Author: ekkarn

The Long and Faraway Gone – Lou Berney – A Can’t Put Downer!

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The Long and Faraway Gone – Lou Berney

A while ago I purchased  the Kindle edition of Lou Berney’s book The Long and Faraway Gone.. Like many of the books I have purchase through Bookbub, it has been in my Kindle unread. Well, something made me take a look at it the other day and I start reading it.

It didn’t take long for me to get swept up in the story.   So for the last few days I literally did not want to put the books down. Last night it was getting close to midnight, as I was finishing the book.  I could barely keep my eyes open , but I was determined to finish. And finish I did, just on the other side of midnight exhausted but satisfied and not ready to go to sleep!

The Long And Faraway Gone’s Awards

The bottom line is the book is damn good! Which is the reason Lou Berney won the following awards……

Barry Award for Best Paperback Original (2016)
Macavity Award for Best Mystery (2016),
Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original (2016)
Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original (2016)

Characters and Plot

Wyatt Rivers a Las Vegas Private Investigator and Julianna Rosales a Registered Nurse in Oklahoma City are the two main characters in the book. Both are searching for answers concerning tragic events from their pasts.

Wyatt Rivers

Wyatt Rivers travels to Oklahoma City for a major client. He was hired to investigate the harassment of a former Las Vegas waitress, at the music venue she inherited from a man she had befriended in Las Vegas but otherwise hardly knew. The question is by whom.

But the trip also takes Wyatt back to his hometown and the summer of 1986 and a movie house robbery that left six of his friends dead. Wyatt  needs to find answers: How did the robbers really gain access to the movie theater? And why is he still here?

Julianna Rosales

Meanwhile, Julianna is likewise searching for answers. Her question is What happened to her sister Genevieve on that summer night in 1986?  The night Genevieve left her younger sister Julianna alone on the Oklahoma fairgrounds and disappeared into the night.

After twenty-six years the prime suspect in the case has resurfaced and Julianna will stop at nothing to get him to tell her what really happened that night.

Bottom line

Once again the bottom line is that The Long And Faraway Gone is a terrific book. A wonderful tale  featuring two characters that you can root for. Two characters searching for answers concerning tragic incidents that have mystified them and disturbed their lives for years. The reader is, as puzzled as they are, until the last pages of the book. From Kirkus Review:

 Berney’s novel is most truly a thoughtful exploration of memory and what it means to be a survivor. Elegiac and wistful, it is a lyrical mystery that focuses more on character development than on reaching the “big reveal.”  Full Review

So Check it Out!

 

The Unexpected President Paints a New Picture of Chester A Arthur!

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The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur

Ok quickly tell me everything you learned in history class about President Chester A Arthur. I’ll wait! I bet your done aren’t you? So I imagine that you said ” He became President after James A Garfield was assassinated” or maybe even “he was responsible for Civil Service reform.” I imagine that because that’s just about all I knew about him until I read The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur by Scott S. Greenberger earlier this month.An additional tag line on the front of the book reads “A Gilded Age tale of corruption and courage” and that well sums up the book and the story of “Chet” Arthur. It is actually a pretty fascinating tale and Mr. Greenberger tells it well!

The Corruption and Courage of Chester Arthur

The corruption came from the years that Arthur spent as the crooked crony of New York machine boss Roscoe Conkling. During that time Arthur was head of the U S Customs House in New York City. The Customs House was rife with corruption and cronyism. You either voted Republican and contributed to the GOP or you didn’t get a job in the Customs House.

Because of his reputation as a puppet of Conkling many people initially thought he was unqualified to be Vice-President. Then when Garfield was assassinated and Arthur was set to ascend to the Presidency Arthur cried, Not only for Garfield who had died but for himself because he knew that he could not live up to the high standards a President must uphold.

Julia Sand and Arthur’s Transformation 

However, when Arthur did become president he also became a changed man. He boldly took on corruption, civil rights for blacks and issue of land for Native Americans. Much of the credit for Arthur’s transformation came from a bedridden young New York woman Julia Sand. Ms Sand wrote Arthur over two dozen letters urging him to put country over party and to find “the spark of true nobility” that lay within him. In her first letter she wrote:

“Faith in your better nature forces me to write you – but not to beg you to resign. Do what is more difficult & more brave. Reform! It is not the proof of highest goodness never to have done wrong – but it is proof of it, sometime in one’s career, to pause & ponder, to recognize the evil, to turn resolutely against it & devote the remainder of one’s life to that only which is pure & exalted. Some resolutions of the soul are not common….

As I read the book and especially the about paragraph I though, “Boy I wish someone had written a letter like that to Mr. Trump!”

Bottom Line:

For me, The Unexpected President is a five-star biography. It was well researched and presented by Mr Greenberger. It is a wonderful book that painted a far different picture of Chester Arthur than the one that I have developed over the years. He has become for me a man who turned his life and reputation around. Arthur went from someone who the general populace thought was not qualified to be president, someone  who people thought would only by Roscoe Conkling’s puppet to a man and president they respected and loved. He grew into the presidency and by the end of his term people were begging him to run for another term!! Oh, if  Mister Trump could only grow into the job but alas some leopards can never change their spots!

Anyway, check out The Unexpected President…..

Links for Further Explorations

The Washington Post:The biographer of Chester Arthur discusses the forgotten president,

Twitter

CSpan  Video

 

 

The Demon Crown – Science, History and Action Collide!

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The Demon Crown byJames Rollins  Sigma Force #13

The Demon Crown is  Book # 13 in the Sigma Force series from James Rollins. I think  it just may be the best book in the series.  I have written before that I love books that not only are good stories, but also teach me something new. Well, James Rollins does that just about as well as anyone writing today.

I don’t believe that there are many authors ,who provide six plus pages of notes to their readers, explaining what aspects of the story are true and what was made up by the author. However, that is just what Rollins does with each book. In The Demon Crown there are both a variety of historical and  scientific facts that form the basis of the story. So I learn a lot during this Sigma Force adventure!

About the Story

In The Demon Crown the Sigma Force must battle an act of eco-terrorism the likes the world has never seen.   While on sabbatical from the Sigma Force Gray Pierce and Seichan are caught up in that attack. An attack by swarm of ancient deadly wasps that may require nuking the Hawaiian Islands to contain the threat!

The swarm is linked to a piece of amber that James Smithson called The Demon Crown. He claimed that what was trapped in that block of Amber, discovered in a salt mine near the Baltic Sea could unleash “the very hordes of hell upon this world”

The Crown is discovered in 1903 by Alexander Graham Bell, when he went to Italy to bring the bones of James Smithson to America. The Crown remained sealed in a hidden room in the Smithsonian until 1944. In that  year the Demon Crown was stolen. And now the thief is unleashing those hordes on the world!!

Now Gray, Seichan and the rest of the Sigma Force have three days to discover who.has unleashed this terror. And to find a cure for the havoc the swarm is causing on the environment and the people of Hawaii and on Seichan.

While Gray and Seichan are tracking the perpetrator in the Pacific, another Sigma crew travels to the Baltic and Poland to track down the source of the Demon Crown. As such  they hope to find a method to combat the deadly wasps and maybe a possible cure. The trip takes them to Tallinn, Estonia then along the ancient Amber Road to Poland and finally the Weiliczka Salt Mines! The question throughout their quests is will they be in time!!

Bottom Line:

As far as I’m concerned The Demon Crown is a five-star book! It has everything I look for in a thriller. An action-packed fast-moving story, with great characters and a barrel load of stuff that was new to me!

I knew very little about James Smithson the Englishman who bequeathed his scientific collection to the US. That inheritance formed the foundation of the Smithsonian Institute.

Additionally the scientific information about the wasps was at times over my head but was utterly fascinating. And the thoughts of containing an environmental attack like the one portrayed in The Demon Crown was scary!

The Weiliczka Salt Mines

Finally, the information about Amber and the Weiliczka Salt Mines was also extremely interesting. Since I knew nothing about the history of salt mining in Poland. So I obviously didn’t know anything about the Cathedrals, rooms and various carvings I  the subterranean labyrinth of the mine. Here is a picture of the show piece of the mine the Chapel of St. Kinga all carved out of salt! You can read more about the mine at Wikipedia and at the web-page for the mine.

 

Anyway The Demon Crown is great so check it out! As for me, I’m returning to the town of Promise Falls , New York  via Linwood Barclay’s latest Parting Shot

 

 

2018 Winter Releases Include Some “Must Reads”

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2018 Winter Releases Have Me Pumped

Oh that I was a Speed Reader!

Even though  I already have a boatload of books to read in January, I still am on the quest for new reads. So I checked out the new releases scheduled for the first three months of 2018. The following twelve books are written by authors whose works I have previously read and enjoyed. The ones that I have written about can be categorized as “must reads” While the others are should-reads and would be read, if there were enough hours in the day!!!

JANUARY RELEASES

City of Endless Night (Agent Pendergast series) – Lincoln and Child – January 16, 2018

The Wife: A Novel of Psychological Suspense – Alafair Burke – January 23, 2018

The Night Trade - Barry Eisler

The Night Trade (A Livia Lone Novel Book 2) – Barry Eisler

Last year I read the first book in this series Livia Lone. Fom Goodreads…

Seattle PD sex-crimes detective Livia Lone knows the monsters she hunts. Sold by her Thai parents along with her little sister, Nason; marooned in America; abused by the men who trafficked them…the only thing that kept Livia alive as a teenager was her determination to find Nason….

The Night Trade

For sex-crimes detective Livia Lone, a position with a government anti-trafficking task force is a chance to go back to Thailand to ferret out Rithisak Sorm, the trafficking kingpin behind her own childhood ordeal.

But after a planned takedown in a nightclub goes violently awry, Livia discovers that she’s not the only one hunting Sorm

Sounds like another winner to me!

 

Hell Bent Gregg Hurwitz

Hell Bent:An Orphan X Novel (Orphan X #3) – Gregg Hurwitz– January 30, 2018

I have read first two books in this series and again have enjoyed them. The Nowhere Man is a great character and both of the stories themselves have been fast-moving and exciting. From Goodreads….

The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It’s said that when he’s reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them.

But he’s no legend.

Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He’s also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as part of the off-the-books black box Orphan program, designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence assets—i.e. assassins. He was Orphan X. Evan broke with the program, using everything he learned to disappear.

 

FEBRUARY RELEASES

Force of Nature – Jane Harper – February 6, 2018

The Deceivers – (A John Wells Novel) – Alex Berenson – February 6, 2018

Sunburn – Laura Lippman – February 20,2018

The Hush - John Hart

The Hush: A Novel – John Hart February 27, 2018

There are some authors that are great storyteller, some can create a great sense of place, and some can create great characters. John Hart does all three        extremely well.  In fact…

Hart has won two Edgar Allan Poe Awards for Best Novel, one in 2008 for Down River, and the second in 2010 for The Last Child. He is the only author in history to win the best novel Edgar Award for consecutive novels. He also won the Barry Award (2010; novel) for The Last Child, the SIBA Book Award (2012; fiction) for Iron House, and the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (2009) for The Last Child. Read More

John Hart begins back two characters in  The Hush. Johnny Merriman the lead character in The Last Child and his friend Jack Cross The Hush picks up their lives five years after the events in The Last Child. I can’t wait for this one!!

MARCH RELEASES

I'll Keep You Safe - Peter May

 

I’ll Keep You Safe – Peter May – March 6, 2018

I’ll Keep You Safe is another book that I am eagerly awaiting.  May while not returning to past characters he is returning to a past setting for this book. The setting is the Outer Hebrides islands of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides were the setting for May’s Lewis Trilogy which included: Black House, The Chessmen and The Lewis Man. Three of my favorite books.

The Blackhouse won the U.S. Barry Award for Crime Novel of the Year and the national literature award in France, the CEZAM Prix Litteraire. The Lewis Man won the French daily newspaper Le Télégramme’s 10,000-euro Grand Prix des Lecteurs. More About Peter May

From Goodreads…..

Niamh had lived all her life on the Isle of Lewis and had known Ruairidh Macfarlane since her school days. When they became husband and wife, Niamh couldn’t have been happier. They were partners in their business of Ranish Tweed, as well as life partners. Niamh accompanied Ruairidh on business trips often – it was the trip to Paris which changed her world forever.

The evening of their arrival in Paris, Niamh confronted her husband with her suspicions of his affair with a Russian designer – his denial was immediate, but still he left the hotel to attend the meeting. Her horror was absolute when the car her husband was in exploded violently, showering debris everywhere – no one could possibly have survived. Bereft and desolate, Niamh felt she could no longer face life – her beloved Ruairidh whom she’d thought she would spend the rest of her life with, was gone…More

Once again, I can’t wait!

The Bishop’s Pawn : A Novel (Cotton Malone – Steve Barry – March 20, 2018

The Disappeared - C J Box

The Disappeared (A Joe Pickett Novel) – March 27, 2018

The Disappeared is the 18th book in the Joe Pickett series from C.J. Box. I think I started reading this series at around book  two or three and Have only missed one! (Note to self: read Stone Cold). Needless to say This is a favorite series. There are some series where the characters don’t change a lot but that is not the case with Joe Pickett. Over the course of the series, Joe’s daughters have grown, his best friend Nate has evaded the law and Joe has lost a lot of Government trucks… from Goodreads

 

Wyoming’s new governor isn’t sure what to make of Joe Pickett, but he has a job for him that is extremely delicate. Three British executives, all women, never came home from the high-end guest ranch they were visiting, and the British Embassy is pressing hard. Pickett knows that happens sometimes–these ranches are stocked with handsome young cowboys, and “ranch romances” aren’t uncommon. But three disappearances? That’s too many.

At the same time, with the help of his friend Nate Romanowski, he’s been called to investigate the killings of several bald and golden eagles–a serious federal crime. The more he investigates both cases, the more someone wants him to go away. Is it because of the missing woman or the dead eagles? Read more

 

Lost Creed - Alex Kava

Lost Creed: (Ryder Creed Book 4) – Alex Kava – March 29, 2018

Last but not least comes Lost Creed, the fourth instalment of the Ryder Creed series from Alex Kava. From Goodreads….

Fifteen years ago Ryder Creed’s sister, Brodie disappeared from an interstate rest stop. She was only eleven and Creed was fourteen. Since then her disappearance has haunted him, so much so that Creed has dedicated his life to his K9 business. He rescues abandoned dogs and trains them for scent detection. Together they search for the lost and missing……Read More

I must say that I still like the Maggie O’Dell  lols by Ms. Kava a little better than the Ryder Creed books but since Maggie makes an appearance in most of the books,let’s call it a tie!

Anyway, in Lost Creed Maggie while working on a case a thousand miles from Ryder stumbles upon a clue that may explain what happened to Brodie all those years ago!

Bring it on! Wait I have to wait into March 29th!

Well at least I have a lot to read between  now and then!!

P.S, The feature image is one of the 2018 Winter Releases Cutting Edge by Ward Larsen. I read three books in the David Slaton series from Ward Larsen in 2017. I guess this can count as a “must read”!! You can find out more about the book here

 

Don’t Let Go Another Winner from Harlan Coben

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Since I reached my 60 book goal earlier in the month, I have finished two addition books. The first book I finished was Don’t Let Go. The latest thriller from Harlan Coben. The second was Visitation Street by Ivy Pachoda. Both books were really good reads. My take on Don’t Let Go follows:

About Don’t Let Go 

Don’t Let Go is another fast-paced thriller from Coben. In this episode New Jersey Detective Napoleon “Nap” Dumas….

….hasn’t been the same since senior year of high school, when his twin brother Leo and Leo’s girlfriend Diana were found dead on the railroad tracks—and Maura, the girl Nap considered the love of his life, broke up with him and disappeared without explanation. For fifteen years, Nap has been searching, both for Maura and for the real reason behind his brother’s death. And now, it looks as though he may finally find what he’s been looking for.

The mysterious  Nike missile base located in Nap’s hometown is . Nap discovers that his brother Leo, along with Maura and several others were members of the Conspiracy Club in high school.

The Nike base was the obsession of the Conspiracy Club. The base became an agricultural research center, when the military discontinued its use. However, The club didn’t think that was the case. And they continued to observe it. Now fifteen years after the night that Leo and Diane died, the other members of the club are being killed! Did the military kill Leo and Diane? And why are they killing again after fifteen years?

Thoughts About Don’t Let Go

Once again Harlan Coben creates a great paging turning thriller about a man on a quest. Both the character and the storyline of Don’t Let Go are terrific.  As Nap tries find Maura the love of his life, but also to unearth the truth about his brother’s death. Goodreads writes this about the book…

With unmatched suspense and emotional insight, Harlan Coben explores the big secrets and little lies that can destroy a relationship, a family, and even a town in this powerful new thriller. Read More

I always enjoy both Coben’s stand alone thrillers, as well as, his Myron Bolitar series. (Myron does make a question appearance in Don’t Let Go) And as a native New Jerseyian I love the setting. I do wish though that his characters would visit South Jersey!

I also enjoy the use of the Nike base in the story. As a baby boomer I can relate to the air raid drills where we hid under our desks! I also know where there is at least one Nike base here in Burlington County, NJ.

Author’s Website
Wikipedia
Goodreads
Amazon

Harlan Coben

About Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben (born 1962) is a renowned #1 New York Times bestselling American author known for fast-paced thrillers and mysteries characterized by multiple twists, domestic secrets, and long-buried past events resurfacing

John Verdon -Shut Your Eyes Tight – (Dave Gurney #2)

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Shut Your Eyes Tight - John Verdon

Shut Your Eyes Tight – John Verdon

Originally posted on March 14, 2012. Updated October 2025 with new links, images, and notes.

So yesterday I did it. I reached what I thought was an unreachable goal. When I finished Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon, I reached my goal of reading 60 books in 2017!

Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon is the second book in his Dave Guerney series. The main character in the book, Dave  Guerney, is a retired New York City homicide detective. He is a gifted detective and is the most decorated detective in NYPD history.

 An intriguing Case Comes to Dave

Fellow NYPD detective Jack Hardwick brings the case that forms the plot for Shut Your Eyes Tight  to Dave. The case is four months old case and involves the beheading of a bride on her wedding day. Jack brings Dave the case because he thinks the police are moving in the wrong direction. And he believes the Dave the Super Detective can use his skills to solve the case.

Initially, the case seems  to be a pretty open and shut. The new bride, of a noted psychologist, was the victim.   While the killer appears to be a Mexican who came to work for the psychologist as a gardener and rose to the position of assistant to said psychologist. The Mexican was the last person to see the bride alive and he has now vanished!

But after for months the police are no closer to finding the killer, than the day of the murder. Hardwock believes there is much more to the case than  do the two officers who are heading the investigation. He brought the case to Guerney for that reason . He believes that the great detective Guerney can solve the mystery.

Dave thinks the case is intriguing. His wife Madeleine sees it as a diruption of their new idyllic life.  Despite Madeleine‘s objections, Dave decides to help the victim’s mother and investigate for two weeks. Then report what he found to the mother and the police.

Dave Finds Out the Case IS like an Onion

When Jack Hartwicks brings  the  case to Dave, he says the case was like an onion. The removal of each layer reveals something new. And that’s just what Dave’s investigating reveals.

As Dave investigates his discoveries  turn the simple slam dunk case into the search for a serial killer! The question then becomes can he ever get to the center of the onion,  before he or his wife are the necat victims!

Bottom Line

I am now a fan of Dave Gurney the character and John Versin the writer. I look forward to moving onto book # 3 Let the Devil Sleep.  In fact I just checked the e-book editon out of my library! 

Anyway I enjoy the characters that Verson has created,  both Dave and Madeleine and the surrounding cast. I also enjoy the plots that Verdon has created.  The storyline in Shut Your Eyes Tight was like an onion and each new discovery gave the case a new look until the final pages!

Goodreads Rating. 3.97  My Rating 4.0. So Check it Out

Update Note : Since this post was written in 2012 John Verson has written six more Dave Gurney books. I have read one of them book 1 # 3 Let the Devil Sleep . I think it’s time to pickup this series again! Book #4 Peter Pan Must Die is in my Kindle Library!

Links

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Amazon

John Verdon

John P. Verdon is an American novelist. In 2010, Crown/Random House published his first mystery thriller, Think of a Number, the debut novel in the Dave Gurney detective series. Wikipedia

Born: 1942 (age 83 years), The Bronx, New York, NY

Education: Fordham University, Regis High School

Assassin’s Code – Ward Larsen – Slaton v. Terrorists – in France

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Assassin’s Code -Ward Larsen (David Slaton #4)

The other day Assassin’s Code by Ward Larsen became the 59th book I have read this year. That leaves only one more book to read before the end of the year to reach my goal of 60 books read!  It is also the third David Slaton novel I have read this year. Previously, I read Assassin’s Game and Assassin’s Silence in February and March respectively. All three have been terrific reads.

About David Slaton and Assassin’s Code

David Slaton is a retired kidon or an assassin. He worked for Mossad. After his last to adventures David along with his wife Catherine and their son Davy was living on a catamaran in the islands off of the Philippines.

One day his wife received a request for David to search for her missing husband. He had left on a fishing trip and not returned home.  It had been reported that his ship had been seen tied to the abandoned ship, Esperanza When he finds and boards the Esperanza, he encounters four men who have apprently been sent to kill him.

Slatin escapes leaving the men wounded or dead. He takes with him a memory stick with the name Slaton written on the side. Among the files on the memory stick is a picture of a man. It is the terrorist Ali Samir, who Slaton had assassinated  fifteen years earlier!

Meanwhile in France terrorists have struck again a bomb has rocked Grenoble. It has set France’s counterterrorist unit into action. The investigation into the bombing is led  by rising-star Zavier Baland. It is Baland who bears an uncanny resemblance to the terrorist Slaton had executed.

Hold on, could it be a terrorist long thought dead is now one step away from heading France’s  DGSI? More importantly what can David Slaton do to stop him?

My Thoughts about David Slaton and Assassin’s Code 

In David Slaton Ward Larsen has created one terrific character. David is an extraordinary assassin.  But he is also a husband and father and he  knows his work puts his family in danger. (See Assassin’s Silence) At least twice he has retired and gone off the grid to keep them safe. However, his sense of duty keeps drawing him back into service.

In Assassin’s Code that duty is to prevent a terrorist from ascending to the top of France’s counterterrorist unit.

Ward Larsen has created a fine character in David Slaton. In Assassin’s Code, he has also created two great characters: Zavier Baland and the assassin turned terrorist Malika.

Assassin’s Code plot twists and turns with the final answers to a myriad of questions are not revealed until the final pages.

When reading Assassin’s Code the reader can’t help but relate the actions and attack’s in the book to the current situation in France and Syria.

Bottom line :

Great read! So check it out! And also check out Assassin’s Silence and Assassin’s Game

Goodreads Rating: 4.38.    My Rating 4.5.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Ward Larsen

Author’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

 

Finding Gobi – Dion Leonard – A Wonderful Tale

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Finding Gobi: The true story of a little dog and an incredible journey – Dion Leonard

Dion Leonard and GobiDion Leonard’s  Finding Gobi is the typical boy finds dog, boy loses dog, boy searches for dog, ultimately finds him and brings him home. Only the boy is an ultra- marathoner who races in some of the most grueling races around the globe. And it was at one of those races that Leonard found Gobi. The race was a grueling seven-day 155 mile run that crosses the China’s Gobi Desert.

Gobi and Dion Leonard Meet

Actually, I guess it’s more correct to say Gobi found Leonard. That’s because at the start of the initial stage of the race, little Gobi started attacking The shoe covers Leonard had on his running shoes. The covers were in place because during the first part of the race,  the runners would be going up a sand dune! Anyway, as the race started Gobi started running too and stayed by Leonard’s side through the whole 26.2 miles! That night Gobi slept in Leonard’s tent.

The following morning Leonard and Gobi set off again on the next leg of the race. All and all Gobi stayed by Leonard’s side through three marathons! Of course there were a couple of times that   Dion had to carry Gobi.

When it came to cross the scorching black sands of the desert, which was virtually devoid of life, Leonard knew that he could risk allowing Gobi to run. So Gobi moved ahead with the race official and met Leonard at the finish line.

Bringing Gobi Home

When  the race ended Leonard couldn’t imagine leaving Gobi behind. But bringing a dog out of China and into the United Kingdom (the Leonards live in Edinburgh, Scotland) proved to be quite a challenge. The cost in money and time was going to be much higher than anticipated. Ultimately  bringing Gobi home would require crowdfunding and a six month sabbatical for Leonard.

Additionally, after Leonard returned home to begin the arrangements for bringing Gobi to Scotland Gobi went missing. So Leonard went back to China to join in the search!

Bottom Line

Finding  Gobi is a great book on many levels. If you are a runner you can enjoy Leonard’s description of the Gobi Desert race,as well as, past races. However, Finding Gobi is also about the impact that an animal  can have on a person‘s life

At first saving a little orphaned dog he had named Gobi seemed like the right thing to do for Gobi. But eventually it was an even better thing to do for Dion Leonard.

So check it out!

Goodreads Rating:4.11. My Rating : 4.0*

*Really,really liked it!

Links for the Further Exploration of Gobi

Wikipedia
FindingGobi.com
Facebook: Dion Leonard
Facebook
Goodreads

Book 57 on a goal of 60 books read in 2017!

 

DNA and Ancestry.com Help Uncover Ashton Ancestors

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The longer I go without writing a new post the harder it becomes to write one. One reason is that so much has been happening I really don’t know where to start.so at e I’ll just start where I left off.

 My last post was about my family genealogy. At the end of the last post I wrote that I would tell you how DNA helped me discover some new cousins. So here goes…

DNA and the Daughters of John Sherrington Ashton and Mary Warwick

My great-grandfather John Sherrington Ashton III married Mary E Warwick in April of 1881. For many years, I thought that they had five children. Recently, though I discovered they actually had six!

Mary Catherine Ashton was their first child. She was born in 1882. Son Edward was born in 1883, he was followed by William in 1884. Blanche was born in 1886 and Horace in 1889.

Those were the five children that I had discovered  through my genealogy research. My mother only knew William or “Uncle Bill” as she knew him. She often would tell my that he lived out in Pennsylvania near the Devon horse show.

Alice Matilda Ashton

John and Mary’s last child was Alice Matilda who was born in 1890. While I knew about Mary and had her listed in my tree, I did not know about Alice until I was notified of an extremely high 3rd to 4th cousin match with a James Smith from New York.

When my wife and I looked at his tree we saw his grandmothers maiden name was Alice Ashton and she was born in 1891. The first place we looked for Alice was the 1900 census. We found a nine-year old Alice Ashton living with a Danse family in Monroe Township in Middlesex County New Jersey. She was listed as a servant!

Alice  Matilda Smith

We then went back and searched birth records for an Alice Ashton born in New Jersey in 1891. What we found was an unnamed female born on March 7, 1891 to John and Mary Ashton. So we returned to the 1900 census. Luckily the 1900 census lists not only birth years but months. Alice was listed as being born in March of 1891. Bingo!

Alice married twice. Her second husband was Sydney Andrew Smith. Sydney and Alice had six children. Their third child Daniel Howard Smith was born in 1914 and was James Smith’s (my match) grandfather.!

Alice died in 1932 at the age of 41. Her father John Sherrington did not pass away until six years later in 1938.

Mary Catherine Ashton 

As I wrote earlier while I know of the existence of Mary Catherine Ashton I didn’t know what ever happened to her.  The  lack of an 1890 census creates one of the great black holes in genealogical research. There was an 1890 census but  it was destroyed by a fire. The problem that’s created can be seen in the case of Mary Catherine.

Typically the first thing you do when you establish someone’s birthday you look for that person in the next census. The child is usually recorded in that census with their parents. As such, since Mary Catherine was born in 1882 the first place you would look for her would be in the 1890 census. But like I wrote that census is gone. The next place would be in the 1900 census.. sometimes children born early in the decade have already left the family which was Mary’s case.

Anyway, there is no Mary Ashton in the 1900 census that I had come across so all that was in my tree was her birthday and mother and father.

A High DNA Match Helps Find Mary Catherine

That was the case until I got a very high 4 to 6th cousin match on Ancestry DNA with a glgottlieb1. Initially, when I saw the name Gottlieb I thought the connection would be through my father’s side of the family both his sides of the family have German  roots. But when I looked at the tree for the person in question the first name I saw was Mary Catherine Ashton.

Lawrence Emil Gottlieb was the father of the person tested. Lawrence was born in Philadelphia in 1908.  In the Gottlieb tree, Lawrence’s mother is Mary Catherine Ashton and his father is Jacob Emil Gottlieb.  Checking the 1910 census. In the 1910 census I found a Mary Gottlieb married to a Jacob Emil. Mary’s birth year was listed as 1882 and her place of birth was New Jersey. Mary and Emil have three children Francis, Clarence, and Lawrence. So far it’s the right family.

The Trail to John Sherrington Gottlieb

In the 1920 census the family had moved to Baltimore. They now had five children Catherine and John S. Catherine was born around 1911 and John S in 1917. Soon my wife found John S’s death date and confirmation that his name was in fact John Sherrington Gottlieb! The name and the high DNA match is enough for me to declare John’s mother Mary Ashton the daughter of my great-grandfather John Sherrington Ashton III!

As I was writing this post, I realized that I did not have a death date for Mary Catherine. A search at Ancestry.com resulted in finding the death of a Mary Gottlieb who was born in 1882 in 1920. This has to be Mary Ashton but I will need to do a little more research to confirm it.

The one thing that struck me was that both of the daughters of John Sherrington III and Mary Warwick died before John. And since they were both in different states, did he even know of their passing?

 

A Fine Morning Meditation, A Good Run, Then the Fall….

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And I Don’t Mean the Season…..

Morning Meditation Music

Yesterday morning I started my day with a 30-minute meditation. The soundtrack for the meditation was Weightless (Ambient Transmissions Vol 2) from the Ambient New Age band Marconi Union. According to their website Marconi Union….

…… were asked to write a piece of relaxing music in consultation with Lyz Cooper, the UK’s leading sound therapist and founder of the British Academy of Sound Therapy. During the process of recording the track, a number of musical ideas captured their imagination. Unable to explore them all in a one piece but keen to work further on them, it soon became apparent that this was turning into an album-length work. Feeling like this was a natural follow-up to Beautifully Falling Apart (Ambient Transmissions Vol.1), it was decided that this album should become part of their Ambient Transmissions series.

Weightless (Ambient Transmissions Vol.2) comprises of six tracks, simply entitled Part 1 to Part 6. The tracks are minimal, combining warm drones and drifting sounds with occasional sparse rhythms.

About Weightless Part 1

Part 1 is the original commissioned track which has been hailed as ‘the world’s most relaxing song’. Created instinctively and intuitively by Marconi Union it has been claimed by others to have therapeutic properties in the way the track almost appears to have a heartbeat running through it which slows down very gently throughout the piece, encouraging a deep sense of relaxation in the body. Its use of specific rhythms, deep bass tones, frequencies and intervals induce an almost trance like state in the listener. It has already attracted over 12 million worldwide views on YouTube and over 4 million followers on Soundcloud.

Basically, the reason that I used the album was because of the highlighted statement…..how can you NOT meditate to the world’s most relaxing song!! Anyway the meditation was relaxing and after a short yoga routine with lots of stretching of my legs I was ready for my run.

The Run’s Soundtrack – Spotify Cardio Playlist

When I thought about the soundtrack for the run, I decided to do something different. I decided to use a playlist instead of a full album. So I went to Spotify and downloaded the Cardio playlist. Now there’s no question that the music contained in this playlist is not the music that is typically in my music rotation! The reason that I went with the playlist was that I knew it would contain music with a strong driving beat that would keep me moving!!

The Run

So I was off on a four-mile run. I chose one of my newer courses. (Click here to see route) The course is fairly flat and has a good amount of shade. And while it was a fairly cool morning the sun was bright and that usually causes may sweat glands to start working!

My pace was under 10:30, 1027 to be exact. and while I slowed down a little over the third mile, I still crossed the 5K mark at 32:55 which was not bad. After that I was hot and tired and I still had almost a mile to go. Since I had modified the run from the original course I have aid out for that course I needed to just add a few turns to make up the necessary distance.

Then it happened I was probably less than a quarter-mile from finishing, when I tripped on the sidewalk and went down! Luckily, I only received scrapes on my hand, elbow and knee. And the Speck case on my iPhone 7S+ did its job and kept my phone screen in tact!! So I got up and completed the run very slowly and today I feel fine!! Anyway, here are the results.

The Results

Total Distance miles 4.0   Total Time: 43:20  Average Pace: 10:49 (m/m)

Mile Splits Mile 1: 10:23 m/m Mile 2 – 10:30 m/m   Mile 3 10:52 m/m Mile 4  11:31 m/m

Average Heart Rate ; 151 bpm Max Heart Rate 170 bpm

Calories Burned: 593 cals

Note that last mile! I’m just glad that I got up and could finish the run!! In closing I will say that the FALL wiped out any memories that I had about the soundtrack! I didn’t hate the music and at different times in the run I was able ti get my stride in rhythm with the music!! So maybe I’ll try other pop music soundtracks!! Or maybe an electronica or dance playlist!! Any suggestions????

Here’s is “Weightless Part 1” Is it the Most Relaxing Song ever? Check it Out!

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