Stay awhile:
I
am a PhD student in journalism/
mass communications at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, where I teach a range of undergraduate journalism courses. Prior to grad school, I was a reporter at The Vindicator, the daily newspaper in Youngstown Ohio.
My hobbies include winemaking and working on my classic VW Dormobile camper. Once in a great while I write a book review.
Inside you can find:
Ancient story about me in Cleveland Jewish News
Pictures of my cats Sally and Daisy.
Instructions to make your own wine
Tips for beating a speeding ticket
Contact me:
10 Herrold Ave.
Athens, OH 45701
(330) 647-4298
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Book Review Spooky 8: The Final Mission |
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 The
members of the CIA commando squad "Spooky 8" have the high tech
gadgets. They have guns, and are willing to use them. They mutter bon
mots (generally obscene) before pulling the trigger. And they’ll
drink a glass full of puke on a bar room bet.
Think James Bond, hillbilly style. Bob King, the jowlly, middle-aged author pictured on the jacket of Spooky 8: The Final Mission, claims to have lead this team of ex-military commandos on numerous missions, primarily in Central and South America, between 1975 and 1992. He is fairly convincing. The book is written in what could best be called acronym realism, with an alpha-numeric code for each procedure and piece of equipment, and in a style that does not betray a tremendous amount of imagination. ("The sun rose as it always did: hot," King writes of a Cambodian sunrise.) It’s part of the book’s charm. The plot of Spooky 8 resembles half the spy novels in print. King’s team is ambushed and betrayed, leaving the remaining members scrambling for safety, looking for moles and plotting their revenge. What raises King’s story above slicker paperbacks on the dimestore rack is his claim to be telling the truth. When King describes sinking a knife into the neck of a hapless Nicaraguan border guard, the reader’s flinch is more profound than when Agent 007 machine guns a whole platoon of communist soldiers. And Spooky 8 is a page-turner. The jacket copy on my edition suggests how "shocking" it is that the government double-crossed King and his men, plotting their anonymous deaths. Perhaps, but it’s hard to feel too sympathetic for a guy who kills as indiscriminately as King said he did. The men of Spooky 8 have an interesting story, but you still wouldn’t want to invite them home for dinner. --Stephen Siff 1/19/00 |
Bob King St. Martin's Press 254 pages
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