BOOK REPORT

From Sugar Ray to Elmore we've been knocking around with more Leonard's then 'A Big Bang Theory' of Shelden's. Penny....Penny...

ELMORE LEONARD-THE LAST STAND AT SABER RIVER: How the West was wrote! Here you go aspiring writers, the above picture is the late, legendary authors ten commandments when it comes to writing...and when it comes to writing it doesn't get much better than this. After rifling through the works of modern day great Cormac McCarthy and also the lifes work of another Leonard in boxing legend Sugar Ray it was only right we paid just, due respect to another Western great that shares the same last name as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Like 'No Country For Old Mens' Cormac, Elmore Leonards wonderful work has been turned into mainstream movies from 'Out Of Sight' and 'Get Shorty' to the 'Be Cool' sequel and the 'Rum Punch' that would become Tarantino's 'Jackie Brown'. Who knows Q.T. may have got some 'Unchained' 'Django' inspiration from the crossed T's and dotted I's of this wonderful wild west writer. This 'Last Stand At Saber River' was even turned into a movie itself thanks to the 'Magnum' moustache of Tom Selleck. This story even rivals the before magnum spaghetti work of the great Clint Eastwood. Add this to the 'True Grit' Portis prose stories from the libaries of old America. Tense, thrilling and turning this book hits you quick and dead. It's the best draw you'll never want to holster.

HIROSHI SAKURAZAKA-EDGE OF TOMORROW (ALL YOU NEED IS KILL): 'All You Need Is Kill'...or apparantly a name change according to the forthcoming new Tom Cruise summer season blockbuster 'Edge Of Tomorrow' that continues his 'Oblivion' and the mainstream movie markets sci-fi age. From 'Minority Report' to the 'War Of The Worlds' the scientologist has kept it science fiction and alongside Emily Blunt of 'The Adjustment Bureau' futuristic fame he takes the novel idea of Japanese writer Hiroshi Sakurazaka to the IMAX of the biggest screen and stage. Thinking of 'The Adjustment Bureau' and contemporary writers from Japan, Sakurazaka is like a modern day hybrid of sci-fi forefather Phillip K. Dick and leading novel man Haruki Murakami. With his trademark quick reads and a futursistic fable that mirrors ideals of today in a cautionary tale of a war of worlds and technological ones this arms up as something more than just a huge metal suit, video game like exciting escapade. This young writer lights up his idea of the future with something more neon glowing than his hometown of Tokyo. This first person novel takes cues from everything from 'Groundhog Day' to 'Starship Troopers', as our young Japanese soldier (played by 'The Last Samurai' Tom Cruise...yep we know) keeps waking up after dying to the same day and battle. This makes for some excellent writing and the prose of the cons of everything from artillery to immortality. What makes as an inspired idea and intriguing read could translate to scripting one of this years most influential movies...and clocking under 200 pages all you need is an afternoon before you edge this out before tomorrow. Read, finish, repeat. TIM DAVID HARVEY.