Today’s Post by Joe Farace
May is National Caught Reading Month that reminds us of the sheer pleasure of flipping through the pages of a good book. Whether it’s day one or any day in May, the excitement for reading is in full swing all month long. After my little introduction below, you’ll find two “good books” for you to read this month.
Last year my sister and her husband, who live in Maryland, dropped by my Daisy Hill home. I was glad to see them but sadly Mary, as it turned out, was out-of-town. Together we yacked, had a nice dinner and although they weren’t interested in a tour of our home, Sis did take a look at the dining room and, while looking at the books on the shelves, asked “are these Mary’s books?” Now, surely growing up she must have heard my mother say about me that, “his nose is always stuck in a book.” She must have forgotten. When I told her that they were my books, she asked “did you read all of them?” My answer was “yes, sometimes more than once.” I’m not sure she actually believed me. Which brings me to my TBR (“to be read”) list, that typically tends to be be small…
In Other TBR News
I’ve just added a few more books to my list, including another motorsports book 100 Years of Legends: The Official Celebration of the Le Mans 24 Hours and was just informed that the recently updated Complete Book of Doge and Plymouth Muscle Cars is on its way to me. Look for reviews of these books real soon now. Other new books in my stack that are part of Mary’s Book-of-the-Month Club are American Comics: A History by Jeremy Dauber and Godzilla x Kong The New Empire. a novelization of the movie. And I just came back from picking up a copy of Sharpe’s Command by Bernard Cornwell at the library and am looking forward to reading it.
Review:
Anthony Horowitz is a clever writer who refined the book-within-a-book genre with his novel Magpie Murders. If you haven’t already read that book, you should pick it up from Amazon, your local bookstore or library.
Horowitz starts the book in the third-person writing about this past case but along the way becomes curious about several things, including Dudley, who was Horowitz’s predecessor as Hawthorne’s sidekick. So all of sudden, there are two timelines: One the third-person setup about this murder in a gated community where every neighbor in very Agatha Christie-style has a motive for murdering the poor schlub and then a first person account of Horowitz’s investigation into the people involved and details in the case. All of which provides for an inventive read with lots of twists and turns that would make Christie herself blush while delighting the reader of this book. The denouement of the book (NO SPOILERS) might indicate that this is the final book in the series. I hope not,. I will miss Hawthorne and Horowitz solving crimes in their own unique manner. Either way don’t miss
Tip: To enjoy this book, you will not have to have read any of the other books in this now four-book series but if you want to I suggest you start with book one, 2018’s The Word is Murder.
Review: Extinction by Douglas Preston
Mr. Preston is one of my favorite authors of science-onbased thrillers. You want to have your mind blown? Read his book Blasphemy. Even more amazing is one of his non-fiction books, Lost City of the Monkey God where he goes on an heavily armed expedition into the wilds of Brazil searching for archeological ruins of a mythical city only to be infected with a near fatal disease and how he, all on his own, fights his way back to health. The first part of the book is about the expedition while the last chapters detail his efforts to not only save his own life but the lives of many others who were infected by a illness from disease-born mosquitoes. This is a harrowing tale and all the more amazing because of it being true. You will come away knowing that Douglas Preston is not just a talented and inventive writer but, as some might say, is a true mensch.
Lest the book’s cover with the stylized Mammoth lead you to think that Extinction is a Jurassic Park clone let me dissuade you of that right now. Let’s start with the science: In the book a group of scientists have successfully cloned a family of Mammoths and several other seemingly benign extinct species, and created an animal refuge in the Colorado mountains. Fiction? Meet Beth Shapiro, a paleogeneticist and author of How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction and who is working with Colossal Biosciences to do just that—de-extinct a Mamoth! You can read an interview with her here. But back to the book…
The book’s title and initial premise seemingly flirts with Jurassic Park vibes but it’s not what it seems. The story has more in common with another Michael Creighton thriller, The Andromeda Strain, as a scientifically-oriented mystery/thriller that tells the story of a female member of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation teeming up with a crusty Colorado County Sheriff to solve the mystery of two hikers who disappeared from a campsite and are presumed dead. The killers at some point, make themselves known to law enforcement but you’ll be puzzled about who and what they are up too. At some point near the end it’s revealed and you probably—I couldn’t —guess who and why they are doing what they are doing. At this point the book become a rip-snorting adventure yarn and a roller coaster ride, so you’ll be hanging on with each page turn. If you like your thrillers with a dollop of science, you will love Extinction. I sure did.
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