The Wayward Pines Trilogy (2012–2014) is a mystery/thriller/science fiction novel series by American author Blake Crouch.

It follows U.S. Secret Service agent Ethan Burke as he unravels the mystery surrounding his unanticipated arrival in the small town of Wayward Pines, Idaho, following a devastating car accident.

The novels are Pines (2012), Wayward (2013), and The Last Town (2014).

In 2015, the novels were adapted into the television series Wayward Pines. …

For me the 2nd book in the series was not as good as the first. Though it does have the kind of cliffhanger ending that made me put book #3 on hold at my library.

Ethan Burke is now surprisingly the sheriff, seemingly in the confidence of  Dr. Pilcher who runs the mystery town.

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London, 1887.  Ending at the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Her 50th anniversary.

This is a lightweight but entertaining read about an adventurous young woman who’s thoroughly modern in her outlook to life.

After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica Speedwell is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance.

As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans when Veronica thwarts her own attempted abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron, who offers her sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive and bad-tempered natural historian.

But before the baron can reveal what he knows of the plot against her, he is found murdered—leaving Veronica and Stoker on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

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Yrsa, born 1963, is an Icelandic author.

My Soul to Take is the 2nd book in her Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series.

Perhaps my last. Too many characters. Too complicated.

The killer revealed in a way that would not impress Agatha Christie.

Like the first book, the plot sounded interesting.

In the mystical Snæfellsnes region on Iceland’s west coast – at a New Age health resort in a renovated farmhouse – the body of a young woman is discovered, savagely beaten, with pins inserted into her feet.

Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, lawyer and single mother of two, has been retained to represent the resort’s owner and prime suspect.

But a fresh corpse is not the only abomination Thóra encounters here – for local legend says this place is haunted, and a bizarre series of inexplicable occurrences soon suggests it is so.

As Thóra digs deeply into the farm’s past, she unearths a shocking history of evil and depravity, and her once-solid view of reality begins to waver.

But a second murder, shockingly similar to the first, pulls Thóra back to earth by making two inescapable truths abundantly clear: the killer she seeks is very real and is not finished yet.

… first novel in the Poirot series set at least partly in the courtroom, with lawyers and witnesses exposing the facts underlying Poirot’s solution to the crimes.

The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night. …

One reviewer remarked “it is economically written, the clues are placed before the reader with impeccable fairness, the red herrings are deftly laid and the solution will cause many readers to kick themselves.” …

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Five connected stories.

Maud is an irascible 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and… no qualms about a little murder.

… funny, irreverent story collection by Helene Tursten …

Ever since her darling father’s untimely death when she was only eighteen, Maud has lived in the family’s spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract. …

Now in her late eighties, Maud contents herself with traveling the world and surfing the net from the comfort of her father’s ancient armchair. It’s a solitary existence, and she likes it that way.

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James Patterson partnered with Brian Sitts to reboot the Doc Savage stories from the 1930s and 1940s.

In the NEW book (2022) — Dr. Brandt Savage, a professor of anthropology is kidnapped off the street by the enigmatic Meed and is schooled in the fine art of assassination. 

In fact, Meed makes him something of a superman. Physically and mentally transformed.

But why?

Brandt is the great-grandson of the original Doc Savage. He has the right genetics to do what Meed needs him to do.

YES. It’s dumb. The plot makes no sense. Like the original pulp fiction, perhaps.

I’ll bet you can’t pronounce Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. 😀

Yrsa, born 1963, is an Icelandic author.

Last Rituals (2005) is the first book in her Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series.

Good, not great, is my review.

The premise is interesting:

At a university in Reykjavík, the body of a young German student is discovered, his eyes cut out and strange symbols carved into his chest.

Police waste no time in making an arrest, but the victim’s family isn’t convinced that the right man is in custody.

They ask Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, an attorney and single mother of two, to investigate.It isn’t long before Thóra and her associate, Matthew Reich, uncover the deceased student’s obsession with Iceland’s grisly history of torture, execution, and witch hunts.

But there are very contemporary horrors hidden in the long, cold shadow of dark traditions. And for two suddenly endangered investigators, nothing is quite what it seems . . . and no one can be trusted.

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Paul Theroux is a jerk. But the most skillful writer I can name.

And he’s had a house in Hawaii for over 30 years.

Under the Wave at Waimea is his 2021 novel. Good insight into surf culture.

Professional Hawaiian surfer Joe Sharkey, the protagonist of Paul Theroux’s superb new novel, “Under the Wave at Waimea,” is in trouble — even before he accidentally kills a bicyclist on a dark, rain-drenched road on Oahu’s North Shore.
Old-timers recognize and are thrilled to meet “the Shark,” as he’s nicknamed.
But to the younger surfing crowd, 62-year-old Joe is “just another leathery geezer in flip-flops.”
In short, he’s feeling old.
“When did it happen?” he wonders. “It wasn’t sudden — no illness, no failure; it had stolen upon him.” …

An aging surfer comes to terms with mortality in Paul Theroux’s superb ‘Under the Wave at Waimea’

The Shark starts to fall apart after the accident. His  38-year-old girlfriend has him tested, but it doesn’t seem to be related to Alzheimer’s.

Joe starts telling the same old stories. Over and over again. I did enjoy the ones about Hunter S Thompson in Hawaii. 😀

Theroux is in his 80’s now. I’m thinking aging is much on his mind.

There’s a flashback to Joe’s school days. How he became a surfer. Hawaiian kids at Joe’s school did not appreciate the Haole. White man.

It could be adapted for television.

I’d never heard of John McFetridge before reading his entertaining 2021 book …

Every City is Every Other City

He’s about my age and has been publishing since 2003.

He writes Canadian crime fiction unapologetically. The setting of this book is Toronto. Canuck pop culture references are continual.

My first highlight is that Gord Stewart, 40 years old, single, living with his widowed father is almost an anti-hero. More a loser than super sleuth. That’s original.

He’s been working in the movie business as a location scout for years, and when there isn’t much filming, as a private eye for a security company run by ex-cops, OBC.

When a fellow crew member asks him to find her missing uncle, Gord reluctantly takes the job. The police say the uncle walked into some dense woods in Northern Ontario and shot himself, but the man’s wife thinks he’s still alive.

With the help of his movie business and OBC connections, Gord finds a little evidence that the uncle may be alive.

Now Gord has two problems: what to do when he finds a man who doesn’t want to be found, and admitting that he’s getting invested in this job.

For the first time in his life, Gord Stewart is going to have to leave the sidelines and get into the game. Even if it might get him killed.

Dan Lyons was a senior editor at Forbes magazine.

I knew him from the days he was anonymously “Fake Steve Jobs” online. Hilarious.

His new book is STFU: The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in an Endlessly Noisy World.

New York Times bestselling author Dan Lyons is here to tell you – and don’t take this the wrong way – that you really need to shut the f*ck up!

Our noisy world has trained us to think that those who get in the last word win, when in fact it’s those who know how to stay silent who really hold the power. 

… Lyons combines leading behavioral science with actionable advice on how to communicate with intent, think critically, and open your mind and ears to the world around you.

Talk less, get more. That’s what STFU is all about.

Prescriptive, informative, and addictively readable, STFU gives you the tools to become your better self, whether that’s in the office, at home, online, or in your most treasured relationships.

So take a deep breath, turn the page, and quietly change your life.

Research shows that — in groups — men talk more than women, and interrupt more than women.

He named some skillful listeners: Tim Cook, Richard Branson, Barack Obama.

The opposite would be Trump, who doesn’t listen to a word anyone else says.

I’m going to try to be more disciplined in future. Sit still. and LISTEN.

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