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SCIENCE FICTION

MYSTERIES & THRILLERS

A PI battles witch-hunters, gangsters, and Communists

A PI battles witch-hunters, gangsters, and Communists

Mick Mulligan "went to meetings with Communists and ate lunch with Communists. He agreed with Communists on certain things." And that got him fired from his job as a cartoonist and animator at the Disney studio. Which won him a place on the Hollywood blacklist. Which in turn...

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NONFICTION

Popular Fiction

Ken Follett’s monumental saga of the First World War

Ken Follett’s monumental saga of the First World War

No one is still alive with any adult memory of World War I, which ended a century ago. So when we think of the events that have shaped the world we live in today it's likely World War II looms large. But its antecedent three decades earlier may have had greater long-term...

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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 "Murder in the Queen's Wardrobe,"

Intrigue and murder in Elizabeth’s court

World War II and the Cold War have generated an inordinate share of the spy fiction that has appeared in recent years. The court of Queen Elizabeth I seems to be running third in the espionage sweepstakes. No surprise there. The island was in turmoil, rocked by forces set in motion by the queen's...
Cover image of "The Bitter Season," a novel about a pair of engaging cops

Gruesome murder and engaging cops in Minneapolis

In The Bitter Season -- the biting cold days in the run-up to Thanksgiving in Minneapolis -- the news is dominated by the gruesome home invasion murder of a university professor and his wealthy wife. The homicide detective assigned to the case, Sam Kovac, is a veteran of the police force for whom...
Cover image of "Bess of Hardwick," a powerful woman of the Elizabethan Era

She was the most powerful woman after the Queen

The recent passing of England's second Queen Elizabeth reminds us that her namesake's reign was even more consequential. After all, Elizabeth I gave her name to the era she helped shape during the forty-five years she sat on the throne. And few periods in Western history have attracted more...
Cover image of "The Singapore Wink" by Ross Thomas, a novel set in 1960s Singapore

An engaging novel of crime and espionage set in 1960s Singapore

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes What do you hope for when you pick up a mystery or thriller? A clever story built around believable conflict? Twists and turns in the plot, and surprises galore? Interesting but credible characters? A refreshing style of writing? Perhaps a dash of humor? You'll...
Cover image of "Shake Off," a book about the First Intifada

Behind the First Intifada

Late in the 1980s, the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank erupted in violent reaction to the Israeli occupation. These events, which in various accounts lasted from 1987 to 1991 or 1993, were known as the First Intifada. That term derives from an Arabic word meaning "shake off,"...
Cover image of "Consequence," a novel about peaceful protest and terrorism

Exploring the boundary between terrorism and peaceful protest

Where is the line between peaceful and legitimate protest and terrorism? Though the answer to that question might seem obvious, it's not -- and Berkeley-based author Steve Masover's debut novel, Consequence, explores that territory with skill and sophistication. Consequence tells a tale dominated...
Cover image of "Intelligence" by Susan Hasler, a novel doubt the CIA under George W Bush

A satirical take on the dysfunctional CIA under George W Bush

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes Could the CIA under George W. Bush really be as clumsy and ineffectual as Susan Hasler portrays it in Intelligence? The dysfunctional agency she dramatizes is a bureaucracy tied up in knots. Some of them are of its own making. Others are handed down from a White...
The Eleventh Gate is space opera.

Political philosophies clash in this new space opera

Violations of the laws of physics notwithstanding, there is a truly excellent reason to read this intriguing new exercise in space opera. It's one of the best explorations I've ever come across in the genre about politics and political philosophy. (Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars trilogy offers...
Cover image of "Lamentation,"

Religious conflicts threaten the stability of Henry VIII’s reign

Henry VIII gets a lot of attention from historians, biographers, and novelists alike, but not for the wisdom of his policies as king. In fact, you might say the only good thing he did for his people was to father the child who became Queen Elizabeth I. In her four decades on the throne, Elizabeth...
Cover image of "Chaos,"

Counterfeiters threaten to ruin the England of Elizabeth I

Murder mysteries predominate among the countless novels of suspense that crowd the shelves in bookstores and libraries. The stakes are obvious when a murder takes place. Someone has snuffed out a human life. By contrast, a crime such as counterfeiting represents a lower order of threat­­—or at...

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