The Butler: A Witness to History, by Wil Haygood

I was a little disappointed to learn that the new movie The Butler wasn't actually based on the life of Eugene Allen.  He did serve as a butler in the White House during the course of time portrayed in the movie, but the movie is fiction.  One writer stated that "The Butler has virtually nothing in common with its source material, the life of White House butler Gene Allen, except for the fact that the main character of the film and Allen were both black butlers in the White House."  I was even more disappointed that Wil Haygood's The Butler: A Witness to History isn't a book based on the movie, but a book loosely related to the story of the inspiration for the movie.

In this book, Wil Haygood describes his search for an African-American who had served at the White House over several administrations, in order to interview him or her during the lead up to Barack Obama's election.  He found the perfect candidate in Eugene Allen, and wrote a Washington Post article about him.  Lee Daniels (who, for some odd reason, insists that his name be a part of the title of the movie) read the article and decided to make his movie.

I haven't seen the movie, but I'm sure it's terrific.  I haven't read the article, but I think it should have been included in this book.  The book is quite slime; there would have been plenty of space in which to include the article.  This book recalls the friendship that grew between Haygood and Allen, and tells some snippets of Allen's life before, during, and after his service in the White House.  Then it goes on to talk about black actors and their changing role in cinema, and briefly discusses race policies and views of several presidents under whom Allen served.

There is some interesting material here, but it's haphazardly put together in what is still a rather short and disappointing volume.  This will provide a bit of background to the movie, and to Eugene Allen's story, for the curious, but the movie and Haygood's original article are probably better places to start.

Farnham's Freehold, by Robert Heinlein

When I was growing up, I read pretty much anything Robert A. Heinlein had written.  Of course, most of his great books had been around a few decades by then.  When I was reading Heinlein, he had begun to enter his "dirty old man" stage (late 70s and early 80s).  I think his greatest fiction was the earlier works that are accessible to all ages without the rated-R material of some of his later books.

Farnham's Freehold, first published in 1964, is both a product of the time and a product of Heinlein's great vision.  At the height of the Cold War, Hugh Farnham's concerns about an impending nuclear disaster lead him to build and equip a fallout shelter in his basement.  When bombs start falling, Farnham and his family, along with a friend of Farnham's daughter and a household employee, descend to the shelter and lock up.  Once stillness returns to the world, they find their surroundings completely altered, but somehow familiar.  They learn that they are in the same place, but have been bumped hundreds of years into the future.

The first half of the novel details their adaptations for survival.  Hugh's admirable preparations pay off, and the six of them begin to settle in, making the best of their isolated existence.  But that all changes when human visitors arrive with technologies far advanced of anything they have ever seen.  They learn that in the 2000 years since the war they took shelter from, civilization in the northern hemisphere has fallen apart, and white people exist largely as slaves in a rigidly hierarchical society ruled by blacks.

Heinlein, writing in the midst of the civil rights movement, takes the opportunity to make some observations about race and racism.  Yet the fiercely independent Hugh Farnham isn't willing to accept a life of slavery, no matter the skin color of his captor.  My edition calls Farnham's Freehold "Science Fiction's Most Controversial Novel" right on the front cover.  I suppose Heinlein's views of racial equality were quite a bit more controversial in 1964.  More problematic is the eventual revelation that not only did the black slave owners keep a stable of slaves for sexual purposes, but that some of them ended up on the dinner table.  I can see how that would not go over well with certain readers. . . .

Reading Heinlein is always a delight.  Farnham's Freehold is not one of his best novels, but does exemplify his trademarks: a grand vision of the future, a philosophy of political freedom and individual self-sufficiency, and a story the includes characters to cheer for and villains to hate.  The fact that this is still in print 50 years after its first publication is no mistake.  Heinlein remains one of the great masters of the genre.

The Fallen Body, by Stone Patrick

Taylour Dixxon loves her small-town law practice.  She followed in her father's footsteps, serving as Marlinsville, Texas's only lawyer, but sometimes she dreams of bigger things, bigger law firms, bigger towns.  When Sarah Cockrell Baines moves to town, Taylour not only gains a friend, but gets a chance to work a case with big-city ties and big-city crimes.  Sarah's husband has been murdered, shot and thrown from his high-rise balcony, and Sarah is the prime suspect.

In The Fallen Body, Stone Patrick's debut novel, Patrick keeps the reader guessing and keeps Taylour on her toes.  Even though she had just met Sarah, Taylour agreed to defend her.  Little did she know she was entering a world of Russian mafia, hired killers, and big money at stake.  When she starts to notice a mysterious stranger around town, and when it seems that someone is sending her threatening messages, she knows this case is much more interesting than Sarah was initially letting on.

The Fallen Body is a terrific first novel.  Patrick gives a strong sense of place in his portrayal of the Texas setting, adds a touch of romance with the Texas Ranger who helps out on the case, and develops believable characters and dialogue.  I look forward to Volume 2 of the Taylour Dixxon series!

You can order The Fallen Body with this link to Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/402747?ref=tayman0522 

And here is Stone Patrick's author blog:
http://taylorsbookpub.com/the-fallen-body/

Thanks to the author for the complimentary electronic review copy, provided in exchange for an unbiased review.

Hammer of Angels, by G. T. Almasi

Alix Nico is back!  The super-charged, enhanced teenage super agent we met in G.T.Almasi's Blades of Winter is back for more high octane butt kicking.  In case you missed the first installment, you'll have to reorient your historical perspective.  In this world, WW2 turned out a bit differently, with Nazi Germany controlling most of Europe, and still setting its sights on larger plans.  But Nico and her pals stand in the way.

Nico is an enhanced human, with enough chemical, mechanical, and electronic enhancements to make her a formidable weapon.  As in Blades of Winter, Nico leaves quite a trail of destruction wherever she goes.  In hopes of thwarting the Nazi's human cloning program, and finding out the truth about her father's death, she pulls no punches.

Almasi writes with non-stop action, a sarcastic, big-shot attitude, and a preference for violently exploding bad guys.  Who am I to argue with kicking some Nazi butt?  Like I said about Blades of Winter, Hammer of Angels is an action movie in print.  Good stuff!

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Runner, by Patrick Lee

The first thing I would say about Patrick Lee's new novel is that if you are a fan of the ex-special-forces-loner-good-guy-against-impossible-odds genre, you will enjoy Runner thoroughly.  That's especially true if you are particularly willing to suspend disbelief.  I hope that doesn't sound like a criticism; I only mean it as explanation.  I am a fan of entertaining, suspense-filled, non-stop action novels, like those featuring Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, and now Sam Dryden.

A good chunk of Dryden's military career is off-the-record.  He'd like his post-military life to be off-the-record as well.  But living a solitary life, quietly mourning the loss of his wife and daughter, is not in the cards for him.  When he's out for a run late one night, a young lady in distress crosses his path, and suddenly he's drawing on all of his experience and resources to save this sweet girl from a bunch of government baddies.

Even with satellites and helicopters and every other modern surveillance tool at their disposal, the government creeps have trouble tracking down Sam and his charge.  When they finally do, Sam manages to stay one step ahead.  As he learns, this girl was part of a secret program developing mind reading and even mind-control technology.

There are plenty of twists and turns, and some sci-fi elements mixed in.  I was initially put off by the seemingly ludicrous start.  So Dryden just happens to go running at night, and just happens to run into the girl, and just happens to be perfectly suited to help her escape her captors.  While I enjoyed the chase, I kept thinking back to that coincidental start and wondering why Lee thought he could get away with it.  To his credit, he connected it all in the end.  It wasn't so coincidental after all.  (Although I still don't know why a careful person like Dryden would drop his wallet, or why he'd be carrying his wallet while running in the first place.  He should get a RoadID.)

This is fast, fun, escapist fiction that you don't want to put down once you start.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Messenger, by Jeni Stepanek

Perhaps you remember Mattie Stepanek.  He was in the news quite a bit 10-15 years ago, a cute little blond boy with glasses, dying of an incurable disease, yet making the most of every moment.  He provided inspiration for many as his indomitable spirit and electric personality drew people to him.  He considered himself a messenger of peace and love, and his mother tells the story of his message in Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs.

In spite of his suffering from a rare disorder that caused him to be sicker and sicker throughout his life, dependent on oxygen tanks to live and a wheelchair to get around, Mattie's positive outlook and never-ending inner strength inspired celebrities like Oprah, Larry King, Maya Angelou, Sean Astin, Jimmy Carter, and others who became his friends and mentors.  He wrote several books of poetry which made the best-seller lists, and gave inspirational speeches around the country.  He accomplished more and had a greater impact in his short years (he died before his 14th birthday) than most of us would dream of doing in a lifetime.

Besides his remarkable spirit, his mother's remarkable commitment as a mother stands out, as well.  She suffers from a similar condition, and in fact buried three other children who died as a result of the same condition.  The two of them, scraping by financially (She was in graduate school, and she and her husband had divorced.  She says little about him; I couldn't help but wonder what happened and why he, apparently, provided not a dime of support.) and both of them with high-maintenance medical issues, must have been quite the pair.

This is a sweet story of a great kid and his terrific mom.  But here's where I have to enter some criticism.  First, the story got kind of dull.  In her introduction, she talks about the volumes she could write about Mattie.  Of course she can; she's his mom and is crazy about him.  Would that every parent felt that way about their kids.  But the story just drags at times.  Second, his message of peace and love never seemed to me to be very impressive.  He impressed Jimmy Carter and other world leaders with his message, so there must have been something here.  It just didn't come through for me in the book.  (Of course, I'm not sure anyone every accused Carter of being a genius. . . . .)

I was troubled by his theology, too.  The Stepanek's are faithful Catholics, but I think his priest should have had some talks with him: "Being a good person, [Mattie] said, was what mattered most. . . . The way he saw it, God doesn't fault you for [not embracing religion] when you die if you've lived a life of goodness."  Just the sort of weak spirituality people like Oprah love.

Finally, I have not read his books of poetry, but if the poetry Dr. Stepanek includes in Messenger is indicative of his work, I'm not very impressed.  Surely well above average for a kid his age, but NYT best-seller list good?  It's seems that it's good because of the person behind it, not because of any intrinsic literary value.

Those criticisms aside, there's plenty in Messenger and in Mattie's life to inspire even a curmudgeon like me.  His is a life worth remembering.

The Martian, by Andy Weir

Andy Weir's new novel, The Martian, is one of the best science fiction novels I have read in a long time.  Pick up any sci-fi novel today, and there is a great chance that it will involve some combination of the following: space aliens, alien technology or technology far advanced beyond what is feasible today, some sort of space travel enabling convenient travel between planets either through faster-than-light velocities or some portal or black hole or something, and a speculative future utopia or dystopia.  I don't have a problem with any of these staples of sci-fi.  But one of the reasons The Martian is so refreshing is that it includes none of these elements!

The novel opens with Mark Watney recovering from an accident on the surface of Mars.  The rest of his crew, thinking he had been killed, left him there and headed back to Earth.  He then had to figure out a way to survive until the next Mars mission, some years in the future, would come back for him.  Watney ingeniously uses the resources available to him to grow potatoes, create water, and survive.  His communications were knocked out in the storm that prompted the rest of the crew to abandon the mission, but observers on Earth saw evidence on satellite photos that he had survived and were able to begin working with him.

The realism of The Martian is striking.  The folks at NASA or elsewhere who are making plans to send crews to Mars should read Weir's novel and take notes.  Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Watney, yet his careful preparations and wise use of available materials enabled him to survive.  There are plenty of great sci-fi novels with speculative science and imaginative descriptions of alien worlds and races, along with romance and adventure.  The Martian is a reminder that sci-fi is sometimes a story that is right around the corner.  This fiction could be fact.  This story could become real life, with our children playing the leading role.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!