K. Hall

Vital

Revisado: 12-08-22

Marcie Rendon’s stories are sharply written with pathos and insights into a genre that I personally do not have much experience with. Cash is a fantastic character who informs this reader with a lived experience unlike any that I would have understood or beloved to have happened. The reader feels as if we are actually living in the late winter in Upper Minnesota/Eastern North Dakota sometime in the early 1970s.

The cultural and literal crimes committed against native and First Nations peoples of the United state and Canada is particularly shameful as a white man. I cannot understand how such heinousness was thought to be acceptable, even if committed in “God’s name.” Such barbarity could possibly never be forgiven, for such grace cannot likely exist.

Thank you, Marcie, for bringing Cash into our lives.

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A Son Puts His Father's Ghost to Rest

Revisado: 07-14-19

An utterly fantastic Audible Original by journalism professor Dale Maharidge. A tale of a boy looking for his father's demon. Dale, a child of a WWII combat veteran Marine, searches for the man who haunted his father from May 1945 until his death in 2001. Starting with a faded photograph that was his father's constant companion, Dale searches first for who the man was, then his family, and ultimately to bring him home. We meet along the way several of his father's comrades-in-arms who were with him at Okinawa where on May 30, 1945 a terrible explosion that would have echoes for nearly 75 years occurred.

It is convenient to say that World War II was "The Good War". This will dispel that notion completely. A stinging statistic pops out at you immediately, over 80 million people died. That's an 8 followed by seven zeros (80,000,000), which as the author points out, that is 1 in 4 Americans today. WWII is a conflict that continues to shape our lives since its conclusion. This is just one extremely small slice of it.

Maharidge, being a journalism professor, does the things good reporters do, search. He finds a whole host of characters along the way, befriending several of the men (and they were all men then), along with their families. This reminded me of what my own father had done for Korean war dead in New York State, searching for lost loved ones, meeting family and friends, asking for photographs, and ultimately sending in information to the American Battle Monuments Commission to be posted on line. Many of these folks were so thankful to know someone was asking about their loved one, they would do almost anything to make sure they were remembered. This is the same story.

It is hard today to understand the effects war were so underestimated. Many of these veterans were left with few options, and even less support. "Battle Fatigue" was viewed as a cowards way out, and often derided and humiliated because their damage was inside. Severe trauma to the brain and body is no coward's option.

Maharidge even meets a veteran's daughter to never knew her father underwent a frontal lobotomy voluntarily due to his desire to never again rage uncontrollably at his children. It seems unconscionable that this would even be an option that someone would choose. Time seems to have changed much, and not so much.

I'd give more stars if they were there.

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Mountain Man Begins

Revisado: 05-24-19

I've been a huge fan of Mountain Man since the beginning, voraciously sucking them up as quick as I could. The entire series has the right mix of great characters, crazy plot, zombies, a dystopian future, humor, and ultimately some hope. It's totally not necessary to start with this one, but it's as good a place as any. Great to hear from Gus again.

I have read on the various interwebs that Keith Blackmore was reluctant to write more in his zombie infested world he creates here, not wanting to be painted as "that kind of genre writer". I can understand that totally. However, I don't necessarily see this as ZA fiction only. Whilst the dead that walk are pretty front and center, the real appeal are the characters, dark and light, that populate Gus's world. This is the stuff that brought me back, not just zoms (although they're pretty cool). I urge Dr. Blackmore to give us more of this world, with Gus, or anyone else he may choose.

Here's to hoping there's more to come. Two big thumbs up from the pudgy guy.

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Thoughtful Elegy for Anyone and Everone

Revisado: 01-06-19

This is my first encounter with Jon Ronson, who along with his colleague Lina Misitzis, have woven an intricate telling of a sad story. The death of a loved one at their own hand is a true tragedy for the one’s left behind. We are left with the never ending what if’s … Ronson and Misitzis do yeomans work telling a tale of both a damaged girl and the toxic world she inhabited, and how she perceived it turning back on her. This could be anyone, anywhere. They treat the subject with such sensitivity and empathy, it brings the world to life.

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Keep This Locker Closed

Revisado: 11-27-16

If you take a look at my reading list, I'll stipulate that I'm a fan of the apocalypse. I'm willing to give stories the benefit if they're marginal. This was beyond that margin. Character development was barely paper thin, relying on tropes to "flesh" them out. You're either a good (white) guy with a gun, evil muther hubbard (with a gun natch), or dead. Nothing in between.

The main protagonist Grace is a truly badass heroine, who I had high hopes for from the start. I quickly lost faith in the story when the erstwhile life-long friend and college roommate is merely left as whiny wallpaper, because she's too scared to go back into the dorm (while waiting outside when "all hell is breaking loose" following the food truck "terror attack"). My hopes were highest when Horton started with the conspiracy for the attack, but pretty much forgot about it after the triggers were literally pulled. For all of that why bother?

The dad is painted as this "science fiction" writer, but all we hear about is his major prepping skills, and his "gold star" friends. It was a bit exciting when Grace arrives at the namesake location and discovers what her daddy has left for her. Either this guy is that much of a prepper (with a very large budget), or he's omniscient. A little too well prepared maybe?

While there have been some SF writers who've been a bit nutty (Heinlein much?), there's no mention of his writing, ideas, or thoughts. Most SF I've been exposed to, even when faced with the "end of the world", has some hopefulness, inclusiveness, or even curiosity at what could be. I got none of that here. The epilog scene was just a weak coda, not an ending that rang true with this reader.

Even the big bad sort of left me hanging, with him suddenly becoming strong and resilient following a significant injury. He quickly is painted as a gamer, slacker, pot-smoker, and ne'er-do-well, but somehow develops amazing tactical skills and emotional darkness in less than short order. Given that other more skilled characters are felled by much less, this evolution didn't hold water.

The final straw, if a bit piling on, was that every major speaking character following the "terror attack" was an armed white dude or dudette. Every villain was a person of color, except the slacker gamer; every hero (or potential) was not. This added to the oblique references to the 2016 election cycle (this was published during the summer of 2016) only reinforced this "America is awesome" feeling received from this tale.

An otherwise excellent performance from reader Kevin Pierce were not enough to bring this one up.

Disappointing is putting it mildly.

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A Sunny Stand for All

Revisado: 10-17-16

If we could give half-star ratings, this would be 3.5, however given the way it is makes it a 4. A very engaging and entertaining tale of the end-of-the-world-by-killer-flu story, but without all of the other darkness that usually accompanies them. We have four brothers, and (some) of their families that survive, gather, and decide how to continue the world, or at least the North American slice, with a surprising final destination.

I have to say, that maybe I've become somewhat inoculated to the traumatic in my apocalypse. This is a very sunny telling, if overly so in parts. There are some less than savory characters, but nothing rising to the level of Randall Flagg from The Stand; that's not a bad thing, but adjust your expectations accordingly. This does parallel The Stand in many ways, but darkness is not one of them. A very pleasant diversion.

Scott Brick was awesome as usual.

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Sean Duffy, a Philip Marlow from The Troubles

Revisado: 04-20-15

This is my fourth story from DI Duffy, and it's better than ever. Gerard Doyle reads a great tales. Characters are full and real, on the level of Jim Dale but without the Wizards. Cannot wait for the next tale, if Adrian graces us with another.

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More of Mr. Clark - That's a Good Thing

Revisado: 02-17-14

This installment of the Ryanverse has us following Mr. Clark and Diego Chavez as they set up the international, counter-terrorism, uber-special ops team known as Rainbow Six. This story was published in 1998, but seems to presage the apparent security state as we know it today. Mr. Clark & Co. get into lots of jams, take out lots of bad guys, and save the day many times, like they are supposed to.

I always liked the Clark stories, and the Clark parts of the Ryan stories, much more than Jack Ryan, and Rainbow Six does not disappoint. Mr. Clark always seemed more of team player, having built up high functioning groups of men focused on doing bad things to bad people. While Ryan appears to be a bit of a cowboy, trying to go it alone, eschewing teamwork. While this is probably overly simplistic, it's the impression that's carried for me.

I have always enjoyed Tom Clancy, just in moderation. At 35+ hours, Rainbow Six could be more moderation than some will think is prudent. ;)

As always, on to the next Ryanverse chapter.

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Vintage Clancy

Revisado: 02-17-14

Coming in at over 50 hours, this picks up where Debt of Honor left off. Jack Ryan is the unelected President without a government to govern. And of course there are plots against him. Because? Well, because he's Jack Ryan of course.

This is classic Clancy, rich on the militaristic details that fans have come to love and expect. And the typical depth of characterization to go along with it. You'll love it if that's what you're expecting. Like Vince Flynn, Clancy likes to rail against "liberal" politics of nearly any stripe; any form of adult supervision; or anyone who may question the unfettered executive with unlimited resources. It gets a bit tiresome. While that's not my cup of tea, it's a good yarn nonetheless.

I'm thinking this could have been tightened up a bit and not lost anything. I had left the Ryanverse behind many years ago, having returned recently with a later story. I found I missed Mr. Clark and Diego Chavez. While they do not appear in this installment, I know they'll be around again.

This is as good as it gets for Jack Ryan. Or does it? On to the next chapter to find out.

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Utterly Fascinating

Revisado: 02-04-14

What did you love best about The Last Battle?

Cornelius Ryan is one of the best writers on WWII ever. His ability to bring disparate material together cohesively to paint a clear picture of otherwise chaotic events is heroic. He mixes the great (figures of history) with the small (folks in the towns and villages) to fantastic effect. You often feel that you were there yourself. The excitement, and impending doom, of the times is clearly carried through.

It is easy to understand that the outcome wasn't always certain, when the mistakes are made clear in the cold light of history.

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Simon's dulcet tones brought the historical figures to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were many. The greatest were descriptions of how the civilians in and around Berlin survived, and the Allied liberations of the camps.

Any additional comments?

I would (and will) read anything by Cornelius Ryan.

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