Category Archives: Books

Books: Four by John Sandford

sandfordbooks500.jpg

I started the year reading four John Sandford novels. Back to back, to back, to back. (Do I need another “to back”? Not sure.)

First came “Dark of the Moon,” Sandford’s first novel starring investigator Virgil Flowers. I found Flowers to be quite an engaging character, even more interesting that the renowned Lucas Davenport from Sandford’s “Prey” series. Flowers actually works for Davenport out of Minneapolis, Minn., and he regularly checks in with Davenport.

I liked “Dark of the Moon” so much–and Flowers so much–that I read the second Flowers book, “Heat Lightning.” It, too, was a winner. And I realized I had drawn a very good mental picture of Flowers:

  • Tall, lanky.
  • Shoulder-length blonde hair.
  • Always wears a T-shirt from a rock group (some well-known, like Sheryl Crow or AC/DC, others obscure groups), accompanied by a blazer and cowboy boots.
  • He’s a preacher’s kid, who thinks about God a lot, but doesn’t actively practice any religion.
  • He’s been married three times.

I realized that, though I’d read at least 15 of the Lucas Davenport novels (out of 19 to date), I didn’t have a clear picture of Davenport. So after reading those two Virgil Flowers books, I thought I should read about Davenport again. As it turns out, I had two on my shelf: “Broken Prey” and “Phantom Prey,” awaiting my attention.

But after reading them, I still don’t have a clear picture of Davenport in my head.

However, all four of these were excellent books, each dealing with a serial killer. Sandford is a master at misdirection, dropping all kinds of clues but still keeping the reader in the dark. He plays fair. Raymond Chandler and Dashell Hammet would wait until the end, when the protagonist would deliver a long speech explaining everything that had happened, including information not previously available to the reader. I don’t like that. With Sandford, the mystery gradually unfolds, and you’re aware of what’s happening as the hero is.

In most books, you don’t know the killer until toward the end. In others, like “Invisible Prey,” you know who they are all along; you’re just waiting for Davenport to figure it out. Then there are books like “Phantom Prey,” where the reader finds out about halfway through (though in that case, plenty of mystery remained). Sandford always does it right.

In brief:

  • “Dark of the Moon” occurs in a small town, with the requisite small-town intrigue where everybody knows everybody else.
  • “Heat Lighting” involves a group of men who were in Vietnam together, and are getting killed one after another.
  • “Broken Prey” involves murders with a connection to a prison hospital. One of his better “Prey” books.
  • “Phantom Prey” involves killings in the Goth community. Has some psychological thriller elements, and I’m not a real fan of that.
Share Button
Comments Off on Books: Four by John Sandford

Books: Pop. 1280, The Transgressors

pop1280-transgressors200.jpg

Jim Thompson, who wrote most of his books in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, prowled the sewers of the human soul. His heroes were low-lifes, his stories pretty much devoid of people you’d want to take home to Momma.

Stephen King wrote in his introduction to Thompson’s “Now and On Earth”:

Know what I admired the most? The guy was over the top. The guy was absolutely over the top. Big Jim didn’t know the meaning of the word stop…..His novels are terrifying cameos of smalltown hurt, hypocrisy, and desperation. They are urgent in their ugliness, triumphant in their tawdriness….

Someone has to examine the stool samples of society; someone has to describe those tumors from which more cultured people shy away. Jim Thompson was one of the few.

I’ve read six Jim Thompson books now. I recently finished two. Like most Thompson books, they are published under the Vintage Black Lizard imprint.

“Pop. 1280” (1964) is set in a Texas smalltown, and told first-person by the town’s sheriff, Nick Corey. Corey presents himself as a lazy, cowardly fool–which he is. But he’s also a manipulative psychotic killer who conveys absolutely no guilt or second thoughts about his sins, which he carries out in a somewhat carefree way.

This book is a first-cousin to Thompson’s most famous book, “The Killer Inside Me,” which also stars a murderous sheriff. Actually, “The Getaway” and “The Grifters” are probably better known, but only because they were made into pretty good movies. “The Getaway,” with Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw, was actually a great movie (which ended just before the book got really really dark).

“Pop. 1280” moved along quickly, the writing somewhat sparse, lacking (in a good way) at lot of imagery and atmospherics. I highly recommend it. Nick Corey is utterly fascinating, and you can’t guess what he’s going to do next as he leads you along in his own words, having a gool ol’ time.

“The Transgressors” (1961) also stars a lawman, this time a sheriff’s deputy, who ends up on the wrong side of the law, sort of. Tom Lord is not a terrible guy, like Nick Corey, but not a White Hat cowboy either. This one’s set in Texas, too. Lord does what he needs to do to avoid a world of hurt. It’s a pretty good Thompson book, not a great one.

Share Button
Comments Off on Books: Pop. 1280, The Transgressors

Robert Parker, Creator of Spenser, Dead at 77

robert-parker.jpgRobert Parker, one of my favorite writers, died on Monday. He wrote 37 Spenser mysteries, short books that take practically no time to read. He also kept three other series going–Jesse Stone, Sunny Randall, and a western series (from which the movie “Appaloosa” came).

I’ve got three Parker books sitting on my shelf, unread–the latest Spenser, Stone, and Randall books. I’ve read all of the others. Word is that several more books are finished.

Parker died writing his latest Spenser book. He was found at his typewriter, dead of a heart attack, by his wife Joan. They’d been married 53 years. All of his books were dedicated to Joan. Look it up.

Everyone calls him the successor to Raymond Chandler, and maybe he is. But Spenser bears little resemblance to Philip Marlowe, and Chandler produced only a handful of books. Ross MacDonald might be a better comparison, though again, the similarities are few. Parker reinvented the private investigator. Spenser himself may not be so unique, but having a sidekick like Hawk is certainly new.

A Chandler book can be savored, because of the clever writing, the funny turns-of-phrases which Chandler pull off. Parker is just as witty, but in a more character-driven way. For example: the sparse interplay between Spenser and Hawk. It’s delightful stuff.

Spenser, Hawk, Susan, Quirk, Rachel Wallace, and a variety of guys he could call on when he needed some muscle–these are fascinating, well-defined characters whom I’ve been reading about for 25 years (I read my first Spenser book somewhere around 1984). Spenser never aged during that time. Being a Korean War vet (like Parker), he should have been quite old by now.

Some things I picked up in reading tributes to Parker:

  • He wrote a total of 60 novels, starting with “The Godwulf Manuscript” in 1973 (the first Spenser book).
  • We never learn Spenser’s first name.
  • He wrote five double-spaced pages a day, 1,250 words, 6 days of the week (took Sunday off). At that rate, he cranked out a book every three months.
  • He never knew what would happen next in a book, and finished books without revising them. He didn’t rewrite, didn’t do a second draft, and didn’t reread it when done. He’d turn the manuscript over to Joan, then begin the next book.
  • In recent years, he was getting a $1 million advance per book (and doing three books a year).
  • Of the tributes I read, the best was in the Telegraph, from England.
Share Button
Comments Off on Robert Parker, Creator of Spenser, Dead at 77

Books: Three Mysteries with WW2 Connections

3ww2Books500.jpg

Over the Christmas holidays, I read three Black Lizard mysteries from Vintage books, all by different authors. Each book related in some way to World War 2. One is set in Germany, one in Sweden, and one in post-war Japan. One is outstanding, the others not so much.

“Self’s Deception,” by Bernhard Schlink. Schlink wrote a series of mysteries around Gerhard Self, a private detective in Germany. He’s 69 years old, and had fought in the German army, and there are references to skeletons. The plot involves searching for a young woman who has gone missing. Self finds her fairly quickly, but things get complicated fast. We end up amidst a terrorist attack on an American installation where poison gas from the war is kept.

I didn’t care for this book. I never got a good sense of Gerhard Self, never found a reason to find him the least bit interesting. The book had little action (read: violence), and the plot, though suitably intricate, never engaged me. I forced myself through the final pages, not caring how it turned out. Very disappointing for a Black Lizard book.

Philip Kerr’s “Berlin Noir” books about PI Bernie Gunther are far more interesting, with a fully developed, fascinating protagonist. But Kerr is Scottish, not German, and he shapes Gunther more like an American rule-breaking investigator. It’s always interesting to see how writers in other cultures build a mystery hero…except that Self is a boring character.

“The Return of the Dancing Master,” by Henning Mankell. This is an amazing, engrossing book. Mankell departs from the Kurt Wallander saga to introduce us to Stefan Lindman, a policeman on medical leave (he has cancer) who gets involved in the case of a former colleague who was brutally murdered. The motive for the murder, revenge, traces back 50 years to the latter days of World War 2.

I don’t know where to begin. Suffice it to say, this is Henning Mankell at his best (or second-best, after “The White Lioness”). Lots of detail, a true police procedural of following leads this way and that way, sometimes down dead-ends. Personal dramas are woven seamlessly into the narrative.

I read 200 pages on Christmas Eve, and the other 200 pages on Christmas Day. Mankell writes with the magnetic attraction that irresistibly pulls you along, chapter by chapter. My guesses about how it would end proved wrong, though I did have valid suspicions. At any rate–if you like mysteries, read this book.

“Tokyo Year Zero,” by David Peace. This book begins the day Japan surrenders, but mostly occurs a year later with the US occupation in full swing. A Japanese policeman is investigating the murders of a number of young women, amid the backdrop of a ravaged city and a populace seeking order and food.

I like plots that occur within a larger context. Philip Kerr’s “Berlin Noir” books do that, a mystery unfolding as the Nazis rise to power or during the Allied occupation; Dan Fesperman’s mysteries occur within the context of the Bosnian war. But in “Tokyo Year Zero,” the occupation was far in the background. I wanted much more.

“Tokyo Year Zero” could have been fascinating in that regard. But Peace takes a very artsy-fartsy, psychological approach, and I just didn’t care enough to figure out what he was doing. I just wanted an interesting ride, so I guess I was the wrong reader in the wrong mood. I found the book difficult to read, even as others heap acclaim on it. I finished it, but I’m not sure what exactly happened. Yet I did gain some insights into the post-war occupation, and am interested enough to perhaps read some nonfiction about it.

Read more »

Share Button
Comments Off on Books: Three Mysteries with WW2 Connections

Books: Leather Maiden, Mucho Mojo

lansdalebooks.jpgI’ve now read four books by Joe Lansdale, and I must say, he’s becoming one of my favorite authors. I wrote previously about “The Bottoms,” which was a truly outstanding book. The other three books are all in the Black Lizard imprint, including these two which I just finished.

“Leather Maiden” is told first-person by Cason Statler, an Iraq war vet who returns to his home town in East Texas as a newspaper reporter. He becomes intrigued with the story of a college student who disappeared six months before, assumed murdered, and begins pursuing that story.

It’s a fascinating plot, with lots of smalltown intrigue, which unravels at a nice pace and with plenty of surprises. And when Booger, a somewhat psycho friend from Iraq, enters the picture–well, this is one really interesting guy. “Leather Maiden” is a very well-written book, too. Lansdale knows what he’s doing.

“Mucho Mojo” is the 2nd book in Lansdale’s “Hap and Leonard” series, which dates back to 1995 and includes an entry in 2009. I would describe Hap and Leonard as a poor man’s Spencer and Hawk. They’re a mostly down-on-their-luck duo of tough guys bouncing around the south. Probably in their 50s, from what I can tell. Hap is a white guy, Leonard is black (and gay, but totally non-stereotypical, and only finds himself attracted to straight guys). Like Spencer and Hawk, their banter is a treasure, especially when it touches–as it often does–on racial and other issues in very non-PC ways.

I previously read “Savage Season,” the first book in the series, and wasn’t all that crazy about it. But “Mucho Mojo,” built around solving a series of child murders, is better, and I’m afraid I’m hooked. I put the rest of the Hap and Leonard books on my Christmas list for Pam.

Share Button
Comments Off on Books: Leather Maiden, Mucho Mojo

Books: Dragon Tattoo, Bobby Z

dragontattoo_bobbyz300.jpg I just finished two more books from the Vantage “Black Lizard” imprint.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” by Stieg Larsson, ranks among the very best Black Lizard mysteries I’ve read (I’ve read 84 to date). Henning Mankell’s “The White Lioness” is the best, and then you’d have to throw in a Raymond Chandler book and Jim Thompson’s “The Killer Inside Me.” But this one’s right up there.

Sweden, for some reason, is blessed with a lot of good mystery writers (including Mankell). This book is 600 pages (the longest Black Lizard book I’ve read), without a lot of action. But Larsson establishes strong characters and an intriguing mystery to solve, and I never lost interest.

Plus, there’s the title character, Lisbeth Salander, who is one of the most fascinating characters I’ve ever come across. The book alternates between her and the mainest character, Mikael Blomkvist (who is quite interesting in his own right), and the two storylines inevitably converge. But it’s always more interesting when dealing with Lisbeth.

Basically, a billionaire hires Blomkvist to discover what happened to a niece, who disappeared 40 years before. Lots of other stuff surrounds that basic task. And even when THAT mystery is solved, the book isn’t over.

In short: I highly recommend this book. I noticed in B&N that Larsson has another book out, and it also stars Lisbeth Salander. Can’t wait.

“The Death and Life of Bobby Z,” by Don Winslow, involves a felon who is released from prison so he can impersonate a drug dealer, Bobby Z, and infiltrate a drug gang. The book moves fast, with a fairly high body count and lots of bad guys converging from different directions. It’s not a great book, but it was a fun read while it lasted, which is 260 pages. I did not mourn when I came to page 260.

UPDATE: Brent Birdsall just sent this a link to an article about the “Dragon Tattoo” book, which is being made into a movie.

Share Button
Comments Off on Books: Dragon Tattoo, Bobby Z

Learning Why Atheists Reject Christianity

mills-harris-books250.jpg Surveys show that atheism and agnosticism are on the rise in the United States. Christianity is ascendant in other parts of the world, particularly Latin America and Africa, but not in Western countries. I don’t know why. But I decided to try to understand better how atheists see the world and view Christianity.

A lot of books have been written lately by atheists–evangelistic atheists, I should say, intent on converting people away from whatever religion they belong to. Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are probably the best-known writers, but comments on Amazon told me that they tend to be obnoxiously condescending and combative.

Instead, I ended up with “Atheist Universe,” by David Mills, and “Letter to a Christian Nation,” by Samuel Harris. Both were excellent books. Yes, they attacked Christianity strongly, but that was the point.

Mills, who at one time was an on-fire evangelistic Christian, devoted a chapter to a lot of different subjects. I appreciated his understanding of how Christians think and what we believe, even if he has rejected all of it personally. The Harris book–a short little thing, more like an extended essay–was like a highly condensed version of “Atheist Universe,” hitting many of the same areas in a compact–and very compelling–manner.

Let me say right now: these books didn’t shake my faith at all. I’ve seen and experienced way too much of God and His Word to doubt him. Those books would be devastatingly effective with someone who was questioning his faith, but not with me.

Both spent a lot of time disputing Creationism and Intelligent Design. Many of their arguments made great sense to me. But I’m a total non-scientist, and we’re talking about very complicated issues which require a depth of knowledge which I fully lack. Creationists and ID folks could rebut Mills and Harris, I’m sure. I can’t, and don’t intend to immerse myself in these subjects to get up to speed.

However, I admit that Mills and Harris raised serious questions in various areas beyond science–questions which I cannot answer. They pointed out things in Scripture (usually fairly) that are inconsistencies or dilemmas we Christians, perhaps lamely, prefer to ignore. I realized how commonly we fling around pat answers. And pat answers don’t fly with people like Mills and Harris, nor with other skeptics or with people honestly searching out Christianity.

I’m not afraid of truth. By pointing out things in Scripture which appeared to be inconsistencies in my beliefs, they pointed out real truths about Scripture. It’s there, written right in God’s Word, and inspired by God Himself. No sense denying it, unless I want to take Thomas Jefferson’s approach and scissor out parts I don’t like. Mills and (to a lesser extent) Harris revealed to me new mysteries about God, things that require answers. I find that invigorating, rather than faith-quenching.

While I don’t have the answers, I, Steve Dennie, know that answers exist. Because I know God, and don’t doubt him. THAT kind of answer would drive Mills and Harris nuts. But sometimes, pat answers are valid. Especially if that’s all we’ve got for the moment, and maybe until we enter eternity.

I emerged from those books appreciating their intellectual honesty and why they have rejected Christianity. And I realize there are new mysteries surrounding God, the universe, and the Bible that I need to probe.

I also, now, realize the threat these compelling atheist writers pose to the souls of men. They are a potent weapon in Satan’s arsenal.

Share Button
Comments Off on Learning Why Atheists Reject Christianity

Books: Forsyth, Patterson, Sandford

Nov_3books300.jpg I’m a little behind on reviewing books I’ve read. Here are three recent novels.

The Afghan, by Frederick Forsyth. This one disappointed me. Forsyth did a great deal of research, and felt like he needed to inflict it all on the reader. I was never really engaged in the plot. At least not until the end, when he kicked into a higher geer. Interesting ending. But the rest–just skip it.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. This is a new series under the Patterson brand. Daniel X is an alien, who himself is an alien hunter. He tracks down and kills aliens living on earth. It was interesting, quirky, and fast-paced. I’ll look forward to additional books in this series. It’s mostly fluff, but I like that sometimes.

Dead Watch, by John Sandford. Not one of his better books. Certainly far beneath the Lucas Davenport “Prey” books. Here, Sandford introduces a new hero, and instead of a murder mystery, we get a political thriller. I’d say the political thriller isn’t Sandford’s forte. The plot was certainly intricate enough, and I liked the hero, and it moved along, and…so what didn’t I like? Don’t really know. But it just didn’t satisfy me.

Share Button
Comments Off on Books: Forsyth, Patterson, Sandford

Book: 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe

10DumbThings150.jpgI just finished Larry Osborne’s book, “10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe.” This is a follow-up to his book “Spirituality for the Rest of Us” (which I read under the title “A Contrarian’s Guide to Knowing God”). “Spirituality for the Rest of Us” was better, but this sequel is well worth the cost. Anything to make you think about what you believe.

Both books take things we long-time Christians have grown-up believing, and asks, “Is that really true?” And then explain why it’s not true. We’re not talking about basic doctrines, such as the virgin birth, miracles, authority of the Bible, etc. Rather, here are the chapters in “10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe.” I asterisked my favorites.

1. Faith Can Fix Anything *
2. Forgiving Means Forgetting
3. A Godly Home Guarantees Godly Kids *
4. God has a Blueprint for My Life
5. Christians Shouldn’t Judge
6. Everything Happens for a Reason
7. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide
8. God Brings Good Luck
9. A Valley Means a Wrong Turn *
10. Dead People go to a Better Place *

Osborne describes these as spiritual urban legends. “They become almost impossible to refute because ‘everyone’ knows they’re true. Anyone who dares to question their veracity gets written off as spiritually dull, lacking in faith, or liberal.” My favorite chapters were: 3, 6, 8, and 9.

I consider myself an independent thinker, a person who typically questions what he hears. But as I read this book, I was kicking myself over the things I’ve NOT questioned, but just accepted because other Christians spout them. Accepted, because it’s ingrained into our Western Christian culture. This book won’t make you abandon your Christian beliefs. Rather, it’ll help bring you into closer alignment with what the Bible actually means. We should never be afraid of truth.

The Bereans didn’t just take Paul’s words as Gospel. They tested them, to see if they lined up with Scripture. Osborne’s books do the same for 21st Century Christians. He takes the glib sayings we throw around and investigates whether or not that’s what the Bible actually says.

Share Button
Comments Off on Book: 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe

3 Books: Butcher’s Boy, The Bottoms, Kennedy’s Brain

butcher_bottoms_kennedy500.jpg

Here are three novels I read during the past couple of weeks. All very different, all very good.

The Butcher’s Boy (Thomas Perry).
This was Perry’s debut novel, back in 1982, and it may still be his best. The book alternates between two storylines:

  1. A hitman (the title character), whom you row to like.
  2. A female FBI agent who believes a common killer connects two different murders, and tries to find him.

It’s quite interesting. I found myself rooting for both characters–that the FBI agent would get her man, and that the Butcher’s Boy would elude capture. An ending I wasn’t expecting, but which delighted me.

The Bottoms (Joe Lansdale). This 2000 book won the Edgar Award for best novel. It’s an incredible book. Set in the 1930s in east Texas, in an area called “The Bottoms.” The story is told by a young boy, Harry, maybe 13 or so. One night he finds a dead body–a black woman who has been mutilated. Other similar bodies turn up. So they’ve got a serial killer in the Bottoms.

But what makes this story great is the interplay between the black and white communities. Lansdale makes you practically experience the subjugation of blacks, the total control wielded by whites. The racism of that time comes to life in Lansdale’s book. I can’t recommend it enough.

Kennedy’s Brain (Henning Mankell). This is the first Mankell book I’ve read that didn’t involve Inspector Kurt Wallander. The story involves a mother who sets out to prove that her 25-year-old son didn’t commit suicide, but was murdered. Her quest starts in Sweden, but takes her to Australia, Spain, and then southern Africa, where a good chunk of the book takes place. It’s a strange book, in ways, but compelling. The book didn’t really end…and yet, I’m satisfied with that. It seemed appropriate.

Share Button
Comments Off on 3 Books: Butcher’s Boy, The Bottoms, Kennedy’s Brain

Receive Posts by Email

If you subscribe to my Feedburner feed, you'll automatically receive new posts by email. Very convenient.

Categories

Facebook

Monthly Archives