“Strata” by Terry Pratchett

Strata Terry Pratchett Before there was the Discworld, there was “Strata,” the story of a company that builds planets. Including, it turns out, a strange flat planet out in the middle of nowhere… It’s a bit hard to review “Strata” in a meaningful way, because it both prefigures the Discworld novels, and stands in inevitable […]

“Under Orders” by Dick Francis

Under Orders Dick Francis As one of the last acts in the twilight of his career, Dick Francis took his favorite character, Sid Halley, out for one last race. Things have changed a bit since Sid Halley first appeared, back in 1965. As part of the time warp I mentioned in one of my earlier […]

“Odds Against” by Dick Francis

Odds Against Dick Francis In “Odds Against,” Francis’s fourth fictional outing, he takes a decidedly darker turn. Although not lacking in evil villains, both “Dead Cert” and “For Kicks” had a strong aspect of glamorous wish fulfillment, and so, in its own way, did “Nerve.” Alan, Rob, and Daniel all had tough times, sure, but […]

“For Kicks” by Dick Francis

For Kicks Dick Francis In “For Kicks” Francis continues to demonstrate the mastery of the horse-thriller genre he established in “Nerve.” Even more so than “Nerve,” “For Kicks” is slightly bizarre, unrealistic wish fulfillment, but that in no way diminishes its charm–in fact, it is one of the key factors in its charm. Who doesn’t […]

“Hadji Murad” by Leo Tolstoy

Hadji Murad Delphi Classics edition, with portrait of Tolstoy Decades after his time in the Caucasus, and years after he had turned his back on writing the kind of fashionable, worldly novels that had propelled him to fame, Tolstoy took up his fiction-writing pen again in order to create “Hadji Murad,” often considered to be […]

“Sevastopol Sketches” by Leo Tolstoy

Sevastopol Sketches Leo Tolstoy Riding on the success of “Childhood,” his first work, burning with patriotism and thirsting for adventure, the young Leo Tolstoy, ardent army officer, requested a transfer to Sevastopol during the Crimean War. His presence there did not win the war for the Russians. But it did launch Tolstoy’s career, provide him […]

“The Ghosts of Galway” by Ken Bruen

The Ghosts of Galway Ken Bruen “A failed suicide is a sad, sad *****” So begins “The Ghosts of Galway,” dropping the reader right into the action, as Jack Taylor, former Garda member and failed suicide, ends up, not kinder or wiser, but as a security guard, which he calls “Suicide by boredom.” Only things […]

“Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance” by Ruth Emmie Lang

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance Ruth Emmie Lang Oh goodness! you say. How could a book about a boy raised by wolves be anything other than cheesy? I mean, after “The Jungle Book” and “Julie of the Wolves,” it’s all kind of downhill, isn’t it? Well, I am pleased to say that “Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstances” […]

“Nerve” by Dick Francis

Nerve Dick Francis “Art Mathews shot himself, loudly and messily, in the center of the parade ring at Dunstable races.” Thus begins “Nerve,” and thus begins Dick Francis’s career as one of the leading crime writers of the 20th century. Although “Nerve” was his second novel, it was the one in which he got the […]

“The Watchers” Boxed Set by Ellison Blackburn

The Watchers Ellison Blackburn “The Watchers” series is a smart, unique pair of books about an archeologist, Mallory Jacks, who discovers a very unusual set of remains on a dig in England. Is it a hoax–or are our legends real? As I said about Mallory in my review of the first book, “If There Be […]