Monday Book Pick: The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale
The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale by Mike Resnick
Executive Summary: Steampunk at the OK Corral, with Indian Medicine Men casting real Magick (for a dash of Shadowrun tossed in for flavor). Bonus points for a young Thomas Edison with a specially harded bronze mechanical arm. Other than that, it’s a pretty historically accurate recounting of the events leading up to, and the events after, the Gunfight at the OK Corral. It reminded me a lot of the movie Tombstone, to the point where I heard Val Kilmer’s Doc Holiday in my head while reading the book. This could be because both Resnick and the folks who did Tombstone did a lot of research on the topic. Even with the Steampunk Plus elements, it was a fun read.
Monday Book Pick: Condi vs. Hillary
Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race by Dick Morris
With Drudge running the story that Dr. Rice is on the shortlist for a VP pick by Gov. Romney, I have to go with this 2005 book that details how then Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice could beat then democrat frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Monday Book Pick: Tax Payers’ Tea Party: How to Become Politically Active — and Why
Filed under: Monday Book Pick, Political Books, Politics, Tea Party
Tax Payers’ Tea Party: How to Become Politically Active — and Why by Sharon Cooper with illustrations by Chuck Asay
Since the vote for Independence was passed on July 2, 1776, I’m going with a political book the founders would have approved of. This book is about citizen government, i.e. a government that works for the citizens not the other way around. It is a manual on how to get involved in politics at a grass roots level. It encourages people to become knowledgeable on the current political issues and lists ways to effectively communicate with elected government representatives.
Monday Book Pick: Anno Dracula
Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
Mr. Newman starts with the premise that the so-called “heros” of Bram Stoker’s Dracula screwed the pooch and were slaughtered like the incompetent buffoons they appeared to be. With them out of the way, Dracula pretty much has his bloody way with England. This includes having his bloody way with Queen Victoria. Yup, Prince Consort Dracula. Being a vampire becomes fashionable in Jolly Old England. Causes a bit of an upheaval to the social order. Yup, the Vampires are out of the closet for good. I really enjoyed this book and even better, it is the first in series.
Monday Book Pick: Loose Cannon: The Tom Kelly Novels
Loose Cannon: The Tom Kelly Novels by David Drake
A pair of Cold War with Aliens thrillers sharing the same hero/anti-hero, Tom Kelly. Tom Kelly is a spy, and not the sauve, Vodka martini drinking type of spy that that era made famous. Nope, Kelly is a roll up your sleeves and get the job done, regardless of where the chips may fly type of spy. The ladies still love him, probably because is a seriously “bad boy.” Ok, not a bad “boy”, he is a man who lives by his rules, not the rules of the agencies that employ him. If you are looking for gritty action with a healthy dose of aliens, settle down in a comfortable chair and get to know Tom Kelly.
Monday Book Pick: Tarzan of the Apes
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I saw this book in the “New Science Fiction” section at a local bookseller. So “new” means published in the last 100 years, since this book was originally released in 1912! It is a classic, well worth the reprinting. One of the favorite early childhood books of both my brother and myself. I still have that hardcover edition with the Ape-English dictionary in the back.
Monday Book Pick: The Monster in the Mist
The Monster in the Mist (A Chronological Man Adventure) by Andrew Mayne
Executive Summary: Steampunk version of Doctor Who, with a bit of other pulp references tossed in. I give it a thumbs up for being a fun read and definately worth the $0.99 for the ebook download. It’s the first in a series, with the second book also out in the wild. The hero is clearly based on the 11th Doctor, who only travels forward in time. He spends long periods in storage beneath a building he owns in Boston, coming out only when the clockwork computer that monitors events decides that there is something worth cracking him out of cold storage. This time, it is a rash of disapperances in the fog that brings him out in 1890. He even has a companion. A young woman who maintains the office and keeps up on current events. The hero Smith, just Smith, also has a warehouse of gadgets that would make Doc Savage proud, but he won’t show up for a few more decades.
Monday Book Pick: Act of Valor
Act of Valor by Dick Couch and George Galdorisi
The Memorial Day edition of the Monday Book Pick is the book version of the movie Act of Valor. Filmed with real Navy SEALs playing Navy SEALs, the story follows a SEAL team on a series of missions that starts with the rescue of a DEA agent being tourtured by drug dealers. We’re not talking faux tourture like water boarding either. Intelligence gathered on that mission puts them on the trail of a terrorist planning on bringing death and destruction to America. Multiple reviews by combat vets state that this is one of the most realistic military movies they have ever seen.
Monday Book Pick: SEAL Team Six: The Novel
SEAL Team Six: The Novel by Chuck Dixon
A nice action novel about SEALs in the unit formerly known as SEAL Team Six. Here they are hunting Islamic terrorists who are finding and grooming “home grown” terrorists. It’s not about the fancy gear, or the politics behind the scenes, it’s about Good Guys finding and killing Bad Guys. For a $0.99 Kindle ebook, it certainly delivers value for your money. When I finished it, I was happy to find out it was the first in a planned series.
Monday Book Pick: Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up
Filed under: Culture of Corruption, Monday Book Pick, Our Dear Leader, Political Books, Politics, RKBA
Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up by Katie Pavlich
Here are the details about the blood drenched Obama policy of supplying Mexican drug lords with firearms, while at the same time working to deny Americans their Second Amendment Rights. Not only have numerous Mexicans lost their lives to the Obama policy of having the ATF supply firearms to Mexican Drug cartels, US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed by a Mexican drug cartel member using a weapon supplied by the Obama adminstration.