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A burial at Sea by Charles Finch
At the behest of his government, Charles Lennox must travel to Egypt on a secret mission. He travels aboard the Lucy and bad things happen.
It's a sea adventure and I enjoyed. It strips away a lot of the mannerisms of living in London and gives us a mystery on a boat. And the mystery was pretty good too. It also allowed Lennox to do a lot of different things. And then once the sea adventure was over, we got a bonus adventure in Port Said as well.
Best book yet in the Charles Lennox series.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
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A Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch
Lennox sets off to the country to write his big speech for parliament. He visit his cousin and his estate with his wife, child, and nanny in tow. Part of the reason for the visit is Lennox's cousin is experiencing some vandalism in his quiet little village. And then just like that, there is a murder and Lennox is torn between writing his speech and solving the mystery. The pull between duty and his need to solve mysteries is a constant in the books now. I'm waiting for him to stop being a member of Parliament and go back to detective work full time.
Once again, not enough clues to solve the mystery unless you get there by guessing.
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Bodily Harm by Robert Dugoni
Bodily Harm is in the David Sloane series. Sloane wins a malpractice suit against a doctor in the death of a young boy. But after the death, doubts arise that maybe it wasn't the doctor after all but a new toy that caused the death. Sloane investigates with the help of Charlie Jenkins, of course. Naturally, there are forces at work that don't want the truth to come out because millions of dollars are at stake. And of course the other parties have access to shadowy killers capable of doing anything.
Pretty good potboiler. This one I could figure out because that was the way the story had to go. But I was entertained.
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Do the shadowy killers use the new toy as a murder weapon? That would be an interesting plot twist.
--tg
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Sssssh! Don't spoil it.
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The toy is "Baby's First AR-15". Who could have foreseen any trouble?
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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Dead Eye by Mark Greaney
The Gray Man is being hunted by an assassin almost as good as him. You'll never guess the other's assassin's moniker. Okay, it's Dead Eye. Dead Eye has a nefarious plot to kill the Israeli PM and frame Courtland Gentry for the crime. Once again we have plenty of shootouts and fistycuffs, along with sleeping in cheap motels and evading all the pursuers.
The stories are getting a bit more involved but the characters are as dense as a piece of paper. But I've come this far, I might as well see what happens. I'm already reading Book 6.
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08-29-2022, 07:37 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-30-2022, 01:11 PM by Greg.)
Gunmetal Grey by Mark Greaney
Oddly, I'm starting to enjoy the Gray man series. Or maybe it was nice to see something besides man on the run for five books. This is the first book after five book arc where Courtland Gentry gets to escape. He's off to Hong Kong to find out where a Chinese Hacker is hiding so the authorities can come and pick him up. Naturally, things go awry. The Gray Man learns agains he can't trust anyone but he does come across an odd ally in his hunt which takes him through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Lots of fighting and shooting and talk about gear, the staples.
Kind of fun. It made me turn to the next book in the series immediately after I finished.
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Agent in Place by Mark Greaney
Courtland is in Paris to rescue/kidnap the mistress of Syria. Too bad this happens at the same time ISIS forces are trying to kill her. More good times as the whole operation goes tits up. The Gray Man has been hired for the job by the leaders of the Free Syria Army and want Bianca (the mistress) to talk about the President of Syria's current relationship with Iran which he is not supposed to have. Next thing you know Courtland is on his way to Syria to rescue Bianca's baby courtesy of a less than savory mercenary outfit.
It the usual case of everything going wrong and the Gray Man shooting his way out of trouble against impossible odds. Good clean fun
I'm taking a Courtland break for awhile to read the rest of library books.
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The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
Ooh, literature. The writing was rich and evocative. The story and characters a little nihilistic for my taste.
Detective Meyer Landsman wakes up in his dumpy hotel room to the news another tenant, a chess playing junky has been murdered. The setting is Sitka, Alaska in an alternate universe where this portion of the world was set aside for the Jews rather than giving them Palestine. The only problem is that this Jewish Homeland is about to revert to the United States. Naturally the mystery of the murder ties in with what the Jews are going to do about losing Sitka.
Landsman is a mess. He doesn't eat. He smokes too much. And his ex-wife has just been made his boss who tells him his current murder case is closed because they don't have enough time to solve it before the repatriation.
The story goes through all the different aspects of Jewish life in Alaska. They meet a lot of colorful characters from dwarf policeman to Indian Jews to Mafia members. None of whom want to see this murder solved mainly because the murdered addict is more than he seems. It's a dark and grubby world and by the end I was just tired of it and wanted the murder to be solved.
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But does Chabon reference Star Trek in this? That’s all we want to know…
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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(09-03-2022, 08:32 AM)Greg Wrote: The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
Ooh, literature. The writing was rich and evocative. The story and characters a little nihilistic for my taste.
Detective Meyer Landsman wakes up in his dumpy hotel room to the news another tenant, a chess playing junky has been murdered. The setting is Sitka, Alaska in an alternate universe where this portion of the world was set aside for the Jews rather than giving them Palestine. The only problem is that this Jewish Homeland is about to revert to the United States. Naturally the mystery of the murder ties in with what the Jews are going to do about losing Sitka.
Landsman is a mess. He doesn't eat. He smokes too much. And his ex-wife has just been made his boss who tells him his current murder case is closed because they don't have enough time to solve it before the repatriation.
The story goes through all the different aspects of Jewish life in Alaska. They meet a lot of colorful characters from dwarf policeman to Indian Jews to Mafia members. None of whom want to see this murder solved mainly because the murdered addict is more than he seems. It's a dark and grubby world and by the end I was just tired of it and wanted the murder to be solved.
I really enjoyed this one. Good noir. 5 stars + the Bessarabian fish-eye. Loved it.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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In my defense, I am a hater.
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Go with your strengths.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss
Mystery in 1719! Benjamin Weaver is sort of a thief taker hired to find out who killed Weaver's father which was thought to be a terrible accident. Weaver is also Jewish and we get to see anti-semitism in the 18th Century. The mystery gets very convoluted and there is a lot of talk about being a stockjobber which is the nascent form of being a stock broker. It gets very plodding at times as Weaver must learn about the meaning of paper currency. But when Weaver is out investigating or dealing with the people at Newgate Prison or before the courts it is quite entertaining. Setting played a big role in my enjoyment of this book.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
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