As I work on this BLog I'm watching today's Deadline: White House. I promise not to get mad... although Nicolle Wallace started off by showing highlight's of the bile that the F***wit in the White House spewed last night at his weekly rally. Wouldn't it be nice if he spent as much time actually working at the White House.
So, let's move on to books; a much more enjoyable topic.
New Books
I found a couple of new books since my last posts; one from my Little Free Library and two from Nearly New Books -
"Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me.
And sure enough, ex-military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shooter–a trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not right–and soon the slam-dunk case explodes.
Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunning–and then beat him shot for shot."
"Are you happy with your life?"
Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason's never met smiles down at him and says, "Welcome back, my friend."
In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.
Is it this world or the other that's the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined--one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe."
"Every woman has a secret life . . .
Nikki lives in cosmopolitan West London, where she tends bar at the local pub. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she’s spent most of her twenty-odd years distancing herself from the traditional Sikh community of her childhood, preferring a more independent (that is, Western) life. When her father’s death leaves the family financially strapped, Nikki, a law school dropout, impulsively takes a job teaching a "creative writing" course at the community center in the beating heart of London’s close-knit Punjabi community.
Because of a miscommunication, the proper Sikh widows who show up are expecting to learn basic English literacy, not the art of short-story writing. When one of the widows finds a book of sexy stories in English and shares it with the class, Nikki realizes that beneath their white dupattas, her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories. Eager to liberate these modest women, she teaches them how to express their untold stories, unleashing creativity of the most unexpected - and exciting - kind.
As more women are drawn to the class, Nikki warns her students to keep their work secret from the Brotherhood, a group of highly conservative young men who have appointed themselves the community’s "moral police." But when the widows’ gossip offers shocking insights into the death of a young wife - a modern woman like Nikki - and some of the class erotica is shared among friends, it sparks a scandal that threatens them all."
Just Finished
I've finished 3 books so far in July. I did start them in June, to be fair. They were some of the best books I've read so far in 2018.
"Flesh and Blood by John Harvey is the first book in the Frank Elder mystery series. I have previously read the first book in his Charles Resnick series; Lonely Hearts and enjoyed it. This was so much better. As a matter of continuity, Resnick makes a brief appearance in this story.
Elder is an ex-cop who retired and moved to Cornwall; partly to get away from a broken marriage. The book starts with his daughter Katherine's visit and Elder's attempt to keep a relationship with his teenage daughter. Soon his life is turned upside down when an ex partner, Maggie, advises him that Shane Donald has been released from prison. Donald was involved with a big case of Elder's; he and his mentor had kidnapped and abused and murdered a young girl. They were also assumed to have been involved in the disappearance of another young girl, whose body had never been discovered.
Elder begins to dig into his old investigation, visiting the mother of the girl, Susan Blakelock, and rehashing the evidence. We also follow Donald, now in a half way house and being monitored by a female probation officer.
Events take a quick turn for the worse; Donald runs away from the half way house, a young lady disappears. The question is whether Donald was involved. Things really start to take off; besides the old investigation, the police are desperate to find Emma, the young girl, to find Donald, etc. (I won't get into that story any more as there has to be some surprises for you). It's a tense, well-crafted and described story. It moves along at an excellent pace and keeps your interest at all times. I found the ending both realistic and satisfying. Great story! I was given this as a Xmas present and I'm so glad that I was. (5 stars)"
"Many years ago I enjoyed J.K. Rowlings' Harry Potter books. When I heard that she was writing more adult themed books under the name of Robert Galbraith I kind of hesitated to try them. Moving from fantasy to mystery seemed a bit of a stretch to me. I was wrong, to put it bluntly.
The Cuckoo's Calling, the first book in Galbraith / Rowlings' Cormoran Strike series was a real pleasure to read. The book did have one other thing going against it in my mind, it was almost 600 pages. I read authors who seem to think that the more successful they get that maybe they need to make their books longer and longer. I think that I'm getting a bit lazy in my older years; a long book doesn't mean a bad book. Quality tells.
So moving on to the story. Cormoran Strike is a down-in-his luck detective working in London. We learn over the course of the novel that he's an ex-military policeman who lost a leg in Afghanistan, he's in terrible debt, his absent father is a rock star and he's just had a nasty break-up with his on and off again girl friend. A new temporary secretary, Robin, is added to his situation. How will he be able to afford her?
A new case is dropped on his door step, one that might help him get out of his debt situation. A famous model, Lula Landry, falls to her death from her apartment. The police call it a suicide but Lula's half brother thinks it's murder and hires Strike to investigate. There is a link between Strike and John Bristow; his older brother (also a suicide victim as a youngster) went to school with Strike and was a good friend.
Initially hesitant to take the case, Strike, as he gets into his investigation, begins to come around to the murder idea. There are many interesting qualities to Strike; his methodical investigative style, his ability to put things together as the evidence starts to come together, his gruff but caring manner. Robin, his secretary is slowly developed as well. While looking for other work, she begins to like working for Strike, her interest in being involved with the case and she also shows nice detective skills. They make a very nice team.
The case is also interesting, with many potential suspects and Galbraith paces everything nicely and keeps your interest up. She is an excellent writer with great descriptive powers and is a superb story teller. I'm so glad to finally have read this. The next Strike book now awaits my attention (5 stars)"
"It's been a few years since I read the first book in Jenny White's Kamil Pasha historical mystery series; that being The Sultan's Seal. My standard excuse, too many books, not enough time... Also, I have to say, I've only seen her books online, not at my locals, anyway.
OK, enough of that... The Abyssinian Proof, the 2nd book, was also an excellent story. It's set in an exotic locale, Istanbul during the dying days of the mighty Ottoman Empire. The story starts in 1453 to introduce the holy item, called The Proof of God, that becomes the prime mover of the current story.
Kamil Pasha is a police inspector in Istanbul and he is tasked to solve a spate of thefts of historical, religious artifacts. His superior leads him to believe that his failure to do this might result in a negative impact to Pasha's career. Thrown into the mix of this story are a number of wonderful characters; the homeless boy, Avi, who becomes a useful assistant to Pasha, Elif, the troubled artist, who escaped Macedonia after the murders of her husband and son, and Omar, a police captain who provides humour and a crusty pragmatism as he assists Pasha in his investigations. There are other interesting developments that also make the story rich and fascinating (the community who live in the Sunken Village, and who the stolen Proof is so important to their religious life).
The story is almost to rich to describe in a few words. Istanbul is such an interesting city, peopled with a diverse culture, and with such a great history. The characters are all well-written and sympathetic and the mystery, itself, is unique and interesting. The story moves along at a nice pace and holds your interest. I developed strong feelings for many of the characters and felt happy and sad and angry as they did. It's an excellent story with neat religious aspects to it; such as those explored in other books, like Dan Brown's recent series. You can enjoy this without reading the first book, but you should work your way through the stories as each are excellent. Unfortunately only one more book in this series (so far anyway) and I'll have to get a copy of The Winter Thief. (4 stars)"
Currently Reading
I've started 3 new books since completing the three above.
- A City Called July by Howard Engel (Benny Cooperman #5).
- Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
- Haven by Kay Hooper (Haven #3).
Synopses of each book can be found at this link.
Bill's Ongoing Author's A - Z
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| Suzanne Collins |
"The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a country that consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts. Early in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted in its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the Hunger Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the Capitol, each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 through a lottery system to participate in the games. The 'tributes' are chosen during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving only one survivor to claim victory.
When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. , she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature."
"Catching Fire was an entertaining, well-paced sequel in the Hunger Games trilogy. It has that problem of being the 2nd book in a trilogy, continuing the thread from Book 1 and setting up the grand finale. It was a bit of more of the same from the first book, Katniss and Peeta once again, surprisingly though, sent to another Hunger Games competition, the 75th anniversary, as because they were previous winners, they were supposed to be exempt. This competition involves previous winners from each district and is an attempt by President Snow to end the popularity of Katniss and to quell outbreaks in the various districts. New challenges, new friends and enemies. It was interesting and exciting. I've now got to find out how the whole thing ends so I guess it achieved its aim."
"Mockingjay is the third and final book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It was definitely an excellent ending to the story. I thought of giving it a rating of 5 but it wasn't quite perfect. It took a bit to get going but once it did, it held my attention, almost breathless, until the end. There were nice twists and turns as well; the effect of imprisonment on Peeta, the surprising ending.
I still found Katniss a bit irritating but then again, she was a young woman still with tremendous pressure placed on her shoulders. I liked so many of the characters, especially her support cast; Gale, Haymitch. Prim, Finnick, etc.
The story developed slowly but once the revolution gets going, it's a constant flow of intense action. But the final ending left me feeling hope for the future of the world of Panem. (4 stars)"
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| Wilkie Collins |
"This was a bit of a slow read for me at times, but I did let myself get distracted with some of my other books. However, having said that, I enjoyed this book very much. I liked how Collins laid out the mystery; letting various characters provide their inputs to the events to help present the whole story. I enjoyed the characters; Betteridge the butler (the first narrator) and how he used the Robinson Crusoe story to provide him guidance on the goings on; Ezra Jennings, the Dr Candy's assistant and an outcast for his strange appearance, but at the same time, a gentle, caring soul, who comes up with a unique solution to working out the mystery; the Scotland Sgt Cuff, droll, caught up with roses, but a sharp mind. As the story progressed, I did have the workings of a solution, but still enjoyed following through with it. I liked Collins' style of writing, finding it very accessible. Was the story too long? I thought it might have been at the beginning, but I think originally it was presented as a serial to magazines, so for that reason, it makes sense. And anyway, as the story progressed, the tension and pace, quickened perceptibly. All in all, it was an excellent story and I'm glad that I've started reading some of these classics over the past few years. It's allowed me to discover the wonders of story - telling from the past century. Highly recommended. I will check out Collins' other stories, I think. (4 stars)"
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| Michael Connelly |
"The is the first book in the Harry Bosch mystery series. I have previously read one other but will have to try it again and read the series in order. I enjoyed this very much. I liked the methodical way the crimes were investigated; I like Harry Bosch; he's an old style cop, a smoker and a coffee inhaler, but he has strong values of right and wrong. He has been moved to Hollywood division as a punishment and finds himself investigating the murder of an old companion from the Vietnam War; a fellow tunnel rat. His investigation leads him to an old bank robbery and involved with the FBI, especially Agent Eleanor Wish. He is also being tracked by the LAPD's Internal Affairs as they try to find something to discredit him with. The case is interesting, it provides details about Bosch's past, his time in the Vietnam War and how it might relate to this case. Lots of tension, interesting characters and story-line and many twists and turns. Harry, from the TV show, and Harry in the book are similar and you develop great empathy with the character. I enjoyed this story very much and look forward to further exploring Harry Bosch's mysteries. (4 stars)"
"The Black Ice is the second book in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch police mystery series. Bosch is a black sheep within the LA Police Department and continues to work out of the Hollywood Division after his demotion from Robbery and Homicide.
On call, Harry involves himself in the apparent suicide of a Police Detective from the Drugs division, Cal Moore. The investigation is taken from him by Assistant Chief Irving, an old foil who had been responsible for Harry's move to Hollywood. Even though he is told to back off, Harry is suspicious that it was a suicide and continues to investigate. His boss in Hollywood wants Harry to take over some investigations from another detective, an alcoholic who has just resigned. It's the end of the year and his boss, Lt Pounds, wants to clear up some cases. It turns out that two that Harry looks into might be connected to Moore. Drugs from Mexico might be involved and what is the link to Moore.
The investigation leads Bosch to Mexico. He works with a local police lieutenant there, Lt. Aguila, and also becomes involved with a DEA office investigation.
The story is a thoughtful one as we delve into Bosch's past and his relationships. It's an interesting story and mystery, with sound investigative work and sufficient action. I think I kind of sorted things out in my mind as the end approached. Still, all in all, I continue to enjoy this series. Bosch is a good cop, a bit of a lone wolf, a guy whose bosses find troubling but who is respected by his peers. Next book in the series is The Concrete Blonde and it's on my shelf waiting for me to try it. (4 stars)"
So there you go folks. Some books for you to check out over the weekend. Have a great one!
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