Chapter Twenty-four

It's October, and Halloween is just a week away. The leaves are turning, the temperatures are lower, and we'll be "falling back" on the clock pretty soon. This month, I've got a few interesting items for you.

Non-fiction

The Killer Book of True Crime - Tom and Michael Philbin ($14.95/$1.00, 327 pages, copyright 2007, Trade Paperback)
This caught my attention because I've been reading a lot of crime fiction lately. It's broken down into chapters that deal with such diverse topics as Robbery, Organized Crimes, and Mass Murder. The authors also try to lighten things up by adding Q and A's, jargon explanations, and some "Crimes can be funny" sections. I enjoyed it.

Imaginary People, a Who's Who of Modern Fictional Characters - David Pringle ($24.95/$.25, 509 pages, copyright 1987, Hard Cover)
Now who wouldn't want to read through/own something like this? It's a World Almanac Book, and lists characters from books, television and movies in alphabetical order - from Abbott, Judy to Zuckerman, Nathan. I thought it was fascinating, following the cross-referenced characters and their relationships. The only problem with this is that it was compiled in 1987, and obviously does not include all of the modern-day cultural icons of the last 24 years. I enjoyed it.

Series

Ghosts - Ed McBain ($5.99/$.50, 213 pages, copyright 1980, Paperback)
This is subtitled "A Novel of the 87th Precinct", one of that series of police procedurals that McBain (real name Evan Hunter) is most famous for. I haven't read one of these in a long time, but it's easy to fall right in step with, in this case, Detective Steve Carella as he investigates a double murder that may or may not involve ghosts. And, McBain throws in several other members of the detective squad, and what they're working on to boot. I enjoyed it.

Miscellaneous

Don Camillo's Dilemma Giovanni Guareschi ($.50/$.50, 256 pages, copyright 1954, Paperback)
Here's a curious little volume. It's not really a novel, but a series of short stories that pit the Catholic priest of a small town in Italy against it's Communist mayor in a series of amusing little situations. And they all fit snugly together as if they were written this way. I remember reading some of Guareschi's stories as a young, Catholic school boy and enjoying these games of wit. They're kind of dated now, but I still found it enjoyable.

Masques - Bill Pronzini ($4.99/$.25, 269 pages, copyright 1981, Paperback)
Yes, I know, it's Halloween time and this book deals with Mardi Gras but the chills it generates make it acceptable reading for this time of year. The set up is simple - a man vacationing in New Orleans gets a mysterious phone call from someone demanding something that the man doesn't have. Then you add in the mania of Mardi Gras, and mix it with voodoo, and drugs and a couple of surprises at the end that I didn't see coming. I enjoyed it.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out something that I have found interesting. We refer to things as either "true" or "untrue", "real" or "unreal". So, it would appear that the side that is of lesser importance is referred to with the negative prefix (i.e., non-, mal-, mis-, un-,  etc.). I find it interesting that when it comes to writing, we have Fiction or Non-fiction. I'm just saying. Just a reminder that next month will be the Second Anniversary issue of this blog. Stay tuned and..

Keep Reading!