Friday tomorrow!!

It's been a lovely Thursday. The past few days have been in the upper 20s but we've now got a nice cool breeze blowing. It makes it much more comfortable. The puppies have found it to be especially hot but tomorrow they are going to the cleaners for a shave and haircut... well, a bath and grooming but they will still feel much lighter and look like dogs, instead of sheep, again.

I've finished two books since my update on Sunday and made some good progress on the others. I'll update those and the books I've started since and also continue with my look at the Mystery genre, American cop series.

Just Finished

1. The Red Dahlia by Lynda La Plante (Anna Travis #2).












"The Red Dahlia is the 2nd book in the DI Anna Travis mystery series by Lynda La Plante. La Plante is also known for her Prime Suspect series and also various screen plays.

This story is about a serial killer who is following the Black Dahlia murder crimes that took place in the US many years previously. The murder investigation team is called to investigate a horrendous murder, where the body of a woman is discovered, having been terribly abused and cut in half. (Yes, quite disgusting). When the leader of the team collapses, Anna Travis's old boss, DCI Langton is called in to take over. Of course, naturally, tension is ever-present between the two, due to their previous relationship in the first book.

As the murder team conducts its investigation, they slowly are made aware of the similarities to the Black Dahlia case. The physical crime, the contact between the murderer and the press and also the police all follow the same pattern. They investigate the case trying to follow clues from the previous crime.

The killer is basically a ghost and there are not many clues. But slowly evidence is gathered and the team makes steady progress. A profiler is brought in from the US and this adds to the tension between Travis and Langton as Travis thinks the two are having a relationship. Anna, as well, develops a relationship with a reporter who is getting correspondence from the killer.

So that is the basic gist. It's an interesting case with many twists and turns. While the story does show that the police aren't perfect, at times they do such stupid things and as well there are the ongoing relationship problems which I find irritating in this story (sometimes anyway).

All in all, it's an engrossing, well-written story. The murders are disgusting and the reactions of the police are appropriate. I do like the team aspect of the murder investigation. There are many unlikable characters but there are reasons for it. The ending was ultimately reasonably satisfying. Not my favorite mystery series but still entertaining so far. I have another book in the series so will continue to explore it (3.5 stars)"

2. The Dark Crusader (AKA The Black Shrike) by Alistair MacLean. This was a reread for me.










"I read The Dark Crusader by Alistair MacLean when I was in high school, many, many years ago when I was on a MacLean reading jag. I loved his adventure / spy thrillers. They were full of action and had lots of twists and turns. (NB - be aware that this book was also published under the title The Black Shrike. I learned this the hard way when I bought both versions)

The Dark Crusader is neither MacLean's best book (I rank HMS Ulysses amongst his best) nor his worst (I think his later books belong in that category). It's just a tense, exciting story with lots of twists and turns. Barry Bentall, an English secret agent, returning from a mission is sent on another immediately by his boss, described as a dusty man in a small dusty office. Along for the ride is another agent, Marie Hopeman, who is to be his wife for the mission.

English scientists and their wives have been disappearing. They seem to have been responding to an advertisement placed in various papers for jobs in the 'scientific' field. Since Bentall worked with the last scientist to go missing he is chosen to try as his replacement. Things happen at a rapid pace. Bentall and Marie are kidnapped while flying to Australia, taken from their hotel and put on a tramp steamer. They escape from the boat into the Pacific in the midst of a storm and manage to land on a coral island. They are rescued there by an old archaeologist but there is more to it than it seems. This is Alistair MacLean after all.

The action continues as Bentall continues to investigate and discover an evil plot on the island. He manages to survive dog attacks, attacks by Chinese killers, etc. It's all lots of fun and games with Bentall spending considerable time criticizing his own ineptitude and lack of smarts but still manages to fight through these threats.

It's an entertaining book with a somewhat unsatisfying ending but for that it's worth trying as it's an easy, quick moving thriller. Nice to have tried again. (3 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Brothers in Arms by Hans Hellmut Kirst. I have read 3 or 4 of Kirst's other books, most notably Night of the Generals. He's an interesting author.


"A retired police inspector delves into the past. His painstaking enquiries involve the frightened reactions of six old comrades who are shot to hell. Hitler broke their backbone once and for all."

2. The Three Hostages by John Buchan (Richard Hannay #4). I've enjoyed Buchan's Hannay series very much, starting with The Thirty-Nine Steps.











" After the war and newly knighted, Hannay is living peacefully in the Cotswolds with his wife Mary and son Peter John. Unfortunately, a day arrives when three separate visitors tell him of three children being held hostage by a secret kidnapper. All three seem to lead back to a man named Dominick Medina, a popular Member of Parliament. Hannay uncovers a dastardly plot involving hypnotism and the black arts, as well as the more earthly crimes of blackmail and profiteering."

My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - American Cops Part 4

1. C.J. Box - Joe Pickett. CJ Box was born in Casper, Wyoming in 1958 and is the author of over 20 novels and short story collections. Of particular note is his Joe Pickett mystery series. Pickett is game warden in Wyoming. There are currently 19 books in this series. I've read one so far and enjoyed and have 3 others on my book shelves. Pickett is somewhat like Sheriff Longmire, with the stories having a bit of a wild west feel to them.

a. Open Season (#1 / 2001)












"Joe Pickett is the new game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a town where nearly everyone hunts and the game warden--especially one like Joe who won't take bribes or look the other way--is far from popular. When he finds a local hunting outfitter dead, splayed out on the woodpile behind his state-owned home, he takes it personally. There had to be a reason that the outfitter, with whom he's had run-ins before, chose his backyard, his woodpile to die in. Even after the "outfitter murders," as they have been dubbed by the local press after the discovery of the two more bodies, are solved, Joe continues to investigate, uneasy with the easy explanation offered by the local police.As Joe digs deeper into the murders, he soon discovers that the outfitter brought more than death to his backdoor: he brought Joe an endangered species, thought to be extinct, which is now living in his woodpile. But if word of the existence of this endangered species gets out, it will destroy any chance of InterWest, a multi-national natural gas company, building an oil pipeline that would bring the company billions of dollars across Wyoming, through the mountains and forests of Twelve Sleep. The closer Joe comes to the truth behind the outfitter murders, the endangered species and InterWest, the closer he comes to losing everything he holds dear."

b. Savage Run (#2 / 2002).












"Savage Run by C.J. Box is the 2nd book in the Joe Pickett and my first exposure to Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. I have to say I enjoyed very much, action, intrigue and a neat character, maybe a cross between Park Ranger Anna Pigeon and Sheriff Longmire... or maybe not.

I imagine I should have read the first book in the series first but it didn't seem to be all that critical as I was introduced nicely to both Joe and his family, Marybeth and their three daughters. This story starts with what seems to be an implausible bang, an environmental radical and his wife blown up when a cow explodes in front of them. But ultimately this won't seem so implausible and everything will make sense.

A mysterious person(s) has hired a pair of killers to get rid of a select group of environmentalists, with Stewie Woods the first. The main leader of the pair is an implacable killer, the other has doubts. Joe is involved only peripherally at first, assisting the local sheriff in investigating the explosion. The sheriff takes over and Joe is more involved trying to prove a local landowner, a nasty individual if I've ever seen one, killed an elk out of season, just for the head and antlers, and leaving the meat to rot.. This landowner is powerful and seems to have many connections.

The story moves between the killers as they take after the names on their list and Joe and Marybeth. It turns out that Marybeth knew Stewie from her past and she seems to be getting phone calls from someone pretending to be Stewie.

So there you have the gist of this entertaining story. Joe and the killers are drawn inexorably together as we near the climax and exciting finish. I guess it's a simple story in its own right but it was fun to read and to get to know Joe and his family somewhat. I will continue with the series. (4 stars)"

c. Winterkill (#3 / 2003).












"It's an hour away from darkness with a bitter winter storm raging when Joe Pickett finds himself deep in the forest edging Battle Mountain, shotgun in his left hand, his truck's steering wheel handcuffed to his right-and Lamar Gardiner's arrow-riddled corpse splayed against the tree in front of him.

Lamar's murder and the sudden onslaught of the snowstorm warns: Get off the mountain. But Joe knows this episode is far from over. Somewhere in the dense timber, a killer draws back his bowstring-with Joe as his prey.

Joe's pursuit of the killer through the rugged mountains that surround the snow-packed town of Saddlestring takes a horrifying turn when his beloved foster daughter is kidnapped. Now it's personal-and Joe will stop at nothing to get her back"

d. Endangered (#15 / 2015).









"Joe Pickett had good reason to dislike Dallas Cates, and now he has even more—Joe’s eighteen-year-old daughter, April, has run off with him. And then comes even worse news: She has been found in a ditch along the highway—alive, but just barely, the victim of blunt force trauma. Cates denies having anything to do with it, but Joe knows in his gut who’s responsible. What he doesn’t know is the kind of danger he’s about to encounter. Cates is bad enough, but Cates’s family is like none Joe has ever met."

The remaining books in the series are -
- Trophy Hunt (2004)
- Out of Range (2005)
- In Plain Sight (2006)
- Free Fire (2007)
- Blood Trail (2008)
- Below Zero (2009)
- Nowhere to Run (2010)
- Cold Wind (2011)
- Force of Nature (2012)
- Breaking Point (2013)
- Stone Cold (2014)
- Off the Grid (2016)
- Vicious Circle (2017)
- The Disappeared (2018)
- Wolf Pack (2019)

So there you go, folks. The weekend is almost here. Find a good book and weather permitting, sit out on your deck and relax. Enjoy!

A Sunday in June Reading Update

It's a nice cool Sunday and Jo and I are both somewhat under the weather. She's feeling a mite poorly with a headache and somehow I've managed to tweak my shoulder; feels like a pinched nerve maybe. I guess I slept wrong. Anyway, hurts like heck and finding it a bit difficult to turn my head. So we're just sitting in the family room, feeling sorry for ourselves. What better time to do an update.

I have finished two books in June so far and will update those. I'll also update the next books I've started and also some new books that I got this past week. I might also continue with my ongoing look at the Mystery genre, Part 3 of the American cop series sub-genre.

So let's get on with it.

New Books

1. The Red Eagles by David Downing. I've enjoyed the first two books in Downing's John Russell series. This is one of his standalone books.











"World War II is nearly over. For the Russians, the enemy is no longer Nazi Germany, but the American behemoth that threatens to topple the Communist revolution. Deep within the walls of the Kremlin, Stalin’s top man hatches a brilliant plan that will alter the course of postwar history—and it’s all based on a deception as simple as the shell game. Five years later, an atomic bomb detonates deep within the borders of the Soviet Union, stunning the experts who had predicted that Russian science could not produce such a devastating weapon for at least another generation.

The Red Eagles traces the adventures of two spies, Jack Kuznetsky and Amy Brandon, as they track down the most deadly force in the world while hiding their true allegiances and intentions from their compatriots. They are the “red” eagles, sent to America by one of its enemies to steal the greatest secret of all: the key to producing the atomic bomb."

2. Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge (SciFi). I've been looking for another book by Vinge and have one by Joan Vinge, so thought I'd give this book a try as well.










"Robert Gu is a recovering Alzheimer's patient. The world that he remembers was much as we know it today. Now, as he regains his faculties through a cure developed during the years of his near-fatal decline, he discovers that the world has changed and so has his place in it. He was a world-renowned poet. Now he is seventy-five years old, though by a medical miracle he looks much younger, and he’s starting over, for the first time unsure of his poetic gifts. Living with his son’s family, he has no choice but to learn how to cope with a new information age in which the virtual and the real are a seamless continuum, layers of reality built on digital views seen by a single person or millions, depending on your choice. But the consensus reality of the digital world is available only if, like his thirteen-year-old granddaughter Miri, you know how to wear your wireless access—through nodes designed into smart clothes—and to see the digital context—through smart contact lenses.

With knowledge comes risk. When Robert begins to re-train at Fairmont High, learning with other older people what is second nature to Miri and other teens at school, he unwittingly becomes part of a wide-ranging conspiracy to use technology as a tool for world domination.

In a world where every computer chip has Homeland Security built-in, this conspiracy is something that baffles even the most sophisticated security analysts, including Robert’s son and daughter-in law, two top people in the U.S. military. And even Miri, in her attempts to protect her grandfather, may be entangled in the plot.

As Robert becomes more deeply involved in conspiracy, he is shocked to learn of a radical change planned for the UCSD Geisel Library; all the books there, and worldwide, would cease to physically exist. He and his fellow re-trainees feel compelled to join protests against the change. With forces around the world converging on San Diego, both the conspiracy and the protest climax in a spectacular moment as unique and satisfying as it is unexpected."

3. The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor (Thriller). This is the first book in Thor's Scott Horvath thriller series. I've heard good things about it so have been looking for the first book to see what it's like.










"On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the President of the United States has been kidnapped and his Secret Service detail massacred. Only one agent has survived—ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. He doesn’t buy the official line that Middle Eastern terrorists are behind the attack and begins his own campaign to find the truth and exact revenge. But now, framed for murder by a sinister cabal, Harvath takes his fight to the towering mountains of Switzerland—and joins forces with beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney’s Office. Together they must brave the subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus—where their only chance for survival lies inside the den of the most lethal team of professional killers the world has ever known…" 

4. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (Fantasy). Jo and I have just enjoyed the first season of this series on AMC so I've been interested to see if the books are just as good.









"A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.

When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels..." 

Just Finished

1. Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock (Alternative History). This was a re-read for me, even though it's been 30 or 40 years since I read it the first time.











"I have read Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock once before, many years ago. I saw it in a used book store on one of my visits a few years back and decided it would be worth trying again. So there you go, a bit of back history before my review.

The book was originally published in 1971. It purport to be a story written by Michael Moorcock's grandfather, from events he recorded back in 1903. It's a neat tale, told to Moorcock Senior by Oswald Bastable, a Victorian Captain who is thrust into the future. Sound confusing? Well, it is only somewhat but the story is rich and interesting.

Moorcock Senior has moved to Rowe Island, a small island near Indonesia to recover from a nervous disability. While there, he encounters Bastable, who has disembarked from a tramp steamer, his clothes worn and shredded and also appearing to suffer from a heroin addiction. Moorcock takes him under his wing, feeds and bathes him and tries to stop him from using heroin. While with Moorcock, Bastable tells his fascinating tale.

While in the British army in India, Bastable takes a troop of Sepoys and Gurkhas to a remote Himalayan country, Teku Benga to stop the warlord / magician from continuing to threaten border outposts. Bastable and a few of his men go to the capital city and are drugged. An earthquake strikes and while trying to escape, Bastable is lost in the passage ways of the palace. (He has been warned that there are doorways to unknown places below the palace.

Waking up, Bastable finds himself in rubble of the destroyed city and is unable to get off the mountain due to the destruction. He is very surprised to find himself rescued by an airship of the Royal Indian Air Force. Thus begins Bastable's adventure. It turns out that he has moved from 1902 to 1973, in a different, modern world. The world is at peace, airships are the norm, the world is divided into major empires; the British, the American, the Russian, the Japanese, etc.

Bastable finds himself in this new, seemingly peaceful world. After exams he trains for a job on one of the commercial airships as an Security Air Policeman. And from this point the adventure builds and moves into a time of less peace.

It's a fascinating fantasy adventure. Reading this again in 2019, trying to picture both the Victorian era from which Bastable starts to the 1970's, which is different from that we've experienced and comparing with some of the actual events that occurred in 'our' world's history makes for a surprisingly rich layer of textures. It's a simple story in many ways but also quite complex. Meeting some historical characters and events that take place in Bastable's future add to the story. I'm glad I read it again; I think I appreciate it more. (4 stars)" 

2. Natchez Burning by Greg Iles (Penn Cage #4). This was my first exposure to Iles and it was an engrossing, exciting story.











"Natchez Burning is the 4th book in the Penn Cage series by Greg Iles. But for some reason, it's also the first book in his Natchez Burning trilogy (all of which make up the Penn Cage books too). At any rate, after reading this book, I didn't seem to have missed not reading the first three Penn Cage books. But my interest in this book will get me to delve back into those other books. Confused yet?

So, this book begins in 1964 with the murder of a black music shop owner in Natchez, Mississippi and others by a sect of the Ku Klux Klan, known as the Double Eagles. With this introduction we move to 2005 and the arrest of Tom Cage, a local doctor, and Penn Cage's father for the murder of Viola Turner, a woman who'd been his nurse and lover back in those same '60s. Viola, who had moved to Chicago after the events mentioned above, with the help of Tom Cage, had returned to Natchez, still under threat of murder by the Double Eagles, to live her last days. Tom Cage had been treating her for her cancer and upon her death, he has been charged, first with assisted suicide and then murder. This charge has been laid by Lincoln Turner, Viola's son, who also claims that Tom is his father.

Whew! That's just the beginning. Penn Cage, now mayor of Natchez, has now to try to find the truth about this from his father, who is reticent to tell him anything, all the while fighting off pressure from the local DA, Shad Johnson and also the sheriff, racist, redneck Billy Byrd. Of course, it's not that simple a story. This story will delve back into the past as Penn tries to find out the truth of the murders in the '60s, to break down who caused them, to fight the remnants of the Double Eagles, and their sons. He will require the assistance of local reporter, Henry Sexton, who has made it his life's work to find the truth; FBI agent Jim Kaiser, who is trying to make amends for the failure of the FBI to solve the crimes in the past; and also Kaitlin, publisher of the other local newspaper, and Penn's fiance, who also wants to get her own story.

And that's just touching the tip of the iceberg of this rich, engrossing, and at times, scary thriller and look at the troubling past of southern states like Mississippi. Iles has delved greatly into similar incidents in the past to create this fascinating story. It's so well written, it holds your attention right from the get-go. There is a large cast of characters that each share the spotlight in their own right, from those crusaders who want to expose the truth to those who want to continue their 'evil' work and to crush those who would dare to try to stop them.

While the ultimate ending wasn't totally satisfying, the story on the whole is rich, powerful and will keep you turning pages. I do know I'll be reading more books in the Penn Cage series. (4.5 stars)"

Just Started

1.  The Dante Club by Michael Pearl (Historical Mystery). I've had this book for 7 years and have kept putting it aside. I'm enjoying the start so far.











"In 1865 Boston, the literary geniuses of the Dante Club—poets and Harvard professors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell, along with publisher J. T. Fields—are finishing America's first translation of The Divine Comedy and preparing to unveil Dante's remarkable visions to the New World. The powerful Boston Brahmins at Harvard College are fighting to keep Dante in obscurity, believing that the infiltration of foreign superstitions into American minds will prove as corrupting as the immigrants arriving at Boston Harbor.

The members of the Dante Club fight to keep a sacred literary cause alive, but their plans fall apart when a series of murders erupts through Boston and Cambridge. Only this small group of scholars realizes that the gruesome killings are modeled on the descriptions of Hell's punishments from Dante's Inferno. With the lives of the Boston elite and Dante's literary future in America at stake, the Dante Club members must find the killer before the authorities discover their secret.

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes and an outcast police officer named Nicholas Rey, the first black member of the Boston police department, must place their careers on the line to end the terror. Together, they discover that the source of the murders lies closer to home than they ever could have imagined."

2. An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters (Cadfael #11). I've enjoyed this historical mystery series very much so far.










"This is the eleventh chronicle of Brother Cadfael, of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, at Shrewsbury. In the year of our Lord 1141, August comes in golden as a lion, and two monks ride into the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul bringing with them disturbing news of war...and a mystery. The strangers tell how the strife between the Empress Maud and King Stephan has destroyed the town of Winchester and their priory. Now Brother Humilis, who is handsome, gaunt, and very ill, and Brother Fidelis, youthful, comely (and totally mute) must seek refuge at Shrewsbury. And from the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael senses something deeper than their common vows binds these two good brothers. What the link is he can only guess...what it will lead to is beyond his imagining. But as Brother Humilis' health fails, and nothing can stop death's lengthening shade, Brother Cadfael faces a poignant test of his discretion and his beliefs as he unravels a secret so great it can destroy a life, a future, and a holy order." 

3. Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson. I've enjoyed both Atkinson's Jackson Brodie mysteries and her standalone stories as well, so far. This was her second novel and I'm reading it to satisfy a genre challenge in one of my book clubs - Magical Realism.









"Once it had been the great forest of Lythe--a vast and impenetrable thicket of green with a mystery in the very heart of the trees.  And here, in the beginning, lived the Fairfaxes, grandly, at Fairfax Manor, visited once by the great Gloriana herself.

But over the centuries the forest had been destroyed, replaced by Streets of Trees.  The Fairfaxes had dwindled too; now they lived in 'Arden' at the end of Hawthorne Close and were hardly a family at all.

There was Vinny (the Aunt from Hell)--with her cats and her crab-apple face. And Gordon, who had forgotten them for seven years and, when he remembered, came back with fat Debbie, who shared her one brain cell with a poodle. And then there were Charles and Isobel, the children. Charles, the acne-scarred Lost Boy, passed his life awaiting visits from aliens and the return of his mother. But it is Isobel to whom the story belongs--Isobel, born on the Streets of Trees, who drops into pockets of time and out again. Isobel is sixteen and she too is waiting for the return of her mother--the thin, dangerous Eliza with her scent of nicotine, Arpege and sex, whose disappearance is part of the mystery that still remains at the heart of the forest."

My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - American Cops Part 3

James R. Benn

James R. Benn - Billy Boyle. James R. Benn was born in 1949 and is best known for his Billy Boyle, wartime mystery series set during WWII. His character, Billy Boyle is a Boston Police Detective. When WWII arrives, his father, use their connections to get him assigned to the staff Dwight D. Eisenhower. Billy eventually gets appointed as staff investigator to solve crimes. These crimes form the basis for the Billy Boyle stories. Since 2006, Benn has written 13 Billy Boyle mysteries. I've got the first two on my book shelves.

a. Billy Boyle; A World War II Mystery.









"What’s a twenty-two-year-old Irish American cop who’s never been out of Massachusetts before doing at Beardsley Hall, an English country house, having lunch with King Haakon of Norway? Billy Boyle himself wonders. Back home in Southie, he’d barely made detective when war was declared.

Unwilling to fight — and perhaps die — for England, he was relieved when his mother wangled a job for him on the staff of a general married to her distant cousin. But the general turns out to be Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose headquarters are in London, which is undergoing the Blitz. And Uncle Ike wants Billy to be his personal investigator.

Billy is dispatched to the seat of the Norwegian government in exile. Operation Jupiter, the impending invasion of Norway, is being planned, but it is feared that there is a German spy amongst the Norwegians.

Billy doubts his own abilities, with good reason. A theft and two murders test his investigative powers, but Billy proves to be a better detective than he or anyone else."

2. The First Wave.


"Billy Boyle is dispatched to help arrange the surrender of Vichy French forces in Algeria. But dissension among the regular army, the militia, and De Gaulle's Free French forces allows black marketers in league with the Germans to divert medical supplies, leading to multiple murders. Billy must find the killers and rescue the woman he loves, a British spy."




The remaining books in this series are -
- Blood Alone (2008)
- Evil for Evil (2009)
- Rag and Bone (2010)
- A Mortal Terror (2011)
- Death's Door (2012)
- A Blind Goddess (2013)
- The Rest is Silence (2014)
- The White Ghost (2015)
- Blue Madonna (2016)
- The Devouring (2017)
- Solemn Graves (2018)

Well, there you go. Any sound interesting? Enjoy your week!

Some New Books and the Mystery Genre Continued

We're now at the 4th of June and I'm still working on the books with which I started the month. I am making steady progress and should finish the first couple by the end of the week. Since my last entry, I've purchased and found a few new books. Yesterday I did some serious vetting of my bookshelves and put 15 or so books into the Little Free Library I've got set outside. So I took a few books back and there were a couple that somebody had added that looked interesting. I also received 3 in the mail. I'll update those and as well get back to my look at the mystery genre, continuing my latest thread on American cops.

So with the sun shining in the windows, let's take a look.

New Books

1. Colin Wilson - The Mind Parasites (1967). I've read Wilson's The Space Vampires previously and quite enjoyed.











"Wilson has blended H.P. Lovecraft's dark vision with his own revolutionary philosophy & unique narrative powers to produce a stunning, high-tension story of vaulting imagination. A professor makes a horrifying discovery while excavating an Anatolian archeological site. For over 200 years, mind parasites have been lurking in the deepest layers of the unconscious, feeding on human life force & steadily gaining a foothold on the planet. Now they threaten humanity's extinction. They can be fought with one weapon only: the mind, pushed to-& beyond-its limits. Pushed so far that humans can read each other's thoughts, that the moon can be shifted from its orbit by thought alone. Pushed so that humans can at last join battle with the loathsome parasites on equal terms."

2. John Lescroart - The Hearing (Dismas Hardy #7). Lescroart is a new author for me. I've seen his books at my local book store before but haven't yet tried one. This was free and it sounded interesting so I thought I should give it a try.










"Hardy's best friend, Lieutenant Abe Glitsky, has kept a secret from him...and everyone else. Hardy never knew that Abe had a daughter-until she was shot dead. It seems obvious that the heroin addict hovering over her body with a gun is the guilty party, and Glitsky has few qualms about sweating a confession out of him. But there is more to this murder-much more. And as both Hardy and Glitsky risk their lives to uncover the truth, others are working hard to stop them."

3. Michael Connelly - The Wrong Side of Goodbye (Bosch #19). I've read a couple of books in this series and enjoyed them very much.











"Harry Bosch is California's newest private investigator. He doesn't advertise, he doesn't have an office, and he's picky about who he works for, but it doesn't matter. His chops from thirty years with the LAPD speak for themselves.

Soon one of Southern California's biggest moguls comes calling. The reclusive billionaire is nearing the end of his life and is haunted by one regret. When he was young, he had a relationship with a Mexican girl, his great love. But soon after becoming pregnant, she disappeared. Did she have the baby? And if so, what happened to it?

Desperate to know whether he has an heir, the dying magnate hires Bosch, the only person he can trust. With such a vast fortune at stake, Harry realizes that his mission could be risky not only for himself but for the one he's seeking. But as he begins to uncover the haunting story--and finds uncanny links to his own past--he knows he cannot rest until he finds the truth.

At the same time, unable to leave cop work behind completely, he volunteers as an investigator for a tiny cash-strapped police department and finds himself tracking a serial rapist who is one of the most baffling and dangerous foes he has ever faced."

4. Ursula le Guin - The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea #2). I liked the first book in this series, The Wizard of Earthsea. I've enjoyed Le Guin's unique look at science fiction very much.









"When young Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken away - home, family, possessions, even her name. For she is now Arha, the Eaten One, guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan.

While she is learning her way through the dark labyrinth, a young wizard, Ged, comes to steal the Tombs' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. But Ged also brings with him the light of magic, and together, he and Tenar escape from the darkness that has become her domain."

5. Ethel Lina White - The Lady Vanishes (1936). Oddly enough, I had previously purchased The Wheel Spins by White. Unfortunately, it turned out that one was the English name for the book (The Wheel Spins) and the other is the American title, The Lady Vanishes. I guess, luckily, I'd not gotten around to reading the book anyway. The Lady Vanishes edition is in much better shape, so I'll keep it. It's not the first time this has happened to me. The Black Shrike by Alistair MacLean was also published as The Dark Crusader. Runway Zero Eight by Arthur Hailey was also published under the name Flight into Danger. I bought all of those too at one time.. *sigh*




"Iris Carr is a beautiful, young socialite on her way back home to England after vacationing in Europe. Feeling terribly alone and afraid, she finds comfort in the company of a strange woman she knows only as "Miss Froy." But comfort soon turns to horror when Miss Froy mysteriously vanishes without a trace. Fearing madness, risking death, Iris desperately tries to solve the sudden disappearance of her traveling companion-a woman no one else on the journey remembers seeing at all!"

My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - American Cops Part 2
In my first entry, I looked at  Nevada Barr's series featuring US Park Ranger, Anna Pigeon.

Jefferson Bass

1. Jefferson Bass - The Body Farm series. The Body Farm series is a collaborative effort between American author, Jon Jefferson and renowned forensic anthropologist, William M. Bass. The Body Farm series is set in  Tennessee. The Body Farm is a field at the University of Tennessee where forensic anthropologist students learn their craft. Since 2006, there have been 10 books in the series.  I've read the first four so far. 

a. Carved in Bone (2006).












"In a forest in Tennessee, rotting bodies litter the ground.

This is not a mass murder scene; it's the Body Farm, where human remains lie exposed to be studied for their secrets. Its real-life founder has broken cold cases and revolutionized forensics...and now he spins an astonishing tale, inspired by his own experiences.

A woman's corpse lies hidden in a cave in the mountains of East Tennessee. Undiscovered for thirty years, her body has been transformed into a near-perfect mummy. Clueless, the local police enlist the help of Dr Bill Brockton, renowned anthropologist and founder of the Body Farm.

The body has been found in Cooke County, a remote community that's insular and distrustful. When Brockton's autopsy discloses an explosive secret, old wounds are reopened and feuds rekindled. As the powerful and uncooperative sheriff and his inept deputy threaten to derail Brockton's investigation, even Brockton, after years surrounded by death and decay, is baffled by this case as it unfolds in a unique environment, where nothing is quite what it seems." (3 stars)

b. Flesh and Bone (2007).












"Anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton founded Tennessee's world-famous Body Farm—a small piece of land where corpses are left to decay in order to gain important forensic information. Now, in the wake of a shocking crime in nearby Chattanooga, he's called upon by Jess Carter—the rising star of the state's medical examiners—to help her unravel a murderous puzzle. But after re-creating the death scene at the Body Farm, Brockton discovers his career, reputation, and life are in dire jeopardy when a second, unexplained corpse appears in the grisly setting.

Accused of a horrific crime—transformed overnight from a respected professor to a hated and feared pariah—Bill Brockton will need every ounce of his formidable forensic skills to escape the ingeniously woven net that's tightening around him . . . and to prove the seemingly impossible: his own innocence." (3 stars)

c. The Devil's Bones (2008).












"This is the 3rd book in the Body Farm series, featuring U of Tennessee forensic scientist Bill Brockton. I've enjoyed every book so far. There is a nice folksiness about Brockton and he is surrounded by excellent friends and co-workers, especially his faithful assistant Miranda (she's lovely) and his old friend police detective Art. This story has its own unique mysteries; both dealing with burned corpses in their own way. The first is the death/ murder of a woman, whose burned body is found in a car and Bill assists the local Tennessee detective try to find out whether it was an accident or murder. The other finds Bill assisting his lawyer, fondly known as Grease, ascertain whether the remains of his aunt, are in fact the remains and finds Bill researching a local (Georgian) crematorium. Added to the mix is the escape of Bill's enemy, Garland Hamilton, the man responsible for the murder of Bill's love interest from the previous story. There is always interesting scientific factoids about bodies found in this series and the story moves along very nicely. The ending may have been a bit pat, but, then again, it didn't take away from the story in the least. Most entertaining. (3 stars)"

d. Bones of Betrayal (2009).












"Each book in this series gets better and better. Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass, the 4th book in the Body Farm, forensic series, was no exception. This book finds the head of University of Tennessee's Body Farm, Bill Brockton, and his assistant, Miranda Lovelady, heading off to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the site of the nuclear laboratories of WWII fame, to work on a body frozen into an abandoned hotel's swimming pool. They are in for a shock as it turns out the body died of radiation poisoning and others will be infected. The story involves a search into the history of the Oak Ridge facility as the body belongs to one of the scientists who worked their during WWII. I enjoyed the historical aspects of the story and, as always, I liked the main characters, Brockton and Miranda. For all its tension, the story has a nice folksy quality to it, that brought about by these characters. The mystery itself was interesting and well-developed. I had an idea of those who would be involved in the murder(s) but the reasons were still a surprise. The books have all been enjoyable and very readable. The Bone Thief is next and is sitting on my bookshelf awaiting my attention. Excellent series. (4 stars)"

The remaining books in the series are below. I've added an asterisk * if I have a copy.

a. The Bone Thief (2010) *
b. The Bone Yard (2011) *
c. The Bones of Avignon (2012) (also published as The Inquisitor's Key)
d. Cut to the Bone (2013)
e. The Breaking Point (2015) *
f. Without Mercy (2016)

There you go. I hope you find some reading ideas above. Enjoy your week!

My May 2019 Reading Summary

It's been a busy week. Jo and I have been busy getting the house and yard cleaned up. I have to say it's looking pretty darn good at the moment. I've still managed to get a bit of reading in as well. My May 2019 Reading summary is below.

May 2019

General Info                   May                   Total
Books Read -                    12                        59
Pages Read -                   3,400                  18,200

Pages Breakdown
    < 250                             4                         24       
250 - 350                           4                         15
351 - 450                           3                         13
   > 450                              1                           7

Ratings
5 - star                               0                           3
4 - star                               9                         31
3 - star                               3                         25
2 - star                           

Gender
Female                              5                         23
Male                                 7                          32

Genres
Fiction                              1                           6
Mystery                          10                         42
SciFi                                 1                           6
Non-Fic                                                         4
Classics                                                         1           
Poetry                           

Top 3 Books

1. In the Heat of the Night by Matt Pelfrey - 4.5 stars
2. Rear Window and Four Short Novels - Cornell Woolrich - 4 stars
3. The Thirty-Nine Steps - John Buchan - 4 stars

12 + 4  Challenge (completed 12)
1. The Book of the Lion by Elizabeth Daly - 4 stars
2. Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich - 3.5 stars
3. Louisiana Lament by Julie Smith - 3 stars

Papa Bear Challenge (Books I've had the longest on my Goodreads bookshelf) (completed 9)
4. Baptism in Blood - Jane Haddam - 4 stars

Mama Bear Challenge (Middle of my Goodreads bookshelf) (completed 10)
5. Lie in Wait - Eric Rickstad - 4 stars

Baby Bear Challenge (Books most recently added to my Goodreads bookshelf) (completed 10)
6. The Sergeant's Cat and Other Stories - Janwillem van de Wetering - 4 stars
7. Savage Run - C.J. Box - 4 stars

Goldilocks Challenge (Random Number Generator) (completed 8)
8. Cross Bones - Kathy Reichs - 4 stars

Break from Challenge Challenge  (Freebees every time I complete 10 books) (completed 4 books)
9. Rear Window and 4 Short Novels - Cornell Woolrich - 4 stars
10. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan - 4 stars

June Freebies
11. In the Heat of the Night by Matt Pelfrey - 4.5 stars
12. Fer-de-Lance - Rex Stout - 4 stars

June 2019 Books Currently Reading

1. Natchez Burning - Greg Iles
2. The Red Dahlia - Lynda La Plante
3. The Master of Rain - Tom Bradby
4. The Dark Crusader - Alistair MacLean
5. The Warlord of the Air - Michael Moorcock