What Mike is reading

Mike has been reading...

Drood by Dan Simmons
http://www.amazon.com/Drood-Novel-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316007021/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254059513&sr=1-1

Let the Right One In by John Ajivide Lindqvist
http://www.amazon.com/Let-Right-John-Ajvide-Lindqvist/dp/0312355297/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254059565&sr=1-1

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell
http://www.amazon.com/Agincourt-Novel-Bernard-Cornwell/dp/0061578916/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254059634&sr=1-1

It has been a while and I haven't been keeping up the web site. I am going to do a trio of updates now and maybe come back to discuss them later. The short version of the update is that all of them are good, even the Dune book (finally the authors are catching on.)

This book was recommended as a modern classic. I found it more than a little depressing. An American married couple and a tag-along friend embark for North Africa primarily out of boredom and self-indulgence. Adultery, disease, death, and apathy ensue. Bowles characters are bad people to which bad things happen. It is a little like Seinfeld without the comedy, frankly. I can't recommend this, even though the writing style had a certain old world charm.

Blatant crass commercialism... but the Hot/Crazy Scale is classic. I like this TV show and particularly this character. It reminds me of an office shark I used to work with some time back. This is a good gift book for people that really don't like to read.

I have not spent as much time as usual reading lately, for some reason. It could be all the other toys CJ has given me to fill my day, or perhaps the time spent with other people. This having a life is rather time consuming. Anyway, I picked Dead Before Dark up after watching the HBO series. I was curious how much creative license HBO exercised. The answer...a great deal. The book is okay for what it is. I understand the author has an entire series on these characters. If you liked the HBO series, you might like the book. I would warn you the dialogue is followed closely, although HBO amplified the gratuituous sex and added several characters. There is also a rather key plot change with Eric, but I will leave that for you to discover if you are interested. Hey, you can't read the classics all the time, now, can you?

Cormc McCarthy reminds me of Ernest Hemingway. You know you are reading a great writer, but don't hold out for happy endings. This is certainly true of "All the Pretty Horses". This is a story of two teen cowboys that decide to explore Mexico and, as in all McCarthy's work, learn that fate cannot be altered. John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins are Texas buddies of the highest order. Their fates become intertwined with an impetuous, eccentric youth, Jimmy Blevins, and a beautiful Mexican heiress as this story is spun. The great thing about this, and other McCarthy books, is the dialogue. While not really a stickler for conventional punctuation, the dialogue rings true for the characters and keeps you turning page after page despite that feeling that everyone involved is in really deep trouble. The author describes horses with passion, and they are in fact the living grail in this quest. I like McCarthy a lot, and will probably read the other two books in this trilogy. I recommend both the author and the book but stand warned that this is no Disney romp.

Noel Hynd's "A Room for the Dead" is a rather traditional ghost story. Since Halloween is near, I thought it might be fun to pick up a scary tale. This one is just okay. It is rather predictable, but written intelligently enough to carry the plot... most of the time. Frankly, I had a little trouble finishing the book because it wasn't particularly scary or exciting. The gist is the ghost of an executed serial killer haunts a middle aged cop to prove the wrong man was punished. There are a couple of kooky characters that make the book readable, but not strong enough to really engage the reader. Hynd seems to have a big following on Amazon.com, so I may give him another try sometimes. If you really like ghost stories, this might be acceptable.

I saw the movie verison of this Cormac McCarthy novel before reading the book. I saw it again on HBO, and decided to see if the book better explored the characters. I found that while the movie was true to the book, the story was better told in written form. My favorite character is Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. His colorful, abrupt language; strengths and insecurities; loyalty and decency provide a powerful protagonist for this story. At the end of the day, this is a person you would like to know, or perhaps if you live in cowboy country have already met. The bad guy, Anton Chigurh, is a maniacal killing machine navigating the world with a complicated philosophy of inevitability. Life and death are decided with a coin flip, as the complexities of the universe are spitefully predestined.

The story begins with a chance discovery of a drug deal shoot-out and a fortune in cash. The remainder of the book details the pursuit of the cash by the forces of good and evil. But things are different with this crime spree. The evil faced by Sheriff Bell is beyond comprehension, senseless in its dimension. For Chigurh, the cash and pursuit are another excuse to test the boundaries of solipsism.

McCarthy does not tie off his stories in neat little bows, but they are rewarding none the less. First and foremost, this is great narrative. Read the book. It is worth your time.

Double Star by Robert Heinlein won a Hugo Award in 1956. It is the story of Lorenzo Smythe (Larry Smith), an unsung egomaniacal actor drafted into impersonating the most important political figure from Earth in this sci-fi universe. Heinlein's work is dated with stereotypes and the world is simplistic in its separation of good and evil. Still, I liked the story. The best bits were Smythe's interaction with Mars and Martians. Heinlein's description of the Martians is very creative. The notion that an actor could impersonate a well known political figure primarily through force of will and fool even close associate is, well, a bit challenging to accept. The more interesting, subtle plot of the actor actually adopting the persona of the politician and in some ways becoming the politician, is much more interesting

I like Heinlein. Heinlein was born in Butler, Missouri, and raised in Kansas City. I missed a chance to see him in the early 1980s during a homecoming in Butler, and have always regretted it. Heinlein died in 1988, leaving behind a truly formidable body of sci-fi standards. While Double Star is not his best work, it is enjoyable if you remember the time in which it was written and concentrate on the more subtle threads of the story.

This is the second in Iggulden's Genghis Khan series. I became a fan of this author after reading his four book series on Julius Caesar. The Khan series is at least as good, and this particular volume better than the first. In part, this is because the book focuses on all the characters around the Khan. The first book concentrated on Genghis. His brothers, Shaman, warriors, and certain key enemies are given character depth and dimension in this book. The ruthlessness of the Mongols is muted a bit, but not hidden as the tribes are united and attack their traditional enemies. The story covers the Mongols invasion of the Chin Kingdom after crossing the Gobi Desert and blasting beyond satellite states in pursuit of the Chin Emperor. This is a good series and I highly recommend both the book and the author.

Madame Vallon by James Tipton is a work of historical fiction set in France during the French Revolution of the late 1700s. The character is based upon a real woman who married and bore a daughter to the English poet William Wordsworth. Wordsworth is not to my mind a very sympathetic figure. After impregnating Annette Vallon, he meanders about Paris before retreating to a sheltered, reclusive existence in England. Wordsworth returns only years later to meet his daughter and introduce his English wife. Oh, yeah, for the record I don't like his poetry either. If Wordsworth draws you to read this book, you might want to pass.

Annette Vallon becomes a cross between Harriet Tubman and Robin Hood. Born the indulged tom-boy child of a wealthy bourgeois doctor, Vallon experiences the advantages of a privileged upgringing. Indeed, she exhibits life-long empathy for both nobility and commoners being victimized by the excesses of the French Revolution. Vallon risks her own life repeatedly, and that of her family, with daring deeds of liberation for hapless victims bound for the guillotine or mass murder.

The first one-hundred pages or so of this book are very slow, so you have to stay with it. Once Vallon gives birth to her daughter Caroline, however, the story takes off. I "goodled" the character and it appears the author did his homework on the basic timelines. Tipton effectively draws his reader into the era as he describes social, political, and fashion norms. I recommend this book if you are a fan of historical fiction.

"Lullaby" by Chuck Palahniuk is a fun book. CJ recommended it after reading it for her book club, and I readily admit it is an offbeat tale. What would you expect from the author of "Fight Club"? The opening chapter of this book suggests a really fun ghost story, but quickly moves into a tale of quirky, though deadly, witchcraft. What if you could cause someone to die just by thinking about it? What if you couldn't control your thoughts? Well, you get the gist of it. Throw in a necrophiliac paramedic and you have the incendiary ingrediants for this deeply disturbing romp. The characters will leave a deep impression on your psyche. If you are looking for something different, give this one a try.

Debatable Space by Phillip Palmer, in the words of a co-worker, is not great literature but it is generally fun. I have to agree with that. The essence of the book is a struggle against oppression on many levels. The protagonists of the book struggle against their own demons even as they struggle against political tyranny. Other interesting thread revolve around Lord Acton's dictum "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." If you had life and death power over people that could never resist you, what would you do? How long can life be sustained emotionally and with sanity if all health considerations were solved? Would you live forever if it were possible? At the intersection of technology, ambition, and madness, what devils are evoked? Okay, mostly this is a bawdy sci-fi romp, but it does have moments where it aspires to more. The humor is not well executed and at times the writing can be, frankly, a little incoherent. Even if it falls short as literature and philosophy, it is still fun.

The Lost Diaries of Frans Hals by Michael Kernan is fun escapism. The author makes you believe he really is translating the original words of Frans Hals. Of course, this is a work of fiction. The Hals character and his life are realistic, at least to a novice reader. The essence of the story is that a struggling PhD student finds himself adrift in both his personal life and professional aspirations until stumbling upon a request to translate and help authenticate a possible diary by the great artist. What follows is absorbing on both counts, though of course the Hals character overshadows everything else. This is a very good book and I encourage you to find it. Even if you are really not interested in painting and know nothing of Frans Hals, you will enjoy the book.

Presidential Courage by Michael Beschloss is for me the best kind of history. It is gossipy but well documented. The great figures in American political mythology are allowed to display their very human frailties, but are all the more admirable in overcoming them for the greater good. It is interesting to consider how unpopular George Washington was at the end of his second term due to a foreign treaty. It is illuminating to consider how Lincoln came to the Emancipation Proclamation through a series of events, not as a blast from the blue. I especially liked the letters of Abagail Adams in consoling and supporting her husband John. FDR is in here, as well as Harry Truman, Andrew Jackson and JFK. While not every president has a defining moment revealed in this book, by the time you finish you wish more were included. This is a book worthy of your time. I recommend you pick up a copy.

Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson ruined the Dune series, one book at a time. This one pretty well finishes the kill. The phrase "jumping the shark' comes to mind. In this rip-off on Frank Herbert's brilliant original Dune series, the authors attempt to make nice for everyone and tie up all the loose ends with pretty bows. The original flavor of the series vanished several books ago. The characters now are cartoonish and ridiculous. The bad guys are machines, a plot that wore itself out as soon as it began several books ago. If you are looking for a good Sci-Fi series, go to the original Dune series and start with the first book. Yes there are a lot of characters, but once you have them you are set through the series. Will I read the last book from this current series just to round out the set - maybe. It is like having popcorn for dinner though. A couple of hours later you wonder what the hell you were thinking at the time.

Stephen King's latest book is a novel titled "Duma Key". At its core, this is a ghost story. The critcs panned the book, of course, but I liked it. The primary reason I liked it is that the lead character, Edgar Freemantle, is a good guy that has had some pretty bad luck. Crippled in an industrial accident, his world literally falls apart along with his body. Edgar starts again along with the help of some new and old friends. I liked the way Edgar approaches his task and I liked his friends, especially Wireman. The critics shot darts at Wireman for his silly use of Spanish phrases. I agree, but not everyone in the real world speaks like a Harvard Literature professor. I am also happy King is back to writing what he does best...spookers. Clearly he put some of himself in this work following his own near-death experience. Like most of King's work, this will take you some time to read but it is fun. Regardless of the critic's analysis, isn't that really why we like to read?

This may not be a great book, but it is pretty darned good. CJ read this book for her reading club and thought I might enjoy it. I took it along on a recent trip to NYC and finished it in just a day or so. The book has great character sketches, including Leo Gursky, the primary protagonist. He reminds you of someone you would want to know, and the author makes it easy to draw a mental portrait of Leo through dialogue. Leo is a Polish Jew that fled to America to escape WWII Nazi extermination camps. In the transition, he loses the great love of his life and struggles to make sense of the world in which he finds himself. The other protagonist in this book is a 14 year old girl named Alma Singer trying to fix her mother's broken heart. The book is fantastic at character sketches. Alma's brother, Bird, is unforgettable. If you are looking for something different to read, this is a good one.

Don't ask....

I have been on an 'end of the world' kick lately. I promise this is the last foray into that area for a while, but it is a good one. Cormac McCarthy is a gifted writer, and this is an excellent book. One of the reasons I picked up this book was because I recently saw the move "No Country For Old Men" based on another of his books. The movie was very complex, but thought provoking.

The Road is about a father and son seeking safe passage to a better life in post-apocalyptic America. It is, to some extent, a horror/survival story amidst a truly bleak world. The author's choice of words match the story. The prose is lean and unforgiving. This is not a story for someone looking for simple answers and endings. It is absolutely engrossing however, and compares very favorably with "The Earth Abides". This is a fairly quick read, and worth your time and money. From here I need to read something a little less grim, and I plan to look for something outrageous I will see what I can find, so don't look for another Pulitzer Award winner selection from me right away.

A few years ago I read a great end of the world novel, "The Last Ship" by William Brinkley. While I wasn't crazy about the ending, it is the gold standard for me in this genre. With that book in mind, I went looking for something similar on Amazon.com. I found "The Earth Abides", written by George R. Stewart and published in 1949. While The Last Ship spoke of a nuclear holocaust, Earth Abides deals with global pandemic issues. This seemed timely given our ongoing paranoia about bird flu and anti-biotic resistant creepie crawlies. This should have been a winner.

The bottom line here is I didn't like the lead character, Isherwood Williams. Williams is an intellectual that sees himself as a witness rather than participant in the post-apocalyptic mess that is the United States. His knowledge thrusts him into leadership of a very small band of survivors as they forge a new community, complete with the hardships and triumphs. Considering this novel was published only 4 years after the end of World War II, it is understandable for the author to imagine a world staggering from the ashes of man's hubris. Ish is quite a good leader for the tribe he founds, in fact, and ultimately becomes revered as a god-like figure, complete with symbolic authority trappings.

The problem for me was that Ish just isn't a sympathetic character. While you might expect the inevitability of man's reverting back to a hunter-gatherer society, you really don't care. I did find the chapters on how the clan dealt with new comers, determined the need for new blood lines, and handled the risk of disease interesting. It was also intriguing to consider which species of animals might thrive and which suffer without the hand of man. Between chapters, however, there are these odd pontifical paragraphs that appear without clear authorship. It wasn't a long book, but I found myself losing interest in what happened to the lead character even as I correctly surmised the finale.

I can't really recommend this one even though it is billed as an "Award Winning Futuristic Classic". In fairness, the book contains advanced thinking for the time it was written and the writing style is more accessible than one might suspect. It simply is not something I would recommend plunking down your hard earned green backs to buy, given similar available works. I am trying another book on the same theme that seems a bit better, by the way. I am not anticipating a happy ending here either, but thus far I at least like the protagonist. Maybe after this one, I will look for something less serious.

While I am reading a couple of other books right now, "20th Century Ghosts" appears to be my last entry for 2007. It is written by Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King. I read this on the basis of "Heart Shaped Box" and because I like short stories, but I have to say this one fell short overall. The book is just okay, with some of the stories rising to very memorable. "Button Boy" and the ghost in the theater will definitely stay with you. Other stories in the book seem to be the start of longer projects, but just trail off into nothing. Hill may well have learned this style from his father. Stephen King writes great books with exhausted, unimaginative endings. Like a lot of Stephen King books, this one might be a buy from the dollar table if you are interested in searching out the few really good stories in this volume.

I got this book at a conference a couple of months ago. The author autographed the book. He is a cryptologist, so I have no clue what the scribbles inside the book mean. His book, however, is pretty straight forward. The essence of the book speaks to the irrationality of fear, and how it impacts our economic and political decisions. The author discusses credit card shopping, flying, election results, and national ID cards in a frank, logical manner. Schneier points out the often repeated wisdom that it is nearly impossible to stop a terrorist that doesn't mind dying in his attempt, but goes beyond that to examine the statistical probabilty of that happening to you. He also looks at the economic costs and compromises to the US Constitution made since 9/11 supposedly to make Americans safer. The author concludes while we are poorer and have virtually suspended the constitution, we are less safe than before the behemoth bureacracy was constructed by the Administration. This is not a book most people will read, though the author speaks about safety without regard to political parties. Now isn't that a refreshing thought, logic over grand standing sensationalism?

This is the most recent in the FBI special agent Aloysius Pendergast series. Pendergast is an eccentric, albino crime fighting genius. He is generally peceived by others with a kind of creepy awe, but his motives are always of the highest intent. Pendergast is sort of the "Batman" of the sun challenged set. In this episode, an Armageddon artifact has been stolen from Tibetan monks that must be recovered or the world will be destroyed. Most of the adventure occurs aboard an ocean liner where protagonist and antagonist collide. The character development is quite good, and the plot is a sci-fi sort of romp. This book can be read alone, or as part of the series. Pendergast is one of my favorite recurring characters in book series and this one did not disappoint.

Conn Iggulden wrote a series of books on Julius Caesar that was a lot of fun to read. I plowed through them in part during the HBO series on Rome. This time the author tackles Genghis Khan. The book begins with the great Khan's childhood through adolescence. As you might expect, the upbringing is beyond Spartan. Genghis endures hardship at the hands of enemies, and supposed friends alike. This book is action oriented. While I felt the lead character was slow to develop, overall the story is engaging enough to lure me into the series. I have a feeling this author will be around for a while.

Live and Let Die is not one of my favorite 007 stories. Frankly, it has too many racial stereotypes to be acceptable to most modern readers. The gist of the story is a criminal overlord utilizes voodoo superstition to manipulate vast numbers of black underlings as he capitalizes from illegal smuggling operations. Of course, there is a girl and in this instance, more overt sexuality than in other 007 adventures. Again, the Bond in Fleming's books falls short of the superman in the movies. This guy gets banged around a lot, and it is very dangerous even to befriend him as supporting characters find out. These are good books to take on a trip. They are easy to follow and quick to read, perfect for airports and travel interruptions. I will continue with the series, but this is my least favorite in the series thus far.

Anna Karenina is a classic for good reason. It is worth your time to read. The book is really two stories beginning from a similar theme. There are two lead characters, Anna Karenina and Levin. Anna's story is one of love, adultery, and obsession while Levin's story is one of love, fidelity, and redemption. I have to admit I enjoyed the former more than the latter. Levin's conversion in the final chapter of the book has a deus ex machina quality. It just happens too suddenly. Having made that observation, I really liked Levin. He was a curmudgeon after my own heart. The social and political overtones throughout the book were meaningful to me, recalling my Russian history studies, but might be a bit distracting for a casual reader. At over 800 pages this is not a book to undertake without commitment, but it is a timeless story.

Okay, I can't really recommend this one. CJ picked it up for me as bubblegum for my trip to Dallas. Waiting in airports annoys me. It really isn't the best place for me to tackle weighty thoughts. Instead, I go for trash. This is the sort of thing I read on the side. Some people love murder mysteries, I like horror stories. This one comes up short. There were a couple of decent characters, but they were not developed. In fact, discussing this one feels more like a confession than recognition of something worth your time. I include this as an act of conscience, and to balance any incorrect assumptions about me you may have developed since I posted the Econ textbook. Move along, my friends, and I will try to find something a little better next time.

I finished Moonraker on my trip to Dallas recently. I had some extra time with delays at both ends of the journey, so put the time to good use. This was a fun book. The 007 Ian Fleming captured in print was far different than the James Bond of film. Certainly, he was not like Sean Connery. This spy gets beaten, bruised, and often does not get the girl. The bad guys are more criminal than mastermind, and the stories are relatively uncomplicated. In short, they are fun without pretense. I intend to continue with this series, and would recommend Moonraker if you want a quick, light summer snack of a book.

I realize it has been a little while since I updated this list. This one took a while. In fact, it seems a fourth edition was released while I read the third. This is a college text on Economics. I didn't take Economics in college and always regretted it. It occurred to me that knowing this stuff would help me better understand work philosophy, as well. I decided to drop the regrets and try to teach myself. I feel like I did learn a lot from the textbook. At the very least, I gained some insight into how the conservative class thinks. On at least a couple of subjects I was even persuaded to rethink my own views. I enjoyed reading this book, but realize this is not something people are going to rush out and buy at 850 pages. Still, textbooks are great ways to immerse yourself in something you really want to learn.

I went to Washington DC this week for work and took along "Diamonds Are Forever", the second in Ian Fleming's 007 series for me in recent months. These are very fun books. The protagonist is much more like the Daniel Craig Bond than the Sean Connery Bond. This is a guy who gets his hands dirty and his nose bloodied. I like the dated language and rough edges of the book Bond. This adventure centers around American gangsters caught up in a diamond smuggling operation linked back to Africa. The gangsters are totally vicious, but in a shark-like rather than mad-scientist mode. The gangster characters are drawn way over the top, but it just adds to the fun of the books. The body count is less than the movies, but stays within the story lines. I recommend if you like 007, take some time to read the books. This copy was purchased used through Amazon.com. It is somewhat worse for wear, but held together through my trip.

I am falling a bit behind with the photography work. I will try to step that up a bit this spring. In the meantime, I am able to do some reading. My current read is "Comes A Horesman" by Robert Liparulo. This is a new author for me. The book is a mixture between a murder mystery and an X-File episode, with a hint of Da Vinci code thrown in for good measure. The author has an economy of language that makes the story both enjoyable and realistic. I would recommend the book as a fun summer read. The story plot is that two FBI murder investigators become involved in an international plot to identify the antichrist after a series of grisly murders occurs. The bad guys are more interesting than the good guys, and you do have the feeling this could have been a much longer book. Still, the offer avoids being overly pretentious and sticks with lighter fare. The subplot of the attraction between the male and female FBI agents in not convincing, but I suspect these characters will be seen again in sequels. I particularly like the son of the male FBI agent. Give this one a try if you get a chance.

I just finished reading "The Left Hand of Darkness". This is a sci-fi book written by Ursula LeGuin in 1969. While it is not a new book, it is very interesting. The gist of the story is that an emissary from a interplanatary United Worlds has been sent to a new planet to invite them to join. The author introduces a new vocabulary that for some reason reminds me of "A ClockWork Orange" in its effectiveness. This book is one to read when you have time to enjoy the language. The author finds common cause between individuals without any. It is a story of privation and will, and of working toward something more important than individual accomplishment in an unpredicable political landscape. It is thought provoking, but worth the effort if you can find the book.

I just finished "Heart Shaped Box". This book is written by Joe Hill. Hill is a pen name for the eldest son of Stephen King. Joe Hill was named for a union organizer around the turn of the century. With such a famous father and mother, it is understandable the author wants to find success under his own brand.

This book is a ghost story. A has-been Goth rocker buys a ghost through an online auction house, and the story lifts from there. This is a great spooker. It captures the reader from the first page. Dad should be proud, and son should make a lot of money. Unlike some of the Stephen King books, the thread of the story follows from beginning to end. There are a couple of chapters late in the story that are predictable, but the bulk of the story is excellent. Joe also departs from Dad's writing style by ending the book favorably. This is a fun book and I recommend it without reservations.

I cannot recommend this book. It is, first of all, a fiction primarily about Hitler's father Alois. I was disappointed at the side diversions the book conducted, with stories unrelated to the overall direction of the story. The narrator is a minor demon assigned to influence Adolf Hitler in his childhood and adolescence, though the demon typically does not understand why he has been asked to do what he does. The devil is referred to as "The Maestro", and remains a shadowy figure without voice. Hitler's father is an insecure bully, which likely was true. His mother Klara was continuously anxious regarding the mortality of other children. The story suggests Adolf in a round about manner, killed his more favored brother by giving him measles. Hitler's family in this story was the product of incest. His mother Klara, according to the author, married her own father, Alois.

I now understand some of the controversy regarding the sexual content of this book. I did not find that it contributed to the story, or built groundwork for Hitler to later become the mass murderer he was. There are many books more interesting on the subject of Hitler. In fact, many of them are referenced in the bibliography of Mailer's work. That might be a better place to start if truly interested in Hitler's family and background.

I recall that Robert Heinlein was from Buter, Mo, where I taught briefly. I like a couple of the other books I have read by Heinlein, "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". This book is much better than the Donald Sutherland movie indicated. The language is a bit dated in places, but the overall story line is very good. Heinlein is a great sci-fi writer, and this one belongs on the list of ones you really should read. It is a fairly quick read, so I will not reveal much of the plot. The gist of the story, however, is that creatures from outer space come to Earth and subordinate the natives. If the story seems familiar now, it really wasn't when the book was written. If you like fun stories about aliens, this would be a great choice.

Dan Simmons is brilliant. His best works, in my opinion, are Carrion Comfort and Song of Kali. Dan writes sci-fi, horror, mysterys, and whatever else comes to his mind. The general plotline of this book is that two ships of European explorers seeking the NorthWest Passage are stranded in ice for several years, stalked by a ferocious beast, and victims of their own hubris and criminal malfeasance from their provisioners. There are lots of colorful characters, some shockingly evil and others quite admirable. Simmons does an outstanding job in developing the characters. In fact, it is very difficult to determine who the key protagonist is until the final third of the book. There is a lot of graphic violence in the story, but it is within the plotlines.

This is a very long book at nearly 800 pages. The book could have been probably 300 pages shorter. There are lots of detailed descriptions of the hardships faced by these explorers that become burdensome. Most of the sci-fi aspect and character development occur in the final third of the book. In fact, the final 100 pages focus on the best characters, a sea captain and an Eskimo woman named Silence. The 'beast' stalking the characters is well done, and is believable through most of the story. Simmons is a great writer, and this is engaging, but not his best book. If you admire a good storyteller, I could recommend it. Otherwise, this is probably not the best place to start with Simmons.

I actually read this one when it first came out years ago. We did go to the movies this weekend, though, and saw the screen version. It is a good sci-fi murder mystery set in 18th Century France. If you have the time and like something different, this one won't disappoint. The movie is very well staged, acted, and produced.

WW Z is by Max Brooks, son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. It is a sci-fi with lots of political overtones. I finished this a couple of days ago and would recommend it. It is a commentary on all of the pandemic scares of the past decade or so, plus criticism of narrow minded territoriality of government bodies. There is another, slightly more uplifting theme, regarding the will of people to survive and adapt regardless of the horrors in their environment. While the book fades toward the end, this was worth my time.

We saw the latest 007 movie, and by the way it is terrific. It inspired me to read the book, and here it is. The language in the book is a bit dated, but it is still a pretty decent story.

The Tess Gerritsen book is terrific. If you haven't read The Surgeon, it is a good place to start for a very good murder mystery series. You might want to start there before The Mephisto Club, but I liked this one too.

The Stephen King book is in flight. It turned out to much better than I expected, even with a slow start. This is more of a sci-fi than horror story, but It has some graphic violence, and you have to be patient with it at first, but this is a great book overall.

This is probably the best book I read last year. The characters are intense and real, all the more so for their flaws. The author has an original voice. I thought the plot was excellent. Time travel is an old sci-fi standard, but this one is different. It is a romance and a tragedy at the same time, with some fairly comic touches thrown in to boot. How much more could you want?