Even though it is better than recent offerings, Blue Labyrinth ultimately fails to break free from the established Preston & Child formula. It starts with a slow build up, the plot takes several shocking twists and turns, and then the last ¼ of the book is a race against time as the previously hidden adversaries reveal their identities and our various heroes fight tooth and nail to overcome and survive. It’s exciting and quite fun but ends up as not much more than a beach […]
The Man behind the Discworld
I just learned Terry Pratchett died today. I’m trying to process that grief and it feels like I’ve lost an old friend. The world is a worse place without him there is no doubt. I wrote this review a couple of weeks ago but hadn’t posted it yet. Now is as good as time as any. Thank you, sir. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Not an autobiography, but still pretty close to it, A Slip of the Keyboard is a collection […]
Hot Pockets 2: The Hot-Pocketing
There are few things Americans like to do more than eat. No one knows that better than comedian Jim Gaffigan. He has made a career celebrating and poking fun at our national obsession. In his new book, Food: A love Story, Gaffigan collects many of his stand up bits and expands on them, adds more, and delivers a consistently amusing, wry, and laugh out loud funny book. What I liked best about the book is that as much as Gaffigan professes his dislike for fruits […]
Diamonds, Dames, and Danger!
I’ve been reading the Ian Fleming Bond books for the last couple of years in order of release. Diamonds Are Forever is the 4th full length Bond novel and like its predecessors much more focused on tension and mystery than over the top action and unbelievable circumstances. This time out, the British secret service has tasked Bond with discovering the head of a diamond smuggling operation. This assignment pits Bond against a crime organization known as the Spang Brothers and puts him in the company […]