Mike's Books

The Missing Chums (The Hardy Boys #4) by   Franklin W. Dixon 3 Stars I grew up reading the Hardy Boys, and read a few of them with my son when he was younger although I don’t think he ever enjoyed them anywhere near as much as I did.   Reading them again now is truly a wonderful trip down memory lane, and my ratings for the books are due entirely to their nostalgia value, not to their literary merit.   However, I have to take this one down a notch to only 3 stars because it just requires too much suspension of disbelief.   Two of the Hardy’s chums are kidnapped and, although the two teenagers are missing for what is apparently several days, both the local police and the Coast Guard are content with letting the Hardy brothers take the lead on trying to locate them.   It makes the Hardy’s into the heroes when they’re found, which is obviously the purpose, but it’s incredibly frustrating to read through.   I must be getting old! https:/...

How the Old World Ended: The Anglo-Dutch-American Revolution 1500-1800 by   Jonathan Scott 2 Stars How the Old World Ended is unquestionably one of the most disappointing books I have ever read.   I’m a great lover of history and consider myself at least a passably knowledgeable student of the subject.   So when I first saw this book I was immediately excited.   The Industrial Revolution and the birth of our modern world are fascinating historical subjects.   This book, however, was a huge letdown. I can best describe it as a very poorly written college thesis.   The author’s basic premise seems to be an interesting one, but the writing is so truly terrible that it just becomes completely lost.   If I can take the liberty of quoting another Goodreads reviewer:   “ I have a hard time describing, even, what the language is like as it is truly terrible and nearly inaccessible. It almost feels like somebody's college thesis wher...

Race of Aces: WWII's Elite Airmen and the Epic Battle to Become the Masters of the Sky by   John R. Bruning 4 Stars John Bruning’s Race of Aces is a wonderful portrait of the Army Air Force fighter pilots in the Southwest Pacific during World War II.   The book was obviously extensively researched, it is well written, and it is eminently readable.   Bruning succeeds in bringing the war to life, exposing the heroism and the flaws of the pilots who battled to become America’s Ace of Aces while many times taking the reader right into the cockpit in the heat of battle.   It’s not a history of the war in the Pacific, it’s the story of the men who fought it; and it’s a great one.   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45692395-race-of-aces https://www.bookbub.com/books/race-of-aces-by-john-r-bruning

All the Best Lies (Ellery Hathaway #3) by   Joanna Schaffhausen 4 Stars All the Best Lies is the third terrific novel in the Ellery Hathaway mystery series.   Once again, Joanna Schaffhausen has delivered a thrilling page-turner that kept me guessing until the very end (I never guess who her killers are).   I love Ellery and her partner Reed Markham.   They’re both entirely real characters who at times frustrate me with their decisions, but I find myself rooting for them anyway.   And thankfully, the ending makes it look like the next entry is on the way. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45046540-all-the-best-lies https://www.bookbub.com/books/all-the-best-lies-by-joanna-schaffhausen

No Mercy (Ellery Hathaway #2) by   Joanna Schaffhausen 4 Stars Joanna Schaffhausen has me hooked on Ellery Hathaway.   Ellery is a deeply flawed heroine (although there are really good reasons for her flaws) that I just can’t help rooting for.   No Mercy is a terrific follow-up to Ellery’s equally terrific debut The Vanishing Season .   This time she and partner (is that the right word?) Reed Markham are caught up in two cases at once.   The writing is good, the characters real enough to root for all too easily, and the mystery and thrills keep you turning pages.   Highly recommended! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37655097-no-mercy https://www.bookbub.com/books/no-mercy-by-joanna-schaffhausen

American Rebels: How the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy Families Fanned the Flames of Revolution by   Nina Sankovitch 4 Stars American Rebels is a marvelous work of history, telling the story of the founding of our nation through the lives of the Quincy, Hancock, and Adams families of Braintree, Massachusetts.   It’s well-researched, extremely well-written, and thoroughly readable.   It’s one of those books that brings history alive and, as such, it should take its place next to David McCullough’s 1776 as required reading for every American. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45046716-american-rebels https://www.bookbub.com/books/american-rebels-by-nina-sankovitch

Haunting of the Blackthorne House by   Bruce Knapp 2 Stars Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a digital ARC of Haunting of the Blackthorne House . I found the book to be really disappointing.   It’s really only a separately published short story, and while it’s at least a mildly entertaining horror story, it suffers from many fatal flaws.   It’s written in the first person present tense, a style I find annoying to the point that reading becomes almost painful.   In addition, the plot and the writing are very simplistic and the editing is very poor.   This work just isn’t up to professional publishing standards. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52338277-haunting-of-the-blackthorne-house https://www.bookbub.com/books/haunting-of-the-blackthorne-house-a-blackwater-tale-by-bruce-knapp https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/179971