The Latest

SCIENCE FICTION

MYSTERIES & THRILLERS

The top mystery and thriller award winners

The top mystery and thriller award winners

Most citations of awards in the mystery, thriller, and suspense field mention the Edgar, Gold Dagger, Anthony, and International Thriller Writer Awards. But the categories used by these four awards don’t match. And as you’ll see, the awards themselves don’t often, either. For...

read more

NONFICTION

Vladimir Putin, the KGB, and the restoration of Soviet Russia

Vladimir Putin, the KGB, and the restoration of Soviet Russia

Every once in a while I'm shocked to learn anew that the American news media has missed the mark in its reporting of events around the world. Masha Gessen's portrait of third-term Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Man Without a Face, is an excellent case in point. Now, a...

read more

Popular Fiction

Why do some novels win literary awards?

Why do some novels win literary awards?

Let's see if we can figure out why this paper-thin work of fiction won wide recognition and a literary award for its author. Snow Hunters introduces . . . let's count them: eight characters in 226 pages: Yohan, a North Korean soldier captured by UN forces late in the Korean...

read more

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!

 

Berkeley in 1969: Black Panthers, the FBI, and the Vietnam War

A review of Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, by Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin III. @@@@ (4 out of 5). An in-depth study of the revolutionary African-American organization that flourished from 1967 to 1971.

Set in the Everglades, Chomp by Carl Hiaasen

Alligators, pythons, and vampires in the Everglades

A review of Chomp, by Carl Hiaasen. @@@ (3 out of 5). Welcome to the world of Carl Hiaasen, a long-time columnist for the Miami Herald who has written some of the funniest novels ever on environmental themes. This is one of his four novels for young readers.

Cover image of "Warnings," about how to avoid a dystopian future

Richard A. Clarke asks, can we avoid a dystopian future?

There is no lack of dire predictions about the future. Hundreds of dystopian novels, especially the flood of books in that genre for young adults, have portrayed innumerable variations on future catastrophes. I became so intrigued about all this attention to a possible dystopian future that I...

Why is this book a bestseller?

What can I say about a thriller that debuted to such fanfare in the publishing industry and the blogosphere? Reviewers and other writers in the genre have been falling all over one another to lavish praise on this debut novel, making it a runaway bestseller. Estimated reading time: 3 minutes I Am...
Photo of Paul Vidich, who writes outstanding spy novels

A newcomer who writes superb spy novels

Even if you're a fan of espionage fiction, you may not yet be familiar with the name Paul Vidich. You should be. Vidich writes great spy novels in the grand tradition of Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, and John le Carré. His historical espionage tales rank with those of his better-known...
Cover image of "206 Bones," one of the Kathy Reichs novels

Bones on TV and the Kathy Reichs novels: don’t expect similarities

OK, so I won't pretend that the long-running TV series Bones is the best that television has to offer. Far from it. But I confess that I watched the silly thing. All of it. (My excuse is that my wife is a scientist and found it interesting. Lame, I know.) Now, belatedly, I've picked up one of the...
Luciano's Luck is about the Mafia and the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Fact and fiction about the Mafia and the WWII Allied invasion of Sicily

Future New York Governor Tom Dewey convicted Mafia boss Charlie "Lucky" Luciano for running a prostitution racket in 1936. Luciano was the American equivalent of the Sicilian capo di tutti capi, or boss of all the bosses; he was the first head of the modern Genovese crime family and the creator...
Cover image of "Ethan of Athos" by Lois McMaster Bujold, a novel about a planet inhabited only by men

Crisis on a planet inhabited only by men

The title character and protagonist in Ethan of Athos is Dr. Ethan Urquhart, a physician who works at one of the many Rep (Reproductive) Centers on Athos, a planet inhabited only by men. A small group of misogynists who assigned all blame to women for evil in the universe founded Athos two...
Cover image of "Hunted,"

An FBI agent struggles to unravel the worst terrorist attack since 9/11

For several years, I've luxuriated in the rich period details in the Wyndham and Banerjee series of historical detective novels set in 1920s Calcutta. The Anglo-Indian author Abir Mukherjee does a masterful job of blending superior suspense fiction with an historical setting solidly grounded on...
Image of Berlin after World War II

Great war novels

You won’t find the best-known war novels here, since I imagine you’re already familiar with them. I’m referring to Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead, Joseph...

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.

Here you can take your pick of the three newsletters I publish each week. They’re all free of ads, and I never share subscribers’ email addresses with anyone. Just make your newsletter selections below.

Feel free to subscribe to any or all of these newsletters. Remember, they’re ad-free, and I won’t share your contact information with anyone.

Enjoy reading!

Mal Warwick

The latest mystery
& thriller book
reviews every Tuesday.

…includes my latest mystery and thriller book reviews, with links to other content in the genre.

The latest nonfiction book reviews every Wednesday.

…includes my latest nonfiction book review, with links to other nonfiction content.

My latest
book reviews,
every Thursday.

…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.

The Latest Book Reviews of the Week

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

You have Successfully Subscribed!

The Latest Mystery & Thriller Book
Reviews Every Week

Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review,
with links to other science fiction content.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

The Latest Nonfiction Book
Reviews Every Week

Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review,
with links to other nonfiction content.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

The Latest Book Reviews of the Week

The Weekly 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.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Tuesday's Newsletter

Tuesday's Newsletter

Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review, with links to other science fiction content.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Wednesday's Newsletter

Wednesday's Newsletter

Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review, with links to other nonfiction content.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

The Weekly Newsletter

Thursday's Newsletter

The Weekly 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.

You have Successfully Subscribed!