good reader gone bad

Denson is still flying with Willie and their new partner, former FBI agent and double-jointed hacker Annie Dancer. Mustang stallions are dying across the west. Denson and company have been hired to learn why. With the help of some animal spirits and a few good mounts, they find their way through a twisted helix.

Published in hardcover by Tom Doherty Associates. ISBN 0765306166

John Denson is back and he’s flying high. His partner Willie, finally persuades him to fly with the animal spirits in order to see his way through a complicated double murder. Author Richard Hoyt also makes an unusual appearance as Denson’s creator. Hoyt’s Denson novels are always a treat.

Published in hardcover by Tom Doherty Associates. ISBN 0765303329

Carl Hiaasen has written another South Florida novel of oddballs, outcasts, and warped behavior. Chaz throws his wife Joey overboard on their second honeymoon cruise. Joey survives, thanks to a bale of Jamaica’s finest, and gets even. A fun read, as usual.

Published in hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0375411089

I’m trying to get caught up with Elmore Leonard’s novels. This one is a lean mean tale featuring U.S. Marshall Raylen Givens and bookie Harry Arno. The feds make trouble for Arno and his boss wants him dead. Arno runs to Italy in Ezra Pound’s old neigborhood and Givens decides to go after him. A satisifying story.

Published in paperback by Dell. ISBN 0440214432

Richard Hoyt blends history and speculation into a fascinating tale of wartime deceit. Did MacArthur really make a deal with Emperor Hirohito for control of the Golden Lily, Asian war booty plundered by the Japanese? Hoyt makes a pretty convincing case in this entertaining novel.

Published in paperback by Forge. ISBN 0765342251

Captain Hikaru Sulu deserves more attention and he gets it in this novel by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels. Traversing a razor’s edge between the Tholian Assembly and the Neyal, a new and deadly enemy, Sulu and the Excelsior crew buckle their swash with distinction. Kirk would be proud of his former navigator if he weren’t dead.

Published in paperback by Pocket Books. ISBN 074346401X

I’ve found that I can count on authors Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin to deliver outstanding Star Trek tales and this novel is no exception. Picard is reunited with some old friends when the Enterprise is caught in the middle of a civil war. The Romulans are involved, but with friends in Section 31, the Federation’s covert operations division, who needs enemies?

Published in paperback by Pocket Books. ISBN 0671774778

Volume One of the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson is a mind-boggling novel. I don’t know how to categorize it. Maybe an historical novel of science and politics. Whatever. This tale of 17th century Europe features appealing characters caught in historical events, illuminating them from a fascinating and humorous insider perspective. In spite of the fact that the book is enormous, it is mesmerizing. The second volume is out. I’ll be reading it.

Published in hardcover by William Morrow. ISBN 0380977427

Les Daniels writes about comics these days, but back in the seventies he created Don Sebastian, a Spaniard and a vampire. This is the second title in the series. Don Sebastian’s skull has been taken to the New World, where an Aztec ritual brings him back to life and plunges him into the middle of Hernan Cortez’ assault on Tenochtitlan. I’ll have to track down the other titles in this series.

Published in paperback by Ace Fantasy Books. ISBN 0441766860.

The saga of DS9 continues in this first volume of a series set on the homeworlds of various characters. Una McCormack follows the new careers of Garak and the O’Briens on Cardassia while Heather Jarman takes us to Andor where we learn more about Shar and Prynn Tenmei. Both are satisfying reads and I look forward to new volumes.

Published in paperback by Pocket Books. ISBN 0743483510