Dusk Before the Dawn

Big Red Tequila is the first in a series of Tres Navarre novels, a semi-private investigator set in my home town of San Antonio. I’ve always enjoyed novels set in locations where I’ve been, describing locations I know. But this is the first I’ve read set in San Antonio that describes the places and characters so well. I will definitely be reading more in this series (and have already ordered Widower’s Two Step, the next book in the series), and recommend it to my San Antonion friends and all who enjoy a good private eye mystery…I read it through it two sittings.

Tres Navarre’s father was Bexar County Sheriff (the county San Antonio is in, for you non-Texans), and was gunned down in front of Tres. Tres returns to SA from ten years of exile at the request of his former girlfriend Lillian, leaving behind his Taichi teacher, private eye partner and lover, Maia, in San Francisco. Starting to dig up the past rapidly gets Tres in trouble with the SAPD, the mob, city councilmen, businessmen, old and new lovers. (more…)

This book has been around for a while, but it is a must read for anyone interested in writing, and anyone interested in Stephen King. It is a quick but valuable read. Since Mr. King stresses brevity, here is a quick (and hopefully valuable) review/summary.

The book is divided into the following sections: (more…)

Sometimes you just gotta run through a fun, throw down book, especially after some interesting but thick material. I’ve read almost all of Tom Clancy’s novels (they got kinda slow around Red Rabbit, never made it through that one) but had never attempted one of his franchise series (Splinter Cell, Op Center, Power Plays, Net Force), created by him and written by a series of writers under on pseudonym.

Splinter Cell is based on a well know game of the same name (which I think I have actually played with my son), featuring Sam Fisher, intelligence gatherer extra-ordinaire of the black ops group Third Echelon.

The story is predictable, but a quick read. (more…)

Thanks to a post on spyscribbler’s blog, I now know how really smart you guys is.

It just goes to show what a few good words about Rugby, basketball, beer and my wife will do for the enrichment of your intelligence level.

Sure, there are articles here on quantum computing, taichi, great sci-fi authors, history, and many of the other things the voices in my head are kind enough to tell me (and, no, I don’t write it all down).

But it’s gotta be the Rugby and the beer.

Ty over at Logical Misanthropy (great name!) gives a “mini-review” of Dusk Before the Dawn:

A fascinating mixture of mysticism, nanotechnology and martial arts. The book reminded me a bit of King’s “The Stand,” but not because of any story similiarities (there aren’t many), but because of the way the writer deals with a multitude of characters embroiled in a world facing near-extinction. This book is an easy read, fairly short, but does a compelling job of giving you enough information about the characters and plot and settings, etc. It was a breath of fresh air to read a tight story, not something spread out over 500 or more pages.

Me and the King? Coolio!

My get the book page is here.

Ancient civilizations, martial arts, and a potential biological apocalypse. What more could you ask for in a novel? Don’t categorize it, just read it.

I find Mr. Rosenfeld a kindred spirit: an author, a martial artist, a studier of ancient civilizations. His previous effort on martial arts fiction, The Cutting Season, remains one of my favorite efforts in that narrow niche.

On the surface, the plot of The Crocodile and The Crane seems predictable: two Chinese children learn a set of qigong exercises from their father, who is a savant of the ways of internal energy, and the exercises make them immortal (or at least slow down their aging). A biological disease based on the “too many fish in the fish bowl” theory attacks mankind, quickly spreading around the world. The obvious plot line is that the unique qigong practice thwarts the disease, the main question is how or if it gets out to the public at large.

What makes Mr. Rosenfeld’s telling of the story so enjoyable are the subplots, the philosophy, the history that is woven into the fabric of the story. The book is a page turner, rarely slowing down. (more…)

I will admit again. I love books, rugby, martial arts, beautiful women (one in particular), and books.

Call me a geek, but if you are like me and fellow book-a-holic JohnD , you owe it to yourself to check out the gorgeous pictures of libraries around the world over at Curious Expeditions.

This is just one of their many pictures. More places to see….

Last year I was invited to be a part of the Trinity University Alumni Book Signing that occurs during alumni week. I have been invited back again this year; the event is October 20 at 11am in the Ruth Taylor Recital Hall in the Dicke Art Building of the Ruth Taylor Fine Arts Center. If you are in San Antonio Texas that weekend, please stop by.

This picture was in the just released Spring 2007 Trinity University magazine, and it was taken at last years event. That’s me in black behind the table. The man and woman in front of the table are paid groupies (i.e., my mother and step-father who live in SA).

The gentleman to my right in the black leather jacket (Trinity authors always wear black) is none other than Robert Flynn, award winning author and my writing instructor when I was at Trinity. I majored in Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics at Trinity, but I took a writing course every semester from Bob. And when I wrote my first novel (after 20 years in the tech biz) Bob was the first guy I called to read a draft and give me comments. In typical fashion, he didn’t hesitate. (more…)

4 stars: the best non-martial arts sub-titled movie I’ve seen

Hey, I’m just being honest! Most of the subtitled movies I see (Fearless, Hero, Crouching Tiger, District B13) are martial arts movies. And my son will even see them with me.

My wife won tickets to see a movie called My Best Friend. She wins a lot of contests this year, and a lot of movies tickets from the local newspaper. She was trying for the Bourne Ultimatum, but won these instead. I checked it out, saw that it was subtitled, thought it might be fun after dinner and a bottle of wine.

It was more than fun, it was funny, charming, well filmed and well written. (more…)

Extremely well written, scary subject matter handled like the pro she is

Let me get this out of the way up front: Alice Sebold is an extraordinary author. As a fellow writer, I learn a lot from both of her novels just walking through how she handles a scene, or a flashback, or a set of dialog.

Let me also get this out of the way: her subject matter bothers me on levels that I can barely describe. The Lovely Bones was extremely well-written, but, as a father with a daughter, it brought a parent’s nightmares to the page. The Almost Moon comes at your from a different tragic perspective, from a middle-aged mother who murders her dementia inflicted invalid mother.

The copy I have read is an Advanced Reading Copy graciously given to me at the recent Book Expo America, so the excerpts that I quote may change in the final copy (coming out in October 2007 according to the book’s cover). (more…)