Slow start, then it starts building to a fever pitch… The deluxe edition of the version that I read included the author’s original epilogue, an article she wrote several years later about the house that inspired this novel, and a note from the author that planted a theory in my head. See, the author started writing the book and got two chapters done…but then she put it away for a few months or something and then started writing it again when she felt she “had a better grip on the story”. My theory is that this leads to a kind of disjointedness in the first part of the book that made it very difficult to read…took me almost 6 months to finish it! But I’m definitely glad I read the book…it is a timeless romance/horror and I can’t wait to check out the Hitchcock adaptation (although I suspect it may … Continue reading →

My God! Joel Rosenberg is absolutely incredible. His books and characters suck you in and thrash you until you don’t have any life left in you to read and then you keep reading. Because you have to know what happens. What I really enjoy is that his series of books is basically Tom Clancy crossed with The Left Behind series. The geopolitical consequences of the end times is absolutely fascinating and incredibly gripping…especially when his novels seem to foretell the future (his first novel, written before 9/11, depicts an attempted presidential assassination via hijacked airplane and his second novel predicted the assassination/death of Yasser Arafat).

Having seen the paths of all the other original characters through the “Wicked” lens, Maguire now focuses his lens on The Cowardly Lion formally known as Brrr in order to re-examine the life and time of Elphaba and her descendants. Having already revolutionized him as a fop having his curls twirled by Nick Chopper the Tin Woodsman, Maguire now takes us through the life of Brr after he escaped from captivity as he wanders through life just trying to get by and always being discouraged. As always, a delightful incursion into fancy and an interesting twist in silver shoes.

Just as brilliant as last time, Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen continue to draw us in to their active history to analyze great military commanders and the men they commanded. Picking up where Pearl Harbor left off (with General Yamamoto ordering a catastrophic third strike on Pearl Harbor that decimates the dry dock), we see a battle of wits between Admiral Halsey and Yamamoto as they try to find each other andend the war.

I appreciated this book, not just as an exciting historical thriller (akin to Da Vinci Code and it’s many spawn), but for taking the issues of faith and religion a step further in this book. Unlike Da Vinci Code, here we have a character who is a member of the faith the supposed Templar secret could tear asunder. A character who expresses an outrage akin to what I felt when I read Da Vinci Code and it dropped its supposed “truth” on me about Jesus. And I really appreciated that.Or maybe it’s because I’ve already coped with the supposed “truths” that Da Vinci Code claims, or I’ve grown and matured or I’m just crazy. This is a really exciting book and an excellent read.

Joel Rosenberg so perfectly combines the style of Tom Clancy, Dan Brown and La Haye/Jenkins that it is absolutely irresistible. The characters are so familiar and comfortable, the plot is terse and believable, and the book is great fun. He is one of the few authors (K. A. Applegate and Eoin Colfer being others) that I have trouble putting down at 2 am (no trouble at 3 am). The books are actually detrimental to my productivity! And it’s got a tie-in to church! The Sunday after finishing the book, my pastor mentioned a teaching style of Jesus and other rabbi’s of 30 A.D. called remez. The principle is to read passages of the Old Testament in parts without explaining what was missing. It assumes that the audience of the sermon/lecture knows the Old Testament well enough to know what was missing and THAT was the thrust of the lecture/sermon. While … Continue reading →

I just can’t stop reading! I was absolutely riveted and completely drawn in by Eoin Colfer’s fascinating and technological revamp of the Fair Folk and teenage genius Artemis Fowl. I haven’t devoured pint-sized novels like this since my love of K. A. Applegate’s Animorphs.