Mike's Books

Ghost Hunting: True Stories of Unexplained Phenomena from The Atlantic Paranormal Society by   Jason Hawes , Grant Wilson , and Michael Jan Friedman 3 Stars I was always a fan of the Sci-Fi channel TV show Ghost Hunters, although I admit I’m quite a skeptic when it comes to the paranormal.  So when I found a copy of the TV stars’ book I’d forgotten that I owned I figured it was the perfect read for Halloween. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.   There were a couple of pretty wild stories that went beyond anything I remember from the TV show, but in general I learned more about the TV show than I did about ghosts and the descriptions of each experience were very, very brief.   I would have preferred a lot more detail.   I guess I’m still a skeptic.

Spitfire (A Livy Nash Mystery #1) by   M.L. Huie 4 Stars Spitfire is the first in what promises to be a new mystery series from author M.L. Huie.   “Spunky” is the word that I’d use to describe Livy Nash, the book’s heroine.   World War II is over and Livy is working as a proof reader at a second rate London paper when she’s recruited by Ian Fleming (yes, that Ian Fleming) to join a covert operation to secure the names of the members of a European-wide ring of former Nazi agents.   The British want the list of names very badly, as do their allies the Americans and their former allies (who are rapidly becoming the new enemy) the Russians.   Livy had been a British agent working in Paris with the French resistance during the war, and Fleming thinks she perfect for the job of tracking down the list before the Russians can get their hands on it.   The story is well-written, the characters flawed enough to be real, and the whole thing thoroug...

The Oak Island Mystery Solved: The Final Chapter by   Joy A. Steele and Gordon Fader 3 Stars Oak Island is a tiny island just off the coast of Nova Scotia that has been the site of what is perhaps the world’s best known treasure hunt for more than 200 years.  I’ve said in other reviews that I have become convinced that something extraordinary happened on the island sometime in the distant past, but that I truly have no idea what that something was.  Authors Joy Steele and Gordon Fader have a very different theory of what occurred on the island.  They see it not as the site of a fabulous buried treasure but as the home of an ancient manufacturing operation.  They contend that the island was the home of a British naval stores operation in 1720; that is, pine tar and pitch, two items essential to the 18 th century British navy, were produced on the island. Steele and Fader contend that they have virtually proven their naval stores theory.  I...

Quota by   Jock Serong 4 Stars Quota is a great legal thriller, I thoroughly enjoyed it.   Charlie Jardim is an attorney who’s just thrown his career in the trash with a frustrated outburst aimed at the wrong judge.   His career is seemingly ruined, his girl friend has left him, and yet an old friend and mentor takes him on to assist in the prosecution of a high profile murder case.   Jardim finds himself in a small fishing town where he’s at times ignored, at times badly snubbed, and once beaten up.   His time in the village not only fulfills the mission he was sent on, but becomes a healing journey for Jardim. The writing is excellent, the characters well-developed and easy to identify with, and the book is tough to put down once you get started.   Highly recommended.

Bolt by   Bryan Cassiday 3 Stars Scott Brody is a PI in Los Angeles hired by a worried wife who thinks her husband has hired someone to stalk her in retaliation for her hiring a PI to investigate him.   The PI she hired wound up murdered in Mexico while the couple was on vacation there, and now that they’re home she thinks someone is after her.   In reality, they’re both in a lot more trouble then they can begin to imagine. Bolt is full of secrets, violence, and intrigue – and I’m really not sure what to make of it.   The book frustrated me at many points, mostly because I couldn’t help thinking that the hero was such an idiot.   But I didn’t see some of plot twists coming and as I reached the end I stayed up until 2:30 AM because I simply couldn’t put it down.   And then there’s the ending …   I hope there’s a sequel, because otherwise I’ll never explain that.   Be prepared to be surprised.

The Invasion of Heaven (The Newirth Mythology #1) by   Michael B. Koep 4 Stars WOW! Prepare yourself for a non-stop, mind-bending ride. This is really happening, isn’t it? This is the question that psychologist Loche Newirth asks himself over and over again through Michael Koep’s The Invasion of Heaven .   Newirth is trying to deal with the suicide of one of his patients, when he suffers a fall from a steep cliff into icy water.   He can’t be sure if the things he sees after are real or only hallucinations so he begins writing, filing a journal with an incredible story of a wife he only thought he knew, a brother he didn’t know he had, immortal beings he didn’t know existed, and a doorway to heaven he wants desperately to close. Yes, it’s a little far out, but a little suspension of disbelief is a small price to pay to enjoy this wild tale – and enjoy it you shall.

Net Force: Dark Web by   Jerome Preisler 3 Stars Net Force: Dark Web is a lengthy novel (almost 700 pages) cursed with a complex, multi-faceted plot. With all of the plot points on so many different fronts it develops very slowly. Along with much less character development than I would have liked to see this makes the first-half of the book slow moving and tedious at times. The second-half moves much faster. There’s much more action and it becomes much easier to turn pages despite still having a difficult time identifying with any of the characters. And then it just ends. It clearly appears to be setting up for a sequel, but after suffering through 700 pages I really wanted some more resolution. Entertaining at times, but it consistently left me wanting more.

Necromancy Cottage by   Rebecca McNutt 4 Stars Casey Harris is a troubled teen who runs away to a lonely island in search of a place to escape from her terrifying home life and find herself. Instead she finds a world of magic, spells, and hexes; a world where nothing is as it seems. The magic that first tantalizes Casey soon comes to control her, and she must fight for her life and that of her friends to escape from it. It’s been suggested that the island and the promises of its magic are also an allegory for the failures of communism, and as such it works remarkably well. In the end Casey and the friends she makes on the island defeat the evil that controls them and escape to a far better life of their own making. Necromancy Cottage is a delightful tale, and it left me anxious to read more of Rebecca’s work.

A Brief History of Time by   Stephen Hawking 3 Stars I found A Brief History of Time to be just a little too brief in many places. Hawking took on the monumental task of writing “a popular book about space and time”, noting that “the basic ideas about the origin and fate of the universe can be stated without mathematics in a form that people without a scientific education can understand.” Unfortunately, what a genius like Hawking thought could be stated in an understandable way sometimes gets lost on a mere mortal like myself. I thought a more in depth discussion of many of the topics would have served much better. On the other hand, the book is well written, witty at many points, offers some very interesting history of the development of modern scientific theory, and is relatively easy to read despite the complex subject matter. It’s a good starting point, but I feel like I need more to really get the point.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by   William L. Shirer 5 Stars 60 years after it was written William Shirer’s masterpiece The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich remains the definitive history of Nazi Germany. Drawing on his own personal experience as well as exhaustive research, Shirer created a lengthy but completely readable history of the nightmare that was Hitler’s Germany. Any student of 20th century history must read this work.

Men at Work by   George F. Will 4 Stars George Will’s baseball classic Men at Work has become somewhat dated since it was written in 1990, which only shows how much the game has changed in the last 29 years. Will writes of his concern that baseball is breeding a generation of pitchers who will develop arm problems from throwing too many curve balls and never develop good fastballs. He writes about the increased importance of speed and stolen bases and the decreased reliance on home runs. The book was written before a strike wiped out the World Series, disillusioned a generation of young fans, and led to the extinction of the Montreal Expos; and before anyone really knew what PEDs were. Reading it has made me nostalgic for the 1980s, and I never thought that would be possible. But it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable book, because it’s written by a true fan and his love of the game is so evident. The book is a treasure of baseball thought and baseball history. There are many...

The Stand by   Stephen King 5 Stars What could be better than 1,000 pages of Stephen King, more macabre than a plague which kills 99% of the world's population, or more diabolical than a devil in worn down cowboy boots? Absolutely terrific!

The Cold War: A New History by   John Lewis Gaddis 4 Stars A great, but intentionally brief, overview of the Cold War. Gaddis summarizes the major themes and issues of the 2nd half of the 20th century remarkably well. Highly recommended to those less familiar with the events, but still interesting, and at times revealing, to someone with a deeper knowledge. Definitely makes me want to explore his other works.

Mein Kampf by   Adolf Hitler 1 Star I knew this would be painful, but I truly didn't expect to not even be able to finish. Despite my passion for history, I made it to the chapter on race and could go no further. Hitler would have been no surprise to anyone who read (or attempted to read) this before he came to power in 1933. He lays out all of his delusions in great detail. This is truly a glimpse into the mind of madness and evil.

The Curse of Oak Island: The Story of the World's Longest Treasure Hunt by   Randall Sullivan 4 Stars I’ve always been fascinated by the mystery surrounding Oak Island, a tiny island off the coast of Nova Scotia where a treasure hunt has been in progress for more than 200 years. Personally, I believe that something extraordinary happened on the island hundreds of years ago, although I certainly can’t pretend to know what. Nor am I sure that any treasure even remains buried there. But the story is fascinating, and it has now been popularized by the History Channel TV show The Curse of Oak Island, which a couple of years ago featured author Randall Sullivan – an appearance resulting in this book. There are many, many theories about what may have happened on Oak Island in the distant past and about what may still lay buried there and the history of the unending search is almost as fascinating as the theories themselves. Sullivan’s book does a terrific job of exploring bo...