In 2017, Witherspoon started Reese’s Book Club. Quite influential.
When she finally got around to writing her own novel, she reached out first to Harlan Coben (not James Patterson 😀).
A good call. Coben is a master of the plot twist.
Gone Before Goodbye (2025) is best on audio as Reese is the voice of Army combat surgeon Maggie McCabe.
Upside down after a devastating series of tragedies leads to her medical license being revoked, Maggie has lost her purpose, but not her nerve or her passion.
At her lowest point, she is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite plastic surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand the best care money can buy, as well as absolute discretion. …
Needing the money, she reluctantly flies to Russia to do plastic surgery on a reclusive Oligarch.
It’s a fast paced thriller.
Try not to pay too much attention to the plot. 😀
Porkchop is easily the most interesting character.
I did find the emerging medical technology and technical details of trauma surgery quite interesting. They certainly had good researchers.
One of the better books in the long, long series. An unusually strong premise.
Below the Belt (2017) is #40 in a series of guilty pleasure reads. We enjoy the life of the rich and powerful vicariously.
An impressive gentleman, Nelson Knott, launches a 3rd political party in the USA.
But he’s hiding some secrets. Backed by dirty scoundrels.
Somehow Stone Barrington finds himself in the middle of it.
Former Russian CIA mole Ed Rawls, a hilarious old curmudgeon, happens to live near Stone. He entrusts Stone to hang on to the locked case that has dirt on Knott.
A surprise. Normally I don’t like fantasy fiction — but this one is more of a murder mystery.
A high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. … it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.
I’m finally old enough to join the Old Fart Adventure Travel TikTok Crew. 😀
On the road in Singapore.
I’ve had many birthdays on the backpacker trail.
Tam and Les bought me birthday lunch in Little India. We had a robot waiter — though it was too uncoordinated to actually make it to our table. A waiter brought it the last mile.
For decades already I’ve been the oldest person in most hostels. I’ve grown used to the distinction.
Mostly, the kids treat me as a bit of a novelty: How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?
… mavericks who go “against the grain” in their work …
People who chose to ignore conventional wisdom, found or invented a better way, questioned the status quo at great sacrifice and pushed for change against all odds.
Some were drummed out of their careers for it but in the end were proven right (Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis).
Some were celebrated but had to fight every inch of the way (Norman Lear).
Some re-invented their industry but preferred to stay an outsider (Tom Laughlin—aka Billy Jack).
Some confounded their competitors with ingenious strategies (NHL coach Roger Neilson).
One even saved millions of people around the world, but was humiliated, demoted, and dismissed for her entire career (Dr. Katalin Karikó—co-creator of the COVID vaccine).
