Sharon Tucker

Nov 2021 20

Sensational Reads: Preston and Child’s Pendergast Series

2021 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

Remember the femjep 1997 movie The Relic? It was loosely based on the first novel of the same name in a best-selling series written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I say “loosely based” because the screenwriters left out one of, if not the main, character in all the books: Aloysius X. L. Pendergast, maverick FBI agent and all-around best person to have on your side in any kind of fight. It’s still a relatively good movie because a monster on the loose in a large museum, replete with departments in house to figure out who or what the creature is on the basis of anthropology, evolutionary biology, and genetics, sounds intriguing.

Oct 2021 30

Library of the Damned: Jeri Westerson’s Steampunk Trilogy Comes to a Close

2021 Articles, Fantasy & Fangs, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker
& Jeri Westerson

Well, I hoped The Enchanter Chronicles wouldn’t end so soon. [Sigh] Anyway, grab your corsets, boot hooks, and helmets to enjoy this last foray into the magical world of Leopold Kazmer, Mingli Zhao, assorted magical-mechanical creatures, plus so many more punkish devices. Enjoy that Library of the Damned (2021) has freshness and a rich atmosphere of fun despite its serious threats and dark, turgid machinations. Prepare to learn too about how Leopold’s religious background is inextricably linked to the heart of all the novels—one of my favorite devices.

Sep 2021 18

Panic Attack By Dennis Palumbo: Review/Giveaway/Interview

2021 Articles, Mental Health, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

What a pleasure to learn that a new Daniel Rinaldi thriller is out. It’s good to be with Dr. Rinaldi, the quiet, steady therapist who helps us reconnect to our better, more sane selves when life gets out of hand. He counsels survivors of violence and I know I would feel comfortable seeking his help at such a time. It’s also good to go back to visit Pittsburgh, a part of the country I don’t know at all except through these novels. Their setting is rich with the Steel City’s history and atmosphere and with the complexities Rinaldi’s patients, associates, police officers, attorneys, and all those who befriend, tolerate, and actively work for or against the good doctor.

Aug 2021 21

Meet Insp. Masao Matsuto, Howard Fast’s Beverly Hills Detective

2021 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

Howard Fast, one of the blacklisted authors who survived the McCarthy area, wrote more than eighty novels in his career, but the ones I know best are his Masao Matsuto series written between 1967 and 1984. Doing a little research on him, I recognized the titles some of his historical novels but found these listed in one of the book newsletters we all get and was intrigued.

Jul 2021 17

Meet Randy Wayne White’s Hannah Smith in Gone, Deceived, and Haunted

2021 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

If you’ve read Randy Wayne White’s Doc Ford series set in southeast Florida, then you will know Hannah Smith. She’s not an academic like Ford, but rather counts herself among generations of Smith women who have blazed trails through Florida. Hannah’s knowledge comes from living in the midst of legends that sprang from her ancestors’ experiences, events, and conditions, trying her best to champion what is right without the least bit of fanfare. She has an uncluttered quality about her: she knows the water, she knows the land, she knows how to teach game fishing, and she knows how to apply what she knows to investigating her friends’ problems.

Jun 2021 19

Neon Yang’s The Black Tides of Heaven: Slackcraft and Gender Choice

2021 Articles, Fantasy & Fangs, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

I’m not quite sure what I expected when reading Neon Yang’s The Black Tides of Heaven (2017). Terms like silkpunk and Asian fantasy/mythology were running through my head, but other than a passing acquaintance with Zen koans, the Tao te Ching, and the Mahabarata, I was in unfamiliar waters. I soon learned that “Silkpunk” is the term writer Ken Liu has coined for the genre of a “very specific technology and literary aesthetic” blending magic and technology in an Asian setting.

Mar 2021 13

Three Mysteries by Anthony Horowitz

2021 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

Many of us were introduced to Anthony Horowitz through his TV series Foyle’s War and the remarkable detective DCI Christopher Foyle who held civilization together in Hastings, England, during WWII and after. It’s ironic that he wanted to do more for the war effort than routine civilian policing when the cases he solved were anything but routine to most of us. He just kept running afoul of unpleasant bureaucrats who had a score to settle or were indifferent to him. The series was clever, well written, and character rich. So, I’m glad to say that these same characteristics apply to each of the three from different Horowitz series I chose to read.

Jan 2021 9

Martha Wells’ Mysterious Murderbot

2021 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

The best reads for many of us continue to be mysteries. For me, the mystery genre offers the challenge to discover a problem on the page then a solution that sets the world to rights again, something hard to accomplish in the world. I love the ones set in a time or place unfamiliar to me and for so long in the beginning, Golden Age Mysteries did the trick. Having read so many of those classics, after a while I looked for mystery in other times, in other genres. I’m still making discoveries and among them are the series of short novels (and one full length one) of Martha Wells, called the Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red (2017), Artificial Condition (2018), Rogue Protocol (2018), Exit Strategy (2018), and Network Effect (2020).

Nov 2020 14

Ten Seasonal Stories Unlike Any Others: Festive Mayhem

2020 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker, Tales of Diversity

by Sharon Tucker

What I love about each holiday season is that each is unlike any other before. The celebrations themselves usually stay within certain parameters but including different people in the mix or going to a new place during the season adds verve and just might open our perceptions. This is true of reading holiday stories from a variety of authors’ points of view, and in Festive Mayhem: Ten Stories of Holiday Mystery, Crime and Suspense (2020), Carolyn Marie Wilkins has collected works that celebrate diversity.

Oct 2020 24

Clockwork Gypsy By Jeri Westerson: Review/Giveaway/Halloween Guest Post

2020 Articles, Fantasy & Fangs, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker
& Jeri Westerson

I grew fond of Leopold Kazmer, The Great Enchanter, in his first adventure, The Daemon Device (2019), where he battled the encroaching demonic takeover of steampunk Victorian London and won. Of course, he had help, both natural and supernatural, and I hoped that all his cohorts and a few more would return when I learned the second in Jeri Westerson’s Enchanter Chronicles was coming.