Westlake, Donald E. Smoke (1995) Mysterious Press, 454 pages, $21.95 hardcover ISBN 0-89296-543-7 Freddie Noon is a twice-convicted thief in New York City. So when he’s caught by Dr. David Loomis and Dr. Peter Heimhocker stealing electronic equipment from their research facility, he decides that becoming their experimental subject is better than the […]
“Smoke” by Donald E. Westlake Read More »
Woods, Stuart. Run Before the Wind (1983) rpt. 1988; Avon, 310 pages, $6.50 paperback ISBN 0 380 70507 9 In Run Before the Wind Stuart Woods picks up the Lee family from his first novel, Chiefs. Will Lee, the spoiled, restless son of politician Billy Lee and his wife Patricia who is just
“Run Before the Wind” by Stuart Woods Read More »
Westlake, Donald E. Baby, Would I Lie? (1994) Mysterious Press 291 pages $19.95 hardcover ISBN 0-89296-532-0 Singer Ray Jones has his own theater on traffic-jam strip in Branson, Missouri, new center of country-and-western music. And Branson traffic is about to become even more congested than usual as reporters from everywhere pour in to
“Baby, Would I Lie?” by Donald E. Westlake Read More »
Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West Simon & Schuster, 1996Hardcover, 496 pagesISBN 0-684-81107-3 Recommended In Undaunted Courage Ambrose has managed to do the nearly impossible: create a book that is accessible to both the academic community and the general public. For the scholarly reader, all the
Review: “Undaunted Courage” by Stephen Ambrose Read More »
Cornwell, Patricia. Point of Origin (1998) G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 356 pages, $25.95 hardcover ISBN 0 399 14394 7 I’m getting really sick of Kay Scarpetta. At least in Patricia Cornwell’s earlier novels Scarpetta waited until the plot began to develop before beginning her self-centered, self-righteous lamentations. But in Point of Origin Scarpetta starts
“Point of Origin” by Patricia Cornwell Read More »
McBride, James. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother Riverhead Books, 1996Hardcover, 228 pagesISBN 1-57322-022-1 Recommended As a young boy James McBride recognized that his mother was different: “Gradually . . . I began to notice something about my mother, that she looked nothing like the other kids’ mothers. In fact,
Review: “The Color of Water” by James McBride Read More »
Woods, Stuart. Chiefs (1981) Avon Books, 427 pages, $5.99 paperback ISBN 0 380 70347 5 Recommended One benefit to discovering a prolific author with one of his later works is that you then have the pleasure of going back and reading all his earlier books as well. I first discovered Stuart Woods in
“Chiefs” by Stuart Woods Read More »
McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir Scribner, 1996Paperback, 364 pagesISBN 0-684-87435-0 Highly Recommended Frank McCourt’s memoir about his childhood well deserves all the accolades that have been heaped upon it. When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly
Review: “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt Read More »
Cornwell, Patricia. Unnatural Exposure (1997) G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 338 pages, $25.95 hardcover ISBN 0 399 14285 1 After Cornwell’s two recent disasters, Cause of Death and Hornet’s Nest, I approached Unnatural Exposure with trepidation. Dr. Kay Scarpetta returns in a novel that doesn’t exhibit Hornet’s Nest’s lack of focus but that does, like
“Unnatural Exposure” by Patricia Cornwell Read More »
Listed alphabetically by author Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage Atkinson, Kate. Behind the Scenes at the Museum Byatt, A.S. Possession: A Romance Dorris, Michael. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water Finney, Jack. Time and Again Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying Mistry, Rohinton. A Fine Balance O’Connell, Carol. Stone Angel Smiley, Jane. A Thousand
The Best Books I Read in 1997 Read More »
