The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands by Amir Tibon My rating: 5 of 5 stars Amir Tibon lived on Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7. With this wife and two young daughters, they directly experienced the terror onslaught of that horrific day. Hiding in their safe room, they could hear the mortars dropping, the bullets firing, and the Arabic spoken by the invaders. They stayed in their safe room for most of the day, only exiting once Tibon’s father, a retired IDF general who had rushed from Tel Aviv to save his family, had arrived. Noam Tibon’s story, as h ..read more

Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald My rating: 5 of 5 stars Another McGee book, there is much to say that I haven't said in previous reviews. McGee is a great character; very much in the the knight-errant anti-hero category. One thing I am struck by as I make my way through these books, is that McGee's 'salvage work' is more often about people and not the goods he is trying to recover. So many of the novels, including this one, turn on McGee working to help rebuild, salvage, the individual or individuals he is helping. Given how this one ends, it is even more obvious here. Ther ..read more

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane My rating: 5 of 5 stars Lehane at his best. Boston noir: nuanced, real characters; trying to get by in a corrupted and imperfect world. Mary Pat is a fascinating character. She's a classic anti-hero. She's not conventionally heroic, her motives are not necessarily pure but she does what has to be done. She struggles to make sense of the situation in which she finds herself, but doesn't foreswore her own responsibility for it. She's also a bad ass. The setting of the story is also interesting. In some ways it seems incidental to the main plot. But besides giving ..read more

Retrieving Aristotle in an Age of Crisis by David Roochnik My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is rich and profound work of philosophy. Roochnik in just over 200 pages is able to explain and defend Aristotle in a modern context. From the title, I expected more of a direct analysis of how Aristotle's ideas might be used as a way to help navigate and even cure our 'Age of Crisis,' The book, however, is far more an explication and articulation of Aristotle's entire philosophic system. Obviously Roochnik does not got into great detail or dive into every puzzle and paradox of Aristotelian thought. But he ..read more

The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America by Coleman Hughes My rating: 5 of 5 stars As a follower of Hughes work, there was not a lot new here but it was great to have it laid out and presented in one spot with an integrated throughline. In this short volume, Hughes presents the history of the civil rights movement and its colorblind (race-neutral) approach. He then shows how the new so-called anti-racist thinkers are actually quite racist; dubbing them neoracists. These are the likes of Kendi, DiAngelo, Hannah-Jones, and Coates. They peddle ideas about race that are wrong ..read more

The Dead Sister by Jonathan Dunsky My rating: 5 of 5 stars This fast-paced, action-packed hard-boiled detective novel is set in Israel in 1949. Lapid is hired to solve the murder of a young Arab woman not too long after the end of Israel's war of independence. This provides for some interesting drama. Lapid is a classic hard-boiled detective. He has strict code and sense of justice; though it is not always aligned with the conventional sense of morality and justice. Though there are strong forces lined up against him, Lapid won't back down from seeing that justice is done. Highly recommended ..read more

Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century by Orson Scott Card My rating: 4 of 5 stars A great collection; it covers a wider variety of the history and breadth of styles of 2oth century science fiction. I enjoyed nearly all the stories; some were excellent. I would have liked a bit more context for the stories themselves -- at least some sense of why Card chose these particular stories. Was it just that the story tickled him? Was it influential? Did it have some impact on the field or the author? Card provides a short bio of the author, but I would have liked more on the ..read more

Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do: A Jesse Stone Novel by Michael Brandman My rating: 5 of 5 stars Of the three Brandman Jesse Stone novels, I think this one was the best. It still had several of the flaws that the first two had, but I think Brandman was starting to get more of a feel for it. There were more Parker-esque type characters, set ups, and resolutions. There were a few things that were off, but the story was also tighter than the previous two. View all my reviews ..read more

Robert B. Parker's Fool Me Twice by Michael Brandman My rating: 4 of 5 stars Like the first Brandman Stone novel, this has the feel of the Jesse Stone tv show. The Jesse Stone character is well sketched, but we don't get as much of the inner life of the character. The supporting cast like Molly and Suits are fun but thin. The resolution of the plot lines is rather quickly, without much fuss, and unsatisfying in its obviousness. Nevertheless, I do enjoy being in the world Parker created and left us. View all my reviews ..read more

End Game by David Baldacci My rating: 5 of 5 stars Exciting and fast paced, Baldacci delivers. Robie and Reel team up and solve Blue Man's disappearance. As usual, they leave a lot of bad guy bodies in their wake. Reading performance is top notched. I'm glad they have two narrators; it helps to distinguish the characters. View all my reviews ..read more