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Category Archives: Prose and Cons
A kayak-level view of change around the West
Print this articleConfluence opens with a harrowing scene of Zak Podmore’s mother surviving a scary spill in the Colorado River in a hydraulic in the Big Drop rapids known as Satan’s Gut. “Directly downstream the Gut heaves in a gnashing … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Bears Ears illuminated
Print this articleNoted Four Corners archaeologist and former Cortez resident R.E. Burrillo has just released his first book, Behind the Bears Ears, a conversational, easily accessible exploration of the cultural and natural histories of the Southwest’s newest national monument. Four … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
A perfect entry to the mystery genre
Print this articleMidnight at the Barclay Hotel is the perfect gateway book for young readers to get their first taste of the mystery genre. This is listed as “middle grade” (eight to 12 years old or thereabouts) but even slightly … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Bloody Native American fun
Print this articleHow is it I’m smiling so much as I think about Only the Good Indians, the novel I just finished reading? It’s a horror novel after all, and horror novels freak me out. It’s set on the troubled Blackfeet … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
‘Highly original’ stories a perfect summer read
Print this articleIf your first published short story appears in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, you probably know what you’re doing. And if that story has the audacious title of “Murder on the Orient Express” (and directly pays homage to the … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Three Colorado cozies offer welcome escapes
Print this articleThree just-released cozy mysteries by top notch Colorado authors offer a trio of exceptional reading escapes to those who like their diversions tinged with murder. Denver author Cynthia’s Kuhn’s fifth Lila Maclean Academic Mystery, The Study of Secrets, … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Medhat’s second features Cortez (‘Milagro’)
Print this articleFranz Kafka—the cop—is the “patron saint of lost causes.” He doesn’t have a good memory for faces (not handy when you’re an officer of the law). He was born in the month of “dreamers and idealists.” He can … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
The risk of adventure parenting
Print this articleMemorials dedicated to young adults who died doing the sorts of adventure sports the Four Corners prides itself on — backcountry skiing, rock climbing, whitewater kayaking — are scattered across the region. Formal as well as informal, the … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Birds of a feather
Print this articleWhen first we meet Gabriel Haynes, the narrator of Susan M. Gaines’ luminous sophomore novel, the year is 1999 and he is a recent college graduate with a cubicle-farm job, newly divorced parents, and an abiding passion for … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
An effortless switch from literary to mystery
Print this articleIt’s not uncommon for authors of literary fiction to try their hands at the mystery genre. Many bomb out, some spectacularly, incapable of switching from the introspective nature of literary novels to the fast-paced, entertainment-oriented style of storytelling … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Manifest destitute
Print this articleReaders of this column know that we seldom review nonfiction here, but that every so often a title comes along that invites an exception. Such was the case with reporter Steve Inskeep’s Imperfect Union: How Jessie and John … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
A trio of local voices
Print this articleI have the pleasure in this month’s column of introducing three new books by local authors. While firmly placed in the Four Corners, all three books — by Rhenna St. Clair, Vicky Ramakka, and Erica Soon Olsen — … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
He started it
Print this articleIn his introduction to Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 2, the second volume of his father’s unfinished or previously unpublished stories, novels, notes, and film and television treatments, editor and co-author Beau L’Amour writes, “[W]hat you see here … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
The last good cop
Print this articleIn the interests of full disclosure, I first met Craig Johnson, author of the popular Sheriff Walt Longmire mysteries on which the equally-popular Netflix TV series is based, in 2008 when he was a lecturer and I was … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Local author unveils sensational World War II tale
Print this articleDurangoan Dan Guiet gave his father, Jean Claude Guiet, a computer as a birthday present 25 years ago and asked Jean Claude to record his life story on it. Jean Claude began to type, but only after giving … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Desert Solitaire
Print this articleThank goodness New York publishing, unlike Hollywood filmmaking, hasn’t entirely succumbed to the bland congruity of blockbuster titles, series retreads, and the same old, same old. Thank goodness a trip to your local bookstore can still yield daring … Continue reading
Published in July 2019, Prose and Cons
Crouch’s novel launches June 13 in Durango
Print this articleEver wondered what it takes to write bestselling novels that get turned into blockbuster Hollywood films and television series? You can find out firsthand from local author Blake Crouch, who divides his time these days between his Durango … Continue reading
Published in June 2019, Prose and Cons
Bye, bye Bernie
Print this articlePhilip Kerr died young – too young – in March of 2018. He was the author of more than 40 books, works of both fiction and nonfiction that include his Children of the Lamp middle-grade novels (as P. … Continue reading
Published in May 2019, Prose and Cons
A Scandinavian mystery worth lauding
Print this articleSwedish author Helene Tursten has gone against type over the last decade to create the highly praised Detective Inspector Embla Nystrom mysteries, including her latest installment in the series, Hunting Game, just released in the United States. Many … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Current events
Print this articleDenver author Peter Heller is a master storyteller, and that talent is on full display in The River, his third novel since bursting onto the world literary scene in 2012 with his New York Times-bestselling debut, The Dog … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Will ‘Not of This Fold’ mean no longer of this flock?
Print this articleWill she or won’t she? As in, will bestselling mystery author and practicing Mormon Mette Ivie Harrison be excommunicated from the Mormon Church or won’t she? In the course of four Linda Wallheim Mormon Mysteries set along Utah’s … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Mumbo gumbo
Print this articleIn the sometimes insular world of crime fiction, James Lee Burke’s is a name spoken with reverence thanks to his 36 novels, his two Edgar Awards, and his status as a Grand Master Award recipient (in 2009) from … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons
Attorneys flow through ‘River of Secrets’
Print this articleAmong the many qualities of Roger Johns’ Wallace Hartman Mystery series, one of the most engaging is Johns’ generous use of law practitioners as characters, be they wise, murderous, or anything in between. A fresh lawyer-as-character pops up … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons, Uncategorized
Desert duet
Print this articleWhen writers and editors speak of “voice” in the context of fiction, they refer to stylistic qualities of attitude and personality an author employs to engage the reader, as conveyed through tone and word choice. A unique and … Continue reading
Published in November 2018, Prose and Cons
Atmospheric mystery features fallible detective
Print this articleThere’s everything to like about Gemma Monroe, the young, conflicted police-detective protagonist of Denver author Emily Littlejohn’s headed-for-the- stars mystery series published by Minotaur Books, the mystery imprint of St. Martin’s Press. In Lost Lake, the third in … Continue reading
Published in October 2018, Prose and Cons
The vapid and the dead
Print this articleAmbition is a commendable attribute in a debut novelist, as is the courage to take chances, stretching the boundaries of your chosen genre. Combine the two, and the potential for literary transcendence is manifest. So too, alas, is … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons, September 2018
A troubled pair in beautiful Montana
Print this articleMontana’s Glacier National Park is a troubled place these days — almost as troubled as the characters in A Sharp Solitude, Christine Carbo’s fourth and latest mystery, set in the park’s shadow. Glacier faces the climate-change-driven loss of … Continue reading
Published in August 2018, Prose and Cons
Wry spy
Print this articleWhat’s the recipe for a great summer novel? Page-turning suspense, for starters, and a plucky heroine for whom to root. Lyrical writing is a bonus, as are reversed roles and upended expectations. Mix in a Cold War setting … Continue reading
Published in July 2018, Prose and Cons
An icy cool debut by a young Colorado author
Print this articleI approached Danya Kukafka’s effusively praised and wildly popular debut novel Girl in Snow with trepidation. I wanted very much to enjoy the book because Kukafka is a fellow Coloradan and, in her mid-twenties, is preposterously young to … Continue reading
Published in June 2018, Prose and Cons
An affair to remember: The Sparsholt Affair, by Alan Hollinghurst
Print this article“The evening when we first heard Sparsholt’s name seems the best place to start this little memoir.” That deceptively modest declaration begins The Sparsholt Affair, a novel of staggering depth and beauty from an author – Alan Hollinghurst … Continue reading
Published in May 2018, Prose and Cons
A dark Texas under a high white sun
Print this articleDark, darker, darkest. Despite its title, that’s the extent of the color palette in High White Sun, J. Todd Scott’s second crime thriller starring Chris Cherry, at 26 the unlikely sheriff of Big Bend County, Texas. Those who … Continue reading
Published in April 2018, Prose and Cons
The other side of the fence
Print this articleWhen Mike Muñoz was five and his father Victor was still around, Mike begged to visit Disneyland. Not just for the rides or the other attractions, but for the beautiful landscaping – “the big, perfectly-formed Donald Duck- and … Continue reading
Published in March 2018, Prose and Cons
A local shines on the national literary stage
Print this articleIt’s nigh impossible to make it as an author of adult literary fiction. Yet that’s the goal Four Corners writer Mandy Mikulencak set for herself in 2009. Nine years later, Mikulencak has succeeded, brilliantly, with the release of … Continue reading
Published in February 2018, Prose and Cons
Beau knows Louis L’Amour
Print this article“This book may drive you crazy.” So begins Beau L’Amour’s Introduction to Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 1, a 500-page compendium of his late father’s unfinished manuscripts, treatments, and notes. But in this, Beau misleads. Truer to have … Continue reading
Published in January 2018, Prose and Cons
Johnson mixes humor and intrigue in ‘Western Star’
Print this articleI can attest from experience that injecting humor into an otherwise serious tale of murderous intrigue isn’t easy. But Craig Johnson has been pulling off that enviable trick in his murder mysteries for well over a decade now, … Continue reading
Published in December 2017, Prose and Cons
Nativity
Print this articleWe live in troubling times; nowhere more so than in the arena of women’s reproductive health. On his first day in office, President Trump signed a ban on federal money going to international aid groups that provide information … Continue reading
Published in November 2017, Prose and Cons
A fine Navajoland whodunnit
Print this articleDespite confronting the bodies of four murdered young people at the start of Katayoun Medhat’s The Quality of Mercy, readers know they’re in for an enjoyable — if dark — ride by the end of the first chapter … Continue reading
Published in October 2017, Prose and Cons
Gothic ramblings
Print this articleRace, like a flaming cross at a Klan rally, stands at the center of Sing, Unburied, Sing, casting shadows on all that transpires. The novel, Jesmyn Ward’s third and the first since her National Book Award-winning Salvage the … Continue reading
Published in Prose and Cons, September 2017
Rose invents a new genre with ‘Thief’ (Prose and Cons)
Print this articleAugustus Rose may have invented a new genre with his debut novel, The Readymade Thief, released Aug. 1 by Viking Press. Let’s call Rose’s creation a Young Adult novel for adults; rather than a YA novel, Rose has … Continue reading
Published in August 2017, Prose and Cons
Worth the weight (Prose and Cons)
Print this articleThere are many authors whose virtuosity inspires me to be a better writer. There are but a few, however, whose talent is so prodigious, so dispiritingly outsized, as to make me want to throw up my hands and … Continue reading
Published in July 2017, Prose and Cons