DC Hardcore, 1940's Edition

The Big Blowdown

George Pelecanos

St. Martin's Press (1996)

Anthony Vacca's rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

The sad truth about modernism? It failed.

 What do I mean by that? Well, if you’ll allow me to sum up the goal of the movement in a very simplified manner, then modernism was about artists—in this particular case, authors—trying to create works that would let people know how horrible a thing World War I was and how no one must ever let a thing like that happen again.

 Came to pass that things didn’t quite work out that way, and so most of these authors went headlong into various modes of self-destruct. That’s why authors like Woolf, Hemingway, and Faulkner (just to name a few) didn’t take too long in putting an end to their time here in a world seemingly perpetuated by misery.

But to be blunt, the real crime is not the loss of these great minds, these old men and women: the real bitch is that we sent so many more young men to die in places they never even knew existed.

 Kids like Pete Karras and Joe Recevo. These two boys, best friends and natives of Washington DC, went to fight their separate wars overseas; and by the dumb chance, managed to come back home to resume their God-given rights of finding that American Dream.

 In James Crumley’s Dancing Bear, the author writes, “I have learned some things. Modern life is warfare without end: take no prisoners, leave no wounded, eat the dead--that's environmentally sound.”

 I bet Karras and Recevo would be hard-pressed to argue with that logic; because even though the two have returned as “heroes” neither are really prime candidates for good citizen material. So the two find work collecting for a local thug named Burke. But where Recevo seems content living off being a bully towards all the local businessmen, Karras isn’t cut out for the line of work. If anything, Karras is playing at being a gangster so he can avoid getting a real job with all those boring responsibilities that seem to go along with being an adult; and, of course, so he can keep hanging out with his best friend Recveo, driving cool cars, catching boxing matches, chasing women, you know, all the ways two buds have a little bit of fun in the late 1940’s.

 That is until Karras finds out the hard way that being a gangster doesn’t really mean you can also be nice and carefree. And so, physically and emotionally humiliated, Karras finds himself working as cook at a local diner.

 And here’s when the book gets good. The diner is owned by Nick Stefanos, a name any casual Pelecanos fan will recognize. But no, this isn’t the Nick who narrated that amazing trilogy of PI novels (A Firing Offense, Nick’s Trip, and Down By the River Where the Dead Men Go) but instead this is his grandfather, “Big Nick.” This is the man who would one day shape Nick into the deeply moral man will one day become. Even though little Nick isn’t here for the action of this book, we get to see first-hand what kind of man his grandfather was and why it is he revered the man.

 In fact, these are my favorite parts of the book. Nick’s Bar and Grill is one of the first establishments in the city to make the change over to being a place ran by a white man that has an African-American clientele. In Washington DC of the 1940s, this is no small feat. Nick runs his restaurant with a casual pride that is hard not to admire. He treats every person he meets fairly, and in turn is liked by most people. And when Karras it at his lowest in life, it is Big Nick who gives him a job so he can feed his young wife and child, but also he is the one who helps Karras learn how to walk like a man again.

Karras knows that he owes this man a lot, so when that local thug Burke decides that Big Nick needs to start paying him protection money, there’s Karras ready to fight at his side. The only trouble is that in Burke’s corner is also Karras’s childhood friend Joe Recevo.

The novel ultimately becomes a struggle of identity for these two men as they try and figure out the nature of themselves and what they are willing to fight for. But Pelecanos does not let his sights end there. The author sets out to create a panoramic of his beloved city by inserting various other plot threads that interweave with this tension between the gangsters and Big Nick’s crew.
Another childhood friend of Karras’s, Boyle, is a cop who wants to make it big by being the one to catch the maniac who has been cutting up prostitutes over the past couple of years.

There is also a country boy who has come to the city to find a sister that has gotten herself mixed up with heroin and a nasty pimp. The kid becomes quickly lost in the city lifestyle but soon finds a set of friends when he starts working at Big Nick’s for money to live off of while he hunts for his sister.

 These threads are interesting but neither mystery offers unexpected revelations to the story. Neither feels tagged on, however. Instead, the hunt for the sister and the hunt for the serial killer help to further flesh out Karras and Recevo as well as push events to their ultimate bullet-ridden climax.

And while all the crime fiction elements of this novel are satisfying, the true joy comes from the character studies of Karras and Recevo. The war waged between the two becomes the war of self, as Karras must assess just what exactly is his life. And let’s not forget the atmosphere in this novel: Pelecanos brings the different sections of his city alive with a fistful of sights, smells, and, of course, sounds, via dozens of references to all the different genres of music starting to develop in the post-war years. (You can see Pelecanos is having the most fun when Karras finds himself talking jazz in a dangerous black night club.)

The Big Blowdown is the first of four books that make up the author’s DC Quartet, where he maps out the past half-century of the city’s history. In earlier books, such as Shoedog, I made claims that Pelecanos was just doing his best imitation of authors he idolized, like Elmore Leonard. The easy comparison here would be with James Ellroy who rewrote the last fifty years of American history as a crime novel. But although Pelecanos’s novel shares some similarities with the Demon Dog’s work, the Big Blowdown is wholly a unique work by a unique voice within the crime fiction canon.

It's not easy being a god

War in Heaven

David Zindell

Voyager

Reviewed by: Terry
4 out of 5 stars

David Zindell’s space opera books, that started with the stand-alone _Neverness_ and continued with his “Requiem for Homo Sapiens” trilogy (of which this volume is the conclusion), always scratch that itch I have for Dune-like space opera. You’ve got the baroque world-building of a far, far future of humanity in an interstellar diaspora that combines elements of medieval and pre-industrial societies with ‘magical’ technology and gleaming ships that fold space; you’ve got bizarre human enclaves (sometimes almost reminiscent of Jack Vance, though with less obvious caustic humour) so that societies of warrior-poets, pilot-mathematicians, scientist-philosophers, autist-savants, and priest-kings all rub shoulders in a bewildering and colourful throng; you’ve got philosophical ruminations on the purpose of life, the tragedy of love, and the power of hate; all-in-all its heady stuff that hits that sweet spot in my belly that little else seems able to satisfy.

I’m at a bit of a loss for how to appropriately review this book though. It’s the third book of a trilogy (the other two of which I have not reviewed) all of which are built upon the initial stand-alone book _Neverness_. I can’t say much about this volume’s plot without rehashing much of what came before and thus committing spoiler to the Nth degree. Perhaps plot-wise it is enough to say that our hero, Danlo wi Soli Ringess (the son of _Neverness_'s hero Mallory Ringess), has returned from his great quest into the Vild carrying not only tidings of hope, but also of possible doom for the cosmos. Not only is a rogue star-killer ship searching for the ancient homeworld of the Order of Mystic Mathematicians and Other Seekers of the Ineffable Flame in a quest of vengeance, but the very gods themselves (super entities of moon-sized brains and ‘bodies’ that stretch across solar systems) are at war with each other, some vying to destroy, others to save, the galaxy. To top it all off Danlo’s oldest and dearest friend (also his greatest and most dangerous enemy) has taken control of the Way of Ringess, the religion that worships Danlo’s father as a god, and threatens the balance of the universe with his own mad scheme. So far, so epic, right? Well, the book more or less lives up to this potential as we move into the final phase of the story that Zindell built up over two other volumes (three including the initial story of Mallory Ringess himself). 

This final volume of the story reminded me most strongly of Herbert’s work in _Dune_. As in the Dune series there are many ruminations on a ‘Golden Path’ for humanity and the dangers of prescience when applied to human action (though Zindell seems to have a much more optimistic take on its uses than did Herbert). Also, like Herbert’s Muad’Dib, Zindell’s Danlo (and Mallory before him) partakes of the traits of both god and man. The travails of this power, along with the ability to turn the multitudes of humanity loose in a religious frenzy upon the galaxy, are examined in Zindell’s work no less than Herbert’s (though in ways that differ enough to make this an interesting examination instead of simply a rehash). This does mean, however, that there are often times when Zindell slips too far into his pseudo-philosophical/mystical ruminations (as Herbert did himself) as Danlo finds himself continuing his own personal quest to near-godhood. I imagine it’s hard to deal with these themes, especially within the grand scale of space opera, without falling into the trap of excessive explication and over-extended internal monologues from time to time, but be aware that they are here in case that kind of thing annoys you. All in all, though, the tension of the many threads of the story is held together by a fairly quick-paced plot and world-building that truly seeps out of the pages. There is more than enough tragedy in this series to sustain several epics, and the sheer scale of the possible (and actual) destruction on display screams “SPACE OPERA!” in flashing neon...but that’s a plus in this genre. There are times too, when Zindell’s creation of a pacifist hero, while interesting in itself, can grate on the nerves (for me at least). While Danlo’s devotion to the principle of ahimsa (“Never to kill or harm another, even in thought”) may be noble, the ends to which he is apparently willing to take this principle sometimes stretched my credulity…but then maybe I’m just a cynic. Still and all if you’re in the market for truly epic space opera that tackles trans-humanism, galaxy spanning star-faring, wars to end all wars, planetoid computers, and hints of man’s progress towards godhood (and yet still manages to ruminate on things at a truly human scale: tragedies of life and death, the intertwining elements of love and hate, and the conundrum of violence vs. pacifism) then crack open the first stand-alone volume, _Neverness_ and see what you think of the universe Zindell has created. If that wets your appetite then I would urge you to continue on with this truly kitten-squishing epic of galaxy spanning philosophical adventure.

Also posted at Goodreads

Walk like an Egyptian

Soldier of Sidon

Gene Wolfe

Tor Books

Reviewed by: Terry
4 out of 5 stars

Gene Wolfe’s third volume of the Soldier series is divorced from the first two in several ways. The most obvious is the fact that it was written 17 years after the last volume, leaving quite a cliffhanger for contemporary readers (and actually no indication that there would even be a sequel). The other is the fact that even in-story the events occur at a significant remove from those that transpired in _Soldier of the Mist_ and _Soldier of Arete_. As Sidon opens we find that Latro has been living back at home, apparently with his wife, for some time (though given that this is a Gene Wolfe book I’m not sure if I quite believe that everything is exactly as it appears) though his condition is no better than when last we saw him and he tends to sit despondently in front of his door where the word “Riverland” (aka Egypt) is written (apparently he believes that going to this distant country will enable him to heal himself…we’ve heard something similar before I think). Latro is visited by an old friend, the Persian ship captain Muslak who is one of the few remaining links to the previous two volumes, and his friend promptly decides to bring Latro with him as he just so happens to be taking a shipment of goods to the Nile delta.

What follows is an adventure similar to what we have already seen Latro undertake, though this time the setting is ancient Egypt and Nubia and the secondary cast of characters is different. In a nutshell Muslak’s ship is commandeered by the Persian satrap of Egypt to cruise down the Nile and discover anything that may be of use to him from the countries to the south. Travelling in this band are a Persian magi and his Egyptian priest-scribe, an Egyptian sorcerer-priest, two “singing girls” (aka temple prostitutes who become the “river wives” of Latro and Muslak), an Athenian wine-merchant, several eldritch familiars, and various sailors and soldiers. As before Latro is pulled in several directions by the machinations of the various gods and supernatural creatures he is able to see, as well as by the all-too human people who want to make use of him for their own ends. Aside from the new locale I have to admit that I didn’t notice a lot of difference between this volume and the others and little, if any, final resolution is forthcoming from Wolfe. Still, I enjoy being in Latro’s company and seeing the ancient world (both natural and supernatural) through his eyes.

I like the way, throughout the Soldier series, that Wolfe is able to make the gods into a real living and breathing element of the civilizations that spawned them. They don’t come across merely as archetypes or placeholders (though they do indeed serve those purposes, at least partially), but they are also not just humans with superpowers. There is something distinctly ‘other’ about them that seems equally tied to their roles as both stewards of particular elements of creation and embodiments of basic aspects of the human psyche. Within this ‘god-as-archetype’ role, however, they still retain distinct personalities that elevate them beyond being mere ciphers. The gods of Egypt seem different from those of Greece not only in their physical forms, but also in that they seem to have a less vested interest in Latro. I got the sense from the first two volumes that the Greek pantheon had a specific purpose in mind when they ‘recruited’ Latro as a pawn to their internecine fighting, but while the Egyptian gods are more than willing to make use of him, they seem to be doing so for much less personal reasons. Of course I still have no idea what exactly those reasons were for the Greek pantheon, so the jury’s still out on that one.

As in the other volumes Latro is once again led by prophecy to visit various temples along his path, this time following the Nile river to its source. Various gods and powers meet him along the way and help or hinder him as they see fit. He overcomes a variety of vicissitudes including enslavement, betrayal, and abandonment; he also meets an unexpected old friend in a time of great need, but ultimately ends this phase of his adventures perhaps worse off than he was when he started and on the verge of yet another seemingly hopeless quest. One hopes that this cliffhanger will be resolved in a subsequent volume and that the wait won’t be another 17 years.

Also posted at Goodreads

The Forbes 25 Reviewers - #7 Stephanie Sinclair

Today's guest is Steph Sinclair.  She also posts at Cuddlebuggery.


How did you discover Goodreads?
I was Googling a YA series, trying to find the release date for the next book when I ran across Goodreads. I'm pretty sure I created an account then (this was back in 2009, maybe?), but I never really used it until much later. And when I did start using it, I didn't review much.

What have been your most memorable Goodreads experiences?
Well, I have a bunch, but I'll stick to the more positive ones. ;)

Teaming up with my co-blogger Kat Kennedy to create our blog is probably the most memorable. I've met some really great people by hanging out on Goodreads and she's definitely one of the best.

Name one reviewer not in the Forbes 25 that people should be aware of.
Blythe Harris. Her reviews are hilarious! Whenever I'm curious about a new release, I can always count on her to brave the storm to read it first and take a bullet for the team. Also, Christina (A Reader of Fictions) because, my god, that woman reads a lot of books every year and writes the best critical reviews.

What was your initial reaction to Amazon buying Goodreads?
I was really displeased with it. Goodreads has come to be my "internet home", so the acquisition felt like such a sell out especially considering how Goodreads had *just* finished giving Amazon the one-fingered salute a year ago when the cut off our access to their catalogue. I was proud that Goodreads was going to do its own thing, but this feels like a slap in the face to people who have invested so much time here.

Amazon says they won't ruin it, but I have my doubts. The minute Goodreads starts censoring my reviews, I'll be the first to leave.

How many books do you own?
Surprisingly, not that many. I only own my very favorites that I know I'd read again. Perhaps around 20. But I do get an influx of books every month from publishers for review. However, most of those are given away after I've finished.

Who is your favorite author?
This is probably cliche, but I do admire J.K. Rowling. Not just because I love and grew up with Harry Potter, but because I think she's a class act. She's remained humble despite her riches and you can tell she's never forgotten where she came from. I also love Karen Hesse for her poetic novel Out of the Dust that I feel has really left a mark on me. And, of course, Dr. Seuss.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban hands down. I have read that book until the cover fell off.

What are your thoughts on ebooks?
I like ebooks a lot. Most of my books are in eformat because I simply don't have the space for a personal library. Usually, if I love an ebook, I'll go out and find the hardcover.

What are your thoughts on self-publishing?
I think it's really changing the publishing industry some ways for the better and other ways, not so much. But that's mostly traditional publishers' fault for not changing with the times. It's great to be able to find an amazing book like Angelfall that's only $.99. Though, honestly, I would have gladly paid hardcover price for it, since I loved it so much. I can only wonder what a traditional publisher would have done to ruin that book.

But on the other hand, we now have a lot of situations that straddle fandom ethics: Pull to Publish Fan Fiction. Precedents have already been set now and I worry that we'll start to see less originality as a result. I hope I'm wrong.

Any literary aspirations? 
Not really. I'm not hoping that I one day become an author, but I think it would be nice to work in the publishing business in marketing. I love reading and promoting books and if I could do it for a living? Even better.

The Forbes 25 Reviewers - #8 Dan Schwent

Today's guest is Dan Schwent.  Dan posts at his blog, his book blog, Shelf Inflicted, and Dantastic Photos.

How did you discover Goodreads?
It was 2008 and I was pissing away an evening on MySpace when someone in the Christopher Moore group mentioned Goodreads being like crack.  She was right.  After staying up into the wee hours playing with it that first night, I've been cooking it on a spoon over an open flame every day since.

What have been your most memorable Goodreads experiences?
Hands down, that would be Lawrence Block liking my review of Getting Off enough to start sending me ARCs.  When your favorite living crime writer starts sending you free shit, you're probably doing something right.  #2 would be Kemper sharing a joke his wife told him that is now my favorite dirty joke of all time.  Honorable mentions go to having MAC accost me for talking shit on his Nolan character and drinking with Kemper at Bouchercon.

Name one reviewer not in the Forbes 25 that people should be aware of.
Since I came up with the questions, I should probably stick to one reviewer instead of mentioning the greater portion of the Shelf Inflicted staff and a few other people.  I'll go with Anthony Vacca.  At 23, he's so talented I just want to slap the shit out of him.

To hell with it.  I'd also like to mention the Shelf Inflicted staffers that will be at the top sooner or later (Stephanie, Nancy, Amanda, Brandon, Carol, Trudi, James L. Thane, Sesana, and Robert), and also ShovelMonkey , Jason Koivu, and Nikki.  And about a hundred other people.

What was your initial reaction to Amazon buying Goodreads?
Like I posted in a couple places, I felt like Peter Parker when Aunt May got engaged to Dr. Octopus.  I was pretty sure things were going get nefarious at some point but at least Aunt May was happy.  I'm not slitting my wrist over it but I'm not doing back flips either.  As long as they don't tamper with it, I'm cool.

How many books do you own?
Not nearly as many as I used to.  Less than 500, I'd say.  Since I know I'll be moving in the next year or two, I'm trying to lighten the load.  Also, I like having a ton of store credit at my local used bookstore.

Who is your favorite author?
All time, I'll go with Lawrence Block or P.G. Wodehouse.  Hot on their heels is George Pelecanos.  He's the guy, right now.

What is your favorite book of all time?
If I can count Stephen King's Dark Tower series as one book, that would be it.  If I can't, it would probably be Eight Million Ways to Die or Code of the Woosters.

What are your thoughts on ebooks?
I'm still devoted to treeware books but I recently invested in a Kindle to take advantage of all the ARCs out there and it's quickly paying for itself.  Ebooks cost too damn much for what you actually get.

What are your thoughts on self-publishing?
Self-published books are a crap shoot, emphasis on the crap.  I've read a couple good ones but most of them look like they have never been edited and/or have really bad formatting and lackluster covers.  If book itself doesn't look like a professional product, why should I take a chance on the story?

Any literary aspirations?
I've written seven books, six in NaNoWriMo events, but only the last two are ones I'm continuing to put work into.

Hungry for a better ending - The Hunger Games Trilogy

So, I'd been avoiding the Hunger Games for years. It has several strikes against it:
1. It's a young adult book
2. The enormous amount of hype
3. The fact that it appears on the surface to be a combination of two Stephen King books, The Long Walk and The Running Man

One winter night, I was talking about the Robert Crais book I just finished and my lovely girlfriend asked when I was going to start reading the Hunger Games. Monday, I said. She was making country fried steak that night. What else could I do? Lucky for me, the country fried steak and the Hunger Games were both great.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a dystopian future, Katniss Everdeen takes her younger sister's place as District 12's representative in the Hunger Games, a 24 person free-for-all broadcast on live TV. Will she walk out of the Games alive?


Suzanne Collins crafted quite a tale in the Hunger Games. From the start, I was impressed with her lead characters. Katniss's personality reflected her background nicely. She wasn't cutesy or even particularly charismatic when the story started and was definitely rough around the edges. Peeta's questionable motivations kept the story moving for much of the book.

The Hunger Games themselves reminded me of the Stephen King books I mentioned earlier and also Lord of the Flies. I never had the safety net feeling that I had while reading other YA fare like Harry Potter. The way the story was told in the present tense gave it an urgent feel that kept me turning pages until my bedtime had come and gone.

Any gripes? Just the usual curmudgeonly ones about it being the first in the series with a lot of dangling threads left to be resolved in the two subsequent books. It was an easy four star read.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In the wake of The Hunger Games, insurrection brews, an insurrection Katniss has unknowingly become the symbol of. President Snow expresses his displeasure with Katniss in the only way he knows how. Can Katniss and the other victors of the Hunger Games survive the Quarter Quell?

Here we are, the middle book of the Hunger Games trilogy. In a lot of ways, it feels like a transitional book. In some others, it feels like a rehash of the first one.

I liked seeing how the Hunger Games changed the lives of Katniss, Peeta, and the rest of District 12. Katniss' relationships with Gale and Peeta both moved along. Seeing the other districts as the Victory Tour moved along was a nice bit of world building. I also liked that Haymitch's past was explored a bit. President Snow and his controlling of Katniss made my skin crawl. I can't wait until someone settles his hash in the third book.

Of the new characters introduced, I have to say Finnick is by far my favorite. The carnage level was ramped up significantly in the death match part of the story. The combatants were a lot more capable and the threats were much much worse. The nerve gas in particular is going to stick with me.

The growing unrest really makes this feel like a transitional book. It almost feels like the Empire Strikes Back at times. Instead of the whole "Ben, why didn't you tell me?" at the end, it's Haymitch.

Still, I didn't like it as much as I did the first book. It was a little been there, done that, especially in the end. Also, Katniss seems to have taken a step back. She seemed very strong in the first book but not so much in this one. Also, I know the whole Katniss/Peeta/Gale love triangle is supposed to be a big part of the story but Gale doesn't get developed enough for me to really care about him and Peeta's feelings for Katniss are a little on the unbelievable side given Katniss barely gives him the time of day most of the time.

Three stars, possibly 3.5.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After surviving two Hunger Games, Katniss finds herself as the face of a revolution. Can Katniss lead the rebels to victory against President Snow and the Capitol?

The Hunger Games trilogy comes to a conclusion in this volume, a conclusion that tends to polarize people. Without giving too much away, the ending was actually one of the parts of the book I liked the best.

The story coming out of the previous volume, Catching Fire, sees Katniss uniting the districts against the Capitol, primarily through propaganda films. Peeta, on the other hand, is used in counter-broadcasts by the Capitol in an attempt to undermine the rebellion. Issues are raised that leads Katniss to believe that Coin, the president of District 13, may not have her best interests at heart.

Sounds good, right? It was, for the most part. I liked that Collins didn't do all the expected things. Characters died left and right. Katniss assassinates someone. Katniss' choice in lovers is finally made for her.

My main gripe with Mockingjay is that Katniss has been on a downhill slide since the Hunger Games, going from being a capable fighter to someone that has meltdowns pretty consistently throughout. Even at the end, I still didn't care about either of her love interests. Cinna or Finnick would have made a better companion.

Conclusion:
So that's it for me and the Hunger Games. Overall, I'd give the trilogy a high three. I think Collins may have been better served to condense it into two books, though. Or even leave the Hunger Games as a standalone.  It was an enjoyable read but I don't think it deserves the level of hype it receives.  On the other hand, it has kids reading so I'm in favor of it.

Even More Big Sky Blues

Reviewed by James L. Thane
Four out of five stars


Beginning with Big Sky Blues in 1988, Robert Sims Reid wrote five police procedurals set mostly in the fictional town of Rozette, Montana. The three books in the middle of the series featured a detective named Leo Banks and these novels were bookended by two featuring Ray Bartell, who first appeared as a patrolman in Big Sky Blues and then as a detective in Reid's last book, Wild Animals, which was published in 1996. All five are excellent books that sound completely authentic, due in part to the fact that Reid is a very good writer and also to the fact that he worked for many years as a police officer in Missoula, Montana, which often sounds a lot like Rozette.

When introduced in Big Sky Blues, Bartell was party to a tragic incident that followed him the rest of his career. One night while Bartell and his partner were on patrol, and while Bartell's partner was investigating a suspicious situation in an abandoned building, a troubled person got the drop on Bartell. Bartell believed he had convinced the man to give up his gun and surrender, but as the man was about to do so, Bartell's partner emerged from the building, saw the situation from a distance, and shot and killed the man.

The incident has haunted Bartell for years and caused some of his fellow officers to question his judgment. But over the course of twelve years, he has risen to the rank of detective and has proved his worth to the department.

Now, a major slimeball named Merle Puhl, who lives in Rozette, is running for the U.S. Senate from Montana. Another gasbag, who used to be the President of the United States, is coming to Rozette to campaign for Puhl. This means that the Rozette P.D. will be working in conjunction with the Secret Service and other federal agencies to insure the safety of the former president. Bartell is detailed to work with the Feds.

The candidate, and hence the Feds, are particularly worried about an alleged eco-terrorist named Henry Skelton, an ex-con who lives mostly in the woods and simply wants to be left alone. Skelton is suspected of blowing up a helicopter belonging to a logging company that is raping the nearby wilderness. While there's no proof that Skelton committed the crime, the campaign has identified him as a potential threat and Ray Bartell is supposed to check him out. His clear, but unspoken instructions, are to make sure that Skelton is neutralized until the visit of the ex-president is over.

Being a good cop and a decent human being as well, Bartell is troubled by the lack of any proof that Skelton is guilty of blowing of the helicopter or that he constitutes any sort of a threat to the candidate, his campaign, or the former president. He attempts to deal with the situation in a way that ensures the safety and the rights of all of the parties involved, Henry Skelton included. This suggests to some people that Bartell might be a bit too soft to be a "real" cop, which echoes the charge against him from the case twelve years earlier.

In spite of the criticism, Bartell treads carefully between the Feds, his local bosses, the slimy pols and Henry Skelton himself. Inevitably, problems will result and the result is an engaging tale of a good man trying to do the right thing in a world that appears not to be much interested in the right thing.

Robert Sims Reid has created a cast of memorable characters and put them into motion in a setting and a story that has the considerable ring of truth. One can't help but empathize with a number of these characters, even though their interests and objectives don't always coincide. But, of course, that's the way the world often works in real life.

Sadly, after completing this book, Reid apparently did not ever write another. When asked in 2002 whether there might ever be another novel featuring Leo Banks or Ray Bartell, Reid demurred and suggested that the books were a lot of fun to write but that they didn't pay all that well. That was a tragedy on at least two levels: As good as these books are, and as much critical acclaim as they received, Robert Sims Reid is another of those authors who deserved much wider recognition and much greater financial success than he may have enjoyed. It's also a loss for anyone who loves crime fiction, because as much fun as these books might have been to write, they're even more fun--and more rewarding--to read.

It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's A Kansan!

Man of Steel Asks If Superman Should Even Bother

Reviewed By Kemper

3 out of 5 Stars With Doomed Planets Orbiting Them

Clark tries to bring news fashions to Smallville.

As the most iconic of the super-heroes, it’s more than a little odd that Superman got left behind in the wave of comic book movies in recent years.  Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns in 2006 felt more like a homage to the Christopher Reeve movies than a genuine attempt to come up with a fresh film version, and it failed to live up to anyone’s expectations. So Superman was on the bench while Batman was revitalized in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy and Marvel steadily released a string of movies including their enormous hits with The Avengers in 2012 and Iron Man 3 earlier this year.

Trying to come up with a new spin on Superman that would satisfy old fans and the mainstream movie audiences was a tough gig.  It’s natural that Warner Brothers and DC turned to Nolan as a producer to get Superman back into theaters, but the choice of Zach Snyder as director seemed risky since he flopped with his previous comic book film, Watchmen.  With a story from Nolan and veteran comic book movie scripter David Goyer, Snyder has presented a new version of Superman that keeps the familiar elements but tweaks them so that we get a revised origin story that also delivers plenty of action.

On the planet Krypton scientist Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) have rebelled against a long-standing breeding program and had a son, Kal-El, via a natural birth.  Unfortunately, Krypton is doomed thanks to short-sighted government leaders who have done some kind of strip mining of the planet’s core.  Fanatical General Zod (Michael Shannon) leads a coup attempt in an effort to save the planet, but he and Jor-El clash over Zod‘s plans for the future.  Jor-El steals data vital to the breeding program and puts it in the spaceship with his infant son and sends him to Earth where the yellow sun and lower gravity will give him incredible powers.

Kal-El is found by the Kents and raised on their Kansas farm as their son Clark.  Jonathan (Kevin Costner) worries that the world isn’t ready to find out about his adopted alien while Martha (Diane Lane) tries to help Clark adjust to his powers.  As an adult Clark (Henry Cavill) tries to hide his true nature with a nomadic existence of menial jobs and fake names, but his need to help people sometimes threatens to reveal him. 

While Clark is following up on a clue to his origins he crosses paths with intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams).  After Lois sees enough to know there‘s something special about him, Clark flees and wonders if the time has come to reveal himself to the world.  Lois starts tracking down Clark by following the rumors of a mysterious savior who has appeared over the years.

General Zod has some anger issues.

However, Clark’s decision is complicated by the appearance of General Zod and some of his followers who demand that Kal-El be turned over to him or he’ll start attacking Earth.  

While the familiar origin story is still here, it’s the additions and alterations that make it interesting.  We get a fuller picture of Krypton that we ever have in the movies, and it’s an intriguing bit of world building that had me wishing for a prequel  with Russell Crowe’s adventures as Jor-El.

In order to focus on the Superman elements, not much is done with the traditional Clark Kent secret identity lore. This is less about Superman trying to come to terms with who he is and more about him trying to decide whether he can trust people enough to try and help them.  Jonathan’s belief that the world would collectively freak out over the revelation of an alien with super powers echoes strongly within him, and Clark has little reason to expect the best of people since he's been treated like an outcast by almost everyone except his adopted parents.  

This was an interesting way to play it because we know that Superman is the epitome of a hero so there’s no point in trying to make us think that he doesn’t want to try and use his powers for good.  Instead the question becomes whether people really deserve his help, and if the revelation of a super-powered alien might do more harm than good.  Clark has to decide if he can trust humanity enough to change their world, and that’s an original question for a super-hero flick.

Aside from the character drama, there’s also plenty of action.  As is befitting of a Superman movie, the segments of him fighting Zod and his henchmen or performing other super-powered acts of heroism are epic and downright bone rattling.  The battles take place from Krypton to a small town in Kansas to the Indian Ocean to outer space to the streets of Metropolis and there’s plenty of property damage wherever they occur.  Whether it’s trying to save men from a burning oil rig or learning how to fly, the special effects are generally eye popping although there are a few scenes where CGI figures become obvious and the sheer scale of the action starts to overwhelm the viewer.  

Geez, you guys.  Get a room already.

Anchoring all of this are good performances from a very strong cast.  Cavill is a real find with an ability to make Clark feel all-too-human yet also projecting the bigger than life image needed when he puts on the Superman suit.  Amy Adams is more than just the typical damsel-in-distress that Lois usually is, and the script gives her important things to do.  Costner and Crowe really stand out as the two father figures who instinctively grasp all the dangers and opportunities that Clark/Kal-El has in front of him.  While Michael Shannon goes a little over the top at times, he’s playing the villain in a comic book movie so that isn’t the worst thing in the world.  It also helps that Zod actually sees himself as fighting for something so that he’s got a motivation beyond just being the crazy bad guy.

Like a lot of big blockbuster movies, Man of Steel goes on a bit too long and should have wrapped up its ending faster.  Some Superman fans probably won’t like the changes to the traditional story, and some viewers may be put off by the big sci-fi elements that sometimes distance us from the quieter character moments.

Still, this is the first Superman movie that really felt as big as a Superman movie should, and it manages to get across genuine moments of awe and wonder worthy of a comic book while still providing relatable characters and dilemmas.

The Forbes 25 Reviewers - #9 mark monday

Today's guest is mark monday.  mark also posts at Shelf Inflicted and Hypnos.

How did you discover Goodreads?
an ex-friend sent me a link.

What have been your most memorable Goodreads experiences?
getting to know a lot of interesting and/or nice people. watching various meltdowns while snickering unkindly to myself. and of course the very best thing for me about Goodreads has been getting introduced to a lot of really memorable books.

Name one reviewer not in the Forbes 25 that people should be aware of.
for horror fiction, Shawn Garrett
for literary fiction, Joselito
for fantasy and science fiction, Kate Sherrod.

What was your initial reaction to Amazon buying Goodreads?
worry & concern. that has since faded.

How many books do you own?
hard for me to say. hundreds? thousands?

Who is your favorite author?
also hard to say. maybe a toss-up between Jack Vance and Joyce Carol Oates.

What is your favorite book of all time?
and also hard to say. very hard to say! changes all the time, depending on mood. right now maybe Paul Scott's Raj Quartet

What are your thoughts on ebooks?
i like the feeling of an actual book in the hand. that said, i love the convenience of ebooks and the availability of many free classics & obscurities on Project Gutenberg.

What are your thoughts on self-publishing?
it's nice that publishing is so easy now and i've read a few interesting self-published books. but unfortunately the popularity of self-publishing also means that a lot of crap gets "published".

Any literary aspirations?
only vague ones.

The Diviners. Not that divine.

THE DIVINERS

Libba Bray

2012 Little, Brown Books 

Reviewed by Carol

Recommended for: I don't.

Read 2013 
One and a half stars

"Ms. Bray, I have an idea for your next book."
"Yes?"
"Well, the researcher who worked on The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York left some notes lying in the library, and someone I know swiped 'em."
"Perfect setting! What should we make it about?"
"Hmm, not sure. Let's come back to it."
"Okay. Target audience?"
"Well, you have some cred in Young Adult, and the field is on fire. If we make it about a 17 year-old and her friends, we can draw in the pre-teens and the twenty-somethings, no problem."
"Excellent. We'll need a romance. Women love romance."
"I guess we can do that two-guys-competing for the same woman situation that was so popular in The Hunger Games. If we make it into a series, we can draw out the romantic tension over a couple of books."
"Sounds perfect. Do you have a plot yet?"
"Well, that Harry Potter book was a huge hit and made a ton of dough. Superheros and the like are the rage. What if we say the group of friends has special powers?"
"I don't know, that sounds like a lot of work. Just how special do they have to be?"
"We can just make it mysterious and say they are learning about it, so it doesn't have to be anything really thought out. I can put one of the interns on it for the second book."
"Cool. And the antagonist?"
"Stick with that H.P. thing and say there's this really, really evil guy trying to come back to life, and they are trying to stop him from bringing about the end of the world. That'll probably draw in horror fans too."
"Perfect. Draft it out and let me know when you are done."


****************************************
Try as I might--summer afternoon, comfy deck chair, an open-ended day just made for endless reading--I was unable to enjoy The Diviners. Libba Bray did a tremendous amount of research on the roaring 20s in New York. The trouble is, she wanted to share all of it. This is a elaborate setting badly in need of characters and plot. Someone took their cardboard cut-outs from the "Young Adult Paper Doll Book" and inserted into the pretty-flapper-Great Gatsby-land. There's the Ingenue who thinks she's experienced. The square but supportive friend. The emotionally reserved uncle (includes one bonus secret past). The charming, rakish thief. Young quiet intellectual male hiding secret affection. The earnest detective. The possibly-scary elderly ladies living next door. The religious black woman. [SPOILER: The little boy speaking mysterious truths. The runaway wife. The gay piano player (aren't they all). The revival-tent preacher. END SPOILER]. About the only one of interest is the Poet-cum-Numbers runner.

Plot is straight out of "innocent-investigates-murder" only it took until page 80 to get the first murder. Up until then we're treated to extensive description of our heroine drinking, partying and sassing. Gee, I wonder if her experiences will help her grow up? By the time we find a dead body, I had been up and down out of my chair about eight times, looking for other things to entertain me. [SPOILER: When Ingenue investigates haunted mansion with her best friend--while serial killer is on the loose--is anyone shocked? When Unc Will is hauled away in chains, is anyone surprised? I can just tell someone is going to be kidnapped and used in an awful ritual before special powers save the day. END SPOILER] When I got to the second young man romancing our heroine (oh, it's not a spoiler--this is a modern young adult book), I was ready to stab myself.

I tend to read for three things: plot, character and language. Usually at least one can sustain me through a book, but that just didn't happen today. Characters here lack subtlety, dimensionality and interest. Plot was so routine that absolutely nothing about it surprised me. Language that is mostly defined by 20s vernacular and only devoted to creating the setting. There's not even a wider philosophical ideas here to create the illusion of a thoughtful approach. Belief creates reality, yada yada, except when it doesn't. Bray breaks narrative character in a couple sections to lecture the reader on 1920s racism. How educational!

Redeeming factors: ability to create a sense of place in time in America. Mostly. Mostly the movie perception of it, actually, of flappers and haircuts and kids on the corner selling newspapers and sneaking alcohol everywhere. Okay, so it mostly succeeds at writing Great Gatsby scenes.

One and a half stars--it completely missed me, even though it should have been a three star at least, given the sassy female, the fantastical elements, the description of period New York--all ingredients that usually appeal to me.




Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...