Back on the horse, this weekend Blind Monkey reviewed the latest by Patricia Cornwell, “Book of the Dead.” All the players are back, with Dr. Kay Scarpetta working from a new home base in South Carolina, aand including action spanning from New York to Rome and Venice. Benton Wesley, Pete, Lucy and Rose all return for the drama, which is emotional and raw – something that will come as no surprise to those of you that are fans already.

I was prepared, but must admit that this story is brutal – even for Cornwell. Haunted by images of a beautiful and famous tennis phenom who is cruelly tortured and mutilated in Rome, Kay strives to find the killer before he stikes again. And fails. The imagery is so moody, dark and powerful that I was surprised everytime I stepped away to look around and see the bright California sunshine.

There are at least two wonderfully sensitive and joyful moments, two more than you will generally find in a Cornwell novel. But “Book of the Dead” is not for the squeamish or faint-of-heart – in fact, I already warned Mom that under no circumstances is she allowed to read it. But if you’re looking for a mystery with the heart of a savage psychological thriller – pick up the “Book.”

I give this one 4 1/2 bananas, with points taken off only because the reveal comes a little early.

YES, I will buy basically anything Stephen Cannell writes. And YES, I can almost guarantee that I’m going to like it.

Now some of the Monkies say that means that I’m not objective — to which I say, “HEY! *I* am in charge here! And if *I* think the writer of the ‘Rockford Files’ and ‘The A Team’ is as cool as it gets, then he is!!” WUHUHAHAHAHAHA!!! (evil monkey laugh)

But then, that is the beauty of having your own personal Web playground. *I* am always right!

In all seriousness, however, I love Cannell’s books because he has a unique creative flair that he applies to an ever-widening variety of subjects. He’s clever, he’s biting, and his stories are a hurtling and bumpy wooden rollercoaster ride plunging you to the earth so fast you’re sure you’re gonna fly out of the car! It’s ‘easy reading’ without the ‘easy’. You’re just so wrapped up from page ONE that you don’t want to put it down until you get to the end. Just in case you need me to jog your memory, think of such creative thrillers as The Plan, Final Verdict, King Con, and Riding the Snake.

The Devil’s Workshop is no different. Beautiful and fiesty microbiologist Stacy Richardson is finishing her doctorate in bio-chemistry when she learns that her new husband has just committed suicide. Unable to believe that the solid and practical USC scientist she married is capable of suicide, she travels to Ft. Detrick, Maryland where he was working on a top secret bio-weapons program known as the ‘Devil’s Workshop’. Stacy meets Adminral Zoll, the government official in charge of the program, and quickly discovers that the government’s story is a lie. She vows to find the truth.

Meanwhile, hobos Lucky Cunningham and Hollywood Mike are passing through Vanishing Lake, Texas, looking to scrape up enough for a bottle when, unbeknownst to them, Admiral Zoll is illegally testing new secret bio-weapons known as ‘Prions’.

Okay – you get the idea – something will go wrong, and we’ve got an outbreak of global proportions. Think ‘Outbreak’ with more colorful characters and settings, and you’re pretty much there. This isn’t a book that’s gonna change the world, but it’s fun, it’s fast, you’ll love the characters, and enjoy the ride.

Trust the Monkey. =)

Hardcover – 416 pages 1 Ed edition (September 1999) William Morrow & Company; ISBN: 0688166180 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.31 x 9.68 x 6.41

Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey

So, I finally got around to reading Fear Nothing (the prequel to Dean Koontz’s Seize the Night ). And ever since, I?ve been having this recurring dream. But I get ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

—————

I get to sleep and at some point the scene begins to play out. It?s nighttime ? it?s always at night — and I?m at a house. We’re crouched in the yard and on the roof, keeping a lookout: Slappy, the Goose, and me. I am in the backyard preparing with Slappy, because we know they are coming.

We are as prepared as possible, but we never know they are coming until we hear the explosions.

Far away they start, but we know what they mean. It sets off a strange hissing sound that comes out of the ground around us in the backyard. We know from the last time that there will be less than a few seconds now until the sprinklers pop up about 10 inches above the ground shooting a strange reddish brown ooze in a slick parallel line with the ground. If you get hit with this stuff, it?s all over. It will burn the skin right from your body. I’ve seen it happen.

I press my body as tightly down into the soft green earth, relieved that thesickly mixture has shot in another direction. But even as a watch it I know not to let my guard down. The worst is yet to come. And this is good, because as soon as the last of it burns into the grass, the rusty cannons move on to their next weapon.

Small reflective plates fold out mechanically like a tiny reflecting satellite dish and reposition in response to the detection of motion. And then, in the most brilliant display of flight, small seekers come spiraling towards the slightest movement. I feel the first one brush past my body, following a lightning-quick path up my legs past my back and ever so slightly blowing my hair as I hug the earth.Shhhhhhup.

It?s by. I flip to my back? another?s coming. Shhhhhhuup. And another goes by. This time it passes so close over my face that the reflection off its shiny metal surface blinds me for just a moment. I know I have to disable it somehow or I won?tget back inside before the soldiers come.

With the next shot I am given an paralyzing opportunity.The dish positions 90 degrees away and seeks out Slappy, who has panicked and tried to run. It finds him in an instant and blows him to bits (sorry, Slap). I move just fast enough to get behind the dish as it begins to turn back to me. When it shoots again, I catch the tiny seeker and point it back where it came in one fluid motion as I hurl myself in the opposite direction. With quick, devastating explosion, it has engulfed itself, taking with it my shoe, and I am safe.

But not for long, and I rush back inside to join the Goose.

We know the soldiers are coming now and quickly choose our weapons and prepare to hide. Big dumb apes they are. Not human, but some hybrid horror of evolution, combining man andsimian beast.They are carrying weapons that shoot those same shiny cylinders.But these are not seekers. Simply projectiles that follow the direction of the sender like a long deadly bullet.

We are hiding.If they think that no one is in the house they will move on to the next, destroying everything in their path.Goose and Ihide in the lower level of a long closet of shelves that connects two rooms. He covers hisbody with pillows and I cower towards his feet and cover myself with an old comforter. They?ve entered the house now andwe see and hear huge furry legs and paw-like feet plodding about the room searching for us. Suddenly there is a loud crack of something crashing to the ground.

And I am awake. Trying to figure out where I am.

But that?s when I realize that the crack was not part of the dream.

It came from within the house.

—————

Fear Nothing gets FIVE BANANAS for creativity and an ability to kick my imagination into overdrive. But it’s pretty annoying if you’ve already read Seize the Night, and the plot is a little goofy. And besides – I didn’t even tell you anything about it! =)

But trust me it’s a fun read, has lots of monkeys (hence the evil soldiers in my dream), and ends up at a good solid THREE and a HALF BANANAS.

Hardcover- 391 pages (February 1998) Bantam Books; ISBN: 0553106643 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.30 x 9.56 x 6.46

Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey

As all the Monkies know, I await a new Kellerman novel with bated breath.. and the thrill of acquiring Monster, was no different.

That’s right, the master of the psychological thriller is back with the thirteenth installment in the Alex Delaware series, and another chance to delve into the minds of the deranged. This time, Dr. Alex and Detective Milo Sturgis find themselves at Starkweather State Hospital for the Criminally Insane after a psychologist is brutally murdered. To add to the mystery, her demise is startlingly similar to the mutilation of a wanna-be actor 8 months before.. a case that’s never been solved.

But things don’t really get interesting until they find that one of the patient’s incoherent mumblings may have predicted the murder.

As with most Kellerman novels, you’ll find that the real action happens off stage… which suits me just fine. His talent for extrapolating motivations and predicting future behavior from external clues is positively mesmorizing, and you will quickly find yourself getting into the act. It’s a definite reason for curling by the fire for this uncommonly fun tale of woe.

The second reason, of course, is the slightly tarnished co-co-star of all Kellerman’s novels, the City of Angels. A long-time Angelino himself, he knows every seedy corner and nebulous nook and cranny the city has to offer. He uses the location itself to drive the plot… and I’ll give you a hint… pay attention to the descriptive phrasing for a clue. =)

Monster is a great read, and it does take an interesting perspective on the finer points of psychosis.. but take heed, this story is for entertainment purposes only.

Hardcover- 416 pages (December 7, 1999) Random House; ISBN: 067945960X ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.35 x 9.58 x 6.55

Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey
Sunday, July 25, 1999

Waiting impatiently for a recent delayed flight to Seattle, the Monkey decides to venture into that deep abyss of mass market media: the airport book store. Yada, yada, yada, grip ‘em and rip ‘em Romance junket… yada, yada, yada, true crime psycho thriller… yada, yada, yada, special issue Time… then I see The Pied Piper. Hmmm… according to the jacket, it’s “A thinking man’s Robert Ludlum.” Thinking man?? Whatever. I hate any review that says if you liked this book or that author you must be stupid. NEXT!

Immediately moving to put the book back, part of the text suddenly catches my eye, “…featuring Seattle detective Lou Bolt.” After all, I AM on my way to Seattle, so I reconsider. Condescending review or not, Ridley Pearson it is, and the Monkey is set for a 4 1/2 hour flight wedged between a large smelly man and a chatty, giggly pre-teen in an overstuffed, sold-out flight to the Pacific Northwest.

Okay, let’s start by pointing out that I couldn’t find a single similarity between Ludlum and Pearson. Cromwell, Connelly, or Baldacci yes, but not Ludlum. Not even close. So Kirkus Reviews, if you’re reading, go buy a Ludlum and figure out what the hell you’re talking about.

But other than Ludlum, the similarities to those others are unmistakable. Never have I read a character so completely modelled after another!! Lt. Lou Bolt is a thin version of Connelly’s Harry Bosch — and I’m NOT referring to his emanciated profile. Come on, not only does he copy Bosch’s style for crying out loud, he even listens to the same music!! VERY annoying.

Alright, but to get right down to it, the story’s not bad. In fact, Pearson’s got a knack for leading you along. I hate to say it, but I ended up enjoying this one. Bolt is the typical likeable rouge, and the supporting characters are colorful, biting, and well developed. He even threw in a surprise or two that I didn’t anticipate.

But the truth is that he doesn’t break any new ground. You’d be better off to pick up a Connelly or an older Kellerman. I give this book three bananas for good writing — but I penalize him two for trying to con us into thinking this is original material.

Mass Market Paperback – 372 pages (July 1999) Hyperion Press; ISBN: 0786889551; Dimensions (in inches): 1.10 x 6.73 x 4.23

Reviewed by: Slappy

Sometimes, you are surprised at just how enjoyable some authors are. Dean R. Koontz, one of my earliest favorite authors from back when I was only a teenage monkey (no offense to the current ruling Teen Monkey) has maintained
a place in my bookcases despite my changing tastes in fiction. Koontz writes plainly yet vividly and completely enthralling. I have never started a Koontz novel and not finished, which says quite a bit for old Dean ’cause I have this thing where if a book doesn’t grab me by at least the first hundred pages, it gets set aside for me to return to later, which of course most times I never do.

Dean R. Koontz has written numerous novels spanning the better part of two decades and still remains one of the most under appreciated authors. Granted, his style of writing and subject matter is more “easy read” than most horror or sci-fi authors, but just pick up one of his books. You’ll see. He is entertaining and interesting and intelligent and insightful (ooohhh … phonetic alliteration! gotta love that!) and his books generally end with the good guys stomping the crap out of the bad guys. Most Koontz novels are horror/sci-fi, yet there are a few in his portfolio of prose (hee hee … I’m on drugs right now) which center around psychological threats to the main characters as well as just plain old mean bad guys trying to make things horrible for the good guys.

My favorite Koontz novel … Strangers. Probably his most epic, the story involves several people from across the country who are inexplicably drawn to a particular town where they all find they are not strangers, no, they know each other, yet HOW they know each other is only marginally revealed. That is, until the novel’s climax. I was totally engrossed in reading this
book. A priest, a doctor, a professional thief, an author and several other individuals try and uncover the particulars of their shared pasts, though they know not what that past entails. And let me just tell you this … you will not expect the answers Koontz gives.

Read Dean R. Koontz. You will not be disappointed in his work, just don’t go expecting Ayn Rand.

Koontz is much more enjoyable.!!!!

—————–

Other Koontz novels Slappy recommends…

The Bad Place
Midnight
Night Chills
Phantoms
Twilight Eyes**
Watchers
Whispers

**Twilight Eyes is my second favorite Koontz novel. A story about a circus, a psychically ` gifted young man and demonic activity from ages ago planning to conquer the human race.

Mass Market Paperback – 688 pages Reprint edition (May 1996) Berkley Pub Group; ISBN: 0425119920; Dimensions (in inches): 1.50 x 6.84 x 4.17

Reviewed by: The Goose
Wednesday, June 30, 1999

Let me start off by saying that I wrote another draft of this review and after talking with Blind Monkey about it I tossed it in the proverbial circular file. It was choppy and didn’t create any interest in the book. Bad monkey! So I am starting over. And before he can cry foul, let me say that Blind Monkey suggested that I discuss the ‘original monster board’.

So that said, let’s talk about this creepy book. It’s full of mystery and horror. Both genres which I have little experience with. I don’t know if you have noticed, but I’m pretty much Sci-Fi and Fantasy kind of monkey. Stepping out of those genres is difficult at best for me. On the other hand, this story is absolutely fantastic. I think I read it over the course of two days whenever I had a free moment or two I was reading this thing. If I had had the time I wouldn’t have stopped reading until I was done!

Whew! I hope that’s a resounding endorsement.

The premise here is that three friends, a journalist, a recently appointed Police Commissioner, and an Alienist are trying to solve a series of murders in turn of the century New York. One of those three is a young Teddy Roosevelt.

Now Teddy is on top of things and sets up what amounts to a secret cabal to solve these murders. The leader of which is Dr. Lazlo Kreizler – an Alienist. John Moore is the journalist and is included in the investigation more or less by association, the two having gone to Yale together. Rather ironically, Moore had recently returned from England where he had been reporting on ‘The Ripper’ murders.

The ‘monster board’ is a huge blackboard set up by Kreizler to track the murders using what is known, unknown, and the assumptions the team is making. It becomes a fine example of a ‘living document’ that changes as the team learns new things or must discard old assumptions. This is what the master Monkey meant by ‘The Original Monster Board’. A tool which is used by brain-storming teams everywhere and as a concept has found its way onto the internet.

Tracking a serial killer in the city of goth would be hard enough as it is. People disappear, die, and are murdered with frightening frequency. Usually with no rhyme or reason! But, because Roosevelt is the newly appointed chief of police and has been charged with cleaning up NYPD and the streets, he can hardly afford a misstep. If he is somehow embarrassed on this case, all the bad cops and underworld bosses will be on him like white on rice! And they’re not the only problem — the city’s elite don’t want the investigation continued either. Out of site, out of mind. Who cares if some little boys get killed? They were just scum working the streets for money, right?

This story has more weird turns than an Escher drawing. All of which are against a seething backdrop of political and social turmoil which threatens to swallow it before the case is solved. Throw in some bizarre Native American warpath rituals and our stage is set for a very gruesome but interesting story.

The characters are rich and fully developed-if a little dark. Teddy is the only really bright character. Then again, how else could you paint him? The feeling of macabre is like an itch between your shoulder blades, it’s there, you can’t reach it and it seems to grow worse with every passing minute. This story is like that it just builds, and builds, and builds until finally…

Oh! And what about the title? What is an Alienist? Well let me answer that indirectly with a quotation from the very beginning of the book:

Prior to the twentieth century, persons suffering from mental illness were thought to be “alienated,” not only from the rest of society but from their own true natures. Those experts who studied mental pathologies were therefore known as alienists.

Absolutely fascinating, and definitely worthy of its place on Blind Monkey’s Top Ten List!

Hardcover – 496 pages 1 Ed edition (April 1994) Random House; ISBN: 0679417796 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.54 x 9.53 x 6.65

Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey
Saturday, March 27, 1999

Now we all know that a Grisham novel isn’t gonna change the world. As far as legal-eagle thrillers go, Grisham writes pretty puffy stuff. So I’m not here to tell you he can write a practice thriller like Richard North Patterson or Brad Meltzer… but that southern boy sure can turn a tale!

In his latest, The Testament, Grisham takes us on a jolting journey — through the cut-throat litigation of the Washington elite, to the exotic wasteland of the Brazilian swamps, to the quiet beauty of snow-covered Maine. This Monkey especially enjoyed the trip down the dangerous Brazilian Paraguay river, a place that I’ve been hoping to visit for an adventure. Now, you may not know this, but the Monkey has a German roommie that spends most of his time in Brazil, and I’ve been fantasizing about a trip to…

but I digress. Back to the story.

Testament introduces us to Troy Phelan, the 10th richest man in the world. A greedy, eccentric, self-made egotist confined to a wheelchair and (not-so) patiently planning his death. His heirs are circling like vultures, anxiously awaiting their anticipated fortunes and attacking each other in their fight for a bigger piece of the 11 Billion-dollar pie.

But when Troy plummets to his death after hastily signing a surprise handwritten holographic will, the search is on for the single heir of this massive fortune.

Enter our hero: Nate O’Reily. A streetwise high-octane Washington malpractice lawyer fresh out of rehab, nursing his wounds from his second failed marriage, and desperately trying to stay two steps ahead of the IRS. The most pathetic excuse you can imagine for a hero, Nate is sent to the Brazilian jungle to find this mystery woman and fend off the vultures before the rest of the family realizes that they don’t have a dime.

Although his legal maneuvering once again appeals to the lowest common denominator of reader intelligence, I find that this is precisely why I enjoy his novels. You know you can read it in 3 evenings or less, the characters are full of frailty and good-intentions, the plot twists are creative and entertaining, and the setting serves as the primary source of fiction. And with The Testament, Grisham finally ventures outside the sleepy south (I live in Atlanta, I can say these things) to provide a sense of adventure and escape… although he does throw in a touch of New Orleans to keep him from straying too far from his roots.

So if you’re in the mood for an easy and enjoyable read, with one or two surprises waiting in the wings, cast aside your intellectual snobbery and let Grisham entertain once again.

Hardcover – 435 pages (February 2, 1999) Doubleday; ISBN: 0385493800; Dimensions (in inches): 1.60 x 9.58 x 6.65

Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey

Well, I have not reviewed a Top Ten novel in a while and really, we are trying to get reviews done for all these books so here you go…

I think that Jennings may be just a little disturbed. Which is why I am sure that Blind Monkey loved this book. The hero (although I prefer protagonist) is so twisted and wrong that you wonder how this could happen at all, and yet it could.
Our hero’s name is Mixtli. Dark Cloud is what it means, and it is a not so subtle metaphor for the book. He’s near-sited. He’s not exactly brave. And he’s often undeniably dense. But he’ s also cunning and survives life that way with some help from the people who are drawn to him (for whatever strange reason).

He is Mexica, or Aztec, as the Spaniards prefer. He is the middle class son of a stone mason. His sister is Tzi-Tzi, or ‘the sound of ringing bells’. The story, taking place around the time that Cortez arrives in Mexico, revolves around Mixtli.. or should I say reels? It seems that Mixtli blunders from one thing to the next, whether it is heroism, tragedy, joy, or nothing, really. Throughout the story it is obvious that things are way beyond Mixtli’s control, even when he thinks they are.

He is a twisted hero just by the circumstances he is in and through the knowledge the reader is given it is obvious that Mixtli’s interpretation or view of things is often flawed, very flawed–which is one of the many ironies of the story. In all reality there is only one point in the story where I can say that Mixtli has control and is aware of the true meaning of the things going on around him.

Enough of that.

The story is framed in a series of missives from the Arch Bishop of Mexico to the King of Spain. Each new section starts of with a diatribe from the bishop to the King that belies the Bishop’s limited understanding of things which also helps to engender the Mexica, and especially Mixtli, to the reader.

In itself the story is well written and enjoyable to read. The language is clean and well paced. Jennings connects everything together rather well so that you won’t ever be left asking ‘How’d he get there from here?’ or some such thing. I promise that you won’t be bored, disgusted maybe, but not bored. And it is a great story of the fall of the Aztec Empire, personalized through the myopic eyes of Dark Cloud.

Addition from Blind Monkey:

Gary’s 10 years of research only begins to lie the foundation for the genius of this tale. There’s a reason Aztec is on my Top Ten. It’s shocking. It’s dynamic. It’s down-right awe-inspiring.

What it isn’t is a book that passes the Mom-O-Meter. If you’re the sqeamish type, or even mildly easy to offend by violence or sexual situations, then this isn’t the book for you. But if you like ADVENTURE, with rich characters thickly braided in fantastic emotional plots set in exotic settings and situations, you won’t go wrong with Mixtli’s stunning tale.

Mass Market Paperback – 1038 pages Reprint edition (August 1997) Forge; ISBN: 0812521463; Dimensions (in inches): 1.80 x 6.79 x 4.17

Reviewed by: The Goose
Saturday, February 27, 1999

Here is another review in the ‘fun’ category (No cat calls from the upper story thank you very much!) Cussler, as you may know, writes adventure stories. (And yes Blind Monkey, it does seem as though he has the unabridged OED next to his computer so that he can toss out new words when the mood strikes him).

Treasure is another Dirk Pitt adventure. So who the heck is Dirk Pitt? Dirk is an Air Force major on permanent loan to the National Underwater Marine Agency. That doesn’t answer the question! All right, take Bruce Willis at his action movie best and then mix him up with McGyver and the whole A-Team and you’ve got it.

Cussler takes extreme delight in devising impossible scenarios, plots, and goals and then putting Pitt and his buddies through the proverbial wringer to see how it comes out. Like I said it’s a lot of fun.

In Treasure Pitt saves the beautiful Secretary-General of the United Nations three times from a genius assassin, and that’s just a subplot!

The real plot starts when Pitt et al discover a Greco-Roman merchantman ship off the coast of Iceland. There’s also the mastermind, criminal brothers set on disrupting the Balance of Power in the world. Not to mention, Alexander the Great’s remains and his Golden Casket. Follow Dirk from Iceland to the States, down to Tierra Del Fuego and back again. This guy is like a Timex, he takes a lickin…

This is not for Intellectual Snobs like the Blind Monkey who will decry Cussler’s poor use of fancy words, but hey, at least he is trying. And if you don’t like a good action movie where people get beat up, shot, or flayed then it isn’t for you either. But if you are first in line to see the latest Bruce Willis action extravaganza then this book is for you.

Want to know the really funny part? These stories have all the components of what BM says constitutes a good book. Twisted antagonists, sharp plot turns, unexpected outcomes, romance, and in the end somebody gets WHACKED! I think his major complaint is that Cussler is a dilettante when it comes to word choice. He likes to throw out big fancy words even if they don’t really fit in the context of what he is writing.

If you like this and want to read more, check out my other favorites: Inca Gold, Sahara, Raise the Titanic!, and Shockwave.

Mass Market Paperback Reissue edition (November 1988) Pocket Books; ISBN: 0671704656 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.91 x 6.71 x 4.15