How far can a writer push the bounds of credibility in a thriller? If we look at the work of authors whose protagonists resemble superheroes more than real people — Ian Fleming, for example, or Daniel Silva, to cite a contemporary example — we realize that we’ve left the realm of...
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In Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies, Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit trace the intellectual history of “the dehumanizing picture of the West painted by its enemies.” In other words, they try to help us understand why so many people in the world hate Western values....
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Ever since the publication of her first novel in the Grant County series, Blindsighted, Karin Slaughter has been selling thrillers by the millions. A Faint Cold Fear, the third of six books in the series, continues the saga of pediatrician and pathologist Dr. Sara Linton; her off-again, on-again...
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At the corner of Allston Way and Oxford Street in downtown Berkeley, directly across from the campus of the University of California, sits the David Brower Center. Opened in 2009, the Brower Center bills itself as “A center for the environmental movement.” The four-story, Platinum...
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James Church’s Bamboo and Blood is one of the most unusual detective novels you’ll ever come across. Opening during the devastaing North Korean famine of 1997, the story revolves around the hapless Inspector O and his unhappy boss, Chief Inspector Pak of the Ministry of Public...
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Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review,
with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review,
with links to other nonfiction content.
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.
Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review, with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review, with links to other nonfiction content.
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.