The Devil's Punchbowl

Greg Iles' latest book, The Devil's Punchbowl is another rollicking ride set in Natchez. Iles re-visits beloved characters Penn Cage, his daughter Annie and the rest of his family, as well as his ex-girlfriend, Caitlin Masters. Penn is fulfilling his duties as Mayor of Natchez, when one of his high school buddies, Tim Jessup, pays him a surprise visit. Tim works on the casino boat, the Magnolia Queen, and while working there discovers a few unsavory things about his employers, two men from Northern Ireland, and asks for Penn's help in bringing them to justice. The book's action is fast-paced, and once the story is set up, it flies by. This book is another example of great writing by Greg Iles. Fans of Natchez, and Mississippi politics, will get a big kick out of reading about the inner workings of the city of Natchez, its customs and cultural activities. Included is a wonderful description of the annual hot-air balloon festival which I'm sure will encourage several readers to plan a visit! There are a few graphic descriptions of dog fighting in this book, so reader be forewarned. If you like action-packed books filled with drama, good family stories and descriptions of Mississippi, you'll really enjoy this book!

Little Brother

If you were struck by the similarity of this title to the phrase "Big Brother" from George Orwell's classic book, 1984, you would be correct! Little Brother is a book written by Cory Doctorow, who was heavily influenced by George Orwell's work. Little Brother is classified as a Juvenile book, and is set in San Francisco, in the highly-technologically-oriented, not-too-distant-future! The hero of the story is Marcus, a brilliant, seventeen-year-old who has figured out how to "outsmart" many of his school's surveillance systems (i.e., the "gait-recognition" system that supposedly can track your movements through the school by the way you normally walk), as well as systems installed througout San Francisco. Marcus is just having a normal day when he convinces his friends to slip out of their respective schools to play a round of the Alternate Reality Game, "Harajuku Fun Madness," a problem-solver game that is played on the Internet and around the streets and buildings in San Francisco. Marcus and three other friends meet up to figure out the clues when suddenly there is a tremendous explosion and Marcus and his friends are caught in the afternmath of a major terrorist attack. They are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security, detained for several days, and released to find the city has become a police state. Marcus makes the decision to fight back the only way he knows how- by taking down the Department of Homeland Security. Little Brother is an intense, action-packed book that speeds along and leaves you gasping. The story is filled with information about technology and gadgets, and is a perfect book for teens and adults who admire "gizmos." Cory Doctorow is the former European Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation who hopes that readers will "use technology to change the world." The book contains two great Afterwords (one was written by the guy who hacked the XBox) and a fabulous Bibliography for further reading. This book was truly a great and thought-provoking read!