The Levee by William Kent Krueger

An audio only original novella by an excellent writer.

It’s 1927, and the most devastating flood in American history has swelled the Mississippi River to a width of eighty miles.

In an attempt to save a family trapped by the rising water, four men in a tiny rowboat battle the treacherous flow: three are convicts, on loan from the local prison and pressed into service; the fourth, the leader of the team, is driven by his own hidden motives.

But to their surprise upon arrival at Ballymore, an ancestral home protected by a high, circular levee, not everyone in the family feels the need to be saved.

Pride, greed, loyalty, and even love create their own complex currents behind the massive wall.

As the threat from the flood increases and time ticks away, the crew and the family must decide on a course of action, and a desperate plan is hatched to save the weakening levee and all it was built to protect.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Nope (film)

Nope is a 2022 American neo-Western science fiction horror film written, directed, and produced by Jordan Peele.

For me it’s more of a horror / black comedy.

Smart. Well executed. Original.

On Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 452 critics’ reviews are positive. It’s praised for many things — though I felt it was far too long.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan

Dervla McTiernan (born c.1977) is an Irish crime novelist.

She was a practicing lawyer before giving writing a go.

The Ruin (2018) is her debut novel.  A critically acclaimed international bestseller. It won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, the Davitt Award for Best Adult Fiction and the Barry Award for Best Original Paperback, and was shortlisted for numerous other prizes.

Cormac Reilly is about to reopen the case that took him twenty years to forget …

Responding to a call that took him to a decrepit country house, young Garda Cormac Reilly found two silent, neglected children – fifteen-year-old Maude and five-year-old Jack. Their mother lay dead upstairs.

Since then Cormac’s had twenty high-flying years working as a detective in Dublin, and he’s come back to Galway for reasons of his own. As he struggles to navigate the politics of a new police station, Maude and Jack return to haunt him. …

Betrayal is at the heart of this unsettling small-town noir and the Ireland it portrays. In a country where the written law isn’t the only one, The Ruin asks who will protect you when the authorities can’t – or won’t.

dervlamctiernan.com

Personally, I felt the story telling was not great. Too many peripheral characters. Too slow.

Testing QUOTE styles on WordPress

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The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

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The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

The Burial Hour by Jeffery Deaver

Burial Hour (2017) is 13th in the Lincoln Rhyme series.

And it’s as diabolical and intricate as any.

As usual, it’s the bad guy that’s most intriguing. The Composer.

Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are called in to investigate a bizarre murder in NY City. But Composer escapes and flees to Italy.

Lincoln and Amelia were finally planning to get married. But instead of a honeymoon, they hopped on a private jet to continue the pursuit.

They enlist the assistance of an an endearing Italian Forestry Services officer, Ercole Benelli, to help translate and navigate the Italian police system.

Another great book.

Skiing Sunshine with Rocco

Rocco has a season pass. I joined him on a quiet Wednesday at Banff Sunshine Village.

Great snow. Mixed but generally good weather.

I do love downhill skiing.

Sneaking over the rope to the Delirium Wild West Dive out-of-bounds area. 😀

LUNCH was … hot dog wrapped with Beaver Tail.

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

The 3rd in an entertaining series where the author himself is in the story, a dim bulb Watson to investigator Daniel Hawthorne — who’s a gruff, modern Sherlock.

It was a goal to have Horowitz the “the most stupid person in the book“. 😀

In this one Horowitz convinces Hawthorn to join him at a book festival on tiny Alderney island, just three miles long and a mile and a half wide.

… Alderney is in turmoil over a planned power line that will cut through it, desecrating a war cemetery and turning neighbour against neighbour.

The visiting authors – including a blind medium, a French performance poet and a celebrity chef – seem to be harbouring any number of unpleasant secrets.

When the festival’s wealthy sponsor is found brutally killed, Alderney goes into lockdown and Hawthorne knows that he doesn’t have to look too far for suspects.

There’s no escape. The killer is still on the island. And there’s about to be a second death…

anthonyhorowitz.com

Kids invited over 20 authors to their actual literary festival — and none responded aside from Horowitz. That visit inspired this book.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Still good — but I found this to be the weakest of the three in the trilogy.

Horowitz claims there will only be 3 books. But you never know.

Lael Wilcox is my Cycling Hero

Lael Wilcox is an ultra-endurance bicycle racer from Alaska who’s set a LOT of records. Almost always the fastest woman, she’s competitive with the top men.

In fact, she doesn’t believe women are at any disadvantage in ultra-endurance sports. BUT most races are 90% men, 10% women.

Lael has a BIG YEAR planned for 2023 again racing the Tour Divide and Arizona Trail.

Her current goal is to encourage more girls and women to cycle. To that end, she documents her races even at risk of being disqualified as she was in the 2019 Tour Divide.

I Just Want To Ride – Lael Wilcox and the 2019 Tour Divide

Foolishly, many ultra-endurance races don’t allow video crews, considering them psychological support. That’s true, of course. BUT those races should encourage ALL to have media support people.

Click PLAY or watch her 2022 TED Talk on YouTube.

Instagram.

Alee Denham, from Australia, is one of my bikepacking gurus. A man.

He put together a page promoting women’s cycling resources:

Women Cycle The World – A handful of profiles on solo women travellers
Bicycle Travelling Women – More profiles on solo women cyclists
Bicycle Travelling Women – Facebook Group with 6000+ members
Solo Women Cyclist Interviews – A series of interesting interviews by Heike Pirngruber

These Solo Women Cyclists Have Epic Bicycle Touring Experience

AND he names names. These are some of the women he follows:

Ann Johansson – Mairawa – Cycled Sweden to Tajikistan and Sweden to Thailand
Anna Kitlar – Bikexploring – Cycled North America, Asia to Europe, Africa
Anne Westwards
 – Anne Westwards – 1.5 years through Asia and the Middle East
Astrid Domingo Molyneux – Cycling Full Circle – 2 years through Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America
Blanca Fernandez – Blanca on a Bike – Cycled London to Asia, now travelling Africa
Blandine – Kick The World – 5 years, 57000km, 37 countries
Barbara Graf – Caretaker – Long bicycle journeys all over the world
Carmen Mickley – Vegan Cycling – 41,250km, 31 countries, three continents, three years
Cinderella Servranckx – Cycling Cindy – 50000km across 45 countries
Dervla Murphy – Full Tilt – Ireland to India on a bicycle… in 1963! Check out her book on the experience.
Dorothee Fleck – Women’s Cycling Guide – 12 years, 98 countries, 180,000km by bike
Eleanor Moseman – Wander Cyclist – 2 years, 26,000km, China, Mongolia & Central Asia
Emily Chappell – That Emily Chappell – Europe to Asia, North America and currently focussing on ultra-endurance cycling
Ewa Świderska – Ewcyna – Travelling by bike around the world since 2013
Fredrika Ek – The Bike Ramble – 1000 days around the world, 51000km, 45 countries, 25 years old
Gaëlle Bojko – Bike to the Blocks – One year around Europe, Lake Baikal in Siberia (lots of snow!)
Genevieve Fortin – On The Bike Again – Has cycled dozens of countries since 2006
Heike Pirngruber – Push Bike Girl – Travelling by bike around the world since 2013, an amazing photographer
Helen Dainty – Hels on Wheels – Cycling for six years (so far!), three continents, 43 countries on the bike
Helen Lloyd – Helen’s Take On – 45 countries, 45,000km, four continents
Hera van Willick – Wild Awake – Cycled extensively in Europe, Asia, North & Central America
Hyojin “Jin” Jeong – Universe With Me – 80000km around the world since 2011
Ishbel Holmes – World Bike Girl – Cycled 20 countries over three years
Jeannette Gagne – A Voyage of Mysterious Me – Cycled to the “North Pole”, in Oceania and currently in Africa
Jenny Graham – JennyGrahamIs – Fastest woman to cycle around the world (124 days)
Joanna Kaszewiak – On By Ways – Europe to Asia by bike, bus and plane
Josie Dew – Josie Dew – 35 years of solo adventures, author of seven bicycle touring books
Jude & Astrid – Foons On Bikes – Australia to the UK, then the UK to South Africa
Juliana Buhring – Juliana Buhring – Around the world in 152 days, ultra-endurance extraordinaire
Kate Leeming – Breaking The Cycle – Lots of big bike expeditions since 1993
Lael Wilcox – Lael Wilcox – Extensive touring experience with her ex-partner, more recently has won ultra-cycling events solo
Leana Neimand – Leana Neimand – Around the world since 2007, 89 countries, seven continents
Loretta Henderson – Solo Female Cyclist – Cycled five continents, 51 countries, author of a book for solo women cyclists
Louise Sutherland – Louise Sutherland – Cycled 60,000 kilometres through 54 countries in the 1940s through to the 1970s
Lydia Leibbrandt – Lydia Leibbrandt – The Netherlands to China as a 20-year-old
Mareike Dorf – Mina Travels The World – Cycled Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia and NZ
Marielle Jauring – The Biking Viking – 39000km across Australia, NZ, USA and Canada
Martina Gees – Colorfish – Five years, 25 countries, 60,000km in multiple continents
Mirjam Wouters – Cycling Dutch Girl – Cycling all over the world, now with a toddler!
Nicole Heker – Unlearning By Bike – 22 countries, 377 days, Thailand to Spain
Phoebe Tan – Riding Cyclette – Northern Europe to South East Asia
Sarah Outen – Sarah Outen – London to Russia’s far east, also long-distance ocean rower and kayaker
Snezana Radojicic – Snezana Radojicic – Cycling around the world since 2011
Tara Weir – Margo Polo – 21 countries, 37,000km, extensive travels through Asia in particular, but also Aus, NZ & N.America
Valentina Brunet – Valentina On Wheels – 25000km from Vietnam to Italy

More:

Anna Kortschak – A Thousand Turns – Alaska to Argentina (Europe too!)
Anna McNuff
 – Anna McNuff – Bolivia to Patagonia and 50 states of the USA
Anna-Luisa Becke – Radmaedchen – Canada to Guatemala, 10000km, 10 months
Cynthia Valladares – En Bici al Fin del Mundo – Ecuador to Patagonia as a 24-year-old
Hilde Green – Working On My Calves –  30,000km bike trip from Alaska to Argentina
Juli Hirata – Juli Hirata – Alaska to Argentina
Kate Rawles – Carbon Cycle Kate – Brazil to Patagonia on a bamboo bicycle she made herself
Leah Manning – Cycle South Chica – Cycled from the USA to Argentina
Maria Garus – Solo Woman Cyclist – Alaska to Argentina, 24000km, 33 months
Stefania Cioldi – She Is Around – Cycled about South America with a very cute cat
Sissi Korhonen – Strangerless – Argentina to Mexico over three years
Wiebke Lühmann – Pack and Tri – Colombia to Argentina over six months as a 23-year-old

The Evil Men Do by John McMahon

I enjoyed the first book in the P.T. Marsh series — The Good Detective — and enjoyed #2, as well.

A hard-nosed real estate baron is dead, and detectives P.T. Marsh and Remy Morgan learn there’s a long list of suspects.

Mason Falls, Georgia, may be a small town, but Ennis Fultz had filled it with professional rivals, angry neighbors, and a wronged ex-wife.

And when Marsh realizes that this potential murder might be the least of his troubles, he begins to see what happens when ordinary people become capable of evil. …

Amazon

I love surprising plot twists. And John McMahon delivers more twists and turns than any other author I can recall.

HIGHLY recommended.