Volume 2 #12

Volume 2 # 12

I was only able to check my e-mail a couple of times from Europe. An author of a horror novel contacted me then and I have lost his e-mail address to reply. If you have e-mailed to me and received no reply please resend your message.

All books reviewed here are recommended. Please, always keep in mind that the only books that appear on this page are ones that I liked enough to write about. For every book reviewed here I have usually read two that I would not want to inflict on anyone.

Happy reading,

Fantasy/Contemporary/Magical Realism/The World of Faerie
The Wood Wife
Terri Windling
Tor 0312859880

Poet Maggie Black has inherited a desert home near Tucson from her unmet mentor the prize winning poet Davis Cooper. Leaving her sophisticated life she goes there to try to assemble a biography of this mysterious man, former lover of dead Mexican artist Anna Naverra, and a notorious recluse.

In the desert Maggie begins to see things that don't jive with her sense of reality. She comes to love the desert and see it in Davis's work where before she had seen only the England where he had grown up.

This complex and magical work is impossible to synopsize. It is rich and moving conjuring up visions of that which is just beyond our view. Everything about this book is well done. The prose is beautiful but the book is not really literary fiction because it has a fully fleshed out coherent plot. The reader is rewarded by knowing Maggie, Fox, and Dora and finding mystery, romance, and magic in its pages.

If I were to recommend an other book readers of The Wood Wife may enjoy it would be Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Dreams.

Young Adult/Contemporary/Crime
Liar
Winifred Morris
Walker & Co. 0802784615

Fifteen year old Alex has moved to his grandparent's farm in a small community to avoid being placed in a juvenile correction facility. Even though he vows to himself that he we do what he has to do to stay there he keeps finding himself in situations that can spell disaster for him. Finding a girl friend and a friend as well as establishing a relationship with his grandparents gives him something to lose when he is unjustly accused of theft. Reacting in the only way he knows how puts him in deadly peril.

Three of the greatest YA authors can't be wrong and they aren't. Robert Cormier, Richard Peck, and Graham Salisbury all have blurbs on the back of this outstanding title for teens. What Morris does, in a few deft strokes, is tell the tragic story that is all too real to too many kids trying to grow up today. After working with hundreds of "youth at risk" incarcerated and in foster care I found the parents in this book to be a realistic portrayal of the parents of many of the kids who end up in the "system."

Crime/Lawyer
Criminal Justice
Barbara Parker
Dutton 0525939776

Dan Galindo is drawn into a case involving money laundering when his music promoter ex-brother-in-law begs him to take Martha Cruz on as a client. Martha, an up an coming rocker is in the same band as Dan's girlfriend. Dan is able to take care of Martha's assault charges almost effortlessly but fears he is being set up for something far beyond anything he had imagined. He had made powerful enemies when as a prosecutor he refused to put a witness on the stand who later ended up dead in a DEA shoot out.

Parker convincingly portrays her lawyer characters giving them depth and humanity that is not often seen. The reader becomes invested in Dan's life creating a compelling read because we care about the characters involved in this thrilling plot and have to keep turning those pages to make sure it all will come out all right.

Crime/Medical/Woman Detective
Principal Investigation
B.B. Jordan
Berkley Prime Crime 0425160904

A madman mutates a virus so that it can be cured with a drug he wants to market that is ineffective on the unmutated virus. His tampering with nature could result in an epidemic of cataclysmic proportions.

The science that the mystery pivots on in this debut effort is fascinating. Even though I don't understand it all the author has worked explanations in that make it all seem very logical. Virologist Dr. Celest Braun may grow to be a convincing character in future books in this planned series.

Horror/Science Fiction/Psionic Powers/Mathematics/Alternate & Parallel Worlds
Hollow Man
Dan Simmons
Bantam 0553563505

Telepath Jeremy Bremen is thrust into a nightmare cacophony of other's inner voices when his beloved wife Gail, the only other telepath he knows of dies a torturous death from cancer. As he flees across the country trying to escape the torrent of other's thoughts he encounters a mobster and a truly horrifying woman who is the embodiment of evil who both want to kill him. It is no wonder that Simmons has achieved his reputation as a master. He has earned it.

In the strange synchronicity of things I was reading this in Frankfurt, Germany, one of the few cities named in it and I live in one of the other cities named. Odd.

Inspirational Fiction/Historical/Romance
Dreamers
Angela Elwell Hunt
Bethany House 1556616074

The inspirational tale of the faith and strength of Joseph through his travails and successes in Egypt are entwined with the story of the beautiful slave Tuya. A love unconsummated between them ties them as Tuya goes from slave to bride and mother of Pharaohs and Joseph from slave to steward to prisoner to vizier.

Readers of McGraw's Mara: Daughter of the Nile and Robinson's delightful Lord Meren series will find a welcome view of day to day life in ancient Egypt.

Fantasy/Magic/Political/Religion
Sable, Shadow, and Ice
Cheryl J. Franklin
DAW 0886776090

In a decaying society, Avalon mage Morita, member of a politically powerful family but a declining mage guild becomes embroiled in a battle between powerful mages and a prince who embraces outlawed education and Empire technology.

The stately pace of this intricately wrought epic is appropriate for the multiple viewpoints and philosophies espoused.

Crime/Assassins/Caper/Noir
Acid Casuals
Nicholas Blincoe
Serpent's Tail 1852425091

I picked this one up at Murder One on Charring Cross Road in London on the recommendation of the clerk.

Assassin Estela Santos has returned to Manchester, England where she spent her boyhood in the seamy underworld of drugs and gangs. The first night back she is robbed by the young party boy she's taken home but he is shot in a hard pounding techno club before she can retrieve her gun and hormone pills.

When you throw in a one eyed flash video genius and former speed freak wild man, a nosy Pakistani cabby, an old Black gangsta, and the transsexual assassin you end up with an explosive page turning mix filled with car chases, flying bullets, and lots of drugs.

Fantasy/Alternate World/Fairy Tale/Political
Swordspoint
Ellen Kushner
Tor 0812536444

Acustomed to performing duels to the death for the entertainment of nobles, swordsman Richard St. Vier is drawn into the intrigue of multiple conspiracies as nobles plot against each other using him as a pawn in their deadly political games. An elegant and sophisticated first book by the author who went on to write the beautifully told Thomas the Rhymer.

Science Fiction/Aliens/Religion
The Sparrow
Mary Doria Russell
Fawcett 0449912558

Destined to be a classic this exquisite gem is a tale of alien contact, space travel and intense seeking in vividly depicted worlds. The characterizations are skillfully wrought as we come to know charismatic Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz, geeky but brilliant Jimmy Quinn, beautiful and brilliant but restrained Sofia Mendes, motherly childless Dr. Anne Edwards and all-around good-guy spouse George, hideously homely Texan Jesuit D.W. Yarbrough, and the other individuals who people this book.

Alternating between the hope filled days when extraterrestrial music is discovered by Jimmy Quinn and the Jesuit order swings into action outfitting an expedition to the planet Rakhat to the slow drawing out of the horrible outcome from the sole tortured and vilified survivor of the expedition it fully captivates the reader.