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November 3, 2007

You Can Run But You Can't Hide

Reviewed by Damian Penny

Curse you, National Enquirer!  I had my review of Duane Chapman's autobiography completely written in my head, and then you had to throw everything out of whack by breaking the story of Chapman's casual use of the N-word.  How am I supposed to write under these conditions?

I was surprised when the story broke, but than again, Chapman -- you know him as A&E reality-show star "Dog the Bounty Hunter," of course -- is not a man known for mincing his words.  In You Can Run But You Can't Hide he calls himself "the greatest bounty hunter who ever lived," and when discussing how he met his infamously well-endowed wife Beth, writes, "I've always had a thing for smart women -- especially smart women with big tits."

As with most celebrity memoirs, I have no doubt that "co-author" Laura Morton actually did all the writing.  But I have to admit, it certainly reads as though Dog himself wrote the book.  And say what you like about Chapman, you can't deny that a dozen good books could be made out of his life story.

Born to a tough, violent father, Chapman hooked up with a biker gang as a teenager; drifted from job to job, state to state and wife to wife; got convicted of first-degree murder in Texas despite not actually being present for the murder (so he says, anyway); became a bounty hunter and bail bondsman; became a popular motivational speaker at Tony Robbins seminars; moved to Hawaii and got the highest-rated show on A&E; got parodied on South Park; and, to top it all off, got jailed in Mexico after hunting down a convicted rapist.  And that was all before his recent brush with controversy.

You Can Run But You Can't Hide, needless to say, is hardly literature for the ages.  But it is an entertaining read, and just like on the TV show, Chapman comes across as the kind of larger-than-life character that could only exist in real life.

Of course, now that Chapman is frantically trying to beg Al Sharpton for forgiveness (how Al Freaking Sharpton became America's standard-bearer for race relations is a subject that deserves its own book), a pall has been cast over You Can Run But You Can't Hide.  A&E has suspended production of Dog's series -- too bad, because the current unpleasantness would make great television -- and the publisher, Hyperion, finds itself with a public-relations disaster on its hands.

Ironically, Dog -- who is partially of Apache descent, and claims to be a descendant of Cochise -- uses his memoir to describe the prejudice he experienced as a "half-breed," and disavows racism.  Chapman's book, like every autobiography ever written, only tells the story Chapman wants us to know, but you already suspected as much.

If Dog's career survives the current unpleasantness, at least he'll have no shortage of material for the paperback edition. 

Posted by nbennett at 06:10 PM

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November 3, 2007

Johnny Cash: The Biography

Reviewed by Glen Boyd

I'm not sure if the definitive Johnny Cash biography has yet been, or ever will be written. But as a fascinating, often no-holds barred, look at the life of the legendary Man In Black, Michael Streissguth's Johnny Cash: The Biography has to rank as one of the better and more revealing tomes out there.

In this book, the author traces Cash's life by drawing for the very first time from the archive of Cash's late manager Saul Holiff, who guided his career through the pivotal years of the sixties and seventies -- when Cash enjoyed his greatest commercial success. There are also exclusive interviews with such Cash confidantes as his longtime producer Jack Clement, and Marshall Grant, the lone surviving member of the original Tennessee Two. Streissguth also interviews various business associates, family members, and even those who knew John R. Cash as a child.

The result is an absolutely fascinating read that is hard to put down once you begin to delve into its pages.

It explores his music in acute detail -- heaping praise when it is rightfully deserved, and casting a critical eye when it is equally necessary. All of the commercial highs of his biggest successes like the Folsom Prison album, are given the attention they warrant. What fans may find most interesting however are the personal insights offered up during the eighties period when Cash's star began to dim somewhat.

The Biography also explores the apparent personal dichotomies in the man's life with an unflinching honesty. The inner conflict between Cash's outlaw image and his deep Christian faith are given particular attention, as are his battles with drug addiction -- which he apparently continued to battle right up until his death.

The reader here is given a first-hand account of Cash's deep disappointment when his Christian-themed pet project The Gospel Road failed to reach the wider audience he had both hoped for and anticipated. Streissguth's account likewise holds back nothing when discussing Cash's drug addiction, and the personal demons which apparently followed him throughout his days, and indeed for far longer than portrayed in more popular accounts such as Hollywood's version in the film Walk The Line.

But in this book, the most eye-opening and fascinating chapter of Cash's story is saved, perhaps appropriately until the very end.

Cash's relationship with producer Rick Rubin beginning in the early nineties -- which produced the remarkable American Recordings series of albums -- allowed Cash to end his career on the same critical and commercial high note it had began on so many years earlier. By stripping his sound to the barest essentials, there is little doubt that Rubin was in many ways the catalyst for Cash's rejuvenation as an artist.

But what this book hints at -- yet never comes right out and says -- is that while the marriage between artist and producer was a win-win proposition for all involved, there may also have been elements of exploitation at play. Even as his health was failing, Rubin kept Cash on a rigorous recording schedule. There are also stories here for example of how certain family members were simply unable to watch Cash's amazing, yet disturbing video for the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt," because of the picture it paints of a man so obviously near death.

Still, by all accounts, Cash was at his most happy and content when he was working -- especially after the death of his beloved June. So who was exploiting whom?

But it is at this point -- in those final months of Cash's life marked first by the passing of his life partner, and then by his own death -- that this book becomes simply heartbreaking. After June's passing, and in increasingly failing health himself, Cash's behavior during these final months is described as "childlike." Here, he would beg his daughters to get him out of the hospital, or just to get him a Snickers bar. Moments are also described where he would simply sit alone and sob how much he missed her.

Family members here also recall a trip to June's grave site, where Johnny Cash -- blinded by diabetes and barely able to walk -- still was able to summon the energy to "see her" and call out to her that "I'm coming, baby, I'm coming."

Cash's final moments, surrounded by his daughters at his bedside make up the final few paragraphs of the book, capping a final chapter that is among the most sadly poignant things that I suspect I will ever read.

Johnny Cash: The Biography tackles these subjects and more in riveting, brutally honest detail that puts the reader there in a way like few such biographies I have ever read. It may not be the definitive story of the legendary Man In Black, but it is the best I have read to date.

Posted by nbennett at 06:09 PM

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Where Angels Go

Reviewed by Lesa Holstine

Debbie Macomber brings back her well-loved angels, Shirley, Goodness and Mercy in this year's Christmas novel, Where Angels Go. Macomber says these are her most requested characters, and, with the warmth and humor of the characters and the books, it's understandable.

Once again, Archangel Gabriel has received prayer requests just before Christmas. Knowing his three Prayer Ambassadors have created havoc in the past when they've been sent to earth, he's reluctant to send them again. But other angels are a little busy this time of year, and Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are available.

At eighty-six, Harry Alderwood knows he's dying. However, he worries about his wife, Rosalie. He prays that he'll be able to get her into an assisted-living facility in Leavenworth, Washington before his death. Despite Mercy's ability to cause trouble, she has a talent in answering prayers. Harry becomes her assignment.

Beth Fischer is addicted to the World of Warcraft computer game. It's her escape. Beth can't put a failed marriage behind her, although it was nine years ago. It's Beth's mother who prayed her daughter would find someone, and Goodness who is assigned the task of helping Beth cope with her fear of commitment.

Carter Jackson wants a dog so badly, but his father knows they can't afford everything that goes with a dog -- vet bills, licenses, obedience school. Carter just knows that God will find a way to get a dog for a nine-year-old boy, so his prayer request is assigned to Shirley.

Once again, Macomber brings us a lovely, warm story, filled with the Christmas spirit. Although it's a little early for the season, it's available now, and hitting the bestseller lists. I always enjoy the comfort and humor provided by Gabriel's three mischievous angels. Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy are charming, slightly ditzy, and utterly unforgettable. Readers may never think of angels in the same way, once they've met Macomber's three Prayer Ambassadors. It's fun to sit down for a few hours to escape into their world, and forget the hectic season that's almost upon us.

It's been a few years since Debbie Macomber brought us Shirley, Goodness and Mercy for Christmas. They appeared in Those Christmas Angels four years ago, and a reprint of Mrs. Miracle in 2005. Those of us who are fans were waiting for this special gift, Where Angels Go.

Posted by nbennett at 06:08 PM

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The Electric Church

Reviewed by Brian Burns

The Electric Church, the latest book from Jeff Somers, is a gritty, cyberpunk masterpiece in the tradition of Snowcrash and Neuromancer. The Electric Church is set in world in which New York dominates the entire eastern seaboard and “Trenton is only a neighborhood,” jobs are a thing of the past, and nearly-omnipotent cops known as “System Pigs” murder and pillage and occasionally enforce the laws of the totalitarian world government.

Enter Avery Cates. Avery Cates is a 27 year-old hitman, or “gunner” whose luck has just run out. The Electric Church begins with a dissatisfied client who growls “You screwed up Mr. Cates” by way of introduction. Things only get worse for Avery Cates. Ultimately, one mistake thrusts Avery Cates between the “System Pigs” and members of the Electric Church, a religion whose members allow themselves to be killed only to reborn as cyborgs with human brains and robot bodies who spend their days offering all who will listen “An endless trail of sunsets.”

The Electric Church is a winding, twisting rollercoaster of a book. Somers’ sparse, noir-like prose is fun and easy to read and his excellent pacing kept me turning pages way past bedtime. The world Somers has created is a dark and scary place, but it’s also a real place full of compelling characters, political intrigue and the problems of ordinary people who happen to live inside a cyberpunk novel.

Avery Cates deserves his own paragraph. Cates is a hitman with a conscience whose code of ethics is as complicated as it is ironclad. He will kill people. He will kill people for money, but several times in the novel he refuses to kill someone for one reason or another even when killing them would serve his interest. He persists in asserting that he is not a good man, and maybe he’s not, but he’s as close as it gets. Also, in his case, Murphy’s Law is far more than theoretical, and his trials and tribulations are great fun for the reader.

Like any good hero, Cates acquires a band of sidekicks complete with aliases, rap sheets, and neuroses. Their interactions with Cates and each other add a lot of color to this excellent novel.

In short, The Electric Church is a must-read for fans of Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, and Raymond Chandler, and will appeal not only to veteran cyberpunk readers but to all people who enjoy a good read.

Posted by nbennett at 06:31 PM

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The End Of The World Blues

Reviewed by Richard Marcus

One of the more difficult societies for outsiders to get a handle on, and not just Westerners but anybody, is Japan. It is seemingly a country of serious contradictions, being not only home to one of more rigid codes of behaviour complete with hierarchies and rules for the proper means of addressing people, but also Karaoke bars, manga, and anime, as well as a penchant for making some the most degrading game shows.

It's also an incredibly insular society where no matter how long you lived there, you would still be considered an outsider if you had not been born on the islands. That's something Kit Nouveau -- sometime English language teacher and full-time Irish Bar owner -- is only too aware of after living in Tokyo for 12 years. Even if he were to somehow master the intricacies of the language completely, he would never be able to keep track of all the subtleties of body language and behaviour appropriate to the demands of status recognition in a conversation.

Kit is one of two central characters in Jon Courtenay Grimwood new science fiction/fantasy novel End Of The World Blues, published in Canada by Random House Canada through their Bantam Spectra imprint. Lady Neku, central character No. 2, appears to be just another 15-year-old girl dressed in the garb of a Goth girl playacting the role of dangerous assassin. ("Cos-play" is the slang name given the young men and women who indulge in these live role playing games, which usually amount to nothing more than posing and judging each other's efforts at costuming.)

But one night when Kit is being mugged, and his assailant turns out to be something more then just a junkie in search of the money for his next fix and is about to kill him, Lady Neku swings into deadly action armed with only a knitting needle removed from her hair and a small knife. Somehow or other the needle ends up in the would be mugger's brain via an ear, and the knife in his heart through his ribs.

Kit would spend a lot more time trying to figure out who Lady Neku really is, if the rest of his life didn't start to literally blow up in his face. His bar, with his wife trapped inside, is incinerated. If things weren't crazy enough, the mother of an ex-girlfriend shows up demanding he help try and find her – the only problem is that she vanished from the upper deck of a ferry crossing the English Channel leaving behind only a suicide note and her shoes.

What Lady Neku has to figure out is what to do about her life on earth. As far as we can tell, she is the youngest daughter of an ancient and decadent family that live sometime in the future. But who are they really and where are they since they aren't on planet? How did Lady Neku come to be in possession of the $15 million that now sits in a locker deep in the bowels of the Tokyo subway system?

As Kit and Lady Neku travel from Tokyo to London looking for answers, they both realize that they might not even know the right questions to be asking let alone who to be asking them. Do the parents of Kit's ex-girlfriend know more then they are letting on about something? Her mom runs one of the biggest criminal gangs in London after all so she knows where a lot of bodies are buried.

From the seedy bars of the sex trade in Tokyo to the boardrooms of the elite corporate gangs, Jon Courtenay Grimwood has Kit and Neku travel through all the levels of Japanese society. Along the way he has written a taut, but very human story, about the uncertainty of life, the vagrancies of memory, and the quiet desperation of people trying to figure out who they are and where they belong.

I think what really impressed me about his writing was the ease he was able to deal with the scenes set in Japan and with the Japanese characters. His knowledge of the culture and the language were obvious, but even more important, I think, was how he turned characters who were ready made for stereotyping into real human beings. Nobody behaved in particular way because of what they were (Japanese, English, etc.), but because of who they were.

The perspective of Japanese culture and people was still through the eyes of the outsider, the one who will never be accepted as being one of them. But they are the eyes of an informed viewer, so we see more then the usual bowing and protestations of honour that are normally presented as Japanese characteristics. This is one of the few stories I've read by a Western writer that manages to create real characters from a culture that is often poorly represented in ours.

End Of The World Blues is a step above your usual science fiction mystery story, with a plot that has some unexpected twists, well developed characters who hold our attention, and comes with the unexpected bonus of providing an interesting look at life in Japan, a country few of us know very much about. Unexpectedly intelligent and thoughtful, End Of The World Blues travels a lot further then most books of its genre and is more than just another piece of escapist fiction.

Posted by nbennett at 06:30 PM

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The Bad Girl

Reviewed by Ted Gioia

Imagine that the love of your life is bad to the bone. Picture yourself under the spell of a genius of deception and craftiness, but one who also possesses beauty and charm and a larger-than-life presence. You know that you are a fool, but you find yourself unable to resist the allure of your tormentor.

The hero of Mario Vargas Llosa’s latest novel, The Bad Girl, finds himself in just such a predicament. During the summer of 1950, a Peruvian teenager falls in love with a young Chilean girl who has moved to his neighborhood. Ricardo Somocurcio is captivated by the new arrival’s haughty attitudes, her risqué dancing, and her charming foreign accent. Little does he know that he has met the “bad girl.” For the next four decades, she will periodically enter his life, wreak havoc with everything he holds dear, and then vanish – until her next inevitable reappearance.

There are many famous bad girls in literary history -- from Helen of Troy to Lolita -- but Vargas Llosa’s heroine raises her manipulative games to such a high level that they almost become a type of performance art. “The truth was,” Ricardo muses, “there was something in her impossible not to admire, for the reasons that lead us to appreciate well-made works even when they’re perverse.” The Chilean girl, as it turns out, is not even from Chile – this was just a ruse and tall tale to give her notoriety in a new neighborhood. Even the foreign accent is a sham. At other times in the novel, she reappears as Comrade Arlette the Cuban revolutionary, Madame Arnoux the diplomat’s wife, Kuriko the Japanese smuggler, and in other guises and identities.

But she always returns to Ricardo – sometimes merely to tease or taunt him, other times to play the part of a model companion. But the bad girl can never be content for long with the ho-hum existence of a homemaker. She longs for wealth, power and intrigue. The moment a more exciting alternative comes along, she is quick to abandon her devoted lover.

Vargas Llosa is fascinated by this dysfunctional relationship, and probes it in all its glory and unseemliness. Our moral systems prize forgiveness, and praise the wronged party who “turns the other cheek.” Yet we are also taught to despise a loser like Ricardo who lets his beloved walk all over him. But Vargas Llosa understands that these ethical and religious considerations are overwhelmed by the magnetic attraction between those who want to domineer and others who find joy in abject submission. He adds to the subtlety of his exposition by creating a sub-plot in which the bad girl falls under the sway of a domineering criminal who manipulates her in exactly the same manner as she does Ricardo.

Above all, Vargas Llosa is a great storyteller. His tale unfolds in a series of taut interludes which move over the course of a half dozen countries on three continents. And though he never loses sight of his main plot, he takes time to build fascinating side stories. We follow the dark side of Tokyo nightlife, or meet a Peruvian mystic who seems to be able to converse with the powers of the sea, or follow the self-discovery of a mute boy who learns to speak several languages.

As we have seen in so many of Vargas Llosa’s other novels, this author has an endless fascination with the complexities and quirks of ordinary people. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that for this novelist, there are no ordinary people, but each individual possesses hidden resources that await the right occasion before they come into play. The Bad Girl continues in this tradition, and offers us a heroine who will rank among Vargas Llosa’s most memorable creations.

Posted by nbennett at 09:37 PM

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Mortal Touch

Reviewed by Mayra Calvani

Vampires must be the ultimate die-heard creatures of all supernatural fiction genres. No matter how many vampire novels are published, more keep coming, and even though we hear that publishers are tired of them, the books keep getting published. Could it be that readers can’t have enough of these bloodthirsty fiends — either as vicious monsters or beautiful, sophisticated beings trapped in the darkness of their natures? Whether it’s kids, young adults or adults, people seem to love them.

I dislike gory novels where vampires are portrayed as demons from hell, as well as romance novels where they’re overly sugarcoated. The type of vampire fiction I enjoy would fall more under ‘general fiction’, as in the type of Anne Rice’s works where the creatures are pictured as real-life beings with a certain degree of education and sophistication, but still be the trapped, tortured souls who fall somewhere between good and evil. This type of fiction, though having elements of horror, doesn’t fall under the horror category. A closer description would be general fiction with elements of the paranormal or magic realism.

Having read so many vampire novels as I have, it is seldom that I find one that surprises me or that strays enough from the vampire conventions to appear original, and this is why I was pleasantly surprised to read Mortal Touch, by Inanna Arthen, published by By Light Unseen Media, a new press which solely focuses on serious vampire fiction and nonfiction.
For sure, Mortal Touch doesn’t follow the general vampire rules and conventions — for one thing, Arthen’s vampires don’t even have fangs. But without giving more away about the nature of Arthen’s immortal creatures (I’ll leave the pleasure of finding that out as you read the book), let’s go into some of the plot:

The protagonist, Regan Calloway, is a psychic who runs a little antique shop in a small town in New England. She has worked with the authorities as a psychic consultant before but now lives a pretty lonely, secluded life, mainly because of the trauma of past experiences when she dealt with murders and serial killers. Regan can ‘see’ and ‘feel’ things when she touches objects that have belong to either the victim or killer. Now, a new series of strange assaults is capturing the people’s attention and has the press and the police in turmoil.

Dr. Hiram Clauson, an old friend and colleague she used to work with during her past involvements with the police, calls her and asks her to help him interview the victims. At the same time, a mysterious so-called writer named Jonathan Vaughn has moved into the town and Regan’s beautiful yet mentally unstable best friend Veronica seems to be falling for him. Jonathan seems very reclusive and aloof and Veronica asks Regan to meet him in order to learn more about him with her psychic powers.

But to go back to the strange assaults, Regan agrees to help. The victims show very little recollection of the attack -- as if their minds were wiped out -- plus, they seem to be missing a lot of blood and sport ugly-looking scars on their necks. Later, when Regan finally meets Jonathan and ‘touches’ him, she’s startled by the realization that he’s connected to the strange crimes which have been haunting the surrounding area. Is he the attacker? What is his nature? Later on, the situation gets more complicated as Regan and Jonathan begin to be attracted to each other and Veronica gets paranoid and suicidal as her obsession with Jonathan gets out of control. This creates a sort of destructive triangle between them. 

Mortal Touch is an unusual vampire novel in that the characters are not romanticized in any way and are portrayed in a realistic manner. Unlike most heroines from your regular vampire novels, Regan is neither particularly young nor beautiful. The same can be said for Jonathan. One thing that put me off -- and this is a matter of personal taste -- is that Rowan swears a lot, and for some reason I couldn’t associate that to her demure, psychic, antique shop persona. Jonathan is appealing and interesting and his charisma comes through the pages in spite of him being your everyday, nice guy who happens to be a vampire. The setting does offer a lot of atmosphere and Arthen is successful in creating the perfect ambiance for the mysterious New England town, with its picturesque antique shops and long dark roads surrounded by woods.

Though the story is interesting and intriguing, at times I found it a bit slow with some superfluous dialogue of things which are already known to the reader but are being reiterated; something that the tiny print seems to amplify. Taking aside these negative minor points, this is a work that is well written and that at times gets quite suspenseful and horrific. There is a scene where Veronica is trapped in a dungeon-like cellar that made my skin crawl. Also, Veronica’s unstable manic behavior is drawn especially well.

Mortal Touch is definitely a novel vampire fiction aficionados will want to add to their collection. This is not a novel to be gobbled overnight, though, but one to savor slowly and patiently, so if you like your fiction with a lot of details and a lot of meat in it, this is the book for you. I certainly will keep my eye on this author and this press, and hope to review more of their titles in the future.

Posted by nbennett at 09:35 PM

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