BOOK REVIEW: Harried Harry's Hairy Happenings

(Originally Published 2001, Mass Market Paperback 401 pages)

It isn't necessary to read the first installment 'Storm Front' before picking up 'Fool Moon.' The second installment has lots of action, mystery and humor that makes it a fun book independent of the first one. However, Mr. Butcher took more time in 'Storm Front' explaining some of the central characters that helped make 'Fool Moon' a more enjoyable read for me. Besides Harry Dresden, Chicago Special Investigator Karrin Murphy, crime lord Gentleman Johnny Marcone, and sarcastic, randy spirit guide Bob, who lives in a skull, are back. Many of the characters are better understood from reading 'Storm Front' because Dresden used his soulgaze to look into their souls. Interestingly, the person he linked with during the soulgaze also gets to see what's in Harry's soul and, apparently, it scares the living daylights out of most of them. It still remains a mystery to the reader as well as Dresden what the people see?

This time around, instead of dealing with a power-crazy sorcerer, Dresden's antagonists are a variety of werewolves. The author has created four different ways in which people can be transformed into the big hairy killing machines. The worst manifestation is something called a Loup-garou. When it eventually appears, you see why it makes all the other werewolf varieties seem like Scooby-Doo. The author clearly wants The Dresden Files to be read as a series because, by the end of the book, Mr. Butcher leaves some mysteries about Harry's past unanswered. 'Fool Moon' has a very high body count with plenty violence and gore.

I find Harry Dresden to be a very appealing character. It's difficult not to root for a guy who was orphaned at a young age, has a dry sense of humor and his numerous guilt trips make me wonder if he's friggin' Catholic. I certainly intend on reading the other installments when I'm in the mood for a light entertaining book. 

  
(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #370)

BOOK REVIEW: Home Is Where The History Is

(Originally Published 2010, Paperback Edition 532 pages)

My expectations were that Mr. Bryson's book would cover different household items and traditions, but I was clearly mistaken. Each room that he investigates in his home is more a launching pad to cover topics that only remotely apply to the rooms. Darwin's theory of evolution, penile pricking rings, Otzi the Iceman, and rodents' qualities are but a few examples of odd tangents. Mercy, the man is all over the place in this thing but no matter. The information was still interesting. There are nineteen chapters covering from the building of his home in 1851, to the kitchen, the study, the dining room, the stairs, the cellar, the garden, the bedroom, the garden, and so on and so on until the author finishes up in the attic.

Mr. Bryson's playful curiosity about the world around him is infectious. Some topics, such as the bathroom and the difficulties of waste management prior to water treatment facilities made me queasy. I'll never complain about cleaning our toilets ever again. That's for sure. Ultimately, the book is chock full of many home qualities that we never or rarely wonder how they came into being. He also focuses a great deal of time on the oodles of lunatic Victorian mores that make me darned happy to be living in our more enlightened age. Heck, the whole book makes me happy that we have electricity, indoor plumbing, advanced medicine, mattresses, bathing and less draconian social services for the destitute.

'At Home' is not as entertaining as Mr. Bryson's 'A Walk in the Woods' but more informative. It is light reading, full of fun facts and an occasional dry sarcastic remark which always made me chuckle. If you're interested in something other than a murder mystery, science fiction, romance or whatnot then the author's easy-to-read book is a nice way to kill a few hours.

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #369)

BOOK REVIEW: Confirmation Bias

(Originally Published 2012, Mass Market Paperback 476 pages)

Mr. Landay's novel not only touched a raw nerve with me, it was plucking away at them like my nerves were harp strings. The protagonist, Andy Barber, and his family's background was disconcertingly similar to mine. My wife and I have also been married for thirty years, have a 14-year-old son, and live in a New England suburb. Heck, we even drive a Honda Odyssey like the Barber family. Mr. Landay's description of suburban life rings very true. The dialogue between parents and son felt like I was listening to our own family. I lost count how many times it sent a chill up my spine to read the dad's thoughts about his son. Also, the nature of school bullying and cliques is very much the lay of the land.

Most of the story is written in the first-person narrative of Andy Barber and some portions are court transcripts. It jumps back and forth between what occurred from the point of the murder until its resolution as well as a year later during another grand-jury hearing involving another incident. Andy Barber tries to explain his rational for certain actions he took during his retelling of the events. His hidden animosity towards the prosecutor (a man Barber groomed while he was a district attorney), Neal Logiudice, adds a great deal of tension within the courtroom. There are a few sarcastic observations by Barber that add a modicum of levity, but mostly this mystery is tense as hell.

The book spends a great deal of energy covering the social and emotional effects of having a family member accused of murder. The financial, physical and mental toll of defending yourself, guilty or innocent, is at the core of this novel. It is an extremely well-done work that any parent with a soul will find absorbing and frightening.

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #368)