Book Review: The Mida

Book Review: The Mida by Lyle Ernst & Kimberly Sigafus Tony was little when his parents died and left him in the care of his grandmother Nola.  She tried the best she could to raise him in the tiny community of Farmingdale, Iowa, but it’s 1952 now and he’s a grown man.  Tony’s made some… Continue reading Book Review: The Mida

Book Review: These Honored Dead

Book Review: These Honored Dead by Jonathan E. Putnam Disclaimer:  I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purposes of writing this review.  This review is of an Advance Reader’s Edition, and there may be changes in the final product. Joshua Speed is the junior partner at the Springfield, Illinois store of A.Y.… Continue reading Book Review: These Honored Dead

Book Review: The Wall

Book Review: The Wall by Mary Roberts Rinehart Marcia Lloyd is an upper-crust socialite who is not as wealthy as she used to be.  Not by any means broke, but when she comes to her summer home, Sunset, in New England, she can only afford to employ a handful of servants for a house that… Continue reading Book Review: The Wall

Book Review: The Land of Dreams

Book Review: The Land of Dreams by Vidar Sundstøl Lance Hansen has not dreamed in seven years.   A divorced Forest Service police officer on the North Shore of Lake Superior, most of his days are spent chasing illegal fishing and people camping in the wrong places.  He thinks that the latter will be his… Continue reading Book Review: The Land of Dreams

Book Review: Headaches Can Be Murder

Book Review: Headaches Can Be Murder by Marilyn Rausch & Mary Donlon Charles “Chip” E. Collingsworth III was supposed to become a neurosurgeon like his father and grandfather before him, but wasn’t suited to being a doctor, so dropped out of medical school.  Three failed marriages later and with his trust fund depleted, Chip wrote… Continue reading Book Review: Headaches Can Be Murder

Book Review: Jewish Noir

Book Review: Jewish Noir edited by Kenneth Wishnia Many of the themes of noir fiction, alienation, hostile society, darkness and bitter endings, resonate with the experience of Jewish people.  So it’s not surprising that it was easy to find submissions for an anthology of thirty-plus noir stories with Jewish themes.  (Not all of the authors are… Continue reading Book Review: Jewish Noir

Book Review: Birthright: Book 1 of the Temujin Saga

Book Review: Birthright: Book 1 of the Temujin Saga by Adam J. Whitlatch Temujin has always known he is special.  He is, after all, the clone restoration of Genghis Khan, endowed with strange alien powers and destined to conquer the Earth.  It is his birthright. Alexander Walker has never even suspected he is special.  He’s… Continue reading Book Review: Birthright: Book 1 of the Temujin Saga

Book Review: The Year’s Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition

Book Review: The Year’s Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition edited by Judith Merrill This 1960 book features a selection of speculative fiction short stories published during the 1958-60 time period.  Editor Judith Merrill provides an introduction about the concept of wonder, chatty introductions to each story (she doesn’t think much of Kingsley Amis as a… Continue reading Book Review: The Year’s Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition

Book Review: The Silence of the Loons

Book Review: The Silence of the Loons edited by The Minnesota Crime Wave The long-time reader may by now have realized that I have something of a weakness for anthologies.  Collections of short fiction are an excellent use of limited lunch reading time.  And I am also a faithful son of Minnesota.  So this book… Continue reading Book Review: The Silence of the Loons

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg This was my Halloween season read this year, an anthology commissioned for the Barnes & Noble stores in 1995.  There are indeed one hundred stories in this hefty tome, averaging about six pages.  They are not all about… Continue reading Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories