notanotherbookreview

Jex Blackwell Saves the World (Pelekinesis, May) by P. William Grimm was both refreshing and a complete surprise. Grimm an American writer and fillmaker, has written novels and short story collections-- The Seventh and Counselor, Valencia Street and Sick Sense of Hubris. He 's published in lit blogs, like Eclectica Magazine and HTML Giant . His influences are Kurt Vonnegut, Joan Didion, Charles Bukowski, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett. So he likes the truth, outrageous or otherwise, and a mystery with soul and style. Grimm's final inspiration is  Encyclopedia Brown, a series of kid's books about a boy genius. Grimm thinks of Jex Blackwell as a "Dadaesque homage" to that series. So this is kind of an adult YA mystery, written like an underground graphic novel with a heroine (not unlike orphaned Anne of Green Gables or headstrong Jo in Little Women ). Jex is aware of her potential and completely invents herself at aged 16. She wants to do good in the ...

DAMNED IF YOU DON'T By Anita Page I liked spending time with Hannah Fox, Anita Page's warmly human and admirably hardheaded heroine in DAMNED IF YOU DON'T (L&L Dreamspell). Hannah is a woman who looks at life with both rueful humor and intense sympathy for those who suffer. She's funny and smart, full of well-reasoned opinions and an awareness that she might be nuts. Although very conscious of her flaws, Hannah accepts herself and others with generosity of spirit. And the creature that returns this most consistently, in this mystery driven by complex human beings, is her dog, Brooklyn. Hannah is glad for the solace. She gets the world is a mess and wants to help fix it. And, in the process, take care of people close to her. Hannah's a grown-up, she does what she can. And in this mystery, it's that drive that makes her extraordinary. Like Marlowe, Hannah Fox puts one foot in front of the other, heart broken or not, sick and half dead doesn't matter,...