The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book of Hammett’s I’ve read and wish I’d read him in the past. This is a very good story. Well written. The skips in time by chapters does keep one wondering who might be involved with the central murder. There is no detective here. Just a fellow trying to help a pal. That fellow and just about everybody featured in the book are caught in an upcoming political election that is well described and helps move the story move beyond the average who-done-it. I look forward to reading more Hammett in the future.



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The Vanisher by Kenneth Robeson

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This is my first Doc Savage novel. I read some of the comic books back in the 1970s. Those didn’t strike me even though I’m a fan of the main artist that drew it. This one also didn’t grab me. It is poorly plotted, written and, in general, conceived. It’s full of plot holes and bad literary devices. There is all kinds of nonsense where one minute Doc is thinking way ahead of everyone and then suddenly seems not to be able to think at all. The writer worked way to hard to keep the bad guy a mystery, though to me it was obvious what was going on. I hoped loose ends and needless action scenes added up to even a bad plot twist. Didn’t happen in that way. All of this is assembled to be one of the worst books I’ve read in many years.



However, two friends tell me not to give it up and track down the early adventures of the Doc. This I get. Sounds like a situation similar to the Mike Shayne series. It’s a powerful set of mysteries up until the original writer dropped it into the hands of a sea of freelancers brought in by Dell publishers. So I will wander back to the Doc Savage series as soon as I find one of the early parts of the series.



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History of Brevard County Vol. 1 by Jerrell H. Schoffner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This first volume of the History of Brevard County is as excellent as one would suspect when written and composed by Jerrell Schofner. I think it can be said that if Schofner writes a history, that history can be considered the definitive history of the subject. This is as thorough as any of his works are. Maybe a bit too much. There is a bit too much history of how all of Florida developed with population. I think he could have just focused on the central east coast and kept a better focus of the subject matter. Otherwise, the writing is spot on and spells out everything from politics to trains to citrus production. There are few humorous parts. Schofner is, as always, straight history. Though, there are some signs of his political bent in his writings of the rise of the “progressive” early 20th century. It is the early 20th century that this volume ends. My next stop is volume 2 of the definitive history of Brevard County.



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Attending the Lake County Festival of Reading in Mount Dora gave the opportunity for Swampy, the Swamp Ape, to meet up with author Tim Dorsey. Above is said encounter.

Below are sketches I made of speakers and authors, Jefferson Bass and James Grippando.

Here’s a sketch of a lady who got comfortable in the auditorium seat.

Later I wandered into the  Truly Scrumptious Bakery and Ice Cream Shop and found a wonderful renovated historic bakery. Look for photos of the interior coming soon on the Swampy’s Florida site.

Here are two new acquisitions from yesterday:

Wow! What a cover! That is Steve McQueen and what a likeness! That’s Carroll Baker also well depicted. The one odd thing about the illustration is the enormous arm that was painted on McQueen. I wonder if the artist had the arm higher up and the publisher wanted it lowered to show off Bakers chest. Lowering it meant making the arm really long.

There is no credit given to the artist. Though the artwork has a Charles Geer flavor. If you know who the artist is, please add to the comments.

In that this is based on the true story of the battle at Guadalcanal, I would have thought there would have been a photograph. No photograph could depict was this painted cover does.  What outstanding work!

Again, no credit to the artist. Please add if you know.

I recently picked this book up. I love the cover and the illustrated summary below.

Here’s a neat cover I picked up recently. The artwork is by Victor Kalin. Click here for more info about Kalin.

After a meeting in Tallahassee by the state capital I ran around taking photos for Swampy’s Florida. Suddenly I found myself in the midst of an Oktoberfest being set up in Downtown Tallahassee. There I saw an artist setting up his easel. Turns out he was Neil Barnhart, one of the first artists hired to draw caricatures at Walt Disney World. He told me of making his way from the Florida Panhandle to south Central Florida and getting hired to draw. He worked with fellow artists and friends, Marvin Bennett, Harvie Brown and Jack Marler. During his years at the Disney complex he even remembers the person who hired me for my first job, which was drawing caricatures, Michel Hanson (Michael is now a lawyer).

Above is Neil and I and the portrait he drew of me. Below is a view of Barnhart seen by hundreds of thousands during his 40 years drawing people.

As I was taking photos something caught my eye other than the historic architecture of Downtown Tallahassee. It was the book, ’50 Great Walks in Florida’ by my friend Lucy Tobias displayed prominently in the window of the Leon County Visitor’s Center.

Here is a tremendous Robert McGinnis book cover I picked up Wednesday. Below is a closer look.

Made a book stop Wednesday and found a couple neat bookcovers. Here’s one by Tom Ryan. Ryan gets credit on the back cover of the book. In a way it almost looks like the one fellow is about to drop his pants. Nevertheless a really nice painting.

I do wonder who Tom Ryan is. There is the cartoonist who drew the comic strip ‘Tumbleweeds’. Then there is Tom Ryan, western painter, who has the website you’ll see if you click on this sentence. Hmmm…

Here are eight books read since June 21st’s update:

1) The Empty Copper Sea: I know I read this book a few decades ago, but it sure read as a stranger to me. A good, simple story with a lot less of the typical adventure of a Travis McGee book. It read almost more like a prologue.

2) Totch – Another book I’ve read in the past, but only parts. This is by far the best book I’ve read of the 30 or so I have so far about the Everglades. it is one of the finest non-fiction books I’ve read about Florida over all. It contains a very well told family journey.

3) The Green Ripper – One of MacDonalds swipes at religious thought, though not as grim as ‘One More Sunday’, though more people die in this one. A fast moving story that ends a bit abruptly and unbelievably. Though more adventure thrillers today are written this way.

4) The Seminoles of Florida – A very good history of the Seminoles. Well written and very complete, unlike similar efforts to chronicle the Seminoles.

5) The Last Patriot – A good adventure that is more believable than The Green Ripper. A lot of background information make the total a bit hard to know where you are at any one time.

6) The Florida Seminoles and the New Deal – Author Kersey sure knows his stuff. This is a very well done book with lots of insight and explanation.

7) Scarecrow – The fastest most unbelievable books I’ve ever read. It’s really more science fiction than grounded in reality. There’s a good plot underneath, but the non-stop action is insane. One big plus is that you never know who lives or dies is the book.

Pioneering in the Everglades – This book was a personally written book for the author’s children. So, I’ll excure the poor writing and badly cobbled together vignettes of living in South Florida. Otherwise, there are some very nifty nuggets tucked inside the pages.