Very Bad Deaths
2 journalers for this copy...
I'm a big fan of Spider Robinson's writing but he is so prolific I keep finding books by him that I haven't read. I picked this book up in Uncle Hugo's Bookstore in Minneapolis.
I have quite a few books by Spider Robinson on my TBR pile and it is a good thing I still have them to look forward to. Spider has not published anything since 2008 due to family tragedies like the death of his wife and daughter. There is a rumour that he is working on another book. I so hope that's true.
I picked this book up after I had already started Spider's last book, Very Hard Choices, and realized that there was a book that went before it and that I had a copy of it. Of course, I had to read this one first but it will be followed immediately by Very Hard Choices. This one features Russell Walker, a pot smoking columnist for the Globe and Mail who lives on an island off the mainland of BC (hmm, who does that sound like?), his college friend, Zandor, who can read minds, and a Vancouver police constable, Nika Mandic. Zandor also lives on an island in the channel between BC mainland and Vancouver Island. He chose that location because it was the only place where he can be far enough away from other people that he won't hear their thoughts. Then he realized he could hear the thoughts of a man piloting a small plane near his island and that the man was a serial killer who was planning to kill the members of a family in a neighbourhood in Vancouver. The pilot thought the plane was going to crash and he was regretting that he would not be able to carry out this plan. Then the plane fixed itself and he flew out of range. Zandor came to Russell because he could, just barely, manage to stand close enough to him to convey what he had "overheard". Russell, in a deep depression from the death of his wife, was contemplating suicide but Zandor's story, along with some brain rewiring he did, got Russell to agree to do something to stop this horror. What Russell did was go to Vancouver to report it to the Vancouver Police Department but he couldn't get anyone to take it seriously until he did a favour for Nika. She was eventually convinced to help and so an unlikely band of misfits takes on the worst serial killer in Canada.
One of the things I enjoy about Spider's writing is how he shows his admiration for Canadian life. He's been living in Canada for a long time but he keeps in touch with things in his birth country of the USA and he likes a lot of things about Canada. Here's an example from page 182
So Nika put on the radio, and we listened to CBC. One day the scumbags and traitors who are systematically leaching every good thing about Canada into anemia so they can feed on the bones will finally succeed in cutting the budget of the Canadian Broadcorping Castration so far that it can no longer produce better radio than any station in America, any day of the week--but it hasn't happened yet, by God. So far the main focus of their attention has been dismantling our health care, education, and military. When they can spare the time to ruin a merely cultural industry it's usually film or television.
Remember this was written in 2003 and in the intervening years we had almost 10 years of Stephen Harper's government. While CBC radio isn't on its deathbed it spent quite a bit of time in the intensive care ward and the jury is still out as to whether it's healthy enough to survive.
I picked this book up after I had already started Spider's last book, Very Hard Choices, and realized that there was a book that went before it and that I had a copy of it. Of course, I had to read this one first but it will be followed immediately by Very Hard Choices. This one features Russell Walker, a pot smoking columnist for the Globe and Mail who lives on an island off the mainland of BC (hmm, who does that sound like?), his college friend, Zandor, who can read minds, and a Vancouver police constable, Nika Mandic. Zandor also lives on an island in the channel between BC mainland and Vancouver Island. He chose that location because it was the only place where he can be far enough away from other people that he won't hear their thoughts. Then he realized he could hear the thoughts of a man piloting a small plane near his island and that the man was a serial killer who was planning to kill the members of a family in a neighbourhood in Vancouver. The pilot thought the plane was going to crash and he was regretting that he would not be able to carry out this plan. Then the plane fixed itself and he flew out of range. Zandor came to Russell because he could, just barely, manage to stand close enough to him to convey what he had "overheard". Russell, in a deep depression from the death of his wife, was contemplating suicide but Zandor's story, along with some brain rewiring he did, got Russell to agree to do something to stop this horror. What Russell did was go to Vancouver to report it to the Vancouver Police Department but he couldn't get anyone to take it seriously until he did a favour for Nika. She was eventually convinced to help and so an unlikely band of misfits takes on the worst serial killer in Canada.
One of the things I enjoy about Spider's writing is how he shows his admiration for Canadian life. He's been living in Canada for a long time but he keeps in touch with things in his birth country of the USA and he likes a lot of things about Canada. Here's an example from page 182
So Nika put on the radio, and we listened to CBC. One day the scumbags and traitors who are systematically leaching every good thing about Canada into anemia so they can feed on the bones will finally succeed in cutting the budget of the Canadian Broadcorping Castration so far that it can no longer produce better radio than any station in America, any day of the week--but it hasn't happened yet, by God. So far the main focus of their attention has been dismantling our health care, education, and military. When they can spare the time to ruin a merely cultural industry it's usually film or television.
Remember this was written in 2003 and in the intervening years we had almost 10 years of Stephen Harper's government. While CBC radio isn't on its deathbed it spent quite a bit of time in the intensive care ward and the jury is still out as to whether it's healthy enough to survive.
I have always enjoyed Spider Robinson and appreciate the fact that he lives in Canada despite being an American. When I started this book I was enjoying the quirky and humourous descriptions of people, places and events when suddenly the tenor changed to a description of a horrible evil serial killer. I had to stop reading for a while to catch my breath. I did carry on eventually and read in fits and starts.
It is a great book.
It is a great book.
