Jack Chaucer's Blog, page 10
January 5, 2013
My review of John Pansini's "ROOFMAN: Nail-banger, Librarian & Spy (5 stars)
ROOFMAN: Nail-banger, Librarian & Spy by John PansiniMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an addictive and fascinating true story. Pansini, a roofman and computer information retrieval expert, gets himself intertwined in a secret 1980s Cold War showdown between Russian spy Mikhail Katkov and the FBI. Katkov calls Pansini in response to his fledgling business' computer search ad in the New York Times in 1983, and thus begins a four-year relationship between Pansini and the UN diplomat who is doubling as a GRU agent for the Russian military.
Katkov meets Pansini fairly regularly at his run-down apartment in Washington Heights, N.Y., and pays him to retrieve "interesting" but unclassified information over the pre-Internet digital dirt roads. Pansini contacts the FBI early in this process and becomes a valuable informant, meeting agents in diners and hiding tape recorders in his apartment. Pansini has embedded authentic audio files of these conversations with both Katkov and the FBI agents in the body of the story. These enhancements -- put together with Pansini's blunt, riveting and often humorous account of what it was like to go from average Joe to espionage middleman -- make for a gripping listen/read.
Pansini does a great job of bringing out the humanity in everyone he deals with, especially Katkov, a bear of a man who becomes Pansini's friend even as he is unknowingly being led toward his inevitable downfall in December, 1987. The emotional strain on Pansini as he goes through this self-inflicted four-year ordeal is real and well-told in "Roofman: Nail-banger, Librarian & Spy." He even confides his mission for the FBI to his ex-girlfriend at one point. He thought it might impress her as they considered rekindling their relationship. Instead, it scares her off.
And all of this for what?
One of the FBI agents helped sum it up: "Both sides can blow each other up ten times over. What we have here is simply one economy (Russia) desperately trying to catch up with the other (USA). It all boils down to building a better washing machine."
"You mean I'm risking my ass so some Russian housewife can get her clothes 50 percent brighter?" Pansini asked.
The FBI agent nodded.
I highly recommend "ROOFMAN: Nail-banger, Librarian & Spy." It's totally unique, interesting and entertaining, and I think Pansini proves his writing talent is on par with his amazing ability to fool Russian spies.
View all my reviews
November 25, 2012
My review of fellow Goodreads author Harry Nicholson's novel "Tom Fleck" (5 stars)
By JACK CHAUCER
Next year will mark the 500th anniversary of Flodden -- the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought between the kingdoms of England and Scotland -- and author Harry Nicholson’s masterpiece novel “Tom Fleck” takes the reader back to Sept. 9, 1513, as if it were yesterday.
Farmer Fleck, just 18 at the time, could’ve still been safe and sound tending his master’s cattle, but his honest nature and talent for archery had conspired to steer him wrong. Now he is part of a herd of some 20,000 English soldiers thrust into a borderland conflict between the Earl of Surrey, representing King Henry VIII, and King James IV of Scotland. Injured from a pike blow to the chest and playing dead as the carnage rages nearby, Fleck comes to the realization that the world in which he lives is not a good match for his pure, penniless and hardworking soul.
“(Tom) groaned and thought: harvest time; we should be at home, beating sheaves on the threshing floor. Here we are, poor bloody labourers, herded together, mangling one another for the sake of a few soft-handed lords,” Nicholson writes.
Yes, war is hell -- but it was far more brutal 500 years ago among the “flowers of the forest” on Flodden Field in Northumberland, England. Back then, there were no “smart bombs” -- men had to look their enemies in the eye and beat them to death with a stick or a sword if they wanted to survive the day.
Nicholson brings history to life with poetic detail, authentic dialogue of the period and a protagonist you can’t help but root for in his cleverly crafted, perfectly paced novel. The research and storytelling is so well done that it certainly doesn’t feel like fiction when you read it. But as Nicholson points out in his introduction, Fleck “is fictional only because he leaves no record -- his people live before the keeping of parish registers, so they make no marks on parchment and are lost to history.”
Nicholson did discover a record of the baptism of Christofer Fleck, son of William, on Sept. 19, 1596, in Hartlepool, England.
“Perhaps William heard tales of how his great grandfather, Thomas, loved a strange woman and stood with the army on the terrible battlefield of Flodden,” Nicholson adds in his introduction.
The strange woman is Rachel Coronel, the exotic Portuguese daughter of a Jewish trader and money lender. When Tom fishes a gold ring out of the muck on his master’s farm and it bears the Tudor noble seal, he seeks Isaac Coronel’s advice while struggling to keep his eyes off the beautiful Rachel. Isaac is not comfortable buying the ring from Tom and encourages him to find the owner with the hope of getting a reward.
Accompanied throughout his journey by his little collie Meg, Tom wins over noble heralds, grizzled war veterans, potential enemies and young ladies alike with his simple acts of kindness, generosity and compassion.
The only man he can’t stand is Mark Warren and with good reason. Warren, the privileged and womanizing son of the man who owns Tom’s cattle farm, raped Tom’s 20-year-old sister, Hilda. When the Warrens expect all the men of the manor to muster for the upcoming battle with Scotland, Tom decides to flee. He wants no part of fighting.
But when Mark catches him trying to cross a river and escape, Tom is ready for that battle. He not only declares his freedom, but he also breaks Warren’s arm with a quarterstaff and sends him whimpering away.
Tom eventually completes his mission and returns the ring to the noble herald who lost it. His reward is a job caring for and guiding pack horses for the English soldiers. Unfortunately for Tom, his impressive skill with a bow and arrow -- taught to him by his late father -- draws the attention of his sergeant and even saves his captain’s life in a relatively minor skirmish with the Scots at Milfield. After that, there’s no turning back for Tom from his date with Flodden.
Fleck’s budding love affair with Rachel -- he wins her over with his pure heart and thoughtful gifts even though she originally would’ve preferred to settle down with a Jewish man -- only raises the stakes during Nicholson’s harrowing account of the every man’s inexorable march toward war. The mucky ground and primitive mode of transportation -- a long line of lumbering horses, oxen and soldiers -- make the slow, gut-wrenching journey that much more torturous for Tom and captivating for the reader. You absolutely feel like you’re one of the herd, being led to the slaughter.
“Fifty yards in front, two bulky men carried poles that held aloft an old red banner. Embroidered flowers garlanded its sides, framing its centre a faded red cross on a white square. Tom tried to concentrate on it. The way the wind played with the banner took his mind off his queasy stomach and helped to hold back the bile that threatened to flood his mouth,” Nicholson writes.
Though Tom and poor little Meg both get bloodied in the gripping battle scene, Tom makes good on his promise to return safely to Rachel because the Scot holding the axe above his wounded body recognizes him. Tom had helped the man and his brothers escape detection by British soldiers weeks earlier, when Tom wasn’t holding a quiver of arrows and fighting for the Earl of Surrey.
“I know ye and I know this wee dog,” the red-bearded Scot said.
“Aye, we’ve met before. I’m Tom Fleck and you’re John Elliot.”
“That’s right, laddie. You were good to me and ma brothers at Coxhoe a bit since.”
Elliot amazingly drapes another soldier’s limp body over Tom as cover and hands him some bog moss to stop his bleeding.
“Stay still and pretend you’re dead as him,” the big Scot advises him before continuing on in the fight.
Tom may have been stuck in the wrong herd at the wrong time, but his good karma saves his life, and Nicholson finds a way to bring out the humanity between two supposedly enemy combatants in the midst of a gruesome bloodbath 500 years ago. For that moment in time at least, the bond between poor laborers transcends the ambitions of royal blood.
Unlike King Henry VIII, King James IV was willing to sacrifice his own blood on Flodden Field. James led his invading army into battle and was killed that day, becoming the last monarch from the British Isles to suffer such a death to date.
Yes, England won the Battle of Flodden and, thanks to this wonderful novel by Harry Nicholson, our common hero of noble heart, Tom Fleck, lives on -- even as the calendar marches toward 2013.
Below is the link to Harry’s website. The e-book is just $2.99 — well worth it!
http://1513fusion.wordpress.com/
November 9, 2012
Q&A with John Pansini
1. Give us a glimpse into your own personal backstory and how it helped shape “Night of the Living Unread.” How did you dream up this particular story?
JP: I’m a political and MSNBC junkie. Most of the material in this ebook came from watching Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, Hardball, and Lawrence O’Donnell. And let’s face it, Mitt gave me so much material to draw on. Too bad, though, his binders full of women came after I had already published. But I can use it in later editions. I had great fun skewering those crazy wing-nuts.
2. What do you think about the current presidential election? Who will win? (this originally was asked before the election took place)
JP: This is the day after the election, so we know who won, thank God. But I did make a prediction in the book that Mr. Obama would win. Luckily for all of us he did.
3. Which writers and books have influenced your writing? How would you describe your writing style?
JP: Hard to say. When I’m reading a well-written book, I find that it does have a positive influence my own narrative voice.
4. Describe your experience with publishing/self-publishing so far. Any advice for those who are just completing their first novel and can’t wait to get it out there for the whole world to read?
JP: My own experience has not been good. Sales volume has been low. With my first book, three agents tried to sell it but were unsuccessful. My third book, I shopped it around to agents but none of them thought they could sell it in today’s market. So the choice was either to have two manuscripts sit in a drawer until they fossilize or e-publish. I chose the latter. As for my advice to other struggling authors: believe in yourself, never give up, and promote, promote, promote!
5. What projects are you working on/planning going forward. It looks like there will be a sequel to “Night of the Living Unread.” Any hints on where the story will go? When do you expect to put that out?
JP: Two sequels are planned for “Night of the Living Unread.” And I know exactly where they’re headed. (See my website.) As for when I will begin working on them, that all depends on how sales go for Book 1.
October 25, 2012
"Queens are Wild" feeling the love in Australia
Here's the link:
http://novelsontherun.blogspot.com/20...
October 16, 2012
My review of fellow Goodreads author John Pansini's book "Night of the Living Unread" ...
With Halloween and a presidential election both looming — it’s your call on which is more frightening — there is literally no better time than right now to read John Pansini’s laugh-out-loud, satirical e-book “Night of the Living Unread.”
Pansini’s two-pronged parody of teen fiction, with its unrelenting parade of vampires, werewolves and zombies, and of non-fictional right-wing creatures, with familiar names like Romney, Ryan, Santorum, Palin, Reilly, Limbaugh and Bachmann, is a hilarious treat.
The story is set in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, Conn., in the year 2112 — exactly 100 years from now — so the entertaining cast of characters are descendants of the current political players. Sorry Rush fans, there is no reference to your favorite Canadian rock band’s masterpiece album 2112 from the 1970s. There is, however, a twisted dose of Rush Limbaugh. His descendant, Russell, is the Democratic mayor of the town. The Rush of today would be spinning in his grave over that betrayal to the family name. Russell’s town is caught in a deep freeze that lasts much of the year. Global warming has altered the jet stream and pushed North America to the brink of an ice age. Fittingly, many Americans have fled south to the warmer climate of Mexico where they are now illegal aliens in that country!
But the hearty souls of Stars Hollow press on and drive around in snowmobiles, including main character Willard M. Romney III, descendant of our current Republican candidate for president. We meet the 60-something adult services librarian aiming his shot gun, which he affectionately calls Skeeter, at two “miscreants.” The young man and woman had broken into Willard’s Stars Hollow Public Library in the early morning, stolen books off the shelves and loaded them into a shopping cart with intent to burn them later for warmth. Two of Willard’s fellow librarians — 50-something Lorelei, one of Romney’s two love interests in the book, and 80-something Phyllis — had failed to talk Willard out of sneaking up on the thieves with Skeeter in this memorable exchange:
Lorelei: “Don’t you think that’s a tad extreme?”
Willard: “Stealing literature is extreme.”
Phyllis: “But they’re stealing from the teen and young adult collection.”
Willard: “Even so.”
Pansini’s skillfully deadpanned dialogue and descriptions throughout the book make this tale a joy to read. There are some typos and missing words in the text, but I personally didn’t mind because Pansini’s writing style is brilliant and the story is addictively funny.
Willard, who drags his inseparable cat Seamus to and from the library every day in a pet carrier aboard his snowmobile, is a fantastic lead character. He is so principled about his role at the library — his platform clearly includes a strong national defense of all books, good and bad — that he ends up blowing away the miscreants. With the help of his ever-loyal female colleagues, he shoves their bodies into the pile of frozen corpses behind the library. Apparently, Willard has had to use Skeeter an awful lot lately.
That pile of bodies, however, will eventually wake up during a rare 50-degree heat wave and threaten Stars Hollow with a zombie apocalypse! Willard’s library ends up being ground zero in a showdown between the living and the undead, Democrats and Republicans, and atheists and religious fanatics. How “extreme” does this story get? Zombies enrage Willard when they eat his library books, but later he is moved to look at them like “the other 47 percent” — i.e. victims — when the stiff-limbed “unholy demons” incur the wrath of a certain maverick Republican.
Which, of course, brings us to the most polarizing character in town: Mrs. Sarah Palin, a descendant of the former vice presidential candidate. She is a wealthy Republican who lives in a cozy biosphere even though she scoffs at the New England cold compared to the weather in her ancestral home of Alaska. She has a husband named Dude, she hates Mayor Limbaugh and, when the going gets tough, she flies around in armed helicopters. As if that weren’t enough, she also is described as the town’s most abusive library patron.
In the midst of all this outer turmoil, poor Willard is still trying to figure out his love life. He is torn between old flame Lorelei and much younger flame Merrily, a mail carrier for the United States Fedex/Parcel Postal Service. As it turns out, clueless Willard has a lot more to learn about both women — one is a werewolf in librarian’s clothing; the other a closet vampire whose “house” stands three feet above ground and the rest underneath. Talk about a supernatural love triangle. And wait until you find out Merrily’s last name.
I highly recommend Pansini’s e-book to anyone with a pulse and even those without one. Librarians and political junkies, especially, will get a big kick out of this romp. It struck me as a “Naked Gun” of the 22nd century. I definitely could picture the late great Leslie Nielsen playing Willard M. Romney III. Of course, Mitt himself certainly could play the part — that is, if he has some free time after Nov. 6.
Who knew a tale spun from the shelves of a library could be so cool? Which reminds me: if you bring your book back late at the Stars Hollow Public Library, you must pay your fine in yuan. That’s right. The dollar is dead. Chinese currency rules America in 2112.
I’ll leave you with a dozen-deep sampler of Pansini’s funny one-liners and dialogue exchanges:
1. Willard had the good fortune to be born in 2050, shortly before the U.S. turned into a giant vanilla sorbet.
2. (Willard) knew he needed a new roof installed, but all of the Mexican roofers had self-deported decades ago.
3. Willard further assumed that if there really was a Heaven, then its library would never be polluted by teen fiction.
4. Willard was asked if he would consider shooting the zombies with Skeeter.
“No options are off the table,” he replied.
5. Did (Willard) really want to get involved with a woman (Merrily) who so blatantly overused the exclamation point?
6. Frigid air poured through the broken window like shoppers at a Black Friday sale.
7. “Where could these zombies have come from?” Willard asked.
“New York,” Lorelei replied.
8. Willard: “Why does everyone look to Lorelei in a crisis? I’m the man here, I’m older and I’m the adult services librarian. She’s merely a children’s librarian. I make more money!”
9. Mayor Russell Limbaugh: “Damn Republicans. Obviously they haven’t budgeted for a zombie apocalypse … (but) they’ll give tax breaks to corporations for moving jobs to equatorial Africa.”
10. On Herman Kane being elected president in 2020.
Limbaugh: “Nine-nine-nine — the guy spoke like a damn Nazi.”
11. On observing the zombies eating classic books instead of teen fiction:
Willard begrudgingly admired their taste in literature.
And later …
Willard to Lorelei: “How can I relax when my books have become finger food for the undead?”
And lastly …
Willard to Lorelei: “You made me turn over the entire children’s collection for a zombie picnic.”
12. Willard’s lucky shot with Skeeter connected with the gas tank on a One-Percenter’s helicopter causing it to explode in mid-air.
Down upon Willard rained Gucci shoes with the feet still in them.
John Pansini’s e-book, priced at $2.99, can be purchased at his website: http://twilightofstarshollow.com.
Jack Chaucer is a book blogger and author of the new political sci-fi e-book “Queens are Wild,” which is priced at $0.99 at his website: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
August 21, 2012
New price for "Queens are Wild"
Review: Chaucer pens wildly entertaining trip to 2036
Republican-American
With a title like “Queens are Wild” and an author named Chaucer, readers might expect a bawdy novel filled to bursting with at least 25 shades of gray. Indeed, this “poli-sci-fi” novel delivers on the bawdiness but in totally unexpected ways that are in keeping with the dictates of the plot. And admit it. You'd be disappointed if a novel with a title like this didn't have some nudity spiced with language that would be bleeped on “The Jerry Springer Show,” wouldn't you?
However, Jack Chaucer -- in contrast to Geoffrey Chaucer and his 14th century masterpiece “The Canterbury Tales” -- has more than a friendly pilgrimage to a cathedral in mind for the brave new world he's conjured in “Queens are Wild.” His pilgrims are, literally, unsuspecting pawns in a cosmic game of chess or poker (you find out which in the book's chilling last pages).
The novel, which uses Vonnegut-like flash-backs and flash-forwards, ultimately takes readers on a pilgrimage through time and space to the year 2036, when a megalomaniacal media mogul from Australia named Robert “Balls” Ballentine (sound familiar?) declares himself king of the United States of America. This dude makes Donald Trump appear humble by comparison (he possesses a 202-foot yacht called “Sheworthy”).
With the help of his ally China -- then the most powerful nation in the world -- King Ballentine easily takes over the U.S. and declares its new name is the United Kingdom of America (UKA).
Prior to this chaos-inducing coup -- during which President Margeaux Quigley is shot and taken hostage, and scores of government workers are assassinated by North Korean mercenaries dubbed the “Black Death” -- we meet Margeaux as a precocious 17-year-old high school senior who has just won a full soccer scholarship to Stanford in 1984 (hmmm, that date seems to ring a dystopian bell). We also meet Robert Ballentine, who was born on Jan. 1, 1984 (hmmm again), as a third-grader in Melbourne, where he tells his teacher, “One day I will be king -- king of the world.”
Out of the mouths of babes and straight to Chaucer's ear. By 2036, Ballentine is dangerously close to realizing his regal dream. In Chaucer's futurist world, the U.S. is paralyzed by national debt and jokingly called the “Divided States of America” by Ballentine. Social Security no longer exists (but CNN does!) and there is now an Area 52 in Nevada to house the spillover from extraterrestrial unidentified flying and/or crashing objects, one of which, named Gatherer 52, comes to the aid of President Quigley.
People possess things like “ST-Warp 5 mobile devices,” Dick Tracy-like “iWatches,” Clone Adapter Rockets (CARs) and web clouds instead of websites.
While this all might seem confusing, Chaucer is a sharp enough cookie to keep the action moving and the dialogue snappy, slipping his satire in on the sly. Particularly hilarious and painfully true to life are the scenes from Margeaux's high school class, in which zit-covered losers in Motley Crue T-shirts vie for attention by tormenting a hapless Spanish teacher.
Blend in some plot devices that recall “The Matrix” and “The Manchurian Candidate,” plus a soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails (one of whose songs provides the inspiration for the book's title), and you have a wildly entertaining page-turner.
You are not likely, for example, to read another novel that contains this line of dialogue: “Your swim cap will keep your brains from exploding.”
The e-book publisher smashwords.com makes it easy for potential readers to access and sample the text of this novel, providing both short and extended descriptions, and then allowing the first 20 percent of the text to be read before deciding whether to purchase.
In the case of “Queens are Wild,” readers are definitely going to want to punch the “purchase” button.
(Jack Chaucer is the pen name of Republican-American copy editor/page designer John Cullen.)
July 28, 2012
Entering the Blogosphere
Jack ChaucerJack Chaucer
