December Park

Ronald Malfi is rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers. He is very good at writing entertaining stories with really great characters. Naturally when I got the chance to get a review copy of his next novel, I knew I'd have to take it. I'd be crazy not too, because Malfi is just that good.

Unlike most of his books that I've read, December Park is not a horror novel. This is definitely more of a crime novel or a mystery, and also a coming of age story. It's set in a small Maryland town in the 90s where teenagers have begun to disappear. The police have no leads, and the papers are blaming the disappearances on a serial killer they've dubbed the Piper, so a group of high school boys decide to amke like the Hardy Boys and try to solve the case themselves.

I just couldn't help but care about the boys. I also just couldn't figure out who the Piper was going to turn out to be, which is fairly rare for me in these types of books. Trust me, you'll want to read this book when it comes out.

Innocent Blood

I was lucky enough to get a review copy of Innocent Blood, by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell, and I must say that I really enjoyed it, though not as much as I enjoy Rollins' Sigma Series.

The premise for this series is that the Vatican has a secret sect of vampiric priests known as the Sanguinists. They are tasked with, among other things, killing or converting the evil rogue vampires.

The plot revolves around a human archeologist, a human soldier, and one of the Sanguinists. In the previous volume, this trio recovered the Blood Gospel, which was written by Jesus in His own blood. In this volume, they are attempting to use the Gospel to prevent the apocalypse, which is being caused by an immortal Judas Iscariot.

The story has plenty of action and mysteries. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but some may be turned off by the Catholic worldview of the story.

Jim Henson: The Biography

I grew up watching Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. The Muppet Movie would certainly be one of my top 10 favorite movies. The Rainbow Connection, is probably my favorite song. With all this, it's no surprise that Jim Henson is one of my favorite people of all time. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to get a copy of Jim Henson: The Biography, and I'm glad I did. This was a great book. I can tell that Brian Jay Jones did a lot of interviews and research in putting this together, and it really pays off. I learned a lot I never knew about Henson, and got a good feel for him as a man.

It is obvious that that Jones is a Henson fan. He spends a lot of time talking about how much of a creative genius Henson was. He also tends to be very forgiving of Henson's flaws. If it was anyone else, it might be annoying, but with the way it's presented--and with this subject--I don't mind.

This is a great book. If you're a fan of Henson or his creations, this is a must read.