"Beyond: Our Future in Space"
by Chris Impey
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 An occasionally interesting but too-often disjointed exploration of the prospects for off-Earth manned missions. The short passages about a future manned mission to Alpha Centauri read like a novel that was rejected – their inclusion here is confusing, and it feels as if Impey had an unfinished novel he didn't want to waste. "Beyond" is at its best when Impey reviews the history of rocket-based space travel, looks at contemporary technology, and then extrapolates on what might come next. |
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"Last Man on the Moon"
by Eugene Cernan with Don Davis
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 The last of the astronauts to land on the moon takes a look back at his early career as a pilot, his application to and selection by NASA, the pre-mission training, and then the actual Apollo 17 mission itself. A splendid first-person account of an experience that, to date, only 12 people have ever lived. |
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"Benson: The Autobiography"
by George Benson with Alan Goldsher
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 An accessible, informative look back at the early part of the jazz guitarist and soul singer. Benson traces his childhood in Pittsburgh where he fell in love with singing while also honing his guitar chops. The story peaks along with his career in the early 1980s when he had scored a run of pop hits – while he has stayed busy in the decades since, both recording and touring, the book barely touches those recent 30 years, which is a pity. Still, a neat look into the mind of a gifted musician looking back on his own coming of age. |
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"12.21"
by Dustin Thomason
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 This was sitting on my nightstand, and I couldn't remember if I'd read it or not. By the time I realized I had, in fact, already read it, I was hooked anew. It's a taut little scientific thriller about the outbreak of a long-lost virus rediscovered in the Central American jungles and unleashed in Southern California, tied in to end-of-times cults using the Mayan calendar to predict doomsday. Nothing particularly original, and often reads as if it was written to be made into movie, but it's very well told with solid characters and plausible plotlines. |
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"Cave of Bones"
by Anne Hillerman
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 A bit of a letdown from the earlier entries Anne Hillerman had added to her father's Leaphorn & Chee mysteries. The dialogue is often wooden and clunky, and the plot developments aren't as sharp as her other novels. It's still nice to spend time again with these beloved characters on their beloved Navajo lands, but this outing felt a bit flat. |
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"The Tale Teller"
by Anne Hillerman
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 A wonderful return to form after the disappointing "Cave of Bones" (above). Retired Navajo Lt. Joe Leaphorn accepts a case in his new role as private investigator – an anonymous donation to the Navajo museum is missing an irreplaceable item from the shipping invoice. Meanwhile, Jim Chee and his wife, Bernie Manuelito, are working on a string of burglaries – until a murder victim is discovered along a running trail. Hillerman rediscovers her touch at dialogue – Leaphorn's passages could have come from one of her father's classic novels. Captain Largo casts a large shadow again, and even Cowboy Dashee makes a short cameo. All in all, one of Anne Hillerman's finest entries in a series begun by her father but capably carried forth by her. |
