Book Reviews

The first 70 or 80 pages of the novel Djibouti moved so slowly that I began to wonder if, after more than half a century of great writing, Elmore Leonard [...]

In 1944, at the age of 13, Brooke Randel’s grandmother Golda Indig was with her older sister in the German death camp of Auschwitz.  They had been separated from the [...]

John, the friend who recommended Peter Sarris’s 2023 Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint, had one caveat about the book’s subtitle: “He was no saint.” It’s funny how a comment like that [...]

Generally, I don’t read introductions before starting a novel.  I want to experience the book fresh on its own terms and on my own terms. I don’t want some other [...]

The American nuclear-powered submarine USS Dolphin and her crew have an awful lot of bad luck on a trip under the ice cap to save the survivors of a devastating [...]

In the profane manner of professional athletes, Bobby Hunter had this summary of Abe Saperstein, the founder of the Harlem Globetrotters and, for more than three decades, the team’s owner [...]

In mid-century America, it was easy enough to find out what the nation stood for — just go to a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and [...]

Here’s a thought: Somewhere in the American Southwest — the exact location is a highly guarded secret — is a Great Basin bristlecone that botanists and foresters estimate to be [...]

Alexander Polikoff’s Cry My Beloved America is a most depressing book, especially in these days before the November 5 presidential election.  But that’s not Polikoff’s fault.  He’s just the messenger. [...]

Steve Carella is the most gentlemanly of detectives, and, in the squad room of the 87th precinct, he is respected by his peers. But, after witnessing Douglas King refuse numerous [...]