Senior News--October 2013 Column

While working on a few things earlier today, I realized I have never put up my Senior News newspaper column for October. Don’t know what happened. I know I meant to do it, but with things here apparently I completely forgot. So, a few days late, the below is my deal for October.

For some time now I have been writing a monthly book review column for the Senior News newspaper. The Senior News is aimed to the 50 and over crowd with news relevant to seniors regarding various issues, humor pieces, and my review column among other things. The newspaper is a giveaway at doctor offices, stores, etc. and can be received by mail via a paid subscription. There are multiple editions across the state of Texas and therefore there is some fluctuation in content in each edition.

My column every month focuses on books of interest to the Texas audience. Therefore the books selected for the column, fiction or non-fiction, are written by Texas residents, feature Texans in some way, or would have some other connection to the Texas based readership. At least two books are covered each month in the short space I am given.

Below is/was my October 2013 column with the addition here of the relevant book covers…

These Mortal Remains

Milton Burton

Minotaur Books (A Thomas Dunne Book)

ISBN# 978-1-250-00638-7

Hardback (also available as e-book)

300 Pages

Last seen in the excellent Nights Of The Red Moon sheriff Bo Handel of Caddo County, Texas returns in These Mortal Remains. Beauregard “Bo” Handel has been sheriff more than thirty years and brooks no interference from the fools in Austin or Washington. He knows the people of his southeast Texas county and they know him. He also knows that sometimes people due amazingly stupid things. Things that can get them killed.

That is exactly what happened to a pair of idiots by the name of Topper Smith and Mean Dean Bean. When they tried to rob the Royal early one morning, Dual Driggers refused to get on the floor like everyone else because of his arthritis. Then he pulled out a 45. Colt automatic and the man who had been on the beach at Normandy on D-Day made quick work of them  before going back to eating his breakfast. While their crime spree is over, their deaths will be the first two dominoes to fall in a far reaching and complicated case that will interest those at the local, state and national level in various branches of law enforcement.

These Mortal Remains is another excellent read from Texas author Milton T. Burton. Rich in details with numerous plots twists; this latest read showcases an author at the top of his form.

Michael Chiarello's Live Fire

Michael Chiarello

Chronicle Books

ISBN# 978-1-4521-0181-3

Hardback (also available as an e-book)

224 Pages

There is a huge difference between cooking something on a grill and cooking something over a roaring fire in a fire pit, fire box, etc. Michael Chiarello takes you through those differences and how to do it safely and well in this book with the subtitle of  “125 recipes for cooking outdoors.” While there are some recipes suitable for the grill, this book is aimed at those who want to cook over open flames.

Along with technique tips regarding different types of wood, equipment, and other topics, the recipes drive this book. Main and side dishes are covered, as are recipes for appetizers, pizzas, breakfast, drinks, and many more tasty suggestions. While no nutritional information is included in this excellent 225 page book, there are pages for resources and an extensive index.  Michael Chiarello's Live Fire is an excellent cookbook full of pictures and text designed to assist cooks who want to step up their culinary skills.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013

Review: "These Mortal Remains" by Milton T. Burton

Last seen in the excellent Nights Of The Red Moon sheriff Bo Handel of Caddo County, Texas returns in These Mortal Remains. Beauregard “Bo” Handel has been sheriff more than thirty years and brooks no interference from the fools in Austin or Washington. He knows the people of his southeast Texas county and they know him. He also knows that sometimes people due amazingly stupid things. Things that can get them killed.

That is exactly what happened to a pair of idiots by the name of Topper Smith and Mean Dean Bean. When they tried to rob the Royal early one morning, Dual Driggers refused to get on the floor like everyone else because of his arthritis. Then he pulled out a 45. Colt automatic and the man who had been on the beach at Normandy on D-Day made quick work of them  before going back to eating his breakfast. While their crime spree is over, their deaths will be the first two dominoes to fall in a far reaching and complicated case that will interest those at the local, state and national level in various branches of law enforcement. This is the kind of case that can make or break careers under the harsh spotlight of the national media and Sheriff Bo Handel does not care. This is his county, his people, and he is going to do the job he was elected to do his way.

These Mortal Remains is another excellent read from Texas author Milton T. Burton. Rich in details with numerous plots twists; this latest read showcases an author at the top of his form. When Milton wrote fiction it was with honesty and conviction that not only provided one heck of a story, it also told cultural truths of the time of the book as well as today. It is also sadly true that Milton Burton is an author who is no longer with us as explained in the preface written by Texas author George Wier.

I knew Milton Burton and was honored to have been his friend. Before he passed away far too soon, Milton would call me on a regular basis a couple of times a month from his home in Tyler, Texas. His gravelly voice would boom across the miles as he inquired as to my family and my fiction writing. Writing, history, and many other topics deeply interested Milton who never stopped teaching. I deeply miss those talks and the man I never got to sit with in person. I have a feeling that somewhere Milton is cackling with derision at the politicians and writing yet more great stories.

These Mortal Remains

Milton Burton

Minotaur Books (A Thomas Dunne Book)

http://www.minotaurbooks.com

2013

ISBN# 978-1-250-00638-7

Hardback(also available as e-book)

300 Pages

$26.99

Review copy was provided by George Wier for my use in an objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013

FFB Review: "Nights of the Red Moon" by Milton T. Burton

I have reviewed this book and author Milton T. Burton here before as part of Friday’s Forgotten Books hosted by Patti Abbott. I do it today with a heavy heart as while Sandi was in the hospital, I learned that my friend Milton had passed. Never again will I get another call from him over in Tyler, his rich voice booming on the line, asking how I and the family were doing, encouraging me on my writing, and willing to discuss anything and everything.  I leave it to others to eulogize Milton and explain what he meant to them and the writing community. I simply don’t have the words to express the loss I feel………

Milton T. Burton's third novel sets the stage for a series with a rock solid foundation, interesting characters, and a complex case. Sheriff Bo Handel has been the strong, and at times compassionate, arm of the law in Caddo County, Texas for nearly thirty years. Forty miles away from the Louisiana border and half that north of Nacogdoches, the county is fairly quiet though there have been strange events over the years. With a drought and heat wave gripping the state and painting the Texas moon blood red, Sheriff Bo Handel knows the Cherokees were right to fear such times as periods of madness and death.



It was some time on an early September morning that Amanda Twiller, wife of the local Methodist preacher, was murdered and then dumped on the front lawn of the parsonage. Shot three times in the back, her body has been left like trash out on the lawn for one and all passing by to see. Including her husband, who found her just after dawn and called it in. While the fact she is dead is not a surprise, the actual manner of her death is a little bit. In the three short years that Reverend Bobby Joe Twiller and Amanda had been in town, she had made quite a name for herself as an adulteress, prescription drug addict, and a few other things before running off with Emmet Zorn, owner of a local liquor store. None of that explains why the FBI in the form of two agents is also present at the local crime scene.

Agents Muldoon and Hotchkiss of the FBI are interested because Emmet Zorn has links to organized crime down in Houston. Their agenda is to get evince against Emmet Zorn and leveraging him to talk about those higher up the food chain. What starts as a simple local murder case quickly puts a personal and professional strain on Sheriff Bo Handel. He doesn't care about the federal government, inter-agency cooperation, or why it all matters in the world. He just wants the actual killer brought to justice. Along the way, if he can, he will help others and try to stem the rising tide of collateral damage in his county where outside forces are turning the county into their personal turf war.

Author Milton T. Burton's latest effort after The Rogues Game and The Sweet and the Dead is a powerful, and at times, dark mystery set in East Texas. Sort of a weird cross between the style of Bill Crider and Joe Landsdale, this is a powerfully good noir style cozy. Borderline graphic at times, full of dark nuance and meaning, the book moves quickly through its 294 pages to a powerful resolution with no easy answers.

Along the way the complex character of Sheriff Bo Handel as well as numerous major and minor secondary characters comes alive for the reader. Plenty of East Texas history is woven into the tale in such a way that by the end of the book, the very county itself fully exists as a character in its own right and is lodged in your mind. Couple all that with plenty of action, mystery, suspense, a hint of romance, and the result is a breakout book for Texan Milton T. Burton. While you do have to wait for a sequel, there is this one and his two others if he is new to you. If he isn't new to you and you have not read it yet, what are you waiting for?

Nights of the Red Moon: A Mystery

Milton T. Burton

http://obscuredestinies.blogspot.com/

A Thomas Dunne Book (Minotaur Books)

http://www.minotaurbooks.com

December 2010

ISBN# 978-0-312-64800-8

Hardback (available on Kindle)

294 Pages

$24.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2011

Reviewing: "Nights of the Red Moon: A Mystery" by Milton T. Burton

Milton T. Burton’s third novel sets the stage for a series with a rock solid foundation, interesting characters, and a complex case. Sheriff Bo Handel has been the strong, and at times compassionate, arm of the law in Caddo County, Texas for nearly thirty years. Forty miles away from the Louisiana border and half that north of Nacogdoches, the county is fairly quiet though there have been strange events over the years. With a

drought and heat wave gripping the state and painting the Texas moon blood red, Sheriff Bo Handel knows the Cherokees were right to fear such times as periods of madness and death.

It was some time on an early September morning that Amanda Twiller, wife of the local Methodist preacher, was murdered and then dumped on the front lawn of the parsonage. Shot three times in the back, her body has been left like trash out on the lawn for one and all passing by to see. Including her husband, who found her just after dawn and called it in. While the fact she is dead is not a surprise, the actual manner of her death is a little bit. In the three short years that Reverend Bobby Joe Twiller and Amanda had been in town, she had made quite a name for herself as an adulteress, prescription drug addict, and a few other things before running off with Emmet Zorn, owner of a local liquor store. None of that explains why the FBI in the form of two agents is also present at the local crime scene.

Agents Muldoon and Hotchkiss of the FBI are interested because Emmet Zorn has links to organized crime down in Houston. Their agenda is to get evince against Emmet Zorn and leveraging him to talk about those higher up the food chain. What starts as a simple local murder case quickly puts a personal and professional strain on Sheriff Bo Handel. He doesn't care about the federal government, inter-agency cooperation, or why it all matters in the world. He just wants the actual killer brought to justice. Along the way, if he can, he will help others and try to stem the rising tide of collateral damage in his county where outside forces are turning the county into their personal turf war.

Author Milton T. Burton’s latest effort after The Rogues' Game and The Sweet and the Dead is a powerful, and at times, dark mystery set in East Texas. Sort of a weird cross between the style of Bill Crider and Joe Landsdale, this is a powerfully good noir style cozy. Borderline graphic at times, full of dark nuance and meaning, the book moves quickly through its 294 pages to a powerful resolution with no easy answers.

Along the way the complex character of Sheriff Bo Handel as well as numerous major and minor secondary characters comes alive for the reader. Plenty of East Texas history is woven into the tale in such a way that by the end of the book, the very county itself fully exists as a character in its own right and is lodged in your mind. Couple all that with plenty of action, mystery, suspense, a hint of romance, and the result is a breakout book for Texan Milton T. Burton. While you do have to wait for a sequel, there is this one and his two others if he is new to you. If he isn't new to you and you have not read it yet, what are you waiting for?


Nights of the Red Moon: A Mystery
Milton T. Burton
http://obscuredestinies.blogspot.com/
A Thomas Dunne Book (Minotaur Books)
http://www.minotaurbooks.com
December 2010
ISBN# 978-0-312-64800-8
Hardback (available on Kindle)
294 Pages
$24.99


Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.


Kevin R. Tipple © 2011