Two Minutes was about how long it took me to finish.

About a week or so ago I finished The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais.

This was the first Crais novel I have read where it isn't an Elvis Cole novel. For that very reason I had some misgivings before I started it. I mean Cole works, why fuck with a recipe?

Well I'll be damned if I didn't enjoy Rule as much as I enjoyed Crais' Cole novels. The man is a damn good writer.

The book centers around a bank robber, Max Holman, who is getting released after a 10-year stint in the pokey. One of the things he wants to do is meet his son, Richie, who he's not seen at all since he went to prison.

But, unfortunately, his son--a cop--is murdered the day before Holman is to get out. And to complicate things, things aren't what they seem.

Holman takes it upon himself to find out why his son was murdered. And he gets help from the unlikeliest of places.

You can check out audio of Crais reading from the first chapter here.

An excellent, excellent read.

The King of story telling.

I can't remember ordering it.

Hell, I don't even know where I ordered it.

But one day last week, The King and Other Stories by Joe Lansdale ended up in my mailbox.

A small collection of short stories, I knocked it out in an evening.

While the stories were amusing (and some only two pages long), I can't recommend this unless you are a big Lansdale fan. If I'm not mistaken, it's a Limited Edition and MSRPs for forty bucks or so.

Me, being a big Lansdale fan, had no problem dropping the coin for it, but I do wish the book were a little longer.

The art rocks, though.

Brimstone and Pendergast. And D'Agosta.

I finished up Brimstone last week; the first in which Ace tells me is a Pendergast trilogy (if I remember correctly).

Let me say, holy shit. I think I've deduced on why I like Preston and Child so much (at least their books with Agent Pendergast playing a major role):

The plots have been supernatural without being supernatural.

Now, don't get me wrong, I dig a good supernatural book. Hell, I am a big fan of horror.

But with the Preston and Child novels, even though it seems to dance the supernatural line, the reasoning is usually sound.

Okay, okay, so there was a guy who lived like a hundred or so years in The Cabinet of Curiosities, but even that had a relatively good explanation. It's kind of like "Millennium" compared to "The X-Files." Preston and Child would be closer to a "Millennium" episode, rather than "X-Files".

But, back to the book. One of it's strengths is D'Agosta is back working with Pendergast, and it's pretty damn cool since they are both so different, but work so well together. Of the books I've read in this universe, I've not seen D'Agosta since Relic, so him coming back, and being heavily involved, was a good thing.

The downside to the novel, though, is a side story involving a released-convict-turned-preacher. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't further the book along at all. It just seemed to be filler.

I can only assume that my questions will be answered in the next book in the series. The name of the next book escapes me, but it's floating around here somewhere.

And I really hope the next book answers at least one of my questions. The ending of Brimstone is a kicker.