See, I’d seen that look before. That wrinkled nose, that laughing sparkle in the eyes. In the movies, evil guys laugh out loud. Bwa-ha-ha. Or they chuckle suavely, swirling their drinks in their glasses. But this is the real deal, the real look most monsters have. A sort of cute, dainty, delicate recoil from speaking the thing out loud. The forbidden joke of it. Are we being naughty now? I know you’re used to seeing me review Andrew Klavan’s books, and I know you’ve come…
As we know, and as I’ve said here ad nauseum, the battle for the soul of America is the culture, not politics, as important as politics is. The only way America could ever elect a Community-Organizer-in-Chief is because Americans have been brainwashed for 50 plus years by their entertainment, media and education to buy what he was selling. I think conservatives (as I always say but wish I didn’t have to, broadly speaking) are finally getting what I argued for in my recent post, it’s…
Andrew Klavan has taken a small (but worthwhile) detour in his writing career over the last few years, producing top-notch thrillers aimed at the Young Adult audience, published by Christian publisher Thomas Nelson. His previous four books, The Homelanders series, brought the Christian YA field to a whole new level. All in all, I think the stand-alone novel Crazy Dangerous is even better. One improvement is the narrator/hero of Crazy Dangerous, Sam Hopkins. Unlike Charlie West, the hero of the Homelanders books, Sam is not…
Back in 1985, the young author author Andrew Klavan had a novel published in England which didn't find a home in the U.S. This novel is Agnes Mallory, which is now, thankfully, available in a Kindle edition from Mysterious Press.Once Harry Bernard was a little boy who dreamed of virtue and heroism. He met a little girl named Agnes, who shaped wonderful figures out of clay. He became her friend, and then they were torn apart by forces they could not understand. And when they…
Andrew Klavan is one of the most perceptive cultural analysts of our day, and his Klavan on Culture at Pajamas Media is a frequent stop of mine. In a recent post on a new book called Willpower, Klavan takes the Baby Boomer generation to task for ruining American culture. I suppose Boomers can be an easy target for such a charge, but Klavan does it in a way that shows how our liberties are lost at the door of license. Without personal responsibility, as the…
By Lars Walker I’ll get out, I told myself. Rose’ll get me out. Two months, maybe three. I just need courage. I just have to survive. That’s what I told myself. But I was way wrong. Andrew Klavan has completely realized his purpose in writing The Final Hour, the fourth and last in his The Homelanders young adult action series. He’s crafted a moral story that’s so exciting teenage boys will put off going back to their video games until they’ve finished it. Is it…
Enjoy a bevy of literary links including Andrew Klavan, Rudyard Kipling, Evelyn Waugh, John Buchan, George Washington’s Beer, and a love poem by Pablo Neruda. But first some quotes from great literature concerning justice, war and liberty. “There are times, young fellah, when every one of us must make a stand for human right and justice, or you never feel clean again.” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World “The Almighty gave us our lives, and I suppose He meant us to defend them,…
Let’s call it the after-Christmas Merry Christmas issue (or maybe the Boxing Day issue). After all, Dickens noted at the end of A Christmas Carol, the day Christ is born is a day we should keep in our hearts all through the year. Therefore … This week’s issue focuses, naturally, on Christmas stories, particularly those of the mysterious variety. As Mike Gray notes, in his review linked below, “Some of the finest mystery authors regard the Yuletide season as the perfect opportunity for crime.” It…
A weekend’s worth of reading – short fiction, reviews, commentary, criticism, news and miscellaneous other bits from around the publishing world. Highlighting this week’s Review is Andrew Klavan’s short story “The Windows.” It is the first short story ever published by in the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. Andrew’s story is a fascinating exploration of real world threats and personal paranoia. Let’s hope City Journal continues presenting quality short fiction, such as this, alongside its excellent selection of political and cultural essays. Another item that might…
By Daniel P. Crandall You just finished another long day in the office. The project is ahead of schedule and under budget. Your boss calls you into his office before you leave for the night. Your heart skips a beat as you wonder if unemployment looms behind his doors. Once you walk in, he looks you in the eye and gives you a hearty congratulations; you’ve received glowing accolades from customers that will lead to future projects, and you are to be honored by your…
The theme of the story, as the title implies, is human identity. Who are we as individuals? Are we capable of choosing how we will live, or are we determined by heredity and environment and social pressure? Do we find our personal identities in our individual choices and character, or in our ethnicity?
It’s back to fiction with a taste of poetry, toward the end, this week. First up, is an excerpt from Andrew Klavan’s novel The Identity Man, a book Brad Thor described as “a masterwork by an author clearly at the top of his game.” Next is an excerpt from Looking for the King, a novel featuring C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and others from Oxford’s well-known Inklings. Joseph Pearce, author of Tolkien: Man and Myth, described Downing’s novel as a “superbly gripping novel about…
These are books for boys who like video games (at one point Charlie West, the book's hero, even gets to use an actual weapon that works like a video game controller) and extreme sports. “Extreme” describes The Truth of the Matter well—not in the sense of extreme shock content or extreme edginess, but in the sense of action that never slackens, but constantly ratchets up the dramatic tension.
A plethora of links to stories, excerpts, commentary, criticism, news and knick-knacks that just might satisfy your hunger for info from around the world of prose and poetry. Short Fiction: Excerpt: Chapters One & Two from Sloane Hall by Libby Sternberg Excerpt: “Il Colore Ritrovato” from The Pacific and Other Stories by Mark Helprin “Napoleon and the Spectre” by Charlotte Bronte “The Whistling Room” by William Hope Hodgson “Can These Bones Live?” by Manley Wade Wellman Commentary and Criticism: Jane Eyre: An Introduction by Joyce…
Another week, another passel of links into the wide, wide world of wondrous word-smithery. This week closes out with a bit of verse from Gerard Manley Hopkins, who was born on July 28, 1844. Short Fiction: “The Doors” by E.B. White When Jane Met Rochester – A scene from Libby Sternberg’s soon to be released novel Sloane Hall The Sisters of the Sacred Heart Criticism and Commentary: The Real Carver: Expansive or Minimal? “The Designs of E.B. White” by Gerald Weales What is Art? A Fish Studying Water –…
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