| < | April 2002 | > | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||
- Channels
- Media Reviews
- Misc.
- Contact
- Syndication
- Validation
This book was written for kids. The back is marked “10 & up” — so you probably qualify, in a strict sense. (If you must know, I received this as a gift. I have yet to determine whether the giver thereby intended to make a statement about my intellectual or emotional maturity.)
That said, I’m surprised to admit that this is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year. It’s a better page-turner than most of the thrillers and action/dramas I read… the characters as more purely drawn, with clearer intentions and motivations… and all the weird plot twists hook up in the end to make a very satisfying conclusion.
I heartily recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good story. If you have young kids, this is a great book to share.
Holes is being made into a movie for release in 2003, starring Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Henry Winkler, etc.
Patronize these links, man:
Co-written with Steven Spruill, Nightkill is a decent thriller about a mob assassin who gets double-crossed. The plot takes some unexpected twists, which I enjoyed. The pacing is fast, the science is believable, and some of the scenes are very tensely drawn. While not particularly memorable, the book is a worthwhile example of the page-turner genre.
Patronize these links, man:
“The Master of Military Adventure,” Dale Brown has written a roundabout tale of pursuit and revenge, bogged down with questionable technology and wooden characters. The reviews at Amazon (see below) are mixed at best; I wish I’d seen them before buying my copy. I was happy to finish this one. Sigh.
Patronize these links, man:
I generally enjoy Woods’ non-political stories, e.g. the Stone Barrington novels, better than the political books. But while The Run falls into the political category, it’s a typical Woods thriller: tightly paced, with believable bad guys plotting all-too-believable crimes (in this case, an assassination attempt on the leading presidential candidate).
Woods never writes a word that doesn’t advance the action in some way, so if you like that terse style, you’ll like The Run.
Patronize these links, man:
I came to my first Elmore Leonard novel with some expectations that were perhaps unfair: his novel Get Shorty was made into a fantastic movie (with Travolta, Hackman, Russo, and DeVito!). And one of my favorite writers, Carl Hiaasen, is often compared to Leonard… so I demanded a lot from Pronto, even though I picked it up secondhand for about three dollars.
An ex-NYT bestseller, book-of-the-month-club selection, Pronto is a contemporary crime novel set in south Florida. It pits a modern cowboy against a mafioso, fighting to save the life of a run-down bookie who is ironically more pathetic than sympathetic. But the dialog is sharp, and the pacing tight; it is an enjoyable read.
Patronize these links, man:
