Jeffrey Archer is now in his 80s.
His current series features police officer William Warwick, late 1980’s London.
In this one, Warwick is moved from Drugs section to investigating crooked cops.
Archer is a good story teller. Good vs Evil.
Plots that are simple to follow.
Protagonists you can cheer for unreservedly.
Doc Martin is still keeping me amused.
Doc and Louisa finally get married. And then, unsurprisingly, separate.
Doc is hopeless.
Eventually … they go to couples therapy.
Over the last few seasons, Jessica Ransom, as Doc’s harried receptionist Morwenna Newcross, has become my favourite character.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Ragnar Jónasson is the acclaimed Icelandic author of crime fiction. The Dark Iceland series is set in and around Siglufjörður, featuring Detective Ari Thor.
Iceland is the most literary nation on earth. According to the BBC, one in ten Icelanders will publish a book. Crime fiction is particularly popular.
Ragnar Jónasson started as the guy who translated 14 Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic. 😀
His debut novel, Snowblind (2010) introduces Ari, a rookie cop from Reykjavik, arriving in an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors – accessible only via a small mountain tunnel.
Ragnar spent many summers as a kid in Siglufjörður. He writes what he knows.
Surprisingly, the author did not do his own translation to English. His translator is British though Ragnar did edit the English editions, as well.
When a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.
An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and the 24-hour darkness threatens to push Ari over the edge …
An intriguing plot for sure.
BUT I felt the translation I read was not particularly well written. Too simplistic. Key points repeated too often.
Jumping forward and backward in time didn’t work for me. It was confusing, not engaging.
Bloodlands is a police procedural set in Ireland.
Intense with unexpected twists and turns.
Veteran detective Tom Brannick is still looking for his wife who disappeared 20 years earlier. Her possible assassin, code-named Goliath, might be back.
It’s well done. But too dark for me to continue to season 2.
Also, there’s no character I particularly like.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
A new upgrade to my life is this lightweight minimalist wallet.
It carries only 2 cards (driver’s licence & credit) along with some emergency cash.
I don’t attach it to a phone. Instead I keep it in a a dedicated zippered card pocket which most of my pants and shorts feature.
What I like best is using it as a phone kickstand.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
As a teenager I loved Follett’s World War II thriller, “Eye of the Needle” (1974).
Follett got even more famous writing historical fiction: Kingsbridge Series ➙ Century Trilogy.
In 2021 he published a geopolitical thriller — Never. Quite a departure.
Never is set in today’s world.
The sprawling saga is a fictionalized story of our world stumbling towards a nuclear war that nobody wants.
It begins in the Sahara Desert. Islamic terrorists, drugs and human trafficking.
The American President Pauline Green is a 4′ 11″ Republican. A former gymnast. Of course she’s challenged on the right by a Trumpy populist. Top of the American agenda is a revolt in North Korea. Rebel military have seized the nuclear weapons.
A high-ranking Chinese Intelligence official offers insight into the mindset of that superpower.
This book is terrifying as you can see how a nuclear war could start. In fact, I’m affected enough to no longer want to travel to Taiwan or Korea for hiking. They are both too close to nuclear attack.
As always, Follett writes great love stories. It’s the human stories that separate his work from other authors.
Click PLAY or watch an interview on YouTube.
Another book with a similar plot is 2034: A Novel of the Next World War (2021).
I pretty much like any and every British murder mystery TV show.
I picked this show at random out of dozens of options.
And I enjoyed it though the only character that really appeals is Bailey Patrick as Rob Brady. He’s got the look.
Jennie Jacques as Amber Saunders, a street person, is well done too. A well crafted performance.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
One reason I bought the Trek Checkpoint was to be able to cycle more rugged trails with a fully loaded touring bike.
How did that work out for me?
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’ve experimented with many tripods over the past 2 years. CRITICAL gear as I mostly travel solo and want to take photos and videos of myself while adventuring.
Weight and volume are super important. I can take them all on some bikepacking trips. But for hiking, I usually only take two of the smallest. All of these tripods can hold any of my 3 small cameras.
My favourite is the Miggo Splat. Super tough. Very reliable. BUT I did manage to break one.
Even better — but not as durable — is the Fotopro uFO 2.
Like the Splat, it can wrap around fence posts, tree branches, almost anything.
Least likely to make a hiking or bikepacking trip is my Neewer 56 inches/142 centimeters tripod. It’s good — but 2.73 pounds/1.24 kilograms is often too heavy.
I’m not much of a selfie stick guy, but the new-to-me 3m / 9ft Insta360 Extended Edition Selfie Stick has me intrigued. I MIGHT even end up getting one of their expensive Action Cameras.
I’ll often take it along despite the 365gm / 12.8oz load.
I bought the lightest JOBY GorillaPod I could. Only 325 Grams. But it’s pretty flimsy for anything more than a phone camera. I’ve never had much luck with JOBY. Those arms break easily.
So far I’m really liking my new DJI Mini SE drone. Until I crash it 🤔 … drone footage can replace tripod for long establishing shots.
Shooting video of yourself when alone can be tricky. Here’s how I’m doing it, so far.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 