Hart Books

If you like wit, peppered with a point, you'll love "The Remnant". After you've read it, you can't help wondering why the powerful novels of our time warn against Socialism yet we seem to be running toward it. Another point : the book is short!! With the advent of word processing, it seems as though every book has to be a huge tome to make a point. As Huxley said, "Brevity is the sould of wit". Thanks, Linda, for a wonderfully accessible read.

In her syndicated column, Linda Bowles once predicted "historians would describe the Clinton administration not as a sea change in America politics but as a toilet flush." Such intelligent derision so courageously stated would make any book she wrote warrant a read.

In "The Remnant" she employs caustic satire skillfully to advocate a return to the principles of common sense and human decency. The fable takes place in 2046 when political correctness has developed a chokehold on all American institutions. The Constitution-determined to be hopelessly outdated--has been banished to a museum. Fulfilling quotas of racial, gender, sexual-preference, and assorted other categories is the primordial function of every aspect of public policy. Religion is virtually outlawed. The Democrat and Republican parties have converged into one self-perpetuating organization--the Demopubs, and all that made America great is abased, ridiculed, or obliterated. So removed from rectitude has the nation become that God appears to the President with a warning to get back on the right track.

Those who seek out symbolism will find many characters named after Biblical players. The President's name is Moses Jones, the first lady is Sheba, and the vice-president who faces a few figurative giants is given the first name of David. No allegorical appellation is as humorously utilized as Judith Ischcarot who serves as a de facto atheism czar in the cabinet.

Much of this short work is risibly sapient, but late in chapter eight, it takes a major detour into stirring eloquence. When President Moses Jones addresses his cabinet and admits that he experienced a Theophany, his remarks are profound. Were this peroration a genuine speech delivered by a real president, it would take its place not too far beneath George Washington's farewell or the Gettysburg Address. The penetrating sinew is constant throughout the nearly two page soliloquy and is represented by lines like "we decided sin and guilt are burdens we don't have to carry. In effect, the rules governing our behavior can be whatever we want them to be...In an environment permissive of uninhibited expression, we did not find the inherent wisdom within our souls; we found the inherent barbarism."

Although the parable takes place 40+ years in the future, most of it is applicable today. When President Jones declaims, " we used to fight our demons...now we embrace them, " his words ring as true in 2001 as the do in the era of Demopubs. Perhaps "The Remnant" can serve as a much needed wake-up call. It is far less drastic that a visit from above conveying divine displeasure.

The Remnant is Linda Bowles at her satirical best, projecting current liberal policies to their hilarious conclusions. The book is a fable, relating a time in the future where God personally visits the President of the United States. In telling the story, Linda skewers every liberal icon and jabs skillfully at current political practices. Johnny Hart's cartoon illustrations are a wonderful condiment to a conservative reader's feast. Have some fun reading!

This book does an outstanding job of detailing exactly where the slippery slope of socialism will take America. The author predicts the logical extension of our current policies almost 50 years into the future with shocking results.

Wit, satire and humor are used to their fullest to make an already short book an even quicker read. The lessons learned, however, will be retained forever.

You think you don't understand this sort of newfangled poetry getting published these days? You've made arch pronouncements on its incomprehensibility? No? That was just me? Well, read THIS, my friends, because in comes Matt with his hair on fire and invents, fiercely, lyrically, sometimes images that are so striking I'm not sure I care what they mean. This is energetic imagination with a funk and an ache. Read it. It's like whoop-ass for the head (he's very funny and very bright) and longing for the soul. You will not forget his words: they will burn and delight you.

Pushing of boundaries doesn't often get recognized, so here I just have to say this is something special. If you love you poetry to drill right to the heart of language and the human condition, this is your bag. A must have.

I read lots of poetry, but prefer stuff somewhere between the disconnects of folks such as Lauterbach/Scalopino and anything that is 'new formalist.' That leaves a wide latitude, and Hart's writing is claiming it's own place in there somewhere--some surreal images and writing, some nods toward the more formal, a couple of prose poems. Among the factors which unify the collection are that voice--consistent throughout the collection. It's a voice that hopes, that worries, that is playful while bringing an ultimate seriousness to the subjects of how we relate to one another, our place(s) in the world and universe, what sense to make of an artist's role in our present moment. Hart's music here is strange--but a good strange, in all the nuances of that label...it is, afterall, real poetry.

Matt Hart's poems at once speak loudly and with confidence while simultaneously thrusting the reader into a landscape free of authoritative parameters. They are sometimes strange and exciting, other times furious and beautiful, but always meaningful and sincere. Read it.

Literally! Each one of the cards in the pack has a story to tell. The play ranges from amusing to wonderful. Right through the Pack is probably in everyone's top ten all-time bridge books.

This book is in the pantheon of bridge books. It's the one classic book that is often mentioned in other bridge books, including other classics.
If you also want my opinion: that's no coincidence. The writing is superb (unlike in, oh 99% of bridge books). The hands are well chosen, a few oddities are thrown in, but most seem realistic, and the analysis manages to bring out the beautiful depths hidden in them without the endless double-dummy over-analysis so common in bridge literature. This book is recommended for players of all level. Admitedly beginners will be overwhelmed by many of the analyses and plays, but this is one of the most entertaining introductions to the finer points of bridge.

Great book to read for any level bridge player (or at least I think so, since I am a beginner). The bridge was a side note to the the stories, but if you like good stories and a little bridge this is a great book for you.

The "plot" of the book is each of the 52 cards in a deck telling of a bridge hand where they were the critical card. Most of the hands teach a subtle point of play (to my casual bridge skills) such as forcing an opponent to lead into your tenace position to avoid the finess and squeezing the opponents (both beyond my skills). I got an appreciation for how much more there can be in a hand. The other hands are just plain hysterical. I won't spoil them by revealing too much, but imagine bidding and making seven hearts missing both the ace of diamonds and the ace of hearts! The chapters are short which makes reading a chapter or two before I go to sleep easy - my kind of book. I have a long list of books in progress, but this one quickly jumped to the top of the list to finish.

I thoroughtly enjoyed reading this book. The characters were interesting and multi-dimensional. The plot was interesting and the writing style made it easy to read. Very well done.

This book was similar to Tony Hillerman books, but even better! It is more contemporary, and very nicely written. I liked the comfortable chapter development, so that I could set it down, and yet still finish it in a few days. Linden really turns out some interesting ideas and phrases, and he uses intriguing imagery of the Southwest. Also, it is very culturally revealing - I mean, haven't you just wondered what modern rodeo cowboys might be like? Or how the Native American peoples might live today -- their personalities, their unique traditions? If you live in the southwest, and you know some cowboys and indigenous people, then can you imagine how these people interact? With cleverness and humor, by Lindens account! I'm not really much of a reader, but this book I just loved! I plan to read the continuing series, as it comes out, because the quality appears certain to me. It has what I like in a book --no wasted words, no repetition -- it was just right.

D.W. Linden's Sand Creek is a mystery set in southeastern Colorado with an unlikely sleuth, a broken down cowboy, hunting down Native American history to unearth a serial killer and save his friend from murder allegations. Sand Creek is a mystery with an intriguing romance subplot. Superb characterization and themes make this a 5+ mystery read. Ex-rodeo man and now laid back sheriff Johnny Hart's life is fairly much lost down the bottle. He hasn't been to a rodeo in a while, his wife has left him and his superiors are always warning him. He is even finding it difficult to track down the cattle rustlers. It could not get much worse, but of course, it does. His friend and rodeo buddy Char Sixkiller has been pegged by the FBI as the serial killer mutilating blond white women and dumping them on historic sites of Native American massacres. Can broken down cowboy Johnny save himself, his friend and Sandy?

This mystery focuses mostly on the friendship between two men and the hunt for a killer. Johnny and Char have a long history fro their rodeo past. Both are broken cowboys from past scars but loyal friends. In searching for the identity of the serial killer, Johnny and Char must face their past and rely on their friendship. Can the present hunt also heal their past and teach them how to forgive? Although the mystery focuses on the friendship between Char and Johnny, two important women in this mystery make Sand Creek a 5 star+ read and more than a mystery. Barbara, Johnny's ex-wife, is a divorcee with a career and independent. Sandy Cross is an independent unmarried woman, running her cattle ranch mostly alone since Mr. Cross is just too old. She is a Christian but she is spending a lot of time with a man with different spiritual beliefs and a Native American when Native Americans are seen with suspicion in this part of the country. Will she calmly break the law when push comes to shove? Sometimes a girl has to do what she has to do! Sandy is blond and smart and breaks all stereotypes. When the going gets tough, she doesn't reach for the hair dye or the comfort of the big city. Sandy in this book can be described with one word --- fortitude. She may seem preachy for one small moment or two but circumstances have to mellow out her fortitude and make it less rigid. The Christian element is balanced by the Native American massacre reality and the character of Char who also sees more than beyond his viewpoint. Actually, all the characters in this novel are written without rigid good and evil traits.

Linden's description of the locale draws the reader into the culture and landscape of Southeastern Colorado. A slightly melancholic tone in the beginning was a nice reading change from the typical mystery read. Readers will enjoy hearing about the history of the Native Americans and the massacres. Sand Creek has some nice twists and turns mystery-wise. The first third of this book is more about the rodeo life, the area, and the building of the friendship between Johnny and Char and the life of Sandy.

This was not a romance per se but readers may particularly enjoy its multi-faceted take on love: friendship, love and understanding that divorced people might still have, love emerging, the love of a father for a child, a Christian understanding of love, a Native American approach to spirituality and love/friendship. Sand Creek offers an intriguing insight into history and the massacres. A very nice read...a mystery but also a view more expansive and some insights readers may remember and ponder even after finishing the last page.

A serial killer is dumping the dismembered bodies of women at historical Native American massacre sites. The killer knows his history. With each body he leaves a token recalling the butchery of the past. The shame of America's nineteenth century western expansion has returned as a twenty-first century nightmare. Deputy Johnny Hart, a flawed and charming lawman, is stumbling through his life in middle-of-nowhere Kiowa County, Colorado. A "stove-in" rodeo rider, a man clinging to the last threads of connection to his wife and children, a beer-for-breakfast alcoholic, Johnny Hart is caving in under the debris of his misspent youth. An old buddy, Char Sixkiller, fits the description of the murderer and a lovely woman whose struggling ranch includes the site of the Sand Creek massacre is the likely next victim. It falls to Johnny Hart to save the people he loves, the few people who still love and care for him, and in this perhaps to save himself.

D.W. Linden's suspenseful new mystery of the contemporary west has everything we want in a good read. He gives us characters we can care about, suspense that never stops, and a climax that surprises and satisfies. Along the way, we meet the upright and the low-down, the crazy and the big hearted, the cowboys, the Native Americans, the FBI agents, and the ranchers. The "Sand Creek" story is rooted in the history of the Southwest and Native American culture, giving us a story of contemporary lives freighted with a very particular past. D.W. Linden's characters are gritty, real and memorable, struggling with the shadows of death and loss, looking for life.

"Sand Creek" is a great read and I look forward to the next installment in the Johnny Hart Mystery Series. This promises to be an exciting ride.

R.C. Knight