A Most Wicked Conspiracy: The Last Great Swindle of the Gilded Age

Today’s post is on A Most Wicked Conspiracy: The Last Great Swindle of the Gilded Age by Paul Starobin. It is 320 pages long and is published by Public Affairs. The cover is a picture of the Nome beaches with gold panners and two pictures in the top corners who are Willaim McKinley and Alexander McKenzie. There is mild foul language, no sex, and mild violence in this book. The intended reader is someone who is interested in American history, Alakan gold rush, and true crime. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- A tale of Gilded Age corruption and greed from the frontier of Alaska to the nation's capital.

In the feverish, money-making age of railroad barons, political machines, and gold rushes, corruption was the rule, not the exception. Yet the Republican mogul "Big Alex" McKenzie defied even the era's standard for avarice. Charismatic and shameless, he arrived in the new Alaskan territory intent on controlling gold mines and draining them of their ore. Miners who had rushed to the frozen tundra to strike gold were appalled at his unabashed deviousness.

A Most Wicked Conspiracy recounts McKenzie's plot to rob the gold fields. It's a story of how America's political and economic life was in the grip of domineering, self-dealing, seemingly-untouchable party bosses in cahoots with robber barons, Senators and even Presidents. Yet it is also the tale of a righteous resistance of working-class miners, muckraking journalists, and courageous judges who fought to expose a conspiracy and reassert the rule of law.

Through a bold set of characters and a captivating narrative, Paul Starobin examines power and rampant corruption during a pivotal time in America, drawing undoubted parallels with present-day politics and society.

Review- An interesting account of true crime and gold. Starobin brings the story of an almost forgotten swindle to modern readers. Alexander McKenzie was a self-made man who thought that money would get him out of everything he did, no matter what it was. Starobin did a great job of telling this story, with good notes and he explains the legal aspects of the case so that the reader can follow what exactly McKenzie was doing. He was brazen in his crimes, just believing that nothing could touch him or stop him. So when everything falls apart because of that belief is it very satisfying to read even if I wanted him to get more jail time than he did. If you like historical true crime then you should read this. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 5

Today’s post is on The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 5 by Kousuke Oono. It is 168 pages long and is published by Viz Media. The cover has Tastu on it looking at the reader. As it is the fifth in the series you need to have read the first four volumes to understand the characters. There is no foul language, no sex, and comedic violence in this manga. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the back of the book- Tatsu is ambushed by a yakuza with a beef, and there’s only one way to settle things—an epic rap battle! But this throwdown is only a warm-up for the buffet battle yet to come, because when you’re the Immortal Dragon, you don’t choose the househusband life, it chooses you!

Review- Another wonderful, hilarious volume in one of my favorite series. Tatsu is going about his life and continues to have trouble from his old one. We get a rap battle, a cook off, and some great times with Miku in this volume. Those are my favorite stories from this volume and we get more than one story with Miku. Tatsu and Muki have Halloween together, go drinking, and Miku takes care of Tatsu when he is sick, that one is just hysterical. As always I cannot for the next volume, I love this series so much.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

Over the Woodward Wall

Today’s post is on Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker. It is 204 pages long and is published by Tor. The cover is orange with a wall in the center and two children sitting on top of the wall. The intended reader is someone who likes portal fantasies like Wizard of Oz. It is the first in the The Up-and-Under series. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this novel. The story is told from third person close of the characters moving as the story does. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the dust jacket- Avery is an exceptional child. Everything he does is precise, from the way he washes his face in the morning, to the way he completes his homework – without complaint, without fuss, without prompt.

Zib is also an exceptional child, because all children are, in their own way. But where everything Avery does and is can be measured, nothing Zib does can possibly be predicted, except for the fact that she can always be relied upon to be unpredictable.

They live on the same street.

They live in different worlds.

On an unplanned detour from home to school one morning, Avery and Zib find themselves climbing over a stone wall into the Up and Under – an impossible land filled with mystery, adventure and the strangest creatures.

And they must find themselves and each other if they are to also find their way out and back to their own lives.

Review- As someone who really likes portal fantasies and loves the novels of the Wizard of Oz this was a wonderful novel that I enjoyed very much. Zib and Avery are trying to get to school when a wall stands in their way and because they are children and they need to get to school, they climb over the wall and into another world called the Up-and-Under. It is a place where girls can become crows, owls come in all colors, and the only way to get home is to find the Queen of Wands in the Impossible City on the Improbable Road. The writing is excellent, the story is fun and safe for all readers, and the characters are fun. I am very excited to see Baker a.k.a. Seanan McGuire take on the Wizard of Oz and all the tropes with it, the second volume cannot come out soon enough. 

I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.

The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer

Today’s Nonfiction post is on The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan. It is 341 pages long and is published by Atria Books. The cover is a picture of a deserted beach. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime and memoirs. There is foul language, sex, sexuality, and rape, and lots of violence in this book. The story is told in two parts: first person narrative of Rodman as she remembers her childhood and third person close of Costa. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Growing up on Cape Cod in the 1960s, Liza Rodman was a lonely little girl. During the summers, while her mother worked days in a local motel and danced most nights in the Provincetown bars, her babysitter—the kind, handsome handyman at the motel where her mother worked—took her and her sister on adventures in his truck.

But there was one thing she didn’t know; their babysitter was a serial killer.

Some of his victims were buried—in pieces—right there, in his garden in the woods. Though Tony Costa’s gruesome case made screaming headlines in 1969 and beyond, Liza never made the connection between her friendly babysitter and the infamous killer of numerous women, including four in Massachusetts, until decades later.

Haunted by nightmares and horrified by what she learned, Liza became obsessed with the case. Now, she and cowriter Jennifer Jordan reveal the chilling and unforgettable true story of a charming but brutal psychopath through the eyes of a young girl who once called him her friend. 

Review- An interesting memoir of an abused childhood with a serial killer on the side. Rodman was an adult when she discovered her favorite babysitter was a serial killer and that discovery led her down memory lane. Rodman doesn’t hold back on her past, sparing no one, not herself, not her parents, and not Costa. But I liked the memoir part of this book better. It was a very compelling look at a child surviving a narcissistic parent as the scapegoat. The parts about Costa were well written and well researched but not as drawing to me as Rodman’s story itself. I would like to read more about her and her life after and into the functioning adult she became. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 5

Today’s post is on Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 5 by Megumi Morino. It is 192 pages long and is published by Kodansha Comics. The cover has Shizu smiling into the sunlight on it. As is the fifth in the series you need to have read the first four volumes in the series to understand the story. The intended reader is someone who likes intense, family dramas with some romance on the side. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this series. The story is told from third person of the main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the back of the book- TIES THAT BIND

Every moment spent with friends who care has gradually brought Shizu Karasawa out of her shell. So when her father plots to isolate her in a hospital, Tetsu has no choice but to take Shizu and run. With no place left to go, the two head to the beach where Tetsu's maternal grandfather runs a lodge. But Tetsu's rash decision dredges up a former tragedy that could tear his family apart, and even drive Shizu away… When the Karasawa family's fraught relationships catch up to her, a surprising enemy may become Shizu's most-needed advocate.

Review- This is a very emotional volume with Shizu and Tetsu trying to figure out what to do next. Shizu’s mother is trying to reach out to her daughter but she is afraid of doing something worse to Shizu. Then you add in Shizu’s father who only wants Shizu’s mother to be happy no matter the cost. Some of the family ties are explained and who one of the ghosts that helps Shizu is, that is the big reveal in this volume. Shizu and Tetsu are still unsure of themselves and each other but Shizu is getting stronger and the ghosts can possess her for shorter and shorter times. I think that Tetsu has something to do with that. I am looking forward to how this series is going to wrap up. 

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

Redemption Alley

Today’s post is on Redemption Alley by Lilith Saintcrow. It is 311 pages long and is published by Orbit. The cover is purples with Jill in the center looking tough. As is it the third in the Jill Kismet series, you need to have read the first two in the series to understand what is going on. There is foul language, no sex, and lots of violence in this volume. The story is told from first person close of Jill. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Some cases are unusual - even for Jill Kismet.

When her police contact asks her to look into a "suicide", she suddenly finds herself in a labyrinth of deception, drugs, murder -- and all-too-human corruption. The cops are her allies, except for the ones who want her dead. The hellbreed are her targets, except for the ones who might know what's going on. Her city is in danger, time is running out, and each lead only draws her deeper.

How far will a hunter go when her city -- and her friends -- are on the line?

Just far enough.

Step into Redemption Alley…

Review- A very fast paced action novel that shows Jill at her best, when she is neck deep in trouble and demons. Jill is on her own as Saul’s mother is dying and he had to go home for that. Of course that’s when things start to go down but not in the normal way for Jill. Her police contact asks a favor from Jill and at first nothing seems like it has to do with the nightside but the deeper Jill gets, the more the nightside shows up. One interesting choice from Saintcrow is that that demon Perry, who Jill has a deal with, is only in one scene and that’s all. That makes this volume all the more interesting to me, as Perry overshadowed the other villains in previous volumes. I think this volume might be my favorite but I haven’t finished the series yet, so that could change. A solid volume and I look forward to the next adventure with Jill. 

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this novel with my own money. 

Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds

Today’s Nonfiction post is on Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds by Nancy Moses. It is 195 pages long including notes and is published by Rowmen and Littlefield. The cover is a white page with a tear on the left side and the title in red. The intended reader is someone who is interested in fakes, forgeries, and frauds. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- A fascinating read about fakes, forgeries, and frauds. What's real? What's fake? Why do we care? In this time of false news and fake science, these questions are more important than ever. Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds goes beyond the headlines, tweets, and blogs to explore the true nature of authenticity and why it means so much today. This book delivers nine fascinating true stories that introduce the fakers, forgers, art authenticators, and others that populate this dark world. 

Examples include: 

Shakespeare--How an enterprising teenager in the 1790s faked Shakespeare and duped Literary London. 

Rembrandt--How art history, connoisseurship, and science are re-shaping our view of what Rembrandt painted and how the canvas changed over time. 

Relics--Was Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music, a real Roman teenager who was martyred 1,800 years ago in the same place where her church stands today? 

Jackson Pollock--How do experts pick out the real Pollocks from the thousands of fakes? Nuremberg--How repeated reconstructions of medieval Nuremburg--including one by Adolf Hitler--show how historic preservation became a tool for propaganda. 

Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds also raises provocative questions about the meaning of reality. What happens when spiritual truth conflicts with historic fact? Can an object retain its essence when most of it was replaced? Why did some art patrons value an excellent copy more than the original? Why do we find fakes so eternally fascinating, and forgers such appealing con artists? 

Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds is a full-color book with 30 color photos. It shows that reality, exemplified by discrete physical objects, is actually mutable, unsettling, and plainly weird. Readers discover things that are less than meets the eye--and might even reconsider what's real, what's fake, and why they should care.

Review- An excellent and interesting look into what makes something ‘real’ and what makes something else a ‘fake’. Moses is knowledgeable about her subject, she has great research, and she is a good writer. She does so much to help the reader understand the language used by museum directors, art critics, and others in very narrow and particular jobs. Her notes are interesting and great if you have found a subject you want to learn more about. I really had a fun time with this book and I would like to read more by this author.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.