Just read a super little book called MANSLAUGHTER UNITED by a fella whose name suddenly escapes me

The story of a prison football (soccer) team all made up of murderers and coached by the wardens! They play in the local league and it goes into all the stresses of that and the dynamics of the team and how the team is the only thing keeping them sane! A true story and a truly excellent read!

This is what I call an airport book. It is quick to read; it's not super challenging but not a horrible story either. It's perfect for wasting away a few hours but it's not something you would kick yourself for not reading. The story is not too far fetched although the execution and characterization might need a little work. Then again it WAS the author's first book so who am I to be critical?

Anyway the story opens by describing two government law enforcement officials with quite different ideas about the proper way to interrogate suspects. DEA agent John Hobart doesn't see anything wrong with starting with a beating and moving on from there. FBI agent Mark Beamon isn't above smacking an insolent known mob enforcer but he is disgusted when he discovers his partner Hobart in the process of breaking a junkie's arm, primarily for kicks. Beamon turns Hobart in. But Hobart is a MUCH better political player than Beamon is and manages to avoid serious sanction by resigning while Beamon gets a reputation as an untrustworthy maverick.

Fast forward a decade and change. Beamon is still just a few levels above where he started while Hobart is the VERY well paid security chief and troubleshooter for the right-wing televangelist Reverend Blake (think Pat Robertson) who uses the loyal and completely amoral Hobart for all those jobs he'd rather not know about.

Blake preaches against sin -especially drugs- and is devastated when he finds out his own son was smoking marijuana. Out of a sense of bombast and pride he starts to discuss with Hobart the best way to stop usage of illegal drugs. The completely pragmatic Hobart suggests poison. The Reverend doesn't want to know details but gives Hobart the go-ahead after publicly firing him.

Hobart recruits (evidently he had been thinking about this for a while) a group of specialists (and virulent racists) to poison the supply of illegal drugs (cocaine and heroin only). They intend to stop people from using drugs and if they happen to kill a bunch of minorities that's a bonus for them. Drug use starts to drop but this is not popular with the Colombian Cartels or American Mafia (who are seeing their revenue drop) or the FBI (who are being mocked in the press).

The FBI calls in Beamon to lead a task force (and be a sacrificial lamb if need be). Of course as he gets into the case Beamon starts to pick up a sense of familiarity about his unknown opponent's moves. The President is caught between a rock and a hard place as he wants to look competent while at the same time keeping an uneasy eye on the growing political support that the poisoning of the drug supply is getting.


As I mentioned this was not a great novel but I didn't expect it to be. The author is the son of a former FBI agent and has some useful insights into how that bureaucracy works. Unfortunately, except for Hobart most of the characters are pretty flat. I did like reading about the (ahem) ever so slightly different research techniques of the Colombian Cartels and the FBI, the rivalries between different law enforcement agencies and petty but dangerous office politics. The Mafia hoodlums and street hoods are not written that well. But the book moves swiftly and all in all is a fun read. Hobart is not a mustache twirling villain and doesn't do stupid things just to move the plot forward.

Just finished the Stieg Larrson trilogy. The first one flew. I couldn't put it down. The second one was not nearly as compelling, although the last half was better than the first. The third tied up all the loose ends, which is good since Larrson died shortly after delivering the books to his publisher.

The books are about a young Swedish woman named Lisbeth Salander. She is a ward of the state and makes her living as a private investigator. She has a terribly tragic life and is incredibly resilient. She meets a journalist named Mikael Blomkvist in the first book as they investigate the cold case disappearance of young woman.

I know a lot of people who have given up on the books because they found the Swedish names and the number of characters a bit confusing, but I enjoyed them a great deal. I definitely recommend them.

Juts finished this book, it was real good quick read (like 3 hrs or so). Veasey was a legitimate toughguy even in the world of LCN.

I'm currently reading "The War of The Revolution" by Christopher Ward. Its a two volume book in one. Originally published in the 1940s, I found the 2011 reprint edition on Amazon. If your interested in checking out the book here's the Amazon link. I'm about half way through the 1000 pages. The book is strictly a military history narrative, it doesn't really cover the politics involved during the American Revolution. Needless to say I'm seriously enjoying it.

THE HUNGER GAMES

So after I finished the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, I had planned on delving back into the wonderful world of Harry Potter since it's been about 5 years since I've read any of the books. But then THE HUNGER GAMES movie came out and there was all of this hoopla EVERYWHERE I turned. The papers, TV, Internet, etc. So, I asked a few coworkers at work and they convinced me (not to mention that I had just previously watched BATTLE ROYALE recently which didn't help). The book looked like an easy read and something I could squeeze in before reading Harry Potter.

All I can say after the first book is WOW! For me, it lived up to the hype. What I loved most about this book is it gets to the point. Doesn't have any slow, drawn out parts where you're reading thinking to yourself, "come on, move it already." From cover to cover the book plays by its own set of your rules, you're at its mercy. Definitely a page turner. Always difficult to put down and not wonder what happens next. Practically every chapter left you with a cliff hanger. I'm eagerly anticipating seeing the movie and reading the rest of the trilogy (however I'm a little weary because I've heard that they actually get worse as the books go along but I'm too intrigued to see what happens next to stop now). I haven't been this satisfied reading a book in a long time.

*The book is definitely better than the movie. Like so many times, the movie leaves out a lot

CATCHING FIRE

Once I finished THE HUNGER GAMES, I immediately needed to pick up book 2 to continue this fantastic story. Similar to the first book, it's a fast, enthralling and non-stop book. The story does a great job at picking it up where the first one left off and it's still full of surprises. However, if I compared it to the first, I still enjoy THE HUNGER GAMES more. This is taking nothing away from CATCHING FIRE. It's still a great book and almost as good as the first (which is tough to do). I'm curious now how book 3 will end but I've gotta wait to get a copy of it. I finally broke down and ordered the trilogy through Amazon.

MOCKINGJAY

I'm not going to lie. This was kind of a disappointing end to the trilogy. Compared to the first 2 books, this reads rather boringly save for the last 4 or 5 chapters. No real cliff hangers or anything to keep you interested in continuing the story. I pounded it out in a few days and as I said, the ending of the book was interesting, but everything leading up to that point, compared to the first two books was a let down. Overall, I'm glad I read the trilogy and enjoyed it! I ordered the books from Amazon and am waiting for them to arrive. Looking forward to seeing the other 2 books on the silver screen!

Did you ever read it?

THE GIRL WHO WAS ON FIRE

So after reading THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy, I wanted more. I stumbled upon this book via Amazon . The book is a compilation of 13 different authors essays and deals with a variety of topics such as fashion, technology, science, propaganda, how the Hunger Games reflect the War on Terror, post-traumatic stress disorder amongst others. Some essays were interesting while others I couldn't wait to get through. However, when I read a book like this, I'm usually looking for something new that someone can bring to the table that I hadn't thought about myself and this book just didn't deliver. The essays weren't poorly constructed or the authors point of view so far out of whack. They just didn't offer anything new or worthy of discussion.

So let's say you're undergoing A Song of Ice and Fire withdrawal and want to read some more historical/fantastical fiction with morally ambiguous heroes and heroines, a fair amount of bloodshed and oh yes a death before dishonor desperate last stand against overwhelming odds. Well if that is you (and it's definitely me) then Bernard Cornwell's The Winter King is something you probably should have read when it first appeared in 1995.

The Winter King is a reinterpretation of the Arthur legend. Much like the movie King Arthur with Clive Owen, Cornwell strips away the glamour and beauty from the mythology until only the core remains. In post-Roman fifth century Britain, a Romanized Celtic (British) war leader arises to lead resistance against the brutal Saxon invaders. Arthur attempts to build a fair society that treats both pagan and Christian equally.

But we know the Saxons, and their cousins the Angles and Jutes did succeed in invading Britain, conquering, raping and subduing (if not eliminating the Celts) and driving many of them to the far reaches of the land or overseas to Ireland. And Christianity ultimately became Britain's dominant religion. Pagans were persecuted, converted or killed. So we know that in the long run, Arthur failed. But for a brief period he may have held back the darkness. There is some historical evidence that a Celtic warlord may indeed have beaten the Saxons at Badon Hill.

Cornwell reworks the legend into his own character driven story. The story is told from the POV of a Derfel Cadarn, a former Saxon slave, who was saved from execution by Merlin and grew up culturally Celtic. Derfel became a feared and respected warrior and one of Arthur's most trusted right hand men. Nearing the end of his life he retires to a Welsh monastery presided over by a Christian Bishop who despised Arthur. But as the Welsh Queen loves the Arthur story, the monk is forced to allow the somewhat Christian Derfel to stay there. In secret and at the Queen's urging, the elderly Derfel writes down the story. The illiterate Bishop is told that Derfel is writing the Gospels in Saxon. This is almost a gender reversal of the Scheherazade story as Queen Igraine is the only thing protecting Derfel's life and story from the increasingly suspicious Bishop Sansum.

But Queen Igraine is discomfited to discover some truths behind the legends she loves (Lancelot was a handsome perfumed coward who avoided the front lines the way a vampire avoids the sun; Galahad was Lancelot's half brother and not his son; Queen Guinevere was a bit of a *****; Arthur tried so hard to be just and fair because in truth he loved war and killing more than anyone else but felt guilty about it). Derfel suspects that the Queen will alter his script to suit her own fancy.

Cornwell depicts Arthur as a more or less decent man who has to make some ugly choices in trying to unite the constantly warring British tribes against the Saxon threat and reconcile his own romantic desires with the practice of arranged marriages. Merlin is the most powerful of druids. He may or may not be able to perform magic and his political ends don't always coincide with Arthur's. In some ways the relationship between Merlin and Arthur parallels the real life relationship between Tecumseh and his brother.

Arthur is determined to defeat the Saxons and successfully protect the kingdom of Dummonia (Devon) for Mordred. He is not interested in religion. In this telling Mordred is not Arthur's son but his nephew. Mordred is the rightful King and Arthur is only the war leader until Mordred comes of age.

Merlin thinks removing Saxons is pointless unless Britain reconsecrates itself to the Old Gods. Merlin, though quite earthy and sarcastic, is extremely devout. Derfel is sworn to both Arthur and Merlin, something that causes him problems on a regular basis. Nimue, a one eyed druidess, is an occasional lover to Derfel (they grew up together) but is more devoted to Merlin.

I liked this quick moving story. Cornwell writes intense battle scenes and does a masterful job describing the British countryside. Cornwell is pretty hard on religion and magic. This book is first in a trilogy. BTW Cornwell and GRRM are evidently friends. GRRM interviewed Cornwell here.

Lilo, Cornwell is a great writer. I have read the Winter King and he has also done other books on early England, plus the HARLEQUIN series on the England France wars in the 14th century. Most famous for his SHARPE series set in the Napoleonic wars, the TV adaption starring none other than famous buck swashler Sean Bean

I've heard good things about SHARPE but not gotten into it yet. Worthwhile?

They are good Lilo but seeing as there are now 20 plus in the series they do get a little predictable. In every book Sharpe finds a new deadly French enemy, finds a new love, gets betrayed, gets wounded and then fights a battle against overwhelming odds which he and his little band always wins with no casualties

Cornwell does do historical fiction in great detail and writes a rousing battle scene. His last book was a stand alone story about the War of Independence called THE FORT. Well worth a read my friend

Just starting Shelby Foote's epic triology on the American Civil War!!! Could take a while

I know most on here will have read it, but I just re-read, "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote, its my favourite book of all time, I reckon I have read it 10 times now, I just love Capote's style and attention to detail, it really is a masterpiece.

"In Cold Blood" is, indeed, a wonderful novel. My only complaint about it is the length to which Capote went to describe a scene (way too wordy and long). Two pages to describe a cornfield is a little too much for me.

I read Bill Bryson's book "The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America". He visited the home of the Clutter family and went over to the high school. The house was not nearly as remote as it was when the family was killed, thanks to progress. He was shocked that the kids in the local high school were only vaguely aware of the book and the murders.

The Family Corleone - way, way better than the Weingartner novels. I just felt it tried a little to hard to address every question people had about the characters. Early in the book I wondered about the very articulate Luca Brasi, but that was explained later. Not in the same class as the Puzo novel, but in my opinion, nothing is.

11/22/63

Only my second Stephen King book that I've read with THE SHINING being the first. I was very excited when I began reading this and by chapter 2 it had me hooked! I was originally on vacation when I started it, but I made sure to try my best to read at least a chapter every day that I could.

I agree with some here who have said that the middle tends to drag and somethings could have been shortened/cut out. I wish more time and chapters would have focused more on JFK and Lee Harvey but the last few chapters seemed to have made up for it.

Another complaint that I'd heard and I can kind of agree with, is that this book is more of a time-travel and love story rather than trying to prevent the JFK assassination. Still, the concept was quite interesting and as I eluded to, it was interesting to see how changing the past could effect the future.

Overall I was pleased with the book. Early on when King was describing Jake Epping's surroundings, I swear I felt as if I was there with him (and I was nowhere near the 1950s/1960s). King does a FANTASTIC job at recreating the world and all of the nostalgia. I know for those readers who were alive during this time period that King's use of words seems to be spot on.

My next venture is to tackle the longest book that I would have ever read: Stephen King's IT!

Reading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

Nice and easy way to waste money.

lol

Are you board vigilante today, because you seem to be getting involved in other people's business.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K1RcKJVbHA

Holy hell

IT

Well, I finished it. The longest book I've ever read and just a tad over a month. It took some determination to accomplish. I'd be lying if I said it was an easy read. I almost gave up after the first few chapters. Overall, I prefer the mini-series to this one. I liked the way the story was presented in that one. The first part is them mostly as children whereas the second part is them as adults. The novel, it's run parallel throughout and I wasn't a big fan of that. Not to mention it got too weird at the end when they were adults taking on It again. And I felt the chapters were too long. The book's 1,138 pages long and it's only 23 chapters with 5 Interludes. At times, I had to split the chapters up and read some of it then finish it another time, which I don't like doing either. I'd rather just finish it all in one sitting but sometimes that just wasn't possible. However, I did enjoy the novel for one reason: it was more descriptive and gruesome than the mini-series since that was made for TV. Overall, I'm not sorry I read it but it wasn't as good as I was hoping. Honestly, I'm glad to be done with it now. I recently got THE STAND for my birthday, but I don't have the energy to read it anytime soon (and yes, it's longer than IT by 14 pages).

Fearless Jones was Walter Mosley's return to noir crime fiction set in post war LA. It is quite similar to his Easy Rawlins work so if you like those stories I think you will enjoy Fearless Jones. It even takes place in the same universe and the legendary Mouse is name checked. Like the Easy Rawlins stories, Mosley has split the hero into two characters. There is the quiet more analytical man, who's not quite cowardly but certainly doesn't go looking for trouble or violence and prefers to think or negotiate his way out of a tough jam. Then there's the more brash fellow who's not stupid but would rather be acting than thinking when it comes down to it, won't back down from anyone, and is no stranger to severe acts of violence.

In this book the first sort of man is Paris Minton. Minton is a relatively short man who doesn't have a lot of luck with ladies and generally keeps a low profile as much as he can. He's a go along to get along type of fellow. He runs a used bookstore, one which he maintains despite routine harassment from racist cops. He doesn't make a lot of money from his business but it's enough to pay his rent and allow him to do what he likes to do best all day, which is read and not bother or be bothered by people.

One day Minton is minding his own business when a beautiful woman runs into his store and asks him if a Reverend Grove is there. Once Minton stops drooling over her looks he explains that Grove had a church down the street but moved out a short while before. She's in despair and runs into Minton's back room. A thug comes in asking for the woman and then beats Minton like a rented mule. Once he's awake Minton runs into the woman again. Her name is Elana Love. She tells him a rather fantastic story, makes love to him, and then steals his car. Confused Minton goes back to his shop only to find out that someone burned it down. And suddenly people are shooting at him.

Minton decides that it's time to spring his buddy from the clink, one Fearless Jones, so nicknamed because he really doesn't not give a bleep who you are, if you hurt him or his there's gonna be hell to pay. Jones is a WW2 vet. He's tall, good looking, a ladies man and deadly. Only Minton knows how far Jones is willing to go to help his friends. And Minton needs help. This all happens in the first 20-30 pages. It's a breakneck speed read that kicks off an initially confusing but ultimately rewarding tale of revenge, international intrigue, organized crime, and black life in mid 20th century Los Angeles. Mosley had a Jewish mother and his depiction of Jewish home life and food are quite entertaining and interesting. Jones tells the over cautious Minton that although Minton is not what Jones would describe as full-bad ,that description being reserved for Jones himself and two or three other men, including the dreaded Mouse, Minton is nonetheless a hero because he tries to do the right thing despite his fears whereas Jones simply isn't afraid of anything on God's green earth.

This was a good read but quite complex. You might have to occasionally go back a few chapters and see who a seemingly small character really was. I liked that though. It will stretch your reading comprehension in a good way.

SLASH

My first time reading any subject matter dealing with Guns N' Roses. The book is an easy enough read with some pretty funny stories to go along with it. Luckily for the reader, Slash doesn't spend too much time on his childhood and his younger years. Most of the book is devoted to his GNR years, however there aren't many chapters. The book lists at 458 pages with only 13 chapters. In addition to GNR, Slash seems to go in depth at times about his many, many, many bouts with alcoholism and drug addiction. What I found most interesting though were his thoughts on Axl and the band in general and what happened behind the scenes from his point of a view. I would recommend this for any Slash or Guns N' Roses fan. Next up is, IT'S SO EASY: AND OTHER LIES by Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan.