In today’s often polarized and hyper-partisan environment conservatives will be tempted to simply write off Moshin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist as just another anti-American screed masquerading as fiction. Those on the opposite end may want to label it in a similar fashion but approve of the politics. That would be a mistake. Yes, the book [...]
Not all that surprisingly given my rack record on these things, I have not produced the promised review of The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I am close, but want to try and bring a little more clarity to my thinking and writing before I post on it. In lieu of this, I am sure, heavily anticipated review [...]
I knew nothing about Val McDermid before I received The Grave Tattoo in the mail. But it looked to be an interesting blend of literary historical mystery (plus, I liked the cover). And it was that. The problem was not so much with the conception as the execution. Start with the plot. Chauncey Mabe at [...]
Due some complex issues in my “real life” I haven’t been able to write the kind of reviews and commentary I would like. Finding the right combination of time, energy, and concentration just hasn’t been possible. The Enemy at Home is a book I had hoped to review and discuss at some length, but it [...]
In my discussion of Howard Norman’s latest book Devotion I noted that he was an author whose work I would tend to pick up and read as soon as it was released; or at least as soon as I became aware of it. Having wrote this, it struck me as a good time to go [...]
Simon Scarrow’s fourth book in the Eagle’s Series, The Eagle and the Wolves, is an excellent story about the Roman Army when the Roman Empire was at its strongest, 1st Century AD. Scarrow does a superb job in bringing the characters to life. Here is a summary from the book’s cover: In the epic fourth [...]
Andrew Gross has had an interesting career path. After a successful career in the apparel industry Gross decided to try his hand at writing (he majored in English in college). His novel was rejected but an editor liked his writing enough to send it on to best selling author James Patterson. Patterson saw enough promise [...]
The Normandy Campaign by Victor Brooks is an excellent short history of one of the most pivotal military campaigns in history. Brooks succinctly describes the main characters and events of this momentous event. The book more or less goes in chronological order from the Allies’ first inklings of an invasion of mainland Europe to the [...]
- The Tourists by Jeff Hobbs Publishers Weekly An unnamed narrator details the post-Yale love triangle of three people much, much wealthier than he in Hobbs’s Gatsby-meets-McInerney debut. Unlike Nick Carraway or the persistent “You” of Bright Lights Big City, the speaker at the heart of this novel is more cipher than seer. A shiftless [...]
Regular readers will recall that I am a fan of children’s or young adult fantasy series. I have been reading a number of series as new books come out. One such series is the Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. Although I haven’t really reviewed each book in the series, I have discussed [...]