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SCIENCE FICTION

MYSTERIES & THRILLERS

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For a century, the spy next door has been a reality

For a century, the spy next door has been a reality

Every self-respecting spy service equips agents with false credentials and dispatches them to conduct espionage illegally in other nations. But one country has been doing so for far longer and on a dramatically bigger scale than all the others. And the practice started more...

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Popular Fiction

Laughs in sci-fi? P. G. Wodehouse did humor better.

Laughs in sci-fi? P. G. Wodehouse did humor better.

The legendary English humorist Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881-1975), known to readers as P. G., wrote about 100 books in a career that spanned much of the 20th century. His output included 71 novels, 24 collections of short stories, 42 plays, three memoirs, and a lot...

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Explore My “BEST OF the category” selections

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?

When people ask me that question, I never know what to say. In a lifetime of reading, I’ve read many thousands of books. And I’ve reviewed well over 2,000 of them on this site. Picking just one as a “favorite,” or even a handful of them, makes no sense to me.

The problem is, I read for many different reasons. Perhaps you do, too. And I read many different sorts of books. Mysteries and thrillers. Popular fiction, especially historical fiction. Science fiction.

And nonfiction, history in particular. You’ll find hundreds of reviews in every one of those categories on this site.

Look to the right for a rotating random selection culled from throughout this site.

Happy reading!

 

Cover image of "Digital Gold," a book about Bitcoin

The fascinating story of Bitcoin

So, here's the background to this intriguing book about Bitcoin. If you've ever thought much about money, you may have wondered what gives it its value, especially if you're aware that Richard Nixon took the dollar off the Gold Standard more than forty years ago. And if you're at all involved in...
The Midnight Witness is by Denmark's favorite author.

Denmark’s favorite author disappoints with her latest novel

She may be Denmark's favorite author, but the latest entry in her series of detective novels is disappointing. The Midnight Witness is a police procedural, and like so many other stories in that category, the cast is large. Other authors such as Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, and Joseph Wambaugh...
The Virgin in the Ice highlights organized crime medieval style.

Organized crime medieval style, in a complex Brother Cadfael mystery

The Virgin in the Ice reveals more about the way English society was organized in the Middle Ages than any of the five books that precede it in the twenty-one-volume series of Brother Cadfael mysteries. The novel's predecessors all center on a murder or murders that the good monk is called upon to...
Cover image of "Dead on Arrival" by Matt Richtel, a novel that shows what happens when neurology meets high-tech

Neurology meets high-tech in this gripping science fiction novel

Just imagine. You've landed at a small regional airport somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. The world has gone silent. There's nothing but static on every channel on the radio. The body of a man in a jumpsuit lies sprawled on the tarmac, and human figures inside the terminal are motionless. Is this...
Kurt Vonnegut lives in The Humans.

Kurt Vonnegut lives in Matt Haig’s novel

For a long time I've wondered where Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was when we needed him. Well, I may have found him. He's lurking in a novel entitled The Humans by someone allegedly named "Matt Haig." Of course, Haig may or may not be Kurt Vonnegut reincarnated. Certainly, the book's genre-busting...

A series of suspense novels that’s going strong after two decades

A review of Storm Prey, by John Sandford. @@@@ (4 out of 5). Sandford is a master of plotting. From an engrossing outset to a heart-pounding conclusion, Storm Prey steadily builds momentum from one surprise to the next.

Cover image of "A History of Burning,"

A multigenerational tale of the Indian diaspora in Africa

Some three million people of Indian origin live today in the nations of southeast Africa. Although trade and migration between India and Africa reach as far back as the first millennium, much larger numbers arrived there late in the nineteenth century as indentured laborers under the British. One...
Pentagon waste: The Pornography of Power by Robert Scheer

Pentagon waste and fraud, and who’s really responsible for them

A review of The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened America, by Robert Scheer. @@@@ (4 out of 5). Explains how waste and fraud in the military budget have been virtually mandated by Congress, which votes for multi-billion-dollar weapons systems even the Pentagon doesn’t want.

Cover image of "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store," one of the best books of the year

The 21 best books of 2023

Those “best books of the year” lists you come across in mainstream publications single out what they assert to be the best work published during the calendar year. But that’s not what you’ll find here. Or at least it’s not all you’ll see below. Instead, I’m listing here the best books I’ve...
Cover image of "Solar Storm: Moon Base Delta," the first book in a series set on the moon

A solar storm imperils life on Earth, in space, and on the moon

Back in 1859, a coronal mass ejection from the sun showered Earth with a torrent of highly charged subatomic particles. The widespread use of electricity was decades in the future, so the impact of what came to be called the Carrington Event was limited. But scientists—and some science fiction...

My Most Popular Reviews

Weekly Reviews Delivered to You!

Mal Warwick - Book Reviews

Weekly book reviews to match your taste!

Love mysteries and thrillers? Historical fiction fan? Prefer to read nonfiction? Or, like me, you just love reading? Take your pick of my three weekly newsletters. Just click the Yes! button, and you’re on your way.

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Mal Warwick

The latest mystery
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…includes summaries and links to all the previous week’s three to five book reviews, including some that don’t appear in any of the other newsletters.

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