Uncle Orson Reviews 1998

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Fiction

Lawrence Block, The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza (Dutton, 1980/1997, 225pp hc $23.95). Another of the reprints of Block's series about a literary burglar. I've enjoyed every one of these books and am glad tohave them in hardcover.

Lawrence Block, Everybody Dies (Morrow, 1998, 292pp hc $25). The new Matthew Scudder. A series that could have wallowed (and almost did) in the rituals of a recovering alcoholic, Block manages to make this kill-all sequel true to the character and yet deepening and illuminating.

Lawrence Block, Hit Man (Morrow, 1998, 259pp hc $22). Collection of stories about Keller, a professional killer. Each story stands on its own; together, they paint a picture of a morally complicated man who, having embraced a life of evil, nevertheless cares about the moral niceties of just how evil one is willing to be.

Jan Burke, Liar: An Irene Kelly Mystery (Simon & Schuster, 1998, 350pp hc $23). I like this character more and more with each new episode.

Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Lost Prince (Puffin Classics, 1915, 321pp pb $3.99). I picked up this book when buying A Little Princess by the same author as I considered working on a sequel. The sequel didn't pan out, but you should see my treatment for a new version of this book. Alas, this book is actually not very good -- it's marred by the fact that everything depends on the hero not guessing something that is painfully obvious from page one. But my version solves that problem. Someday ...

David Farland, The Runelords: The Sum of All Men (TOR Fantasy, 1998, 479pp hc $25.95). Jacket quote by Orson Scott Card: "When I reached the end of this first volume, The Runelords, and saw grace arise from a devastating battlefield where too many great hearts lay dead, Farland had earned the tears that came to my eyes. It was not sentiment but epiphany." See review under "My Favorites of 1998" above.

Martha Grimes, The Case Has Altered (Henry Holt, 1997, 370pp hc $24). With this book I officially give up on Grimes. Somebody told her that what was good about her series was how literary it is. Now you can barely follow the story as you wade through endless self-indulgence.

Karen Kijewski, Stray Kat Waltz (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1998, 311pp hc $22.95). There's a core of angry intelligence underlying this series that the author never lets get out of control -- but it gives these stories a drive that I really enjoy.

Margaret Maron, Home Fires: A Deborah Knott Mystery (Warner Books/The Mysterious Press, 1998, 243pp hc $22). Sadly, this series is steadily weakening as a combination of political correctness and over-dependence on local detail. Maron seems to be losing track of the fact that what drives a mystery novel is, after all, the mystery, and while this has one, it is not urgently pursued. The local color needs to be a side dish, not the main course.

Walter Mosley, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (W.W. Norton, 1998, 208pp hc $23). Collection of linked stories by one of the finest writers working in America today.

Donald E. Westlake, The Ax (Warner/The Mysterious Press, 1997, 273pp hc $23). A perverse dark comedy about a man who, laid off from his job, realizes he's competing for the few specialized positions with a handful of other applicants. If they all die, he gets the job.

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