Heroes, the Greek Myths Reimagined

Heroes, the Greek Myths Reimagined by Stephen Fry is the second in a four-book set. I raved about the first book, Mythos, and I’m obviously not alone in my appreciate for Fry’s work. There had been a 14-week wait for access to that audiobook on the Libby app. While Mythos covers the whole beginning of the Greek mythologies, Heroes is a wonderful follow-up as Fry covers the stories of Perseus, Jason, Atalanta, Theseus, and Heracles (and more). While these stories have been told and retold for so long, Fry’s audiobook is done with the grandeur that such heroes deserve. He makes the stories seem bold and new. It’s where so many of our modern heroic acts were really told for the first time. I’m in love with this work, and now I’m waiting for my app Libby to bring me the third book, The Odyssey which I’ve read countless times. The Odyssey is perhaps, my favorite story, my favorite novel of all.

Redwind Security CEO, a Colonel Dawson, summons his top operative, Dane Winter, regarding Winter's upcoming assignment. Another protection gig, this one in Mexico. A retail magnate, Gilberto Sanchez, is planning a run for governor of the (fictitious) Mexican state of Tlapetla. He's hosting a mega fund raiser for all the monied residents and business officials of the state at his home in San Yetaxa. His political platform is based on shutting down one of Mexico's cartels whose home base in in Tlapetla.


A team of 5 are assigned to support Winter. His research uncovers the layout of Sanchez's home. Big, pretentious, in the hills overlooking the city. Limited access to and from the home, local security on site so Redwind will be providing overwatch and backup if needed. Seems like straight forward duty. Discussions on how one might assault the home, duty assignments finalized to each of the team, and they are off to Mexico.

The party will be massive. Dozens upon dozens of limos, hired security, and hundreds of invited guests. If they all open their checkbooks, Sanchez's war chest  should be deep enough to propel him to election success.

The team takes up their positions right about the time an extremely large assault on the compound begins. The cartel has decided that a Gov. Sanchez wouldn't be good for business. The foundation of Winter's security plans is based around a safe and rapid evac of the guest in the event of attack. The plan works like a charm. All the guest escape safely, but dozens of Sanchez's local security guards are gunned down . . . including Winter's entire team, all 5 of 'em. 

Winter is wounded but manages to crawl out. One of the caterers is Maria, a cafe waitress that the team met upon arrival. In the confusion, she drags Winter off the property, patches him up the best she can, and hides him in her home where her MD-brother is enlisted to make sure he survives. 

As Winter heals, he replays the events at the party for clues to what went wrong. Obviously the cartel carried out the attack. But Winter is more interested in the cartel's boss, an Alfonso Berrera and a mysterious 'benefactor' who is the ultimate puller of strings known only as El Maestro. Winter isn't one to settle for just killing the foot soldiers, he wants Berrera and El Maestro and he wants to destroy their drug production processes and facilities. He is reminded by police and Maria that law enforcement has failed for years to take down the cartel, so just how does he think that he, a single man, can do what the cops can't. 

And here is where Winter goes full Jack Reacher on Mexico. Author Cogley develops a complicated and treacherous plan for Winter to go after the Cartel bosses, destroy a meth lab the size of an airplane hanger, maintain a working relationship with a local detective, find out why he has been targeted, keep Maria and her brother safe without getting himself torn to shreds by assigned assassins, cartel thugs, disloyal local cops.  

And it's a good, if a bit adventurous and audacious execution of an entire cartel in the Mexican desert. We do learn more about Winter's back story from his days as a squad Captain in the Marines in Afghanistan, the loss of men in his command and his girlfriend/almost fiance to get some sense of his motivation behind the use of his killing skills when wronged. Of course there are the requisite twists to the plot as Winter uncovers the layers of corruption involved. 

Cogley has penned about a half dozen thrillers, notably a 5-book Adam Knight series. If I read the book blurb, it looks like this is the first in  Dane Winter series. If the others are as rough and tumble as this, Cogley might be worth the effort. The one thing that kinda irked me is that the setting is Mexico, but (as written), everyone - Maria, brother, the detective, the cartel leaders, the assassins, a cafe cook and more - all speak English. Only once do I recall Winter eavesdropping on a Spanish conversation.  Yeah, I get it, but still, make it seem like the story involves a language barrier.

ECD 

A Traveller's History of Egypt

 Long in advance of actually traveling there, I chose A Traveller’s History of Egypt by Harry Ades as being a way to prepare myself for the incredible and very long history of Egypt. It did take me some months to plow through the material which is written in a timeline as would be any good history textbook. It begins before history was recorded to the present time. I found myself reading a couple chapters, then putting it down for other reading material, and picking it up again. I just finished the last page when I’m only a week from beginning my journey. Ades book was first published in 2007, and it is a comprehensive yet concise history of the country.

 

The book included prehistoric times reaching back to 33,000,000 BCE. (BCE stands for “before the common era,” and is an accepted way of dating things. Much of the non-Christian world objects to AD and BC. AD refers to Anno Domini, “in the year of the Lord” and BC is simply “before Christ.” The BCE/CE system avoids a religious designation and CE simply refers to the “common era.” 1 CE would refer to what was probably Christ’s fourth or fifth year of life.)

 

It was around 3000 BCE that the rules of Upper Egypt took control of Lower Egypt, but how that occurred remains mostly unknown. It was about that same time that the first evidence of writing was found. It was over the next millennium that writing really developed and Egypt experienced its first dynastic period. Ades catalogued the various rules of Egypt, noting there were 31 dynasties. The 31^st dynasty of Alexander the Great was the beginning of the Ptolemaic period in 332 BCE. The Roman Period lasted from 30 BCE under Augustus to 395 CE, the last Roman emperor having been Theodosius I. (It was in 401CE that the Visigoths sacked Rome.) The author took the reader through the Byzantine Period followed by the Arab Period, the Malmuk Period, and the Ottoman Period which ended with World War I in 1914. There was also a French Occupation by Napolean from 1798 to 1801, the Dynasty of Muhammad Ali from 1805 to 1953. The British Occupation began in 1883 and lasted until 1953 when Egypt was declared a republic. Ades continued the political history of the county under Nasser, Sadat and finally Mubarak who was in office in 2007 time this book was published.

 

Simply put, if you’re interested in an excellent history of Egypt, this is the book for you.

Edge of Honor by Brad Thor

 

#24 in the Scot Harvath saga. This one picks up where Shadow of Doubt left off . . . with he and his Norwegian spy girlfriend Solvi Kolsted, heading off to exchange wedding vows. Harvath is not one to do anything subtle and plans a honeymoon to beat all honeymoons - a 6-month around the world excursion. How do all these super spys managed to stas  millions in hidden accounts around the world? 

When the get back to his home on the Potomac that has Mount Vernon as a neighbor, he needs to start the process of fully retiring from The Carlton Group, purveyors of protection to the most well heeled of the world. It's late late June and Harvath wants Solvi to see the US wish itself another July 4th birthday. 

One of the swanky parties he's invited to is at the US Naval Observatory, where the Vice-President resides. Upon arrival, they witness a large crowd of protesters. What does he care? He's retired and has put politics in his rear view mirror. But being retired doesn't mean he's turned off his spidey-sense. He and Solvi notice 2 guys in all black each carrying large backpacks that get tossed. They both duck just before the packs explode sending shrapnel into the crowd. Then others in black jump out of cars and start spraying the protesters. Both jump from their vehicle, grabbing firearms that are always packed in the Suburban, take out a few bad guys and head for the nearby Norwegian Embassy just ahead of more well armed and trained adversaries.

Once inside, their first thought is to protect the ambassador, and that they do, but not before a few embassy workers are mowed down. By this time, every law enforcement officer and those from the various government agencies descend on the area. What was the goal of the shooters? Was this a 1-off occurrence? 

This all occurs in the months after the US has elected an America-First president who flung around a ton of pre-election rhetoric to amp up the party base. A big goal was to get the US out of NATO (sound familiar?). As summer approaches, President Mitchell has called a summit of NATO members to DC to discuss this massive rearrangement of the NATO alliance. The summit is scheduled for the weeks following July 4th. And this attack occurs right about the time most European leaders were preparing for departure to DC. One of the leaders, the Prime Minister of Norway (not known for being a devoted fan of Solvi's politics) has surprisingly requested her to be posted to her security detail. 

One the PM lands and Solvi contained tightly within a protective bubble, Harvarth is now off to find out who or what was behind the attack (and that one was just the first of more to come). You know Harvath: once a problem solver, always a problem solver. His search for those behind the scenes makes up the bulk of the book. And true to form, Thor takes us on a wild and supersonic-paced dash through all levels of democracy, influencers,  lobbyists, patriots (real and wannabe) to put down what appears to be an inevitable rebellion and make sure our democratic republic remains. 

I've read all 23 prior Thor/Harvath books and, if I'm honest, I wasn't all that excited about jumping back in again. I mean, how many different ways can Thor dream up to test Harvath? I'd actually considered passing on this episode. That would've been a mistake. Thor is clever and creative in what he layers on Harvath and ingenious in how Harvath manages to crawl his way through bad guys who think they know better. Dont' know how Thor does it, but it seems like each book tops his previous outing. 

I know what your thinking. Just know that the President's nature and description bare little similarity to anyone you might be thinking of. 

And to make things worse, Thor already teased out the title of his 2026 thriller, Cold Zero. Pretty sure I won't be as hesitant as I was a few weeks ago.

East Coast Don  

Behave, The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

 Behave, The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst by Robert. M. Sapolsky is the most impressive nonfiction book that I’ve read this year. It was published in 2017. Sapolsky is a Stanford professor who refers to himself as a primatologist and neuroscientist. He has spent his life studying and living with primates, and he is well educated in the neurosciences. I sometimes read the book, but I listened to most of it since he is a most entertaining speaker. Despite what would seem to be a deeply serious subject, he writes with great humor. The author’s intent was for this to be a book of interest to non-scientists. However, the language about neuroanatomy does get complex. It would be helpful to have some prior knowledge about neuroanatomy although he does patiently educate people who are coming to such topics for the first time. 

Minus the pages for acknowledgments, appendices, glossary and the index, the book is about a 700-page tome, so be prepared to take that on. However, the content is rich and exciting. Sapolsky discusses the complexity of reaching an understanding of our human behavior. The subject matter is far too complex for me to summarize it in a meaningful way. My advice would be to read his short epilogue to help you make a decision about reading this masterful work. After admitting the complexity of the topic he undertook, I loved his closing comment, “Finally, you don’t have to choose between being scientific and being compassionate.” I thoroughly enjoyed this work and it was certainly worth the nearly 27 hours required to listen to the audiobook.

Mythos

 Stephen Fry is a British actor, director, broadcaster, comedian, and writer. Given that he narrated his book, Mythos, the term narrator should be added to that list. On some book jackets, there is a subtitle, The Greek Myths Retold. Many years ago when I got my bachelor’s degree (to my children, those were ancient times), I found myself entranced by ancient Greek literature, and I took enough classes to get a minor in that topic. While I had some familiarity with the myths, those courses were mostly about reading the Greek Playwrights: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. Of course, we read Homer, Plato and Aristotle, and some other authors I no longer remember. In this book, Fry uses his writer’s license to retell some of the stories in his own spin. But, I did not find anything problematic about his version of the stories. His book is also a good place to learn about the stories of Narcissus, Prometheus, and more.

 

I loved this epic work, especially the organization of the book. He covered all the Olympian gods and so much more. He began with Kronus and the Titans. He then told of the creation of Zeus and the other 12 main Olympic gods, from Hera, Athena, Apollo all the way to Hermes. He clarified the stories by mentioning those characters in Roman mythology. If you have any inkling of wanting to read about these ancient myths, I can’t think of a better place to start. Given that Fry is an actor, director, writer, and narrator, listening to his self-narrations was quite wonderful.

 

I looked at some of the criticisms of Fry’s writing which seem to come primarily from academics who found fault in some of his stories for accuracy. Perhaps as once having been a student of ancient times, I should be offended by the moments when he strayed from a rigorous path. But, I’m not in the least bit critical. This book was nothing short of fun. In one review on Reddit, a critic wrote that Fry was not a Hellenist, rather a “humanist atheist.” (There are several possible definitions Of Hellenist, but it mostly refers to a student or scholar who studies the Greek language, literature, history, or culture. I take it that a human atheist means a human who does not believe in the existence of God or gods.) I don’t find those words as cause for criticism of the book. Fry notes that he does not try to interpret the myths, but rather just tell the stories, and he does beautifully. Since this is actually a four-book series, next up for me will be Heroes.

Love the Stranger

 

 Love the Stranger (A Queens Mystery) by Michael Sears is a murder mystery that takes place in Queens, NY. Although it’s his first book reviewed in this blog, it is the second novel in the Queens Mystery series and at least his ninth crime novel. It was published in 2024. Sears described Queens as being a community that was far more than just a melting pot of people from all corners of the world who were just trying to eke out a living. Sears wrote that Queens was a “kaleidoscope of colors, classes, and ethnicities.” The book includes a great cast of characters including Kenzie Zielinski, a woman who worked as a community organizer. Currently she had taken on a wealthy and well-placed man in Queens who wanted to build a skyscraper which she thought would destroy the quality of the neighborhood. She lived with her boyfriend Ted Molloy, a lawyer with a most colorful past, and his law partner, Lester Young McKinley. They all shared and office and sometimes employed Mohammed, a Yemini immigrant to be their driver. Hanging over all the immigrants was the presence of ICE.

 

In addition to her work to defeat the building of the skyscraper, Kenzie was pulled into a murder mystery when it was obvious that the lawyer that Mohammed’s lawyer who was supposed to be helping with his immigration status was just cheating him out of fees, and claimed that Mohammed still owed him an impossible debt of $1,000. When Kenzie went to the law office of Howard Spitzer, she found Spitzer on the floor having been shot. Although she called the cops, since she was thought to be the last one who had seen Spitzer alive, she became a prime suspect in this matter. Ted and Lester were managing the lawsuit that Kenzie had filed against the landowner Ron Reisner, and their efforts were complicated when it was discovered a mole had been working in their office, and she was leaking their plans to Reisner’s people.

 

Sears introduced more characters on both sides of this matter, so there were additional subplots, all of which he brought to a satisfying end. I haven’t even gotten to Lester’s decision to loan money to a mobster. This book was hard to put down, so I had a couple late nights as I was caught up in the plot and characters. That’s enough information to help you know why I’m now a fan of Michael Sears. I’m not sure which of his earlier book I’ll grab next, but I plan to read more of his work.