Author interview
Heart of American Darkness: Bewilderment and Horror on the Early Frontier. Robert G. Parkinson. W.W. Norton & Company, 2024. 480 pages.
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is the gold standard when it comes to searing critiques of European imperialism and colonialism in Africa around the turn of the 20th century. Charles Marlow travels up the Congo River in search of the enigmatic ivory trader Mr. Kurtz, revealing large scale brutality, repression, and racism in the process. Here, Parkinson deftly uses Conrad's novella as a starting point for an exploration of the colonial American frontier in the 18th century, viewed through the lives and actions of members of two families who were at the center of the efforts to colonize the Ohio River Valley. The family of Shickellamy, one of the most renowned Indigenous leaders of the eighteenth century, were Iroquois diplomats laboring to create a world where settlers and Native people could coexist. The Cresaps were frontiersmen - the very word "frontiersman" may have been coined to refer to Thomas Cresap, the patriarch, also nicknamed "the Maryland Monster" - who became famous throughout the colonies for their bravado, scheming, and land greed. From the 1730s, when Pennsylvania and Virginia colonies literally fought each other for control of the Ohio Valley, through the Seven Years War and the American Revolution, these two families were involved in, and linked to, horrific acts of carnage and destruction that were discussed throughout the colonies and in Britain. Parkinson not only demonstrates how the frontier shaped the American nation, but also shaped new interpretations of race and citizenship, and he also reveals how reputations, legacies, and heroic status are constantly changing.
Death of the Mantis. Michael Stanley. Harper, 2011. 448 pages. Detective Kubu series, # 3 of 8.
This find was a dollar well spent at a local public library book sale. (Hillsborough County public libraries have permanent sale sections in their branches. Other libraries have temporary sales from time to time. Always worth checking out.) This is a natural for fans of The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series or Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee series, detective series set in exotic locales. This series, like the Ladies Detective Agency, is set in Botswana, where Detective David "Kubu" Bengu is drawn into murder mysteries that often involve indigenous Bushmen, or the San people. This story opens with the discovery of a dying park ranger named Monzo, with three Bushmen on the scene. Were they trying to assist him or were they his murderers? The investigation brings long-standing prejudices against Bushmen to the surface, making things more complicated for Kubu. The mystery deepens when more murders occur, and stories of undiscovered diamond fields are thrown into the mix. It's a good murder mystery, the setting and cultural landscapes are intriguing, and Kubu is a really interesting character. I'll be on the lookout for more of the books.
Author conversation
The History of Sound: Stories. Ben Shattuck. Viking, 2024. 520 pages.
The History of Sound is a collection of 12 short stories set in New England (except for two set in Newfoundland) over three centuries. The stories revolve around memories, artifacts, artworks, or journal entries which are used to reveal secrets, misunderstandings, and the ups and downs of love set in various landscapes across the region. History is woven through each and every story, reinforcing the idea that we are shaped by history. The really unique thing about this collection is that the stories are paired, connected through time somehow, and the second story often contains a revelation that adds to or illuminates some aspect of the first story. The stories are both thoughtful and thought-provoking, entertaining, inventive and original, sometimes sad, and sometimes humorous. One word of caution, though: I know some people have problems with stories that don't seem to have a neat ending. Shattuck's stories have loose ends. I'm not a big short story reader, but I enjoyed this collection. (Note: The title story was adapted into a 2025 film of the same name. The audiobook version features great narration by the like of Paul Mescal, Ed helms, and Nick Offerman.)
Sick Puppy. Carl Hiaasen. Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. 341 pages. Book 4 of 7 in the Skink series.
Tim Dorsey is my all-time favorite "Florida Man" author, and his Serge Storms is one of my favorite literary characters ever. Carl Hiaasen is a good second. Sick Puppy is the fourth of Hiaasen's Skink series. Skink is the former Florida governor who couldn't take being in politics, abandoned his office, and disappeared into the swamps where he survives on roadkill and fights a one-man battle against developers. However, he's really a minor character. The real lead character, Twilly Spree, appears to be a pale imitation of Serge Storms, a psychotic vigilante whose mission in life is to punish those who despoil Florida, from litterbugs to evil developers - and, of course, ALL Florida developers and politicians are evil and corrupt degenerates. Sick Puppy was published a year after the first Serge Storms novel appeared. I know Hiaasen and Dorsey were friends. Maybe they discussed ideas? Maybe Serge was originally inspired by Skink? Anyway, this book is good, the plot and characters are as crazy as you would expect, but it reads like a Serge novel with all the trademark Dorsey humor removed. It makes me really miss Dorsey and Serge.
Book Trailer
Grasshopper Jungle. Andrew Smith. Dutton Books for Young Readers, 2015. 416 pages.
Austin, his best friend Robby, and his girlfriend Shann are just three sixteen-year olds in tiny, boring Ealing, Iowa. Like all teens, they don't feel like they fit in even though they've only ever lived there. Not only are they square pegs in a round hole world, but they are also dealing with their own family issues and confusion about life, the universe, and everything, including their own relationships with each other, adolescence, and sexuality. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Literally overnight, Ealing is besieged by a plague of six foot tall grasshopper/mantis creatures who are seemingly unstoppable, and their entire existence is driven by two violently primitive instincts: to eat and to mate, instincts often gratified simultaneously. As the creatures hatch, eat, and mate, Ealing's population is devastated, and the whole of humanity is threatened. It's up to Austin, Robby, and Shann to stop the plague before it's too late. Imagine a combination of "Lost," "Stranger Things," "Fallout," and all of those 1950s apocalyptic creature movies, and you've got Grasshopper Jungle. I grabbed it as soon as I saw the cover and the blurb "Raunchy, bizarre, smart, and compelling" and happily paid the dollar at the library book sale and found a quick and fun read. Note: while it is marketed as a young adult novel, it is frank and graphic, one of those books that would be put on a list these days, and readers will likely have differing opinions on whether it is truly suitable for young adults, and just how young those adults should be.
Author Interview
This Other Eden. Paul Harding. W.W. Norton & Company, 2023. 224 pages.
At the mouth of the New Meadows River in Casco Bay, Maine lies a 41-acre island called Malaga. From about 1860 to 1911, it was home to an interracial settlement of no more than four dozen people of mixed white, black, and indigenous residents that traced their community's founding, perhaps apocryphally, to a free black man named Benjamin Darling. In the 1890s, people in neighboring communities - perhaps offended by the interracial character of the community, perhaps inspired by the potential profits of developing the island, perhaps some of both - began spreading stories that the islanders' culture was one of incest, sexual deviance, poverty, deformity, and imbecility. It was a time when the "science" of eugenics held major sway in public opinion and in the halls of government, and state and local authorities took action, condemning the island's structures, seizing the land, forcing the islanders to relocate, and even committing several islanders involuntarily to institutions. When novelist Paul Harding came across the story of Malaga, it inspired him to create his own version, an island called Apple Island, in this novel. He only took inspiration from history and never intended to write a history. He created his own island origin story and his own cast of characters within a loose historical framework. The result is a moving story of people with great resilience, pride, strength, and will to survive as the outside world invades their peace. It's one of those quiet, thought-provoking novels.
Author podcast
G,I, G-Men: The Untold Story of the FBI's Search for American Traitors, Collaborators, and Spies in World War II Europe. Stephen Harding. Citadel, 2026. 416 pages. Thanks to Citadel/Kensington Publishing for the review copy.
Most of the books dealing with the history of the FBI that I've read have not painted very flattering pictures, with the Bureau, especially during J. Edgar Hoover's reign as Director, coming across as incompetent at best and corrupt, evil, and political at worst, but there was at least one seemingly successful and honorable operation. During the first years of World War II, Hoover had convinced President Roosevelt to dispatch specially trained FBI agents to Latin American countries in order to thwart Axis efforts to develop and to operate espionage networks there. That program worked, and it worked well, and, in 1943, Hoover convinced FDR to authorize the next step. A special unit of 21 highly qualified and trained agents, each fluent in multiple languages and most having had extensive experience living or traveling in Europe, was created and named the Army Liaison Unit. The agents were given courtesy military ranks and uniforms and embedded within US Army units. Their mission was to work with US and Allied military intelligence organizations to track down and arrest American citizens living in Europe who were suspected of collaborating with Axis powers to betray their home country and to return them to the US for trial as traitors. Their efforts led to many arrests and convictions and uncovered a great deal of evidence that would be used in the Nuremberg and war crimes trials following the war. Stephen Harding has researched and written an excellent history of the program that readers of military history and espionage buffs will enjoy.
Author interview
Nonesuch. Francis Spufford. Scribner, 2026. 496 pages.
I really enjoyed the three other Spufford novels that I've read, Golden Hill, Red Plenty, and Cahokia Jazz, so I was looking forward to reading his latest, Nonesuch. The historical fantasy fiction opens in 1939, as Britain prepares for war, and ambitious young Iris Hawkins works as a secretary at a financial investment firm, struggling to break through the glass ceiling which prohibited women from actually being brokers or traders. A night at a club leads to a chance encounter with Geoff, a brilliant young BBC engineer working in the emerging field of television. She thinks the encounter is going to be a fun one-night stand, but, instead, she's drawn into a dangerous other-world, a world in which spirits, or angels, can be summoned, trapped, and forced to do the bidding of the summoner. In this case, Iris and Geoff discover that a British fascist has learned the secrets of summoning the angels and plans to use their powers to go back in time and assassinate Winston Churchill before he becomes Prime Minister, with the ultimate goal of forcing Britain's surrender. It's up to them, with a little assistance form the angel Raphael, to thwart the plot. Like Spufford's other novels that I've read, Nonesuch is kind of smoldering, slow burn in the beginning, but once you're in, you're in.. The historical details of Britain in the early years of the war and through the Blitz are great, as I've come to expect from the author, and the magical fantasy time travel elements are inventive and intriguing. Note: it simultaneously sort of concludes and sort of ends with a cliffhanger; a sequel is forthcoming.
Ragtime movie trailer 1981
Ragtime. E.L. Doctorow. Random House, 1975. 270 pages.
My latest classic read is Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow, an icon in the genre of historical fiction. Although relatively short, it is epic in terms of scope and the huge cast of characters. In turn-of-the-century New York, three families - black, Jewish, and WASP - interweave with historical figures like Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, Sigmund Freud, Robert Peary, Booker T. Washington, and Emiliano Zapata, just to name a few, during America's ragtime era, in the early 20th century. The reader is immersed in the time period through vivid descriptions of settings and of movements swirling through American society at the time. However, Doctorow famously never claimed to be writing accurate history, famously saying, "The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like." While he paints historical figures in broad strokes of accuracy, he takes liberties with their characters, but those liberties don't feel out of place. A huge part of the book is atmosphere, but there is a plot involving an upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York, a nouveau riche family whose fortune is derived from manufacturing fireworks, bunting, flags, ribbons, and other patriotic accoutrements. We don't even know their names; they're referred to as Mother, Father, Younger Brother, and Boy. The family finds itself and the town dragged into violent chaos when a successful black ragtime pianist is victimized by the local fire department and exacts a horrible revenge. It's easy to see why the book is a classic of historical fiction.
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for the Truth. Patrick Radden Keefe. Doubleday, 2026. 384 pages.
WOW! I love Patrick Radden Keefe's books, and this one is absolutely incredible. In 2019, a security camera on the London headquarters building of MI6, the British foreign intelligence agency, captured a horrible moment on the balcony of a neighboring luxury apartment high-rise. Nineteen-year old Zac Brettler paces the fifth-floor balcony for a minute and then leaps to his death in the Thames River below. Days later, his parents are notified that his body was recovered. From his birth, Zac had been an intelligent, charismatic, and likable kid, and his family lived a very comfortable, but modest, lifestyle. His parents paid over 50,000 pounds a year for Zac and his brother to attend prestigious private schools, but they lived in a modest apartment in a quiet London neighborhood, and the family car was a Mazda. Zac wasn't satisfied, however. He craved luxury and wealth, and he developed an obsessive fascination for the flashy and loud Russian oligarchs who had come to dominate much of London's business and organized crime worlds since the days of Margaret Thatcher. Zac even admired Vladimir Putin, and many of the oligarchs in London either had close ties with Putin or were/are on Putin's enemies list. Following his death, Zac's parents learned that he had crafted an elaborate fictitious alter ego, beginning in his early teens: Zac Ismailov, the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch with access to a large family fortune. As Ismailov, he gets enmeshed in a relationship with two of the slimiest and most crooked individuals in the city, and that relationship leads to his death. His parents are forced to become investigators because, contrary to what those gritty British police dramas lead viewers to believe, Scotland Yard, London's Metropolitan Police, is an utter failure at anything related to criminal investigation --- a bastion of corruption, ignorance, stupidity, incompetence, and raging indifference. Keefe takes the minimal police investigation, the parents' investigation, and multiple other sources to create an unbelievable story, not just of one tragic death and its impact on a family but of modern London. This very well might end up being my favorite read of 2026.
It's 1932 in rural east Texas, and 15-year old William Carter is struggling. His father has been away for weeks in Washington as one of the leaders of the Bonus Army, WWI veterans occupying the capital to demand immediate payment of promised future payments, and was supposedly on his way home, weeks after the event had been violently broken up. Meanwhile, William's mother is dying, their cotton crop is failing, and the banker is threatening imminent eviction. When a letter from his father, mailed from a town just 40 miles away, is delivered, William decides to go find his father and bring him home. His best friend Ollie joins him, and the two begin an odyssey that takes them through still untamed land occupied by eccentric backwoods characters, many of whom are so impoverished that they aren't even aware of the Great Depression. They encounter moonshiners, murderers, a witch woman, and an evil medicine show peddler with a gorilla along the way. It's another great James Wade historical fiction, full of great atmospheric and historic detail, interesting characters, and beautiful language. One word of warning, though: If you like stories that end neatly, with everything wrapped up and tied up with a bow, James Wade may not be the author for you.
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