Author: ekkarn

Where My September Reads Took Me – Part I

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Where My First Three Reads in September Took Me…..

Ok so now that we are eight days into October I think it’s about time that I took you on a little trip. On the trip we will visit the places I was taken by the books that t I read in September.

Night of the Living Demon Slayers - Angie Fox

New Orleans – Night of the Living Demon Slayer – Angie Fox

Our first stop is New Orleans, which was the location of  the seventh adventure of Demon Slayer Lizzie Brown chronicled in Night of the Living Demon Slayer. The adventure was put to paper by Angie Fox. In this adventure Lizzie’s is requested by a necromancer Evan Carpenter to go with him to New Orleans and aid in figuring out what voodoo bokor Osse Pade is up to. So because Lizzie owes Carpenter big-time she is off to New Orleans to face down Pade. And as always Lizzie’s grannie and her biker coven of witches go along to provide support. Lizzie also gets some aid from her shape-shifting husband, Dmitiri!  This is only the second book I have read from  Ms. Fox but they both have been a fun adventure!

Rating 3 stars out of 5. (Really liked it and I will read more when I need to escape from more grizzly adventures)

Paradise Valley - C J Box

The next stop on my month-long adventure was Paradise Valley, Montana where Cassie Dewell and the Lizard King face-off in Paradise Valley, the fourth book of C.J. Box’s Highway Quartet. Cassie has been chasing the Lizard King, a long-distance trucker and serial killer for three years. The Lizard King, was so named because he preys on prostitutes on the nation’s highways. The prostitutes are known as lot lizards.

Cassie almost caught The Lizard King once but he got away. Now working for the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff’s department she thinks she has created the perfect trap to catch him.But when things go south Cassie loses her job. Meanwhile, Kyle Westergaard, a troubled teen and a friend have finally taken off down river on their great adventure. Soon Kyle turns up missing and Cassie sets out to find him. However, it soon appears that the trail to Kyle may also lead Cassie to the Lizard King and back to Paradise Valley where the hunt began!

C.J. Box is one of my must read authors. I usually am quick to read the latest Joe Pickett novel! My hope is that we will hear more about Cassie Dewell!

Rating: Four stars – (really, really liked it!!)

White Rage - Carol Anderson Ph.D tops on my September reading list

 

Across America – White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson 

The next book White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson Ph.D.was my first of four non-fiction books that I read in September. This short book took me around America in time and space. While it is a short book it packs a lot of punch! Ms. Anderson traces America;s racial divide from the south’s Reconstruction period though the Jim Crow years and the Great Migration right up to the current events that seem to have widen that divide. Along the way she presented to me many things about the black experience in America that I didn’t know , or knew and forgot. This is a book that should be read in every high school and college across America! And maybe then we can take a hard look at ourselves and all work towards narrowing that divide!!

Rating: Five Stars out of 5! That means it was an amazing book! Read it Damn It!

 

 

 

Three Great Books Ignite My September Reading!!

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A Demon Slayer, a Lizard King and White Rage Power the Start of My September Reading

Over the first eight days of September, I finished three books, bringing the total number of books I have read in 2017 to 41. Goodreads says that I am back on pace to read my projected goal of 60 books. The three books I finished are……

Night of the Living Demon Slayers - Angie Fox

The Night of the Living Demon Slayer by Angie Fox

Ok or it’s not War and Peace, but it’s more fun! I have never read War and Peace but I don’t think there are any necromancers, voodoo priestesses or granny motorcycle riding witches in it. So what fun is that!

From Amazon….

Lizzie Brown is all for letting the good times roll…until a dark voodoo church rises up in the bayou outside of New Orleans. Now ritual fires are burning long into the night and the dead are having a hard time staying that way. 

Lizzie goes in undercover to put a stop to the madness. Good thing she can count on her sexy shape-shifter husband, as well as her Grandma’s gang of biker witches. Too bad nobody’s watching her trusty dog, Pirate, who has become way too friendly with the phantom haunting a long-forgotten Victorian séance room. 

Secrets and spirits abound. Nothing is what it seems. And when legions of the dead threaten the city, there may be no stopping them. 

Ok or it’s not War and Peace, but it’s more fun! I have never read War and Peace but I don’t think there are any necromancers, voodoo priestesses or granny motorcycle riding witches in it. So what fun is that!

Bottom line: Ratings Goodreads 4.3    A Sixties Man 3.5

I gave this book a rating of 3.5 out of 5. My reasoning is that while Angie Fox’s books are always filled with great dialogue and interesting characters. They aren’t War and Peace. i.e. while the books are great fun, they will never be mistaken for great literature. And actually that is not a bad thing!!

Author’s Website

Paradise Valley - C J Box

Paradise Valley – C J Box

Paradise Valley is the fourth book in The Highway Quartet from C.J.Box. The series started with Back of Beyond, where  readers met Cody Hoyt. Hoyt travels Back of Beyond to save his son from a killer who may be leading a multi-day wilderness horseback trip into the remote corners of Yellowstone National Park that his son is on. In this book the reader meets a young fourteen year-old girl Gracie Sullivan.

In book two of the series Cody has lost his job as a detective after falling off the wagon but he sets out to discover what happened to two young teenage girls who vanished on a lonely Montana highway. One of the girls is young Gracie Sullivan, Cody works with his old rookie partner Cassie Dewell to track down the girls The main suspect is a long-haul trucker who may have snatched the girls. And it may not have been his first kidnapping and he may not be working alone!

In book three Badlands, Cassie moves to North Dakota and again confronts the killer from The Highway now known as The Lizard King. The name comes from the many prostitutes he has killed on his long-hauls across the country.

Finally book four comes full circle and Cassie eventually follows the Lizard King to Paradise Valley for potentially a final confrontation.

Bottom Line:  Ratings Goodreads 4.3    A Sixties Man 4.5

As always C.J. Has written a page-turning story with great characters. I love the way Box connected the last book back to the first book.

While The Highway Quartet may conclude that quartet of books, I hope it is not the end of Cassie Dewell. Maybe the offer from “Bull”!Mitchell’s daughter who is a lawyer for Cassie to become an investigator for her opens a new avenue for Box to explore. Maybe Cassie can even join Joe Pickett for an adventure!  You can listen to C.J. Box talk about Paradise Valley here. In the interview CJ. discusses the possible future of Cassie Dewell

White Rage - Carol Anderson Ph.D.

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide – Carol Anderson, Ph.D.

In the short and powerful White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide author Carol Anderson traces the racial divide in America from the end of the Civil War through the election of our first black president Barack Obama. While this book is quite short (164 pages) it is very powerful and super information Actually I would be hard pressed to list be the number of times I thought “I didn’t know that or that is unbelievable” while I was reading this book.

Natasha Trethewey, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Native Guard and two-time poet laureate of the United States wrote this about the book

” White Rage is a harrowing account of our national history during the century and a half since the Civil War. – even more troubling for what it exposes about our present, our deep and abiding racial divide. This is necessary reading for anyone interested in understanding and perfecting – our union.”

As I read White Rage I thought, this should be required reading in most High School classes and definitely in all college history or political science classes!

In the book Ms Anderson looks at the struggle for black equality and justice through Reconstruction, the Great Migration, and he aftermath of Brown vs  Board of Education. As well as, the Civil Rights movement and the rolling back of those Rights from Nixon to Reagan. Particularly disturbing was the section of Reagan and the creation of the crack epidemic!

Ms Andersen also discusses the effect of the election of our first black president. And the Republican’s subsequent attempts and success at voter suppression. All aimed at disenfranchising black and Latino voters.l

Read More about Carol Anderson Ph. D.  here

Bottom Line:  Rating:  GoodReads 4.39   A Sixties Man : 4.75

Definitely required reading for all Americans who are concerned about the current racial divide in our country. It is a divide that must be closed. Particularly, if we as a nation want to live up to our national ideals. Especially the ideal -“that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”!

The Secrets She Keeps: A Stand-Out by Michael Robotham

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The Secrets She Keeps – Michael Robotham

Ever since I read Suspect book one in the Joe O’Loughlin series from Michael Robotham I have been a fan. The Secrets She Keeps Robotham’s fourth stand alone novel only increased my love for his books.  His three other stand alone books are The Night Ferry, Life or Death, and Bombproof. Bombproof is the only one of the four I have not read yet! Boo me!

About Michael Robotham’s Books

From Michael’s Website...

Michael’s novels have since been translated into 23 languages and have won or been shortlisted for numerous awards including:
The Crime Writer’s Association Gold Dagger (won) LIFE OR DEATH 2015 (shortlisted) SAY YOU’RE SORRY 2013.
The Crime Writer’s Association Steel Dagger (shortlisted) THE NIGHT FERRY and SHATTER.
The Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel (won 2005 and 2008) LOST and SHATTER.
The Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel (shortlisted) 2016 LIFE OR DEATH Read More

 

But let’s get back to The Secrets She Keeps . In The Secrets She Keeps there are two shes. Agatha and Meghan, They come from different backgrounds but both are keeping big secrets, Robotham suspensively exposes those secrets, bit by bit, throughout the developing story.

On his website Robotham writes this about the book…..

THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS is seeded in a story that I covered as journalist many years ago, but I can’t reveal the details without giving too much of the plot away. I can tell you about the two narrators, who are both pregnant and expecting their children on the same day.

Meghan Shaughnessy was born into a comfortable middle-class family, went to private schools and university, worked for a magazine, and then met a handsome and successful man and married him. They five in a lovely house in a nice area of London and have two children, a boy and a girl.
Agatha Fyfle was abandoned by her father, raised by her mother, and spent time in foster care. She lives in a one-bedroom flat and works in a supermarket, stacking shelves and waiting for her boyfriend – the father of her child – to call her.

I have written both of these women in the first person because I think first-person narrators create an immediate intimacy with readers. You are watching the world through their eyes. They are not kick-ass heroines like Buffy or Lisbeth or Katniss or Arya Stark, nor are they damsels in distress. They are strong, vulnerable, intelligent, empathetic women, who both have a terrible secret.

Bottom Line

I have rated this book a strong 5 out of 5. The Secrets She Keeps has everything one wants in a psychological thriller. Two well-drawn characters whose lives and secrets are on a collision course. Along with a wild post-collision ride.

Along the way Robotham also develops strong secondary characters  in Meghan’s husband Jack and Agatha ‘s boyfriend/ fiancé Hayden.

Then there is just Michael Robotham’s fine writing. Several times I stopped and said to myself. I like that line.  That’s just nothing something I often do!

Here is my favorite

She says I should reach out and build bridges, but I think certain bridges are meant to burn and it’s a shame some people can’t be on them when it happens.

So The Secrets She Keeps s is one of my favorites of  2017 and could be one of yours, too. So check it out!

Oh, I did read on Michael’s website that there will be a new Joe O’Loughlin book release in 2018. I can’t wait.

There are eight books currently in the series so if you start now maybe you can read them all before the next one’s released. Believe me it’s worth it!

Links

Michael Robotham Website
Amazon
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads;

About Michael Robotham

Michael Robotham is an Australian crime fiction writer who has twice won the CWA Gold Dagger award for best novel and twice been shortlisted for the Edgar Award for best novel. His eldest child is Alexandra Hope Robotham, professionally known as Alex Hope, an Australian producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Wikipedia

Born: 1960 (age 64 years), Casino, Australia

Notable awards: The CWA Gold Dagger, 2015, 2020

Notable works: Life or Death

 

Winterlong – Mason Cross (Carter Blake # 3)

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A Wild Ride as Winterlong tries to Eliminate Carter Blake

Winterlong is the third installment of Mason Cross’s Carter Blake series. So after chasing down two serial killers who were part of Winterlong with the mysterious Mr Blake in this book Blake is targeted for elimination  by Winterlong.

Carter Blake left Winterlong five years prior to the start of this tale. His deal with the then Director of the organization was – you leave me alone and I won’t tell what your operatives really do!  For five years that deal held but now there’s a new director and she wants to tie up any loose ends. Carter Blake is a loose end!

The hunt truly begins when the other Winterlong operative who is operating under the same deal as Blake is executed! Once Blake is confronted with the news of this execution he knows he is going to have a fight on his hands and he needs that information he has on Winterlong as a chip to bargain for his life. His only hope is to get that intell before Winterlong gets it.

Thoughts on Winterlong

I thought  The Killing Season was a very good debut novel. I liked book two The Samaritan a little  better. Finally after many weeks of sitting on my library books to  be read shelf I got to Winterlong. It was worth the wait. I believe that this is the best Carter Blake book yet. And I am not alone here are the ratings for the book at Goodreads The Killing Season (Book 1) 3.90, The Samaritan (Book 2) 3.93, Winterlong (Book 3) 4.27!

One of the aspects of a series book that I always think about is can the book be enjoyed without reading the other books. The answer is probably yes, But I do believe that you really need to read the first two books before diving into Winterlong. Books 1 and 2 in the series established several things. First, Blake is good at what he does (finds people who don’t want to be found). And secondly, some Winterlong operatives enjoyed the killing part of their job just a little too much.

The one thing that was not revealed in the first two books was what fully went on in Winterlong and why did Blake leave  The answers are revealed in Winterlong and they’re scary!

Bottom Line   Rating 4.5/5

This year has been a good year for me and thrillers. Among the 37 books that I have read this year I have met some great new characters. Cross’s Carter Blake is one of my favorites. Other characters who I discovered this year are Ward Larsen’s David Slaton and Chris Holm’s Michael Kendricks

Winterlong is presented in a variety of ways. First Carter Blake’s current trials are told in the first person. While the events that led him to leave Winterlong are told in third person flashbacks. The pace of the story is rapid, As such, the reader wants to keep reading page after page. So Check it out!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Mason Cross

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon

 

Dick Gregory – The World Says “Thank-You and We’ll Miss You!”

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 R.I.P. – Dick Gregory (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017) 

 

Today we are celebrating the birthdays of Ginger Baker and Robert Plant. But  we are also mourning the loss of comedian and Civil Rights Activist Dick Gregory.

from the Associated Press – COMEDIAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST DICK GREGORY DIES AT 84 – DAISY NGUYEN

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dick Gregory, the comedian and activist and who broke racial barriers in the 1960s and used his humor to spread messages of social justice and nutritional health, has died. He was 84.

Gregory died late Saturday in Washington, D.C. after being hospitalized for about a week, his son Christian Gregory told The Associated Press. He had suffered a severe bacterial infection.

As one of the first black standup comedians to find success with white audiences, in the early 1960s, Gregory rose from an impoverished childhood in St. Louis to win a college track scholarship and become a celebrated satirist who deftly commented upon racial divisions at the dawn of the civil rights movement.

“Where else in the world but America,” he joked, “could I have lived in the worst neighborhoods, attended the worst schools, rode in the back of the bus, and get paid $5,000 a week just for talking about it?” Read More

 

Dick Gregory’s Humor

Like many I loved Dick Gregory’s humor. But I respected him more for his work as an advocate for Civil  Rights and Justice. I read his autobiography Nigger when I was in college and it certainly had an impact on the development of my political philosophy The one story that I love and remember from Nigger is the following…

 

Last time I was down South, I walked into this restaurant, and this white waitress came up to me and said, ‘We don’t serve colored people here.’
“I said, ‘That’s all right, I don’t eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken.’

“About then these three cousins come in, you know the ones I mean, Klu, Klucks, and Klan, and they say ‘Boy, we’re giving you fair warning. Anything you do to that chicken, we’re going to do to you.’

So I put down my knife and fork, and I picked up that chicken and I kissed it.

Here a two more classic examples  of his humor….

Sometime early in the first Playboy show a heckler in the back yelled, “Nigger!” Greg said, “Say that again, please. My contract calls for fifty dollars every time that word is used.”

Once we decided on the title, Nigger, he held his ground against the publishing house. I loved his dedication: “Dear Momma — Wherever you are, if you ever hear the word ‘nigger’ again, remember they are advertising my book.”

The world will miss his wit and his compassion. Certainly, he should be remembered in these troubling times! So if you are not familiar with Dick Gregory take some time today to explore the life and work of this amazing humanitarian!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Life and Times of Dick Gregory

Dick Gregory Website
Twitter
Wikipedia
Facebook
Amazon

 

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A So-So Run Made Better By Age-Graded Running Times!

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Using An Age-Graded Running Calculator Helps Me Stay Positive…

 

So the only things that were rolling through my head this morning as I ran down Long Beach Boulevard on Long Beach Island were thoughts about the Robert Earl Keen song “The Road Goes on Forever”. And that’s what it seemed to do! The second part of that thought was  ” I haven’t seen a party yet!”  The run was a two-mile straight run from 7th street to 52nd street. At 52nd street, I made a right turn and went slightly uphill to Ocean Boulevard. There I turned and headed north back to my starting point. The total run was four miles. And while it wasn’t that warm out, it was very humid. As a result, I was drenched in sweat when I stopped!! But it was a good run overall!

The Results

Total Distance:4.1 miles    Total Time: 44:55 Average Pace: 10:56 (m/m)

Mile Splits Mile 1: 10:31 m/m Mile 2 – 11:02 m/m   Mile 3 11:00 m/m Mile 4 11:16 m/m   0.1- 10:27 m/m

Average Heart Rate ; 144 bpm Max Heart Rate 163 bpm

Calories Burned:  593 cals.

My New Obsession Age-Graded Running Times

So my new favorite thing is Age-Grading, which is a way…..

….of putting all race participants on a level playing field, regardless of age or gender. This age grade calculator lets you compare your race times to older and younger runners, as well as those of the opposite sex. Simply input your data and your age-graded score and age-graded time will appear automatically.

As an example, a 40-year-old man who runs a 3-hour marathon would earn an age-graded score of 70.24%. To find your score, input your data in the dropdowns above.

Your age-graded score is the ratio of the approximate world-record time for your age and gender divided by your actual time.

Your age-graded time is your finish time adjusted to that of an open division participant using a factor for age and gender. Thus, the times for women and older participants are adjusted downward, while the times for most open division participants (such as 25-year-old men) remain the same. Read More at  Runner’s World

My Age-Graded Time Makes Me Feel a Whole Lot Better!

 

So here’s how this makes me feel good about my slow plodding along. When I input my time (44:54) for this morning’s run into the age-graded calculator I get the following…..

Age-Graded Score: 48.35%
Age-Graded Time: 34:57

That gives me an age-graded mile pace of 8:44 minutes per mile. Which is a to about the pace I could maintain 5 to 6 years ago! Anyway knowing that I am maintaining an equivalent pace considering my age makes me feel better. Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to get my race time lower (remember this was just a training run) because I do want to and now I think maybe I can!!

So if you’re an older runner like me, after your next run put your time and age into this calculator and see if it makes you feel a little better and makes you want to go out and run again!!

The Soundtrack for the run was Monuments from EdGuy.They are a heavy metal band from Germany. From The Metal Music Archives…..

Edguy is a power metal band from Fulda, Germany formed in 1992 and is currently signed to Nuclear Blast. The current lineup features Tobias Sammet on vocals (and occasionally keyboard), Jens Ludwig and Dirk Sauer on guitar, Tobias Exxel on bass, and Felix Bohnke on drums. They released their first album, Savage Poetry, in 1995 (re-recorded in 2000), and followed up with Kingdom of Madness in 1997, both when all members were still in their teens. Read More

 

Carter Blake Hunts The Samaritan (Hint Not a Good Samaritan)!

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The Samaritan – (Carter Blake #2) – Mason Cross

 

The Samaritan is book two in the Carter Blake series from Glasgow author Mason Cross. It is also the second of Blake’s adventures that I have read about.And I must say that I found this episode more enjoyable than the first. So I am really looking forward to Winterlong the third book in the series, that has been languishing on my library books to be read shelf for about five weeks!! See I checked it out of the library and then found out it was book three in the series. So I went back and read books one and two before partaking of book three.

The Story

 

In The Samaritan Carter Blake again seeks to find someone of doesn’t want to be found. In this case it is an old Winterlong team member Dean Crozier. As a member of Winterlong, Blake thought Crozier liked killing just a little too much. And now it appears that Crozier is back in his hometown of LA, preying upon young women in distress. After the bodies of three murdered women are found in shallow graves on an isolated LA hillside. Both Carter Blake and LAPD Detective Jessica Allen have seen the work of the Samaritan before. All three of the woman were tortured and then had their throats slashed with a rough bladed knife. Blake had seen the death strokes during his time with Winterlong. While Allen had seen them during her previous job in Washington D.C,

Blake soon comes to LA and offers his services to Detective Allen and her partner. Only this time Blake is not welcomed into the investigation.  In fact,  Blake has the tables turned on him, during the investigation, and  the hunter becomes the hunted!  But the ultimate question becomes – Can Allen and Blake catch the Samaritan before he takes more lives.

Thoughts About The Samaritan

 

It the beginning of this post I wrote that I enjoyed The Samaritan more than The Killing Season. There are several reasons for that increased enjoyment. First, I  enjoyed the overall plot and the pace of the book more in this  second book. That may be because I know Carter Blake a little better, but I don’t think that was all of it. Even though this is a pretty typical hunt for a serial killer book, I thought that Mason Cross added some big twists turning the hunter into the hunted and I never really saw the twist at the end coming. I also liked the character of Jessica Allen a little better than Elaine Banner in the first book. Jessica like Blake has an edge and often bucks the system when needed.

Bottom Line

Rating 4/5

I really really liked The Samaritan. I like the Carter Blake character more and more as his character grows with each book. The pages really flew by in the second half of the book! I couldn’t put it down! And when I did manage to put it down. it called me back very quickly!! Now I am off to read Winterlong where I know I’ll discover more about Carter Blake!! So Check these books out/ I do recommend that you start at the beginning of the series!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Mason Cross

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon

 

The Killing Season a Fine First Visit to the World of Carter Blake!

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📚 Series Spotlight: Carter Blake #1 – The Killing Season by Mason Cross

The Killing Season

Only five books were released in this series between 2014 and 2018, but I read them all—and they were really good. Here’s a look back at the one that kicked it off: The Killing Season, the debut novel by Mason Cross.

📖 About the Book

Carter Blake is not his real name. He used to work for a top-secret government unit known as Winterlong, but now he’s a man for hire, specializing in finding people who don’t want to be found. He’s eerily good at it—able to anticipate a target’s next move like a chess master.

In The Killing Season, Blake is hired to track Caleb Wardell, aka “The Chicago Sniper,” who escapes from death row just two weeks before his scheduled execution. The FBI brings Blake in to assist, and paired with Special Agent Elaine Banner, he begins a deadly cross-country pursuit.

The tension is high, the pacing fast, and the stakes feel real.

👤 About the Author

Mason Cross (born 1979, Glasgow) studied English at the University of Stirling and has worked as a tax officer, project manager, and even a pizza delivery driver. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Scribble, and First Edition. The Killing Season was his first novel, and it made quite a splash:

Longlisted for the 2015 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

🔍 Thoughts on The Killing Season

I really enjoyed this one. It was well-paced, suspenseful, and packed with a few great surprises.

I did think the prior connection between Blake and Wardell felt a bit forced—but it worked for the plot. The idea that Blake could consistently outmaneuver the FBI stretched believability a little, but hey—that’s why he’s the guy they call, right?

There’s a deliberate mystique around Blake; we don’t learn much about him, but that fits the “lone wolf” archetype. I immediately picked up the second book, The Samaritan, and can confirm it also starts strong.

Rating: 4/5 – Highly Recommended for fans of Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X or Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.

🗣️ What Others Say

“Pulse-pounding. Mason Cross launches into The Killing Season with no-holds barred… one of the best new series characters since Jack Reacher.” – Lisa Gardner

“Mason Cross has created an enigmatic character in Carter Blake… taut, intelligent writing that oozes suspense. A highly impressive debut.” – Matt Hilton

“An American setting, universal themes, top-class writing, Scottish author—it’s a recipe that makes a deadly impact.” – Daily Record

🔗 Further Exploration

Stay tuned—I’ll be revisiting the rest of the series soon!

A Good Morning Run – Music by Jon Spear Band

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A Strong Four-Mile Morning Run with Some Great Blues from the Jon Spear Band

 

Yesterday morning was almost a perfect morning for a run.It was mostly cloudy and the temperature was in the low 70s. The only drawback was that the relative humidity was slightly high. It was also  the mid to low 70s. Because of the cloud cover I really didn’t need to worry about shade.I also knew I wanted to run a fairly flat course. So I ended up basically running a 4 plus mile course around town that I usually run but I ran it in reverse.

I actually did make one mistake on the run. Since I was coming in the opposite direction than I usually do along a street in the first half of the run, I turned on the street before my actual turn. That street turned out to be a cul-de-sac so I had turn around and go back, get on the street I turned off of and make the turn on the right street!!

I ran the first mile in 10:25 and the good thing was that while I slowed down over the next three miles the drop-off wasn’t nearly as great as it was the other day!! So when I arrived at the end of the run, I still had enough left to muster a little sprint!

The Results

Totals –  Distance : 4.23 Miles   Time 45:35   Average Pace 10:46

Mile Splits – Mile 1 – 10:25  Mile 2 10:41 Mile 3 11:02  Mile 4 – 11:05   0.22 – 10:24

Average Heart Rate: 144 bpm     Peak Heart Rate : 166 bpm    End of Run 156 bpm

Calories Burned: 598

The Soundtrack –  Jon Spear Band – Hot Sauce

Jon Spear BandHot Sauce is the latest release from the Jon Spear Band. Okay, so I must admit that I am unfamiliar with this band. But the minute I heard “Bottom of the Bottle”,the first track on this terrific album, I knew I was going to love this album. Hot Sauce is the third release from the band. The band’s debut album Old Soul was released in 2014. They followed that album in 2016 with a live album appropriately titled Live Music is Better

After the release of these two highly praised  albums,, the Jon Spear Band had a fantastic 2016. Here are some the highlights of the ban’s 2016……

• Our 2nd CD, “Live Music is Better” was nominated by Blues Blast Magazine and Blues411 for Best Live Blues Recording of 2016
• We were listed in the top 100 of the Roots Music Report’s Top Contemporary Blues Album Chart – for the SECOND year in a row!
• We were a “Reflections in Blue” Top Pick for 2016
• WMHB Top 100 Blues Chart, 2016
• 2016 WAMMIE nominee for best Blues/Traditional R&B Recording (Thank you Washington Area Music Association)
• International Blues Challenge Finalist for 2017 “Best Self-Produced CD” award

About the Jon Spear Band

The Jon Spear Band is a collaboration of some of Central Virginia’s finest blues musicians. The band calls Charlottesville, Va. home. The band is lead, of course, by Jon Spear. From Jon’s biography at the band’s website….

Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist Jon Spear doesn’t admit how long he’s been performing but here’s a hint: Jon was in a band that opened for the Isley Brothers at the Capital Theatre in Port Chester NY when Twist and Shout was top-40 hit….

A contemporary of Jon’s is the band’s drummer John Stubblefield. Again from the band’s website…..

Drummer John Stubblefield started playing drums around the time the Beatles made their US debut. His dad owned radio stations and he grew up loving all styles of music……

The two young guns of the band are bassist Bassist Andy Burdetsky and guitarist Dara James

Andy Burdetsky has been playing bass since his junior high school days back in the mid 70’s. Andy was born and raised in the D.C. area where he was influenced by such great musicians as the Nighthawks, Danny Gatton and Charlie Byrd….

Dara James is an amazing young talent with outstanding vocal, guitar and harmonica skills far beyond his years. Dara’s grandfather gave him his first harmonica when he was about 5 and he joined his first band with his father — Upland Express — at the age of 11,…..

Here’s what Peter Merrett, of PBS 106.7FM, Melbourne writes about the band….

“Not many groups can boast two virtuoso guitarists as The Jon Spear Band does and few can match the writing skill of Jon Spear and Dara James – obviously a first class band that know precisely how to play together.”

You can read the complete biographies of the band members at the band’s website – link

About Hot Sauce

But let’s get back to Hot Sauce. Like I wrote previously, this is one really good album. There’s a bit of everything I like in an album in Hot Sauce. Good vocals, great guitar work and catchy songs. Here’s what the band writes about the songs on Hot Sauce…..

  • Natchez Burning (a moaning blues song about the disastrous 1940 Rhythm Club fire that killed over 200 people);
  • Hot Sauce (I’ve tried Tabasco and Cholula too, but none of them get me anywhere near as hot as you);
  • Hit the Quarter (a catchy beach house dance number);
  • Pierre Jourdan (the story of how one of New Orleans’s richest men became the Crescent City’s most famous ghost);
  • Geographical Cure (just what it sounds like);
  • Blues (a sad look at the decimation of African wildlife);
  • Blues for a Soldier (the ones who call for war the most are the ones who know it least)
  • Butt-Dial Kyle (hilarious butt-dialing faux pas including an errant 911 call); and more.

I have highlighted my favorites on the album. I would also add the opening track “Bottom of the Bottle”!

Bottom Line: Highly Recommended – So Check it Out!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of the Jon Spear Band

Artist Website
Facebook
Reverbnation
CDBaby

Here’s a playlist with some of my favorites from Hot Sauce

The Seventh Plague – James Rollins

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The Seventh Plague - James Rollins

Originally Posted July 2017 Revised and Updated April 2026

I do believe that I say this every time I read a new novel by James Rollins. I don’t know why I put off reading James Rollins books! His latest The Seventh Plague has been sitting on my “to be read” pile of library books for more than a month! Mistake! I finished it last night and it was great!

Winning the Battle- Books vs. Other Media

After finishing Charlie Donlea’s last book The Girl Who Was Taken I was reading his biography at his website. In it he writes about what makes a book good enough to win the battle between books and other media alternatives….

….And the answer is

The book has to call me back to it. If a story makes me think about it after I’ve put it down, if it makes me wonder what will happen next, if it makes me ponder where the characters are going and what is in store for them—then, when I’m free and able to spend leisure time on entertainment, hands down I’m reaching for that book before anything else.

 

Well, The Seventh Plague certainly kept calling me back! Typically, as I read a book I read to the end of a chapter and then go do something else. It seemed that every time I got to the end of a chapter in The Seventh P:lague, bam, something happened! And that something made it very hard to put the book down! It always left me feeling, I can’t wait to get back and see what happens!

Book: Edward come back

Me: I’ll be back as soon as possible!!

About The Seventh Plague

So let’s get back to The Seventh Plague. In the book James Rollins  blends a lot of history and science into an action packed compelling story! The story when archaeologist Harold McCabe who has been lost for two years in the desert in Sudan unexpectedly comes stumbling out of the desert. He wants to tell his story. However, he dies before his story is told.  After he dies, the doctors performing the autopsy on his partially mummifid body become ill with a mysterious disease. Soon the  mysterious disease starts to quickly spreads through Cairo.

More people become ill, after McCabe’s body is returned to Britain. A British doctor becomes concerned and calls her friend, Sigma Force director Painter Crowe. She is concerned because the archaeologist Harold McCabe had been searching for proof  that ten plagues of Moses are more than a fable..He believes that they really happened  And as the pandemic spreads the Doctor begins to believe that they may have happened So  the question becomes… can they happen again? The Sigma Forces’ assignment find out what’s happening an stop it. The only problem is that someone may not want them to stop it!!

In the novel, Rollins mixes the lives of  Doctors Stanley and Livingstone, Mark Twain,and Nicholas Tesla(?)  with the plagues of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt ! Oh, there’s even something about elephants thrown into the mix!

If you like action adventure, mixed with history and science coupled with compelling characters look no further  than the Sigma Force novels of James Rollins! Those books don’t only call you back to them. You also learn something from them. Is there anyone who may be more interesting than Nicholas Tesla?  In addition, the members of the Sigma Force and even the villains are great characters who face challenges on a global scale. But they also have lives outside of their work, so they also face the personal challenges of everyday life!

Finally, you can read most of the Rollins novels separately.  But like any series it’s always more fun knowing what has happened to the characters in their prior adventures. But don’t let that stop you. Read The Seventh Plague and then the rest of the books will call you to them

Author’s Website
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James Rollins

About James Rollins

James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers. His writing has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold more than 20 million books. The New York Times says, “Rollins is what you might wind up with if you tossed Michael Crichton and Dan Brown into a particle accelerator together.” NPR calls his work, “Adventurous and enormously engrossing.”

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