I can hear the dialogue coming out of Bogie's mouth...

Spade & Archer: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon

By Joe Gores


That Joe Gores is a huge fan of Dashiell Hammett is no secret - if your missed his Hammett (Crime Masterworks)- you will want to go back and order it after reading Spade & Archer.

This book gives you everything you expect from a Sam Spade novel - mysteries, keen detective work, shootings, damsels in distress, slimey partners, and the quick hard and fast dialogue that Humphrey Bogart pushed to iconic!

Spade & Archer will draw you in from the beginning with Spade impersonating a Port Authority Officer and accidentally getting involved in the search for stolen British gold while investigating a missing persons case on the docks.

The author does a great job of recreating 1920's San Francisco - from the trolley cars to the seedy underside of the docks and formation of the longshoremen unions.

I picked the book up in the evening and couldn't put it down - yes - I finally got to sleep at 2am!!!

If you like gritty detectives and thrilling, moving story telling this is your book.
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Book Description When Sam Spade gets drawn into the Maltese Falcon case, we know what to expect: straight talk, hard questions, no favors, and no way for anyone to get underneath the protective shell he wears like a second skin. We know that his late partner, Miles Archer, was a son of a bitch; that Spade is sleeping with Archer’s wife, Iva; that his tomboyish secretary, Effie Perine, is the only innocent in his life. What we don’t know is how Spade became who he is. Spade & Archer completes the picture.

1921: Spade sets up his own agency in San Francisco and clients quickly start coming through the door. The next seven years will see him dealing with booze runners, waterfront thugs, stowaways, banking swindlers, gold smugglers, bumbling cops, and the illegitimate daughter of Sun Yat-sen; with murder, other men’s mistresses, and long-missing money. He’ll bring in Archer as a partner, though it was Archer who stole his girl while he was fighting in World War I. He’ll tangle with a villain who never loses his desire to make Spade pay big for ruining what should’ve been the perfect crime. And he’ll fall in love—though it won’t turn out for the best. It never does with dames . . .

Spade & Archer is a gritty, pitch-perfect, hard-boiled novel--the work of a master mystery writer--destined to become a classic in its own right.

Flint and Silver : A Prequel to Treasure Island

Flint and Silver: A Prequel to Treasure Island


By John Drake


From the Product Description: "John Silver had never killed a man. Until now, his charisma, sheer size and, when all else failed, powerful fists had been enough to dispatch his enemies. But on a smoldering deck off the coast of Madagascar, his shipmates dead or dying all around him, his cutlass has just claimed the lives of six pirates. Finding himself surrounded by their revenge-thirsty crewmates, Silver fears his promising merchant navy career is at an end. But then the pirate captain makes him an offer he can't refuse. On the other side of the world, Joseph Flint, a naval officer wronged by his superiors, plots a bloody mutiny. Strikingly handsome, brilliant but prey to sadistic tendencies, Flint is regarded as the most dangerous bandit on the high seas."
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My hat is off to John Drake and his genius imagination - I can't think of a more genuine or thrilling backstory for some of the more popular characters from Treasure Island. This book gives you a different perspective for Ben Gunn, Black Dog, Billy Bones and, the infamous Long John Silver.

This journey follows Silver from Gentleman to Pirate and takes Flint from Seaman to Madman Captain! The partnership begins its downward spiral with the introduction of Flint's "Nubian Princess" Selena. However, Flint's slide from sanity to sadist happens faster.

Warning: Do not read this book expecting to find the Disney version of pirates...these pirates engage in bloody hand to cutlass battles - the sex and cruelty are explicit and I loved every gripping moment of it. None of it is sensational it all works within the story line.
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Full Product Description:
A swashbuckling triumph of storytelling, Flint and Silver provides a thrilling ride back to the rich and wondrous world of Long John Silver and his fiendish nemesis Joseph Flint in this prequel to the beloved classic Treasure Island.

John Silver had never killed a man. Until now, his charisma, sheer size and, when all else failed, powerful fists had been enough to dispatch his enemies. But on a smoldering deck off the coast of Madagascar, his shipmates dead or dying all around him, his cutlass has just claimed the lives of six pirates. Finding himself surrounded by their revenge-thirsty crewmates, Silver fears his promising merchant navy career is at an end. But then the pirate captain makes him an offer he can't refuse.

On the other side of the world, Joseph Flint, a naval officer wronged by his superiors, plots a bloody mutiny. Strikingly handsome, brilliant but prey to sadistic tendencies, Flint is regarded as the most dangerous bandit on the high seas.

Together these gentlemen of fortune forge a deadly and unstoppable partnership, steering a course through treachery and betrayal while amassing vast treasure. But the arrival of Selena, a beautiful runaway slave with a murderous past, and Flint's schemes to secure the pieces of gold for himself trigger a rivalry that will turn the best of friends into sworn enemies. And so the legend of Treasure Island begins -- an epic battle of wits and blades that unravels the mysteries of Robert Louis Stevenson's greatest work on the sweltering seas of the Caribbean.

Beatrice's Goat on Bookstore People

Heifer International is one of my favorite charity's - the idea is that you can give someone a gift that can earn them a living and in time gives back to their entire village!!!

Today on the "Bookstore People" Blog is a review of Beatrice's Goat by Page McBrier, illustrated by Lori Lohstoeter

From their post:

Beatrice’s Goat, written by Page McBrier and illustrated by Lori Lohstoeter, is the true story of ordinary people chipping in to make a big impact on the lives of others. One goat gave Beatrice Biira a chance at an education. I’ve written about my love for Heifer International, an organization that provides livestock to families to help them feed their family and earn money to lift their family out of poverty. Heifer gave 12 goats to 12 families in Kisinga, Uganda and the Biira family received one of them. Prior to owning the goat, Beatrice begged her parents to let her attend school, but the school required the students to pay for their books and uniform. Beatrice’s family did not have the money to pay for her supplies. After receiving the Heifer goat, it gave enough milk for Beatrice’s family and extra to sell, thereby providing the funds for school. ...for more go to:

http://www.bookstorepeople.com/2009/04/book-giveaway-three-copies-of-beatrices-goat-by-page-mcbrier/trackback/

NOTE: I won a copy of Beatrice's Goat from the BookStorePeople Blog!!!

Vanished Smile - Scotti Does It Again...

I picked this book up expecting it to be a bit dry - but - once again R.A. Scotti pulled me into the story as if it were fictionalized.

Very few people who visit the Louvre realize that the Mona Lisa was stolen at one time - people used to come to view the empty space - they were in such disbelief that anyone could commit such a crime!

Vanished Smile is the story of that theft and the involvement of the creative luminaries of that era in the crime!

Although this is a non-fiction accounting of the "crime of the century" I have to admit it is as riveting as a well crafted thriller.

Scotti has the ability to weave facts with her keen observances of the times. Her depictions of the guard at the Louvre, the poet Appollinaire, the painter Picasso and Paris in 1911 are nothing short of brilliant.

In reading through the complete and detailed bibliography I can see that that her use of the newspapers of the day would give a special tone and insight that studying books can not. BRAVO SCOTTI!!!


Book Description from Amazon
In Paris at the start of a radically new century, the most famous face in the history of art stepped out of her frame and into a sensational mystery.

On August 21, 1911, the unfathomable happened--Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa vanished from the Louvre. More than twenty-four hours passed before museum officials realized she was gone. The prime suspects were as shocking as the crime: Pablo Picasso and Guillaume Apollinaire, young provocateurs of a new art. As French detectives using the latest methods of criminology, including fingerprinting, tried to trace the thieves, a burgeoning international media hyped news of the heist.

No story captured the imagination of the world quite like this one. Thousands flocked to the Louvre to see the empty space where the painting had hung. They mourned as if Mona Lisa were a lost loved one, left flowers and notes, and set new attendance records. For more than two years, Mona Lisa’s absence haunted the art world, provoking the question: Was she lost forever? A century later, questions still linger.

Part love story, part mystery, Vanished Smile reopens the case of the most audacious and perplexing art theft ever committed. R. A. Scotti’s riveting, ingeniously realized account is itself a masterly portrait of a world in transition. Combining her skills as a historian and a novelist, Scotti turns the tantalizing clues into a story of the painting’s transformation into the most familiar and lasting icon of all time.

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R.A. Scotti on Vanished Smile
Mona Lisa is the most famous face in the world, yet few among the thousands who flock to the Louvre to see her every day know that she was ever stolen. Who pinched Mona Lisa--and why?

The most surprising facts in the case:

1. 98 years ago, Mona Lisa vanished from the wall of the Louvre Museum.

2. No one noticed for more that 24 hours.

3. Pablo Picasso was a prime suspect in the theft.

4. Her mysterious disappearance made Mona Lisa the most famous wanted woman in the world.

4. Mona Lisa remained missing for more than 2 years and was presumed lost forever.

5. A letter signed “Leonardo” led police to the lost painting.

6. Almost 100 years later, the brazen crime remains unsolved. --R.A. Scotti

Deadlock - great "beach" read...

DEADLOCK

by Iris Johansen

This book would make an excellent "beach read" or to take with you on vacation. It moves well and holds your interest without taking alot of concentration.

Iris Johansen has always written about strong women and this book is no exception. Emily Hudson is an archaeologist who with her assistant Joel Levy go into war torn countries to rescue art & artifacts from their museums before they become rubble.

There are the usual CIA Agents, bad guys and paid off officials...there is also a good guy. Well I suppose I should qualify that - a bad guy turned good guy - in John Garret. Garrett amassed a fortune as a smuggler and other less honorable jobs...but has used that wealth to make a difference in his own small way.

The plot centers around the story of the Romanovs and Rasputin - this information seems to be well researched and then expanded to fit her telling of it. This along with Emily's constant struggle with her need for vengeance versus the need to follow this to this top makes Deadlock an entertaining book.

I think my real criticism of this book is that the character development could have been better and that there is too much romance, not enough tension. But on a whole it is a fun read with some really good moments and great locales.

From the Product Description
Emily Hudson is an archaeologist who travels the world in search of priceless artifacts from war-torn countries and other hot spots. Her best friend and partner, Joel Levy, is always at her side—until one day, her entire crew is massacred and Joel and Emily are held captive. Victims of one of the most ruthless and evil human beings on earth. For two weeks they try to survive, until Emily is the unwitting instrument in Joel’s demise.

John Garrett has worked for the CIA, MI6, and whoever else needed his services. Now, the CIA comes calling with a desperate mission for him: save Emily Hudson. But their may be more to this job than they let him know. And soon, his connection to Emily has him questioning everything he thought to be true. Emily has vengeance on her mind. Will Garrett aid her in getting revenge? Can Emily help him get to the truth behind a bigger conspiracy? Or will they both die trying…With lightning-fast pacing, plot twists and shocking betrayals, Iris Johansen is at the top of her game in this latest thriller.

American History via Graphic Novel...

The Road to

Revolution!

(The Cartoon Chronicles of America)

(Paperback)

by Stan Mack (Illustrator) and Susan Champlin (Author)

American History via Graphic Novel...whatever it takes to get kids to learn!

I am a firm believer that if we don't know where we came from - we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of our forefathers. This book looks at a time in history that formed, shaped and defined who we are as Americans.

This book is recommended for 10-15 year olds - I can remember how hard it was at that age to sit through some history classes. In history class it can be hard to follow - but this romp through history with young Nick & Penny will appeal to their peers today!

Being kids sometimes adults don't think about you as a threat so Penny & Nick are privy to conversations by the British soldiers in the stables where Nick works and in the Tavern that Penny's father owns.

There are several lessons in this book above and beyond the historical - the rebels actually listen to these two kids and their information is deemed trustworthy (even though Nick's past is anything but...)

The illustrations are excellent and give you an insight to daily life and the plight of the colonists.

The Graphic Novel is a popular medium among kids and teens today - so what better vehicle for this gripping and thrilling ride through America's shining moment.

Best In Travel 2009 from Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2009

(General Reference)

By: Lonely Planet Publications

Always Innovative, Exotic and Tempting....

By Reading It All

See all my reviews
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)

I don't think I have ever read a Loney Planet Book that didn't make want to drop everything and travel immediately to that area...this book ignited a major case of wanderlust!!!!

Always Innovative, Exotic and Tempting...how they do it I will never know! To publish a World Travel Guide with the politics and religious turmoil in the world today is a gutsy move. But as always this latest edition from Loney Planet is right on target!

They still feature interesting and exotic locales with "850 Trends, Destinations, Journeys and Experiences for the year ahead".

Innovative and Exotic? in their top 10 Oman, Krgyzstan, Greenland or Algeria!!

Specialized Travel? How about the Saltiest Sites,Top 10 Places to Steal a Kiss, Most Extreme Ancient Sites, Best Ecotrips - the book features 30 Different Top Travel Lists!

The Ultimate Water Traveler is over 50 pages of oceans, rivers, water festivals, polar ice - what more could you want?

Great Gift Idea for the Traveler you know - or the traveler in you!

From The Publisher:
Lonely Planet's Best In Travel 2009 - the best places to go and things to do all around the world right now! Drawing on the knowledge, passion and miles traveled by Lonely Planet's staff and authors, you've got a year's worth of travel inspiration to take you out of the ordinary and into some unforgettable experiences.

Highlights:

•Lonely Planet's cofounder, Tony Wheeler, shares his top travel picks for the year.

•Explore 30 must-go destinations - Lonely Planet presents the top 10 countries, regions and cities to visit in 2009

•Contains 850 travel experiences, from stargazing in the Caribbean to finding the perfect midlife crisis getaway.

•Complete world-view: an annual rundown of every country in the world.

•2009 travel planner - 50 adventures mapped out month-by-month.

•Immerse yourself in water! A special feature showcasing 70 journeys and experiences on, in, through and over water.