The Latest

SCIENCE FICTION

MYSTERIES & THRILLERS

Travis McGee wades into a sordid case of group sex and murder

Travis McGee wades into a sordid case of group sex and murder

Before there was Jack Reacher, there was Travis McGee. Lee Child, who created Reacher, has never been shy about the debt he owes. Neither have Carl Hiaasen, Dean Koontz, and a long list of other bestselling writers. Between 1964 and 1985, John D. MacDonald wrote 21 novels about...

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NONFICTION

The man who taught Donald Trump everything he knows

The man who taught Donald Trump everything he knows

It's difficult to imagine how any single American over the past 100 years could have done more damage to our country than Roy Cohn. Even Senator Joseph McCarthy and Donald Trump may bear less responsibility for the harm they've done to millions of lives, because to a great...

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Popular Fiction

The man behind the throne of Rome’s first Emperor

The man behind the throne of Rome’s first Emperor

Ancient history, especially that of Greece and Rome, continues to fascinate many of us even in the 21st century. Many observers continue to find parallels to events in our own time. "Cautionary tales" supposedly abound in the behavior of the Caesars and in the unraveling of the...

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Explore My “BEST OF the category” selections

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?

When people ask me that question, I never know what to say. In a lifetime of reading, I’ve read many thousands of books. And I’ve reviewed well over 2,000 of them on this site. Picking just one as a “favorite,” or even a handful of them, makes no sense to me.

The problem is, I read for many different reasons. Perhaps you do, too. And I read many different sorts of books. Mysteries and thrillers. Popular fiction, especially historical fiction. Science fiction. And nonfiction, history in particular. You’ll find hundreds of reviews in every one of those categories on this site.

Check out our rotating random selection here, culled from throughout this site.

Happy reading!

 

Maelstrom

Worlds collide with Earth in an entertaining First Contact story

The Bermuda Triangle. Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster. The Mary Celeste. Legends like these never seem to die. But is there a common thread that links them other than what how unlikely they seem? You'll never find a more colorful answer than in Maelstrom, the eleventh novel in Peter Cawdron's...
Cover image of "Democracy in Chains," a book exploring the Right-Wing conspiracy

Historical perspective on “the vast Right-Wing conspiracy”

In Dark Money, New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer exposed the dominant role of what Bernie Sanders calls "the billionaire class" behind the rise of the Radical Right in America—what then-First Lady Hillary Clinton famously called "the vast Right-Wing conspiracy." In Democracy in Chains, Duke...
Street scene in New Delhi today

The best Indian detective novels

Writers from India have garnered a large share of critical attention for their work in recent years, and no wonder. The country has a rich literary tradition, which has animated a new generation of writers to publish in English. And there is no lack of English-speakers on the subcontinent. At a...
Portfolios of the Poor

Portfolios of the Poor: Understanding the day-to-day reality of global poverty

A review of Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day, by Daryl Collins, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford, Orlanda Ruthven. @@@@ (4 out of 5). This book makes a major contribution to our understanding of global poverty.

Cover image of "Unnatural History,"

A tangled mystery captivates Alex Delaware

Jonathan Kellerman's series of Alex Delaware mysteries debuted in 1985. Book number 40 appeared in 2025, making the series one of the longest-running in the genre—and no wonder. His protagonist, Dr. Alex Delaware, is a child psychologist like the author himself, privy to a lifetime of case...
Cover image of "Shards of Honor" by Lois McMaster Bujold, as the Vorkosigan Saga continues

The exciting second book in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga

Commander Cordelia Naismith of Beta Colony is leading a scientific study team on an unnamed planet when she and a colleague become separated from the rest of the team. They witness their planetary shuttle taking off in the distance, only to discover that their base camp has been utterly destroyed...
Cover image of "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?," a novel about eccentric people

If you like weird stories about eccentric people, you’ll love this novel

A review of Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, by Maria Semple. @@@@ (4 out of 5). About a 40-something suburban mom in Seattle who is anything but typical. The story of her nervous breakdown and disappearance is told by her precocious 15-year-old daughter.

Cover image of "The Switch," a thriller about a missing laptop

A missing laptop, top-secret files, the NSA, and a hitman

The Switch is Joseph Finder's 15th thriller. Like all the others I can recall—I've read many of them—the novel pits an intelligent and capable upper-middle-class man against the powerful forces of government or a large corporation. In The Switch, an entrepreneur named Michael Tanner, founder and...
Poverty in America: Taxing the Poor by Katherine S. Newman and Rourke L. O'Brien

Poverty in America: why the poor get poorer

Students of poverty in America have searched for its roots in many areas, including racism, culture, genetics, personal responsibility, and social policy. Taxes, by contrast, have received little attention. In Taxing the Poor, Katherine S. Newman and Rourke L. O'Brien respond to this oversight...
fast-moving tale: Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly

A fast-moving tale of murder and human trafficking

Michael Connelly's hero-cop, Harry Bosch, wends his way through a deeply personal crisis in this fast-moving story about human trafficking and murder. The tale speeds at a blistering pace from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and back. In pursuing his suspect in the murder of a South Los Angeles liquor...

My Most Popular Reviews

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Mal Warwick - Book Reviews

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