Quit at 20%.
His serious novel about racism got too preachy for me.
Category: books
Hum by Helen Phillips
I only got about 40% through this book.
GREAT plot. But the dysfunctional family was simply too depressing for me.
Hum (2024) is Helen Phillips 6th book.
It’s a dystopian novel set in the near future.
The air is polluted. World has heated up, requiring more air conditioning. Water supply questionable.
People spend a lot of time in ‘wooms’, something like a climate controlled capsule.
“hums” – humanoid robots – are increasingly taking the jobs of humans.
Mary is out of work — and hears of an opportunity to earn several months’ salary by receiving an experimental facial injection, and takes it. The injection will render May’s face unrecognisable to the ubiquitous hums. She’s a guinea pig for a form of adversarial AI.
What could go wrong?
The House of Cross by James Patterson
With the new TV series launching 2024, there was more than usual interest in the 2024 release of 33rd book in the series.
I’d say this is one of the better books. Entertaining escapism.
It’s timely. Set around the inauguration of a new President.
Judges on the list of potential Supreme Court candidates are being murdered.
Why?
A body believed to be the vigilante serial killer called “M” is found after a car wreck in Nevada.
Bree believes that he was the mastermind behind the criminal organization Maestro. She and Sampson pursue to the lair in British Columbia. And disappear.
Alex Cross to the rescue.
Storm Prey by John Sandford
Action packed.
Another great read in the Lucas Davenport series — this one featuring Virgil Flowers, as well.
Storm Prey (2010) is 20th in the series.
The bad guys in this one are really, really dumb.
Very early, 4:45 on a bitterly cold Minnesota morning, three big men burst through the door of a hospital pharmacy, duct-tape the hands, feet, mouth and eyes of two pharmacy workers, and clean the place out. But then things swiftly go bad, one of the workers dies, and the robbers hustle out to their truck — and find themselves for just one second face to face with a blond woman who’s driven into the garage.
Weather Karkinnen, surgeon, wife of an investigator named Lucas Davenport.
Did she see enough? Can she identify them? Gnawing it over later, it seems to them there is only one thing they can do: Find out who she is, and eliminate the only possible witness….
19th Christmas by Patterson & Paetro
Another kinda dumb, non-stop action, entertaining read.
19th Christmas is the nineteenth novel in the Women’s Murder Club novel series by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.
Better than average, I’d say.
Christmas is coming …
Detective Sgt. Lindsay Boxer, her family, and her friends of the Women’s Murder Club have much to celebrate. Crime is down. The courts are slow and the medical examiner’s office is quiet.
Journalist Cindy Thomas is working on a story about the true meaning of Christmas in San Francisco.
Then a series of crimes and threats of horrific crimes to come put the entire police force into nonstop action.
At first, all they have is a name, “Loman,” behind the threats. It takes until Christmas before enough pieces come together to find enough to hope to pinpoint where Loman can be caught.
The Lost Coast by Jesse & Jonathan Kellerman
Surprisingly, this is only the 3rd book I’ve read by Jonathan Kellerman and/or his son Jesse Kellerman.
I enjoyed it. This is the 5th book in the Clay Edison series.
Crime Scene (2017)
A Measure of Darkness (2018)
Half Moon Bay (2020)
The Burning (2021)
The Lost Coast (2024)
I only downloaded because The Lost Coast is a terrific hike in California. 😀 … Unfortunately, there’s only one short day hike in the novel.
It’s been almost a year since Clay Edison was forced out of his job at the coroner’s bureau.
Now he’s on his own, working as a private eye.
When a client brings him a fraud case, Clay dives into a decades-old scheme targeting the vulnerable.
His investigation leads him to a bizarre town buried in the remote California wilderness. The residents don’t care much for outsiders. They certainly don’t like Clay asking questions. And they’ll do just about anything to shut him up.
I liked the missing person plot — it kept me guessing.
And I was charmed by the refreshingly simplistic writing style. Unpretentious.
The first half of the book was all good. The second half dragged a bit. Could have been shorter.
Mind Games by Nora Roberts
Mind Games is one of the 4 books published by Nora Roberts in 2024.
The woman is a writing machine.
This is one of her typically long books. Many characters. But Roberts is such a terrific story teller that it’s easy to follow.
It’s got a paranormal element, as some of her best books include.
You could still call this a Romance novel, but it’s much, much more. Her books are uplifting for me.
Told in three parts – Tragedy, Living, and The Gift – Roberts proves that her prolific creative mind (at age-79) is still as sharp as ever.
When the tragic murder of her parents ignites twelve-year-old Thea Fox’s psychic abilities, her grandmother Lucy is not surprised because she, too, has the Sight.
Along with those abilities awakened through the tragedy is a connection to Ray Riggs, the man who murdered her parents and who dreams of killing her, too. …
I recommend the audio book as January LaVoy is such a terrific reader.
Murder in a Small Town – season 1
An excellent TV series.
Murder in a Small Town is a Canadian mystery–drama television series which premiered on Global in Canada, and Fox in the United States on September 24, 2024. …
It is based on the Alberg and Cassandra Mysteries, a series of novels by L. R. Wright.
It was filmed at Gibsons on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast.
In Canada, I watched it free (ad supported) on the Global TV website — but it was a pain.
The romance is consummated half way through the first episode.
Rossif Sutherland — son of the Donald — is the small town police chief.
The gorgeous Kristin Kreuk was a gymnast in Vancouver until grade 11. She’s of Dutch and Chinese Jamaican descent.
The entire cast is good.
Mya Lowe as Corporal Edwina Yen is great. You might recognize her from Yellowjackets.
I’m impressed that the show is nuanced on subjects like racism. And sexual harassment.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Holmes, Margaret & Poe by Patterson and Sitts
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
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.
Rick McCharles 