Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Late Night Scott Wisdom
Late last night as we were watching television another ad for the Google Assistant appeared. Scott said it was great and all that, but the John Wick Assistant was way better. It is because it kills all your problems AND walks your dog.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
We Have Voted
Scott and I just came home from going to our local library where we picked up materials as well as voted. The voting line was the longest we have ever dealt with at the Lochwood Library. It took about thirty minutes. Numerous people in the line with us shared stories about how they had tried to vote yesterday when the line was way longer and had stretched out deep into the parking lot.
The parking lot was chaos and confusion worse than Christmas at the mall thanks to the numerous political folks walking around cars to accost you as you got out of your car in order to tell you how to vote. Thankfully, we dodged nearly all of those folks as they were tied up elsewhere. With the four handicapped parking spots taken and a packed parking lot, we had to park a very long way from the building. Between that distance and the standing in line, my pain is way worse right now.
But, the job is done. Scott and I have voted.
The parking lot problems might explain why Dallas Police in the form of four patrol cars and half a dozen or so officers were in the parking lot when we finally came out of the building. They were talking to several of the more aggressive political folks who had been blocking people to talk to them. When we came out the line had swelled considerably and my guess is those just arriving are looking at an hour or so to vote.
Gravetapping: DEATH OF A CITIZEN by Donald Hamilton
Gravetapping: DEATH OF A CITIZEN by Donald Hamilton: Matt Helm is a solid citizen. He is married with three children. He makes a living writing popular novels (western’s mostly), and lives ...
Monday, October 22, 2018
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: Texas Literary Calendar Oct 22-28,...
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: Texas Literary Calendar Oct 22-28,...: Bookish goings-on in Texas for the week of October 22-28, 2018: Special Events: Friends of the Dallas Public Library Annual Gala , Oct 25...
Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Forgive Me by Daniel Palmer
Forgive
Me
by Daniel Palmer (Kensington, 2016) is a stand-alone thriller from my
Bouchercon book bag, which seems to have been light on genuine mysteries this
year. Angela DeRose’s investigation agency in Arlington, Virginia, specializes
in locating runaway children. Her interest in helping at-risk teens and their
families stems from the disappearance of her best friend in college just before
they graduated. No clue to her fate ever surfaced, and Angie is determined that
no other family will suffer the same sense of loss and grief if she can help it.
Workaholic Angie is
devastated when her mother dies suddenly. In sorting through her mother’s
possessions and papers, she finds an older photograph of a small child with the
words “Forgive me” and a string of numbers written on the back. Her father
doesn’t know anything about it and Angie is haunted by this secret in her
mother’s life. Her search for the child’s identity and the meaning of the
numbers on the back of the photo forms the overarching framework of the book.
The investigative work that leads Angie to the little girl’s name and location
is well done and the plot twist at the end that explains Angie’s mother’s connection
to the child is explosive, surprising, and plausible.
Nearly half of the
story however is consumed with the detailed and graphic description of the
seduction and coercion of a 16-year-old into a sex trafficking ring, and
Angie’s search for her. This unflinching narrative reads as if it were taken
from actual case records.
I find it interesting
that the publisher’s blurb makes no mention of the sex trafficking thread which
forms a significant part of the book, focusing only on the photo of the unidentified
little girl.
However, I had the
feeling that this is two separate stories folded into one book, one being
extraneous to the other, making it a mildly disorienting read. Action-packed
with physical and sexual violence.
·
Hardcover: 416 pages
·
Publisher: Kensington
(May 31, 2016)
·
Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 075829347X
·
ISBN-13: 978-0758293473
Aubrey
Hamilton ©2018
Aubrey
Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and
reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Platinum Blonde (1944) by Christop...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Platinum Blonde (1944) by Christop...: The Case of the Platinum Blonde (1944) is the twenty-eighth entry in the Ludovic Travers series and one of Christopher Bush 's warti...
Sunday Movie Review: Black Water
I like action movies. A movie that has Jean-Claude Van Damme
is sure to get a look. Even if what they are doing has been done to death.
Black sites and escapes from them have all been the action movie rage the last
couple of years in between the flood of cartel drug gang violence flicks. BLACK
WATER takes the black site deal from the oil tanker or underwater base and puts
it on a submarine.
A skeleton crew of Navy personnel works in one part of the submarine
while a CIA team works in the other part doing what they do. Dolph Lungren
plays the role of a captured German intelligence dude who is already onboard when
Jean-Cluade, in the role of Scott Walker, CIA operative and studly hero, is
brought on board to be tortured about missing files.
The interrogation by the CIA team led by a traitor goes
wrong—or right if you are Jean-Claude—and he escapes to do his version of Bruce
Willis causing trouble in a skyscraper –submarine style. This is a decent
action movie as long as you don’t think about it too much. Plenty of violent action,
but nothing that is excessive or gory. There is no frontal nudity though there
is a very little bit of side nudity of one of the actresses.
We got it by way of Netflix who also provides the
synopsis/details below. For those who
wonder, there is no frontal nudity though there is a very little bit of side
nudity of one of the actresses.
After he's spirited away to a submarine being
used as a secret CIA interrogation site, operative Scott Wheeler learns that
he's been framed for treason. But to prove his innocence, he must team up with
a fellow prisoner and find a way to escape.
Cast
Jean-Claude Van
Damme, Dolph
Lundgren, Patrick
Kilpatrick, John
Posey, Jasmine
Waltz, Courtney B
Turk, Tandi
Tugwell, Lance E.
Nichols, Tom
DeNucci, Mark Sherman
Director
Genres
Moods
Saturday, October 20, 2018
KRL This Week Update for 10/20/18
Up in KRL this morning a review and giveaway of "A Whisker in Time" by Kathi Daley, a mystery with magical cats perfect for Halloween reading!http://kingsriverlife.com/10/20/a-whisker-in-time-by-kathi-daley/
Also up, another magical mystery for your Halloween reading, a review and giveaway of "Samhaim Secrets" by Jennifer David Hessehttp://kingsriverlife.com/10/20/samhain-secrets-by-jennifer-david-hesse/
And another mystery perfect for you Halloween reading, "Be Our Ghost" by Kate Kingsbury, along with a fun Halloween guest post by Kate http://kingsriverlife.com/10/20/be-our-ghost-by-kate-kingsbury/
Cats and Halloween seem to go together, so up in KRL this morning we have reviews and giveaways of a trio of cat mysteries, which includes some magical cats-"A Catered Cat Wedding": A Mystery with Recipes by Isis Crawford, "Feral Attraction": A Cat Groomer Mystery by Eileen Watkins, and "The Cats Came Back": A Magical Cats Mystery by Sofie Kelly http://kingsriverlife.com/10/20/magical-mystery-cats-for-halloween/
We also have a Halloween mystery short story by Guy Belleranti http://kingsriverlife.com/10/20/the-house-of-screams-a-halloween-mystery-short-story/
And an article about Dennis Wheatley's dark magic series http://kingsriverlife.com/10/20/dennis-wheatley-three-tales-from-a-master-of-eerie-adventure/
Up on KRL News & Reviews this week we have a review & giveaway of a mystery with a haunted house, another perfect book for your Halloween reading, "The Spirit in Question" by Cynthia Kuhn published by Henery Press https://www.krlnews.com/2018/10/the-spirit-in-question-by-cynthia-kuhn.html
And a review and giveaway of yet another Halloween mystery, "Penned" by Eileen Brady https://www.krlnews.com/2018/10/penned-by-by-eileen-brady.html
And if you enjoy fantasy and magic, we have a review of "Magic Triumphs" by Ilona Andrews and a giveaway of the first book in that series "Magic Bites"
Happy reading,
Lorie
Mystery Fanfare: MYSTERY BYTES: TV, Movies, and other Media
Mystery Fanfare: MYSTERY BYTES: TV, Movies, and other Media: Here's a Round-Up of some upcoming Mystery Movies, TV shows, and other media . Lawrence Kasdan to Script & Direct Adaptation of...
Saturdays With Kaye: In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
The latest Maisie Dobbs
novel begins as Neville Chamberlain declares war with Germany and London starts
gearing up with air raid siren tests, allocation of gas masks, and night
blackouts. Maisie is hurrying to her friend’s house to hear the anticipated
announcement on the radio. War is, of course, unwelcome, as they all remember
the last one and everyone has suffered some sort of loss. But, as they remind
themselves, they came through it.
A phone call comes for Maisie from an acquaintance who wants to
give her some investigation business. The caller, Dr. Francesca Thomas, is
calling from inside Maisie’s flat, which she locked when she left.
The business has to do with some happenings during the last war
when Great Britain accepted over a quarter of a million Belgian refugees,
fleeing from German invasion. Most returned home after the war, but not all.
Several thousand stayed, married, took jobs, and some even changed their names.
Dr. Thomas herself is Belgian and tells Maisie that one of the former refugees
has been murdered, shot in the back of the head. Scotland Yard doesn’t have the
personnel to investigate his death and is treating it as a robbery gone wrong.
Maisie suspects that Francesca isn’t being completely open with her, especially
when another former Belgian is murdered. Maisie must follow the delicate
threads from the past that connect the men, hoping her friend Francesca isn’t
responsible for some of the death.
Meanwhile children are being evacuated from London in
anticipation of the bombing that happened in WWI and some need a place to stay.
One girl, brought to the family country estate, has arrived alone and is mute
and dark-skinned. No one knows who she is or who her people are. Maisie is
drawn to her, maybe dangerously so.
There is much detail here on wartime England and the people who
lived through that dark period. History buffs and Maisie fans will love this.
Reviewed by Kaye George, author
of Ella and the Ball in Once Upon
a Fact, for Suspense Magazine
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