WWTBAM Bored

John Roberts, who frequents the Frontier Partisans site, is an author of Sci-Fi and other stuff. Apparently, best known for his Roman mystery series (SPQR) which is in possible development for TV.

http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ro ... ohn_maddox

He appears to be very prolific. Has anybody read his stuff?

He has a long comment on the Princess Leia post that may be of interest to some.

http://frontierpartisans.com/9252/princ ... soldadera/

I have always had an extremely long list of books to read. This list has grown exponentially since I found Frontier Partisans. Anything by John Roberts would be far down my list. However, there is another Frontier Partisans author that I might try soon.

Craig McDonald is the author of the Hector Lassiter series which appears to be noirish-or something. not sure if it should be read in chronological order, and a later novel (first written?) in the series "Head Games" is probably the best known.

http://www.craigmcdonaldbooks.com/books.php

Spock wrote:Craig McDonald is the author of the Hector Lassiter series which appears to be noirish-or something. not sure if it should be read in chronological order, and a later novel (first written?) in the series "Head Games" is probably the best known.

http://www.craigmcdonaldbooks.com/books.php

The McDonald books seem interesting; I'll have to check them out. They are historical mysteries. Lassiter is a fictional pulp novelist who winds up getting involved with various historical figures in all his books. Head Games (the head in question is the missing skull of Pancho Villa) was written first but takes place in the 1950's, while some of the books that were written later fill in the character's backstory, dating back to the 1920's. Head Games was nominated for the Edgar Award for the Best First Novel.

I personally enjoy those types of books, with one of my favorites being Max Allan Collins' Nathan Heller series. Heller is a Chicago PI who winds up getting involved in virtually every major crime from the 1930's on, including the Lindbergh kidnapping, the Amelia Earhart disapperance, Huey Long's assassination, and the Black Dahlia case (not all in the same book). Collins himself is very prolific, best known for the graphic novel, The Road to Perdition, which was the basis for the Tom Hanks/Paul Newman movie.

Head Games is getting the graphic novel treatment.

http://frontierpartisans.com/9092/head- ... er-reveal/

SSS>>>I personally enjoy those types of books, with one of my favorites being Max Allan Collins' Nathan Heller series. Heller is a Chicago PI who winds up getting involved in virtually every major crime from the 1930's on, including the Lindbergh kidnapping, the Amelia Earhart disapperance, Huey Long's assassination, and the Black Dahlia case (not all in the same book). <<<

George MacDonald Fraser (GMF), my favorite author, takes the same approach to the Victorian era with Flashman.

His memoir of WW2 in Burma is a classic of the genre and should be read by anyone with an interest.

You, or others here, may have been exposed to Flashman (pun intended), however, while I love the Flashman stuff, I seldom re-read them unless I want to dip into an episode of history.

I really love his less-known "Private McAuslan" books. 3 collections of short stories based on his post WW2 time in a Highland regiment in North Africa and England. His dry British humor is just awesome here. I basically have the stories memorized, but I re-read them quite often. Those with a taste for British humour (ie-Wodehouse) might enjoy them. The following book includes all the stories.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-McAusla ... bc?ie=UTF8

Spock:

I read Head Games and enjoyed it, although I wouldn't say it was award-worthy. The background material is quite well done, and there are some lively asides (Hector is the narrator and at times he critiques articles and reviews about his works... of course, MacDonald wrote those articles). There's also a more serious side where Hector is trying to come to terms with his own mortality and physical failings (he's in his late 50's in this book). The weak point is the action; it's repetitive and somewhat hard to believe (lots of shootouts and fistfights). I gave it four out of five stars. I have a feeling that the author's later books might improve as he got more familiar with the conventions of the mystery/thriller genre.

The book is based on a fascinating bit of history that I didn't know. Back in the 1920's, someone dug up Pancho Villa's body a few years after he died and cut off his head (which has never turned up). A former mercenary for Villa was arrested soon after but the charges were dropped for lack of evidence. Since then, one of the more persistent urban legend rumors is that Prescott Bush (U.S. Senator from CT and father of George H.W.) wound up buying the skull, along with Geronimo's skull and several others, and that the skulls currently reside at Yale's Cross and Bones Society's hidden vaults. The book accepts this urban legend as true but has the skull fall into Lassiter's possession, and he spends much of the book trying to keep people from stealing it back.

Here's the link to my review: http://amzn.to/2jqsQrk

The publisher of Head Games just gave me a shout out on Twitter for my review and is now following me on Twitter and Facebook. I've got over a dozen authors and publishers (including two authors on this Bored) who are now following me on one forum or another. It's good groundwork if and when I ever get my own book written.