Recapping My January to Early February 2026 Reads

Back in January I laid out my 2026 Reading Challenge in a post. The Challenge was broken into two challenges. The first was to read 66 books. While the second categorized the proposed reads by both source and type of book.

Proposed February–March 2026 Reads

Here are my proposed February–March 2026 reads. Both the Reed Farrel Coleman and William Kent Kreuger books are carry-overs from last month. Mainly because I read Departure 37 and Nemesis instead. Both of those books had been sitting on my Library TBR shelf for a few months! The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer – Ragnar Jonasson has a;so been on my shelves for a while – it’s time to read it!

Here’s how these proposed reads break down by category:

From the Library Book Category

New Mystery Thriller Series – Library

Blind to Midnight (Nick Ryan #2)- Reed Farrel Coleman

While Reed Farrel Coleman is not a new author to me I read Redemption Street the second book in his Moe Prager series back in 2010. I haven’t read a Moe Prager since then, although I wish I had. Hopefully I won’t make the same mistake with this series!

Favorite Mystery Series – Library

Apostle’s Cove (Cork O’Connor #20)- William Kent Krueger

Since all of the Cork O’Connor books from William Kent Krueger are great. I’m sure this one will be great as well!

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer – Ragnar Jonasson

Ragnar Jonasson is one of my favorite author’s. The book is an Icelandic tribute to Agatha Christie

From the TBR Shelves Category

Favorite Mystery/ Thriller Series

Winter House – Carol O’Connell

Winter House marks a return to Carol O’Connell’s Mallory series. It’s one of only two books in the series I never got around to reading, so this feels less like a reread and more like filling in a long-standing gap.

E-Book

The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes – David Handler

I haven’t read David Handler since the 1990s, when I read one earlier book in the series (book two). With nearly a twenty-year gap between book eight and this one, it’s no wonder he slipped off my radar. This feels like a genuine rediscovery.

Wish Me Luck and Check Back to see How I’m Doing! You can Check My Overall Progress Here

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So, while I read fewer books than usual in 2025, the ones I did read really delivered. This year’s reading recap leans heavily toward crime fiction and long-running series, with familiar authors, a few strong series starters, and one heavy nonfiction outlier. Less volume, same thrills.

2025 Reading Recap – Books Listed by Number and Date Read

First Read 2025	Last Read 2025

2025 Reading Recap – Leaves, Branches, Leaves Hierarchy

I tend to think of my reading life the same way I think about music — in terms of roots, branches, and leaves. Roots are the authors and series that shaped my reading early on and still draw me back. Branches are long-running favorites I’ve followed for years, evolving alongside my own tastes. Leaves are newer discoveries — recent voices, new series, or authors I’ve come to more recently. This recap follows that loose hierarchy rather than strict genre or publication date.

Reading Recap: Visiting Old Friends Via Roots Authors

Outwitting Trolls Brady Coyne #28) – William G. Tapply

A familiar, comforting return to Coyne’s thoughtful brand of justice, where New England atmosphere, quiet intelligence, and moral clarity matter more than pyrotechnics.

William G. Tapply’s Boston lawyer Brady Coyne is one of the reasons I read series books — great stories, and exactly the kind of lawyer you’d want on your side.

Savages (Nameless Detective # 31) – Bill Pronzini

Lean, sharp, and morally unsettling, Pronzini reminds us why the Nameless Detective endures — stripped-down prose, human darkness, and no easy answers.

Reading Recap: Branches Authors Whose Series Keep Rolling Along

The Black Loch Lewis Trilogy (#4) – Peter May

A dark, atmospheric return to the Hebrides, blending past crimes with present consequences. May continues to use place as character, with cold landscapes mirroring moral ambiguity.

When I read The Black House, the first book in the Lewis Trilogy, I was blown away. May’s sense of place was so strong I felt like I was in the Outer Hebrides. I’ve since read the entire trilogy and most, if not all, of his standalones. One of my favorites was Coffin Road – Check it out Here

This is Why We Lied (Will Trent #12) Karin Slaughter

A locked-room style mystery layered with long-running character arcs. Brutal, emotional, and deeply tied to the series’ history — not a starting point, but very rewarding for longtime readers.

This was the first of two Karin Slaughter books I read in 2025. For much of the book I wasn’t sure it worked for me — then came the ending, and once again I was amazed by her talent.

Angel of Vengeance (Pendergast #22) – Preston & Child

Big, bold, and unapologetically pulpy. The Pendergast universe keeps expanding, with gothic excess and high-stakes drama fully intact.

Grave Danger (Jack Swyteck #19) – James Grippando

Legal thriller meets personal jeopardy. Grippando keeps the series fresh by raising the emotional cost, not just the body count.

Battle Mountain( Joe Pickett #25) – C. J Box

Still going strong. Box continues to blend Western landscapes with modern crime, keeping Pickett relevant and grounded.

I once read that Lawrence Block described two kinds of series characters: those who never age, and those who age along with the books. Joe Pickett is very much the latter — and I’m glad he is. Watching him change over time is part of what keeps the series honest and grounded.

The same is true for Brady Coyne and Nameless Detective — both characters age along with their series, carrying the weight of experience, losses, and hard-earned perspective. That sense of time passing is a big part of why they still feel real to me.

Reading Recap: Series Books From Leaves Authors

Chain Reaction (Dez Limerick # 3) – James Byrne

Lean, fast, and brutal in all the right ways. Byrne’s series continues to impress with action that never sacrifices character.

Dez Limerick is my new favorite character — I can’t wait for the next adventure.

The Vanishing Kind (Alex Carter # 4) – Alice Henderson

Nature, survival, and danger intersect in Henderson’s strongest installment yet. The wilderness setting once again proves essential, not decorative.

Like Dez Limerick, Alex Carter has become a character I’ll follow anywhere — and the wilderness settings are a big part of why.

The Black Highway (Laughton Rees #4) – Simon Toyne

The Thames as a dark artery running through history and crime. Toyne leans into mood and menace, with forensic detail used effectively.

Series Starters Reads – from Authors Old and New

The Spy Coast (The Martini Club #1) – Tess Gerritsen

Retired spies, coastal Maine, and secrets that refuse to stay buried. A fun, smart series opener that balances humor with genuine suspense.

The Collaborators (The Comorant #1) – Michael Idove

A modern espionage debut that feels timely and sharp. Global intrigue, fractured loyalties, and a strong sense of unease set the tone for what promises to be a smart series.

The Loose End (Teigen Craft # 1) – A. J. Cross

A strong procedural opener with psychological depth. Well-drawn characters and a solid mystery make this a promising start.

We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1) – Karin Slaughter

A brutal, emotionally charged series opener. New setting, new cast, same fearless intensity — Slaughter resets the board effectively.

This is the second Karin Slaughter book I read in 2025. Like Peter May I’ve read most of Slaughter’s series books and the standalones. This a dark book and it’s impact extends far beyond the crimes in the book to touch deeply on a personal level! Easily one of the top three books I read this year and I look forward to more in future books in the series!

The Shattering Peace – John Scalzi

Part of John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War universe, returning to its familiar mix of military SF, politics, and sharp dialogue.

First Books in a Series new to Me (Not Book No 1)

The Nightmare (Joona Linna #2) m- Lars Kepler

Relentless pacing and disturbing psychological tension. Even jumping in at #2, the series hooks quickly with its procedural intensity and chilling antagonist.

Standalone Books From Branches and Leaves Authors

Guess Again – Charlie Donlea

A twist-heavy standalone that plays with memory, misdirection, and obsession, delivering Donlea’s trademark pace without leaning on a series framework.

My first encounter with Charlie Donlea was his debut novel Summit Lake in 2016, and I haven’t missed a book since. Before Christmas, my wife asked me to look over our son Andrew’s book list. The first title was Guess Again — I told her not to go any further and just buy that one.ok Christmas list. The first book was Guess Again. I said i’m not looking further get this one!

Death at the Sanatorium – Ragnar Jonasson

Claustrophobic and icy in tone, Jónasson uses isolation and buried secrets to build dread slowly and effectively.

Don’t Turn Around – Harry Dolan

A sharp, compact crime novel built on moral ambiguity and tight plotting, proving Dolan doesn’t need excess to unsettle.

Where They Last Saw Her Marcie R Rendon

Quietly powerful and socially grounded, Rendon blends mystery with lived experience, letting character and place carry the weight.

I came to Marcie R. Rendon through her Cash Blackbear series, having read books two and three, with the first waiting on my Nook. This standalone opened my eyes to the crisis of missing Indigenous women — and reminded me I somehow missed Broken Fields, released in March 2025. Onward to the library.

Non- Fiction – History/Politics

Rebellion: How Anti-Liberalism Is Tearing the Country Apart Again! — Robert Kagan

A sharp, unsettling look at how democratic norms erode from within. Kagan connects current political fractures to historical patterns, making this feel less like theory and more like warning. The lone nonfiction read this year — and a heavy one,

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UPDATE:December has come and gone and I read only two and a half books of the ones pictured above. The two I finished were Tides of Fire by James Rollins and Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. The half was Starter Villain by John Scalzi!

So yesterday I wrote that I would like to read four to five more books before the end of 2023. The above picture shows the five books I currently have check out of the library. These are my proposed reads for December. The order in which I am going to read them is bottom to top. I have read books written by all of the authors. So let’s take and look at the books and authors for these Dcember Reads!

Tides of Fire – James Rollins

Tides of Fire is the 17th book in the Sigma Force series from James Rollins. In total I have read 21 books by Rollins and I am ashamed to say the only Sigma Force book from Rollins I haven’t read is the first book in the series Sandstorm. Oh, and I haven’t read the two short stories he’s written.

If you like action adventure novels with science truth blended with science fiction from Rollins you’ll love his books!

From Goodreads about Tides of Fire

In the latest riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author, an international research station in the Coral Sea comes under siege during a geological disaster that triggers massive quakes, deadly tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. To stop the world from burning, it’s up to Sigma Force to uncover a secret buried at the heart of our planet. et. More at Goodreads

Small Mercies – Dennis Lehane

I have only read eight books from Lehane. Six of them are from his Kenzie & Gennaro series which is one of my favorite series. I’ve also read Shutter Island and Mystic River

If Small Mercies is as good as Mystic River it will become a favorite of mine!

From Goodreads…..

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River —an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.  More at Goodreads

Distant Sons – Tim Johnston

I’ve only read one book from Tim Johnston Descent  and it was great, so I’m looking forward to this one!

From Goodreads…..

By the New York Times bestselling author of Descent and The Current, an absorbing new work of literary suspense about two young working men who forge a friendship despite secrets in their past, and whose actions ignite the passions and violence of a small Wisconsin town still haunted by the unsolved disappearance of three boys in the 1970s. For readers of Peter Heller, Liz Moore, and Cormac McCarthy. (More at Goodreads

The Only One Left – Riley Sager.

I discovered Riley Sager’s books a few years ago. So far I have read four of the seven books he’s  written. I’ve missed a couple of the more recent books. Can you say too many books, too little time! Anyway this one sounds really good!

From Goodreads….

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred…. More at Goodreads

Starter Villain – John Scalzi

I have read eight books by John Scalzi and four of  them are from his Old Man’s War series! hmm? Anyway he is one of my favorite Sci-Fi writers and this one sounds very interesting.  I’m sure that Scalzi’s wicked sense of humor is omnipresent in this one!

From Goodreads….

Inheriting your uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who’s running the place.

Charlie’s life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. More at Goodreads

There is my December Reads challenge…..Anyone read any of these??

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Thoughts of The November Man and Three Missed Series 

So the other day while I was straightening up, I came across one of my old book journals. The journal covers the years from 1992 to 2000 (roughly my 40s).

Anyway, when I was looking at the journal, I also for some reason checked my Goodreads’ bookshelves. I discovered  none of the books from 1993 were listed. So I  started out to shelve the books.

Book No. 8 for the year was Burning the Apostle  by Bill Granger. It is the 13th and final book in Granger’s November Man series. The first November Man book I read was The Infant of  Prague, which I read in 1988. Between 1988 and 1993 I read the last five books in the series, as well as, the second book in the series Schism.

In the late 1990s Granger had a series of strokes. Finally, in 2000 he had a major stroke which ended his writing career. He passed away in 2012. In 2014 the November Man came to the big screen with Pierce Brosnan playing Devereaux.

Thinking about The November Man started me thinking about other series that I used to read. I thought of three more series. The authors of the following series have all passed away but their books should live on!

Brady Coyne – William G Tapply

William G Tapply’s first Brady Coyne novel Death at Charity’s Point was published in 1985. The 28th and final Brady Coyne novel Outwitting Trolls was published in 2010.

Brady is a Boston lawyer with a small but very rich clientele, that somehow always found a way to get in trouble. Most of the action on the books takes place outside of the court room.

Anyway,  Brady’s character is great and so are the supporting characters. So check out a Brady Coyne book.

There are 28 books in the Brady Coyne series. I have read 18 of them. Hmm, even though William G Tapply has passed, I still have 10 Brady Coune books to enjoy. So I should read at least one soon!

Porfiry Rostnikov – Stuart Kaminsky

Porfiry Rostnikow is an inspector with the Moscow police department. He is a….

…. A bruising bear of a man, whose love of weightlifting and American pizza has left him as squat and powerful as a . 38 bullet, Rostnikov may be the toughest cop in Moscow.

The first Rostnikov book I read was A Cold Red Sunrise the fifth book in the series. I read it because I saw it had won the Edgar award as best mystery novel. It wasn’t long after that I went back and read the earlier books in the series.

This series is one of my all time favorites I love Porfiry and his family along with all of his fellow officers. One of my favorite characters in the series is Emil Karpo who is referred to as the “Tartar” or most often as the “Vampire” based on his appearance.  Emil is a true believer in the Communist system and Will support it to the very end.

The stories are always well-written , fast-moving and interesting. So check it out!

There are 16 books in the series. I have read 13 of them. It seems I missed three books (9-11) published in the mid-90s. Note to self finish the series!!

Stuart M. Kaminsky was a profiling writer. In addition to the Porfiry Rostnikov series Kaminsky wrote series featuring Toby Peters, a private detective in 1940s Hollywood (1977-2004), veteran Chicago police officer Abe Lieberman (1990-2007) and finally a  Sarasota, Florida, process server named Lew Fonesca (1999-2009).

Kaminsky passed away in  October of 2009.

Robert (Mongo the Magnificent) Fredrickson – George C. Chesbro

Another series that I miss features a different kind of Private Eye Dr. Robert “Mongo” Fredrickson, a.k.a. Mongo the Magnificent. Mongo is …..

…..a fictional private eye and criminologist who has dwarfism……his rather unusual nickname is actually his stage name, from his days as an acrobat in a circus (a career that is over by the time the book series begins).

Mongo and his brother Garth always seemed to get involved in some kind of case with some strangeness in it.

 ….Playboy magazine as “Raymond Chandler meets Stephen King by way of Alice’s looking glass.”

Mr. Chesbro’s best-known character “is definitely an acquired taste that requires certain suspensions of perception and expectation,” wrote Dick Adler in a 1993 Chicago Tribune review.

“Imagine a dwarf who honed his physical skills as a circus acrobat called Mongo the Magnificent and then, using his real name, Dr. Robert Frederickson, became a world-famous criminologist,” Adler wrote. “Add to that the fact that Mongo’s world is filled with good and bad witches, satanists, warlocks and magicians of every shade as well as the normal run of murderers, swindlers and thieves.”

The writing, nonstop and violent, can also be very funny. Mongo played on a local  softball team in his spare time and noted that he led the league in walks.  Complete obituary

There are 14 books in the Mongo series. I have read all of them except Dream of the Falling Eagle the final book in the series.

So thinking about these four series has stirred up a lot of memories. I think I should create a mini-reading challenge”. I’ll challenge myself to read at least one book by each of these authors over the next four months! Anyone want to join me!!

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I mentioned yesterday I have finished three books so far in 2021. The latest being The Boy from the Woods. Books 1 and 2 were Where the Forest Meets the Stars and The Wives respectively.

Typically, I don’t usually read books like either Where the Forest Meets the Stars or The Wives. However, last year I did read several books that were not crime based mysteries or thrillers and enjoyed all of them!

 In the next few days I’ll post a list of the books I read in 2020 and also try to write about the two books that started 2021.

The picture at the top of this post are my proposed reads for the next four weeks. Two of the books are from authors who are among my favorites, James Grippando and Ragnar Jonasson. While one is from an author I read in the later part of 2020 John McMahon. The final book was written by an author who is new to me, Alice Henderson.

Hmm, I often like to think of the books I read in relationship to their setting. So let’s see where I’ll be traveling to via my proposed reads…

The Evil Men Do – John McMahon – Mason Falls, Georgia

My first proposed read will take me to Mason Falls, Georgia. The hometown of fictional detective P.T. Marsh. I met P.T. In the book The Good Detective. It was the first book to chronicle a case he and his partner Remy worked. From Goodreads…

The author of The Good Detective delivers a gripping and atmospheric new novel in which a cop takes on a harrowing new case and confronts old personal demons. What if the one good thing you did in your life doomed you to die?

Read More

A Solitude of Wolverines – Alice Henderson – Northwestern Montana

The action in this thriller will take me to northwestern Montana. This one of my proposed reads is the first in a series featuring Alex Carter….from Goodreads

“Both a mystery and a survival story, here is a novel written with a naturalist’s eye for detail and an unrelenting pace. It reminded me of the best of Nevada Barr.” —James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Odyssey  

The first book in a thrilling series featuring an intrepid wildlife biologist who’s dedicated to saving endangered species…and relies on her superior survival skills to thwart those who aim to stop her. Read More

The Mist – Ragnar Jonasson – Iceland

In The Mist I will be transported to Iceland. I don’t think I would like living in Iceland but I do like visiting.

The Mist is actually Book 3 in Jonasson’s Hidden Iceland series. So I have decided to try and read Books 1 and 2 in the series before tackling The Mist. As such, I have started book 1 in the series The Darkness and have checked out The Island book 2 in the series.

Twenty – James Grippando – Florida

Finally, Florida is the home of lawyer Jack Swyteck in the proposed read Twenty. It’s book   17 in Grippando’s Swyteck series. From Goodreads….

Jack Swyteck and his family are caught in the crossfire after a deadly school shooting claims twenty casualties—Florida’s fifth mass shooting in as many years—in this provocative and timely thriller from Harper Lee Prize–winner James Grippando that touches on some of the most contentious issues roiling America today. Read More

So now I’m off to Iceland to see what’s happening  in the world of Hulda Hermannsdóttir in The Darkness .Wish me luck!

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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

Related articles

• US comedian Dick Gregory dies, aged 84
• How the Communists Helped the Scottsboro Boys

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And the Beginning of March..….

Since there are only six days left in February, I will probably not finish any more books. That means I will end the month having read five books.And I will have read thirteen books in 2017. But maybe just maybe one I will be able to finish one of the following five books. Even if I don’t finish any of the books I will a good start on March;s reads!

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Five Proposed Reads for the End of February and March

Books I am Currently Reading….

I have already started two of the five books I currently have checked out from the library. Here are the two that I have started

Long Days of Night – Graham Moore

From Goodreads….

A thrilling novel based on actual events, about the nature of genius, the cost of ambition, and the battle to electrify America—from the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and New York Times bestselling author of The Sherlockian

New York, 1888. Gas lamps still flicker in the city streets, but the miracle of electric light is in its infancy. The person who controls the means to turn night into day will make history—and a vast fortune. A young untested lawyer named Paul Cravath, fresh out of Columbia Law School, takes a case that seems impossible to win. Paul’s client, George Westinghouse, has been sued by Thomas Edison over a billion-dollar question: Who invented the light bulb and holds the right to power the country? Read More

I am about 80 pages into this book and have found it really interesting.I must confess I didn’t know a lot about the competition between Edison and Westinghouse, so hopefully I’ll learn a little from this read. It also may encourage me to read The Age of Edison:Invention of Modern America that has been sitting on my TBR shelves for a while now!

Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution – Nathaniel Philbrick

This is the first book that I have read from the popular author Nathaniel Philbrick. I love those shady characters from those early days of our nation, i.e Aaron Burr, James Wilkinson and of course Benedict Arnold.  Like The Last Days of Night I have already started this book and I’ve already learned a lot about the American Revolution! From Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of In The Heart of the Sea, comes a surprising account of the middle years of the American Revolution, and the tragic relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold.

In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental Army under an unsure George Washington (who had never commanded a large force in battle) evacuates New York after a devastating defeat by the British Army. Three weeks later, near the Canadian border, one of his favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeds in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have ended the war. Four years later, as the book ends, Washington has vanquished his demons and Arnold has fled to the enemy after a foiled attempt to surrender the American fortress at West Point to the British. After four years of war, America is forced to realize that the real threat to its liberties might not come from without but from within. Read more

So maybe next up is Philbrick’s The Last Stand: Custer,Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Big Horn another book on my To Be Read shelves! And another book about an intriguing and infamous American!

The other three books…

….that I have checked out from the library are all from authors that are relatively new to me. They are:

The Crucifix Killer (Robert Hunter #1) – Chris Carter

Carter’s An Evil Mind – Robert Hunter #6 was one of the best books that I read in 2016. So I am really looking forward to starting at the beginning of this series!

When the body of a young woman is discovered in a derelict cottage in the middle of Los Angeles National Forest, Homicide Detective Robert Hunter finds himself entering a horrific and recurring nightmare. Naked, strung from two parallel wooden posts, the victim was sadistically tortured before meeting an excruciatingly painful death.

All the skin has been ripped from her face – while she was still alive. On the nape of her neck has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of a psychopath known as the Crucifix Killer. But that’s impossible. Because two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this therefore be a copycat killer? Or could the unthinkable be true? Read More

Red Right Hand (Michael Hendricks #2) – Chris Holm

I read the first Michael Kendricks novel The Killing Kind in January of 2017. I discovered the book and Chris Holm via the Mystery Scene magazine that my son Andrew and his wife Meaghan gave to me for Christmas. It included in an article about award-winning books. It won an Anthony Award for Best Novel. From Goodreads….

If the good guys can’t save you, call a bad guy.
When viral video of an explosive terrorist attack on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge reveals that a Federal witness long thought dead is still alive, the organization he’d agreed to testify against will stop at nothing to put him in the ground.
FBI Special Agent Charlie Thompson is determined to protect him, but her hands are tied; the FBI’s sole priority is catching the terrorists before they strike again. So Charlie calls the only person on the planet who can keep her witness safe: Michael Hendricks. Read More

Assassin’s Silence – Ward Larsen  (David Slaton #3)

Hot on the heels Assassin’s Game by Ward Larsen comes Assassin’s Silence and it may be hard for me not to start this book right away!! Hmm, I actually am on page 60! That’s where I stopped when I decided that I should read Assassin’s Game first!! So I guess this book actually belongs with the first set of books!! Oh, well!!

From Goodreads:

When it comes to disappearing, David Slaton has few equals. Police in three countries have written off trying to find him. His old employer, Mossad, keeps no forwarding address. Even his wife and son are convinced he is dead. So when an assault team strikes, Slaton is taken by surprise. He kills one man and manages to escape.

Half a world away, in the baleful heat of the Amazon, an obscure air cargo company purchases a derelict airliner. Teams of mechanics work feverishly to make the craft airworthy. On the first flight, the jet plunges toward the ocean. Read More

Ok so now it’s time to turn on some Jazz and do a little reading!

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 February Reads – Books 12 to 9…..

So far this month I have finished four books. Those books have taken me to a variety of counties where I met a lot of interesting characters. I am writing about the books in the reverse order of when I read them…

Book Number 12 The Hermit by Thomas Rydahl took me to the Canary Islands.There I met a 65-year-old taxi driver from Denmark, Erhard Jorgenson. Erhard lives alone in a shack near the resort of Fuerteventura. Erhard’s life is changed forever,after a car is found washed up on the beach. A dead 3 month old baby is found in a cardboard box on the back seat. The police try to quickly and quietly close the case by having a prostitute  claim she was the mother. Erhard knows that is wrong and for the sake of the baby he wants to prove what really happened!

During the course of his investigation Erhard makes some questionable decisions are in the name of advancing his investigation. At times I thought the story dragged a little and some of  Erhard’s actions bothered me. But In the end I The Hermit was a great read. Others thought so too. As The Hermit won the 2015 Glass Key award as the best Nordic crime novel! Rating: 4 stars

Book Number 11 – Black Widow  -Christopher Brookmyre.

Black Widow is set in Scotland, Over the last several years, I have visited Scotland many times, via the books of Peter May and others. Black Widow is book 7 in Brookmyre’s Jack Parlabane series. In this book Lucy Elphinstone hires Jack to look into the disappearance of her brother Peter. Peter went missing after his car slid off of a snow-covered road and ended up in the river. Lucy and two police detectives feel that Peter may have met with foul play. And the likely suspect is his wife of six months,successful surgeon Diana Jager aka bitchblade!

It seemed to me that the story took a long tine to develop. I had a little trouble with Brookmyre switching back and forth from the first to the third person in the narrative. I thought it was a little strange that Jack Parlabane didn’t become an important part of the story until the second half of the book! The last half of the book certainly made up for any of the shortcomings of the book in its first half! And the ending was great!

Black Widow won the 2016 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish crime book of the year an honor it rightly deserved. Rating- 4.5 stars

Book 10 All That Man Is by David Szalay

All That Man Is took me to many places across the European continent. It is a collect of short vignettes of nine different men all at different stages of their lives. With each vignette the man in the story is a little older than the previous one. Typically I don’t read books  like All That Man Is,  And for that reason, I’ll let Goodreads tell you about it……

A magnificent and ambitiously conceived portrait of contemporary life, by a genius of realism.

Nine men. Each of them at a different stage in life, each of them away from home, and each of them striving–in the suburbs of Prague, in an overdeveloped Alpine village, beside a Belgian motorway, in a dingy Cyprus hotel–to understand what it means to be alive, here and now. Tracing a dramatic arc from the spring of youth to the winter of old age, the ostensibly separate narratives of All That Man Is aggregate into a picture of a single shared existence, a picture that interrogates the state of modern manhood while bringing to life, unforgettably, the physical and emotional terrain of an increasingly globalized Europe. And so these nine lives form an ingenious and new kind of novel, in which David Szalay expertly plots a dark predicament for the twenty-first-century man. Read More

All That Man is was a Man Booker Prize Nominee (2016), and a Gordon Burn Prize (2016 )winner and once again deservedly so! Rating: 4 stars.

Book 9  A Foreign Country  – Charles Cumming.

A Foreign Country is book one of Cumming’s Thomas Kell series. The settings for A Foreign Country include France, Tunisia and England. Thirty years ago a young au pair walked away from the family she was working for. She left without a word of good-bye. Now the reason that young girl left could rock the world of the first woman director of Britain’s MI6. From  Goodreads..

On the vacation of a lifetime in Egypt, an elderly French couple are brutally murdered. Days later, a meticulously-planned kidnapping takes place on the streets of Paris. Amelia Levene, the first female Chief of MI6, has disappeared without a trace, six weeks before she is due to take over as the most influential spy in Europe. It is the gravest crisis MI6 has faced in more than a decade. Desperate not only to find her, but to keep her disappearance a secret, Britain’s top intelligence agents turn to one of their own: disgraced MI6 officer Thomas Kell. Tossed out of the Service only months before, Kell is given one final chance to redeem himself – find Amelia Levene at any cost. Read More

I really enjoyed this book. The book moved at a brisk pace and I like the character of Thomas Kell and others around him.There was a fair amount of suspense particularly at the end. I believe I will be visiting with Thomas Kell again and again. I already have  checked out from my library the Kindle edition of A Colder War (Thomas Kell # 2). While  A Divided Spy (Thomas Kell #3), was just released on Valentine’s Day! So maybe when I finish A Colder War,  A Divided Spy will be available at the library,

Final Thoughts

Summarizing I have read twelve books so far in 2017. That puts me ahead of  schedule to reach my goal of 60 books for the year. I had never read any books written by any of the authors I have read  so far in February. Additionally, Black Widow and A Foreign Country are both part of a series, that I will definitely be reading more of!

I noticed after writing this post that none of the books I read this month are set in the USA. I guess I needed a vacation from all he turbulence in our country since January 20th……..

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An Amazing Start on My 2017 Reading Challenges

Ok so I do believe that I would be hard pressed to find two months in the last 15 years where I have read more books than January and February of 2017. In January I read  books and so far in February I have read three more! Bringing 2017’s total of books read to 11! In order to achieve my 2017 Reading Challenge goal of 60 books, I need to average 5 books per month.  I am already above that average in the first week of February!! Goodreads says that right now I am 5 books ahead of schedule! Woo Hoo!

Now the one bad thing about this is that I have been reading more than writing. Consequently, I am  seven books behind in writing reviews. The table below lists that books that I have read so far this year. (The links are to my review of the book)

I am going to group the books according to the Reading Challenge that they fit into. So the future posts will look like this:

2017 Mystery/Thriller Reading Challenge

 Series that are new to me

Jack Parlabane – Chris Brookmyre – Black Widow
Thomas Kell – Charles Cumming – A Foreign Country
Livia Lone – Barry Eisler – Livia Lone

Series that I am Behind on/ Series that I am Current with

Puzzle Lady – Parnell Hall  – A Puzzle in a Pear Tree – 
Thomas De Quncey -David Morrell –  Ruler of the Night –

2017 Literature Reading Challenge/ Nonfiction Reading Challenge

General Fiction

All that Man is – David Szalay

Nonfiction

How to Run the World – Parag Khanna

So now I’m off to pick out my next few books and start to read!!! Be back later with the first of the above posts!!

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Twelve Great Mystery Reads of 2016

So now that the Holidays are over and I wait to see if Clemson can somehow upset mighty Alabama, Hey I attended both the University of Florida and the University of Georgia, so while I am not a big fan of Clemson, I certainly would prefer that they win the National Title!

Anyway, after seeing this list of the Best of 2016 from the Mysterious Bookshop . I decided to put together a list of my favorite mystery reads of 2016. I love books that are part of a mystery series. Therefore, the vast majority of the books I read are part of a series Here are in my 2016 favorites.The books are listed,  for the most part, in the reverse chronological order in which they were read!

1. Reckless Creed – (Ryder Creed #3)- Alex Kava

This is the third of Kava;s Ryder Creed novels. Kava again features both Ryder and Maggie O’Dell in this novel. Maggie and Ryder are on the trail of a rogue scientist, who is attempting to make a new strain of bird flu that is airborne. And she is using people to test spreading the disease. Can Maggie and Ryder and his dogs stop her before there is a new pandemic!

2. Blind Sight – (Mallory # 12) – Carol O’Connell

I still need to read a few books in the middle of this series, but this last one is pretty good. Mallory and Riker in the middle of a mess. Four bodies have been sent to the Gracie Mansion each with there hearts cut out. One is a former hooker turned nun. Her blind nephew is still missing and my be the next victim. Can Mallory save the nephew and stop the killings?

3, Home – (Myron Bolitar # 11) – Harlan Coben

Myron helps Win try to discover what really happened to his nephew Rhys and his friend Patrick when they wee kidnapped from Patrick’s home ten years earlier. Win gets a tip that Patrick has been spotted in London. Patrick is saved, but Rhys is still missing. Win and Myron return to NJ to discover what really happened!!

4. Coffin Road – Peter May

A man washes up on the shore of a Scottish Island with no memory of who he is. He soon discovers that he is a write researching a book on the disappearance of the lighthouse keeper on one of Scotland’s outer  islands. But is that who he truly is? What does he know about the bees out on the Coffin Road? He senses he knows something about them. And also about the man on the island who was murdered? Did he do it??

5. The Kept Woman – (Will Trent # 8) – Karin Slaughter

Angie Polaski estranged wife of GBI agent Will Trent and thorn in the side of Will’s new love Sara Litton, returns to turn Will and sara’s life upside down. She is the center of a murder investigation.  The investigation involves a bad cop who is found murdered in a blood splattered room in a half finished Atlanta nightclub. Angie’s blood type matches the blood splattered in the room. The nightclub is owned by a star basketball player, who just beat a rape charge, Will had worked the case!  So where’s Angie? Did she kill the man? And will she ever divorce Will so that he and Sara can get on with their lives.

6. Redemption Road – John Hart

This may be my favorite read for the year! John Hart is flat-out great!  From Goodreads:

Now after five years, John Hart is back with a stunning literary thriller.
Imagine:
A boy with a gun waits for the man who killed his mother.
A troubled detective confronts her past in the aftermath of a brutal shooting.
After thirteen years in prison, a good cop walks free. But for how long?
And deep in the forest, on the altar of an abandoned church, the unthinkable has just happened… Read More

7. Without Mercy – (The Body Farm # 10) – Jefferson Bass

Forensic anthropologist and director of the Body Farm and the University of Tennessee is called to consult on a murder in a county near Knoxville. Based on the man’s skeletal remains, he  was chained to a tree, then attacked and killed by a bear. What happened? Was this a hate crime and who is the victim? Bill Brockton and his graduate assistant Miranda are out to discover the truth. Miranda is also out to get a job with the FBI and leave the body farm after graduation! Oh, no!!

8. Manitou Canyon – (Cork O’Conner # 15) – William Kent Krueger

A man’s family hire Cork O’Connor to investigate the man’s sudden disappearance in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota. Cork’s two clients are the granddaughter and grandson of the missing man. Cork sets off on his mission, promising his daughter Jenny, he’ll be back in plenty of time for her wedding, Right! Soon Cork and the granddaughter disappear and Cork’s family and Henry Miloux set out to find Cork!

9. The Second Life of Nick Mason – (Nick Mason #1) – Steve Hamilton

I have been a fan of Steve Hamilton’s Alex McKnight series for a long time. This book is the beginning of a new series featuring Nick Mason. From Goodreads:

Nick Mason has already spent five years inside a maximum security prison when an offer comes that will grant his release twenty years early.  He accepts — but the deal comes with a terrible price.

Now, back on the streets, Nick Mason has a new house, a new car, money to burn, and a beautiful roommate.  He’s returned to society, but he’s still a prisoner.  Whenever his cell phone rings, day or night, Nick must answer it and follow whatever order he is given.  It’s the deal he made with Darius Cole, a criminal mastermind serving a double-life term who runs an empire from his prison cell. More

10. Off the Grid – (Joe Pickett # 16) – C.J. Box

One of my favorite characters in the Joe Picket series enigmatic Nate Romanowski. Nate has saved Joe’s butt more than once, but he has a shadow past and a Federal warrant out for his arrest. At the end of Book 15 a wounded Nate escaped into the night. This book opens with Nate off the grid, recuperating from those wounds. A team of elite professional operators suddenly surround Nates But rather than threatening him, the team leader offers Nate a deal. If he helps them destroy a domestic terror cell  in Wyoming’s Red Desert, they’ll make his criminal record disappear. Th offer that may be too good to be true and it may just destroy Nate , Joe and Joe’s daughter Sheridan?

11. & 12  Far From True & The Twenty Three – (Promise Falls 2 & 3) – Linwood Barclay

Things have been topsy-turvy in Promise Falls. The events in Promise Falls include:: three murders, several attempted rapes,a found baby, 23 dead squirrels, mannequins in car 23 at a closed amusement park.  In The Twenty Three, when the town’s water supply is sabotaged everyone in Promised Falls is threatened!

Both books are great! Start the series though with Broken Promise – Book 1 in the series and work your way through the whole trilogy!!

A Concluding Thought

I thought it was interesting  that seven of the books were released in the fall of 2016. September saw the release of five of the books. While one each was released in  October and November. Since many authors seem to release their books at the same time each year, I better get ready for another pile of books coming next fall!! Just saying!

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