Gone ‘Till November by Wallace Stroby

I recently had a one-night stand.

I’ve been down-and-out.  Looking through the new releases and best sellers, it’s been really hard trying to find something new and current to read and review for iEATbooks.  It seems that there are plenty of serial killer books and vampire novels out there.  Many of the best sellers are throw-away-novels that you’ll forget an hour or two after reading them.

Then I came across Wallace Stroby’s Gone ‘Till November, a recently published crime novel.  Crime novel?  I know.  Crime novels are the champion throw-aways.  But I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book had memorable and believable characters who are facing real-life dangers.

I sat down on Friday afternoon with Gone ‘Till November and was done by Saturday morning breakfast.

Stroby has written to other novels, The Barbed-Wire Kiss and The Heartbreak Lounge.  Each of these two books feature a former New Jersey State Trooper.

In Gone ‘Till November, Stroby introduces a new protagonist – Florida sheriff deputy Sara Cross.  Cross is a single mom to a 6-year-old with leukemia.

Sara’s ex-boyfriend, also a sheriff deputy, kills a young black man from New Jersey on a deserted country road.  The shooting appears to be warranted…the guy had a truck full of guns and a gun in his hand.  But Sara suspects that the entire story isn’t being told.

The dead guy is a college student that accepted an assignment from a drug dealer in Neward named Mikey-Mike.  All he has to do is drive to Florida with $350,000 and hand it over to a local supplier.  But after his shooting, the money is missing.

Mikey-Mike sends one of his thugs – an older guy named Morgan.  Stroby does a great job of thoroughly developing Morgan’s character.  He drives an aged Monte Carlo, listens to Sam Cooke, and has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Being a hired goon doesn’t come with a health plan, so Morgan has no insurance to help him beat cancer.  He plans to retrieve and steal the money to get the treatment he needs.

Gone Till November is a quick-paced and totally captivating read that will grab you fast and not let go.

Full of deception and compelling characters.  Buy this book today.

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition, First Edition edition (January 19, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312560249

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

The idea behind Nick Hornby’s sixth novel, Juliet, Naked,  seems pretty enticing.  In a British seaside town named Gooleness, Annie and Duncan have been together for 15 dreadful years in a relationship that is lifeless and dull..due mostly to a third person.

Duncan is obsessed with an 80s singer-songwriter named Tucker Crowe.  Crowe had a “legendary break-up album” in 1986 called Juliet and then he disappeared.  Never made another recording.  Never appeared in public again.  And this only intensified the obsessiveness of his mostly male, fortysomething fan base.

Duncan runs a website for “Crowologists” and receives an advanced copy of Juliet, Naked – a CD of “solo acoustic demos of the Juliet album.  Duncan is in heaven.  He quickly pounds out an overly positive review on his website.  Meanwhile, Annie, sees Juliet, Naked for what it is.  “Juliet but without all the good bits.”

Annie gets frustrated by Duncan’s unquestioning worship – and she’s becoming increasingly aware that she has wasted the last 15 years of her life on this man – she decides to post her own negative review.  Annie’s post gets some good feedback, including a shocking email from Mr. Tucker Crowe.  The Tucker Crowe.

This novel really reads as if it’s made for the movies.  But only those who read it will get the full-story.  Hornby does a great job of describing the settling that people do with mates that aren’t a perfect fit.  He says it is “sheer stubbornness” that makes humans begin to “affix themselves to another” even when they don’t fit.

At the end of this novel, you think, “What will become of these people?”  Hornby doesn’t give their fates away.  For some, this might be a disappointment.  For others, it mirrors life.

Read this book now before it becomes a movie.

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (December 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141020644

Rockstar’s Rainbow by Kevin Glavin

A reporter for The Interloper – a sensational Enquirer-like tabloid – was thrown out of a plane over Los Angeles coincidentally close to the time he was completing a book about the personal life of legendary rock star Rook Heisenberg.

Luckily, according to the forward, the novel-in-progress was saved and published.

Rock star’s Rainbow by Kevin Glavin is a more prolific novel than I thought it would be when first picking it up.  The book begins with the story of a depressed rock icon that has a new girl every night (sometimes more than one), and he’s growing tired of the superficial nature of his sex life.  After tracking his high school sweetheart to Amsterdam, he makes an impulse decision and flies there to meet with her.

Once in Amsterdam Rook the Rock star learns that his old girlfriend is not only a prostitute in a high-class brothel, but is also the mother of his child.  A child that has been shipped to India by the brothel owner.

It’s almost as if Glavin had three book ideas, and smashed them all into one.  I could have easily read and enjoyed a book about a depressed rock star that rekindles things with his high school sweetheart.  I would have also enjoyed a book about a man who finds out he has a daughter that has been sold by a brothel owner.  And I can also see a book being made of the rat-race from Amsterdam to India to Amsterdam that takes place in the last 150 pages of Rock star’s Rainbow.  But when it’s all squished together, it’s tough to savor the distinct flavor of each of these stories.

This book is long – 500 pages – but the ending still felt rushed and contrived.  There was a lot of story that Glavin had to end, and he quickly created surprises to help tie up some of the complicated plot lines.  Parts of this book are unbelievable and absurd, but it was still a good read.

Three pretty good books smooshed together into one mediocre book.

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Kevin Glavin Publishing (December 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982546629

Bite Me by Christopher Moore

Kayso, I figured since this book was officially released Tuesday, I would review Christopher Moore’s Bite Me. I was lucky enough to get an Advanced Readers Copy, and I DEVOURED it like you wouldn’t believe. If you’re a fan of Christopher Moore, than you know what I’m talking about. If not, then what the hell are you doing on this website? Go buy Lamb, A Dirty Job, and You Suck! And don’t leave your house until you’ve finished.

Bite Me is the third in Christopher Moore’s series about vampire duo Jody and Tommy who have like, totally undying love for each other and stuff. You don’t have to necessarily have to read Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck to appreciate this book, but it definitely helps, because this one picks up right where You Suck leaves off.

One thing I really appreciate about this book (but may give some readers a headache) is that it focuses a lot on Abby Normal, a teenage goth girl who is the self-proclaimed “emergency backup mistress of the Greater Bay Area” and the most realistic teenage goth girl I have ever met in a piece of fiction. In the first chapter, she gives you a crash course in everything that happened in the first two books. You should pay attention to this, since there will be a test.

Kayso, basically be ready for some serious awesomeness, an enormous shaved vampire cat, stoner vampire hunters reminiscent of Scooby Doo, and just a little bit of Were-rat erotica. Be ready to actually laugh out loud, and start your paragraphs with “Kayso” for at least a month after reading this book.

OMGWTFBBQ Giant vampire cat + Christopher Moore = Crazy Awesome Sexy Cool.

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (March 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061779725
• ISBN-13: 978-0061779725