Kevin Holtsberry got under the hood and fixed whatever problem had bedeviled this corner of the blogosphere the past few days. No Friday Review? No Kevin, no Phil, no Jeff. The soul of the new machine indeed.
I finished William Lashner’s latest entry in the Victor Carl series, Past Due. For a guy not fond of courtroom dramas, I liked this book for several reasons: good writing throughout, sharp wit, well drawn characters, and a plot that will have you all flossing by page four hundred. Yes, the villain is a dentist. Considerable time is spent in the dental chair as poor Victor endures peridontal rectification on a scale not seen since The Boys From Brazil. The good doctor even sports an assistant with muscles that might have been the envy of the East German ladies swim team, if there were an East Germany still producing prodigious femme fatales. The author has a lot of fun with such plot devices, often veering to the shoulder of the road in search of a laugh. Not to worry. William Lashner never forgets why we’re along for the ride.
Remember Ann Patchett’s novel Bel Canto? I came across a trade paper release last week, and began to read. Hopefully I’ll have a review of it up in the next few weeks.