Books and other stuff I feel like discussing
By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
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Books Update
This list contains the suspense titles I've read since Mid February
BLUE HEAVEN C J Box
With this stand alone, Box departs from his engrossing Joe Pickett series. Two young children, playing hooky and enjoying an afternoon trying to catch some fish in a mountain stream, watch in horror as a group of men gathered in conversation nearby suddenly turn on one of their number and gun him down. The kids quite sensibly run for their lives, trust no one they meet, and eventually earn the reluctant help of an area rancher with a multitude of his own problems. A real page turner. From his first Joe Pickett novel, Box has demonstrated a real aptitude for bringing realistic kids into his books, and this one is no exception.
L A OUTLAWS T Jefferson Parker
A modern day Robin Hood story, in this case Robin Hood is a beautiful woman, by day a teacher in an Orange County middle school, by night a thief. She makes a name for herself by leaving behind a calling card, identifying herself as a descendant of a famous California outlaw of the mid nineteenth century. Some of her bounty goes to local charities and soup kitchens; some supports an isolated ranch and an idyllic home for her three sons.
Greed gets the best of her when she intercepts a cache of valuable diamonds. In a plot thread reminiscent of THELMA AND LOUISE, a young honest cop ends up on her trail, hoping to prevent the inevitable tragic confrontation.
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL Peter Robinson
Detective Annie Cabot, one of Robinson’s continuing characters in his Inspector Banks series, is called to the edge of a cliff where a woman confined to a wheelchair has been found sitting in her chair, with her throat slashed open. At the same time, Banks is called to a crowded alleyway, where a young woman has been raped and strangled, and left dumped on a pile of supplies for a local leather shop. The two cops will eventually learn that their cases are related, and that motive lies in a search for revenge for long ago abuse.
FORSAKEN SOUL Priscilla Royal
In the 13th century priory of Tyndal, a reclusive woman seeking refuge from the world; joins the community as an anchoress, a type of hermit who lived alone in a small cell, usually part of a religious complex where she (or he) provided advice and an uncritical listening ear to those who came to the window of the room. The presence in Tyndal of a new anchoress seems to be a catalyst for violence and murder. As in earlier books in this series, Prioress Eleanor and her associate Brother Thomas must deal with prejudice and ignorance while searching for a determined murderer.
SLIP OF THE KNIFE Denise Mina
Journalist Paddy Mehan is startled to learn that one of her close friends has been murdered, and even more taken aback when she is named as his sole heir. While I always enjoy Mina’s atmospheric stories set in Glasgow, I found it hard to track the motive for the murder which begins the book.
LUSH LIFE Richard Price
I heard the author interviewed on NPR, saw several enthusiastic reviews of his book, so I was looking forward to an engrossing read. The action begins with a casual, unthinking remark by a pedestrian on a New York street which leads to his murder during a mugging. And not much else happens for quite some time. Eventually I was hooked by Price’s extremely skillful characterizations. And while most of the reviews I read concentrated on the nature of 21st century life on New York’s lower East Side, I found myself intrigued by the side by side tragedies of two fathers, each central to the action. Each father has lost a lot, but one has lost everything, while the other has something left to cling to. If you pick this one up, it’s worth hanging in there. About midway through, Price had gained “can’t put it down” status, and I took good use of several uninterrupted early shift hours at the stadium to indulge in the pleasure of reading a very, very good book.
CROSS Ken Bruen
Bruen’s Jack Taylor is a mess. He has been a mess for several books now. Yet there is an essential core of worth in this character to keep me coming back to read another installment. Bruen writes from the farthest edge of the darkest corner of the suspense genre, so if dark and getting darker is not your cup of tea, you can’t say you weren’t warned. But if you do like that sort of book, you have a real treat.
DEAD TIME Stephen White
Continuing protagonist Alan Gregory gets involved in trying to figure out the long ago disappearance of a young woman from the floor of the Grand Canyon. His quest takes him from Colorado, to New York City, to Los Angeles, and back. White throws in (1) surrogate pregnancies; (2) a long buried secret of an ambitious public figure; (3) a rogue Park Service ranger; (4) at least one gay character struggling with choices to come out or not; (5) a young boy recently orphaned; and (6) evolving marital tensions between his two main characters. That’s a lot to hang on a pretty strong hook, but I’m not sure that the hook of the young woman’s disappearance was able to handle the weight. The eventual solution seemed murky, at best.
BLUE HEAVEN C J Box
With this stand alone, Box departs from his engrossing Joe Pickett series. Two young children, playing hooky and enjoying an afternoon trying to catch some fish in a mountain stream, watch in horror as a group of men gathered in conversation nearby suddenly turn on one of their number and gun him down. The kids quite sensibly run for their lives, trust no one they meet, and eventually earn the reluctant help of an area rancher with a multitude of his own problems. A real page turner. From his first Joe Pickett novel, Box has demonstrated a real aptitude for bringing realistic kids into his books, and this one is no exception.
L A OUTLAWS T Jefferson Parker
A modern day Robin Hood story, in this case Robin Hood is a beautiful woman, by day a teacher in an Orange County middle school, by night a thief. She makes a name for herself by leaving behind a calling card, identifying herself as a descendant of a famous California outlaw of the mid nineteenth century. Some of her bounty goes to local charities and soup kitchens; some supports an isolated ranch and an idyllic home for her three sons.
Greed gets the best of her when she intercepts a cache of valuable diamonds. In a plot thread reminiscent of THELMA AND LOUISE, a young honest cop ends up on her trail, hoping to prevent the inevitable tragic confrontation.
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL Peter Robinson
Detective Annie Cabot, one of Robinson’s continuing characters in his Inspector Banks series, is called to the edge of a cliff where a woman confined to a wheelchair has been found sitting in her chair, with her throat slashed open. At the same time, Banks is called to a crowded alleyway, where a young woman has been raped and strangled, and left dumped on a pile of supplies for a local leather shop. The two cops will eventually learn that their cases are related, and that motive lies in a search for revenge for long ago abuse.
FORSAKEN SOUL Priscilla Royal
In the 13th century priory of Tyndal, a reclusive woman seeking refuge from the world; joins the community as an anchoress, a type of hermit who lived alone in a small cell, usually part of a religious complex where she (or he) provided advice and an uncritical listening ear to those who came to the window of the room. The presence in Tyndal of a new anchoress seems to be a catalyst for violence and murder. As in earlier books in this series, Prioress Eleanor and her associate Brother Thomas must deal with prejudice and ignorance while searching for a determined murderer.
SLIP OF THE KNIFE Denise Mina
Journalist Paddy Mehan is startled to learn that one of her close friends has been murdered, and even more taken aback when she is named as his sole heir. While I always enjoy Mina’s atmospheric stories set in Glasgow, I found it hard to track the motive for the murder which begins the book.
LUSH LIFE Richard Price
I heard the author interviewed on NPR, saw several enthusiastic reviews of his book, so I was looking forward to an engrossing read. The action begins with a casual, unthinking remark by a pedestrian on a New York street which leads to his murder during a mugging. And not much else happens for quite some time. Eventually I was hooked by Price’s extremely skillful characterizations. And while most of the reviews I read concentrated on the nature of 21st century life on New York’s lower East Side, I found myself intrigued by the side by side tragedies of two fathers, each central to the action. Each father has lost a lot, but one has lost everything, while the other has something left to cling to. If you pick this one up, it’s worth hanging in there. About midway through, Price had gained “can’t put it down” status, and I took good use of several uninterrupted early shift hours at the stadium to indulge in the pleasure of reading a very, very good book.
CROSS Ken Bruen
Bruen’s Jack Taylor is a mess. He has been a mess for several books now. Yet there is an essential core of worth in this character to keep me coming back to read another installment. Bruen writes from the farthest edge of the darkest corner of the suspense genre, so if dark and getting darker is not your cup of tea, you can’t say you weren’t warned. But if you do like that sort of book, you have a real treat.
DEAD TIME Stephen White
Continuing protagonist Alan Gregory gets involved in trying to figure out the long ago disappearance of a young woman from the floor of the Grand Canyon. His quest takes him from Colorado, to New York City, to Los Angeles, and back. White throws in (1) surrogate pregnancies; (2) a long buried secret of an ambitious public figure; (3) a rogue Park Service ranger; (4) at least one gay character struggling with choices to come out or not; (5) a young boy recently orphaned; and (6) evolving marital tensions between his two main characters. That’s a lot to hang on a pretty strong hook, but I’m not sure that the hook of the young woman’s disappearance was able to handle the weight. The eventual solution seemed murky, at best.
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