probably witnessed the crime but actually saw nothing. Or, at least, they weren’t admitting it.

Three months later, Amy’s body was discovered by a jogger in a field on a rural stretch of highway in Ashland County. Despite a huge investigation and manhunt by local, state, and FBI detectives, the killer has never been caught. It is, to this day, an open and active investigation.

James Renner was only a year older than Amy was when she was kidnapped. He remembered seeing her picture every night on local and national news for weeks. In fact, he fell in love with her.

Amy’s face and her subsequent murder haunted Renner for years. Her story was the impetus for his eventual career as a journalist and a writer and an amateur hunter of serial killers. His obsession with her case is the subject of his fascinating memoir “Amy: My Search for Her Killer”.

I probably read this book with a slightly different take than other people who aren’t from Bay. Because it’s odd reading a true crime book about the small town you grew up in and still live in. It’s very surreal reading about people that you not only know but have weird connections to. (My wife, also from Bay, had a best friend in high school that dated Amy’s older brother. She remembers going to block parties and seeing Mr. and Mrs. Mihaljevic. Some of her parent’s friends have creepy and uncomfortable stories about the Mihaljevics that they probably never shared with anyone, let alone the police.)

About Renner’s depiction of Bay: he nails it.

Amy’s story is sad, creepy, frightening, and disturbing. There are so many bizarre twists and theories and tangential stories about the Mihaljevic case, all of which sound plausible. Renner writes in detail about every possible angle and theory, interviewing police detectives, family members, friends of the family, witnesses, suspects, complete strangers that just want to add something to the murder as a way of gaining attention for themselves or because they are mentally unstable or because they are simply lonely and want to be a part of a bigger story, as fucked up as that sounds.

Renner writes like a dream, telling Amy’s story with the compassion it deserves and the suspense and horror that it inherently possesses.

Having a young daughter, I also read the book from the empathetic perspective of a protective parent. I can’t imagine what Mr. and Mrs. Mihaljevic went through, and I never want to go through that. I never want anyone to go through that.

After finishing Renner’s book, I hugged my baby girl a little tighter.
]]> <![CDATA[True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray]]> 26114508
True Crime Addict is the story of Renner's spellbinding investigation, which has taken on a life of its own for armchair sleuths across the web. In the spirit of David Fincher's Zodiac, it's a fascinating look at a case that has eluded authorities and one man's obsessive quest for the answers.]]> 304 James Renner 1250089018 Scott 5
His obsession is investigating, researching, and writing about real-life crimes. His particular area of expertise is the disappearance of young girls.

It started, for him, when he was eleven years old, when, as he claims, he fell in love with the 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic who, in 1989, disappeared from her small town of Bay Village, Ohio. Her body was later found in a field in Ashland County.

Renner credits the Mihaljevic murder---a story which received national attention---with his fascination with and, as he calls it, “addiction” to true crime, and it’s what inspired his career as a journalist. Indeed, it became the title of his riveting 2016 memoir, “True Crime Addict”, a book that has already been optioned to be made into a TV show.

There are two stories within Renner’s book. One is the true story of the mysterious disappearance of Maura Murray, a 22-year-old nursing student from the University of Massachusetts Amherst who, in 2004, was last seen on a country road in New Hampshire at the scene of a car accident. No trace was found of her, and to this day her case is still unsolved. Many people, including her family, believe that she was abducted and murdered. Others, including Renner, believe that there is evidence to suggest that Murray is still alive, that she has assumed a new identity, and is living somewhere in Canada.

The other story is perhaps more disturbing. It is the story of an angsty 40-year-old journalist who has sociopathic tendencies, a compulsion to investigate the darkest parts of the human condition, a violent streak that manifests at the most inopportune times, and a troubled son who may have psychic abilities.

Both stories are absolute page-turners, and Renner’s gift as a storyteller and journalist is in making his addiction our addiction. Whether or not one likes the true crime genre, it is almost impossible to not be fascinated by the cold case involving Murray. It is also almost impossible to not be somewhat moved by Renner’s internal conflict: the knowledge that his obsessive quest for truth with these cold cases is both wreaking havoc in his personal life but is also what makes him a phenomenal reporter.

“True Crime Addict” is one of the best memoirs I have read in a long time, and I look forward to reading more by Renner.]]> 3.67 2016 True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray
author: James Renner
name: Scott
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2018/08/17
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves: crime, memoir, true-crime, nonfiction
review:
James Renner has an obsession. Probably unhealthy, definitely weird. Even he admits that it has caused more anxiety and strife than satisfaction in his life. And yet he can’t stop.

His obsession is investigating, researching, and writing about real-life crimes. His particular area of expertise is the disappearance of young girls.

It started, for him, when he was eleven years old, when, as he claims, he fell in love with the 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic who, in 1989, disappeared from her small town of Bay Village, Ohio. Her body was later found in a field in Ashland County.

Renner credits the Mihaljevic murder---a story which received national attention---with his fascination with and, as he calls it, “addiction” to true crime, and it’s what inspired his career as a journalist. Indeed, it became the title of his riveting 2016 memoir, “True Crime Addict”, a book that has already been optioned to be made into a TV show.

There are two stories within Renner’s book. One is the true story of the mysterious disappearance of Maura Murray, a 22-year-old nursing student from the University of Massachusetts Amherst who, in 2004, was last seen on a country road in New Hampshire at the scene of a car accident. No trace was found of her, and to this day her case is still unsolved. Many people, including her family, believe that she was abducted and murdered. Others, including Renner, believe that there is evidence to suggest that Murray is still alive, that she has assumed a new identity, and is living somewhere in Canada.

The other story is perhaps more disturbing. It is the story of an angsty 40-year-old journalist who has sociopathic tendencies, a compulsion to investigate the darkest parts of the human condition, a violent streak that manifests at the most inopportune times, and a troubled son who may have psychic abilities.

Both stories are absolute page-turners, and Renner’s gift as a storyteller and journalist is in making his addiction our addiction. Whether or not one likes the true crime genre, it is almost impossible to not be fascinated by the cold case involving Murray. It is also almost impossible to not be somewhat moved by Renner’s internal conflict: the knowledge that his obsessive quest for truth with these cold cases is both wreaking havoc in his personal life but is also what makes him a phenomenal reporter.

“True Crime Addict” is one of the best memoirs I have read in a long time, and I look forward to reading more by Renner.
]]> My Dad Is A Freak 14289946 This is a memoir detailing one man's serendipitous journey from bachelorhood to parenthood. After his latest girlfriend becomes his wife, and his wife becomes pregnant, Tom Bell finds himself a first time father at nearly 50 years old. Over the years, he has shown only a passing interest in his nieces and nephews, and has never touched someone else's poo. Now, with an eight month-old baby and two toddlers, he wracks his brain daily for any useful cross-over skills accumulated from a half-century of single life.

MY DAD IS A FREAK is the conclusion that each of his children will inevitably arrive at, in their own good time, despite his best intentions.]]> 220 Thomas K. Bell 1477453644 Scott 4 6/25/25 addendum: This was one of many "new parent" books that I read prior to the birth of my daughter in November 2013, and, as I recall, it was one of the funnier memoirs I had read.

Between owning and operating a successful bar in the Tremont area and occasionally dating, Clevelander and long-time bachelor Thomas K. Bell somehow managed to do the impossible: find the right woman to settle down and have kids with. Not that it was easy, especially the latter part.

Bell's funny and poignant memoir "My Dad is a Freak" is his ode to Fatherhood, a lifestyle choice he laments every waking moment but would not trade it for anything in the world.

Bell's rants are, at times, hilarious, and, other times, deeply personal and moving, and they are probably complaints that every parent shares.

As a father-to-be very soon, I read this with tears in my eyes from both laughing so hard AND weeping over the fact that any second of free time I have after the birth of my daughter will be devoted solely to her.]]> 4.14 2012 My Dad Is A Freak
author: Thomas K. Bell
name: Scott
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2013/09/04
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves: humor, memoir, parenting, nonfiction
review:
6/25/25 addendum: This was one of many "new parent" books that I read prior to the birth of my daughter in November 2013, and, as I recall, it was one of the funnier memoirs I had read.

Between owning and operating a successful bar in the Tremont area and occasionally dating, Clevelander and long-time bachelor Thomas K. Bell somehow managed to do the impossible: find the right woman to settle down and have kids with. Not that it was easy, especially the latter part.

Bell's funny and poignant memoir "My Dad is a Freak" is his ode to Fatherhood, a lifestyle choice he laments every waking moment but would not trade it for anything in the world.

Bell's rants are, at times, hilarious, and, other times, deeply personal and moving, and they are probably complaints that every parent shares.

As a father-to-be very soon, I read this with tears in my eyes from both laughing so hard AND weeping over the fact that any second of free time I have after the birth of my daughter will be devoted solely to her.
]]> <![CDATA[Giving Up the Ghost: A Story About Friendship, 80s Rock, a Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to Be Haunted]]> 13414635  
Eric Nuzum is afraid of the supernatural, and for good As a high school oddball in Canton, Ohio, during the early 1980s, he became convinced that he was being haunted by the ghost of a little girl in a blue dress who lived in his parents’ attic. It began as a weird premonition during his dreams, something that his quickly diminishing circle of friends chalked up as a way to get attention. It ended with Eric in a mental ward, having apparently destroyed his life before it truly began. The only thing that kept him from the his friendship with a girl named Laura, a classmate who was equal parts devoted friend and enigmatic crush. With the kind of strange connection you can only forge when you’re young, Laura walked Eric back to “normal”—only to become a ghost herself in a tragic twist of fate.
 
Years later, a fully functioning member of society with a great job and family, Eric still can’t stand to have any shut doors in his house for fear of what’s on the other side. In order to finally confront his phobia, he enlists some friends on a journey to America’s most haunted places. But deep down he knows it’s only when he digs up the ghosts of his past, especially Laura, that he’ll find the peace he’s looking for.]]> 320 Eric Nuzum 0385342438 Scott 5
There is a certain tragedy in that.

Eric Nuzum, in his book "Giving Up the Ghost" would probably feel the same way. Nuzum, a Canton native, was personally haunted, in his dreams and in his everyday life, by a terror-inducing vision of a young girl in a blue dress starting when he was about ten years old until his early 20s.

These visions (skeptics would call them "hallucinations") led him inevitably to thoughts of suicide and a short stint in a psychiatric hospital, although Little Girl (as he began to call her) was the least of his problems by the time he reached his teens.

Alcoholism, drug abuse, reckless and severe anti-social behavior were the norm.

The one person to stand by him during this time was a friend named Laura, a girl with problems of her own. She was Nuzum's best friend and first true love.

Years later, when Nuzum was out of college and living a relatively "normal" life, he found out that Laura was killed in a car accident.

Today, Nuzum is happily married with a young son, but he is still haunted, and he knows he will be forever.

Alternating between his tumultuous past and a calmer present, Nuzum examines both a personal and public view of what it means to be haunted. Attending spiritualist conventions, seances, ghost hunting expeditions, and spending nights in extreme haunted locations such as the Mansfield Prison, Nuzum tries to find the answer to the age-old question, "Are ghosts real?"

What he discovers is that there is no easy answer to this question. As he elegantly puts it, "If by ghosts you mean cloudy spectral things that float around a room, say, "Boo," and then vaporize into thin air, then no. I don't believe in that... I don't believe that places are haunted, but I do believe people are haunted. People carry around the ghosts of their past, the people they've known, the world they've experienced. Most of the time, we never notice they are there."

Ghosts and hauntings are distinctly personal things, and they often represent the way we personally deal with loss or failed relationships. Nuzum has written a fantastic book that is both heart-warming, humorous, and, at times, goosebump-raising.

Regardless of whether one believes in actual supernatural entities we call ghosts or the psychological scars of a troubled past, "Giving Up the Ghost" touches upon the universal theme of grief, loss, and loneliness.]]> 3.39 2012 Giving Up the Ghost: A Story About Friendship, 80s Rock, a Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to Be Haunted
author: Eric Nuzum
name: Scott
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2013/01/03
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves: memoir, nonfiction, paranormal-studies
review:
Everybody has a ghost story. I had what could be called a "paranormal" incident when I was younger, although as time passes and my skepticism grows, I often wonder if I imagined it.

There is a certain tragedy in that.

Eric Nuzum, in his book "Giving Up the Ghost" would probably feel the same way. Nuzum, a Canton native, was personally haunted, in his dreams and in his everyday life, by a terror-inducing vision of a young girl in a blue dress starting when he was about ten years old until his early 20s.

These visions (skeptics would call them "hallucinations") led him inevitably to thoughts of suicide and a short stint in a psychiatric hospital, although Little Girl (as he began to call her) was the least of his problems by the time he reached his teens.

Alcoholism, drug abuse, reckless and severe anti-social behavior were the norm.

The one person to stand by him during this time was a friend named Laura, a girl with problems of her own. She was Nuzum's best friend and first true love.

Years later, when Nuzum was out of college and living a relatively "normal" life, he found out that Laura was killed in a car accident.

Today, Nuzum is happily married with a young son, but he is still haunted, and he knows he will be forever.

Alternating between his tumultuous past and a calmer present, Nuzum examines both a personal and public view of what it means to be haunted. Attending spiritualist conventions, seances, ghost hunting expeditions, and spending nights in extreme haunted locations such as the Mansfield Prison, Nuzum tries to find the answer to the age-old question, "Are ghosts real?"

What he discovers is that there is no easy answer to this question. As he elegantly puts it, "If by ghosts you mean cloudy spectral things that float around a room, say, "Boo," and then vaporize into thin air, then no. I don't believe in that... I don't believe that places are haunted, but I do believe people are haunted. People carry around the ghosts of their past, the people they've known, the world they've experienced. Most of the time, we never notice they are there."

Ghosts and hauntings are distinctly personal things, and they often represent the way we personally deal with loss or failed relationships. Nuzum has written a fantastic book that is both heart-warming, humorous, and, at times, goosebump-raising.

Regardless of whether one believes in actual supernatural entities we call ghosts or the psychological scars of a troubled past, "Giving Up the Ghost" touches upon the universal theme of grief, loss, and loneliness.
]]> <![CDATA[Lady of Fire (Celtic Journeys, #1)]]> 702894
But being idolized was hard work, as Christine soon realized, especially when her disciple truly believed she was Brighid, the goddess of fire. Christine had only wanted to be accepted for herself, not as some heavenly, flame-throwing deity. How could she have an equal, give-and-take relationship with a man who believed her to be a lady of tremendous power, a lady of unsurpassable beauty, a...Lady of Fire!]]> 314 Janeen O'Kerry 0505521156 Scott 0 to-read 3.58 1996 Lady of Fire (Celtic Journeys, #1)
author: Janeen O'Kerry
name: Scott
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A WALK THROUGH HELL: THE COMPLETE SERIES]]> 48944899
Special Agents Shaw and McGregor handle the routine cases nowadays, which is just the way Shaw likes it. She's pushing 40, a borderline burnout, the ghastly memories of her last investigation still clinging like shadows. McGregor is younger, more dedicated, hanging onto some measure of idealism whatever the world might throw at him.

Shaw and McGregor conduct the most crucial interrogation of their FBI careers amongst a tale of unimaginable, unequaled depravity that may provide the clues the two agents need to make sense of their grim surroundings.

A new kind of horror story for modern America, written by Garth Ennis ('Preacher', 'The Boys', 'Crossed') and drawn by Goran Sudzuka ('Y: The Last Man', 'Hellblazer')

Collects all 12 issues of the hit series into one immensely satisfying hardcover.
]]> 256 Garth Ennis 1949028429 Scott 5 A Walk Through Hell is something that some of his previous graphic novels could never be accused of: subtle.

Let’s be honest: Ennis—-the brainchild behind such series as Crossed, Preacher, and The Boys—-is as subtle as a fistfuck with brass knuckles. I’ve always kind of liked this about him, but it can get tiring. And most of the time, Ennis’s idea of horror was less horrifying than it was just plain disgusting.

A Walk Through Hell is genuinely scary at times, and Ennis’s decision to tone down on the gore and amp up the dread succeeds wonderfully in this.

Not that there isn’t gore in this, but it’s definitely extremely subdued, especially when compared to, say, Crossed. Ennis isn’t trying to gross the reader out in this, like he was in Crossed. He’s actually making a pretty strong social commentary about our times. It is, actually, a running theme with Ennis, but one that often gets subsumed by the blood and guts in his previous novels: humanity is a good and fragile thing, and we can all lose it if we’re not careful.

That this is a blatant anti-Trump story is obvious. Ennis doesn’t shy away from or hide his politics. And yet, it never feels very political, mainly because the political aspects take a backseat to the story’s spiritual aspects. Yes, A Walk Through Hell tackles some heavy religious and theological issues, as only Ennis can tackle them.

Preacher was religious, too, although Ennis’s religious (more aptly anti-religious) commentary in that series always came across as more of a mean-spirited attack on Christianity. Not that Christianity, in my opinion, doesn’t deserve it.

In this series, however, Ennis comes across as more fair-minded, which is weird to say in a graphic novel series in which it is more than implied that God not only doesn’t exist but that God, as a concept, is merely a cruel joke played on humanity by the Devil, who created the idea of Heaven and God for mere shits and giggles.

Yet between the lines, Ennis, I think, is saying something a little more hopeful: If God doesn’t exist and all that we have waiting for us at the end of life is either fire and brimstone or bleak nothingness, then how can we explain the good and the beautiful in the world? If Evil is the way things should be, and Good is the aberration, the fact that humanity has successfully survived this long and has, indeed, done some good and created some beauty, at the very least seems to suggest an iota of a possibility in the existence of God.

Who knew Ennis could be so fucking spiritual?]]> 3.51 2020 A WALK THROUGH HELL: THE COMPLETE SERIES
author: Garth Ennis
name: Scott
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/21
date added: 2025/06/23
shelves: graphic-novel, horror, existentialism, apocalyptic, bad-christianity, trump-studies, supernatural-thriller, satan-is-a-douchbag, lovecraftian-cosmic-weirdness
review:
I will give Garth Ennis credit where credit is due. His latest graphic novel, A Walk Through Hell is something that some of his previous graphic novels could never be accused of: subtle.

Let’s be honest: Ennis—-the brainchild behind such series as Crossed, Preacher, and The Boys—-is as subtle as a fistfuck with brass knuckles. I’ve always kind of liked this about him, but it can get tiring. And most of the time, Ennis’s idea of horror was less horrifying than it was just plain disgusting.

A Walk Through Hell is genuinely scary at times, and Ennis’s decision to tone down on the gore and amp up the dread succeeds wonderfully in this.

Not that there isn’t gore in this, but it’s definitely extremely subdued, especially when compared to, say, Crossed. Ennis isn’t trying to gross the reader out in this, like he was in Crossed. He’s actually making a pretty strong social commentary about our times. It is, actually, a running theme with Ennis, but one that often gets subsumed by the blood and guts in his previous novels: humanity is a good and fragile thing, and we can all lose it if we’re not careful.

That this is a blatant anti-Trump story is obvious. Ennis doesn’t shy away from or hide his politics. And yet, it never feels very political, mainly because the political aspects take a backseat to the story’s spiritual aspects. Yes, A Walk Through Hell tackles some heavy religious and theological issues, as only Ennis can tackle them.

Preacher was religious, too, although Ennis’s religious (more aptly anti-religious) commentary in that series always came across as more of a mean-spirited attack on Christianity. Not that Christianity, in my opinion, doesn’t deserve it.

In this series, however, Ennis comes across as more fair-minded, which is weird to say in a graphic novel series in which it is more than implied that God not only doesn’t exist but that God, as a concept, is merely a cruel joke played on humanity by the Devil, who created the idea of Heaven and God for mere shits and giggles.

Yet between the lines, Ennis, I think, is saying something a little more hopeful: If God doesn’t exist and all that we have waiting for us at the end of life is either fire and brimstone or bleak nothingness, then how can we explain the good and the beautiful in the world? If Evil is the way things should be, and Good is the aberration, the fact that humanity has successfully survived this long and has, indeed, done some good and created some beauty, at the very least seems to suggest an iota of a possibility in the existence of God.

Who knew Ennis could be so fucking spiritual?
]]> The Devil Takes You Home 58978299
Buried in debt due to his young daughter’s illness, his marriage at the brink, Mario reluctantly takes a job as a hitman, surprising himself with his proclivity for violence. After tragedy destroys the life he knew, Mario agrees to one final job: hijack a cartel’s cash shipment before it reaches Mexico. Along with an old friend and a cartel-insider named Juanca, Mario sets off on the near-suicidal mission, which will leave him with either a cool $200,000 or a bullet in the skull. But the path to reward or ruin is never as straight as it seems. As the three complicated men travel through the endless landscape of Texas, across the border and back, their hidden motivations are laid bare alongside nightmarish encounters that defy explanation. One thing is certain: even if Mario makes it out alive, he won’t return the same.

The Devil Takes You Home is a panoramic odyssey for fans of S.A. Cosby’s southern noir, Blacktop Wasteland, by way of the boundary-defying storytelling of Stephen Graham Jones and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: NPR, Harper's Bazaar, Chicago Tribune, Vulture, Oprah Daily, CrimeReads, The Millions, and many more!

An Edgar Award Finalist • A Bram Stoker Award Winner • A Shirley Jackson Award Winner • A Book of the Month Club Pick • An August Indie Next List Selection • An ABA Indie Bestseller]]> 320 Gabino Iglesias 0316426911 Scott 5 trigger warnings!

Gabino Iglesias’s novel “The Devil Takes You Home” is chicken soup for the sado-masochistic soul. It’s the perfect story for anyone who hates Christmas. It’s torture porn for Grinches.

If Cormac McCarthy and Laird Barron teamed up to write a road novel, it would be this novel.

I haven’t read a horror noir this bleak since, well… ever. Actually, the closest in tone that I can recall was a graphic novel series by Garth Ennis called “A Walk Through Hell”, which honestly still gives me the chills.

It’s actually a decent comparison because, like Ennis’s graphic novel, “The Devil Takes You Home” is a surprisingly spiritual novel, and one that is asking some seriously tough questions about faith.

The novel’s protagonist, Mario, was once a happy husband and father. Then, his daughter was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and before he even had time to process the diagnosis, she is dead. Soon after, he leaves his wife (or she leaves him, it’s unclear but also irrelevant), and unable to deal with the staggering grief, he goes to work for a local cartel as an assassin. He rationalizes his actions by telling himself that the people he kills are pedophiles and rapists and drug dealers and murderers, but it brings an iota of solace. One day, a friend offers him a job being a mule, running illegal guns across the border. Mario knows there is more to the job, way more than he wants to even acknowledge, but he accepts. Soon, he finds himself on the road to perdition where the final destination may, literally, be Hell.

I could tell you more, but I don’t want to spoil the unending terror. Or the unexpected beauty. Be forewarned: this book is by turns a graphic depiction of the evil that men do and a total tearjerker. Mario is both an unlikable anti-hero and a poor sap that you can’t help but root for and shed tears for because, depending on how God or the Devil lay their cards down, this guy could be any one of us.]]> 3.65 2022 The Devil Takes You Home
author: Gabino Iglesias
name: Scott
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/04
date added: 2025/06/23
shelves: apocalyptic, crime, drug-cartels, horror, satan-is-a-douchbag, supernatural-thriller, tear-jerker, witches, wtf-did-i-just-read
review:
Nothing says Christmas like kids dying of leukemia, Mexican drug cartel assassins, unbelievably graphic torture scenes, racism, demon-possessed Mexican witches, and a six-way shootout in the New Mexico desert. Oh, and: trigger warnings!

Gabino Iglesias’s novel “The Devil Takes You Home” is chicken soup for the sado-masochistic soul. It’s the perfect story for anyone who hates Christmas. It’s torture porn for Grinches.

If Cormac McCarthy and Laird Barron teamed up to write a road novel, it would be this novel.

I haven’t read a horror noir this bleak since, well… ever. Actually, the closest in tone that I can recall was a graphic novel series by Garth Ennis called “A Walk Through Hell”, which honestly still gives me the chills.

It’s actually a decent comparison because, like Ennis’s graphic novel, “The Devil Takes You Home” is a surprisingly spiritual novel, and one that is asking some seriously tough questions about faith.

The novel’s protagonist, Mario, was once a happy husband and father. Then, his daughter was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and before he even had time to process the diagnosis, she is dead. Soon after, he leaves his wife (or she leaves him, it’s unclear but also irrelevant), and unable to deal with the staggering grief, he goes to work for a local cartel as an assassin. He rationalizes his actions by telling himself that the people he kills are pedophiles and rapists and drug dealers and murderers, but it brings an iota of solace. One day, a friend offers him a job being a mule, running illegal guns across the border. Mario knows there is more to the job, way more than he wants to even acknowledge, but he accepts. Soon, he finds himself on the road to perdition where the final destination may, literally, be Hell.

I could tell you more, but I don’t want to spoil the unending terror. Or the unexpected beauty. Be forewarned: this book is by turns a graphic depiction of the evil that men do and a total tearjerker. Mario is both an unlikable anti-hero and a poor sap that you can’t help but root for and shed tears for because, depending on how God or the Devil lay their cards down, this guy could be any one of us.
]]> A Good and Happy Child 117995
As he delves into his childhood memories, he begins to recall things he hasn’t thought of in twenty years. Events, people, and strange situations come rushing back. The odd, rambling letters his father sent home before he died. The jovial mother who started dating too soon after his father’s death. A boy who appeared one night when George was lonely, then told him secrets he didn’t want to know. How no one believed this new friend was real and that he was responsible for the bad things that were happening.

Terrified by all that he has forgotten, George struggles to remember what really happened in the months following his father’s death. Were his ominous visions and erratic behavior the product of a grief-stricken child’s overactive imagination (a perfectly natural reaction to the trauma of loss, as his mother insisted)? Or were his father’s colleagues, who blamed a darker, more malevolent force, right to look to the supernatural as a means to end George’s suffering? Twenty years later, George still does not know. But when a mysterious murder is revealed, remembering the past becomes the only way George can protect himself–and his young family.

A psychological thriller in the tradition of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History –with shades of The Exorcist –the smart and suspenseful A Good and Happy Child leaves you questioning the things you remember and frightened of the things you’ve forgotten.]]> 336 Justin Evans 030735122X Scott 4 This is one I read in 2011, so I can't recall the details, but I remember it being a decent novel about exorcism. While it did have its creepy parts, I remember it more for being more of a character study of someone who may or may not be mentally ill. It was a very compassionate and moving portrayal, so it may not appeal to someone looking for the scares of William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" or movies like "The Last Exorcism".


Justin Evans's "A Good and Happy Child" is a remarkable achievement for two reasons, the first being that it is his debut novel.

For a first novel, Evans demonstrates a level of literary sophistication that many authors strive to reach after many years.

The second achievement is that he has written the first truly thought-provoking and moving novel about demonic possession. It's not a hokey and melodramatic passion play, nor is it a dry and clinical approach. It's a pretty straightforward "Here's a fictional case of someone who may or may not be demonically possessed: you decide."

The demon in question could be a real supernatural demon, or it could be a purely psychological demon. Evans keeps the reader guessing up until the very end, and even then, we are not sure.

Evans plays upon the reader's preconceptions about faith and science. The alleged possessed isn't merely a victim of the "demon" but is also victimized by two conflicting schools of thought: Christianity (at least, a very hard-core fundamentalist Christianity), with its mythos of God, Satan, heaven, and hell, and the Religion of Freud, a psychoanalytical approach of deconstruction.

Both views may have value and merit, but to the protagonist in the novel, a young boy who may or may not be possessed by a demon, they are simply two very different means to the same end. He simply wants to lead a normal life, and he doesn't really care if it comes about through Jesus or a psychotherapist.]]> 3.46 2007 A Good and Happy Child
author: Justin Evans
name: Scott
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2011/09/21
date added: 2025/06/23
shelves: supernatural-thriller, exorcism, psychology, horror, satan-is-a-douchbag
review:
This is one I read in 2011, so I can't recall the details, but I remember it being a decent novel about exorcism. While it did have its creepy parts, I remember it more for being more of a character study of someone who may or may not be mentally ill. It was a very compassionate and moving portrayal, so it may not appeal to someone looking for the scares of William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" or movies like "The Last Exorcism".


Justin Evans's "A Good and Happy Child" is a remarkable achievement for two reasons, the first being that it is his debut novel.

For a first novel, Evans demonstrates a level of literary sophistication that many authors strive to reach after many years.

The second achievement is that he has written the first truly thought-provoking and moving novel about demonic possession. It's not a hokey and melodramatic passion play, nor is it a dry and clinical approach. It's a pretty straightforward "Here's a fictional case of someone who may or may not be demonically possessed: you decide."

The demon in question could be a real supernatural demon, or it could be a purely psychological demon. Evans keeps the reader guessing up until the very end, and even then, we are not sure.

Evans plays upon the reader's preconceptions about faith and science. The alleged possessed isn't merely a victim of the "demon" but is also victimized by two conflicting schools of thought: Christianity (at least, a very hard-core fundamentalist Christianity), with its mythos of God, Satan, heaven, and hell, and the Religion of Freud, a psychoanalytical approach of deconstruction.

Both views may have value and merit, but to the protagonist in the novel, a young boy who may or may not be possessed by a demon, they are simply two very different means to the same end. He simply wants to lead a normal life, and he doesn't really care if it comes about through Jesus or a psychotherapist.
]]> <![CDATA[Metal Hurlant - Selected Works]]> 52874248 Short Stories that appeared in the legendary magazine of the same name, and that inspired the TV series Metal Hurlant Chronicles.

"Métal Hurlant" magazine was created in Paris in 1974 by Moebius, Druillet and Dionnet, the founding fathers of Les Humanoïdes Associés. This movement soon revolutionized the medium and inspired countless writers, artists and filmmakers the world over. Versions in various languages flourished everywhere, including in the States with "Heavy Metal." The French version was eventually shut down in 1987. But in 2002, Humanoids relaunched a limited publication of a 13-issue anthology, with one main goal: establishing a creative bridge between the US and Europe.
Includes stories written and illustrated by comic book stars Geoff Johns, Kurt Busiek, Guy Davis, and Jerome Opena, among many others.]]> 240 R.A. Jones 1643375199 Scott 4
The magazine folded in 1987 but has been resurrected several times to varying degrees of success. In 2020, Humanoids, Inc. published (for American audiences) a selection of stories by a wide range of comic book talent. The stories are a variety of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, with a few in other genres, like western and humor. They range from mediocre to close-to-brilliant, but if you are a fan of great comic book art, this is a must-read.

P.S. A European live-action TV show exists called "Metal Hurlant Chronicles", which can be found on Netflix, supposedly. I have never seen it or heard of it until recently, and I don't know if it's called something else here in the U.S.]]> 3.23 2020 Metal Hurlant - Selected Works
author: R.A. Jones
name: Scott
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/06/19
date added: 2025/06/22
shelves: graphic-novel, fantasy, horror, humor, science-fiction, western, action-adventure, art
review:
"Metal Hurlant" was a revolutionary and influential French graphic novel series started in the mid-1970s that was a showcase for some of the best and brightest in the comic book industry. The American version was called "Heavy Metal", which every heterosexual male of a certain age probably remembers fondly because it was probably the first time they saw naked boobs in a comic book.

The magazine folded in 1987 but has been resurrected several times to varying degrees of success. In 2020, Humanoids, Inc. published (for American audiences) a selection of stories by a wide range of comic book talent. The stories are a variety of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, with a few in other genres, like western and humor. They range from mediocre to close-to-brilliant, but if you are a fan of great comic book art, this is a must-read.

P.S. A European live-action TV show exists called "Metal Hurlant Chronicles", which can be found on Netflix, supposedly. I have never seen it or heard of it until recently, and I don't know if it's called something else here in the U.S.
]]> <![CDATA[On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization]]> 221057810 The New York Times bestselling author of The War on the West explains how no less than the future of the Western World is at stake in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Douglas Murray, #1 international bestselling author and renowned cultural commentator, confronts arguably the most pressing question of our Why are Western supporters of Palestine unwittingly aligning with an evil empire?

The campus left frames the violent hostilities as white colonialists committing genocide. Yet only a third of Israelis are Ashkenazi Jews of European ancestry. Murray argues that the conflict is not a simple tale of oppressor versus oppressed, but a clash between a thriving multi-racial democracy and a death cult bent on its destruction.

Drawing from intensive on-the-ground reporting in Israel and Gaza, Murray presents a compelling case that places the latest violence in its proper historical context. He takes readers on a harrowing journey through the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, piecing together the exclusive accounts from victims, survivors, and even the terrorists responsible for the atrocities.

On Democracies and Death Cults illustrates how Israel's commitment to fundamental Western values—capitalism, individual rights, democracy, and reason—has made it a beacon of progress in a region dominated by authoritarianism and extremism. Murray contrasts Israel’s principles with the ideology of Hamas, which openly proclaims its love of death over life. If left unchecked, Murray argues, this misplaced Western sympathy could embolden forces that seek to undermine democratic values and perpetuate a culture of violence.

Deeply reasoned, clear-eyed, and grounded in fact, On Democracy and Death Cults is a gripping and essential read for all who seek to understand the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its implications for the future of democracy both here and abroad—and for the world itself.]]> 240 Douglas Murray 0063437139 Scott 4 israel, nonfiction, palestine "Anti-Semitism is always a means rather than an end; it is a measure of the contradictions yet to be resolved. It is a mirror for the failings of individuals, social structures and State systems. Tell me what you accuse the Jews of---I'll tell you what you're guilty of."---Vasily Grossman

I'm not setting out, in this review, to say that I take one side or the other in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I'll start with that. I'm on the side of finding a solution that would mean no more killing and bloodshed, especially of innocent children. I am on the side of the average innocent civilian---Palestinian and Israeli alike---who simply wants to lead a normal life free from a constant fear of being shot at or bombed.

That said, it's pointless to say that one side or the other is completely blameless in this ongoing conflict, a conflict that has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian and Israeli lives lost to violence.

It's pointless to say that the very founding of Israel was done with the blessing of the misplaced Palestinians. The 1948 Nakba (an Arabic term meaning "catastrophe"), or official "displacement" of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers, resulted in hundreds of Palestinian casualties and Palestinian cities being wiped out. This is history, but it's history that is still white-washed or even denied by some Israelis.

It's pointless to say that some Palestinians, radicalized from an early age by terrorist groups like Hamas, haven't committed atrocities against the Israeli people. The October 7, 2023 Hamas-led terrorist attacks were a blatant Anti-Semitic and anti-Israel genocidal campaign which led to the brutal massacre of innocent men, women, and children.

It's pointless to say any of this, unfortunately, because we live in such odd times, where what we say is so easily misinterpreted and twisted based on where one stands, politically. Being critical of Israeli policy is not Anti-Semitic. Recognizing the horrific atrocities committed by Hamas against Israelis in the terrorist attacks of October 7 and feeling heart-sick for the Israelis killed is not anti-Palestinian. A longing for peace---or, at least, an end to war and bloodshed---does not equate to the elimination or genocide of an entire people.

And yet, the insidiousness of Anti-Semitism is endemic to the Middle East. This is nothing new. It is as insidious in the 21st century as it was after the Second World War, when some Middle Eastern leaders collaborated with Hitler. But Anti-Semitism in contemporary Middle Eastern countries has mutated into something far worse, according to journalist Douglas Murray in his book "On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization".

The first part of Murray's book is descriptive. He writes in gut-wrenching and tear-jerking detail about the events, and the aftermath, of the October 7 terrorist attacks that initiated the Israel-Hamas War. It is difficult to not be disgusted by the brutality of the Anti-Semitic terrorists who viciously raped and murdered unarmed citizens, many of them women and children. It is difficult to not be moved by the stories told by survivors of that day.

So, why has the international backlash been against Israel and not the perpetrators of the attacks? Murray makes the convincing case that it is due not so much to an Anti-Semitic but rather an Anti-Life philosophy that has swept through many Middle Eastern countries, a philosophy that campaigns for the complete destruction of Jews in Israel along with anyone else who sides with Israel. These terrorists, much like ISIS, are so ruthless that they are not opposed to using human shields of thir own women and children. They stockpile weapons and bombs in innocent civilian homes. They bomb their own people and celebrate their deaths as sacrifices to the cause.

But they are also smart in their PR campaigns, as they fund, internationally, groups that utilize and manipulate gullible groups---such as college students---to stage protests against the "imperialist" and "colonialist" policies of Israel. Many of these students have no clue that they are dupes of terrorist groups. They are simply pawns of Anti-Semitic organizations such as Hamas that have ingenuously tapped into the "Woke" generations.

How do you fight against an enemy that has no interest in peace? How do you fight an enemy that will see no option other than the complete annihilation of an entire population of people?

Murray offers no answers to these existential questions. Well, no good answers anyway.
]]> 4.31 2025 On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization
author: Douglas Murray
name: Scott
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/06/21
date added: 2025/06/22
shelves: israel, nonfiction, palestine
review:
"Anti-Semitism is always a means rather than an end; it is a measure of the contradictions yet to be resolved. It is a mirror for the failings of individuals, social structures and State systems. Tell me what you accuse the Jews of---I'll tell you what you're guilty of."---Vasily Grossman

I'm not setting out, in this review, to say that I take one side or the other in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I'll start with that. I'm on the side of finding a solution that would mean no more killing and bloodshed, especially of innocent children. I am on the side of the average innocent civilian---Palestinian and Israeli alike---who simply wants to lead a normal life free from a constant fear of being shot at or bombed.

That said, it's pointless to say that one side or the other is completely blameless in this ongoing conflict, a conflict that has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian and Israeli lives lost to violence.

It's pointless to say that the very founding of Israel was done with the blessing of the misplaced Palestinians. The 1948 Nakba (an Arabic term meaning "catastrophe"), or official "displacement" of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers, resulted in hundreds of Palestinian casualties and Palestinian cities being wiped out. This is history, but it's history that is still white-washed or even denied by some Israelis.

It's pointless to say that some Palestinians, radicalized from an early age by terrorist groups like Hamas, haven't committed atrocities against the Israeli people. The October 7, 2023 Hamas-led terrorist attacks were a blatant Anti-Semitic and anti-Israel genocidal campaign which led to the brutal massacre of innocent men, women, and children.

It's pointless to say any of this, unfortunately, because we live in such odd times, where what we say is so easily misinterpreted and twisted based on where one stands, politically. Being critical of Israeli policy is not Anti-Semitic. Recognizing the horrific atrocities committed by Hamas against Israelis in the terrorist attacks of October 7 and feeling heart-sick for the Israelis killed is not anti-Palestinian. A longing for peace---or, at least, an end to war and bloodshed---does not equate to the elimination or genocide of an entire people.

And yet, the insidiousness of Anti-Semitism is endemic to the Middle East. This is nothing new. It is as insidious in the 21st century as it was after the Second World War, when some Middle Eastern leaders collaborated with Hitler. But Anti-Semitism in contemporary Middle Eastern countries has mutated into something far worse, according to journalist Douglas Murray in his book "On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization".

The first part of Murray's book is descriptive. He writes in gut-wrenching and tear-jerking detail about the events, and the aftermath, of the October 7 terrorist attacks that initiated the Israel-Hamas War. It is difficult to not be disgusted by the brutality of the Anti-Semitic terrorists who viciously raped and murdered unarmed citizens, many of them women and children. It is difficult to not be moved by the stories told by survivors of that day.

So, why has the international backlash been against Israel and not the perpetrators of the attacks? Murray makes the convincing case that it is due not so much to an Anti-Semitic but rather an Anti-Life philosophy that has swept through many Middle Eastern countries, a philosophy that campaigns for the complete destruction of Jews in Israel along with anyone else who sides with Israel. These terrorists, much like ISIS, are so ruthless that they are not opposed to using human shields of thir own women and children. They stockpile weapons and bombs in innocent civilian homes. They bomb their own people and celebrate their deaths as sacrifices to the cause.

But they are also smart in their PR campaigns, as they fund, internationally, groups that utilize and manipulate gullible groups---such as college students---to stage protests against the "imperialist" and "colonialist" policies of Israel. Many of these students have no clue that they are dupes of terrorist groups. They are simply pawns of Anti-Semitic organizations such as Hamas that have ingenuously tapped into the "Woke" generations.

How do you fight against an enemy that has no interest in peace? How do you fight an enemy that will see no option other than the complete annihilation of an entire population of people?

Murray offers no answers to these existential questions. Well, no good answers anyway.

]]> <![CDATA[Longarm and the Missing Bride (Longarm, #364)]]> 23443056 192 Tabor Evans 1101014563 Scott 3 western, longarm
In “Longarm and the Missing Bride”, though, the amount of fellatio going on may be, well, too much.

Tabor Evans (a pseudonym for a group of writers, probably but not necessarily based on a real author) created the long-running western/male adventure/fellatio-heavy series back in the ‘70s. As far as I know, it’s still going, although, at this point, they’re probably just rehashing the same old plots and just changing the names and settings. Don’t care. They’re still fantastic.

In this one, a sexy widow that U.S. Marshall Custis “Longarm” Long likes to bed when he’s in her town asks Longarm to find her young daughter, who has been kidnapped. Longarm knows that the clock is ticking, because the life expectancy of kidnapped young girls in the Wild West is pretty short.

So, he sets off throughout the Wild West to find her, going from town to town to find clues as to her whereabouts. A group of five criminals have nabbed her, for reasons that are, unfortunately, fairly obvious.

In each town, Longarm ends up in the bed of a different woman, each of them with wonderful oral skills. And Longarm’s (rather huge) penis doesn’t discriminate: young, old, skinny, fat—-as long as she has a mouth.

Is it actually possible to get bored with fellatio scenes? At different points, I just wanted Longarm to go shoot bad guys. I mean, that’s not too much to ask from a western, is it?]]> 3.75 2009 Longarm and the Missing Bride (Longarm, #364)
author: Tabor Evans
name: Scott
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/11
date added: 2025/06/20
shelves: western, longarm
review:
There is a ridiculous amount of fellatio going on in this book. And, trust me, that is a weird sentence to write for me, because I personally love scenes of fellatio. I think most books would be vastly improved with the addition of more fellatio scenes, but that’s just me.

In “Longarm and the Missing Bride”, though, the amount of fellatio going on may be, well, too much.

Tabor Evans (a pseudonym for a group of writers, probably but not necessarily based on a real author) created the long-running western/male adventure/fellatio-heavy series back in the ‘70s. As far as I know, it’s still going, although, at this point, they’re probably just rehashing the same old plots and just changing the names and settings. Don’t care. They’re still fantastic.

In this one, a sexy widow that U.S. Marshall Custis “Longarm” Long likes to bed when he’s in her town asks Longarm to find her young daughter, who has been kidnapped. Longarm knows that the clock is ticking, because the life expectancy of kidnapped young girls in the Wild West is pretty short.

So, he sets off throughout the Wild West to find her, going from town to town to find clues as to her whereabouts. A group of five criminals have nabbed her, for reasons that are, unfortunately, fairly obvious.

In each town, Longarm ends up in the bed of a different woman, each of them with wonderful oral skills. And Longarm’s (rather huge) penis doesn’t discriminate: young, old, skinny, fat—-as long as she has a mouth.

Is it actually possible to get bored with fellatio scenes? At different points, I just wanted Longarm to go shoot bad guys. I mean, that’s not too much to ask from a western, is it?
]]> <![CDATA[Longarm #427: Longarm and the Coldest Town in Hell]]> 22092750 THROW LONGARM NAKED FROM THE TRAIN



Like most folks, Longarm has always been fond of his extremities—you might even say he’s attached to them. So after he’s coldcocked following an ill-advised liaison with a gorgeous grifter on a train and tossed buck-naked into the snowdrifts of the Dakota Territory, he’s more than a little worried about frostbite…not to mention death.



But after he’s saved and nursed back to health by a ravishing Russian deaf mute, the deputy marshal is soon ready to brace a trio of hard cases who are whiling away the winter murdering lawmen and terrorizing anyone unlucky enough to cross their path. Santa may have filled their stockings with coal, but Longarm aims to fill their cold hearts with hot lead…
]]> 194 Tabor Evans 1101634987 Scott 5 western, longarm
After cozying up in a sleeping berth on a train with a young and curvaceous schoolmarm, Longarm finds himself cold-cocked and face-first in a snowdrift. Naked as the day he was born and knowing he only has minutes to find shelter, Longarm starts running. It’s the Dakota Territory, though, and there’s nothing around but snow and more snow. This may be the end of Longarm…

Or not. Luck always has a way of finding this lawman, and he’s more the wiser for it. He’s on a mission, after all: a week ago, a telegram was sent reporting that notorious Emory Drake and his men shot and killed three lawmen in a saloon in Little Missouri City. End stop.

Now he’s here, in a winter blizzard, after being conned out of his privies, and it looks like he’s the only lawman in town. Against three wanted criminals, who are awaiting the arrival of six more wanted criminals. Still, this is the kind of shit he lives for…

The Longarm series, written by Tabor Evans (who may have once been a real person but is now a rotating group of ghostwriters), has been going steadily since the ‘70s, and it’s no wonder. They’re quick, violent, sexy, and fun. Emphasis, by the way, on the sexy, as Longarm likes to fornicate as much (if not moreso) as he likes to shoot his gun.

Westerns are certainly for a niche audience, but it’s an audience that’s easy to please, and I’m one of them audiences. Gonna round me up some more Longarm novels soon.]]> 4.15 2014 Longarm #427: Longarm and the Coldest Town in Hell
author: Tabor Evans
name: Scott
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/20
date added: 2025/06/20
shelves: western, longarm
review:
U.S. Marshall Custis “Longarm” Long has had a long history of getting himself into trouble, usually because of a woman, and in “Longarm and the Coldest Town in Hell”, things haven’t changed.

After cozying up in a sleeping berth on a train with a young and curvaceous schoolmarm, Longarm finds himself cold-cocked and face-first in a snowdrift. Naked as the day he was born and knowing he only has minutes to find shelter, Longarm starts running. It’s the Dakota Territory, though, and there’s nothing around but snow and more snow. This may be the end of Longarm…

Or not. Luck always has a way of finding this lawman, and he’s more the wiser for it. He’s on a mission, after all: a week ago, a telegram was sent reporting that notorious Emory Drake and his men shot and killed three lawmen in a saloon in Little Missouri City. End stop.

Now he’s here, in a winter blizzard, after being conned out of his privies, and it looks like he’s the only lawman in town. Against three wanted criminals, who are awaiting the arrival of six more wanted criminals. Still, this is the kind of shit he lives for…

The Longarm series, written by Tabor Evans (who may have once been a real person but is now a rotating group of ghostwriters), has been going steadily since the ‘70s, and it’s no wonder. They’re quick, violent, sexy, and fun. Emphasis, by the way, on the sexy, as Longarm likes to fornicate as much (if not moreso) as he likes to shoot his gun.

Westerns are certainly for a niche audience, but it’s an audience that’s easy to please, and I’m one of them audiences. Gonna round me up some more Longarm novels soon.
]]> <![CDATA[Longarm on the Border (Longarm, #280)]]> 1931975 192 Tabor Evans 0515132667 Scott 4 western, longarm
There are supposedly 400+ books in this series, but most of them are merely reprints of earlier ones. It doesn't matter because they are awesome, if you love westerns and hilariously graphic sex scenes.

In this one, Longarm is on the trail of a group of cattle rustlers in the Laredo Loop, a string of cow thefts around Texas. His investigation takes him to a town called Los Perros, which exists in a no-man's land that is under neither Texas or Mexican jurisdiction. It has a law unto its own, and its not exactly a good one.

When Longarm has a deadly run-in with some corrupt Mexican Rurales (the Mexican equivalent of Texas Rangers), things go from bad to worse. The prospect of a slow death in a Mexican prison doesn't deter Longarm, though. He's got a job to do, and by gum, he's gonna do it...]]> 3.42 2002 Longarm on the Border (Longarm, #280)
author: Tabor Evans
name: Scott
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2012/01/11
date added: 2025/06/20
shelves: western, longarm
review:
"Longarm on the Border" was the second book Tabor Evans wrote in his prolific western series. (So disregard that #280 on the cover...)

There are supposedly 400+ books in this series, but most of them are merely reprints of earlier ones. It doesn't matter because they are awesome, if you love westerns and hilariously graphic sex scenes.

In this one, Longarm is on the trail of a group of cattle rustlers in the Laredo Loop, a string of cow thefts around Texas. His investigation takes him to a town called Los Perros, which exists in a no-man's land that is under neither Texas or Mexican jurisdiction. It has a law unto its own, and its not exactly a good one.

When Longarm has a deadly run-in with some corrupt Mexican Rurales (the Mexican equivalent of Texas Rangers), things go from bad to worse. The prospect of a slow death in a Mexican prison doesn't deter Longarm, though. He's got a job to do, and by gum, he's gonna do it...
]]> Longarm (Longarm, #1) 2107076 Used BooK 272 Tabor Evans 0515089656 Scott 4 western, longarm
Strangely enough, the genre persists, with most western fans keeping relatively quiet about it. Boasting that one loves westerns is, well, let's fact it, uncool. So be it. As long as there are authors out there still publishing westerns, there will be readers like me devouring them.

I recently discovered a long-running western series by an author named Tabor Evans. It's most likely a pseudonym, but that's neither here nor there. (Rumor has it that "Tabor Evans" is a pseudonym used by many different authors for this series, most of whom---again, according to rumor---are best-selling romance authors.)

The series features a muscular handle-bar mustachioed protagonist called Longarm. His real name is Custis Long, and he's a U.S. Marshal. What is most surprising about this series is not the fact that Evans has been publishing novels steadily since the '70s and that there are over 400 books in the series (which can probably be explained by the fact that some of the books are probably reprinted under different titles and/or the aforementioned rumor about different ghost writers).

What is most surprising is the fact that Evans is actually a pretty darn good writer of westerns.* He has a knack for description, a good sense of pacing, and a concocter of interesting plots. He also has a propensity for ridiculously graphic sex scenes, which are scattered liberally throughout his novels. They'd be almost shocking if they weren't so hilarious. Seriously, Evans's sex scenes are an absolute joy. Even my wife was laughing hysterically when I read her one aloud.

"Longarm", the first in the series, has Marshal Long traveling to a town called Crooked Lance in the West Wyoming Territory, a town so insignificant you can't find it on any map. Apparently, vigilantes (there is no official "Law" to speak of in Crooked Lance) have arrested Cotton Younger, a cow-thief and young cousin of Jesse James. Longarm thinks he has an easy job of getting to Crooked Lance, picking up Younger, and bringing him back to trial in federal courts. From the get-go, though, nothing about the job is easy.

First, there's the fact that another Deputy Marshal tried it first, and no one has heard from him since. When Longarm does eventually find the town, he has already been shot at and ambushed by mysterious snipers. The list of suspects is a long one: a married couple of bounty hunters, a Canadian Mounty, an old gold-panner out for revenge, a Texas sheriff, and just about everyone else in the shady little no-nothing town.

Oh, yeah, there's also the possibility that Jesse James and his gang are holed away in the woods in hopes of breaking out little cuz from the hoosegow. Never mind the fact that the man everybody thinks is Cotton Younger may not even be Cotton Younger anyway. It's a confusing mess, but Longarm doesn't care. He has a job to do, and he aims to do it. Replete with amusing dialogue, unusual characters, a who-dunnit, the requisite number of shoot-outs, and those wonderful sex scenes, "Longarm" is a fun, quick read. I plan on reading all 400+ books in the series.

* I discovered, later, that "Tabor Evans" is the pseudonym for a team of many writers, mostly of romance fiction, that take turns writing novels based on a template. This explains why many Longarm novels are heavy on romance and sex rather than gunplay. This is perfectly acceptable to me.]]> 3.84 1978 Longarm (Longarm, #1)
author: Tabor Evans
name: Scott
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1978
rating: 4
read at: 2012/01/09
date added: 2025/06/20
shelves: western, longarm
review:
I love westerns. Not many people today can say that and mean it. It's just not a genre that many people can relate to, I guess. In fact, it's a sad fact that generations of kids today have probably never read a western, other than the occasional short story in English class by Stephen Crane or Mark Twain.

Strangely enough, the genre persists, with most western fans keeping relatively quiet about it. Boasting that one loves westerns is, well, let's fact it, uncool. So be it. As long as there are authors out there still publishing westerns, there will be readers like me devouring them.

I recently discovered a long-running western series by an author named Tabor Evans. It's most likely a pseudonym, but that's neither here nor there. (Rumor has it that "Tabor Evans" is a pseudonym used by many different authors for this series, most of whom---again, according to rumor---are best-selling romance authors.)

The series features a muscular handle-bar mustachioed protagonist called Longarm. His real name is Custis Long, and he's a U.S. Marshal. What is most surprising about this series is not the fact that Evans has been publishing novels steadily since the '70s and that there are over 400 books in the series (which can probably be explained by the fact that some of the books are probably reprinted under different titles and/or the aforementioned rumor about different ghost writers).

What is most surprising is the fact that Evans is actually a pretty darn good writer of westerns.* He has a knack for description, a good sense of pacing, and a concocter of interesting plots. He also has a propensity for ridiculously graphic sex scenes, which are scattered liberally throughout his novels. They'd be almost shocking if they weren't so hilarious. Seriously, Evans's sex scenes are an absolute joy. Even my wife was laughing hysterically when I read her one aloud.

"Longarm", the first in the series, has Marshal Long traveling to a town called Crooked Lance in the West Wyoming Territory, a town so insignificant you can't find it on any map. Apparently, vigilantes (there is no official "Law" to speak of in Crooked Lance) have arrested Cotton Younger, a cow-thief and young cousin of Jesse James. Longarm thinks he has an easy job of getting to Crooked Lance, picking up Younger, and bringing him back to trial in federal courts. From the get-go, though, nothing about the job is easy.

First, there's the fact that another Deputy Marshal tried it first, and no one has heard from him since. When Longarm does eventually find the town, he has already been shot at and ambushed by mysterious snipers. The list of suspects is a long one: a married couple of bounty hunters, a Canadian Mounty, an old gold-panner out for revenge, a Texas sheriff, and just about everyone else in the shady little no-nothing town.

Oh, yeah, there's also the possibility that Jesse James and his gang are holed away in the woods in hopes of breaking out little cuz from the hoosegow. Never mind the fact that the man everybody thinks is Cotton Younger may not even be Cotton Younger anyway. It's a confusing mess, but Longarm doesn't care. He has a job to do, and he aims to do it. Replete with amusing dialogue, unusual characters, a who-dunnit, the requisite number of shoot-outs, and those wonderful sex scenes, "Longarm" is a fun, quick read. I plan on reading all 400+ books in the series.

* I discovered, later, that "Tabor Evans" is the pseudonym for a team of many writers, mostly of romance fiction, that take turns writing novels based on a template. This explains why many Longarm novels are heavy on romance and sex rather than gunplay. This is perfectly acceptable to me.
]]> <![CDATA[The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations]]> 40265834 Arguably the most celebrated and revered writer of our time now gives us a new nonfiction collection--a rich gathering of her essays, speeches, and meditations on society, culture, and art, spanning four decades.

The Source of Self-Regard is brimming with all the elegance of mind and style, the literary prowess and moral compass that are Toni Morrison's inimitable hallmark. It is divided into three parts: the first is introduced by a powerful prayer for the dead of 9/11; the second by a searching meditation on Martin Luther King Jr., and the last by a heart-wrenching eulogy for James Baldwin. In the writings and speeches included here, Morrison takes on contested social issues: the foreigner, female empowerment, the press, money, "black matter(s)," and human rights. She looks at enduring matters of culture: the role of the artist in society, the literary imagination, the Afro-American presence in American literature, and in her Nobel lecture, the power of language itself. And here too is piercing commentary on her own work (including The Bluest Eye, Sula, Tar Baby, Jazz, Beloved, and Paradise) and that of others, among them, painter and collagist Romare Bearden, author Toni Cade Bambara, and theater director Peter Sellars. In all, The Source of Self-Regard is a luminous and essential addition to Toni Morrison's oeuvre.]]> 354 Toni Morrison 0525521038 Scott 0 to-read 4.35 2019 The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations
author: Toni Morrison
name: Scott
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Origin of Others (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures)]]> 34758228
Drawing on her Norton Lectures, Toni Morrison takes up these and other vital questions bearing on identity in The Origin of Others. In her search for answers, the novelist considers her own memories as well as history, politics, and especially literature. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Camara Laye are among the authors she examines. Readers of Morrison’s fiction will welcome her discussions of some of her most celebrated books—Beloved, Paradise, and A Mercy.

If we learn racism by example, then literature plays an important part in the history of race in America, both negatively and positively. Morrison writes about nineteenth-century literary efforts to romance slavery, contrasting them with the scientific racism of Samuel Cartwright and the banal diaries of the plantation overseer and slaveholder Thomas Thistlewood. She looks at configurations of blackness, notions of racial purity, and the ways in which literature employs skin color to reveal character or drive narrative. Expanding the scope of her concern, she also addresses globalization and the mass movement of peoples in this century. National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates provides a foreword to Morrison’s most personal work of nonfiction to date.]]> 126 Toni Morrison 0674976452 Scott 0 to-read 4.26 2017 The Origin of Others (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures)
author: Toni Morrison
name: Scott
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Beloved 1031607 275 Toni Morrison 0452261368 Scott 5 Books and Authors That I Loved But Haven't Read in a While and Need to Revisit is Toni Morrison's 1987 novel "Beloved", which I read for the first time in college. It was, I believe, a contemporary literature course, and my introduction to Morrison. I fell in love with it immediately, and I have read it a few times since then. There was a film adaptation from 1998 starring Thandie Newton, which was decent but could not capture the brilliance and beauty of Morrison's writing.

"Beloved" is a difficult book to categorize. It is a ghost story. It is a story of redemption. It is a story about the horrors of slavery. It is also loosely based on a true story. All of these are true statements, but not one of them adequately sums up the book.

That's all I can say about the story, which isn't much, I know. There is a lot of stuff I could say about the book's plot, but they would be spoilers.

The beauty of this novel comes from Morrison's wonderful prose. Much of the novel is written in a breezy stream-of-consciousness that floats back and forth through time and Sethe's memories. While it can be confusing at times, much like William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" (the most obvious influence), one can gradually piece the story together through careful reading. I have read it multiple times, and I find something new in each reading.

This book will also make one want to read more Morrison. She is truly one of the best American writers still living.]]> 4.09 1987 Beloved
author: Toni Morrison
name: Scott
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at: 1991/11/14
date added: 2025/06/20
shelves: hauntings-and-haunted-houses, slavery, black-studies, classic-literature, tear-jerker, books-and-authors-that-i-loved-but, toni-morrison
review:
Another one of my Books and Authors That I Loved But Haven't Read in a While and Need to Revisit is Toni Morrison's 1987 novel "Beloved", which I read for the first time in college. It was, I believe, a contemporary literature course, and my introduction to Morrison. I fell in love with it immediately, and I have read it a few times since then. There was a film adaptation from 1998 starring Thandie Newton, which was decent but could not capture the brilliance and beauty of Morrison's writing.

"Beloved" is a difficult book to categorize. It is a ghost story. It is a story of redemption. It is a story about the horrors of slavery. It is also loosely based on a true story. All of these are true statements, but not one of them adequately sums up the book.

That's all I can say about the story, which isn't much, I know. There is a lot of stuff I could say about the book's plot, but they would be spoilers.

The beauty of this novel comes from Morrison's wonderful prose. Much of the novel is written in a breezy stream-of-consciousness that floats back and forth through time and Sethe's memories. While it can be confusing at times, much like William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" (the most obvious influence), one can gradually piece the story together through careful reading. I have read it multiple times, and I find something new in each reading.

This book will also make one want to read more Morrison. She is truly one of the best American writers still living.
]]>