Embarrassing

The Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

Well, whatever... I think this is billed as an "historical romance" - (probably correct) and I loved every last page of it (ringing in at over 600 pages). Great battle scenes,love scenes, scenes of intrigue and scenes of humour -- most of it set in the mid-1700's in Scotland. Also gave me a love of that scottish language - eh, wee laddie - ye ken?

And, yet, another one not to bother with

The Spy Who Came for Christmas -- David Morrell Started out interesting,quick paced - good Morrell details - and just derailed into overly sentimental, symbolic nonsense. I wish I'd never read it - but, I'm still a Morrell fan; I can forgive him for this.

Red Dwarf,anyone?

Uncharted Territory - Connie Willis -quick-witted sci-fi novella -- a sort of parody for our sometimes too "bleeding heart" society combined with our love of "romance" and "adventure" of the Indiana Jones Variety.

yet another horrible book I've read

The Backwoods -- Edward Lee

Terrible, terribleness -- why did I read it? Looking for another Laymon - Amazon.com always lists Lee as a writer you may like if you like Laymon. I beg to differ. NOTHING like Laymon - Laymon always had humour and wit and self-deprecation, oh, and yeah, genuine horror. Lee has none of that, just another hack.

Why do I bother????

House - Frank Peretti and Tod Dekker

UGH!! Oh the humanity and why did I waste my time finishing this drivel? No one to answer to but myself, still -- UGH!

Maggots got nothin' on us...

My favorite book of the year so far, The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston is a rollicking, rambunctious, hilarious roller coaster of a book. I never thought I would be into a book about people whose job it is to clean up murder scenes, but Huston paints with broad, inviting strokes. Trash bags filled with (living) cockroaches, tattoos, "fix-it" men, smuggling, kidnapping, hijacking... this book has it all and serves it up on a (although at times repulsive) platter I was all too happy to devour. I laughed, I cried, I may have even sweated. Loved it!

Right On

The first entry in the Derek Strange and Terry Quinn investigative books set in the gritty noirish world of D.C., George Pelecanos' Right as Rain is pitch perfect in every detail, particularly the on the money urban dialogue, where every word matters. Pelecanos has a terrific ability to create faultridden, down on their heels characters that you still sympathize with. At times heartbreaking, wryly amusing, and uber realistic, these books pull no punches.

Apocalptica

The first in a trilogy, Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry concerns a small Pennsylvania town known for their haunted hayrides and all things Halloween. The entire book takes place during a long Halloween night, where 3 escaped convicts crash their car in the town, and all hell breaks out. A supernatural tale of good vs. evil, the book is just fine, but pales in comparison to books like Dan Simmons' Children of the Night or Stephen King's The Stand.

Academia

Love books about college professors (English ones) and their acerbic attitudes, and Gone by P.F. Kluge is another in a long line of such. Found it compelling reading for about 90% of the way through, until the bottom fell out at the end and the book lost all credibility for me. Too bad, because until then it was amusing and interesting, a story of a famous author hired by a small Ohio college who never writes again. And that was okay by him.

Criminality

American Skin by Ken Bruen. Not a Jack Taylor book, but an enjoyable enough romp. Throw together an Irish criminal on the lam in the New York, a clueless mob boss, his psychotic girlfriend, a hitman extraordinaire, and a climax in Phoenix and you've got a quick read that made me alternately laugh, smirk, and repulse.