Simon & Schuster Books takes me back to the early to mid-70s when I was a child and had just discovered the wonder of what was Star Trek: The Original Series in reruns. While I was meeting Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest for the first time, Paramount and the creative minds behind the scenes,…
Category: The Book Shelf
Shards of Earth (2021) – Adrian Tchaikovsky
Before I could dig into Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky, available now through Orbit Books, I had to familiarize myself with the characters of the universe he created by reading the first volume, Shards of Earth, also available from Orbit Books. Within pages of Tchaikovsky’s book, I was wrapped up in the imagination…
Gwendy’s Magic Feather (2019) – Richard Chizmar
Richard Chizmar takes us back to Castle Rock with Gwendy Peterson in the follow-up to the novella Gwendy’s Button Box. Fellow author Stephen King doesn’t lend a hand this time but gives the story his endorsement and we join Gwendy, now a Congresswoman for Maine as she returns to Castle Rock to see her parents,…
Gwendy’s Button Box (2017) – Richard Chizmar, and Stephen King
I’m always delighted to dig into a Stephen King story. Equally so when it takes me back to Castle Rock (not sure I’d want to visit Derry anytime soon). He pairs up with author Richard Chizmarto to deliver a unique coming-of-age tale. Gwendy Peterson is a young girl who encounters the enigmatic and vaguely unnerving…
Murder on the Orient Express (1934) – Agatha Christie
This week I dug into one of Agatha Christie’s most iconic novels, Murder on the Orient Express which features that Belgian detective and his little grey cells, Hercule Poirot. Summoned back to London, Poirot must forgo a layover and board the Orient Express to make it to his next assignment. Unfortunately, the train car is…
Star Trek: First Frontier (1995) – Diane Carey and Dr. James I. Kirkland
It has been a while since I’ve explored the final frontier as documented in Simon & Schusters’ Star Trek novels. I’ve been craving lots of Trek recently, so it seemed like a perfect time to dive back into the adventures of Kirk and company. This time around Diane Carey, who has written several Trek novels,…
Diablo Mesa (2022) – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Grand Central Publishing was kind enough to send me the latest Preston & Child thriller, Diablo Mesa, which came out in February. It had been a long time since I dug into a Preston & Child book, but back in 2014, I was plowing through their Pendergast series until my pile of To Be Read…
Clown in a Cornfield (2020) – Adam Cesare
Some times you know everything you need to know by the title of the book, and Adam Cesare’s Clown in a Cornfield is exactly that, a spin on the slasher teen genre this is a rapid-fire read, that tells you exactly what you are getting into with the title. Quinn, and her doctor father, have…
Memory’s Legion (2022) – James S.A. Corey
The complete Expanse short story collection is now together in one bound book, Memory’s Legion, which I’ve been waiting for, to add it to my collection of Expanse novels in their pride of place in my apartment. Eight tales take us through the timeline of the universe’s narrative, giving us a glimpse of side stories…
The Last House on Needless Street (2021) – Catriona Ward
Catriona Ward delivers a fantastic, engaging tale that is horrific, heartbreaking, and revelatory. I discovered this title when I went searching for something scary to read, something to freak me out, and mess with my brain a bit. The Last House on Needless Street does exactly that. The book is broken up into three narratives,…
The Mind Reels 