BookOpinion

Now available this week in mass market paperback is “The Assassins Gallery” by David L. Robbins. The novel is an alternative history look at President Roosevelt’s death. BookOpinion has pulled together reviews, a short video interview with the author, and an excerpt from the first chapter of the book.

Robbins researched Roosevelt’s schedule in detail leading up to the president’s death, not only bring history to life, but to find the best opportunity for an assassination to take place. “I want my reader to put my book down not only entertained, but I want them educated,” Robbins said in the video interview below.

Publisher’s Weekly summarizes the plot: “Set in 1945 near the end of WWII, Robbins’s daring thriller opens with a brutal, brilliantly described double murder on the beach near Newburyport, Mass. From that scene to the end of the novel, the author’s sure-handed control of his material never lets up, aided by his clear focus on the killer, a woman named “Judith,” and the man assigned to solve the murders, professor Mikhal Lammeck, an expert in the methods of assassins. As Lammeck’s investigations take him up and down the East Coast and, increasingly, to Washington, D.C., he comes to realize that someone may be trying to assassinate President Roosevelt. Robbins (War of the Rats) has an uncanny ability to provide just the right amount of historical detail without overwhelming the plot. This talent, coupled with superior characterization and a masterful, direct writing style will provide thriller lovers with one of their best reads of the year. The powerful climax deserves the term ‘heart-stopping.’”

Robbins discusses “The Assassins Gallery” in the following short video:

Below is an excerpt from the first chapter of “The Assassins Gallery“:

Five hundred yards from the beach, a gloved hand choked the outboard motor. Six black-clad men took up silent oars. They rowed toward shore, urging the raft through whitecaps with a strong wind at their backs. Two hundred yards out, where the breakers began to build, Judith in her wetsuit slid, practiced and liquid, over the side.

She said nothing to the six and they did not speak to her. She merely sucked in breath at the bite of the icy water through her rubber sheath, then pushed off from the raft. The boat eased away. She turned to kick for shore. Behind her, slaps of water against the raft faded beneath the wind.

Judith spit saltwater. The immense cold clawed her cheeks and stung through the wetsuit. She kept her arms wrapped to her chest, letting the suit and the knapsack and her fins keep her buoyant in the surging surf.

A hundred yards from shore, Judith lowered her legs to float upright. A wave boosted her. At its crest she took a quick look at the beach under a veiled quarter moon. The coming storm flung foam off the whitecaps, a rabid water. She lifted the dive mask from her eyes to see better. She sank into a trough but another, taller roller swept in fast. Judith scanned the dark coastline. She saw nothing but vacant sand flats. No light glowed from the blacked-out town four miles beyond.

She lowered her mask. Kicking the last hundred yards to the shore, she went numb.
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BOOKOPINION REVIEW: The latest Stephanie Plum thriller, “Lean Mean Thirteen,” is a little on the lean side.

Once again, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum bungles her way through catching Trenton, New Jersey’s lowliest criminals. In this, author Janet Evanovich’s 13th installment of the mystery series, our heroine finds herself the subject of a police investigation when her lying, cheating ex-husband Dickie Orr goes missing.

The first five or so chapters reel you in with a promising storyline, but eventually readers find themselves ensnared in the same formulaic writing we’ve seen in previous Plum novels. Houses explode, cars are destroyed and Stephanie, in typical “I Love Lucy” fashion, manages to screw up even the easiest bond apprehensions. Her lovelife is equally predictible, as she continually fights lustful urges for mysterious fellow bounty hunter, Ranger, versus only slightly less lustful urges for Joe Morelli, the Trenton cop who has been her on-again, off-again boyfriend for many, many books.

Evanovich’s fast-paced style and wild antics are entertaining enough, but there is little beneath the surface. “Lean Mean Thirteen,” is fun for a light read, but don’t expect anything new. I hope in future books, Evanovich can perhaps deepen Stephanie’s character a tad, or at least get back to the more complete storytelling in the first few books of the series.

For the best of Evanovich, try “One for the Money” (the first Plum novel and a great read) or “Full House” (not a Plum book, but a cute romance).

– Jane Leisteiner

Continuing our reviews of the online book stores…

Books-A-Million offers some of the lowest prices of any leading online bookseller. Look for the “Compare Prices” links throughout bamm.com to see for yourself! You’ll find everyday discounts of 10% to 40% off. Save even more on thousands of overstocked and closeout titles in the Bargains section.

BookOpinion Says:

We found Books-A-Million to be among the better places to buy books online. Purchasing books online is fast and easy. Be sure to check out the various departments found here, such as the top section on Books-A-Million’s home page where you will be able to see today’s hottest titles and the best specials with the biggest savings.

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Site Ease of Use: The site is more text-heavy than some other book sites, which sets it apart. You can glance at a book and get a quick rundown as you are browsing. The sales and discounts are played up throughout. Navigation-wise, you wish the book categories were readily in the side column for easy reference. Instead, you have to click on a small link to pull those up. Once up, the drill down is simple. Shopping for books by text search is made easy at Books-A-Million. Shop by simply entering the title, author, keywords or ISBN. You’ll find what you are looking for in just moments.

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The Associated Press is reporting that a first edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (as titled in its UK debut) sold to an anonymous bidder for a mind-numbing $18,000. The publishers produced between 500 and 1,000 copies in the book’s first run (the last book in the Harry Potter series has a planned 12 million first print run for its July 21 first release).

For a book this new to bring in such a large amount is unprecedented, said Luke Battenham, Bonhams’ book specialist.

“The author is still alive, it’s a fairly new series . . . but by the time there was a third book, you could already see it would be a hit,” Battenham said. “It’s a phenomenon.”

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BOOKOPINION REVIEW: If you would like a change from fiction or want to engage in some serious self-searching, check out John Bevere’s “The Bait of Satan.” In a nutshell, the book addresses the issues of offense, forgiveness and truth. This is a sobering, sometimes difficult read, but is definitely well worth the effort.

The book opens with a clear explanation of what an offense (real or imaginary) actually is and immediately proceeds to offer reasons why one may be unable to realize that they are harboring anger or resentment. The first chapter strips away the blinders that give us excuses for our state of mind and offers possibilities as to why the offenses may have occurred in the first place.

John Bevere does not mince words. Statements like “Acquiring an offense keeps you from seeing your own character flaws because blame is deferred to another” and “Forgiveness…you don’t give, you don’t get” tend to make one cringe. However, Bevere offers sensible solutions and revealing insights not only for the causes of offenses but how to deal with them in a mature, sensible and effective manner.

“The Bait of Satan” is definitely a wake up call for those who are willing to absorb the wisdom of Bevere’s reasoning. However, this book is not going to appeal to a wide audience. And, this read is definitely not something that you can quickly scan in one afternoon. But it does point a way to a freedom that you may desire but not know how to acquire.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, “The Bait of Satan” opens the door to possibilities of light, honesty, joy and security in your inner most being that you may not currently possess. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is tired of living on the surface of life.

– Elizabeth Channery

Author Salman Rushdie said he was “thrilled and humbled” to be awarded a British knighthood, according to Reuters, but he had no comment on how the honor has once again stoked the fires of Muslim rage. The knighthood is considered an affront to some Muslims who believe his book “Satanic Versus” is blasphemy.

Rushdie responded Monday to an Associated Press query that asked if he had been urged by British authorities not to say anything because of security concerns or whether he had considered not accepting the honor.

“The British authorities have not asked me to do or not do anything,” Rushdie wrote in an e-mail to the AP. “I have simply chosen to remain out of this storm for the moment. And nobody is turning anything down.”

“By knighting Salman Rushdie,” writes Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of the book “Infidel,” “the queen has honored the freedom of conscience and creativity cherished in the West, making her a symbol of the essence of our way of life.” Read her full column:

Imagine if a crowd of Englishmen marched in London carrying effigies of Muhammad, peace be upon him, stacks of the Koran, miniatures of the Kaaba in Mecca and Saudi flags. Imagine if they then built a bonfire and hurled the items one at a time into that fire screaming “Long Live the Queen!” each time the flames shot up.

This would be the equivalent of what hardline Muslim students did in the eastern Pakistani city of Multan, to take just one example, when they burned effigies this week of Queen Elizabeth II and Salman Rushdie, chanting “Kill him! Kill him!” in response to his recently bestowed knighthood.

Such raging crowds, of course, rarely appear in the modern West (unless as soccer hooligans). But they have become a common site across the Muslim world every time a pope, some cartoonist or, now, the British queen, step over some line in the sand drawn by the forces of intolerance.

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Chosen in a public poll developed from all of the last 70 winners of the Carnegie Medal for Children’s Literature, Philip Pullman’s “Northern Lights” (or “The Golden Compass” as it’s titled in the U.S.) was selected as the best children’s book. The Carnegie Medal has been awarded since 1936.

“I am humbled and honoured that Northern Lights has been chosen from among so many wonderful books,” said Pullman in a BBC News interview.

Nominated books must have been published in the UK during the previous year. The entire list of previous winners is listed below. A panel of judges narrowed down the list to 10 selections from which voters could choose.

Pullman’s book was the first of His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass).

“These books have redefined children’s literature and changed the way we think and talk about children’s books,” said Carnegie judge Jonathan Douglas of the series. “They are classics.”

Booklist summarizes the storyline of the book:

The story begins at Jordan College in Oxford, where young Lyra Belacqua and her daemon, Pantalaimon, are being reared and educated by the Scholars. Although a lackluster student, Lyra possesses an inordinate curiosity and sense of adventure, which lead her into forbidden territory on the night her uncle, Lord Asriel, visits. He’s there to solicit funds for a return journey to the distant arctic wastes, where he has observed and photographed strange goings-on, including a mysterious phenomenon called Dust that streams from the sky and a dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora, or Northern Lights, that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. After he leaves, Lyra finds herself placed in the charge of the mysterious Mrs. Coulter and in possession of a rare compasslike device that can answer questions if she learns how to read it. Already shocked by the disappearance of her best friend, Lyra discovers Mrs. Coulter’s connection with the dreaded children-stealing Gobblers and runs away, joining a group of gyptians bound for the North to rescue missing children. Lyra has also learned that her uncle is being held prisoner in the North, guarded by formidable armored bears. Filled with fast-paced action, the plot involves a secret scientific facility, where children are being severed from their daemons; warring factions; witch clans; an outcast armored bear, who bonds with Lyra; and more. It becomes evident that the future of the world and its inhabitants is in the hands of the ever-more-resilient and dedicated Lyra.

Here is a movie teaser for the film based on the book. It will hit theaters in December:

A list of all the past winners, from which the book was chosen:

2006 Meg Rosoff, Just in Case
2005 Mal Peet, Tamar
2004 Frank Cottrell Boyce, Millions
2003 Jennifer Donnelly, A Gathering Light, Bloomsbury
2002 Sharon Creech, Ruby Holler, Bloomsbury
2001 Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Doubleday
2000 Beverley Naidoo, The Other Side of Truth, Puffin
1999 Aidan Chambers, Postcards From No Man’s Land, Bodley Head
1998 David Almond, Skellig, Hodder
1997 Tim Bowler, River Boy, OUP
1996 Melvin Burgess, Junk, Andersen Press
1995 Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1), Scholastic
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