Mark James
Article Category: Book Review
Night Vision By Randy Wayne White G.P. Putnam’s Sons; $25.95; 352 pages Could all the uproar about illegal immigrants have come at a better time for Randy Wayne White? Or is it the inspiration for his latest Doc Ford thriller? It’s no matter which came first; “Night Vision,” the eighteenth and perhaps best in this long running series, offers a sympathetic perspective of those who come here in pursuit of a better life — and righteous justice for those who exploit them. Marion... [Read more...]
Mark James
Article Category: Book Review
The Cobra By Frederick Forsyth G. P. Putnam’s Son’s; 364 pages; $26.95 A two billion dollar budget. Check. Independence to act in total secrecy. Check. Authority to use any military unit for any reason at any time. Check. Another ill-advised war. Check. It could be Iran or North Korea, but in this case it’s cocaine, a threat to the very foundation of our being. The premise of Frederick Forsyth’s latest “thriller” is to have the importation of cocaine reclassified... [Read more...]
Mark James
Article Category: Book Review
Life By Keith Richards, with James Fox Little, Brown; 564 pages; $29.99 Imagine sitting at a table with a couple of drinks as the person across from you recounts their life. There may be blank spaces, periods of time that are forgotten — or ones you wish the person had forgotten. Now imagine that person is Keith Richards, the former choirboy and Boy Scout who went on to define the rock and roll lifestyle. That’s the experience of reading his recently published autobiography, “Life.”... [Read more...]
Mark James
Article Category: Book Review
The Red Queen By Philippa Gregory Touchstone; 400 pages; $25.99 The genre known as historical fiction tends to be a mishmash of bodice rippers, revisionist history, and twisted facts set during tumultuous times. Historical figures appear and disappear, or linger on the periphery of events that feature fictional characters. Philippa Gregory shuns such devices in her new novel, “The Red Queen,” bringing the actual characters to life in a suspenseful and often gruesome story about the future... [Read more...]
Mark James
Article Category: Book Review
Girl by the Road at Night By David Rabe Simon & Schuster; 240 pages; $23 The Vietnam War was a debacle the likes of which this country had never experienced. An underestimated opponent and fervent opposition at home combined to produce a calamity. David Rabe reduces that disaster to its most visceral in “Girl by the Road at Night” — that of the lust between a man and a woman brought together by conflict, but separated by culture. Joseph Whitaker is in the Army because of a brush... [Read more...]
Mark James
Article Category: Book Review
Star Island By Carl Hiaasen Alfred A. Knopf; 337 pages; $26.95 The Skinks of the world have always been my heroes. Not the endangered four-legged variety that inhabit Central Florida, but the one and only former college football star, Vietnam vet, and ex-governor who has become a fixture in Carl Hiaasen’s novels. Hiaasen’s Skink inhabits the swamps of South Florida, and has a penchant for righting the wrongs of environmental rapists who prey on Florida’s natural beauty. “Star... [Read more...]
Mark James
Article Category: Book Review
Between a Heart and a Rock Place: A Memoir By Pat Benetar with Patsi Bale Cox William Morrow; 245 pages; $25.99 Memoirs clutter the literary landscape these days. They tend to be very personal in nature, and are often written by people unknown to the masses. Pat Benatar doesn’t suffer from such a malady. She was one of the biggest selling acts of the ’80s, and arguably the biggest female rocker since Janis Joplin. She came out of New York, and stormed across the country winning millions... [Read more...]
Flying Fish By Vern Hobbs Aberdeen Bay; 332 pages; $15.95 At first glance, “Flying Fish,” appears to be yet another quirky Florida novel in the vein of Carl Hiassen and Tim Dorsey. But while it is peopled with suitably unusual characters (including a ghost), Vern Hobbs’ debut novel is something much more Set in the fictional “hardscrabble fishing village” of Juniper Key, where a ban on fishing has been implemented, “Smiley” Randolph, the reserved editor... [Read more...]
Mark James
Article Category: Book Review
Book Review: The Long Song by Andrea Levy • Reviewed by Mark James • The Long Song Andrea Levy Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 320 pages; $26 July, the narrator of “The Long Song,” warns early on that if you cannot find interest in her tale, “then be on your way, for there are plenty books to satisfy if words flowing free as the droppings that fall from the backside of a mule is your desire.” This seems a bit contradictory given the windiness of the warning, especially for... [Read more...]
Mark James
Article Category: Book Review
Book Review: The Executor by Jesse Kellerman • Reviewed by Mark James • The Executor Jesse Kellerman Putnam; 352 pages; $25.95 The dictionary informs us that an executor is someone who “executes” or “performs a duty or assignment” such as taking out the trash. It can also be someone who performs the dirty task of taking someone else’s life. The line between the two is a little blurry in Jesse Kellerman’s new novel that tracks the descent of a thirty-something... [Read more...]
