The Devil You Know by Freida McFadden

I don’t love all the popular Freida McFadden books, but this one is very entertaining.

The Devil You Know (2017) is a medical comedy and women’s fiction novel as the second and final book in her Dr. Jane McGillduology.

Unlike her famous dark psychological thrillers (like The Housemaid), this earlier series leans heavily into medical humour, workplace drama, and romance.

The story follows Dr. Jane McGill, who finally feels like she has the perfect life.

She has a stable job at a VA Hospital, a loving husband, and an adorable daughter. However, her ideal world is upended when the hospital hires a new vascular surgeon: Dr. Ryan Reilly—the “Sexy Surgeon” who also happens to be the biggest jerk she ever loved.

Forced to work alongside her infuriating ex-boyfriend from a decade ago, Jane begins to question her past choices and her current marriage as old sparks fly and workplace comedy ensues

Cycling the Camino de Santiago

I cycled the last sections of the traditional Camino de Santiago in 2022.

To my thinking, cycling is even better than walking.

I rented a touring bike. VERY convenient.

If interested, check out the best guidebook:

Cicerone – Cycling the Camino de Santiago: a complete planning guide

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Hang On St. Christopher by Adrian McKinty

Another great book from one of my favourite authors.

Hang On St. Christopher (2025) is the 8th novel in Adrian McKinty’s critically acclaimed Sean Duffy mystery series, released on March 4, 2025.

Despite the previous book, The Detective Up Late, being heavily promoted as Duffy’s final case, this instalment welcomes the street-worn detective back for another dangerous assignment.

  • The Setting: It is July 1992. The Troubles in Northern Ireland have been grinding on for 25 apocalyptic years.
  • Duffy’s Status: Sean Duffy has successfully relocated his family over the water to Scotland. He is now a semi-retired part-timer, only returning to Belfast six days a month just to secure his police pension.
  • The Inciting Incident: While his protégé, Detective Sergeant Lawson, is away on holiday in Spain, a seemingly straightforward case lands in Duffy’s lap. A middle-aged, solitary portrait painter is killed in what looks like a carjacking gone wrong.
  • The Twist: Duffy quickly uncovers that the dead painter was actually an IRA assassin.
  • The Stakes: Duffy is forced to figure out who hit the hitman and why. His investigation leads him into a complex web of parallel, true-events-based operations involving the CIA, MI5, and Special Branch, with the future of the burgeoning Irish peace process hanging in the balance

Eleventh Hour (2006 British TV series)

I watched Eleventh Hour — not to be confused with the 2008 American remake — because it starred Patrick Stewart.

He’s great.

The concept is great.

The execution terrible. Cinematography worse, even by 2006 production standards.

Patrick Stewart is a Special Science Advisor, who troubleshoots threats stemming from or targeting “scientific endeavour.”

He is joined by Rachel Young, played by Ashley Jensen, a Special Branch operative who acts primarily as his bodyguard, as Hood has made powerful enemies through his work. 

Less Than a Treason by Dana Stabenow 

Dana Stabenow is an award winning author who sets books in her home state of Alaska.

Less Than a Treason (2017) is just one of many in her Kate Shugak series.

I enjoyed it.

The book opens four months after the dramatic cliffhanger of the previous novel, Bad Blood, where Aleut private investigator Kate Shugak was shot in the chest and nearly died,

Kate’s self-imposed isolation is shattered when a group of wilderness hikers stumbles near her territory. One hiker tumbles down a ridge and lands on a scattered heap of human bones. Realizing it is time to return to society, Kate packs up the remains, escorts the hikers back, and re-enters the town of Niniltna—shocking locals who assumed she was dead.

Once back, Kate is drawn into a complex web of corporate crime involving a lucrative secret gold mine: [1]

  • The Geologist: Kate is hired by Sylvia McDonald to find her missing husband, Fergus, a seasoned geologist who disappeared near the Suulutaq Mine. Fergus was known for taking solo treks into the wilderness with his rock hammer, but this time, he hasn’t returned. 
  • The Bootlegger: Simultaneously, Jim Chopin begins a search for Kate’s cousin, Martin Shugak—a petty criminal and bootlegger who has also mysteriously vanished.



The Final Target by Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts is a great story teller — but I can’t recommend her most recent book.

The ROMANCE is classic Nora Roberts. Very good.

But the main plot about a debut author chased by an extremely stupid stalker is … weak.

Review – Nora Roberts’ The Final Target Review: Worth the Hype?

The audio book reader is excellent, as usual ➙ January LaVoy.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Life of Chuck (2024)

Wow. Original. Interesting. Uplifting

What a great movie.

The Life of Chuck is a 2024 fantasy-drama film written, directed, and edited by horror auteur Mike Flanagan.

Moving away from his signature macabre horror style, Flanagan delivers a life-affirming, emotionally resonant adaptation of Stephen King’s 2020 novella of the same name.

The film took home the prestigious People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The movie explores the life of an ordinary accountant named Charles “Chuck” Krantz through an unconventional reverse three-act structure:

  • Act III: Thanks, Chuck! – The film opens during a surreal, crumbling apocalypse where infrastructure fails and the world is slowly ending. Mysteriously, massive billboards and TV ads appear everywhere thanking an ordinary man named Chuck for “39 great years,” baffling local residents.
  • Act II: Busking – The narrative jumps back to Chuck’s adulthood, capturing a profound, spontaneous, and joyous street-dance sequence during a business trip that celebrates pure human connection.
  • Act I: Childhood – The final act explores Chuck’s upbringing by his grandparents after his parents die. He grapples with a love for dancing versus his grandfather’s practical accounting expectations, all while living in a home with a supernatural, prophetic secret hidden in the attic.

The underlying thesis reveals that the global “apocalypse” in Act III is actually the fading consciousness and brain decay of Chuck himself as he lies dying in a hospital bed.

The film acts as a metaphor for the Walt Whitman philosophy that every single human “contains multitudes” and holds an entire pocket universe within their mind.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My iPhone 17 Pro Max

In May 2026, I ended up buying a refurbished Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max 256GB – Cosmic Orange – Unlocked for CAD $1549.

After a couple of months using it as my primary camera, I’m very happy.

My old Sony point and shoot hasn’t been out of the box.

Max is the larger size, longer battery life.

17 Pro Max will now be my main camera.

My old 16 Pro will have the mobile plan, audio books, podcasts, navigation apps, and everything else. The 16 Pro replaces my dying iPhone SE Mini.

I was convinced to go 17 Pro rather than the cheaper, similar 16 Pro because of this Tyler Stalman review. One of the gurus, Tyler is from Calgary.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. The improved selfie camera in the 17 is the biggest upgrade from the 16.

I went with the Flolab Surtect iPhone 17 Pro Max case based on this review.

I’ll be changing my workflow, as well, with this camera following Tyler Stalman’s advice.

SKI ✔️ ➙ HIKE ✔️ ➙ … BIKE

Due to Trump’s idiotic war, I decided to stay closer to home this Spring.

Made a PLAN … that didn’t exactly work out. 😀

The Skiing was excellent. My best year ever. 12 days at Sunshine.

Hiking great. 17 days in the tent, walking deserts in California and Nevada.

NEXT is visiting friends in Kelowna and Vernon. Most probably cycling back to Calgary on the Great Trans Canada Trail.

Check out my GEAR for the trip. Everything but the kitchen sink. 😀

BC Trail – perhaps the best section of the Great Trans Canada Trail

Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day (2026)

I saw Disclosure Day in the theatre.

Silly. But entertaining.

Rotten Tomatoes, critical approval rating of around 82%.

It could have been better if not so complicated.

I enjoy some of the small touches, however. For example, Emily Blunt’s character (Margaret Fairchild) has a musician boyfriend named Jackson, who is played by Wyatt Russell. That character is funny and believable.

Colin Firth makes a good bad guy.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.