Donald Duck A Christmas For Shacktown

Donald Duck vol.2 A Christmas For Shacktown is here! It contains A Christmas For Shacktown, The Big Bin on Killmotor Hill, Gladstone's Usual Good Year, The Screaming Cowboy, Statuesque Spendthrifts, Rocket Wing Saves The Day, Gladstone's Terrible Secret, The Think Box Bollix, The Golden Helmet, Houseboat Holiday, Gemstone Hunters, The Gilded Man, and Spending Money. Plus 9 one-page gags.

I've read some of these before and my initial intention was to have The Gilded Man in better printing. I still love the story: Donald's pursue of a very rare magenta stamp leads him to meet El Dorado, the mysterious gilded man in British Guiana (Guyana).

However, I was very happy to find two stories which I hadn't read for a long time: 1) Statuesque Spendthrifts, where Uncle Scrooge competes with The Maharajah of Howduyustan to build the most impressive statue(s) in Duckburg. 2) Spending Money, in which Donald helps Uncle Scrooge to spend billions because the money bin is too full for them. Below is a panel from Statuesque Spendthrifts, a very memorable one, I must say.

Who can build the biggest Cornelius Coot statue?

Karen Rose's Vartanian Trilogy

This trilogy is one of the best crime thrillers I have ever read. The first book, Die For me, is about Simon Vartanian, an evil artist, who tortures and kills people to get an exact reality how they look when they die so he can capture them into video games and his paintings.

The second book, Scream For Me, stars Simon's brother, Daniel Vartanian, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent, in solving a 13 year-old murder which involved Simon and his photograph collection. This 2nd book is the best among the 3 and I think Daniel is one of the most romantic characters ever written!

The third book, Kill For Me, stars Simon & Daniel's sister, Susannah Vartanian, a New York City ADA, in pursuit of a ring of people who kidnap and sell teenage girls.

The stories of all 3 books are well woven, well connected to each other, with lots of twists and a very satisfying ending. Like all Ms Rose's books, these three also included steamy romances, focus on a certain pair each book. I think all 3 must be read and in the right order.

The titles of book 1 & 3 are appropriate. Die For Me, because Simon wants those people to die (although Scream For Me is also okay, as he wants them to scream). Kill For Me, because the bad guy wants his 'pupils' to kill for him. The 2nd book's title seems not very right...