My first full-time job out of High School was milkman. In 1975/76 for months I stopped at the Deer Head Cafe for brunch.
A local motor cycle gang hung out there, as well.
It seemed OLD and RUNDOWN even then.
Gump Worsley’s Lament feat Deer Head.
Surprisingly, the Cafe is still serving loyal locals. Cash only.
They even have an Instagram.
THANKS Rockin’.
Just One Look (2004) is a stand-alone novel.
A woman’s husband drives off one night. And doesn’t come home.
What emerges, slowly, is a fascinating and incredibly complicated plot filled with interesting characters.
I couldn’t guess whodunnit.
BUT … for me it was probably 40% too convoluted.
Coben is a good writer, however. I like how he handles technology.
I’ll keep reading.
The book was made into a TV series in Europe. Available in both French and German.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
In the Shadow of the Moon stars stars Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman, and Michael C. Hall (Dexter).
It’s time travel SciFi. Typically those are interesting, but plot holes gape.
In this case, I thought the story worked.
I recommend it.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Excellent and entertaining. Fascinating and original plot. 2005.
Brilliant cop from northern Ireland gets hooked on Heroin. His life in ruins.
Denver, Colorado: a pretty, clever young girl working for an environmental charity, Victoria Patawasti is sleeping peacefully, unaware that she has barely an hour to live.
As her killer slips into her apartment and draws a revolver in the darkness, Alex Lawson wakes up in Belfast. Twenty-four, sickly, and struggling to kick his heroin habit after a disastrous six-month stint in the drug squad of the Northern Ireland police force, Alex badly needs a chance to get back on track.
Victoria was his high school love, and when he finds out she has been murdered, he volunteers to help Victoria’s family hunt down the killer.
But once in Colorado, Alex has a fight on his hands: wanted by both the Colorado cops and the Ulster police, and uncovering corruption at the highest levels of government, he can solve the case only if he manages to stay alive.
All the author’s books are excellent. He’s known for his Sean Duffy series.
This book runs very much in parallel with Sean Duffy. McKinty is trying to have Alex Lawson appear in a Duffy novel.
I really like the setting of this 2020 book – Spokane in the early 1900s.
The author is from Spokane.
Homeless workers, railway tramps and union organizers.
A mix of real and fictional characters makes it more entertaining.
Rye Dolan and his older brother, Gig. Orphaned and penniless. Trying to make their way.
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a teenage, pregnant firebrand western Joan of Arc. She’s based on an actual historical character. A founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a visible proponent of women’s rights, birth control, and women’s suffrage.
Ursula the Great, a striptease artist who sings in a cage with a cougar.
The bad guys: mine owners, violent police, unsympathetic judges and conservative newspaper editors.
It’s not all that well written. But the story does keep moving.
Criminal is a series of four Netflix police procedural anthology TV series set in 4 countries. In 4 languages.
All 4 language series were shot on the same set in Madrid,
Each episode is a stand-alone psychological drama, consisting of the interrogation of an individual by a team of police investigators. Every scene is confined to just three areas in a single location; a police interrogation room, a darkened viewing room that looks into the interrogation room through a one-way mirror, and the hallway and stairwell outside the rooms.
Dialogue is the story.
Very cool.
I watched 7 episodes of the U.K. series.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Book #2 in the Atlee Pine series.
I enjoyed this one more than the first book – Long Road to Mercy.
Badass FBI Agent Atlee Pine finally returns to her Georgia hometown while on forced leave to investigate her twin sister’s abduction when they were just 6-years-old.
Consumed with survivor’s guilt, Atlee believes solving that mystery might help her get her life together.
She stumbles on to a weird serial killer.
I like her unexpected sidekick Carol, who has at least a dozen grandkids.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Nemesis Games (2015) is the 5th book in their The Expanse series.
The best, so far, I’d say. (None of the book titles, however, make much sense to me.)
A simpler plot. Our 4 heroes go their separate ways while the Rocinante is down for long-term maintenance.
I new and engaging BAD GUY.
The Expanse TV series is better. Season 5 is based on this book.
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.
It’s a PAIN having to wait a week between episodes. Season 6 will be the last.
The Paparoa Track is officially New Zealand’s 10th GREAT WALK.
They really bungled that designation as one of the walks is actually a paddle.
Looks awesome for mountain biking.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 