The Drop

by Dennis Lehane
207 pgs

Normally an author writes a novel and then someone comes along and tries to make a movie based off of it later on. Sometimes the author is involved in the creative process of the film adaptation, but oftentimes they get their payday and then sit back and wait to see what someone else does with their original creation. In the case of The Drop, which was released this month as both a movie and as a book, the chronology is a little unique. It started as a novel that Lehane tried to write several years ago. He never completed it, but eventually extracted a short story from it that was published and optioned for a film. Lehane then wrote the screenplay for the movie that just came out, and while the movie was being made, he wrote a novelization of the film. That being said, the book itself is much shorter than a typical Lehane novel (which are not very long themselves). So it's a quick, but very satisfying read.

It centers around a bar in Boston, a bar that periodically serves as a "drop" for the mob. The bar is run by Cousin Marv and Bob Saginowski, two cousins who both have sketchy pasts, but whom now seem to be doing their best to get by without getting into trouble. Unfortunately for them, things just never seem to go their way.

One night, while walking home, Bob finds a puppy in a trash can, beaten and abandoned. He takes the dog home with him, but even this dog, which he believes could become a bright spot in his otherwise dark and lonely existence, brings with it more trouble than he may be prepared for--when the dog's original owner gets wind that Bob has him.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Thud!

by Terry Pratchett
373 pgs  (Discworld series #34)

As the anniversary of Koom Valley (a battle between dwarves and trolls) approaches, Grag Hamcrusher, a prominent dwarf leader, is found murdered. His skull has been crushed, and near his body is found the murder weapon--a troll club. It's clear to pretty much everyone that this is just another example in a long line of dwarf-on-troll violence that has been going on in the city of Ankh-Morpork for centuries. But Commander Sam Vimes of the City Watch isn't so sure. And if he wants to avoid an all-out war between the two groups that will tear his city apart, he needs to uncover Hamcrusher's true killer, and do it fast.

Pratchett's Discworld books that feature the members of the City Watch have always been some of my favorites in the series and this one is another strong offering. Pratchett uses his keen sense of satire and wit to make fun of the "round-world" issues between different ethnicities and groups. He's a fantastic storyteller whose stories work on different levels.

If you only want a fun and entertaining story featuring trolls, dwarves, werewolves, vampires, wizards, and witches, there are none better than the Discworld books. But they also offer a whole lot more, and that's the real reason behind Pratchett's ever-growing popularity. they're commentaries on human nature and they point out the ridiculousness of many aspects of our culture and behavior.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Devil's Workshop

by Alex Grecian
383 pgs  (Scotland Yard's Murder Squad #3)

Jack the Ripper is the quintessential serial killer. He brutally murdered at least five women on the streets of London in 1888 . . . and he was never caught. Alex Grecian's Scotland Yard Murder Squad books features Inspector Day, Sergeant Hammersmith and the rest of the men assembled by the Yard after the killings had suddenly stopped who were tasked with investigating the new type of killer Saucy Jack represented. The first two books in the series, The Yard and The Black Country featured Jack as part of the backstory--he represented the Yard's greatest failure to date. Now in The Devil's Workshop, he's back.

The reason he stopped killing was not because he died or left London for some far-off country as some have speculated. Nor is it because he had bee committed to an insane asylum bore his identity was discovered, as is the current theory du jour. The reason the killings stopped was because he was captured by the men who had bee investigating his crimes, and instead of being take to jail and tried for his crimes, he was secretly imprisoned in London's secret network of underground tunnels and caverns, where he could be dealt a more satisfying form of punishment.

A year later, having endured repeated torture at the hands of his captors, as they systematically inflicted wounds on him that mirrored those he had given the women he killed, Jack is able to escape. Once again he's able to walk the streets of London, but this time, it's not the women who work there that are his targets, it's the men who held him prisoner.

I've enjoyed reading Grecian's series a lot so far. I enjoy Inspector Day, Hammersmith, Dr. Kingsley and the others. The Devil's Workshop lacks the elements of mystery and criminology that I enjoyed so much in the first two books. But it's still a worthwhile story, and it leaves you excited for the next book in the series.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The Magician's Land

by Lev Grossman
401 pgs

The Magician's Land is a very satisfying conclusion to Lev Grossman's adult fantasy trilogy featuring Quentin Coldwater, along with other students from Brakesbills College for Magical Pedagogy, and their dealings with the "Narnia-type" land of Fillory.

Quentin, who grew up reading and loving the books about Fillory, and who became its king in The Magician King, was ultimately stripped of his crown, banished from Fillory, and forced to leave his friends behind and return to his mundane normal life in Manhattan. He's able to get a job as a professor at Brakebills as this book begins, but there's a void in his life and he longs for his friends and the world he had to leave behind.

Meanwhile, Fillory is being destroyed. The magic that exists there is failing and Eliot and Janet must find a way to save their adopted world before it's gone forever.

This book, along with its predecessors, are difficult to describe. To say that they're adult versions of The Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter series feels inadequate, although the comparisons to both are plain and intentional throughout. What Grossman has created with these books is an homage to those others, but one that is wholly original and entertaining by its own rights. The story he's told is a coming-of-age one, containing the themes of love, loss, selfishness, and ultimately sacrifice.

I was not expecting the series to be what it turned out to be when I first picked up The Magicians (which I picked up for no other reason than its beautiful cover). What I was expecting was another boy-wizard tale that I was hoping to enjoy. I'll admit that I was initially surprised by the books' course language (Harry Potter never used a lot of the words Quentin and his friends use) and adult themes, but the books are so well written that I quickly settled into the story and enjoyed the ride.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Lincoln Myth

by Steve Berry
429 pgs  (Cotton Malone series #9)

When I learned that Steve Berry's newest book was going to involve the Mormons, and a secret pact that was formed between Brigham Young and Abraham Lincoln, I had high hopes. As a member of the LDS/Mormon church, I was hoping that Berry would get things right when it came to the church and its history. I was hoping he would be respectful when it came to the beliefs of the church. I was hoping the story would be intriguing and entertaining. And most of all, I was hoping that a high-ranking member of the church would be the story's villain.

Berry delivered on every hope I had.

Shortly following the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, its framers drafted another now-forgotten document; one that was intended to help ensure ratification of the Constitution at the time, but one that if known about during Abraham Lincoln's presidency, would have ensured the South's legal right to secede and torn the nation apart. Lincoln, faced with the real possibility that the country was going to split apart during his presidency, reached out to Brigham Young, who years earlier had led the Mormon exodus from Illinois to the Utah territory, and loaned him that potentially volatile historical document for safekeeping. In return for safeguarding that document, Lincoln promised to leave the Mormons alone and allow Brigham Young to govern the Utah territory as he saw fit. A promise that he fulfilled.

Almost 150 years later, that same document, rumored to still be in the possession of the LDS church, is once again at the center of a battle that could tear the nation part. Thaddeus Rowan, a high-ranking U.S. senator from Utah as well as one of the Church's 12 apostles, is on a mission to find where Brigham Young hid the document, and use it to tear the nation apart. It's up to Cotton Malone to ensure that that doesn't happen.

I usually give Berry's books 3 stars. They're always entertaining and well-written, but they're not spectacular. This one gets an extra star because of the LDS Church involvement in the story.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Red Seas Under Red Skies

by Scott Lynch
558 pgs

Ever since finishing The Lies of Locke Lamora, I've been looking forward to reading the second book in Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard series. However, since Lynch has apparently taken a cue from George R.R. Martin as far as his writing pace is concerned, I figure I'm going to need to pace myself with his series as well--which is unfortunate. Both books so far have been so good that I would have loved being able to pick up the next book as soon as I finished reading them.

Red Seas Under Red Skies begins two years after the conclusion of Lies. This time Locke and Jean have set their sites on robbing Sinspire, the impenetrable casino in Tal Verrar. Their plans, however, get sidetracked when they become unwilling pawns for the head of the city's military force; who wants to ensure his position's relevance going forward, and needs Locke's and Jean's skills for creating mayhem and discord in order to do that.

There are enough plots and subplots in this one to keep you on your toes till the end, and the number of aliases used by both Locke and Jean are nearly enough to require a cheat sheet at times. But as convoluted as things tend to get before Lynch deftly unravel them at the end, the story is as entertaining as you could hope for it to be.

The next book in the series (and the last one written so far), The Republic of Thieves sits appetizingly on my bookshelf right now. I'm anxious to pick it up, as Lynch left a critical thread untied at the conclusion of this one, and I'm anxious to see it resolved. But I plan to wait till I know book IV is coming, so I'll have something solid to look forward to. Otherwise the wait becomes intolerable.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Innocence

by Dean Koontz
352 pgs

After the last two books by Koontz that I read (The Taking & Life Expectancy) I swore off reading anything else by him again. I don't know if the break up was his fault, or mine, but everything about those two rubbed me the wrong way. The characters behaved like they had mental deficiencies, the dialogue was pubescent, and the story in general was unintentionally humorous. I decided then that I wasn't going to waste any more time nor money on his books. When Innocence came out and I read the summary, it was kind of like bumping into an old girlfriend and thinking "I wonder if we could make it work now." So I decided to consider the past few years a trial separation and I bought the book.

It's a dystopian story about two social outcasts. One, Addison, lives his life alone under the streets of the city due to his horrific and never described physical appearance, an appearance that has caused violent reactions by those who have seen him. The other, Gwyneth, lives alone due to her phobias. Their paths cross late one night in the deserted city library when Addison sees Gwyneth fleeing from a man trying to attack her.

I'm at a loss to try to figure out what happened to the man who wrote Intensity, The Watchers and so many other good books. My working theory right now is that he died several years ago and his estate hired someone who completed an online creative writing course to continue Koontz's literary legacy. It's never a good idea to get back together with someone after you break up with them. It doesn't take long for you to remember why you ended the relationship and figure out that you're just wasting your time and money again.

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆