For the past 2 years, I’ve made it to the ALL YEARS Viscount Bennett High School Reunion hosted at Schanks Sports Bar on the first Saturday night of May.
In 2025 we had many of my 1975 grad cohorts — it was our 50th.
In 2026 by the time I left, we had only 6 graduates from 1975.
Viscount Bennett is today demolished. As are some of us elderly grads. 😀
I enjoyed the first book in this series — Nash Falls — so downloaded the 2026 sequel.
Hope Rises finds our hero, Walter Nash, living under the alias Dillon Hope.
Having transformed from a gentle businessman into a skilled operative, Nash is working as an FBI informant to infiltrate the inner circle of global criminal leader Victoria Steers.
Nash’s primary mission is to dismantle Steers’ empire and exact revenge for the loss of his family. However, as he penetrates her operation, he uncovers shocking truths that force him to choose between completing his mission and protecting the woman he previously viewed only as a monster.
Baldacci’s books have been improving in recent years.
This one, too, is far more sophisticated than his shoot-em-up, save the world thrillers of old.
I give him A for effort.
BUT … the book is far inferior to Nash Falls.
If you think of the complicated plot for even 30 seconds, you’ll see it makes no sense. NONE of the characters act logically.
OK, Thura: penniless guy from Burma acts logically.
related – a positive review
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a 2022 funny whodunit film.
The second installment in the Knives Out series, featuring Daniel Craig reprising his role as the master detective Benoit Blanc.
The sequel is a much weaker murder mystery. And not nearly as funny.
Derol, played by Noah Segan, the doper, slacker houseguest was an excellent touch, however.
The cast is excellent.
The shattering glass scene at the end is unforgettable, as well.
I wonder what that cost? 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Buckeye (2025) is bestselling historical fiction by Patrick Ryan.
No car crashes. No murders. Everyday suburban life, for the most part.
Listening to this book is relaxing.
It’s long. But so fast paced that I never found it to drag.
NPR: “A superb novel… captures both the sweep of history and the mundane”
… an intergenerational family saga set in the fictional small town of Bonhomie, Ohio.
Spanning roughly 60 years—from just before World War II to the early 1980s—it traces the interwoven lives of two families bound by a long-held secret.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Quite good. Better than season 2.
LOTS of action.
But I still like season 1 and the original film (2011) best.
The 3rd and final season of Hanna finds Hanna secretly working from within the sinister Utrax organization to destroy it and secure her freedom.
She forms an alliance with her former nemesis, ex-CIA agent Marissa Wiegler, to bring down the program. Their mission involves:
Personal Stakes: Hanna’s attempts to lead a normal life are complicated by a romantic subplot with an activist named Abbas, whose safety becomes a primary concern as the operation reaches its climax.
Internal Sabotage: Coercing high-ranking agent John Carmichael to aid their cause.
New Threats: Facing Gordon Evans (played by Ray Liotta), a powerful former military man who oversees the Utrax “Pioneer” agenda.
80% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes sounds about right to me. Worth watching if you like (silly) thrillers.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Spellman Files (2007) is hilarious.
First book in a comedic mystery series by Lisa Lutz that follows the chaotic lives of a family of private investigators in San Francisco.
The story is narrated by Isabel “Izzy” Spellman, a 28-year-old PI with a checkered past who works for her parents’ firm, Spellman Investigations. In a family where snooping, tailing, and wiretapping one another is the norm.
If you are looking for an easy read with a lot of laughs, check it out.
How do 2 old comedians keep it fresh? Steve is 80. Martin 76.
Why does (billionaire) Selena Gomez keep hanging out with them?
Surprisingly, season 5 is one of the best.
The season focuses on the “accidental” death of the Arconia’s long-time doorman, Lester (Teddy Coluca). Charles, Oliver, and Mabel investigate a complex web involving:
They make fun of billionaires, like Selena. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Season 6 shifts from New York City to London, following the murder of podcaster Cinda Canning (Tina Fey).
For 20 years, the world’s best spies were unable to locate my Fortress of Certitude.
This garage at my parent’s place in Parksville on Vancouver Island was my main location for most of the past 10 years.
I miss it.
BUT I’m heading back to Parksville in May to visit friends and help my brother and his wife pack. They sold their house are moving to _______________.
Originally published in 2009, it is the fourth and final book in his Oxford Investigations (or Zoë Boehm) series.
The story follows Sarah Tucker as she travels to Newcastle to identify a body pulled from the River Tyne—a woman who appears to be her friend, private investigator Zoë Boehm.
As usual with Mick Herron books, the writing is excellent.
The story telling far too slow and confusing for this reader.
Watch the TV show instead ➙ Down Cemetery Road staring Emma Thompson as Zoë Boehm.
Quite good. I got through this psychological thriller easily despite the fact that there is nobody to cheer for.
First released as an Audible Original in March 2020 before its print publication in December 2020. The novel was shortlisted for both the Ned Kelly Award and the Ngaio Marsh Award for best crime novel.
The story follows Margot Scott, a successful psychologist living a seemingly perfect life in the Melbourne suburbs with her husband and two children.
The book opens with a shocking scene where Margot pushes a man in front of an oncoming train.
The story reveals how and why Margot made such a desperate decision.
Interesting twists and turns.
Rick McCharles 