PositiveThe Washington Independent Review of Books... not everyone’s cup of Tau. (That’s not a misprint; you’ll have to read the book — which I hope you do — to get the pun.) In fact, its author, Andy Weir, has many detractors who point out that his writing style leaves much to be desired, his humor is borderline juvenile, and he can be politically preachy...All of this is somewhat true, but it’s beside the point. As he proved in his breakout novel, The Martian, Weir can spin a yarn and make a reader think ... not your typical \'let’s all go to the barn and save the Earth\' sci-fi novel. It’s a story of courage and friendship and discovering oneself ... Still, the book is not perfect. Again, the writing is often clumsy. The novel is also too long... while Weir explains how Grace figures a lot of things out, he does depend on some shortcuts, mostly by using technology and elements that do not currently exist. Apparently, poetic license increases exponentially the further one gets from Earth.
K. Ferrari, Trans. by Adrian Nathan West
PositiveThe Washington Independent Review of Books... a profane and often hilarious tale ... [Ferrari] can turn a phrase — his descriptions and characterizations are trenchant and sometime hilarious ... There is enough profanity, perversion, and viscera here to make a slasher-movie director ecstatic. Expect to see the book on a big (or small) screen eventually ... Part detective story, part noir thriller, and part riff on everyday corruption both personal and political, Like Flies from Afar is a hard book to like, dealing as it does with such loathsome characters ... However, it’s ideal for reading during a pandemic. You won’t want to socialize with anyone after finishing it.
Søren Sveistrup, Trans. by Caroline Waight
MixedThe Washington Independent Review of BooksThe book is so chockfull of [red herrings] that it seemed half of Copenhagen (population 777, 218) might be guilty of the brutal crimes detailed therein ... [Sveistrup] is a very good writer. The Chestnut Man is heavily researched and replete with juicy details of murders, dismemberments, forensic science, and the like ... so many blind alleys and tangential crimes ... I couldn’t help feeling that either Sveistrup is exaggerating Denmark’s rottenness, or Copenhagen should be avoided entirely. I’m pretty sure it’s the former, and I think I know why. Sveistrup has written a novel that will make a great screenplay for the TV series that he plans. If each creep he writes about in The Chestnut Man gets a one-hour episode, the show will run for years ... Although it feels padded in spots, The Chestnut Man is a hard book to put down, because there is basically a new suspect every couple of chapters. And, from the first pages, a reader wants to find out if Rosa Hartung’s child is still alive ... Thulin and Hess (like most of the major characters) are not really developed to the point where we care deeply about them. And the novel’s resolution is ambiguous.
Steve Twomey
RaveThe Washington Independent Review of BooksCountdown is an excellent addition to the Pearl Harbor canon, and provides new insight to a subject that I thought I knew everything about ... Twomey, a consummate storyteller, spices his tale with personal accounts on both sides before, during, and after the battle. He also does a good job explaining tactics and weaponry ... I hope Twomey’s fine book achieves wide popularity. It may remind Americans of a time when they got off the floor and worked together.
Craig Pittman
PositiveThe Washington Independent Review of BooksIt seems likely that Florida will again be pivotal in the upcoming presidential election. That is not a comforting thought, no matter what your political persuasion ... All this and much more of the Sunshine State’s moral confusion and nuttiness is on display in Craig Pittman’s Oh, Florida! How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country ... Pittman’s latest tome is not an environmental screed. It is a comprehensive and historical — not to mention hysterical — compilation of Florida’s weirdness ... It’s fair to say that Pittman does not give a balanced portrait of Florida. How could he? He is jaded, not surprising after a career uncovering scandal after scandal.
