Jul 13 2010

In the Mail: Savages

Savages by Don Winslow

Publishers Weekly

Spare, clipped expository prose and hip, spot-on dialogue propel this visceral crime novel from Winslow (The Dawn Patrol). The future is looking good for Laguna Beach, Calif., marijuana growers Ben and Chon, until they receive an ominous e-mail from the Baja Cartel. Attached is a photograph showing the decapitated bodies of other independent drug dealers. The message is clear: sell your product through us or else. Ben and Chon try to resist, but matters escalate after cartel thugs abduct Ophelia, the guys’ beautiful young playmate and accomplice, and hold her for a cool million ransom. Meanwhile, Elena “La Reina” Sanchez Lauter, the leader of the Baja Cartel, must deal with rival drug gangs and potential overthrow from within. Ben and Chon propose a trade that Elena can’t refuse, setting the stage for the violent and utterly satisfying ending. Winslow’s encyclopedic knowledge of the border drug trade lends authenticity.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Jul 12 2010

What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire

As regular readers of this blog know (all three of you) I enjoy creative young adult fiction – particularly with a speculative perspective or dealing with myths or legends.  So when I saw What-theDickens on the discount table at Half-Price Books I added it to the shopping cart (my kids like to ride in them – or climb in an out of them anyways).

Here is the publisher’s blurb:

A terrible storm is raging, and ten-year-old Dinah is huddled by candlelight with her brother, sister, and cousin Gage, who is telling a very unusual tale. It’s the story of What-the-Dickens, a newly hatched orphan creature who finds he has an attraction to teeth, a crush on a cat named McCavity, and a penchant for getting into trouble. One day he happens upon a feisty girl skibberee who is working as an Agent of Change — trading coins for teeth — and learns that there is a dutiful tribe of skibbereen (call them tooth fairies) to which he hopes to belong. As his tale of discovery unfolds, however, both What-the- Dickens and Dinah come to see that the world is both richer and less sure than they ever imagined.

As noted above, the book contains a story within a story. The reader “hears” the story from Gage as he tells it to his cousins. The backdrop to this is the storm which has cut them off from their parents and civilization at large.  The stories eventually come together in the person of Gage.

The story that focuses on What-the-Dickens is clever and imaginative; an entertaining take on tooth fairies.  The other story leaves a lot to the reader’s imagination and, while it seems to want to say something about loneliness, loss and the power of stories, it didn’t quite mesh with the central story of the Skibberee – at least for me.

Keep Reading

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Jul 12 2010

In the Mail: Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun: The Book of Shadows by Nick Drake

Publishers Weekly

At the start of Drake’s superlative middle book in his ancient Egypt trilogy (after Nefertiti), Rahotep, the chief detective in the Thebes police force, visits a horrific crime scene. Someone has mutilated a young man and removed his eyes—and possibly pacified him with narcotics during the assault. When the killer strikes again, Rahotep wonders if the murders may be connected with efforts to destabilize the regime of the young Tutankhamun. The ruler’s foes include Ay, the regent who effectively runs the country, and Horemheb, commander of the country’s armies. Rahotep must tread carefully to identify the parties behind both the killings and the threats to Tutankhamun without jeopardizing his life and the lives of his family members. Drake seamlessly introduces a serial killer plot line into his vivid evocation of the past. Admirers of such great historical novelists as Robert Graves and Mary Renault will hope that he continues working in the field after concluding this series.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

1 2 3