The JFK Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch (2025)

The JFK ConspiracyBrad Meltzer is a very successful fiction author and also had a TV show about Lost History some years ago. Out of the show he created this series of books that all have “Conspiracy” in the title.  I bought the first one, but I wasn’t that impressed with the overall read.  To me it’s history-lite and I’m OK getting this series out of the library. The formula is established at this point–start with the “Conspiracy”, go back to establish a short biography of the famous person, draw it out with succinct, easy-to-read prose, and have a wrap-up.

In this case, the interesting parts of the book are detailing the relationship of Secret Service agent Clint Hill and Mrs. Kennedy.  If you like the kind of programming on the History Channel that gives you a little insight into a topic, but draws the stuff out with lots of previews and recaps before and after the commercial breaks–this is a good style of book for you.

The Penguin (2024, Max)

The PenguinThis was a really slow starter for me.  I enjoyed The Batman but I wasn’t sure how I’d connect with a show about Oz’ rise as a crime lord.  Matt Reeves has created a decent ficton for his Gotham and Batman, but did I really want to spend time caring about “Oz Cobb”? I’d probably still say that Burgess Meredith is “my” Penguin, and that’s almost a completely different character.

That said, the addition of “Vic” to humanize Cobb, and several scenes where Cristin Milioti really chews up the scenery helped to make it interesting.  Even though this is another tale where we get Yet Another Origin Story {YAOS(tm)} there is an especially slow burn on revealing aspects of Oz’ character.  I knew his mother wasn’t a throwaway character but it takes until the end of the show to really show case Deirdre O’Connell’s acting.  And I suppose I really need to mention Colin Farrell’s literal transformation into Oz Cobb/the Penguin. The prosthetics are amazing, but so is Farrell’s accent, use of his eyes, and hand gestures.

It’s hard to care about a villain, but what is interesting is that this world is now a little harder for me to discard for the DCU in its coming phase. I hope there is enough room to see how -this- Gotham plays out.

Agent of Change by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (1988)

When the news came out that Sharon Lee is the 2025 winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Award given by BSFS with support from The Heinlein Society, it marked the latest in a string of noteworthy authors that I hadn’t read. Since the writing duo of Sharon and her late husband Steve are best known for their “Liaden Universe” I figured I would start with book #1.

It’s a good read, fast-paced and a decent adventure story with some interesting world-building in it.  I was actually reminded of Charles E. Gannon’s writing in the Caineverse, although this came first.

I don’t think right now I’m going to be rushing to read all of the books, but I think I am interested enough to find the two more that involve the main characters of this book.  Time will tell!