Category: Books

Genre: Book

Grade: B+

Notable People: Linda Castillo

Title: Among the Wicked

Review: this is the umpteenth entry in the wonderful Kate Burkholder series set in Amish Ohio. Chief Burkholder is now in a hot and steamy relationship with the damaged by charming agent Tomasetti from the Ohio BCI (figure it out)…and gets into more trouble than one could imagine happening in an Amish community. The ends seem a bit predictable to me, but the writing is really good, the evildoers unforgettable and Burkholder is a restrained hottie. I read this book in two days flat, so it…moves. This is not life changing literature……but want a quick satisfying, voyeuristic read…..go for the Chief.

Genre: Book

Grade: B+

Notable People: Paul Auster

Title: The Locked Room

Review: Been on a Paul Auster kick for last six months….great, great writer. As I’ve said before, his books are beyond dark, and this one does not drift away from that supposition. This is the third and last of his New York trilogy- preceded by The City of Glass and Ghosts-all published in the mid-80s. These are high quality endeavors- but somewhat difficult books to read. Very, very heady, with little action. Most of it takes place inside his head…which is quite full of very dark thoughts an images. All three books are a variation on one central character-the mysterious Fanshawe-who seems to represent some lost part of Auster himself. They are somewhat mystery-oriented in genre, but that would be over simplifying the case…they are pilgrimages of a man’s quest for illumination and resolving lost causes. If you get that, you might like these books…not certain that I get it…or that I really like them. Still, great literature is great literature…like it or not.

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Steve Hamilton

Title: Ice Run

Review: You’ve probably had enough of these reviews of the same book series…but I can’t help being a serial reader…kind of a compulsion. This is the sixth in Hamilton’s Alex McKnight series …and does not disappoint. As usual, we have McKnight in the frozen tundra of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the dead of Lake Superior winter, when adventure beckons him into remote provincial Canada. It’s a barn burner , full of twists and odd characters….all centered around his obvious love, and fabulous description, of life in that part of the world. Hamilton is a shockingly good writer, and his books go by in a mad dash. I’ll be bummed when there are no more left in this series to read.

Genre: Book

Grade: B

Notable People: Jon Talton

Title: Dry Heat

Review: This it the fourth one (in order) that I’ve read in the David Mapstone series about history Shamus turned unwilling detective in the Phoenix heat. Good story and love the characters. I usually appreciate an authors’ devotion to place/setting and Talton, a fifth generation Arizonian, clearly is devoted to Phoenix and the desert…but I thought this one went obsessively overboard in his musings about location, it’s history and its decline from a wonderfully quirky small city in the desert to a Midwestern escape mecca..…essentially ruined by the developers and the snowbirds. I basically agree, but could do without being schooled on this every other page. The story is catchy, though, and the writing and dialog are top notch.

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Paul Auster

Title: Leviathan

Review: The man I believe to be our Darkest living writer, writes his darkest work yet I this extraordinary work detailing a man’s journey from eccentric writer to minor terrorist. As usual, Auster uses himself as the lens for the story…..a rich and vivid portrayal of a trek into darkness (or light?- tutorial of Auster, it is not totally clear which ). Auster is undoubtedly brilliant and a true original. I find his books riveting, but he might just be TOO dark for lot of folk.

Genre: Book/Stories

Grade: B+

Notable People: Annie Proulx

Title: Bad Dirt

Review: this is the second of Proulx’ Wyoming story series and pretty comparable to the first one. Dry humor, caricatures of western archetypes, lushly described vistas abound….with a set of recurring characters, mostly set in the town of Elk Tooth, Wyoming….from whence you have to drive 40 miles to get a quart of milk, but can readily have a boilermaker at any of three bars in town. Though I recognize the superior writing quality and the serous thinking of these sets of stories, they frankly begin to bore me a bit after three or four. I’ll probably plow through the subsequent two in the series, but only because I’m a stubborn reader. I prefer her three outstanding novels.

Genre: Book/Stories

Grade: A

Notable People: Steve Hamilton

Title: Blood is the Sky

Review: Hamilton is the best new mystery writer I have found in last five years. These Alex McKnight mysteries are extremely well written, plotted and populated with great characters. Hamilton loves the UP, the “Soo” and southern Canada…and nails his vivid descriptions of the area. The plots are spellbinding. This is the fourth tin the series and I can’ wait to obtain the next one. McKnight is an ultimate “everyman” hero

Genre: Book/Stories

Grade: A-

Notable People: Annie Proulx

Title: Close Range

Review: Proulx is not prolific; she has written three novels and 5-6 sets of stories in the last 30 years, but all have a level of quality of writing not often found these days. This volume is the first of four books of stories that represent her Wyoming collection- starting in the late 90s. She has lived in Wyoming for many years and has a clear fascination with the history, culture, politics and especially with the land. I found this set of stories to be quite unusual in subject matter- some of them going back to pioneer days and some current day. One is the shortest, short story on record at under one page. Another is a magnificent 8 pager that essentially narrates an entire life through a person’s held jobs. Lot of cowboys, rodeo types, ranch hands, rough necks…..people getting by in a harsh and mostly poor environment. Proulx has a sneaky sense of humor that appears in the most unusual places, but is refreshing. A few of the stories seemed way too long and rambled on in a way that had me lose interest..…but for the most part, I found myself totally absorbed in the time and place. Getting into the second set soon.

Genre: Book/Stories

Grade: A-
Notable People: Jon Talton

Title: Camelback Falls

Review: This is the second in the David Mapstone series which Talton started writing around 2001. Mapstone is the history professor turned reluctant sheriff’s deputy in Maricopa County (Phoenix), who has an on again -off again relationship with the wonderful Peraltha, who is the Chief Deputy of the large sheriff’s dept. and then becomes Sheriff. The “history shamus” , as his love interest, Lindsey (a giant-pistol packing, computer nerd deputy) calls Mapstone, is a fifth generation Phoenician (as is Talton) and has a love hate fascination with the gilded desert oasis, which results in a fascinating historical recollection of the tiny desert town that became a sprawling metro haven for winter-sick Easterners and big-buck schemers. The characters in these books are really good, and the descriptions of the Phoenix area and culture are fantastic. I was totally engaged in this book and found it really well written, but a bit disappointed towards the end with some payoff- scenes that really seemed like a stretch. Ergo, the slight ding in grading….but definitely a keeper. I’m ready for series book #3.

Genre: Book/Stories

Grade: B+

Notable People: Annie Proulx

Title: Accordion Crimes

Review: This 1996 set of stories by Proulx could be considered one long intricate novel- the story follows the travels and transfer of a mythic Green Accordion through two centuries, multiple owners, many tragedies and many transformations. Some similarity with the great film, The Red Violin…but I liked the film better than this book. Proulx is an unbelievable writer…her attention to details of all sorts is simply amazing, and her narratives are gripping. That said, this book waxed and waned for me- some of the stories more compelling than others….and it awful long. Then again, my great friend, the Naven (AKA Flaco), an accordion player of some repute, loved this book when I got it for him some years ago. You have to be up to the challenge of the writing.