Slow Reader’s Quarterly Reports

Titles in Red are books we have (or have had) in stock.

Titles in Bold Black indicate autographed books we have (or have had) in stock.

I began posting Slow Reader's Quarterly Reports on rec.arts.mystery and, subsequently, on the dorothyl list in January of 2000. These reports have been added from my reading list from earlier years. Book titles in color are or have been in stock. Those in red are unsigned copies, those in bold black are autographed. See the List of Residents for details.

July - September 1998

    The reason for these "quarterly" reports is that I just can’t keep up with the speed most of you read. It is not unlikely that I’ll only get one book done in a month and now that my "day" job has me doing less traveling, I don’t go through Books on Tape as often.  
       
 

Probably Robert Heinlein's most famous work is Stranger in a Strange Land. Michael V Smith, the man from Mars, is actually of Earthling parentage, but is brought to earth by a terrestrial expedition returning from Mars. Michael is soon sequestered from the public by the “high court” and soon thereafter freed and becomes the center of a new social/religious organization. Very interesting society is painted here. I'd been meaning to read this for years, but only just now got around to it. I wonder how much of this book served as the "blueprint" for underground culture of the sixties.

  
   

Another thriller from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is Riptide. Pirate Treasure buried in the late 1600’s has been the target of salvage opertations ever since, the most recent by Malin Hatch’s grandfather, which left the family fortune devastated. The problem, the pirates did a remarkable job of booby trapping it. Now, Malin is approached by Neidleman, a career treasure hunter, with a $22 million dollar bankroll and the latest technology to finally get the goods. The almost certain reclamation is soon plagued with illnesses and computer glitches, a time crunch as the “fair weather” season off the coast of Maine is about to end. Though the authors make no note of it, the island appears to be patterned after "Oak Island" off Nova Scotia. Check out:

http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/OakIsland/index.htm for some details on the actual island and compare it and this story for yourself.
 

Blind Descent is Nevada Barr's sixth series novel and my first one. Anna Pidgen goes on a rescue of a friend in the newly discovered caverns near Carlsbad in New Mexico. What was originally thought to be an accidental cave-in turns out to have been a murder attempt. Anna, though experienced in rock climbing, is hampered by her claustrophobia.

It's very realistic. You can almost feel the damp and hear the echoes.

  
   

Joseph Wambaugh's first book, The New Centurions focuses on the activities and attitudes of three recruits during the month of August for each of  their first five years on the LAPD force. Starting in 1960 are Gus Plebesky, Sergio Duran and Roy Fehler are portrayed as “real” cops in a very “real” environment. An obvious “inside view” of the police force.
 

John Grisham's first novel is A Time To Kill. The trial of Carl Lee Haily, a black man, who murders two white boys that had been arrested for the rape and brutalization of his 12 year old daughter.

 
   

Lightning from Dean R. Koontz shows us Laura Shane’s life that seems to be protected by a special guardian who shows up through out her life. He is a time traveler -- not from the future, but from the past -- while on a mission from Nazi Germany to get information that will help them win the war, he sees and falls in love with her and takes it upon himself to use time travel to go back (or forth, if you prefer) and protect her from a botched delivery at her birth which, initially, left her paralyzed. This, and the suspicions of his contemporaries, leads to a chain of events that puts him, and Laura in different perils.

This is really very good. True, I am a sucker for time travel stories anyway, but this was novel in that the travel comes from the past. As of this writing (Mid 2002), it is still my number two favorite Koontz novel (behind Watchers).
 

Richard Matheson some really neat things and though I don't really classify myself as a fan of science fiction (I used to be, but became disenchanted with it a number of years ago), I've been intrigued with stories he's written. Even so, I need a prodding to pick up such a story. That prod came for an early Sunday morning trip to the super market where I saw a copy of What Dreams May Come in paperback with an advertisement for a soon to be released film starring Robin Williams. Well, since I already had the book coupled with a limited release if it and his earlier novel  Bid Time Return, I figured this is the time.

The story is about a man who is killed in a auto accident. He goes to Heaven and is overwhelmed by the peace and beauty, but soon misses his soul mate and wife. He learns that sometime after his death, she has killed herself. This is a big "no-no" so she is destined for hell. He is forbidden to interfere. But he would rather not stay in heaven without her and sets out to search the after life for his wife in order to save her from Hell.

It was an enchanting story, but unfortunately, it didn't "travel" well to film. Certainly, not with the charm the book had.

  
   

David Morrell’s first book and the basis for the Rambo film series is First Blood. It has a different setting, and ending than the films but starts off the same. Rambo (no first name), an honored Vietnam Vet and victim of post war stress and the social disdain for the war is encourage to “move on” by the sheriff of a small town in Kentucky. Tired of being pushedd around, Rambo “pushes” back and soon finds himself under arrest. His mistreatment by the police, though very real, was minimal, but he over reacts and a deputy is killed. The story then becomes a battle of wills between Rambo and Sheriff Teagle; neither of whom will back down.

It was really very good, but nothing like the film, which took a different tack. The film used it as a vehicle to showcase the plight of the Vietnam era veteran, while the book was a tragic battle of wills.
 

Kiss is an 87th Precinct novel from Ed McBain (pseudonym for Evan Hunter). It is about the plight of a woman who her husband is trying to kill. After a couple failed attempts, he hires a contract killer that he introduces as a private detective.

  
   

Cold Mountain by Charles Frasier is a Civil War era novel.  After surviving numerous battles, Inman, a Confederate soldier, walks away from the war to find his prewar sweetheart, Ada. The story chronicles his journey back. It's a dark a gloomy story with an anti-war undercurrent.
 

Lucian K. Truscott IV's Full Dress Gray is a military based thriller. The first week General Ry Slaight takes over as the new Superintendent of West Point, a female cadet falls out during a parade and dies. This begins a trying time of unraveling the politically motivated undermining of Slaight's stewardship.

  
   

Robert K Tanenbaum's Reckless Endangerment begins with a bloody warning scrawled on the wall above a murdered elderly couple. The act sends the Jewish community reeling into a tension-filled confrontation with the city’s Arab population.
 

This is the first novel from Patrick A. Davis, The General. The Air Force Chief of Staff has been murdered and leads to an investigation involving Vietnam POWs, more murders, and a government cover-up that no one really understands completely. The story is set in the military with a military investigation. It's an interesting twist on what would otherwise be a "police procedural" because there is an entirely different protocol in place in the military.

  
   

Secret Window, Secret Garden is from Stephen King’s FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT, writer Morton Rainy is accused of plagiarism for a story he’d published in 1983 by a guy that say’s it was his from something in 1982. But, Rainy’s story was originally published in a magazine in 1980. Still Rainy is still haunted by this accusation.

The Library Policeman, another of the novellas, is about an innocent trip to the library which opens up a Pandora’s Box of problems when the books are not returned on time.

In The Langoliers, all the passengers on a flight from LA to Boston disappear from the plane (including the crew!) except those who were asleep.
 

Lawrence Block's The Burglar in the Closet features Bernie Rhodenbarr who is on a “job” suggested by his dentist. He is to swipe jewels from the home of his soon-to-be ex-wife when he gets surprised by her untimely return. He ducks into a closet and waits out her “affair” and is about to escape after she goes into the shower, when a ringing at the front door interrupts the shower. Before Bernie can get out, the ex-wife is stabbed with a dental scalpel and the murderer walks off with Bernie’s stash...

The Whoopie Goldberg film, The Burglar, is based on this book.

  
   

Nicholas Evans' first novel is The Horse Whisperer. A young girl in her pre-teens and her friend are involved in a riding accident. She looses a leg and her horse is severely traumatized. Her friend and her horse are killed. The story revolves around the healing of the girl and the horse as well as the mother, who has alienated herself from her daughter and her husband for some time now. It also involves the healing of the Horse Whisperer, himself.

The Robert Redford film wasn't a bad adaptation, though some of the focus and the ending were different (So neither the book or nor the film is a spoiler for the other).

Home Menu TOP