The Pioneers

I'm new to Koontz, and so I went into this book blind.  I just know Koontz is a best-selling fiction writer.  I read no other reviews, and I'm not even sure if this books is representative of him at all.

Since I most recently read John Grisham, he'll have to be my reference point.  Both Grisham and Koontz are easy reads, but whereas Grisham describes things matter-of-factly, Koontz turns up the poetic dial just one level:

"The boathouse door is locked, as she left it.  Inside, the cabin cruiser remains belayed, snugged against the rubber fenders.  Water softly chortles.  The floating slip creaks where its cracked decking meets the gangway.  She steps outside, locks up."

One thing I noticed is that the chapters are super short (like 2 pages or so), yet he names them all!   It's not '1', '2', '3', etc., like actual thought-out names. Naming is hard, so I give credit there.  Plus one point, Koontz!

So far I've learned about a protagonist named Katie who has purchased an island property to live a secluded life.  She spends her days painting and tending to the property (and drinking wine).  She also will investigate a little of the history of the island by learning about the previous residents of her property.

After witnessing some out-of-the-ordinary behavior at a larger island a couple of miles away, Katie soon has to face the fact that things are affecting her island home as well. 

The book is a slow revelation of what is happening to Katie now, on her island, while her fortress of solitude has been breached, as well as learning how she ended up here, on this island, and living like a prepper, in the first place.

So far (about a fourth of the way in) I've enjoyed not knowing yet if I'm reading a book of horror, of science fiction, of government conspiracy, or of paranoia.  I feel Katie's fear and her strength, and I'm intrigued with her story.

We learn a little bit about another nearby island.  Things are getting crazy. I'm getting some answers about what genre I'm reading.  It's a mix of science-fiction with some tingly scariness.

Things have gotten nuts, so I looked up some information about Dean Koontz.  It turns out he's known for being a horror writer - I can see that.  This book is definitely horror mixed with some government conspiracy and survival-against-all-odds themes.  I can see how Covid influenced some of this story, or maybe he just thinks like this all the time.  I also keep envisioning Venom, the Spider-man villain, as the villain this story, too, which is referred to as Moloch.  There are some strong similarities.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this wraps up.  

So nothing about this ending surprises me - things are relatively neatly wrapped up for Katie. Ever since hearing about the incident of something on her roof snooping around, I thought, "Oh, she's going to meet and take in a child, and in so doing will find new reasons for living a full life."  While that roof incident wasn't a child, we do end up meeting Libby, who then meets Katie, and there we go.

I have found that it's fun to meet the characters, and learn the setting.  I really like that the three islands all ended up being related.  While I appreciate Koontz's writing style for character development, and building tension, once the action starts, there's some descriptions around the 'fusion' that I just couldn't follow.  And the monster chase stuff I don't find interesting, but I get that for Koontz's audience, maybe I'm the odd one out.

Everything just wrapped up so neatly.  There's Katie's judgment about whether or not to kill Zenon while on Jacob's Ladder, and she chooses not to.  But then has to do so like 20 minutes later after it's clear that he's a literal monster.  Same for Zenon's grandmother - we conveniently hate her therefore don't care about her death.

The House at the End of the World

When I first picked up this book, I wondered "who is this for"?  I also wondered, "Who writes this kind of book?".  I can't envision people people coming to a book like this to form their shopping list of things to get at the hardware store, or to learn what kinds of dog breeds would be most suitable for home security.  That said, the book does go into this, and I read it, so here's my review.

For the first question, surely most people who wish they had read this book are likely doing so 

 having been robbed or hurt by a criminal.  My main takeaway is that the likely key reader for all this content would be a father who wants to educate himself on all the advice he should be giving his child who is moving into their own apartment or home on their own for the first time.  Otherwise, if someone wants specific material, they are likely seeking it out on the internet.  

I tried to envision the type of person who writes an all-encompassing guide like 

.  Was it a police officer?  A homeland security officer?  A reformed criminal?  Someone who gets paid to do police training or Neighborhood Watch meetup special guest appearances?  Whoever it is, I envision that person needing to somehow say, "I know what it takes to be safe - 

!", in order to add some credibility to their main hustle.

As it turns out, the author, Ira A. Lipman, is the founder and chairman of Guardsmark - a huge security company.  That's a pretty good hustle.

It's about as comprehensive as can be.  It's like he brainstormed every possible thing related to personal and property safety, and made a section, chapter, or sentence for it in the book.  Guns?  Yep.  Dogs?  Yep.  Deadbolt locks?  Yep.  Lighting? Yep.  Giving keys to your house cleaner?  Yep. Fires? Yep. Email phishing?  Yes.  Elder abuse?  Yes.  Investment fraud?  Yes.  Shoplifting?  Yes. Serial killers?  Yes.

The book has tons of practical advice.  (Almost too much advice?)  It seems to read like "here are several things you may not think of mixed into tons of things that are just common sense."

Some gems I appreciated that just a bit over the top

...a beautiful flower bed and an assortment of potted plants lets the burglar know you have taste.  And taste indicates there are nice things inside your home.

"  (This site's author feels quite safe in this regard.)

...your second car, parked in the same spot day after day, signals that you're away from home.  Ask your neighbor to move it every day...

" My neighbor will get right on that... every single day.

The speed of inline skates may make you feel more in control, because an assailant on foot can't keep up with your pace, but it takes only one blow to knock an unsuspecting skater off balance.

" I returned my skates immediately after reading that passage.

Ideally, you should select a hotel room on the fourth through seventh floors.  Aerial ladders used by fire departments rarely reach heights higher than the seventh floor.

Always travel with a small roll of duct tap.  It can be used to attach wet towels to air vents, seal doors from smoke, or spell HELP on a window.

Beware of a person who approaches you on the street and says you can buy a case of expensive liquor at a low price.

The ultimate con involves a person who pretends to love you but whose heart is focused on your money.

While lots of passages are timeless and still relevant, unfortunately, the book has tons of dated advice as well. It's published (or maybe 'updated') in 2012, which isn't all that old in general (the year is 2023 at the time of this review's publication), but when it comes to the speed in which technology has changed over the last decade, it really feels like it was written in a different generation.  References to home phones and the use of caller ID, and bits like how to handle repeated prank calls by 'leaving the phone off the receiver for a few minutes'... I mean, unless the reader is a 50-year old man, this will just not be relevant at all.

The other thing about the age is what it 

 mention: security apps for iPhones and Androids, and how they can integrate into the ubiquitous Ring doorbell.  It just shows that books age in a way that websites don't when it comes to information like this.

So why would a reader choose a book to find out security information?  The good thing about a book is that an author and editor want to ensure quality and consistent tone of voice.  They also want to give as thorough a consideration as possible.  So while some recent innovations may be missing with regards to technology, some good healthy habits of a safety mindset permeates throughout.

The book is packed with just so much common sense security advice, as well as some over-the-top recommendations, that I envision the author to be extremely paranoid and doesn't enjoy life.  As enjoying life will make potential criminals thinking you have valuables inside your home to steal. Consider this a reference book, not a beach reader.

A lot of this is 'street smart' kind of common-sense.  So if you're the kind of person that's been told "You seem book smart, but you are not at all street smart", then maybe this book is for you.  Otherwise, avoid!

How to Be Safe

?' was one of the top questions in the early 90's. That was my first introduction to John Grisham, and I just as hurriedly read through his other early works, such as the 

. Grisham has written many other books since then (in different genres), but 2022's *Sparring Partners* is my first revisit to Grisham since those earlier decades.

 is the name of a collection of three novellas, 

 (where the collection gets its namesake). According to his website, this is Grisham's first time doing a 'collection' of novellas. I'm not surprised that someone as accomplished as Grisham may have other ideas that maybe don't make for full novels, so having an outlet like the 

collection at least lets the stories be told.

 kicks off in the Grisham style I had been familiar with: an everyday family-man lawyer, Jake Brigance, normally hoping for a paying client in his Mississippi town, is visited by a couple who who is delivering a message on behalf of Jake's old friend, Mack Stafford. Mack had mysteriously left his family and friends years ago in the dead of night, supposedly with a boatload of cash, but nobody knows where he got the money, how much money, or where he is now. It turns out Mack is alive and well in Costa Rica, and has invited Jake and his wife, Carla, for a vacation there, so Mack can ask for Jake's help in getting back home.

There is some writing here that throws me off a bit.  First, Mack seems to be living like he's heisted a 

 amount of money, but when the actual amount is divulged to the reader, it really doesn't equal the extravagance of the lifestyle the Mack character is experiencing.  That was my first clue that Grisham likely wrote this story back in the early 90's, late 80's.  (There's a part where the University of Memphis was referenced as 'Memphis State', which changed its name in 1994.  Additionally, a character is renting an apartment for $200/month - those were the days!). So did Grisham just dust this off and publish it in 2022, or did he write it recently and it just happens to take place a few decades ago?  My money is on the former.

Secondly, I'm not sure Grisham knows whether the fictional town of Clanton, MS, is a small town or a large one.  On the one hand, it's a small enough town that everyone has heard the gossip in a day's time.  On the other hand, it's a big enough town that divorce attorneys are splitting up couples every Monday morning.  

Thirdly, I'm constantly being reminded with the writing that this story takes place in the South, sometimes in a very in-your-face manner.

"...There were kegs of cold beer and plenty of barbecue. A bluegrass band played on the porch.  Harry Rex's timing was perfect--there was nothing else happening in the county that day--and the crowd was huge.  He wanted a redneck party and that's what he got...."

To be fair, the southern US setting is part of the reason I like Grisham, as he knows what aspects of the southern life, and often demonstrates he knows the city streets like a local.  Still, some of the writing in this one makes it seem like he's still working on his craft.

It's an enjoyable story with an ending worth discussing with friends.

, we follow the thoughts, discussions, and reminiscence during a Cody Wallace's final hours as a death row inmate.  It's a bit more touching and somber story, but a great and quick read.  One of the things notable about Cody Wallace is that he is an avid reader of all types of paperback fiction thanks to a penpal who has sent him books while he's been in prison.  During a segment of the story, it feels like Grisham is just having fun talking about books he's enjoyed.  Also notable is that it takes place back in the 1990's, which leads me to think that's also when this story was first written.

 novella is the last of the three stories included in this book.  It's also the most recently written, which is obvious because the characters use texting and cell phones.  The 'sparring' partners are two brothers, Rusty and Kirk,  who operate under one firm - 'Malloy and Malloy' - but do so as independently as they possibly can.  They are rivals just as much as they are partners.  The speak with each other so little, that they rely on Diantha, a longtime employee, to be the glue to hold the firm together.    Additionally, we learn that Rusty and Kirk's father, who founded the firm, is in prison for killing his wife, whom nobody misses, and he's made an agreement that both boys must continue working together or risk a huge financial penalty.  The father has worked out a way to get huge amounts of money waiting on him for when he gets out of prison, but Rusty, Kirk, and Diantha scheme to take it.  

I found myself wondering which character is the main character the reader is supposed to be I'm rooting for.  We bounce a bit from Rusty to Kirk to Diantha, and while all have their decent qualities, they also are unlikeable in other ways - the two sparring partners more-so than Diantha.  I think we end up settling on Diantha, which is fine and it works for this story.  Overall, it's a fun read with plenty of wondering who truly has the upper hand from page to page.  

As I'm reading the collection, I'm imagining that Grisham was interested in publishing some new material, but 

 wasn't long enough (about 123 pages) to be a stand-alone novel, so Grisham and his publishers were able to add 

 to the collection.  It makes for some easy reads, hitting the right notes that longtime Grisham fans will appreciate.

Sparring Partners

 was the first book mentioned to me by a coworker when I asked him for a science fiction recommendation.  I hadn't read much science fiction previously, so wanted to make sure I started in with something that at least one person I know could vouch for.

I bought the book, and read the premise.   There was some kind of pilgrimage - would there be too much world-building for me to really enjoy this?  (Answer - no, there is not 'too much' world-building.) I also learned that it was book one of a 4-part series - would this feel incomplete? And that the book itself was meant to be the first half of a larger book (which is now the second book in the series).

The name 'Hyperion' threw me off a bit.  But later when I tried to look up a Wikipedia article about it, I learned through the Wikipedia disambiguation feature that there is an actual tree called 'Hyperion' (world's tallest living tree!), and there is also a Keats poem called 'Hyperion' - knowledge of both gives much deeper appreciation of the story, since 'tree ships' and Keats both play a heavy role in the series.

The book is told as a collection of stories from each of the pilgrims that are on their journey to visit the Shrike.  After finishing the first story of the priest, it was such an engrossing tale, and one that bordered on a horror story, that I wondered how the rest of the backstories of the characters could live up to it.  

But I was just as engaged with each one.  I kept wondering, 'Am I really going to care about the next character's story as much as the one I just read?'.  The answer each time: yes!  The weaving in of how the story plays with 

 in different ways is something I'm always a sucker for, and this book definitely delivers on that.

I enjoy the mystery of the Shrike, the exploration of the Time Tombs, the way Artificial Intelligence is handled throughout the story.  Some parts reminded me of Merlin in Once and Future King, and other parts of Game of Thrones, and others of Blade Runner.  It's a captivating story, and I hope to find a new way to appreciate it one day (movie? series? graphic novel?  just re-read it?).

The right answer is to read the next book in the series, called 

  The first book ends with the remaining pilgrims singing 'We're Off to See the Wizard' as they continue charging towards their destination.  (This is something I assume was worked in after Dan Simmons was encouraged to split the book into two.).  From what I gather, the other books are quite different from the first, and have mixed reviews from other readers, but this first book is well regarded by all.

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