The Charlatan's Boy, by Jonathan Rogers

In the tradition of Southern fiction, Jonathan Rogers, a child of the South, writes The Charlatan's Boy.  Set in the fiction land of Corenwald, which Rogers models after his own Georgia homeland, Grady is the charlatan's boy, who has lived with Floyd (the "perfesser"), a traveling showman who has tried a variety of tricks, displays, and miracle cures to gain copper coins from unsuspecting townspeople.  But his most successful scheme is showing off his feechie boy, who, of course, is simply Grady covered in mud and acting like an animal.  Grady and Floyd create a mythology of feechies, supposedly the native peoples who lived in Corenwald before the civilized people came to settle there.

Told from the perspective of Grady, with colloquial speech resembling an American Southern bumpkin, this is a fun story of a foundling trying to discover himself.  He has no idea where he came from, who his parents might have been, and whether he has a place in the world.  Floyd, unfortunately, is full of stories and tall tales, and little helpful information.

There is potential here for exploration of deeper themes which Rogers only--barely--hints at.  Rogers leaves such exploration solely to the reader.  Thus, The Charlatan's Boy can be read on a variety of levels, and is entertaining and fun no matter how deep you want the message of the book to be.

Seconds to Live, by Susan Sleeman

Veteran novelist Susan Sleeman has started a new series with her character Taylor Mills, a U.S. Marshall with the Witness Protection Program.  In Seconds to Live, a hacker has stolen lists of all the protectees' personal information and put it for sale on the dark web.  Hundreds of lives are in danger, including many under Taylor's personal protection.  Given the scope of the threat, an FBI team comes in to assist Taylor's unit.

Taylor's life becomes much more interesting when the head of the FBI unit shows up--it's her friend Sean, whom she's never met face-to-face, but with whom she's had a long online friendship.  They found each other as confidants who, given their similar lines of work, could be trusted to bounce ideas off of, share frustrations, and give and receive encouragement.  Of course, each is instantly smitten with the other.  She's gorgeous, and he's a hunk.  Throughout the book, you know they're going to get together, but they are constantly trying not to, as they want to preserve their friendship, they live on opposite coasts, they don't want to be distracted from their work, etc.

Woven through their romance is a decent suspense story.  They and their teams are tracking this hacker, rooting out betrayal within their own ranks, and trying to protect their witnesses agains all odds.  It's a fun story and Sleeman keeps us guessing about where it's going.  Sleeman's stock in trade is the suspense romance.  This is the first book of hers I've read, so I only have other book covers to compare.  I suspect (based superficially on the covers, by which I'm not supposed to judge a book) that Seconds to Live is less romance-oriented than her other books.  But it was romance-y enough to detract from the story for me.  Everyone's a fashion model, the lead characters have this heart-pounding electricity between them all the time.  Overall, I enjoyed it, and I appreciate the fact the main characters are Christians who take their faith seriously enough to discuss it with each other and pray about their jobs.  But for the reading experience, I will take Lee Child or Vince Flynn for a more substantial helping of action and suspense.

We are Called to Be a Movement, by William J. Barber II

In 2017, William J. Barber II preached a sermon that is even more relevant today than it was then.  Published in book form as We are Called to Be a Movement, Barber evokes Martin Luther King, Jr., continuing his tradition of prophetic preaching.  As MLK's followers know, at the time of his death, King was broadening his appeal from racial equality to efforts to lift the poor.  Barber points out that "Jesus's reconstruction project begins with good news to the poor and the brokenhearted and the bruised and the battered and all of those made to feel like they are not accepted.  Jesus is explicit in his commitment to begin with the rejected."

Barber calls on Americans to reconsider the foundations of American culture and economy that have led to disparity.  "I love America because of her potential.  But I know that America will never complete the work of reconstruction--will never even get close to being a more perfect union--until we are honest about her past and the politics of rejection."  

Barber draws from the Old Testament prophetic tradition, but draws almost as deeply from politically left-leaning talking points.  He's doing good work with the Poor People's Campaign, and (I assume) preaching the gospel regularly, but I'd like to see less partisanship, less liberalism, and more Jesus.

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

False Alarm, by Bjorn Lomborg

Bjorn Lomborg made waves in 1990s with The Skeptical Environmentalist, bucking against the conventional wisdom of environmental alarmists.  His new book False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet updates this message.  Global warming and environmental issues are not easy issues, but Lomborg has a rather simple message.

First of all, Lomborg is not a "climate change denier" who hates science and rejects the mainstream scientific consensus that the earth is warming.  His message is this: "climate change is real," and "global warming is mostly caused by humans," but "fears of a climate apocalypse are unfounded.  Global warming is real, but it is not the end of the world."

Lomborg wants scientists and their willing accomplices in the press to dial back the panic, and put in place policies and strategies that will actually address problems related to global warming, not waste money trying to reduce carbon emissions.  Most policies designed to address carbon emissions are exceedingly costly with minimal impact on temperature change.  For example, on the question of rising ocean levels and the risk of low-lying areas being permanently flooded, Lomborg argues that the cost of building dikes and flood control measures is minuscule compared to losses from any potential flooding.  Similarly, when a drought or famine occurs, many will respond by calling on reduced carbon emissions to address warming, but the impact of those measures is insignificant, and a much smaller investment can address poverty and food production in affected areas.

But the larger point is that the alarmists are simply wrong about the impact of global warming.  "Deaths caused by climate-related disasters have declined precipitously over the past century."  "Is extreme weather causing more damage to human life?  The answer is a resounding no."  "The incidence of flooding is not on the rise, nor is there any evidence that global warming has led to more floods."  And when the media and scientists promote an alarmist perspective, it "leads to policies that while well intentioned, crowd out much more effective ways of helping people."

The ways we have tried to address climate change have not been effective.  Lomborg concludes that "today's popular climate change policies of rolling out solar panels and wind turbines have insidious effects; they push up energy costs, hurt the poor, cut emissions ineffectively, and put us on an unsustainable pathway where taxpayers are eventually likely to revolt.  Instead, we need to invest in innovation, smart carbon taxes, R&D into geoengineering, and adaptation."  His perspective also places the human condition at the center.  "We can improve the human condition far more by opening the world to free trade, ending tuberculosis, and ensuring access to nutrition, contraception, health, education, and technology."

Lomborg rejects mainstream responses to global warming while accepting the mainstream view that global warming is a real, man-made problem with serious consequences.  He just wants the scientific and public policy decision makers to stop and examine the costs and benefits of policies they promote.  To many are costly and ineffective.  To him, the problem is not simply that resources are being wasted, but that diverting funds from "opportunities we have to improve life for billions of people" is "morally wrong."  I wish I had confidence that U.S. political and thought leaders shared this perspective.

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

Nissan Z, by Pete Evanow

When I went to college in the 80's, my dad generously sent me away with his silver 1979 280ZX.  I loved that car.  So it was with a sense of nostalgia that I perused Pete Evenow's Nissan Z: 50 Years of Exhilarating Performance.  He covers some of the same ground (obviously) as his 2005 book Z: 35 Years of Nissan's Sports Car, but there's plenty new material and photos here for the enthusiast to be enthused about.

Evanow covers the history of the company, the introduction of the Z car, the evolution of the models up to the current manifestation, the 370Z, and the worlds of racing and hobbyists.  The best part of the book was the nostalgia, seeing the older models and the other non-Z Datsun products (just the name Datsun is a bit nostalgic!).  I must say, while the 370Z is a car I would not turn down if it were gifted to me, the look is a bit generic and doesn't match up to the character of the 240/260/280 models.

Fans of the Z cars through the years will want to get a copy of this--but be careful--your next stop will be the Nissan dealer or autotrader.com. . . .

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

Dot Con, by James Veitch

Have you ever gotten and spam email and thought, "What if I reply?"  Probably not; you probably just delete those emails with annoyance.  James Veitch became famous for his TED talk and media appearances talking about his extended conversations with spammers.  In Dot Con: The Art of Scamming a Scammer he captures the transcripts of some of his exchanges with spammers.

Some of these conversations are laugh-out-loud funny.  It's amazing how long he can keep some of these scammers engaged.  Most of the examples are typical "you can get this great wealth if you first wire me some money" scams.  What makes the book fun is Veitch's goofy responses.  Do his correspondents fail to catch his sarcasm and humor because of the language differences?  Cultural differences?  Or are they simply blinded by their excitement that someone is finally writing them back?  Probably a combination of all of that.

Veitch is very funny, stringing them along as long as he can, and we get to see the results.  Maybe we can even be inspired to follow his example.

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

Get a taste of his humor with his TED talks: https://www.ted.com/speakers/james_veitch

Darkship Thieves, by Sarah A. Hoyt

Sarah A. Hoyt has written mysteries, fantasies, and historical fiction, but has perhaps seen her greatest success in sci-fi.  Darkship Thieves is the first of what has turned out to be a 5-book series.  She dedicates the book to Robert A. Heinlein and writes in his tradition.  It's a space opera that spans the solar system, with human civilization fractured and developing on separate tracks. 

Centuries ago, starting in the 21st, bioengineering developed to the point that humans had created their own masters.  Many revolted against the presence of these superior humans, and drove them off-planet.  They established a colony, Eden, on a distant asteroid and cut off all communication with Earth.  However, the Edenites still have to come back to the vicinity of Earth in their darkships to steal energy pods. 

When one of these darkships picks up Athena, an aristocratic teenage from Earth, the pilot's only choice is to take her back to Eden.  As she adjusts to life on Eden, and eventually falls in love with her rescuer, the worlds of Earth and Eden become mixed.  The newlyweds return to get energy pods and end up back in the grips of her controlling father.  She has to choose between her new and old lives, and sacrifice to get her husband back to Eden.

Hoyt writes memorable characters, builds richly detailed worlds, creates an interesting technological future, and, most importantly, tells a great story.  Darkship Theives won the 2011 Prometheus Award for Best Libertarian SF Novel.  On Eden, there are no laws, but generally agreed upon cultural norms.  Back on Earth, there are a few Usaids, people who remember the old United States.  (Athena amusingly refers to the stars and stripes as the symbol of the Usaids's male deity.  A green, robed figure represents the female deity.)  Darkship Thieves is a fun, fast-paced escape.