JLHCKY
Markham Public Library
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JLHCKY's rating:
Added Jul 17, 2019
A Tap on the WindowA Tap on the Window, Audiobook CD
by Barclay, LinwoodAudiobook CD - 2013Audiobook CD, 2013
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Jul 16, 2019
Comment:
4 Stars. Not as good as one or two of Barclay's other entries, but it has its share of twists and turns. The suspense is not only at the end! It takes place in upstate New York near Buffalo and the Falls. Toronto pops up. Cal Weaver had been an officer with the Promise Falls Police, but an anger management issue has resulted in him relocating to Griffon and becoming a PI. Even here he remains reluctantly close to the police as his wife Donna's brother is the Chief. Donna and Cal have recently lost their son Scott in a fall as a result of a drug overdose. With his marriage slipping away, Cal feels that finding Scott's dealer may bring closure. When a teenage girl knocks on his car window in a downpour asking for a ride home, "I knew your son," she says, he knows it won't look good, but how can he say no? Within a day, she's disappeared and there's been a murder too. He feels compelled to find Claire but resistance to his involvement piles up - from the police as well as from Claire's father, Mayor Bert Sanders. Watch as Cal's cynicism serves him well and then it doesn't. A sad and tragic tale. "A Tap ..." is one of the 4,000 or so titles in my "A Basic Mystery and Thriller Compilation" on Goodreads. (July 2019)4 Stars. Not as good as one or two of Barclay's other entries, but it has its share of twists and turns. The suspense is not only at the end! It takes place in upstate New York near Buffalo and the Falls. Toronto pops up. Cal Weaver had been an…
Catch Me If You CanCatch Me If You Can, Audiobook CD
by Abagnale, Frank W.Audiobook CD - 2002Audiobook CD, 2002
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Jul 14, 2019
Comment:
3.5 Stars. Yes, it's a true story but it's dated in these days of cyber security, passwords, and video surveillance. The very personification of a rascal, Abagnale was a daring conman who papered many a city with phony cheques. He had many an alias too, Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, etc. with such fake occupations as pilot, pediatrician, lawyer and professor. It was a different time, 1963 to 1969 when he was 15 to 21 years old - long before most of the laxness and loopholes he exploited at banks, hotels, casinos and corporations such as Pan Am Airlines, were closed. His audacity got him out of several scrapes; in one case he pretended to be an undercover inspector and persuaded his prison authorities to let him walk out the front door! In another, he used information he acquired as a "pilot" on the internal design of airplanes to avoid US police by escaping through a plane's toilet. My view? He was more lucky than good and it ran out in France, Sweden, Canada and the US. He eventually grew-up to become an advisor to governments and corporations on security matters. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks starred in the 2002 movie! "Catch Me ..." is one of the 4,000 or so titles in my "A Basic Mystery and Thriller Compilation" on Goodreads. (May 2019)3.5 Stars. Yes, it's a true story but it's dated in these days of cyber security, passwords, and video surveillance. The very personification of a rascal, Abagnale was a daring conman who papered many a city with phony cheques. He had many an alias…
The Hanging GirlThe Hanging Girl, Audiobook CD
by Adler-Olsen, JussiAudiobook CD - 2015Audiobook CD, 2015
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Jun 23, 2018
Comment:
Department Q, lead by Carl Merck, doesn't see the need to get involved in a 17 year-old hit and run case on one of Denmark's remote islands, even though the body of the teenage girl was found dangling from a tree branch. "Do we really need more cases?" Shortly after contacting Carl, the detective who called and who had been unsuccessfully investigating since it happened, shot himself at his retirement party. Reluctantly, Carl, Assad, and Rose agree to visit Bornholm to see if there is anything to what Officer Christian Habersaat said. He had been proceeding on the basis of it being a deliberate crime, therefore murder, and had found a picture of a mysterious person next to an old VW-type camper but had been unable to get further. Slowly but steadily Q moves in on the answer for this cold case. They identify "Frank" as the person in the picture and dig up the name of an old girl-friend, Pirjo, and a religious cult in the background, the Nature Absorption Academy. Assad continues to annoy Carl with his amusing misunderstandings of English colloquialisms but Carl's true affection for him surfaces later. It's #6 in a series still going strong.Department Q, lead by Carl Merck, doesn't see the need to get involved in a 17 year-old hit and run case on one of Denmark's remote islands, even though the body of the teenage girl was found dangling from a tree branch. "Do we really need more…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Jun 16, 2018
Comment:
My first thought was to say 4 but I couldn't easily put it down, so that's a 5 isn't it? Settled at 4.5. Nap for Napoleon Dumas, a police detective in a small New Jersey city, still "talks" to his twin brother Leo who died in an apparent suicide with his girl friend Diane 15 years ago. Nap's own special, Maura, the love of his 18 year-old life, disappeared at the same time without saying a word of goodbye. Nap has looked for her during those 15 years with little to show for it, and then her fingerprints are found at the scene of a cop killing. When the officer turns out to have been a member of Leo's strange club along with Maura, Nap realizes he's onto something. What did happen to Leo? A delicious chase and a terrific surprise awaits. My first Coben and far from my last.My first thought was to say 4 but I couldn't easily put it down, so that's a 5 isn't it? Settled at 4.5. Nap for Napoleon Dumas, a police detective in a small New Jersey city, still "talks" to his twin brother Leo who died in an apparent suicide…
Shoot Him If He RunsShoot Him If He Runs, Audiobook CD
by Woods, StuartAudiobook CD - 2007Audiobook CD, 2007
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Jun 16, 2018
Comment:
More of a Teddy Fay adventure than one of Stone Barrington's. Yet a good one no question. The CIA and the President and Mrs. Lee need Stone and Holly Barker's help; there is a possibility that Teddy has survived his recent plane crash and is hiding on the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Marks. Can Stone, Holly, and Dino with friend, tough out a week on the island checking the rumour out? Nude beaches, beautiful hotels, interesting locals including some corrupt ones. and numerous questionable characters. Stone even gets arrested for murder. The island seems to be Antigua, its main port is at English Harbour, but a word to our excellent CD narrator, Tony Roberts, the word "Lieutenant" is pronounced "Leftenant" in the Commonwealth Caribbean. I am ready for Stone's next adventure. Or will it be Teddy's?More of a Teddy Fay adventure than one of Stone Barrington's. Yet a good one no question. The CIA and the President and Mrs. Lee need Stone and Holly Barker's help; there is a possibility that Teddy has survived his recent plane crash and is hiding…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Jun 16, 2018
Comment:
It's not as easy to review a novel when you've already seen the movie. And loved it. The book's even better, trust me. Amy Elliott is the famous "Amazing Amy," an only-child her parents immortalized in a series of books as she grew up. All three of them became rich in the process. When she met Nick Dunne in her 30s, she fell in love. Really and truly. So did Nick, an every-American guy but one who appears to have not reached his full potential. Five years after their marriage, all is not as it seems. It is surely failing on Nick's side and he's responsible for some of the blame. Then Amy disappears on their anniversary. Kidnapped? Murdered? The husband is invariably the leading suspect for the police and the media, and even Nick's twin sister, Go, has suspicions. Here is a story about modern America with its media frenzy and resulting savvy, about a sociopath who understands policing better than the police, and about the decisions each of us make in our past which have implications for today and tomorrow. The ending is as ambiguous as it should be.It's not as easy to review a novel when you've already seen the movie. And loved it. The book's even better, trust me. Amy Elliott is the famous "Amazing Amy," an only-child her parents immortalized in a series of books as she grew up. All three of…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added May 24, 2018
Comment:
Another entry in the life and times of Stone Barrington, a guy we've grown to know and, most of the time, enjoy: rich, eats well, travels far, and always in some kind of difficulty! The Urban Dictionary says "Standup Guy" is a Mafia term for a good solid man, [a] business man, not one to bullshit, can be trusted, etc. Is the author referring to Johnny Fratelli who has just been released from prison on the completion of his full 25 year term? Or is it Stone? Because of Johnny's friendship with a leading mobster in prison he has come into some real money and needs Stone's legal advice on, hypothetically, how to "shelter" it. The mobster's family and other unethicals are in pursuit. As usual Stone encounters beautiful women; we can't be sure which of them are on his side. The usual players show up for the ride, the President and the First Lady, Dino, Bill Eggers, Joan, Holly Barker, and even Herbie, or should I now call him Herbert too? Teddy Fay briefly. Somewhat formulaic, but I've enjoyed too many of these to stop now.Another entry in the life and times of Stone Barrington, a guy we've grown to know and, most of the time, enjoy: rich, eats well, travels far, and always in some kind of difficulty! The Urban Dictionary says "Standup Guy" is a Mafia term for a good…
River of DarknessRiver of Darkness, Audiobook CD
by Airth, RennieAudiobook CD - 2002Audiobook CD, 2002
JLHCKY's rating:
Added May 19, 2018
Comment:
It's bleak. Hope springs eternal in the human heart and it does in "River" too, but only occasionally as an opportunity here and a promise there. Such was the world immediately after the carnage of the Great War. The author is not old enough to have lived these times although he seems to portray them well; DI John Madden returns to the Somme battlefield at one point and we see it through his eyes. Madden, the local bobbies and Scotland Yard are pursuing a killer who clearly has served in the war. He first shows up at the manor home of Colonel Fletcher and quickly wipes out most of the occupants with a bayonet. What is it about Mrs. Fletcher that resulted in even more horrors? Reference to a river is apt in these circumstances as the reader will surely find. And hope? Part of his duties in the case brings the depressed Madden into contact with Dr. Helen Blackwell; I smiled. You'll also enjoy Billy Styles, a young constable, as Madden trains him for greater responsibility. Airth is a new author for me and one I'll return to. Hopefully, the grimness of WW1 will recede.It's bleak. Hope springs eternal in the human heart and it does in "River" too, but only occasionally as an opportunity here and a promise there. Such was the world immediately after the carnage of the Great War. The author is not old enough to have…
Evil Under the SunEvil Under the Sun, Audiobook CD
by Christie, AgathaAudiobook CD - 2002Audiobook CD, 2002
JLHCKY's rating:
Added May 14, 2018
Comment:
Hercule Poirot is on a summer holiday at a beautiful seaside retreat in Cornwall - actually the hotel is on an island just off the coast. Yet he senses all is not as it seems. He overhears strands of conversations, and he watches the beautiful but somewhat incautious actress, Arlene Marshall, flirting with a young man even though both their spouses are present. When she is found strangled on the beach at nearby Pixie's Cove, her husband is the most obvious suspect. Poirot observes that little things seem to be happening which can't be explained and no one will own-up: a bottle flies out a window and someone takes a bath at lunchtime. He notes that bodies lying on a beach all seem the same. There's evil under the sun and there's no one better than HP to get to the bottom of it. I've seen at least one version on the screen, so I knew the ending, but it was still most enjoyable.Hercule Poirot is on a summer holiday at a beautiful seaside retreat in Cornwall - actually the hotel is on an island just off the coast. Yet he senses all is not as it seems. He overhears strands of conversations, and he watches the beautiful but…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added May 05, 2018
Comment:
Enjoyable but a little irritating and unnecessarily complicated. Sam Capra has a love-hate relationship with the CIA. His wife, who lies in a coma on the edge of death, has been declared a traitor resulting in Sam being squeezed out of the Company. To compound matters, their new born son has been kidnapped. Sam and the sultry Mila from Moldova, who we learn is his new boss, have begun the task of locating his child; it becomes apparent the kidnapping is part of an effort to get Sam to assassinate a young computer wiz from Amsterdam, Jack Ming, who has a notebook which might incriminate a world-wide, criminal group called Nine Suns. Along the way he teams up with Leoni, a young mother of questionable means, whose daughter it appears has also been taken. Much of the action takes place in his Last Minute bar in New York. There's a test on this later! In the early going, I found the idea of Capra as a competent CIA agent preposterous; it took him so long to devise a plan to confound the kidnappers. If you can suspend your occasional urge for a reality check, it's well worth a shot. But guys, watch-out for the mousetrap.Enjoyable but a little irritating and unnecessarily complicated. Sam Capra has a love-hate relationship with the CIA. His wife, who lies in a coma on the edge of death, has been declared a traitor resulting in Sam being squeezed out of the Company.…
The End of EverythingThe End of Everything, Audiobook CD
by Abbott, MeganAudiobook CD - 2011Audiobook CD, 2011
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Apr 19, 2018
Comment:
I can describe this novel by noting what it is not. It doesn't belong to the "Christian" section of mysteries. Nor with "cozies." If making one think is a major criteria, Ms. Abbott is among the best authors of our time. You cannot avoid going deep as the book progresses into its latter half. Two teenagers, 13 year-old girls, are the closest of friends. Lizzy Hood and Evie Verver, next-door neighbours, do "everything" together. There's that word. It appears in the title and maybe two dozen other times throughout the book. A young teen's exaggeration style of speaking, yes, but watch for it being used as in the title and connote its significance as the novel concludes. This is Lizzy's story; she's naïve but one of the few relatively normal lead characters. One day, Evie doesn't come home from school. Has she been kidnapped? Is Mr. Shaw, the Verver's family accountant, responsible? Evie's father is devastated, but her older sister seems angry. As one of the few witnesses and, in her pressing desire to be re-united with her best friend, Lizzy slowly discovers more of the truth. And it's not pretty.I can describe this novel by noting what it is not. It doesn't belong to the "Christian" section of mysteries. Nor with "cozies." If making one think is a major criteria, Ms. Abbott is among the best authors of our time. You cannot avoid going deep…
The Body in the LibraryThe Body in the Library, Audiobook CD
by Christie, AgathaAudiobook CD - 2002Audiobook CD, 2002
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Apr 12, 2018
Comment:
Deep down, Miss Marple is a cynic about human nature. She proves it when the body of a young blonde is found in the library at Colonel Bantry's Gossington Hall. Our amazing spinster is a friend of Dotty Bantry and gets chauffered over to comfort her friend. The police on the scene are soon asking, "Where have we seen that woman in the corner before?" The victim, Ruby Keene, was 18 and in the process of being adopted by Conway Jefferson, an invalid with a terminal diagnosis, who doted on her as a substitute for his deceased children. Was Ruby in it for the money? With a new will in preparation, what would the heirs think? Miss Marple recalls a similar situation. Ruby's cousin tells us that she was a dancer at a nearby hotel and had been recently invited up from London as a substitute. Miss Marple recalls a similar situation. She soon fears another murder and it isn't too long before we hear that a naive young Girl Guide has also disappeared. The clues are there but you'll miss them like I did. I am trying to read new authors but Agatha Christie keeps calling me back.Deep down, Miss Marple is a cynic about human nature. She proves it when the body of a young blonde is found in the library at Colonel Bantry's Gossington Hall. Our amazing spinster is a friend of Dotty Bantry and gets chauffered over to comfort her…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Apr 07, 2018
Comment:
The two women in the family, Indiana and her 17 year old Amanda, are so different. Indiana attracts men like dogs to a bone, all types, the best and the worst, and Amanda is a scrawny kid who's somewhat withdrawn but a genius with potential for high-level police work showing almost every time she speaks. She and her teenage "buds" from around the world play Ripper, an online detective game named after Jack. They live with Amanda's grandfather Blake who also serves as her henchman in Ripper. There's also their regular go-to-guy, Deputy Chief of Detectives Bob Martin, Indiana's former husband and Amanda's father. Indiana has a holistic medicine clinic; get ready for many types of massage and therapies you've never heard of! And keep an eye on her clients including Alan Keller and Ryan Miller. There's a serial killer out there doing terrible things for hard-to-fathom reasons and he slowly gets closer to our featured players. You just know the Rippers will get out ahead of the SFPD. I found it long but it does have moments.The two women in the family, Indiana and her 17 year old Amanda, are so different. Indiana attracts men like dogs to a bone, all types, the best and the worst, and Amanda is a scrawny kid who's somewhat withdrawn but a genius with potential for…
Hollywood HillsHollywood Hills, Audiobook CD
by Wambaugh, JosephAudiobook CD - 2010Audiobook CD, 2010
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Mar 25, 2018
Comment:
Many exciting moments, yet there was something missing. I liked the policing issues that make LAPD's Hollywood Station different: the petty criminals found near Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the individual police officers like "Hollywood Nate" who play a role on the periphery of the movie business, and the proximity of the beaches at Malibu. Jonas and his mal-treated girlfriend Megan are down on their luck, and need a score of oxycodone, "Ox," to survive another day. At the same time, Leona Brueger, the cougar who fancies Hollywood Nate, and her current fling Director Rudy Ressler are leaving for a long vacation in Italy. Enter Raleigh Dibble, her new butler, and art dealer Nigel Wickland, who believe the art collection in her Hollywood Hills mansion will make them rich. You just know it will all collide in the end. Another point of enjoyment - from start to finish, none of the characters seem to know what is going on. And that includes the police and justice. Wambaugh makes one wonder if the denouement in real criminal matters is as random as in fiction.Many exciting moments, yet there was something missing. I liked the policing issues that make LAPD's Hollywood Station different: the petty criminals found near Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the individual police officers…
Hallowe'en PartyHallowe'en Party, BookA Hercule Poirot Mystery
by Christie, AgathaBook - 2011Book, 2011
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Mar 25, 2018
Comment:
I liked it but it wasn't as satisfying as some earlier Christie. I picked it up for two reasons: any A.C. is enjoyable, and my 1970 vintage paperback was disintegrating! Next stop, recycling. My first read was years ago - last chance for a second look. Hercule Poirot's favourite mystery writer, Ariadne Oliver, rushes to his London flat and excitedly reveals, "It started really with apples. Bobbing for apples ... at a Hallowe'en party." Murder. During preparations, Ariadne recounts that a pre-teen had boasted of seeing a murder and then, at the party, she came to a terrible and wet end. Our genius with the glorious moustache rushes to Woodleigh Common and consults with his old friend Superintendent Spence who was retired there. Everyone tells Poirot that Joyce always made things up. Yet someone must have believed her. Poirot ties together old murders, forged wills and disappearances to the amazement of police officials in London. You'll love the older style of games at children's parties. I just can't put Christie down.I liked it but it wasn't as satisfying as some earlier Christie. I picked it up for two reasons: any A.C. is enjoyable, and my 1970 vintage paperback was disintegrating! Next stop, recycling. My first read was years ago - last chance for a second…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Mar 16, 2018
Comment:
Not as good as "Trust Your Eyes' where the problem starts slowly and builds, but in "Fear the Worst," Barclay's thriller gets off to the races very quickly. Tim Blake is having his usual problems; they seem to follow him around. He's a car salesman who's just barely making it, yet he has one redeeming characteristic, his love for his 17 year-old daughter Sydney. Separated, Tim has custody of her for the summer. She disappears one day - she doesn't come home from her receptionist job at a second-rate hotel in town. Tim worries that a tiff at breakfast over something he asked about has made her run off. He soon starts searching and finds that her job may be fictitious, that his former wife's new relationship may be part of the problem, and that he can't get any help from the police. Indeed he quickly climbs to suspect #1. Both Tim and the reader become more and more anxious. Throw in his neurotic girl-friend, enough dead bodies to require a very large hearse, and hints of the mob, and I had an enjoyable read.Not as good as "Trust Your Eyes' where the problem starts slowly and builds, but in "Fear the Worst," Barclay's thriller gets off to the races very quickly. Tim Blake is having his usual problems; they seem to follow him around. He's a car salesman…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Mar 07, 2018
Comment:
I read this book not as a result of the story outline but because it was Grisham. I couldn't understand the title; Wikipedia says "a racket is a planned or organized criminal act ..., often a repeated or continuous criminal operation." Well into it, I asked, "Where's that?" The story circles around Malcolm Bannister, a small-town lawyer in prison for 10 years for money laundering for which he is adamant that he is innocent. To keep himself sane, he serves as a jail-house lawyer. As he approaches his fifth anniversary inside, a federal judge is murdered in rural Virginia. The FBI is stumped, and Malcolm gets word to them that he can identify the killer(s) if he is released and granted immunity. The book reminds me of Agatha Christie's best - a second reading is required. The same for "The Racketeer." A second time would help me understand all the twists and turns!I read this book not as a result of the story outline but because it was Grisham. I couldn't understand the title; Wikipedia says "a racket is a planned or organized criminal act ..., often a repeated or continuous criminal operation." Well into it,…
A Little Local MurderA Little Local Murder, Audiobook CD
by Barnard, RobertAudiobook CD - 2006Audiobook CD, 2006
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Mar 04, 2018
Comment:
I listened on CD and found it much better than expected. A small town is all a-twirl when the county radio station, Radio Broadwich, informs them that it will be doing a profile show on Twytching. Who will be on the programme? The Mayor's wife, Mrs. Withens who fancies herself as the real power in the community, decides to draw up a list of acceptable personalities to represent Twytching. Then a body is found along a pathway in the nearby woods. I loved local Inspector George Parrish who sets out to solve the murder. Don't be fooled by his disguise as a local gentleman with little talent who's just content to tend his garden. Replete with poison pen letters, gossip galore, and a few accents to stump a man from the colonies. I'll pick up another Robert Barnard for sure.I listened on CD and found it much better than expected. A small town is all a-twirl when the county radio station, Radio Broadwich, informs them that it will be doing a profile show on Twytching. Who will be on the programme? The Mayor's wife, Mrs.…
Might as Well Be DeadMight as Well Be Dead, Audiobook CD
by Stout, RexAudiobook CD - 1996Audiobook CD, 1996
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Mar 02, 2018
Comment:
An old-fashioned "who-done-it." I was wondering about all the leading characters, including "PH" in jail, to almost the very end. Set in the mid 1950s. Eleven years ago, "PH" as a young man, was falsely accused by his father of stealing from the family hardware company in Nebraska and he fled to New York. He was later cleared and the father has hired Nero Wolfe to find him. Wolfe and Archie Goodwin soon realize he is siting in jail waiting to be sentenced for murder under a different name. It comes with the usual inept police, Wolfe-ian idiosyncrasies, Archie-ian irreverent comments about his boss, and a little romance. Watch for Rex Stout making a play on words with "de-camp." I listened to the book and the audio reader, Michael Pritchard, is perfect for this series.An old-fashioned "who-done-it." I was wondering about all the leading characters, including "PH" in jail, to almost the very end. Set in the mid 1950s. Eleven years ago, "PH" as a young man, was falsely accused by his father of stealing from the…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Feb 23, 2018
Comment:
What a character Rex Stout has created. Our first encounter with Nero Wolfe - even more eccentric than Christie's Poirot. He drinks 5 quarts of beer a day, is an expert on orchids which he tends faithfully, has no patience for interruptions, charges outrageous fees, can barely move because of his obesity, and remembers all slights from years past. Most importantly, he's a detecting genius. We follow the story through the eyes of his competent but opinionated assistant Archie Goodwin. It all starts when a friend of a friend is referred to Wolfe to find her brother who has disappeared. Coincidently, a much respected university professor has died from an apparent heart attack while playing golf. Wolfe ties them together and challenges the arrogant District Attorney to a huge bet, remember this is 1934, that if the professor is disinterred, it will be found that he was murdered. The fer-de-lance, one of South America's most dangerous snakes, comes later but it does make quite a vivid entry. I don't believe Stout ever did a prequel to #1 but wouldn't you enjoy knowing how Wolfe became Wolfe?What a character Rex Stout has created. Our first encounter with Nero Wolfe - even more eccentric than Christie's Poirot. He drinks 5 quarts of beer a day, is an expert on orchids which he tends faithfully, has no patience for interruptions, charges…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Feb 11, 2018
Comment:
Is a perfect memory an indicator of genius? Wait till you meet Edgar Roy. Ask him about the cars which passed him on the recent road trip - number, types, licence plates, the works. He's an E6 analyst who employs his prestigious memory and analytic skill at the Wall to help fashion US foreign policy. But he's also accused of murdering 6 people and burying them in his barn. Sean King, with the aide of his feisty partner Michelle Maxwell, is asked by Roy's lawyer to look into the case. Before they even start, they find Ted Bergin dead in rural Maine. "We're here so we should at least see Roy." They visit him at the ultra secure Cutter's Rock prison and find him silent and disengaged. What's going on? It's all here, national betrayal, changing allegiances, cheating contractors, questionable police activity. I liked King and Maxwell's quest for the truth, although I am sure you will find a few of the antagonists over the top.Is a perfect memory an indicator of genius? Wait till you meet Edgar Roy. Ask him about the cars which passed him on the recent road trip - number, types, licence plates, the works. He's an E6 analyst who employs his prestigious memory and analytic…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Feb 02, 2018
Comment:
I had troubles rating it. BCA detective, "cowboy" Virgil Flowers, gets all the animal cases and he's drawn the theft of two rare Amur tigers from the Minneapolis zoo. To be shot and turned into Chinese cultural medicine. The pace is relentless as he follows a few steps behind the perpetrators in his effort to save the endangered animals. Zoo officials are terrified they have already been killed, the public is outraged, and the media even have a huge stopwatch counting the time they have been missing. Much of the action is seen through the eyes of the main perp as he sees "that f...n Flowers" coming. Why my difficulty in rating? I really enjoy Sandford and want to rate him high - 5 stars is always possible. Yet one or two aspects of the ending were predictable and the subplot, that of his girlfriend Frankie and her sister Sparkle, didn't develop as far as I thought it could have. Plus, I am not sure a more domesticated Flowers is my favourite side of him.I had troubles rating it. BCA detective, "cowboy" Virgil Flowers, gets all the animal cases and he's drawn the theft of two rare Amur tigers from the Minneapolis zoo. To be shot and turned into Chinese cultural medicine. The pace is relentless as he…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Jan 22, 2018
Comment:
It started simply. Stone Barrington is asked by Arrington Calder, the extremely wealthy and young widow of a former Hollywood star to go to California to vote her shares in Centurion Studios. The object? To ensure its Board turns down a takeover bid for its valuable land in Bel-Air. Terry Prince, the land developer in question appears to have drug connections in South America and, when Stone begins to upset his plans, people end up dead. It's uncertain who's responsible though. Barrington is up as he becomes a partner in Woodman and Weld, but down as this case moves toward an uncertain conclusion. Many of the old gang make appearances: Dino, Ed Eagle, Rick Barron now in his 90s and Chair of the Board at Centurion, Jim Long, Barbara Eagle, and a mysterious young woman with a cold! Feels like a family reunion. Get set for some big money. I wish I could be invited to even one of those parties.It started simply. Stone Barrington is asked by Arrington Calder, the extremely wealthy and young widow of a former Hollywood star to go to California to vote her shares in Centurion Studios. The object? To ensure its Board turns down a takeover bid…
JLHCKY's rating:
Added Jan 21, 2018
Comment:
A political thriller where the author gets the details of a major campaign correct. And then adds a volatile: one of the candidates is a fabulously rich and beautiful but narcissistic woman with serious criminal tendencies who is close to, but not, winning. The election is less than two weeks away when US Senator from Minnesota Porter Smalls, who is looking like he will be re-elected, is found to have child pornography on his office computer. Was it a dirty trick? The furor hits the media. His poll numbers plummet and his opponent vaults over him. The Governor calls in his friend Lucas Davenport of the BCA because he is certain Smalls was framed. "This sort of thing is going too far," he says. Bodies pile up and fingers begin to point in the direction of Small's opponent Taryn Grant who employs two very questionable individuals in her security detail. The race to election day, and the pressure Davenport and team feel to resolve the case before then, is excruciating. A great ride.A political thriller where the author gets the details of a major campaign correct. And then adds a volatile: one of the candidates is a fabulously rich and beautiful but narcissistic woman with serious criminal tendencies who is close to, but not,…
Comment: