All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

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Excellent writing. Lyrical prose. Modern literature.

I believe I’d read this in the past. The story seemed so familiar.

All the Colours of the Dark (2024) by Chris Whitaker is a …

  • missing persons mystery
  • serial killer thriller
  • love story

Late one summer (1975), the town of Monta Clare is shattered by the abduction of teenager Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley. Nobody more so than Saint Brown, who will risk everything to find her best friend.

But when she does: it will break her heart.

Patch lies alone in a pitch-black room – until he feels a hand in his. Her name is Grace and, though they cannot see each other, she lights their world with her words.

But when he escapes: there is no sign she ever even existed.

Left with only her voice and her name, he paints her from broken memories – and charts an epic search to find her.

As years turn to decades, and hope becomes obsession, Saint will shadow his journey – on a darker path to hunt down the man who took them – and set free the only boy she ever loved.

Even if finding the truth means losing each other forever…

LindasBookBag review

Both Patch and Saint are unforgettable characters.

As a teenager, Charlotte, is even more entertaining.

Their story ranges over a quarter of a century — but I still found the book too long. And somewhat too complicated.

I’m OK with the ending, however. Something like the end of Shawshank Redemption.

Reckless Abandon by Stuart Woods

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Not the best Stone Barrington book. But I still found it entertaining.

Reckless Abandon (2004)

… now that Stone Barrington, on a Florida trip, has helped nail the guy who killed Holly Barker’s fiancé, Orchid Beach police chief Holly comes to the Big Apple to involve him in her hunt for a mobbed-up fugitive from her brand of justice.

Even though he’s a killer many times over, second-generation criminal Trini Rodriguez (Blood Orchid, 2002) can’t be brought to book because he’s an FBI informant who’s repeatedly called on to testify against higher-ups presumably even worse than him …

A skeletal thriller, evidently written on the back of a series of cocktail napkins, that’s most notable, like Woods’s other recent novels, as a pretext for bringing his stable of stock heroes and villains …

YES you should ignore the plot. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

L.A. Dead by Stuart Woods

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L.A. Dead (2001) is mainly important because this is the one where Stone Barrington marries a fiery Mafia princess in Venice.

His biggest mistake yet.

The celebration is cut short by a frantic phone call from halfway around the world.

A celebrity murder has Los Angeles in an uproar—and a former flame pining for Stone’s help in more ways than one. 

When he lands amid Hollywood’s sun and sin, Stone must plumb the depths of film society to find the killer, before a court trial rips away his last chance at a life he once desperately wanted…

The woman Stone actually loves is accused of murder. Stone must defend her. … But is she guilty?

“inconsequential entertainment”

Fair criticism. These books are junk food. 😀

GPSmyCity – Sculptures in Calgary

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I was given a one year premium membership to an app called GPSmyCity.

… over 6,500 self-guided walks in 1,500+ cities around the world, featuring the best of each city, from world famous attractions to hidden gems.

Born and raised in Calgary, I decided to first try the Sculptures in Calgary Walking Tour. It includes those walkable from the city centre.

I downloaded to be used offline.

And followed the recommended route as closely as possible.

1) Family of Horses

2) Women are Persons

This installation was closed due to construction.

3) Family of Man

My personal favourite. Family of Man is a 21 feet tall set of sculptures … that reflect raceless, naked and expressionless human women and men. All sculptures are combined in groups and each one of them extend their hands in gesture of goodwill and fellowship.

4) Wonderland Sculpture

5) Mechanical Horse

6) The Conversation

My second favourite.

7) Trees Sculptures

Too cluttered in my opinion.

8) Counting Crows

9) Brick Couch

The Brick Couch has been removed. Or possibly moved. The app should be updated now and again as changes are inevitable.

The installation below is NOT in GPSmyCity, but could be included as it’s exactly en route.

10) Hanging Out

The least impressive was this display of frogs, now damaged. It could be removed from GPSmyCity.

I’ve traveled 90+ nations and will DEFINITELY use this app into the future. It’s far superior to have an easy-to-follow highlights walk than to wander randomly through new cities.

Navigation worked fairly well for me.

Screenshot

My biggest recommendation is that the app replace the current voice. It’s hilariously outdated compared with ALL the current realistic A.I. text to speech products.

Interested? The app offers many more travel tips.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

High Crimes by Joseph Finder

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Not bad. This 1998 novel kept me guessing.

Claire Heller Chapman has the perfect life. She’s a Harvard law professor and a high-profile criminal defense attorney known for taking on—and winning—tough cases. But one day this perfect life is shattered when her husband Tom Chapman is suddenly arrested by a team of government agents and accused of a brutal crime he insists he didn’t commit.

As Claire finds herself drawn closer into a web of duplicity and shadowy figures, she discovers that her husband is not who he says he is…that he once had a different name…even a different face.

Now Claire must put her reputation on the line to defend Tom in a top-secret court-martial. As she searches for the truth, she begins to unravel an insidious, high-level government conspiracy that threatens not only her career but also her life, and the lives of her loved ones.

All the while, she struggles to maintain her belief in her husband’s innocence—even when all the evidence seems to indicate that he is a cold-blooded murderer.

JosephFinder.com

It was adapted for a 2002 movie staring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Accountant (2016 film)

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I’m no particular fan of Ben Affleck — but The Accountant is a good romp. … It doesn’t hurt that Anna Kendrick is even more adorable than usual. 😀

A typical American shoot-em-up. But with redeeming qualities.

Great cast.

A man who goes by the alias Christian Wolff is on the autism spectrum.

His military PsyOps father begins training him and his brother Braxton in various martial arts. Both become super skilled.

As an adult, Christian acts as a forensic accountant for criminal organizations, “un-cooking” their financial records to uncover thefts. 

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I hear the 2025 sequel is not nearly as good.

Dirty Work by Stuart Woods

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Dirty Work (2003) Stuart Woods is #9 in the Stone Barrington series.

More fine dining, drinking, and meaningless sex.

Hired to prove infidelity in an heiress’ marriage, Stone Barrington goes undercover.

But the work turns dirty – and catastrophic – when the errant husband is found dead, and the other woman disappears without a trace.

Now Stone must clear his own good name and find a killer hiding among the glitterati of New York’s high society.

Not bad.

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

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A good psychological thriller.

A Stranger in the House (2017) has enough twists and turns to keep me interested.

Tom returns home to find his wife, Karen, vanished—her car’s gone and it seems she left in a rush. She even left her purse—complete with phone and ID—behind.

Police knock on the door. Karen’s had a bad car crash and is suffering amnesia from concussion.

Near the crash a murder victim is found. Had Karen something to do with that?

Collateral (TV series)

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Good television. A murder mystery, politics, immigration issues and murky espionage as well as complicated relationships.

Collateral is a four-part British television drama …

… stars Carey Mulligan as DI Kip Glaspie, assigned to investigate the shooting of a pizza delivery rider in inner-city southwest London. …

… a complex web of characters who are all somehow connected with the story, which addresses attitudes to immigration with the maltreatment of refugees and immigrants by both uncaring people-traffickers and indifferent state agencies …

Jeany Spark is excellent as Captain Sandrine Shaw.

All good. I enjoyed some of the interesting cinematography.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Short Forever by Stuart Woods

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#8 in the entertaining Stone Barrington series is a bit of a romp.

The Short Forever (2002) by Stuart Woods has Barrington in England.

On the other hand, he’s hobnobbing with the rich and famous. Staying in a luxurious hotel. Driving unique and expensive vehicles.

When sidekick Dino Bacchetti of the NY Police arrives — a fish out of water — it gets really funny. 😀

The plot is complicated and confusing for most of the book. That’s OK because we are mainly enjoying all the many, many mistakes made by Barrington. Almost nothing goes right, not even the many beautiful women throwing themselves at him.

Barrington is just as confused as we are.

As someone put it on Goodreads “Anyone who gave this book a bad review might want to re-think why they read Stuart Woods’ novels. They are not classic literature. They are escapist fiction. You need to check your disbelief at the door.”

Actually, this might be a good entry point for anyone considering starting up with this long series of murder mystery novels.