Sixkill by Robert Parker

This was actually the first Spenser novel I have read, and the first I have read by Parker. It is quickly easy to understand how Parker helped define the modern detective novel. I enjoyed the story, and the characters, although it was a bit disconcerting to have no physical description of most of them. The prose is tight and dialogue driven, and scenes well set. I like a protagonist who can laugh at himself. The relationship between Sixkill and Spenser lent a nice three-dimensionality to the story, and left me wanting to see their future together. The characters are real, even if they aren't always nice. I didn't like the the foul language, or the casual indifference to violence. For fans of Spenser, however, I'm sure it won't disappoint.

Reviewer: Lorien Forrest

Lion of Liberty by Harlow G. Unger

Harlow G. Unger's new book, Lion of Liberty: Patrick Henry and the Call to a New Nation, De Capo 2010, is a very readable biography of one of our founding fathers.  It covers his early life in frontier Virginia and gives amusing accounts of his very successful law career wherein he proved himself actor, showman and orator. Once in politics he all but owned the Virginia legislature that most often did his bidding.  It was here that he gave his famous"Liberty or Death" speech (included in an appendix).  He opposed slavery from the start as both non-economical and anti-moral, though he later owned slaves.  He was a fanatic about individual liberties and a great friend of the Baptist who suffered under the church tax for the Church of England. He resented taxes but thought they were sometimes necessary but had to be levied only with the consent of the taxed.  He was a major factor in the start and conduct of the Revolutionary War which is described in interesting detail.  At the end of the war he was suspicious of a strong federal type government and fought for states rights even to the point of opposing the 1787 Constitutional Convention which drew up the sacred document.  His opposition is described as forcing James Madison to introduce the Bill of Rights.  While for states rights, he was no friend of nullification by the states of federal (Congressional) laws and supported his close friend George Washington as President. Some wags note that he was the real "father of his country" because every time he returned home from an extended trip he and his wife would create a new Henry.  He had ten surviving sons and almost as many daughters, eighteen children altogether.  Together they provided him with seventy-seven grandchildren so more Americans are today descended from Patrick Henry than any other "founding father."  Were he alive today he would probably be a leader of the "Tea Party" organization and undoubtedly THE leader, with his emphasis on liberty and his suspicion of strong government.  Well worth the read for anyone interested in American history.

Reviewer: Mel Steely

Review of _Scorpions_ by Noah Feldman

Noah Feldman's Scorpions is the rare book that appeals to both those interested in legal history (Supreme Court) and History (New Deal years). Feldman looks at what he calls the FDR Court, built around Justices Felix Frankfurter, Robert Jackson, William Douglas and Hugo Black.  Each was viewed as a liberal during the 1930's but followed different paths to support that view. Frankfurter, a judicial restraint advocate ends up being viewed as a conservative. Black is an originalist but is viewed as a judicial activist, along with Douglas who advocated a "living constitution."  Jackson, a pragmatist, along with Douglas, focused not only on the law but on the outcome.  Feldman's title aludes to the falling out these FDR men had with each other not only from legal differences but also their own political aspirations.  The book is filled with interesting personal observations.  One justice dies in his lover's apartment (not Douglas), another fights to overcome the stigma of having belonged to the KKK and one noted to a law clerk after getting off the train as he returned for the funeral of a Chief Justice, "I've finally found proof of a merciful God," refering to the death of the Chief Justice.  No time would be better spent by a lawyer then devoting a couple of hours to this very interesting book detailing the rise of the liberal court (It ends with the aftermath of the Brown vs Board of Education case)  and a study of each Justices' role in that rise.  Those interested in American history will also find it intersting and absorbing.

Thank you to Melvin Steely for his review.

Review of _Three Seconds_ by Roslund and Hellstrom

Three Seconds by the Swedish writers Roslund and Hellstrom, (Silver Oak, 2011) is the winner of the "Best Swedish Crime Novel" award and now comes to the U.S. in English translation.  It is the story of how the police use confidential informants (criminals) in their attempts to snare other criminals in the net.  A thief and sometimes drug dealer is recruited by the Swedish police to infiltrate an international crime gang to stop its attempt to take over the movement of drugs in Swedish prisons. The story centers on two people, the CI Hoffman, who has infiltrated the Polish mafia and the local police detective, Grens, who is on his trail as a witness to a murder.  The problem centers around the attempts by higher authorities to deflect Grens before he finds Hoffman and ruins their plan to stop the mafia.  Plot twists abound in this unrelievedly dark and stark novel and although it moves at a plodding pace. it is well worth the read for those who enjoy police and crime novels.

Thank you to Melvin Steely for his review.

Review of _Land of Painted Caves_ by Auel

This is the most recent installment of the well known Clan of the Cave Bears series. I have listened to most of them on CD in my car. They are all quite lengthy works, and this new one is no exception. Ayla, Jondalar, and their child Jonayla and the animals are living with the Zelandonii, and Ayla is an acolyte to the First Zelandoni. Her training and the ramifications for their family are a focus of much of the book, which I found fascinating. The style of writing here is the same as the previous novels. I enjoyed seeing things from Jondalar's perspective occasionally, although Ayla is the primary focus. I liked the background and information about the people and environment of the time, but felt that it was sometimes a bit lengthy (as in the innumerable descriptions of caves). The book works okay as a stand-alone novel, but if you have no knowledge of characters and connections from the previous novels, you might be confused at times. Overall, the book was an interesting read. If you have a problem with graphic sex scenes, you need to watch out. There are only a few though. I find Auel's writing to be curiously suited to the prehistoric nature of her subject, with an almost halting speech style and naive feel to it. I enjoyed reading the book but was a little relieved to be finished with a nice resolution to many plot lines, simply because of the length of the novel. Those who liked her earlier works, even if disappointed in the last few, will probably greatly enjoy this one.

Thank you to Lorien Forrest for her review.

Review of _In the Garden of the Beast_ by Erik Larson.

Erik Larson's, In the Garden of the Beast (Crown Pub., 2011) is a somewhat interesting story of the US Ambassador William Dodd family while they served in Hitler's Germany in the first years of the Nazi dictatorship.  Dodd, an history professor at the University of Chicago, was appointed by FDR as fifth choice and was not entirely suited for this posting.  His daughter, Martha, who went along for the adventure and to get away from a husband, provides romantic interest via her liaisons with American literary figures, the head of the Gestapo and a Soviet spy who serves as a scout to bring her into the Soviet spy network. The book gives interesting observations of the times and people involved, the workings of the US State Department, and is written in the narrative nonfictional style which nevertheless offers copious footnotes from documents of the period.

Thank you to Melvin Steely for his review.