BOOK REPORTS—

The Wettest County by Matt Bondurant

This novel is based on a true story of the author’s grandfather and two grand uncles of the same name and their tale of a notorious life as Virginia mountain moonshiners in the 1930s. In this period of Prohibition, then the depression, this story reveals the passion, violence and desperation of their often explosive lifestyle. The author has the annoying practice of jumping back and forth in the period of the story, but, if you are a fan of historical novels, this one is, well, interesting.


What’s the Matter with California by Jack Cashill

I’m surprised this PhD-endowed author could deal with this delicious subject in a mere 329 pages. One of my favorite quotes from his book; “She was enough of a Californian to resent being called an American....” These denizens of the left coast continue to provide ample material for such tomes; remember the recent skirmish between Berkeley apparatchiks and US Marine recruiters. Don’t read this if you have a misbehaving ulcer.


Spencerville by Nelson DeMille

Another dandy tale by DeMille; this one involves a corrupt western Ohio small town cop whose wife is in love with her college sweetheart/lover, Keith Landry—a retired, clandestine government operative. A real page turner. The good guys win and I love it when that happens.


State of Fear by Michael Crichton

This book appears to wander aimlessly through some 500 pages with an occasional inspired passage. Then, poof—a smashing conclusion, and all is once again well with my elevated view of this author’s work which has included such notable titles as The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park. Be sure to read carefully the “Author’s Message” at the story’s end and Appendix I, Why Politicized Science is Dangerous. Complete with footnotes and a bibliography this book blurs the lines between fact and fiction and uses the latter to puncture the “science” of global warming being man’s creation.