The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

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You might like this murder mystery. For me it was too slow. 

The plot not at all ingenious.

Author Kristen Lepionka, from Columbus, Ohio, launched a series of books featuring private investigator Roxane Weary.

Roxane is bisexual, drinks a lot of whiskey, and has a troubled family. 

She a bit of a mess, not played as cute or charming. 

“The Last Place You Look” (2017) is 1st in the “Roxane Weary” series ..

Sarah Cook, who was a gorgeous teenage blond vanished fifteen years back, which was the same night her parents were brutally killed in their Ohio home. Brad Stockton (who is black, from the wrong part of town, and Sarah’s boyfriend at the time) is on death row, after being convicted for the killings.

Despite this, he always maintained that he was innocent of the crime. His execution date is just weeks away, and his sister, devoted to him, insists that she spotted Sarah Cook at a gas station in the town. She hires private investigator Roxane Weary to look at the case one more time. …

Wrecker by Carl Hiaasen

On By Rick McIn books, firearms, GOP USALeave a comment

Wrecker is Carl Hiaasen‘s 27th book. His 7th for younger readers.

You could call it Young Adult.

Though there’s no sex, no profanity — right wing snowflakes in Florida managed to get him banned from some appearances. Good publicity, of course. 😀

Hiaasen is one of the funniest authors working today. But humour is less important in this one.

A longtime journalist with the Miami Herald, Hiaasen simply takes actual stories from the Florida news — and fictionalizes them. 

He mocks American culture and Florida politics, in particular. 

Released on September 26, 2023, Wrecker is set in Key West during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kirkus Reviews called it, “A batten-down-the-hatches thriller anchored by critical real-life themes“.

Fifteen-year-old Valdez Jones VIII calls himself Wrecker, after his ancestors who made a living salvaging shipwrecks. He is thriving thanks to the online schooling during lockdown that allows him the flexibility to be out on his boat. …

This thrilling story featuring wry, witty writing also explores the history of racism in Key West, the environmental impacts of cruise tourism, and the effects of Covid-19 on both people’s lives and criminal activities. Wrecker is a sympathetic character whose intelligence, savvy, and strong moral compass lead to a satisfying finish. 

Kirkus

Intelligent — you won’t be surprised that he hates Trump.

Author James Patterson offered this praise: “Carl Hiaasen remains the undefeated, unscored-upon conscience of Florida, maybe the conscience of the whole country.

Carl’s only brother was Rob Hiaasen, an editor and columnist at The Capital newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, who was killed in the mass shooting at the newspaper’s office on June 28, 2018.

The Night Agent – season 1

On By Rick McIn books, TV1 Comment

Surprisingly good. 

And much better than the book.

More believable dialogue than most predictable, explosion-filled, cliche Hollywood thriller TV.

78% on Rotten Tomatoes is about right. Worth watching.

Some interesting characters.

FBI Agent Peter Sutherland is thrown into a vast conspiracy about a mole at the highest levels of the United States government.

To save the nation, he plunges into a desperate hunt for the traitor, while protecting former tech CEO Rose Larkin from the people who murdered her aunt and uncle. …

Wikipedia

I like how Peter is a rule follower with a strict moral code — in the midst of all this corruption.

A second story line involves the Vice President’s daughter. 

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly

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A terrific 2002 standalone novel by the author of the Harry Bosch books.

Would you risk your life for a woman you’d never met?

Henry Pierce has a whole new life — new apartment, new telephone, new telephone number. But the first time he checks his messages, he discovers that someone had the number before him.

The messages on his line are for a woman named Lilly, and she is in some kind of serious trouble.

Pierce is inexorably drawn into Lilly’s world, and it’s unlike any world he’s ever known. It is a nighttime world of escort services, websites, sex, and secret identities. …

Pierce’s skills as a computer entrepreneur allow him to trace Lilly’s last days with some precision. But every step into Lilly’s past takes Pierce deeper into a web of inescapable intricacy — and a decision that could cost him everything he owns and holds dear.

michaelconnelly.com
2019 Author Michael Connelly in Los Angeles (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Agatha Raisin – season 1

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Agatha Raisin is lightweight British comedy-drama.

Mostly comedy, I’d say. 

A high-powered PR executive retires to rural Biddestone, Wiltshire. 

Another fish out of water scenario. Agatha wears expensive high heels around town. Through the mud. 😀

Biddlestone had not had a murder — until Agatha Raisin moved there. Now they have one / week.

Season 1 first aired in 2016. 

My favourite character is Jason Barnett as the dimwitted DCI Denzel Wilkes.  His sidekick, Matt McCooey as DC Bill Wong is good too.

It’s quite formulaic. If you’ve seen one episode, you’ve seen them all.

In praise of McDonald’s Jr. Chicken

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The humble, inexpensive Jr. Chicken is my GO TO SNACK when on the road.

AND it’s got 25% of your daily SALT requirements. You don’t want to run short on SALT. 😀

Juicy and flavorful. Identical every time.

Typically two of these cost less than the bigger McDonald’s chicken burgers.

97% thumbs-up on Chick Advisor.

related – Canada’s fast food chicken sandwiches ranked from worst to best

The Monster’s Bones by David K Randall

On By Rick McIn books, scienceLeave a comment

A great story. But I found the book a little dry. 

In December 1915, the American Museum of Natural History unveiled the very first mounted Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, irrevocably cementing the image of the towering reptilian carnivore in the popular psyche. For a generation, AMNH was the only place in the world where one could see T. rex in person.

Extinct Monsters
AMNH November 2015

The Monster’s Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World: Randall, David K

… the fossil-hunting exploits of Barnum Brown (1873–1963) …

Hailed as “the Father of the Dinosaurs” in his New York Times obituary, Brown discovered his first fossils in coal deposits his father dug up on the family’s Kansas farm. …

… famously discovered and excavated the first documented tyrannosaurus rex remains in Montana’s Hell Creek Formation. …

Publisher’s Weekly

The world’s first scale models were presented to the public at the Crystal Palace, London 1854.

© Wellcome Collection (CC BY 4.0)

Rebel Moon – part 1

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Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) is an epic space opera film.

I’d only heard mocking reviews and wasn’t keen to watch it — before seeing a YouTube video on Sofia Boutella as Kora. Now age-41, she’s a badass. Former Rhythmic gymnast and dancer.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The start of part 1, I thought was quite good. 

Other actors introduced are compelling.

Charlie Hunnam as Kai is excellent, for example.

As the long movie progressed, it became obvious the plot was predictable.  Some of the dialogue inane.

It has neither the gravitas of Dune, nor the likability and humour of Guardians of the Galaxy 1.

SO — watch for the slow mo fight scenes. And the Star Wars like universe. 

Then go post your negative review on Rotten Tomatoes. 😀

I got through about half of REBEL MOON — PART TWO.

Not good. Dumb plot and too much violence.

TESTING Insta360 Ace Pro Features

On By Rick McIn cycling, videoLeave a comment

I mainly want my new Ace Pro as a primary VIDEO CAMERA.

BUT — finally tested it out as an Action Camera.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.  (only 720p resolution, by accident. Should be 1080p)

One feature I like is adding Telemetry data. IF you hit record from the iPhone app or Apple Watch, the Insta360 app tracks your GPS and can later add that information to the video.

I have speed and distance added in this example.

I also had the Insta360 app apply blur to make the footage look less digital, perhaps more cinematic.

As you can see, the stability is excellent for a bumpy bike path.

I threw in a couple of 4 second AI edited sections they call AI Warp. 

Overall … I’m not all that happy.  For some reason it exported in 720p rather than 1080p as I had expected. Also, the in-camera LUT is not nearly as good as it looked in the app on my phone.

More experiments needed.

Here’s how that Telemetry works.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

House of Secrets by Brad Meltzer

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The House of Secrets (2016) by Brad Meltzer and Tod Goldberg starts with the death of Jack Nash, world-renowned host and creator of the long-running “House of Secrets” TV series. 

That TV show investigates the meanings behind various symbolism, alleged secret codes, and conspiracies around the world.

The deadly car crash leaves his thirtysomething daughter, Hazel, injured and unable to remember exactly who she is.

The plot revolves around Hazel’s efforts, with the help of older brother Skip, to discover her father’s past and recover her own. 

Weirdly, Hazel is some kind of badass, street-fighting anthropology professor.

Unlikely?

Sure. 

Like Dad’s TV show, this book is full of historical mysteries. Hazel fits right in.

It’s got something to do with Benedict Arnold’s Bible. 

George Washington was devastated by the betrayal of one of his best friends.  I learned that here. 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.