From the Delta Mud, by Guy Wheatley, is a slow-paced story about a group of characters living in a small town on the shores of the Mississippi river. None of the characters are particularly compelling or interesting, and although the author gives us a lot of detail about their daily lives (a LOT of detail), … More From the Delta Mud, by Guy Wheatley
Not fully successful as a baseball book or as a drama February 1, 2019 Empty Seats, by Wanda Adams Fischer, wants to be a poignant drama about the life lessons, choices, and pressures affecting three young men, all of whom happen to be baseball players. Ms. Fischer has created some very interesting characters with complexity … More Empty Seats, by Wanda Fischer
This story – and I call it a story rather than a novel – is not about plot or characters or the description of the events. It is about trying to understand what it’s like to be inside the head of a teenage boy, Christopher, who is brilliantly intelligent and also autistic. The story is … More The Curious Case of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon
Headline: Confused, disjointed, and pointless (but at times beautiful) Tommy Orange’s novel, There There (derived from a quote by Gertrude Stein that there “is no there there” in Oakland) features many characters. One is Dene Oxendene, an aspiring Native American filmmaker working on a project in which he asks urban Natives in Oakland to … More There, There: By Tommy Orange
Of Half a Mind, by Bruce Perrin, is the first book in “The Mind Sleuth” series, starring research psychologist Sam “Doc” Price. This is an intellectual mystery, filled with plot twists and puzzles and interesting characters. It’s a well-written page-turner that will keep you guessing, and keep you wanting to keep guessing, to the very … More Of Half a Mind, by Bruce Perrin
April 6, 2019 In, A Convenient Death, by Laurel Heidtman, Detectives Jo Valentine and “Sticks” Mullins are investigating a double-murder that occurred at a convenience store (hence the title). The pretty and promiscuous young store clerk and a senior-citizen patron are shot execution-style in the back room of the quickie-mart. Was this a robbery that … More A Convenient Death, by Laurel Heidtman
Reflection: The Paul Mann Story, is a relatively short novel that reads more like the outline for a story than a completed book. The plot points lurch along in quick succession with little connection, detail, or explanation. The characters lack depth (or names in many cases) and are two-dimensional ideas rather than fully developed people. … More Reflection: The Paul Mann Story, by Titan Frey
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