Review: Doctor's Orders

Doctor's Orders by Diane Duane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

he story focuses on Doctor McCoy reluctantly taking the helm of the Enterprise while Captain Kirk joins the away team on a newly discover planet where he subsequently disappears. There is a lot to like about this book. The author builds a strange world with three evolved species, all of them completely original and fascinating. The character portrayals are picture perfect – Bones is sarcastic and irritable, and Spock is officious and pedantic. It’s no surprise that commanding the star ship turns out to be far more complex and dangerous than expected when Kirk disappears and Klingons and space pirates pose deadly threats. This is one of the top Star Trek books that I’ve read and on the Star Trek book scale I give it five stars.

View all my reviews

Review: Million Dollar Murder

Million Dollar Murder by Edward Ronns
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very early Gold Medal from 1950, their tenth paperback original release, and the characteristics of the imprint are already fully formed with murder, mayhem, sex, and breakneck pacing. Boat designer Sam is summoned by to a reclusive island by his shady brother, who happened to marry Nora, the woman that Sam is in love with. The rich fellow that seems to own the island employs his brother and Nora, a thuggish servant, and he has a mysterious and attractive single girl living on the island too. The story opens with Sam finding a tortured and near death man on a boat, but is shortly beaten unconscious before he can report it. Revived by the girl in her cabin he soon finds that no one believes his story of the tortured man and Sam is forced to dig deeper leading to a missing million dollars, murders, betrayals, and some devious plot twists. Another winner in the Gold Medal tradition and I give it four solid stars.

View all my reviews

Review: Queen of the Panther World

Queen of the Panther World by Berkeley Livingston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A whimsical fantasy adventure with the weird inclusion of the author writing himself into the story as the hero. Berleley and his buddy meet a beautiful and mysterious woman at the zoo of all places and then are transported to the woman's world where her tribe lead by women riding panthers and are in a battle with a tribe lead by men who ride lizards. Several capture/escape set pieces drive the narrative and the women are aided by Berk and his friend who have the strength of several men. Not surprisingly the bosom buddies fall in love with a couple of beauties and pledge their honor in the ensuing battles. The author breaks the third wall referencing his submission deadlines and magazine publisher Ray Palmer, and several 1940s pop culture observations. Silly and fun in the tradition of the fantasy pulps of the times, I give this one three stars.

View all my reviews

Review: Portrait of a Dead Heiress

Portrait of a Dead Heiress by Thomas B. Dewey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The eleventh book in Dewey’s excellent Mac series finds the PI back in Chicago investigating an dubious suicide. The cast of characters include a heart-broken and shady doctor, a gay alcoholic artist, a corrupt cop, and young woman who works for a shifty retailer in a poor urban district. Dialog is colorful and concise showcasing Mac’s detection and interviewer skills. Interesting perspective on abortion in the pre-Roe v. Wade era , a plot point that is handled discreetly, being a somewhat taboo subject in it’s time. The dialog and complex plotting are the strengths of this short novel, although the murder motive felt a bit contrived. Of all of the bevy of paperback original private eye series of the ‘50s and ‘60s I would rank Dewey’s Mac as my favorite. Another solid entry.

View all my reviews