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Ian McDonald's last several masterpieces (RIVER OF GODS and BRASYL) set an incredibly high bar for any author with aspirations of becoming better with every book that he writes. But though both of those novels were works of genius, they weren't books I could convince my friends who aren't well-versed in science fiction to read. They're dense, demand a lot of faith in the story and the author, and require some hardcore intellectual gymnastics for readers to internalize the masterful cultural prognostications that McDonald makes with his future India and time-muddled Brazil. But McDonald's somehow managed to outdo himself with THE DERVISH HOUSE. It's still got the future travelogue aspects, the wonderful futurism and the dense understanding of a culture that is definitely not Western, but it also manages to be wonderfully accessible without sacrificing any of the aspects of McDonald's writing that makes it so enthralling. The setting this time is Turkey, and the characters are the people living and working in the vicinity of the titular dervish house. Of course, they are eclectic: There's a boy whose medical condition isolates him from the sounds of the world and lives vicariously as an intrepid detective; a young college graduate trying to make her way out of the grasp of her family and into the business world; a disgraced scholar who whiles away his time reminiscing on regrets; an antiquities dealer who takes on an impossible quest; her husband,with a daring plan to become a master of the financial universe; a street preacher who aims to change the world one small problem at a time; and his brother, who kicks everything off by happening to be present at ground zero of a suspiciously non-lethal suicide bombing and subsequently sees a world filled with djinns, angels, elementals and saints. These protagonists' lives intersect and intertwine, and the amazing twists and turns of their respective capers bring out the tiny details of the country in which they live. The Turkey that McDonald creates is evoked masterfully by Stephan Martieniere's cover art — oversaturated colors and the thrum of power, information and the lived-in humanity of the world. Like RIVER OF GODS and BRASYL, McDonald's use of setting as an essential character works its magic throughout the plot, portraying a nation caught both geographically and culturally between the West, the East and the Middle East. Everyone's got fancy smartphones, but they also go to street judges for the remediation of everyday disputes, deal with hellish commutes to work in cars that share roads with much less-evolved forms of transportation, work on revolutionary nanotech in dusty bazaars, and chase half-forgotten legendary relics across a city that's known many regimes and was once the seat of an empire. THE DERVISH HOUSE is one of those books for which there needn't be a blurb on the inside jacket inadequately describing the plot in a couple of paragraphs. Read it on trust — McDonald knows what he's doing. Anyone who gives THE DERVISH HOUSE half a chance will take up residence in a mindspace that compares only with those created in his other works. There had better be more where this came from. —Ryun Patterson Buy it at Amazon. OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:BRASYL by Ian McDonald • CYBERABAD DAYS by Ian McDonald • RIVER OF GODS by Ian McDonald

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bullets broads blackmail and bombs Pfizer soft cialis, This week, we've got a group of guys you don't want to screw with, featuring two long-running series we've been covered before. The third book is the start of another one, so we'll see how that goes — keep your fingers crossed. Let's start it off with a later appearance from that fun-in-the-sun beach bum named Travis McGee, pfizer soft cialis.

THE GREEN RIPPER by John D. Pfizer soft cialis, MacDonald — Seventeen books into the series and MacDonald throws this reader for a loop with the 18th. This 1979 entry was my fastest read of a Travis McGee novel ever. For some odd reason, I just flew through it, pfizer soft cialis. Also, it's more in the vein of a James Bond story. Pfizer soft cialis, Her name was Gretel, and she was the one who finally conquered McGee. But in his world, nothing ever goes smoothly, especially when what he thought was his true love winds up dead from some mysterious disease. This sets McGee into action — this time not at some tilted windmill, but a dragon, pfizer soft cialis. No one can stop him from charging in — not even two mysterious agents who seem to know more than they are telling. Pfizer soft cialis, McGee goes across the country to a quasi-church of nefarious means. To go further into the church's activities would be a major spoiler, but it's actually pretty timely. McGee plays the part of a fisherman looking for his runaway daughter, but what he discovers sends a chill down the reader's spine.

This book is loaded with action. You also get a sense that McGee is slowly coming to terms with his life, since early on in the story, he reflects on people he has lost who he helped. All the more shocking is how brutal this story gets for him. I mean, as much as he comes off like 007, he has a streak in him that makes Matt Helm look like a pussycat. Sure, it moves away from that carefree beach bum of early outings, but in no way should this book be passed over as later-period MacDonald. Its truly McGee throughout — just with a new purpose of not to be crossed.

THE INFILTRATORS by Donald Hamilton — For those keeping track, this 1984 book is 21 in the Matt Helm series, and is one of the later and thicker novels. Sometimes, they feel as though they were padded to hit a certain page count. Even though this one is double the size of earlier adventures, it reads like an earlier episode.

This time, Matt is entrusted to pick up a former prisoner and take her wherever she would like to go and make sure no one takes a shot or two at her — which, for Hamilton, happens pretty quick in this one. See, Madeline Ellershaw and her husband were both accused of being spies, with a wealth of evidence pointing to the fact. But Madeline's husband went missing nine years ago and she was left holding the bag, so to speak. This actually turns out to be a much larger conspiracy that involves another government agency and the overthrow of the U.S. government.

The "who"s and "why"s are best left for readers to discover, but once a certain name pops up, most will know that what's up. We actually see Madeline change from the out-of-shape mess who just got out of prison into a lean, mean, fighting machine, all thanks to Helm and his insistence of her spending time at his agency's ranch.

New readers might want to read DEATH OF A CITIZEN before tackling this one, since a page and half gives away major plot points of that previous novel. Hamilton seems to have really come back to the Helm character in this one, especially with how he changes Madeline into someone that she would never believed in her previous life. I'll just say that her character has a terrific payoff, even though Matt is none too pleased with how things end. Sometimes, the hero doesn't get the girl. Especially when they become such a great shot.

RAVEN SETTLES A SCORE by Donald Mackenzie — I've got a better title for this 1978 book: RAVEN SURE IS A BORE. This is not the way to start out a detective series. It took less time to read this book than listen to the first Velvet Underground album. (I'm not joking; I finished reading as "European Son" was just starting.)

The cover promises a playboy ex-cop, but the story is a sleepwalk through a kidnap case. There is little I can fully remember from reading it, and I literally just finished it a few minutes ago. The case has something to do with a Korean drug cartel that kidnaps an American girl named Arabella. Our hero, John Raven, is called upon by someone I can't even remember — or want to, at this point — to bring her back.

The novel moves at a fast clip but nothing really happens to keep a reader going. Yes, there is some forgettable gunplay, but to be honest, reading instructions to make iced tea is more engaging. From what I can tell, there are plenty of other books in this series. Now, it must sound like I'm being mean-spirited to some old, forgotten franchise, but I really have a near-zero recollection of what happened in it, or if anything happened. If the other books are anything like this one, I'll skip them. —Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF DONALD HAMILTON:
THE AMBUSHERS by Donald Hamilton
THE ANNIHILATORS by Donald Hamilton
THE BETRAYERS by Donald Hamilton
THE DEVASTATORS by Donald Hamilton
THE INTERLOPERS by Donald Hamilton
THE INTIMIDATORS by Donald Hamilton
IRON MEN AND SILVER STARS edited by Donald Hamilton
LINE OF FIRE by Donald Hamilton
THE MENACERS by Donald Hamilton
THE MONA INTERCEPT by Donald Hamilton
MURDERERS' ROW by Donald Hamilton
NIGHT WALKER by Donald Hamilton
ON GUNS AND HUNTING by Donald Hamilton
THE POISONERS by Donald Hamilton
THE RAVAGERS by Donald Hamilton
THE RETALIATORS by Donald Hamilton
THE REVENGERS by Donald Hamilton
THE SHADOWERS by Donald Hamilton
THE TERMINATORS by Donald Hamilton
THE TERRORIZERS by Donald Hamilton
TEXAS FEVER by Donald Hamilton
THE VANISHERS by Donald Hamilton

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF JOHN D. MACDONALD:
DARKER THAN AMBER by John D. MacDonald
A DEADLY SHADE OF GOLD by John D. MacDonald
THE DEEP BLUE GOOD-BY by John D. MacDonald
THE GIRL, THE GOLD WATCH & EVERYTHING by John D. MacDonald
NIGHTMARE IN PINK by John D. MacDonald
A PURPLE PLACE FOR DYING by John D. MacDonald
THE QUICK RED FOX by John D. MacDonald
THE SCARLET RUSE by John D. MacDonald
SOFT TOUCH by John D. MacDonald
A TAN AND SANDY SILENCE by John D. MacDonald
WHERE IS JANICE GANTRY? by John D. MacDonald.

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Viagra Deaths

by Alan Cranis on March 26, 2010 · 3 comments

One of the many pleasures of last year's PATIENT ZERO Viagra deaths, , Jonathan Maberry’s outstanding novel that introduced the character of Joe Ledger, was how the author took an outrageous premise and made it completely credible. In THE DRAGON FACTORY, his follow-up, Maberry amps up the outrageousness factor by several degrees. But again, thanks to his energetic prose and narrative drive, he has us believing it, viagra deaths.

Ledger has been approached by ominous government security goons before, but this time, he senses that something is seriously wrong. Viagra deaths, Rather than comply with their demand to come with them, he distracts them with a few well-placed punches and flees. While on the run, Ledger learns that the U.S. executive branch, currently run by the vice president while the president recovers from surgery, is out to dismantle the Department of Military Science, the fiercely patriotic, but under-the-radar agency for which Ledger works, viagra deaths.

The DMS chief thinks the key to the dismantling might be connected to a team of agents who were dispatched to explore the contents of an underground fortress in Colorado, and then suddenly disappeared. Viagra deaths, Ledger and a skeletal crew of armed agents are assigned to find out what happened.

Meanwhile, all across the world, doctors and representatives of various health agencies are alarmed at the sudden frequency of diseases that were either previously eliminated or rarely seen, thanks to modern vaccines. What's especially troubling is that these diseases, once restricted to genetics, have now become communicable, like the common cold, and the victims are predominantly minorities, viagra deaths.
 
While all this is going on, we also are introduced to Cyrus Jakoby, a bona fide mad scientist who is genetically reviving long-extinct species, while secretly working on a plan to purify and improve human beings. Viagra deaths, His albino-twin son and daughter are also geneticists, but their work is devoted to creating an army of nearly indestructible mercenary soldiers. 
 
Needless to say, neither Jakoby nor his offspring is devoted to the betterment of humankind. In fact, as Ledger and the DMS discover, Jakoby is responsible for the diseases that are wiping out minority populations around the world. His experiments are intended to continue the "master race" plan perpetrated by Nazi Joseph Mengele. And any resistance to the final detonation of Jakoby’s Extinction Clock — Ledger and his crew, in other words — will be met with the monstrous mercenaries created by the twins.

Maberry juggles what seems like half a dozen separate and disconnected storylines at once, while presenting the overall circumstances of the novel. It’s a little disorienting at first, but there is more than enough curiosity planted along the way to keep us reading — especially in the first-person sections with Ledger himself — while waiting for everything to fall together.
 
And, of course, it does. Along the way, however, Maberry’s villains and their quirks dance dangerously close to caricatures (due, perhaps, to the author's proflic work on various current Marvel Comics titles). Just when such moments approach overload, Maberry shifts gears to the suspenseful and often explosive action of Ledger and his crew as they battle the mercenary monsters and edge closer to Jakoby and his Extinction Clock.

Maberry, who previously cut his teeth with some high-octane horror novels, is quickly becoming a master at politically-tinged, horror-enhanced, pulp thrillers. Like its predecessor, THE DRAGON FACTORY is gripping and engrossing fun. Believe it. —Alan Cranis

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
PATIENT ZERO by Jonathan Maberry

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Herbal Tadalafil

by Bruce Grossman on March 3, 2010 · 3 comments

bullets broads blackmail and bombs Herbal tadalafil, Search this site and you'll find we are big fans of F. Paul Wilson, for his short stories, standalone novels and his-soon-to-be-finishing Repairman Jack series. But there is a set of books on my shelf which I've been staring at for close to three years, herbal tadalafil. I'm referring to "The Adversary Cycle," which starts off with THE KEEP and then the first Repairman Jack book THE TOMB. Herbal tadalafil, The early titles are slowly being revised and reissued, mainly to update the stories with the current times, but in this column, I'll be reviewing the older editions. Be forewarned: Spoilers abound.

THE TOUCH by F, herbal tadalafil. Paul Wilson — The revisions to this novel deal with technology and a few musical references, since iPods and Emminen were not relevant in 1986, when this book first came out. Herbal tadalafil, The story deals with Dr. Alan Bulmer, a family physician whose life changes drastically when he is touched by a dying patient in the ER who can cure people by just a touch.

Walt has now passed along that power to Bulmer; as great as that power can be, it's also a huge downfall, especially when he starts curing patients from lifelong ailments, herbal tadalafil. Word spreads about him, and he is looked upon by his fellow doctors as some sort of charlatan. Herbal tadalafil, Sylvia, a widower with an adopted autistic child named Jeffy, is friends with Bulmer, but isn't sure if she should let him cure her son, especially after it's discovered that for everyone he helps, a little bit of Bulmer dies inside. Meanwhile, a senator follows the doc's strange goings-on, seeing Bulmer as his ticket for a cure. This pretty makes the senator the big baddie of the book.

Like other Wilson books, the story all ties into a larger picture, with characters coming in and out of these novels. But this one can stand alone, since the only person with any connection to the other books was only written about in two recent novels. But that does not mean that characters from THE TOUCH don't appear on down the line.

The revised edition has a short story at the end called "Dat-Tay-Vao," which is the tale of how this mysterious power winded up in the United States, by way of a soldier in Vietnam named Walt.

REBORN by F. Paul Wilson — This 1990 novel is a direct sequel to THE KEEP, in the sense certain things come to fruition. The first half focuses on a young man named Jim Stevens, who makes a discovery he wishes he never found out. At the halfway mark in the book, the huge secret is explained.

Before that, JIm is a happy-go-lucky fellow married to Carol. Not everything is as perfect as it seems, for Jim is an orphan who has always tried to find out who his real parents are. That question gets answered when he is called upon for a will reading of a leading scientist who died in a plane crash and left Jim the bulk of his estate. It becomes apparent that this scientist was Jim's biological father ... but then he comes across some old journals which spell out JIm's secret. For those who don't want the book spoiled, I suggest you skip to the next paragraph: Jim is not really the scientist's son, but an exact clone.

What makes matters worse is the secret is made public by a reporter, throwing the rest of the book into a tailspin, since certain people who believe they are chosen to fight the anti-Christ see Jim and his family as the enemy. This one builds on the foundation of THE KEEP, but REBORN can be read as a standalone, even if new readers will miss some of the nuances that tie the two together.

REPRISAL by F. Paul Wilson — For those chomping at the bit to read about these books and not have anything spoiled, come back next week, since I'm about to spoil most of REBORN. This 1992 sequel has two storylines, one about a college student named Rafe, who seems wise beyond his years and just a bit of a bad boy. A concurrent storyline deals with a priest we met in REBORN, who has forsaken his previous life because of horrific events involving his time at working at the orphanage.

These strands tie into what could have been stopped in REBORN: namely, the birth of a baby to Carol, whose husband, Jim, died long before. We follow the life of Rafe and a woman he becomes attached to, while we given small little chapters about Carol and the son she named Jimmy. It becomes apparent Jimmy is unlike any other kid; as a baby, he is able to speak complete sentences and has total disdain for his mother.

I think you can tell where this is all headed. Anyone who has read the Repairman Jack series and THE KEEP will figure out the quasi-surprise. The story never comes right out and says what is really going on until the final 30 pages, when all the pieces are put together and the lines are pretty much drawn to lead into the final conflict in the next book. Wilson does a great job keeping all these balls in the air that he started juggling back with the first installment. He peppers the book with a super-brief cameo from THE TOUCH. Its one of those blink-and-miss-it things, but it gives crucial info.

NIGHTWORLD by F. Paul Wilson — This 1993 effort is what the whole series has been building toward: the final showdown between Rasalom and Glaeken, whom we met so long ago in THE KEEP.

Everybody has a chance to shine, with Repairman Jack being central to it all. With his series, we know what kind of problems he has faced, but they don't even come close to what happens here, when giant holes start appearing all over the globe, and somehow, the sun is taking longer to rise while the days get shorter.

But back to those holes: Wilson shows off his influences big-time, with all sorts of creepy crawlies coming out at night. At first, it's flying bugs, which would scare the crap out of anyone, but as the book progresses, the monsters get much bigger and scarier, such as the giant tentacled creatures — a nod to H.P. Lovecraft.

If people go into this thinking it's all Repairman Jack, he is only part of the story — a crucial part, sure, but he's still a supporting character. What's a shame is that people in Jack's world are pretty much shoved off to safety real quick, which is understandable, since he has always been one to put the two women in his life first. Certain payoffs may upset a few readers. I won't go any further on why, but the whole horror aspect is upped.

I'm guessing one scene in particular is probably going to be written out in the revised version, since Wilson used it already in BY THE SWORD. Ditto every cultural reference, since Wilson brings up radio stations that no longer exist and stadiums that are completely gone. And Jack is very much a tourist from the early '90s, unless people are still wearing acid-washed jeans and Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts.

On the whole, if you put all those things aside, the novel is a perfect ending to this cycle. Just don't get ripped off by some overzealous bookseller; you can still find most of these in used bookstores. —Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
AFTERSHOCK & OTHERS: 19 ODDITIES by F. Paul Wilson
ALL THE RAGE by F. Paul Wilson
BLOODLINE by F. Paul Wilson
CONSPIRACIES by F. Paul Wilson
F. PAUL WILSON'S THE KEEP by F. Paul Wilson and Matthew Smith
GROUND ZERO by F. Paul Wilson
HOSTS by F. Paul Wilson
JACK: SECRET CIRCLES by F. Paul Wilson
JACK: SECRET HISTORIES by F. Paul Wilson
LEGACIES by F. Paul Wilson.

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Sildenafil Citrate Fast

by Bruce Grossman on February 17, 2010 · 1 comment

JACK: SECRET CIRCLES Sildenafil citrate fast, , the second book in the young Repairmen Jack trilogy, picks up a month after the events of SECRET HISTORIES. And F. Paul Wilson goes full-tilt from page one, sildenafil citrate fast. This time, Jack and his friends still go through the Pine Barrens, even though they should know better, since in the previous novel, they found a dead body that suggested a ritual-type killing and a strange box with a mysterious pyramid inside. Sildenafil citrate fast, Here, they discover a much larger problem in the middle of the barrens: a full-size pyramid that's a larger version of the one they found in the box. But that is only one thread going through this plot. The major one concerns a missing boy named Cody, whose bike has been found at the outset of the barrens, while he has disappeared without a trace, sildenafil citrate fast.

How this ties into Jack's new discovery helps lay the groundwork for what Jack will come up against later in his life. Sildenafil citrate fast, So we get Jack and his friend Weeze coming up against the strange lodge to which members of the town belong, while Jack tries to fix a problem dealing with family abuse.

Unlike the first book, the story takes place while Jack has entered high school, and his brother and sister are away at law school and med school, so CIRCLES doesn't focus on his own family life as much. It does tie up a few loose strands, however; we again encounter the old woman and her dog that are central to the larger series, while also witnessing the powers of the Otherness via a Vietnam vet nicknamed "Weird Walt."

People who have read the Repairman Jack series probably will figure out what Jack is most likely going to face in the final book, whereas the teenage set these books are aimed at will patiently wait the final tale before jumping into the main series, sildenafil citrate fast. I really need to stress that this series has to be read in order, because if you don't, you truly will be lost. Sildenafil citrate fast, Wilson never talks down his young audience. He captures life as an odd teen perfectly, especially as we see Jack getting closer to what is probably going to be his first taste of young love. So if you know some middle schooler looking for a book that doesn't involve some emo vampires or a school of wizards, this series is an starting point to set them off on a new set of adventures. —Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
AFTERSHOCK & OTHERS: 19 ODDITIES by F. Paul Wilson
ALL THE RAGE by F. Paul Wilson
BLOODLINE by F. Paul Wilson
CONSPIRACIES by F. Paul Wilson
F. PAUL WILSON'S THE KEEP by F. Paul Wilson and Matthew Smith
GROUND ZERO by F. Paul Wilson
HOSTS by F. Paul Wilson
JACK: SECRET HISTORIES by F. Paul Wilson
LEGACIES by F. Paul Wilson.

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