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Katamaster

Katamaster

I enjoy good historical novels, scifi, biographies and interesting non-fiction. I like some horror too. My favorite authors include:

Robert J. Sawyer, Orson Scott Card, Ben Bova, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, John Steinbeck, James Michener, John Jakes, Ken Follett, early Stephen King, early Dean Koontz,Robin Cook, Michael Connolly,... more »
  • Ne, USA
  • member since September 17 2007

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Displaying 1-10 of 429 reviews
  • Vengeance Road

    Vengeance Road

    by Rick Mofina
    • Rated 5 stars

    “I really liked this thriller from start to finish. Jack Gannon is a relentless reporter working in a Buffalo newspaper. He gets involved with covering a homicide in the park. A streetwalker was murdered in a ritual sort of way. By accident Jack learns that a Detective is the main suspect. Through various resources, Jack is able to come up with the identity of the detective. He lets the paper know that he wants to run a story about the detective as the main suspect in the paper. His editor is reluctant because Jack refuses to give up his source. Jack persuades the editor to go with it anyway.

    After the story runs, the police "semi" deny that a detective is about to be charged. This enrages the paper's owner who has Jack suspended and makes the paper run a retraction.

    In the meantime a woman had come to Jack to please try to help her find her daughter who has disappeared. Jack makes a discovery that the woman's daughter is somehow linked to the dead streetwalker. Jack is forced to work as a freelancer since he is later fired from the job after a confrontation with the suspected detective. His investigation leads him to a mystery that spans three generations and sends Jack on trips to Canada and around the US.

    The story never gets boring and the tension is rife as Jack tries to find the woman's daughter before she too is murdered. A real page turner that is impossible to put down. ”

    Katamaster wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • Outliers
    • Rated 4 stars

    “As many people at work were raving about this book I needed to read it for myself. I was a little reluctant at first because of some of the Amazon reviews saying that Gladwell culled information from a lot of studies and that the reader would be better served going to some of those studies themsleves.

    Gladwell has done an excellent job of poring through mountains of data and presented many of these studies in a concise way that can be understood by any layman. Most of the information is presented in a logical and interesting progression. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it in the same way when I am flipping channels and I see something marvelous structure being built on a Discovery Channel show.

    Though the information is fascinating and I enjoyed reading most of the book, I wonder if this is really a "self-help" book or not. The first few chapters talk about how successful people are made. Having not been born in the first three months of the year, I already missed the first level of success. Not having 1,000 hours available to master something new, I missed the next idea. I was not born in the ideal years for success in the computer field (1952-1955) and my parents were not clothing makers in Eastern Europe.

    I was not born Asian so I will never have the mastery of math that someone that speaks and Asian language has from the time they started first learning numbers. Then the chapter on the likelihood of a crash based on ethnic background makes one be more frightened to fly on one of the airlines that may have a pilot and copilot from a "class-laden" country. I assume that the studies and new training methods have since reduced these risks.

    What it all comes down to is that this is a fun read and I definately recommend the book because the reader will find most of it fascinating. But there is very little information that can be used for those that want a "self-help" manual to be successful. ”

    Katamaster wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

  • by Kenneth Wishnia
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Fascinating period piece about a Polish Jewish town in the 1500's. Benjamin is a Shammes, new to the town and a murder of a Christian girl takes place and the body is found in the shop of a Jewish shopowner. Tempers are high and the Christians plan to burn the Jewish town in three days if the murderer is not brought forward. Benjamin must become a detective and try to find who did it.

    The book presents the frightening horrors presented to the Jewish community. Totally misunderstood and branded as "heretics" by the Inquisition, they live in the constant fear of being murdered by angry mobs. Additionally, they are not allowed to work in most professions allowed to Christians.

    Those of Jewish background will love the many discussions of Torah, Talmud, Mishnah and Kabbalah that are prevelent throughout this work and there are a great deal of Yiddish expressions thrown in. There are a lot of typical Jewish arguing such as when the Shammes has to argue with a Rabbi as to whether it is alright to build a wall to protect the city at the beginning of Shabbes. Benjamin says by protecting the people, they will be able to atone for a disgression at many succeeding Shabbes' while the Rabbi says that it is worse to commit a sin of building on the Shabbes.

    The author tries to throw in some expressions that are modern slang and he says that these expressions were actually around during that time.
    ”

    Katamaster wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • Return Policy
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Great character study. We get a story narrated by three interesting people. First there is Willy. Willy is the recipient of a heart transplant and is spending this life almost "waiting" for his new heart to give out. He is obsessed with getting his toothbrush back that his ex live-in girlfriend took with her when she left him. He also wants to "kill" the espresso coffee maker that his wife had. The second is Ozena, a customer service representitive who craves a promotion and tries as hard as she can to avoid any suggestive advances from her boss Reggie. Ozena has an autistic son who occupies most of her homelife and has given up on men since the boy's father left several years prior. The third is Shaq, who lives in a homeless shelter. Shaq started to lose his memory and slipped into the way of a borderline crazy person.

    Of the three Willy is the driving force that causes conditions that bring the three of these individuals together. His obsession to destroy the espresso machine leads him to call the customer service center of the manufacturer and be assisted by Ozena. Immediately there is some fascination between the the two as his request is totally out of the norm from what most people call in for. Ozena becomes fascinated by Willy's determination and offbeat request. Willy seems to be obssessed with Ozena because she seems to listen to him with enthusiasm even though anyone else would have dismissed him as a crank.


    Then Willy accidently runs down a school mascot at a school reunion causing him to get in trouble with the law and being sent to community service. He ends up in the men's shelter where Shaq is living. The two are at odds at first but slowly a forced though tense friendship develops between the two.

    While being in the men's shelter, Willy's life gets further complicated when the young son of his ex-girlfriend is made his ward (you have to read it to find out).

    The author does a marvelous job of giving the inner thoughts of the three characters throughout the book and makes the reader really care about each one. Along the way a very good supporting cast is brought in from Father Joe who runs the shelter, Ozena's son Lloyd Jr. and Michael, the young boy in Willy's care.

    Additionally, Willy and Shaq have some interesting adventures together and Willy is constantly struggling with dealing with his actions that could have his community service gig revoked and land him into prison. A very good read! ”

    Katamaster wrote this review Thursday, December 3 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Among Thieves

    Among Thieves

    by David Hosp
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Above average thriller that starts with a seamingly meaningless case. Devon Malley is a small time thief who was virtually caught red handed stealing some high end women's lingerie. This leads to some jokes as to his name. He gets represented by Finn, a Boston lawyer who uses his investigater Kozlowski for most of his cases. Finn agrees to represent Malley even though it is virtually a slam dunk for the prosecution.

    Malley asks Finn to talk to a couple of individuals related to his case. Before Finn can get to either of them they are set upon by a relentless IRA terrorist and tortured to death. Pretty soon police and Finn start to think that these murders are related to an unsolved case of expensive paintings that were stolen from a Boston museum 15 years prior.

    To top things off for Finn, he is asked by Malley to look after his teenage daughter (Sally) until he can be sprung from prison. Finn takes a liking to her immediately because his past is similar to hers and he went through the state orphanage system. Finn does not want her to endure the same hardship that he did in the system. Like a person with a new puppy, the longer Finn is around Sally, the longer he attached to her.

    It doesn't take long for Finn to figure out that Malley has something to do with the terrorist and that Sally may be in danger. It becomes imperative that he and Kowolski find the paintings from the robbery or everyone could die.


    This is an excellent tale that could have garnered five stars except that the main characters are never developed. We never really understand Finn and what makes him tick. The author should take some lessons from David Rosenfelt and his Andy Carpenter lawyer character. Also, the reader can figure out who might be responsible for everything so it comes as little surprise when everything is revealed. ”

    Katamaster wrote this review Monday, November 23 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • New Tricks
    • Rated 5 stars

    “This is a great tale that keeps you guessing until practically the last page. Andy must defend a client he knows for sure is innocent but cannot use any of the proof that his client is innocent because of the way it was obtained. Andy must summon all his witty, retort led courtroom acumen to take other tacks in winning the freedom of his client (Steven). Steven is accused of murdering his father and there is a ton of "circumstantial" evidence linking him to the crime and practically nothing to prove that he didn't do it.

    Also, Steven's step-mother is killed and the culprit seems to also want a purebred litter of a champion, pup to also die. Everthing seems to point back to DNA experiments that Steven's father was working on. Such experiments seem to have aroused the interest of the FBI (the author has to always figure a way to get Cindy Spodek into his tales) and an international hitman.

    It is up to Andy to get his client off, protect the dog and his own life. To do it he calls on his usual cast of characters (Laurie, Kevin, Sam, Pete and the indestructible Marcus).

    The book goes at a fast pace and is hard to put down. Probably the best Andy Carpenter tale since his initial appearance!”

    Katamaster wrote this review Thursday, November 12 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Vampire a Go-Go: A Novel

    Vampire a Go-Go: A Novel

    by Victor Gischler
    • Rated 2 stars

    “While I loved Gischler's other recent book, Go-Go Girls of the Apocoplypse, I was very disappointed with this one. Gischler spins this tale in a comedic style kind of like the humor in the movies American Werewolf in London or Fright Night. The problem with this book is that he tried to cram too many creatures (werewolves, golems, zombies, vampires, ghosts, witches) and tried too hard to be outrageous that the story itself seemed to suffer.

    Allen is a college student who is assigned to work on a Kafka project with Professor Evergreen over the summer in Prague. At the party before he encounters Cassandra (who is obviously a vampire), Evergreen's wife who enchants him. Meanwhile, one of the party goers has his head torn from his body in an apparent animal attack. Allen also encounters the mysterious Father Paul, who gives him a gift of an expensive silver cross (huh cross for vampires, silver werewolves, yeah that's it).

    The story jumps back and forth to Europe where a Golem is sent to attack someone and rips his head off (again?). This part of the story is narrated by the ghost of an alchemist from the 1500's (he understands modern English?).

    When Allen gets to Prague he is kidnapped by a trio of witches and shot at by a machine gun toting Father Paul (how did he get there? Seems he is a member of some sort of commando Jesuit priest group). Allen then becomes the person everyone is interested in because he seems to be in the middle of a war to obtain a powerful stone. Allen has to deal with one of the witches, his semi-girlfriend (who has her own secret) and Cassandra.

    Sounds confusing? It is. The biggest saving grace to the book is that it was a fairly quick read. ”

    Katamaster wrote this review Thursday, November 5 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Fury

    The Fury

    by Jason Pinter
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Pinter tackles the recent economic crisis that hit Wall Street and shows what could happen to some of the desperate individuals that lost their high paying jobs. Henry Parker seems to stumble into an unknown world of these individuals. After avoiding a crazed "homeless looking" guy, Henry finds out that the homeless guy was murdered and not only that but the guy was his unknown brother. Add to that, is that Henry's father is the chief suspect.

    Henry decides to use his investigative reporting skills to prove his father's innocence. As the plot thickens, Henry realizes that he should not have avoided his brother as he had something important to tell him regarding the world he had been involved in. It is a world where those desperate men are turned to we;; dressed criminals that carry briefcases and go to work for illicit means.

    The book is very short and can be finished in one setting. Henry is an intriguing character and there are several references to previous books that makes the reader want to scramble to find them. The story continues in Pinters next book due out soon. Pinter does a masterful job of sucking the reader into buying his succeeding books! ”

    Katamaster wrote this review Thursday, October 29 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Through The Triangle

    Through The Triangle

    by C P Stewart
    • Rated 4 stars

    “The book starts out as a murder/thriller when travelling salesman Alan Cranston is murdered at a highway rest stop. His killer Manny, assumes his identity and head off to a deep sea fishing trip, hoping to use the boat to escape the authorities. His plans are temporarily stalled when a father and son (Jake and Nathan) show up at the boat and a first mate (Juan) to go along with the captain (Mason). Manny realizes it will be difficult to follow through with his plan to take the boat with so many people involved and decides to bide his time till he can come up with a new plan.

    The book then goes into a whole new direction and becomes a survival after world catastrophe story as a storm causes the boat to be transported 300 years into the future. Manny is forced to all but abandon what he was going to do because he needs to work with the others to survive.

    The rest of the book has elements of I Am Legend, The Time Machine, Predator, and Beneath the Planet of the Apes combined. As the four look for more humans they encounter mutant animals, futuristic technology and a race of beings called Azujos. They also come upon pockets of other humans that they try to work with. All the while the three are unaware of who Manny is and how dangerous he can be.

    The author does a fairly good job introducing some pretty interesting technology. Some of the other humans are one-dimensional though. Jake's story is perhaps the most intriguing as he was a divorced father who first tried reconciling with his wife (who recently died) then with his son Nathan. The fishing trip was supposed to cement the reconciliation.

    There are some exciting and tense moments in the book and the writing itself is very basic. The story does flow very quickly and I was able to get through it rather fast. For those reasons I gave it four stars.”

    Katamaster wrote this review Friday, October 23 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Bury the Lead
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Like all other books in the series before and since what makes this book work is Andy's first person narration and usual side comments that usually mean the opposite of what he actually says out loud. In this one a reporter has been contact by a serial killer who tells him about murders he has committed and some he is committing. The reporter becomes a type of celebrity because everyone wants to read his column. Eventually, something happens to make the police believe that the reporter is in fact the serial killer. They do not believe him that the killer told him all the details he knows, but that he actually did the killings.

    Enter Andy and his team to the rescue. As Andy gets more involved he finds that the case may lead to Dominic Petrone (the recurring Mafia Don in these books) and that Andy could put his own life in jeopardy if he says too much.

    I would have rated this book higher but it had one of those endings where when everything is resolved it is just too far-fetched. Also, the book is very short (I read it in one sitting). A fun read nonetheless.”

    Katamaster wrote this review Monday, October 19 2009. ( reply | permalink )
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