The 4th and final instalment of the John Puller series.
Quite good. My opinion of Baldacci was upped considerably after reading this series.
Paul Rogers has been in prison for ten years. Finally paroled, he sets out for revenge.
After his father is accused of murder, combat veteran and Special Agent John Puller must investigate his past and learn the truth. It leads right to Rogers.
John Puller is Baldacci’s version of Jack Reacher.
My Trek Checkpoint bike is still like new.
Today I flipped over the handlebars. First time ever, I believe.
I was wearing my helmet. But — happily — the Gymnastics training kicked in and I pulled off a shoulder safety roll with perfect technique. No damage. Helmet never hit the dirt.
I was on level ground. Easy riding. INSTANT stop.
My fender somehow came loose and wedged behind the tire.
Weird. I’d never heard of this happening before.
It’s still on warranty so I’ll have the dealer fix it.
I started reading the Jack Reacher books in 2015. Loved ’em from the start.
And there’s much to like in the TV adaptation of book #1.
Alan Ritchson almost lives up to the legend of Reacher.
250 pounds of vigilante justice.
I really liked the badass love interest in this one. Willa Fitzgerald as Roscoe Conklin.
YES the plot is kinda dumb. The book plots are pretty dumb too. Dozens of bad guys who never seem to shoot straight.
But I’m already looking forward enthusiastically to season 2. It got the green light only 3 days after release. This is a hit.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Isaac’s Storm (2000) is not Larson’s best book.
BUT it’s still worth reading if only to learn the history of weather forecasting. If you think it’s bad now, imagine how little they knew in the 1800s.
The people of Galveston had no warning. Few people evacuated to the mainland.
When it happened, the weather service mostly went into ass covering mode.
The 1900 Galveston hurricane was the deadliest natural disaster in United States history and the fifth-deadliest Atlantic hurricane, only behind Hurricane Mitch overall. The hurricane left between 6,000 and 12,000 fatalities in the United States …
In 1915, a storm similar in strength and track to the 1900 hurricane struck Galveston … but only 53 died mainly due to a 10 mile long seawall that had been built after the first disaster.
The book tells the story from the point of view of Isaac Monroe Cline (October 13, 1861 – August 3, 1955), chief meteorologist at the Galveston, Texas office of the U.S. Weather Bureau, now known as the National Weather Service, from 1889 to 1901.
But I never got interested in his personal life, nor the rivalry with his brother, Joseph.
The only thing that worried me about my new Trek Checkpoint ALR 4 backpacking rig is lack of suspension. It’s supposed to have some suspension in the carbon fork — but I still find it a lot stiffer than my old hard tail Ghost.
One way to add suspension is with a special saddle. Makes sense.
When I first heard about this unique product — the PNW Coast Suspension Ext Dropper Post — I started research in earnest.
Dropper posts allow riders to quickly lift and lower their saddle without the need to dismount and loosen the quick-release seat clamp.
The PNW Coast Suspension External Dropper Post is the first suspension dropper post, combining ride smoothing suspension and the benefits of a dropper into one seatpost.
The post comes with 100mm or 120mm of drop travel. It is perfect for XC mountain biking, gravel riding, bikepacking, commuting, and much more.
So far I’m LOVING the ability to quickly and easily raise and lower the saddle, even while riding. I now have 3 different handbag placements and multiple seat positions.
But I still don’t have as much suspension as I’d like.
Click PLAY or see how it works on YouTube.
Click PLAY or see a review on YouTube.
Here’s a review from someone who rides in my own style. Gravel. Bikepacking.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
An entertaining, funny horror story.
Seize the Night (1998) is the second in the Moonlight Bay Trilogy, involving Christopher Snow, who suffers from the rare (but real) disease called XP (xeroderma pigmentosum).
Actually, the 3rd book never got finished.
Fascinating characters, include Chris’ rich surfer bum friend Bobby Halloway. A smart dog. And a smarter cat.
It’s a great premise. The world is slowly changing due to an accidentally released virus developed by the U.S. military.
BUT … the plot bogs down in an endless and seemingly pointless series of adventures in an abandoned military base. They are suppose to be searching for kidnapped children — but seem to wander randomly.
The plot I’d give 2/10.
The entertaining banter and pop references kept me going.
YES the IOC was too gutless to call out the totalitarian state of China for their horrific human rights record.
But I’m still happy the athletes got to compete.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Smart. Well written. A psychological thriller where everyone has secrets.
And it’s a modern book with a plot shaped by pandemic. The police using social media to track suspects.
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.
56 days later detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.
… What happened?
Marc-André Leclerc died in Alaska age-25.
His death seemed inevitable.
When Alex Honnold thinks you’re crazy, you’re crazy.
Before his death, many of the top climbers would rank him best on mixed rock and ice.
Born in Nanaimo, he gravitated to becoming a dirtbag in Squamish with his girlfriend Brette Harrington, also a badass rock climber, and alpinist.
In 2015, Leclerc completed his first solo ascent of The Corkscrew on Cerro Torre. In winter. That’s one of the the toughest solo climbs ever. Yet nobody in the climbing world had ever heard of him.
Marc’s earlier solo climb of the Emperor Face of Mount Robson might have been even tougher. But he found it relaxing.
Marc didn’t care about fame or social media. Or money.
During the filming of this documentary, he got bored and took off. Climbing around the world.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
3rd in the enjoyable John Puller series.
Baldacci’s best series for me, so far.
John Puller’s older brother, Robert, was convicted of treason.
His inexplicable escape from prison makes him the most wanted criminal in the country. Some in the government believe that John Puller represents their best chance at capturing Robert alive, and so Puller must bring in his brother to face justice.
But Puller quickly discovers that his brother is pursued by others who don’t want him to survive. Puller is in turn pushed into an uneasy, fraught partnership with another agent, who may have an agenda of her own. …
davidbaldacci.com
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 