Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Timeless Mexico

Posted on October 11, 2016 by smellincoffee

Timeless Mexico436 pages© 1944 Hudson Strode My knowledge of Mexico consists of a few events with a great many spaces in between: Aztecs, Cortes, independence, war with Texas, Pancho Villa, the PRI, and cartel warfare encapsulate my paltry knowledge. I … Continue reading →

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This week: MURDER! and leftovers

Posted on October 11, 2016 by smellincoffee

From The Montgomery Advertiser.  Last night I enjoyed the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s final performance of “The Mousetrap”, based off of Christie’s “Three Blind Mice”.  (The play is still running in the west end, of course, sixty four years and counting…) … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Posted on October 8, 2016 by smellincoffee

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child© 2016 Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling, and John Tiffany320 pages Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the book young adults who grew up with Harry have been waiting for….though it’s not quite what they … Continue reading →

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Night of the Living Trekkies

Posted on October 8, 2016 by smellincoffee

Night of the Living Trekkies© 2010 Kevin David Anderson256 pages Braaaains and braaaains, what is braaaaiiins?! Oh, reader, good times ahead.  When Jim Pike returned from Afghanistan as a psychologically scarred veteran, the last thing he wanted was responsibility. That’s … Continue reading →

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Azazel

Posted on October 5, 2016 by smellincoffee

Azazel: Fantasy Stories© 1988 Isaac Asimov221 pages George isn’t an ordinary fellow, for in times past his ancestors possessed the arcane knowledge required to summon creatures — demons? aliens? — from another plane of existence.  The best George can manage … Continue reading →

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Los Alamos

Posted on September 30, 2016 by smellincoffee

Los Alamos© 1997 Joseph Kanon416 pages A man lies dead in Santa Fe, but the answer to ‘whodunit’ lies in the hills above the city — or on The Hill, the site of the Los Alamos Laboratory, where something very … Continue reading →

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The Pawnbroker

Posted on September 29, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Pawnbroker© 2014 David Thurlo, Aimée Thurlo304 pages Charlie and Gordo are two Afghan War vets returning to civilian life, but as it turns out, parts of Albuquerque aren’t that much safer than Kabul. When their friend and attorney is gravely … Continue reading →

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Fire on the Mountain

Posted on September 26, 2016 by smellincoffee

Fire on the Mountain© 1961 Edward Abbey211 pages Beneath the shadow of Thieves’ Mountain, Billy Starr has arrived to spend a summer with his grandfather. He has arrived in the middle of a six-month siege, however, one of increasing intensity. … Continue reading →

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Loose Ends

Posted on September 25, 2016 by smellincoffee

Roswell: Loose Ends© 2001 Greg Cox288 pages The last person Liz expected to bump into in the depths of Carlsbad Caverns was the man who nearly killed her — would have killed her, had her lab-buddy/secret admirer not been nearby … Continue reading →

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Send More Idiots

Posted on September 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Send More Idiots© 2014  Tony Perez-Giese324 pages “What do you think of El Paso?” “It’s an armpit.” “I live here, and I don’t even take offense to that.” Jon Lennox’ kid brother just disappeared in Mexico. He didn’t run off  with a … Continue reading →

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