Danger in Numbers by Heather Graham

This novel — Danger in Numbers — didn’t work for me.

It’s 1st in the Amy Larson & Hunter Forrest FBI book series — but I won’t be continuing.

Amy and Hunter are super likeable protagonists. Graham is a romance author. The romance is compelling.

But the plot is dumb.

Pacing too slow.

A ritualistic murder on the side of a remote road brings in the Florida state police. Special Agent Amy Larson has never seen worse, and there are indications that this killing could be just the beginning.

The crime draws the attention of the FBI in the form of Special Agent Hunter Forrest, a man with insider knowledge of how violent cults operate, who might never be able to escape his own past.

The rural community is devastated by the death in their midst, but people know more than they are saying.

As Amy and Hunter join forces, every lead takes them further into the twisted beliefs of a dangerous group that will stop at nothing to see their will done.

Paranoia by James O. Born & James Patterson

I haven’t read the Michael Bennett book series — but #17 Paranoia (2025) is an excellent read.

An easy read, too.

Like the Alex Cross and Women’s Murder Club series, FAMILY is very important in this series.

Michael Bennett is an Irish American New York City detective — who raises 10 mixed race adopted children. In this book, his wife is pregnant. That would make 11 children.

In this one, Bennett is investigating a series of deaths of retired cops. Accidents? Suicides?

The assignment is top secret and he is to report to Inspector Cantor only.

Bennett brings in his new, young partner on the case.

The bad guy is super skilled former military.

Weirdly, the title and marketing is all about paranoia. A very minor focus of this plot.

Anna Daley Young ➙ “The Joker”

The Joker (1973) was that evocative hit by Steve Miller Band.

Boston born singer-songwriter Anna Daley Young puts a fresh take on it in 2025.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

‘Cause I’m a picker, I’m a grinner
I’m a lover and I’m a sinner
I play my music in the sun
I’m a joker, I’m a smoker
I’m a midnight toker
I sure don’t want to hurt no one

Loitering with Intent by Stuart Woods

Entertaining escapism. East to read page turners.

Our fantasy hero, Stone Barrington, is back in the sunshine ➙ Key West. Hired to locate the missing son of a very wealthy man.

He walks into a bar. And the guy is there!

Lucky, right?

Nope. The guy’s girlfriend hits Stone on the head in the parking lot. And the chase is on.

As always, beautiful women jump into bed with Stone right after he meets them. Many soon dump him … or are murdered.

This one is slightly more elaborately crafted. Twists and turns.

Run by Andrew Grant

At least half of the books I read are too slow.

Run (2014) may be the fastest paced thriller I can recall. 😀

I really enjoyed it.

Marc Bowman, a highly successful computer consultant and software designer, walks into his job at a major tech company one morning only to find himself fired on the spot, stonewalled by his boss, and ushered out of the building.

Then things get worse: An explosive argument drives his wife away and a robbery threatens to yank a million-dollar idea—and his whole future—out from under him.

In a matter of hours, Marc has gone from having it all to being sucker-punched by fate. But it’s only Monday, and before the week is over, he’ll be stalked, ambushed, wiretapped, arrested, duped, double- and triple-crossed—until he can’t tell enemies from allies.
 
Suddenly, the only thing standing between him and the wrath of everyone from the FBI to Homeland Security to his desperate ex-bosses is a flash drive full of data that might just be the holy grail of high-tech secrets—and a holy terror in the wrong hands.

Now, as the gloves come off and the guns come out, turning back is hopeless and giving up is madness. The only person left for Marc to trust is himself. And the only thing left to do is keep running—or end up a dead man walking.

Andrew Grant (born 1968) is an English writer and the younger brother of bestselling thriller writer Lee Child.

Grant is in the process of taking over the writing of Child’s Jack Reacher series of thrillers, writing under the new pseudonym Andrew Child.

Somebody Somewhere – season 2

I loved season 1.

Season 2 is not nearly as good.

My favourite character for sure is Jeff Hiller as Joel, Sam’s co-worker and friend. He gets a romantic interest this season.  

The show is original. It’s still a relief to watch normal people in normal situations in a normal small town.

In each of its roughly half-hour episodes, people talk, drive, go home. It is a series of small character studies, set in a sleepy town in Kansas, and whatever plot rears its head tends to gently nudge the drama forward in ever-so-gentle increments. Yet, just as it did in its superlative first season, it stuffs every subtle scene with emotion, poignancy and a great sense of humour. …

Guardian ReviewSomebody Somewhere season two review – even this uplifting comedy’s quietest moments are dazzling

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related – Somebody Somewhere‘s Jeff Hiller Is More Than Ready to Play a Romantic Lead

I mean, obviously no one’s going to cast me as the romantic lead. But I loved playing that tenderness, I loved playing that romance, and I loved thinking about it for Joel and how specific he has laid out what type of relationship he wants. It was sweet, it was tender, I liked it.

Strategic Moves by Stuart Woods

Silly escapist fantasy. I enjoyed the 2011 book in the Stone Barrington series. 😀

All the books with Herbie Fisher are entertaining.

It’s tough luck for Jim Hackett, founder and owner of Strategic Services, that he got shot to death while he was in Stone’s company, but making his acquaintance has paid big dividends for Stone. In token of Woodman & Weld’s appreciation for landing Strategic Services’ business, managing partner Bill Eggers presents Stone with a $1 million check and dangles a promise of a full partnership before him.

Given Stone’s current lifestyle, however, his settling down with the firm where he’s long been of counsel sounds about as likely as his settling down with just one woman.

When his perennial-nuisance client Herbie Fisher summons Stone to his wedding reception to Christine Gunn, it looks as if Stone may be in for a serious romance with Christine’s sister Adele Lansdown, who recently widowed herself by shooting her abusive husband. Alas, after a brief interlude between the sheets, Adele’s shot to death herself.

Will Stone, so grief-stricken that he doesn’t have sex for nearly a week, be able to focus on catching her killer? Not unless he turns down an offer to accompany Mike Freeman, Hackett’s successor at Strategic Services, on a clandestine flight to extract non-extraditable arms dealer Erwin Gebhardt, aka Pablo Estancia, for Lance Cabot at the CIA.

The mission goes belly-up when Pablo escapes just before the plane lands in the United States …

Kirkus review

Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman

Mixed review.

I’ve never really got into the Jonathan Kellerman books.

Open Season (2025) is 40th of his Alex Delaware series.

Psychologist Alex Delaware and Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis race against time to find a twisted killer …

I found the book slow. There was no real race against time. No rush

The body of an aspiring actress is found dumped near a hospital emergency room.

She’s been drugged and murdered and the motive for the callous crime remains maddeningly out of reach. Until, a prime suspect materializes. Another Hollywood hopeful. Only to be shot dead by a sniper using a weapon that turns out to have been catalogued in a previous murder. And another, before that. It’s not long before more bodies begin piling up.

What makes the murderous spree baffling is the apparent lack of connection among the victims. Is this the work of a random thrill killer, the toughest of all cases to unravel?

Kellerman’s writing style is unusual. Short sentences. Vivid, detailed descriptions.

Smart, sometimes entertaining dialogue.

But — for me — this book was too much police procedural, not enough action.

Red Queen – TV and Book

Red Queen (Spanish: Reina Roja) is a thriller TV series based on the novel of the same name by Juan Gómez-Jurado.

The world’s most intelligent person, Antonia Scott, is coaxed out of her hermit-like retreat to be partnered with gay Basque police agent Jon Gutiérrez after the killing of the son of a wealthy family and the kidnapping of a wealthy heiress.

The book is good, not great. Perhaps something is lost in translation from Spanish.

The TV show is not as good, I’d say. Confusing. Poor acting.

I only made it through a few episodes.

For the world’s smartest person, Antonia is not that bright.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.