Category Archives: Books

Michael Connelly’s “Gods Of Guilt” (Mickey Haller Channeling Perry Mason)

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Gods of Guilt

I’ve just finished Michael Connelly’s newest novel, “The Gods Of Guilt,” and the final  pages of tense testimony left me shocked, drained and gasping for breath.

“The Gods of Guilt” is courtroom high drama with the explosive tension of a crashing airplane. I haven’t read all of Connelly’s 26 novels, but this has to be one of his best. The ink is still wet on the book, published only two months ago, but the verdict is in.

Michael Connelly, call your accountant. If you’re not already a rich man, “The Gods Of Guilt,” and the movie that will surely follow, will make you one.

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Intriguing Book Blurb Award

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“Easy Rawlins still escapes, like the protagonists of Chandler, Hammett, Jim Thompson, or Chester Himes . . . With Easy Rawlins’ desperate and unflinching vision, Walter Mosley has revitalized two genres, the hard-boiled novel and the American behaviorist novel.”

That’s the back cover blurb touting Walter Mosley’s latest mystery novel, “Little Green.” It wins the first (and maybe last) “Intriguing Book Blurb Award”  from your full-service blog, Work In Progress.

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Lawyer Fiction: John Grisham and Michael Connelly, Part 2

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books headerWriting without an outline is like walking a tightrope without a net. Dangerous! I should know better.

But the truth is, I nearly always write without an outline. It’s more exciting that way. When I start a story, I think I know where I’m going. I often end up someplace else entirely. (Kids, don’t try writing without an outline in English class; it makes the teacher crazy.)

On New Year’s Eve, I set out to compare authors John Grisham and Michael Connelly.  Turns out the two men and their careers are as similar as Coke and Pepsi. But when you open the covers of their books, there’s a definite contrast, like salt and pepper. If you’d like to read Part 1 of this extended post first, click here.

Grisham and Connelly are writers of the same generation, both productive enough to wear out a reader, but good enough to keep customers coming back for more.

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Lawyer Fiction: John Grisham And Michael Connelly, Part 1

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So many weighty questions remain unresolved as this miserable old year runs out the clock.

Who’s the best at writing lawyer fiction: John Grisham or Michael Connelly? That’s the question keeping me awake on the last night of 2013.

John Grisham

JOHN GRISHAM (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve read more of Grisham than Connelly. In fact I think I’ve read all of Grisham’s stuff, except his recent dabbling in the juvenile market. I just finished his latest, “Sycamore Row.” It’s classic Grisham with a deep-South setting, Clanton, Miss., a town caught in a racial time warp. Clanton is modern enough to have an elected black sheriff, but the rural backwater keeps producing court cases highlighting its history of racism.

A Grisham trademark is fast-paced suspense — maybe a chase scene — after a long buildup. Many of Grisham’s novels delve deeply into a particular legal quagmire, such as the death penalty, product liability, environmental pollution, or class-action suits. You feel like you’ve been through a law school seminar, except it was fun.

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Rambling On About Writing, Editing And Blogging

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English: Stephen King's House in Bangor, Maine

Stephen King’s House in Bangor, Maine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nearly all bloggers are interested in improving their writing. You can find an interesting post about criticism and editing — and how bloggers respond to same — by Michelle at “The Green Study.”

English: Hands collaborating in co-writing or ...

Hands collaborating in writing or editing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Which calls to mind a Baltimore Sun blog, “You Don’t Say,” by John McIntyre, a curmudgeon and drudge, as well as a longtime Sun copy desk chief.  If you’re interested in language and editing, you could do worse than to follow his blog. It’s always informative and sometimes amusing. Continue reading →

‘Time Is An Illusion’

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“I did not count the days or the weeks or the months. Time is an illusion that only makes us pant. I survived because I forgot even the very notion of time.”   — Yann Martel in “LIFE OF PI”

The Next Big Thing: CORRUPTION

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English: President George W. Bush and Presiden...

President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office of the White House  Nov. 10, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

People are looking for a scapegoat, and for once they’re looking in the right place. Corruption in government.

The book that everyone is talking about, inside the beltway, at least, is “This Town,” by Mark Leibovich. Here’s a comment on the book by Fareed Zakaria:

“It’s a vivid, detailed picture of the country’s ruling elite, filled with tales of ruthless networking, fake friendships and a sensationalist media. But beneath the juicy anecdotes is a depressing message about corruption and dysfunction.” Continue reading →

“Across the nation . . .”

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“Across the nation, the most affluent Americans have been seceding from the rest of the nation into their own separate geographical communities with tax bases (or fees) that can underwrite much higher levels of services . . . Being rich now means having enough money that you don’t have to encounter anyone who isn’t.”

— Robert Reich in “AFTERSHOCK: The Next Economy & America’s Future.”

Question: What should we call these people who secede from America? Are they patriots? — John Hayden

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” Working Life …”

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“I have nothing to say of my working life, only that a tie is a noose, and inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he’s not careful.”

— Piscine Molitor Patel in “LIFE of PI,” by Yann Martel

Life of Pi

Life of Pi (Photo credit: GBPublic_PR)

Can A Ship Sail Right Over The Edge Of The Earth?

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“The U.S no longer has a well-functioning self-government. . . .  American democracy has been hacked. The United States Congress, the avatar of the democratically elected national legislatures in the modern world, is now incapable of passing laws without permission from the corporate lobbies and other special interests that control their campaign finances.” 

The above quote is from Al Gore’s new book, “The Future.” It makes sobering reading as the U.S. ship of state drifts, apparently rudderless, toward “sequestration.” Is the bridge abandoned? Have the helm and the engine room broken down?

I don’t understand the panic over sequestration, but I am concerned about the ability of U.S. government institutions to function. Continue reading →