A Reading Update and The Science Fiction Novel continued - John D. MacDonald

While Jo and I were relaxing and watching Perry Mason this morning, I finished my 2nd book of 2020. It's been a slow month but in the past few days, I've picked up my pace somewhat. I'll provide a review of that book and also update the book I'm starting next. Also in the past two days I received 3 books in the mail, books I'd ordered before the end of 2019. I will also continue with my look at the Science Fiction novel, highlighting American writer John D. MacDonald, who is probably better known for his hard - boiled thrillers than his Sci-Fi contributions.

So let's get on with it.

Just Finished

1. It's Classified by Nicolle Wallace (18 Acres #2). I read this book as part of my challenge to continue with ongoing series, reading the next book in line. This the 2nd book in Wallace's 18 Acres trilogy.










"It's Classified by Nicolle Wallace is the second book in her 18 Acres trilogy, about the first female president of the United States. (wouldn't that be nice!) Wallace is currently the anchor of MSNBC's Deadline: White House and previously was White House communications director under George W. Bush and also campaign advisor for John McCain during his run for President. So she brings a solid knowledge of the workings in Washington DC and in the White House specifically.

It's Classified focuses on 3 women; President Charlotte Kramer (now in her 2nd term as President), Tara Meyers, her Democratic Vice President and Dale Smith, a reporter who was having an affair with Kramer's husband in the first book, now working as senior communications adviser to the V.P. This may seem strange but in fact Dale was recommended for the job by President Kramer.

In this second book, we watch the difficulties being experienced by Tara as the VP and gradually watch her spiraling out of control due to issues from her past life. We also experience matters that are currently occurring in the US political scene; a Special Counsel investigation and the possibility of impeachment of the President herself by Congress.

It's an interesting story with a bit of everything for everybody; political intrigue, the running of the US administration, personal issues, romance, all of the good things in a political thriller. Nicolle Wallace continues to provide an excellent picture of a White House under stress and how the characters deal with it. I do enjoy the fact that the story also portrays powerful women in powerful positions and also doesn't shy away from showing their personal issues and weaknesses as well. You have a woman Secretary of Defense, women Secretary of State, all competent and skilled at their jobs.

All in all, an enjoyable, fast paced, entertaining story. I look forward to getting the 3rd book in the series and seeing how Ms. Wallace resolves everything. (3 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. A Fatal Thaw by Dana Stabenow (Kate Shugak #2). This is the next book in my 'next in line in my ongoing series' challenge. Appropriate for the winter season.

"On her homestead in the middle of twenty million acres of national Park, Aleut P.I. Kate Shugak is caught up in spring cleaning, unaware that just miles away a man's sanity is breaking. When the sound of gunfire finally dies away, nine of his neighbors lie dead in the snow. But did he kill all nine, or only eight? The ninth victim was killed with a different weapon. It's up to Kate and her husky-wolf sidekick Mutt to untangle the life of the dead blonde with the tarnished past and find her killer. It won't be easy; every second Park rat had a motive. Was it one of her many spurned lovers? Was a wife looking for revenge? Or did a deal with an ivory smuggler go bad? Even Trooper Jim Chopin, the Park's resident state trooper, had a history with the victim. Kate will need every ounce of determination to find the truth before Alaska metes out its own justice...."

New Books

1. A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong (1957). Armstrong is a new author for me. I read some reviews by other Goodreads' members and she sounded interesting.









"For five decades, Kenneth Gibson lives quietly, now teaching poetry to undergrads. His life is comfortable and dull, until he meets and marries helpless Rosemary 32. Cared for, her depression fades, his wan wife gains bouncy beauty and vigorous health. He falls in love. But does she?

After a car accident, his pushy practical spinster sister moves in to assist, and stays, warm California to her liking. Ethel compels both to see how their winter-summer romance is an impossible dream. Landlord Paul is younger, handsome and wealthy, a better match for his "mouse".

Gibson sadly puts tasteless odorless instant poison in an innocuous olive oil bottle. In his cloudy confusion, he forgets the fatal dose on a bus. Who will die and when?"

2. Cold Comfort by Quentin Bates (Officer Gunnhildur #2). 

"Sergeant Gunnhildur is back, now working in Iceland's Capital City, Reykjavik. Cops stretched in huge cutbacks facing two major crimes and unwelcome secrets. Book Two in the Gunnhildur series."

3. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley (Rook #1). Jo and I enjoyed the first season of this as a TV series so I wanted to try the book as well.











"'The body you are wearing used to be mine.' So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.

In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.

Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer."

The Science Fiction Novel - John D. MacDonald

John D. MacDonald

John D. MacDonald was an American author, especially known for his hard-boiled fiction, especially the stories featuring detective Travis McGee. He also wrote a number of standalone novels, some of his most famous being The Deceivers, Cape Fear, A Key to the Suite, etc. But surprising to me, he also wrote 3 Sci-Fi novels in the '50s and early 60's. I found one when I was searching the shelves of a used book in downtown Courtenay, B.C.

MacDonald was born in 1916 in Pennsylvania and died in 1986 in Wisconsin. His writing career began almost by accident. While in the US Army in 1945 he wrote a short story and sent it to his wife. She submitted it to Esquire which rejected it. She then sent it to Story magazine which bought it for $25. After his discharge from the Army he spent 4 months writing short stories and finally managed to sell one for $40.. this after writing over 800,000 words and losing 20 pounds. Now that is persistence. He would eventually sell over 500 short stories to detective, thriller and science fiction magazines. His Sci-Fi stories included short stories Cosmetics and Common Denominator and 3 novels.

I've read his second novel so far, Ballroom of the Skies, published in 1952. My review and the synopsis are below.

"I'm most familiar with John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee mystery series. I was surprised to find that he had also written a few Science Fiction (or as he calls them, science fantasy) stories. Ballroom of the Skies was originally written in 1951. It's an interesting story even though it takes a bit of time to get into the flow of what is happening.

We find the Earth working through the First Atomic War and being threatened with the 2nd. The US is no longer a powerhouse, instead it is the PacIndia that is the power. 

Dake Lorin, a journalist, has been working for a year with an idol of his, Darwin Branson, to try and stop this imminent threat.  But what happens will turn his life upside down. There are powers that monitor everything taking place on Earth and who can impact changes they perceive that will threaten this power. Where they are from and why they are doing this will become apparent as you delve more into the story.

I did find it confusing at time, but it is supposed to be. There are illusions, mind tricks, etc. that throw your image of what is real and what isn't into a tail spin. I don't think it is a perfect Science Fiction story by any means, but it is well worth reading, for the time period when it was written, for the author who wrote it (to gain a different perspective on his writing) and just for the interesting concept. (3 stars)"

Synopsis - "Have you ever stopped to wonder why the world is eternally war-torn? Why men of good will, seeking only peace, are driven relentlessly to further disaster? MacDonald's novel suggests a strange and sinister explanation.

Here we enter an intricate future society, in which India rules the globe. The First Atomic War has just ended, and already momentum is clearly building for the second.

People shrug. War is man's nature, they think. Until Drake Lorin discovers the aliens living among us, and begins to divine their sinister purpose."

MacDonald's other Sci-Fi novels are;
- Wine of the Dreamers (1951)
- The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything (1962)

So there you go, folks, a Tuesday update. Enjoy the rest of your week.