Apr

22

Posted by : atcampbell | On : April 22, 2008

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont

This discussion at A. T.’s house drew twelve attendees. Our topic was The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, an adventure story featuring famous writers of the Pulp Era. An obscure writer named H. P. Lovecraft dies under mysterious circumstances, and his friends Lester Dent, Walter Gibson, and L. Ron Hubbard look into it. They are drawn into a wild adventure reminiscent of the stuff they write. As this book is Malmont’s first published work, none of us had read him before. All of us started the book, and nine finished.

The group member who originally recommended this book said that he was initially intrigued by the title and main characters. He felt the story took off

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Apr

07

Posted by : atcampbell | On : April 7, 2008

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

Seven people attended this discussion at the North Village Library. Our topic was The Fourth Bear, second in Jasper Fforde’s Nursery Crime series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jack Spratt and Detective Sergeant Mary Mary. In this book, our protagonists investigate the murder of Goldilocks and try to capture an escaped mass murderer, the Gingerbread Man. We had all read Jasper Fforde before, and all of us started and finished The Fourth Bear.

One reader commented that he simply loved this book. He had read several of Fforde’s other books, and this was his clear favorite. He liked Fforde’s smooth writing. Spratt’s numbered plot devices were amusing (e.g. #26: Looking for Dr.

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