The book follows Grady Green, a once-successful author who retreats to a remote Scottish island after his wife Abby’s disappearance, only to encounter unsettling events and a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.
Not normally a fan of anything horror,— or even creepy — this book was interesting enough to keep me going.
The twists and turns are not believable — but it’s still worth reading.
Secret Garden Cotopaxi is at an elevation of around 3,800 metres (12,500 feet) directly facing famed Cotopaxi volcano. If arriving directly from sea level, you might suffer some altitude symptoms. Especially minor headache, stomach, or sleeping problems. I was OK having been above 2800m for over a week.
Here’s my best photo from the hostel.
A gorgeous location.
Food is fantastic. They have a stone pizza oven. Healthy ingredients, many grown on site. Excellent vegan and vegetarian alternatives.
The hostel has high speed starlink internet — but guests get only about 1 hour / day of slow wifi. They don’t want you on your phone. 😀
Without question, it’s a hippie vibe.
I considered renting a Hobbit House for one night — but $165 was too steep.
The 33rd book in the Lucas Davenport series is excellent. One of the best.
In Judgment Prey (2023) Davenport and Flowers are brought in to help with the investigation of the murder of a federal judge and his two young sons.
As they track down various suspects, they aren’t getting very far.
With each potential lead flawed, Davenport and Flowers are determined to chase every theory until they figure out who killed the Sands. But when they find themselves being stonewalled by the most unlikely of forces, the two wonder if perhaps each misdirection could lead them closer to the truth.
The book picks up after the events in The Sins of the Father, with the House of Lords having to decide who will be the heir to the fortune of Hugo Barrington.
The vote ends with a tie, which prompts the Lord Chancellor to vote in favor of Giles Barrington.
This leaves Clifton free to marry Emma Barrington …
It goes on from there.
Personally, I most liked the story thread of Sebastian Clifton and his sister.
Sebastian returns to school and is focused on gaining admission to Cambridge University. However, he is rusticated because of certain misdemeanours …
Running off to London, Sebastian is robbed by a pickpocket. Without money, he visits his friend Bruno Martinez.
Bruno’s father (a crook) offers the 17-year-old 100 pounds if he carries a sculpture to London from Argentina. It contains eight million pounds in fake £5 notes originally produced by the NAZIs.
I loved the unusual and believable dialogue. A convincing, if odd, friendship.
Lillian is 28 and in a dead-end job.
Years ago, she was a scholarship student at an elite boarding school but was wrongly expelled when her privileged best friend Madison was caught with drugs.
Now Madison is married to a US senator and has two problem stepchildren who spontaneously combust whenever they get angry or upset.
Madison employs Lillian as the children’s guardian for the summer and the trio of outsiders discover they have much in common.
Funny, surreal and tender, Nothing to See Here portrays an unconventional, dysfunctional family in need of repair.
I’m giving it a 5 star rating for its originality and the author’s ability to make me believe the idea of kids starting on fire when stressed, didn’t seem particularly odd. A fun read.
Taffy Brodesser-Akner
“I can’t believe how good this book is…. It’s wholly original. It’s also perfect….
Wilson writes with such a light touch….
The brilliance of the novel [is] that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming.
You’re laughing so hard you don’t even realize that you’ve suddenly caught fire.”
Baños de Agua Santa (Baños) is a small mountain town in the cloud forest, initially unimpressive.
But it’s the nation’s gateway to the Amazon. And legitimately touted the Adventure Capital of Ecuador. Activities similar to what you are offered in New Zealand, but for 20% of the cost. Or less. (MIGHT be some compromises on safety and liability, however. 😀)
BEST for me was the 25km downhill cycling “Ruta de las Cascadas” (Waterfall Route). Rent a bike for $7-10 / day. They hand you a map. And GO.
En route I stopped for a stand-up zip line over Cascada de Agoyán. $2.
And a seated zip-line.
Returned on foot by a LONG Tibetan Bridge over 170 metres high. Cost for both was $25.
On the cycling route, BEST for sure is Pailón del Diablo (Cauldron of the Devil), Ecuador’s largest waterfall.
You can access the Falls from either side of the river. The short route, originating from Río Verde, includes more views and shows nearby San Miguel Waterfall.
I took the longer, wetter route because it includes dramatic staircases, tunnelGrieta al Cielo (Crack to Heaven) where you crawl hands & knees, and a chance to get behind the Falls.
Across from the parking lot, I enjoyed an excellent enchilada. Fried trout is a popular dish here, as well.
A taxi will take you and your bike back to town for about $10. I lifted my bike on the local bus for a $1 ride back to GeoTours, which looked to be the best bike rental spot. They’ve been in business since 1991.
Of course I did a lot of steep day hiking, as well. You can climb in every direction up to more tourist attractions. Most interesting for me was a challenging, overgrown walk to pretty La Casa del Arbol.
Everywhere has installed swings that fly you over a cliff edge. I tried a few.
I was happy to find the city bus ending a route here. 😀 It got me back to town for $1,
I finally tried one of these set-ups where your phone spins around.
One disappointment was famed and popular hot-springs Termas de la Virgen. Not nearly clean enough for me. And you’re required to wear a hideous bathing cap, something I’d never seen before around the world. Not recommended.
Baños itself is must see. The #2 tourist destination in the nation after Quito.
In October 1999, all 17,000+ residents were forced to evacuate Baños for weeks. Tungurahua volcano was active.
Shell Game is the 19th novel in Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski series, published in 2018, where the Chicago P.I. investigates a murder case involving her friend Lotty Herschel’s nephew, Felix, who is framed for the crime.
The plot intertwines with the disappearance of V.I.’s niece and involves a complex web of stolen antiquities, Russian mobsters, and a shadowy network of international criminals, forcing V.I. to confront powerful figures and navigate dangerous situations.
Key aspects of the novel:
Plot: V.I. must clear Felix’s name after he’s implicated in a murder, while also searching for her missing niece, leading her into a world of art theft and organized crime.
Themes: The book tackles timely and divisive issues, including immigration (ICE involvement with Felix), international crime, and the complexities of justice.
Reception: The novel received critical acclaim, winning the Sue Grafton Memorial Award and being named a Boston Globe Best Book of 2018.
This was my 3rd Paretsky novel. They are weirdly rambling. She seems to suffer a lot of physical damage every novel.
Interesting. But I wouldn’t these books brilliant.
Rick McCharles 