The Secret History of D.B. Cooper

author: Brian Churilla

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.40

book published: 2013

rating: 4

read at: 2013/07/31

date added: 2013/07/31

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

D. B. Cooper is infamous for jumping out of a plane in 1971 with about $200,000 dollars. At least that is the story we think we know. In this graphic novel, Brian Churilla, we see that perhaps Cooper was actually used by the CIA as an inter-dimensional traveler and assassin.



Cooper has been trained to travel into the Grit, a world filled with strange inter-dimensional monsters, and a red teddy bear named Lee. He is also in this land to try to find his daughter Donna, who was taken from him. The monsters he kills with his katana in this dimension correlate to actual enemy spies in Russia that die in unexpectedly gruesome ways. There is also a counter spy who is hunting him down. This leads to some nice red herrings and paranoia throughout the story.



Story and art by Brian Churilla is quite good. The monsters in the Grit are the stuff of nightmares, and when Cooper kills one, a Soviet spy suddenly dies in a rather gruesome way. It's a strange story, but compared to conspiracy theories I've heard, perhaps not the strangest, and it does explain what happened to D.B. Cooper after all these years.





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The Silver Six

author: A.J. Lieberman

name: Wayne

average rating: 4.00

book published: 2013

rating: 4

read at: 2013/07/30

date added: 2013/07/30

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

In a future Boston, which now has a bubble over it, a shuttle returning to Earth blows up killing all those on board, including Phoebe's parents. Phoebe has spent the past year living on her own with her quirky robot Max and pretending to adults that her parents are still alive. When she is captured by Child Welfare Services, she is placed in a dreadful home and forced to go to school and work. She makes some new friends and they discover they have something important in common.



It's a science fiction graphic novel for middle grade readers and I loved that all the kids were smart (as well as their parents). They used some scientific principles to solve problems they ran into. Phoebe is independent, but learns she can't live without others. Her robot Max is hilarious, and there is good humor throughout the book as well as a good level of action and mystery.



Written by AJ Lieberman and illustrated by Darren Rawlings, I appreciated that the story never seems to talk down to their audience. The art is engaging and colorful. It was a fun story with true villains and the hintings of an environmental message throughout. The importance of teamwork and friendship are reinforced, as well as dealing with loss. It was a fun story and I look forward to more from this creative team.





via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/670924855?utm_medium=api&utm_source=rss

Zero Day: The Threat In Cyberspace

author: Robert O'Harrow Jr.

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.75

book published: 2013

rating: 4

read at: 2013/07/29

date added: 2013/07/29

shelves: non-fiction-computer

review:

Zero Day is a term that computer security people use to refer to a new vulnerability. Although companies can be alerted to the threats, sometimes it takes some coercion by hackers to get a company to fix a hole.



In this extended piece from Robert O'Harrow Jr. of the Washington Post, he shows the kind of targets that hackers are looking to exploit. Control systems that run municipal water, electrical and sewage system have been networked for years, but are now a vulnerable target. Recently, these were targeted by the Stuxnet virus, which was created by the US and Israel to target Iran's uranium centrifuges (and did so quite effectively). Other systems at risk include healthcare systems.



Tools hackers use include search engines that expose vulnerable systems, hacking kits, and social engineering. Social engineering attacks are quite effective, and they are becoming specifically targeted.



This is a quick read, and well reported. It's quite accessible to non-technical people who may find this true life story as scary as a movie plot. White hat hackers are shown as the true front line heroes in this new war.





via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/650885688?utm_medium=api&utm_source=rss

The High Ways

author: John Byrne

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.90

book published: 2013

rating: 3

read at: 2013/07/28

date added: 2013/07/28

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

Eddie Wallace, aka Sprout, has just signed on to the crew of the Carole Ann as their new navigator. He's taken under the wing of crew mate Marilyn Jones and works for feisty captain Cagney. His first trip out is supposed to be a routine trip to Mars, but captain Cagney has other plans and the crew ends up on a long range pick up on Europa. Once they arrive in Europa, they find that there is no cargo to pick up, and things are not as they seem.



John Byrne did the art and it's quite good, but perhaps a bit familiar by now. Captain Cagney reminds me a bit too much of Puck from the Alpha Flight comic, but it's nice to see a range of character types in a story like this. There are strange images and amazing space vistas.



The set up felt a bit like Forbidden Planet, and I felt like the set up worked better than the resolution for me. There are some surprises along the way, and I always like a good SF story, so I found it quite a lot of fun.





via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/631878747?utm_medium=api&utm_source=rss

Nothing Lasts Forever (Basis for the Film Die Hard)

author: Roderick Thorp

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.73

book published: 1979

rating: 3

read at: 2013/07/27

date added: 2013/07/27

shelves:

review:

'Nothing Lasts Forever' is the novel that is the basis for the movie Die Hard. It's an interesting read because of the earlier time frame it was written in, and also because of the things that remained in the movie and the things that changed.



It's Christmas and Joe Leland is heading from St. Louis to Los Angeles to visit his daughter Stephanie Gennaro. Her firm has just concluded a big deal and the firm is celebrating at the office. Terrorists show up and seize the building and it's up to Joe to stop them.



It's a tight-focused book, and everything that we see happening is what Joe sees. There aren't cutaways to terrorists hiding in stairwells, or the hostages. Also, Leland is not a cop, but works with law enforcement as a security analyst and knows the main terrorist, Hans Gruber, from some profiling that's been done. You also get to peak in Joe's thoughts and see him strategize as he maps the floors of the building he's in and attempt to set traps.



Joe is caught between two worlds. He's a fighter pilot from World War 2 and he finds himself in a new age where the heroes and villains don't seem to be a lot different. It's an interesting social commentary based on the late 1970s. The book has a fairly cynical title and that's for a reason. It's a tightly plotted read, and I enjoyed it.





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Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Western Publishing Years Volume 1

author: Paul S Newman

name: Wayne

average rating: 2.50

book published: 2013

rating: 3

read at: 2013/07/26

date added: 2013/07/26

shelves: graphic-novels

review:







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The Shadow Volume 2: Revolution Tp

author: Victor Gischler

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.12

book published: 2013

rating: 4

read at: 2013/07/25

date added: 2013/07/25

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

The Shadow has the ability to cloud men's minds and control them, but when he meets a man he can't read, it sends him reeling. He travels back to the masters that taught him to try to solve the mystery. This is the first story in The Shadow Volume 2: Revolution.



The second story is a longer arc, and takes The Shadow into the Spanish Civil War, where he meets someone named the Black Sparrow, who seems to have the same abilities as The Shadow himself. He is led to an encounter with El Rey, a power hungry figure who wants ultimate control.



A final story has The Shadow foiling a group of bank robbers in a gritty and hardboiled fashion.



Stories by Victor Gischler are good, taking our hero all over the globe, and allowing Lamont Cranston to occasionally crack wise. This is an iconic Shadow, with his wide brimmed hat and flowing red scarf, and the artwork is impressive. From the full painted covers by Alex Ross to story art by Jack Herbert, Aaron Campbell and Giovanni Timpano. The book features an alternate cover gallery. For a character that's been around as long as The Shadow, the stories seem fresh and never stale.







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