I was going to hold off on this posting for another day or two, until I finished the book I am reading right now. Then it dawned on me that I could tie some of this month's books into last months posting AND tie all of this month's books in together also. Pretty cool, but you have to pay attention.
Series
The Hunt Club - John Lescroart ($9.99/$.50, copyright 2006, 512 pages, paperback)
Lescroart is the author of the Dismas Hardy series of mysteries, and this is the first in a new series for him. He, however, hedges his bet by using characters from the Hardy series and even brings in Hardy himself a time or two. The main character, Wyatt Hunt, is a private investigator. Here he's involved in a murder and a missing persons case. The cases are interesting with a couple of good red herrings, but I feel like I've seen the character before in series' by Harlan Coben and Robert Tanenbaum.It was interesting.
Miscellaneous
Hardcase - Dan Simmons ($6.99/$.50, copyright 2001, 277 pages, paperback)
The "hardcase" in question is a former private investigator named Joe Kurtz who did something that got him prison time. He's out, and he's trying to get back on his feet and he's tied up with the mob, a crooked cop, psycho murderers, and smuggling. Through it all he is judge, jury, and executioner - a throwback to the Mike Hammer days. It was OK.
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman ($6.99/$.25, copyright 1974, 254 pages, paperback)
This is one of those humans-versus-aliens war stories where the actual fight scenes are limited. Instead, the focus is on a particular human, William Mandella, and his experiences - particularly back on earth. The catch is that the spaceships that carry Mandella and crew to and from battles use Black Hole-like portals so that what they experience as weeks and months actually adds up to years and centuries. Some of the future is jarring, yet Haldeman doesn't spend enough time on the civilian side to make it really interesting. It was OK.
Quantum Leap: Prelude - Ashley McConnell ($4.99/$.50, copyright 1994, 247 pages, paperback)
That's right, Quantum Leap, as in the TV series. I wasn't a faithful fan of the show, but I did see enough of the reruns to appreciate it. Here are Sam and Al before that first leap, undergoing what led up to it. In fact, the book ends with Sam's taking that first one. The interaction between the 2 main characters is great - I could see Bakula and Stockwell saying the words - but I didn't relate to the other characters, and I felt like there was no real resolution to the situation created in the book. It was interesting.
Tie-ins
Did you figure them out? Well, last month I mentioned what I called the Spencer Effect - where the hero has a side-kick who does the dirty work. Simmon's book goes back to when the pulps were being published and the main character did whatever he had to do. (I know, this one is a reach.)
AND, both the Haldeman and McConnell books deal with Time Travel - in one aspect or another. These tie in beautifully with the Time Travel anthology I mentioned last time around.
Not too bad, but how to tie this month's selections together? Check out the next category.
Great Books
The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe - ($16.00/$1.00, 1975 edition, 1026 pages, Trade Paperback)
OK, class, have you figured it out? Well, the first two selections this month deal with Private detectives. Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is considered to be the first detective story. The next two selections deal with Time Travel, and Poe's " Three Sundays in a Week" was actually included in the afore-mentioned Time Travel anthology. TADA! Seriously, I obviously did not read every story or poem in this book, but I did enjoy several of the classics. A collection like this is meant to be dipped into from time to time, and savored. Perhaps on "..a midnight dreary..". I enjoyed it.
Keep reading.
