Graysmith wrote what is considered the definitive book on the Zodiac back in the 80’s. It was so well researched and well done that when someone in a police department retired and another officer inherited the Zodiac case, that book was required reading. This is not that book. Due to libel, Graysmith wasn’t able to publish the circumstantial evidence that made Arthur Leigh Allen the best bet for the Zodiac. So once Allen kicked it (yeah, I know I shouldn’t be so flippant, but Allen […]
Met you on a midway at a fair last century.
I, somehow, didn’t know anything about the Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair. I don’t know how that happened, because the World’s Fair was a turning point in American culture–and it sounds like it was awesome. The 1893 World’s Fair introduced us to Ferris Wheels, AC current, the Pledge of Allegiance, Shredded Wheat, Pabst Blue Ribbon, zippers, Juicy Fruit, the word “Midway,” Columbus Day, and that snake charmer song that is still a national earworm. It hosted Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and, […]
The twist is that the vampire is NOT the merciless serial killer
2.5 stars Ah, the joys of reviewing something you read in about an hour about two weeks ago and that didn’t make that much of an impact. I’m sorry, but I have to once again resort to the lazy/forgetful reviewer’s trick of using the Goodreads summary: One’s a natural-born killer – a remorseless hunter gleefully prowling the night for victims to quench an unnatural blood lust. The other’s a vampire. His centuries of existence have left him world weary and detached, until one day his […]
Shine on you crazy diamond
There are three reasons I pushed through The Shining Girls to the end. First, I hate giving up on entertainments half way through. This is also why I stuck with American Horror Story: Freak Show despite it being a fetid pile of rancid bung beetles. Second, I09 was so effusive in their praise I felt like I wasn’t giving it a proper chance. Third, because Wikipedia does not have a complete synopsis. If I’m being honest Reason Third is the most important reason I stuck […]
Hot New Harlan Coben Paints Dating Services Extra Creepy
I’ve been stuck on Harlan Coben since his Myron Bolitar days, but I have to say that even though I miss the funny give-and-take dialogue his novels keep getting better, more along the lines of his marvelous Tell No One. Coben likes dealing in flawed characters and in delving into the emotion of loss, which colors most of his novels of late. This was the driving force of Missing You, in which there are not one, but two missing people with whose memories NYPD Detective […]
Debut Harry Hole book is not bad, but contributes little to the Hole story at this late date
This is apparently the debut novel of Nesbo’s Harry Hole series, released in English only recently and after a whole raft of later Harry Hole mysteries were already long in the public domain in their English translation. While it is gratifying to learn that (1) Hole was once capable of a romantic relationship and (2) that Hole was once capable of having a whole conversation with someone, this novel doesn’t reveal a whole lot more about this morose if brilliant drunk of a detective except […]
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