Dance of the Winnebagos - Ann Charles

   2011; 366 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Book 1 (out of 6) in the “Jackrabbit Junction Humorous Mystery” series.  Genres : Romantic Mystery; Humorous Fiction; Beach Read.  Overall Rating : 6*/10.

 

    Claire Morgan is about to experience the longest month of her life.

 

    She’s agreed to stay with her grandfather, Harley “Gramps” Ford for the entire month of April.  In an RV park somewhere in Arizona, in some podunk town called Jackrabbit Junction, mostly filled with retirees.  Where gray-haired geezers get their biggest daily thrills by watching blue-haired geezerettes sashay up and down the street.

 

    33-year-old Claire would love to meet some handsome guy her age, as she’s currently unattached.  But none seem to live in Jackrabbit Junction, to no one's surprise.  Oh well, it’s only for a month and come May, she can return to North Dakota having done her familial duty.

 

    You don’t know it, Claire, but Jackrabbit Junction holds some deadly secrets, just waiting to be dug up.  And we know just the dog who will do the digging.

 

What’s To Like...

    Dance of the Winnebagos is the opening volume in Ann Charles’s 6-book “Jackrabbit Junction Humorous Mysteries” series.  The series’ title notwithstanding, I highly recommend you read this book when you’re in the mood for a Romantic Mystery tale.  More on that in a bit.

 

    The story is set in the copper-mining area of southern Arizona, with Tucson being the nearby big city.  That resonated with me, since I reside in Arizona, and once upon a time, the company I worked for supplied a number of chemical products to the copper mines.

 

    The Mystery angle starts right away.  Gramps’s beagle, Henry, digs up a bone while nosing around in an old mine, and Claire recognizes it as a human femur.  Questions arise immediately.  How old is it?  Where’s the rest of the skeleton?  Will this affect the value of the mine, which belongs to Ruby, a current Jackrabbit Junction resident, and who is contemplating selling it for some much-needed debt relief.

 

    That’s a very promising start, but it takes a back seat to the Romance angle.  Mac Garner, nephew to the mine’s owner and all-around hunk, shows up to help his aunt determine the maximum worth of her two mines.

 

    Claire and Mac meet, gets the hots for each other, and a series of misunderstandings and misadventures give rise to the Humorous angle.  If you like Hallmark Romance movies, you’ll love this plot thread; there’s even a precocious little girl that every Hallmark movie has.  Supplemental humor comes in the form of Chester and Manuel, two of Gramps’s Euchre-playing (and women-chasing) buddies.

 

    The ending is a three-phase affair.  The main mystery storyline (whose femur is it) is resolved in Chapter 24; and the Romance and Money plot threads are dealt with in the next, and final, chapter.  “Extras” in the back of the book include “About the Author”, and “Five Fun Southwestern Facts about Ann Charles”, both of which I found fascinating to read.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.3/5 based on 2,320 ratings and 717 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.95/5 based on 3,357 ratings and 473 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “Are you some kind of freak who plays with dead animals?”

    While most of Claire’s family considered her to be a few cherries short of a fruitcake, that didn’t mean she had to take any crap from this kid.  She glared at the girl.  “Who are you?”

    “I’m Ruby’s kid.”

    That explained the hair and freckles.  “You have a name?”

    “Jessica, but my friends and family call me Jess.”  She batted her eyelashes and offered Claire a want-to-be-my-friend-too smile.  (. . .)

    “Thanks for the lemonade, Jessica.”  (pg. 23)

 

    Gramps shot Claire a frown.  “What did you do now?”

    “What?  I didn’t do anything.”  Claire made a last-ditch attempt at playing the ‘I’m-innocent-I-swear’ routine.

    “Child, I wasn’t born yesterday.  When I walked up here, you two were circling each other like a pair of hungry hyenas hovering over a hunk of raw meat.”

     Claire sighed.  “Couldn’t you compare me to a prettier animal?  A cat would be nice.  Maybe even a swan.  Do swans fight?”  (pg. 191)

 

Kindle Details…

    Dance of the Winnebagos sells for $2.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the other books in the series are in the $3.99-$6.99 price range.  Ann Charles has two other e-book series: a 14-volume Deadwood Humorous Mystery (prices range from $2.99 to $7.99); and a 4-volume Deadwood Undertaker (prices range from $4.99 to $6.99).

 

If she ever saw Mac Garner again, she was going to cram her underwear down his throat until he choked on them.  (pg. 351)

    There’s a lot of cussing in Dance of the Winnebagos.  I counted 30 instances in the first 10%, which felt excessive.  Sexual innuendos abound, but to be fair, there was only one "on-screen” roll-in-the-hay, and you can guess who that involved.

 

    There were quite a few typos, including lightening/lightning, chords/cords, queue/cue, florescent/fluorescent, and pouring/poring.  Those last two occurred three times each.  Another round of editing would be beneficial.

 

    Plot twists are sparse and Claire’s sussing out of the various mystery questions was more a matter of convenient luck than skillful sleuthing.  Character development was blah: you know from the start who the good guys and baddies are, and that never changes.  The Romance and Mystery angles were both predictable.

 

    The writing style felt like it needed another round of polishing.  A plethora of literary devices were overused, including excessive similes, music references, cartoons on Claire’s t-shirts, Claire's craving of cigarettes, amorous thoughts, and the precocious little girl sassing about her mom’s poor parenting skills.

 

    So, does that mean this was a terrible book?  Not at all.  Despite the technical quibbling, Claire and Mac’s investigations into the mysteries and each other kept me turning the pages.  Dance of the Winnebagos may not be a deep taleread, but it is an ideal beach/airport read and I plan on reading at least one more entry in this series to see whether the writing and storytelling improve.   And to see what else Henry digs up.

 

    6 Stars.  One last thing.  At one point the word “snogging” finds its way into the text.  This is one of my favorite “Britishisms” of all times.  Kudos to Ann Charles for using in this story!

Zeus Is Dead - Michael G. Munz

   2014; 442 pages.  Full Title: “Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure”.  Book 1 (out of 2) in the “Zeus Is Dead” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genre : Mythological Fantasy; Satire; Greek Mythology.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    The Olympians have returned!!

 

    No, not the athletes who every four years travel to foreign countries to compete in “Summer” or “Winter” games with other athletes from around the world.

 

    We’re talking about those ancient Greek gods, led by Zeus, and residing on Mt. Olympus.  They’ve always been there, they’ve just been keeping a low profile, on orders from Zeus himself.  Now they’re back in the headlines, with a major News Flash for us.

 

    ZEUS IS DEAD!  Killed by persons or deities unknown.

 

    Hey, now I know this is a hoax.  Gods are immortal.  There’s no way anyone could kill Zeus!

 

What’s To Like...

    Full disclosure: if a book has a mythological theme, I’m going to like it.  Zeus Is Dead is no exception; the Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses shows up in the modern-day world with chaotic results, and I knew from the start I'd dig it.

 

    I was impressed with the breadth of the list of the translocated deities.  Sure, one would expect Zeus, Hera, and maybe Athena to have roles.  But the author brings in the Fates, the Furies, and the Muses, and work them all into the storyline.  Even the Titans, banished by Zeus a long, long time ago, are freed from their eternal prison, and rightfully intend to contribute to the mayhem.

 

    The overall tone of Zeus Is Dead is satire, but along the way, Michael Munz has some subtle insights about how modern society, particularly the major religions and right-wingers, would react to the old gods suddenly returning.  Groups like the NCMO (the Neo-Christian Movement of America), and the Pious Reactionists take a dim view of the Olympians’ presence.

 

    I enjoyed following along with several mortals as they tried to determine whether Zeus is really dead (he is an Immortal, after all), and if so. who killed him and where his remains are.  Ares claims to be the assassin, but hey, he’s the god of War, and his nonchalant confession may just be hubris.  The slaying could also be a team effort; it’s hard to imagine one lone killer successfully offing Zeus.

 

    The gods conjure up some fantastic never-seen-before critters for our modern world.  The turtle-frog is a formidable beast, and the razorwings (see first excerpt, below) are adorably lethal.  And if an orthlaelapsian wraith crosses your path, you might as well start digging your own grave. 

    The character-development is also well-done, and true to the way the gods are portrayed in classical mythology.  Zeus may be the head honcho (at least for a while) but he’s also a womanizer and a “my-way-or-the-highway” bully who acts first and thinks later.  Ares is thug who’s always looking for a fight and Dionysius is a party animal.

 

    Everything leads to a decent ending featuring an epic battle with an over-the-top twist or two.  The threats to the Olympians’ continued existence are dealt with, but at a steep cost.  Several mortals are promoted, and a plot thread involving two missing movie-making humans remains unresolved, fully justifying me grabbing the sequel, Zeus Is Undead.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Tachyon (n.) : a hypothetical subatomic particle that is theorized to always travel faster than the speed of light.

Others: Ley lines; (n.); Schmoopifying (v., a made-up word, and way-kewl).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.1/5 based on 1,485 ratings and 337 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.71/5 based on 1,752 ratings and 249 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    And so it came to be that the creatures eventually dubbed “razorwings” were among the most fearsome of all for one particular reason.

    They were impossibly cute.

    In fact, they were kittens—fuzzy, adorable kittens, each the color of fresh snow and no bigger than a cantaloupe.  They were also feral; spat a paralyzing poison; and flew on colorful, batlike wings capable of slicing through a human arm.  Yet once you attached all that to a kitten, it became the zoological equivalent of a death threat on pink stationery with hearts dotting the i’s.  (loc. 1658)

 

    “Okay, so . . . here’s the plan.  We hold them here in this tunnel.  It’s narrow; it’ll help us hold them off.  Tactical advantage.  We can do this, right?”

    “Golly, let me think!  Um, no!  They’re fury on wings; we’re mice with toothpicks!”

    “The tunnel’s narrow!  They can only come at us one at a time!”  Leif’s courage flared as he tried to rally the Muse.  “This is our best shot!”  His adrenaline spiked further as the realization that he was currently in Greece propelled him into a glorious culmination of, “This! Is! Spart—”

    Thalia decked him right in the face before he could finish.  (loc. 6324)

 

Kindle Details…

    Zeus Is Dead is currently priced at $4.99 at Amazon.  The sequel, Zeus Is Undead, goes for $5.99.  Michael G. Munz offers a half-dozen other e-books, including a First Contact Sci-Fi trilogy called The New Aeneid Cycle.  The books in that series are in the $0.99-$3.99 price range.

 

“Well shave my head and paint me blue!”  (loc. 6028)

    There’s a moderate amount of cussing in Zeus Is Dead.  I counted 23 instances in the first 20%, 13 of which involved variation of damn.  Later on, the mother f-bomb pops up.

 

    Quite often, when profanity is called for, the author uses euphemistic myth-based expletives.  Examples: “by the Styx”, “Titans’ armpits”, “Go to Tartarus!”, in the name of Cerberus’s chew toys”, and ”Minos’s golden balls”.  I love this literary device and fully endorse its use more frequently in novels.

 

    Whoever the editor was, they did a marvelous job.  I didn’t notice any typos, and the only punctuation issues were a missing quotation mark and a whole bunch of unwanted spaces after em-dashes.  I suspect those cropped up during the conversion to e-book format and thus not the author's fault.

 

    I thoroughly enjoyed Zeus Is Dead.  The pacing is good, the mystery angle of who killed Zeus was developed deftly, the world-building was convincing, and the interrelations between humans and gods was convincing.  The sequel now resides on my Kindle, and I’m looking forward to reading it in the near future.

 

    8½ Stars.  One last thing.  There’s a gizmo called the “Idiot Ball” that plays an important part in the story, for better and for worse.  I need to find me one of these and put it to good use.

Contact - Carl Sagan

   1985; 374 pages.  New Author? : Yes, at least since the creation of this blog.  Genres : First Contact Sci-Fi; Hard Science Fiction.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Let’s suppose Intelligent Life exists in the Universe somewhere besides here on Earth.  How would we know?

 

    Well, we can look through telescopes at bright lights and hope to see some sort of “intelligent transmission”, although I’m not sure what that would be.  Is there anything that travels at the speed of light, besides light, of course?  Why yes, there is!  Radio waves.

 

    But radio waves come in all sorts of different wavelengths.  How can we tell which particular one an Extra Terrestrial would use to send out a signal?  And how would they transform a radio wave into a message someone on another planet would understand?

 

    That’s what Ellie Arroway has been working on for quite some time.  On taxpayers’ money.  And so far, she hasn’t found diddley squat of any intelligence via radio waves, on any wavelength, from any of the thousands of stars that’s she’s pointed her radio telescope at.

 

    Maybe we are alone in the Universe.

 

What’s To Like...

    Contact is divided into three parts, namely:

Part 1: The Message (chapters 1-9)

Part 2: The Machine (chapters 10-18)

Part 3: The Galaxy (chapters 19-24)

    Contact is a work of the “Hard Science Fiction” genre.  Carl Sagan makes an in-depth examination of how we Earthlings would (sometimes as opposed to “should”) react to finding out we aren’t alone in the Universe.

 

    The Message postulates that the most-likely means of initial contact is receiving radio signals from Outer Space.  Logical, but how do we figure out how to decode those transmissions?  The Machine theorizes that the Message gives us instructions on how to build a transport machine.  Fine, but do we have the materials and technology to build it, and dare we test it out before firing it up?  The Galaxy invites five Earthlings to sit down in the transport machine and enjoy the ride to intergalactic parts unknown.  Awesome, but are we sure we built it correctly, how do we choose who goes, and what if those ETs just want five specimens to dissect and study?

 

    The character development is superb.  Ellie is the protagonist, of course, so we expect she’ll be one of the Five selected to take the interstellar voyage.  But the other four in the group are richly developed as well, each having their own discrete traits.  Ditto for a host of secondary characters, including a number of government officials who are less than thrilled about this expensive space travel project (what if it doesn’t work?), and a fundamentalist preacher and a televangelist who are worried that God Himself, or even Satan, is the Entity behind those radio waves.

 

    Things build to a great ending, which is simultaneously cynical, revelatory, sad, and ingenious.  To give details would entail spoilers, which we eschew here.  Things close with a genealogical surprise twist for Ellie, which might sound irrelevant but explains a lot of the details in her life.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Samizdat (n.) : the clandestine copying and distribution of literature banned by the state.

Others: Armillary Sphere; (n.); Chiliasm (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.5/5 based on 6,428 ratings and 687 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.15/5 based on 148,202 ratings and 5,016 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    Now the pulses were washing against a warm world, blue and white, spinning against the backdrop of the stars.

    There was life on this world, extravagant in its numbers and variety.  There were jumping spiders at the chilly tops of the highest mountains and sulfur-eating worms in hot vents gushing up through ridges on the ocean floors.  There were beings that could live only in concentrated sulfuric acid, and beings that were destroyed by concentrated sulfuric acid; organisms that were poisoned by oxygen, and organisms that could survive only in oxygen, that actually breathed the stuff.  (pg. 51)

 

    How much better if a few of your cells could be preserved.  Real living cells, with the DNA intact.  He visualized a corporation that would, for a healthy fee, freeze a little of your epithelial tissue and orbit it high—well above the Van Allen belts, maybe even higher than geosynchronous orbit.  No reason to die first.  Do it now, while it’s on your mind.  Then, at least, alien molecular biologists—or their terrestrial counterparts of the far future—could reconstruct you, clone you, more or less from scratch.  You would rub your eyes, stretch, and wake up in the year ten million.  (pg. 340)

 

“The Earth is an object lesson for the apprentice gods.”  (pg. 247)

    There’s a smidgen of cusswords in Contact.  I counted four of them in the first 25%, all of which were of the “milder” ilk.  I don’t recall anything that I’d label an “adult situation”.

 

    Some reviewers felt the “science versus religion” angle was overplayed in the text.  They have a point, but frankly, I think Carl Sagan accurately anticipates the religious response.  Life on other worlds, in other solar systems and other galaxies, is hard to factor into spiritual dogma.

 

    The pacing felt slow in the first two section, but keep in mind their subject matter—decoding radio pulses and building a spaceship—is highly technical by nature.  You don’t want any thrills-&-spills to take place during those phases.  The “first contact” stage also felt rather anticlimactic.

 

    But hey, if I were one of the five human space envoys, I'd hope the initial contact with Extraterrestrials was a slow-paced, peaceful affair.  A “Star Wars” scenario, while exciting to read about, would not be a promising introduction to alien species.  I don’t want to come face-to-face with a Stormtrooper, no matter how bad of a shot he is.

 

    Overall, I found Contact to be a thought-provoking work, grounded in real science and logical in presenting one possible way that humanity would react to a “We Are Not Alone” scenario.  If you don’t get bored during the “Message” and “Machine” sections, you’re in for a fantastic read in the final section, “Galaxy”.

 

    8 Stars.  One last thing.  Somehow, both Hydrofluoric Acid and Laetrile make it into Contact’s storyline.  I worked for a company who manufactured HF acid for many years, and had a moonlighting venture to develop a manufacturing process for Laetrile.  Who would've thought that Extraterrestrials are familiar with, and make use of, both these compounds?

Double Trouble - Mike Faricy

   2015; 231 pages.  Book 10 (out of 30) in the “Dev Haskell – Private Investigator” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Airport/Beach Read; Hard-Boiled Mystery; Private Investigator Mystery.  Overall Rating: 7½*/10.

 

    Business has been slow at Haskell Investigations.  Its owner and sole employee, Private Investigator Dev Haskell, has now been forced to take a second job: moonlighting as a collections agent for a Coffin Manufacturing Company whose customers sometimes default payments on what is going to be their final resting place.

 

    It only takes Dev one day to realize he’s not really cut out to persuade senior citizens to square away those debts for their death boxes.  But he likes the company owner, so on his way out, he recommends an old acquaintance who has experience in debt-collecting: Tommy Flaherty.

 

    Tommy is a “reformed criminal”, which is a nice way of saying he’s an ex-con.  He also has two sisters, Candi and Lissa, both of which Dev has slept with in the past.  During the same time period.  Until he mistakenly called out the wrong sister’s name at the height of passion.  But that was a while back, and it’s all water under the bridge, right?

 

    Oh jeez, Dev.  You still don’t know a thing about how the female mind works, do you?

 

What’s To Like...

    Double Trouble is the tenth book in Mike Faricy’s “Dev Haskell Private Investigator” series, which I’ve been reading in order so far.  It’s action-packed and a quick read.  Amazon says it’s 279 pages long, but it actually ends on page 227, with a bonus preview of the first eight chapters in the next book in the series, Yellow Ribbon, tacked on.  The tale is told in the first-person POV (Dev’s) and 57 chapters cover those 227 pages, so you’re never far from a good place to stop for the night.

 

    As is the norm in these tales, what starts out as an easy job—see the first excerpt, below—rapidly becomes more complicated.  Various items begin to disappear, such as coffins, ATMs (the whole machine, not just the cash), and some of Dev’s junk food supplies and t-shirts.  The police think someone even stole the license plate from Dev’s vehicle, but hey, it’s still there.

 

    It may be my imagination, but Dev seems to slowly be getting his act together.  He seems to spend a bit less time womanizing here (thank goodness Heidi is still around), and it appears he’s sharpening his Private Eye skills as well.  Even his bar-hopping seems to be curtailed a bit.

 

    Things build to decent, fitting, ending with a clever perp-revealing plot twist that I didn’t see coming, and with the baddies all getting their just desserts.  The final chapter is an epilogue, and adds one last comedic twist to the ending, which is appropriate for a Dev Haskell tale.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.3/5 based on 312 ratings and 72 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.14/5 based on 297 ratings and 20 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “So, are you going to take the job?” Louie asked.

    “Sounds like I would be getting paid just to follow people around and see if anyone is into anything crazy.”

    “Sounds like a waste of time,” Louie said and sipped.

    “Probably, but now I’d be getting paid for wasting it.”

    “There you go, always looking at the bright side.”  (loc. 652)

 

    I called Leo, my locksmith, and told him I needed new front and backdoor locks.

    “Again?  Dev, didn’t we just replace those things about six months ago?”

    “Was it that long ago?”

    “You know, if you stopped handing out house keys to every woman who let you buy her a drink, you could maybe cut down on this.  I ought to put you on a monthly plan and just change the damn things every thirty days.”

    “You have a monthly plan?”

    “I was kidding, Dev.”  (loc. 1537)

 

Kindle Details…

    Double Trouble is currently priced at $4.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the books in the series are currently either $0.99 or $4.99.  Mike Faricy offers at least one e-book bundle of this series, and has several other series (Hotshot, Corridor Man, and Jack Dillon Dublin Tales) that have the same pricing structure.

 

“Want to come in for a glass of wine and stay for breakfast?”  (loc. 348)

    The profanity in Double Trouble is moderate; with 18 instances of a variety of "milder" cusswords in the first 20%.  There were zero f-bombs, which impressed me, although one showed up in the Yellow Ribbon preview.  Some “adult situations” were alluded to, but there was nothing lurid.  The tagline for this section is a good example.

 

    The typos are getting scarcer as this series progresses, but I still spotted about ten or so, including id/ID, discrete/discreet, Bout/’Bout, and skulls/sculls.  That last one made me chuckle.

 

    But enough of the quibbling.  Double Trouble is a fast-paced crime-mystery, chock full of humor and wit, over-the-top thrills-&-spills, and all-too-convenient timing of events.  Which means it’s an ideal book when you just want to be entertained and not have to cogitate too much.

 

    7½ Stars.  One last thing.  Late in the story, one of the characters is described as having an “egghead degree in chemistry”.  I happen to have a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry.  That description resonated with me.

The Summer of the Danes - Ellis Peters

   1991; 269 pages.  Book 18 (out of 20) in the “Chronicles of Brother Cadfael” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Historical Fiction; Historical Mystery; Cozy.  Overall Rating: 8½*/10.

 

    It’s the summer of 1144 CE and the Church in England needs a favor from Brother Cadfael.  Two bishops have recently been appointed to Sees in Wales, and the Archbishop of Canterbury has decided to send gifts to both of them.

 

    Brother Mark has been dispatched by Canterbury to deliver the presents, but there’s one slight problem: he’s journeying to Wales but doesn’t speak a word of Welsh.  Would Brother Cadfael be so kind as to accompany Brother Mark and serve as his translator?

 

    Cadfael is delighted to accept!  He was born and raised in Wales, but now is stationed nearby at the Shrewsbury Abbey and rarely gets to visit his old homeland despite its proximity.  This trip will mean he’ll get to travel in Wales for more than a week, while doing the church’s business, and enjoying the local hospitality.  What could possibly go wrong?!

 

    Well, there’s a reason why the book is titled The Summer of the Danes.

 

What’s To Like...

    The Summer of the Danes is the eighteenth book the Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series.  I’ve read twelve of the completed 20-book series so far, and not reading them in any particular order.

 

    This book is unique to the series in several ways.  First of all, it predominantly takes place in Wales, which I don’t recall being done before.  Secondly, this is not a murder-mystery, which is what all the other books I’ve read in this series were.  Yes, a murder takes place, but not until more than a quarter of the way through the tale, and Brother Cadfael isn’t involved in the sleuthing at all.  Indeed, Brother Cadfael is mostly relegated to being an observer of events here, dispensing sage advice and making keen observations.

 

    The book is primarily a work of Historical Fiction, and what a fine job Ellis Peters does in presenting it!  Owain, prince of Gwynedd, is engaged in an internecine struggle with his estranged brother, Cadwaladr, who has hired a company of Danish mercenary seamen (hence the title) to help him procure the throne.  Cadfael and his companions become involved in the dispute when they are captured by the Danes and held for ransom.

 

    The main theme of the story is the role that Honor played in medieval conflicts.  There are leaders and fighters in both the Welsh and Danish forces who strictly abide by their pledges.  That’s true of captives as well; they can be released for pressing reasons if they promise return to their incarceration in an agreed-upon amount of time, and which most of them faithfully do.  There is also some Romance, which is a component of all the books in this series, but it's a secondary plot thread and male readers shouldn't be scared off by this.   

 

    Edith Pargeter (“Ellis Peters” is a pen name) was an English author, so the book is written in English, not American, but this wasn’t distracting at all.  There’s a Glossary of Terms in the back, which was helpful, although it ought to be expanded a bit for us Yankee readers.

 

    The ending is pleasant; all ends well for most of the characters.  Love and Honor both emerge triumphant, and the aforementioned murder is solved without any investigation needed.  The conflict between the two brothers is resolved, albeit not in the way I expected.  The Romance resolution will probably surprise some, but veteran Cadfael readers will correctly guess its outcome long before it plays out.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Tref (n.) : in medieval times, a hamlet in Britain.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.5*/5, based on 1,380 ratings and 169 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.08*/5, based on 5,087 ratings and 324 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “I had a younger brother, better content to sit on one strip of land lifelong.  I was for off, as far as the road would take me, and it took me half across the world before I understood.  Life goes not in a straight line, lad, but in a circle.  The first half we spend venturing as far as the world’s end from home and kin and stillness, and the latter half brings us back by roundabout ways but surely, to that state from which we set out.”  (loc. 898)

 

    “I am Turcaill, son of Turcaill, kinsman to Otir, who leads this venture.”

    “And you know what’s in dispute here?  Between two Welsh princes?  Why put your own breast between the blades?” Cadfael reasoned mildly.

    “For pay,” said Turcaill cheerfully.  “But even unpaid I would not stay behind when Otir puts to sea.  It grows dull ashore.  I’m no landsman, to squat on a farm year after year, and be content to watch crops grow.”  (loc. 1854)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Summer of the Danes sells for $12.99 right now at Amazon.  The other e-books in the series range in price from $9.99 to $14.99.  Ellis Peters is the pen name used by Edith Pargeter for the Brother Cadfael series, you can search under her real name for additional Historical Fiction books she wrote.

 

“There is no one who cannot be hated, against whatever odds.  Nor anyone who cannot be loved, against all reason.  (loc. 985)

    There’s not a trace of profanity in The Summer of the Danes, and I’m always in awe of any author who can do this while still writing a page-turner.  Neither are there any rolls-in-the-hay or other adult situations.  The closest we come to such things is some contemplation on the institution of arranged marriages and a bit of shed blood when someone gets stabbed with a dagger.

 

    I only spotted two typos: a capitalization (He/he) and though/through.  Kudos to the editor for a job well done.  There were a couple of “extras” in the back of the e-book that I didn't utilize.  One was a preview (the Prologue plus the first two chapters) of Book 19 in the series, The Holy Thief,  which I already have on my Kindle.  The other was a “Guide to Welsh Pronunciation”, which might come in handy for anyone who opts for the audiobook version.

 

    As with all the books I've read so far in this series, I enjoyed The Summer of the Danes.  Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael books tend to be formulaic, but it's a great formula, particularly since it involves well-researched 12^th-century medieval historical fiction.

 

    8½ Stars.  One last thing.  Knowing that Edith Pargeter was a meticulous historian, I was skeptical when I read that the base for the Danish seagoing raiding parties was Dublin, Ireland.  Really, Norsemen used to control of a portion of Ireland?!  But Wikipedia confirms this, even making the statement “The Vikings, or Ostmen (East-men) as they called themselves, ruled Dublin for almost three centuries”).  See the “History of Dublin” entry in Wikipedia.

How to Pick Up Women with a Drunk Space Ninja - Jay Key

   2018; 346 pages.  Book 1 (out of 4) in the “Adventures of Duke LaGrange” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Humorous Science Fiction; Space Opera.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

 

    Get ready for a new Dynamic Duo!

 

    The main hero is Duke LaGrange, a wisecracking bounty hunter from a colony planet called Nova Texas.  He’s not particularly physically imposing, but he makes up for that by packing two deadly space firearms: a Widowmaker sonic shotgun and a laser revolver.

 

    His sidekick is a silent-but-deadly Ninja warrior named Ishiro’shea.  He’s from some backwater planet called Earth and claims to be of Irish-Japanese extraction, whatever that means.

 

    Right now they’re doing what most superheroes love to do: hanging out at the Why Not Saloon on the planet Kelt, and famed for its wine, women (of all sorts of intergalactic species), and interdimensional portals.  And while Duke flirts with the females in the crowd, Ishiro is engaged in his favorite pastime: lying on the saloon’s floor, passed out drunk.

 

    Life cannot get any better than this.

 

What’s To Like...

    How to Pick Up Women with a Drunk Space Ninja is the first volume in a (presumably) completed 4-book humorous sci-fi series.  The two protagonists remind me of the Star Wars duo of Han Solo and Chewbacca.  Ichiro has taken a vow of silence (it’s a ninja thing) so the banter between Duke and him is one-sided, yet just like Solo and Chewie chitchats, it somehow works.

 

    The opening scene takes place in a galactic bar-&-grill, which is very similar to the one in the first Star Wars movie, save that the band playing is a robotic metal group and the female flirt is an anthropomorphic musk ox.  That gives you a good idea of the comedic tone of the tale.  But the primary plot thread concerns our heroes reluctantly finding themselves forced into joining an epic space quest; which again is very Solo/Chewie-ish.

 

    I liked the character-building.  The good guys are well-intended but rather inept; and the head bad guy may be arrogant, yet he’s also somewhat charismatic.  The warfare scenario takes its cue straight out of Star Wars: the “legitimate” (evil) empire has overwhelming military resources, but the “rebel” (good) resistance has no reason to believe they can prevail, but they'll die trying anyway.

 

    The plotline is humorous, twisty, and has enough action to keep the reader reading “just one more chapter”.  The loyalty of most of the good guys—including Duke—is questionable at times, and both sides occasionally wonder if they’re being manipulated by some higher Power.

 

    The ending is decent; when all appears lost, help comes crashing in from unexpected places, and in the end the bad guys get their just desserts.  The aftermath is given in the second-to-last chapter, ties up the loose plot threads in a heartwarming manner.  Things close where things began, back at the bar-&-grill, with Duke and Ishiro contemplating their next adventure.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.1*/5, based on 285 ratings and 52 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.85*/5, based on 347 ratings and 44 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “I am truly sorry.  Is there anything else that I can help you with?”

    “You hairy Glyptodian bastard!  Tell the Queen that I’m looking right down its bright red gullet as we speak; not too far from the Keltian atmosphere.  I think she might want to know.”

    “You do make a valid point, Mr. LaGrange.  I will seek her out with unrivaled haste.  Do you mind if I place you on hold briefly?”

    “Yes, I mind, Earl!”

    “Thank you.”

    “No, I said, I do mind—”

    The hold music interrupted and chimed away.  (loc. 716)

 

    “Nice to meet you, Lo’n.  I’ve heard so much about you.”

    Duke awkwardly knelt down in an exaggerated curtsy.  Mo’a laughed.

    “Is that right, off-worlder?”

    “But of course.  The great and all powerful Lo’n.  Your exploits are known throughout the universe.  Entire races are sacrificed in your honor every cycle.  The mere mention of your name can impregnate certain species.  Both male and female.  You are a god, my friend, a true god.”

    Lo’n’s eyes locked on to Duke’s.  Silence fell upon the group.  Not even Mo’a chuckled.

    “Off-worlder, I like you!”  (loc. 2483)

 

Kindle Details…

    Right now, How to Pick Up Women with a Drunk Space Ninja sells for $3.99 at Amazon.  The other three books will each cost you $4.99.  You can also pick up a short-story Space Opera e-book by Jay Key, The Art of Negotiating with Space Monsters, for just $0.99.

 

“Not to be a nitpicker, but friends don’t attack each other with fire-covered spears.”  (loc. 1289)

    There’s a moderate amount of cussing in How to Pick Up Women with a Drunk Space Ninja, most of it of the “milder” variety.  I counted 13 instances in the first 10%.  The only adult situation I recall was one roll-in-the-hay late in the story.

 

    The favorite colloquial expression in this part of the galaxy is “Holy Hedgehogs!”, which made me chuckle each time it was used.  Robin, Batman’s sidekick, would love that phrase.

 

    My main issue in HtPUWwaDSN was with the action scenes.  A lot of the fight scenes involve Duke and Ishiro taking on overwhelming numbers of baddies charging at them.  But in most cases, Duke simply pulls out his equalizers, a pair of overwhelmingly deadly firearms, and confidently saves the day.  And in the few cases where that’s not sufficient, dei ex machina crash the party in a most timely manner.

 

    But hey, the same can be said of Batman and Robin, in the old TV version starring Adam West, and I used to love that show as a kid.  It worked for that Dynamic Duo, and it works for Duke and Ichiro as well.

 

    So give your thinking brain the night off, read this book strictly for its entertainment value, and don’t ask yourself any “what are the odds???” questions when our two heroes escape yet another hopeless situation.  You’ll be glad you did.

 

    7 Stars.  One last thing.  Early on, the catchphrase “damn skippy” is used.  I love that expression, but always thought it was invented by Lula, in Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, but Google assures me it is a common phrase.  I need to start using it more.