The unset alarm clock

January 2009

  • A Most Wanted Man

    A Most Wanted Man by John le Carre. One of my favorite collections of short stories is by Jeffrey Archer and entitled A Twist in the Tale in which each story ends with a sudden change of perspective. About two-thirds of the way through John le Carre’s latest spy thriller, I was really hoping that… Continue reading

  • Mad about the Boy?

    Mad about the Boy? By Dolores Gordon-Smith. Sometimes when reading a book, your mind can easily translate the words on the page into vibrant images and it’s as if you’re watching a film in your head. Such is the case with this second entry in the series featuring 1920s mystery author and amateur sleuth Jack… Continue reading

  • The Prophecy of Death

    The Prophecy of Death by Michael Jecks. The author of this long-running series has attempted to breathe new life into the books by bringing his main characters, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock, closer to the intrigues surrounding the royal throne. The English King Edward II is a weak ruler, corrupted… Continue reading

  • Morality Play

    Morality Play by Barry Unsworth. The most disappointing thing about this stand-alone mystery is that it isn’t the beginning of a series of books. The idea of an outsider joining a traveling troupe of players in rural medieval England is one I’ve read before in Margaret Frazer’s Joliffe series, but thankfully in this case Unsworth… Continue reading

  • I Killed

    I Killed: true stories of the road from America’s top comics compiled by Ritch Shydner and Mark Schiff. “Make me laugh!” “Entertain me!” That’s been the unrelenting demand from audiences throughout time and across cultures. Although today’s jesters need not fear for their heads if their jokes fall flat in front of royalty, as these… Continue reading

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  • The Little Book that Beats the Market

    The Little Book that Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt. When reviewing any investment book, it is important, yet difficult, to separate one’s analysis of the proposed financial plan from that of the presentation of said plan by the author. Persuasive writing requires that one engage and draw the reader’s attention right away and Greenblatt… Continue reading

  • A Plague of Angels

    A Plague of Angels by P.F. Chisholm. Many years ago I read one of Patricia Finney’s Elizabethan historical novels and enjoyed it a great deal. I was not aware she also wrote historical mysteries under the name P.F Chisholm until I wandered around some at Library Thing. Although the author’s web site indicates that a… Continue reading

  • The House Bunny on DVD

    The House Bunny on DVD. After a string of action movies, sometimes you just need something silly and funny for a change. This film certainly isn’t a masterpiece and it may not be all that original either, but it filled that need satisfactorily. It’s basically another retelling of the “ugly ducklings become popular but lose… Continue reading

  • Eagle Eye on DVD

    Eagle Eye on DVD. The adrenaline junkies will love this one, but those looking for significant character development or a cohesive plot should seek satisfaction elsewhere. Two ordinary Chicagoans, Jerry (Shia LeBeouf) and Rachel (Michelle Monaghan) are coerced by a seemingly omnipotent organization into participating in a high-level assassination plot. In between the car chases,… Continue reading

  • Medieval Murderers

    Sword of Shame and The Lost Prophecies by the Medieval Murderers. These two short story collections by a small group of well-established historical mystery writers can be a good starting point for readers unfamiliar with the authors’ works and characters and want just a taste of what’s on offer. The format also allows the authors… Continue reading