Well, it's almost the end of February and I'm happy to see it go. It's been a tough one considering that my car was buried by the plows during the first storm and I've had to rely on local stores and family. But, they say this weekend should be warm and I'm hoping to dig out tomorrow. And Spring is just around the corner. And St. Patrick's Day, too, so there's hope in sight.
Let me tell you about what I've been reading to occupy myself.
Series
Lost on Venus - Edgar Rice Burroughs ($2.75/$3.95, 224 pages, Paperback)
This is the second in the Carson Napier series and picks up where the first one left off. He's been captured by the enemy and must escape in order to go after the Princess, Duare. This is the literary equivalent to an Indiana Jones movie - with the hero bouncing from one predicament to another - including the River of Death and a mad scientist and his kingdom of zombies. This is a classic Burroughs' book but there's an element of humor and it's a bit more political then I've seen from him. I enjoyed it.
Miscellaneous
The Barbed-wire Kiss - Wallace Stroby ($6.99/$.50, copyright 2003, 334 pages, Paperback)
What drew me to this book is that it's set along the Jersey shore, specifically southern Monmouth and Ocean counties. But this is not the "Jersey Shore" that was seen on TV. This is the shore of boarded up buildings and blue collar workers in places like Asbury Park that rubs up against the white collar, new money set of Colt's Neck. It's about ex-cop Harry Rane who tries to help his boyhood friend Bobby out of a jam. Bobby's problem is a drug deal gone bad, and now he owes a local mobster money. Stroby keeps things moving along briskly and throws in lost loves, mafia connections, double crosses, violence, and revenge that make for a satisfying read. I enjoyed it.
Spade & Archer - Joe Gores ($15.00/$0, copyright 2009, 337 pages, Trade Paperback)
I'm not a fan of a writer signing on to do a sequel to a deceased writer's classic work like what was done to "Gone With The Wind". I'm also not a fan of continuing with a popular character even after the creating writer has passed on (James Bond, for example). This is a slightly different situation. Gores has created a prequel to Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" and gives some interesting background to Sam Spade and his detective agency. Gores actually wrote a fictionalized book about Hammett and his career so I was willing to give this a shot. What we have is a series of cases that get more and more complicated as Spade builds his reputation. The characters ring true (even if, like me, you envision Bogart as Spade) and there's a master criminal involved that makes things even more interesting. I enjoyed it.
I was watching the weather while writing this. There's another cold front coming in on Monday with, maybe, more snow by Wednesday. I'm really tired of this. But it's the weather and there's nothing we can do about it except carry on and ...
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