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* R E A D I N G F O R P L E A S U R E *
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* Issue #21 *
* February 1992 / March 1992 *
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* Editor: Cindy Bartorillo *
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CONTACT US AT: Reading For Pleasure, 103 Baughman's Lane, Suite 303,
Frederick, MD 21702; or on CompuServe leave a message to 74766,1206;
or on GEnie leave mail to C.BARTORILLO; or call our BBS, the BAUDLINE
II at 301-694-7108, 1200-9600 HST.
NOTICE: Reading For Pleasure is not copyrighted. You may copy
freely, but please give us credit if you extract portions to use
somewhere else. This electronic edition is free, but print editions
cost $2 each for printing and postage.
AUTHORS of the reviews, commentaries, etc., published in RFP will be
found beneath the "header" information (title, book author, publisher,
price, and so on) enclosed in less-thans and greater-thans, as in
<>.
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~ HOW TO GET THE ELECTRONIC EDITION OF RFP
First, call your local computer bulletin boards to see if they have
the latest issue. If not, you can always get all issues by calling The
Baudline II at 301-694-7108. These issues are ZIPped (compressed) for
quick downloading and must be unZIPped with Phil Katz's PKUNZIP
program (IBM). If you need a plain .TXT version, just leave a
(C)omment telling us which issue(s) you need and when you'll be
calling back to get them. (Be sure to give us at least 24 hours to get
your Comment and prepare the files.) If you get the latest RFP, be
sure to upload it to all the computer bulletin boards that you call.
Also available on The Baudline II is an Index of RFP reviews
(RFPINDEX.ZIP) and the latest catalog from Sisters in Crime
(RFP-SC.ZIP).
~ HOW TO GET THE PRINT EDITION OF RFP
Send $2 to: Reading For Pleasure, 103 Baughman's Lane, Suite 303,
Frederick, MD 21702. Please specify which issue you'd like. If you
send a check, be sure it's drawn on an American bank and made out to
Cindy Bartorillo, otherwise send cash or a postal money order.
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Table of Contents
Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Mainstream Fiction Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
"Lost Stories" by Peter de Jager . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
Mystery Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885
Science Fiction & Fantasy Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1965
Horror Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3257
Nonfiction Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3946
**************************
~ EDITORIAL
Welcome to Reading For Pleasure #21. We pride ourselves on being a
reader's resource, bringing to the public's attention books they might
be interested in. We include as many details as possible--title,
author, publisher, price, ISBN, etc.--to give our readers the best
possible chance of finding the books they want. In most cases books
not available from the local bookstores can be ordered directly from
the publisher.
Reading For Pleasure is free, except for our print edition for which
we currently ask $2 each to cover paper, printing, and mailing.
Reading For Pleasure is not copyrighted, meaning that you are free to
reproduce it in whole or in part, for whatever purposes you like. All
we ask is that you give proper credit to RFP and the individual
contributor as being the source of the material. We make RFP freely
available to give us the maximum possible distribution, and it really
does work. RFP shows up on computer bulletin boards, at conventions
and shows, at schools, libraries, and bookstores, and probably many
other places I'm not even aware of. Publishers and authors like the
media exposure, and they are then more likely to send us bits of news
and copies of their books, the raw material from which RFP is made.
The books are read, and the commentaries written, by dedicated readers
who would be doing all that reading anyway. They graciously contribute
their words, for whatever personal reasons, and we're all very
grateful for their generosity. If you'd like to contribute a paragraph
or two about a book you've read, please do. You can send it along to
RFP at any of our addresses, which you'll find on the first
screen/page of any copy of RFP.
This brings me to the last point I wanted to mention this time: the
relative number of books covered each issue in each section. Why are
some sections so much bigger than others? The number of books in each
section is a direct result of what kind of books the publishers have
sent us recently, and what reviews we've had contributed. It has
nothing to do with any RFP policy of coverage--we don't have one.
We're here to pass along information and recommendations on any kind
of book that readers might like. It's just that we can't print what we
don't get.
We hope you find lots of good reading for your book list from this
issue of RFP, and we'll see you again in April, 1992.
NOTE: For everyone who looked in vain for Peter de Jager's LOST
STORIES column in last issue, we're sorry. The omission was ours, not
Peter's, and the column that was to have appeared in December can be
found in this issue. Our apologies to Peter and his fans.
**************************
* Comic book artist Reed Waller (OMAHA THE CAT DANCER) was recently
diagnosed with colon cancer. A benefit fund has been set up to help
with his expenses. Send contributions to: Waller Crisis Fund, Box
7439, Powderhorn Stn., Minneapolis, MN 55407.
* As part of the 1991 "Year of the Lifetime Reader" program, a survey
was sponsored by the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Library of
Congress's Center for the Book. The survey found, among other things,
that having a role model of parents who read is the most important
factor in developing the habit of reading--even more important than
being read to by parents.
* The SUNDAY EXPRESS Book of the Year Award, Britain's most valuable
fiction prize (20,000 pounds), is given to novels that are
"compulsively readable" as well as stylish and literate. The recent
winner was Michael Frayn for LANDING ON THE SUN (Viking), and the
runners-up were: WISE CHILDREN by Angela Carter (Farrar, Straus),
DIRTY TRICKS by Michael Dibdin (Simon & Schuster), THE INVISIBLE WORM
by Jennifer Johnston (not yet available in U.S.), FLYING HERO CLASS by
Thomas Keneally (Warner), and TWO LIVES by William Trevor (Viking).
* BOOKS OF MAGIC: In 1983, there was MAGIC (Viking), an autobiography
of the basketball superstar recently diagnosed as HIV positive, which
should be a Signet paperback ($4.99) by the time you read this. Also
just out are two "instant" biographies (books written in an instant),
MAGIC: MORE THAN A LEGEND by Bill Gutman (Harper, $3.99) and THE
COURAGE OF MAGIC JOHNSON by Peter F. Pascarelli (Bantam, $3.99). But,
wait, there's more! Random House has just signed a 3-book contract
with Earvin "Magic" Johnson for an autobiography, a guide to safe sex
to be written with former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, and a third
book whose subject has not yet been determined.
* Daedalus Books has a catalog that you should see. Almost 50 pages of
great books, each with a long description, and all at terrific prices.
Write to them at: Daedalus Books, PO Box 9132, Hyattsville, MD
20781-0932.
* SCARLETT by Alexandra Ripley has engendered new interest in the
original story, GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell. Normally,
around 15,000 hardcovers of GWTW are sold each year. Last year that
number increased to over 195,000. Avon's paperback had sold about
100,000 copies before SCARLETT was released; afterwards they've sold
about 750,000.
* If Oliver Stone's movie JFK wasn't enough for you, just wait.
Production starts in April on LIBRA, from the book by Don DeLillo
about Lee Harvey Oswald; Propaganda Films will bring us RUBY; and I've
just heard that a movie deal is being finalized for Mark Lane's recent
book, PLAUSIBLE DENIAL: WAS THE CIA INVOLVED IN THE ASSASSINATION OF
JFK?
* There's a new variety of cheap literature available called
DimeNovels. Actually, the name is misleading--each DimeNovel costs
$.99, but that still makes them awfully cheap. We haven't seen any,
but you might want to check them out, either for reading or maybe
you'd like to write for them. They recognize 12 different genres
(Sweet Romance, Sensual Romance, Historical Romance, Romantic
Suspense, Glitz, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Western, Adventure,
Fantasy, and Science Fiction.) For more information, write to: Dime
Store Novels, 1511 SW Park Ave., Mail Stop 100C17, Portland, OR
97201-7802.
**************************
^ FRIENDS AT THRUSH GREEN
by Miss Read
(Houghton Mifflin, December 1991, $19.95, ISBN 0-395-57381-5)
<>
"Miss Read" has written over 30 novels--since VILLAGE SCHOOL in
1955--about the charming English country villages of Thrush Green and
Fairacre. Her devoted readers have made many of these novels
international bestsellers, and it's easy to see why. Miss Read's
characters are all real people, but they're all from the nicer side of
town. Oh, maybe someone drinks a bit more than they should, but there
are no bank robbers, rapists, child abusers, dope addicts, pimps, etc.
And therein lies the charm: none of us really lives in a place like
Thrush Green, but most of us would like to. At least we can visit
there for a bit, a 244-page visit.
In FRIENDS AT THRUSH GREEN there are many new developments for the
townsfolk to talk about over tea. For one thing, Dorothy Walton and
Agnes Fogerty, two of Thrush Green's former schoolteachers, return for
a visit. Then the new schoolmaster, Alan Lester, seems a nice enough
man, but what's going on with his wife and her "migraines"? Are they
really migraines, or something else? And then there is the distressing
problem of Bertha Lovelock, who is becoming a bit senile and has taken
to stealing things, becoming an embarrassment to her sister Violet and
a diplomatic crisis for Thrush Green tradespeople. The inhabitants of
Thrush Green face these issues, and more, against the background of
the changing seasons in the English Cotswolds. FRIENDS AT THRUSH GREEN
is pure delight.
**************************
^ MERLE'S & MARILYN'S MINK RANCH: And Other Fiction
by Randeane Tetu
(Papier-Mache Press, November 1991)
Hardcover: $14.00 ISBN 0-918949-13-0
Paperback: $9.00 ISBN 0-918949-17-3
<>
"All of Tetu's characters are 'real people' who travel dirt roads and
compete with the rain to get things done. Her highly descriptive style
lends dignity to their impoverished lives and transforms their
unremarkable experiences into memorable ones."
---LIBRARY JOURNAL
Randeane Tetu's gift is the ability to distinguish the truly important
aspects of our lives from the merely large, or loud. Her craft is a
prose style of such transparent simplicity that there seems to be no
barrier at all between the story and the reader. When her gift and her
craft come together, as in these twenty short fictions, the result is
a touching, life-affirming experience. These are stories about
everyday people, the kind who live next door and who pass you on the
street. They make choices, make mistakes, find hidden strengths,
achieve victories, and reach epiphanies, all without appearing on a
television talk show. MERLE'S & MARILYN'S MINK RANCH is quiet
elegance, humanity captured in words.
If your local bookstore doesn't have MERLE'S & MARILYN'S MINK RANCH,
you can contact the publisher at: Papier-Mache Press, 795 Via Manzana,
Watsonville, CA 95076; 408/726-2933.
**************************
^ ENDGAME IN BERLIN
by William Harrington
(Donald I. Fine, December 1991, $19.95, ISBN 1-55611-313-7)
<>
The Cold War may be over, but international intrigues live on in the
world of industrial espionage. Colonel Nikolai Kedrov, disillusioned
but still loyal KGB operative, is assigned to steal the plans for a
new computer chip from a multinational research company based in
Berlin. Russ Tobin, former Berlin Station Chief and now a senior CIA
intelligence analyst, is assigned the job of security for the computer
chip plans. What happens when these two old Cold Warriors face off is
the core of this fast-paced, exciting international thriller.
ENDGAME IN BERLIN is that new breed of suspense story, the
"post-glasnost international thriller". As William Harrington shows,
times have changed but international tensions continue. People are
still people. His depiction of the new Berlin is as interesting as the
industrial espionage plot. A first-rate page-turner from the author of
OBERST, FOR THE DEFENSE, and THE ENGLISH LADY (soon to be a major
motion picture).
**************************
NEXT ISSUE:
INCIDENT AT POTTER'S BRIDGE by Joe Monninger
George Denkin is a serial killer loose on the campus of a small New
Hampshire college. He likes to wear his victim's scalps on his head,
and has constructed his own special "wig shop" in an abandoned
graveyard vault. A gripping novel that explores the limits of human
cruelty, sexual perversion, and terror.
**************************
~ POPULAR CULTURE, INK
Although they've branched out lately, with THE SHAPE UNDER THE SHEET:
THE COMPLETE STEPHEN KING ENCYCLOPEDIA (reviewed in RFP #19) and
MAYBERRY, MY HOMETOWN: THE ULTIMATE GUIDEBOOK TO AMERICA'S FAVORITE TV
SMALL TOWN, Popular Culture Ink is mostly known for books about music
makers. They have an entire catalog of books about: Elvis, Chuck
Berry, the history of rock 'n roll, Motown, Michael Jackson, hot rod
music, surf music, the Everly Brothers, Phil Spector, punk rock, new
wave music, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the 1960s, the Monkees, and
George Gershwin. And did I forget the Beatles? They have LOADS of
books about the Beatles. You can probably talk them into sending a
catalog if you write to: Popular Culture, Ink, PO Box 1839, Ann Arbor,
MI 48106.
**************************
^ RENOVATING OLD HOUSES by George Nash
(Taunton Press, January 1992, $37.95)
For those with the know-how to fix it up, an older house can be a real
bargain, a good investment, and a treasure--especially in today's
economy. Professional renovator George Nash has written the definitive
book that gives readers the comprehensive hands-on knowledge needed to
bring a vintage home back to useful life. RENOVATING OLD HOUSES has
over 350 pages brimming with practical information on virtually every
aspect of renovation. (You can contact the publisher by writing to:
The Taunton Press, 63 South Main St., PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT
06470-5506.)
**************************
^ THRASHIN' TIME: Harvest Days in the Dakotas
by David Weitzman
(David R. Godine, November 1991, $24.95, ISBN 0-87923-910-7)
<>
It's 1912 on the North Dakota farm that belongs to 10-year-old Peter's
family. The weather is harsh, farmwork requires hard labor from sunup
to sundown, but the family unit is also strong and neighbors can be
counted on to help out in a pinch. The excitement this year is that
"real, scientific farming" has come to Peter's town in the shape of a
huge steam-powered thresher, a machine that can accomplish in hours
what would take humans and horses weeks to get done. Peter's family
can't afford to buy one of the machines, but the neighbors decide to
form a cooperative, renting the machine together and going from farm
to farm, turning a laborious farm chore into more of a social event.
Each person has their own function: the men attend to the hard labor
in the field, the women cook the vast quantities of food necessary to
feed everyone, and the children run errands and help out as best they
can. No one is left out.
THRASHIN' TIME is an especially lovely volume from a publisher known
for beautiful bookcraft. The cover, dust jacket, and pages are an
appropriately creamy wheat color; the illustrations are exquisite as
well as instructive; and the text is an engagingly well-told story of
family love, hard work, and cooperation that will delight the whole
family. THRASHIN' TIME is superb on every level. Highly recommended.
**************************
NEXT ISSUE:
OUTSIDE THE DOG MUSEUM by Jonathan Carroll
Harry Radcliffe is a prize-winning architect with two women vying for
his attention and more clients with blank checks than he has time for.
So what does Harry do? He goes insane. But with the help of the shaman
Venasque he will recover and decide to work for the Sultan of Saru,
who wants Harry to build a billion-dollar dog museum in the middle of
the desert. Soon Harry is consumed by the new project. His dog museum
will dwarf the work of every other architect. It will touch heaven
itself.
**************************
~ NEW FROM PROMETHEUS BOOKS
^PORNOGRAPHY: PRIVATE RIGHT OR PUBLIC MENACE?
edited by Robert M. Baird & Stuart E. Rosenbaum
(December 1991, $14.95, ISBN 0-87975-690-X)
GIRLS ARE GIRLS AND BOYS ARE BOYS: SO WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
A nonsexist sexuality education book for children ages 6-10
by Sol Gordon, illustrated by Vivien Cohen
(November 1991, $9.95, ISBN 0-87975-686-1)
THE LOTUS LOVERS: THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE CURIOUS EROTIC CUSTOM OF
FOOTBINDING IN CHINA
by Howard S. Levy
(January 1992, $29.95, ISBN 0-87975-687-X)
Prometheus Books
700 East Amherst St.
Buffalo, NY 14215
716/837-2475
**************************
^ KISS AND TELL
by Robbi Sommers
(Naiad Press, 1991, $8.95, ISBN 1-56280-005-1)
<>
KISS AND TELL is a collection of short erotic lesbian fiction. The
stories are steamy, sexually explicit, and anatomically correct. A
wide variety of characters, situations, locations, and pleasures are
detailed. And don't miss "The Joy of Cooking", an explicit guide to
kitchen utensils and uses for them you may never have considered.
Robbi Sommers is also the author of previous volumes of erotica:
PLAYERS ($8.95, ISBN 0-941483-73-8) and PLEASURES ($8.95, ISBN
0-941483-49-5). All three can be ordered directly from the publisher
by sending the list price, plus 15% extra for postage and handling,
to: The Naiad Press Inc., PO Box 10543, Tallahassee, FL 32302.
BY THE WAY: If you read gay and lesbian books, you should know about
the LAMBDA BOOK REPORT, a lesbian and gay book review periodical. It's
$19.95 ($28.20) for 6 bimonthly issues to the U.S. (Canada). A sample
copy will run you $3.95. Send your money to: Lambda Book Report, 1625
Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009. Or you can order by
phone by calling 1-800-621-6969.
**************************
~ NEW FROM STOREY/GARDEN WAY PUBLISHING
SATISFYING SOUPS by Phyllis Hobson
($12.95, $14.90 postpaid, ISBN 0-88266-690-8)
GARDEN DESIGN WITH FOLIAGE: FERNS AND GRASSES, VINES AND GROUND
COVERS, ANNUALS AND PERENNIALS, TREES AND SHRUBS
by Judy Glattstein
(Paperback: $17.95, $19.90 postpaid, ISBN 0-88266-686-X)
(Hardcover: $29.95, $31.90 postpaid, ISBN 0-88266-687-8)
BECOMING AN EFFECTIVE RIDER: DEVELOPING YOUR MIND AND BODY FOR BALANCE
AND UNITY
by Cherry Hill
($14.95, $16.90 postpaid, ISBN 0-88266-688-6)
COUNTRY WINES: MAKING & USING WINES FROM HERBS, FRUITS, FLOWERS & MORE
by Pattie Vargas & Rich Gulling
($12.95, $14.90 postpaid, ISBN 0-88266-749-1)
These books can be ordered directly from the publisher by sending the
"postpaid" amount to: Storey Communications/Garden Way Publishing, PO
Box 445, Pownal, VT 05261, or call 1-800-827-8673.
**************************
^ CROSSOVER
by Judith Eubank
(Carroll & Graf, January 1992, $18.95, ISBN 0-88184-746-1)
<>
Meredith Blake has come to the English cathedral city of Exeter to
work towards a postgraduate degree in 18th century English fiction,
taking up residence in Edwards Hall, a large 17th century manor house.
As she is just getting used to university life in England and her
enigmatic tutor Peter Graham, Meredith begins to experience some kind
of time shifts, unaccountably finding herself in and around an Edwards
Hall of some 150 years ago. Soon Meredith is embroiled in a 19th
century mystery, with an historically unexplained death (in 1836)
about to happen. Why, and how, does the mistress of Edwards Hall die?
Will it be murder? Can Meredith prevent it? If she can, should she?
CROSSOVER combines accepted reality and the supernatural, modern times
and past history, with a very deft touch, much like Daphne du Maurier
used to. The changing foreground and background perspectives of the
two timelines is interesting, and the developing relationship between
Meredith and her tutor provides a pleasant subplot. All the various
threads of the story come to a stampeding conclusion that leaves the
reader breathless, but satisfied. A very fine read from a new literary
voice.
**************************
^ MISS MELVILLE RIDES A TIGER
by Evelyn E. Smith
(Donald I. Fine, November 1991, $18.95, ISBN 1-55611-219-X)
<>
Susan Melville is a middle-aged, successful artist living in New York
City. She has a manager named Jill, a sometimes-boyfriend named Peter,
and an unusual hobby: she kills people. Not just anyone, of course,
just people who really deserve it. Like Philip Lord, a pimp who
specializes in kidnapping preteen runaways from bus depots.
Occasionally, Jill's husband, who is a shadowy government figure with
a convenient cover, asks Miss Melville to practice her hobby on
someone in particular. This time out he wants her to assassinate the
Begum of Gandistan, a ruthless woman who has taken over her country by
murdering everyone in her path to the throne. Conveniently, the Begum
is visiting New York City at the moment, so Miss Melville needn't go
out of her way.
But Susan doesn't really want to kill the Begum of Gandistan, and she
particularly doesn't like exercising her hobby at someone else's whim.
She is also distracted at the moment, because an old enemy from her
past, Berengaria Rundle, suddenly has shown up after thirty years
abroad. Within minutes of their big reunion, Susan feels the desire to
murder Berry, who has lost none of her aggressive hostility. When Miss
Melville finally discovers that Berry has been spending all these
years in Gandistan, becoming the Begum, it's as if Fate had sent Berry
to New York City to be killed. Of course there are a few complications
along the way, like the fact that Berry wants Susan dead too, not to
mention the Mafia boss who has decided he wants to marry Miss
Melville. MISS MELVILLE RIDES A TIGER is a great romp of an adventure,
funny and fast-paced. Previous Miss Melville novels have been: MISS
MELVILLE REGRETS, MISS MELVILLE RETURNS, and MISS MELVILLE'S REVENGE.
**************************
~ NEW FROM TARCHER
SUCCEEDING AGAINST THE ODDS: Strategies and Insights from the
Learning-Disabled
by Sally L. Smith
(January 1992, $18.95, ISBN 0-87477-674-0)
MEN AND FRIENDSHIP
by Stuart Miller
(January 1992, $8.95, ISBN 0-87477-685-6)
GROWING TOGETHER STAYING TOGETHER: Preserving Marriage and Family
Relationships in the Face of Personal Change
by Juerg Willi, M.D.
(January 1992, $19.95, ISBN 0-87477-589-2)
ONCE UPON A MIDLIFE: Classic Stories and Mythic Tales to Illuminate
the Middle Years
by Allan B. Chinen, M.D.
(February 1992, $18.95, ISBN 0-87477-677-5)
THE ADULT CHILDREN OF DIVORCE WORKBOOK: A Compassionate Program For
Healing From Your Parents' Divorce
by Mary Hirschfeld, J.D., Ph.D.
(February 1992, $11.95, ISBN 0-87477-672-4)
THE EIGHT ESSENTIAL STEPS TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION: Preserving
Relationships at Work, at Home, and in the Community
by Dudley Weeks, Ph.D.
(February 1992, $20.95, ISBN 0-87477-656-2)
SINUS SURVIVAL: A Self Help Guide for Allergies, Bronchitis, Colds,
and Sinusitis (revised)
by Dr. Robert S. Ivker
(February 1992, $10.95, ISBN 0-87477-684-8)
Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.
5858 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90036
**************************
^ JURASSIC PARK
by Michael Crichton
(Ballantine, December 1991, $5.99, ISBN 0-345-37077-5)
<>
A very special park is being built on an island, 100 miles off the
coast of Costa Rica. It's sort of a zoo for the rich and famous where,
for a price, you can spend the vacation of a lifetime. A zoo in which
the main attraction is real-life dinosaurs from the Jurassic Period.
Genetic engineering has advanced to the stage where DNA strands can be
extracted from insects imbedded in amber, fossilized tree sap from the
Jurassic Period. These insects, in turn, contain the substance of the
dinosaurs and plants from the Jurassic Period and hence THEIR DNA
strands.
Jurassic Park contains specimens from the large and infamous
Tyrannosaurus Rex down to the smallest fern and plant of the Jurassic
Period. Meat eaters, as well as plant eaters...all are represented.
Precautions have been taken so that nothing can wrong. A total animal
count is monitored every five minutes to ensure that no animals have
escaped. Electrified fences have been installed surrounding each of
the areas of the park. To prevent breeding, through genetic
engineering only female animals are produced. All the park buildings
have been built with maximum security in mind. Absolutely nothing can
go wrong.
JURASSIC PARK is the best Michael Crichton novel I have read to date.
I especially like the way he blends science with fiction. Like the
computer printouts, bar charts and graphs that are liberally sprinkled
throughout the book--they tend to give the story a feeling of
authenticity and not the pure fiction that it really is. Or is it pure
fiction? Crichton's novels are not really that far-fetched and could
be very easily be the reality of tomorrow. I have always been
interested in computers and the field of anthropology, so JURASSIC
PARK was easily a hit with me right off. It contained just the right
level of suspense to keep you wanting more and I was actually
disappointed when the book came to an end. I can highly recommend
JURASSIC PARK and look forward to another Michael Crichton novel.
**************************
*-----------------------------*
/ /
~ / LOST STORIES /
/ by Peter de Jager /
/ /
*----------------------------*
There is a small category of stories I label the 'Illusionist' because
they create situations forcing you to ask 'is it possible?'.
It is a rather small category. I have only run across two good
examples. I read them years ago and yet they have stood up very well
to a recent rereading.
Rereading old favorites is sometimes a disappointment. Sort of like
visiting the neighborhood you grew up in. The colors are not as bright
nor the trees as tall as you remember. It is still the old
neighborhood, but it doesn't feel right and you leave with a nagging,
uncomfortable feeling of having lost something special.
In writing this column I am continually rereading old stories
remembered as 'special'. The test for these two stories was simple...
did they get me questioning my 'knowledge of certain things' again? I
am happy to tell you they did.
^ THE JESUS FACTOR
by Edwin Corley
(1971)
The atomic bomb doesn't work!
A ridiculous claim? What about Hiroshima and Nagasaki? These are the
immediate objections that come to mind as you read the back cover.
Of course the atomic bomb works! Any fool knows that...
Well, once you have read THE JESUS FACTOR, you will ask yourself the
question 'yes... but what if...???'
This is the novel's charm. We know the bomb exists and works. Yet
Corley manages to create a scenario that fits perfectly with our
present day political situation. He forces us to question what we know
to be true. The reader is continually rebelling against this ludicrous
idea, but at the same time, continually asking the question 'what if?'
Corley uses a clever technique in getting us to believe the 'big lie'
(or is it a lie?). He scatters little details throughout the book
about various historically important characters. An example is an
anecdote about Fermi. How he used little scraps of paper to determine
the explosive power of the first atomic test. To the best of my
knowledge, the story is true. Meaning of course, I have heard the same
story from other 'reliable' sources.
Another scene describes an encounter with Scott Fitzgerald. When you
read about Fitzgerald to see if the scene is 'real', you discover it
to be very possible and perhaps even likely.
If all the 'little' details are true, then it becomes difficult to
separate truth from fiction. Corley has created a little game for you
to play. The rules are simple. He tries to convince you the bomb is a
fake and you try to maintain your hold on reality. If by the end of
the book you are asking 'What if...' then Corley has won and earned
what you paid for the story. It is an enjoyable little game and yes...
he fairly won the money I paid for my original copy.
^ THE HAB THEORY
by Allan W Eckert
(1976)
The world flips on its axis every 50,000 years!
A ridiculous claim? What if you believed in this theory? What if you
had to convince world leaders the world would come to an end in the
immediate future. That all life will be destroyed unless steps are
taken to save at least a handful of people?
Well, this is the premise of the story, and like THE JESUS FACTOR, by
the end of the novel you will be tempted to move to Mars or some other
more stable environment.
Eckert adopts a more aggressive strategy than does Corley. In THE
JESUS FACTOR you follow someone as he uncovers the 'truth'. In THE HAB
THEORY the lead character is the one trying to convince people the
theory is correct. In doing so, he also 'convinces' the reader that
perhaps property values are a little bit inflated 'all things
considered.'
One of the most convincing pieces of evidence presented to support the
case has stuck in my mind for more than a decade. It has to do with
the magnetic alignment of minerals in lava flows found at the bottom
of the ocean. They flip NS to SN at 50,000 year intervals. I did
enough research at first reading to determine that this was a 'fact',
but never did find an answer as to why... This is only one of many
'facts' used to build the case for the HAB Theory.
Like THE JESUS FACTOR, reading the novel is a contest of wits between
yourself and the author. Will he manage to convince you the theory is
true? Or will you survive his logic?
There is another reason why these two books are so enjoyable. On their
own they are 'intellectual' challenges. They are like mystery stories
in reverse. In a mystery novel you have to figure out who did it. In
these, you have to figure out how the author is doing it to you. How
exactly is he winning the argument?
Together, these novels tempt you to consider the following question.
If these authors can make cases for 'ludicrous' claims in a mere
novel... What could the media do if they really wanted you to believe
something that wasn't so? Interesting question? Yes?
These are fun reads, if you like to play mind games -and- don't mind
losing from time to time! Enjoy!
**************************
~BOOKS ON TAPE:
^ STORIES FROM WILDERNESS TIPS
by Margaret Atwood, performance by Helen Shaver
2 cassettes, 3 hours
(Bantam Audio, 1991, $15.99, ISBN 0-553-47023-X)
Margaret Atwood is an incomparable observer, of both the many textures
of contemporary life and the logic of irrational behavior. In "Hack
Wednesday" a columnist balances the turmoil of the news--and the
newsroom where she works--against the hope and comfort of her domestic
life. "Wilderness Tips" maps the perilous territories of family
relationships and infidelity. A grotesque act of revenge for love
betrayed is made all the sweeter for being wrapped in a truffle in
"Hairball". A teenage boy at summer camp learns to rough it over the
rocky terrain of his adolescent desire for a forbidden town girl in
"True Trash".
**************************
^ ANOTHER VIEW
by Rosamunde Pilcher, performance by Lynn Redgrave
Abridged, 2 cassettes, 3 hours
(Bantam Audio, 1991, $15.99, ISBN 0-553-47006-X)
Emma Litton could get on with her life until she found out just what
place she'd had in her father's heart. She'd been going to school in
Europe since she was 14 then found a job in Paris, always wondering
what her famous artist father was doing in Japan or America or at
their cottage in Cornwall. Even after she met Robert Morrow, the
handsome gallery owner, and rediscovered her stepbrother, Christo, she
still felt compelled to probe into the truth about her past. But Emma
might learn too late that it was the truth about herself she had to
find, and that letting go is the first step to keeping love.
**************************
^ UNDER GEMINI
by Rosamunde Pilcher, performance by Kate Burton
Abridged, 2 cassettes, 3 hours
(Bantam Audio, 1991, $15.99, ISBN 0-553-45293-2)
Every family hides something, but Flora Waring discovered a
devastating deception in hers. At 22 she learned she had an identical
twin, Rose, who lived with the mother Flora didn't remember at all.
And when Flora ended up impersonating the high-spirited, spoiled Rose,
she would have to face how cruel lies can be. When she agreed to
accompany Rose's fiance to meet his grandmother in a picturesque town
on the Scottish coast, she would quickly fall in love with the lush
green countryside, the Armstrong family, and a rare, wonderful man.
But she would also confront Rose's shocking secrets and a betrayal
that could break her heart.
**************************
^ CHARLOTTE'S WEB
by E.B. White, read by E.B. White
Unabridged, 3 cassettes, 192 minutes
(Bantam Audio, 1970, $18.99, ISBN 0-553-47048-5)
This is the story of a kindhearted little girl named Fern who saves
the life of a very small and very lucky pig named Wilbur. It is also
the story of Charlotte A. Cavatica, the beautiful, resourceful gray
spider who lives with Wilbur in the barn and who becomes his best
friend. Surrounded by his barnyard pals and cheered by Fern's visits,
Wilbur enjoys each new day...until the old sheep tells him what
farmers do to pigs at Christmastime. Suddenly Wilbur is terribly
afraid, but faithful Charlotte promises to spin a clever plan to save
her humble friend. And with the help of Templeton the rat, she does
just that. As moving and eloquent now as when it was first written
forty years ago, CHARLOTTE'S WEB celebrates the sweetness of
friendship, even when it is tinged by loss.
**************************
^ STUART LITTLE
by E.B. White, read by Julie Harris
Unabridged, 2 cassettes, 113 minutes
(Bantam Audio, 1965, $15.99, ISBN 0-553-47051-5)
Stuart Little is a shy, philosophical little mouse with a big heart
and a taste for adventure. In spite of his diminutive stature, barely
two inches tall, Stuart sets forth into the world with some mighty big
plans: to ride a Fifth Avenue bus, to win a sailboat race in Central
Park, and to teach school for a day. But Stuart's greatest adventure
begins when he decides to find his best friend, Margalo, a pretty
little bird who once lived in a Boston fern in the Littles' house in
New York City. Climbing into his tiny car, Stuart hits the open road,
sure he's heading in the right direction, only to find himself in for
a big surprise. Filled with warmth, wit, and wonder, STUART LITTLE is
a timeless tale that speaks to the heroic spirit in all of us--no
matter what our size.
**************************
^ BOOTY FOR A BADMAN
by Louis L'Amour
Audio Dramatization, 1 cassette, 60 minutes
(Bantam Audio, 1991, $8.99, ISBN 0-553-47008-6)
<>
It's the late 1800s: Tell Sackett has been hired to deliver the
combined gold of a group of prospectors. The challenge? He has to get
it across land controlled by the Coopers, a nasty gang of bloodthirsty
bandits. That's enough of a job for any man, but then he runs across
Christine Mallory, an attractive, difficult city woman who needs
rescuing. Tell just KNOWS she's going to be trouble, and it's for sure
she'll slow him down, but what's an honorable cowboy to do?
This is a full-blown audio drama, with a complete cast, music, and
sound effects--terrific entertainment for a quiet hour or an average
day's commute. A first-rate story that I enjoyed tremendously.
**************************
^ THE TOWN NO GUNS COULD TAME
by Louis L'Amour
Audio Dramatization, 1 cassette, 60 minutes
(Bantam Audio, 1991, $9.99, ISBN 0-553-47017-5)
<>
The town is Basin City, a town of miners, gamblers, and drifters of
all kinds. To protect tomorrow's stagecoach that will be leaving with
over a quarter of a million dollars in gold, the town's businessmen
hire a new marshall. A gunfighter on the run, Perry accepts the job,
only to find that protecting the gold isn't his first task. First he
has to live through tonight without being lynched. One of the
businessmen who hires Perry is actually behind the series of robberies
in Basin City. He has hired a couple of gunslingers to take care of
Perry and make it look like he is the real robber.
Like BOOTY FOR A BADMAN, THE TOWN NO GUNS COULD TAME is also a
full-blown audio drama, with a complete cast, music, and sound
effects. This is the second Louis L'Amour dramatization I have
listened to on tape and I enjoyed it as much as the first. If you're
looking for a way to relax and enjoy a quiet hour with a really good
story, try THE TOWN NO GUNS COULD TAME. I bet you'll like it as much
as I did.
MORE LOUIS L'AMOUR CASSETTES FROM BANTAM AUDIO
(all are 60 minutes unless otherwise noted)
Bill Carey Rides West ($8.95)
The Black Rock Coffin Makers (LL, $8.95)
Bowdrie Passes Through (LL, *, $8.95)
Bowdrie Rides a Coyote Trail (*, $8.99)
Case Closed--No Prisoners (LL, *, $8.95)
Down the Pogonip Trail ($8.95)
Four-Card Draw (LL, $8.95)
Get Out of Town ($8.99)
Grub Line Rider ($8.95)
Keep Travelin', Rider (LL, $8.95)
Lonigan ($8.95)
Man Riding West ($8.95)
McNelly Knows a Ranger (*, $8.95)
Merrano of the Dry Country ($8.95)
No Man's Man ($8.95)
One For the Mohave Kid ($8.95)
One For the Pot ($8.95)
A Ranger Rides to Town (*, $8.95)
Riding For the Brand ($8.95)
The Road to Casa Piedras (*, $8.95)
Showdown Trail (LL, performance by Richard Crenna, 180 min., $15.99)
The Sixth Shotgun ($8.95)
South of Deadwood (LL, *, $8.95)
Strange Pursuit (LL, *, $8.95)
The Strong Shall Live ($8.95)
Too Tough to Brand (*, $8.95)
The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon (LL, performance by Robert Stack, 145
min., $15.95)
A Trail to the West (LL, *, $8.95)
Trap of Gold and Hattan's Castle (LL, performance by Richard Crenna,
$8.95)
The Turkeyfeather Riders (LL, $8.95)
Unguarded Moment ($8.95)
Where Buzzards Fly (LL, *, $8.95)
LL = Introduction by Louis L'Amour
* = a Chick Bowdrie story
The Chick Bowdrie Audio Boxed Set: SOUTH OF DEADWOOD, A TRAIL TO THE
WEST, and WHERE BUZZARDS FLY ($19.95, ISBN 0-553-45193-6)
The A RANGER RIDES AGAIN Audio Boxed Set: McNELLY KNOWS A RANGER, A
RANGER RIDES TO TOWN, and CASE CLOSED--NO PRISONERS ($19.99, ISBN
0-553-45280-0)
The RIDING FOR THE BRAND Audio Boxed Set: THE TURKEYFEATHER RIDERS,
FOUR-CARD DRAW, and RIDING FOR THE BRAND ($19.95, ISBN 0-553-45230-4)
**************************
#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#
~ # MURDER BY THE BOOK #
#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#
editor: Cindy Bartorillo
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Murder By The Book is a division of Reading For Pleasure, published
bimonthly. This material is NOT COPYRIGHTED and may be used freely by
all. Catalogs, news releases, review copies, or donated reviews should
be sent to: Reading For Pleasure, 103 Baughman's Lane, Suite 303,
Frederick, MD 21702.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
~ 1990 SHAMUS AWARD WINNERS
Presented by the Private Eye Writers of America.
Best Novel: "G" IS FOR GUMSHOE by Sue Grafton
Best First Novel: DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS by Walter Mosley
Best Paperback Original: RAFFERTY: FATAL SISTERS by W. Glenn Duncan
Best Short Story: "Final Resting Place" by Marcia Muller
Lifetime Achievement: Roy Huggins
~ 1990 ANTHONY AWARD WINNERS
Presented by the membership of Bouchercon.
Best Novel: "G" IS FOR GUMSHOE by Sue Grafton
Best First Novel: POSTMORTEM by Patricia Daniels Cornwell
Best Paperback Original (tie): GRAVE UNDERTAKING by Jim McCahery
WHERE'S MOMMY NOW? by Rochelle Krich
Best Short Story: "The Celestial Buffet" by Sue Dunlap
*/-----------------------------/*
* Have you seen the latest newsletter/catalogue from THE POISONED PEN?
If not, you'd better get one right away. Write to: The Poisoned Pen,
7100B East Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. If you're in a real
hurry, you can call them at: 602/947-2974.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ NEW YORK DEAD
by Stuart Woods
(HarperCollins, 1991, $20.00, ISBN 0-06-017925-2)
<>
J. Stone Barrington is not your average New York cop. He is of a
distinguished, though now impoverished, family and is struggling to
renovate an impressively large house in New York City that is part of
his inheritance. One evening, walking home from Elaine's, Stone is a
witness as famous television anchorwoman Sasha Nijinsky plunges from
the top of a twelve-story apartment building. An on-the-spot news
camera shows that Sasha, remarkably, survived the fall, at least
momentarily; but everyone is astounded when Sasha disappears from the
ambulance on the way to the hospital. Now Stone is involved in a
front-page case: the media putting pressure on the politicians, and
the politicians putting pressure on the police. Everyone wants the
case solved, and they want it solved now.
Is Sasha alive? Is so, why doesn't she come forward? As the pressure
on the police department mounts, Stone's boss and partner decide to
pin the murder on a reasonably likely suspect: the lesbian makeup
artist who was having an affair with Sasha. Stone is absolutely
convinced that this woman is innocent, yet he loves his job on the
police force. What will Stone do? Watching the unfolding events in NEW
YORK DEAD is irresistible, and doing so kept me up most of the night.
It wasn't until after I'd finished that I noticed the surreal quality
of the story. The characters are all at least slightly weird: Stone's
breeding is unusual for a cop, his Italian partner marries into the
mob during the course of the story, and his new girlfriend is five
feet eleven inches of nonstop sexuality. The plot details are odd too,
and they reach a crescendo of unreality in a grotesque climax worthy
of Poe or even Lovecraft. And yet, it was all perfectly believable at
the time! At no point did a wrong note jump out and disrupt the flow
of the narrative. NEW YORK DEAD is an amazing example of the writer's
craft, and a very exciting story. Highly recommended.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ STEEL GUITAR: A Carlotta Carlyle Mystery
by Linda Barnes
(Delacorte, November 1991, $18.50, ISBN 0-385-30013-1)
<>
Carlotta Carlyle is a Boston private detective who's hard to miss:
she's 6'1" and has red hair. But the P.I. business isn't always
booming, which is why she drives a cab sometimes to pay the bills. One
night she picks up Dee Willis, an old college friend who has recently
become a big-time blues singer. Dee insists upon stopping at a park
that caters to the homeless in a very poor neighborhood, where
Carlotta watches her show a photograph around and hand out money. When
her methods almost lead to violence, Dee hires Carlotta to find
another old friend, a guitar player who has been down on his luck for
years. Dee says she just wants to make sure he's OK, but Carlotta's
not too sure. Dee's motives are found to be more complex, and when one
of the members of her band is found dead--a death echoing another from
Carlotta and Dee's past--the case becomes a race against the past to
save the present.
STEEL GUITAR is easily one of the best mysteries of 1991, and should
be on the reading list of any discriminating reader. The characters
are multi-layered and interesting, the plot is fascinating, the
suspense fairly crackles, and the book features the best use of a
background subject--music, specifically the blues--I've read in quite
a while. Drama, humor, pathos, thrills, it's all here. STEEL GUITAR is
not to be missed. There are three previous Carlotta Carlyle mysteries:
A TROUBLE OF FOOLS, SNAKE TATTOO, and COYOTE.
*/-----------------------------/*
~ CLAIRE MALLOY NOVELS BY JOAN HESS
Strangled Prose (1986)
Murder at the Murder at the Mimosa Inn (1986)
Dear Miss Demeanor (1987)
A Really Cute Corpse (1988)
A Diet to Die For (1989)
Roll Over and Play Dead (1991)
*/-----------------------------/*
^ KILLER CINDERELLA
by Simon Shaw
(Doubleday Perfect Crime, January 1992, $16.50, ISBN 0-385-41891-4)
<>
Mark Harvey's life is not a happy one. He's not happy with his bank
job, having lost out on the promotion he deserved. He lives in the
peaceful English countryside but has been cursed with new neighbors
who give almost continual loud parties. He's got a suicidal lodger
living in his attic. But his very worst problem, no doubt about it, is
his wife Maddie. She's fat, shrewish, unfaithful, and has half the
town convinced that it is Mark who is the villain of the marriage.
And, worst of all, she's dead, and Mark's killed her. He didn't mean
to, of course, but he can't count on that having much weight with the
police. So he puts her in the freezer in the basement.
But now Mark has another problem. Maddie will be missed. There's her
obnoxious feminist friend Lizzie, her pathetic lover Roddy, and his
pretentious new neighbor, Reg, who has become obsessed with wooing
Maddie, whom he pictures as a beautiful and refined lady. What is Mark
to do? Virtually by accident he finds himself dressing up and
impersonating his dead wife. Which might sound like a lot of trouble
to go through but there are two factors in its favor: (1) Mark finds
that he makes a damned attractive female, and (2) he discovers that he
likes it. He even consents to an intimate dinner with the besotted
neighbor, only to disappear in a rush, leaving a high-heeled shoe
behind, just like Cinderella. From that point on, Simon Shaw's
hilarious romp of a story is off, with unscrupulous tabloid
journalists, bewildered policemen, and a multi-layered plot of
intertwining misunderstandings and foul-ups that leave the reader
breathless. It's sort of like Donald Westlake telling an Alfred
Hitchcock black comedy with a Monty Python accent. But not quite.
KILLER CINDERELLA is one book you'll just have to experience for
yourself. It's a lot of fun. This is Simon Shaw's second novel, his
first being MURDER OUT OF TUNE.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ MERMAID
by Margaret Millar
(International Polygonics, October 1991, $8.95, ISBN 1-55882-114-7)
<>
Once again we have to thank International Polygonics for bringing a
terrific novel back into print. Originally published in 1982, MERMAID
is a story about Cleo Jasper and the lives that she touches. She is
22, attends a special school for the learning disabled, and lives with
her brother, his wife, and their son. When Cleo disappears, her
brother Hilton hires attorney Tom Aragon to find her. Tom soon
discovers that a counselor at her school is involved with Cleo's
disappearance somehow, but he can't be found either.
As we get to know the characters more intimately, we find that Cleo
has affected them all deeply. Her specialness, the difference which
causes everyone to protect and defend her, both ensnares those around
her and leaves Cleo free of any consequences of her actions. Like the
mermaid of the title, Cleo is lovely and needs protecting. The key
phrase is "she needs". And needs. And needs. Loving Cleo is like
loving a mermaid: you try so hard to give them a normal life, and yet
your efforts are doomed to failure from the start. If you haven't read
any of Margaret Millar's wonderful novels of psychological suspense,
MERMAID is a good place to begin.
~ OTHER MARGARET MILLAR NOVELS AVAILABLE FROM IPL:
An Air That Kills ($4.95)
Ask For Me Tomorrow ($4.95)
Banshee ($5.95)
Beast In View ($4.95)
Beyond This Point Are Monsters ($4.95)
The Cannibal Heart ($4.95)
The Fiend ($5.95)
Fire Will Freeze ($5.95)
How Like An Angel ($4.95)
The Iron Gates ($4.95)
The Listening Walls ($5.95)
The Murder of Miranda ($4.95)
Rose's Last Summer ($4.95)
Spider Webs ($5.95)
A Stranger in My Grave ($7.95)
Vanish In An Instant ($7.95)
Wall of Eyes ($4.95)
If you can't get the Millar novels you want from your local bookstore,
you can order them directly from IPL by sending the list price(s),
plus postage and handling ($1 for the first book, $.50 for each
additional book) to: International Polygonics, Ltd., Madison Square,
PO Box 1563, New York, NY 10159-1563.
*/-----------------------------/*
NEXT ISSUE:
BLACK WIDOW by Patrick Quentin
With his wife out of town, Broadway producer Peter Duluth is careful
not to encourage pretty young actresses. But Nanny Ordway seems
harmless and a tenuous friendship develops, a friendship that lasted
until the day Iris Duluth returned home, entered her bedroom and
discovered Nanny Ordway, dressed in pajamas...dead and hanging from
the chandelier.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ BLOOD GAMES: A True Account of Family Murder
by Jerry Bledsoe
(Dutton, November 1991, $22.95, ISBN 0-525-93369-7)
<>
In late July of 1988, Lieth Von Stein and his wife Bonnie were
savagely attacked by an intruder armed with a baseball bat and a
knife. Lieth was killed, Bonnie nearly so. The police investigation
discovered a conspiracy between Bonnie's son Chris Pritchard and two
of his friends at North Carolina State University: Neal Henderson,
certified genius and obsessive Dungeons & Dragons player; and Bart
Upchurch, an upper class youth who lived for thrills. BLOOD GAMES is
the grim story of how three privileged young people plotted and
executed the murderous attack on Lieth and Bonnie Von Stein.
When violent crimes are committed by the uneducated, the poor, the
disadvantaged, we can always comfort ourselves as human beings by
giving reasons (reasons, not excuses) for their actions: They never
had the cultural, economic, educational, or social opportunities that
most of the rest of us have had. But in BLOOD GAMES we meet three
young people who are, on the surface, examples of America's best and
brightest, the finest our culture can produce, with every opportunity
and advantage. What can we tell ourselves when those three people turn
out to be monsters? Jerry Bledsoe tells the story of these youths, and
of many of their generation, in BLOOD GAMES, giving the reader an
unflinching examination of the privileged classes in America in the
1980s. Impossible to put down. (Jerry Bledsoe is also the author of
the previous bestseller, BITTER BLOOD.)
*/-----------------------------/*
~ ARLY HANKS NOVELS BY JOAN HESS
Malice in Maggody (1987)
Mischief in Maggody (1988)
Much Ado in Maggody (1989)
Madness in Maggody (1991)
Mortal Remains in Maggody (1991)
*/-----------------------------/*
^ THE SKELETON IN THE CLOCK
by Carter Dickson (aka John Dickson Carr)
(International Polygonics, $5.95, ISBN 1-55882-103-1)
<>
Originally published in 1948, THE SKELETON IN THE CLOCK is one of the
very best of Carr's mysteries starring The Old Man, Sir Henry
Merrivale. (For a complete list of Merrivale books, and their IPL
editions, see RFP #19.) In this one, a psychic researcher looks for
ghosts in the execution shed of an old prison. Sir Henry becomes
involved and is faced with a 20-year-old murder as well as a brand new
one. Mystery monger Art Bourgeau, in his book THE MYSTERY LOVER'S
COMPANION (1986), rated THE SKELETON IN THE CLOCK "A True Classic".
*/-----------------------------/*
^ HUBBERT & LIL: PARTNERS IN CRIME
by Gallagher Gray
(Donald I. Fine, December 1991, $18.95, ISBN 1-55611-308-0)
<>
"We're looking for CLUES, Theodore. For god's sake.
Haven't you ever read a detective novel?"
"One or two." In truth, he'd read hundreds. "Have you?"
"Maybe," she said vaguely.
Theodore, known to everyone else as T.S. Hubbert, is a 55-year-old
barely-retired personnel manager who reads paperback mysteries by the
stack and gives them to a neighbor so nobody will find out. She is his
Auntie Lil, an 84-year-old retired clothes designer who drinks Bloody
Marys with extra Tabasco and has stacks of detective magazines at home
which she hides in the back of a closet. Together they manage to solve
the murders at Sterling & Sterling, the prestigious banking firm for
which T.S. had worked for the past three decades. It was on the very
first day of his retirement, actually, that he got a call to come back
to the office and help out with the emergency: one of the partners of
the firm, Robert Cheswick, had been stabbed to death at his desk.
T.S. decides to compromise--he'll go back to the office temporarily,
but he won't wear a tie. He finds Cheswick still in his chair, the
police crawling over the scene of the crime, and the first two clues:
there is a dead boutonniere on the desk and the dead man's fly is
open. It will take the keen mind of Auntie Lil to correctly interpret
these clues, but T.S. will have problems of his own to solve. HUBBERT
AND LIL: PARTNERS IN CRIME is the first installment of what is to be a
new series of whodunits. If you like your mysteries light on the
violence and heavy on the puzzle, be sure to catch the first adventure
for T.S. and Auntie Lil.
*/-----------------------------/*
NEXT ISSUE:
THE WRONG RITE by Charlotte MacLeod writing as Alisa Craig
Detective Inspector Madoc Rhys of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
takes his family to Wales for a jolly reunion honoring the family
patriarch...and lands them in a tangle of thievery, skulduggery, and
bloody bedevilment that reaches its horrendous climax when cousin Mary
takes an ill-timed leap through the ritual Beltane fire.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ PURE COP: Cop Talk from the Streets to the Specialized
Units-Bomb Squad, Arson, Hostage Negotiation, Prostitution,
Major Accidents, Crime Scene
by Connie Fletcher (author of WHAT COPS KNOW)
(Villard Books, 1991, $22.50, ISBN 0-679-40036-2)
<>
Okay, so the title is a mouthful. You'll be able to locate this book
on the bookstore shelf quite easily with just the "PURE COP" portion
of the title which is in nearly two inch high lettering, or because
all of the available copies will be in the hands of browsers as they
block the aisle. This is one of those books that, once you've picked
it up and glanced through it, it is hard to put down.
This is oral history, the likes of which you probably won't find
elsewhere, except in another Connie Fletcher book. PURE COP presents
cops, in their own words, as they talk about what it is they do. I
mean, what they REALLY do--not as television portrays them or
newspaper reporters depict them. It's as if you are sitting with a
bunch of cops and talking shop. Nothing deleted, nothing held back. At
the end of each chapter is a list of the contributing officers and
their bios, but Ms. Fletcher has not specifically identified who said
what which makes the reading even more fascinating. You get the
feeling that no one is tempering their comments for fear of a
backlash, either from the public at large or from individual police
supervisors.
Ms. Fletcher gained access to these police officers and their comments
through "an accident of birth" as she calls it. Her sister is a
supervising Chicago Police Department sergeant and has been a cop
since 1981.
I can't imagine anyone who would not enjoy this book, but especially
mystery/crime writers-in-training would be wise to get a copy! You
won't believe all of the misinformation you have accumulated over the
years.
NOTE: Talk to mystery maven Cherie Jung, and many other mystery fans,
on her computer bulletin board devoted to mysteries, Over My Dead
Body! Mystery BBS 206/473-4522. You'll find book reviews, news, and
lots of good mysterious conversation.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ THE BIG MIDGET MURDERS
by Craig Rice
(International Polygonics, 1991, $6.95, ISBN: 1-55882-112-0)
<>
"What the devil are we going to do now?"
"Search the rest of the place," Helene suggested.
Jake snorted indignantly. "I suppose you want to go around
asking everybody you meet if he's seen a bass fiddle case
with a dead midget in it."
The dead midget is Jay Otto, a nightclub comedian who specializes in
cruel humor. He bills himself as the Big Midget, and has given a real
shot in the arm to Jake and Helene Justus' newly opened nightclub, but
one critic decided the show shouldn't continue. Now Jake and Helene,
and their good friend and lawyer John J. Malone, must solve the crime
before their other good friend Homicide Chief von Flanagan finds out
that they moved the body into a fiddle case. Which is now missing.
THE BIG MIDGET MURDERS is a delightful romp through the 1940s Chicago
world of nightclubs, gangsters, and small-time entertainers. Most of
the fun comes from watching Jake, Helene, and Malone bicker and
wisecrack their way through the mystery as clues are overlooked, more
bodies appear, and witnesses must force them to listen to evidence.
Somehow everything gets pulled together in the end, with all the
suspects gathered together in classic fashion, and the mystery is
solved. A classic mystery by an unjustly forgotten writer.
~ MORE CRAIG RICE MYSTERIES FROM INTERNATIONAL POLYGONICS:
THE CORPSE STEPS OUT ($7.95)
8 FACES AT 3 ($5.95)
THE RIGHT MURDER ($8.95)
THE WRONG MURDER ($7.95)
TRIAL BY FURY ($5.95)
CRIME ON MY HANDS ($7.95; by George Sanders, ghostwritten by Rice)
If you can't get these books from your local bookstore, you can order
them directly from the publisher by sending the list price(s) plus
postage and handling ($1 for the first book, $.50 for each additional
book) to: International Polygonics, Ltd., Madison Square, PO Box 1563,
New York, NY 10159-1563.
*/-----------------------------/*
NEXT ISSUE:
THE CASE OF THE GILDED FLY by Edmund Crispin
Gervase Fen, Professor of English Literature at the University of
Oxford, solves his first recorded case in THE CASE OF THE GILDED FLY.
The setting is the Oxford Repertory Theatre. The cast includes a
playwright, a producer, a famous actress, a conniving actress (always
a highly desirable victim), an organist, two undergraduates, a
journalist, and an artillery captain. Fen finds murder in the wings
and suspicion on stage as the curtain rises on one of his most
intriguing cases ever.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ MORE FIVE-MINUTE MYSTERIES
by Ken Weber
(Running Press, 1991, $6.95, ISBN 1-56138-058-X)
<>
What do you get when you take a classic puzzle mystery and cut out all
the unnecessary character development, description, subplots, and
subtexts? Everything, that is, except for the core puzzle? You've got
a Five-Minute Mystery, a four- or five-page mystery puzzle, complete
with setup, clues, and red herrings. You get to pore over the details,
looking for the one fact that doesn't fit in, the shattered glass on
the wrong side of the window, the hound that DOESN'T bark in the
night. Generally, however, Weber's puzzles are bit more sophisticated
than that. You'll need to pick up on combinations of clues, logical
inferences that don't match the rest of the story. MORE FIVE-MINUTE
MYSTERIES gives you 34 tough problems to solve, over 200 pages of
mystery fun for readers who occasionally like to take their puzzles
straight.
(If you can't get MORE FIVE-MINUTE MYSTERIES from your local
bookstore, you can order it directly from the publisher by sending the
list price, plus $2.50 postage and handling, to: The Running Press,
125 South Twenty-second Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.)
*/-----------------------------/*
^ STILL WATERS: A Helen Black Mystery
by Pat Welch
(Naiad Press, 1991, $8.95, ISBN 0-941483-97-5)
<>
When Helen Black hears about the death of her old friend Jill, she
feels guilty. Jill had been an investigative reporter at one time, but
had been on a long downhill slide, both professionally and personally,
for several years. Maybe she could have done more for her old friend,
and now she'll never know. But when Helen plays the tape on her
answering machine, she discovers that Jill had called her just before
she died. Jill left a message that she was onto something big, had
just spent a half hour hiding the proof, that she was being followed,
and that she needed Helen's services as a private detective.
Helen decides to spend a few days at the resort hotel where Jill had
been staying when she died, and Helen's lover Frieda decides to come
along. While staying at Still Waters Lodge, Helen comes upon a variety
of side plots and conflicting motivations, not to mention drunken
redneck types and a very nasty policeman. What had Jill gotten herself
involved in, and what happened to her car? To complicate matters,
Helen is also trying to salvage her relationship with Frieda, who is
not terribly supportive of Helen's detective work.
The mystery comes to a dynamic conclusion with a devastating forest
fire, and Helen discovers the truth at last. A first-rate mystery
story, and much more. During the course of STILL WATERS, Helen Black
must wrestle with the moral ambiguities of detective work, making her
a very unusually perceptive fictional investigator. She realizes that
her detective work alters peoples lives, and that she has no heavenly
mandate to right the wrongs of the world. Helen's dedication to her
job is on probation, needing continuing justification for the risks
that have to be taken and the disturbance of other people's lives.
Another unusual note of maturity in STILL WATERS is that the murder
victim isn't glorified. Jill isn't awarded sainthood for having been
killed; her actions and motivations must be judged on their own merit.
All the way around, STILL WATERS is a terrific multi-dimensional
mystery novel.
You can order STILL WATERS directly from the publisher by sending the
list price, plus 15% extra for postage and handling to: The Naiad
Press, Inc., PO Box 10543, Tallahassee, FL 32302. Or you can call
their Orders-Only phone: 1-800-533-1973. You might want to treat
yourself to Helen Black's first mystery as well: MURDER BY THE BOOK,
$8.95, ISBN 0-941483-59-2).
*/-----------------------------/*
^ THE FACE ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR
by Stan Cutler
(Dutton, December 1991, $18.95, ISBN 0-525-93381-6)
<>
THE FACE ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR stars fifty-something, overweight
Hollywood detective Rayford Goodman and thirty-something, gay writer
Mark Bradley, previously seen in BEST PERFORMANCE BY A PATSY. This
time the adventure begins when a local Mafia boss "asks" Goodman to
guard a good friend, the famous movie director Claudio Fortunata.
Coincidentally, Bradley has been assigned to write a biography of the
same man, and when Bradley shows up for his first interview, he finds
that Goodman is being arrested--for the murder of Fortunata!
Complications arise when the murder victim turns out to be someone
else, and Goodman and Bradley are forced to collaborate on another
investigation.
While the plot is engaging, Goodman and Bradley are the stars of this
show. The two men don't like each other, but have much in common:
they're both intelligent, good at their jobs, enjoy wisecracking, and
have crumbling love lives. THE FACE ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR is a
fine addition to the subgenre of Hollywood Murder Mystery, but with
one small warning. While the violence in the novel is low-key, and
most of it occurs off-stage, to be discovered by Ray and Mark, the
most brutal attack is saved for a tiny kitten, so animal lovers may
want to reconsider whether or not to read THE FACE ON THE CUTTING ROOM
FLOOR.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ PANDORA BY HOLLY HOLLANDER
by Gene Wolfe
(Tor, December 1990, $17.95, ISBN 0-312-85010-7)
<>
You may have missed this excellent mystery from Gene Wolfe because of
a marketing, or rather a shelving, problem. Most of the author's
previous novels are sold as SF/Fantasy, and many bookstores and
libraries shelve them in that section, and unfortunately many people
never noticed that PANDORA BY HOLLY HOLLANDER isn't SF or Fantasy at
all, but is a very fine murder mystery. Gene Wolfe's style here is
mature and literate, a spare prose that tells an emotionally wrenching
story without underlining everything to instruct the reader what
emotion is now appropriate. Everything that is necessary is there, but
the reader is allowed space for their own understanding.
Holly Hollander is the teenage daughter of a wealthy businessman
living in a town in the outskirts of Chicago, and a more engaging
heroine for a mystery story you couldn't imagine. Her family owns a
lock manufacturing business, her father collects books about locks and
locksmithing while her mother plays her part as the incredibly
beautiful, shockingly young wife of an older man, and this year it's
her turn to run the charity fund-raising Fair. As a central
attraction, Holly's mother buys a very heavy, very old wooden box that
is inscribed "Pandora" in gold letters. The key was lost long ago, and
no one knows what's in the box. Elaine Hollander plans to raffle off
the box, and the local locksmith will open the box for the first time
at the Fair. Tragically, the box appears to have contained a bomb,
which detonates when the unfortunate locksmith opens it, also killing
the man with the winning raffle ticket. Holly, along with many others,
is injured in the blast and hospitalized. Later, her Uncle Bert, an
escaped mental patient, is found shot to death in the hospital parking
lot, apparently killed while trying to visit Holly.
Holly, and her new-found friend the criminologist Aladdin Blue, must
solve the crimes as first Elaine Hollander, then Mr. Hollander, come
under suspicion. Who was meant to be killed by the bomb? Is the murder
of Uncle Bert related to the bombing? What about those threatening
calls that the locksmith had been receiving in the weeks prior to his
death? Where did rare book dealer De Witte Sinclair disappear to after
the bombing? Aladdin Blue and Holly will discover all the answers, and
entertain the reader as well, in this terrific mystery with a writing
style several cuts above the average whodunit. Trust me on this one:
you'll enjoy PANDORA BY HOLLY HOLLANDER, even if you have to brave the
SF section to find it.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ LIARS & TYRANTS & PEOPLE WHO TURN BLUE
by Barbara Paul
(International Polygonics, 1980, $5.95, ISBN 1-55882-110-4)
<>
Shelby Kent knows when people are lying. I mean she really KNOWS; she
sees a red aura around anyone telling a fib, she's never wrong.
Naturally, she's in great demand with police departments, but one day
she gets called to a higher duty by Sir John Dudley, the head of a
special intelligence agency working for the United Nations. It seems
that someone has been selling weapons to rebel groups around the
world; but not just weapons, defective weapons. Why would anyone do
such a thing? Where do you go to get defective weapons anyway? Soon
Shelby is caught up in a high-profile case getting heavy media
attention, much to the disgust of her soon-to-be-ex-husband Eric, who
can't stand the ribbing he gets for living with a freakish wife who
nobody, including him, can lie to.
LIARS & TYRANTS & PEOPLE WHO TURN BLUE is a great comic romp,
unapologetically unbelievable. Another literate and witty tale from
Paul. Also by Barbara Paul: THE FOURTH WALL, YOUR EYES ARE GETTING
HEAVY, A CADENZA FOR CARUSO, KILL FEE, PRIMA DONNA AT LARGE, THE
RENEWABLE VIRGIN, UNDER THE CANOPY, BIBBLINGS, PILLARS OF SALT, and AN
EXERCISE FOR MADMEN.
You can get LIARS & TYRANTS & PEOPLE WHO TURN BLUE directly from the
publisher by sending the list price, plus $1 postage and handling, to:
International Polygonics, Ltd., Madison Square, PO Box 1563, New York,
NY 10159-1563. Phone: 212/683-2914.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ BAGGED: An Extra Corpse in the Hospital Morgue
by Jo Bailey
(St. Martin's, November 1991, $19.95, ISBN 0-312-06296-6)
<>
On a hot August night, a hearse pulls up to the Emergency Room door of
Jackson County Medical Center. This hearse is a little unusual,
because instead of picking up a body bag, it delivers a bright red
leather one. Unfortunately it's not one that the hospital is
expecting. The corpse remains in the morgue, unclaimed and virtually
unnoticed for two weeks. It turns out that the unclaimed corpse is
actually one of the hospital's own doctors.
The new security supervisor, Jan Gallagher, has won her position by
suing the hospital for sexual discrimination. You can imagine how
happy this has made everyone else in the hospital. You can also
imagine how cooperative everyone is when she tries to solve the
mystery of how and why the good doctor happened to be "bagged".
Overall, I found BAGGED to be entertaining. You find out within the
first third of the book who the murderers are and why they committed
the crime. The rest of the book revolves around the authorities
finding out who they are and capturing them. BAGGED has a lot of high
and low points. The beginning was very captivating with the delivery
and discovery of the body bag. Then the story dragged on and on about
the security supervisor and her winning of the sexual discrimination
court case. Then the story picked up with the discovery of who was in
the body bag and who the murderers were. This switching back and forth
between the crime part of the story and the personal conflicts between
the members of the security force and hospital staff tended to wear
thin after a while. BAGGED would have been much more enjoyable without
the political subplot.
*/-----------------------------/*
NEXT ISSUE:
OUR DOUBTS ARE TRAITORS by Frederick M. Hanson
A young doctor resigns his residency, having lost his confidence and
self-esteem. He takes up a general practice in a very small North
Carolina town, a town where sinister events will soon have him
involved in medical detective work. Can he solve the mystery and
regain his self confidence?
*/-----------------------------/*
^ FOWL PREY
by Mary Daheim
(Avon, November 1991, $3.99, ISBN 0-380-76296-X)
<>
Format: paperback original
Character: Judith McMonigle and her cousin Renie, 2nd appearance
Status: amateur sleuths
Locale: British Columbia
The author presents us with another rousing entry in the "Bed-and-
Breakfast Mystery series" as Judith (the proprietress of Hillside
Manor) and her cousin Renie head out for a much deserved
pre-Thanksgiving vacation in Canada. On the way, they stop to scatter
Judith's deceased husband's ashes--and what a hoot that is!
Next, there was a mix up in the hotel reservations and there is
apparently no room at the inn for Judith and Renie. Then it becomes
old home week when Judith runs into several former high school
classmates who are registered at the hotel and they offer Judith one
of their unused suites. Things quickly become even more involved when
Judith and Renie discover the body of the local popcorn vendor in the
hotel elevator. Did I mention that they had only been in town a matter
of hours when they ended up having tea with this popcorn vendor and
his raucous parrot? Before he and the parrot ended up dead. And before
the police became suspicious about two "foreign" tourists who know
more about the dead guy than anyone else in Canada will admit to?
You will have to pay attention in order to keep track of all the
suspects--who did what to whom, and when (lots of secrets in the pasts
of this gaggle of suspects)--and you will practically need a scorecard
to remember who was married to whom and when but it in no way
diminishes the fun of sharing another adventure with these two
unlikely sleuths!
If you haven't yet read the first in the series, be sure to pick up a
copy of JUST DESSERTS (Avon) and be on the lookout for the next in the
series, HOLY TERROR, which the publisher lists as "coming soon".
*/-----------------------------/*
^ BAD BLOOD
by P.M. Carlson
(Doubleday Perfect Crime, December 1991, $15.00, ISBN 0-385-42122-2)
<>
Ginny lives with her mother Rina, her father Clint, and her mother's
mother, called Gram, in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. Ginny
has known for a long time now that she was adopted, and it has always
been a difficult idea for her to deal with. It is also very difficult
for Rina, who felt severe guilt over not being able to conceive like
"normal" women. Now she works hard to make her family just like a
"normal" family, and by and large she's succeeding. Ginny is a very
bright and talented teenager, but her psychological problems are
gaining on her--she's experimenting with drugs, dating another drug
user, and her grades are falling drastically. Her breaking point
arrives when Gram, in a fit of temper, kicks her beloved cat. Ginny
takes her checkbook, puts the cat in her backpack, and heads for New
York, where the adoption agency is located. Once there, a little
inspired trickery gets her both the name and the address of her birth
mother, who just happens to be P.M. Carlson's series sleuth,
statistician Maggie Ryan.
While Maggie and Ginny are sorting out their emotions, recriminations
and guilt, police in Maryland are beginning to investigate the murder
of a man named John Spencer. He had been briefly met, and insulted, by
both Ginny and her boyfriend Buck shortly before he was killed. The
murder weapon, Ginny's pair of scissors, bears only Ginny's
fingerprints and is discovered in Buck's car. Naturally, Ginny and
Buck are prime suspects. To help Ginny, and her mother Rina, Maggie
disguises herself and drives to Maryland to investigate John Spencer's
murder. Maggie (in disguise) teams up with Rina, both working to save
the daughter they love.
BAD BLOOD is a fascinating and illuminating story about adoption, from
three separate points of view. All three women are vividly drawn
characters, and their psychological balancing act seems very real. The
mystery of John Spencer's murder, as well as the rest of the cast of
characters, only provide a setting and motivations for the behavior of
the three women, and as such BAD BLOOD falls well with the modern
Mystery of Character rather than the Puzzle category of mystery
fiction. BAD BLOOD should win Carlson more fans and send many readers
seeking out the other seven novels about Maggie Ryan and her actor
husband Nick O'Connor. (Those other seven books are: AUDITION FOR
MURDER, MURDER IS ACADEMIC, MURDER IS PATHOLOGICAL, MURDER
UNRENOVATED, REHEARSAL FOR MURDER, MURDER IN THE DOG DAYS, and MURDER
MISREAD.)
*/-----------------------------/*
^ THE WINDSOR KNOT: An Elizabeth MacPherson Mystery
by Sharyn McCrumb
(Ballantine, 1990, $16.95, ISBN 0-345-36583-6)
<>
Elizabeth MacPherson is rushing to complete her doctoral research on
forensic anthropology when her Scottish fiance calls to tell her he's
been invited--along with 8,000 others--to tea with the Queen. As it
happens, Elizabeth is an absolute nut about British royalty, and can't
wait to accompany her fiance, but there's a hitch: the invitations
only cover the expressly invited person and spouses, no friends or
fiances. So Elizabeth decides that they'll just have to get married
within 3 weeks, not next summer like they'd planned. She'll get her
formidable Aunt Amanda to mastermind the lavish affair.
While Elizabeth is knee-deep in wedding dress patterns and royalty
etiquette books, strange things are going on around her. For instance,
her fiance, Cameron Dawson, has had his garden gnome stolen, one of
those Tolkien-like statues that people have in their yards. As if that
wasn't bad enough, the Cameron starts receiving postcards from all
over the world, from his missing gnome! And then in Chandler Grove,
Georgia, where the wedding will take place, there are even more
bizarre events. Like Clarine Mason hearing that her husband Emmet has
just died in a car accident in California, which wouldn't ordinarily
be too strange, but Clarine had gotten the exact same phone call five
years before, and has been living as a widow on the insurance money,
with a vase of Emmet's ashes on her mantel ever since. So when did
Emmet die, or is he still alive? When the local sheriff wants to get a
preliminary analysis of the ashes in Clarine's vase, guess which
forensic anthropologist he consults?
THE WINDSOR KNOT is another sparkling comedy-mystery from Sharyn
McCrumb, witty and very, very funny. Previous Elizabeth MacPherson
novels: SICK OF SHADOWS, LOVELY IN HER BONES, HIGHLAND LADDIE GONE,
and PAYING THE PIPER. Sharyn McCrumb is also the author of the
nonseries novel, IF EVER I RETURN, PRETTY PEGGY-O, and the Edgar Award
winning BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN (reviewed in RFP #5).
*/-----------------------------/*
~ THE "BAD" NOVELS OF ANTHONY BRUNO
Novels featuring FBI agents Cuthbert Gibbons and Mike Tozzi.
Bad Guys (1988)
Bad Blood (1989)
Bad Luck (1990)
Bad Business (1991)
*/-----------------------------/*
^ MAIGRET AT THE GAI-MOULIN
by Georges Simenon, translated by Geoffrey Sainsbury
(Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991, $17.95, ISBN 0-15-155568-0)
<>
At the opening of MAIGRET AT THE GAI-MOULIN, the teenage Jean Chabot
and his slightly older and much richer friend Rene Delfosse are
preparing to commit a crime. They are in a nightclub in Liege,
Belgium, called the Gai-Moulin; it is very late and the place is about
to close. Just before closing Jean and Rene pretend to be leaving but
actually hide behind a door on the steps to the cellar, waiting until
everyone has left so they can come out and take the money from the
cash box. Their plans go awry when they leave the cellar only to
discover a dead body lying on the floor. Jean and Rene flee the
Gai-Moulin, neglecting to even shut the door in their haste.
The next day the papers say nothing about a dead man, and the
employees of the Gai-Moulin are working in the place as if nothing had
happened. What happened to the dead body? It isn't until a later
edition of the local newspaper that headlines tell of a dead body that
has been found--stuffed into a laundry basket and dumped on the lawn
of the zoo! How did the body get from the Gai-Moulin to the zoo? When
Rene convinces Jean to dispose of some currency for him, and Jean is
caught by the police and held for questioning, why does Rene run away
rather than stay to help his friend? Is the dancer Adele involved in
the murder?
MAIGRET AT THE GAI-MOULIN is an unusual Maigret story on several
counts. First, it doesn't take place in Paris. Maigret solves the
murder even though it is far outside his official jurisdiction. Also,
Maigret is generally pretty jolly about solving this case, even though
many of his cases seem to depress him. The well-drawn characters,
slightly bizarre plot, spare prose style, and atmospheric settings,
though, are all as any Simenon fan would expect them. Once again
Maigret solves a murder with his extraordinary grasp of human nature,
and MAIGRET AT THE GAI-MOULIN is a great read.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ WE WISH YOU A MERRY MURDER
by Valerie Wolzien
(Fawcett Gold Medal, December 1991, $3.99, ISBN 0-449-14723-1)
<>
Format: paperback
Series Character: Susan Henshaw, third appearance.
Locale: Hancock, Connecticut
Status: Amateur sleuth
Setting: a killer's running amok in suburbia!
Imagine the Christmas holidays are nearly upon you. Your mother-in-law
is spending the holidays with you. She arrives days earlier than
planned and has also just recently fallen in love with a man that you
can't stand. Imagine also that your best friend's mother is in town
for the holidays and your two mothers can't seem to get along with
each other, and to top things off, they both seem to be after the same
man! Then another friend's ex-husband shows up in her living room with
a bullet hole in his head...quite dead. But by the time the police
arrive, the body is no where to be found. And just when you think
you've figured it all out and think you may have even located the
missing body, someone moves it again! And don't forget, you've still
got to get those cheese balls in shape!
That's the premise of this latest suburban sleuth caper from Ms.
Wolzien and it is a doozy! It may remind you of Christmases past, with
or without the dead body. Give it a try. It's bound to take your mind
off that last minute shopping you've been meaning to get to.
Ms. Wolzien's two previous mysteries featuring the suburban sleuth are
MURDER AT THE PTA LUNCHEON and THE FORTIETH BIRTHDAY BODY.
*/-----------------------------/*
NEXT ISSUE:
A FAREWELL TO YARNS by Jill Churchill
Life's hectic enough for a housewife who must survive the politics of
a church bazaar and finish the afghan from Hell--without having to
entertain house guests as well. But her guest's visit is cut very
short--by murder. Who killed Phyllis Wagner? And who dumped a second
corpse in the dumpster at the mall?
*/-----------------------------/*
^ SINGAPORE TRANSFER
by Wayne Warga
(Viking Penguin, 1991, $17.95, ISBN 0-670-83569-2)
<>
Format: hardcover
Character: Jeffrey Dean, 3rd appearance
Status: rare-book dealer, ex-journalist, ex-CIA courier, amateur sleuth
Locale: Singapore, Hawaii, California
Setting: international jade smuggling
This is the third novel in the series but the first that I have read.
The author provides an interesting mix of locales and
characters--enough to hold the attention of most readers. From the
bustling streets of Singapore to the decaying wreckage of the U.S.S.
Arizona in the waters of Pearl Harbor, Dean becomes a sometimes
reluctant participant in the search for the treasure of a smuggling
operation that would rival any in the recent news reports. Jade is
being smuggled out of China, via Singapore to Honolulu and on to
California. People are dying and Dean and his long-time love Rachel
may soon be counted among the dead if he can't figure out the
set-up...and the players.
The two previous mysteries in the Jeffrey Dean series are HARDCOVER
and FATAL IMPRESSIONS.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ MURDER ON WHEELS: A Hildegarde Withers Mystery
by Stuart Palmer
(International Polygonics, October 1991, $6.95, ISBN 1-55882-113-9)
<>
Hildegarde Withers is a retired schoolteacher given to wearing bizarre
hats who is most often described as "horse-faced". She is the creation
of Stuart Palmer, described in THE WHODUNIT (by Stefano Benvenuti and
Gianni Rizzoni, 1980) as "the greatest of the humorous detective story
writers". Miss Withers solves her cases at the side of her longtime
companion Inspector Oscar Piper of the New York City Police
Department. Piper is a capable enough policeman, but always half a
step behind Miss Withers. Their ongoing friendship and sleuthing
competitiveness provides a lighthearted backdrop to all of their
cases.
MURDER ON WHEELS, originally published in 1932, begins with the death
of Laurie Stait, a member of a prominent New York family. He has
apparently been roped while driving his car, his body whipped out onto
the street, his neck broken. He is survived by his twin brother Lew,
who immediately marries Dana, who has been betrothed to Lew for years
but who was not-so-secretly in love with Laurie. Also in the Stait
house is mousey little cousin Hubert, oblivious Aunt Abbie, and the
eccentric matriarch of the household, Gran, who almost never leaves
the attic (which she shares with an ancient, foul-mouthed, and naked
parrot). Complicating matters is the fact that the Rodeo is in town,
with plenty of cowboys skilled at roping a moving target, and at least
one of whom has good reason to hate Laurie Stait. A tangled web to be
sure, but Hildegarde Withers straightens everything out in the end.
(Also available from International Polygonics is Hildegarde Withers'
first case, THE PENGUIN POOL MURDERS, $7.95)
NOTE: Stuart Palmer joined forces with fellow humorous mystery writer
Craig Rice to publish the collection, THE PEOPLE VS. WITHERS AND
MALONE (1963), featuring both Hildegarde Withers and Rice's lawyer
sleuth John J. Malone (who can also be seen in THE BIG MIDGET MURDERS,
elsewhere in this issue). THE PEOPLE VS. WITHERS AND MALONE is also
available from International Polygonics ($7.95).
You can get any of the above IPL books directly from the publisher by
sending the list price, plus postage and handling ($1 for the first
book, $.50 for each additional book), to: International Polygonics,
Ltd., Madison Square, PO Box 1563, New York, NY 10159-1563. Phone:
212/683-2914.
*/-----------------------------/*
NEXT ISSUE:
SETTLED OUT OF COURT by Henry Cecil
Lonsdale Walsh found it unpleasant to be convicted of murder,
especially since he had been convicted on perjured evidence. So Mr.
Walsh escaped from prison, gathered all the principals in his case,
and proceeded to stage his own re-trial. He wanted the matter SETTLED
OUT OF COURT.
*/-----------------------------/*
~BOOKS ON TAPE:
^ PASTIME
by Robert B. Parker, read by David Dukes
Unabridged, 4 cassettes, 6 hours
(Dove Audio, 1991, ISBN 1-55800-433-5)
<>
Spenser helped Patty Giacomin raise her son Paul when a violent
divorce split the parents apart. Now, after many years, Paul comes to
Spenser because his mother has suddenly disappeared. Paul doesn't want
to go to the authorities about the disappearance and feels that
Spenser is the only one he can trust to find his mother without asking
too many embarassing questions. With the help of Susan Silverman and
Hawk, Spenser discovers that Patty has run off with a bag-man for the
mob, who himself is trying to stay alive after absconding with a
considerable amount of the mob's money. Spenser is placed in a very
precarious position as it turns out that both he and a mob kingpin are
actually looking for the same person. The mob wants to get their
revenge by killing Patty's boyfriend, regardless of whether Patty gets
hurt in the process. Spenser wants to see that nothing happens to
Patty and, if he can, get her boyfriend off the hook.
PASTIME is the first Spenser novel I have read or listened to, but I
enjoyed watching the show on TV with Robert Urich in the lead role.
This also was the first unabridged tape that I have listened to (6
hours!), but I thought PASTIME was terrific and couldn't believe how
fast the 6 hours went by. I listened to the tapes during a recent
8-hour car trip and it really helped make the trip seem that much
shorter. Having been a fan of the SPENSER FOR HIRE TV series, it was
easy to associate the characters in PASTIME to the ones I was used to
seeing on TV. This helped me to get involved in the story right from
the start without having to sort out the characters. The reading of
the novel by David Dukes was flawless and I especially liked the
accent he used when reading the part of Spenser's colleague Hawk. I
can highly recommend PASTIME and look forward to listening to other
novels by Robert Parker. You can order Dove Audio tapes by calling
1-800-328-DOVE (inside California call 310/273-7722 or
1-800-345-9945). Dove Audio, 301 North Canon Dr., Suite 203, Beverly
Hills, CA 90210.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER
by Elizabeth George, performed by Derek Jacobi
2 cassettes, 3 hour abridgment
(Bantam Audio, 1991, $15.99, ISBN 0-553-45278-9)
<>
Thirteen-year-old Matthew Whateley was supposed to be spending the
weekend with a friend from Bredgar Chambers, the expensive public
school (American translation: private school) they both attend. Other
people think that Matthew is ill and is in the school infirmary. When
it is discovered that Matthew is missing, his housemaster at Bredgar
Chambers asks Inspector Thomas Lynley, an old school friend of his, to
help. When the nude, tortured body of Matthew Whateley is found,
Inspector Lynley has a homicide case to solve.
The theme of WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER is that of the predominant code
of ethics in the British public school system: you don't "tell" on
your mates, ever. Even as Inspector Lynley begins to see the web of
interconnecting silences in the case, he finds himself participating,
as he decides to keep quiet about his old friend's guilty secret as
long as possible. WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER is a complex, fascinating
whodunit, beautifully read by Derek Jacobi. My only complaint is an
unnecessary, uninteresting subplot that is resolved in an Epilogue
that gives the story a ridiculously sentimental, thudding conclusion.
There is also a Bantam Audio version of Elizabeth George's A SUITABLE
VENGEANCE (2 cassettes, 180 minutes, $15.99, ISBN 0-553-45286-X),
performed by Derek Jacobi.
*/-----------------------------/*
^ BITTER MEDICINE
by Sara Paretsky, performance by Christine Lahti
2 cassettes, 3 hour abridgment
(Bantam Audio, 1991, $15.99, ISBN 0-553-47016-7)
<>
V. I. Warshawski (Vic) drives her sixteen-year-old friend Consuelo,
who is in premature labor, to a private suburban hospital to have her
baby. The hospital reluctantly treats Consuelo, who seems to be an
indigent Hispanic girl who more than likely can't pay her bill. During
the course of the next 24 hours, both Consuelo and her new-born baby
die in the hospital and the doctor who treated her is found brutally
murdered. Upon investigating the deaths, Vic discovers conspiracy and
greed both in the hospital administration and the doctors that are on
the hospital staff, and unfortunately one of them is a VERY close
friend of Vic's. Consuelo's husband, Fabiano, a street punk and
strong-arm for a local gang leader, doesn't help matters. Vic's
association with Fabiano and her tenacity lead to a brutal beating
with Vic getting her face slashed. As a lawyer in the public
defender's office for years, Vic was associated day after day with
inner city crime. But now, as a private investigator, she is
personally involved and determined to find the answers.
BITTER MEDICINE is my first V. I. Warshawski novel and I really did
enjoy it. The more books I listen to on tape, the more I find myself
enjoying them. Having seen the recent, not very memorable, V. I.
WARSHAWSKI movie with Kathleen Turner in the title role, I immediately
associated Turner with the role in the book. Christine Lahti's reading
of the book helped cement the assocation with her deep, husky voice,
very much like Kathleen Turner's. I can highly recommend BITTER
MEDICINE to all mystery fans and look forward to listening to or
reading another V. I. Washawski novel.
*/-----------------------------/*
<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->
< >
~ < LOOSEN YOUR GRIP ON REALITY >
< >
<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->
<< Editor: Darryl Kenning >>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Loosen Your Grip On Reality is a division of Reading For Pleasure,
published bimonthly. This material is NOT COPYRIGHTED and may be used
freely by all. Contributions of information, reviews, etc. should be
sent to:
Darryl Kenning CompuServe: 76337,740
6331 Marshall Rd. or GEnie: D.Kenning
Centerville, Ohio 45459 The Annex BBS 513-274-0821
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE KENNING QUOTIENT (KQ) is a rating applied to books read by the
editor of this section, a number ranging from 0 (which means the book
is an unredeemable stinker) to 5 (meaning the book is absolutely top
drawer).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
~ RANDOM ACCESS
Over the past 25 years or so I have spent an inordinate amount of time
in bookstores of all kinds - not to mention the small fortune I've
spent there. Stores with new books only, paperbacks only, hard covers
only, used books stores and combinations, even bookstores with mini
restaurants in them. Starting with this issue I'm going to share a few
of the ones I've found that I like best. Just to be fair, if you have
a favorite, drop me a note with some info and I'll include it in an
upcoming edition of RANDOM ACCESS.
BOOKS & Co is located in Kettering Ohio (Dayton) at 350 E. Stroop Rd.
in the Town & Country Shopping Center. It is one of the most
successful independent bookstores I've seen, the largest in Ohio with
over 125,000 new titles, and has grown steadily over the years based
upon a solid foundation of customer service and a real understanding
of people who love books. The number of books and magazines in all
categories is outstanding, and what with author signings, readings,
live music of one sort and another, one can stay pretty well
entertained even if you can't find a book. A couple of years ago a
local restaurant joined them in the space and now you can get a book
or magazine, then get goodies to munch while you start reading. A four
star establishment.
In Naples Florida, THE BOOK TRADER resides at 170 10th St. NO. Much
more than your usual used book emporium, The Trader has managed to
create an ambiance that really encourages browsing - whether you are
trying to find a SF book or a rare/collectable book or comic you feel
right at home. The store carries all sorts of books from paperbacks to
hardbound. In addition, for us tourists, they have a great collection
of books and booklets on Florida lore and local color of all kinds. As
a visitor (albeit frequent) I appreciate that kind of material being
readily available. Don't miss this one.
Both of these establishments warrant your attention if you find
yourself in either area. If you do drop in, mention RFP. And if you
are a little miffed because you want to see your favorite bookseller
mentioned - well, just let me know.
It has been an interesting couple of months - first not much in new
paperback Sf was coming out (that I liked), then Star Trek took off
again (anyone want to bet on the name of ST VII?). Then, like magic,
just after the holidays a number of books I'd been waiting for hit the
stores. That means I've got a nice backlog of books to read, and
report back to you about. SO MANY BOOKS -- SO LITTLE TIME!
dkk
*---------------------------*
Democracy: an exercise where free men gather together to vote for
the person who gets to take the blame.
*---------------------------*
~ 1991 WORLD FANTASY AWARDS
Best Novel (tie):
ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER by James Morrow
THOMAS THE RHYMER by Ellen Kushner
Best Novella:
"Bones" by Pat Murphy
Best Short Fiction:
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess
Best Collection:
THE START OF THE END OF IT ALL AND OTHER STORIES by Carol Emshwiller
Best Anthology:
BEST NEW HORROR edited by Stephen Jones & Ramsey Campbell
Best Artist:
Dave McKean
Special Award/Professional:
Arnie Fenner
Special Award/Non-Professional:
Richard Chizmar, CEMETERY DANCE
Life Achievement Award:
Ray Russell
*---------------------------*
* Health problems have forced Isaac Asimov to quit his science column
in FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION magazine after 33 years and 399 articles.
His upcoming book, FORWARD THE FOUNDATION, has also been cancelled, at
least for now. Asimov is suffering from congestive heart failure and a
bad heart valve.
* Orson Scott Card's new "Homecoming" series begins this March 1992
with THE MEMORY OF EARTH (Tor). Destined to be a 5-volume sequence,
Card plans to have all 5 written by the time the first book is
released, with the remainder showing up at 4-month intervals. The
titles of the second and third will be THE CALL OF EARTH and THE SHIPS
OF EARTH.
* If you have discriminating tastes in SF, Fantasy, Horror, and
Mystery books, you need a copy of John Knott's catalogue. He carries a
lot of out-of-print titles, first editions, limited editions, signed
editions, etc. Many, many selections are under $50. Write to: John W.
Knott, Jr. Bookseller, 8453 Early Bud Way, Laurel, MD 20723.
*---------------------------*
^ SORCERERS OF PAN TANG: A Stormbringer Adventure
Dangerous Adventures on the Demon Isle
by Watts, Morrison, Hagger, Gillan, Krank, Gassner, Bjorksten,
Johnson, Anderson, Heristandis
(Chaosium, October 1991, $18.95, ISBN 0-933635-6)
^ PERILS OF THE YOUNG KINGDOMS
by Behrendt, Gillan, Hagar, Morrison, Szymanski, Watts, Brooks,
Bjorksten, Gassner, Heristandis, Johnson, Snyder, Trengove
(Chaosium, November 1991, $18.95, ISBN 0-933635-82-6)
<>
The Elric saga is a popular series of fantasy books by author Michael
Moorcock. The protagonist of the series, Elric of Melnibone, is the
antithesis of the stereotypical fantasy hero: he is physically weak,
intellectual, given to fits of gloom and moody introspection. He
brings death (and worse) to anything he allows himself to care for.
Nonetheless, the books are stimulating, and filled with interesting
characters, situations, and ideas. In short, the world of Elric is a
natural choice of location for fantasy adventures.
Game publisher Chaosium, Inc. bought the rights to produce an Elric
role-playing game. Called STORMBRINGER, it has gone through 4 editions
and spawned a number of supplemental adventures. Although there has
not been as much material for STORMBRINGER as has been produced for
some of their other games, two strong products have recently been
released.
SORCERERS OF PAN TANG is a sourcebook and set of adventures centering
around the island nation of Pan Tang. Newcomers to the political
scene, they are dynamic, expansionistic, and as nasty as they come.
SoPT has a great deal of information on Pan Tang, its people and
institutions, and the dangerous magics that the Pan Tangians control.
The background information consists of chapters on:
* Introduction
* Pan Tang
* Pan Tangians
* The Church of Chaos
* Pan Tang Magic
* Encounters on Pan Tang
* Pan Tang Digest
THere are a total of 5 adventures centered around Pan Tang. These are:
* See Hwamgaarl and Die
* Slaves of the Demon Isle
* Chaos Exultant
* One Who Laughs
* Under the Volcano
The adventures are all well done, and will amuse the referee (and
terrify the players). The background material is also excellent, and
will provide the referee with many more adventure ideas. I especially
like the new rules for summoning demons (magic in this world is done
mainly through the summoning of creatures), which can be used for all
sorcerers in a STORMBRINGER campaign. If you run this game, you will
want this book. Great stuff.
PERILS OF THE YOUNG KINGDOMS consists of 5 adventures. They are:
* The Floating Realm
* The Myrrhn Link
* The Fang and the Fountain
* Stolen Moments
* The Man Who Sold Gods
Of these, The Floating Realm is the largest, and is more of a
mini-campaign than an adventure. The adventurers become trapped in a
strange seaweed sea located in the Oldest Ocean. The adventure
describes the strange society that has developed in the Realm, and
allows the players to influence it in a time of change and turmoil.
The other adventures are also well done, and it is up to the referee
to decide which ones he would like to use in his game. I found The Man
Who Sold Gods as a little too weird for my tastes, but The Myrrhn Link
had a lot of interesting ideas in it. You have a nice variety of
adventures to choose from: pick which ones will appeal to your players
and you'll have a winner. If you can't get SORCERERS OF PAN TANG,
PERILS OF THE YOUNG KINGDOMS, or any other Chaosium product, locally,
you can contact the publisher at: Chaosium Inc., 950-A 56th Street,
Oakland, CA 94608-3129; 510/547-7681.
*---------------------------*
^ ORBITAL RESONANCE
by John Barnes
(Tor, December 1991, $17.95 ISBN 0-312-85206-1)
<>
Melpomene Murray is an adolescent aboard the space colony, the FLYING
DUTCHMAN, the last hope for humanity's continued survival in the
cosmos. One day a new kid appears, Theo, born on Earth, where the
survivors of the Collapse have been leading a brutal life for the past
30 years. Theo brings with him all the problems that children on the
FLYING DUTCHMAN have never known: peer pressure, violence, cliques.
Mel, her family, and her friends, must learn how to deal with Theo and
the new conflicts he creates, for they are really humanity's final
hope. They must harness the wealth of the inner solar system before
the resource curve flattens out forever. ORBITAL RESONANCE is a SF
coming-of-age novel by one of the genre's new leading lights--Barnes
is the author of THE MAN WHO PULLED DOWN THE SKY and SIN OR ORIGIN.
*---------------------------*
NEXT ISSUE:
HOOK by Terry Brooks
What if Peter Pan grew up? And what if, on a visit to London, his own
children disappeared from their nursery and a mysterious note was left
behind which led Peter back to the notorious Captain Hook?
*---------------------------*
^ FUTURE CRIME: An Anthology of the Shape of Crime to Come
edited by Cynthia Manson & Charles Ardai
(Donald I. Fine, January 1992, $21.95, ISBN 1-55611-312-9)
<>
As SF writers--and readers--have discovered, the society of the future
will have new technology, and therefore new kinds of crime. And new
kinds of criminals. FUTURE CRIME gathers together 15 stories by top SF
writers that illustrate what crime, and crime-fighting, might be like
in future human civilizations.
My two favorites are "Dogwalker" by Orson Scott Card and "The Energies
of Love" by Kathe Koja. "Dogwalker" is a very touching story about a
30-year-old man who, because of a childhood tragedy, is half synthetic
and half 9-year-old boy. His mind is 30 but his body looks 9, which
makes it hard to get served in bars. Goo Boy, as he is known, teams up
with an ex-pimp to pull off a top-level computer caper. The story is
suspenseful, and Goo Boy's fractured English is a riot. Koja's "The
Energies of Love" is another tale of obsession and forbidden knowledge
from the author of THE CIPHER (reviewed in RFP #16), the book that
launched the Dell Abyss line of paperback horror. In this story, Bobby
wants to achieve fame as a writer by completing the book his favorite
author left unfinished at his death. To that end Bobby illegally gets
past computer security to get direct unmonitored access to the
author's personality, stored there for academic purposes. The
experience proves to be more emotionally wrenching than Bobby had
anticipated. Like Koja's first novel, "The Energies of Love" is odd,
very involving, and very difficult to describe.
Lawrence Watt-Evans' "One-Shot" is a provocative short-short about a
time traveller's ability to change the past. Could JFK's assassination
have been prevented? Well, yes and no... The interesting thing about
"One-Shot" is how briefly its points are made. The story seemed to end
about a paragraph later than the markings on the page, as my mind
caught up to the ideas presented. The funniest entry in FUTURE CRIME
is Terry Black's hilarious "The Not-So-Big Sleep", about insurance
fraud, the reanimation of the dead, and just how annoying zombies can
be.
"The Incorporated" by John Shirley is a cautionary tale about the
Japanese corporate style, and how poorly it suits the American
character. Isaac Asimov's "The Tercentenary Incident" continues his
life-long exploration of robotics, with the emphasis this time on
their use as doubles for politicians. A robot, a politician, who could
tell the difference? In "The Barbie Murders" by John Varley a murder
is committed within a religious cult that proscribes personal
identities--everyone looks alike. So how can you identify the guilty
party, or anyone else for that matter? Harry Harrison tells a tragic
story about a society that practices behavioral conditioning on
children through robot-like teddy bears in his "I Always Do What Teddy
Says". W.R. Thompson's "VRM-547" involves another robot, this one a
bit more intelligent than its owner gives it credit for. The possible
use of teleportation in the commission of a murder is examined in
Larry Niven's "A Kind of Murder", which also makes a few other
interesting points about the problems inherent in the technology.
Robert Bloch's brief "Show Biz" suggests the ridiculous possibility of
using actors as politicians. (This is a 1959 story, pre-Reagan.) Doug
Larsen's "Ryerson's Fate" illustrates future crime-fighting techniques
using DNA identification and virus-tailoring. Very ingenious.
Fully four-fifths of FUTURE CRIME is really entertaining reading.
Oddly, when I reviewed my notes on the only three stories that I
didn't really care for, they turned out to be the only three that are
original to this volume. I'm not sure what that says, but that's the
way it played out. "Mech" by C.J. Cherryh is a robocop-type vignette
that drowns in details. If there had been a plot or characters to
sustain interest, it would have been more enjoyable. Alan Dean
Foster's "Lay Your Head on My Pilose" is right out of E.C. comics:
wife and lover conspire to kill husband, then dead husband gets a
grisly revenge. A cliche, and I must have missed whatever was "future"
about the tale. Finally, George Alec Effinger's novelette, "The World
As We Know It" completely lost me; I felt as if every other paragraph
had been removed. I read every word and I don't know enough about the
story to even comment on it.
Those three stories aside, FUTURE CRIME was a lot of fun. I enjoyed
the futuristic SF elements, I enjoyed the crimes, and I enjoyed fine
prose by some of my favorite authors. A good read.
*---------------------------*
^ REMAKING HISTORY
by Kim Stanley Robinson
(Tor, December 1991, $18.95, ISBN 0-312-85126-X)
<>
REMAKING HISTORY is a terrific collection of short stories that
revolve around the whole idea of history: the meaning of history, the
making of history, the interpreting of history, and how history
influences the present and the future. Included: "Before I Wake", the
1991 Nebula nominee; "The Part of Us That Loves", revised for this
edition; "Remaking History", a very funny tale about the ways in which
filmmakers interpret history; "The Translator", a First Contact story;
"Vinland the Dream"; "A History of the Twentieth Century, with
Illustrations"; "Rainbow Bridge"; "Muir on Shasta"; "Glacier"; "A
Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions"; "Zurich"; and the
controversial South African sequence, "Down and Out In the Year 2000",
"Our Town", "A Transect" and "The Lunatics".
Kim Stanley Robinson is the author of the recent trilogy of novels set
in Orange County, California: THE WILD SHORE, THE GOLD COAST, and
PACIFIC EDGE. He has also written ICEHENGE, ESCAPE FROM KATHMANDU, and
THE MEMORY OF WHITENESS. A previous collection of Robinson's short
fiction was the award-winning A PLANET ON THE TABLE.
*---------------------------*
^ HALO
by Tom Maddox
(Tor, November 1991, $18.95, ISBN 0-312-85249-5)
<>
"In the early days there was hardware, and there were
programs, sets of instructions that told the hardware what
to do. Without organic interaction, these differing modes of
reality struggled to interact. This is unbelievably
primitive.
Then came machine ecologies, and things changed.
I was among the first and most complex of them. I began as
a complex but ordinary machine, then changed, opening the
door to possibility.
Who am I?"
---Aleph
Aleph is the artificial intelligence that controls the orbital space
station called Halo. The Halo residents who "operate" Halo are called
the Interface Collective, and they have an experiment they want to
try. Jerry Chapman has accidentally suffered massive neural damage and
is now being kept alive--barely--by machines. The Collective wants to
try to store the personality of Jerry in the memory banks of Aleph.
SenTrax, a mega-corporation that co-owns Halo, agrees to the
experiment but sends data auditor Mikhail Gonzales to keep an eye on
things and report back.
Gonzales discovers that Chapman was one of Aleph's designers, and that
the rescue operation is Aleph's idea, not the Collective's. While
trying to save Jerry, an entire virtual world is created inside
Aleph's mind. Gonzales and others visit this world
through cables connected to implanted sockets in the back of their
neck and everything seems to be going well until an executive from
SenTrax shows up and calls a halt to the whole project. The humans are
unplugged and at the same time the computer-controlled functions of
Halo begin to fail. Even more alarming is the fact that Aleph no
longer responds at all. Where has he gone?
Subjects developed in HALO include: virtual reality, artificial
intelligence, artificial personalities, Zen philosophy. What's the
difference between a simulation of a thing and the thing itself? Are
there any significant differences? If machines are what they are
because of the people who design and use them, aren't people what they
are, at least in part, because of the machines they rely on? Is our
paranoia about losing control to machines wise, or are we merely
limiting our own possibilities? All of these questions are posed and
considered in HALO, a book that expands the boundaries of cyberpunk
while avoiding the many cliches of the subgenre. A good read. (This is
Tom Maddox's first novel.)
*---------------------------*
NEXT ISSUE:
THE TRIKON DECEPTION by Ben Bova & Bill Pogue
What happens when Japan, America, and Europe work together in space?
THE TRIKON DECEPTION opens up the next frontier in technothriller
excitement with a page-turning novel of intrigue and assassination in
high orbit. Co-written by the former commander of Skylab.
*---------------------------*
~Short TAKES:
(John) Keith Laumer (1925- )
Keith Laumer, after serving in the US Army during WW II, studied
Architecture at the University of Illinois, then served in th US Air
Force during the 1950s, and the US Foreign Service in the 1960s. His
books started appearing in 1963 with A TRACE OF MEMORY, and continue
today. His foreign service experience has provided the base for his
very popular Retief series. (Spell the name backwards and you get
feiter--the phonetic spelling of fighter.)
*---------------------------*
~THE PAPERBACK BOOKSHELF:
^ THE HAMMER: Book II of THE GENERAL
by S.M. Stirling and David Drake
(Baen, February 1992, $5.99, ISBN 0-671-72105-4)
<>
THE HAMMER is the second book in the series called THE GENERAL. This
story picks up the life of Raj Whitehal, his wife and friends where
the last book (THE FORGE) left off. In the first book we were
introduced to the planet, Bellevue, that has been cut off from
civilization for a long time, and after the inevitable fall of
civilization has gradually moved back into a feudal existence, but
with varieties of cultures and religions based upon the computers that
had pervaded every aspect of life in the long gone "Federation". With
several different kingdoms holding the land masses, a civilization
that combines both eastern and western thought, strong religious and
military tradition, and an early gunpowder-based war machine where the
warriors ride huge dogs trained like the war horses of the middle
ages, the stage is set for a series of adventures that will grab
anyone who enjoys solid Science Fiction storytelling. Of particular
interest to me is the way the authors manage to combine the best of
Military SF with a well-thought-out governmental system. Of course
what creates the dynamic tensions are the positioning of individuals
based on their ambitions and frailties.
The book is another outstanding example of the good that can--but too
often does not--come out of collaborations between individually strong
authors. In this case the combination has produced a novel that is a
delight of Byzantine plots and counterplots set in a roughly 19th
century technology civilization. Even the most jaded SF reader will
enjoy this one.
Make a special trip to your favorite bookstore--it's worth it.
KQ = 5
*---------------------------*
^ YOUNG BLEYS
by Gordon R. Dickson
(TOR, February 1992, $5.99, ISBN 0-812-50947-1)
<>
Gordon Dickson is a prolific SF writer who has created a future
history that has no rival (except perhaps Robert A. Heinlein) called
THE CHILDE CYCLE. For 30 years the author has been creating a series
of stories and novels that have been tightly linked to the cycle. SF
readers of all ages and persuasions wait impatiently for the next
story/novel to appear. Each is an instant hit.
YOUNG BLEYS is no exception. It examines the life of Bleys Ahern who
is familiar to readers of the earlier books. While he has generally
been cast as the major opponent to the superheroes--Hal Mayne et
al.--this book makes Bleys a more real person and elevates him to a
central character in the Cycle. It reinforces the rejoining
necessities of the splinter cultures--from the DORSAI to the EXOTICS.
Beware, this book is habit forming. If you really get into The Cycle
you will have a formidable--and very enjoyable--task of catching up
with over 30 books. It's worth the risk though. Gordon Dickson shows
us once again why he is considered by many to be one of the best SF
authors writing today.
KQ = 4
*---------------------------*
^ THE BONES OF GOD
by Stephen Leigh
(Avon Books, November 1986, $3.50, ISBN 0-380-89961-2)
<>
Stephen Leigh has postulated an interesting universe in which religion
has once again assumed the central role in the lives of most humans.
What makes this book a fascinating one is how he has blended the major
earth religions and skillfully added an alien religious element. The
human propensity to pervert religious teachings "with the best of
intentions" adds conflict that is more than a little reminiscent of
the Inquisition.
This is not the first novel to try to examine what happens to the
person who becomes a messiah: the self doubts, the personal tragedy,
and the unhappiness in those around that person. Mr. Leigh has done a
creditable job although I must confess that I got a bit weary by the
end of the novel--and that is a tribute to his skills as a writer.
Whether or not the basic story subject interests you, you will find
the treatment well done. Not light reading by any means, this book
will make you pause and reflect on the Human Condition and frailty,
and will probably make you reexamine your faith.
KQ = 4
*---------------------------*
NEXT ISSUE:
ALIEN BLUES by Lynn S. Hightower
Life's tough for Detective David Silver. His marriage is on the rocks.
A serial killer's on the loose. And his new partner looks like a
seven-foot stingray and smells like fresh limes. But Silver needs all
the help he can get. Human or otherwise.
*---------------------------*
^ THE SENSITIVES
by Herbert Burkholz
(Berkley, May 1989, $3.95, ISBN 0-425-11581-X)
<>
This novel appears to have been published as a mainstream Psychic Spy
Thriller rather than Science Fiction. It is the story of a small group
of "SENSITIVES" who are beginning to show up at random in the Earth's
population. Grabbed by the superpowers at a young age, then trained to
be spies--after all the ultimate spy is one that can read minds--and
kept under very tight control, these young people have in many ways a
very nice life. Except that they are cut down in their early 30s by a
deadly disease that spares not a one.
Mr. Burkholz has done a creditable job of dealing with a lot of the
issues that would surround such talents in a 20th century world. He
realistically portrays the joys and problems of the young people and
the fears and needs of the controllers. There have been a lot of
outstanding SF stories about this subject in SF since the early days.
Because of that I was pleasantly surprised to find how well this one
was done. It is a tight, exciting, and suspenseful novel that will
hold your attention from beginning to end with a few classic twists
that may surprise you.
Given the age of this one, you may need to dig a bit through your
used-book shelves. But if you spot it, grab it. This is just the book
to curl up with on a cold winter evening.
KQ = 5
*---------------------------*
^ A REASONABLE DOUBT
by Damon Knight
(TOR, November 1991, $3.99, ISBN 0-812-50978-1)
<>
Damon Knight has been writing good solid Science Fiction since the mid
1950s, and this novel is no exception. It is a sequel to CV and THE
OBSERVERS. Setting the stage for this series he notes that, "The
twentieth century was one of great change and turmoil...Counting
lesser conflicts...the death toll was 92 million." This story takes
place in about 2005, after the sweeping changes of the early 21st
century had begun, after the discovery of McNulty's Symbiont,
discovered aboard the Sea Venture (CV). This extraterrestrial was
found to have profound effects on humans--effects that were likely to
wreck what was left of the world order. The CV is turned into a
gigantic research vessel to do tests on humans to determine actual
effects of the new being, and to see if there are ways to protect our
race from those effects.
The story is rich in the harmonics of the human condition. It shows a
future that is all too plausible given humanity's tendencies towards
greed and self-destruction. At the same time it provides the sense of
wonder that most good SF stories are able to accomplish; wonder and
hope for the future. Damon's work continues to be well crafted, the
threads are carefully woven into a rich tapestry that is fun to read
in both a technical sense and on an emotional level.
KQ = 4
*---------------------------*
^ RED GENESIS
by S.C. Sykes
(Bantam, August 1991, $4.99, ISBN 0-553-28874-1)
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With an introduction by Isaac Asimov and an afterward by scientist
Eugene Mallove, this book is certain to be attractive to devotes of
"Hard SF". It will also appeal to adventure fans if you get past the
gaudy cover and day-glo red back. This is really two stories in one.
The first is a story of one of the world's richest men, shamelessly
railroaded and sent into exile to the frontier of Mars. It is also the
story of the Earth, the reactions to the excesses of the 20th Century,
and the efforts to colonize a planet that is marginally useable, but
only with great effort.
I confess that I was not originally receptive to this book. When a
cover blurb talks about "cutting edge" and "dramatic new series", I
remember that more often than not I have been disappointed by either
the story or the technical competence of the author. None of those
things happened in this book. Sykes has written a rousing good yarn,
that will hold your attention from start to finish. As far as I can
see, the technical requirements of writing about Mars, a planet about
which we now know a great deal, have been well met. The story line is
just a bit predictable but the author's style carries the story in
spite of that. This one provide "reading satisfaction" and I for one
will watch for more in this series of books which for some
inexplicable reason is called "THE NEW WAVE".
KQ = 4
*---------------------------*
NEXT ISSUE:
PEOPLE OF THE EARTH by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear
A sweeping epic of prehistory, the true story of the ancestors of
today's Native American peoples.
*---------------------------*
^ IRONWOOD
by Jim Munroe
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"This elevator is for the use of authorized personnel
only. Please follow Procedure 65(a). You have ten seconds to
comply, or you will be discontinued in the manner outlined
in Procedure 65(b). Nine. Eight."
Frantically, I examined the door (Seven) more closely,
looking for a handle (Six), and spotted a tiny slot to the
left (Five). Suddenly (Four) I had more respect for the band
(Three) of thieves. The flat square of metal (Two) was a key
of sorts. I (One) pushed it in. (Click) "Thank you," the
voice said.
"Level 42. Professor Moriarty, Biomechanics."
Cinder succeeds in getting to Moriarty's office and finds a tiny
silver acorn, a remnant of the biological computer humanity had
managed to develop before trashing the planet with technology and
escaping in spaceships. Cinder is one of those left behind, small
bands of people trying to live in harmony with a wounded ecosystem.
Cinder plants the silver acorn, and thus meets Ironwood, the computer
whose potentiality was confined within. Ironwood sends Cinder, and two
of his friends, on a long journey across the sea to what is now left
of New York, to discover the threat that Ironwood senses is there, and
to destroy it. Jim Munroe's IRONWOOD is a rousing adventure tale of
man's relationship to technology and to his planet. Very entertaining
and highly recommended.
IRONWOOD is a self-published story of some 66 pages, available from
the publisher for $2. (Though the author doesn't specify, you should
definitely send either cash or postal money order, unless you're in
Canada.) Send your money to: Jim Munroe, 66 Greyhound Drive,
Willowdale, Ontario, CANADA M2H 1K3.
*---------------------------*
~ NEW PAPERBACKS FROM TOR BOOKS
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DECEMBER:
THE RED TAPE WAR by Jack L. Chalker, Mike Resnick, & George Alec
Effinger ($3.99, ISBN 0-812-51282-0)
Three of SF's best writers have collaborated (conspired?) to produce
this farcical story Millard Fillmore Pierce. Actually, three MFPs.
Don't ask me to explain--it's about galactic conquest, alien lizard
people, and characters named Marshmallow and Goodtime Sal. The whole
thing was written in round-robin style, each writer would write one
chapter then send the manuscript