Gilbert M. Stack's Blog, page 53

Gotrek and Felix 9 Manslayer by Nathan Long

Gotrek and Felix 9 Manslayer by Nathan Long

I think this title was ingenious for this series. We’ve had eight monsters in the title so far (Trolls, Dragons, Daemons, Orcs, Giants, Vampires, Beasts, and Skaven) and in book 9 Nathan reminds us that man can be quite the monster as well.

 

The plot revolves around Gotrek and Felix’s efforts to get to the front in the new war against Chaos. Their journey takes them through Nuln and for the first time in twenty years, Felix sees his brother who has (unknown to Felix) been publishing his journals as adventure stories which no one believes are true. As the reader can imagine, everyone’s going to have a chance to learn how real they are.

 

The plot revolves around the theft of a barge-load of black powder needed for cannon at the front. Gotrek and Felix seem to be the only ones making progress in finding it, which angers the watch into castigating them for all of the damage caused in their battles. The watch is a conundrum throughout the story. Are they just protecting their turf or are they actually aiding the chaos cults trying to burn down Nuln and its gunnery school?

 

This book is packed with fights and the return of characters from when William King wrote the series. The most important of these is Felix’s former lover (now turned into a vampire), Ulrika. I thought Long handled this obviously painful reunion very well and it added a lot to the story. In addition, the threat is very well drawn and I was totally satisfied with the ending which actually makes the reader think about what life must be like in the world of Warhammer.

 

I do have one complaint, but it’s of the Warhammer universe, not of Nathan Long’s book. Chaos causes mutations. They pop up in tons of the novels. I find it difficult to believe that a world in this serious of a struggle doesn’t routinely make people strip down to be examined for mutation since such mutations always lead to the mutant joining the side of chaos.

 

Trail of the Hana K'ilo by Channing Whitaker

Trail of the Hana K’ilo by Channing Whitaker

The second book in Whitaker’s Skeptic Detective series takes a very different tone than the first, but still offers the reader an excellent mystery that will have them flirting with possible supernatural explanations for events. Where the first book revolved around a haunted house, this one goes into the remote regions of Alaska as Harlan Holt reluctantly agrees to look into the disappearance of a colleague whose “academic” specialty he despised. The missing man was obsessed with proving that cryptids exist and goes missing in Alaska while trying to find a water beast known in legend as the Hana K’ilo. A local blog insists that several disappearances in the region are the result of the Hana K’ilo hunting. Harlan doesn’t want to be involved, but can’t turn away from the mystery. So he changes his plans to take his girlfriend to Hawaii over the winter break and instead brings her to remote Alaska without telling her why they are really going there.

 

There are tons of good elements to this story. One of the things Whitaker does best is introduce many legends (all with different names) that could be inspired by the same cryptid—the Hana K’ilo—but could also just be simple “scare kids away from the water” style tales. He also has a group of tourists and staff at this lodge who all make you wonder what’s really going on with them. Finally, he is very convincing in his details of the danger of winter in Alaska, and it is easy to imagine that this rough and freezing terrain is going to be very important to the conclusion of the story.

 

At the heart of the novel are a series of very complex secrets and relationships that Harlan has to navigate—including the one with his girlfriend. I have to admit that the clues were all there, but I was shocked by how they all fit together. It was a very satisfying—if sometimes slow moving—mystery. I’m looking forward to the next book.

 

 

The Last Airship by Christopher Cartwright

The Last Airship by Christopher Cartwright

This is a novel that reminds me a lot of Clive Cussler. It starts with an “historic” flight—the last airship trying to escape from Nazi Germany with two super wealthy Jewish families and a very high-ranking Nazi with something critical to the war effort in his briefcase—something he doesn’t want Hitler to have. The ship is damaged by machinegun fire as it lifts off and it crashes in the Alps not to be seen again for 75 years. Let me just say now that the crash and why the airship had remained hidden from the many people who searched for it, was absolutely outstanding—just brilliantly thought out by Cartwright.

 

The story is also a lot of fun. Cartwright has two characters—Sam and Tom—that just make great heroes. They are daring, smart, but still capable of being fooled in ways that didn’t upset me as utterly stupid. The action is fast and furious, and I was happily turning pages (actually listening, but you know what I mean) from beginning to end.

 

If you’re looking for an actually thrilling “thriller” you should read this novel.

 

Spiderman: The Darkest Hours by Jim Butcher

Spiderman: The Darkest Hours by Jim Butcher

I love Spiderman. I’ve read his comics off and on since the summer between third and fourth grade. I watched the original cartoon series and many that have come after. I’ve seen most of the movies and read at least two dozen novels (probably many more) focused on the character. So it’s with some authority that I say Jim Butcher’s The Darkest Hours is one of the best Spiderman books out there.

 

First off, Butcher gets the key Spiderman elements right—action, banter, and sense of responsibility. His Spiderman feels like Spiderman from moment one. He’s selfless, he’s heroic, and he’s smart.

 

Second, Butcher utilizes Peter Parker very well by giving him a problem that Spiderman can’t solve for him. Then he gives Mary Jane a similar problem—something Peter wants to assist with, but can’t solve by spinning webs or climbing walls. These problems distract Spiderman at critical times to the good of the story.

 

Butcher also does more with the Rhino than any author I’ve yet encountered. I’ve always like the villain, but Butcher made me like the man behind the villain even more. Add to that, he doesn’t ignore the fact that NYC is full of superheroes who might be expected to help Spiderman with his problems.

 

Finally, and I think most importantly in a superhero novel, Butcher presents a trio of supervillains who are truly fearsome—an excellent threat for Spiderman from start to finish.

 

The American West by Patrick N. Allitt

The American West by Patrick N. Allitt

This Great Courses text on The American West remembers something many people forget when thinking about the past. The American West did not star with cowboys herding cattle in the mid 19th century. It began with the original British colonies as they moved inland from the coast and Allitt focuses on this moving boundary in the first three-quarters of his book. He charts wars, politics, changes in the economy and technology, discoveries like gold, the challenges of desert, plain and wilderness, the quest for religious freedom, and of course, the impact on the people already inhabiting those lands.

 

That was actually more of the history than I wanted. Anyone conversant with American history is already familiar with most of what Allitt talks about in this first section. Where the book really shines is when the author focuses thematically on issues like homesteading, or cattle ranching, or mining, or women, or the western myths that shape and remain in our society. It was this last idea that interested me the most and I would have been glad to see many more chapters devoted to it. Those issues aside, this book remains a great introduction to an important aspect of the history of America.

 

December Park by Ronald Malfi

December Park by Ronald Malfi

There are two parts to a great horror story—the buildup and the monster that is causing all of the trouble. In December Park, the buildup—the characters, the problem, the slowly increasing tension and sense of danger—is all great. Unfortunately, the big bad monster causing the problems did not satisfy the expectations that the excellent build up had created in me.

 

The problem is that kids are disappearing in a small town and originally the police don’t even want to admit that there is anything wrong. It seems clear they knew there was trouble—early on the first body is uncovered—but they don’t know what to do about it and so they do pretty much nothing. Our heroes, a young boy and his friends, work themselves into a game of investigation in which they seem to be making much more progress toward uncovering the villain (nicknamed the Piper as in Pied Piper fame) than the authorities are. Interspersed along the way are the sorts of problems school aged kids have including older bullies.

 

I thought this part of the novel ran a little long, but there is no question that it kept my attention and had me flipping pages to learn what would happen next. Unfortunately, the resolution—i.e. the Piper—just didn’t make any sense to me. It came out of left field and I just couldn’t figure the motivations. It bothered me so much that I almost reread the book to see if I had missed something when I realized it just wouldn’t have mattered. Nothing the author could have told me earlier would have made this resolution of the book sit well with me.

 

It's a shame. This novel was well on its way to earning five stars, but it lost its way in the last few chapters leaving me disappointed.

 

The Ghosts of the Crescent Theater by M. L. Bullock

The Ghosts of the Crescent Theater by M. L. Bullock

The second volume of Gulf Coast Paranormal continues to capture the same magic as the first. Even as the group considers tackling a haunted theater, Cassidy begins to paint visions of a new spectral woman. Unfortunately, she paints the image into a mural in the apartment of two of her Gulf Coast Paranormal colleagues with frightening results.

 

The woman from the image appears to be a ghost in the Crescent Theater who is determined to have her time in the spotlight. As the mystery unfolds, M.L. Bullock once again uses Cassidy’s visions to see into the past permitting Bullock to let the reader learn what originally happened even as the paranormal investigators try to deal with the spirits that resulted from the long-ago tragedy.

 

Both storylines were intensely interesting, but it continues to be the interactions between the investigators that pushes this series over the top. Sarah continues to cause trouble even after she leaves the group, while the problems between Sierra and her husband spiral out to interfere with the investigations. All of this, plus the budding romance between Midas and Cassidy, combine to make the cast of characters feel very real which of course makes the reader care much more about them.

 

Ultimately, however, this novel rises on the strength of its ghost story, which once again lifts the tale high up above the rafters.

 

Destroyer 47 Dying Space by Warren Murphy

Destroyer 47 Dying Space by Warren Murphy

The survival machine, Mr. Gordons, returns for what is his most unusual adventure yet. Mr. Gordons is an assimilator machine who believes that its survival is threatened by the existence of Remo and Chiun. To defeat them, he is constantly searching for a way to become “creative”. After his last encounter with Remo, he was dismantled and destroyed, but enough of his parts survived that when (through a strange confluence of events) they came into contact with an extremely high-tech computer, he was able to put himself back together again—but with memory problems that cause him to seek out the creator of the high-tech computer for assistance. Strangely, the android who has been so horrific in past adventures, forms a friendship with this scientist, even as he continues his crusade against Remo.

 

Things get rather complicated after that and I don’t want to give away any surprises, so I’ll just say that this book will make you wonder if the killer robot could actually become a hero. It’s a bit silly at times, but thoroughly enjoyable.

 

The Damnation Code by William Massa

The Damnation Code by William Massa

What do you get when you combine demonology with computer code? You get a fast paced, action packed, fun little novel called The Damnation Code by William Massa. A Silicon Valley billionaire has found a way to take over people through computer code turning them into fanatical little cultists who will kill for him—even killing themselves. Each death feeds the demon behind the billionaire’s rise to power bringing the world closer to the apocalypse. Fortunately, the mad billionaire makes a tiny little error—sacrificing the girlfriend of a special forces soldier who takes extraordinary exception to the murder. The result is a lot of fun.

 

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

 

Review: Ghostland by Duncan Ralston

Ghostland by Duncan Ralston

Ghosts are real! It’s been scientifically proven. And now a company has brought all of America’s most famous haunting spirits together into one amusement park—a park in which all of the protections against the spirits are about to come crashing down.

While this sounds like a great setting for a horror movie, it’s really not. It’s the setting of an action-adventure movie along the lines of Jurassic Park but with less eerie tension. Basically this is the story about our intrepid heroes running around killing the ghosts while they slowly discover why everything is happening. That solution was fun. The book in general is fun. But it’s not the horror novel that the title and blurb suggest and that left me feeling a bit disappointed and impatient as I worked my way to the end.