From a random review:

Get new posts by email:

About the blogger:
Debra Hamel is the author of a number of books about ancient Greece. She writes and blogs from her subterranean lair in North Haven, CT. Read more.

Note: As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Navigate the site:
Click here for a complete list of books reviewed or select below:
Search the site:
The ratings:
5 stars  excellent
4 stars  very good
3 stars  good
2 stars  fair
1 stars  poor

Blog stats:
BOOK REVIEWS: 625
BOOK NOTICES: 268
2003: 50
2004: 68
2005: 66
2006: 75
2007: 58
2008: 88
2009: 81
2010: 57
2011: 48
2012: 27 | 1
2013: 0 | 35
2014: 1 | 25
   2015: 0 | 17
2016: 3 | 22
2017: 0 | 24
2018: 0 | 14
2019: 0 | 34
2020: 0 | 25
2021: 0 | 35
2022: 0 | 8
2023: 1 | 17
2024: 1 | 11
2025: 0 | 0
2026: 0 | 0

Updated 11-26-24. [Reviews are longer and have ratings. Notices do not have ratings.]

Books by Debra Hamel:

THE BATTLE OF ARGINUSAE :
VICTORY AT SEA AND ITS TRAGIC AFTERMATH IN THE FINAL YEARS OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
By Debra Hamel


Kindle | paperback (US)
Kindle | paperback (UK)

KILLING ERATOSTHENES:
A TRUE CRIME STORY
FROM ANCIENT ATHENS
By Debra Hamel


Kindle | paperback (US)
Kindle | paperback (UK)

READING HERODOTUS:
A GUIDED TOUR THROUGH THE WILD BOARS, DANCING SUITORS, AND CRAZY TYRANTS OF THE HISTORY
By Debra Hamel


paperback | Kindle | hardcover (US)
paperback | hardcover (UK)

THE MUTILATION OF THE HERMS:
UNPACKING AN ANCIENT MYSTERY
By Debra Hamel


Kindle | paperback (US)
Kindle | paperback (UK)

TRYING NEAIRA:
THE TRUE STORY OF A COURTESAN'S SCANDALOUS LIFE IN ANCIENT GREECE
By Debra Hamel


paperback | hardcover (US)
paperback | hardcover (UK)

SOCRATES AT WAR:
THE MILITARY HEROICS OF AN ICONIC INTELLECTUAL
By Debra Hamel


Kindle (US) | Kindle (UK)

ANCIENT GREEKS IN DRAG:
THE LIBERATION OF THEBES AND OTHER ACTS OF HEROIC TRANSVESTISM
By Debra Hamel


Kindle (US) | Kindle (UK)

IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY TWEET:
FIVE HUNDRED 1ST LINES IN 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS
By Debra Hamel


Kindle | paperback (US)
Kindle | paperback (UK)

PRISONERS OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
By Debra Hamel


Kindle (US) | Kindle (UK)





Book-blog.com by Debra Hamel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - No Derivative Works 3.0 License.



Book Notices | Twisted Lives by Tim Tigner / 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

Tim Tigner, Twisted Lives

  Amazon  

Tim Tigner's latest thriller tells the story of a federal air marshall, Felix Sparks, whose career and family life are upended after an incident on a plane with an entitled Chinese princeling. Sparks is framed for murder so convincingly that he feels it's imperative to avoid arrest in order to find the real killer himself. The plot sometimes strains credibility, and events sometimes feel too rushed. Also, a scene or two in which great emotions are expressed didn't ring true to me. But it's nonetheless an exciting page-turner that I don't hesitate to recommend if that's the sort of book you're in the mood for. The real surprise is that this crazy plot is apparently based on something that happened to the author (presumably not in every detail), a story told in his book What New Hell Next?: One Thriller Writer's Personal Horror Story, which I have yet to read.

Joe Hill, 20th Century Ghosts

  Amazon  

I read Joe Hill's Kindle short "The Ushers" one night recently just before bed. It hit exactly the right spot: a good length, nothing too serious, kept me off my phone so I could fall asleep at a reasonable time. The experience was very much like reading an episode of The Twilight Zone. And because that was such a pleasant experience, I ordered the author's 20th Century Ghosts, a collection of short stories first published in 2005. This too hit the spot. The edition I read contains 15 main stories plus another hidden in the Acknowledgments. I enjoyed some of the stories more than others, of course, and I'll remember some more than others. Some qualify as horror and some do not, but all of them depict a world where things aren't quite right—a boy wakes up as an insect in "You Will Hear the Locust Sing," another builds creepy cardboard forts in "Voluntary Committal," an old man runs a museum in which the last breaths of the dead are collected in bottles. "The Black Phone," which was made into a movie a couple years ago, and "Abraham's Boys" are among the most memorable of the stories, in my opinion. And I'll certainly remember "Best New Horror"—in fact I'd like to forget it!—because it totally creeped me out.

Comments

Post a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this weblog until the author has approved them.

If you have a TypeKey or TypePad account, please Sign In