In a world where disaster seems to be a daily occurrence, where war is constant companion, the Indonesian tsunami of 2004 is a distant memory for most of us. But as the people of Mississippi and Louisiana know all too well, you don’t just recover from events like this in a few weeks or months.

Richard Lewis knows this as well because he lives in the area and volunteered in Aceh after the tsunami. Lewis was born and raised in Bali, Indonesia as the son of American missionaries. His first book, The Flame Tree, was also set in Indonesia and is “a remarkable look at religious conflict and personal relations in a post 9/11 world.”

In his latest book, The Killing Sea, Richard Lewis reminds us of the devastation that struck the region that day two years ago and the horror that transpired in its wake. But he doesn’t leave it there, he also reminds us of the courage and the generosity that flowed into the region as the water receded. Lewis manages to give us both a gut wrenching reminder of the pain and suffering as well as a poignant story of friendship and loyalty.

The Killing Sea focuses on two teenagers caught up in the tragedy: Ruslan, an Indonesian boy searching for his missing father, and Sarah, an American - at least according to the book flap - girl whose family vacation ends up being in the path of the devastation. In trying to get medical treatment for her sick brother, Sarah meets up with Ruslan and they decide to travel together. The story follows them from the day of the tsunami up to the point where rescue workers arrive and the media descends in mass on the area.

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Always interested in books about the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, I decided to read 11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944 by Stanley Weintraub. It is an interesting and brief look at the battle from both sides - more from the American than the German.

As the title infers, the book does not cover the entire Bulge campaign, but begins with the offensive on December 16 and ends with the relief of Bastogne on December 26. The book is not a true narrative, but a collection of stories about combat on the frontlines and the chaotic scenes behind the frontlines.

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Competent. Interesting word. A sort of back-handed compliment. Solid. Serves its purpose. Gets the job done, but lacks the wow factor. No shame in being competent these days, but it isn’t exactly the type of praise we are looking for now is it?

What’s behind all this musing? No, it isn’t my own writing, which I am not sure quite even gets to competent - derivative is probably a better term, but rather my recent reading of The Perfect Assassin by Ward Larsen. Publishers Weekly has this to say about this recently released spy thriller from Oceanview publishing:

Larsen’s competent debut has many of the right ingredients for a successful spy thriller: plenty of action, technical detail that would do Tom Clancy proud, and a hero with almost superhuman skills . . . What’s missing is that no character, except for Palmer, has an inner life.

As a person who can’t really comprehend creating all the things that must go into writing a novel of any kind (plot, setting, dialog, characters, etc.) much less a competent one, I have a hard time sniffing at competence. But in the end I think PW is right. Larsen has assembled an interesting set of ingredients, but the book never quite manages to get beyond its genre limitations.

As long as I am stealing PW material, allow me to use their plot description:

When Christine Palmer, an American doctor sailing solo across the Atlantic, retrieves the almost lifeless body of David Slaton in the middle of the ocean, Slaton commandeers her small boat and demands she deliver him to England. A member of Kidon (Mossad’s special assassination team), Slaton is the sole survivor of a ship that sank with a super-secret cargo-a pair of unaccounted for nuclear weapons. Double agents within Mossad want to kill Slaton before he uncovers their convoluted plot to use the weapons to undermine Israel’s international support. Needless to say, they’re soon after Palmer as well.

The book’s beginning is one of its strengths. The plot gets off to an interesting start as Larsen keeps the reader focused on the mystery of the stranger plucked from the ocean and the events behind his near death. Larsen meticulously plots out the details of Slaton’s spy craft and survival tactics. There is a nice blend of action, backstory, and intrigue.

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I have been fascinated by Cannongate’s Myth series from the start. I have been trying to read each new book in the series as they come along (see previous reviews here: A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong; The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood; and Weight by Jeanette Winterson). A number of additional works in the series have been published and I thought it time to catch up.

As a part of this effort I recently finished David Grossman’s take on Samson entitled Lion’s Honey. The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur by Victor Pelevin and Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams by Alexander McCall Smith remain in the TBR pile.

Lion’s Honey is somewhat unique in that it isn’t really a fictional retelling or re-imagining of a famous myth so much as a psychological and literary discussion of the story and characters. This involves Grossman’s unique viewpoint on Samson, which certainly counts as a re-imagining, but it doesn’t involve straightforward storytelling. Instead, Grossman provides a sort of read along commentary and analysis. Here is how the Complete Review describes it:

Grossman both re-tells the Samson-myth and interprets it, lingering over a variety of detail in trying to understand what might have motivated Samson (and the other actors) in these various scenarios. He has a nice touch — midway between teacher and raconteur (with a touch of the Talmudic scholar as well) — and manages to convey both Samson’s entire life-story as well as offering a specific interpretation.

Grossman’s take involves both a non-traditional take on Samson and a political commentary on the state of Israel. Many reviewers touch on the former but emphasize the later. I found neither quite as useful as many. It is perhaps my innate skepticism toward psychology, particularly any sort of Freudian analysis, and my conservative political perspective that prevented my appreciation of Grossman’s insights, but the approach left me underwhelmed. More below.

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The whole issue of book bloggers and publicity continues to be discussed around literary the blogosphere and I thought I would take a break from the football (and the pain) and talk books again. Debra Hamel returns to the Kimbofo imbroglio and raises the controversy surrounding The Thirteenth Tale over at MetaxuCafe. Debra asks a honest question:

Read the above carefully. Here’s what’s being asked of bloggers who want to take part in this contest.

1. Mention the sweepstakes in your blog with a link to the contest.
2. Have your readers write in the name of your blog when they enter the contest.

That’s it. Nowhere does it ask that bloggers review the book, or say anything favorable about it. It’s promoting a contest related to the book. It’s asking for links to the contest and providing incentive for those links. Can someone please explain to me what’s so disgusting about this?

I have to say I too fail to see the issue here. Booknija called it a “Skeevy promotion.” Here is the comment I left there:

Perhaps it is different for folks that write reviews professionally or hope to, but I don’t see any ethical issues here. As a blogger people read my reviews, I assume, because they either enjoy them or find them useful. I also assume if I started flaking for certain publishers or writers when I have a clear financial gain they would take my opinion less seriously. I post my honest opinion on the books I review whether the publisher sends them to me; I buy it, or check it out of the library. If readers like that, they click over. If they don’t, they don’t.

In this case, I simply made note of a web page and a connected contest. If people want to try and win a free book they can. I noted that I stood to gain in certain circumstances and my cynicism about my chances. If I happen to win will I have some sort of debt to S&S/Atria? No. I got lucky and won a contest. I fail to see how that changes how I operate my blog.

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In between bouts of panic regarding the biggest football game of my life on Saturday, I have been traveling for work and as a result have been away from the computer for most of the last few days. In trying to catch up with some of my reading, I came across (via Ed) this Reading Matters post from Monday on book bloggers and free books. With all due respect to Kim, I have to agree with Ed that this is all a bit silly.

If you could care less about book bloggers, free books, and credibility feel free to skip this post. If this inside baseball stuff interests you, click below.

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I just finished a book chronicling the battle that occurred at Rorke’s Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War in the late 1870s. The book, Like Wolves on the Fold: The Defence of Rorke’s Drift, is written by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Snook. I did not realize until I started reading the book that there was a prequel of sorts about the British defeat at Isandlwana called How Can Man Die Better (I hope to do a review of that book in the near future) – the author advises that you should read the Isandlwana book before the second because of context issues. The second book not only discusses the Rorke’s Drift battle, but also delves into the results of the entire British campaign against the Zulu and who is to blame for the catastrophe at Isandlwana.

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As I noted below, Firmin by Sam Savage came to my attention via its designation as the Lit Blog Co-op’s Autumn Read This! selection. The book was different enough and short enough that I decided to join in. So on a recent trip to DC I packed the book for my plane and metro reading. As a small paperback that’s easy to digest and read whenever you have a spare moment, it was perfect. Interestingly enough, Ed recommended the book after reading it on his way back from DC from BEA.

To get a feel for what the book is about here is the Publishers Weekly summary:

Savage’s sentimental debut concerns the coming-of-age of a well-read rat in 1960s Boston. In the basement of Pembroke Books, a bookstore on Scollay Square, Firmin is the runt of the litter born to Mama Flo, who makes confetti of Moby-Dick and Don Quixote for her offspring’s cradle. Soon left to fend for himself, Firmin finds that books are his only friends, and he becomes a hopeless romantic, devouring Great Books—sometimes literally. Aware from his frightful reflection that he is no Fred Astaire (his hero), he watches nebbishy bookstore owner Norman Shine from afar and imagines his love is returned until Norman tries to poison him. Thereafter he becomes the pet of a solitary sci-fi writer, Jerry Magoon, a smart slob and drinker who teaches Firmin about jazz, moviegoing and the writer’s life. Alas, their world is threatened by extinction with the renovation of Scollay Square, which forces the closing of the bookstore and Firmin’s beloved Rialto Theater.

So what to make of a story about a rat who can read books? A number of people have, I think accurately, described it as a “comic gem.” Savage brings a sentimental and yet wry sense of humor as he - as PW puts it - “embodies writerly self-doubts and yearning in a precocious rat.” One accomplishment of the work is how Savage uses a lowly rat to allow us to see the world of Scollay Square and 1960’s Boston. He makes us feel the attachments and sentiments that accrue in even the most down-and-out neighborhood and reminds us of the damage inflicted by “urban renewal.”

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Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris is an entertaining look at the rise to power of one of Rome’s greatest orators – Marcus Cicero. The book is written from the perspective of his household slave Tiro, a personal secretary for 36 years.

Here is a brief summary of the book from Publisher’s Weekly:

…[T]his fictional biography follows the statesman and orator from his early career as an outsider - a “new man” from the provinces - to his election to the consulship, Rome’s highest office, in 64 B.C. Loathed by the aristocrats, Cicero lived by his wits in a tireless quest for imperium - the ultimate power of life and death - and achieves “his life’s ambition” after uncovering a plot by Marcus Crassus and Julius Caesar to rig the elections and seize control of the government. Harris’s description of Rome’s labyrinthine, and sometimes deadly, political scene is fascinating and instructive. The action is relentless, and readers will be disappointed when Harris leaves Cicero at the moment of his greatest triumph. Given Cicero’s stormy consulship, his continuing opposition to Julius Caesar and his own assassination, readers can only hope a sequel is in the works.

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I am running a bit behind on my book reviews once again. I will admit that I am having a hard time concentrating on books when college football Armageddon approaches. I plan to finally post my review/discussion of Firmin this week, however, as well as another volume in Cannongate Myth series David Grossman’s Lion’s Honey. In the meantime, allow me to offer another edition of In the Mail that features some interesting books ranging from spy thrillers to history and jazz.

- The Perfect Assassin by Ward Larsen

Publishers Weekly

Larsen’s competent debut has many of the right ingredients for a successful spy thriller: plenty of action, technical detail that would do Tom Clancy proud, and a hero with almost superhuman skills. When Christine Palmer, an American doctor sailing solo across the Atlantic, retrieves the almost lifeless body of David Slaton in the middle of the ocean, Slaton commandeers her small boat and demands she deliver him to England. A member of Kidon (Mossad’s special assassination team), Slaton is the sole survivor of a ship that sank with a super-secret cargo-a pair of unaccounted for nuclear weapons. Double agents within Mossad want to kill Slaton before he uncovers their convoluted plot to use the weapons to undermine Israel’s international support. Needless to say, they’re soon after Palmer as well. What’s missing is that no character, except for Palmer, has an inner life.

- The Few by Alex Kershaw

Publishers Weekly

With his customary narrative drive, Kershaw (The Bedford Boys: One American Town’s Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice) spotlights the handful of American pilots who joined the Royal Air Force and its fighter squadrons during the Battle of Britain. They have been overshadowed by or confused with the better-known Eagle Squadrons, which formed in the autumn of 1940 with the tacit consent of the U.S. government. Kershaw’s “few” were a vanguard, enlisting individually to operate the British Spitfire planes as early as May 1940, when England stood alone and her odds of survival seemed long. Crusaders and adventurers, the pilots ignored U.S. neutrality acts to fight from a mixture of principled opposition to Nazism, vaguely defined Anglophilia and sheer love of air combat at a time when it still seemed glamorous. Scattered by ones and twos among different squadrons, each had his own story, which Kershaw admirably contextualizes within the climate of the Battle of Britain. Using personal vignettes to convey the extraordinary routines of life in the cockpits, in the squadrons and in England, Kershaw evokes the heroism of these pilots, only one of whom survived the war whose tide they helped turn.

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