reviewerID stringlengths 10 21 | asin stringlengths 10 10 | reviewerName stringlengths 0 49 ⌀ | helpful list | reviewText stringlengths 0 32.8k | overall float64 1 5 | summary stringlengths 0 452 | unixReviewTime int64 861M 1.41B ⌀ | reviewTime stringlengths 9 11 |
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A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1476735336 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | A serial killer starves his victims before removing their testicles. Police Lieutenant Abe Goldberg's search for the killer takes him to the world of small town theater (which, in the Holloman, Connecticut of 1969, is surprisingly elaborate). Meanwhile, Sergeant Delia Carstairs is occupied with the Shadow Women, six mi... | 3 | The fifth Carmine Delmonico mystery | 1,384,732,800 | 11 18, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1476736472 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Rescue Mode is the latest installment in Ben Bova's ongoing obsession with Mars. One of the characters even argues that Mars is proof of God's existence. Seriously? In Bova's previous novel,Mars, Inc., a mission to Mars was privately financed. Rescue Mode has NASA spearheading the mission with assistance from other cou... | 3 | Another dated Mars novel | 1,402,185,600 | 06 8, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 147675487X | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Miles works on his father's fishing boat, from which his father and another man dive for abalone off the coast of Tasmania. Miles hates the work, hates his life. His mother died in a car accident that Miles and his younger brother Harry survived. More recently, his grandfather died. His older brother Joe is building hi... | 5 | Terrible secrets and lost innocence | 1,402,358,400 | 06 10, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1477807349 | TChris | [
24,
25
] | Berlin Gothic was released as a seven-part serial in Germany. In translation, it has been divided into two parts, of which The Beginning is the first.For reasons that are initially murky, young Till Anschütz runs away from a mysterious place called Brackenfelde. A car driven by Julia Bentheim strikes him, but Ti... | 4 | Berlin Gothic: Book One | 1,377,561,600 | 08 27, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1477818162 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | John Rain thinks back to 1972 when, at the age of twenty, he was a bagman for the CIA in Tokyo (a city Barry Eisler paints in vivid colors). Rain's violent reaction to violent circumstances places his life in danger and the only way to remedy his plight (and to earn the continued backing of his CIA handler) is to carry... | 5 | John Rain: The Beginning | 1,392,163,200 | 02 12, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1480405523 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Jason Peters, a professional assassin, has contempt for "bleeding hearts" who believe that Americans should obey laws that prohibit murder and torture. Peters works for Narcom, a private enterprise (i.e., mercenary group) under contract to government entities like the CIA. Peters is sent to a country in sub-Saharan Afr... | 2 | The second Jason Peters novel | 1,369,267,200 | 05 23, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1480414794 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Beginning with a missing colony on Roanoke Island in 1590 (which left behind the word Croatoan) and continuing to the missing crew of the Mary Celeste in 1872 -- as well as Napoléon, who was counting on the cargo that the Mary Celeste was carrying, disguised as barrels of alcohol, to help him reclaim his empire ... | 4 | The eleventh Blaine McCracken novel | 1,387,584,000 | 12 21, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1480436054 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | Borders and what they represent form the underlying theme of Border Angels. Women from Eastern Europe are smuggled across borders to work in Western European brothels, while a shadowy underworld populated by immigrants, legal and illegal, operates close to the borders in case the need arises to flee. Border Angels open... | 4 | The second Celcius Daly novel | 1,382,486,400 | 10 23, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1550229737 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Vladimir lives in Russia. In 1929, he develops a case of the hiccups. This is a normal affliction for an eight-year-old, but Vladimir's won't go away. No matter how many people shout "boo" at Vladimir -- his mother, his teacher, his doctor -- he continues to emit a hiccup every 3.7 seconds. Specialists are called i... | 5 | A lifelong case of hiccups | 1,332,892,800 | 03 28, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 155022977X | TChris | [
3,
3
] | The High, a Canadian band that has been around since the 1970s, is back on tour, playing Indian casinos and similar venues with the likes of Grand Funk Railroad and the Doobie Brothers. Ritchie Stone (lead guitar) is getting it on with Emma (business manager) while Cliff Moore (singer) has sex with as many soccer mom ... | 4 | A road band crime novel | 1,333,497,600 | 04 4, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1560256362 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Alan Stowe, an elderly man of great wealth and power, hires David Goldberg, a university librarian, to act as his personal librarian, sorting and recording the papers he's collected during his life. Stowe is a conservative backer of the president (a thinly disguised George Bush) in his bid for reelection. Soon people... | 4 | An inventive and action-filled thriller | 1,285,200,000 | 09 23, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1564783138 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | A woman arrives at a country inn, checks into a room under (she tells us) an assumed name, and finds a large sum of money in her suitcase as she unpacks. She does not remember her identity, does not know the reason she has taken up residence in an inn, but believes that someone will come for her to make her mission cl... | 5 | A deliciously unreliable narrator | 1,286,236,800 | 10 5, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1565125762 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | This is a strange, offbeat book; I'm not sure I know what to make of it. Ultimately, I think that's a good thing. Other reviews here have summarized the plot--bizarre, to be sure, but with just enough grounding in the recognizable world to leave the reader wondering what's real and what's not. Given its mysterious natu... | 4 | A strange, offbeat book | 1,284,076,800 | 09 10, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1566891884 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | As a "descent into madness" thriller, The Open Curtain stands out. Brian Evenson's commitment to detail makes the novel work. By interweaving the facts of an actual 1902 murder committed by the grandson of Brigham Young (perhaps with the assistance of an accomplice) and the modern ritualistic practices of the Mormon ... | 4 | 4 1/2 stars | 1,286,236,800 | 10 5, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1567923267 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | In this whacky novel, three senior citizens fall in love with Justine Trimble, a deceased star of 1950's B-westerns. The oldest hatches a plan to bring her back to life. He enlists the services of a somewhat younger friend who gives life to particles that are separated from videotape and soaked in a "suspension of di... | 4 | Wry humor | 1,283,558,400 | 09 4, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1569479755 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | At some points, Luminarium risked dragging me into the depths of depression. At others, it engaged my senses of wonder and humor. Sometimes it fascinated me; just as often it bored me. On occasion it made me pause and think. For that, and for a main character whose miserable life captured my fancy, I came to like it.Fr... | 4 | Technology meets spirituality | 1,314,057,600 | 08 23, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 156971634X | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Murder Mysteries first appeared as a radio play and as a short story. This graphic adaptation does justice to Neil Gaiman's well-chosen words. This is a story about fallen angels and LA -- the city of angels -- is represented here as the city of fallen angels. The illustrations depict Heaven and LA as shiny architectur... | 5 | A strong graphic adaptation of a Neil Gaiman story | 1,400,803,200 | 05 23, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1585676330 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | A British fishing trawler, assisting a distress call, puts into a Russian port. A Russian naval officer gives the captain an envelope and asks that it be delivered to British intelligence. The envelope contains classified information and an offer to provide more. The Russian officer, Viktor Archenko, is assigned cod... | 5 | Codename Ferret | 1,294,185,600 | 01 5, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1585676837 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | The plot of Non-Stop is ingenious: a generations ship travels on a seemingly non-stop journey through space, its mission long forgotten, carrying descendants of the original crew who now live in warring tribes, some foraging for food in the jungle that has overgrown the ship's aft corridors while guarding against thos... | 4 | More than an adventure story | 1,283,385,600 | 09 2, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1585677361 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Paul Christopher, a character in The Miernik Dossier who appears in most of Charles McCarry's subsequent espionage novels, writes in a report: "There is an artistry to what we are doing: spies are like novelists--except that spies use living people and real places to make their works of art." McCarry knows something... | 5 | Never a dull moment | 1,287,360,000 | 10 18, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1585677523 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Gerald Seymour is one of my favorite writers of espionage fiction. Toiling in the shadow of John Le Carré, Seymour's work is largely overlooked by the American audience. While Seymour doesn't have quite the stylistic grace of Le Carré, he is -- at his best -- nearly Le Carré's equal as a storytel... | 4 | Great characters, not Seymour's best story | 1,318,896,000 | 10 18, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1585679097 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Gerald Seymour doesn't have the following of John le Carré or Len Deighton but he completes the troika of great British spy novelists in the modern era. His plots are tight and suspenseful, his characters are crafted with subtlety, and the atmosphere of his novels is always spot on. The Belfast that Seymour crea... | 5 | Seymour's first novel | 1,403,568,000 | 06 24, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1585679372 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | To make a political statement about the plight of Ukrainian Jews, four individuals conspire to murder a police officer in Kiev. Moses Albyov, chosen by lot to pull the trigger, botches the killing, leaving the wounded officer alive to describe him. After his arrest, the remaining cell members, David, Isaac, and Rebec... | 4 | The flight of the Kingfisher | 1,293,321,600 | 12 26, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1585863424 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | In Donald Moffitt's sequel toThe Genesis Quest, Bram and his fellow humans are on their way to the home of Original Man, some thirty-seven million light years from the homeworld of the Nar. The humans were created by the Nar from the genetic code provided in a transmission that originated from the Milky Way. That sto... | 4 | A futuristic version of Roots | 1,300,492,800 | 03 19, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 159017576X | TChris | [
1,
1
] | It took some time, but the characters in The Old Devils--elderly friends in South Wales who spend most of their time discussing the condition of being Welsh--grew on me as I worked my way through the chapters. Amis is a master of dry wit. I'm sure I would have a deeper appreciation of the humor in The Old Devils if I k... | 4 | Patience required | 1,361,577,600 | 02 23, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590176170 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | Kingsley Amis was a science fiction fan, so it shouldn't be surprising that he tried his hand at a science fiction theme. The Alteration is an alternate history with the merest whiff of steampunk. It pays tribute to one of the finest alternate histories, Philip K. Dick'sThe Man in the High Castle, secretly admired by... | 5 | Church versus boy: an alternate history | 1,369,526,400 | 05 26, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590513940 | TChris | [
15,
16
] | Peter Stamm's Seven Years focuses on a German architect named Alex and, to a significantly lesser extent, on his wife (Sonia) and his paramour (Ivona). Told in the first person from the perspective of Alex, Seven Years chronicles Alex's relationship with Ivona from the time he meets her (before he starts dating Sonia) ... | 3 | Men are like that? | 1,300,752,000 | 03 22, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590514440 | TChris | [
14,
14
] | The Reservoir is a novel of psychological suspense flavored with a bit of courtroom drama rather than a conventional murder mystery. The opening pages describe Tommie Cluverius standing on an embankment atop a reservoir in Richmond, Virginia, looking down at Lillian's pregnant, floating body. The unsettled question i... | 4 | Psychological suspense and courtroom drama | 1,304,467,200 | 05 4, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590514505 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | I wouldn't call The Secret in Their Eyes a thriller (although it develops some thrills toward the end), or even a mystery. The novel tells a very personal story of one man's role in the Argentinean system of criminal justice, his mild obsession with an unsolved murder, and the difficulty of pursuing the truth in a corr... | 5 | A secret life, a secret love | 1,321,228,800 | 11 14, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515110 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | When the Night is a dark and oddly beautiful story of two regret-filled souls struggling to break free from their confining personalities. The novel records two intersecting moments in their lives, fifteen years apart -- in many ways their most vital moments.Mountain guide Manfred Sane and his brothers were raised by ... | 5 | Two ships passing in the night or two ships colliding? | 1,335,225,600 | 04 24, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515188 | TChris | [
6,
7
] | "Like a black angel of memory, almost every tale, every occurrence finds an echo inside the walls of the barrio." The Barcelona Brothers (from which this quotation is drawn) tells a story of intertwined lives, of barrio residents reacting to the echo of a dramatic event that will force them to reexamine their desperat... | 5 | Inside the walls of the barrio | 1,346,112,000 | 08 28, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 159051520X | TChris | [
8,
8
] | Zoltan Barbu, former dissident and dried-up writer who, in his better days, was lovingly reviewed by Susan Sontag, meets Allerton "Mack" McKay at the funeral of Maja Stern. Maja was Zoltan's lover before she committed suicide, an act that thwarted Mack's plan to seduce her. Mack and Zoltan go to dinner together and t... | 4 | A different kind of three-way | 1,337,040,000 | 05 15, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515242 | TChris | [
10,
10
] | I'm amazed to find a work of Scandinavian fiction in which the characters aren't endlessly complaining about how depressed they become during the long, frigid winters. In the first half of Drowned, the characters complain about how depressed they have become during the unusually hot summer. Part two takes place in th... | 3 | Well-written but frustrating | 1,337,904,000 | 05 25, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515277 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | The child of an English father and French mother, Marian Sutro speaks both languages like a native. While serving as a WAAC, Marian is recruited to join a secret organization. After receiving commando and espionage training in Scotland and England, she parachutes into France as part of Operation Trapeze. Marian has als... | 4 | Spying in Paris | 1,336,003,200 | 05 3, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515293 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Jackson and James are brothers. Jackson is only a year older but he seems determined to be middle-aged well before he enters his teens. A freakishly obsessive kid, Jackson memorizes all the bones in the human body "in order to understand and own how they carried him." Ida is Jackson's inseparable friend from infancy an... | 3 | Strong prose, weak content | 1,347,321,600 | 09 11, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515331 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | The events described in Eléctrico W take place in Lisbon over the course of nine days. Antonio Flores is a photographer living in Paris, but during his childhood in Lisbon, he raced every day to catch a funicular tram called the Eléctrico W. One morning he missed the tram but met a girl called Duck, who e... | 5 | Nine days in Lisbon | 1,371,513,600 | 06 18, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515382 | TChris | [
10,
11
] | The nature of love and the different ways in which men and women experience it are at the heart of Climates. As a young Frenchman in the early years of the twentieth century, Philippe Marcenat's opinion of women is divided: he admires the female form but feels contempt for the female mind. Desire leads to boredom that ... | 4 | Perspectives on love | 1,354,752,000 | 12 6, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515560 | TChris | [
8,
8
] | The Flowers of War takes place during the 1937 Nanking Massacre. Fleeing the fighting that accompanies the Japanese occupation of Nanking, women from a brothel climb the walls surrounding the church compound maintained by Father Engelmann. With hungry schoolgirls in the attic and sassy prostitutes in the cellar, the ... | 4 | A great ending to a tale that isn't well told | 1,327,968,000 | 01 31, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515862 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | After two months in a psych ward, a patient who identifies himself only as Ott is given a solo pass that will let him spend part of a day outside the hospital. He earned the pass by learning to play the game, to say enough without saying too much, to gain the trust of the doctors and nurses who probe him with questions... | 4 | "You can't trust life" | 1,362,614,400 | 03 7, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590515951 | TChris | [
18,
18
] | Days in the History of Silence is an unflinching examination of a woman's colorless, regret-filled life, her adoption or acceptance of shared solitude as a shield against pain. As she tells her story, it becomes apparent that the shield is a poor barrier. Other choices might serve her better, but ingrained habits are... | 4 | The shield of silence | 1,377,561,600 | 08 27, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590516389 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | The Deep Whatsis is a familiar but funny sendup of the corporate environment. It's likeDilbertwith sex, orOffice Spacemerged withFatal Attraction.Eric Nye is 33, works in advertising ("advertising is how corporations outsource their lies") and is on page two of the screenplay he's been writing for three years. As the... | 4 | A breezy sendup of the corporate environment | 1,374,537,600 | 07 23, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590516427 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | As Papers in the Wind opens, Mono Raguzzi has just been buried in a cemetery in Castelar, a city in Buenos Aires Province. His death is being mourned by his brother Fernando and his friends Mauricio and Ruso. Mono had a short-lived career in professional soccer before joining a Swiss technology firm. After leaving that... | 5 | Sad, funny, and meaningful | 1,404,518,400 | 07 5, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590516672 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Jon Dreyer is a blocked writer living in Oslo but summering in a house called Mailund. He is married to Siri Brodal, who has hired a girl named Milla to look after their two daughters, Alma and Liv. At thirteen, Alma has done some babysitting of her own for a boy named Simen who lives nearby. Siri's mother, Jenny Broda... | 4 | Death and the dysfunctional family | 1,401,235,200 | 05 28, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590516850 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | "Though everything was forbidden in Florence, anything was possible." Secrecy tells the story of a man who makes sculptures from wax. It begins and ends in 1701, not in Florence, but in a convent near Paris, where Marguerite-Louise of Orleans, now 56, has reached a point where "the world starts to ignore you because it... | 4 | Secret obsessions (4.5 stars) | 1,398,384,000 | 04 25, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590580168 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Bartender Brian McNulty is an interesting character, albeit lacking in pizzazz. The novel suggests that he drinks too much and he regularly ingests cocaine, but it doesn't seem to affect his life; he carries some guilt about his relationship with his son but the relationship is actually quite good; he comes off as a l... | 4 | A sunny version of noir | 1,283,558,400 | 09 4, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590586115 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Collecting artifacts -- pottery, arrowheads, beads, particularly those of the Anasazi -- is a hobby for the Rogers family. Because their collection includes human bones, they call their outings "skeleton picnics" (a polite euphemism for the desecration of burial sites). When Rolly and Abigail fail to come home from a... | 3 | Bland BLM | 1,334,188,800 | 04 12, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590588436 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | In 2003, restaurateur Mark Fraysse, rumored to be in danger of losing a Michelin star, invited the press to hear an important announcement. Fraysse did not talk to the press that day. Instead the press reported his death, his body having been found near his restaurant after he failed to return from his afternoon run. F... | 4 | For mystery fans and foodies | 1,298,937,600 | 03 1, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590588525 | TChris | [
8,
9
] | Orla Payne, seemingly a bit whacky (or at least a tad drunk) jumps into a silo in the apparent belief that it will help her solve a mystery. Her body is later found buried in grain. The day before she jumped, Orla begged the Cold Case Review Team at Cumbria Constabulary to investigate the disappearance of Orla's brot... | 4 | The mystery of the missing pig | 1,301,788,800 | 04 3, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590588843 | TChris | [
8,
8
] | This deftly plotted, fast moving novel is Reavis Wortham's second. Hisfirst(a comedy) was published in 1999. I hope he doesn't wait a dozen years to write another thriller. I don't want to wait that long to read it, and read it I will.The Rock Hole is set in 1964. About half the chapters are written in the third pe... | 5 | An absorbing, atmospheric thriller | 1,305,763,200 | 05 19, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590589157 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Despite Sewa Tribal Officer Heather English's disdain for the politics of Arizona's new governor-elect, she isn't pleased to have her Christmas Day shift disturbed by her discovery of his skin nailed to a wall near an abandoned mine on the Sewa reservation. Nor is she happy to find her name printed on an envelope that ... | 4 | A Christmas story (with guns) | 1,309,219,200 | 06 28, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590589254 | TChris | [
7,
8
] | The Burning Lake is the fourth in Brent Ghelfi's series of novels featuring Volk, a Russian colonel who dabbles in crime when he isn't doing assignments for "the General" or engaging in personal quests for revenge (which is one of his primary occupations). Revenge drives the plot of The Burning Lake, as Volk investiga... | 4 | The fourth Volk novel | 1,303,689,600 | 04 25, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590589610 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | Mercury's Rise is the fourth novel in Ann Parker's Silver Rush mystery series. The story takes place in Colorado. Ann Parker provides enough period detail to create a convincing 1880 background, although I can't say I was enthralled by her detailed descriptions of the garments worn by her female characters (readers wit... | 4 | A good period mystery with a bit too much soap opera | 1,318,377,600 | 10 12, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1590589750 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | It's 1976. In vitro fertilization is in its infancy and Dr. Colin Sanford has a plan: teaming with embryologist Giselle Hearns, Sanford wants to earn his fame and fortune by producing the first baby conceived in vitro. The plan is going well -- Sanford's patient, Joyce Kennett, is pregnant -- when a lab supervisor blac... | 2 | Not much of a mystery | 1,321,747,200 | 11 20, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 159309518X | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Despite its surprising publication in the "Zane Presents" series, Little White Lies is not a tawdry romance novel. It is a story about young black men: their burdens and aspirations; their varying responses to a highly sexualized culture; the hostility they encounter when confronted by police officers who view them as... | 4 | A tribute to Native Son? | 1,385,424,000 | 11 26, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1594205159 | TChris | [
54,
58
] | "Canine science is intended to shed light not only on what makes dogs dogs but on what makes people people," says John Homans. What's a Dog For? reviews a wealth of canine science. Some of it pertains to wolves, the dog's genetic ancestor, but wolves don't necessarily tell us much about dogs, at least from a behavior... | 4 | Honorary persons | 1,352,678,400 | 11 12, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1594488274 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Times are changing for the nomadic tribes that move with the seasons between Pakistan and Afghanistan, leading sheep and camels to new grazing lands. Both nations now demand travel documents that tribal members with no birth certificates cannot obtain. The nomads consider themselves citizens of all countries, or none; ... | 4 | Harsh land, bitter life | 1,315,094,400 | 09 4, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1595829938 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | I never thought much about (or paid any attention to) estate sales until I read this graphic novel. The contents of houses tell stories about their owners, the choices they made, what they held dear. People cling to possessions they don't really want. Professional and amateur vultures devour the things left behind by t... | 5 | Holding on and letting go | 1,383,177,600 | 10 31, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 159643774X | TChris | [
1,
1
] | A graphic novel as good as This One Summer is hard to find. The story revolves around a single summer in the life of a girl who is on the cusp of adolescence. Everything is formative at that age. Events big and small all add up to shape a future that the child is only beginning to imagine. This is a story about the per... | 5 | Formative moments | 1,403,308,800 | 06 21, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1596913487 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | The police discover Robert's decaying body on the floor of his flat. Robert's friends have been dropping by for a week, leaving after banging on the unanswered door. Robert's friend Danny finally breaks in and discovers the corpse before fleeing in a panic. Danny searches for someone to tell -- Robert's daughter Lau... | 4 | Reflecting a dark and dismal reality | 1,295,481,600 | 01 20, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1597803456 | TChris | [
16,
17
] | Despite their occasional overlap and inevitable shelving together in libraries and bookstores, science fiction and fantasy are typically as different as physics and magic. One problem with including both fantasy and science fiction in a "best of" anthology is that fans of one but not the other must endure (or skip) a ... | 4 | Bees, trolls, dragons, vampires, robots, Mars, Venus, and more ... too much more | 1,331,164,800 | 03 8, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1598531581 | TChris | [
9,
10
] | Having earned kudos from science fiction fans and mainstream critics foranthologizingPhilip K. Dick's novels, Library of America has published a two volume anthology of science fiction novels from the 1950s, covering (arbitrarily, I think) the period 1953 to 1958. (It isn't clear to me why novels from 1950 to 1952 and... | 5 | Three excellent novels (and one that's pretty good) from the 1950s | 1,348,704,000 | 09 27, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1604444800 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Like many transplants to Hollywood, Ralph Carston craves fame and fortune and is just waiting for the miracle that will make it happen. His only friend in town is a sparkplug named Mona who starts out the novel by getting sent to jail for mouthing off to a judge. The momentary notoriety she earns from that episode le... | 4 | The elusive road to fame and fortune | 1,361,750,400 | 02 25, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1604502541 | TChris | [
11,
11
] | Dirty Harry meets Robocop ... or more accurately, Techno-Cop, armed with an infallible lie detector, a laser pistol, a state-of-the-art armored vest, and a new Honda skimmer with a laser cannon mounted on the hood. Yet Mitch Helwig might as well be a robot for all the humanity he's able to muster. Helwig is a predict... | 1 | Dirty Mitch | 1,289,433,600 | 11 11, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1605983799 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Accelerated is a novel in search of an identity. The first half is a cross between a character-driven literary novel and a cheesy soap opera. The second half tries to be a thriller, while the overall theme suggests that Accelerated is a message novel. Although some aspects of the novel work reasonably well, none of its... | 3 | Unrealized ambition | 1,351,468,800 | 10 29, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1605983829 | TChris | [
13,
13
] | With the addition of a middle initial to his name, Iain Banks writes immensely entertaining science fiction novels, with fast-moving action and tongue-in-cheek attitude. Without the middle initial, Banks writes novels that have the heft, characters, and prose of serious literature. Stonemouth is one of the latter, and ... | 5 | A weekend journey of discovery | 1,350,259,200 | 10 15, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1605984183 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | In the summer of 1796, Newburyport's harbormaster recruits Giles Wiggins to perform a medical inspection of the Miranda, newly arrived from France. Wiggins discovers that most members of the crew are dead or dying. Although the doctor quarantines the ship, several crewmen row into Newburyport. Soon the fever spreads... | 4 | A modern melodrama set in the past | 1,346,976,000 | 09 7, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1607013614 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | Elizabeth Bear is a graceful, imaginative writer who skillfully illuminates the depths of the characters she creates. While the social relevance for which she often reaches sometimes seems a bit forced, she deserves credit for pushing the boundaries of science fiction and fantasy.The stories in this collection I liked ... | 4 | A good but uneven collection | 1,352,419,200 | 11 9, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1607103583 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | The first question that many readers will ask is: Does this book live up to its title? The answer is: Of course not. It can't possibly. What's disappointing is that it doesn't really try. In its effort to convey knowledge in bite-size illustrated morsels, it unapologetically skips over mountains of information. For ins... | 2 | Everything you already knew | 1,334,275,200 | 04 13, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608090094 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | The word I would use to describe Public Anatomy is: fun. It takes an amusing, irreverent look at medicine and doctors while delivering an absorbing, fast moving story. Primary characters have engaging personalities while minor characters are summed up in two or three sharp sentences that bring them to life. That's ... | 4 | A fun, lighthearted thriller | 1,299,628,800 | 03 9, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608090132 | TChris | [
18,
19
] | Kate and Joanne are high school seniors who visit Miami for spring break. When they go missing, Kate's father travels to Miami to look for them, and also to see Robbie, the daughter he hasn't seen since she was seven. Now twenty-five, Robbie learns for the first time that she has a half-sister. Robbie initially want... | 3 | A thriller flavored with chick lit | 1,298,246,400 | 02 21, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608090175 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | James and Skip, the two lads who founded More or Less Investigations, are hired to find a ton of gold that went missing in the Florida Keys during a hurricane in 1935. James and Skip are about as well equipped to handle investigations asWayne and Garth(in fact, they often reminded me of Wayne and Garth), but the promi... | 4 | Treasure hunt | 1,322,784,000 | 12 2, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608090248 | TChris | [
36,
37
] | Dermot Sparhawk is stocking shelves in a Boston food pantry when Jeepster Hennesey staggers through the door. As Hennesey dies in Sparhawk's arms, a knife buried in his back, he gives Sparhawk a key and says the word "Oswego." Written on a piece of tape wrapped around the key is the name "McSweeney." Before long, ruffi... | 4 | A mystery set in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood | 1,311,984,000 | 07 30, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608090264 | TChris | [
27,
30
] | Trouble surrounds Matt Royal despite his residence in paradise. It seems that Florida's Longboat Key isn't paradisiacal for everyone. A young man is shot by a sniper while he's walking on the beach near the Hilton, just a day after his wedding. Then a dinner boat runs aground after nearly colliding with Royal's boat... | 4 | Trouble in paradise | 1,322,438,400 | 11 28, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608090299 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | An ultra-secret CIA drone has disappeared somewhere in the vicinity of Somalia. A source advises that the recovered aircraft is hidden in a hanger in Sudan. Rather conveniently, a Sudanese aircraft has just disappeared, presumably crashed; rather improbably, the United States has been asked to assist Sudan in the accid... | 3 | A satisfying plot marred by ordinary characters (3.5 stars) | 1,319,673,600 | 10 27, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608090345 | TChris | [
105,
118
] | A Justice of the Supreme Court is murdered. Inexplicably, the Supreme Court Police fail to enhance their protection of the remaining Justices, making it easy for a second Justice to be assassinated. Then a Federal Reserve Governor is killed, followed by more targets from the Court and the Fed. Despite the absence of ev... | 2 | Unbelievable plot, unbelievably dull | 1,328,140,800 | 02 2, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608090388 | TChris | [
6,
6
] | Ash Levine is a homicide detective with LAPD whose job is interfering with his attempt to reconcile with Robin, his almost-ex-wife. Levine is assigned to "Felony Special," a citywide division that handles high profile crimes (those that are deemed worthy of solving because the press is watching). When Raymond Pinkney i... | 3 | Implausible plot, bland characters, and a few entertaining moments | 1,334,966,400 | 04 21, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 160819597X | TChris | [
12,
12
] | Cole Freeman grew up with the Bible and little else. Now almost thirty, he's the only one of his friends who feels no inclination to escape from the mountains of West Virginia -- not by moving or joining the military or using the drugs he sells to supplement his income as a nursing home aide. Cole feels a connection ... | 5 | The mountain is disappearing | 1,326,758,400 | 01 17, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608196798 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | As I was reading Rain Dragon, I often wondered what the story was about. It begins as an account of a couple trying to drift into a better life, then evolves into a description of a corporate counter-culture, then hints at a failed (or failing) relationship before turning into a disquisition on advertising and marketi... | 3 | A novel in search of an identity | 1,335,225,600 | 04 24, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608197026 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | A woman who should be content with her marriage instead feels insecure and makes needless drama for her husband. A man maps the course of his self-destructive downfall and then feels sorry for himself, in part because he has alienated his son. Given the chance to join her daughter's celebration of her forthcoming marri... | 3 | Gloomy characters visit Amsterdam | 1,352,937,600 | 11 15, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608197719 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Ignorance tells the story of Jeanne Nérin and Marie-Angèle Baudry before, during, and after Germany's occupation of France during World War II. Marie-Angèle is the daughter of a devout Catholic, a middle class grocer in a small village. Jeanne is the daughter of a Jewish washerwoman who converted t... | 4 | Two intersecting lives in occupied France | 1,358,812,800 | 01 22, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608197727 | TChris | [
7,
7
] | When we take the time to look beneath the surface, people are not always what they appear to be. Sometimes those who seem cowardly are not cowards at all. Sometimes atonement is mistaken for guilt. In her unapologetically humane novel, Vanessa Gebbie reminds us of the patience and effort that is required to understa... | 5 | Outstanding | 1,330,387,200 | 02 28, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608198103 | TChris | [
6,
7
] | An astronaut returns from a mission to find that his wife has left him, emptying their house of all its contents -- all except a sofa that he hates. As is often true in a marriage, the characteristics that attracted Barb to Keith Corcoran are those that drove her to have an affair: his ambition and dedication, his driv... | 5 | An astronaut stranded on Earth | 1,340,496,000 | 06 24, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608198111 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | The alternating chapters of A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar tell two stories. One begins in 1923 and takes place largely in the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar. The other is set in present day London.Pretending to have a "calling" she does not actually feel, Eva English has joined two missionaries, her sister Lizzi... | 4 | Unwelcome in Kashgar and London | 1,337,817,600 | 05 24, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608199436 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | Constance Schuyler wants a better father than the one she has so, with predictable consequences, she marries Sidney Klein, an older, stuffy Englishman with a son from a previous marriage. Constance is "shackled to the conviction that her father had wrecked her life." As Sidney sees it, Constance has serious self-esteem... | 5 | A likable novel about unlikable characters (4.5 stars) | 1,364,860,800 | 04 2, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608199584 | TChris | [
4,
5
] | Little Known Facts is a character-driven novel, of interest primarily for its structure. The focus is on past and present members of a family, one of whom is a famous actor named Renn Ivins. He has a son named Will and a daughter named Anna. Their mother, Lucy, is a pediatrician and Renn's first ex-wife. His second ex-... | 4 | Perspectives | 1,360,886,400 | 02 15, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1608199924 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Around the world, reports are surfacing of children killing their relatives for no apparent reason. When a seven-year-old girl makes the news by shooting family members with a nail gun, Hesketh Lock views the story through the lens of an anthropologist, as "a parable of dysfunctional times." Perhaps that is the best wa... | 5 | A parable of dysfunctional times | 1,357,603,200 | 01 8, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1609380525 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Pulp and Paper is the 2011 winner of the University of Iowa's John Simmons Short Fiction Award for a first collection of short stories. I wasn't familiar with the award until I read this book, but I have to agree that many of these stories are award-worthy.Four stories are set in New Jersey: "Funnyboy" begins with an... | 5 | Gently written stories about quiet people | 1,322,611,200 | 11 30, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1609450922 | TChris | [
22,
25
] | Initially, two stories proceed on parallel paths in The Rage. The first focuses on Bob Tidey, a detective sergeant with the Dublin garda, as he investigates a murder. The other follows Vincent Naylor's robbery of a cash delivery service. By jumping frequently from one story to the other, Gene Kerrigan assures that some... | 4 | "Something had to be done" | 1,360,022,400 | 02 5, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1609451260 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | First published in 1995, Total Chaos is French literary noir. Three friends from the melting pot of Marseilles (whose parents spoke Italian or Spanish at home) bond in their youth over their outsider status and a shared love of poetry and old books. That, and their shared love of the beautiful Lole. The three friends o... | 3 | Existential French literary noir, complete with cognac and fennel | 1,367,971,200 | 05 8, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1609530403 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | The Coffins of Little Hope adds an interesting twist to the "missing child" story. Lenore has disappeared from Daisy's farm, apparently abducted by an aerial photographer who resembles (and thus comes to be known as) Elvis. But as the story gains worldwide attention (attracting reporters, psychics, and the merely curio... | 4 | Characters worth meeting | 1,304,640,000 | 05 6, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1609530705 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | The Bird Saviors defies categorization. It is in part a crime novel about "a low-life splinter group of fundamentalist types who see this as the end times," a point of view that provides a convenient justification for ripping off the government, big business, and other sinners. It is in part a love story, in part a fam... | 5 | A science fiction love story family drama end times crime novel | 1,339,286,400 | 06 10, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1609530799 | TChris | [
10,
10
] | Returning to his hometown in Florida to report a story despite his susceptibility to heatstroke, journalist Gavin Sasaki learns from his sister Eileen that a ten-year-old girl, Chloe Montgomery, may be his daughter. Chloe looks like a younger Eileen and has the last name of Gavin's former girlfriend. Gavin hasn't see... | 4 | A suspenseful story that ends too easily | 1,336,089,600 | 05 4, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1610880099 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | The Samaritan begins with an assassination. As in many similar thrillers, the reader is given a lovingly detailed description of the assassin's weapon and accessories, clothing, preparation, surroundings, breathing, patience, and discipline. It is too familiar to constitute a promising start.The assassination -- of a c... | 2 | Trite characters in an implausible plot | 1,308,873,600 | 06 24, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1610880811 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | The Listeners is a new addition to the ever-expanding clutter of post-apocalyptic novels. The set-up is common: a plague leads to the quarantine of a New York City borough; within that borough, plague sufferers are behaving strangely. They get boils, the boils erupt, and they become creepy killers. It's not exactly... | 4 | Another zombie apocalypse (more or less) | 1,355,011,200 | 12 9, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1611880327 | TChris | [
25,
30
] | Harry Levin and his father were at Dachau in 1942. Harry escaped; his father was executed. In 1971, Harry is a scrap metal dealer living in Detroit. His daughter is killed in Washington D.C. by a drunk driver who is released from custody because he has diplomatic immunity. When the State Department refuses to identify ... | 3 | Impossible to suspend disbelief | 1,326,153,600 | 01 10, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1611880637 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Back From the Dead is a sequel toVoices of the Dead. The sequel is a better book, but that's small praise given the first novel's mediocrity.Back From the Dead begins shortly after Voices of the Dead ends. Gerhard Braun wants to find Ernst Hess, although Braun has less interest in Hess than in artwork that Hess possess... | 3 | The second Harry Levin novel | 1,359,072,000 | 01 25, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1611941660 | TChris | [
14,
14
] | Stranded brings together three lengthy science fiction stories, two written for this volume, that share the titular theme: stories about being stranded. Each is preceded by a short introduction written by the story's author.Alyssa Magord, the victim of an alien plague, wakes up alone -- alone except for a hybrid comp... | 3 | Three flawed stories share a common theme | 1,346,025,600 | 08 27, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1612185290 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | While it is written with Max Allan Collins' usual flair, What Doesn't Kill Her is a fairly ordinary revenge novel. It begins with the rape of a teenage girl and the murder of her family members (including her gay brother) by a man who rants about punishing sin and reestablishing God's natural order. The killer leaves J... | 4 | A fairly ordinary revenge novel, written with Collins' usual flair | 1,383,782,400 | 11 7, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1612190421 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | As a theater major who took the role ofBlanche DuBoisa bit too seriously (becoming something of a depressed lush in order to better inhabit Blanche), Esther was destined for unemployment. Jobless despite her freshly tendered degree and lacking a fallback plan, Esther moves back home with her parents, where she hopes t... | 4 | Will Esther get her life together? | 1,324,425,600 | 12 21, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 1612190464 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Lars and W., two friends last seen wandering through life inSpurious, return in Dogma. The end is still near. Lars is still the butt of W's scathing criticism and the recipient of his opinions on subjects ranging from courtship to capitalism. Lars' flat is still damp. Lars and W. are still loyal to their idealistic vis... | 4 | The last friends of thought | 1,330,300,800 | 02 27, 2012 |
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