Mystery Crime Books

Stephanie Plum reminds me of my friends and family. For those that didnt find this book entertaining have never had a Lula in her life. I have and I nearly died laughing from her lingo and her craziness.

I read the book in one sitting...and was brought to tears during the scene with Connie, Steph, Lula, and the kidnapped thug. I even read it to my husband and I ruined it by the non stop laughter.

Im new to this series and started reading at 9 when I picked it up at JKF airport and I was drawn in. I love the fact that you dont need to read the other books prior to get the gist of the relationships...and Evanovich makes the 1st chapter of the new book the last chapter in the previous...at least thats what I noticed between 9 and 10.

Its definitely a fun read.

I love Janets books. They are all interesting, hard to put down and a quick read. Once you start one you have to keep reading til the end.!!

This tenth installment of the Stephanie Plum novels is by far one of the best. Stephanie Plum, New Jersey's notorious bounty hunter and her sidekick LuLu are out to lunch when the witness the Red Devil robber in action. Stephanie's ability to identify the Red Devil quickly makes her a target for the vicious street gang the Slayers. Soon after, her boyfriend Trenton detective Joe Morelli informs her that the Slayers have recruited Junkman from the west coast to murder her, as she is at the top of his hit list. Morelli's protective nature and Italian ego instantly put the two head to head and Stephanie declares her intention to move out. The gang crimes are escalating and Stephanie fears for her own life as well as the lives of her friends and family. On the outs with Joe and with no safe place left to hide, Stephanie turns to the one man who is capable of protecting her, Ranger. The only problem is that Ranger is incognito, but he did loan her his truck, which also happens to include the keys to his private apartment. Stephanie finds herself living lush in Ranger's seductive home but fears the consequences that will arise when he returns home. Beyond having a price on her head, Stephanie has to deal with her sister's engagement and the wedding plans rolling forward. Sally Sweet reappears and is officially declared the wedding planner. Running short on time, patience and sexual exploitation Stephanie constructs a plan to remove herself from Junkman's hit list before he gets to her. Ten Big Ones is a stellar book, and exciting read. In classic Evanovich style, the writing is superb, the plot is miraculous and the emotions run right off the page. Packed with humor, suspense, passion and action Ten Big Ones proves that Janet Evanovich is at the top of her game. Readers will want to reread this book over and over and enjoy it each time around. Valerie Jones mrsvaljones@netzero.net

Another great book in the series. Good mixture of romance, comedy, and mystery. I hope she continues with the series for a long time.

I am running late in my readings of Janet Evanovich's Plum stories. I just finished reading "To the Nines" about a week or so ago and I thought it was a super read. In this book "Ten Big Ones" I was delighted to find another super read. The story had a lot of my favorite characters from the earlier books and I thought this story had more bounty hunts than the other works. Overall, in my opinion this is great read that will keep your interest page after page.

Having read a lot of "serious" books lately, I found this to be a light and easy read. Being an avid scrapbooker myself, I was enthralled that a new series was based on scrapbooking. The beginning of the book was slow, as mentioned by other reviewers. And sometimes I felt like I was reading the script for a Hallmark Channel or TV Movie. But, it was enjoyable nonetheless. I wasn't expecting a literary masterpiece. The ending could have been a little more creative, but as other reviewers said, perhaps it was the fact that it was her first story in the series or that she was writing too many at one time. I learned a little more about New Orleans and Mardi Gras, so the author is well versed in that area. I'm hoping that next time the plot will be a little more interesting and the ending a little more creative. I will be reading the 2nd title soon - maybe on vacation at the beach.

There were more references to the foods of New Orleans than to scrapbooking. And, the author spent more time on red herrings than the actual crime. However, the book was still a pleasure to read. The heroine's friends are very interesting and I look to spending more time with them in future books.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I feared it would be a little too "cutesy," especially with that awful cover. But I found Carmela, Childs' scrapbook store-owning protaganist, to have more of an edge to her than I expected.

Still, the mystery was a little light, as other reviewers have mentioned, and there were some extraneous occurrences and absolutely strange goings-on, including characters (like Carmela's ex) who pop in for no apparent reason and then disappear again. But overall, Childs is a smooth writer who can, apparently, make a book from the slimmest of plots.

I love reading theme books as well as mystery. I am a "new" scrapbooker so enjoyed her tips. This is a "light" read. I go to these books after I have read heavy classics or history books. I took it camping and was happy to escape into the world of murder, scrapbooking and New Orleans. Never having been there I don't know how historically accurate it is but this book made me want to visit New Orleans. I hope to try some of the recipes. Laura Child made them sound quite yummy. The depth of the characters are a little weak and somewhat inconsistant but it doesnt' necessarily detract from an entertaining story line.

I enjoy the entire series. I do enjoy scrapbooking, which is a fairly new experience, but I am a long-time mystery buff. I enjoy the scrapbooking scenes, since they remind me of comfortable sessions I have scrapbooking with friends.

The mystery part is pretty good. I picked out the murderer, but only slightly before the reveal, so I enjoyed that area as well.

The author has an easy, comfortable style of writing. It is an easy read. I enjoy her characters. They are clear and very interesting in their own right. I hope many more of these books are going to be written.

What sets Helene Tursten apart from a lot of writers is her attention to detail. She never slides through a description, even if it's only what constituted her lunch. In addition, Irene Huss and her collegues all have lives outside of the office and some even have real life type problems. Unlike some series, the detectives are not always at the top of their game and the adversaries are no smarter than most people. With the use of modern forensics, it's almost impossible to commit a crime without leaving so piece of evidence, which can then lead to the criminal.

This novel revolves around the 'gay' society in Goteborg and Copenhagen. Unlike the USA, scandinavians are a lot less prudish and don't see gays as deviants. In this case though, the murderer is a deviant of mega proportions. He gets his sexual release from cutting up bodies. He's an equal opportunity murderer (two woman and three men) but his specialty is mutilating his lovers and ex-lovers. He leads Huss and the officers in Copenhagen a merry chase, but in the end, he's got nowhere to run and no where to hide. Great read

This horrid story should be very appealing to psycopaths and sexual deviants. Utterly revolting and pointless.

one of the best mysteries i have read since i real all the henning mankel books...i think this is the best, very involved , good detective work and strong characters that are belieable. .... can;t wait for the next one

The Torso was recommended to me by a friend. Not being an aficionado of Swedish Crime, I purchased it with some trepidation. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the book. It has an interesting storyline, strong characterisation and clean-simple writing. Although many other crime authors manage to achieve this, what separates Tursten is her ability to weave a "feel" of normal Swedish family life into her story - very interesting. Buy it, you will not be disappointed.

Helene Tursten writes tightly woven, hang-on-the-edge-of-your-seat mysteries, police procedurals at their finest. "The Torso" is her best yet, a blazingly good story set in Sweden that'll keep you glued. If you have grown weary with the cutesy cozy stories that pass for American mysteries today, you will be delighted to discover Ms. Tursten's books. She never lets her readers down. Her protagonist, the very competent Inspector Huss, is more than equal to any challenge that comes her way. Huss is a master at judo, which makes her capable of taking care of herself magnificently in tough spots. Inspector Huss does not go cute, naive, or fragile when things get tough, unlike the formula that our American mystery writers frequently follow for their female sleuths. No, the savvy Huss gets in there and takes care of business, no matter how dirty it might be. Get the book! Enjoy a great read! Helene Tursten can't write fast enough for me.

Make sure you Pollyanna video is close by when you pick this one up to read. Karin Slaughter has taken it upon herself to set the world of thrillers on fire. This start to the Grant County series is dynamic! This author has taken the time to let us get to know the characters we will be spending time with, while simultaneously ripping their lives apart with evil.

And let's talk about evil, the villain of this tale is so...evil...I can't think of a more horrible word to describe him. The story is a humdinger, from one page to the next, your mind is whirling with questions, and doubts, and more questions. While I did guess, and I do mean guess, who the villain was, until the very moment the why is revealed, I did not have a clue how I guess correctly.

This book is frightening and hypnotic. I read it on my Palm T/X and my thumb will never be the same for turning those pages as fast as I could to get to the next one. An excellent read. No doubt!

Karin Slaughter has written an excellent book. She is one of my new favorite authors.

Yes, it is violent. Unfortunantly, so is life sometimes. As far as the rape victims reactions to their rapist, this is an essential part of the plot. They were drugged, and this was part of the effects.

I enjoyed this book greatly. In fact, I went to the library for the next installment before I finished this one because I did not want to wait on delivery.

Karin Slaughter's debut mystery novel, "Blindsighted," is set in Heartsdale, a sleepy small Georgia town, where fairly young Dr. Sara Linton, its protagonist, is both pediatrician and county coroner. As the book opens, Linton is meeting her plumber sister Tessa for lunch at the town's only diner, and it appears that her life's no more out of joint than that of any ordinary woman who reads women's magazines: an uneasy relationship with her forceful ex-husband Jeffrey Tolliver,local sheriff; and a low-key flirtation going with low-voltage town pharmacist Jeb McGuire. Then Sibyl Adams, also a rather young local college professor, who is blind, turns up dying, brutally sexually abused, for the doctor to find in the diner's ladies' room. And Julia Matthews, student at the college, goes missing, only to turn up in a few days, also having been brutally sexually abused, and, in addition, apparently crucified. And we are suddenly in noirish, gruesome, Southern Gothic country, which, let me tell you now, is no place for the more sensitive souls among us, who might find they'd sleep better without making the acquaintance of the sexually sadistic serial killer the writer has created.

The book has, as you can imagine, a powerful opening that will hook you right away, if you are amenable to that kind of thing. It moves fast, and the closing pages are also pitched pretty high. It's well-written, the dialogue is good, and the narrative and descriptive writing are fine, particularly as they deal with the peculiarities of the American South. But the author has a nasty way of suckering readers, at least female ones, in with some fairly titillating sex scenes; then punches her readers by subjecting her female characters to sadistic treatment. It can surely be said that these things happen in real life. However, this caused me to remember recent comments by Ian Rankin, currently highly-successful dean of Scottish mystery writers, who wondered at the number of recent violent, particularly sexually violent, books written by women. At any rate, it's certainly no way to treat a lady, let alone a Southern belle.

This is the first book in a series featuring pediatrician and part time coroner, Sara Linton, and her ex-husband, Jeafrey Tolliver. How weird of a combination of jobs is that, pediatrician and coroner? But, Slaughter makes it work. The murders are gruesome (in ways I had never imagined!) Descriptions are graphic. All in all, a good whodunit mystery kind of read.

One of the most interesting ways to conduct social research is to read and study the changes in the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew series from their beginning to the present. Not only do they reflect the technological changes over time, they also demonstrate many changes in the social structure of the United States. In my opinion that is more evident in the Nancy Drew series than in the Hardy Boys.
The Nancy Drew series began in the 1930's when women were considered the weaker sex and there were few career opportunities for women. In the movies, women were portrayed as weak, subject to fainting at the first hint of danger. Therefore, even though Nancy and her female companions conformed to that stereotype, they were in fact ahead of the social curve for the time. They were aggressive in pursuing their goals, stood up in the presence of danger and were portrayed as being very intelligent.
This book was written in 1950, yet Nancy acts more like a rebellious girl of the late sixties. Even though she is warned of the dangers of pursuing the case, she never backs down and is even willing to physically fight with her attackers. When this plot is contrasted with the earlier books written in the 1930's, she is much more aggressive and that is a welcome change.
The plot involves an old sailing ship called the "Bonny Scot." There are many mysteries about the ship and the villains in this case keep searching it looking for something. Nancy stays on the case and learns that the original name of the ship was "Dream of Melissa." The ship was lost and the former captain had written a letter to his sweetheart telling her about the priceless gift he was bringing back. That unknown treasure is what the villains are looking for, yet the search is difficult. The "Dream of Melissa" has many secret places were things can be hidden and each must be searched. Furthermore, the original figurehead of the ship was a wooden lady and that was removed many years ago. Fortunately, Nancy is able to track it down and solve the mystery.
As a modern teen adventure story, this one is weak. However, if considered in the context of the early 1950's it was far ahead of its time. Nancy is brave, aggressive and willing to stand up to the villains by herself.

Although this book has some good qualities, it lacks behind "Clue of the Dancing Puppet" and "Mystery at the Ski Jump."

I loved the book; it was so wonderful. I liked it when the police and Nancy Drew caught the bad guys: old grizzle face, flip Fay, and red Quint (who wasn't really bad). They got the ruby to the right person. It was all good; a wonderful book... When...someone robbed Bess's house (Nancy's friend)...dun, dun, dun, it was very suspenseful and scary. It really grabbed my attention. I kept wanting to read and read. If you are a fan of mysteries, then you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

I loved the book; it was so wonderful. I liked it when the police and Nancy Drew caught the bad guys: old grizzle face, flip Fay, and red Quint (who wasn't really bad). They got the ruby to the right person. It was all good; a wonderful book... When...someone robbed Bess's house (Nancy's friend)...dun, dun, dun, it was very suspenseful and scary. It really grabbed my attention. I kept wanting to read and read. If you are a fan of mysteries, then you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Amanda B. age 9

This is one of my favorite Nancy Drew books. It has a lot of great adventure.

There was little action in this book to recommend it and lots and lots of talk, much of if pretty mindless. I don't know if this book was really obvious or maybe I was just at the top of my game in deduction, because I had this thing pretty much figured out early in the book and the only real surprise was how right I was about the whole plot. Anyway, the plot concerns the near perfect world of Deborah and Steve with their two children. One day Steve disapears and the clues that begin to come out point to Steve being the 'Dark Alley Strangler'. Imagine Deborah's shock when she learns that her husband might be this vicious serial killer. Well, she struggled with it for sure, but in all honesty I thought she didn't take it all that hard. There was little in the amount of depth to any of the characters in the book and the friends around to assist Deborah in her time of need weren't much help and/or comfort. Joe was a mystery to me. Evan was shallow. Pete was shallower and Barbara...why was she even in the book? This is my first Carlene Thompson book and I was not completely turned off by it, so I will probably give her another chance, but I hope her other works are better than this. In my opionion, if ever a book modeled what a three star rating is all about, this is it. Not great - Not terrible, but nothing special. This is an okay read.

I always like to order from Amazon.com. I have never had a problem of any kind with Amazon or the sellers. The packages are always in good condition and arrive in a timely fashion. This order was no exception. Everything was great! Vicky McCollum

The first book I read of Carlene Thompson was "The Way You Look Tonight" and I was immediately hooked, I went to a used bookstore to find a couple of her books that were out of print and bought all the rest new. I am waiting for her next one. Her books are the only one's I have to pre-order. The only problem I have with her books is I loose a lot of sleep (I cannot put them down once I start).

This is the 5th book I've read by Thompson and it was great. I was surprised by the ending, and although the characters were without real depth, the plot and suspense make up for it. Also good by Thompson-In the Event of My Death, Black for Remembrance, If She Should Die, and Since You've Been Gone.

All of her books are great. One of the best things about her books,is that they are losely set in real towns.

The first book of a series.

The author talks about what is science fiction and what isn't - adventure stories aren't, according to him, but stories with psionics can be, so he is a bit generalising and wobbly as far as that goes - although it is an impossible type task.

Further "I think Dr. Willis McNelly at the California State University at Fullerton put it best when he said that the true protagonist of an sf story or novel is an idea and not a person. If it is good sf the idea is new, it is stimulating, and, probably most important of all, it sets off a chain-reaction of ramification-ideas in the mind of the reader; it so-to-speak unlocks the reader's mind so that that mind, like the author's, begins to create. Thus sf is creative and inspires creativity, which mainstream fiction by-and-large does not do. We who read sf (I am speaking as a reader now, not a writer) read it because we love to experience this chain-reaction of ideas being set off in our minds by something we read, something with a new idea in it; hence the very best science fiction ultimately winds up being a collaboration between author and reader, in which both create -- and enjoy doing it: joy is the essential and final ingredient of science fiction, the joy of discovery of newness."

Roger Zelazny writes an introduction, including part of a letter that Dick sent him at one stage.

Definitely good stuff, consistent quality on display here, which, for a complete stories selection is impressive, coming out at 3.44.

Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : STABILITY - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : ROOG - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE LITTLE MOVEMENT - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : BEYOND LIES THE WUB - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE GUN - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE SKULL - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE DEFENDERS - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : MR. SPACESHIP - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : PIPER IN THE WOODS - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE INFINITES - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE PRESERVING MACHINE - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : EXPENDABLE - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE VARIABLE MAN - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE INDEFATIGABLE FROG - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE CRYSTAL CRYPT - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE SHORT HAPPY LIFE OF THE BROWN OXFORD - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : The Builder - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : MEDDLER - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : Paycheck - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : The Great C - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : OUT IN THE GARDEN - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : THE KING OF THE ELVES - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : COLONY - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : PRIZE SHIP - Philip K. Dick
Complete Stories Of Philip K. Dick 1 : NANNY - Philip K. Dick

Out of ideas this time.

3.5 out of 5


Barking Guardians are annoying.

3.5 out of 5


Toy soldier orders.

3.5 out of 5


You might be what you eat.

4 out of 5


Not enough space veggies.

3.5 out of 5


Dead man kill mission - me?

4 out of 5


Robots reckon war is illogical human stupid stuff.

3.5 out of 5


Needs brains to avoid space mines.

3.5 out of 5


I'm a recent crop, boss.

3.5 out of 5


"Tiny prospecting ships led a hazardous life, threading their way through the rubble-strewn periphery of the system, avoiding meteor swarms, clouds of hull-eating bacteria, space pirates, peanut-size empires on remote artificial planetoids --"

No-one said anything about being turned into mutant freaks though.

3.5 out of 5

In May of 1987 Underwood-Miller published a five volume set titled "The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick", with the first volume being subtitled "Beyond Lies the Wub". In April of 1990 the Carroll Group began republishing the series and changed the subtitle to "The Shot Happy Life of The Brown Oxford". This was the only change made to the first volume, as they kept the Forword by Steven Owen Godersky and the Introduction by Roger Zelazny. They also kept the same 25 stories in the same order as the previous edition, something which would not be true for the later volumes.

This is a splendid collection of Philip K. Dick's early short fiction, presented in the order in which they were believed to have been written, which is not the same as the order in which they were published. The original collection was ranked 3rd on the Locus poll for collections in 1988. There are too many stories here to go through them all in detail, but there are several ones of note:

The first story is titled "Stability", and was written in 1947 or earlier. It was never published prior to the first edition of this collection. As with a number of stories in this collection it involves time travel, and in this case the disrupting effect it has on a stable society.

"Roog" was the first story that he sold, although it was not published until after several others. It involves differences in perception, in particular between man and his best friend. There are some interesting comments from Philip K. Dick about this story in the notes section at the back of the book.

"Beyond Lies the Wub" was his first story to actually be published. It is a clever story about man's preconception of the forms which life takes, and perhaps a little about man's violent nature. There is a humorous twist at the end as well.

Also included are the two Doc Labyrinth stories, "The Preserving Machine" and "The Short Happy Life of the brown Oxford". Both stories deal with creating life, the former is about preserving man's great musical works as life forms and the latter with animating non-living items. Both of these stories are light and humorous.

The story which is likely to be familiar to many people new to Philip K. Dick, is "Paycheck", for which there was a movie of the same name which came out in 2003. In this story a man finds that he agreed to have his memory wiped out after completing a work assignment, and that apparently he agreed to give up his paycheck in lieu of some seemingly inconsequential items.

As I mentioned above, several of the stories have to do with time travel, and in particular Dick makes use of a machine that he calls a time scoop, which can reach backward or forward in time to pick up things. If you like stories based on time travel, then you will undoubtedly enjoy Dick's twist on the idea. If you don't like those kinds of stories, there are still many stories here which deal with space travel, future societies, etc., which you are likely to enjoy.

This first volume of THE COMPLETE STORIES OF PHILIPK. DICK is probably more important as an historical artifact than as literature. I found it fascinating. These stories were written in the 1950s during the time of The Korean War, The Cold War, McCarthy and Stalinism. There had been unconfirmed sightings of flying saucers and EarthMen's' own creation of nuclear weapons heightened the paranoia. Of course there are lots of quaint and now-laughable elements in these stories, like people smoking cigarettes two hundred years from now and a woman being embarrassed about having to strip naked in order to make sure no alien life forms were attached to her. Many of the ideas in these stories have since been usurped by TV science fiction shows, so most of the ideas are not all that novel today. But there were several stories that I found surprising and provocative. My favorite was "The Great C," in which a supercomputer rules the earth after a nuclear holocaust and demands a yearly human sacrifice. A close second was "Colony," in which explorers on a pleasant asteroid are menaced by a life form that can assume the forms of mundane objects before devouring the earthlings. The later stories in the book are more concerned with the rise of consumerism and the "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality that took over America after World War II. These stories are very amusing. Within this particular genre, there's a lot of variety in the point of view. Most often it's paranoid, but at other times it's amused. I liked these stories and look forward to eventually reading the entire collection.

The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford collects some of Dick's earliest writing, including much of his output from 1952-1955. Even writers who don't appreciate his prose style would have to admire his fecundity: some of these stories were written within days of each other, yet each has something unique about it.

Fans of Dick will see early brushstrokes that were later transformed into masterpieces. There are a few post-apocalyptic stories here; this is a genre that Dick would revisit throughout the 1950s, as mounting hysteria, foreign and domestic, seemed to make war inevitable. There are also scheming insects (and even a murderous bath towel), vengeful teddy bears, sentient shoes, and world-weary computers. One of Dick's best qualities is that he can make the reader feel empathy for just about anyone-a dog barking for what seems to his owners like no reason, a teary-eyed Martian swine, or a hyper-evolved hamster. So reading this collection might, for some, be a bit of a workout. Unlike a novel, where the reader sees through the eyes of one or maybe two characters for 200+ pages, here you're walking in someone-or something-else's shoes every few pages. At times, it's almost intoxicating.

On to the stories: I'll just mention a few of my favorites, though they've all got positive qualities.

Stability, which is the first story Dick wrote, would be of interest just because of its priority, but it's worth a read strictly on its own merits. Dick creates a world where innovation is frozen, a la Rand's Anthem, inviting the reader to root for a young man with an invention. But, there is a very unexpected twist...

Roog, the first story Dick saw published, is a dog's eye view of the world that deserves a second read after reading Dick's note on the story in the appendix.

Beyond Lies the Wub is an incredible piece of short fiction that really makes you think. I read the story three times, and each time took something different away. Not to give anything away, but you'll definitely think twice before you eat your next steak.

The Infinites is a story that everyone who hated the infamous Star Trek: Voyager episode "Threshold" should read. Not to give anything away, but "Threshold" is one of several Trek stories based upon the erroneous idea that evolution is a teleological process, with an endpoint already mapped out in our genes. Here, Dick takes this idea, turns it on its head, and does something with it.

Variable Man combines a few Dickian favorites: omniscient computers, a constant war terror, and a wily, inarticulate everyman protagonist. Some elements of the plot are visible miles off, but the ending isn't.

Paycheck is a longish story with a typical Dickian hero and several elements that would later make it into We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, which was in turn the basis for Paul Verhoeven's excellent Total Recall. I think that it deserves a movie treatment of its own.

Colony takes paranoia to an absurdly high level. As Dick says in his note, it's one thing to think that your boss is plotting against you, and quite another to think that your boss's phone is plotting against you.

Nanny is a biting indictment of planned obsolescence. It was a true story in 1952, and an even truer one now.

All told, this is a great introduction to the writing of one of the acknowledged masters, and certainly belongs in the library of every PKD fan.

The problem with slapping the "genius" label on a writer is that people tend to overlook that writer's flaws. All the glowing reviews make this collection sound better then it really is. PKD certainly was a genius, but he wasn't perfect. His best stories are absolutely amazing, but it took him time to get there and he wrote several clunkers along the way.

This book collects 25 of PKD's short stories from the early 1950s. Like most of his early work it's inconsistent. To those who are familiar with his writing, the brilliance that would later come is sometimes apparent. However, the young PKD was still growing as a writer and hadn't quite found his voice yet. The best stories in this collection are great reads. Unfortunately, there are several stories here that are just filler and are significant only because PKD wrote them. If you are not familiar with PKD's work some of these stories will be a great introduction. But most of them are far from perfect.

Here are a few high and low points:

Roog:
This is a fun little story. The men who come to collect your garbage are not what they seem, and only your dog knows why.

The Gun:
This is one of those filler stories, cause it has not point to it. I guess PKD needed a quick buck.

Beyond Lies the Wub:
More filler.

The Skull:
Some of these stories could have been made into episodes of the Twilight Zone, like this one. An interesting take on the story of Christ. The premise is not very original by today's standards, but still a good story.

The Preserving Machine:
Probably the worst story in the collection.

Expendable:
One of the best stories in the collection is also the shortest; only 5 pages. It is also one of the funniest. Next time you see an ant, beware.

The Variable Man:
Another really good story. A man from the past comes into the future when the earth is at war with an alien empire. PKD in full control here.

The Indefatigable Frog:
PKD's comical side is pretty unique and fun.

The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford:
The title story is kinda cute, but nothing special.

Meddler:
Another of the "Twilight Zone" type stories. Many writers have speculated about the end of the world. But only PKD would think that the end would be caused by butterflies.

Paycheck:
The recent John Woo film is based on this story. A fascinating premise is marred by poor execution. All the later PKD trademarks are here: evil all controling government, paranoia, and normal people trapped by circumstances beyond their control. Had PKD written this story 10 years later it would probably come out much better.

Colony:
More paranoia, but this time PKD uses it to comic effect. The colonists try to evacuate while naked. One of the best in the collection.

Prize Ship:
Time travel stories usually have a twist; so does this one. I laughed when I finished it.

Nanny:
A not so subtle take on the cold war arms race. Interesting, but could have been edited down some more.

The sad fact is that the stories that should receive the most coverage in the news often go practically ignored. Since 1993 an atrocity has been going on at the US-Mexican border that has left hundreds of women raped, mutilated and dead while very little has been done to solve the crimes and stop whoever is behind them. This is the setting that Gaspar De Alba has chosen for her Lambda Award winning novel as she tells the story of Ivon Villa, who is drawn into the situation when her sistr disappears in Mexico.


Desert Blood builds at a pace that leaves the reader feeling the growing terror Ivon experiences as she faces the idea that she may find her sister too late. There is so much to this plot that it almost becomes one of the book's weaknesses. There are three stories that run at once - the disappearances of Irene and the other women, Ivon's quest to adopt a child and her relationship with her family over her lesbianism. The stories of the women would have been enough to make a complete book and the other two strains sometimes distract from that. That could actually be a plus though because the one story is so horrific that the reader needs some release time away from it. One irritating aspect of the book is that De Alba includes a lot of comments in Spanish. Given the setting of the book, it's appropriate, but there are no translations for those readers who do not speak the language and the impression is left that parts of the story are being missed or not understood. A glossary of some time would have been helpful.

The compelling nature of this story makes it a book that should be read. Anyone looking for a romance with steamy sex scenes won't find that here, but they will find an issue that will move them to anger and an extremely well written novel.

You won't be able to put this one down, and once you're done reading it, you'll want to help the women of Juarez. A great read, but an even greater source of vital information. Too many people are still unaware of the massive murdering of innocent young women along the U.S.-Mexico border, and Desert Blood sheds light on this horrible situation. I encourage you to read it and to take action informing others of the femicides in Juarez as well!

Now this one was full of so many turns and kept pulling you in deeper, good read.

"historical fiction" (what on earth does that mean?)

At the end, she lacks much knowledge of Mexican history to get this together.

I'm sure she's really smart. But she was bound to fail here; too political and too many stereotypes)

This book made the hair on my neck stand straight up! But I couldn't stop reading. The fact that it is fiction centered around real events made it even more horrifying and compelling. But even if the Juarez murders had not and were not taking place, this is still an incredible book. It's well written, the story riveting, and the characters (very important to me) are drawn with great reality. The protagonist, Ivon Villa, is a strong but flawed gay woman, fiercely loyal to her family in spite of her mother's hatefulness, and her iron will and determination make her a perfect vehicle for the non-fictional message of this book. BRAVO ALICIA!

Critic Jacques Barzun divided Rex Stout's career into three distinct phases. This begins the third phase, where Stout explores ethical frontiers and takes the insularity of Wolfe's west 35th-street enclave into the world at large.

These stories, which first were serialized in various magazines, either take the chaotic world into Wolfe's home, or take Wolfe out of his sanctuary into the chaotic world.

In one, Wolfe's own necktie (with a yellow pattern) is used in a most foul manner. Of these three, this one's my favorite.

Stout was a liberal and would have fit into the late 60s well, you'd think. However, Nero is a little harder-pressed to adapt to this world, and it starts to show with these stories.

Finally, perhaps because they were written for magazine serialization, these are not the strongest of Stout's work. But they're still good, and so-so Nero is certainly better than none at all...

This is an excellent collection of Nero Wolfe short stories--some of the best Stout ever wrote, but they are still short stories. While they are great introductory reading for the new Stout enthusiast (highly recommended if this applies to you), the stories seem rather abrupt for anyone who's read the novels. Just as Wolfe, the cantankerous, lazy, overweight, yet completely endearing detective, and Archie, the CLASSIC unflappable sidekick, seem to begin solving the murder, they've found the solution, and the story is over. Other than the general abruptness of the stories, the book is wonderful, and the stories themselves are some of the best Stout ever wrote--if only he had fleshed them out into novels...

In "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo," 'it's a wily killer who dares to strike on Nero Wolfe's hallowed turf--and leave a corpse strangled with Wolfe's own soup-stained tie.' This is the story that was turned into an A&E movie, and the one that got me started on Rex Stout's novels.

In "Death of a Demon," 'Wolfe faces a gun-toting wife who serves up a confession of homicidal intent--only to become the sole suspect when her husband's corpse is found.' This one is a little confusing, keeping all of the guns (some toted by the aforementioned wife) straight.

Finally, in "Counterfeit for Murder," 'a cop-hating landlady brings Wolfe counterfeit cash--that leads to genuine murder.' This story introduces a very likeable character in the landlady, one of the few women Wolfe (by no means a woman-hater; they just seem to get in the way of his orderly existence) moderately respects.

Stout somehow packs 3 novellas into 205 pocket-sized pages. Two concern rich Manhattanites, one working class down-to-earth ones. Although Nero Wolf is headlined, most of the investigating and narration falls to Archie Goodwin, his assistant. Wolf, according to Archie, is a genius, but to the reader appears overweight (he had his chair custom-made to accommodate him), self-indulgent (his chef prepares him gourmet meals), and irascible (voicing impatience with dull and uncooperative witnesses). There are enough surprises and twists (too many to summarize) to dizzy the reader. Entertaining.

A collection of three novellas featuring Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. After awhile, there's not really much one can say about Stout's mysteries. They are always well done--I remember reading someone saying that Rex Stout never wrote a bad sentence, and I have yet to prove that false. But there really isn't much here that distinguishes these novellas from any of the other collections.

This edition now boasts "As Seen on TV!" on its cover, alluding to the fact that 1 (so far) of the 3 short stories herein has been adapted by A&E. Apart from Stephen Greenleaf's forward and the afterward, the book is pure Stout.

All 3 are murder investigations.

"Eeny Meeny Murder Mo" - The A&E adaptation is faithful to the story, although it has a little extra trimming - specifically, A&E added a prologue, where Archie begins telling the story at the Thursday night poker game while Orrie is preparing to bet, as a bridge to the next A&E episode, "Disguise for Murder", which picks up with the poker game after Archie finishes the story.

Bertha Aaron, a valued employee of Otis, Edey, Heydecker, and Jett, fears to go to Otis with her problem because of his heart condition. She caught a member of the firm meeting secretly with the opposing client in a major case, confronted the offender, and doesn't know what to do. (She won't say which, hence the title of the story.) Unfortunately, the firm's client is Morton Sorrell, and the opposing client is his soon-to-be-ex wife Rita Ramsey Sorrell - a divorce case. And while Archie tries to persuade Wolfe that the divorce has nothing to do with Ms. Aaron's problem, somebody gets into the office and leaves her dead on the floor.

Strangled with one of Wolfe's neckties.

Oh, boy. :)

"Death of a Demon" - Lucy Hazen hires Wolfe just to hear her say, "That's the gun I'm not going to shoot my husband with." She wants a divorce, which he won't grant, and she hates him so much that she's taking this step to shake the idea - discussing in detail how much she's been obsessed lately with the idea of killing Hazen. Unfortunately, as Wolfe points out, this puts her in a bad position if (and as it turns out, when) somebody *else* shoots him.

Barry Hazen likes (or rather, liked) making people squirm. He was a PR guy who didn't seem to give value for money; as Theodore Weed, an employee who's fallen for Lucy, can confirm, he had clients who didn't need PR at all, or who had other firms provide PR for their businesses, but paid Hazen for 'personal publicity'. All of which begins to leave the aroma of a blackmailer who squeezed someone too hard, or too many times...

"Counterfeit for Murder" (a.k.a. "The Counterfeiter's Knife") - Alternate, older version of "Assault on a Brownstone" (see _Death Times Three_). Hattie Annis in this version is an aging, unkempt woman rather than someone who'd attract Archie's fancy - that's the major difference.

Okay... granted, I'm pretty much a sucker for any mystery book series set in New Mexico... and that's why I bought this first book in the series (after discovering McGarrity about 12 years too late and wanting to start with the first book in the series)...

Tularosa was a strong enough effort that I've just gone ahead and ordered the rest of his books.

If you haven't read Michael McGarrity yet you've been missing out on some excellent police procedural mysteries. I love his characters and the richness and color of his Southwestern settings. Tularosa is intriguing, well-paced and fun to read for anyone who likes seeing justice done.

While I agree with other reviewers that a couple of his later works are weak on pacing and rushed at the climax that is NOT the case for Tularosa, which exceeded my expectations in every category.

By the way, I'm a published author myself and am not easy to please.

Ray White How I Got Published: Famous Authors Tell You in Their Own Words The Towers Of Greed

This is sort of a Western in a Procedural Mystery guise. A Western in the mythos sense. A lot of what happens is not really credible. If you read the book, count the number of times that person A has the drop on person B, only to have B's confederate show up in the nick of time and reverse the situation. The romantic interest, Sara, turns out to be to be not only a tough, intelligent Army cop with survival and martial arts skills, she is also an expert horsewoman. And the villain kidnaps her without a good reason. He isn't planning to hold her hostage, nor does she know or have something he needs. Maybe he intended to tie her to the railroad tracks. And I'm not sure, but I think the author got some of his Native American customs wrong, mixing up Navajo and Tewa (Pueblo) beliefs and attibuting petroglyphs created by the Mogollon people to the Apaches.

I found this book at my local libary. I was searching for a mystery book and was surprised to find one that was about places I knew. I haven't heard about the magnanimous author, Michael McGarrity before, but I am intrigued to read it anyway, because it sounds like a good mystery book.

The book Tularosa is about a missing, silent soldier from White Sands Missile Range. Kevin Kerney, a former cop from Santa Fe is searching for his godson Sammy Yazzi, the son of his former partner, Terry Yazzi. Sammy has been reported as AWOL from White Sands Missile Range. The credence to find Sammy falls on Kerney, together with Sara Brannon, the capricious, blond, armi investigator. They embark a cryptic story about stolen, golden artifacts, murdered people, and a corrupt, white, high ranking officer from White Sands Missile Range.

Today Michael McGarrity lives with his wife and his son in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before he turned to writing full time, he worked also as a deputy sheriff for Santa Fe County. Maybe this was what inspired him 1996 to write Tularosa, which was well nominated for an Antohny Award, a Dilys Award and a Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. I really want to read more from him, because this first novel combined the characters of mystery, a story involing unknown persons and facts, with a description of the sometimes green desert landscape of New Mexico.

McGarrity's books move right along -- lots of action and not a lot of conversation or things not strictly associated with the plot. His books are set in the southwest and draw on his experience in law enforcement. Kevin Kerney, his hero/detective, is the kind of character who would be played by a younger Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford -- tough, honorable, capable, and a bit of a loner although well-liked. Think Lone Ranger, riding in to defeat the forces of evil and then riding off again leaving behind grateful people.

At the beginning of the book Kerney is living alone on a New Mexico ranch. He was seriously injured fighting badguys and is no longer in law enforcement but kind of retired, doing caretaking for an absentee landlord on a ranch. A truck arrives carrying a Navajo police officer, a former partner whom Kerney has a grudge against on account of the injuries, but the ex-partner hopes that he will take a paid assignment to track down his son Sammi, who has apparently gone AWOL from the army -- or at least he's missing, because no-one who knows Sammi believes he would desert. Kerney cares about Sammi so agrees to go looking for him. Sammi had been assigned to the White Sands Missile Testing Center (or whatever the base is called) and that's the land that Kerney was raised on -- he knows it well. So with the initially reluctant help of Sara, an army intelligence officer, he starts asking questions and trying to uncover what has happened to Sammi.

This is high adventure and quick paced. This isn't the first book in the series I've read, and it won't be the last. I think guys will particularly like the book, although as a woman I also enjoyed it. Some violence, but nothing too graphic, and a little sex but not too explicit, for those concerned about such things.