M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman

First sentence:

"I sat in my office, nursing a glass of hooch and idly cleaning my automatic."


Description:

Bestselling author and master storyteller Neil Gaiman here presents a breathtaking collection of tales that may chill or amuse readers -- but always embrace the unexpected:

• A teenage boy who has trouble talking to girls finds himself at a rather unusual party.
• A sinister jack-in-the-box haunts the lives of the children who owned it.
• A boy raised in a graveyard makes a discovery and confronts the much more troubling world of the living
• A stray cat fights a mighty battle to protect his adopted family from a terrible evil.

These eleven stories illuminate the real and the fantastic, and will be welcomed with great joy by Neil Gaiman's many fans as well as by readers coming to his work for the first time." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I liked all the stories. My favorites included Case of Blackbirds, Troll Bridge, Chivalry and Sunbird.

Date read: 9/25/2013
Book #: 27
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Urban Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0061186473
ISBN-13: 9780061186479
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2007
# of pages: 260
Binding: Hardcover
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Virtuosity by Terry Bisson

Description:

"LOS ANGELES, 1999.

The idea is to create the perfect cop through virtual reality training - a game. But before you can create the perfect cop, you've got to create the perfect criminal. Sid 6.7 is a digitally enhanced humanoid - a composite of Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer. In a computerised world of crime he's an unstoppable killer. The only problem is that Sid 6.7 isn't sticking with the program. He wants out - he wants to kill in the real world, and what Sid 6.7 wants, he gets. He's hit the streets of L.A., and there's only one man intelligent enough, and desperate enough, to go after him. Parker Barnes is a former cop convicted of murdering his family's killers. He's been used as a guinea pig in virtual reality training and he's come up against Sid 6.7 before. Now Parker's got his ticket out of prison on one condition: take Sid 6.7 down for real."

My thoughts:

I liked this sci-fi thriller about virtual intelligence combined with a physical body. Someday, I'll see the movie this book was based on. 

Date read: 9/15/2013
Book #: 26
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF/Thriller

ISBN-10: 0671537520
ISBN-13:9780671537524
Publisher: Pocket Books
Year: 1995
# of pages: 213
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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