There is one gift I enjoy getting more than all others: the gift card. They are simple and it means my relatives won’t screw up what I really want. The best kind, of course, are the ones for bookstores. As most people can tell from this column, I’m usually grabbing things from the dusty old shelves of used bookstores, so when I get a chance to treat myself to new books, I make it a point to grab stuff I really want, and not just hardcovers that I hope are good. Also, I’m not a huge fan of shelling out more than $10 for a paperback, but with a gift card, that becomes moot. So this column runs through three picks I got for my birthday last month. I would have included a fourth, but Rod did a great job of reviewing it already, and I fully second his opinion.
THE DESTROYER #145: DRAGON BONES by Tim Somheil – Notice how The Destroyer books no longer credit authors on the cover? If you’re wondering who writes them, just look at the copyright page. The “special thanks to” line is the true credit for whoever’s ghosting Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir’s creation. Now, I’ve stuck mainly with the earlier Remo Williams adventures, but this 2006 offering is the most current at this writing (and the last for Gold Eagle to publish, before Tor takes over in summer ‘07).
This novel is a sequel to THE DESTROYER #92: THE LAST DRAGON. Don’t worry; the plot of that one is given to you in the first chapter, and this DRAGON is a total fun fest. We’re led to believe that a dinosaur – which, from the descriptions, looks like an overgrown reptilian cow – has some sort of chemical inside its bones that can prolong life, prompting scores of drug company-hired assassins all living outside of the dino’s residence at a zoo. This is a total riot – I mean, we all know drug companies are greedy, but to hire mercenaries to live in a singles complex while they spy is just a laugh and a half.
Countless attempts are made to get the dino, only to be foiled in gruesome ways, like spelling out “Who’s Next?” in human bodies. That is, until one company steals the dino by use of a giant helicopter, then deep freezes and dips it in some sort of chocolate substance. So where’s our trusted hero, Remo? Actually, absent for a good portion of the book. He’s there at the start and most of the end, but you do get close to 200 pages without him. But Chuin is there and he kicks ass.
The book is filled with the over-the-top characters you’ve come to expect in this series. Then there are the reasons Chuin wants the dino for himself, and no, it’s not to make a pet out of it. I can’t wait for the next installment. Be forewarned: It seems that maybe one or two chapters are missing from copies, because all of a sudden, Remo and Chuin show up somewhere with all the bad guys pretty much dead.
HOSTS by F. Paul Wilson – From 2001, the fifth Repairman Jack novel is a bit of a family affair for Jack. It seems his sister is seeing another woman, who might be mixed up with a weird cult. She asks Jack for help because of a strange, old Russian lady who shows up with a card to call him.
This cult is more like a Borg for viruses. How the hell can you combat something like that? But this is not the only problem Jack has to face this time out; he also must deal with a reporter who saw him in action on a subway and wants to capitalize on it. Then there are the two bomb-crazy brothers Jack dealt with a while back.
For a book that is more than 500 pages, it flies by so fast. This novel feels like a little side road in Wilson’s Adversary Cycle – of which THE TOMB is the second act – with lots of references of what’s to come and why. It probably won’t end very pretty. But Wilson has said he’s got plenty more stories before Jack will be done. It’s just that, thanks to NIGHTWORLD, we already know a little of what happens.
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN by Cormac McCarthy – Here’s a first for this column: probably the most literate book covered here, but also one of the most violent. It seems someone gave a box of Richard Stark novels to McCarthy during his seven-year hiatus from writing, because this 2005 novel has characters reminiscent of Stark’s.
The story revolves around three characters, the first being Llewellyn Moss, a hunter who stumbles upon a drug deal gone bad, making off with a cache of money that will only prove to be his downfall. Then there is the most unsympathetic character ever: a stone-cold killer by the name of Chigurh. This is not a man in whose way you want to stand, as his credo is very much “shoot first and move on.” Lastly, there’s the local small-town sheriff who has seen enough in his life already and just wants things to settle down. He feels as if he is the protector of the town citizens, there to take care of everyones welfare.
To give a synopsis of NO COUNTRY would be a little misleading, since McCarthy starts this book as a taut thriller before switching gears in such a dramatic way. Regardless, you’ll be riveted to the very end. Now, there is no middle ground for a McCarthy book; you either think he is one of the great modern writers or you’re a dummy who’s happy with things that are shiny. This is the type of book that screams to be made into a great film, and lucky for us, the Coen brothers are doing that right now. (Let’s just hope it’s more BLOOD SIMPLE and less THE LADYKILLERS.) –Bruce Grossman
Buy it at Amazon.
Discuss it in our forums.
Next time: Barsoom!
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• ALL THE RAGE by F. Paul Wilson
• THE DESTROYER #14: JUDGMENT DAY by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy
• THE DESTROYER #22: BRAIN DRAIN by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy
• THE DESTROYER #48: PROFIT MOTIVE by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy
• THE DESTROYER #49: SKIN DEEP by Warren Murphy
• GRANDMASTER by Warren Murphy
• LEGACIES by F. Paul Wilson
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 0 comments… add one now }