OK, what an exciting day! Things have calmed down a bit in the US and the Senate is now back in business. What a disgusting set of actions that were set into motion by the lame duck President of the US. Who would have thought that the Houses of Congress would be invaded by domestic terrorists and be encouraged by the Pres.... I was amazed to see how many countries' leaders put out statements criticizing Trump and also that his Twitter account was suspended for 12 hours (not long enough) because his tweets were deemed to be inflammatory. This whole effort to call into question Joe Biden's assumption of the presidency seems to have been somewhat deflated by the events today. I've seen remarks by a number of Republican senators that indicate they will be supporting the election results now.. Trump is retiring having turned over the House, the Senate and the Presidency to the Democratic party.... What a record!
Anyway, the missus is making a Sheppard's pie for dinner tonight.. So while that is cooking I'll do a quick book update. I've finished my first book of 2021 (I'll provide the review). I'll provide the synopsis of the next book in line. I've also purchased a few books; I dropped off a few books at my local book store and also bought 5 books. Today I also received a book in the mail that I'd ordered before Xmas. I'll provide the synopses of those books for you. In my next post I'll get back to my look at my favorite authors.
Just Finished
"The Stephanie Plum mystery series by Janet Evanovich has been one of my comfort reads for a long time. Fearless Fourteen is one of the more enjoyable stories in the series thus far.
Stephanie is hired by Ranger to help provide security for a blowsy, has-beenish country singer, Brenda. Lula has somehow enticed Tank (one of Ranger's security team) marry her. Stephanie and Morelli (her cop boyfriend) find themselves looking after Zook (a nickname), the son of a distant cousin to Morelli, who is in jail because she can't afford the bail. Added to this, Zook's uncle Dom, who participated in a bank robbery years ago is now out of prison and looking for the loot that was stolen and he is pissed off at Morelli.
This story has less about Stephanie's lovely family (one family dinner) and about her job as a bounty hunter (there are a few arrests) and even is a little less sexy (some teasing) but it's an excellent, tense story as Stephanie and Morelli, with help from Zook, Mooner, a stalker try to resolve the story about the lost money, stay alive and also keep Morelli's home from being destroyed.
Still a great cast of characters; Stephanie is one of my favorites, and Lula and Morelli and Ranger and Connie and the others all add to the richness and fun of the story. Stephanie is a bit mumsier in this story, as she and Morelli take care of Zook and his followers. Their house is filled with interesting people. I like this side of Stephanie and her comfort with being with Morelli (Yes, I'm a Morelli man!)
It's an entertaining story and mystery, with a neat story line and enough action and tension to keep you satisfied. Most enjoyable, a pleasure to read. (4 stars)"
Currently Reading
"Lincoln Rhyme and
partner/paramour Amelia Sachs return to face a criminal whose ingenious
staging of crimes is enabled by a terrifying access to information...
When
Lincoln's estranged cousin Arthur Rhyme is arrested on murder charges,
the case is perfect - too perfect. Forensic evidence from Arthur's home
is found all over the scene of the crime, and it looks like the fate of
Lincoln's relative is sealed.
At the behest of Arthur's wife,
Judy, Lincoln grudgingly agrees to investigate the case. Soon Lincoln
and Amelia uncover a string of similar murders and rapes with
perpetrators claiming innocence and ignorance - despite ironclad
evidence at the scenes of the crimes. Rhyme's team realizes this
"perfect" evidence may actually be the result of masterful identity
theft and manipulation.
An information service company - the huge
data miner Strategic Systems Datacorp - seems to have all the answers
but is reluctant to help the police. Still, Rhyme and Sachs, along with
their assembled team begin uncovering a chilling pattern of vicious
crimes and coverups, leading their investigation to point at one master
criminal, whom they dub "522".
When "522" learns the identities
of the crime-fighting team, the hunters become the hunted. Full of
Deaver's trademark plot twists, 'The Broken Window' will put the
partnership of Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs to the ultimate test."
New Books
The five books I bought at Nearly New Books were all continuations of ongoing series. The book I received from Goldstone Books was by a new author for me.
"Run for it…
It
was raining when psychiatrist Andi Manette left the parent-teacher
conference with her two young daughters, and she was distracted. She
barely noticed the red van parked beside her, barely noticed the van
door slide open as they dashed up to the car. The last thing she did
notice was the hand reaching out for her and the voice from out of the
past — and then the three of them were gone.
Hours later, deputy
chief Lucas Davenport stood in the parking lot, a blood-stained shoe in
his hand, the ground stained pink around him, and knew that this would
be one of the worst cases he'd ever been on. With an urgency born of
dread, he presses the attack, while in an isolated farmhouse, Andi
Manette does the same, summoning all her skills to battle an obsessed
captor. She knows the man who has taken her and her daughters, knows
there is a chink in his armor, if only she can find it. But for both her
and Davenport, time is already running out."
"When journalist Lily Bigelow is found dead in the courtyard of Carrickfergus Castle, it looks like a suicide. Yet there are a few things that bother Duffy just enough to keep the case file open, which is how he finds out that Bigelow was working on a devastating investigation of corruption and abuse at the highest levels of power in the UK and beyond.And so Duffy has two impossible problems on his desk: Who killed Lily Bigelow? And what were they trying to hide?"
"The remote resort of
Fjällbacka has seen its share of tragedy, though perhaps none worse than
that of the little girl found in a fisherman's net. But this was no
accidental drowning ...
Local detective Patrik Hedström has just
become a father. It is his grim task to discover who could be behind the
murder of a child both he and his partner Erica knew well.
What
he does not know is how the case will reach into the dark heart of
Fjällbacka and tear aside its idyllic façade, perhaps forever."
"John Brodie is a
Guardian, a member of a secret network devoted to protecting the
psychics in his charge from a ruthless—and virtually invisible—enemy.
Tasha
Solomon is unaware of the Guardians’ existence—until the night the
gifted psychic suffers a shocking and violent attack and Brodie saves
her life.
Tough and resilient, Tasha isn’t used to depending on
anyone. But the assault has left her vulnerable. Tasha doesn’t know who
wants her dead, or why, or when he will strike again. Now, she is forced
to trust that Brodie can guide her through a tangled web of danger and
deception toward a safe harbor—one she fears is more elusive with each
dark and endless night."
"The darkest and most disturbing case report from the files of Kinsey Millhone, Y is for Yesterday
begins in 1979, when four teenage boys from an elite private school
sexually assault a fourteen-year-old classmate—and film the attack. Not
long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow
classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns
in evidence for the state and two of his peers are convicted. But the
ringleader escapes without a trace.
Now, it’s 1989 and one of
the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody,
unrepentant, and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful
parents—until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand.
That’s when the McCabes call Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone for
help. As she is drawn into their family drama, she keeps a watchful eye
on Fritz. But he’s not the only one being haunted by the past. A vicious
sociopath with a grudge against Millhone may be leaving traces of
himself for her to find…"
"'I want you frowning now, knowing something is very wrong with your parachute even before actually pulling the cord and praying it opens. P.S. It won't.' So Jonathan Carroll addresses his readers in this much-awaited collection of 20 stories. Author of several wry and dark novels, Carroll has a considerable following, but his books are difficult to pigeonhole, so some horror and fantasy readers are still unfamiliar with him. This collection shows off his talents admirably, in tales that range from bittersweet sadness over God's failing memory, to a disturbing friendship between a dog and a dying child, to a macabre fantasy about how men and women manipulate each other."
There you go... See any books that you might find interesting?
Stay safe. 😷
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