Caliban’s War

The second installment of James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series brings with it some new faces as well as familiar ones.  We meet UN dignitary Chrisjen Avasarala, a driven politician with about as much social tact as a sledgehammer; Sergeant Bobbie Draper, a Martian Marine who witnesses her entire team annihilated by a monsterous protomolecule giant;…

Leviathan Wakes

The future that author James S.A. Corey presents here is akin to the Wild West – a gritty, messy look at population expansion beyond Earth.  There’s a reason why we’re all still screwing around on the rock we were born from; living in space is hard.  Literally everything needed to support life is on this…

American Tabloid

I began reading this book around mid-December but given the chaotic nature of my life at the time, I found it nearly impossible to focus.  Seeing as Ellroy’s American Tabloid is a novel that commands your attention, a wandering mind will do you no favors.  So when things settled down, I picked it back up,…

Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel

Back in 1978, Lawrence Block released a book detailing his advice for prospective novelists.  Now, nearly forty years later, while much of the material is still relevant, Block decided to add and expand the text with the digital world in mind.  Now dubbed, “Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print to Pixel”, Block’s gives important…

The Blue Hour

Having a career that requires one to be analytical doesn’t always translate well into personal life.  After a whirlwind romance, Robin falls hard for a client; an artsy world traveler who whisks her away to Morocco for six weeks of sun and relaxation. Approaching forty and desperate to start a family, Robin grows frustrated as…

Velvet: The Secret Lives of Dead Men

Velvet Templeton has been accused of setting up the murder of a field agent within her super-spy organization, ARC-7.  While many simply viewed her as the complacent secretary, it comes to light that Velvet used to be a field agent herself – and a kick-ass one at that! On the run and desperate to clear…