BOOK REVIEWS

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown (Anchor Books) 5 ribs
More than 40 million copies of the DaVinci Code have been sold worldwide since the book was first released March 18, 2003, and quickly climbed to the top of the best-seller lists. Now immortalized in a film starring Tom Hanks, the controversial story continues to gain interest and has finally been released in paperback. After discovering a code left by Leonardo DaVinci, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon follows clues left for the Priory of Sion, a secret society whose members guard closely their ultimate secret. As the mystery unravels, so does the danger and the twists and turns never stop until the end. Will Jordan

Already Dead Charlie Huston (Ballantine/Del Rey). 5 ribs rare meat.
Forget about most Vampire books, surrounded in romantic mysticism with their attractive fairy tale plots. Already Dead encapsulates the horrors that would surely fell such an ill fate as described by the rambling protagonist in Charlie Huston’s latest novel. Meet Joe Pitt, a rogue, hard-boiled Manhattan private detective who’s job is as a cleaner for various Vampire organizations. When a “shambler” starts infecting New York gothic youth with a flesh-eating bacteria, Joe’s on the case. The bacteria spreads as a hunger for blood builds in the infected and various Vampire clans, including the most powerful “Coalition,” wants to put a stop to it. Joe gets the assignment to investigate and exterminate, but it’s not as easy for him as he’s used to. Wander the dark alleys of Alphabet City with Joe as he unravels this twisted and spooky mystery. Each page of Huston’s novel drips with tingling excitement. This is how monster novels should all read. Will Jordan

Son Of Fletch Gregory McDonald. 4 ribs.
Son Of Fletch marks the tenth entry in Gregory McDonald’s Fletch series.
McDonald displays his tireless dry humor and relentless wit in this pivotal episode for the Irwin Maurice Fletcher (Fletch) character. Fletch is semi-retired and living in Tennessee with his third wife, Carrie, a “southern, country woman” who proves an intellectual equal to the protagonist. When an escaped federal prisoner arrives at the Fletch household in the middle of the night during a storm, Fletch doesn’t seem too surprised to discover it’s his unknown son, Jack. But Jack’s not alone. In tow are a South African leader of a white-supremecist organization and his brainless thugs. Fletch and Carrie accompany the convicts to an encampment in Alabama where more of the thugs are eagerly awaiting their arrival and things get weird. Though Fletch and co definitely play a part in the camp’s destruction, most of the morons take care of it on their own, due to their own stupidity. Will Jordan

Author gives “Hope” to readers
Shawn-Michelle Surber’s book about a flower inspires faith

Who knew a story about a tiny flower, which is in search of happiness could be such a compelling theme. Filled with inspirational imagery and emotionally infused, thoughtful themes, “Hope,” is a story for all children young and old.
Author and Illustrator Shawn-Michelle Surber poured her heart and soul into the frail character, Hope, a miniscule flower, who is all alone in a vast arid desert, without “anyone to love and share her dreams.”
Despite the sometimes overwhelming obstacles put in front of Hope, the flower learns to cope with her harsh surroundings, after meeting a bespectacled, knowledgeable little worm named, “Wisdom.” Upon their meeting, Wisdom teaches Hope the definition of her name he gave her, and suddenly things begin to look up for the wilting flower, leaving the reader with a “hopeful” ending.
Shawn-Michelle Surber proves to the world she is a talented, young writer and illustrator with her first children’s story, and it is obvious the artist is on to something special with her loveable character, Hope.
And in her own words, the author doesn’t disappoint those who fall in love with the little flower. With the ending promise, “…the beginning,” let’s hope there’s more to come. Will Jordan

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Ahab, Gideon Dafoe (Pantheon) (4 ½ ribs)

Twenty-nine-year-old Londoner Gideon Dafoe first began his The Pirates! series in an effort to convince a woman to leave another man for him. She didn’t, but Dafoe did land a publishing deal. His hysterical debut, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2004) sent a pack of bored pirates adventuring around the Galápagos. His follow-up is just as hilarious and has the crew of bandits including: the pirate with gout, the sassy pirate and the albino pirate, in search of the famously elusive Moby Dick. After striking a deal with the dangerous yet beautiful Cutlass Liz, who’s eaten “Twenty whole babies in one sitting!” they reluctantly accept Ahab’s contract to hunt down Moby Dick. The book is a rollicking ride on the high seas and fun for all ages. Will Jordan

Mozart And Leadbelly Ernest J. Gaines (Knopf)

When Ernest J. Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying was published in 1993, it was described as “an instant classic” by critics nationwide. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was picked for Oprah’s Book club (a key to any book’s success). His other work’s including: A Gathering of Old Men, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Bloodline and Of Love and Dust also garnered national attention. Gaines’ voice continues to resonate with, Mozart And Leadbelly, a collection of stories and essays Gaines was born on a plantation in rural Louisiana. He began his literary career as a young boy composing letters for the illiterate residents of his Louisiana community. He moved to San Francisco at the age of 15 and wrote his first novel on a rented typewriter whole caring for his baby brother. After graduating from college he headed home to Louisiana to continue writing. In Mozart And Leadbelly, Gaines continues to explore themes he revisits in each of his works. Will Jordan

Def Jam, Inc., Stacy Gueraseva (Ballantine) - 4 ribs-plenty of flava.

When hip-hop was born in the early ‘80s it was nearly written off as a passing fad. Only a few entrepreneurial visionaries had the foresight to grab the then budding genre by the huevos by popularizing it in NY communities and then spreading it to the rest of the world. At the helm of the movement was Def Jam, Inc., started by Rick Rubin, a Jewish kid from Long Island and Russell Simmons, a young black man from Hollis, Queens. Their different backgrounds became their strengths and in an amazing feat, the pair forged some of the most important voices in hip hop, which included Run DMC, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Ludacris, Jay-Z and Public Enemy, to name a few. In Stacy Gueraseva’s insightful story, Def Jam, Inc., the author traces the beginnings of things for Simmons and Rubin and carries the reader through the entire history of the label.
Gueraseva, former editor in chief of Simmons’ magazine Oneworld, had access to the biggest players at Def Jam and did more than 70 interviews with former and current Def Jam employees and artists including Simmons, Rubin and Lyor Cohen.
Gueraseva illustrates how Def Jam became a world dominator of not only hip hop airwaves, but changed the face of modern music forever. Will Jordan

Six Bad Things, Charlie Huston (A Ballentine Books Trade Paperback Original)

Following his highly acclaimed debut Caught Stealing, Charlie Huston returns with the suspensful sequel, Six Bad Things. Six Bad Things is 365 pages of nail biting, hard-boiled action-packed tales of flawed protagonist Hank Thompson’s struggle for freedom from a chilling past. His present turns out to be no better off for the likeable character who only wants to drop out of the human race and loll away the rest of his days in a cabana under a palm grove. He begins his adventures on a quiet Mexcian beach, where he’d spent the past few years in hiding. Interrupting his serene existence is a backpacker with a Russian accent, who begins nosing around about Hank’s past and the bodies he left in his wake in New York. After Hank’s parent’s lives are threatened over $4 million in mob money he has stowed away, the bodies continue to stack up as Hank desperately tries to save his folks from an unsuspecting hit man. The result is a page-turning, well-written thriller that will keep readers glued to each page as the easily-identifyable protagonist stumbles from one misfortunate experience after another. Luckily this is the second in a promised Hank Thompson trilogy, so you won’t have to look too far for more. Will Jordan