Coup d'Etat by Ben Coes

Over the top patriotism and length back stories that are not important to the plot detract from this otherwise interesting book. PW: When a fragile peace breaks down and promptly devolves into a rapidly escalating shooting war between Pakistan and India, the United States is forced to intervene. With only hours remaining before the conflict reaches a deadly point of no return, the White House must find a way to shut it down immediately - or risk the likelihood of a new global war. A radical cleric has become the democratically elected president of Pakistan and uses a brutal incident in the Kashmir region as an opportunity to ignite war with India. The highly lethal conventional war spins out of control when Pakistan initiates a nuclear attack. India is on the verge of launching their own nuclear response, one that will have unimaginably disastrous results for both the United States and the world at large. With only one chance to head this off, the president of the United States sends in his best people to do whatever it takes to restore the fragile peace to the region. With the clock ticking and Pakistan in the hands of a religious radical willing to do anything to destroy India, there remains only one viable option: to execute a coup d’état in Pakistan.

Power Down: Dewey Andreas, Book 1 by Ben Coes

This book needs an editor. Reading entire chapters that develop the back story of a character that gets killed and then has no impact on the plot is tiresome. Lots of interesting bits here, but equally there are side stories that an editor should help the author see are unnecessary. Coes has lots of potential if he can learn to focus on the plot. PW: A major North American hydroelectric dam is blown up and the largest off-shore oil field in this hemisphere is destroyed in a brutal, coordinated terrorist attack. But there was one factor that the terrorists didn’t take into account when they struck the Capitana platform off the coast of Colombia - slaughtering much of the crew and blowing up the platform - and that was the Capitana crew chief, Dewey Andreas. Dewey, former Army Ranger and Delta, survives the attack, rescuing as many of his men as possible. But the battle has just begun. While the intelligence and law enforcement agencies scramble to untangle these events and find the people responsible, the mysterious figure of Alexander Fortuna - an agent embedded into the highest levels of American society and business - sets into play the second stage of these long-planned attacks. The only fly in the ointment is Dewey Andreas - who is using all his long-dormant skills to fight his way off the platform, then out of Colombia and back to the U.S., following the trail of terrorists and operatives sent to stop him.

The Hot Rock by Donald E. Westlake

Fun, light and forgettable. PW The Hot Rock introduces John Archibald Dortmunder, the thief whose capers never quite come off, as he and his convict friends plot to steal the fabulous Balaboma Emerald.

Hidden Prey by John Sandford

Very good. PW Six months ago, Lucas Davenport tackled his first case as a statewide troubleshooter, and he thought that one was plenty strange enough. But that was before the Russian got killed. On the shore of Lake Superior, a man named Vladimir Oleshev is found shot dead, three holes in his head and heart, and though nobody knows why he was killed, everybody - the local cops, the FBI, and the Russians themselves - has a theory. And when it turns out he had very high government connections, that's when it hits the fan. A Russian cop flies in from Moscow, Davenport flies in from Minneapolis, law enforcement and press types swarm the crime scene - and, in the middle of it all, there is another murder. Is there a relationship between the two? What is the Russian cop hiding from Davenport? Is she - yes, it's a woman - a cop at all? Why was the man shot with ... fifty-year-old bullets? Before he can find the answers, Davenport will have to follow a trail back to another place, another time, and battle the shadows he discovers there - shadows that turn out to be both very real and very deadly.

The Black Box by Michael Connelly

Very enjoyable. PW In a case that spans 20 years, Harry Bosch links the bullet from a recent crime to a file from 1992, the killing of a young female photographer during the L.A. riots. Harry originally investigated the murder, but it was then handed off to the Riot Crimes Task Force and never solved. Now Bosch's ballistics match indicates that her death was not random violence, but something more personal, and connected to a deeper intrigue. Like an investigator combing through the wreckage after a plane crash, Bosch searches for the "black box", the one piece of evidence that will pull the case together.

The Poet by Michael Connelly

Excellent, a great thriller - Connelly at his best. PW: Our hero is Jack McEvoy, a Rocky Mountain News crime-beat reporter. As the story opens, Jack's twin brother, a Denver homicide detective, has just killed himself. Or so it seems. But when Jack begins to investigate the phenomenon of police suicides, a disturbing pattern emerges, and soon suspects that a serial murderer is at work - a devious cop killer who's left a coast-to-coast trail of "suicide notes" drawn from the poems of Edgar Allan Poe. It's the story of a lifetime - except that "the Poet" already seems to know that Jack is trailing him. . .

City Primeval by Elmore Leonard

Another exciting and fun ride with Leonard. PW: Clement Mansell knows how easy it is to get away with murder. The seriously crazed killer is already back on the Detroit streets - thanks to some nifty courtroom moves by his crafty looker of a lawyer - and he's feeling invincible enough to execute a crooked Motown judge on a whim. Homicide Detective Raymond Cruz thinks the "Oklahoma Wildman" crossed the line long before this latest outrage, and he's determined to see that the hayseed psycho does not slip through the legal system's loopholes a second time. But that means a good cop is going to have to play somewhat fast and loose with the rules - in order to maneuver Mansell into a wild Midwest showdown that he won't be walking away from.

Deep Sky by Patrick Lee

Started but didn't finish. Author had interesting ideas but spent so much time going on side trips that main objective was lost.

Get Real by Donald E. Westlake

My first Westlake read and I'm excited to read more of the Dortmunder series. Light, funny, witty dialog... PW: Eluding the law has always been high on Dortmunder's list. But getting caught red-handed is inevitable in his next caper, when a TV producer convinces this thief and his merry gang to star in a reality show that captures their next score. The producer even guarantees to keep the show from being used as evidence against them. They're dubious at first, but the pay's good, so they sign on.

Endgame by Frank Brady

Fascinating account of Bobby Fischer's life.

The Forgotten by David Baldacci

Baldacci can generate great stories - this one is not great but entertaining. PW: Army Special Agent John Puller is the best there is. A combat veteran, Puller is the man the U.S. Army relies on to investigate the toughest crimes facing the nation. Now he has a new case - but this time, the crime is personal: His aunt has been found dead in Paradise, Florida. A picture-perfect town on Florida's Gulf Coast, Paradise thrives on the wealthy tourists and retirees drawn to its gorgeous weather and beaches. The local police have ruled his aunt's death an unfortunate, tragic accident. But just before she died, she mailed a letter to Puller's father, telling him that beneath its beautiful veneer, Paradise is not all it seems to be. What Puller finds convinces him that his aunt's death was no accident… and that the palm trees and sandy beaches of Paradise may hide a conspiracy so shocking that some will go to unthinkable lengths to make sure the truth is never revealed.

The Last Man by Vince Flynn

9/14 Listened to this again and really enjoyed it.

Another enjoyable Mitch Rapp episode, though one of the weaker adventures. PW: The four dead guards didn’t concern Mitch Rapp as much as the absence of the man they’d been paid to protect. Joe Rickman wasn’t just another foot soldier. For the last eight years Rickman had ran the CIA’s clandestine operations in Afghanistan. It was a murky job that involved working with virtually every disreputable figure in the Islamic Republic. More than a quarter billion dollars in cash had passed through Rickman’s hands during his tenure as the master of black ops and no one with a shred of sense wanted to know the details of how that money had been spent. At first glance it looks as if Rickman has been kidnapped, but Rapp knows certain things about his old friend that cause him to wonder if something more disturbing isn’t afoot. Irene Kennedy, the director of the CIA, has ordered Rapp to find Rickman at all costs. Rapp must navigate the ever-shifting landscape of Afghanistan as the Taliban, Iranians, Pakistanis and Russians all plot to claim their piece of the war torn state. With Afghanistan crumbling around him, Rapp must be as ruthless as his enemies and as deceitful as people in his own government if he has any hopes of completing his mission.

Moscow Sting by Alex Dryden

My first book by Dryden and while the book was a little slow, I'd try another one of his future books. PW: When Finn, a former British spy, is poisoned by a Russian assassin, his ex-boss Adrian, chief of MI6, wants vengeance. He also wants answers - information that only Finn's widow, Anna, knows. But the former KGB colonel who betrayed her country for love vanished with their child shortly after Finn's death. Adrian isn't the only one eager to find Anna. Finn accessed intelligence so sensitive that the KGB are willing to kill again to protect it - a chase that has piqued the interest of the major intelligence agencies, be they government-sponsored or private, around the world. Though Medvedev has assumed the presidency, everyone knows that Putin continues to pull all the strings. Just what is Russia concealing beneath its immense new oil wealth and veil of political cordiality? Anna holds the key to unlocking the secrets of her motherland. Taken to America for protection and information, the former Russian agent faces her greatest test: to ensure her freedom and protect her child, she must uncover the full truth before anyone else - even as friend and foe both set her in their sights. Moving from Paris to New York, the Kremlin to the American Southwest, Moscow Sting is an absorbing and timely tale of intrigue, betrayal, fatal lies, and complex truths, told with the authentic detail and chilling insight of an experienced insider.

Leader of the Pack by David Rosenfelt

I like Rosenfelt's formula. Just like the other Andy Carpenter books, fun, light, forgettable. Wish there were more of them. PW: Over the course of his legal career, Andy Carpenter has lost a few cases. But that doesn’t mean he forgets his clients. Andy has always been convinced that Joey Desimone, a man convicted of murder nine years ago, was innocent and believes that Joey’s family’s connections to organized crime played a pivotal role in his conviction. While there isn’t much Andy can do for him while he serves out his prison sentence, Joey suggests that he check up on Joey’s elderly uncle. He’d rather not, but as a favor to Joey, Andy agrees to take his dog, Tara, on a few visits. The old man’s memory is going, but when Andy tries to explain why he’s there, it jogs something in the man’s mind, and his comments leave Andy wondering if Uncle Nick is confused, or if he just might hold the key to Joey’s freedom after all this time. Andy grabs on to this thread of possibility and follows it into a world where the oath of silence is stronger than blood ties, and where people will do anything to make sure their secrets are kept.

The Gray Man by Mark Greaney

Greaney regurgitates good bits from lots of modern spy thrillers but the net result is stiff and underwhelming. I'd try another of his books as this was his first and maybe he'll get a groove. PW: Greaney's debut novel - and future feature film - introduces the enigmatic and elusive Court Gentry, a former CIA operative and a legendary hired gun. With a terrifying ability to vaporize targets and a strict moral code, he stalks the gray margins of the world, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible, then fading away. When his government and former employers turn on him, there is no safehouse to run to, no way to lie low. In a constant state of escape and pursuit, Gentry tears through the Middle East and Europe in a riveting life-or-death race against time.

Raylan by Elmore Leonard

This, the third book in the Raylan series is the strongest. I marvel at how well Leonard writes dialog. There is no one better. Even though the ending is weak, as a whole, this is a fun book. PW: With the closing of the Harlan County, Kentucky, coalmines, marijuana has become the biggest cash crop in the state. A hundred pounds of it can gross three-hundred thousand dollars, but that’s chump change compared to the quarter million a human body can get you - especially when it’s sold off piece-by-piece. So when Dickie and Coover Crowe, dope-dealing brothers known for sampling their own supply, decide to branch out into the body business, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens to stop them. But by the time Raylan finds out who’s making the cuts, he’s lying naked in a bathtub, with Layla the cool transplant nurse about to go for his kidneys.

Nightlife by Thomas Perry

Perry is a clever writer and often brilliant. Nightlife shows both but is so diluted with back stories that the plot suffers. The characters are so well developed, it would be nice if Perry exposed them like Elmore Leonard, without telling us about them and letting their personalities fill us in. The characters are very well defined and likable. PW: When the cousin of Los Angeles underworld figure Hugo Poole is found shot to death in his Portland, Oregon, home, police find nothing at the scene of the crime except several long strands of blonde hair hinting that a second victim may have been involved. Hotel security tapes from the victim's last vacation reveal an out-of-focus picture of a young blond woman entering and leaving his room. Could she also be a murder victim? Portland homicide detective Catherine Hobbes is determined to solve the case and locate the missing blonde, but her feelings, and the investigation, are complicated when Hugo hires private detective Joe Pitt to perform a parallel investigation. As Joe and Catherine form an uneasy alliance, the murder count rises, and both realize that the pretty young woman in the security tapes is not a victim at all. As Catherine follows the evidence, she finds herself in a deadly contest with an unpredictable adversary capable of changing her appearance and identity at will. Catherine must use everything she knows, as a homicide detective and as a woman, to stop a murderer who kills on impulse and with ease, and who becomes more efficient and elusive with each crime.

As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson

The latest in the Walt Longmire series is excellent. I don't think there's been a weak link in the chain and this episode is at the top of them all. PW: Embarking on his eighth adventure in As the Crow Flies, Sheriff Longmire is searching the Cheyenne Reservation for a site to host his daughter’s wedding, when he sees a woman fall to her death. Teaming up with beautiful tribal chief Lolo Long, Walt sets out to investigate the suspicious death.

The Safe Man by Michael Connelly

Safe cracker "box man" opens a safe with evil and can see the future. Didn't do it for me.

The Racketeer by John Grisham

Like so many Grisham books the antagonist is again an overwhelming force that makes the world seem bleak. But also like the best Grisham books the plots are creative and intriguing. The book starts of slow and angry and gets better as it goes. Didn't really enjoy the narration. PW Who is the Racketeer? And what does he have to do with the judge’s untimely demise? His name, for the moment, is Malcolm Bannister. Job status? Former attorney. Current residence? The Federal Prison Camp near Frostburg, Maryland. On paper, Malcolm’s situation isn’t looking too good these days, but he’s got an ace up his sleeve. He knows who killed Judge Fawcett, and he knows why. The judge’s body was found in his remote lakeside cabin. There was no forced entry, no struggle, just two dead bodies: Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. And one large, state-of-the-art, extremely secure safe, opened and emptied.
What was in the safe? The FBI would love to know. And Malcolm Bannister would love to tell them. But everything has a price—especially information as explosive as the sequence of events that led to Judge Fawcett’s death. And the Racketeer wasn’t born yesterday....

Honor Bound by W. E. B. Griffin

First book in the Honor Bound series was enjoyable. May listen to more in the series, but the narrators are not as interesting as Dick Hill. PW It's 1942. A Marine aviator, an Army paratrooper and demolitions expert, and a non-com radio man are on an impossible mission for the OSS - sabotaging the resupply of German ships and submarines by any means necessary! First Lieutenant Cletus Frade is fresh from Guadalcanal. He teams up with Second Lieutenant Anthony Pelosi and Sergeant David Ettinger for the most critical OSS operation of the war. Under the direction of the mysterious Colonel Loman, they venture into a simmering stew of German and Allied agents, collaborators, and government security thugs, of men and women hiding their pasts and plotting their futures - all in supposedly neutral city of Buenos Aires.

Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young

I don't know if I'd say this is a good book, but I enjoyed it. Keith Carradine's narration didn't do it for me. I liked the books composition of short stories that wandered around and crossed paths from time to time.

Hot Springs by Stephen Hunter

Passable entertainment, the worst book I've read by this author. Even so I look forward to reading more by Hunter, particularly in the Bob Lee Swagger series, this book was about Earl, his father. PW Earl Swagger is tough as hell. But even tough guys have their secrets. Plagued by the memory of his abusive father, apprehensive about his own impending parenthood, Earl is a decorated ex-Marine of absolute integrity — and overwhelming melancholy. Now he’s about to face his biggest, bloodiest challenge yet. It is the summer of 1946, organized crime’s garish golden age, when American justice seems to have gone to seed for good. Nowhere is this more true than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the reigning capital of corruption. When the district attorney vows to bring down the mob, Earl is recruited to run the show. As casino raids erupt into nerve-shattering combat amid screaming prostitutes and fleeing johns, the body count mounts — along with the suspense.

The Panther by Nelson DeMille

Enjoyable but the weakest book in the series. Throughout the book the main character cracks unspoken jokes and as I didn't find them funny, it quickly became tiresome. PW Anti-Terrorist Task Force agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, have been posted overseas to Sana'a, Yemen - one of the most dangerous places in the Middle East. While there, they will be working with a small team to track down one of the masterminds behind the USS Cole bombing: a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative known as The Panther. Ruthless and elusive, he's wanted for multiple terrorist acts and murders - and the U.S. government is determined to bring him down, no matter the cost. As latecomers to a deadly game, John and Kate don't know the rules, the players, or the score. What they do know is that there is more to their assignment than meets the eye - and that the hunters are about to become the hunted.

Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda

Read this in high school but it was too boring to complete 30 years later.

Mad River by John Sandford

Boy these Virgil Flowers books are sure fun, I think even better than the Lucas Davenport series. Can't wait for the next... PW: Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what’s-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns. The first person they killed was a highway patrolman. The second was a woman during a robbery. Then, hell, why not keep on going? As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers’ cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But even he doesn’t realize what’s about to happen next.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child

Enjoyed book #17 of the Jack Reacher series. Oddly slow in some places but still kept me interested. PW Four people in a car, hoping to make Chicago by morning. One man driving, eyes on the road. Another man next to him, telling stories that don’t add up. A woman in the back, silent and worried. And next to her, a huge man with a broken nose, hitching a ride east to Virginia. An hour behind them, a man lies stabbed to death in an old pumping station. He was seen going in with two others, but he never came out. He has been executed, the knife work professional, the killers vanished. Within minutes, the police are notified.  Within hours, the FBI descends, laying claim to the victim without ever saying who he was or why he was there.

 

Contact by Carl Sagan

Couldn't get interested, didn't read very much of it.

Dead Zero by Stephen Hunter

Really enjoyed this Lee Swagger episode where he teams up with his younger version. PW The idea that Stephen Hunter could write a Bob Lee Swagger novel in which the legendary Vietnam sniper doesn’t pull a single trigger seems inconceivable. Not that there isn’t plenty of trigger-pulling by others in this tale of a contemporary marine sniper gone rogue. Swagger, now in his 60s, is drafted by the FBI to find Sergeant Roy Cruz, who was presumed dead after his attempted assassination of an Afghan warlord went awry. The warlord has now changed sides and is being groomed as “our man in Kabul,” but the resurfaced Cruz isn’t buying the conversion and appears determined to finish his original mission. Swagger, charged with stopping any attempt on the Afghan leader’s life, soon finds himself sympathizing with his fellow sniper and convinced that CIA generals are behind a secret program to ramp up the war on terror. It’s a juicy premise, which Hunter admits adapting from Patrick Alexander’s 1977 Death of a Thin-Skinned Animal; transformed to a contemporary setting, it evokes the government-treachery themes of 24 but does so with less cartoony derring-do and a considerably more nuanced exploration of the psychology of the soldier. Only the revelation of a connection between Swagger and Cruz seems a bit artificial, but this is a top-notch thriller all the same, showing that Bob the Nailer is just as (well, almost as) compelling a hero without his guns.

Storm Prey by John Sandford

Very good just what you'd expect from the Lucas Davenport series. PW: And this time, there's a storm brewing...Very early, 4:45, on a bitterly cold Minnesota morning, three big men burst through the door of a hospital pharmacy, duct-tape the hands, feet, mouth, and eyes of two pharmacy workers, and clean the place out. But then things swiftly go bad, one of the workers dies, and the robbers hustle out to their truck-and find themselves for just one second face-to-face with a blond woman in the garage: Weather Karkinnen, surgeon, wife of an investigator named Lucas Davenport.

Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Enjoyable and level handed. The bailout is looked at from many points of view.

The Parsifal Mosaic by Robert Ludlum

Excellent. Ludlum was the best spy writer and his stuff still stands up after many years (1983) and re-readings. PW: Michael Havelock's world died on a moonlit beach on the Costa Brava. He watched as his partner and lover, Jenna Karats, double agent, was efficiently gunned down by his own agency. There was nothing left for him but to quit the game, get out. Until, in one frantic moment on a crowded railroad platform in Rome, Havelock saw his Jenna alive. From then on, he was marked for death by both U.S. and Russian assassins, racing around the globe after his beautiful betrayer, trapped in a massive mosaic of treachery created by a top-level mole with the world in his fist.

Riptide by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Mediocre. PW: A centuries-old, cursed pirate's treasure, valued at over $2 billion, lies deep within the treacherous waters off the coast of Maine. Men who have attempted to unearth the fortune have suffered gruesome deaths. Will a high-tech expedition meet the same fate?

Stolen Prey by John Sandford

Like all the Lucas Davenport books in this series (this is #22) this is solid entertainment. I would have rated it 5 stars if the torture wasn't so graphic. Even includes a guest visit from Virgil Flowers. PW: Lucas Davenport has seen many terrible murder scenes. This is one of the worst. In the small Minnesota town of Deephaven, an entire family has been killed - husband, wife, two daughters, dogs. There’s something about the scene that pokes at Lucas’s cop instincts - it looks an awful lot like the kind of scorched-earth retribution he’s seen in drug killings sometimes. But this is a seriously upscale town, and the husband was an executive vice president at a big bank. It just doesn’t seem to fit.

Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard

Leonard is a master and this is him at his best. Other than a weak ending this book is outstanding. PW: World-class gentleman felon Jack Foley is busting out of Florida's Glades Prison when he runs head on into a shotgun-wielding Karen Sisco. Suddenly, he's sharing a cramped car trunk with the classy, disarmed federal marshal, and the chemistry is working overtime - and as soon as she escapes, he's already missing her. But there are bad men and a major score waiting for Jack in Motown. And the next time his path crosses Karen's, chances are she's going to be there for business, not pleasure.

Covert Warriors: Presidential Agent Series, Book 7 by W. E. B. Griffin

The soap opera continues as strong as ever...

The Trinity Game by Sean Chercover

Chercover is very good, I hope he writes a lot of books. This was the weakest of his three but still very good. Deep characters make for an interesting discussion on religion while untangling the mystery/thriller.

The Outlaws: Presidential Agent Series, Book 6 by W. E. B. Griffin

Loved it! This is a figgen macho soap opera and I can't turn the channel. The fella's have fallen out of grace with the new president and have to contend with that whilst saving the world.

Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez

Suarez's third book show's that he is likely to become the best sci-fi writers of the time. PW: Linda McKinney is a myrmecologist, a scientist who studies the social structure of ants. Her academic career has left her entirely unprepared for the day her sophisticated research is conscripted by unknown forces to help run an unmanned - and thanks to her research, automated - drone army. Odin is the secretive Special Ops soldier with a unique insight into the faceless enemy who has begun to attack the American homeland with drones programmed to seek, identify, and execute targets without human intervention. Together, McKinney and Odin must slow this advance long enough for the world to recognize its destructive power, because for thousands of years the "kill decision" during battle has remained in the hands of humans - and off-loading that responsibility to machines will bring unintended, possibly irreversible, consequences. But as forces even McKinney and Odin don't understand begin to gather, and death rains down from above, it may already be too late to save humankind from destruction at the hands of our own technology.

The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva

If you like the series this is good. Lot's of recaps of stuff from previous books. PW: After narrowly surviving his last operation, Gabriel Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, has taken refuge behind the walls of the Vatican, where he is restoring one of Caravaggio's greatest masterpieces. But early one morning, he is summoned to St. Peter's Basilica by Monsignor Luigi Donati, the all-powerful private secretary to his Holiness Pope Paul VII. The body of a beautiful woman lies broken beneath Michelangelo's magnificent dome. The Vatican police suspect suicide, though Gabriel believes otherwise. So, it seems, does Donati. But the monsignor is fearful that a public inquiry might inflict another scandal on the Church, and so he calls upon Gabriel to quietly pursue the truth - with one caveat. "Rule number one at the Vatican," Donati said. "Don't ask too many questions." Gabriel learns that the dead woman had uncovered a dangerous secret - a secret that threatens a global criminal enterprise that is looting timeless treasures of antiquity and selling them to the highest bidder. But there is more to this network than just greed. A mysterious operative is plotting an act of sabotage that will plunge the world into a conflict of apocalyptic proportions....

Retreat Hell:The Corps Series, Book 9 by W. E. B. Griffin

Very sad that this is the last book in the series. The series just kind of ends, like if a soap opera went off the air. Even so, this has be a very satisfying series and I hope he decides to pop another segment but it's been 8 years... PW It is the fall of 1950. The Marines have made a pivotal breakthrough at Inchon, but a roller coaster awaits them. The bit in his teeth, Douglas MacArthur is intent on surging across the 38th parallel toward the Yalu River, where he is certain no Chinese are waiting for him, while Major Ken McCoy, operating undercover, hears a different story entirely, and is just as intent on nailing down the truth before it is too late. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Fleming Pickering, shuttling between two continents, works desperately to mediate the escalating battle between MacArthur and President Harry Truman, while trying to keep his mind from the cold fact that somewhere out there, his own daredevil pilot son, Pick, is lost behind enemy lines - and may be lost forever.

Smokescreen by Dick Francis

Mediocre but if you like Francis you'll like this. PW: Edward Lincoln is a worldwide celebrity who plays impossibly daring detectives on the big screen. But in reality, he is an ordinary man currently stuck in an extraordinary spot. Nerissa, his ailing godmother, had pleaded with him to travel to South Africa to investigate whether someone was tampering with her racehorses. He could not refuse her.
Once there, Lincoln is overwhelmed by autograph hounds and high suspicions. And when sudden perils cross his path and murder makes a horrific appearance, Lincoln, the actor-turned-investigator, is plunged into a plot of gold, greed, and gilded lives. He ultimately realizes that the only way to uncover the killer is to give not only the performance of his life, but a performance to save his life.

In Danger's Path:The Corps Series, Book 8 by W. E. B. Griffin

Enjoyable. PW: Put in charge of the OSS's Pacific operations, General Fleming Pickering is faced with two covert missions in the Gobi Desert. Called to duty is a Marine he doesn't expect...a scapegrace pilot named Malcolm, his son. Together, they will venture incognito--and with luck they may even come out alive...

The Book Case by Nelson DeMille

Enjoyable, this short story is good enough to read DeMille's upcoming book. PW: "The Book Case" is a story that features Nelson DeMille's most famous (and successful) character, Detective John Corey, who has appeared in six DeMille novels: Plum Island, The Lion's Game, Night Fall, Wild Fire, and The Lion. In this story, we see John Corey in his early years as an NYPD Detective, before he became involved with the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force.

The Majors:Brotherhood of War Series, Book 3 by W. E. B. Griffin

Very enjoyable. PW: Dien Bien Phu. Saigon. Hanoi. In 1954, they were only exotic names from a French campaign halfway around the world. But now American fighting men - proven on the bloody beaches of Normandy and in the minefields of Korea - are summoned to help beat back the guerilla forces of Ho Chi Minh. To some, the “secret” war in Indochina was the depth of folly. To others, like the majors, it pointed to the heights of glory.

Time to Murder and Create by Lawrence Block

Very enjoyable. Typical Block, slow plot interesting characters and dialog. PW: Small-time stoolie Jake "The Spinner" Jablon made a lot of new enemies when he switched careers from informer to blackmailer. And the more "clients," he figured, the more money - and the more people eager to see him dead. So he's greedy but scared, and he turns to his old acquaintance Matthew Scudder, who used to pay him for information back in Scudder's days as a cop. Scudder's his insurance policy - if anything happens to "The Spinner," Scudder can check up on the people who wanted him dead. No one is too surprised when the pigeon is found floating in the East River with his skull bashed in. Blackmail's a dangerous business. What's worse, no one cares - except Matthew Scudder. The unofficial private eye is no conscientious avenging angel. But he's willing to risk his own life and limb to confront Spinner's most murderously aggressive marks. A job's a job, after all, and Scudder's been paid to find a killer - by the victim…in advance.

The Prostitutes' Ball by Stephen J. Cannell

Enjoyable fluff. PW: Scully is assigned to the case along with his new partner, Sumner Hitchens. Hitch has a reputation in the department as a self-promoter; he sold the story rights to one of his cases to a film production company — and he has the millions to show for it. Scully and Hitch begin to investigate, and the case looks to be open-and-shut: The two young women were hired prostitutes, and there’s a security video of an angry husband firing on all three. A simple case of revenge.

Blood Sport by Dick Francis

8/24/16 Re-read. Enjoyable but this is a very weak showing for Dick Francis. Mediocre Francis, but without fail Francis makes a very likable hero. Very enjoyable indeed. PW: When English agent Gene Hawkins told his boss he'd forego his vacation to search for millionaire Dave Teller's prized missing stallion, he didn't know his retainer would include the attention of his boss's beautiful teenage daughter - or Teller's seldom sober wife. He also didn't know that a trail from London to New York to Las Vegas to California would lead eventually to murder.

Beekeeping for Beginners by Laurie R. King

If you like the series this is a real treat. A short book about how Holmes and Russell meet.

The Captains:Brotherhood of War Series, Book 2 by W. E. B. Griffin

Excellent. PW: A hard-bitten team of United States Army officers faces the dangers of the Korean War while confronting life-threatening challenges that could ruin or further their careers.

The Lieutenants:Brotherhood of War Series, Book 1 by W. E. B. Griffin

Very entertaining. PW: They were the young ones, the bright ones, the ones with the dreams. From the Nazi-prowled wastes of North Africa to the bloody corridors of Europe, they honorably answered the call. War - it was their duty, their job, their life. They marched off as boys and they came back - those who made it - as soldiers and professionals forged in the heat of battle....

Behind the Lines:The Corps Series, Book 7 by W. E. B. Griffin

Really enjoyable. PW World War II. On the island of Mindanao, the Philippines, a man calling himself "General" Fertig has set himself up as a guerrilla leader to harass the Japanese. Army records show that the only officer named Fertig in the Philippines is a reserve lieutenant colonel of the Corps of Engineers, reported MIA on Luzon. Still, the reports filtering out are interesting, and it's Marine lieutenant Ken McCoy's mission to sneak behind the lines and find out if he's for real. With him is a motley group put together as a compromise between the warring factions of Douglas MacArthur and the OSS chief Bill Donovan. Together, these men will steal into the heart of enemy territory and there, amid firefights and jungle camps, encounter more than they had bargained for. Before they're done, each will undergo a test of his own personal mettle - with results that will surprise even the most hardened of them.

Quantum of Solace by Ian Fleming

Short stories about 007, standard fare - enjoyable.

Angle of Investigation by Michael Connelly

3 short stories featuring Harry Bosch - very enjoyable.

Black Ops: Presidential Agent Series, Book 5 by W. E. B. Griffin

Book 5 is a continuation with what have become familiar and likable characters. Very little action but a very good soap opera. PW: The first disturbing reports reached Delta Force Lieutenant Colonel Charley Castillo in the form of backchannel messages concerning covert U.S. intelligence assets working for a variety of agencies suddenly gone missing and then, suddenly, inexplicably, found dying. Or dead. One in Budapest, Hungary. One in Kiev, Ukraine. One in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, mere klicks from the Iran border. And then one in Virginia, along the Potomac River, practically in the shadow of CIA headquarters. Castillo finds the information both infuriating and fascinating, particularly after a recent experience with two CIA traitors whose own deaths were swift and suspicious. Despite there being some similarities, though, he thinks there's something different with these new cases, something he can't quite put his finger on. At first, it's idle thought, but Castillo expects it's only a matter of time before the commander in chief assigns him and his group of troubleshooters in the innocuously named Office of Organizational Analysis to look into the deaths while all those intel agencies fight among themselves trying to put the pieces together. Meanwhile, Castillo has problems of his own - fallout from recent missions involving a clandestine rescue of a DEA agent from South American drug runners, and the confiscation of some 50 million dollars from thieves in the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. He's made more than a few enemies, he knows - both foreign and domestic. And then comes another back-channel message, this one delivered personally by his lethal friend, the Russian mobster arms dealer. All that has happened so far, he says, is just a warm-up for what's about to come out of the Kremlin.

Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson

Quirkiest of all the Walt Longmire stories but I like the magical bits where you're not sure if he's dreaming or if the ancients are talking to him. Story was just OK, but Guidall is wonderful to listen to. PW: When three hardened convicts escape FBI custody in a mountain blizzard, an armed psychopath leads them up Big Horn Mountain. As Longmire struggles to track their treacherous ascent, he’ll need all the help he can get from the tribal spirits of the towering summit.

SEAL Team Six by Howard E. Wasdin, Stephen Templin

Enjoyable and interesting.

The Firefly by P. T. Deutermann

Just OK. Deutermann produces tension from drawn out and obvious situations. PW: At midnight, in a secret medical clinic in Washington, D.C., two foreign doctors and their team are completing plastic surgery on an anonymous client who is changing the appearance of his face, among other things. After the procedure, the client begins to stir - and suddenly the operating room erupts in violence, and the clinic is ablaze. Washington police conduct an arson investigation, with inconclusive results. But one tantalizing fragment of evidence suggests that a terrorist bombing may be imminent. The presidential inauguration is quickly approaching, and Washington's police, fire, intelligence, military, federal, and White House security teams are making frantic preparations. Because of the strain on manpower, retired Secret Service agent Swamp Morgan is recalled to active duty. His task: investigate the incineration of the medical clinic as a "firefly" - Washington-speak for something that looks like a threat but isn't. As Swamp begins what he thinks is a routine check-and-dismiss, the clinic's missing client begins preparations for his mission: to launch an attack on the American government - a decapitation strike intended to wipe out both the outgoing and incoming administrations. As the crucial day approaches, Swamp, the only agent to take the firefly seriously, must operate alone as the clock clicks down to a breathtaking finale.

Close Combat:The Corps Series, Book 6 by W. E. B. Griffin

Very much looking forward to the next... PW: Set in 1942, the sixth book (following Line of Fire ) in Griffin's series about The Corps revolves around a war bond tour featuring Marine heroes of the Guadalcanal campaign. Series fans will recognize the central characters, among them Marine general and presidential troubleshooter Fleming Pickering, his fighter pilot son Pick, and movie mogul Homer Dillon, a Marine for the duration. Griffin has Marine Corps lore and trivia down pat, and he uses the bond-tour story line to convey the public-relations aspects of modern war. Essentially, however, the novel succeeds because the alcoholic and amorous exploits of its stateside heroes could be mink-lined wish fulfillment for the fantasies of the average soldier--most of the "close combat" here takes place in various bedrooms.

The Quick Red Fox: Travis McGee, Book 4 by John D. MacDonald

OK book, I would read the author again. PW: Travis McGee is looking for blackmailers for a superstar actress. With her personal secretary at his side, Mcgee is combing the country for suspects who attended a sex party with the sex symbol that produced pictures of all the participants. Trouble is, all of the other suspects show up in hospitals or dead.

A Walk Among the Tombstones by Lawrence Block

Boy this book is slow, but some how Block creates such likable and interesting characters that you're in no hurry to finish and when you do it's very enjoyable. PW: His latest-as well as offering the customary skillful plotting, adroit pacing and sure sense of New York character-features a wry humor all its own, along with a particularly ingratiating and convincing pair of computer hackers. The premise is grim, certainly: a pair of men who prey murderously on women progress to kidnapping the womenfolk of drug dealers and demanding huge ransoms. Former alcoholic PI Scudder-now going to more AA meetings than ever-reluctantly agrees to help one dealer, a Lebanese, after his wife is killed by the kidnappers. Slowly and methodically he discerns a pattern in the mayhem. With the help of his erstwhile police colleagues, his black Times Square sidekick TJ and his call-girl sweetheart, Elaine, Scudder tightens the net on the culprits. When they seize the daughter of a Russian dealer, he is ready for the showdown. Block isn't big on action, though when it comes it is swift, vivid and horribly convincing; his Scudder books are built on character, atmosphere, crackling dialogue and a great deal of brooding-the taste for them is addictive.

Line Of Fire:The Corps Series, Book 5 by W. E. B. Griffin

Another gripping episode.

Battleground: The Corps Series by W. E. B. Griffin

Re-listened to February 12, 2018. The fourth book in the series was hard to put down. WWII is fascinating subject matter and Griffin adds  rich characters - a real nice recipe. PW: Griffin reveals the story of one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Pacific, the epic struggle for Guadalcanal...Daredevil pilot Charles Galloway learns the hard way how to command a fighter squadron. Lt. Joe Howard teams up with the Coastwatchers. Jack "No Middle Initial" Stecker leads his infantry battalion into the thickest of fighting, at a terrible price. And Navy Captain Pickering grabs a helmet and rifle to join the ranks at Guadalcanal...

Requiem for an Assassin by Barry Eisler

Weakest book in the series. Our hero Rain is angry and not so likable. PW: If you had to kill three people to save your best friend's life, would you do it? When John Rain decides to get out of the business, his hand is forced by rogue CIA operative Jim Hilger. Hilger kidnaps Dox, Rain's trusted partner and closest friend, and offers Rain a choice: carry out a final assignment, or bear the responsibility for Dox's murder.

Counterattack: The Corps Series, Book 3 by W. E. B. Griffin

I don't know why some Griffin books are so much better than others. This one is excellent and I suspect having Dick Hill for a narrator and no co-author are factors. This is the third book in the series and flows seamlessly from the first two, continuing the story of characters we're interested in entering WWII. More well developed characters are introduced and very little combat comes into play until the very end. Griffin is willing to create imperfect characters and dialog that represents a point of view defined by each character. The lack of an agenda and the historic detail really make this series compelling. PW:From the devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor to America’s first bold counterstrike against the Japanese on the beaches of Guadalcanal, this compelling story takes you to the front lines of victory and defeat - and into the very heart of courage, loyalty, and valor. It is a heroic story of pride and passion you will never forget.... Griffin’s books are distinguished by their high action and suspense, his dashing irreverence toward high command, and his clear picture of war and its wartime leaders.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Tried half a dozen times to get into this and didn't.

The Innocent by David Baldacci

Really enjoyed this. PW America has enemies--ruthless people that the police, the FBI, even the military can't stop. That's when the U.S. government calls on Will Robie, a stone cold hitman who never questions orders and always nails his target.  But Will Robie may have just made the first--and last--mistake of his career . . .  THE INNOCENT It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable. He refuses to kill. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and must escape from his own people. Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway-her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her. Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power.  Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life . . . and perhaps his own.

Aphrodite by Russell Andrews

Enjoyable. PW: Robert Ludlum meets Dashiell Hammett in this gripping, wildly plotted thriller by the author of Gideon and Icarus. In the sleepy town of East End, New York, former homicide cop Justin Westwood is trying to escape the tragedy of his past by consuming scotch and writing traffic tickets for the local police department. The murder of a young reporter (disguised as an accident), however, catapults him out of his stasis and into a complicated investigation. A terrified witness tells of a blond killer, whom readers first met in the book's opening pages murdering another young woman. As Justin investigates, it seems that the police and the FBI are always one step ahead of him, and that folks with any connection to the case start turning up dead. Signs point to a sinister fountain-of-youth project run by a mysterious, all-powerful cabal, which the reporter had accidentally uncovered. If Westwood penetrates the secrets of the Aphrodite program, he's sure to be their next victim. A smalltown cop does battle with a great conspiracy: the plot may sound conventional, even hackneyed, but Andrews sustains white-hot tension throughout, bolstered by enough surprises and body blows to satisfy even a hardened mystery/conspiracy buff. The suspense flags slightly at midpoint, but elsewhere the pace is fast, the dialogue sharp, the characters skillfully drawn and the familiar, heady whodunit action cleverly handled.

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

Faye's second book and she's an author to be watched. Fascinating story set in developing New York in the 1840's.

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

A well done Sherlock Holmes told from Watson's POV at the end of his life after SH has passed. Lots of inside references and characters consistent with the original.

Wild Thing by Josh Bazell

Lots of fun, can't wait to read Bazell's next offering. PW: It's hard to find work as a doctor when using your real name will get you killed. So hard that when a reclusive billionaire offers Dr. Peter Brown, aka Pietro Brnwa, a job accompanying a sexy but self-destructive paleontologist on the world's worst field assignment, Brown has no real choice but to say yes. Even if it means that an army of murderers, mobsters, and international drug dealers-not to mention the occasional lake monster-are about to have a serious Pietro Brnwa problem.

Poison Flower by Thomas Perry

This book starts off great and has some interesting plot parts that show just how clever Perry is, but the story just doesn't jell. Too much torture. I wish Perry would drop the Jane Whitefield series.

The Defector by Daniel Silva

Another solid installment in the Gabriel Allon series, look forward to the next. PW: Six months after the dramatic conclusion of Moscow Rules, Gabriel has returned to the tan hills of Umbria to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, and restore a seventeenth-century altarpiece for the Vatican. But his idyllic world is once again thrown into turmoil with shocking news from London. The defector and former Russian intelligence officer Grigori Bulganov, who saved Gabriel’s life in Moscow, has vanished without a trace. British intelligence is sure he was a double agent all along, but Gabriel knows better. He also knows he made a promise. In the days to come, Gabriel and his team of operatives will find themselves in a deadly duel of nerve and wits with one of the world's most ruthless men: the murderous Russian oligarch and arms dealer Ivan Kharkov. It will take him from a quiet mews in London, to the shores of Lake Como, to the glittering streets of Geneva and Zurich, and, finally, to a heart-stopping climax in the snowbound birch forests of Russia. Faced with the prospect of losing the one thing he holds most dear, Gabriel will be tested in ways he never imagined possible. And his life will never be the same.

Call to Arms:The Corps Series, Book 2 by W. E. B. Griffin

Super strong series (SSS). Book two is almost as good as book 1, really looking forward to book 3. PW: The attack on Pearl Harbor swept America into the raging heart of the war. The stormy South Pacific presented a daring new challenge, and the men of the Corps were ready to fight. An elite fraternity united by a glorious tradition of courage and honor, the Marine Raiders were bound to a triumphant destiny....

Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard

Excellent even for Leonard. I often listened  to the dialog again because it is so sharp. Good continuation of the first book, looking forward to the third. PW: Now that mom’s gravy train has derailed, gambling, debt-ridden Palm Beach playboy Warren “Chip” Ganz has decided to take somebody rich hostage—with the help of a Bahamian ex-con, a psycho gardener/enforcer, and the beautiful, if underfed, psychic Reverend Dawn. The trouble is, they chose bookmaker Harry Arno as their victim, and Harry can scam with the best. The big trouble is, ace manhunter U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is sleeping with Harry’s ex–exotic dancer ex-girlfriend, and Joyce wants Harry found. And since nearly everyone has guns, locating and springing the captive bookie almost certainly can’t happen without some measure of lethal difficulty.

Semper Fi: The Corps Series, Book 1 by W. E. B. Griffin

Very good. Griffin at his best. Look forward to the next in the Corps series. Introduces characters likely to continue through the series. This book starts in China just before WWII and ends shortly after Pearl Harbor.

Crescent Dawn by Clive Cussler, Dirk Cussler

Painful. This story had great plot elements and could have been a really good read if it hadn't been stretched out. Four times too long. PW In A.D. 327, a Roman galley barely escapes a pirate attack with its extraordinary cargo. In 1916, a British warship mysteriously explodes in the middle of the North Sea. In the present day, a cluster of important mosques in Turkey and Egypt are wracked by explosions. Does anything tie them together? NUMA director Dirk Pitt is about to find out, as Roman artifacts discovered in Turkey and Israel unnervingly connect to the rise of a fundamentalist movement determined to restore the glory of the Ottoman Empire, and to the existence of a mysterious "manifest", lost long ago, which if discovered again...just may change the history of the world as we know it.

The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy

Very enjoyable. Even though Clancy is too long winded, way too, this plot is excellent.

Three Shirt Deal by Stephen J. Cannell

Enjoyable. PW Following the success of his bestselling novel White Sister, Stephen J. Cannell’s latest blockbuster has Detective Shane Scully fighting to save a man railroaded for murder, while his wife, Alexa, has become a total stranger to him A small-time crook is doing life in California’s notoriously brutal Corcoran State Prison for the murder of his mother. He admitted to the crime, but now he claims his confession was coerced by the cops. A beautiful Internal Affairs detective, Secada “Scout” Llevar, asks Shane to help investigate, and he agrees after learning the original homicide detective was Brian Devine, a ruthless cop with whom Scully has a bad history. What begins as a routine review quickly turns into something much more deadly. The case is abruptly shut down by an LAPD deputy chief, and Shane begins to suspect that for unknown reasons the prisoner really may have been framed by the police. But some things, once started, cannot be stopped, and the investigation spirals dangerously out of control, implicating a violent Hispanic gang, a millionaire power broker, and the front-runner in the Los Angeles mayoral race...

The Secret Soldier by Alex Berenson

OK, mediocre read made enjoyable by Guidall's excellent narration. PW In Saudi Arabia, a series of terrorist attacks has put the Kingdom on edge. King Abdullah is losing his hold, and his own secret police cannot be trusted. With nowhere to turn, the king asks for ex-CIA agent John Wells's help. Reluctantly, and with the secret blessing of his former CIA boss, Wells begins to unravel the conspiracy, and realizes that there is more than one country at stake-because the plotters want more than the fall of a monarch. They want to start the final battle between America and Islam-with only themselves as the victors...

The Bone Thief by Jefferson Bass

Pretty slow but an OK read. PW The latest Body Farm novel picks up not too long after the previous one, Bones of Betrayal (2009), ended. Isabella, the murderous seductress, still haunts Dr. Bill Brockton, forensic anthropologist and founder of Tennessee’s unique research facility known as the Body Farm (he’s loosely based on Dr. Bill Bass, the Body Farm’s real founder and one-half of the novel’s writing team). Isabella disappeared at the end of the previous novel, and Brockton is concerned she might not have gone too far. Current events, however, including a couple of cases of corpse-dismemberment, are helping him keep his mind off her—until he makes a shocking discovery that could turn his life upside down.

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harper White

If you like this author, then this is an enjoyable read, and typically funny. I'm on the border because the plots are so silly. PW Jane Jameson’s mama said there’d be days like this. Fired as the children’s librarian in Half Moon Hollow, Kentucky; broken-down car late at night. But mama didn’t think about the possibility of Jane getting shot by a deer hunter and left for dead. Or being made the undead by Gabriel Nightengale so she’d have a second chance at, well, life. Adjusting to life without chocolate and sunbathing—never mind a job—has its challenges, but sexy Gabriel is one major perk. If only she can figure out how to tell her parents about her new liquid diet. And who is trying to frame her for murder? Harper arrives on the scene with a chuckle-inducing, southern-fried version of Stephanie Plum’s the Burg. This tale, the first in a series, is less about twisting plots and more about following quirky characters, human and vampire alike. Jane is smartly written and more than a librarian in name only. Fellow pros will recognize the trivia-loving geekiness and well-meaning sarcasm of someone who has long lived in the book stacks.

Pronto by Elmore Leonard

When EL is on he's as good as they get. Pronto is fun and fast and has the color and style of EL. Unlike so many current books, EL keeps it short and to the point. PW: The feds want Miami bookmaker Harry Arno to squeal on his wiseguy boss. So they're putting word out on the street that Arno's skimming profits from "Jimmy Cap" Capotorto—which he is, but everybody does it. He was planning to retire to Italy someday anyway, so Harry figures now's a good time to get lost. U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens knows Harry's tricky—the bookie ditched him once in an airport while in the marshal's custody—but not careful. So Raylan's determined to find the fugitive's Italian hideaway before a cold-blooded Sicilian "Zip" does and whacks Arno for fun. After all, it's a "pride thing"...and it might even put Raylan in good stead with Harry's sexy ex-stripper girlfriend Joyce.

Defending Jacob by William Landay

OK, a good first novel. Grover is a fun narrator and keeps things light and moving. Might listen to Landay's next novel. PW: Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Odds Against by Dick Francis

Wonderful. I don't know if it's a good thing, but I didn't remember any of this book and it was like reading it for the first time. Typical Francis writing - totally enjoyable - his third mystery from 1965. PW: Former hotshot jockey Sid Halley landed a position with a detective agency, only to catch a bullet from some penny-ante thug. Now, he has to go up against a field of thoroughbred criminals--and the odds are against him that he'll even survive.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

This is the first book in the The Kingkiller Chronicle series, the second due out in a week or so. It is very long, an adult Harry Potter type story of a young man undertaking battles against large foes. It has the best ratings of any book I've seen and that is what drew me to it. It's not generally my cup of tea but the story is so solid that I enjoyed it and may read the next book. PW: Kvothe, a young man who grows to be one of the most notorious magicians his world has ever seen. From his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that transports readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia

A pleasant surprise, I'd read another in this series. PW: Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer. It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.  It’s actually a pretty sweet gig, except for one little problem. An ancient entity known as the Cursed One has returned to settle a centuries old vendetta. Should the Cursed One succeed, it means the end of the world, and MHI is the only thing standing in his way. With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, Owen finds himself trapped between legions of undead minions, belligerent federal agents, a cryptic ghost who has taken up residence inside his head, and the cursed family of the woman he loves.

Rain Fall by Barry Eisler

The first in the series is enjoyable but comparatively weak, you can see how Eisler improves as a writer in later works. PW: Set in a memorable noir version of Tokyo (jazz clubs, whiskey bars, "love hotels"), Eisler's rich and atmospheric debut thriller winds its way around the city's extensive rail system and its upscale Western boutiques Mulberry, Paul Stuart, Nicole Farhi London, Le Ciel Bleu, J.M. Weston. The author an American lawyer who has lived and worked in Japan brings to life a complex and most interesting hero: John Rain, a hard and resourceful man in his 40s with an American mother, a Japanese father, a childhood spent in both countries and a stretch with Special Operations in Vietnam that literally made him what he is today a highly paid freelance assassin. The book begins with Rain arranging the death (on the subway) of a prominent government figure by short-circuiting his pacemaker and making it look like the man died of a heart attack. But Rain's relatively simple life suddenly becomes very complicated when he finds himself involved both romantically and professionally with the dead man's lovely daughter, Midori, a talented jazz pianist. Formidable adversaries a nasty CIA agent from John's Vietnam days; a right-wing guru who uses Shinto priests as spies and yakuza gangsters as enforcers; a tireless old cop seem intent on exposing Rain and eliminating Midori. There are several excellent action scenes, an amusing and touching young computer nerd who is Rain's only reliable ally and, most of all, an intriguing and intimate evocation of Japan's intense love-hate relationship with America.

Kill Shot by Vince Flynn

I'm a closet Flynn fan, read everything he's written and I enjoyed this book. It's one of his weakest attempts, spending too much time on back stories for characters that aren't central to the plot. The storyline finally picks up about half way through but then ends abruptly. PW: For months, Mitch Rapp has been steadily working his way through a list of men, bullet by bullet. With each kill, the tangled network of monsters responsible for the slaughter of 270 civilians becomes increasingly clear. He is given his next target: a plump Libyan diplomat who is prone to drink and is currently in Paris without a single bodyguard. Rapp finds him completely unprotected and asleep in his bed. With confidence in his well-honed skills and conviction of the man’s guilt, he easily sends a bullet into the man’s skull. But in the split second it takes the bullet to leave the silenced pistol, everything changes. The door to the hotel room is kicked open and gunfire erupts all around Rapp. In an instant the hunter has become the hunted. Rapp is left wounded and must flee for his life. The next morning, the news breaks in Washington that Libya’s Oil Minister has been killed along with three innocent civilians and four unidentified men. The French authorities are certain that the gunman is wounded and on the loose in Paris. As the finger pointing begins, Rapp’s handlers have only one choice - deny any responsibility for the incident and pray that their newest secret weapon stays that way, avoiding capture and dying quietly. One person in the group, however, is not prone to leaving things to chance. Rapp has become a liability, and he absolutely cannot be allowed to be taken alive by the French authorities. But it will soon become clear that nothing is more dangerous than a wounded and cornered Mitch Rapp.

One for the Money: A Stephanie Plum Novel, Book 1 by Janet Evanovich

A chick book that is really funny but in between the funny bits the plot is too slow. Think I'm done with Evanovich, if I want this style of book I'll read Molly Harper. PW: You’ve lost your job as a department store lingerie buyer, your car’s been repossessed, and most of your furniture and small appliances have been sold off to pay last month’s rent. Now the rent is due again. And you live in New Jersey. What do you do? If you’re Stephanie Plum, you become a bounty hunter. But not just a nickel-and-dime bounty hunter; you go after the big money. That means a cop gone bad. And not just any cop. She goes after Joe Morelli, a disgraced former vice cop who is also the man who took Stephanie’s virginity at age 16 and then wrote details on a bathroom wall. With pride and rent money on the line, Plum plunges headlong into her first case, one that pits her against ruthless adversaries - people who’d rather kill than lose.

1st to Die: The Women's Murder Club by James Patterson

Patterson is just not my style and his stories are too violent. PW: Four women - four friends - share a determination to stop a killer who has been stalking newlyweds in San Francisco. Each one holds a piece of the puzzle: Lindsay Boxer is a homicide inspector in the San Francisco Police Department, Claire Washburn is a medical examiner, Jill Bernhardt is an assistant D.A., and Cindy Thomas just started working the crime desk of the San Francisco Chronicle. But the usual procedures aren't bringing them any closer to stopping the killings. So these women form a Women's Murder Club to collaborate outside the box and pursue the case by sidestepping their bosses and giving one another a hand.

Tom Clancy's Op-Center by Tom Clancy , Steve Pieczenik , Jeff Rovin

Just OK. The narrator Michael Kramer is excellent. PW: A terrorist bomb explodes during a South Korean celebration of the anniversary of the election of its first president. Alarms are raised in Washington. No one is claiming responsibility. The first suspect is North Korea. Could it be making a power play against South Korea and unification? If so, how will the U.S. respond? Paul Hood, Director of the Op-Center, must answer these questions. The Op-Center, a largely autonomous new agency which takes on the government's toughest security problems, is only six months old, and has never been given a foreign crisis until now. Hood's team, which includes a general, a former ambassador, a psychologist, and a computer specialist, tries to find the solution, only to discover a factor that could change the new world order.

Ten Thousand Islands (Doc Ford) by Randy Wayne

Doc tripping is a little funny, and all in all this requires a huge suspension of belief, but hey it's enjoyable. PW: Ford is finagled away from his beloved fish and his stilt house off Florida's Gulf Coast to investigate the grave robbing of a long-dead adolescent girl who had a remarkable gift for finding archaeological artifacts of a long-gone civilization of Calusa Indians. The centuries-old gold medallion that may have been buried with Dorothy Copeland has mysterious powers--at least, that's what a big Florida developer whose son is being groomed for high political office seems to believe.

Dead Men's Money by Joseph Smith Fletcher

Slow but enjoyable. This was part of the public domain collection and each chapter had a different narrator - sounds like volunteers, some new to English. PW: Nothing is what it seems, and dead bodies abound in this classic 1920 murder mystery from the British crime author and journalist, J.S. Fletcher.

Mangrove Coast by Randy Wayne White

I enjoy this Doc Ford series but after 4 books I'm noticing that the plots are pretty simple with a lot of filler, but it's still an enjoyable listen, and the narrator Ron McLarty does a real fine job. PW: The seductive daughter of a dead war buddy calls marine biologist Doc Ford in need of help--her mother has vanished without a trace in South America. Doc's efforts to find her take him from the jungles of Colombia to the streets of Panama--and onto the trail of the most vile nemesis he has ever come up against...

A Study In Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Lots of interesting bits here. This is the first book in the Watson Sherlock Holmes series and is longer than the stories that follow. Explained are how they met, came to live together, their first case, and what they were like as young men.

The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

This is such a 'chick' book but I enjoyed it. Second Harper book and she's funny. PW: Generations of werewolves have been secretly residing in a secluded valley a stones throw from Grundy, Alaska. So when a snooping Outsider comes to Grundy to investigate rumors of lycanthropic shenanigans in the area, the valleys pack alpha, Maggie Graham, resolves to chase him away, even if doing so takes a quick bite on the butt. What a pity that researcher Nick Thatcher turns out to be so drool-worthy, and that his kisses make Maggie want to sit up and beg. Maggie just cant seem to convince Nick to leave... and even worse, she cant convince herself to stay away from him.

Hunter's Moon (Doc Ford) by Randy Wayne White

I enjoy this Doc Ford series. It requires a definite suspension of reality, but it's fun. PW: Doc Ford saves a former President of the United States from assassination-and regrets it. Months ago, Kal Wilson's wife was killed in a plane crash. President Wilson is sure it was no accident-and he wants revenge. He needs Doc Ford to spring him loose from the watchful eye of the Secret Service, keep him alive, then get him home. Ford has just been picked for presidential duty- whether he likes it or not.

The Echelon Vendetta by David Stone

A promising debut. PW: Despite a title that doesn't exactly roll off your tongue, this is a smoothly written spy thriller. Micah Dalton is a CIA "cleaner," the guy who wipes away the mess after something goes wrong in the field. When his good friend apparently commits suicide in a particularly gruesome manner, and then the man's family is murdered, Dalton discovers that someone is killing agents who have knowledge of a certain top-secret intelligence operation. Stone, a veteran intelligence officer writing pseudonymously, packs the novel with the kind of nitty-gritty detail that draws espionage fans.

The Ape Who Guards the Balance (Amelia Peabody Mysteries) by Elizabeth Peters

I enjoy Peters a lot but this pleasant novel was too slow for me. PW: After eluding a kidnapper in London, an unperturbed Amelia Peabody accompanies her unconventional family to Cairo once more—only to be ensnared almost immediately in a web of stolen treasures and bloodthirsty cults. Villainy is running rampant in Egypt this 1907 archaeological season, but the members of the intrepid Peabody-Emerson clan have already proven themselves to be formidable adversaries. However, when a mint-condition papyrus of the Book of the Dead falls into their hands, and the corpse of an unscrupulous dealer in stolen antiquities is found floating in the Nile, the Emersons' prospects for surviving this excavation season unscathed appear increasingly dim.

A Conflict of Interest by Adam Mitzner

First book by the author and it was pretty good, worth checking out the next book. PW: Alex Miller is a criminal defense attorney and, at thirty-five, the youngest partner in one of the most powerful law firms in New York City. He's a man at the top of his game with the life he's always dreamed of. Then, at his father's funeral, Alex meets a mysterious and nearly mythic figure in Miller family history--who presents Alex with a surprising request: to represent him in a high-profile criminal investigation. As Alex gets involved and the facts come out, shocking secrets are revealed that threaten everything Alex believes in--about the law, his family, and himself...

The Litigators by John Grisham

Read this yet again in August of 2021 and it is excellent.

Excellent. Grisham is back. PW: The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.

And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him.

With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.

A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!

It almost seems too good to be true.

And it is.

The Last Assassin by Barry Eisler

Very enjoyable, again. Eisler books keep getting better and better. PW: Japanese-American assassin John Rain would like to get out of the killing business in his fifth action-filled outing (after 2005's Killing Rain), see the son he's only just learned of and perhaps try to reconnect with Midori, the child's mother. But first there's the little matter of the Japanese gangster Yamaoto and Yamaoto's Chinese triad allies, who are watching over Rain's son in New York City, not to mention Delilah, the beautiful Mossad agent who shares Rain's occupation and his bed. Seizing the initiative, Rain enlists the aid of his super-sniper friend, Dox, in a campaign to remove Yamaoto. Rain and allies clash with their many powerful foes in combat scenes full of lovingly detailed descriptions of knives, guns and other martial paraphernalia. Amid the threats to life, limb and loved ones, Rain finds time to enjoy good food, better whiskey and even better sex. While most of the action takes place in Japan, Eisler handles all the story's locales, including Manhattan and Barcelona, with considerable aplomb.

Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen

Outstanding. Probably the funniest book I've ever read, if not the funniest is by the same author. Times like this I'm grateful for a bad memory, cause I can't wait to re-read all of his books. PW: A Miami Herald reporter who struck a blow against corrupt entrepreneurs in Tourist Season, Hiaasen follows through with this acid satire, a real double whammy. Private detective R. J. Decker is hired to prove that TV host Dickie Lockhart cheats to win fortunes in Florida bass-fishing tournaments. The investigation makes Decker a prey to hired killers who have murdered other "snoops," but the detective also finds a strong if weird ally in a hermit who calls himself Skink. Along with two honest cops, Skink goes with Decker to the lake where a big tournament is under way and the four make a tremendous splash, to the dismay of the assembly. Hardest hit is Reverend Weeb, Lockhart's sponsor on the Outdoor Christian Network, whose generous supporters don't know that he's addicted to prostitutes, profanity and land-grabbing. The cast of bizarre characters and the suspenseful events confirm Hiaasen's reputation for creating singular villains and heroes.

By the Light of the Moon by Dean Koontz

This book was very original. It was very good except for one glaring problem. One of the characters is autistic and about a 1/3 of the book is him talking nonsense or people talking to him and being ignored. I don't think I'll read Koontz again because he needs too much editing. PW: s usual for Koontz, the novel opens at full throttle: a mad doctor invades a motel in Arizona, injects both itinerant artist Dylan O'Connor and struggling comic Jillian Jackson (strangers to one another) with an unknown substance that, he says, is his life's work and will have some unknown effect, then warns them to flee before his enemies kill them; soon after, the doctor is slain by heavily armed assailants. The rest of the story is an extended chase, as Dylan and Jillian, along with Dylan's high-functioning autistic brother, Shep, dart around the West, only steps ahead of the assassins. Within hours, the effects of the injections materialize: Jillian experiences portentous visions-a flock of birds, a woman in a church; Dylan is overcome by the need to rush to the aid of people in distress (among others, in an intensely poignant scene, an elderly man searching for his missing daughter); and Shep learns to teleport himself and others.

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell

Much what you'd expect from Cornwell, interesting characters, description of the era, and violent. The violence was worthy putting up with because the characters are so interesting. The format and plot are very similar to the Sharpe's series. PW: One of the most dramatic victories in British history, the battle of Agincourt—immortalized by Shakespeare in Henry V—pitted undermanned and overwhelmed English forces against a French army determined to keep their crown out of Henry's hands. Here Bernard Cornwell resurrects the legend of the battle and the "band of brothers" who fought on that fateful October day in 1415. An epic of redemption, Agincourt follows a commoner, a king, and a nation's entire army on an improbable mission to test the will of God and reclaim what is rightfully theirs—an exhilarating story of survival and slaughter that is, at once, a brilliant work of history and a triumph of imagination.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Very well done and very interesting. Was a gift from mom for my 50th and it was wonderful way to spend my birthday. Having followed Job's career and Apple very carefully since 1984, I was surprised that the read was so informative. Isaacson's organization was excellent.

Rain Storm by Barry Eisler

This was really fun, lots of back story about John Rain and how he meets Delilah and befriends Dox. This was the third book on the series, hope to read them all. PW: John Rain has fled to Brazil to clear his killing conscience. But his talents are still in demand. The assignment: take out an arms dealer in Southeast Asia. The upside: strictly finanical. The downside: crossing the path of an Israeli spy equipped with her own unique talents - for seduction, betrayal, and life-and-death games more sinister than any that Rain has encountered before....