Southways by Erskine Caldwell
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a collection of stories by Caldwell set in his favorite setting – the South. Though well written, every single one of these 3 to 5 page stories is very depressing. If you’re having a tough time in life – Do not read this book!

Each story has different characters, but most have a similar theme of relationship troubles. All of the characters are very poor or worse. That lends itself to how similar most of the characters are. To a point I have to wonder why Caldwell didn’t just use the same name to many.

The main problem I have with these stories is that all trail off with no true ending. I realize that is a certain style. Just after 5 of these stories, it gets irritating and found I didn’t really care about any of the stories.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 4 out of 10 points.

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The Most of Everything: The Story of Miami Beach by Harold Mehling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was soaring to ten stars until the last couple of chapters diverted into an emotional wandering into the author’s view of prejudice of the Jewish community.

This book rockets off with humor and a great storytelling style as it unfolds the history of northeastern Dade County. Lots of flourishing prose of development pros and cons, results and dreams of the future. Mobsters, millionaires, drunks and writers are all covered in an entertaining and informed way that can only leave a reader satisfied. I with more books took this tact in history writing.

Then things go awry as author Mehling takes two chapters to detail his feelings about Jewish prejudice with no reference of any other prejudices in the area, such as to blacks, the poor or anyone else. Some of what he writes are neat anecdotes. But otherwise, he presents a slim case as to what was going on at the time and detailed specifics as he does throughout the rest of the book. He seems to be emotionally driven enough and certainly capable of writing a separate book that might have covered the subject of Jews in South Florida. As someone who has worked involving history of Jews in Florida, a volume like that would have been welcome.

Despite his uneven chapters of prejudice, the rest of the book is dynamte. So…

I recommend this book. 7 out of 10 points.

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The Big Gundown by J.A. Johnstone

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The first three in the series of ‘The Loner’ does a great job with having some of the most complex plots of any of the Johnstone Clan books. This one leans in that direction and then comes apart midway through as the book settles with multiple bad guys and the good guy. I expected far more as the book developed, as in the previous books. Instead, the hero continues with an odd masquerade. The disguise is unneeded at a point and he could have accomplished his goal. Instead, the there are explosions and shootouts. One “instead” can be OK. Two are too many.

The characters are too much like others earlier in the series. Unfortunately notches below the earlier ones. The hero playing his own spy, slides away from the build up in the previous three books and acts more a specter of portrayals of Smoke Jensen.

The setting is sparse as a chunk of the book takes place in a loosely written hideout that is described at being complex, but not well explained. One part very clunky throughout the book involves a tank. The part hard to understand is the ease with which this tank is moved through the story. The tank is described as massive, but the movement seems more of a feather.

Disappointing entry in the series. Worse of the four books.

Bottom line: I do not recommend this book. 4 of 10 points.

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It’s Robin’s 30th anniversary with the organization! Here’s her card. Pencils first!

All prepped for watercolor! Time to add paint!

The Expediter by David Hagberg

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Little did I know as I wandered into this book that the author lives in Florida and places his main character’s home in Sarasota. Though Sarasota is a mere backdrop for a far more involved story, it does place the book on my Florida shelf.

About the Florida setting: Hardly even a setting. It’s a hit and run with little description and no feeling that the author cared to expand further upon the glancing blow. Much like the rest of the book. There is a mention of the Sarasota airport but nothing of the interesting drive along 41 or any other road. Considering the circumstances of the character who arrives in Sarasota, his point of view of that area would have been very interesting. The visiting character seems not to care or aware of where he is. That is the problem with this entire book.

I guess author Hagberg is getting tired of the McGarvey series after 12 books and strung his characters, a see-through plot unto a simple stage with cardboard backdrop. The book starts at an interesting level and slowly comes apart along the way. Seems to me it’s pretty obvious early on who certain bad guys are and even why they are motivated to their actions. With that realized the only fun is a cat and mouse game between McGarvey and the bad guys for a few hundred pages. A bit long for cat and mouse, knowing how likely all will end. Another contemporary book that needed severe editing. If a writer is going to assemble a simple plot, best make the book far shorter.

All of the characters are typical of their rolls. There is some depth written for some, while others are handled with a few sentences here and there. Overall, it’s all too familiar. I really didn’t like how family played a part in this. It’s too simple a plot device.

This was my first Hagberg book. I best go back and try earlier ones hoping for better results and far more depth.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 5 of 10 points.

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Mash Goes to Miami by Richard Hooker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The most frustrating part of this book is the less-than last 50 pages that take place in Florida with the main characters! This book should be titled: MASH Travels the Globe. The usual large bundle of characters are all over the place in the typical Butterworth fashion in this series. All traveling from Maine to Paris to Alaska to New Orleans, etc. This book should not have the name Miami in it.

The only use of a Miami setting is a pit stop at the Miami International Airport, something about a Catholic church early on and scenes in a hotel along Miami Beach that is loosely compared to The Fontainbleu.

The entire cover is deceiving. This is not a continuation of the MASH TV series. Butterworth is following the lead of Hooker and using those characters, plus plenty more. The cover art shows the characters in fatigues and indicates the gang is going to “invade unwary Miami”. None of which happens. It’s not atypical to have a cover not match the interior story. Considering the promises of “The smash hit TV series MASH Goes to Miami” and how far the story is from Miami, this is particularly bad packaging.

The writing is typical of the series. Butterworth is chug-a-lugging books at this point and the non-ending elongated names of everything and heavy line-by-line repetition are the filler. The writing is very funny and fun. There’s not much of a story, though the makings of a few are present. It’s all more of a travelogue. Next time I see author Tim Dorsey, I must ask him how much the Butterworth books influenced him.

The characters are not only well written, but written over and over and over again. I remember now why I had trouble getting through these three decades ago.

I believe this is my second time reading this entry in the series. Some 35 years ago I read most of the series. The trouble with the mutli-named everything is that after all these years, the books all merge together in my head. Reading this brought that to my attention.

Poking around about named authors, Richard Hooker and William Butterworth, I was surprised to learn Hooker didn’t write the continuing series and Butterworth is multiple people! Shocked to learn Butterworth is also W.E.B. Griffin! I’ve always had fond memories of the MASH series. Now I have to try a “Griffin” book, something I’ve put off due to their length and size of series. Curious about the use of humor and strung together names.

I really like the humor and the writing and the characters. It’s plotting that’s a problem. Also, many today would likely despise the 4 or 5 names everything and body has.

Despite all that, the book is very funny and a genre vanishing from the bookshelves, so…
Bottom line: I recommend this book: 5 of 10 points.

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The Shadow Patrol by Alex Berenson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I want to first note – since I haven’t before – that, besides Vince Flynn, it’s Alex Berenson that has flung me into the espionage genre that I had avoided all of my reading life. Now I have stacks of books I’ve gathered over the last five years all of crafty individuals trying to save the world.

Involving ‘The Shadow Patrol’, it was this book that that I realized what a terrific job Berenson does capturing the dialogue of the different characters. The variety of the lingo of soldiers portrayed is excellent. Also excellent is the heroes dialogue in his head, what he communicates in the field and how he communicates to his CIA connections. Mighty tough to keep that consistently.

About the story: This story is a light effort for the hero. One with bad guys that are not to destroy the world, but internal grief in the ranks of the soldiers, if I may understate. The story written does seem understated. The bad guys are not as well delineated as to their motivations as would be needed to want the hero to save the day. There were the final chapters to stop the bad guys, but I wasn’t cheering the hero on as I have in previous Berenson books. The ending was also week.

The writing, besides the excellent dialogue, is extremely good in setting description. There is a real feeling for where all occurs. The character descriptions and background are also well explored. As I typically complain about contemporary books this one could have used some editing. Especially considering the rather simplicity of the plot.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of 10 points.

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Gave another Florida History Heroes talk at the Fort McCoy Library in Marion County this time. I spoke about Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and her writings that help depict and preserve the area around Fort McCoy. There’s Henry Plant whose steamboats traveled the nearby Ocklawaha River. There’s also President Richard Nixon who acted on the efforts of others to stop something that would have transformed the entire area….but you’ll have to come to a talk to find out what that was. smile emoticon

The Lone Wolf Returns by Louis Joseph Vance

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love the Lone Wolf series of films and recently hoped to find a copy of one of the books the series is derived. I found a copy of Vance’s ‘The Lone Wolf Returns’ in an unexpected place- a home school convention. A first edition, no less, from 1923.

As can be the case, the book can be very different from film. In this case, ‘The Lone Wolf’ had to be played by someone like Warren William, as he did. Thus, the film interpretation is solid. The rest of the book is far less focused than a film has to be to fit an allotted slot. I have the feeling author Vance need those constraints.

The book begins with character interaction involving a love story that leads to a surprise meeting that leads to a party that leads to an angry meeting that leads to… Lots of leading, but, as a reader, not knowing to where. This book is more of a character study than the mystery genre the character is known for otherwise.

Apparently, author Vance decided to end the series with this book at one point and seems he also decided this to be more a reflection of the concerns of age and accomplishments. The main character does an enormous amount of looking back and considering his place in the world.

There is plenty of bad guys and thieving. The legend of ‘The Lone Wolf’ as gentleman thief is very well cemented into the book. But it is hard to call this a who-done-it. There is a bit of a surprise at the end involving a few of the characters, but that is for another reader to discover.

The problem of this book is the meandering of thought over written for page after page. If the story was to be of a tortured soul, that might be OK, but then there’s a criminal story that is entwined in it all. The rambling is a bit much when a book is having problems of focus.

Then there’s an issue involving a main character being out of commission for 7 months with an explanation that is more than poorly written and plotted. It’s pivotal in the book and huge stumble.

The thing is the writing is outstanding. The rambling is great to read just for the deftness of assembling the words. There are descriptions of setting, characters adn dialogue that are exemplary.

Unfortunately, it all come s together with an emptiness that might reflect the writers uncertainty of continuing the character.

Bottom line: I don’t recomend the book. 6 out of 10 points.

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