Author: ekkarn

No Defense – Kate Wilhelm – Rescued from the Giveaway Pile!

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Let’s Start A New Series – No Defense – Kate Wilhelm (Barbara Holloway # 5)
This afternoon I finished  No Defense by Kate Wilhelm. It is the 54th book I have read in 2018. And how I came to read it is a little different. A few weeks ago I came home with nine books from the used book sale at the library. Typically, when I do this my wife says “ that’s ok but now you need to get rid of nine books”. And I usually say “ yeah right!” Which of course means no way!
This time though, I thought maybe I should whittle down my to be read shelves of books. So I went through my paperbacks and came up with nine books to donate to the library for their next book sale. No Defense was one of the books I tossed in the box.
Anyway, the other night I looked over those books and pulled out No Defense to read figuring who knows maybe I’ll enjoy it! And enjoy it I did!
No Defense is book 5 in the Barbara Holloway series by Kate Wilhelm. It is the first book I have ever read in the series. It is also the first book I ever read penned by Ms. Wilhelm. From Goodreads….
 Barbara Holloway takes on a seemingly impossible case. Vinny and Lara Jessup’s wonderful marriage comes to a tragic end and Lara becomes the prime suspect when she is accused of staging the accident that killed her husband. With only the word of an accused woman and a mysterious box of papers about the unsolved murder of Vinny’s son, Barbara takes on the widow’s case. Read More
My Thoughts On No Defense
While I enjoyed the book overall. I did think that things moved rather slowly through the first half of the book. The second half of the book was much better. Especially when the pieces of the puzzle started to come together revealing what really happened.
I enjoyed the characters and felt they were well-developed. The blurb on the front cover of the book from The Chicago Tribune indicates that character development is one of Wilhelm’s strong points.
“Wilhelm cares as much about her characters as she does about the courtroom- which is why her books are such a genuine pleasure.”
I do think that I may have enjoyed the book a little more, if I had read the preceding four books. So will picking up a book that I was ready to give away lead me to another series to read. I guess we’ll  see!!
About Kate Wilhelm
While I was reading about Kate Wilhelm before writing this post I discovered that she passed away this past March. That was two months before her 90th birthday. Mirror, Mirror the 14th book in the Barbara Holloway series was released in 2017, fifty-four years after the release of her first novel!
Here’s  little bout Ms. Wilhelm from her Goodreads page…..
Kate Wilhelm’s first short story, “The Pint-Sized Genie” was published in Fantastic Stories in 1956. Her first novel, MORE BITTER THAN DEATH, a mystery, was published in 1963. Over the span of her career, her writing has crossed over the genres of science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and magical realism, psychological suspense, mimetic, comic, and family sagas, a multimedia stage production, and radio plays. She returned to writing mysteries in 1990 with the acclaimed Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries and the Barbara Holloway series of legal thrillers.
 Hmm,  the acclaimed Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries. Maybe I need to check out those books, too! So many books, so little time!! Anyway, check out No Defense

Catching Up- What’s Been Happening – Part One

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 An Attempt at Catching Up!
Ok so the question before me today is – “How do I get back to blogging again after taking a month or more off?” I think the way I need to do it is to first try to catch up with what’s been happening on my Life’s Safari over the last two months and then create some challenges for the rest of the year.
Basically, there are maybe four aspects of my life that I blog about: the books that I read, the music that I listen to, the ways I attempt to turn back my biological clock and my family. My family blogging includes both my current family and my past family, I learn about through my genealogical research.
Now I will attempt to catch up on all that’s been going on in a number of posts. Here’s a brief summary of what I hope to be writing about in those posts.
The Books I’ve Read
My 2018 Reading Challenge goal was to read 65 books. Currently, I have read 50 of those books. That means in order to reach my goal of 65 I need to average five books per month over the last three months of 2018. Well actually I need to read six in one of those months.
The last book I have written about was book 46. Loner by Hildur Sif Thorarensen. It is the first book in her Oslo Mysteries series. You can read my review here.
Two of the other books that I have read are from two of my favorite authors. The first book 47 was Desolation Mountain  by William Kent Krueger,while book 49 was Lost Creed from Alex Kava.
The two other books I read were written by authors whose work I am reading for the first time. Book  48 was Caged by Ellison Cooper. While my most recent read, and book 50 for 2018, was Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna.
Caught Up- Needed Reviews and New Mini-Reading Challenges
Now I need to create some Mini-Reading Challenges for the coming months. Obviously the biggest reading challenge is to read 15 more books. But I have also created several challenges concerning the types of books I want to read. You can read about those challenges here. Over the next few days, what I need to do is review all the books I’ve read. Then see which Reading Challenge that book meets to ultimately see what types of books I need to include in those final fifteen books.
I have now caught you up on the books that I have read. Hopefully, I will be posting reviews of each book over the next week. Along with a couple new mini-challenges I need to create to try to meet my various 2018 Reading Challenges!! Once again wish me luck!

Loner by Hildur Sif Thorarensen. Everything You’d Want in a Nordic Mystery!

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NSo over the last several days,, after finishing Steve Hamilton’s Dead Man Running, I have finished two more books. The first was Loner by Hildur Sif Thorarensen. It is her debut novel and will be book #1 in the Oslo Mysteries series.

About Hildur Sif Thorarensen.

Hildur was born in Iceland but is currently living in Norway. Although, spending most of her adult years at the University, she’s been writing ever since she was a little girl and alongside Medical studies and a Master’s in Engineering, has also taken a year in Creative Writing.

Loner was written in Iceland and published in 2016. The English version of the book was published this year. Currently, she is writing the sequel. The sequel is to be concurrently published in both Icelandic and English. The anticipated release date is to be in early 2019. I for one can not wait.

About Loner

 

Loner, a police procedural finds  Oslo police detectives searching for a gruesome serial killer. From Amazon

Which is worse, trying to catch a cunning killer leaving decapitated women in the woods, or trying to tame an unconventional forensic psychiatrist that seems determined to go his own way?

The Oslo autumn is creeping in with its cold spells and Homicide Detective Julia Ryland is feeling pretty content with her team of three, but when the FBI behavioral analyst, Alexander Smith, is thrust upon her, the crisp autumn air doesn’t feel as refreshing anymore. A young Icelander is found dead, an arrow piercing his heart and the extensive list of his former lovers suggests that many long nights are ahead. The murdered lothario suddenly becomes the least of their problems as headless corpses start appearing in the woods, positioned in terrifying ways and on their bodies they find messages that don’t seem to have any meaning at all.

My Thoughts

 

Loner reminds me of several of the police procedural that I read. It’s like Bosch where Bosch is kind of the lone wolf and there are other detectives working on the case. In this case the odd man Alexander Smith is not a detective. He instead is a forensic psychologist. That makes him even more of an outsider, who needs to prove himself. He also has just moved to Norway. His mother is Norwegian and his father American. When his parents divorced his mom mother back to Norway.Alexander often visited but now has moved back to help her with her illness

.Alexander’s boss is Julia Ryland the head detective trying to hold the team together. Other team members are Hercules and Eric each with their own problems. Together they are an interesting cast of characters. Additionally, you can add the  serial killer to the cast of interesting characters. He was a stuttering member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Loner’s plot was consistently interesting and the pace of its unfolding kept me turning the pages rapidly. The ending of the book was satisfying and left me ready for the next installment! I think Tara Sariban of Bloody Murder Podcast sums up Loner nicely…

An atmospheric thriller with a heavy dose of humour that will have you laughing and full of suspense at the same time. The surprising plot developments made it impossible to put down!

Steve Hamilton’s Alex McKnight is Back!! Yeah!

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Dead Man Running - Steve Hamilton

 

Back in July, I wrote a post to both remind myself and to let readers know that books from three of my favorite authors were being released in August. The three authors ,whose books were being released on August 21st, were Karin Slaughter, William Kent Krueger and Steve Hamilton.

Thanks to the post I remembered to go to my library’s website and request the books. At the end of last week, the books from William Kent Krueger and Steve Hamilton became available. My hold position for the Karin Slaughter release is 47 of 57. I guess we see who the favorite is! Folks don’t know what they’re missing out on, by not reading Krueger and Hamilton. Of course it works out well for me because I get to read the books!

Dead Man Running – Steve Hamilton

 

The first book I chose to read was Steve Hamilton’s Dead Man Running, book #11 in the Alex McKnight series.It ist he first McKnight book Hamilton has written in five years! In the interim, Hamilton created a new series. He has written two books in that series, The Second Life of Nick Mason and Exist Strategy. Both are great reads. You can read what I wrote about these books here and here.

Who is Alex McKnight?

Alex McKnight is an ex-Detroit police detective, who lives now in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Alex takes care of and rents four cabins that his father and her built. He has also worked as a private investigator..  Currently he is employed as a fugitive recovery agent.aka a bounty hunter.

Dead Man Running: the Story

The story opens when a couple of vacation in the Mediterranean Sea watch the security camera feed from their  home bedroom in Arizona.  They watch a stranger enter the bedroom disrobe and join the dead woman laying on their bed Soon the man is caught when he returns to the scene to be with the woman a second time. After the police had been notified.Lewis T Livermore  is caught. He confesses to killing five other women. Under questioning, he reveals that victim number seven is still out there alive. He will take them to him on one condition that Alex McKnight comes with them!!

So begins the worst nightmare of Alex’s life! As just about everything thatcould go wrong does. And Alex must chase a killer, that knows all about Alex, while Alex has no clue about his connection to the killer.

My Thoughts

There’s no doubt that once again Steve Hamilton has delivered a page-turning thriller. Hey, I read it in two days! But there were a couple of things that kept it from being a 5 out of 5 stars.

First, overall liked the fact that the story took Alex out of his element and left him on his own in Arizona, far from his Paradise , Michigan home. However, I still missed the Upper Michigan Peninsula and his usual cohorts. Jackie McLean owner of the Glasgow Inn, Vinnie LeBlanc and Leon Prucell Alex’s one-time PI partner.

Additionally, I could easily see where the connection was going to be I was just not sure what the connection was. Finally, it’s a little thing but the chase for Livermore took Alex back across the country. Along the way, Livermore Alex and FBI Agent Larkin were ambushed by Livermore. I don’t think that Alex ever questioned how Livermore knew exactly where they were??

The Bottomline

Anyway the bottom line is that the book is great. The twists and turns from the moment that Livermore leads Alex and the FBI into the canyons of Arizona through to the end kept me turning the pages at a very rapid clip!! I think the book can be read without reading the preceding books. Mainly, because of the setting and the lack of familiar people around Alex.  However, if you want a real treat find book #1 A Cold Day in Paradise and work your way through the series

Ah! I just looked over the Alex McKnight series here at Goodreads and I see that I haven’t Let It Burn book #10 in thee series. I need to read that book!

Post Update: I did read Let It Burn so I have read the whole series.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Novels of Steve Hamilton

Author’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon
Goodreads

Free Books at the Library Rekindle Memories of a Great Writer

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Ok so I don’t think there are may of you under the age of 40 who can identify this iconic mystery author…..

John D MacDonald

John D MacDonald

Yes, it is the great John D MacDonald, author of the also great Travis McGee series. MacDonald died 1986 at the age of 70. He left behind a legacy that included 21 books featuring Travis McGee.

Now I must say that I haven’t read a John D MacDonald book since, well probably 1986. And since, I didn’t start keeping a record of the books I read until 1987. I really can’t remember all of the Travis McGee books I read.

Now why am I bringing up John D McDonald today? It’s because yesterday, when I left the library with the new books I had checked out, I went back into the library to check out the free books. Among those books I found three hardback Travis McGee books with their beat up and worn dust jackets. Here they are in the order of their release.

 

No 5 – A Deadly Shade of Gold (1965)

 

No. 7 Darker Than Amber (1966)

 

 

No. 19 – Free Fall in Crimson (1981)

Now the main reason that I picked up the books is I love the cover, particularly, the two from the 1960s. Another reason is that I loved the Travis McGee books and I never read any of the early books. I believe I started reading the series at around book 16 The Dreadful Lemon Sky released in 1974. So I think it would be interesting to read the first two books at least from above.

Here are two interesting facts about the series. . First,  while the books are mysteries, Travis McGee was neither a police officer nor a private detective. He is a self-described “salvage consultant” who recovers others’ property for a fee of 50%. The other is that a color always appears in the title of the book.

Here’s what Kurt Vonnegut wrote about the books on the cover of  A Deadly Shade of Gold

To diggers a thousand years from now…..the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb Tutankhamen.

I don’t know it I’d go that far but I do think that 40 to 50 years later the Travis McGee books from John D. MacDonald are still worth checking out. Especially if they’re  free!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of John D McDonald

JDM Homepage
Wikipedia
Wikipedia:Travis McGee
Goodreads
Amazon

A New Challenge: The June-July Other Worlds Reading Challenge!

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I am currently reading the science fiction book , The Human Division by John Scalzi. I have also checked out another sy-fi book The Soldier by Neal Asher. Additionally, I also have books by Greg Bear and Stephen  Baxter on my “to be read” shelf. So I have decided to create a new challenge! My June and July Other Worlds Challenge. The goal is to spend the next two months reading Science Fiction books.

Hmm, as I sit here thinking about this challenge, I wonder if I have created it as a way to get away from this world that I  mcurrently live in. One which in fact seems like an other world horror show?

In addition to the books listed above, I also have several science fiction books on my Kindle that I want to read.

E.K. Takes on the Classic Works of Clifford Simak

Finally, one of my 2018 Reading Challenges is to read  books by classic science fiction writers whose books I haven’t read. One of those writers is Clifford Simak

From Amazon:

During his fifty-five-year career, Clifford D. Simak produced some of the most iconic science fiction stories ever written….

Simak was best known for the book City, a reaction to the horrors of World War II, and for his novel Way Station. In 1953 City was awarded the International Fantasy Award, and in following years, Simak won three Hugo Awards and a Nebula Award. In 1977 he became the third Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and before his death in 1988, he was named one of three inaugural winners of the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Without Simak, science fiction would have been without its most humane element, its most humane spokesman for the wisdom of the ordinary person and the value of life lived close to the land.” —James Gunn

“To read science-fiction is to read Simak. The reader who does not like Simak stories does not like science-fiction at all.” —Robert A. Heinlein

So today I put in a request to check out Way Station from my library. I also purchased the e-book version of the Nebula Award nominated All Flesh is Grass for a whole $1.99.

As I was finishing this post this thought crossed my mind. What will I do if  an author, whose work I can’t wait to read releases a book in June or July? I read it ,duh! But I just checked and there’s good news. Two of may favorite authors Karin Slaughter and  William Kent Krueger won’t be releasing their new books until August. So it’s off to Other Worlds !!!

 

 

 

 

Michael Koryta – How It Happened is a Winner!

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How It Happened - Michael Koryta

Originally posted June 2018 Revised Updated April 2026

A Goodreads friend always opens her reviews with the first sentence of the book being reviewed. I thought of her, when I started Michael Koryta’s latest book.

First Sentence: I’d never seen him before the day we killed him.

The Story

That statement comes from the confession of. Kimberly Crepeaux to the double murder of Jackie Pelletier and Ian Kelly in the Maine town of Port Hope. Kimberly gave her confession to FBI special agent Rob Barrett. Barrett had been assigned the case because of his interview skills. Additionally, he has past connections to Post Hope. Barrett spent his summers with his grandfather in the town and his former girlfriend reporter Liz Smith lives nearby.

In her confession Kimberly told Barrett how the murders happened. According to Kimberly, the  murders happened on a night when she was cruising with Cass Odom and Mathias Burke. The trio is drunk and high when they kill Jackie accidentally. They then murdered Ian, the only witness to the crime. 

Because Burke was hard-working owner of a lawn and house care service and Kimberly a druggie, no one in town except Barrett, believed Kimberly’s story.  All Barrett needs to close the case are the bodies.

At this point I don’t want to give away more of the plot but two questions arise.

First, Will finding the bodies confirm Kimberly’s story?  

Secondly, Will not finding the bodies destroy Barrett’s career? All BECAUSE he still believes her story?

Bottom Line:  

I have read many of Koryta’s books both his stand alone novels like The Program and Those Who Wish Me Dead. along with several of his Lincoln Perry series books. And they are all good reads.

However, I think I like this one the most. I just loved the way the story flowed. When I first started the book which begins with Kimberly’s confession, I thought where does he go from here. Well, from there he spun a wonderful tale. A tale that proved you may think you have it all figured out,but in reality you don’t know jack!!

The bottom line Is that Michael Koryta’s books keep getting better and better. And  in my opinion How It Happened may be his best work yet! Additionally, I think he may have created in Rob Barrett and Liz Smith characters that we may see again. At least I hope so. Actually, I hope we will see Lincoln Perry and Mark Novak (Rise the Dark and Last words) again!

Here’s what author Nelson DeMille writes about How It Happened.…

“Michael Koryta is one hell of a writer, and HOW IT HAPPENED is one hell of a murder mystery. It’s a tribute to Koryta’s craftsmanship and skill that the reader…can’t put the book down until the last layer of the onion is peeled away to reveal the truth at the core of this gripping tale…. A remarkable achievement that rises high above the genre.”

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon

 

Michael Koryta

About Michael Koryta

Michael Koryta is a New York Times-bestselling author whose work has been translated into more than 20 languages and has won or been nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Edgar® Award, Shamus Award, Barry Award, Quill Award, International Thriller Writers Award, and the Golden Dagger. They’ve been selected as “best books of the year” by numerous publications.

 

Visit the Michael Koryta Page

My Yoga and Walking Challenges Lead to a Month of Runs…

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A few weeks after I started my 21-day Yoga Challenge I realize that wanted to add some more to my exercise regime. I thought back and remembered how I started to gain weight, when I stopped babysitting Oliver two plus years ago. While I was babysitting I would take him for two or three 30 minute walks during the day.

Once those walks stopped on came the weight! Anyway I thought even though you won’t be pushing a stroller you can walk twice a day numb nuts! So I created the 30-day Oliver Walking Challenge. The aim of the challenge was to use walking to help me get back into shape with the idea that I would then be able to start and run again.

Well the Walking Challenge worked so well that within two weeks or so, I was running again.

.The Run: 3.1 Miles….

Yesterday I ran for the third time this week. It’s the fourth week in a row that I have done such! The first week I ran 3.1 miles on Sunday and then did the same on Tuesday and Thursday. On the following three Sundays, including this past Sunday, I ran four miles and 3.1 miles on the following Tuesday and Thursday.

The end result is that I ran 11 days in May and have run 3 days so far in June. Yesterday’s  run was my fourteenth since May 1st and one of my fastest. I completed the 3.1 mile course in 33:53 about two minutes faster than the first 3.1 mile run I ran on May 6th.  One of the better things is that I am running faster with a lower average heart rate.

Yesterday’s  run was over the 5K (3.1 miles) course that I have run the majority of May and June. I completed the course in 33:53 as mentioned above. That calculates to an average pace of  approximately 10:53 minutes/mile. Here are the mile splits…

Mile 1 – 10:49 Mile 2 – 10;56  Mile 3 – 10:46  0.13 Miles – 10:00

I think this may be the first time that the pace for all three  Miles was under 11 minutes per mile. And it certainly was one of the few times that my last mile was faster than the first mile!

I don’t think that I have ran three days a week for four weeks in,well,  probably,  more than four years. But hopefully like my yoga routine I hope I can keep this up!

The Soundtrack: Brighter Days – Grand Marquis

The soundtrack from yesterday’s run was provided by a band that I am unfamiliar with, Grand Marquis. I listened to their latest release Brighter Days. Grand Marquis is a blues and Americana roots band hailing from Kansas City. The band formed in 1998. Since then they have become a mainstay of the Kansas City music scene. They have also released eight albums and performed coast to coast.Their music is their own brand of Americana Roots, Blues and Prohibition-Era Jazz

Grand MarquisMembers of the Band include:

Ben Ruth: upright bass, sousaphone, backing vocals;
Chad Boydston: trumpet, backing vocals;
Ryan Wurtz: electric and acoustic guitars;
Trevor Turla: trombone, backing vocals;
Fritz Hutchison: drums, backing vocals;
Bryan Redmond: lead vocals; soprano, alto, tenor & baritone saxophones

Currently, Brighter Days is No. 8 on the Roots Music Report’s Blues Charts.

I never get a true listen to an album on a run, but I did like what I heard. So Brighter Days will go into my music rotation and I’ll let you know in a bit what I think!

You can check out Grand Marquis’ website here. Or visit them on Facebook

Here’s the band performing  “Brighter  Days”……..

 

An Oliver Walking Challenge Leads to a 5K with Grand Marquis.

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Today I had a great run accompanied by Grand Marquis and their album Brighter Days Here’s how I got there .

A few weeks after I started my 21-day Yoga Challenge I realize that wanted to add some more to my exercise regime. I thought back and remembered how I started to gain weight, when I stopped babysitting Oliver two plus years ago. While I was babysitting I would take him for two or three 30 minute walks during the day.

Once those walks stopped on came the weight! Anyway I thought even though you won’t be pushing a stroller you can walk twice a day numb nuts! So I created the 30-day Oliver Walking Challenge. The aim of the challenge was to use walking to help me get back into shape with the idea that I would then be able to start and run again.

Well the Walking Challenge worked so well that within two weeks or so, I was running again.

The Run: 3.1 Miles….

Yesterday I ran for the third time this week. It’s the fourth week in a row that I have done such! The first week I ran 3.1 miles on Sunday and then did the same on Tuesday and Thursday. On the following three Sundays, including this past Sunday, I ran four miles and 3.1 miles on the following Tuesday and Thursday.

The end result is that I ran 11 days in May and have run 3 days so far in June. Yesterday’s  run was my fourteenth since May 1st and one of my fastest. I completed the 3.1 mile course in 33:53 about two minutes faster than the first 3.1 mile run I ran on May 6th.  One of the better things is that I am running faster with a lower average heart rate.

Yesterday’s  run was over the 5K (3.1 miles) course that I have run the majority of May and June. I completed the course in 33:53 as mentioned above. That calculates to an average pace of  approximately 10:53 minutes/mile. Here are the mile splits…

Mile 1 – 10:49 Mile 2 – 10;56  Mile 3 – 10:46  0.13 Miles – 10:00

I think this may be the first time that the pace for all three  Miles was under 11 minutes per mile. And it certainly was one of the few times that my last mile was faster than the first mile!

I don’t think that I have ran three days a week for four weeks in,well,  probably,  more than four years. But hopefully like my yoga routine I hope I can keep this up!

Better Days - Grand Marquis - a Run Soundtrack

The Soundtrack: Brighter Days – Grand Marquis

The soundtrack from yesterday’s run was provided by a band that I am unfamiliar with, Grand Marquis. I listened to their latest release Brighter Days. Grand Marquis is a blues and Americana roots band hailing from Kansas City. The band formed in 1998. Since then they have become a mainstay of the Kansas City music scene. They have also released eight albums and performed coast to coast.Their music is their own brand of Americana Roots, Blues and Prohibition-Era Jazz

grand marquis

Members of the Band include:

Ben Ruth: upright bass, sousaphone, backing vocals;
Chad Boydston: trumpet, backing vocals;
Ryan Wurtz: electric and acoustic guitars;
Trevor Turla: trombone, backing vocals;
Fritz Hutchison: drums, backing vocals;
Bryan Redmond: lead vocals; soprano, alto, tenor & baritone saxophones

Currently, Brighter Days is No. 8 on the Roots Music Report’s Blues Charts.

I never get a true listen to an album on a run, but I did like what I heard. So Brighter Days will go into my music rotation and I’ll let you know in a bit what I think!

A Video to lead to  “Brighter  Days”……..

 

Links

Artist’s Website
Spotify
AllMusic

grand marquis

About Grand Marquis

Grand Marquis epitomizes the fusion of tradition and innovation, infusing the essence of American roots from Kansas City blues to Memphis soul with the vibrant spirit of a New Orleans second line revelry. Their music resonates as a testament to the past while embracing the pulse of the 21st century. A symphony of resounding horns harmonizes with a rhythm section that grooves intensely, all set against the backdrop of soulful vocals, creating a captivating soundscape that showcases their masterfully crafted originals More

 

An Update on the Books Read in May 2018.

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So my last post was written and posted on May 26th. Since then I have started to write several posts. Then I get distracted, do something else and they never get posted! Maybe I can catch up by writing two posts. The first will be about the books I read in May and the second about my May runs.

I read five book in May. That brought the total number of books that I have read in 2018 to 26. My 2018 Reading Challenge goal is 65 books so I’m on pace to reach my goal.

My May Reads

The five books I read in May are:
The Hush by John Hart
The Disappeared – C.J.Box
Future Homeof the Living God – Louise Erdrich
Hellbent – Gregg Hurwitz
The Ninth Grave – Stefan Ahnhem
I didn’t do a lot of world traveling this month. The Ninth Grave, which is set in Denmark and Sweden, is the only book that is set outside of the United States.
Within the US, I traveled to North Carolina in The    Hush, Wyoming in The Disappeared, Future Home of the Living God is set in Minnesota. While Hellbent is mostly Set in California Evan Smoak does make a side trip to Alabama.
Four of the five books are  books in a series that I currently read. They are:
The Disappeared - C J Box
The Disappeared – C.J. Box
The Disappeared is book 18 in Box’s Joe Pickett series. And I do believe that I have read every one except one!  The series shows no signs of slowing down!  In this installment Joe is asked by the new governor to help on a case out of  Joe’s district. A wealthy English woman has vanished after leaving an exclusive ranch. A ranch where Joe’s oldest daughter Sheridan works. In addition there is a side story about two shady characters dropping off things to be burned in a lumber mills incinerator. Is that where the English lady ended up??
Hell Bent Gregg HurwitzHellbent – Gregg Hurwitz
Hellbent is book # 3 in the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz. Evan Smoak is the Nowhere Man.  Before that he was a trained killer  working for a secret government agency. The agency took Orphan children, like Evan, and trained them from a young age to be elite killers. After many years as a killing machine Evan left and  became The Nowhere Man a man who helps people when they have nowhere else to turn.
 Now someone wants to wipe out everybody associated with the Orphan Project particularly Orphan X. They attempt to get to Evan  through the man who trained him Jack Johns. The man who was the  only father Evan knew and Jack ends up dead. The hunted (Evan) becomes the hunter. And the question becomes who will survive!
 
The Ninth Grave - Stephan AhnhemThe Ninth Grave – Stefan Ahnhem
The Ninth Grave is the second book from Ahnhem featuring Swedish Detective Fabian Risk. However, the book is actually a prequel to Victim Without a Face.
It chronicles the case  that lead Fisk to leave Stockholm and return to his hometown. In that case Fabian and his fellow officers were chasing a sadistic killer who not only kills their victims but removes their organs?
 A fast paced page turner for me and I can’t wait for the next book!
The Hush - John Hart
The Hush – John Hart
The Hush is the second book written by John Hart featuring Johnny Merrimon. The first was The Last Child. So while The Hush is technically a sequel it just doesn’t feel like a series. At least not like the other series books.
The Hush picks up Johnny  ten years after the actions in The Last Child….from JohnHart’s website…

It’s been ten years since the events that changed Johnny Merrimon’s life and rocked his hometown to the core. Since then, Johnny has fought to maintain his privacy, but books have been written of his exploits; he has fans, groupies. Living alone in the wilderness beyond town, Johnny’s only connection to normal life is his old friend, Jack. They’re not boys anymore, but the bonds remain. What they shared. What they lost.

But Jack sees danger in the wild places Johnny calls home; he senses darkness and hunger, an intractable intent. Johnny will discuss none of it, but there are the things he knows, the things he can do. A lesser friend might accept such abilities as a gift, but Jack has felt what moves in the s, and forgottenwamp: the cold of it, the unspeakable fear.

More than an exploration of friendship, persistence power, The Hush leaves all categories behind, and cements Hart’s status as a writer of unique power.

Overall the book is a little different from Hart’s previous books. Hush Arbor is a mysterious place and strange things happen to those who venture into this swampy area. So to get the full impact of the book the reader may need to be one who believes in the supernatural!

However, the end result is that The Hush is another terrific book by an ultra-talented new writer! One of my favorites.

Future Home of the Living God – Louise Erdrich

The final book I read in May was Louise Erdrich’s Future Home of the Living God. This book is not a book I would typically read., but I have read goods things about Erdman’s writing, so I thought I would give it a shot. What I didn’t know was the book was not a typical Erdrich book. None the less, Future Home of the Living God was fun to read.

The world as we know it is ending. Evolution has reversed itself, affecting every living creature on earth. Science cannot stop the world from running backwards, as woman after woman gives birth to infants that appear to be primitive species of humans. Twenty-six-year-old Cedar Hawk Songmaker, adopted daughter of a pair of big-hearted, open-minded Minneapolis liberals, is as disturbed and uncertain as the rest of America around her. But for Cedar, this change is profound and deeply personal. She is four months pregnant. Read More

So while I am now caught up on the books that I read in May, I am still behind on all of the books I have read. That’s because I finished book number 27 yesterday. Michael Koryta’s latest How It Happened was that book and it was good!