Genre: Book
Grade: A
Notable People: CJ Box
Title: The Wolf Pack
Review: After 23 installments in his Joe Pickett, Wyoming Game Warden series, this is Box’s best yet. a humdinger of a story with crazed hit men (and one especially psychopath hit- woman), wolves, killer falcons, teen angst, witness protection mob guys …and the great character, Nate Romanowski. Just out last month…..run out to get this one. A thing of beauty.
Genre: Book
Grade: A-/B+
Notable People: Jon Talton
Title: High Country Nocturne
Review: After an initial week offering, Talton’s’ David Mapstone entries have been consistently very high quality. The character have been well developed over time and are believable…even the fabulously exotic Peraltha (now the ex-sheriff of Maricopa County). Talton and Mapstone mix in lots of Arizona history, philosophical meanderings, just the right amount of sex and a boatload of intrigue. This installment benefits from the lurking of a drop dead/ stone cold mystical killer dancing around the periphery of the story. This series is definitely worth any mystery lovers’ and any Arizona-phile’s attention.
Genre: Book
Grade: A-
Notable People: Paul Doiron
Title: The Precipice
Review: Doiron’s tales of Maine Game Warden, Mike Bowditch, just keep getting better and better. His love for the great North Woods and all things “down east” are quite evident. I’ve had my fill of serial killer stories of late, but this is a really good one…set on the remote Maine portion of the Appalachian Trail. His characters keep evolving, and you can really feel the angst, fear, anger and jubilation. I like these a lot.
Genre: Film
Grade: A-
Notable People: Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Micheal Cera, Brad Garrett, Directed by: Sebastian Lelio
Title: Gloria Bell
Review: Julianne Moore is a tour de force in this touching film about a fifty-ish divorcee dealing with loneliness and trying to find meaning as an empty nester. She looks phenomenal and acts wonderfully and has brilliant chemistry with the always whacked-out Turturro (best role in years). The supporting cast is really good and the film is very well executed-if a bit schmaltzy at points. L liked it a lot and it is another notch in Moore’s considerable belt of accomplishment.
Genre: Book
Grade: B/B+
Notable People: Steve Hamilton
Title: Dead Man Running
Review: This was my fist disappointment in the wonderful Alex McKnight series. Our ex-Detroit cop, normally sequestered in the woods along remote Lake Superior, takes off across the country (for reasons too complicated to mention) in search of a serial killer. Phoenix, St. Louis, Grand Rapids and …even… Columbus, Ohio. The whole story seemed a bit farfetched and the writing seemed disjointed. Still, kind of a barn burner, I must say, but missing all the allure of the usual cast of characters in the Paradise, Michigan setting. and the serial killer was a little too much cereal. Look forward to McKnight being back home , finding the usual weird mischief, with his feet up by the fire at the Glasgow Inn in Paradise.
Genre: Book
Grade: Not Sure
Notable People: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Title: Mark Haddon
Review: This is one of the strangest books I’ve ever read. Was in the Keys and ran out of reading material- so perused the cottage bookshelves…and was intrigued by the blurb on this one. It’s a British mystery…of sorts. The book is in the first person and told from the perspective of a 13 year old boy, Christopher, who is clearly high on the autism spectrum. When I started the book, I was not sure I would finish it..…but could not stop reading…totally captivating. This is not a book for everyone. The kid is early frustrating and surrounded by very flawed adults……plus there is a murdered dog…..BUT…worth a try……fascinating….
Genre: Book
Grade: A
Notable People: New Iberia Blues
Title: James Lee Burke
Review: This is the second new Dave Robicheaux novel in the last two years –after a ten year hiatus. Robicheaux pursues his demons like no one else…by my calculation he should be in his 80’s by now…but he and his sidekick, Clete Purcell, do not get any more mellow with age. Fighting evil in all its most extraordinary incarnations in the swamps and bayous of south Louisiana. One part mystery, one part AA big book and one part philosophical meanderings…these books are not just great mysteries, but great American literature. Burke, Robicheaux and Clete Rock!
Genre: Album
Grade: A
Notable People: Neil Young
Title: Songs for Judy
Review: This is the sixth in on ongoing series of re-issues from Neil’s voluminous catalog. Recorded at a live show in 1976, it captures Neil in all his glory and has EVERYTHING I would want to have on it from that period. Lots of certifiable gems, a good mix of more obscure ditties and 3-4 I had amazingly never heard before-from his incarnation (one of dozens) as a singer-songwriter/minstrel. This is not the Neil Young of Crazy Horse and garage band ennui…but the soft, thoughtful and incredibly lyrical Neil. He plays his trademark acoustic guitar licks (you can recognize many songs after two bars), quite a bit of piano, his unusual banjo stylings and a few gems on the grand Wurlitzer keyboard. He is clearly stoned, having a great time and more chatty then he’ll ever be again. The album is named as such because Judy Garland was apparently at the show. This is unadulterated cheap thrills…a master of his genre at his unspoiled peak. Wow….look at mother nature on the run in the nineteen seventies….
Genre: Book
Grade: A
Notable People: James Lee Burke
Title: Robicheaux
Review: The master is back. After a number of years in which Burke seemed to be out to pasture –he has published two new volumes in the long running and brilliant Dave Robicheaux mystery series in the last 18 months. This one is aptly named for the protagonist of more than 30 books in the series…and for good reason. He delves into a very personal first-person account of the wounded war hero cum N’Awlins detective, cum New Iberia Parish Bayou semi-retired trouble finder. Along with his faithful companion, Clete Purcell (one of the great characters in modern fiction), Dave, finds, fights and either conquers or succumbs to his multiple alcoholic demons. AA had never been so well spoken of and disassembled. If you are not a mystery series fan…makes absolutely no difference. This is just GREAT American literature- no finer in last fifty years. Burke must be in his mid-80s now..…just hoping he keeps going. This is real enrichment.
Genre: Book
Grade: A-
Notable People: Tony Dunbar
Title: Shelter form the Storm
Review: These Tubby Dubonnet mysteries are the bomb…..especially if you are a lover of all things N’Awlins. Dunbar gets more wacked – out in each of the series, and this one is an absolutely wild ride; taking place in the midst of Mardi Gras during the storm of the century- that he wrote before, and is a harbinger of, Katrina. I’m thinking if indexing these books to note places to eat and visit for my next trip to The Easy. Dunbar, who happens to be a practicing New Orleans attorney, is a wonderful writer, and his characters are vivid and very dead on for his locale. I read this book in a couple of sittings..…and could have read it straight through in one. Long live Tubby.
