clrhuth's review
2.0
I love Spider, but this was a hard read. Maybe I'm too used to the short stories. I just couldn't get into this.
jayshay's review
2.0
Mary's Place, the setting of The Callahan Touch is really a closed bar, where only like minded people can go -- and that pretty much sums up how I feel about the novel. It is filled with like minded people where the odd stranger comes in and is then converted into a regular. While the book has a ton of interesting ideas it feels strangely drained of dramatic tension for the most part. While the bar would be a great place to hang out in, and its inhabitants the most humane of folk, much like its author, I don't think I'll come back here as a reader.
bookcrazylady45's review
3.0
Still funny and enjoyable. And, again, enjoyable enough to buy the next two in the Callahan universe.
lordofthemoon's review
3.0
So Mike Callahan is gone, back to his own time and place, and Callahan's Place was blown up in a nuclear explosion. Is that going to stop the regulars? Of course not. Several years later, Jake Stonebender, our narrator through the series, opens his own bar, Mary's Place, and the old Callahan's regulars flock back. Hilarity (or at least puns), as they say, ensue.
This was an enjoyable book to read, but, for me, it misses the magic of the original trilogy. The core theme there was to help those who came in, on the principle that pain shared is reduced, while joy shared is increased. Here, we only get one new person to help in that way: Jonathan Crawford, who is overwhelmed with guilt. Although we have some new characters introduced here, Duck and Naggeneen amongst others, they're not hurting and in need of solace. We don't get to see the gang doing what they do best, which means that, I fear, we don't get to see Robinson at his best either.
This is still an entertaining book, although one for established fans and definitely not a jumping on point for new readers, but it's to the earlier books what Mary's Place is to Callahan's: a good try, but missing a vital ingredient.
This was an enjoyable book to read, but, for me, it misses the magic of the original trilogy. The core theme there was to help those who came in, on the principle that pain shared is reduced, while joy shared is increased. Here, we only get one new person to help in that way: Jonathan Crawford, who is overwhelmed with guilt. Although we have some new characters introduced here, Duck and Naggeneen amongst others, they're not hurting and in need of solace. We don't get to see the gang doing what they do best, which means that, I fear, we don't get to see Robinson at his best either.
This is still an entertaining book, although one for established fans and definitely not a jumping on point for new readers, but it's to the earlier books what Mary's Place is to Callahan's: a good try, but missing a vital ingredient.
More...