Rating: 
Summary: One of the best of a classic series.
Review: The last few of the books derived from the old "Callhan's" series had seemed somewhat of a letdown from the older books; not that they were bad, but I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as I had the originals. I was beginning to wonder if it was me, not them; if I had changed sufficiently as I aged from my twenties into my forties that I could no longer appreciate the kind of story I'd enjoyed then.
I'm still not sure, but this book was definitely back on a par with the older entries in the series; it was flawed (so were they, if you looked hard enough) but it was good enough to overcome its flaws. More, it was good enough to overcome one of the flaws that really bothered me about the previous entry, "Callahan's Key"; I can't say too much without giving a spoiler, but suffice it to say that I don't expect Jake and the other Callahan's regulars to be insensitive jerks; they don't prejudge people simply because they're alien cyborgs, or sentient computer networks; it seemed wrong that they would prejudge someone just because she was (A) ugly and (B) had a silly name. The fact that they did made it pretty clear that Spider was, and that bothered me; in this book, we get his apology (via Jake).
If you've tried the Callahan's books before and found them pointless and silly, your opinion of this one will be the same. If you loved them all, you'll certainly love this one. If you've felt that they'd been slipping for a while, give this one a try; you may enjoy it. If you've NEVER tried the Callahan's books before, then if you like your science fiction WEIRD, well-written and moving in spite of being silly, you will probably enjoy this book, but you might want to read some of the earlier entries in the series first.
Rating: 
Summary: Callahan's Con is aptly named, cuz readers get conned fr 30
Review: This is the first of Spider Robinson's books that I can honestly say sucked. Cal's Legacy wasn't real good, and I thought it time to retire Callahan's, but then Spider found the "key" and put out a fine installment. Yahoo, I bought his next book -- The Free Lunch -- in HC, and while not great, not bad, good enough to warrant shelling out for the HC of Cal's Con. Ohhh, if this were my intro to the wonderful world of Robinson, I would not return. If you haven't read, but are thinking of/wanting to, then may I suggest waiting for the SC; at least at ten bucks the disappointment won't be quite as monumental. Better idea, check it out from the library, cuz crap like it -- juevenile, illogical, and unimaginative -- should not be paid for. Bad enough it takes four hours to read. Heh Spider, I want a refund, or at least a discount on your next non-Callahan novel (I'm not giving up on him yet, but he's on, well, call it double-secret probation.)
Rating: 
Summary: Has moments. For hardcore fans only.
Review: _______________________________________
I can hear the snickers and 'I coulda told you's from here, but I was in the mood for something swift and silly, OK? -- and I've always had a weak spot for the Callahan stories. Besides, Matt Peckham gave it a pretty good review (B+) over at Scifi Weekly:
www.scifi.com/sfw/issue326/books.html Well, I got silly. You may recall that Jake Stonebender relocated Callahan's Place (sans the Mick of Steel) to Key West, after a nuclear explosion (in Jake's hands, iirc) vaporized his bar on Long Island. This time, an officious school bureaucrat arrives to check up on Jake's kid, and then a man-mountain racketeer shows up, demanding "protection" payoffs. The thug, called "Little Nuts" (his father was Tony Donuts (don't ask)), provides most of the worthwhile moments. Left unexplained is why such an obnoxious creature -- even the Mafia can't stand him -- has survived so long in the Miami underworld, not known for reluctance to shoot first and often. Especially since Tony Jr. lacks the supernatural protection against firearms (not to mention nuclear weapons) that The Place regulars enjoy. The titular con is how they finally get rid of Tony. This is really only enough material here for a couple of short stories, so the rest is filler: bad bar jokes, worse puns, dull inner musings, standard capers by the usual suspects.... I skipped/skimmed that stuff, so I got swift, too. But I think you'd be pretty annoyed if you'd paid $24 for this. About the only surprise here is that one of The Place oldtimers dies onscreen, permanently (I think). Callahan doesn't come, even when called. And the cover art (by Jeff Fischer) is unusually clumsy. Not recommended. Sadly, Pete Tillman
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