Evan and Jesse

Bet you are wondering what the other books I've read during the past two weeks are. Well, I finished filling in the Meg Gardiner series that features Evan Delaney and boyfriend Jesse Blackburn out of Santa Barbara. "China Lake" is the first in the series and involves Evan's brother and nephew, a cult religion plot. "Jericho Point" was a bit far out in the plot that turns on identity theft - of Evan's identity with the help of Jesse's brother (lots of family connections in these books). JP is, in my opinion, the weakest book in the series - but I'll read just about anything.

Bosco and Vegas

Some time ago I found an author I liked - Carol Goodman. Her latest in pocket book is "The Ghost Orchid". It takes place at an estate calle Bosco and involves a medium. It is also a book that jumps between now and then and as the story develops the mystery from long ago is solved. This book takes a leap of faith, it asks you to believe in the supernatural. Goodman writes well and the characters are interesting so even if you are not a believer the story of tunnels, fountains, and murder most cruel is enjoyable. A definite plus for Ms. Goodman is that she studied Latin at Vassar and later was also a teacher in Latin. In my house that is a wonderous thing.
At some point I wrote about Brian Freeman's first book and now I have read the second "Stripped". Have to say I enjoyed getting reaquainted with Jonny Stride and Serena Dial. This time the major venue is Vegas. And it a lot about the Vegas of the 60ties. Past crimes come back to haunt and kill. I had to go back and reread the first book so I could get an extra dose of Jonny and Serena. Freeman's third probably won't hit the pocket market for some time. When checking out Freeman and Goodman on the web I note that Google now has a book search! Great for all us readers.

Bottom of the Sea and other things

The "Shadow Divers" by Robert Kurson was a great book. I recommend it, even if you don't remember episodes of Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges. People defying the deep in this true tale reads like a detective novel. My dad, efter receiving the book from his marine biologist granddaughter was taken with the story and that is how the book landed in my hands. As I looked for more information on the net I found that a movie of the book is planned, with director Peter Weir. Should be worth seeing.

I have read one rather bad book recently. It is "See Isabelle Run" by Elizabeth Bloom. I bought the book because I really had fun reading Beth Saulnier's series about Alex Bernier. Elizabeth is Beth, but with married name. The whole book falls flat, a predictable uninteresting story, and I have decided not to by the next Elizabeth Bloom book. I also read a Tami Hoag book called "Straight from the Heart" that my mother picked up for me. The problem with people that start getting read because they do a good (or at least popular) book is that they feel the need to publish their early works. The book is a romance and reading it was a lesson in how stupid a book can be. I think Tami would have done better to bury the whole thing - but, Hey! she probably made a buck fifty on the book I got. Only positive things about these two books was that it was easy to pull myself away from them and get some work done.

A more pleasant discovery was "True Crime" by Andrew Klavan. On searching the net I found that Clint Eastwood had made a movie of the book in 1999 (quite a family affair, 2 wives and a daughter of family Eastwood were in the movie). But in the movie the condemed man is sudden black - one of the important points of the book was that he was white - an example of how not only blacks were condemed to die in Missouri. Oh well, books are almost always better anyway. My library has a few books by Klavan, so I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.

Busy, busy

I've been away - but have also spent a lot of time rereading the entire Sharon McCone series. Marcia Muller's SF detective is an interesting read - I am still missing the book called "Double", which is a joint effort with her husband.
Other books I've gone through are "Mission Canyon" by Meg Gardiner. The heroine Evan and her boyfriend Jesse investigate the accident that caused him to loose the use of his legs. Interestingly I looked for books by Gardiner in every book store I visited in the US, but not a one had any for sale. Neither did the library have any on the shelf, wonder why?
I picked up "In this Rain" by S.J. Rozan. This is her latest effort, but I got it for only $1. I rather liked Joe Cole and Ann Montgomery, who as protagonists worked for a special NY unit that investigated building/real estate crimes. I'm hoping for a new Bill & Lydia book by Rozan. She is working on a new book, but I don't know what it will be about
My own library here in Uppsala provided me with "The Janissary Tree" by Jason Goodwin. This is an historical detective novel - set in the Ottoman Empire. It was an enjoyable and enlightening read and I look forward to more books by this author. Another library find was the next (for me) in the Tom Thorne series by Mark Billingham. He is partial to short (often one word) titles and this book is no exception, it is called "Buried". I enjoyed this book for the slightly cracked characters and the fact that the end was rather a surprise (not so often for me, I usually figure it out before the detective does). On Billingham's web site there is interesting information about Thorne and lots of reader comments about possible actors to play Thorne on TV. Not easy to do.
My library did me up with a book by Joy Fielding called Heartstopper (which I've commented on earlier), so on discovering that my mother had "Mad River Road" (the previous book) I decided to read it - my advice to others is not to bother. I will probably not seek out another Joy Fielding in the near future.

M & M 's

Two rather long series by two ladies with M names. Margaret Maron continues the adventures of Deborah Knott with "Winter's Child". I like this series, but can't say that the mystery is the most important thing. The development of the characters in the Knott family and the rural atmosphere of Dobbs, North Carolina keep me reading this series. It feels like the author is also more interested in moving the lives of the characters along than in the intriques that make their lives interesting. Ex-wives are not faring well as of late, in another series where I am awaiting the paperback of the latest book the author will also get rid of a wife to change the love interest dynamics.
Marcia Muller continues the Sharon McCone series (book 17?) with "Vanishing Point". Sharon, the San Francisco based PI, works the California scene. In this book Paso Robles, Davis, Crescent City and even an Oregon visit to Klamath Falls are all included - good thing Sharon learned to fly a small airplane many books ago. I really enjoy this series and have followed it for many years. The San Francisco/California connection is particularly satisfying. I was glad, however, that the case Sharon takes in this one is not as personal as the ones in many of the later books. Nice to know that she does do PI work for someone other than herself and her firm. As often happens reading the latest installment in a series is prompting a re-read - this time of the preceding book.

England, Michigan, and China Lake

I found an interesting book at the library. "Peripheral Vision" by Patricia Ferguson. She weaves a story through time from the 50's to the 90's. The characters seemingly have no connection with each other, but in the end they are distant cousins. I guess I'm not supposed to reveal the ending, but the connection isn't really the point, it is rather a literary device to talk about family, love, and just simply dealing with life. It was well worth reading. As indicated by the title of this posting the story takes place in England
Michigan is for William Kent Krueger's latest installment in the Cork O'Connor series, Copper River. The book is a direct continuation of the last book and, as expected, things do work out. Otherwise the series would be finished. Although Cork lives in Minnesota he is hiding from bounty hunters and ends up at his cousin's place in Michigan. I bought the book because I've been following the series, but the subsequent installments had better improve or I might stop buying this one.
I am moving backwards through Meg Gardiner's Evan Delany series. I read "Crosscut", partially to look for background for the previous book, but also because Evan and Co. are kind of interesting. Lots of action and unbelievable plot devices together with conspiracy theories make a mix that keeps you reading, but not necessarily registering the details. A high school reunion with lots of dead classmates sets the scene for unraveling the consequences of an event 15 years earlier on the naval base at China Lake.

Georgia and Florida

The South has dominated my reading this week. Karin Slaughter is back in Grant County with "Skin Privilege", that just come out. I couldn't wait and used my discount ticket at the English book shop to buy the book. Sara, Jeffery, and Lena are back and this book is even darker than any of the earlier ones (which is saying a lot). Slaughter does not pull her punches and the characters feel very, very real. But it is kind of scary as are a lot of the bad guys in the book. The ending was a shock (seldom happens anymore).
I picked up a new book by Joy Fielding, "Heartstopper", at the library. This is the Florida connection (although there are some short visits to Florida in Slaughter's book). This is the first book I've read by Fielding and I think that I may read more. She keeps several suspects in the reader's view and I didn't figure this one out until towards the end, which is a plus for me.

Bruce

Spent my 4th of July first at the steakhouse and then at the movies to see Die Hard 4.0.
A fun evening in the company of my two kids and their pal, Paco. Except for the F35 scene the movie was fun and moved right along. It was a bit strange to see Warren Cheswick in a likable roll. The nerds were pretty good, especially "Warlock". Nice to see that the terrorists did not follow the stereotyped expectations.

Minnesota and L.A.

Here it is the middle of the summer and I put a picture of a snowman in my blogg. Well it is to signify that I have just read "Snow Blind" by P.J. Tracy. The bodies get hidden inside of snowmen (on skis or fishing). I've read som reader reviews on Amazon and most had the same opinion as I do. An enjoyable read, with a fun new character - a school teacher turned sheriff of a small Minnesota county, but way too little of the monkeewrench gang. The foursome computer group have been interesting characters in previous books, but in this one there is no development of their characters and unfortunately the play a very minor role.
I have also read "The Overlook" by Michael Connelly, a novella with old friend Harry Bosch. It was about a putative terror plan that was no more than the wife and the Fed. Hope I didn't ruin the book for anyone! Because the book was short, I missed the usual twists and turns as well as a usually more contemplative Harry. I guess I payed attention because I took the trivia test on Connelly's website and got all the answers right.

New Jersey and L.A.

As I said earlier I have been doing some travelling. I was in Norway for a day and a half. Waiting for transportation, riding on the bus, sitting on the airplane are all excellent opportunities for reading (and listening to Eva Cassidy on my MP-3 player). An old friend, Harlan Coben, was available to me through my library in the form of his latest book "The Woods". Coben is always a satisfying read, but I keep hoping he will go back to Myron Bolitar again (as he did in "Promise Me"). As usual the main character, Paul Copeland, is honest, but makes mistakes. Spying and other tangled webs are embedded in the novel. I enjoyed it, but as mentioned above I would rather have Bolitar back.
Waiting for the bus to the airport in Ski, Norway I decided I'd better spend my last Norwegian crowns on a book. The ones I had with me had already been read and it was many hours until I would arrive home to Uppsala. So I bought a Jonathan Kellerman called "Twisted". I know that the Kellerman family does produce readable books, but I'm not a great Alex Delaware fan (21 books and counting). I bought the book because it was another main character - Petra Connor. She was okay - the character that was the most fun was the genius Isaac Gomez who comes up with the June 28 pattern. I guessed who the killer was very early on, and it was hard to believe that the rest of them missed the obvious!

Movies - Johnny and George

Just want to let the world know that I don't just do book series - movie series are also part of my repertoire. Have been to see the mincing Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean) and the eye rolling, tux-clad George Clooney (Ocean's 13).

Evan (California) and Alex (New York)

I have been travelling a bit - first to Gothenburg for a rainy, but very nice Mid-summer. The choice of books gets limited by what is available at the pocket shop and I bought "Kill Chain" by Meg Gardiner. So I met up with character Evan Delaney - called Kit (for Kathleen) by her kidnapped father. She also has a boyfriend; lawyer, wheelchair-bound athlete. California and Santa Barbara figured into the equation. A good read, but I will probably donate the book to our book-table at work.
While in Gothenburg I started rereading a series that I stumbled upon a few years ago. The author is Beth Saulnier and her heroine is journalist Alex Bernier. There are actually five books in the series, but I've only been able to locate three "Distemper", "The Fourth Wall", and "Bad Seed". The last book is particularly interesting for me right now as it is about GMOs and one of my grad students is finishing up her PhD on GMOs. The setting for the novels is a fictive upper New York college town, a cover for Ithaca and Cornell. Alex, her colleague Jake Madison (aka Mad), and her policeman friend Brian Cody get into all sorts of tigh spots. I'm trying to locate the first and last books in the series, but so far no success. Saulnier's web site doesn't seem to be working so you kind of wonder what she has been doing. She also writes under the name Elisabeth Bloom (which is her married name).