Book Nook

Five years ago I read "The Tourist" by  Olen Steinhauer. This novel's protagonist is the reluctant spy Milo Weaver. He followed that book up with a couple more to form a trilogy. By the time we get to the third book the story lines are so complex that we almost feel the need to create wall charts to keep track of the action. Almost. Steinhauer writes intricate stories that dazzle and entertain.

Professor Martin returns for a second session on the program so we can talk about Herb's long held affection for the poetry of Dayton's greatest poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar. Herb is the leading scholar of Dunbar's prodigious output of poetry, plays, and novels.

Herbert Woodward Martin's latest collection of poetry features a number of poems that Professor Martin has written over the years upon the flyleaves of other books that he was reading at the time. Here's an example:

On the Flyleaf of Hush I

Light melancholy

somber wind

flood of fire

lava distilled

nothing said

Herb Martin taught for many years at the University of Dayton. During this interview he provides listeners with glimpses into his life as a teacher and poet. He also reads a number of poems from his latest collection.

When Kenan Trebincevic was eleven years old he was living with his family in a city in northern Bosnia. Then war broke out in the former Yugoslavia.  The Trebincevic family's peaceful existence was shattered. They were Muslims. Their city was directly in the crossfire between warring factions of Serbs and Croats. The brutal ethnic cleansing of Bosnia had begun.

In his latest novel "Runner" Patrick Lee has concocted a thriller with some elements that read like science fiction. As the story begins Sam Dryden is jogging along one night minding his own business when he
encounters a terrified young girl named Rachel. She is being pursued by a group of men who seem intent on recapturing her and doing heaven knows what to her.