Brief reviews, March 3

Mark Graham, Jane Dickinson, Peter Mergendahl & Jennifer Miller

Published March 3, 2006 at midnight

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UNREAL WORLDS

The Physics of Superheroes

By James Kakalios (Gotham Books, $26).

Grade: B+

James Kakalios, a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota, has found a great way to get through to his beginning students by teaching a course called Everything I Needed to Know About Physics I Learned from Reading Comic Books. Now he has condensed the class into a very readable book for the lay reader.

Anyone with a little knowledge of elementary mathematics and algebra and a fascination for the superheroes of DC and Marvel comic books should enjoy learning which superhero powers are theoretically possible and which are sheer whimsy.

Kakalios begins by looking at Superman as he was introduced in Action Comics #1 in 1938. Originally, Superman could "leap tall buildings in a single bound." Using a couple of simple formulae, the author concludes that, in order for Clark Kent to generate the force to leap a tall building, the mass of the planet Krypton must have been 15 times greater than that of Earth.

He goes on to demonstrate the plausibility of Spiderman's web stopping a moving train, of Flash creating a sonic boom with his super speed, and of Ant Man knocking out a crook with one punch, though he is only a few centimeters tall.

Using these examples and a host of others, Kakalios makes comprehending such esoteric principles as Newton's Law of Gravity, the Law of Conservation of Matter and the Three Laws of Thermodynamics and Einstein's E=MC2 relatively painless.

Although the grammar occasionally leaves a bit to be desired (the author isn't an English professor, after all), and some of the middle chapters tend to drag a bit, The Physics of Superheroes is a fun read for any science fiction fan and could serve as a helpful reference book for anyone thinking of becoming a comic book writer.

And by the way, where were teachers like James Kakalios when I was a college freshman?

Mark Graham

MYSTERY

Holmes on the Range

By Steve Hockensmith (Minotaur, $22.95).

Grade: B+

Sherlock Holmes meets John Wayne in Steve Hockensmith's first novel, Holmes on the Range, featuring the adventures of a pair of justice-loving cowboy brothers, Otto and Gustav Amlingmeyer.

Known as Old Red and Big Red, the Amlingmeyers discovered Holmes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Red-Headed League, once offered as a joke by their fellow cowhands. For Gustav, who depends on his younger brother to read the rare Sherlockian tales that come their way, the great sleuth is the answer to the question of life. "Some folks got religion. Gustav got Sherlock Holmes," writes Otto.

In this story, Otto takes the role of Watson, narrating the events that ensue when the pair hires on at an unfriendly ranch with an aura of mystery about it.

Hockensmith, who previously brought Gustav, Otto and their Baker Street "deducifyin' " to the lawless West in stories for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, is a Californian who also writes a column for Alfred Hitchcock's mystery magazine. He carries off the Western dialogue and cowboy hijinks with talent and aplomb. He avoids overwriting the cowpoke slang before it gets too thick, making it the book's greatest strength. And he has clearly done his research, including plenty of interesting details about ranch life at the end of the 19th century.

The plot gets a little thin in the middle, when the brothers spend too much time uncovering information that has been obvious to readers for some time, and the conclusion won't come as a complete surprise. Readers who enjoy Westerns are mostly likely to appreciate this mildly suspenseful horse opera a la Holmes.

Jane Dickinson

THRILLERS

Good Day in Hell

By J.D. Rhoades (St. Martin's, $23.95).

Grade: B-

I won't say reading this book was akin to a good day in hell. Let's just say it fell far short of heavenly.

This is Rhoades' second excursion into what is being touted as redneck noir, featuring bounty hunter Jack Keller. The first story was The Devil's Right Hand, so apparently there is a Beelzebub theme going on here. Whatever the reason for the titles, the book uses about a dozen common plot devices found in other thrillers, an unquestionable literary sin.

Keller and his girlfriend Marie are each trying to find some stability in the other because of past traumas they have suffered through violence. His came in the first Gulf War and hers as a deputy sheriff.

These days, Keller is looking for a young bail jumper who was released on bond with the help of a crazed former stuntman. Marie is after the person who shot a gas station owner in the face and robbed the station. At first, they are unaware that they are after the same person.

Keller and Marie are on a date when they decide to check out the possible hideout of someone Keller is hunting. Deep in the North Carolina woods, they run smack into a deadly trap that Keller barely escapes alive.

While recuperating from a shotgun blast to his Kevlar vest, Keller hears about a massacre in a country church, followed by more of the same in a truck stop diner. The three lunatics responsible include Roy Randle, the ex-stuntman Keller has been hunting, who has a cattle-sized beef against the world. Randle is dying of cancer, and with two brainwashed teenagers along for the carnage, he intends to make sure the world has heard of Roy Randle in a big way. The three prove to be media savvy and enlist an ethics- deficient TV reporter to help get their story out to the public.

Considering that this is a tale of many cliches, the novel isn't too bad from an action standpoint. What really brings it up short, however, is the dialogue, especially between Keller and Marie. Their overwrought emotional musings and whinings don't sound like anything anyone would say in any context. The violent killers are more believable - and they are stone cold nuts.

Peter Mergendahl

CHILDREN

The Lemon Sisters

By Andrea Cheng; illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss (G.P. Putnam's Sons, $16.99, ages 4 and up).

Grade: A-

Andrea Cheng has written a lovely, refreshing story that explores the loneliness that can come with old age, while skillfully keeping the story light and buoyant.

Bright new snow brings an old lady to her window. There, she sees three girls playing by the ginkgo tree, just as she did with her two sisters, Rita and Mae, so many years before. She cracks the window to hear their voices, as the girls sit on their chairs of snow and plan what to pretend next.

Blue Hat, Little Red and Little Yellow - as she refers to the girls - begin stirring make-believe oatmeal, reminding the old lady of how she and her sisters would make lemon ices in the snow. Just as their mother once did, the old lady shares the ingredients with this playful trio, then her world closes again:

"Each mittened hand takes a lemon and I shut the door to keep out the cold wind. I shiver and pull my robe tighter. I wish Rita and Mae were here with me to share a cup of tea," the old lady, says to herself, before she is drawn back to the window to watch the girls.

Then comes a knock at the door, and two gray-haired sisters, arms waving, shout, "Happy Birthday." The Lemon Sisters are together again. They settle in to rejoice over times past when there is another knock at the door - this time, it's Blue Hat, Little Red and Little Yellow. They have a surprise, too.

This story broadens the often happy-go-lucky genre that is children's books. What a great way for kids to appreciate those who have gone before them.

Tatjana Mai-Wyss' illustrations are cheerful, keeping the story from becoming glum, and incorporate photographs of knitted garments as the characters' hats and scarves.

Jennifer Miller

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