Daniel Silva’s latest spy novel, The Black Widow, updates John Le Carre’s classic, The Little Drummer Girl (1983). ISIS attacks in Paris and Brussels leads intelligence services to attempt to penetrate the terrorist network. Gabriel Allon, Daniel Silva’s master spy for 16 books (I’ve read most of them), recruits a doctor who can speak French and Arabic. Natalie agrees to the perilous mission and becomes transformed into a Palestinian woman cover who is a “Black Widow.” Black Widows are women whose husbands or boyfriends have been killed and want revenge. After Natalie is trained, she’s placed in a French clinic near a Muslim neighborhood. Within a short time, Natalie is approached by an ISIS recruiter. Her story is believed and soon Natalie is sent to the ISIS headquarters in Syria. Before long, Natalie finds herself caught up in the next terrorist attack. The Black Widow is 528 pages long (which qualifies it as a Big Fat Book) but the pages fly by as Silva ratchets up the suspense. If you’re looking for a Summer Spy Novel, I recommend The Black Widow. It’s intense! GRADE: B+

Comedian D. L. Hughley “translates” the Obama Years in the White House with wicked political commentary in Black Man, White House. Hughley uses the device of “quotes” from the major players in this political drama: the Clintons, the Bushes, Mitt Romney, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, John McCain, and dozens of others. D. L. Hughley has had comedy specials on HBO and Showtime. Hughley’s first book was I Want You to Shut the F#ck Up. Chris Rock haled it as “the best book since The Hunger Games. Black Man, White House is just as good. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Prologue: Democratic National Convention: July 27, 2004
1. Senator Obama, 2004–2006
2. Becoming the Nominee, 3007-2008
3. Winning the White House, 2008
4. The Inauguration, January 20, 2009
5. Senate Supermajority, 2009
6. Making Appointments, 2009
7. The Beer Summit, July 2009
8. Hear Cares, July-October 2009
9. Wins and losses, October 2009-January 2010
10. The Shellacking, February-November 2010
11. OBL & BS, November 2010-July 2011
12. Ready for Romney, July 2011-May 2012
13. Long Hot Summer, June-September 2012
14. Winner and Still Champion, September-December 2012
15. Second Chances, January-December 2013
16. Packing the Bags, 2014-2016
Index

Joe Morgenstern, in his movie review of Ghostbusters (2016) in the Wall Street Journal, concludes his assessment with this line: “Busting ghosts used to be a lot more fun.” I found this remake of Ghostbusters mildly entertaining. Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones (all Saturday Night Live cast members) combine forces to fight para-normal creatures. Chris Hemsworth (The Mighty Thor!) plays their hunky, dumb blonde secretary. The flaws in the movie are caused by a weak script with too many “slow spots.” And way too much “action” with the proton packs. The women fire their weapons so often it just gets tedious. But, on the plus side, the cast is good and there are some funny lines (though not enough of them) to keep the audience semi-satisfied. GRADE: B-

In addition to 30 years of Doonsbury comics featuring Donald Trump, Trudeau also includes a handy treasury of Trump insults! Yes, you too can use 500 words from Trump’s tweets to berate others! Trudeau has captured the essence of Trump in these comic strips. In fact, like Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impressions on Saturday Night Live, Trudeau uses the actual words of the person he’s mocking. And the subjects are actual: Trump University, Birther-controversy, Marla Maples, Trump as a middle-school bully, Trump’s bromance with Chris Christie, and much more! If you’re looking for something to laugh at this week of all weeks, Yuge! could be the answer to your humor needs. GRADE: A

Just as Matt Ruff’s Lovecraft County, the book that kicked off H. P. Lovecraft Week here, tells the stories of African-Americans drawn into the Lovecraft Universe, Victor LaValle’s The Ballad of Black Tom features an African-American hustler who finds himself looking at Cthulhu. The lead character starts out the story as Tommy Tester, a resident of Harlem in 1924. But a tragic event transforms Tommy Tester into Black Tom, a man with fabulous powers. The Ballad of Black Tom is one of TOR Books’s “novella” series of paperbacks. It weighs in at 150 pages. But the story it tells is a powerful one. I hope Victor LaValle is working on more tales of Black Tom. GRADE: B+

You know you want this!

The contemporary writer who has embraced the Cthulhu Mythos most ardently is Brian Lumley. He has written dozens of stories with Lovecraftian themes. The House of Cthulhu features wizards and spells and books of forbidden knowledge: all the trappings Lovecraft loved to play with in his stories. Lumley’s stories are like potato chips: you can’t just stop with one. Cthulhu shows up in several of these stories to wreck destruction on those foolish enough to summon him. If you like classic story-telling with magic and menace, you’ll enjoy The House of Cthulfu.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction 11
How Kank Thad Returned to Bhur-Esh 33
The Sorcerer’s Book 57
The House of Cthulhu 87
Tharquest and the Lamia Orbiquita 104
To Kill a Wizard 124
Cryptically Yours 142
Mylakhrion the Immortal 162
Lords of the Morass 173
The Wine of the Wizard 219
The Sorcerere’s Dream 248

The Nightmare Stacks is the seventh novel in Charles Stross’s Laundry series. The Laundry is a super secret British Intelligence agency who focuses on Lovecraftian threats to our world. You don’t have to read the previous books in the Laundry series to enjoy The Nightmare Stacks. Our hero is a mathematician named Alex Schwartz. Alex had the bad luck of invoking higher level math that opened a dimension so V-symbiots infected him. The result: Alex is now a vampire. But, that’s okay. The Laundry has uses for vampires, werewolves, and other strange creatures.

The existential threat in The Nightmare Stacks revolves around an invasion of Leeds by an extra-dimensional army armed with basilisks and dragons. The Laundry’s assets are spread thin in Leeds so Alex is called upon to engage the enemy forces. If you’re a fan of the Laundry series, you’re going to enjoy this latest romp. If you’re looking for some fun Summer reading, The Nightmare Stacks would make a great Beach Book! GRADE: B+

The New Mammoth Book of Cthulhu presents 476 pages of Lovecraft-inspired stories to a growing audience. Not a month goes by now without a new Lovecraft-themed anthology being published. Paula Guran’s latest tome from Running Press features stories by writers who base their stories on the Cthulhu Mythos. My favorite story in this anthology is Laird Barron’s “The Clutch” where Dark Magic follows a man for years. Caitlin R. Kiernan’s “The Peddler’s Tale, or, Isobel’s Revenge” revolves around promises made and promises kept across centuries. I’m also fond of John Shirley’s “Just Beyond the Trailer Park” which updates Lovecraft’s classic “From Beyond.” For a modern twist on Lovecraft, there’s “The Future Eats Everything” by Don Webb with its alien bugs from the future. If you’re looking for a contemporary anthology with a variety of Lovecraftean stories, Paula Guran’s The New Mammoth Book of Cthulhu might be just what you’re looking for. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: Who, What, When, Where, Why…
“In Syllables of Elder Seas” by Lisa L. Hannett
“The Peddler’s Tale, or, Isobel’s Revenge” by Caitlín R. Kiernan
“It’s All the Same Road in the End” by Brian Hodge
“Caro in Carno” by Helen Marshall
“The Cthulhu Navy Wife” by Sandra McDonald
“Those Who Watch” by Ruthanna Emrys
“A Clutch” by Laird Barron
“Just Beyond the Trailer Park” by John Shirley
“The Sea Inside” by Amanda Downum
“Outside the House, Watching for the Crows” by John Langan
“Alexandra Lost” by Simon Strantzas
“Falcon-and-Sparrows” by Yoon Ha Lee
“A Shadow of Thine Own Design” by W. H. Pugmire
“Backbite” by Norman Partridge
“In the Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro” by Usman T. Malik
“Legacy of Salt” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
“I Do Not Count the Hours” by Michael Wehunt
“An Open Letter to Mister Edgar Allan Poe, from a Fervent Admirer” by Michael Shea
“I Dress My Lover in Yellow” by A. C. Wise
“Deep Eden” by Richard Gavin
“The Future Eats Everything” by Don Webb
“I Believe That We Will Win” by Nadia Bulkin
“In the Sacred Cave” by Lois H. Gresh
“Umbilicus” by Damien Angelica Walters
“Variations on Lovecraftian Themes” by Veronica Schanoes

A Cabin in the Woods is another Joss Whedon movie so you know things are going to be exciting and strange. A group of college kids travel in an old RV to a cabin in the woods to spend a weekend having fun. But fun becomes extinct when a family of zombies attack the group. This seems like another teen-ager horror movie but Joss Whedon has other ideas. What if the sleeping Ancient Ones need a yearly ritual to stay asleep (and not wake up to destroy the world)? Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Jesse Williams, and Fran Kranz battle the forces of darkness. Lovecraftean themes and creatures make A Cabin in the Woods my choice for H. P. Lovecraft Movie of the Week! GRADE: B+