The Black Tower, by P.D. James. Simon and Schuster Publishing. 1974 (reprinted in 2001). $16. I cannot consider myself a true devotee of crime fiction as I yet have gaps in my reading. For instance, I have yet to read any Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. I’ve got to rectify that mess fairly soon. I’ve…
Critical Mass, by Sara Paretsky. Signet Select Fiction; Penguin Publishing. Paperback. 2013. $10. I recently wrote an essay about using Twitter for professional development. I suppose Facebook, if used with due assiduity, might allow a person some degree of learning and education. With Twitter, you get to choose who to follow, and following accounts is…
King and Maxwell, by David Baldacci. Grand Central Publishing; Hachette Book Group. 2013. p523. $10 I’m probably guilty of generalizing too often, though in this case my generalization may actually be safe. I may be one of a mere handful of people who had never read a David Baldacci book. He even visited one of…
Winter Study, by Nevada Barr. Penguin Books. Paperback. 2008. $10. I’m easily impressed by authors who integrate real, local geography into their novels. The idea of being able to “go there” and walk in the footsteps of the protagonist is a romantic notion of mine, I suppose. James Lee Burke fuses southern Louisiana geography into…
Purple Cane Road, by James Lee Burke. 2000. Dell Fiction. Paperback. $8 Some people, when they write, take you there. You know what I mean; poets, authors, songwriters whose ink magically transmutes thoughts and imagery from their minds into ours. Lyrical words spellbind us, capturing our attention like the scent of a woman, like driving…
Voodoo River. Robert Crais. Hyperion Paperback. Suspense. 1995. $8 I use a combination of tape flags and mechanical pencil to take notes in the margins when I read. I read crime/suspense novels for fun (and no profit, other than my own benefit), and to help people realize the geography they are being exposed to in…
Feast Day of Fools, by James Lee Burke. Pocket Books. Crime Fiction. 2011. Paperback $10. I broke from tradition; I began reading another series by JLB. Feast Day of Fools is the second novel featuring the South Texas sheriff, Hackberry Holland. The first novel, Rain Gods, I have yet to read. The local book slinger had only this…
Constant Geography 
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