“The Executioner's Heart,” by George Mann

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 7
2. Prose 8
3. Plot 7
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 7

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Steampunk stories often suffer from the same weaknesses as Space Operas. "Star Wars," for instance, has been accused of being a 17th century opera - or even a western - dressed up in Science Fiction trappings. With Steampunk, it often seems as if the story was taken from some other genre, adorned with mechanical contraptions, dirigibles, Victorian Age clothing, and so on to make - voila! - a Steampunk story. This book does a little better than most, but is essentially a political spy thriller; and not a great one at that, relying too heavily on the quaint imagery to give us Steampunk. Also featured here is a heavy dose of 18th century occultism and opium usage for a "heady" mix of ingredients. Several tense "action" scenes round it out for a novel I can almost recommend. And yet I was left at the end with a "that's all folks, we hope you enjoyed the show" feeling. Part of the problem with the plot, especially near the end, was that it was a little too obvious that the author wanted to leave us with a cliff-hanger set-up for the next installment in the series. Fine, but wrap this one up first. If you crave Steampunk novels, this one has some nice surprises and unique elements to offer. But I'm still looking for the masterpiece of the genre that will help further define it.


Here’s the November line-up!

"Misery Loves Maggody," by Joan Hess [11-4-17]
"Demian," by Hermann Hesse [11-11-17]
"Bell, Book & Candlemas," by Jennifer David Hesse [11-18-17]
"Whisper of Crows," by Jameson Hesse [11-25-17]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so. Also, if you have already read a book on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)

“Black Cat Crossing,” by Kay Finch

FM’s ratings:

1. Premise 8
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 8
4. Characters 9
5. Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Rarely do I try to guess whodunit while reading a mystery. In this book, I did, and of course I guessed wrong! There are probably those who would tell you that inducing you to try and guess which character is the villain is the mark of a good mystery, or at least a classically written mystery. Maybe so. There are other aspects of this plot that fall into that category as well, namely the regularly spaced (one per chapter?) clues dribbled throughout the narrative. When I was younger these elements didn’t interest me much, and even now they don’t influence me near as much as good prose and good characters. The main reason I read a lot of mysteries these days is that almost all of the superb authors, old and new, that I’m discovering happen to be mystery writers, including very many of those who write the Cozy Mysteries such as this one. Some of these books leave me wanting to read another one by the same author very soon, relatively soon, or “maybe again someday…” This one falls into the second category; I definitely don’t want to let Finch fall off of my radar. The Black Cat theme is a plus for me, as well as the Witch theme, though that is only vaguely referenced in this book. One assumes that will be developed in subsequent additions to the series. A strong first book for this series!

Here’s the November line-up!

"Misery Loves Maggody," by Joan Hess [11-4-17]
"Demian," by Hermann Hesse [11-11-17]
"Bell, Book & Candlemas," by Jennifer David Hesse [11-18-17]
"Whisper of Crows," by Jameson Hesse [11-25-17]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so. Also, if you have already read a book on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)

“A Skeleton in the Family,” by Leigh Perry

FM’s ratings:

1. Premise 9
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 9
4. Characters 9
5. Overall 9

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

The strongest aspect of the prose is the humor – actually the wit – that is displayed not only in the dialog, but the first-person narrative. The numerous bone puns are deftly handled, not groan-producing and not overdone. The plot is outstanding, marred only by the over-simplicity of the climax. The premise is silly enough to be a detriment but it is handled so well through prose and plot that we buy into it. This is definitely an author that I will want to try again.

“Mr. Mercedes,” by Stephen King

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 7
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 9
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Contrary to what I had been led to believe, this is not the kind of novel that made King famous. In fact, compared to his better works, this one probably should rate one or even two spots lower than each of the ratings I give here. Because of the prose, it is still identifiably King, but otherwise it's not easily differentiated from novels by a dozen other best-selling suspense writers. It's a Dean Koontz-style novel, perhaps, though not equal to Koontz's best. There's not much "horror" here, virtually NO supernaturalism or spookiness. A little "creep factor" sneaks in with the result of the bad guy's mother accidentally eating the poisoned meat meant for the dog. And there's an strong "ick" factor in the perverse relationship between him and his mother. Sure, Mr. King likes to range far and wide genre-wise, and I appreciate that, having enjoyed novels as diverse as "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" and "Wasteland." But while this book is "solid," it lacks the distinguishing King-esque factors that normally set his novels apart.