The Queen of Bedlam by Robert McCammon

The Queen of Bedlam
by Robert McCammon
Pocket Books, 2007
978-1-4165-7157-5
eBook, 655 pages
Historical Fiction/Mystery

Buy Now at Amazon.com
Buy Now at Amazon.ca


It’s 1702 and Matthew Corbett has been working as a personal secretary to Magistrate Nathaniel Powers of New York. When his employer suddenly announces he is retiring and sends the young man on an arranged job interview, Matthew realizes he has allowed himself to become complacent about his future. A growing town of approximately 5,000 people, the promise represented by New York is being considered by many: businessmen, financiers, politicians and criminals. Matthew now realizes he will have to do the same. So, when he’s offered a position with the Herrald Agency, perhaps the first private investigators to set up shop in the Colonies, Matthew recognizes it as a serious opportunity for which he is well suited.

(For those of you who don’t know, Matthew Corbett was introduced in 2002 in a two-volume suspense novel called Speaks The Nightbird. Working as a scrivener-apprentice to Isaac Woodward, a magistrate in Carolina, the two men came to the village of Fount Royal to investigate the charges against Rachel Howarth, who apparently was a witch who killed her husband, a man of the cloth. No one but Matthew believed the woman innocent, and he had to single-handedly solve the murder in order to save Rachel from burning at the stake.)

Now, as Matthew Corbett embarks on his new career, he has three more mysteries to solve…

1. Discover the identity of the fiend New York’s printer of the Earwig (A 2 page rag that passes for a newspaper) has dubbed The Masker. Matthew was intent on solving this particular puzzle even before becoming a detective. But he’s given extra incentive by the widow of one of the victims, who offers him 10 shillings to track down the killer. His new employer is also interested in how Matthew will perform with respect to such a dangerous case.

2. Prove that  Eben Ausley, the headmaster of the local orphanage, has been abusing boys for many years. Matthew spent his childhood at this institution and knows the man is a monster.

3. Complete an agency job which requires that he and his new mentor, Hudson Greathouse, discover the identity of a long-time mental patient known only as The Queen Of Bedlam.

Using the tools of his time, Matthew unwittingly chases after a criminal mastermind so foul one can almost sense the detective will fail. And as we follow our hero through a cast of interesting characters (Matthew’s new mentor, Hudson Greathouse, who is what we, today, would call a mercenary; Zed, the hulking, tongueless slave who works for the city’s strange coroner; even the new Governor, who dresses in women’s clothing in deference to his cousin the Queen), McCammon also paints us a vivid picture what it must have been like to be at the birth of a new century and her greatest city.

I’ve read all four books in the Matthew Corbett series, and I have to say The Queen of Bedlam is my favourite. Robert McCammon takes three seemingly unrelated crimes and turns them into a sinister operation of epic proportions (and makes it seem easy to do). Dropped into the middle of this nightmare is the refreshing hero, Matthew Corbett, who is such a perfectly drawn character he has become a good friend to me. Now, add in meticulous and often surprising descriptions of New York city in its infancy and you have an historical novel of suspense like none other.

The reader will have great fun as McCammon masterfully weaves the many threads of his mystery, creates a fictional world with great skill and still manages to keep some of the playfulness you can find in some of his earlier works. Perhaps the reader will also be excited about the recent release of the fourth Corbett novel, Mister Slaughter.


Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2010

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

Too Much Happiness
by Alice Munro
McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
2009
ISBN: 978-0-7710-6529-3
303 pages
Hardcover
Fiction/Short Stories

Buy Now at Amazon.ca
Buy Now at Amazon.com


I was first introduced to Alice Munro (B. 1931) when her short story “Thanks for the Ride” appeared in a 1977 collection entitled Modern Stories in English. Her story not only stood side by side with the likes of Fitzgerald and Faulkner, Greene and Hemingway and even D.H Lawrence, it stood out as one of the best in the collection.

The characters in Munro’s story were all bound within specific roles or stereotypes. Some accepted who they were; others railed against reality: none seemed happy about where life had placed them. In fact, the way these characters dealt with how they had been defined made for some interesting reading.

Fast forward 32 years to Munro’s new collection of short stories entitled Too Much Happiness. Munro is still dealing with the idea of women (and sometimes men) fighting against roles in which they have been cast or in which they have created themselves. But with the maturing of her talent and the honing of her skills, the author now has the ability to show us internal and external battles of extreme subtlety or of great clarity and power. Nothing is avoided. No stone will be left unturned. Too Much Happiness is a mirror we should all peer into at least once.

Dimensions

What would you do if everything you were was wrapped up in the dynamics of your family, and that whole, which was you, was taken away by the most horrifying means possible? How would you begin to find yourself again, or, perhaps, create a new you? Could you even manage to find something to live for? In what dimension would the terrible realities of your past life congeal with the now and mark a new beginning in such a way that you could look back and say “It was here that I began to live again.”

In “Dimensions,” Alice Munro takes us inside the head of a woman who has been broken in every way but who refuses to give up her right to continue to live and to choose how she does that. A visceral piece, “Dimensions” is a wonderful example of talent in the hands of a master craftsperson. This story resonates with me in a way I recognize as being unique, and while it also reminds me of the short piece I mentioned earlier, “Thanks for the Ride,” there is so much more power and clarity. The piece is terrific!

Fiction

“Fiction” is a story much harder to define. Truthfully, I’m not sure I got it. I lay awake in the wee hours of this morning trying to put my finger on what it was that I was missing.

It appears “Fiction” hinges on a short story written by the now adult daughter (Christie) of the woman who stole the main character’s (Joyce) first husband. In reading the story, Joyce finds herself painted as a distant, if not uncaring, teacher who uses a child’s love for her own purposes. Christie relates how her Thursday music lessons were hell or heaven based on how her performance was received; there was no recognition by Joyce of the child’s obvious affection. Worse are the sporadic questions about the child’s life with Joyce’s former husband. Christie, as a child, did not recognize what was taking place, but Christie the adult sees quite clearly. This is all explained in Christie’s short story, but what starts out as disillusionment and heartbreak is turned inside out by the author as she reflects with amazement that a wonderful love could come from a situation of such unhappiness. Christie has broken free of the emotional role Joyce had helped to cast, and while Joyce recognizes this and tries to make some sort of amends (or, perhaps, a breakthrough of her own), Christie not only doesn’t recognize her, Joyce is too afraid to step out of the idea of who she is to make the contact she desires.

Once again, we have Munro playing on the theme of the roles women are often forced to play (Or are they? she questions) and how they deal with them internally and externally.

Complicated but interesting.

Wenlock Edge

This is a horrifying little story about a bright, female college student who is saddled with a strange room-mate. Fascinated by the story of the room-mate’s unusual life, the student somehow allows herself to be invited to the home of an elderly man (who is an acquaintance of the room-mate) for dinner. Upon arrival, however, the girl is told to do something shocking. Is it the surprise or something fundamental in her make-up that results in her acquiescence? I believe the story answers this question in a powerful and unsettling way, providing the reader with more proof that Alice Munro writes with a sharp pen.

Deep-Holes

I believe the title of this story is a metaphor.

It begins with a young boy literally falling into a hole, then, as he recovers from his injuries, his mother unwittingly shows him how the world contains many holes (islands most people don’t even know exist). Later, dropping out of University, the young man applies this idea to careers, opting to work and live in the holes between people who have become the suits or skins they must wear for the work they do. And finally, many years later, having shed everything, including his own personality, he spends his days on the street or in his squatter commune being in the moment for others who need him.

The irony here is that while the boy turned his back on those family members who already loved and needed him, and while he also denies the contributions he could have made through his intellect, at perhaps the final crossroad with his family (his mother), he shows a hypocritical willingness to accept some of his father’s legacy (money) to help others, while still ignoring his own mother’s simple need to have him in her life. The hole he’s fallen into this time is so deep she would have to step out of her own skin to rescue him. In the end, the only hope she’s left with is that she might, over time, find a hole/island/skin in which she can experience her own clear-sighted contentment.

Free Radicals

A free radical is an atom or group of atoms that has at least one unpaired electron and is therefore unstable and highly reactive.

Nita, is 62 years old, newly widowed and putting everything she has into the mental challenge of redefining herself—from a happily married, terminally ill cancer victim to… what? It wouldn’t be a stretch to define her as a free radical.

When Nita becomes the victim of a home invasion (one might also define the criminal as a free radical), the unstable and highly reactive state in which she currently exists allows her to not only redefine herself in order to avoid being killed, she actually becomes someone else.

When the ordeal is over, the woman is finally able to realize how much she misses her husband, which is, of course, the first step toward the new definition of herself that she was looking for.

An interesting, entertaining tale which received the perfect title.

Face

A boy who is born with a port-wine birthmark covering most of the left side of his face is shunned by his father, over-protected by his mother and loved by the daughter of his father’s mistress. The first two situations contrive to destroy the relationship the boy has with the girl in such a simple, foolish and permanent manner that the boy doesn’t realize her’s was the only true friendship of his life, one where his birthmark was celebrated rather than avoided.

It is not until late in his life that a strange meeting (most likely with the girl) partially awakens the man to his great loss and prompts him to retain his childhood home in homage to what happened there. Does this event change him in some fundamental way? No. Is he happier? No. In this one thing only, the man manages to step beyond the constraints of who he is to save something of what he once was and once had.

Some Women

In a tale set just after WWII in Southern Ontario, four women are satellites in orbit around a man who has leukemia. In those days, a leukemia victim went to bed and stayed there until he or she died. There were no other options.

The narrator begins the story by remembering her first job, at age 13. She is to cater to young Mr. Crozier (the leukemia victim) while his wife works as a teacher 2 days per week. Part of the girl’s routine is to avoid Old Mrs. Crozier who, at first, seems to be determinedly nasty. The third influence within the small universe that is the grand old Crozier House is a masseuse named Roxanne. She, for whatever reason, amuses Old Mrs. Crozier. Hired to administer to the old woman, Roxanne also manages to insert herself into the regular care of young Mr. Crozier. Then, of course, there’s young Mrs. Crozier who exists on a plain above them all—at least in her mind.

The story is an interesting look at the roles all these women play, as seen from the point of view of the teenager as an old woman herself, especially when the dynamics begun because of young Mr. Crozier’s situation cease to be about him and more about a power struggle between the three older women.

Much too subtle to for me to try to explain further, one must experience this story for themselves.

Child’s Play

Alice Munro upset me with this story. It concerns the thoughts and actions (again) of an older woman reflecting on her experience with a neighbouring child who endlessly tried to be her friend. The problem is that the girl is “special” and frightens the narrator. The childhood part of the story takes place at a time when people with a mental disability are not described in today’s politically correct ways, nor are they regularly integrated with people of their own age.

One might explain away the happenings in the story by saying that children of the time just didn’t know better, that they hadn’t been exposed to such people or taught how to build relationships with them. Yet, if the reader pays attention to the narrator’s choice of words, a picture forms of an adult who has not fundamentally changed with the times. She definitely hasn’t accepted responsibility for her horrific actions, and it turned my stomach.

Wood

Roy, an upholsterer and refinisher of furniture, has developed a love of cutting firewood. His awareness of each type of tree and its characteristics and possible idiosyncracies are his secret pleasure. He doesn’t think anyone else will understand. And now, with his wife slipping away into some sort of vague illness, Roy can devote more time than ever to his pastime.

See if you can figure Roy out. I know guys just like him. And, I wonder, what is Alice Munro trying to say about this fellow? Is it something as simple as a man who is otherwise content with his life stumbling onto a thing so ordinary yet life-changing that he can’t speak of it, or is it, like the men I mentioned, who don’t speak of their love for wood (or other natural materials) because discussing something that for these uncomplicated men comes so close to religion would surely diminish the thing (and also embarrass them).

Too Much Happiness

Sophia Kovalevsky is a real person who lived in the late 1800’s. She was a brilliant mathematician and the first woman University professor in her field in Europe (Stockholm).

A Russian by birth, Sophia appears to have travelled extensively throughout Europe.

Alice Munro’s story about Sophia takes place near the end of the remarkable woman’s life and is full of reflection. By writing the story in this manner, Munro is able to exhibit her tendency to write about the various roles women have been expected to play in our culture and how they deal with what I would call “psychological imprisonment” in a very clear and somewhat poignant manner. In a way, the novella “Too Much Happiness” is the best example of Munro’s work in the collection. I see two reasons for this… First, the author is somewhat constricted by the facts of Kovalevsky’s life, leaving her one main avenue in which to promote her theme: Sophia’s thoughts and words. Second, the extra length of the work allows the reader to experience the different walls (internal and external) Kovalevsky runs into or is confined by.

The piece is really quite interesting from an historical perspective, as well as in a literary way.

Summary

In 2005, Time Magazine included Alice Munro on a list of the world’s one hundred most influential people. Read a few of Munro’s books, and it becomes easy to understand the choice. An individual would have to be awfully close minded or, perhaps, half asleep to emerge from a collection like Too Much Happiness unchanged.


Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2010

Show No Fear by Marliss Melton

Show No Fear
by Marliss Melton
Forever, Hachette Book Group
Sep 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-50927-5
Mass Market Paperback
292 pages
Romantic Suspense

Buy Now at Amazon.com
Buy Now at Amazon.ca


Lucy Donovan is somewhat of a CIA legend. It seems there’s no risk she won’t take to complete her mission. However, after being captured and tortured on her last field operation, Lucy is diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and ends up behind a desk for several months. Anxious to get back into the fray and to prove to herself and everyone she works with that PTSD is no longer an issue, Lucy is thrilled to be assigned to a UN team headed to Bogotá charged with the task of recovering two American prisoners from that country’s home-grown terrorists. If the team can’t manage the task through negotiations, she’ll rescue the men her way. Except…

Lucy, who always works alone, is saddled with a jungle-savvy Navy Seal by the name of Gus. They are to go into Bogotá undercover as a married couple who are actual UN team-members. Their job? Identify the camp where the captives are being held so that a Seal team can extract them and find out what’s going on with the suddenly silent and mysterious terrorist organization named FARC. And things get worse: it turns out that Gus is her college lover, who she dumped (after surviving a bombing) in favour of fighting terrorists. Neither of them ever resolved their feelings for each other.

As they are thrown into forced intimacy and as the pressure of the work builds, the two give in to the obvious passion they still share. Lucy is determined to show none of the fear she’s trying to deal with, and Gus is determined to show her, through their unusual partnership, that she needs to embrace life instead of putting her’s continually on the line because of survivor guilt and the need to fight her own fears.

Show No Fear is an interesting romance packaged within the framework of a convincing CIA extraction. Author Marliss Melton has done her homework and weaves a believable tale of political intrigue and terrorism set in the mountainous jungle just outside of Bogotá. Strange and unexpected situations involving the rebels (FARC), the Columbian army, and elite, American trained Venezuelan soldiers escalate the danger level of the mission to a point where both agents must fight for their lives.

This is only the 4th or 5th novel I’ve read by a woman author who weaves tales about romance in the midst of war. All of these novels have an added element of emotion, a depth, to what could just as easily have been traditional and convincing action or suspense novels. Are the stories better or worse for the added dimension? No, I would say they are simply different.

If you enjoy good suspense, lots of action, plenty of plot twists and realistic romance, then Marliss Melton’s Show No Fear is for you. I’m sure you’ll also be pleased to know there are 6 other books in this “Navy Seals” series.

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2010

MURDER OF AN AMERICAN NAZI–A different kind of fiction

I’m reading a 1,000 page novel this week, so I’m going to recycle a review I did for an acquaintance of mine. If you are a reader of historical fiction, this book should be on your shelf!


MURDER OF AN AMERICAN NAZI
By Tim Fleming
Eloquent Books, 2008
240 pp., $29.95, Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-606-93401-2
Historical Fiction

Buy Now at Amazon.com
Buy Now at Amazon.ca


Timothy Fleming claims to have spent a lifetime researching the CIA’s impact on post-World War II America. His blog, Left of the Looking Glass seems to back up that statement. But it’s his book, MURDER OF AN AMERICAN NAZI, that makes me believe it’s true.

Reading like a documentary or a piece of non-fiction, Fleming’s historical novel reveals an America that we’ve all seen hints of but never want to believe could exist. Here is a story full of real world people, events and CIA operations anyone can discover on the net—if they have the right names, places and code names, all of which Fleming gives us. It’s a story about an American shadow government made up of greedy conglomerates, CIA enforcers and Nazi recruits.

Woven throughout the eerie tale is the life of one Marie Hannah Kanermann. Born in Dachau (a German concentration camp) as it is liberated by the Allies and raised in the U.S. by the friend of her dead mother, Marie grows up fighting the secret government with words and actions.

Both her story and that of America after World War II unfold through the words of a retired cop, Don Hayes, as he tells one of his friends about the murder that never was: the death of ex-Nazi and CIA operative Walter Dornberger.

Impeccably written, Timothy Fleming’s novel feels just too real to be fiction. Perhaps it’s the sparseness of dialogue. Maybe it’s the fact most of the people mentioned in the book really existed. Could be that I’ve seen one too many American wars started for falsely stated reasons. All I can tell you is that if you can wade through the complex strings of accusations laid out in the first half of the book, you won’t be able to put it down through the second half.

MURDER OF AN AMERICAN NAZI is a book meant to make you think. My opinion is it will also keep you from sleeping.

Hell of a job, Mr. Fleming.

Copyright © 2009 by Clayton Bye

The Knights of Black Chapter by Ken Bourne-Turner

The Knights of Black Chapter
by Ken Bourne-Turner
Printed by Lulu
Paperback/eBook
356 pages
ISBN: 9780955993602
Thriller

Buy now from Amazon.com
Buy now from Amazon.ca


The United Nations building in New York has been destroyed, the towering Duncannon Building in London has also been turned into a twisted wreck and  a 747 jet bound for Chicago from Johannesburg has exploded hundreds of miles off the African coast. All three incidents were timed to achieve the greatest death count possible. Both the American President’s and the British Prime Minister’s combined foreign policies are being blamed for the terrorist attacks.

In an effort to minimize political damage and to deflect the attention being focused on themselves, the two leaders decide on a small surgical response. They each agree to send one qualified man to eliminate the mastermind behind the three bombings. Total deniability of their involvement is acquired by promising the two they can split the 8 million dollar bounty resting on their target’s head. The villain? A man named Mohammed Abu Atif, who heads up a terrorist group called Al VL Sinda.

But what should be a simple operation becomes a life and death struggle against unseen forces so powerful the entire political stability of the world is at risk. These forces are twin branches of an ancient organization that have been fighting for world control since before recorded history. The secret organizations are not about to let two men, no matter how dangerous they might be, interfere with their plans. Hidden deep in the hierarchy of Freemasonry, both groups target the heroes: Lewis Ford, a former Seal and problem solver for the CIA and Harry Blakemore, a similar problem solver for MI6. I’m sure you can imagine the fun and action which follows.

Author Ken Bourne-Turner challenges readers to determine what is fact and what is fiction in his 2009 thriller, The Knights of Black Chapter. I’m going to help you to get started with this. As I review/critique his 356 page novel, I’ll answer a few of the larger questions posed by the novel, based on my own knowledge and research.

So to begin… Bourne-Turner has attempted to write a thriller in the vein of John Le Carre or Robert Ludlum. His book is an interesting “spy” novel, full of history, intriguing characters and larger than life issues. However, before I get into those aspects of The Knights of Black Chapter, I should deal with that word “attempted.” Bourne-Turner and his editorial team (mentioned in the credits) structured his thriller quite well, with one major exception. When writing a novel, an author must create a back story for his work: he must know the motivations of his characters, he must know these constructs intimately and the same applies for the world in which they’ll be existing. But he doesn’t and shouldn’t try to crowd all this knowledge into the tale being told. The back story allows him to make sure his characters operate out of some kind of history, that they remain true to the people this history has determined they are, and that they operate within the rules of the world the author has created for them. Bourne-Turner fails in this area. His characters supply the reader with so much information and so many connections and so many conspiracies it not only makes the book a difficult read, it’s unnecessarily confusing. More importantly, it destroys the “suspension of disbelief” all authors want from their readers. When a character gets up and delivers a complex monologue about several historical incidents that really don’t pertain to the immediate story, the reader is kicked right out of the fantasy. And he or she will resent it.

An example of one such kick in the pants for me was the number of good guys in the story who just happened to be 33rd degree Masons. In real life these elite Masons are hard to find. One does not earn such a degree. It’s bestowed upon you for outstanding Masonic service, usually over a lifetime. Bourne-Turner’s heroes are well-drawn, but there’s no way I can possibly believe Lewis Ford is a 33rd degree Mason. His character just doesn’t fit the profile.

Next, we’ll take a look at the fact versus fiction aspect of the book; the larger than life issues.

The Knights of Black Chapter is based on the idea that two opposing orders (the Incanda and the Black Chapter) split off from a small but very powerful group of people, called Rex Deus or The “King God” Bloodline, and now rule our present day world from the shadows.

I’ve read several theories regarding Rex Deus to date…
1. Rex Deus was an ancient religious order that has died out. I believe this.
2. This group predates Moses and may even go as far back as Adam and Eve. I doubt it.
3. In 2000, three authors published a book entitled Rex Deus: The True Mystery of Rennes-Le-Chateau and the Dynasty of Jesus. The premise of this book is that a Jesus and Mary Magdalene bloodline was part of a dynasty descended from a group of priests of the first temple built to God’s service in Jerusalem. They were known as the Kings of God. Many authors, including Dan Brown, have played with the idea that the bloodline of Jesus is alive, well and powerful. There doesn’t seem to be any replicable or concrete proof of such claims.
4. Bourne-Turner writes that Rex Deus actually split into two factions at some point in ancient history: a religion-oriented branch of 9 people known as the Incanda and a financial-leaning branch of 9 people known as the Black Chapter. Modern history has been determined by the constant struggle for world domination between these two very powerful groups. Bourne-Turner’s premise is interesting but completely fictional.

A few things here: a long time ago Freemasonry split into two groups: The York Rite, where the highest order one can achieve is Knight Templar and The Scottish Rite where the highest order one can achieve is the 33rd degree. Given all the references to Freemasonry in The Knights of Black Chapter, do you think, maybe, this is where he got the idea of a split Rex Deus? Second, nowhere can I find a real organization called Incanda (perhaps this is the author’s version of the Illuminati?). On the other hand there is a real order referred to as the Black Chapter: it’s actually a preceptory of the Orange Lodge, a protestant and somewhat political order which finds its beginnings in Ireland. I assume the author used this name because the Orange and the Black have often been associated with Masonry (My father and grandfather were both members of the Orange, and gramps spoke to me on many occasions regarding the similarities to Masonry. My grandfather was also a 32nd degree Mason and a Knight Templar. I, myself, am an accomplished Mason.).

My conclusion? The Knights of Black Chapter is based on a fiction. Does this mean all the revelations and history and talk of Masonry in Bourne-Turner’s book are also fiction. Not a chance. The author has done his research; his novel is full of little known and interesting historical facts. I found myself stopping quite often during the read to research the accuracy of a statement made by one of his characters. I’m sure you won’t believe that Jesus and Mary are buried beneath Rosslyn Chapel, but you should believe the portion of the 2nd Masonic degree that’s described near the end of the book, as well as the rendering of Hiram Abiff’s death (from the 3rd Masonic degree).

After all this, here’s what I’m left with… If I pare away the history lessons, The Knights of Black Chapter is a decent thriller. As such, I would suggest the ideal reader for this book would be those who enjoy historical fiction and those who don’t mind a heavier reading thriller (Again, I use John Le Carre as an example).

Other than the excessive back story, the novel does have some other editing warts the author should do something about: The use of “yeah” to indicate an American verbalizing “you” is as distracting as hell and, I believe, grammatically incorrect. There were also a few instances where the author had his Americans speaking in British slang–a simple mistake his proofreader should have caught. Transitions from one scene to another were quite often abrupt, the start of a new paragraph taking you from the middle of one scene to something completely different. Similarly, enough words were missed within sentences as to warrant a comment. And using two different spellings of Hiram Abiff? The Masons are going to get you, Ken!

For a first novel, I think Ken Bourne-Turner shot very high. Sure, he missed the centre ring, but he still hit the target. I can think of many books I would have thrown in a corner for the opportunity to read The Knights of Black Chapter. Don’t be discouraged by the technical criticisms Ken: it’s my job to list the good and the not so good.  Just keep on writing, and make sure you (and your editor) work on the piece until you can’t stomach looking at it anymore.


Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2010.

Dragonfly in Amber by the bestselling author Diana Gabaldon

Dragonfly in Amber
By Diana Gabaldon
ISBN: 0-7704-2877-0
Seal Books, 2001
947 pages
Mass market paperback
Historical adventure

Buy now at Amazon.com
Buy now at my Amazon.ca


20 years ago, Claire Randall came out of the Scottish wilderness,  having been missing for almost 3 years. Pregnant and offering an explanation no one believes, Claire returns to an uncomfortable relationship with her husband and to their home in the United States. Now, Frank has passed away and Claire has brought her adult daughter, Brianna, to the place where it all began. She wants Brianna to know who her real father was. But how can Claire make her believe?

I had a brief email discussion with Diana Gabaldon earlier this year when I wrote a review of Outlander, the first book in her amazing and ongoing series featuring the lives and the love of Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser: I insisted Outlander was an historical romance, while she claimed she writes historical fiction not romance. Stubborn as I am (my clan are the Skenes), I now see her point. Dragonfly in Amber is a detailed rendering of the politics and events leading up to and including the battle of Culloden in 1745. This was an actual battle that ended “Bonnie” Prince Charlie’s attempt to regain both the throne of England and of Scotland.

Outlander concluded with Claire and Jamie Fraser heading for France to try and stop Prince Charlie’s rebellion. You see, Claire knows the battle ends in disaster for the Scots in general and for Jamie in particular.

Dragonfly in Amber follows the two lovers as they insert themselves (with the help of Jamie’s familial connections) into the French social and political scene of the time. Despite extensive efforts to undermine the Prince’s efforts, Jamie and Claire are foiled at every turn until it becomes apparent there’s no way to stop the bloodbath they know is coming. The final chapters see Claire returned to modern Scotland and Jamie sent to his fated death.

However, as Claire and the son of a deceased friend do their best to convince Brianna of the truth of Claire’s incredible story, a surprise crops up. Their investigations suggest that maybe, just maybe, Jamie Fraser didn’t die when and where Claire believes he did. What will come next? You’ll have to pick up a copy of Voyager by Diana Gabaldon to find out.

Dragonfly in Amber reminds me of why I enjoy “period” novels—A Tale of Two Cities, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and The Janissary Tree come to mind. Yet, Gabaldon stands on her own. These books don’t just tell a story, they reveal to us a strong woman unafraid to fight for what she believes in and who loves in the same “give-it-everything-you-have” manner. Personally, the Claire Randall/Jamie Fraser combination has made my list of top fictional characters.

While Dragonfly in Amber requires some effort (it’s 947 pages long), and it, like all large works, will have sections that drag for you, the only criticism I have for this novel is that a map or maps of the areas visited would have been appreciated. It wasn’t until I researched the rebellion of 1745 that I managed to get a clear mental picture of where events were taking place.

There are seven books in the Outlander series, the latest An Echo in The Bone was released in hardcover September 22, 2009. My copy is sitting on one of my bookshelves. I can hear it calling…

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009

The Politics of Opinion (and Pornography)

As a reviewer, I’m regularly approached to “analyze” specific books. Sometimes it’s the publisher asking, and sometimes it’s the author. What, exactly, are they looking for? They’re hoping I will read the book provided and write several paragraphs of glowing promotional material they can show the public as proof that an informed and independent reader likes the book well enough to suggest it’s one you want to buy. But reviewing doesn’t always work that way: there are times when I dislike certain aspects of a book and, in all fairness, will write about these dislikes. I’ve often gone so far as to slam publishers and editors when the quality of their work reduces the quality of the book being reviewed.

Which brings me to The Politics of Opinion.

Generally speaking, politics is the process by which specific groups of people arrive at a single decision. For example, an “individual opinion” is an expression of something you believe in, when you don’t also provide positive proof of what you say. Such an opinion expressed by a group (including a description of how they arrived at that decision) would be the Politics of Opinion.

So, what do I mean when I use the phrase The Politics of Opinion when I’m talking about reviewing a book?

First, when I write a review, I’m not trying to change the opinion of a “group.” I’m providing information and beliefs regarding a specific book I have read, so that you, “the individual,”  have some idea or reference point from whence you can move forward to make up your own mind regarding the book in question. Sometimes I provide proof for my beliefs, oftentimes I don’t. They key here is that if you respect my opinion, I may influence your decision to read said book.

Now, when an individual or individuals or organization (a reviewing company, publisher, etc) attack my reviews, my abilities, even my character, using our comments section, they’re trying to change not only my opinion but the opinions of all my readers. Our public clash puts us in the arena of The Politics of Opinion. You see, you the reader (as a group) are being offered all kinds of extra information and insights into the book being discussed, a glimpse of the reviewing process, and even a more complete idea of who I am. Good things, all. But, you’re also being asked to make a “group” decision: to ignore me.

So, when I say a book borders on pornography, someone challenges that opinion and I, hoping to offer further insights for you, provide proof and/or additional information to help you make your reading decision, The Politics of Opinion are in full force.

The following URL’s will take you to some recent reviews by your truly. They deal with the subject of pornography in literature. Opposing comments have been left and those comments answered.

http://tjbook-list.blogspot.com/2009/11/review-of-cheating-death-by-annie.html

http://www.thedeepening.com/horror/2009/12/30/bloody-passion-by-laura-tolomei/

Anyway, in a nutshell, here’s my (generous) definition of pornography: if the format in which the book appears doesn’t or can’t stand on its own with the erotica removed (erotica is writing designed to sexually arouse the reader), then you’re looking at a piece of pornography. Using this definition, I felt Cheating Death came very close to being pornography. Bloody Passion, without it’s many erotic scenes, still stands up as a short story… but I’m paying for a novel! So, I ask you, my reader, if 3/4 of what I’m paying for (as fiction) ends up being erotica, doesn’t that suggest pornography to you?

Looking forward to your comments.

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye

Off Season by (the terrific) Anne Rivers Siddons

Off Season
by Anne Rivers Siddons
Grand Central Publishing
July, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-69829-0
368 pages
Trade Paperback
Fiction

Buy Now at Amazon.com
Buy Now at Amazon.ca


“Where does love go when it dies?” asks Anne Rivers Siddons in her beautiful novel, Off Season. “I’ve been thinking about that for a long time, and I have come to know many things about love between a man and a woman: that it is both tender and terrible, sweet and stormy, hurtful and healing, heartbreaking and heart-lifting. But the thing I’m surest about is that love endures. For a few special people, it does not die.”

Lilly is a sixty year old grandmother who has always lived a privileged and sheltered life. But no one is immune when it comes to love or death. When her long-time husband, Cam, dies, Lilly retreats to the one constant in her life, the family’s summer home (Edgewater) on the coast of Maine. There she walks through her life, trying to understand its progression and how she might move beyond what has happened to her.

We learn that the tragic loss of her first love at age 11 drove her into her own unique and ultimately safe shell, from which she did not emerge until she met her husband-to-be at age 18. Then there was the traumatic scene she witnessed between her mother and another man that triggered her intellectual crossing from child to adult. Amidst these reflections we are given an intimate look at a woman who has been mostly happy in her life and who has enjoyed a feeling of safety which has allowed her to find herself and grow her gifts to the point of excellence.

But this safety, the protective cocoon which has, in one form or another, always been there, has also made some of the harsh realities of life inaccessible to her. There are secrets Lilly-on-her-own will now learn that have the potential to shake her world.

Off Season is a wonderful read. Anne Rivers Siddons has that rare ability to capture the essence of emotion and relate it back to us in rich and moving language. I not only felt for Lilly, I was able to get close enough to her to understand her actions at age 11 and how her husband Cam didn’t just shatter her protective cage but actually replaced it. And in this understanding, the surprising conclusion of Off Season (which has upset many readers) becomes almost necessary. Yes, I was caught off guard, but reflection showed me that everything progressed logically, perhaps even necessarily.

This is the first time I’ve read the work of Anne Rivers Siddons: I’ve missed a lot. Siddons’ ability to observe and translate life makes her a true force in the writing world. With such brilliant assessments as “A best friend is as crucial to a child as air to breathe and food to eat. A child’s heart and mind are not yet deep and dark enough to hold secrets. They must be shared, or they will implode.” and the definition of married sex as “sanctified joy,” the author shows an awesome talent—the ability to touch our souls, the places where we actually live.

Off Season is a book any true fan of literature should make room for in their library.

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye

The Strange and Twisted World of Dan Brown

The Lost Symbol
by Dan Brown
Doubleday, 2009
ISBN:  978-0-385-50422-5
509 pages
Hardcover
Suspense/Thriller

Buy Now at Amazon.com
Buy Now at Amazon.ca


When Robert Langdon is asked to stand in as a speaker at a function at the U.S. Capitol building by his old friend Peter Solomon, he just can’t say no. But when he arrives, instead of finding an eager crowd, Langdon not only discovers he’s been deceived but that he’s the recipient of a different and horrifying invitation. Immediately plunged into a world of endless Masonic secrets, the famous symbologist must separate legend from reality or lose his friend and spark a political nightmare of immense proportions.

Millions of readers and countless reviewers have already weighed in on Dan Brown’s latest offering, The Lost Symbol. With this in mind, I’m going to offer you something different.

First, let me say that after reading the horrendous Angels & Demons, I swore I would never read another book by Dan Brown. I stayed true to my word until this past weekend when a good friend asked me (as an accomplished Freemason) about the accuracy of the Masonic content in The Lost Symbol. Well… it’s obvious what the end result of that conversation was. So, here’s what I’m going to do: I’ll offer up my short opinion of The Lost Symbol (as a reviewer), then I’m going to take some time to discuss Brown’s Masonic world. My hope is you’ll enjoy it.


The Review

One cannot dispute Dan Brown’s ability to intrigue us with complex puzzles and keep us in salivating suspense until the last pages of his novels. This is his brilliance. His books are also full of all sorts of well researched oddities. Yet, as a writer, he cheats his readers in terrible ways. For example, The Lost Symbol reads like a guided tour of Washington’s historic buildings. Forget about an interesting story about interesting people. Robert Langdon is the same paper cut-out from Brown’s two previous books. He’s someone to lead us through the puzzle(s) the author has constructed for us. He doesn’t change or isn’t changed by his experiences (okay, the last word in The Lost Symbol is a minor change). In fact, the only well developed character in the entire book is the villain, Mal’akh. So, I ask you… What the hell do I care about arcane puzzles if I have to wade through a travel brochure peopled with obvious constructs? Brown could have saved me the trouble of reading 509 pages by summarizing the simplistic story on the back of a postcard.


The Meat and Potatoes…

Prior to my reading Dan Brown’s latest book, a senior Mason I know stated that 90% of the Masonic content in The Lost Symbol was accurate. However, saying this, he also made sure I understood this information was fictionalized. In other words, much of it is taken out of context and/or used in a way that fits the story but that doesn’t necessarily reflect its actual use in Freemasonry. “However, Brown does portray Masons in a positive way,” he said.

My own opinion now that I’ve read the book? The previously mentioned (Masonic) brother was quite accurate in his assessment.

For example, early in the book, Brown relates a collection of penalties a Mason will face should he reveal the Masonic secrets entrusted to him: these were included in Brown’s book as broken pieces and grouped together in a way that makes no real sense. Yes, the penalties were accurate, but they were incomplete and taken out of context. You see, Brown fails to note the easily discovered fact that the violent penalties are not practiced, that more civilized methods of punishment are used. The threat of violence is there only to make an impression on the candidate, to remind him that his word and honour are not to be taken lightly; Brown uses the threats in the same way, but never completely explains their purpose or the context in which they are used. His way is more exciting, of course.

Later in the novel, there is mentioned an oath all Masons must take to protect vulnerable family members of another Mason and to keep all his secrets—–even if they are unlawful. This is a blatant untruth. The oath Brown is referring to has the Mason swear to keep all of his brother’s lawful secrets, but to not shield other actions, especially heinous crimes like murder. That’s a huge distinction.

Brown also talks about the 33rd degree in Masonry. One should understand that Masonry is actually like the steps leading up two sides of the same pyramid (the ascension of which symbolizes enlightenment). On one side you have what is known as the York Rite, on the other is the Scottish Rite. The 33rd degree exists only in the Scottish Rite, which is primarily practiced in the United States. This degree is bestowed rather than earned, most often being given to a Mason who has made an outstanding contribution to the craft.

During his depiction of the 33rd degree, Brown states initiation includes drinking wine out of a human skull and taking a solemn oath that your primary allegiance is to the 33rd degree Masons. I can’t refute this claim because I am not a 33rd degree Mason. I do however, know that earlier degrees are careful to recommend allegiance to God, country and your family before even considering your Masonic obligations. As degrees in Freemasonry are like building blocks, one being added to another, it just doesn’t make sense that a senior degree would ask you to undermine that which has already been constructed. The skull? I’ve heard a similar reference to drinking wine from a skull in one of the final degrees in the York Rite. Given my knowledge of the craft, however, I can’t help but wonder about context. (I’ll be taking the degree in question within the next few months, so I expect my curiousity will then be satisfied.)

How about the basis for the novel The Lost Symbol? To my knowledge there is no lost symbol or word or secret pyramid pertaining to the senior degrees of either the York or the Scottish Rite. In the 3rd degree we do learn that one of the three Grand Masters involved in the building of the first temple to God in Jerusalem (Hiram Abiff, the architect or Master Builder) is slain because he wouldn’t reveal the secrets (which involve words, tokens or signs) of a Master Mason. As a result the original secrets were lost. King Solomon, also one of the Grand Masters, has temporary secrets created until the original secrets can be rediscovered. These secrets are revealed/recovered in the Royal Arch degree in the York Rite and, I assume, at a similar point in the Scottish Rite.

The Circumpunct, a dot in the centre of a circle, plays a significant role in The Lost Symbol. In this instance, Brown’s depiction of it is accurate. The symbol is introduced early in Masonry. The centre/dot of the circle is equidistant from all points on the circumference and, in my mind represents our effort to strive for perfection in our lives. Why? Because the centre is “a point from which a Mason cannot err.” Also, the centre in a lodge is found by identifying a sacred symbol which depicts God, The Great Architect of the Universe. So, the Circumpunct also represents God.

The Chamber of Reflection mentioned in The Lost Symbol is found only in the Scottish Rite and not in all lodges. It is usually a small room adjoining the lodge, in which, prior to initiation, the candidate is enclosed so that he may contemplate that which he is about to enter. It is also used in some of the advanced degrees for somewhat similar purposes.

This small room or chamber is dark, with the walls painted black. It contains the following: a simple rough wooden table on which is placed: a human skull, usually on two crossbones, a chunk of bread, a pitcher with water, a container, cup or saucer with salt and one with sulphur, a lighted candle or lantern, an hourglass, paper, ink and pen, a wooden stool or chair, a rooster painted on the wall, a sickle, the acronym V.I.T.R.I.O.L.(U.M.) and various sayings. I would have to say Brown’s depiction in this instance is fair and accurate. Such a room offers the Mason an opportunity to contemplate his life and the nature of death. One of the important lessons of Freemasonry is indeed “how to die.”

The following are some examples of the symbolism involved with The Chamber of Reflection:

THE CHAMBER can be seen as a physical depiction of a Mason’s journey from darkness into light. It can also be a considered a birth, a new beginning, even a resurrection.

THE SKULL and CROSSBONES signify decline and decay. One is to contemplate death as per instructions received in certain degrees. Death is also the Great Leveler and, in time, makes us all equal.

BREAD AND WATER are symbols of simplicity, suggesting to the future initiate how he should conduct his life. While the bread and water represent the elements necessary to life, they also remind the candidate that the physical should not be the only objective in one’s existence. The suggestion is, of course, to look toward the spiritual and the intellectual.

THE ALCHEMICAL ELEMENTS, sulphur, salt and mercury are representative of ancient man’s efforts to turn lead into gold and, in Masonry, actually become a metaphor for bringing the new Mason from darkness to light, from a rough stone into one which is polished and valuable. Sulphur symbolizes spirit, salt symbolizes wisdom and mercury refers to vigilance and faith. Mercury is known to have been represented by a Rooster drawn on a wall.

THE HOURGLASS is a reminder of mortality, that we should make good use of the time given us.

V.I.T.R.I.O.L.(U.M.) Vitriol is a substance used in ancient alchemy. Its Latin meaning suggests one must search for truth within oneself, that the truth is hidden there, and that this truth is the real solution to our problems.

I mention some of these symbols because Brown does include one aspect of York Rite Masonry in his book. It involves the York Rite’s version of The Chamber of Reflection. In The Lost Symbol,  Robert Langdon solves an initial puzzle with ease, recognizing the simple Masonic Cipher or Pigpen Cipher once used by ancient Freemasons to obscure their meeting notes and messages. However, as is often the case in real Masonry, Langdon then finds the decoded message leads to yet another puzzle.

In the 3rd degree of the York Rite, a tracing board (a pictorial collection of symbols) is available for the instruction of the brethren regarding the topic of that degree, which is contemplation of life and instruction on how to die. One must use the Masonic Cipher in order to decode a number of symbols found on this board. However, once this is done, one realizes very quickly that the resultant message is meaningless: there is yet another puzzle to solve before achieving true meaning. As the meaning of this secondary puzzle involves the secrets of the 3rd degree, I’m not at liberty to share it with you

As you can see, Dan Brown obviously spent a great deal of time researching his subject matter. While he may have revealed certain Masonic mysteries I would have left alone, he doesn’t, except for one instance I won’t mention, reveal the secrets of any of the degrees (which by the way are nothing more than signs, tokens and words by which a Mason can recognize a brother). The author also has fun by naming Langdon’s friend Solomon, after King Solomon, who plays a significant role in many of the Masonic plays that make up the various degrees.

I noticed the same kind of playfulness when Brown dealt with the science of Noetics: research into the potentials and powers of consciousness—including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and intuition. Some prominent names in that field are also used as parts of the names of his characters. His basic research into this new “science” is just as sound as his Masonic research.

On an equally light note, the reader will notice that near the end of the book, Peter Solomon and Robert Langdon have a discussion about religion, based on the power of a word or symbol to fundamentally change mankind’s perception of God and of the individual. I quite enjoyed this talk of God Within, Man as a Temple, even Man as God. It works well to prepare us for the revelation of The Lost Symbol, and it is something every person should think about at some point in their religious lives. Freemasonry, by the way, definitely considers the body a temple, yet requires all members to recognize the existence of a supreme being.

There are many other examples of Masonic knowledge used correctly and incorrectly in The Lost Symbol, but I believe I can end with the following summation: Masonry is not a secret organization; it is an organization with secrets. If you wish to become part of the brotherhood and learn those secrets, ask a Mason. We don’t recruit and we rarely defend ourselves in public. Find the truth (the light) yourself, rather than relying on the suspect ramblings of a writer of fiction.


Copyright  © Clayton Clifford Bye

Guns by Phil Bowie

Guns
By Phil Bowie
Medallion Press, Inc, 2006
ISBN: 978-1-932815-59-7
357 pages
Mass Market Paperback
Suspense

Buy now at Amazon.ca


The Cowboy is a man with a past. Known to the residents of Ocracoke island as Sam Bass, this pilot-for-hire lives a quiet, simple life until his heroic part in a dangerous sea rescue gains national attention. Unfortunately, Sam’s old employer is one of the people who sees the newspaper story. A player in the shady world of light weapons trading, Louis Strake dispatches a hit team to the remote Northern Carolina island. Their orders? Put a permanent end to Strake’s association with The Cowboy.

Sam is a government witness who has gotten a little too comfortable. Too many people know his habits. And it’s only quick thinking and a lot of luck that saves his life. His beautiful girlfriend, Valerie, isn’t so lucky. She’s killed by an explosive charge the hit team places in The Cowboy’s jeep.

Forced back into the witness protection program and unable to make any contact with Valerie’s five-year-old son, The Cowboy decides to avenge Valerie’s death in the way of her Cherokee ancestors. Enlisting the help of Valerie’s grandfather, he prepares himself mentally and physically for what lies ahead. Then he goes hunting.

Guns is Phil Bowie’s commentary on the world of arms dealing. His protagonist is a morally ambivalent pilot who steps a little too far into that dark land and tries to escape by taking down the man who brought him in. When this effort fails, the feds give The Cowboy a new identity and encourage him to completely forget his old life. He’s okay with this. But once that new life is shattered, Bowie’s anti-hero coldly and methodically exacts the kind of revenge countless real-world victims only dream about.

Bowie is a skilled writer. I wouldn’t have guessed Guns was his first novel. Take away the lengthy monologues he blatantly uses to provide backstory and you’ve got a terrific book.

(This review was originally published in 2006 by the gottawritenetwork.com)


Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009