Hi all,
Multiple links to full-length professional reviews of the following
books released in the US have been added to http://www.reviewsofbooks.com
in the last week:
"Boomsday" by Christopher Buckley - "Boomsday" is set in the near
future when the Baby Boomers retire, incurring a huge load on the
federal budget. 27-year old Cassandra Devine is fed up paying the
extra taxes, and angry at her aged father for personal issues, so she
writes in her blog that the government should provide tax breaks and
free vacations to retirees who agree to commit suicide when they turn
75. It's a controversial idea that spawns riots, demonstrations (the
Boomers take to their golf courses), and attracts the attention of
politicians who want to use the idea for personal gain. Congressman
Randy Jepperson figures it can lead him to the White House. Her idea
becomes mangled and altered as everyone seeks to use it to their own
advantage, and Wa****ngton D.C. is in its usual tizzy of hubris,
arrogance, and self-congratulation. Christopher Buckley's novel has
received mostly positive reviews with the New York Times saying, "this
satire combines the serious and the ridiculous with dead-on aplomb."
Excerpt and all reviews are at:
http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/boomsday
"Jamestown" by Matthew Sharpe - "Jamestown" is set in a dystopian
future when Manhattan and Brooklyn are at war with each other. The
Manhattan Corp. sends a group of men in an armored bus down I-95 to
Virginia where they hope to find food and oil to replenish their
wartime supplies. Arriving in Jamestown, they find strange natives
"of a reddish hue" who aren't too friendly. The Manhattanites
communications specialist, Johnny Rolfe, is enamored of the ***y and
bawdy Pocahontas, while the bus' mechanic, Jack Smith, tries to keep
his head about him. Rolfe narrates most of the novel via letters, e-
mails, IMs he shares with the Indians' leader's daughter. It's an
anachronistic struggle where the 21st century technology could be
trumped by a 17th-century civilization. Matthew Sharpe's novel has
received mostly positive reviews with the Wa****ngton Post saying,
"'Jamestown' is packed with marvelous material, moving and funny and
deeply provocative."
All reviews are at:
http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/jamestown
Happy reading!
Bill - administrator of http://www.reviewsofbooks.com
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