Us Against You

Us Against You is the last book that I read in 2018, and it is the sequel to Beartown, a story about which I raved. This sequel lets you know how the author thinks the lives of the townspeople turn out – how their love for an conflicts with each other come to pass. Fredrik Backman is a master storyteller, which is my ultimate compliment to an author, and this book does not disappoint. The last two books of the year were also the best ones I’ve written, not to diminish my praise of Eliot Peper, Daniel Silva, C.J. Boxx, David Urban, Ken Bruen and so many others. Backman has written a story about a small hockey town in Sweden, but it is really a story of the relationships of people who are caught up in the sport for various reasons. If you don’t like sports book, no worries. These two books were recommended by my wife who is definitely not a fan of sports books, and they were the two best novels that I read in 2018.

Beartown

Fredrik Backman has written one hell of a novel, Beartown, recommended to me by my wife and daughter. It’s a coming of age/crime/sports novel that takes place in a “hockey town.” It begins as a sports story of high school boys who live in a small foreign town, perhaps Sweden. For generations, remote Beartown has lived and died with the success of their teams at the Beartown Ice Hockey Club – but not much good has happened in recent years until Kevin Erdahl came along. Now he promises to bring so much to his home town because of his incredible hockey prowess. Kevin and all of his teammates are coming of age, teen boys and girls, including the general manager’s daughter, Maya Andersson. The crime is a rape, committed by Kevin, and it tears the town apart. The author is extremely skilled at character development and presenting a complex topic. This is one of my top books of the year, and I’m about to dive into the sequel.

Night of Camp David

Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel, a journalist turned novelist. The book was written in 1965, the same year that the 25^th amendment was ratified. It has to do with the succession of the presidency should he/she become incapacitated. That would be a simpler thing if the issue was one of physical health, like a stroke or a heart attack, but it becomes more complex if the issue is one of mental health. I think I first heard about this novel on a podcast from Steve Schmidt and Elise Jordan called “Words Matter.” The podcast is excellent. Given the current administration, use of the 25^th amendment has come into the conversation even though it is so unlikely that there could be enough agreement from the cabinet to proceed with if the president is not cooperative.

At any rate, it’s a good story. It took about a third of the book to really set the stage and introduce the characters. The last two-thirds were a very good read. The president, Mark Hollenbach, was paranoid, and his vice-president had already been caught in some shady problems resulting in declaring that he would not run for office in President Hollenbach’s second term. One of the characters said, “Nobody – but nobody – in this country can tell a president of the United States that his mind is sick.” Meanwhile, the president had scheduled a nuclear arms talk with Russia, and the thought of letting an unpredictable paranoid person do that. Curiously, the author named one Supreme Court Justice Grady Cavanaugh.

It was the Secretary of Defense Sidney Karper who told the protagonist, a senator named James MacVeagh, “Jim,” he said, “this whole affair has convinced me of one thing. The mental business is almost impossible to handle at the apex of government. We thought he disability problem was solved with the succession amendment was passed and ratified in the Johnson administration. But it isn’t, is it? If Mark comes back and claims he’s normal, be we have evidence he isn’t, then the fight would rip the government apart – with God knows what dangerous results abroad.”

Remember this is a 1965 book, not a current political intrigue.

Wolf Pack by C.J. Box

With the help of the Joe Pickett’s old pal, the ex-governor of Wyoming as his attorney, Joe manages to get his old job back as game warden as well as a new state owned home and yet another new pickup truck as part of the settlement.

 

Back at work, Joe receives a tip from the game warden in the adjacent district that a reclusive drone hobbyist is spooking the wildlife then photographing the deadly results.  The hobbyist happens to be the father of Lucy’s boyfriend.  Lucy is Joe’s youngest daughter and last one still living at home.  The drone hobbyist, Joe quickly learns is also of great interest to and under protection of the Federal government.  To Joe the Witness Protection Program does not excuse abusing wildlife on his turf.  He calls on his buddy Nate Rowanowski to ground the drones using his falcons.  But Joe’s persistence in squelching the drones draws him into a treacherous plot by a band of assassins known as the Wolf Pack whose mission is to eliminate the protected witness and everyone who knows him… everyone.

Box once again combines current issues in modern day Wyoming with the moral code and tenacity of a lone game warden to thoroughly entertain… one of his best.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance look.