Category: books

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths

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The most recent (2023), as I post, in the Ruth Galloway series. Set during Covid.

Quite good.

Some issues are finally resolved in the complicated life of Ruth.

When builders renovating a café in find a human skeleton behind a wall, they call for DCI Harry Nelson and Dr Ruth Galloway, Head of Archaeology at the nearby University of North Norfolk.  …

Ruth sees at once that the bones are modern. They are identified as the remains of Emily Pickering, a young archaeology student who went missing in the 1990s. Emily attended a course run by her Cambridge tutor. Suspicion falls on him and also on another course member – Ruth’s friend Cathbad, who is still frail following his near death from Covid.

… just when the team seem to be making progress, Cathbad disappears. Was it guilt that led him to flee?

EllyGriffiths.com

1st to Die by James Patterson

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In general, Patterson is the junk food of murder mysteries. Easy to follow. LOTS of action and romance. And very little reality. 😀

Women’s Murder Club is a series of mystery novels by American author James Patterson.

The books are set in San Francisco and feature an ensemble of lead characters.

I’d enjoyed a couple of the recent books — so went back to the beginning.

1st to Die is a 2001 crime novel by American author James Patterson … the first book in the Women’s Murder Club series.

… four friends who pool their skills together to crack San Francisco’s toughest murder cases.

The women each have different jobs: Lindsay Boxer, a homicide inspector for the San Francisco Police Department, Claire Washburn, a medical examiner, Jill Bernhardt, an assistant D.A., and Cindy Thomas, a reporter who just started working the crime desk of the San Francisco Chronicle. …

Actually, it’s not bad. I’d not agree with this Kirkus Reviews: “bargain-basement plotting, fewer thrills than a tax audit, and cardboard sleuths poised to return for a sequel.” 😀

It’s was adapted for a TV miniseries. 2007–2008.

Cancelled after one season. You can watch the 1st episode free on YouTube.

Actually, Angie Harmon was a terrific pick to play Lindsay Boxer.

Mad River by John Sandford

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The 6th book in the Virgil Flowers series ➙ Mad River.

Not one of the best — but I did appreciate the ending.

Jimmy Sharp, Becky Welsh, Tom McCall. They were Bonnie and Clyde, they thought, and what’s-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns.

The first person they killed was a girl, during a robbery. The second was a man whose car they needed. The third and fourth, well, those were personal. Then, hell, why not keep on going?

As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But something doesn’t feel quite right to him about the whole thing. The kids, the victims, the people chasing them — something’s off.

Arthur the King (2024) 

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Another sentimental, feel-good dog movie. Yet I liked it.

Arthur the King is based on a true event Arthur – The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home by Mikael Lindnord.

In the film, the captain of an adventure racing team befriends a wounded stray dog named Arthur, who accompanies the team on a grueling 435-mile (700-km) endurance race through the Dominican Republic.

The actual suffering of a real Adventure Race World Championship is not shown in a Hollywood movie, of course. But there are bits of reality in the film.

Note ➙ Adventure Racing World Championships 2025 will be hosted 22 SEP – 6 OCT out of Penticton, B.C.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Gumption by Nick Offerman

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, government, human rights, humour, music, philosophyLeave a comment

Nick Offerman has released four semi-autobiographical publications:

  • Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living (2013)
  • Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers (2015)
  • Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop (2016)
  • Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside (2021).

Gumption is a humorous, philosophical look at some of the people who have inspired Nick over his lifetime. For example, as a young man he was a huge fan of the film Billy Jack (1971) — and its creator / star Tom Laughlin. He attended Tom’s funeral in 2013 and spent time with the family.

While focused on personal heroes, Nick finds time to expound upon many of his favorite topics such as religion, politics, woodworking, agriculture, creativity, philosophy, fashion, and, of course, meat.

21 profiles of America’s gutsiest troublemakers

  1. George Washington
  2. Benjamin Franklin
  3. James Madison
  4. Frederick Douglass
  1. Theodore Roosevelt
  2. Frederick Law Olmsted
  3. Eleanor Roosevelt
  4. Tom Laughlin
  5. Wendell Berry
  6. Barney Frank
  7. Yoko Ono
  8. Michael Pollan
  1. Thomas Lie-Nielsen
  2. Nat Benjamin
  3. George Nakashima
  4. Carol Burnett
  5. Jeff Tweedy
  6. George Saunders
  7. Laurie Anderson
  8. Willie Nelson
  9. Conan O’Brien

Think Twice by Harlan Coben

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The master of murder mystery twists brags that no-one can guess the killer.

I certainly didn’t.

Think Twice is his 2024 book.

How can a man who’s already dead be wanted for murder?

Three years ago, sports agent Myron Bolitar gave a eulogy at the funeral of his client, renowned basketball coach Greg Downing.

Myron and Greg had history: initially as deeply personal rivals, and later as unexpected business associates. Myron made peace and moved on – until now, when two federal agents walked into his office, demanding to know where Greg Downing is.

According to the agents, Greg is still alive—and has been placed at the scene of a double homicide, making him their main suspect. Shocked, Myron needs answers.

Myron and Win, longtime friends and colleagues, set out to find the truth, but the more they discover about Greg’s whereabouts, the more dangerous their world becomes.

Secrets, lies, and a murderous conspiracy that stretches back into the past churn …

North to Alaska by Trevor Lund

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North To Alaska: The True Story of An epic, 16,000-mile cycle journey the length of the Americas

I downloaded this book to read while cycling in Iceland’s wind and rain.

I had it easy compared to Trevor. 😀

At age-21, Trevor cycled 1800 miles down the west coast of Canada and the USA on a second-hand bike he had bought for around £20.

10 years later — in 1999 — he wanted more. Patagonia to Alaska .

His companion crapped out after the first few days. Trevor was alone.

His bicycle was terrible. No mobile phone. Very little money.

What’s different about this book compared with other similar adventures, is how honest and vulnerable the author is about all the many, many things that go wrong. You really feel the highs and lows.

 Independently published Jan. 7, 2020.

Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson

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In advance of Cross, an Amazon Prime TV adaptation dropping November 14, 2024, I read another of the many books.

Like most Patterson, this one has a plot full of holes. Real murder mystery writers must laugh when reading (the much more successful) Patterson.

If you can suspend belief, this one is more complicated and interesting than most.

Two serial killers. Or is it three?

Alex Cross, Run is the 20th novel in the Alex Cross series written by American author James Patterson. The novel focuses on the protagonist, detective Alex Cross, who must solve three cases at once with the whole city in a frenzy.

Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman

On By Rick McIn books, humour1 Comment

Hilarious street philosophy.

Nick Offerman has released four semi-autobiographical publications:

  • Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living (2013)
  • Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers (2015)
  • Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop (2016)
  • Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside (2021).

He has also narrated all four as audiobooks.

Like most people, I love Nick Offerman as an actor, especially as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015).

His writing is just as funny.

When Nick wrote this 2013 book, he wasn’t nearly as famous as he is today.

In 2003, he married Will & Grace actress Megan Mullally. She’s MUCH more famous and financially successful.

Everyone knew Nick Offerman after his fantastic performance in episode 3, The Last of Us – season 1. An Emmy winning turn.

I do recommend this book. And plan on reading all four.

 Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

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Wow.

Very intriguing plot. Very original format.

The mystery concerns a long-ago triple — or was it quadruple? — suicide in a London cult, involving a leader self-styled as the Angel Gabriel.

The cult was called the Apperton Angels.

Leader Gabriel survived but is in prison for life for another murder.

Amanda Bailey, a terrier-like true-crime author, decides to write a retrospective book focused on the baby in the incident who will soon be turning age-18.

The Angels had believed that baby was the Antichrist. They had planned to sacrifice the child to save the world. Happily, the mother ran off with it.

The story is told using something called the “Dossier Method”.  

It’s simple: background information is revealed about a principal character via two or more side characters looking over written text—tweet, Facebook post, Instagram post, DM, etc. —about said principal character and discussing it.

The book feels more like the outline of a planned book.

It gets even more complicated when a second journalist decides to write a retrospective on the Atherton Angels at the same time.

In any case — it’s recommended.