All Systems Red is a 2017 science fiction novella by American author Martha Wells. The first in a series called The Murderbot Diaries …
The series is about an artificial construct designed as a Security Unit, which manages to override its governor unit, thus enabling it to develop independence.
It calls itself Murderbot, and likes to watch unrealistic soap operas. …
I don’t think I’ll continue with the Murderbot Diaries.
The Alienist is an American period drama television series …
… an ad hoc team assembled in mid-1890s New York City to investigate a serial killer who is murdering street children.
The series incorporates fact with fiction by including the characters that are historical figures, such as Theodore Roosevelt, who held the post of police commissioner from 1895 to 1897. …
Dakota Fanning is good as Sara Howard, Roosevelt’s secretary and first woman employed by the NYPD.
The cast is believable aside from Luke Evans as John Schuyler Moore.
The plot didn’t work for me.
But I loved the setting and seeing technology of that day.
In fact, an Alienist in NY City in that era is what we’d today call a psychiatrist.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The 9-year-old son of a jailed white supremacist disappears.
A black Texas Ranger is called in to assist with the investigation.
Interesting plot.
Interesting setting – Lake Caddo, a sprawling, irregular inland sea divided between Texas and Louisiana.
Interesting timing. Trump was just elected. It’s Texas.
I don’t envy this cop.
Oh. He has a cruel mother. A wife with whom he is trying to reconnect.
Overall, this book is quite good.
Shoppers Drug Mart is Canada’s largest pharmacy chain with over 1000 stores.
As I hope to become — yet again — a traveller, I’m thinking it might be better (in future) to have in-person access to all these stores.
Since I went on blood pressure medications a few years ago, I’ve been dealing with local, independent pharmacies. Good service, but they rarely have what I need in stock.
So … I’ve made a second trip back in person to pick up my DRUGS.
That’s been a hassle a few times over the years, as I travel so much.
The independents and Shoppers both now ship for free — but I have more faith in the big company.
Actually, I would have gone with Amazon Canada Pharmacy — but they haven’t launched that service yet.
I flew for the first time in a year — Vancouver Island to Calgary.
Essential travel to get my first vaccine March 18th.
Essential Doctor’s appointment next day. I hadn’t had an annual medical in over 15 months.
LAB TESTS Calgary are run by a monopoly ~ Alberta Precision Laboratories. Not enough capacity — obviously — as my first available slot was April 12th.
Happily, I could get lab tests in Banff March 23rd.
Travel out of Banff is non-essential, … so I better stay until my vaccine starts to kick in. 😀
Lounging-in-place in my US $60+ / night private hostel room. Only departing for essential food and drink.
And EXERCISE, of course. That’s essential too.
Nora Seed decides to commit suicide.
And finds herself offered a chance to reinvent her life by going back and making different major life decisions.
Some include Nora becoming a glaciologist, Olympic swimmer, and rock star.
Haig put together this construct to talk philosophically about regret, hope and second chances. The author is a a champion of mental health causes. Instead of preaching medical science, he puts the same messages across in an entertaining narrative.
I found the book very uplifting.
Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever.
Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices
. . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”
MattHaig.com
Click PLAY or meet Matt on YouTube.
Watching the Canadian TV series Coroner reminded me of the even better series Cardinal.
Excellent.
Season 3 was my favourite.
The suspicious death of Cardinal’s wife Catherine coincides with a double murder, and Delorme is ordered to take the lead in the murder investigation.
Reluctant to believe that Catherine committed suicide, Cardinal begins investigating other possibilities, whilst dealing with a succession of anonymous letters blaming him for the event.
Noelle Dyson, recovering from the death of her sister, tries to reason with another prospective suicide and is devastated when she fails to prevent him killing himself.
Season 4 was not as good, in my opinion. Still good, but not as good.
And there will be no season 5.
There have been rumours of a spin-off for Cardinal’s detective partner, Lise Delorme.
Persepolis Rising (2017) is surprisingly set 28 years after book 6.
Aging gunship Rocinante still has our core crew — but they are 28-years-older. In their 60s-70?
James Holden & Naomi Nagata just deciding to finally retire.
Bobbie will take over as captain.
There are now 1300 new inhabited planets on the other side of the Rings.
Needless to say, a NEW THREAT arrives. Holden and crew called back to save the day.
I’m not a big fan of the story telling in these books, actually. BUT I liked this one best so far.
… WHO do you think would win if Bobbie and Amos had a fight?
In fact, I’m actually looking forward to what happens next.
Much less cheesy than the usual Canadian TV fare.
A bit too weird for my liking, but I’ll probably watch season 3 when it’s released this year.
Coroner is a Canadian police procedural crime drama …
The series stars Serinda Swan as Jenny Cooper, a recently widowed coroner in Toronto who investigates suspicious deaths.
Some of the supporting cast are my favourites.
Tamara Podemski, Jenny’s assistant.
Teenage son Ehren Kassam.
The odd love interest, Éric Bruneau. At least in season 1.
AND the great Nicholas Campbell (Da Vinci’s Inquest) as Jenny’s father suffering from dementia.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
5th book in the excellent Sean Duffy series.
Best so far, I’d say.
Duffy is less self-destructive. AND gets a cat. AND might become a father.
Reader Gerard Doyle does an excellent job in the audio book.
Duffy is a Catholic cop in 1980s Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
When journalist Lily Bigelow is found dead in the courtyard of Carrickfergus castle, it looks like a suicide. But there are just a few things that bother Duffy enough to keep the case file open.
Which is how he finds out that she was working on a devastating investigation of corruption and abuse at the highest levels of power in the UK and beyond.
And so Duffy has two impossible problems on his desk: who killed Lily Bigelow? And what were they trying to hide?
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Rick McCharles 