Two More for the Read Pile
37) Family Honor by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, 1999, 322 pages)
A Boston based mystery novel premiering Parker's second PI series character Sunny Randall, Family Honor is a real page turner. Cute, spunky Sunny is hired by some Rich Folks to find their runaway daughter. Well, this being a mystery novel, Rich Folks have secrets, and the search for the missing girl turns up some nasty ones. Soon enough, the questions becomes Should I Return this Kid to these folks, and a quirky little story emerges as Sunny becomes something of a Mother figure to a troubled teen. A cast of quirky secondary characters makes for a fun read. Looking forward to following volumes.
38) Chimeric Machines by Lucy A. Snyder (Creative Guy Publishing, 2009, 90 pages)
Sometimes dark, sometimes funny, always evocative, Snyder's poetry is a delightful read. Whether she takes the point of view of an anthropomorphic, eternally hungry Black Hole, examines the inner workings of the criminally minded inhabitants of a small town in Kentucky, or muses about the origins of the word "subtlety", Snyder offers some beautiful imagery and engaging style. While not every poem in this brief collection resonates with me, a majority of them do. Personal favorites? "Babel's Children," an infuriating reminiscence of the ceremonial dismantling of a dead horror author's legacy by his own bad-christian children, and the five poems of the Crete, Kentucky section, telling a larger story through the poetic inner monologues of a five member cast (in a similar vein to W.D. Snodgrass's Fuhrer Bunker). Heartily recommended.
A Boston based mystery novel premiering Parker's second PI series character Sunny Randall, Family Honor is a real page turner. Cute, spunky Sunny is hired by some Rich Folks to find their runaway daughter. Well, this being a mystery novel, Rich Folks have secrets, and the search for the missing girl turns up some nasty ones. Soon enough, the questions becomes Should I Return this Kid to these folks, and a quirky little story emerges as Sunny becomes something of a Mother figure to a troubled teen. A cast of quirky secondary characters makes for a fun read. Looking forward to following volumes.
38) Chimeric Machines by Lucy A. Snyder (Creative Guy Publishing, 2009, 90 pages)
Sometimes dark, sometimes funny, always evocative, Snyder's poetry is a delightful read. Whether she takes the point of view of an anthropomorphic, eternally hungry Black Hole, examines the inner workings of the criminally minded inhabitants of a small town in Kentucky, or muses about the origins of the word "subtlety", Snyder offers some beautiful imagery and engaging style. While not every poem in this brief collection resonates with me, a majority of them do. Personal favorites? "Babel's Children," an infuriating reminiscence of the ceremonial dismantling of a dead horror author's legacy by his own bad-christian children, and the five poems of the Crete, Kentucky section, telling a larger story through the poetic inner monologues of a five member cast (in a similar vein to W.D. Snodgrass's Fuhrer Bunker). Heartily recommended.