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John Leach
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1860
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| Posted: 03 September 2013 at 8:24am | IP Logged | 1
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Just finished THE ANDROID'S DREAM by John Scalzi, a real page-turner, enjoyed it a great deal. I'll be starting Jack Handy's THE STENCH OF HONOLULU next.
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Andrew Hess
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 9846
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| Posted: 08 September 2013 at 9:08pm | IP Logged | 2
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"The Cutie" by Donald Westlake, read by Stephen Thorne
A woman is killed, a junkie is set up, and the "good right hand" of the local crime boss has to find the true killer before things get out of control.
Great pulp thriller, read expertly by Thorne, and due to Westlake's masterful writing the story has added layers, as the main character not only has to work thru the mystery his boss has put him on, but also how being a paid killer might make for a rough time in the relationship with his new girlfriend, the first he's truly loved.
HowEVER, after the true killer has been unmasked, and everything cleaned up, and people killed or sent off or whatever, and the main character has maybe figured out this relationship with his girlfriend, in literally the very last minute of the CD, it starts to skip, fatally: I dust it off, i carefully rub it clean, but nothing works. Not even any two words go together. I can't figure out what happens, and the way it is going right up until that moment, it's really building up at the end. So I had to get the book itself from the library, and what was left wasn't even a full page, maybe just 3 paragraphs. But it's a doozy of an ending, all the way around.
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Andrew Hess
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 9846
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| Posted: 11 September 2013 at 9:36pm | IP Logged | 3
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"The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith (nee JK Rowling)
Down and out private detective Cormoran Strike is hired by the brother of an ultra-famous model to prove she was murdered and didn't commit suicide.
Hmmm, that sounds rather bland, but the book is layered, has some interesting twists, and great interplay between the characters, especially Strike and his newly almost hired temporary secretary.
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Jodi Moisan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 February 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 6832
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| Posted: 12 September 2013 at 6:19am | IP Logged | 4
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Just finished and LOVED American Phoenix by John Hampton Cook.
"In American Phoenix, John Quincy and Louisa must form an alliance with the czar of Russia to end the War of 1812 and secure American independence once and for all. In many ways this Adams and his Eve's banishment becomes the nation's salvation. Their Russian destination changes US destiny."
Starting Founding Rivals by Chris DeRose
Founding Rivals explores the rivalry between two of our founding fathers—James Madison and James Monroe—and explains how the largely ignored 1789 congressional election between these two future presidents forever altered their friendship and the trajectory of American history.
I linked amazon to get an idea what it is about, but support your local bookstore!
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Matt Reed
Byrne Robotics Security
Robotmod
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 36019
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| Posted: 12 September 2013 at 7:09am | IP Logged | 5
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Based on a recommendation in the thread about book series to get into, I picked up RULES OF PREY by John Sanford on the cheap at a used bookstore. What intrigued me about it beyond it being a thriller is that the series is set in Minneapolis. Since I grew up there, I'm always game for books set in my hometown. So far I'm 70 pages in. Took awhile to get into it, but I can see it picking up steam. What I'm really enjoying about it is that it has actual chapters. By that I mean it was published in 1989 well before the James Patterson style of thriller came into vogue. His books are written for people with attention deficit disorder as the chapters are literally three pages long, some even a page and a half! I've often thought it makes some people feel good, like "I read 15 chapters tonight! My book has 85 chapters!" For me, I found that the constant changing of chapters didn't allow for much character work at all and so I ultimately stopped reading Patterson and those that write like him nearly a decade a go.
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DW Zomberg
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 June 2012
Posts: 444
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| Posted: 12 September 2013 at 7:22am | IP Logged | 6
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Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, by Stern and Mignola. I've waited years for this thing to come back into print so I can read it--and it didn't disappoint. And last night I started The Fame Thief by Tim Hallinan, the third book in the Junior Bender series. Hollywood in the '40s and '50s, the mob, Las Vegas...I'm there.
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Ronald Joseph
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 April 2011
Location: United States
Posts: 1784
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| Posted: 12 September 2013 at 7:41am | IP Logged | 7
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Fool Moon, Book Two of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. Werewolves and wizards. Loving it!
Edited by Ronald Joseph on 12 September 2013 at 7:42am
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133458
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| Posted: 12 September 2013 at 8:02am | IP Logged | 8
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Finishing up AFTER WORLDS COLLIDE (1934).One of the most interesting things I find in science fiction of this vintage is the remarkable casual attitudes expressed by the authors, thru their characters, to Evolution and life on other planets. Altho there is a strong thread of Christian mythology running thru this book, with God's Plan being invoked at every turn, the scientists who make up the bulk of the lead characters talk casually about the millions of years of evolution that brought life on Earth to this particular point. And, when cities are spotted (and eventually explored) on the planet to which Our Heroes relocate, there is no alarm and astonishment about this apparent challenge to Earth as a unique creation. (The aliens, of course, seen in art and video found on the planet, look pretty much like us.) Extraterrestrial life is deeply ingrained in our cultural unconscious. Polls have shown that a high number of Americans believe life exists on planets other than our own -- they just don't care! Rather puts the lie to conspiracy theorists' notions that the Government is hiding proof of alien visitations for fear of "nationwide panic". Again, I think of Frederick Pohl's classic short story "The Day After the Day the Martians Came", where the arrival on Earth of said visitors is basically greeted with a flurry of "How many Martians does it take to change a lightbulb?" jokes.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133458
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| Posted: 12 September 2013 at 8:03am | IP Logged | 9
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Interesting to find, when looking at Mr. Powers art, the same image was used for more than one book...++ Yes, tho it so perfectly fits CITY I assume that was the first usage. It's an original I would love to add to my collection! •• Looked into it! The piece is in a private collection. Last sold for $25,000!!
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William Roberge
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 11314
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| Posted: 12 September 2013 at 8:07am | IP Logged | 10
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Now THAT would be grail art I would think!
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133458
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| Posted: 12 September 2013 at 8:12am | IP Logged | 11
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As much as the book and the art mean to me, I don't think it's worth $25,000. Collectors may disagree (at least ONE did, apparently!).It's not unlike the last page of that Superboy/Lincoln story. I have four of the seven pages, and I would love to add the other three, but the last one has been priced far beyond what I think it's worth. Even if I indulged myself and bought it, I would not be able to look at it without feeling like I'd been hosed.
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Andrew Davey
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1445
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| Posted: 12 September 2013 at 9:26am | IP Logged | 12
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Freakonomics
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