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for those of you who are fans of carl hiaasen's peculiar brand of humour, you'll be happy to know that today is his birthday. hiaasen was born in plantation, florida (1953). he's had a weekly column forThe Miami Herald since 1985 and he's written several murder mysteries set in florida, including chomp and star island.
BOOKS:
and if you are a fan of sandra brown's novels, you'll be happy to hear me say that her new one, lethal, is a keeper. maybe that's a slight exaggeration. unless you are loaded with shelf space, most mysteries should be passed on to other aficionados, not kept. brown has written sixty novels. lethal is not the best, but it's up there.
lethal is not a particularly original story. lee coburn, the man accused by the bad guys of killing seven people in cold blood is really a good guy, is on the run in louisiana, takes (not quite kidnaps) honor gillette and emily, her four-year old daughter, with him, and falls in love with both of them, while numerous police forces are looking for him. but it is fast paced and well written. the police forces range from local authorities to the f.b.i. , from honest detectives to those heavily on the take.
the identity of the 'bookkeeper,' the leader of the bad guys, would come as a surprise, except that person is about the only one left standing by the end of the novel, so who else could it be?
i lost count of all of the killings and attempted killings by knives, guns and explosions, but most of the victims were bad guys anyway. ms. brown also gives us at least three strong romances: one ends in death; one ends in discovery; and the main one is left hanging, but you and i know that it will all work out well.
although the novel is 472 pages, it is a fast read. it was published by grand central publishing. you'll enjoy it.
WRITING HINTS:
in my last blog, i talked about taking time to re-read your work. some writers tell me that in the work place, they do not have the luxury of being able to wait until tomorrow to look at a document with fresh eyes. been there; done that. here's the solution, get up and walk around the office. can't do that either? get a cup of coffee. not that either? for pete's sake go to the men's room or women's. those tough bosses must allow for some kind of a break. when you come back re-read your document, if you can, stand up and read it out loud. i guarantee, you'll see it differently.
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