Five connected stories.

Maud is an irascible 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and… no qualms about a little murder.

… funny, irreverent story collection by Helene Tursten …

Ever since her darling father’s untimely death when she was only eighteen, Maud has lived in the family’s spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract. …

Now in her late eighties, Maud contents herself with traveling the world and surfing the net from the comfort of her father’s ancient armchair. It’s a solitary existence, and she likes it that way.

Amazon

James Patterson partnered with Brian Sitts to reboot the Doc Savage stories from the 1930s and 1940s.

In the NEW book (2022) — Dr. Brandt Savage, a professor of anthropology is kidnapped off the street by the enigmatic Meed and is schooled in the fine art of assassination. 

In fact, Meed makes him something of a superman. Physically and mentally transformed.

But why?

Brandt is the great-grandson of the original Doc Savage. He has the right genetics to do what Meed needs him to do.

YES. It’s dumb. The plot makes no sense. Like the original pulp fiction, perhaps.

I’ll bet you can’t pronounce Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. 😀

Yrsa, born 1963, is an Icelandic author.

Last Rituals (2005) is the first book in her Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series.

Good, not great, is my review.

The premise is interesting:

At a university in Reykjavík, the body of a young German student is discovered, his eyes cut out and strange symbols carved into his chest.

Police waste no time in making an arrest, but the victim’s family isn’t convinced that the right man is in custody.

They ask Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, an attorney and single mother of two, to investigate.It isn’t long before Thóra and her associate, Matthew Reich, uncover the deceased student’s obsession with Iceland’s grisly history of torture, execution, and witch hunts.

But there are very contemporary horrors hidden in the long, cold shadow of dark traditions. And for two suddenly endangered investigators, nothing is quite what it seems . . . and no one can be trusted.

Amazon

Paul Theroux is a jerk. But the most skillful writer I can name.

And he’s had a house in Hawaii for over 30 years.

Under the Wave at Waimea is his 2021 novel. Good insight into surf culture.

The Shark starts to fall apart after the accident. His  38-year-old girlfriend has him tested, but it doesn’t seem to be related to Alzheimer’s.

Joe starts telling the same old stories. Over and over again. I did enjoy the ones about Hunter S Thompson in Hawaii. 😀

Theroux is in his 80’s now. I’m thinking aging is much on his mind.

There’s a flashback to Joe’s school days. How he became a surfer. Hawaiian kids at Joe’s school did not appreciate the Haole. White man.

It could be adapted for television.