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May 2008: You can't go for a walk with a bowl of fish Sean Sammis
I will be announcing chances to win books over the next few weeks. The current giveaways include: Thursday Thirteen: Current Post>>>
"Circle" takes place in Miami during the recent real estate boom and it is written with a similar mixture of cynicism, humor and environmentalism as Carl Hiaasen's books are. Billy Black, the protagonist, is the grandson of a Seminole shaman who decides to use the apparent haunting at a local construction site to his advantage. The way in which Black balances his heritage with his own desire for a piece of the real estate boom pie is what reminds me most positively of Hiaasen. As Tucker explains in his interview, "The Circle" is based on actual events and he wrote a lengthy back story for Billy Black before finally settling on the twenty pages that make up this story. Having so enjoyed this short glimpse at Billy Black's life, I'd love to see George Tucker expand things either as a series of short stories, or as a novella or perhaps a full fledged novel. To learn more, please read the interview on the FSF blog. Read the reviews at The Fix, The Worm Seat. fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | george tucker
Peal away the interesting history and what is left is a rather dull and obvious Agatha Christie type mystery mixed together with a Victorian melodrama. Louisa Barrett, the head mistress of a local girls school finds herself in the middle of a series of murders related to the new power station at Niagara Falls. As the father of her god daughter is the owner, she feels compelled to solve the mystery to protect the people she loves. If the mystery wasn't enough, there is also Barrett's own personal tragedy and the truth behind her fondness for her God daughter who appears to be clinically depressed after the death of her mother. The relationship between Louisa Barrett and Grace is where I started to lose interest in the book. I know I was supposed to feel empathy for Louisa for all the heartbreak she has suffered but I never really connected with her. Her personal story is buried under all the historical descriptions and the clues for the mystery to such a degree that it doesn't make sense for the novel to end on her personal tragedy because it feels like an after thought. Read the reviews at Random Reflections, BookFix, Miss Keeks. I read this book for the Themed Challenge. books | mystery | fiction | lauren belfer
With two young children of my own I've been spending a lot of my reading time reading my old favorites to them. In turn I blog about the books I read. Rather than write a lengthy post about books I remember reading, I'm going to list the books I have reviewed on my blog. All work © 1997-2008 Sarah Sammis |
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