Deadman's Road

Deadman's Road by Joe R. Lansdale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Deadman's Road is a collection of the tales starring Reverend Jebidiah Mercer, a gun-totting preacher in the Old Weird West. I think I've read most of the stories before in Dead in the West and The Shadows, Kith and Kin but since I don't remember much, it was like a brand new read.

Dead in the West: The Reverend rides into a town that's in the grips of a curse that makes the dead walk and crave the flesh of the living.

This is the story Lansdale used to introduce his Weird Western character, Jebidiah Mercer. Mercer is a conflicted preacher and is like a western version of Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane. He's also quite a bit like Edward Eredlac's Merkabah Rider and Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John and I'm getting a nerd chubby thinking about the team up possibilities.

The story is a zombie splatterfest and if I was going to rate the entire book based on the first story, it would be an easy four. The pace is rip-roaring and the writing is pure Lansdale.

Deadman's Road: On the road to Nacogdoches, Mercer falls in with a deputy and his prisoner and runs afoul of an undead murderer with a beehive in his chest...

This is short story, more like a bump in the road for the Reverend. It relies on mood more than action and gore, through the gore is well written when it splatters on the page. I did notice that the Reverend is wielding two converted .44's instead of his old converted .36 from Dead in the West.

The Gentleman's Hotel: In a hotel full of ghosts, The Reverend and a young working woman named Mary prepare for a pack of werewolves to set upon them once it gets dark...

Mercer takes on Lansdale's version of werewolves. There were some nice touches, like oak hurting them, and the one ghost that was able to talk to the Reverend and Mary. It's becoming readily apparent that it's dangerous to be a friend of Reverend Mercer.

Crawling Sky: Mercer wanders into a town and finds a half-wit in a cage being pelted by rocks. Mercer frees the man and the two of them go to investigate the haint that killed the man's wife.

This was the creepiest story of the book. An ancient evil someone summoned and trapped escapes and starts eating people. I love the connections to HPL in the Mercer stories. Also, in addition to it being life threatening to be Mercer's friend, being his horse wouldn't be a safe occupation either.

The Dark Down There: A mining camp is terrorized by Kobolds and the Reverend aims to put a stop to them.

The final story in the book is a creepy bloodbath, kind of like a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon crawl with guns. Since it actually ends on a positive note, it was a good way to end the collection.

Closing remarks: Deadman's Road is a fun pulpy collection and Lansdale fans and weird western fans won't want to miss it. Four easy stars.

Catch and Release

Catch and Release by Lawrence Block
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Catch and Release is a collection of Lawrence Block's short stories. As usual, I'll attempt to comment on them as I go.

A Burglar's Eye View of Greed: Bernie Rhodenbarr gives his thoughts on greed. It's a nice little window into his personality and makes me want to resume reading the Burglar series.

A Chance to Get Even: This is the story of a poker player who doesn't know how to bet more than he can afford to lose and keeps trying to climb out of the hole he's dug for himself.

A Vision in White: A man develops a fixation on a young beautiful tennis player.

Catch and Release: A former serial killer explains his catch and release philosophy, thinking of himself like a fisherman. Best short story of the collection. Chilling and creepy.

Clean Slate: This was a story that eventually grew and became Getting Off: A Novel of Sex and Violence, Kit Tolliver's systematic killing of every man she's ever slept with to restore her spiritual virginity.

Dolly's Trash and Treasures: This is a sad and creepy story about county workers trying to help a hoarder whose family has run out on her.

How Far: This is a one act play about a woman who wants to get her ex to stop bothering her. It's all dialog and all Block so it's pretty slick.

Mick Ballou Looks at a Blank Screen: Mick and Matthew Scudder talk about what happens after death and the Sopranos finale.

One Last Night at Grogan's: Mick Ballou closes Grogan's and invites Matt and Elaine to spend one last evening with him there. Still as touching as the first time I read it.

Part of the Job: A man searches for another man who's jumped to the competition with an important set of plans. This one was all about the ending, which I will not spoil here. The story behind the story is that someone gave Block a magazine with the story published in it and Block never remembered selling it.

Scenarios: Scenarios is an interesting tale of what might happen when a man meets a woman in a bar.

See the Woman: An elderly former cop recounts the tale of an abusive drunk and the wife that kept making excuses for him.

Speaking of Greed: A group of poker players swap stories about greed in this novella.

Speaking of Lust: A group of poker players swap stories about lust in this novella.

Welcome to the Real World: A retiree's routine is disrupted when another man suggests he play golf instead of just practicing at the driving range. As with P.G. Wodehouse, stories about golf are more interesting to me than actually watching it on TV.

Who Knows Where It Goes: An unemployed man tries a different line of work and thinks about how things change. Without spoiling too much, this could have been a very early Keller story.

Without a Body: This is the story of a murder and the aftermath from the victim's point of view.

The afterword tells the stories behind the stories; what Block had in mind while he was writing it, who he wrote it for, etc.

I'd say Catch and Release, the titular tale, was the best of the bunch but I didn't think any of them were duds. Unlike some Hard Case reprints, this one had the Hard Case feel throughout. Another winning Hard Case from Lawrence Block! Four stars!

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Blogger Spotlight: Jazmen from ThisGirlReadsALot

I'm the featured blogger in the Blogger Spotlight at This Girl Reads a Lot today.  Since I answered Jazmen's questions, she was honor-bound to answer mine.

How did you discover Goodreads?
Honestly, I really don't remember it was more likely than not through a google search. I'm a google queen.

What have been your most memorable book reviewing experiences?
My most memorable reviewing experiences really only started happening when I began blogging. Authors have been
approaching me wanting me to review their books. I've been able to connect when authors through my more recent reviews and I find that pretty exciting!

Name one book blogger that more people should be aware of.
If I had to choose one I would probably chose Pam from Ya Escape Reality she's a consistent follower and commenter and I always appreciate that especially since I'm fairly new at this blogging thing.

How many books do you own?
Ha that's hysterical. How much time do you have? I couldn't put a number on it but definitely more than 100.

Who is your favorite author?
My favorite author right now is Anne Eliot. I have so many but I just recently discovered her and I think her work is pretty
darn fantastic!

What is your favorite book of all time?
Hmm...When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago.

What are your thoughts on ebooks?
I was dead set on hating them but I've come around and I now find them useful and I welcome them.

What are your thoughts on self-publishing?
It's something I stand behind. Just because a major publishing company doesn't believe in what you wrote or whatever the reason doesn't mean you should give up. You do what you have to do to get your work out there. Some of the best books I've read this year have been self published.

Any literary aspirations?
I've always wanted to be a writer. Always. I just recently buckeled down and starting writing my first book. I happen to think it's going to be great! :P

Batman: Death of the Family

Batman, Vol. 3: Death of the Family by Scott Snyder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After disappearing for a year, the Joker returns with a vengeance, striking at Batman where it hurts the most: his family! Can Batman stop the Joker from murdering his friends and family without killing him?

I got this from Netgalley. Thank you, Netgalley!

Here we are again, another phenomenal Batman tale from Scott Snyder. This time, he utilizes an old Bat-foe, The Joker, and sets him against the Bat-family. How does he do?

Snyder passes with flying colors. Death of the Family is the best Joker story since The Killing Joke. The Joker hits Batman where he lives, taking out Commissioner Gordon and Alfred with relative ease and sowing the seeds of mistrust within the Bat-family.

Snyder did his homework on this one, referencing some early Batman tales and bringing in A-list Batman villains to help, namely Penguin, Two-Face, and the Riddler. I was hoping he'd bring in Catwoman and we'd get an homage to the 60's Batman movie where he had a shark hanging from his leg but we can't have everything.

The Joker was a very chilling villain in this volume, capable of taking out members of the GCPD in the police station without seeming like a super hero. There's a fair amount of psychological horror in this one and at the end, it's hard to shake the feeling that the Joker did what he set out to do, to sow discord between Batman and his extended family.

The art and writing were superb. Capullo has come a long way since X-Force days and Snyder is still the lone comic writer on my must read list. Four out of five stars. Bat-fans will not want to miss.

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Dinocoalypse Now

Dinocalypse Now by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After receiving a tip that FDR is going to be assassinated, the Century Club spring into action, only to find they've been led into a trap! Psychic dinosaurs invade the world from seven dimensional portals, led by Khan, the Conqueror Ape, and his simian horde! But who is pulling Khan's strings? And can his son, Professor Khan of the Century Club, help his friends defeat his father and avert the Dinocalypse?

Psychic dinosaurs, talking apes, yes, this book is that much fun. Set in the world of Evil Hat's Spirit of the Century RPG, the real kind, not the video game kind, Dinocaypse Now is a tribute to the pulp magazines of the 1930's, from it's relentless action to it's intentionally purple prose.

The characters are an interesting mix. There's Sally Slick, a smart inventor who resembles Rosie the Riveter, Mack Silver, the pilot/Doc Savage type, Jet Black, the stand-in for The Rocketeer, Benjamin Hu, mystic detective, Professor Khan, the talking gorilla who's also a teacher at Oxford, and Amelia Stone, lady Indiana Jones.

The plot is pretty simple. Super-villains, supposedly led by Khan the Conqueror, are capturing members of the Century Club and subjugating the world with psychic dinosaurs. However, there's someone lurking in the shadows with a much more sinister plan.

Like I said, it's a lot of fun and didn't have much chance of being otherwise with all the dinosaurs and talking apes in it. Wendig works some modern sensibilities in as well. Sally Slick is no shrinking violet, that's for sure. I was really glad the love triangle between her, Silver, and Jet Black didn't become the focal point of the story. Professor Khan wound up being my favorite characters, his jungle instincts conflicting with his academic nature.

If I had to complain about something, it would be that a lot of characters seemed like archetypes rather than characters. However, since this is a pulp homage, that's the nature of the beast. Speaking of beasts, I already have one of the subsequent books, Khan of Mars, heading my way.

Dincalypse Now is a non-stop fun read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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Drama City

Drama City by George Pelecanos
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lorenzo Brown, dog catcher and ex-con, struggles to keep from falling back into his old ways, while his parole officer, Rachel Lopez, has some problems of her own. What will happen when two drug factions get into a dispute and Brown and Lopez find themselves caught in the crossfire?

Drama City is a throwback to George Pelecanos DC Quartet. While it's a crime book, it's also a story of life in Washington, DC. In this case, it's the story of a black man trying not to fall back into a life of dealing drugs and a parole officer trying not to let her life go up in flames due to her addictions to sex and booze.

Brown and Lopez are both deeply conflicted characters. It could be that Brown's love of animals and feels toward the young woman and her little girl that he sees every day while walking his dog are all the keeps him from his old life of violence. Lopez has never been in an equal relationship and the idea of one scares her.

Brown's friend from his youth, Nigel Johnson, is a fairly powerful drug dealer. After a minor turf dispute with a rival dealer's thugs, things begin building and Lorenzo is pulled in when he breaks up a dog fighting ring. Melvin Lee, one of the thugs he runs across, shares his parole officer.

Father figures and growing up without a father play important roles in Drama City. Rico Miller, psychopath that he is, sees Melvin as a father figure, and therein is the source of much of the drama that happens in the story. Nigel Johnson sees himself as a father figure to Michael Butler, and when Michael winds up dead, things quickly escalate.

There isn't a lot of action in Drama City. Most of the events are of the emotional sort, but when the violence comes, it is brutal. I love the twist at the end with Nigel and Lorenzo.

Most of Pelecanos' books have a cinematic feel but Drama City felt the most like a movie to me so far. Like something that would probably be nominated but not win an Academy Award.

As with all Pelecanos books, there are a lot of music references and a fair amount of car talk. Derek Strange and his dog make an uncredited cameo appearance early on. Well, Greco is named but not Strange. One thing I noticed is that Pelecanos doesn't often point out skin color to describe characters so you might not realize someone is or isn't white right away.

Like I said earlier, Drama City feels like a throwback to the DC Quartet to me. Four out of five stars.

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Shoedog

Shoedog by George Pelecanos
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A drifter named Constantine winds up back in DC after more than a decade of drifting and finds himself entangled in a plot to rob two liquor stores at the same time. But can he keep his mind on the job when the girlfriend of the man bankrolling it has her sights set on him?

Shoedog is a departure from Pelecanos' first couple of books featuring Nick Stefanos. This one features a larger cast and a different writing style. Instead of a straight up detective story, this one is more like a heist by Richard Stark or Elmore Leonard. Probably more on the Leonard side of things. It's written from multiple viewpoints in the third person, much different than the Stefanos books.

Constantine, like Stefanos, is kind of a screw up but of a slightly different breed than our beloved Nick. He's a drifter, running his whole life. Things start coming unglued for him when he winds up back in DC for the first time since he was 17 and hooks up with another screw up named Polk. He and Polk get involved with a gangster named Grimes and things immediately spiral out of control.

Even though the writing is different than in the Stefanos books, it's still Pelecanos and still pretty damn slick, complete with music references. The heist seemed flawed from the beginning and was doomed to come unglued, as did the fledgling relationship between Constantine and Delia. Parker never would have worked with a crew like this.

I did like the way the dual heists were written, though. It felt like a sequence from a Guy Ritchie movie. An early one, like Snatch or Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, not anything after that.

That's about all I can say without giving anything away. It's a quick and exciting read. Not my favorite Pelecanos by any stretch but not bad either.

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