On Ian Fleming as Craftsman

On Ian Fleming as Craftsman

by | Sep 26, 2021

by Jordan M. Poss According to Ian Fleming, writing in 1963, “the craft of writing sophisticated thrillers is almost dead.” This provocation, the opening line of his essay, “How to Write a Thriller,” may be evergreen. It was difficult then and is difficult now to find...
Daniel Silva: Thriller Writer of the Soul

Daniel Silva: Thriller Writer of the Soul

by | Sep 26, 2021

By Henry George The world of international espionage thriller writing is a crowded one. There are many writers plowing a similar furrow, all attempting to transport the reader to a world the mirror of our own, enlarged to fit the author’s imagination and the reader’s...
Wild, and the Problem of Evil

Wild, and the Problem of Evil

by | Aug 29, 2021

All Things Left Wild: A Novel by James Wade. Blackstone Publishing, 2020. Hardcover, 304 pages, $28. Reviewed by‏ Christopher Landrum Life in itself is neither good nor evil; it is the scene of good or evil, as you make it. And, if you have lived a day, you have seen...
‘God, If There Was a God’

‘God, If There Was a God’

by | Aug 22, 2021

Missionaries: A Novel by Phil Klay. Penguin Press, 2020, Hardcover, 416 pages, $28. Reviewed by Joshua Hren It isn’t surprising that Joseph Ratzinger’s Introduction to Christianity begins by immersing us in the rejection thereof, the highways of doubt and the...
The Place of Punctuation in Literary Art

The Place of Punctuation in Literary Art

by | Aug 15, 2021

Mark My Words: Profiles of Punctuation in Modern Literature by Lee Clark Mitchell. Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. Softcover, 166 pages, $15. Reviewed by Oliver Spivey Many literature professors have long expressed their embarrassment at simply professing literature. Not...