The Innocence Game, by Michael Harvey.Knopf. 256 pages.Mystery writers often set their stories in their hometowns. For Michael Connelly it is Los Angeles, for Sara Paretsky, Chicago. The late Stuart K]]> One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach and a Magical Baseball Season, by Chris Ballard. Hyperion, 234 pages.Here in central Illinois we love our high school sports. Granted we also pay a]]> Mary, a new novel by Janis Cooke Newman, gives Mary Todd Lincoln the opportunity to tell her turbulent life story in a voice that rings true to her bold and unconventional persona. There’s no s]]> Over the past 13 years, Springfield author Joseph Flynn has written 12 page-turning novels, most of them thrillers. He has been called a “master of high octane plotting” by the Chicago Tri]]> If you haven’t yet read Kevin Stein, there is no better introduction than this collection, which will make you think, feel, contemplate soberly and sometimes laugh out loud.]]> During the Prohibition Era of speakeasies, swanky gangsters and machine gun massacres, Illinois was home to some of the most powerful and respected figures in the underworld. When it comes to Illinois]]> Rarely in publishing is there such a perfect collaboration of writer, photographer and publisher as in the new book, Abraham Lincoln Traveled This Way. The lovely landscape photographs by Illinois pho]]> When I looked up Internet data on this new book, lo, I found a whole Rune Universe out there, lots of materials, much associated with this author. After a bunch of entries came this volum]]> Paul Simon kindles memories of Frank Capra’s classic 1939 film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The fictional drama features Jefferson Smith, a wholesome idealist played by James Stewart. Maintaining uncommon integrity while occupying a seat in the United States Senate, Smith emerges as a lonely voice against the corruption and unbridled cynicism often rampant in American politics.]]> The 19th century witnessed America’s transformation from a rural, agrarian economy and culture into a restless, 20th century industrial giant and imperial power. Large 19th and early 20th century firms were publicly identified with the men who founded them or guided their early growth — Ford and his auto, Edison and his light bulb, Carnegie and Rockefeller in steel and oil. Every manufactured product, from hairpins to train rails, was ripe for mass production. Even grain, the staff of life, became the basis for immense milling and cereal fortunes like Pillsbury and Post. Salt, among the lowliest, but most important foods, used in cooking, preserving and flavoring, was the basis for one of these great 19th century fortunes, still associated with its founder’s name — Morton.]]> Judging from his new book of poetry From Delancey West (forthcoming by BlazeVOX [books]), Springfield poet Brian Jackson will not be poetry slamming any time soon. This is no insult. This is just to s]]> Proud parent Michael Burlingame has delivered to us a fine 8 lb., 1 oz. baby just in time for the Lincoln Bicentennial. Burlingame, professor emeritus at Connecticut College, has been exp]]> In the summer of 1989, a 19-year-old Waverly woman, Melissa Koontz, disappeared late at night after leaving work on the far west-side of Springfield. What followed was a series of events in ]]> Untitled Document The subtitle of David LaVere’s Looting Spiro Mounds is a footnote to perhaps the greatest public grave robbery in history: Howard Carter’s 1924 disc]]> Mary Todd Lincoln knew a lot of grief. Her mother died when she was 6. She lost three of her four children and was sitting beside her husband the night he was assassinated. When I picture he]]> Untitled Document William Russell Arrington — best known as Russ — was a familiar face and factor in the Illinois General Assembly from 1945 to 1973. Moreover, he was]]> Abraham Lincoln said goodbye to Springfield in a succinct, emotion-filled speech on Feb. 11, 1861. “To this place, and the kindness of these people,” Lincoln said, “I owe every thing]]> A compilation of books from Illinois authors and publishers.]]> Photographer Larry Kanfer is known for his elegant, beautifully composed prairie scenes in Illinois. Many are like portraits of the landscape.The University of Illinois Press has just published Kanfer]]> Who among us would have thought of the little east central Illinois town of Paris as a major location for drug dealing and criminal activity? It is hard to believe Paris, Ill., is the site of the na]]>