Greg Gutfeld’s The Joy of Hate

We are treated to social commentary, by a very interesting man. Mr. Gutfeld hosts a couple of shows on the Fox News Network though I’ve never really watched them.

Here he challenges the ideas that seem to be easy targets for the liberal groups. Things such as tolerance, climate change, and the right to pick on smokers or fat people. Very little is given a free pass.

This is a book good for showing what a New York Libertarian thinks like, as well as asking certain reporters to have equal weights for certain situations. Simple things such as if you wouldn’t say it about a member of your party, don’t say it about a member of the other party.

I must admit to wanting to be there when Mr. Gutfeld lit a cigarette just to get a drink order taken. That would’ve been fun.

I enjoy commentaries because they show a point-of-view that I haven’t considered before. Besides, commentaries shouldn’t be for confirmation, but to make you think. The only type of commentary I refuse to buy are the books that declare there is no God, though I’ve read them. That’s one subject that I’ve made my mind up on, already.

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Dean Koontz’s Whispers

Hilary Thomas seems to be making her mark on the world. Too bad some one else has set a mark on her, a mark for death.

This book was a bit hard to read for my personal tastes. There was more focus on sex than in any Dean Koontz book that I’ve read before. It was a bit of a shock.

It was also the first time I felt slightly sorry for the human antagonist of Mr. Koontz’s work. Bruno had a pretty sad life. But I didn’t feel sorry enough for him to wish for his escape.

My favorite part of the book was when Hilary thought her story wasn’t believed by her boyfriend. She was looking for an excuse to run, and he called her on it. The other favorites had to deal with Joshua Rhinehart. For and old grouch, he was pretty cool.

A most excellent read.

Dean Koontz’s Shattered

Alex Doyle has it all: a beautiful wife, a new job, and a nice car. All he has to do, is drive his eleven-year-old brother-in-law to their new home. Too bad the driver of the Auto-mover seems to have it out for them.

This was a fast book. Colin and Doyle had a strong relationship for how short of a time that they’ve known each other. George, the driver of the van, is someone you’d feel sorry for until you find out he had a chance to fix his situation and chose to ignore it. The story did seem somewhat dated, by how Alex was treated over his haircut. But with the time period it was set, it fit well enough.

My favorite part in the book was when Alex realized that being a coward is fine unless you have people depending on you. That, and the arguments between the lab-technician and Ernie Hoval over whether a murder was the work of a nut or a political nut.

I rather enjoyed the book.

International Thriller Writers’ Face Off

Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy! I’ve been waiting for this book ever since I’ve heard of it, and I have just finished it. This was great. I got to meet sever new investigators, and caught up with a few familiar faces.

Let’s start off the list with “Red Eye.” Harry Bosch meets Patrick Kenzie, and all for a child. This was a great story. By the way, does anyone know how to pronounce Harry’s name?

Next we have “In the Nick of Time.” A deathbed confession made to John Rebus sends him to Roy Grace’s end of the woods. This one was a disappointment. It didn’t strike me as justice being done at all.

Of course this leads us to, what I hoped would be, the cream of the crop: “Gaslighted.” It’s supposed to be Pendergast, and Pendergast is known for good stories. Mr. Preston and Mr. Child really shouldn’t write with R. L. Stine again. Mr. Stine isn’t known for the same style of story. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very good.

“The Laughing Buddha” was an interesting tale. One Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren goes head-to-head with one Dr. Malachai Samuels, psychiatrist specializing in past life regression. The story was okay, an antiques dealer was murdered. The past life regression is what blew it for me.

This leads us to “Surfing the Panther.” It’s a lawyer story. Defense Attorney Paul Madriani is visiting New York City for a Bar Association exercise. His opponent is District Attorney Alex Cooper. After the exercise, they meet someone who has information that could prove Mr. Madriani’s actual client innocent. It was an alright story.

“Rhymes With Prey” held the two major detectives who hunt serial killers down. Lucas Davenport meeting Lincoln Rhymes over a cruel monster that likes to be part of the S&M culture. As this is the longest story in the collection, as well as the way the story was told, I’m going to withhold judgment on this one for now.

“Infernal Night” was a fun one. Repairman Jack is hired to steal something from a family crypt. Michael Quinn is hired to protect it. I liked this one a lot.

And another great story. “Pit Stop” takes Glen Garber on a wild ride when a psycho knocks Agent Sean Reilly out and steals Mr. Garber’s car with his daughter in it. Such a resourceful child.

Of course “Silent Hunt” struck my fancy as well. Wyatt Hunt and Joe Trona both head out on the same fishing trip, then get called to action.

“The Devil’s Bones” brought us Cotton Malone and Gray Pierce in an effort to stop a terrorist’s auction.

But one of my favorite stories was when Nick Heller and Jack Reacher met in “Good and Valuable Consideration.”

It would’ve reached classic heights had the Pendergast story reached it’s usual flair. I love Pendergast, but “Gaslighted” was such a disappointment. It was a great book regardless.

Dean Koontz’s Your Heart Belongs to Me

Poor Ryan. First he finds out he has a bad heart. Then a year after the transplant, someone wants his new one.

Oh Mr. Koontz. What happened. When did you start letting Anna do your job? I kept looking for drool as I read. Or maybe, someone else stole your identity. That was not your voice, unless you have a split personality. Better luck on the next one.

All kidding aside, I wouldn’t have believed that this was written by Mr. Koontz had I not seen his name on the cover. After reading 40 of his novels, I have never ran across such a blatant agenda being pushed through before. This wasn’t a good example of Mr. Koontz’s masterful writing. I would advise you to miss out on this one.

Dave Stanton’s Stateline

I received this book, courtesy of Mr. Stanton for the purpose of a fair and honest review.

Dan Reno, like Reynolds, has been invited to his ex-wife’s niece’s wedding. Not that there’s much of a wedding. It seems you need a groom, a vital part of those things. The groom’s father hires Dan for a windfall paycheck if he delivers the killer before the police solve the crime. With the help of his best friend, Cody, and Mr. Bascom’s assistant, Edward, Dan sets off to prevent that one from happening.

This book flowed rather smoothly. While there were a few flashbacks, Mr. Stanton used dreams or long lonely drives to parcel them out. At one point you almost are led to feel sorry for one of the crooks, though that doesn’t last long. Cody also seems to add the humor that the novel needed to move the story along. And to lighten it up for the reader.

My favorite scene was a toss up between when Dan met Beverly, and when Dan and Cody kept Dan’s promise with Edward. I am leaning towards Dan and Beverly though(heavily).

It was a great mystery. One that’s not as dark as some I have read. I’ll have to find me another Reno novel or two. I think I’m hooked.

Caroline Fairless’ The Dance of the Caterpillars: In a Time Before Texting

I received this book courtesy of Mrs. Fairless for the purpose of a fair and honest review.

Meet Fisher!. He’s a little boy with a great imagination. He hears everything from the grass, moon, sun, wind, to the bugs. Too bad his stuff is disappearing.

This was a cute and fun read, as long as you ignore some of the ecological themes in it. After all, you let the grass grow too long and you make a nice little hiding spot for snakes. Fisher was an interesting guy. And Mrs. Fairless did a great job getting the illustrator she did. The illustrations were beautiful.

It was a fun book I enjoyed it.

Scott M. Sullivan’s Impetus

I received this book courtesy of Mr. Sullivan for the purpose of a fair and honest review.

Mr. Sullivan has accomplished an amazing feat. He has managed to write a post-apocalyptic story without the gratuitous violence and sex. Not only did he avoid the common pitfalls of post-apocalyptic novels, he wrote “Impetus” while including more hope than I’ve ever seen in these books.

For the most part we follow Mick in this story. After Colossus–a meteorite–fell, the world was left desolated. Now a virus wants to finish off what is let of the human race. Mick and his herd are just trying to make the best of what life they have left.

My favorite scene was the ending chapter. It was the best part of the whole situation.

This book fit all of my prerequisites for the perfect novel.

Joel Bresler’s Sunderwynde Revisited, Again

I received this book courtesy of Mr. Bresler, for the purpose a fair and honest review.

Ed Stone seems to have a problem. He has run around the reservations in order to come to an understanding of what has happened to the last area he was studying. Of course, sooner or later we must all go home.

This book was fun. Ed “Flint” Stone was so serious that you couldn’t help but to laugh at the situations he got himself in. If it isn’t what he is up to, it’s Fellowes’ non-committal attitude.

My favorite scenes would take too long to post, and would ruin the book if I couldn’t cut them down to two. Lucky for you, I’ve been able to do this. Scene number one was when Stone’s ride into Texas decided to “borrow” a truck. Scene number two was when Stone was able to convince a crowd to surround the “WTFO” (note the acronym) van.

All-in-all, this was a great book, and I had fun reading it.

Dean Koontz’s Innocence

What would you do if you saw someone who seemed to represent your worst nightmares? This is the question posed to all of those Addison meets. There’s just something about him brings that brings out violent impulses in others. There are precious few that don’t attempt harm on him, one the owner of a food bank/thrift shop, the other is a girl, Gwenyth, who has embraced an odd gothic style.

This book is a rather strong story. The only difficulty in this book was the disjointed chronology. I would be following Addison and Gwenyth, the next moment, we would see a time when Addison was younger. It was quite aggravating. On the other hand, it reminded me of someone telling a story, and taking a side trip to explain more of the story.

If I was to choose my favorite parts in this book, they would be as follows. When Addison’s mother finds out that the mid-wife was plotting to murder the infant, and pulls a handgun on the woman. Watching Gwenyth show Addison a little girl that she has been protecting, and to ask him to care for the child if she could not. And when Addison finally meets the Friend that was allowing him and his Father to get food and clothing from the food bank/thrift shop.

I took that there was no way humanity could destroy all of the Earth. God just will not allow it.