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Callahan's #6
The Callahan Touch
Opening Night at Mary's Place is the hottest ticket in the galaxy - a brand-new bar with some old familiar faces. Jake's back, along with Doc, Fast Eddie, and the rest of the Callahan's gang. And just when things couldn't get crazier, guess who shows up in the Mick of Time to make sure they do...
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
26 people are currently reading
582 people want to read
About the author
Spider Robinson
197 books675 followersSpider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author. He was born in the USA, but chose to live in Canada, and gained citizenship in his adopted country in 2002.
Robinson's writing career began in 1972 with a sale to Analog Science Fiction magazine of a story entitled, The Guy With The Eyes. His writing proved popular, and his first novel saw print in 1976, Telempath. Since then he has averaged a novel (or collection) a year. His most well known stories are the Callahan saloon series.
Robinson's writing career began in 1972 with a sale to Analog Science Fiction magazine of a story entitled, The Guy With The Eyes. His writing proved popular, and his first novel saw print in 1976, Telempath. Since then he has averaged a novel (or collection) a year. His most well known stories are the Callahan saloon series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
March 25, 2019
Once again, I find myself wishing that I liked the Callahan’s books more than I do. Robinson tries for a much more obviously optimistic view of the world than most other authors and he obviously holds dear the concepts of acceptance of those who differ from ourselves, true friendship, and solid romantic relationships. I can appreciate those aspects of his writing.
He’s obviously a socially progressive guy—but he really hits the reader over the head with it in this book. Jake, our narrator, is a stand-in for Robinson himself. And Jake is really busy showing us how un-prejudiced and liberal-minded he is, while also espousing a very right-wing Libertarian outlook. In these characteristics, he very obviously follows in the footsteps of Robert A. Heinlein and John Varley, both of whom receive mention in this volume.
Of course, the punning continues and I’ve almost (almost) become inured to it, but it’s become the sand in the unappealing sandwich. You know what you’re going to get when you pick up one of the Callahan’s books and it has been repetitive for some time now.
Book number 314 in my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project.
He’s obviously a socially progressive guy—but he really hits the reader over the head with it in this book. Jake, our narrator, is a stand-in for Robinson himself. And Jake is really busy showing us how un-prejudiced and liberal-minded he is, while also espousing a very right-wing Libertarian outlook. In these characteristics, he very obviously follows in the footsteps of Robert A. Heinlein and John Varley, both of whom receive mention in this volume.
Of course, the punning continues and I’ve almost (almost) become inured to it, but it’s become the sand in the unappealing sandwich. You know what you’re going to get when you pick up one of the Callahan’s books and it has been repetitive for some time now.
Book number 314 in my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project.
September 9, 2021
This is a fix-up novel, and something of a re-launch of Robinson's Callahan's Place series. The original was nuked out of existence in the preceding book, but Mary's Place was opened for business in this one, with many of the same characters, much of the same emotion and sentiment, much of the same Libertarian and Heinleinian philosophies, and lots and lots of new puns. Some of the described technology is out-of-date, but just remember it's a book set thirty years ago and you'll be fine. I was a little hesitant to embrace the changes in Jake, the series narrator, but accepted them at last. It's a happy and hearty uplifting book, still a lot of fun.
December 25, 2018
Dammit. The more of these I read the more....adolescent they become, destroying what fond memories I had of the series. Not only is the cover festooned with colorful aliens not found anywhere between the covers (not exactly the authors fault but...) but its filled (once again) with a sappy love at first sight storyline - recycled for the third time no less (once in another Callahan, once in a Lady Sally)- but it happens to Jake Stonebender, who up till now has been the heart and soul of the Callahan universe as the baseline normal through who we view the tale.
Jake's tale starts as 'man in pain who learns to live with the loss of his wife and child'. noble and sympathetic.
Jake then gets an arc of "Lust with a stranger who chooses another". Kind of pathetic.
Now Jake Once does the 'love at first sight (on in this case love at first hearing) bit' in a bar named after his the sad torch he's carrying for the wife of his friend. Downright creepy and stalker-ish.
Jake's tale starts as 'man in pain who learns to live with the loss of his wife and child'. noble and sympathetic.
Jake then gets an arc of "Lust with a stranger who chooses another". Kind of pathetic.
Now Jake Once does the 'love at first sight (on in this case love at first hearing) bit' in a bar named after his the sad torch he's carrying for the wife of his friend. Downright creepy and stalker-ish.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2017
While I liked Lady Sally, I adore the folks from Callahan's bar and I missed reading about them. This was like a visit with old friends. Can't wait to read the next one!
September 19, 2013
This is a reread with many years in-between the readings. It is the first in the Mary's Place series and the sixth in the Callahan's Place series.
It has been about a dozen years since Callahan's Place was nuked out of existence and Jake Stonebender has finally opened Mary's Place. The old gang is there with some new faces thrown into the crowd. Their plan is to become collectively telepathic while drinking, making music, and telling jokes(mainly puns).
The first books in the Callahan seies were true short stories. They shared characters and settings but could truly stand alone. By this volume, the book is more episodic chapters than short stories. The chapters still have a kernel of short story to them but most end as a cliffhanger so it can't stand separate from the book.
I have understood my love for this series. I don't drink(alcohol or coffee--so no God's blessings for me) or hang out in bars. While I believe everyone(of age) has the right to choose to drink, I have no real desire to be around them when they do. I am tone-deaf so make no music(at least that anyone would want to hear). I am terrible at making puns. Finally I have no desire to become collectively telepathic. It always sounded like something you would hear from a group of hippies or mayhaps new-agers would be a more current group. But if any of that stuff did appeal, this is the group (and place) with which I would want to do it. Even if I don't always totally agree with them, they usually make a good arguement.
The book originally came out in 1993 (happy 20th anniversary).For the most part it still holds up to the reading. A few parts(mainly the references to tecnology ,especially computers) do show their age. I had to laugh as he described his computer as good for the casual or power user since it had 5 Meg of Ram and a 40 Meg hard drive with a (dial-up) modem.
While I still highly recommend this series, I would still suggest you read the earlier books in the Callahan series first. Mainly so you will be familiar with the characters. But also because they are excellent reads themselves.
It has been about a dozen years since Callahan's Place was nuked out of existence and Jake Stonebender has finally opened Mary's Place. The old gang is there with some new faces thrown into the crowd. Their plan is to become collectively telepathic while drinking, making music, and telling jokes(mainly puns).
The first books in the Callahan seies were true short stories. They shared characters and settings but could truly stand alone. By this volume, the book is more episodic chapters than short stories. The chapters still have a kernel of short story to them but most end as a cliffhanger so it can't stand separate from the book.
I have understood my love for this series. I don't drink(alcohol or coffee--so no God's blessings for me) or hang out in bars. While I believe everyone(of age) has the right to choose to drink, I have no real desire to be around them when they do. I am tone-deaf so make no music(at least that anyone would want to hear). I am terrible at making puns. Finally I have no desire to become collectively telepathic. It always sounded like something you would hear from a group of hippies or mayhaps new-agers would be a more current group. But if any of that stuff did appeal, this is the group (and place) with which I would want to do it. Even if I don't always totally agree with them, they usually make a good arguement.
The book originally came out in 1993 (happy 20th anniversary).For the most part it still holds up to the reading. A few parts(mainly the references to tecnology ,especially computers) do show their age. I had to laugh as he described his computer as good for the casual or power user since it had 5 Meg of Ram and a 40 Meg hard drive with a (dial-up) modem.
While I still highly recommend this series, I would still suggest you read the earlier books in the Callahan series first. Mainly so you will be familiar with the characters. But also because they are excellent reads themselves.
February 23, 2014
Spider Robinson is the only author whose short stories I like better than his longer works. This book is unfortunately a short novel (I'm not clear on the official novellete/novella/novel distinction), but it's not composed of multiple vignettes like the earlier, much better, Callahan universe works. There's some plot and some exposition to cover events since the momentous end of the last main Callahan's short story, and then basically it's one loooooong scene at the bar (extended through time with a totally unreasonable authorial handwave to let the characters not sleep). The climax of the book is more about Jake individually than the whole cast. I guess there's a science-fictiony-social-progress digression, but it's not nearly as good as other ones in the series.
As an aside, many pages in the latter half of the book are devoted to describing music, which is pretty much a worthless endeavor in a novel format. Spider wanted to help publicize musicians he likes, so I see why he did it, but it does not serve the story at all.
As an aside, many pages in the latter half of the book are devoted to describing music, which is pretty much a worthless endeavor in a novel format. Spider wanted to help publicize musicians he likes, so I see why he did it, but it does not serve the story at all.
June 21, 2021
What a time capsule of 1988 this was. I'd read a few of the Callahan books back in the early 2000's (one of my cool older cousins was throwing a Callahan-themed party, so he sent me "Callahan's Lady" as pre-party reading) and remembered being charmed by this pun-filled Irish Space Bar, full of wild and wacky characters (I particularly fondly remembered a Were-Beagle)). So when a pal was clearing her shelves, I was excited to return to Spider Robinson's writings and see how it holds up. This really felt like nostalgic Fan Service for the series itself; a series that Definitively ended in book 5. Like, ended with a nuclear bomb and the time traveling removal of several main characters. And so here, a few years later, we have what's left behind of our merry band starting a new bar. And lots of worrying about whether the new bar can live up to the old one. And boy, are there So Many Details about how exactly this new bar is set up. Interminable, almost. But it was a fun time capsule, because there are such STRONG OPINIONS about sound systems, furniture, the MAC computer in the corner, the fireplace, the pricing. Details. Lots of them. And then just so many LISTS OF NAMES, because this book sees ALL the other regulars returning, and there's easily over a dozen people the first night, and then another maybe 20 names join later in the week. Only a dozen of these characters figure prominently, but it's lots of mentions of past book events (about which I have no memory). This is definitely Not an ideal book to Start the series at all. And oh my god, there's probably 30 pages (at least, throughout the book) devoted to Irish Coffee, and what type of beans mix best with what whiskeys and just, woah. Like I said, Strong Opinions. What bits of plot and hijinx there are, those are interesting and fun. And several of the puns are great and many are groan-worthy. There are many Lessons being learned/trying to be taught about tolerance and kindess (which is lovely, if a bit preachy. But it is nice to see this 1988 bar accepting of everyone, regardless of race or sexuality or gender identity, etc. That was sort of the whole point of Callahan's Place, and that's still a wonderful thing, even if some of this is a bit cringe-worthy by 2021 standards, the heart and message are still in the right place). Also, the extensive plot points involving AIDS crisis are a real time capsule moment, too. So, the 1st third is all set-up and descriptions of the bar (thank goodness for the character of Duck, to keep things interesting). The middle third is some plot and gets kind of interesting. The final third then turns into a VERY LONG description of an all week music jam-fest. Very long. And while I'm sure it would've been amazing to see such a concert, just reading a glorified list for pages and pages, it got pretty boring and "one note," if you'll excuse the pun. Lists of musical instruments and character names playing what songs and different musicians' styles and so many names of historical and contemporary musicians. and then there are just paragraphs and paragraphs of different lyrics from the different songs. It. Is. A. Lot. And my eyes started to glaze a bit. Happily, once this bit ended, the plot returned and things got interesting for the final conclusion. (In the Author's Note, Robinson mentions that many of the music listed were from fans who had mailed him albums, and he charmingly included mailing information for where readers from 1992 could write to inquire about purchasing). The writing style and characters held up better than I'd feared (some contemporary stories just do not work so well now). But this isn't really a story. It's just a loving fondness for the world and characters of the previous 5 books, and so many paragraphs of Firm Opinions about How Things Should Be. But I guess if you're creating the perfect Irish Space Bar, it's your prerogative to create it however you like. If you've recently read the other books and/or remember them much better than I, then this may be a 4 star experience. For me, with only the haziest of memories, it scratched a fun nostalgia itch but didn't lead to a cohesive reading experience.
January 18, 2025
A Callahan’s bar fix up novel. The original Callahan’s place was destroyed in a nuclear explosion, but the “I” character of the stories establishes a new bar for the same gang to hang on. For some reason this is a bar that tends to attract very strange visitors, including, but not limited to, time travelers and characters out of Irish folklore. This book is based for a most part on short stories published earlier, but some of the material has been substantially rewritten. And that was really, really, bad idea. The original stories were tight, nice, good entertaining stories, but in this book there are a lot of totally unnecessary padding. All action stops in the middle part for very long time, where absolutely nothing happens. There are ever literally two pages long list of names of people visiting Callahan’s and what instruments they are supposed to be playing. This has about same amount of entertainment value as reading a phone book. The glorification of alcoholism was also a bit disturbing, and it also was at its' worst in the middle part of the book. The book would have been better if the author had left the stories as there were, and wouldn’t have expanded them with unneeded fluff.
April 22, 2020
This book is about a bar where strange and magical and science fiction-y things happen. It’s a new bar, Mary’s Place, which evolved out of the remains of Callahan’s, a bar that was at the center of the first five books of the series. It’s a place where the regulars are like family. Having been sober for twenty-eight years now, it brings up memories of the sort of place I was always looking for in a bar, but never found in reality, a place where you could go on a bender for a week with no repercussions. The reality is never as pleasant as the fiction, and of course the only magic that ever happened to me was that I made it home alive every night. Aside from the grim realities of addictive drinking, this fantasy was very enjoyable, once I got the form of the book down. It’s really just a setting for long short stories about random strange happenings, comradery, music, and lots of bad puns. There’s no real plot, and when I accepted that, the book opened up into a pretty fun romp.
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Come visit my blog for the full review…
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August 29, 2018
I got this novel autographed by Spider last week at the Workd SciFi Con. He told me the painting that became the cover is on his wall at home. You know what? He is an incredibly sweet guy.
So, a hostile alien shows up planning to annihilate the human race. Callahan and Co. deal with this problem, but the solution involves a nuclear bomb.
When this novel starts, Jake has are-opened a bar. He has access to a fabulous coffee machine. ( I don’t drink coffee, so much of the ravings go right past me.) The original crew are the only ones invited for the first two nights. Then, ( surprise!), odd folk start showing up. Computers, musical equipment, and beer kegs behave in mysterious ways. Pun contests continue.
Great fun.
So, a hostile alien shows up planning to annihilate the human race. Callahan and Co. deal with this problem, but the solution involves a nuclear bomb.
When this novel starts, Jake has are-opened a bar. He has access to a fabulous coffee machine. ( I don’t drink coffee, so much of the ravings go right past me.) The original crew are the only ones invited for the first two nights. Then, ( surprise!), odd folk start showing up. Computers, musical equipment, and beer kegs behave in mysterious ways. Pun contests continue.
Great fun.
November 13, 2022
Comfort read. I love this author. His writing is wacky and chaotic and emotional, and might not appeal to everyone. Earlier on I listened to The Callahan Chronicles (3in1), which went straight into my book top 10.
This is the follow-up novel, taking place some years later. It feels like an after-talk to the big event at the end of the trilogy, and should not be read standalone. I found the puns less funny, and the written version sometimes jarring (since spoken accents are written out), but still the simple unlikely events manage to pull some heartstrings.
3 stars because this installment I don't intend to reread, while I definitely will the original trilogy.
This is the follow-up novel, taking place some years later. It feels like an after-talk to the big event at the end of the trilogy, and should not be read standalone. I found the puns less funny, and the written version sometimes jarring (since spoken accents are written out), but still the simple unlikely events manage to pull some heartstrings.
3 stars because this installment I don't intend to reread, while I definitely will the original trilogy.
September 24, 2018
Wish I had read this sooner
I loved the first two books. I haven even written a paper about one of the stories for a college course. Near the start of this book is one of the greatest pubs i have ever hear. My heart is gladdened to have hear it and saddened that it took half my life to have heard it.
I loved the first two books. I haven even written a paper about one of the stories for a college course. Near the start of this book is one of the greatest pubs i have ever hear. My heart is gladdened to have hear it and saddened that it took half my life to have heard it.
March 21, 2020
This is the sixth collection of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon stories. Callahan's Place is gone, but the spirit of the joint lives on in his regular customers and their new hang out, Mary's Place. It was the least enjoyable Callahan's collection of the four that I've read, but it's not bad waiting room material.
December 7, 2022
Great sci-fi/fantasy humor with great puns - and booze!
Relaunch of a new "Callahan's bar" that can never be "Callahan's bar" and doesn't want to try. Pun Battles, fantastic creatures, time travel, and some of the nicest, least judgmental, least surprised folks you could ever meet.
Relaunch of a new "Callahan's bar" that can never be "Callahan's bar" and doesn't want to try. Pun Battles, fantastic creatures, time travel, and some of the nicest, least judgmental, least surprised folks you could ever meet.
September 4, 2024
I picked this up because the cover is awesome, only to find that there seem not to be any aliens in the book? Am I missing something? Also nowhere is it mentioned on the covers or inside that this is actually the 6th in a series, so I'm almost certainly missing something.
Some fun stories throughout, but ultimately I just don't think I got it.
Some fun stories throughout, but ultimately I just don't think I got it.
March 21, 2025
I really wanted to love it. This is part of the Callahan's Place series. I had read the previous novels back in the 80s and early 90s and I loved them. They were funny and touching and heartwarming and clever. I do not know if my tastes have changed or if the writing in this one was actually subpar, but it just fell flat for me.
February 10, 2019
While I enjoyed the Lady Sally books, it was like coming home to be reunited with Jake and the Callahan crowd. Punny and heartwarming as only Spider writes, I was reminded how wonderful a room full of drunks can be.
July 30, 2017
More tales of the intrepid barflies as they move to new tales.
March 30, 2018
I enjoyed it but damn Spider, enough with the "blinking". Everybody blinked repeatedly in this book. I'm half tempted to go back and count how many times that term was used.
Read
July 10, 2019++
July 29, 2019
Follow up to earlier books. Not quite as hilarious, but it has it's moments. I read it out of order, mostly because that's what the library could get me. Definitely a good story.
February 6, 2023
The gang reassembles at Mary's Place since the demise of Callahan's. As always strange and wonderful things happen. Bad puns are made. A fun romp as always/
June 25, 2024
Great stories and the brief return of Mike Callahan!
March 5, 2016
Some books are old friends, and the Callahan's books are some of my dearest. If you haven't read them, go grab The Callahan Chronicals (Callahan's Place Trilogy, #1-3) and catch up. The series is the literary equivalent of the perfect Irish coffee imbibed in the company of your fifty closest friends. Avoid at all costs if you suffer a pun allergy.
First, let's address the obvious. This is not Callahan's, but it's daughter, Mary's. This statement is true of both the novel and the bar at it's center. The drinks aren't quite as cheap, the new characters not quite as cool (though the Duck comes closer than humanly possible), and the puns not quite as horrid. But it's as close as you can get, and that's a damn sight better than your local watering hole. (But feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, and your local bar is as good as Callahan's. Include directions, please.)
The plot doesn't matter, you're here for the people, but here goes: Jake opens Mary's Place, his friends and fellow Callahan's regulars show up, merriment ensues, things get weird, more merriment, and there is an epic jam session (and how I wish I coulda heard them cats blow).
I'm not going to introduce the characters here, I couldn't do them justice. Let Spider do the honors, and these will become some of the best literary friends you've ever had.
So why don't you meet me at Mary's Place? We're gonna have us a ball today.
First, let's address the obvious. This is not Callahan's, but it's daughter, Mary's. This statement is true of both the novel and the bar at it's center. The drinks aren't quite as cheap, the new characters not quite as cool (though the Duck comes closer than humanly possible), and the puns not quite as horrid. But it's as close as you can get, and that's a damn sight better than your local watering hole. (But feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, and your local bar is as good as Callahan's. Include directions, please.)
The plot doesn't matter, you're here for the people, but here goes: Jake opens Mary's Place, his friends and fellow Callahan's regulars show up, merriment ensues, things get weird, more merriment, and there is an epic jam session (and how I wish I coulda heard them cats blow).
I'm not going to introduce the characters here, I couldn't do them justice. Let Spider do the honors, and these will become some of the best literary friends you've ever had.
So why don't you meet me at Mary's Place? We're gonna have us a ball today.
April 24, 2016
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.
July 6, 2010
Another utopian science fantasy, set in a fictional bar on Long Island, which can only be found if you really *need* to... This one is "Mary's Place" opened by Jake Stonebender after Callahan's is nuked. Most of the regulars are there - Doc Webster, Fast Eddie, Long Drink McGonnigal. Pyotr the vampire, Ralph Von Wau Wau the talking dog, and those who aren't are discusses fondly. Plus there are several new characters - Ernie (aka 'the Lucky Duck'), a sentient Macintosh Computer, and a cluricaune - the cousin to a leprechaun whose sole interest in life is drinking alcohol, and a mysterious bass player... It's well written, and full of the usual humor and puns for which the author is known. Recommended.
June 12, 2014
I nabbed this because I couldn't remember the exact order of the series but wanted to re-read some Callahan books, and the library had scant choice. Unfortunately, this one, in my view, is really only good for die-hard fans, reading it in order.
There were lots of good moments... but not so much a plot. There were (too) many puns and folk-song jams, and there was some people-fixing... but mostly this had all the least interesting features of a sequel. And/or a prequel.
That said, I'm going to seek out another entry in the series to read and see if I can scratch that itch of delight I originally had when reading this series.
There were lots of good moments... but not so much a plot. There were (too) many puns and folk-song jams, and there was some people-fixing... but mostly this had all the least interesting features of a sequel. And/or a prequel.
That said, I'm going to seek out another entry in the series to read and see if I can scratch that itch of delight I originally had when reading this series.
July 30, 2014
This is a re-read, as I read all the Callahan books a decade ago (right after high school). I… have no idea how I did that. Saw a few of the later books in a used bookstore and thought I’d pick them up for a light summer revisit. I think the other ones will be going back.
Grossly self-indulgent and self-congratulatory (especially the back-patting, faux-progressive stuff on race and gender – yuck!). Not to mention the lengthy monologues out of various characters that seem to come straight from the author’s mouth – anything about books or film is especially unbearable. A few good puns, but that’s about as far as it goes.
Grossly self-indulgent and self-congratulatory (especially the back-patting, faux-progressive stuff on race and gender – yuck!). Not to mention the lengthy monologues out of various characters that seem to come straight from the author’s mouth – anything about books or film is especially unbearable. A few good puns, but that’s about as far as it goes.
October 10, 2014
Fun, but I put it down about halfway through, and don't think I'll pick it back up anytime soon. If I ever happen to walk by it on my way to the local grocer at noon on a Saturday, I may grab it and slip it into my back pocket for the inevitable line. But I don't think I'll go out of my way for it.
Spider's books definitely have their place in my heart, and they are great for the pun wars. But other than that, they're just candy, and I really don't have time for that right now. If I'm gonna read, I want it to be more serious literature. At least for now. If I ever finish it I'll come back and give this one a more thorough review.
Spider's books definitely have their place in my heart, and they are great for the pun wars. But other than that, they're just candy, and I really don't have time for that right now. If I'm gonna read, I want it to be more serious literature. At least for now. If I ever finish it I'll come back and give this one a more thorough review.
April 23, 2009
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.
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