“The Lost Stars: Perilous Shield,” by Jack Campbell

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!)

I admit, the only reason I picked this book up for a dollar is because the author and I share a last name. I have never read a “military novel” before (other than the excruciatingly longwinded tomes by Tom Clancy, which try to be so much more), though some of the space ship oriented sci-fi I used to read almost exclusively did contain elements of “military sci-fi” and came rather close to this genre - so, what a pleasant surprise to find this book not only readable, but rather gripping. There is an overall plot thread to this novel, but it reads more like a series of separate situations, space battles, assassination attempts and so on. Normally that would sound boring to me, but the intelligence with which this novel was written completely overcame any preconceptions on my part. There is even some fairly deep exploration of political philosophy involving the two main protagonists – again, not at all tedious, but rather thought-provoking. I now find myself a lot more curious about those novels featuring soldiers in the battlefield on the front cover!

Here’s the May line-up!

"The Year of the Flood," by Margaret Atwood [5-6-17]

"Victims," by Jonathan Kellerman [5-13-17]

"Bite Me,' by Parker Blue [5-20-17]

"Bite Me," by Christopher Moore [5-27-17]

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

“Wolf at the Door,” by Ann Campbell

FM’s ratings:

1. Premise 7
2. Prose 7
3. Plot 6
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 7

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

“If Jan was like most computer users, she had kept copies of her diskettes. But when Annie found the two plastic boxes that appeared to contain them, none looked like the one now missing.” Well, the reason none of those diskettes looked like the one now missing was that Annie had never seen it in the first place. This strange sentence is one example of several inexplicable passages and events that make the observant reader go “huh?” as we make our way through an otherwise interesting and quirky mystery story. The worst example is the climax scene, in which the protagonist's dog apparently forgets which book he's in while the protagonist is kidnapped, threatened, cut with a knife, brought to tears, et cetera during a grueling car ride out to the middle of nowhere. No growling, no whimpering, no anything from the back seat. Then, as the blade begins to plummet, the dog remembers that this is the bad guy and attacks out of nowhere. The protagonist escapes and runs away, chased by the bad guy through the desert night – while the dog once again seems to forget what story he's in. All along we've been set up to believe that the rocky relationship between Annie and Claudius, the dog, will finally resolve into friendship as Claudius saves the day. Nope. Apparently that resolution is too predictable in a novel of fairly predictable events. “...the most original and funny book I've read in a long time,” says a quote on the cover. I will buy the “original” with its lampooning of religion, UFO references (the setting is Roswell, New Mexico), and its dog-related quirkiness, but the “funny” is a little too sparse and a little too mild for such praise. The ideas explored in this novel were terrific even if the premise itself was weak, but the execution fell short. I might give this author another try, but – no hurry.

Here’s the May line-up!

"The Year of the Flood," by Margaret Atwood [5-6-17]

"Victims," by Jonathan Kellerman [5-13-17]

"Bite Me,' by Parker Blue [5-20-17]

"Bite Me," by Christopher Moore [5-27-17]

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

“Alice in La-La Land ,” by Robert Campbell

FM's ratings:

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

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

Robert Campbell grew up in Chicago. His writing reflects the style of writers like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett which are typically set in easterly cities like Chicago, Detroit, New York and so on – and his prose is similar. So it's a little odd to read dialog purportedly spoken by Californians that display the rhythm, pace and quirky colloquialisms - like “gazoony” and “schmuck” - of a Mike Ditka. “What are you?” Twelvetrees asked. “I'm an investigative consultant.” “Gimme a break. Are you an eye?” “This isn't nineteen-forty, Mr. Twelvetrees.” “And you're not Humphrey Bogart. I can see that.” The dialog does, however, read like the nineteen-forties in many respects. Yet the pacing is superb, each scene the perfect length, and the pages fly by. The title itself is a harbinger of a major plot twist, and the characters are as colorful as any you will find anywhere. Great writing by an experienced mystery novelist – why have I never heard of him before?

“Whose Little Girl Are You?” by Bethany Campbell

FM’s ratings:

1. Premise 10
2. Prose 8
3. Plot 8
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 8

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

Everything about this book says "standard thriller fare." But it's done with such skill on the part of the author that it is greater than the sum of the parts. It's not the "kind" of book I would recommend - yet I do recommend this one, and not just because of the strong premise. The love interest between the two protagonists is predictable and borderline Romance-Novel drivel - and yet it works wonderfully, really tugging at the heart strings effectively, especially at the end. The development takes its sweet time, and I kept expecting to get tired of reading - but the narrative continued to pull me in. Yes: recommended. Just don't expect it to be a blockbuster; accept it for what it is.

Dragon Tears,” by Dean Koontz

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 10
2. Prose 10
3. Plot 10
4. Characters 10
5. Overall 10

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

This marks the 5^th anniversary of the book club, which started with a Dean Koontz book (“77 Shadow Street) and has featured one of his books every April, as the lead-off book. I have now read every novel by him that is in print, and at least one that isn't, so it's fitting here to feature the very first book I read by Koontz; the one that first captured my imagination. It goes without saying that I came back to this book for a second read with a very different perspective on the author's writing. I had to wonder if I would be mildly disappointed. But I found that just the opposite is true – this is one of my favorite Dean Koontz books, probably in my top 10. I have long fantasized about what it would be like to freeze time, step outside it, and manipulate objects or people while they are “frozen.” And I have always recognized that the temptation to do bad things [“I wonder what she looks like naked...?”] would be very hard to resist for someone with that power. This is the basic premise of “Dragon Tears” where a truly twisted antagonist is deluded into thinking he is becoming a god. With a premise like this, an author had better be prepared do it justice. And Koontz delivers. Even the Love Interest adds instead of detracting. And, as in all his best writing, his metaphors and similes are second to none (“Fog...like the ghost of an ancient ocean.”) Is this one of those many Koontz novels that features a dog as an important character? It sure is, and it gets into the mind of the dog perhaps better than any of his works, with the possible exception of “Watchers.” Koontz fans always wanted more Odd Thomas, and many would love to see more Christopher Snow (“Fear Nothing” and “Seize the Night”) but I would add, from this book, the crime investigation team of Harry and Connie as characters that I would love for Koontz to re-visit!