Category: books

Holmes, Margaret & Poe by Patterson and Sitts

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A cute idea. In New York City, 3 intriguing, smart, and stylish private investigators open Holmes, Marple & Poe Investigations.

… Could they be related to Sherlock Holmes, Jane Marple, and / or Edgar Allan Poe? 😀

Holmes, Margaret & Poe: The Greatest Crime-Solving Team of the Twenty-First Century

by James Patterson (Author) , Brian Sitts (Author)

This book is popular, BUT I’d rank it far below the (very average) standard for a Patterson.

There are 3 or 4 … maybe 5 different plot threads. NONE of the detectives impressed.

It’s an easy read. Sometimes hard to follow.

Give it a miss.

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

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Harlan Coben is a good writer — best known for his Myron Bolitar series.

I Will Find You (2023) is a stand alone novel. Excellent.

An innocent father serving life for the murder of his own son receives evidence that his child may still be alive, and must break out of prison to find out the truth.

I was hooked from the first line.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Another Girl by Peter Grainger

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Peter Grainger STILL doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry. Yet he’s a beloved author with a cult following.

A Kings Lake Investigation, Book #5.

Sadly, his best character — D.C. Smith — has retired from the police.

But of the books NOT including D.C., I’d say this is best, so far.

On the other hand, it’s a slow moving police procedural. No car chases.

Serena Butler goes undercover to battle organized crime.  And has trouble getting back out.

Bloody Genius by John Sandford

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Quite good, as are all of the Virgil Flowers books.

Bloody Genius was published 2019.

At the local state university, two feuding departments have faced off on the battleground of PC culture. Each carries their views to extremes that may seem absurd, but highly educated people of sound mind and good intentions can reasonably disagree, right?

Then someone winds up dead, and Virgil Flowers is brought in to investigate… and he soon comes to realize he’s dealing with people who, on this one particular issue, are functionally crazy. Among this group of wildly impassioned, diametrically opposed zealots lurks a killer, and it will be up to Virgil to sort the murderer from the mere maniacs.

Cross – season 1

On By Rick McIn books, TVLeave a comment

I’m somewhat disappointed.

Excellent source books, the Alex Cross series. Excellent cast. …

I’d fire the writers. This TV drama should have been much better.

In the books, Alex Cross is a savant, using forensic psychology to analyze killers’ minds, delving into victims’ psyches to identify murderers and bring them to justice.

In season 1 he’s no Sherlock. Too angry. Too distracted. His overwhelming grief does not work for me.

He hardly does anything right.

Disappointing.

Isaiah Mustafa as Detective John Sampson, Alex’s Washington, D.C. Metro Police Department partner is very good, however. Much like in the books.

The bad guy — the “fanboy killer” is very well portrayed by Ryan Eggold. That performance cannot be faulted either.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My GUESS is that the writers will learn from their mistakes. I expect season 2 to be much better.

Gone for Good by Harlan Coben

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This 2002 book is excellent.

Gone for Good has a complicated and surprising plot.

As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken.

Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman—a girl Will had once loved—was found raped and murdered in her family’s basement.

The prime suspect: Ken Klein.

With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished …

10 years later Will’s girlfriend simply vanishes. Or was she murdered?

Netflix adapted the book into a TV series set in France.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

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Excellent.

Ashley Elston was a YA author before this HIT adult novel in 2024.

I assumed First Lie Wins would be just another in the predictable series of psychological thrillers.

It’s much more than that.

“This fast-paced read has everything you could want in a thriller: secret identities, a mysterious boss and a cat & mouse game that kept me guessing the whole way through.”
—Reese Witherspoon

“Prepare to trust no one on this high-speed thrill ride through timelines, identities, and motives as you work to piece together Elston’s expertly crafted puzzle. First Lie Wins is a fun, clever spin on the con artist novel …
—Ashley Winstead, author of Midnight is the Darkest Hour

For me, it started to drag before the end. Many of the twists and turns needed explaining.

She also wanted to set-up for an inevitable sequel.

It’s already being adapted for TV.

Tracker – season 1

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Tracker is … based on the 2019 novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver, one of my favourite authors.

The series stars Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, a skilled survivalist and tracker who earns his living by assisting law enforcement and private citizens in exchange for reward money.

Justin Hartley is that super charismatic guy from This Is Us.

He’s a credible action hero.

This is a cable TV drama on CBS, not streaming.

Therefore it’s written in scenes between commercial breaks. (I don’t watch ads. It now streams on Disney+.)

Simple stories that have to wrap-up in hurry. Easy to watch.

All that said — it’s very popular.

It’s set all over North America, while being filmed in British Columbia.

I quite like Eric Graise as Bobby Exley, Tracker’s hacker.

Tracker is one of the few current cable scripted TV show’s I can recommend.

Kill Joy: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Novella

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Kill Joy (2021) is a novella, prequel to the series.

I’ve never attended a murder mystery party — but this one sounds interesting.

Six suspects. Three hours. One murder…

Pip is not in the mood for her friend’s murder mystery party. Especially one that involves 1920’s fancy dress and pretending that their town is an island called Joy. But when the game begins, Pip finds herself drawn into the make-believe world of intrigue, deception and murder.

But as Pip plays detective, teasing out the identity of the killer clue-by-clue, the murder of the fictional Reginald Remy isn’t the only case on her mind …

Amazon

The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, government, IslamLeave a comment

If you liked the TV series Homeland — you’d likely enjoy this novel.

A CIA asset may or may not have been turned by al-Qaeda.

The Faithful Spy (2006) is a novel by The New York Times reporter Alex Berenson. …

… tells the story of a CIA agent who has infiltrated Al Qaeda and, years after 9-11, struggles to stop a terrorist attack in the United States. …

Al Qaeda detonates two truck bombs in LA, killing hundreds of people. John Wells is returned to the USA on a mission from Al Qaeda where he reconnects with the CIA. However, due to the length of his absence he is accused of being “un-faithful” because he did not warn the US about Al Qaeda attacks. …