I like my bad guys bad. Creepy and bad is even better. Forensic anthropologist /artist Paul Bern makes his living recreating the heads of crime victims, by building up layers of clay on their skulls. A women brings him a skull, says she bought it off the street in Mexico and asks him to recreate the features-- she thinks it may be her late husband’s skull. He doesn't believe her, but completes the work, even after she disappears, only to find that looking at the completed head is like looking in the mirror... The plot twists and turns from there, as Bern meets one of the creepiest characters I've seen since Hannibal Lechter. I really liked this book!

The late Donald Westlake was a master of his craft. Crisp, realistic dialog, with a judicious use of slang make his novels some of the most readable there are. Put a Lid on it, is the story of a career criminal who is sprung from jail while awaiting trial on federal charges by the President's reelection committee. "Nixon botched the Watergate break in because he used political hacks, instead of pros." It’s a great story idea and Westlake pulls it off. I would have given the book 5 stars, but I like my bad guys bad. These guys are "good" bad guys. The novel reminded me of Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr series, which I abandoned in search of real bad guys. Westlake wrote almost 100 novels under a dozen pen names. I read 361 before Put a Lid on it. In 361 there were lots of bad guys and shootem-ups. I’m going to read more of Westlake’s works. In this political season, Put a Lid on it, is a fun read, regardless of your political leanings. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Fall of the Drones

Bees and beekeeping are the wallpaper in DEAD PEN PALS. I'm a beekeeper. I'm also a guy who tries to stretch summer as far into fall as I can. I've been wearing shorts and a T-shirt every day I can bear to. The honeybees told me that it's over the other day. We might get a few days of Indian Summer after the frost, but summer is gone. How did they tell me? They pushed the drones (males) out of the hives and won't let them in. They will starve or succumb to the cold. Drones are only good for one thing, and there are no young queens to mate this time of the year. The lucky drones (I guess) that mate with a virgin queen die in the process. The others get up late, are fed by the workers (females) and then go hang out in drone congregation areas (equivalent of outside the pool hall) and wait for a virgin queen to fly by. Then they go home and go to bed. I'm sure they would watch TV if they could.

It's always sad to the see the big boys standing outside the hive, begging to get in. They don't. Glad I'm not a honeybee.

Donald Westlake writes great dialog, and the dialog made the story. The week Ray Kelly is discharged from the Air Force his father, brother and sister-in-law are murdered. Kelly is severely injured and loses an eye. What was supposed to be the start of a new life as a civilian becomes a quest for who and why, followed by retribution. Sounds simple-- but it wasn't. Westlake threw me a curve ball or brushed me back every time I got comfortable. I enjoyed 361, and I'm looking forward to his other works.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Dead Pen Pals

by David Diamantes

Giveaway ends October 22, 2011.

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HUNTING SEASON

Bow season opened last Saturday. Rifle season opens November 19th. I don't go out and freeze my ass off in the woods anymore. Is it a sign of maturity, or am I just getting soft? I think it's the latter. I hate the cold. I hate cleaning my rifle. I'd hate to have to gut a deer and drag it out of the woods, much less butcher it. And there is always the thing I've always secretly feared-- the deer fight back!