We begin with an anniversary. A family prepares to mourn the one year loss of a son and brother but there are two problems–the family is so fractured that they don’t even want to be in the same room as each other and two, there’s a madman who plans on killing them all because of the secrets they are keeping from one another. From the outside the family seems to have everything. They have a loving dog, a gigantic house with all the fancy amenities, […]
Raylan Givens, Karen Sisco, and assorted creeps, criminals, and ne’er-do-wells
Nine short stories make up the Fire in the Hole collection (previously called The Women Come out to Dance) and are a great introduction to Elmore Leonard’s easy style of writing and terrific dialogue. I’m just starting to get in to his books, this would be the 4th I’ve read, and so far I’m enjoying the hell out of them. The main draw of Fire in the Hole is the title story. Fans of the FX series Justifed know this is the story that provides […]
“So what’s a few plane crashes in the name of a good night’s sleep?”
What if I told you that I just read a great book about a teenaged boy named Ariel? Ariel lives in an unnamed, war-torn country, and has just turned 14. On his 14th birthday, tragedy strikes, and Ariel finds himself the sole survivor in his village. Wouldn’t his tale about his travels with soldiers and regular families, about the horrors of the refuge camp, and about his new, adoptive family in West Virginia sound like something you might want to read? Or how about if […]
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman with Asperger Syndrome
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is a novel about a young and talented filmmaker whose life ended too soon but who left an indelible mark on those few people who knew her and/or her work. The story is told through the various perspectives of these people: actress/lover Allison, brother Robbie, producer George, husband/musician Jacob, college obsession Daniel, journalist Benjamin. Each person seems to have been frustrated by their inability to really know or understand Sophie, expressing irritation and annoyance along with love and […]