Gilbert M. Stack's Blog, page 18

Kiss the Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton

Kiss the Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton

It was a delight to have the old St. Louis Preternatural Investigation squad play an important role in a Blake novel again. That hasn’t happened in an awful lot of books. Add to that Blake and the cops are chasing vampires who are recruiting minors into their undead lives and that’s not allowed. The action is gritty and there is a lot of tension as they track down the killers for about half of the novel.

 

The other half (slightly more than half actually) is what happens in between these efforts to catch vampire killers. Unfortunately, that draws on the worst tendencies displayed by author Hamilton in the past dozen or so books. Anita has a lot of sex and indulges in a tremendous amount of relationship talk with about a dozen (maybe more) of her lovers. So, I guess the positive spin on this would be that there is something for everyone here. If you like action and investigation, this book has it. If you prefer pointless sex and endless (and I really mean “endless”) analyzing of Anita’s sex life with her multiple partners, that’s here too. If you only like one of these, you can quickly skim the roughly half the book that is devoted to things that bore you to tears.

 

 

Plot it Yourself by Rex Stout

Plot it Yourself by Rex Stout

Stout outdoes himself in this Nero Wolfe mystery focusing on the world of publishing and the serious problem of plagiarism. Approached by a “joint committee” representing both publishers and authors, Wolfe is hired to stop a person from pursuing a claim of plagiarism against a novelist. It’s the fifth such case in five years, each targeting marvelously successful books, and all involved are tired of paying out what they believe to be fraudulent claims. Wolfe takes the case and things get seriously interesting. I was nearly one hundred pages into the story before I suddenly remembered that Wolfe mysteries always involve murder. Usually, I am less fond of the books that take a long time in getting to the crime, but not this time. The story sucked me in and the murders only increased the tension. This is a great tale with one of the most intriguing final scenes Stout ever penned.

 

 

Have At It, Sister by Bill Griffeth

Have At It, Sister by Bill Griffeth

This is the story of Gloria Burtzlaff and her relationship with her husband, Lance. Lance was a domineering man who became increasingly abusive as his marriage deteriorated and Gloria had an affair. The situation is complicated by Lance’s illness which clearly lessened his sense of self-worth which led to more abuse of Gloria until one night when he tried to drown her before deciding that drowning was too easy a death. While he sat on his couch getting drunker, Gloria decided she’d had enough and shot him.

 

What follows is Gloria’s experience with the court system and later in prison as she, her attorneys, and her sons try to get her freed to return to her life. It’s a fascinating, and often heart wrenching story which highlights many of the challenges and problems with our legal system. While Gloria is in prison in effect for not leaving her husband, another case in South Dakota spotlights a woman who did the “right thing” only to have her husband murder her and her children. Shortly thereafter, a man who kills his girlfriend in a case that is less stark than Gloria’s is given four years (instead of the twenty that Gloria received) and then let out of prison before his first year is completed. These cases highlight both the inequities in the legal system and the extraordinary difficulty in handling these cases.

 

Another fascinating part of the story are the many letters to the editors written by Gloria or about her case by members of the community showing differing perspectives on her actions. The biggest challenge to determining the correct outcome of Gloria’s situation is that when all is said and done we only have Gloria’s account of her abuse and the events of the final night. Abusers are often clever enough to hide their actions from the community, so it is not widely known that the abuse is happening. This is reflected in the letters to the editors as people anguish over the lack of external evidence that Gloria and Lance’s marriage had become abusive. This is really the only place in the book where that complexity comes through because Griffeth accepts Gloria’s claims wholeheartedly and following his narrative it is easy to forget that all the critical information comes from her. This doesn’t mean she was lying, it’s just the reality of the source of the evidence.

 

Gloria’s fight for her freedom is a fascinating story, but what is even more interesting is the growing public awareness of a serious problem and how that awareness impacts the South Dakota legislature, the governor, and the court system.

 

Fine Gorilla Person by Lauren Ober

Fine Gorilla Person by Lauren Ober

This is the story of Koko, the gorilla that learned sign language and touched the hearts of people across the world. Unlike the story you think you know, it’s a tale of abuse and isolation and an appalling lack of science. Reading it depressed me. We may never know what was really going on in Koko’s head, but the author, Lauren Ober, appears certain that her owner and caretakers were looking out for their own best interests, not hers.

 

Silver Spire by Robert Goldsborough

Silver Spire by Robert Goldsborough

Someone is threatening the life of a prominent minister, but Wolfe doesn’t like the idea of working for a group of evangelicals no matter how wealthy they are. So, he refuses the case, but when asked for a recommendation on another private investigator, Archie suggests Fred Durkin. A week later, Durkin is arrested for homicide.

 

Now I understand that it is politically awkward for the NYC police force to investigate and potentially arrest prominent churchmen and women, but the Durkin case always felt like a farce. The police have two pieces of evidence against Durkin. The dead man yelled at him, and Durkin’s gun was used. Durkin’s defense is that he took off his gun and hung it beneath his coat while at the church—something which was easily verifiable. But there we have it. Durkin is going down for murder so that wealthy political doners aren’t offended and Inspector Cramer is going along with it. It still doesn’t make sense.

 

Wolfe gets involved because Durkin is associated with him. The ending was not as dramatic as a traditional Wolfe case, although the murderer did make sense. It was also nice to see Wolfe do more with a set of bible verses then the bible-thumping church men and women could. But when all is said and done, this is only an average Nero Wolfe mystery.

 

 

Sound the Alarm by Mike Adams

Book 26 Sound the Alarm by Mike Adams

One of the things I like most about this series is the moment when the point of view returns to people on earth who are learning about the events at New Hope Colony surrounding the alien invasion. Those people are quite naturally worried about the colonists, but they also have to deal with the political realities on earth which adds a bit of tension to what is really just a clever way for the author to remind the reader of what happened in the previous twenty-five books.

 

Back on the colony, the aliens are preparing a little surprise to set the humans back on their heels again. For the past couple of books, I’ve thought the humans were becoming a bit complacent with the war. They know they have serious reinforcements getting close and they have successfully protected major portions of their populations. So, it was nice to see the aliens getting ready to strike another serious blow. It’s also nice to realize that the aliens have more than one pan on the stove so we can legitimately worry about our favorite characters as we close in on the final book.

 

Dark Treacherous Hearts Is Now Available

Dark Treacherous Hearts by Gilbert M. Stack

The second volume in my Young Tavistock series is now available at Amazon and free on Kindle Unlimited. Young Tavistock is the tale of how the greatest knight and most highly respected lord in Winterhaven got that way and if you thought he had serious problems to contend with in the first volume of this series, you haven’t seen anything yet.

 

Here’s the back of the book blurb:

When Willem returned to Tavistock to claim his inheritance, he thought he only needed to convince his uncle to stand down and then prove his own value to his vassals on the field of battle. Unfortunately for Willem, his unexpected return interfered with too many other peoples’ plans. He belatedly realizes that if they can’t remove him face to face, they will find a less honorable way. As the young swordsman struggles to take a firm grip on the reins of power, he must discern who is truly loyal to him and which smiles conceal Dark Treacherous Hearts.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Treachero...

 

The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian

The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian

This book has been on my “to read” list for several months. It’s based on an interesting idea. Alchemy is real and the philosopher’s stone has been created granting some alchemists an end to natural aging. Alchemy can also be used to bring some inanimate objects to life, such as the gargoyle who is the most interesting character in the story.

 

Other than an interesting background, it took quite a while for me to get drawn into the story itself. An alchemist who has left the trade discovers a gargoyle and a murdered person. Some items are stolen from her and the gargoyle, including a book with a recipe that the gargoyle needs to sustain his existence. The rest of the book is a search for the murderer and, more importantly, the book. It is interspersed with the alchemist getting to know her new town (which also helps with the investigation) and endless descriptions of cooking.

 

I did finally get pulled into the mystery late in the story. It’s one of those tales that depends on the villain explaining an awful lot to everyone after being captured.

 

No Kindness Too Soon by Sylvain Neuvel

No Kindness Too Soon by Sylvain Neuvel

This is a bizarre and thought-provoking tale about first contact with an alien species and how we might communicate with them. It’s also a story about whether natural disasters coming like the plagues of Egypt are caused by the aliens. The first half, dealing with theories about what aliens would look like and what would be needed for them and us to understand each other, was quite fascinating, almost a science lesson on ETs. The second half of the story is much more bizarre as the scientists focus in on communications fifteen years earlier between a suicidal Australian and the alien species. They begin to postulate that the disasters are a response from the aliens who are learning about the planet from one miserably unhappy person. It’s a fascinating idea with an ending that will give you a smile.

 

Essentials of Social Psychology by Wind Goodfriend

Essentials of Social Psychology by Wind Goodfriend

Goodfriend provides a solid, easily followed, introduction to the field of social psychology. The best chapter was Lecture 7 on Conformity and Blind Obedience in which Goodfriend explores some well-known experiments on people to see how far they would follow orders and what would happen when the “rules” were removed. It’s a disturbing lecture, but there was also some reassuring moments when she examines responses by people who bucked the majority and stood up for what they thought was right. The best single moment in the series is at the end of the final lecture when the author explores the very famous case of Kitty Genovese who was stabbed a very large number of times over a half an hour period while dozens of people—her neighbors—listened and did nothing. I’ve read about this case in textbooks and seen it pop up again and again in popular literature and shows. This was the first time, however, that I ever heard the counter story. Kitty was not ignored by everyone. One neighbor intervened shouting from his window until the assailant ran away. Another called the police (it was pre 911) only to be told the police already knew about the incident. And a third went out to hold her friend while she died waiting for medical help. Reporters apparently admitted to editing their stories to make the neighbors appear more callous and brutal so that they could sell more papers. This is a good set of lectures.