The Legend of Broken

The Legend of Broken by Caleb Carr

For years I've been waiting for Caleb Carr to write another book. Ever since reading The Alienist and its sequel The Angel of Darkness back in the '90s I've been a big fan of his. After those two books he wrote two stand-alone books: Killing Time and a Sherlock Holmes story called The Italian Secretary. Neither one was as good as his first two, but they were all right. When I saw that he had a new book coming out, seven years since his last one, I was excited. it wasn't going to be a return to the characters from The Alienist, but I was still looking forward to reading it.

The Legend of Broken is an extremely hard book to categorize. I've labeled the genre as "historical legend," which I don't even think is a real genre, but it's the only label I can think of that makes any sense. The narrator of the story begins the book with an explanation that it comes from an old manuscript, recently discovered, which tells the story of two different civilizations that existed between 500-800 A.D., in what is today the country of Germany. The Tall reside in the city of Broken and the Bane, who were cast out of Broken many years before, now live in remote and hidden villages outside the city's limits. The two groups are constantly at odds with each other, but when a mysterious plague breaks out, killing many in both tribes, each believes the other is responsible for the illness and both groups begin making plans for war.

It's up to three members of the Bane tribe to track down the enigmatic Caliphestros, who was banished from Broken many years ago after being accused of sorcery, to discover the true source of the plague and save both civilizations from a war that threatens to wipe them both out.

I really wanted to like this book. I didn't want to have waited so long for another book by Carr only to be disappointed. Unfortunately though, that's what I was. I found myself conscientiously pushing to get through the 700+ pages as quickly as possible so that I could move on to the next book on my TBR pile. The storyline never captured my attention and Carr's style of writing this time kept me continually confused and disinterested. I was frustrated with the book because I know how good a writer Carr is, and this book is not indicative of it. The Alienist is one of my all-time favorite books, and based on the amount of time that that book spent on the NYT Bestseller list back in 1994, I would think I'm not alone in hoping Carr will one day return to the characters and story he introduced in that book. Why he would spend as much time as he undoubtedly did writing this book is beyond me.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Bridge to Never Land

The Bridge to Never Land by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

I've enjoyed all four of Dave Barry's and Ridley Pearson's previous books in their "Starcatchers" series. They began it with Peter and the Starcatcher (now a Broadway play), which was a prequel to J. M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan, and explains how Peter became the boy who could fly, how Tinkerbell came to be, and how they and the Lost Boys came to Never Land. Each of the books is a fun read and I'd recommend them to anyone older than 11 or 12, adults included.

The Bridge to Never Land is a contemporary sequel to the series. It takes place in modern times as opposed to the early 20th century, years after the events of the previous four books. Sarah Cooper and her brother Aidan are playing around one day when they inadvertently discover a secret compartment in an old English desk their father bought at an auction. Inside the compartment is a document which is written in some sort of a code. A name mentioned in the document seems to ring a bell in Sarah's memory and she spends the night trying to figure out why it seems so familiar to her. Finally she remembers, it's the name of a character from a series of books she once read--the "Starcatchers" series.

As she and Aidan continue to study the document, they become more and more convinced that the events of the books were real; that Peter was real, that Hook was real, and that starstuff, the magical substance that periodically falls to earth and was collected and guarded by the Starcatchers was, and is real.

That conclusion is the beginning of an adventure, and to the discovery of the last remaining starstuff on earth. But as soon as they find the starstuff, they begin to be chased by the evil force that Peter and his allies had fought throughout the series--Lord Ombra. Their only chance is to find a way to get to Never Land and enlist the help once again of the boy who could fly.

This book is another great addition to the series and a fun continuation to Barry's and Pearson's take on the classic story.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The Conspiracy Club

The Conspiracy Club by Jonathan Kellerman

Just like with Dean Koontz, I used to read Jonathan Kellerman's books pretty regularly, but stopped buying them as they came out--more because of budgetary restrictions than anything else. They were always pretty good, but not good enough to make me keep up with them when money was tight. That being said, I've had two of his books on my bookshelves for quite awhile and thought it was time I got around to reading one of them.

The Conspiracy Club is a stand-alone novel from Bellman, who departs from his Alex Delaware series to introduce Jeremy Carrier. Jeremy is a psychologist who is half-heartedly getting back on his feet following the recent murder of his girlfriend. The police have never identified her killer and have not ruled him out as a suspect. When other women start to disappear as well, Jeremy finds himself under additional scrutiny by the detective in charge of his girlfriend's case. While this is going on, Jeremy receives an invitation to dine with an exclusive group of individuals who he discovers have each experienced a similar unresolved loss in their past and who have an intense interest in the nature of evil.

The Conspiracy Club was a decent book, but nothing special. The story takes a while to become engaging and Kellerman's attempt to shake things up with a little twist at the end left me inimpressed and ready to move on to the next book on the shelf.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

A Review of 2012

Another year has come and gone, so here's my Top 10 List (in no particular order) for the books read this year, along with a few other book-related bits of information.

11/22/1963 by Stephen King
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
The Map of the Sky by Felix Palma
Boy's Life by Robert McCammon
Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore
Krampus by Brom
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The worst book I read this year was Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz

Number of books read this year - 52

Booksignings attended this year - Robert McCammon, Steve Berry - The Columbus Affair, Brandon Sanderson - The Emperor's Soul

Books I'm looking forward to that are coming in 2013:
Insane City by Dave Barry (1/13)
Fragments by Dan Wells (2/13)
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (4/13)
A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson (4/13)
The King's Deception by Steve Berry (5/13)
The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver (6/13)
Lexicon by Max Barry (6/13)
The Eye of God by James Rollins (6/13)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (6/13)
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (9/13)
You by Austin Grossman (??)

What are the best books you read this year?

Unholy Night

Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith

I should start off by saying that I found both of Seth Grahame-Smith's previous books to be surprisingly well written. Before I read them I was expecting to enjoy them, but wasn't expecting them to be as intelligent and literary as they both were. When I mention Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter to people who haven't read them, they tend to assume I'm talking about amateurish books written as some sort of literary prank. But they're far from that. Think I'm kidding? Read'em.

Unholy Night is one more example of why people should take Seth Grahame-Smith seriously as an author. He takes an idea or story that is generally well known, and then springboards off of it and ends up with a book that you simply have to read to appreciate. This time around it's the story of the three wise men of the nativity that are the genesis.

Balthazar is a thief with a grudge against the Roman Empire. After being caught and thrown into Herod's prison, where he meets up with two other prisoners, Balthazar pulls off a daring escape for the three. After they flee Jerusalem, they decide to hide out for the night in a stable in Bethlehem where the meet up with a young couple and their newborn child. Balthazar has no desire to get caught up in their lives, but the next day, as he and his two companions are trying to slip out of Bethlehem they're drawn back by the screams of the mothers whose babies are being killed by Herod's men. Balthazar decides to help the new family escape to Egypt, where they should be safe until the disease-ridden Herod finally dies.

Unholy Night is a great book. This time around Grahame-Smith doesn't rely on the writings of any other author for the frame of his story. This time there were only a couple of biblical verses at his disposal. But he is very successful in using them as the origins for a story that is unique, violent, and at the same time, respectful to the story that plays such an important role for so many peoples' beliefs.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Life Expectancy

Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz

I used to be a devout reader of Dean Koontz's books. The first couple that I read were Watchers and Intensity and I really enjoyed both. In fact, Intensity, is probably the most intense book I've ever read. Go figure, huh? I then went on and read several more of his books, but none of them ever reached the bar set by those first two. In fact, as time went on, I began to lose interest in reading his books and would only occasionally pick one up off the discount rack at the bookstore to give it a try. A few years ago I read The Taking, which was horrible and led me to stop buying his books altogether. But I still had this one left on the bookshelf which I inexplicably felt compelled to eventually read.

Life Expectancy was awful. It confirmed for me the wisdom in not buying or reading any more of Koontz's books. The plot was ridiculous and the dialogue was painful. As I suffered through it, the dialogue repeatedly reminded me of the solitary lifestyle I think most authors must live. I would imagine some of them don't get out much and interact with other human beings. I'm almost positive now that Koontz hasn't left his home in over a decade and doesn't own a phone or a television. No one talks the way he made his characters talk in this one.

It's about a man named Jimmy Tock, whose grandfather, on the day Jimmy was born and he himself died, predicted five dark dates in his grandson's life. As Jimmy goes through his life, and those dates approach one by one, sure enough something terrible happens. Here's the kicker, all those dates involve a homicidal, maniacal clown. Eat your heart out Dickens, that's true literary brilliance.

Inexplicably, the majority of the Amazon reviews of this one give it five stars. I don't know whether it's me or everyone else that's wrong, but I'm leaning toward it being everyone else.

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Krampus the Yule Lord

Krampus the Yule Lord by Brom

I've been looking forward to this holiday season for awhile now--not because I love the extra traffic anytime I get anywhere near a shopping mall, or because I can't hear "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" enough times during these five weeks, but because I've been holding off reading a couple holiday-themed books until the season arrived. Krampus is the first of the two.

It's the fourth book written by renowned fantasy artist Brom, who I came across a few years ago when his first book Plucker came out, a story I'd describe as "Toy Story meets Guillermo del Toro." It was so unique and imaginative that I later read his next two books as they came out, including the fantastic The Child Thief, an adult retelling of the story of Peter Pan who was not as innocent as Walt Disney would have you believe.

Krampus is not for everyone. My children will not be reading it for many years to come, that is, if they choose to read it at all. After all, they might not grow up with the same literary tastes their father has. But one can hope. That being said, I enjoyed the book immensely.

Krampus is a character from European folklore whom parents would warn their children about around Christmas time--if children were good, they were told that Santa would come and leave presents, if they were bad, Krampus would come instead and put them in his sack and beat them. He's the son of the Norse god Loki, and in Brom's tale, has been imprisoned for the last 500 years because of what he perceives as Santa Clause's betrayal so long ago. Now he's managed to escape and plans to exact his revenge on His Jolliness.

Jesse Walker is a down-on-his-luck estranged father and husband who had aspirations of one day becoming a successful songwriter. While sitting in his truck Christmas Eve, contemplating taking his own life, Jesse witnesses something that will significantly alter the course of his life--Santa Clause being chased and attacked by seven devilish figures. Jesse watches as Santa makes it to his sleigh and begins to take off as several of his pursuers jump on board. As the sleigh begins to climb, he hears screams and cries and then sees a sack fall and land nearby. That sack, which Jesse finds to possess magical powers, drags Jesse into the war that has been going on for centuries, a war between the man whose image appears at every turn each December, and the one who December 25th originally belonged to, the Lord of Yule.

Krampus is really a fantastic story. Brom takes his in-your-face writing style and portrays a character that on one page is ruthless and terrible, and on the next, sympathetic and endearing. He successfully incorporates Norse legends along with the origins of the Christmas tree and other customs now so intrinsically tied to Christmas into a highly entertaining and surprisingly uplifting story.

At times, the language can be rough, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Here's a small taste from the prologue:

Santa Clause, my dear old friend, you are a thief, a traiter, a slanderer, a murderer, a liar, but worst of all you are a mockery of everything for which I stood.

You have sung your last ho, ho, ho, for I am coming for your head. For Odin, Loki, and all the fallen gods, for your treachery, for chaining me in this pit for five hundred years. But most of all I am coming to take back what is mine, to take back Yuletide. And with my foot upon your throat. I shall speak your name, your true name, and with death staring back at you, you will no longer be able to hide from your dark deeds, from the faces of all those you betrayed.

I, Krampus, Lord of Yule, son of Hel, bloodline of the great Loki, swear to cut your lying tongue from your mouth, your theiving hands from your wrists, and your jolly head from your neck.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆