Reviews

Picture the Old West. Not some sanitized, idealized version, but a dirty, gritty Old West with massacres in the name of expansion, hookers with hearts-of-lead, and gunmen versus lawmen where both are merciless killers.

Now, picture this in an alternate universe where the theocratic settlers are armed with magic and have systematically conquered the entire world.

Lights on a Ground of Darkness: An Evocation of a Place and Time originally was published in 2005 by the University of Nebraska Press. That handsome little hardcover, though, was a limited edition; one thousand copies were printed, each of them numbered and signed by the author. Last September, under its Bison Books imprint, the press re-released the book in a mass-market paperback edition -- and Publishers Weekly promptly named it one of the top 20 books published last fall by independent and university presses. The praise is deserved.

The couple who brought the sick, abandoned kitten to the vet were of the opinion that he should be put to sleep. But the vet felt otherwise and restored him to perfect health, with the exception of his sight. She then set about finding him a loving, permanent home. That home was found in Gwen Cooper.

C.S. Lewis move over! Here comes Denise Jackson. Reminiscent of the Oxford doyen's Surprised by Joy, Jackson's faith biography comes to us in the tenor of a Southern blonde belle. Her unabashed naked soul shakes the reader to the core. As a graying librarian I've learned to listen carefully to my patrons.

There were three reasons why I picked up Fancy White Trash. At first, the cover with a pink flamingo caught my attention and then I was intrigued by the title.

When the Edgerton Book Ends (book group at Edgerton Neighborhood Library) asked for a classic and a mystery, the selection was clear – a mystery by Agatha Christie.

Bentley Little is a Bram Stoker Award winner, the award given by the Horror Writer’s Association. The Walking is a prime example of Little’s work. I was hooked on this book from the first sentence in the Prologue which was, “John Hawkes died and kept walking.”The main character is Miles Huerdeen, a private investigator, who is drawn into “The Walking” when his father dies and starts walking.

While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty is an easy read with a local Kansas flavor, specifically featuring Lawrence.

This is a book for anyone who reads mysteries and has wonder about the origin of a favorite fiction detective.  Mr.