August 2009    |   epinions.com

In The Giver, Lois Lowry's Newbery-award winning novel set in an alternative future at an unknown date, a young boy named Jonas comes of age to be selected to be the next Receiver of Memory during an annual ceremony in which all 12-year-old boys and girls are given their life-long Assignments, more familiar to us as careers. Jonas soon meets the Giver and his understanding of the very foundations of his world crumbles as he begins to receive memories of experiences long forgotten by his community, memories such as snow, sledding, sailing, war, love, Christmas and more. The Giver shares themes with other classic or well-known dystopian tales, and like these same classics, The Giver also has its anti-hero, its Runner. Both Jonas and readers begin to understand, as Jonas gains wisdom through the memories given to him, that their community functions but is missing those things that make each human life unique and interesting. After receiving the memory of a war-torn battlefield, Jonas witnesses his friends playing a game of war, and Jonas frantically tries to stop them because they do not understand the horror of the battlefield, but they are confused and perhaps horrified by Jonas' response. It is at this point that Jonas and the reader realizes the gulf which has suddenly appeared between him and his friends because of his new consciousness. This gulf only widens as more memories are transferred to Jonas. Jonas and readers learn that memories are more objects than individual memories. If a receiver's memories are released, by death or distance, they don't go back to the Giver, they go to where memories existed before Receivers, and every person in the community experiences them. Just such an event occurred 10 years before and caused great burden and pain for every member of the community when a Receiver asked for Release and administered the injection herself. As with other classic dystopian stories, The Giver also has a runner, its anti-hero who at all cost and through his own sacrifice, tries to free the community from its contrived laws and traditions. In the last quarter of the book, Jonas and the Giver contrive a plan to force the others in the community to bear the burden of the memories Jonas is holding for them, to try to change the community. If Jonas can escape the community into Elsewhere, a vague undisclosed place at some distance from the community, the memories given to Jonas will be returned to the people once he is far enough away. The Giver, however, will stay behind to help the people cope with the new, overpowering memories and the uncertainty, fear, pain, joy and social unrest they are sure to create. Unfortunately, The Giver's last pages are ambiguous and unsatisfying. Jonas and Gabe, weak and weary from their escape, find themselves at the top of a hill with a sled, identical to the first memory the Giver gave to Jonas. It is too coincidental to be the same hill and sled in that first imparted memory; it is like a dream. Unfortunately, the ambiguity of this dream-like ending will frustrate some readers who desire confirmation that Jonas either has or has not reached Elsewhere and will be saved, and the memories he carries returned to the body of the community, forcing change. The Giver is a powerful book with powerful themes. As with most dystopian visions, there is always an anti-hero, a Runner. For Lois Lowry, Jonas is her Runner, attacking the foundations of his community laid by one well-intentioned law after another. Instead of asking for Release, he chooses to become an anti-hero and tries to transfer the memories he has already received back to the collective community. Read my full review of Lois Lowry's The Giver at epinions.com >

(This review is also published at SFReader.com > )

April 2009    |    SFReader.com

If asked, C. Dennis Moore quickly lists Stephen King among his favorite authors, and this affinity is evident, as he writes about similar characters in this collection of stories. At the same time, Dennis' stories enthusiastically employ the themes and motifs found in the work of Edgar Allen Poe, an important progenitor of the modern short story, particularly the horror genre. Most if not all of Poe's protagonists are monomaniacs who become entirely fixated on a single concept or idea. Poe himself fixates on dead or dying wives, premature burials, decomposition, resurrection, and communication from beyond the grave in many of his tales. Many of Poe's tales are also told in the unreliable first-person by unnamed narrators. Poe believed that quality work (with the exception of novels) should be short enough to be read at a single sitting and focused on a specific single effect or emotional response. Most if not all the stories in Terrible Thrills subscribe to these principles established by Poe in the 1830s and 1840s with such tales as "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Premature Burial." Even Dennis' title suggests that each story in Terrible Thrills has an intentional single effect, their very own terrible individual thrill. Terrible Thrills opens with "Preparations," one of the best stories in this collection. In this short 2-page story, Dennis manages to paint a reality eerily similar to our own with one very important and disturbing customary funeral meal distinction. Body parts also play an important role in the horror genre, even in Poe's time. Dennis, however, literally likes to turn body parts loose in his stories. "Bob's Leg" is one of the most entertaining stories in this collection. It can't be easily forgotten by anyone who has ever worked at a fast food restaurant. In this story, Jared asks his manager, Bob, how he lost his leg and which one is prosthetic. They go to the men's room, where Bob locks the door and lifts his left pant leg to reveal his prosthetic leg. Then Bob, as agreed, shows Jared how he lost the leg to hunger. Several stories in this collection take a conventional legend, fairy tale or myth and rewrite it, turn it on its head, with pleasing, entertaining, sometimes terrifying consequences. In "Working for the Fat Man," one of the best stories in this collection, Santa has refused to change a thing about Christmas to compete with the big toy manufacturers. His workshop has kept turning out the same old tired wooden trains and tops while the toy manufacturers make fun, exciting toys kids love. Though everyone thinks Santa is a jolly old soul, the elf who narrates this story knows better. Santa has a dirty little secret we don't know anything about. He takes a child from the naughty list back to the North Pole with him every year. This holiday, though, the elf who narrates this story pulls a switch and takes a child on the good list (a twin). Now what Santa does to these naughty kids is particularly naughty, but what happens to Santa when he unknowingly takes this good twin instead of the naughty twin into the back room to play is truly grotesque and frightening. And what Santa does to the offending elf is even more horrible and terrifying yet. Dennis has great fun with readers with this tale. For horror fans who enjoy holiday horror, this story isn't to be missed. In character, the 25 stories in C. Dennis Moore's Terrible Thrills resemble the work of Stephen King, the modern master of horror. On the other hand, these stories are indelibly reminiscent of the themes and style of Edgar Allan Poe, grandfather of the modern horror story. In these stories we find death, corpses, hungry body parts, evolving identities, supernatural beings, and myths and legends turned inside-out. Like Poe's tales, Dennis' stories are colorful, curious and thrilling, psychologically terrifying for their characters but fascinating and riveting for readers who dare to keep reading. Sometimes, despite the subject matter, C. Dennis Moore even makes us laugh. Nervously. Read my full review of C. Dennis Moore's Terrible Thrills at SFReader.com >

(A shortened review is published at Amazon.com >)

March 2009    |    epinions.com

I have been reading books about serial predators and serial killers for several years. I have found John Douglas' books entertaining and informative, but also somewhat complicated when trying to categorize the criminals, their behaviors and their crimes, because things are not black-and-white and sometimes cannot be easily categorized. Pat Brown's Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of Serial Killers is a book written for another audience, the Average Joe, the layman. At first, I thought this characteristic of the book would overly simplify the serial predator problem, but I was happy to discover that it does not. The book reads well and easily enough that a 6th grader could probably read and understand it with the right amount of detail to feel complete, even to readers accustomed to reading more complicated and detailed books on the topic. Killing for Sport discusses specific serial killers cases only in passing to help clarify a point being made. Despite the serious subject matter, Pat Brown has a sense of humor that's evident throughout the book, with chapter titles such as "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Serial Killers," "Creature from the Black Lagoon," "Better You than Me," "Smokey and the Bandit," and other tongue-in-cheek titles. The same humor is used well throughout the book and is neither insulting nor distasteful. The true value of Ms. Brown's book is to challenge current law enforcement definitions and to debunk some of the myths that have been created and repeated by other profilers. Ms. Brown disagrees with the common definition of a serial killer, because it defines the serial killer by the number of murders known by police rather than the murders that have not yet been discovered. Among the myths challenged by Ms. Brown in this book include: 1) Unless you hear about a serial killer at large in your area, you can assume no serial killers are living in your community; 2) Serial killers are strangers who leap out at you in the night; 3) Serial Killers are super clever; 4) Victims of a serial killer all look alike; 5) Our present methods of catching serial killers work; and a handful more. Though the book does not discuss specific cases, sprinkled on nearly every page are relevant quotes from serial killers some from well-known serial killers, but many from less familiar serial predators. Of course, these quotes are morbidly fascinating, but revealing. Ms. Brown has carefully and effectively selected these quotes. Unfortunately, Ms. Brown does not discuss other serial predators such as rapists or child molesters at any length, but recognizes that serial killers may evolve from a rapist or child molester (early attempts to satisfy their "special" needs), or may kill only once and return to the lesser predatory behavior. Though the subject of the book is serial killers specifically, since serial killers are a type of serial predator, I think a chapter on other types of serial predators would have been interesting and helpful for readers to not only define serial patterns but to possibly identify or at least acknowledge that a serial killer may experiment with other serial crimes before escalating to murder. Despite its easy read and simple language, Ms. Brown has written an important book for Joe Public to learn more about serial killers lurking in our midst. Even if they may be a friend, spouse, family member or neighbor. Read my full review of Pat Brown's Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of Serial Killers >

March 2009    |    epinions.com

I bought this book due to its unique twist on the narrator's point of view. Though there may have been books written from a dog's point of view before, this is the first (so far as I know) in the detective genre. And despite this being a first novel, it is a quick, delightful read. Bernie (the private investigator) and Chet (his dog, the narrator of this hairy tale) are partners, as far as Chet is concerned. They live together and work together. Bernie, like most private detectives, is divorced and lonely. He has had an alcohol problem in the past, smokes, and is always short of money. Despite being down on his luck, Bernie is not bitter or angry. He is a good friend, with his heart in the right place. He is good in a fight, too, as tough as they come, though sometimes flakey according to his friends. Did I mention Bernie plays the ukelele? Chet, the narrator, is Bernie's only constant companion. Though he failed canine school, Chet is loyal and brave, especially when danger threatens his friend Bernie. Chet loves to ride in the car...it is like a drug to him (his own words). It gets him high. Chet, as readers might imagine, also has a keen nose for smells, which comes in very handy during the course of the novel. Every character has odors about him or her. Of course, pleasant characters are associated with pleasant odors, and the perps or unpleasant characters are associated with unpleasant odors (though not foul or repulsive). To Chet's credit, he lives life to the fullest, and clearly enjoys being canine. The fun in this novel isn't just Chet's point of view, it's the sheer enjoyment Chet takes in being canine, succumbing when appropriate to his canine desires and pleasures. Part of the fun, too, is the tension created by the fact that Chet learns things before Bernie, but Chet can't understand the information well enough to remember it, and even if he could remember it he can't communicate it to Bernie, so Bernie must acquire the same information in his own time and solve the case. It is impossible to actually tell a story from an animal's point of view due to language. Chet as narrator is able to communicate to readers many things, but at times he claims he doesn't understand some words or expressions, which would seem to contradict the language being used to tell the story in the first place. This took me out of the story at times, but for the most part the impossibility of it all is forgotten as I went along for the ride until the story ended. Read my full review of Spencer Quinn's Dog On It >

January 2009    |    epinions.com

I was raised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, though I was inactive for many years. I have seen that most of the Mormons I know are successful and happy, and I was curious how this is accomplished, what they have done differently than I have done. This book helps shed some light on tenets of the Mormon faith that have helped the CEOs in this book become successful leaders of Fortune 500 companies. It outlines the Mormon characteristics they share and how those characteristics impact their careers and families: David Neeleman, founder and CEO of JetBlue Airways; Kevin Rollins, CEO of Dell Computers; Jim Quigley, CEO of Deloitte & Touche USA (a professional services firm, including accounting and auditing); Dave Checketts, former CEO of Madison Square Garden Corporation, owner of the Knicks; Gary Crittenden, CFO at American Express; Rod Hawes, founder and former CEO of Life Re Corporation; Kim Clark, Dean of the prestigious Harvard Business School; and Clayton Christensen, a leading Harvard Business School professor and consultant to Intel, Eli Lilly and Kodak. Divided into 15 chapters, this book examines topics documenting the characteristics shared by these 8 men, including but not limited to serving missions, playing hardball, serving in time-demanding church callings, developing disciplined personal habits, practicing infallible honestly, paying tithes, remaining humble despite the power of their professional positions, prioritizing their time and commitments to distinguish between what's important and what's urgent, honoring the Sabbath, cherishing the everlasting importance of family (Mormons believe that families can be together forever as a blessing of their religion), and marrying women who share the same beliefs and values (especially regarding eternal family relationships). It is clear that this book examines how the religious beliefs of these noteworthy men impact their families and careers. "The true definition or true defining situation for a person is what they do when they are alone and don't HAVE to do anything else," Dell's CEO Kevin Rollins told Jeff Benedict, the author, as he researched and interviewed to write this book. "What do they do? Do they do frivolous things? That's when you define what you are." Since I am Mormon myself, I found this book an engrossing read. It is not a how-to management or success manual. Rather, it describes how the character traits, faith and religious beliefs of these men have helped make them successful. For Mormons who may be similarly driven as these men, this book may stand as a guide how their faith can strengthen and empower their careers and their families' lives. For such members, this book is a must read, and will need to be read over and over again for the lessons it will teach them. Read my full review of Jeff Benedict's The Mormon Way of Doing Business >

December 2008    |    epinions.com

In this third installment in the Dexter series, we again see Miami through Dexter's eyes. Here again is Dexter's sardonic and witty self-commentary and comedic observations about modern life. Here again we meet not only Dexter and his Dark Passenger, but Rita, his fiancee; Cody and Astor, her children; Debs, Dexter's adopted sister and police sergeant; and Dexter's other colleagues in the Miami PD. This third book in the Dexter series finds Dexter still trying to balance the needs of his Dark Passenger with his human disguise as Dexter the soon-to-be groom. Of course, there are multiple intermingling plot complications which weave throughout this book and Dexter's balancing act with his Dark Passenger and his life-in-disguise. As noted in my review of Dearly Devoted Dexter, the second in the book in the Dexter series, Dexter has recognized that Cody has his own Dark Passenger (Astor says nothing about the same within her, though she is every bit as interested and involved as Cody). This complication is one of the primary plot elements in this third book. Dexter has agreed to teach Cody and Astor about the Dark Passenger, as Harry had taught him. Unlike Dexter, who in his youth was passive, a vessel waiting to be filled with Harry's wisdom, Cody and Astor are eager to begin their dark education. In typical Dexter fashion, however, Dexter finds it difficult to take control of these situations, and fumbles at times about what to teach them and how. The re-appearance of Sgt. Doakes is grotesque but welcome in this third book. In the last book, Sgt. Doakes lost his tongue, feet and hands. In this book, Doakes goes back to work since he has only a couple years left until he receives his pension, and the attorneys for the Miami PD feel that Doakes going back to work is in everyone's best interest. Though surely gruesome, as related by Dexter, Daokes first appearance during a morning meeting is almost comical. Doakes next appears at the end of Cody and Astor's lesson in Dexter's office, mumbling and pointing at the kids. Doakes apparently understands that Dexter is doing something with the kids, especially since he has seen Cody's Dark Passenger (or so Cody tells Dexter). It is not clear, however, how much Doakes understands from the scene. Dexter himself is the catalyst for the main plot in this book when he kills Zander Macauley. Zander is a member of a secret group practicing an ancient religion dating back to biblical times, as early as the time of King Soloman. This group worships Moloch. For the purposes of this book, Moloch is real, a god who has fathered thousands or millions like him, the source of Dexter's Dark Passenger, and many, many others. These shadows are attracted to children like Dexter, Cody and Astor who have been traumatized, and possess them like demons. When the first two burned and headless bodies appear, Dexter's Dark Passenger recognizes its father's work and symbolism, and abandons Dexter. Thus the title: Dexter in the Dark. Unfortunately, Moloch's introduction into the Dexter series changes the entire series. What was once crime fiction now moves into the genre of the paranormal. Though this explains Dexter's Dark Passenger, it does so in an unsatisfying mystical way. Though it was not clear in the series exactly how or why people get Dark Passengers, the speculation left the answers in the satisfyingly complex, mysterious, misunderstood world of psychology and how people respond to traumatic experiences. The how or why wasn't necessarily important. Now, the answers are simple: Dexter and others like him, including Cody and Astor, are possessed by demons. Read my full review of Jeff Lindsay's Dexter in the Dark >

(This review is also published at SFReader.com > )

November 2008   |   SFReader.com

Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the first book in this series about Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter expert for the Miami Police Department and a serial killer, creates a unique, interesting character and world for us to live in as we read. In this second book, we find Dexter trying to fit into a normal life as conventionally as he can to squelch Sergeant Doakes suspicions about him. His relationship with Rita continues. He plays hide-and-seek with Rita's son and daughter and other kids in the neighborhood. After work, he goes to his Rita's house and drinks a beer or two, like he thinks most boringly normal men do after work. He kisses Rita dramatically at her door when he arrives and when he leaves. These things are for Sergeant Doakes' benefit, who has begun to relentlessly stake out Dexter when the novel opens. Though his reasons are nefarious, Dexter genuinely takes some pleasure in these activities with Rita and her kids. By the end of the book, Dexter's relationship with Rita develops inexplicably into an engagement. This "normal" life for Dexter is a direct result of the lessons he learned from Harry, his adoptive police officer father, and introduced in the first book. The heart of this second book, however, is not Dexter. In this sequel, Dexter is more witness than participant. While Sergeant Doakes investigates Dexter, another serial criminal appears in Miami. This perpetrator drugs his victims and, with a mirror on the ceiling so they can watch, surgically dismembers and disfigures them one piece at a time. He does not kill them, however. He keeps them alive as he does his work. He skillfully cuts off their fingers, arms, legs, genitals, eyelids, ears, and other body parts. He even cuts out their tongues. When his work is complete, all that is left is a featureless human torso and head which cannot walk, talk, or move in any meaningful way. Inevitably, Doakes and Dexter recognize something about each other. As in the first book, Dexter's Dark Passenger is able to recognize others with Dark Passengers, too. Somewhere behind Doakes' great anger lurks a chuckle from his own Dark Passenger. Not the same thing as Dexter's Dark Passenger, but a similar beast. The opportunity for Dexter to rid himself of Doakes' interest arrives in due course during the investigation of the new criminal in Miami. Doakes is wrapped up in the investigation as one member of a military team who served covertly in El Salvador together. Torture and murder were part of their protocol. When the team was pulled, they left one behind to answer for their activities. This man is the new serial criminal, torturing those who left him behind. One by one, the members of this team are captured, tortured and dismembered. Doakes is likewise captured and loses his tongue, hands and feet before he is rescued. This state of affairs, of course, frees Dexter from Doakes' grasp. After all, Doakes cannot tell anyone his suspicions about Dexter now. As in the first novel, Lindsay also leaves some highly suggestive undeveloped loose ends. Perhaps the most consequential undeveloped situation in this book is the knowledge that Cody, Rita's six-year-old son, has done something to the neighbor's dog while his older sister, Astor, watched. This apparently isn't the only episode, either. Cody is the boy and likes that sort of thing, Astor explains. Together, now, they share a small but horrible secret, and Dexter thinks that Cody has his own Dark Passenger, and that he can help Cody as Harry helped him. At Cody's confession, Dexter feels an echo from Harry rolling through his bones, when Harry told Dexter the exact same thing. Once more I have to ask, did Harry learn his code from experience and in turn teach them to an impressionable Dexter? Read my full review of Dearly Devoted Dexter >

(This review is also published at epinions.com > )

February 2008   |   SFReader.com

A novel about a serial killer surely sounds like a book with a good deal of violence, terror, blood and ugliness, but Darkly Dreaming Dexter is not this kind of book. And that's what makes it a great read, and Dexter a great character. It is filled with ironies and insights which make the reader laugh nervously and consider the people around him. Dexter, a blood splatter expert for the Miami PD, is very good at reading blood splatters. Dexter, however, is not your average serial killer (aside from the fact that he works for the police). He preys only upon other serial killers. Through careful detective work he makes absolutely certain that his victims are guilty. He will not allow his "Dark Passenger" to harm the innocent, part of a code instilled in him by his adoptive father, Harry, a policeman who came to understand that he could only guide Dexter to choose how and when he succumbs to the darkness within. When Harry realized that Dexter would one day kill people -- realized that Dexter actually wanted to kill people -- he coached him carefully. "Some people need killing," Harry said. Dexter's adoptive sister, Debra, it so happens, is likewise a police officer with the Miami PD but suspects nothing about Dexter's "Dark Passenger," although she has grown up with him. To Debra, Dexter's just very, very smart. Darkly Dreaming Dexter is appropriately told in the first person. Dexter tells us that he is not human, that he does not feel emotions as we do. He also tells us that he cannot control himself, that his need flows and ebbs unpredictably (the irony in this, of course, is that Dexter DOES control himself until he finds an acceptable victim). Dexter has also learned how to appear to be normal, thanks to Harry. Dexter does all the things a normal man does, responds the way a normal man should under the appropriate circumstances. He wears the mask of normalcy very, very well. In Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Lindsay tends to paint serial killers as something of a secret fraternity. This is perhaps the most chilling aspect of this series and its main character. When the latest serial killer in Miami begins killing prostitutes, Dexter admires the killer's work and wishes to communicate with him. Like an artist might speak with another artist. As the novel continues, Dexter discovers that this new serial killer is also communicating with him, giving Dexter clues to his identity. Thankfully Darkly Dreaming Dexter is not a particularly bloody or violent book. For some readers, this only makes the book all the more terrifying. Gore and violence aren't frightening. The situations that spawn them are. Read my full review of Darkly Dreaming Dexter >

PS: If any readers knows where I can acquire an inexpensive hardback edition of the first edition of Darkly Dreaming Dexter contact me!

(This review is also published at epinions.com > )

February 2008   |   SFReader.com

For readers who savor details, Night Watchman is a feast. Few books capture details as clearly as James Viscosi in Night Watchman. Viscosi gets extensive extra credit for descriptive writing that makes most of the scenes in Night Watchman vivid and real, like some places we know, or at least some places we imagine that we might know. Nearly every descriptive word in Night Watchman hits the mark. Readers will certainly feel, as I have, that they recognize the places in Night Watchman, or the places are as they would be should readers happen upon them. Fortunately, Night Watchman doesn't rely on descriptions alone. Night Watchman tells the story of Nate Watson, a regular Island City cop who is ritualistically murdered by a small band of juvenile delinquents and resurrected as a zombie with retractable chains, trying to figure out why he has become the undead, what role the delinquents play in the story as it unfolds, and how to stop them since they have also become the undead. Getting into the heads of his characters is another thing that Viscosi does well in Night Watchman. Viscosi's best characters in Night Watchman have distinct and unique personalities, and he shows us this story in turn through their eyes. But the willing suspension of disbelief is not completely earned by Viscosi's Night Watchman. The story begins in a world very much like our own and ends in a world with unfamiliar supernatural laws with only the vaguest notion of how it is all possible. I also find Nicholas Fenton's motives problematic, especially since it is revealed only very late in the book, a cracker jack in the last pages, intended to wrap up the mystery in a paradox: Fenton, clearly evil, does it all for love. I also find Nate's character unsatisfying. For half the book, Nate wanders uncertainly through Island City trying to cope with what he has become and deciding what he should do about the teen zombies, and his own undead condition. For a policeman, he's uncharacteristically indecisive and impotent, even hides behind dumpsters. Despite Night Watchman's unsatisfying elements, the book is an engaging read. Viscosi's undead teenage zombies are interesting characters. The first half of the book is fun just trying to guess what they will do next, how they will do it, and to whom. But the most engrossing elements of Night Watchman are Viscosi's vivid, well-crafted details, which draw readers in to witness the story as it unfolds. Viscosi's descriptions demonstrate a surgically keen eye and imagination for the dark and the beautiful, wrinkles, pimples and all. For Night Watchman, the journey -- and what we see along the way -- is the tale. Read my full review of Night Watchman >

(This review is also published at epinions.com >)

November 2007  |  Epinions.com

A succubus, self-described as one of Hell's best, is on the run from the Devil himself, with several powerful demons hot on her heels, and she escapes to the human realm and, with the help of a witch, assumes an undetectable but desirable human form, and takes a job as a stripper. Dangerous! Sexy! Lots of opportunity! Unfortunately, I expected more from such an interesting setup. This book is clearly written for those readers who enjoy nothing more than the same old standard romance with a few thinly veiled supernatural pretenses thrown in. Nothing scary or threatening about the book at all. No scary dreams afterwards. No Hannibal Lecters. The cast of character types resembles the same found in any romance, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Despite the familiar story line and paranormal trappings, Jesse is like every other female lead in every other romance novel. Her reactions are exactly those of the typical heroine in romances. These characteristics alone are likely to entice romance lovers to give this book a try. They won't be disappointed. With a setup such as we have with Hell's Belles, it would seem anything could happen. In fact, it is the potential in this book keeps readers turning pages, not for the story that is told, but for the story that MIGHT be told. Jezebel should have an insatiable appetite for sex. Who and how many will she seduce? Being from Hell, she must have some very powerful, frightening friends, and even scarier, blood-thirsty bounty hunters searching for her, too. When will they appear and what will happen then? Are all the strippers at the club succubi? What racy scene will we find? How will Jezebel survive the demons who stand between her and freedom? Who will get hurt? Will anyone die? Sex and horror, or the potential for them, clearly sells this book. And will also sell the next in the series, The Road to Hell. Unfortunately, there isn't enough sex or danger in this book to fulfill the promises of the title and the potential of the characters for some readers. On the other hand, there is enough romance to satisfy most romance aficionados. Read my full review of Hell's Belles >

(This review is also published at SFReader.com >)

October 2007  |  Epinions.com

Other reviewers have written that you won't want to put down this book. To some degree, I must agree with them. Though I first thought this book was a biography about a serial killer I had never heard about (the review list wasn't clear about the genre, or it didn't matter because the book sounded interesting, take your pick), I quickly questioned the biography because it was too internalized, too detailed, bordering on too gruesome for most publishers. Despite its flaws, which are a matter of opinion anyway, Absolution: The Ted Roth Story is a violent, bloody but well-written read which borders on fun. It sucks readers in at the start, a twisted coming-of-age story gone murderously wrong, then takes them through Ted's evolution from a personal, selfish murderer into a murderer who can kill without the childish pain or rage necessary to precipitate his first three murders. It should be clear, however, that the ever convoluted and loosely knitted plot can, with a good measure of suspended disbelief, also be fun to witness. This is part of Absolution's charm. Readers don't exactly know what will happen next. Absolution's greatest strength, however, is its powerful writing. No book is any good without powerful writing. Some books are acclaimed for it alone. Despite the loose plot development and the unnecessary frame (the book pretends to be an audio recording made by Ted during his last hours of life, a heavy-handed technique which only serves to annoy readers as it interrupts the real story), Absolution is well written. Sprinkled with a few typos or missing words as one might expect from a digital publisher, Absolution nevertheless hits all the right notes at the right times for the right duration to make the individual scenes memorable and ring like a fine concerto. For the writing alone, readers should pick up a copy of Absolution: The Ted Roth Story, and discover an author worth watching. Read my full review of Absolution: The Ted Roth Story >

(This review is also published at SFReader.com)

September 2007  |  Epinions.com

There are few poets who genuinely engage me as a reader, among them Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, W. S. Merwin, Philip Levine, William Stafford, W. D. Snodgrass, John Gilgun and now Roger Kirschbaum, to name a few. Though I know Roger and his work from the informal poets' circle at Missouri Western State College (now Missouri Western State University) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and enjoy his first chapbook from that era very much, Hunter Ranch is like discovering a new poet. He has matured and fine-tuned his poetic voice and vision into a perfect symphony of sight, sound, color, place, and meaning. Roger revels in the mystical commonplace, writing surgically precise but simple details of every day objects, activities and experiences, and gives them meaning through simple, commonplace language. Like the best of poets, Roger plays no tricks on his readers. Divided into four seasons – Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter – Hunter Ranch takes readers to the heart of the Midwest where nature, love, loss, family and an honest day's work are examined and praised with quiet, religious fervor, striking a nearly perfect balance between compression and accessibility to communicate a mystical labyrinth of ideas, concepts and relationships that cannot be conscionably extricated, separated and dissected without destroying the poems. Some readers, no doubt, are quick to define or dismiss this book by date and region, by time and place, but we must not confuse any of these with simplicity, with being less important, less engaging, less accomplished, less accessible or less rewarding. Roger has skillfully and bravely wrestled with universal themes among the minutiae of the Midwest to publish a moving, timeless and masterful collection of poems. Roger's poetry is not simple. Every syllable, every word, every line, every poem in Hunter Ranch...not one word is wasted. For many poets, the powerful work collected in Hunter Ranch would be a pinnacle, a crowning achievement, their old man and the sea. Roger, however, is a young man, and his final master work, we hope, has yet to be written. Read my full review of Roger Kirschbaum's Hunter Ranch >

February 2007  |  Epinions.com

I bought Strange Candy for a strange reason: its short single paragraph intros to each story as commentary. The stories themselves are indeed Strange Candy. They're short, sweet, and eclectic. Like a small bowl of hard candy. In here are two stories featuring Anita Blake, and another set in her world without the familiar characters. Here are also several stories set in the world of Nightseer, the world of Laurell's first novel. One of Laurell's strengths is a habit "of taking the fantastic and dropping it into the middle of the real," as she confesses. Her best fiction, including the stories in this book, are evidence of this habit. Unfortunately, this collection also features probably Laurell's weakest story, structured like a trite plot from any similarly-themed movie. The theme of dropping the fantastic into the middle of the real world is better expressed in other stories in this collection. "A Clean Sweep," though the shortest story in the book, is a clever, entertaining gem with a sinister end. It reminds me of some of the stories of my friend, C. Dennis Moore. Six stories in this collection are heroic fantasy (including the stories set in the world of Nightseer). They feature wizards, devils, dragons, swords, magic and the like. Though I'm no fan of stories of the fantasy genre, these stories yet engaged me once I had begun to read them. Laurell's best stories are about interesting characters in interesting circumstances in interesting worlds, and have complex relationships and surprises throughout. These elements alone keep most readers engaged. Even those with disposition to not like or enjoy them. Together, these fourteen stories span Laurell's first sale to her most recent. If you're an aspiring writer, you'll find this book perhaps even sweeter and more satisfying than the average reader. Read my full review of Laurell K. Hamilton's Strange Candy >

February 2007  |  Epinions.com

Global warming to many just means that the earth is getting warmer due to trapped greenhouse gases and a shrinking ozone layer in our atmosphere. Big deal, right? Nobody likes too much cold anyway! Well, global warming is a very big deal. So big in fact that the United Nations has recently released its report on global warming. Long before the UN's report, however, this authors looked at global warming and published this book, which helps explain global warming's causes, impact, and one frightening but convincingly possible scenario: A New Ice Age!The best-selling book The Coming Global Superstorm defines a superstorm, describes the conditions under which a superstorm will occur, and considers the lasting effects of such a storm. Bell and Strieber look into our historical past and theorize that superstorms have occurred in our ancient history, and conclude that nearly each superstorm coincided with global extinctions on the scale of 70% of the world's species alive at the time of the superstorm. Superstorms, they believe, also triggered past ice ages. The cause and effect possibilities and implications are powerfully convincing. Along the way, Bell and Strieber look at ancient cultures, consider earth's greatest ancient structures, and compare common traits of worldwide religions to support their theories. In the end, Bell and Strieber call readers and mankind to make our greatest efforts to control our species' role in global warming, and if possible stall it. Bell and Strieber indicate that there is no way to know when this global superstorm will occur, but conditions are ripening for just such a storm to occur. The superstorm such as Bell and Strieber describe is brought to entertaining life in the film The Day After Tomorrow. While the film tells a good story and makes use of very effective special effects, most viewers don't realize that this film is a dramatization of the events described in The Coming Global Superstorm. Unfortunately, this dramatization does not provide enough factual information to understand what happens in the film. The filmmakers could have included some exposition to explain and foreshadow the chain of events as depicted in the film. Though this film is entertaining, and IMHO very good, when compared to the inspiration for it, the book is far better -- and frightening -- than the movie. Incidentally, the UN's report on global warming confirms much if not all the global warming facts and theories found in The Coming Global Superstorm. Read my full review of The Coming Global Superstorm >

November 2006  |  MacCompanion

Drupal, phpBB and WordPress are popular open-source web applications for building online communities. Drupal is a CMS, or content management system. phpBB is a forum (bulletin board) application. WordPress is a blog application. But Drupal, phpBB and WordPress are not necessarily user-friendly applications for the average, every day webmaster. Installing, configuring and editing the behavior and appearance of Drupal, phpBB and WordPress involves creating a database, installing modifications and extensive source code editing. Not for the faint of heart! The average webmaster must turn to some resource for help, such as the book Building Online Communities with Drupal, phpBB and WordPress. Like most computer instruction books, each section is ordered from system requirements and installation to configuration, modification and maintenance. But readers must expect to spend considerable time not only reading the book but experimenting with their installations, since these applications are mature and feature-rich. Despite its depth, Building Online Communities with Drupal, phpBB and WordPress could use more illustrations, diagrams, charts, tables and screenshots. The book is written by coders for coders, so visuals are scarce, but they would come in very handy to illustrate points and relationships. In general, readers will be hard pressed to find any better, more complete printed reference for Drupal, phpBB or WordPress. Read my review of Building Online Communities with Drupal, phpBB and WordPress >

July 2006  |  MacCompanion

If you've built even one web site, you've had questions. If you're like me, then you don't have too many friends with more experience to call on for gudance at a moment's notice. The Doug Addison's Web Site Cookbook is the next best thing, filled with hundreds of practical and worldly tips and tricks. The Web Site Cookbook will also prove useful for website owners and help them understand and appreciate the complexity and special skills required to build and maintain an effective web site. Though I expected the Web Site Cookbook to use a trite cookbook theme, it's all business, but Doug does not intend for the Web Site Cookbook to be read linearly, from beginning to end. He understands that his readers will have varied experiences with web site development. So he presents his information in a unique problem-solution-discussion format. He has anticipated common questions readers will bring to his Cookbook and answers them.Though the Web Site Cookbook is a superb web site design and development general reference, it sidesteps some of today's noteworthy web development technologies and trends. Specifically, cascading style sheets, blogs and open source applications. Despite these shortcomings, Doug Addison's wisdom is dead-on with practical, real-world experience. Read my review of Doug Addison's Web Site Cookbook >

April 2006  |  MacNN

Good design is hard to teach. Fortunately, Bryan Peterson makes a better than average attempt to teach good design and recognizes that a solid understanding of basic design principles is at the heart of good design. Though short, the book is a dense, real-world study of these fundamentals. A real plus that informs the book from cover to cover is Peterson's professional work experience. Throughout the book, he takes into account real-world considerations, such as quantity of information, print quality and production, mailing costs, and final destination. Also sprinkled throughout are 200 color illustrations, most of which represent finished products from noteworthy designers. The most important things that Peterson offers in this book are questions that every designer should ask of their designs to assess how well their designs succeed and exercises to help student designers better understand and apply the principles discussed. These exercises are open-ended, so they require time and effort to perform. If readers choose to ignore these exercises, then reading Design Basics for Creative Results is essentially a waste of their time. There is much more to becoming a design professional than reading any book, even Peterson's, but Peterson's book is a very good place to start. Read my review of Design Basics for Creative Results, 2nd Edition >

April 2006  |  MacCompanion

There's a whole subculture out there that most of us don't know about. Bob Parks shows this subculture to us, after trying to explain it and the forces that have created and nurture it. Makers are renaissance people, with experience and interests across a variety of technologies. They are unsatisfied being just consumers and are interested in improving existing products and experimenting with technology, an archetypal blend of toolmaking and science. Makers also like to share. Besides operating their own web sites, Makers also share code and parts openly on the Internet. As with most subcultures, Makers meet to discuss and show off their projects. Makers have a competitive spirit, and these groups thrive on friendly, personal competition, challenging each other. On a larger scale, Makers also compete in formal competitions such as Dorkbot Nights and the Burning Man festival. In February 2005, O'Reilly successfully launched Make magazine, the first magazine devoted to do-it-yourself technology projects. Clearly any book about Makers is first a book for Makers, and second a book for those of us curious in such things. These such things are sometimes interesting, sometimes inspiring, sometimes highly unusual, and often fun. Projects profiled in this book utilize LEDs, all kinds of sensors, jet engines, servo-motors, wood, metal, plastic, fabric, plumbing, automobile engines, car bodies, industrial equipment, paper cups, balloons, discarded electronics, electronic motors, switches, buttons, wiring, paper, digital cameras, lenses, inkjet cartridges, mirrors... anything that suits the needs of the project. Many of these used and discarded elements are acquired through "dumpster diving." Radio Shack and eBay figure prominently throughout the book for those hard-to-find-in-the-trash parts, and several web sites are mentioned as well. Despite the disparate sources, these Makers have made some incredible (and useful!) contraptions: Cap Holter's board-busting machine. Sathya Jeganathan's improvised baby warmers for needy hospitals. Kerry McLean's gasoline-powered monowheel. Peter Madsen and Claus Norregaard's 6.6 ton hand-built submarine. Bathsheba Grossman's 3D digitally printed metal sculptures. Tom Chudleigh's spherical wooden treehouses. Koichi Hirata's robotic fish. Matty Sallin's pig-shaped alarm clock that cooks bacon. Louis Giersch's 1000-degree solar concentrator used to burn up anything he wants to burn up. Richard Flanagan's jet-powered go-kart. Dennis Havlena's working PVC bagpipes. Andy Gustafson's semi-automatic pneumatic potato cannon. These and 90-odd more amazing and unexpected projects are profiled in this book. Read my review of Makers: All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things in Garages, Basements and Back Yards at MacCompanion >

June 2005  |  MacNewsNetwork (MacNN)

May 2005  |  MacCompanion

October 2000  |  inetreviews.com  |  MacWichita

March 2000  |  inetreviews.com  |  MacWichita

February 2000  |  inetreviews.com  |  MacWichita  |  MacReviewZone

August 1999  |  inetreviews.com  |  MacWichita