September 30, 2013

“Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing – A Cold Year in Hell

Many years ago a ship named the Endurance set out to sail for the Antarctic, with Ernest Shackleton being its captain. This wasn’t his first time exploring the Antarctic, and he hoped to unveil some of the many mysteries the land of ice holds for them. 

Unfortunately, the Endurance became stuck in ice, eventually forcing Shackleton and his crew to abandon the ship and set up a camp on an ice float. 

September 28, 2013

“Doctor Sleep” by Stephen King – The Price of the Shining

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (Author)
Though Stephen King may have gone through somewhat of a slump recently, it seems he has returned to his original form in his last couple of novels, and in his latest one, Doctor Sleep, he goes back to his glory days when he wrote The Shining. What does that mean?

Well, this time around we follow Dan from the original story, but he has grown into an adult, one who cannot leave his dark past behind. In an attempt to start over, he chooses to settle in a small New Hampshire community, where he uses his shining power to give comfort to the dying.

September 27, 2013

“W is for Wasted” by Sue Grafton – Wasted Lives

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton is a pretty standard (as far as the formula goes) detective novel, starring Kinsey Millhone in her twenty-third appearance on paper. This time around, the mystery is a double-edged one as Kinsey must crack two seemingly-unrelated cases. 

The first one is the murder of a local private investigator who was known to be the sleazy kind, gunned down at the beach. The second case is a bit more curious, as a few weeks after the PI’s death a vagrant John Doe was found dead on the same beach. 

September 26, 2013

“Detroit: An American Autopsy” by Charlie LeDuff – Understanding the Winds of Change

Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff (Book cover)
There was a time when Detroit was arguably the greatest city in America; the automotive industry was skyrocketing, and the city was at the center of it all. New factories kept opening up, creating many new opportunities for people to come over and try to live the American dream.

However, somewhere down the line, things started falling apart, bit by bit. Today, Detroit is dangerously close to becoming a ghost town, having countless abandoned buildings (both private and municipal), severely under-budgeted public services and a rapidly-declining population.

September 25, 2013

“The Kill List” by Frederick Forsyth – Finding the Invisible

Kill List by Frederick Forsyth (Book cover)
Many years ago Forsyth came to us, the readers, with a groundbreaking novel titled The Day of the Jackal, detailing a fictional (hopefully) assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle. He has never given up his craft since, releasing one bestseller after the next, as he did again recently when he penned The Kill List.

The book follows the top operative of TOSA (Technical Operations Support Activity), an agency which secretly specializes in assassinating the U.S. government’s most dangerous enemies. 

September 24, 2013

“Something Happened” by Joseph Heller – A Normal Madness

Something Happened by Joseph Heller (Book cover)
Though much of his reputation unfortunately rests on Catch-22, Joseph Heller is an author with a knack for writing original stories, ones none have thought of or managed to put on paper with such style and eloquence. 

Each one of his books has a unique and distinctive atmosphere to it, and it’s no exception for one of his more overlooked novels, Something Happened.

September 23, 2013

“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith – Plowing Through the Cracks of Poverty

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Book cover)
Though there were certainly many notable passages in Betty Smith’s life, perhaps the time that has marked her the most remains her childhood; at the turn of the century, her family of German immigrants made their way to the Brooklyn borough, where an everyday struggle for survival ensued. 

Smith even went as far as writing a book titled A Tree Grows in Brooklyn based on her experiences, and as it happens, it became one of the most renowned coming-of-age tales. 

September 22, 2013

“Mystery” by Jonathan Kellerman – Cherchez la Femme

Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman (book cover)
Though some may say that Kellerman has let himself go in terms of writing in the last few years, they are all people who haven’t read Mystery, a novel which proves that he still has more than what it takes to dish out magnificent works of art. 

In this book, we once again follow our beloved criminal psychologist, Alex Delaware, as he helps his detective friend, Milo Sturgis, investigate the murder of a young woman.

September 20, 2013

“The Daughters of Mars” by Thomas Keneally – A Different Kind of Heroines

The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally (book cover)
When we explore the great wars which happened before us, most notably the First and Second World Wars, we tend to focus on the ones who gave orders and the ones doing the killing. 

However, there is a different type of hero who always arises in these situations, albeit he/she is overshadowed by the more graphic, explicit and explosive endeavors of others.

September 19, 2013

“Red Sparrow” by Jason Matthews – The Cold War Never Ends

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (Book cover)
Though many would assume that as the iron curtain fell along with the Soviet Union, that the power struggle between them and the United States would come to an end, those people couldn’t be any more wrong. The country is still there, the people who ran it are still there, and perhaps more importantly, they still want to gain every possible advantage over their competitors.

September 18, 2013

“Jim Henson: The Biography” by Brian Jay Jones – A Legend of All Trades

Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones (book cover)
Chances are good that many of you aren’t aware as to who Jim Henson is, much less why he deserves to have his biography written by a writer. Well, as it happens, Jim Henson is perhaps one of the most talented comedians to have lived on this planet, being well-recognized in the artistic community, mainly because he was the founder of The Muppets

Though he was associated with them forever and they did help him to become a household name, Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones focuses on many different aspects of his life.

September 17, 2013

“The White Queen” by Philippa Gregory – The Endless Quest for the Throne

The more we distance ourselves from a certain past, the more we tend to simplify things about it, to the point where we have a naively neat and inaccurate representation of what happened. For instance, many people would like to believe that being rich and powerful in the 15th century ensured one a life free of troubles.

However, it is very possible that the world of politics and the rich was much dirtier and deadlier than it is today. In The White Queen by Philippa Gregory we are treated to that in all of its glory as we follow the life of Elizabeth Woodville who married King Edward IV to gain power and land. 

September 16, 2013

“The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway – Depth in Simplicity

Ernest Hemingway was always known for the simplicity of his language and the meaning he was capable of putting into it. Though many people thought badly of him for it, it is novels like The Old Man and the Sea which make even his most tenacious detractors stand back in awe. 

For those who haven’t heard of the novel yet, it tells the story of an old Cuban fisherman as he spends the day chasing a magnificent giant merlin down the Gulf Stream in hopes of bringing it back to his family. The whole story pretty much takes place throughout that day, and this means that if you are the type of person who cannot stand to read slow stories, then I recommend you skip on this.

September 15, 2013

“The Fellowship” by William Tyree – War in the Shadows

The Fellowship by William Tyree (Book cover)
It’s a black day in Washington D.C. as an American senator was brutally dispatched in a way that took much more effort than is necessary to kill a person. 

At the same time, the British are mourning the victim of a very similar murder, a senior member of British Parliament. On the surface, nothing seems to link these two crimes apart from the fact that both of those men were in politics and were dispatched in the same way.

September 13, 2013

“In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez – Baptism by Fire

Most people like to think that they are living their lives towards some kind of purpose, a moment where they have the power to influence the course of history, regardless on which scale it may be. 

Unfortunately, many of us do not find a purpose until it is a bit too late, but that was never the case of the Mirabal sisters. For those who aren't familiar with them, the four sisters bravely opposed the brutal dictatorship of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, paying dearly in the process. 

September 12, 2013

“After Visiting Friends” by Michael Hainey – The Great Fear of the Unknown

After Vising Friends by Michael Hainey (Book cover)
When Michael Hainey, author of the autobiography titled After Visiting Friends, was only six years of age, he already had a face-to-face with death when it came for his father. 

The latter was thirty-five years age at the time of his demise, and had apparently succumbed to a heart attack while near his car in the North Side of Chicago. At the time, he was on a prominent rise in the world of journalism and had the family life most people can only dream of.

September 11, 2013

“The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri – The Immigrant Experience

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Book cover)
Though the term has taken on a somewhat negative connotation amongst some people, being an immigrant is one of the most difficult and challenging ways of living that can be asked out of anyone.

Many people will never know what it is like to leave one’s country, family and customs behind and start from scratch once again, but The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri does a good job at giving us a realistic impression of it. 

September 10, 2013

“The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker – Mystical Companions

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (Book cover)
A disgruntled rabbi gives birth to a golem, only to die while it is still at sea, letting it drift all the way to 19th century New York City. Without a master or a plan, the golem is left without a purpose… only a conscience. 

At the same time, a Syrian Jinni trapped in a lamp for over a thousand years has finally gained freedom, only to also find himself in New York, in a world he can barely comprehend.

September 9, 2013

“Queen’s Gambit” by Elizabeth Fremantle – Life with a King

Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle (Book cover)
Because the whole concept of the royal court has pretty much dissipated over a hundred years ago (for the most part at least), the perception we have of that time period is indeed quite narrow and limited to only its main aspects. 

In reality, however, life for the nobles was very far from being a gift, especially for those who had to live with a childish and volatile king who always got his way.

September 8, 2013

“The Forgotten 500” by Gregory A. Freeman – Heroes that Preserve Lives

The Forgotten 500 by Gregory A. Freeman (Book cover)
In 1944 most of the world was at war in Europe, trying to push back the Axis forces to whatever circle of hell they crawled out of. Though things were looking up quite well for the Allies by that point, the war was still far from being won, and neither side could really envy the other.

Needless to say, plenty of noteworthy and forgotten exploits were committed during that year, many of which we will sadly never learn about. 

September 6, 2013

“Frozen in Time” by Mitchell Zuckoff – A Cold Tale of Survival

Frozen in Time by Mitchell Zuckoff (Book cover)
The date is November 5th, 1942, and the U.S. Army has lost one of its cargo planes as it has apparently crashed in an ice cap, located in one of the most hostile places on Earth, the ironically-named Greenland. In an attempt to rescue the crew and salvage the plane, a B-17 bomber was sent… and it crashed too, though thankfully the entire crew survived.

As the U.S. launched a rescue a operation, one of the nine men got picked up and seemingly rescued by an amphibious plane… until it too, crashed and disappeared into a severe storm.

September 5, 2013

“The River of Doubt” by Candice Millard – Presidential Vacation

In 1912 came the most humiliating and dreadful day, at least so far, in the life of well-known American president, hero, and general badass, Theodore Roosevelt; he lost the election more convincingly than he could have ever imagined. 

In order to set his sights away from such a stunning defeat, he decided to do what any other person would: he set out to explore a dangerous and unmapped part of the Amazon, alongside his son, Kermit, a few crewmen, and a famous Brazilian explorer, Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon.

September 4, 2013

“Brilliance” by Marcus Sakey – The Price of the Iron Fist

Brilliance by Marcus Sakey tells a story taking place in a world exactly like ours, with one small difference: some people are brilliants. Basically-explained, “brilliants” are people born with extraordinary powers, such as the ability to read minds or turn invisible when no one else is looking (nothing world-breaking or completely supernatural). 

Some perceive them as a threat, others as the next step in evolution… the government, of course, is all about controlling them. The story follows a young and naive FBI agent, Nick Cooper, who himself is a brilliant who can see patterns in people, as he tries to bring to justice one of his own people, an evil man hell-bent on bringing chaos and destruction to the world.

September 3, 2013

“Bombshell” by Catherine Coulter – Another Murderous Day at the Office

Bombshell by Catherine Coulter – (Book cover)
Catherine Coulter has made a name for herself as a prolific FBI thriller writer, and Bombshell is her seventeenth work in this genre, once again following the trials of FBI agents Dillon Savich and Griffin Hammersmith.

In this story, they tackle two cases which appear to be unrelated, with the former attempting to track down the one responsible for the brutal murder of the son of a former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman, and Griffin trying to solve a mystery which began with his own sister waking up after a party, covered in a stranger’s blood.

September 2, 2013

“Muck City” by Bryan Mealer – The Narrow Bridge to Survival

First off, though it may seem like a real story at first, Muck City by Bryan Mealer somewhat thankfully happens to be a work of fiction, though it isn’t so far-fetched that its events could not be reproduced in the real world. 

It tells the story of three young people living in the Everglades burg, a place where poverty, violence, drugs and AIDS run rampant and where very few actually make it out of there.