well, he doesnt go by joe king cuz he says he doesnt wanna ride his dad's coattails. thats beside the point; he's got two books out that are must-read stuff. I finished Horns a few weeks ago and liked it...finished heart-shaped box maybe a week ago and loved it. could be the best ghost story ever. he has a collection of shorts I wanna get. one was included at the end of 'box,' and it was really pretty damn fine.

on a david baldacci kick. everything [exception coming soon] has been top-notch. he has like 4 different serieses going and a shitload of stand-alone stuff. if you dig political thrillers, he's the dude. oddly enough, I have yet to see the word 'fuck' in any of his books. not that I think that makes a difference, just is kinda odd. oh, the exception. true blue kinda started lamish and maintained that feel. I never really got into the people or the plot. there were several good action scenes, a lot of spy vs spy stuff, and good characterization, but still, the story never really held me like the others. I finished it hoping it might have some brilliant end, but nope. so thats my two pennies worth on him

lets see, read patterson's newest the other day. worst case. not bad, but patterson is getting to be to same-ish...every book has something that is a copy from earlier stuff. of course, when you write and release 3 books a year, thats bound to happen.

read denis leary's 'why we suck.' he, simply put, is crazy. not really a must-read, but it is up there if you like reading cynical stuff.

oh, bought King's blockade billy. really a good [borderline great] story. theres two stories in the little tiny chapbook and the second story is not worth mentioning.

really digging crais' elvis cole and joe pike stuff. I think pike is cool as hell whereas vic doesnt. just goes to show...

tried john connelly and found it not to my liking. for some reason, I cant get into his style, nor can I 'care' for charly parker. [vic does, go figger....]

actually turned on the TV the other day and watched book of eli. man, what a cool movie. had to watch it again it was so good.

gonna cut grass now...someone please grab me a sweating glass of iced tea, k?