tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60078217158220793622024-03-28T20:29:20.290-07:00Men Reading BooksEst. 2009. >1625 reviews by a few guys who favor mysteries and thrillers. East Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06245156716045092960noreply@blogger.comBlogger1653125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-13662922620202493532024-03-18T19:54:00.000-07:002024-03-18T20:19:52.852-07:00Owning Up by George Pelecanos<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDEpA7a_rK3MTArpSvyQbuqVeb5IXc0Z9i3LsSED0P1wboetvlqbrfx5u9yTuLlk6MHZAnzC8YfrGzIqAj7scojg65eMK0J2cqAuhVBf0kcRPQgH5f_3hP9J_C5A2wHOGy3TCKSubSQEcwFhK0miWW9GIg2gF0qD9GwL4-dSsWcMlAP7hUSQvbukIv2c/s3307/OwningUp.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3307" data-original-width="2150" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDEpA7a_rK3MTArpSvyQbuqVeb5IXc0Z9i3LsSED0P1wboetvlqbrfx5u9yTuLlk6MHZAnzC8YfrGzIqAj7scojg65eMK0J2cqAuhVBf0kcRPQgH5f_3hP9J_C5A2wHOGy3TCKSubSQEcwFhK0miWW9GIg2gF0qD9GwL4-dSsWcMlAP7hUSQvbukIv2c/s320/OwningUp.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>Pelecanos is a supremely gifted crime writer. 21 crime thriller/mysteries to his credit - I've read them all. He's also an Emmy-nominated screenwriter/producer best known for what many critics have said is/was the best crime show ever on television: HBOs The Wire. Add to that other HBO titles like The Deuce, The Treme, and We Own This City. Look him up on IMDB.com<br /><p></p><p>And he graduated from my high school, the venerable Northwood HS in Silver Spring, MD . . . yeah, I'm biased. But I didn't know he was a fellow alum until well after I'd been hooked by his work. </p><p>Owning Up isn't a crime novel. It's four short stories, as always, based in Washington DC:</p><p>1. The Amusement Machine: a small timer out of jail after passing some bad checks. On a lark, he puts his name in as an extra for a TV show being shot in Baltimore. Makes friends with an ambitious extra who wants more than to just stand in the background. He's after a speaking role. The check grifter? He's just looking for a score.<br /></p><p>2. No Knock: a successful book and magazine writer's home is the subject of a no-knock warrant being executed. Seems the writer's oldest son was part of a mugging/hold up involving a drug dealer.</p><p>3. Knickerbocker: A young woman aspires to write. Wants to write an historical novel. She decides to narrow her research to her family history specifically in the years after WWI. She manages to locate a couple elderly relative and engages in some revealing oral history particularly around a disaster in a movie theater in the pre depression years.</p><p> 4. Owning Up: A grown man remembering racial confrontations that have repeatedly descended upon DC over his lifetime. </p><p></p><p>Now these are a bit of a departure from his usual street crime forte. From the very start, these seem to be personal. Really personal. All of his books are respected for his skill at developing characters. While searching for a .jpg of the cover, I came across an NPR interview from Feb 2024 (at the time of publication). Turns out, No Knock actually happened to Pelecanos. 2009. Just blocks across the DC/MD border. Lights, cars, SWAT, rifles, to the floor, zip-tied, made fun of by the cops. In the 4th story is considerable detail about being in high school and getting talked into participating in a break-in. Does it sound like the author got roped into driving his car one night? And who knows just how much else were tales from his life. Betting there are plenty. </p><p>And while there are many reasons to admire his work, one aspect runs true through all his books - Washington, DC. He manages to portray DC geography and its sense of being into a critical character in all his books. I've read tons of mysteries/thrillers based in, or pass through, DC where the authors take liberties with the city (e.g., started walking from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol arriving about a half hour later. Yeah, like that's gonna happen. Given the current DC traffic you'd be lucky to drive that distance in a half hour). Not Pelecanos. He give DC to us as it is, warts and all; importantly, nary a mention of the federal government. Don't believe me? Have a DC atlas open and follow along. </p><p>And he STILL lives in Silver Spring, MD. Has stayed true to his roots. No Hollywood suck up here.<br /></p><p>Pick up this book. It's short. You can read all 4 stories in an undisturbed day. And if it's your first Pelecanos book, plan on heading to your library to dive in and appreciate the gift Pelecanos shares with us. </p><p>Dennis Lehane says, "The guy's a national treasure." Stephen King has called him "Perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Who are we to argue with the likes of Lehane and King?<br /></p><p>East Coast Don (Northwood HS class of '67)<br /></p>East Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06245156716045092960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-53171486229158274392024-03-15T17:19:00.000-07:002024-03-15T17:19:46.582-07:00The Diabolical<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBYDZSg3J_3PCkD8vrnKi4jY1Jkige7rDjrGHq6rvqZSFkjG4Oo33WPNrI9mCCaqv8HwkjShiWAWDVhrSVa1m9NvRCHQ4FEpesIkedndx_Z59P3h-CylSWnvtg-yeQyVmzIdZLTe_ZrdNq3XPE7s9Pw0gpxQliKVnE4XY5VT5YuJ7GIngtNE5JAQZASYY/s214/diabolical.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="144" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBYDZSg3J_3PCkD8vrnKi4jY1Jkige7rDjrGHq6rvqZSFkjG4Oo33WPNrI9mCCaqv8HwkjShiWAWDVhrSVa1m9NvRCHQ4FEpesIkedndx_Z59P3h-CylSWnvtg-yeQyVmzIdZLTe_ZrdNq3XPE7s9Pw0gpxQliKVnE4XY5VT5YuJ7GIngtNE5JAQZASYY/s1600/diabolical.webp" width="144" /></a></div><br /><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The Diabolical</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is David Putnam’s 11<sup>th</sup> Bruno Johnson Novel. ECD, my fellow blogger and great friend of 52 years since we were beginning our post-college degrees, reviewed the 9<sup>th</sup> book, <i>The Scorned</i> about one year ago, and the eighth <i>The Sinister</i> about two years ago. All three books have been published by Oceanview Publishing, one of our very favorite publishing houses. At some time, were going to have to do a deeper dive to get all of Bruno’s background stories. In ECD’s review of <i>The Scorned</i>, he described that much of the first half was devoted to backstory and especially about feelings. He wrote, “More discussion about feelings than you might find in a romance novel.” I’ve never known ECD to admit that he spent any time reading romance novels.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p>T</o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">his novel takes place in Costa Rica where Bruno Johnson and his wife, Marie, have moved with their 14 children to find a better location to raise the kids. Bruno had apparently lost two of his own kids to LA’s gang and drug culture. He acknowledged that the kids with him in Costa Rica are not all legally his, noting that he had rescued most of them from at risk home in South Central Los Angeles. Bruno has found a job at the Lido Cabana bar where he can keep his eye on anyone who might be approaching him for extradition back to LA for both kidnapping and murder charges. The Johnson’s have also arrived with friends. Bruno depends on generous tips from his customers in order to clothe and feed his kids, and he can’t turn down an offer from Otis Brasher to watch out for people that want to harm him (for reasons that Otis would not fully explain). Otis spent his time sitting at the bar and consuming a 13 to 20 grasshoppers per day, thus getting totally drunk. Otis was an abrasive character, but Bruno certainly liked the $1,000 per day that he was receiving for escorting Otis to and from the bar every day.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Things started to go south when there was a mass shooting at another bar which took out some of Bruno’s friends. It turns out some people, including Otis, think there are stolen diamonds in the area – the problem being, the diamonds were stolen from the mob. There were good cops and corrupt cops, more murders, more love with the elegant Marie. Especially there was the struggle that Bruno continued to have with himself from allowing the very dark side of himself to emerge. The author lightened up some of the moments with the dog, Waldo, who was wonderfully portrayed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">It's an excellent story, another winner for Oceanview Publish.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-39241034529124278552024-03-12T07:21:00.000-07:002024-03-12T07:21:55.135-07:00Independence Square<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMBkyrOlOcXSpSbPS5xoJviZUCWNlC0U4JSYl84tyFPe07_n-IfT1bKXrto_EtmANRmftwFgpAzTaK2IFY2nfV0mE2WOndK-4w-G72oA5ylNRJWA20HaDj6DextGbQQuuJlcgrQ1fVH9sDu4oHrpb6w1qG3I2NyO1P19iemfbTsirqfLcko4CPZkoU90/s266/Independencesquare.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="176" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMBkyrOlOcXSpSbPS5xoJviZUCWNlC0U4JSYl84tyFPe07_n-IfT1bKXrto_EtmANRmftwFgpAzTaK2IFY2nfV0mE2WOndK-4w-G72oA5ylNRJWA20HaDj6DextGbQQuuJlcgrQ1fVH9sDu4oHrpb6w1qG3I2NyO1P19iemfbTsirqfLcko4CPZkoU90/s1600/Independencesquare.webp" width="176" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the 10</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> novel in the Arkaday Renko series. I first read Smith’s novel </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Red Square </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">nearly 10 years ago when I was going to have my first trip to Moscow, but for some reason that is now hard to fathom, I panned that particular novel. On the other hand, nearly a year ago, I read the first novel in this series entitled </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gorky Park,</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and that was a great detective story that took place under the frightening reign of Putin, and there were major forces to deal with when any blame on Putin or his cronies was suggested by the facts Renko was uncovering. The 10</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> book, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Independence Square</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">, which happens to be the central square in Kyiv, is on par with </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gorky Park.</i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Renko was troubled by the desertion of his longtime live-in girlfriend Tatiana and by a boss who was corrupt and more interested in toeing the line of Putin’s wishes than in actually solving a case. Meanwhile, Renko also had the early onset symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease which challenged his stamina to continue his investigation. It was an underworld crime figure who asked Renko to track down his daughter who had disappeared. Even though Renko knew that Putin was about to invade Ukraine, he followed her trail which took him to Kyiv just as the Russian assault on that city was beginning.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">This is a very timely detective story which takes in one of the most dangerous areas of the world at the present time. I think the portrayal of Russia and Ukraine are pretty accurate, and this novel gets my strongest recommendation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-1373099772019405862024-03-04T07:40:00.000-08:002024-03-04T07:40:54.716-08:00Three-Inch Teeth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFNXz8yb7tTXxmMukSioni924sqwFb3s6VSu73lAa46-I151taGYIAzpuvSjjDCmqdIhyvr6qjQpnTS4QEewFIuQOMB6Rp1ooWMKJY3_PxMeo2xLxkJMZRvU6YKWJmrAFw4jTAOd5YBz4DkkHVjEQ__tqQ8NYsY5wiRa5tuKmO1Jy9fVMtFMlru0qjyU/s445/3inchteeth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="295" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFNXz8yb7tTXxmMukSioni924sqwFb3s6VSu73lAa46-I151taGYIAzpuvSjjDCmqdIhyvr6qjQpnTS4QEewFIuQOMB6Rp1ooWMKJY3_PxMeo2xLxkJMZRvU6YKWJmrAFw4jTAOd5YBz4DkkHVjEQ__tqQ8NYsY5wiRa5tuKmO1Jy9fVMtFMlru0qjyU/s320/3inchteeth.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fresh from reading too many WWII fiction and nonfiction books, I dove into the new Joe Pickett novel, the 24</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> in the series. With </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Three-Inch Teeth</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">, C.J. Box has done it again. I’m most surprised the Midwest Dave didn’t beat me to writing the review on the book. He’s the person who introduced me and East Coast Don to Box’s novels, and we are forever grateful for that.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Box has written a thriller that I could not put down until it was over, avoiding all other vacation responsibilities. This novel opened with a breathtaking grizzly bear attack on Clay Hutmacher, Jr., a 25-year-old man who was flyfishing by himself in a remote area while also carrying the diamond ring that he planned to use as he proposed marriage to Sheridan Pickett. Clay did not survive the lightning-fast brutal attack, and it was the first of other grizzly attacks that were happening around the state of Wyoming.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Sheridan, as a getaway from the funeral scene in her home town of Saddlestring, Wyoming, took advantage of an opportunity to go on her first solo job for Nate Romanowski’s company Yarak, Inc. She had attained the status of master falconer and was off to do a job on bird abatement. The job was just across the state line in Colorado. To say the least, the people who hired her were very odd. Nate had gone legitimate with his company, and he lived with his wife Liv and their 2-year-old daughter Kestrel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">There were parts of the bear attacks that did not make sense, such as the distance between the attacks and some other not-bear-like behaviors which Box explains carefully. In the course of this novel, Box brings back some former foes of Joe and Nate, like Dallas Cates who had just been released from prison, and Axel Soledad. Both Cates and Soledad were psychopaths. There’s another big surprise discovered by Sheridan, but I won’t spoil that for you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">This is an A+ and 5/5 rated novel. C.J. Box does keep this series interesting, and he left us with a guess about where the Pickett saga will continue.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-2652389566667112852024-03-03T09:14:00.000-08:002024-03-03T09:14:15.453-08:00Mr. Churchill's Secretary<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUSS4ampIDBXiKJr28DlO7Rrwvf2XUxU2K5aMNXdn8SwJ2I-uXaeuVhyphenhyphen4eXBTw0y1fUeXWIhmLqmi5ha3h2sHEf0mrM7Cb7BYW89Ca3U87rceuMjo6_ksGV4pJa2Qjy3LvHaJNOSJyk57NT4T4KOSyMGArJl8h1imp-VPj12gVGcZ-DVstCeg8wSXAJM/s466/churchsecy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="301" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUSS4ampIDBXiKJr28DlO7Rrwvf2XUxU2K5aMNXdn8SwJ2I-uXaeuVhyphenhyphen4eXBTw0y1fUeXWIhmLqmi5ha3h2sHEf0mrM7Cb7BYW89Ca3U87rceuMjo6_ksGV4pJa2Qjy3LvHaJNOSJyk57NT4T4KOSyMGArJl8h1imp-VPj12gVGcZ-DVstCeg8wSXAJM/s320/churchsecy.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tired of reading nonfiction books about the WWII in the Pacific, what do I do? I listened to an audiobook fiction of WWII in England. </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Mr. Churchill’s Secretary</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is a very clever story about Maggie Hope who graduated at the top of her college class and had all the smarts and skills to be a part of the British Intelligence Service. It was early in WWII, and England was preparing itself for the inevitable German assault, and Churchill was the newly elected Prime Minister. However ever talented she was, because of her gender, she was relegated to being typist #10 at 10 Downing Street. She had regular contact with Churchill who was immediately impressed with her brilliance and straightforward character.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">There was a mystery with regard to Maggie’s history. She was told that her parents were both killed in an auto accident when she was newly born, and she was then raised by her paternal aunt who she perceived to be none-to-happy about being given such a task. There was especially more to be known about her father and his work for the government. Meanhwhile, there were more dangers to her country than just the Axis powers, specifically the IRA which saw Germany as a partner in the war against England and was willing to plot various espionage acts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Maggie turns out to be a great and able protagonist. The plot and cast of characters were well-developed. I’d be very happy to see a sequel to the Maggie Hope novel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-56973143239922974842024-03-01T08:55:00.000-08:002024-03-01T08:55:31.928-08:00Embracing Defeat<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrlZ0IsL74t0h6OLCYK0Tb9z-kxFD50VbYsqrlfEplnWy0xbNG8SfQz_noinTdsO4o6HvyyEsILOrXTKqQc7_V83ob9rabsWS15BX8lAT2U1QBZe8Z8u5e__5H9o2KNVupzhBUnyIMrieOykEDbJVvZdPn00n2r_C8TXPBgmbjkMjXrYsyIF1JmuviouE/s218/embracingdefeat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrlZ0IsL74t0h6OLCYK0Tb9z-kxFD50VbYsqrlfEplnWy0xbNG8SfQz_noinTdsO4o6HvyyEsILOrXTKqQc7_V83ob9rabsWS15BX8lAT2U1QBZe8Z8u5e__5H9o2KNVupzhBUnyIMrieOykEDbJVvZdPn00n2r_C8TXPBgmbjkMjXrYsyIF1JmuviouE/w336-h336/embracingdefeat.jpg" width="336" /></a></div><br /> <i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Embracing Defeat</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> by John W. Dower is a nonfiction history of the end of WWII with the Japanese, and the reconstruction of Japan under far different circumstances than existed in Europe. Dower is a well-recognized scholar of the war and its impact on Japan. The book, published in 1999, is a very detailed analysis of the incredible chaos that Japanese society faced with the collapse of the Japanese empire in August 1945. (This book is a follow-up to my review of Dower’s 1986 book entitled <i>War Without Mercy</i>.) The U.S. had been firebombing 66 Japanese cities to the point of near total destruction, and then there were the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The war’s toll on the general population of Japan was horrible. In addition to the death of Japan’s soldiers, there were also perhaps two million Japanese soldiers that were stranded throughout the Asian theater of war which consisted of China, Formosa, the Philippines, southeast Asia, and many remote Pacific islands. It took years for those people to be repatriated to Japan and many never made it back to their home island.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">It should be remembered that until 1862 when Admiral Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay that the Japanese society had been nearly closed to all Western influence, except for the Portuguese and Jesuit influence. Essentially, it had been a feudal society for centuries, first under the Shoguns and then under the Emperors (there were just four in the post Shogunate era). It was after the Japanese defeat of the Chinese in the last decade of the 19<sup>th</sup> century and then their defeat of the Russians in the first decade of the 20<sup>th</sup> century which led to a rise of militarism and a mistaken belief in their invincibility. It was Japan’s miscalculation of its own power that led to the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. That attack was the beginning of a grandiose plan to extend their own resourceless island’s reach throughout Asia, if not even further. Neither Japanese leaders nor the citizenry were prepared to accept their unconditional defeat.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Unlike the post WWII situation in Europe where the Allied powers split up the conquered territories, the U.S. was the only such victorious power in Japan, and it was the U.S. that occupied Japan formally until 1952. General MacArthur was given the primary control of the occupation, and just as the Japanese had essentially hero worshipped their Shoguns and Emperors, the generally wise leadership of MacArthur led to such status for him. It was also his task to impose democracy on the populace, although there was clearly a hypocritical position to essentially have a dictator impose such. There were many such contradictions and double standards which the Japanese seemed to endure from the Americans as recovery from the war continued.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">It was the Korean War that had a favorable impact on the Japanese economy as the U.S. turned to them to provide supplies for the war, but of course the Korean War also led to MacArthur’s dismissal by President Truman for insubordination. Despite the termination of MacArthur’s military career, he left Japan as a hero, and he was seen as such by much of the Republican party upon his arrival back in the U.S.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Along with economic uncertainty through the years after the war, the society as a whole was in turmoil. After having lived with minimal freedom under the Shoguns and Emperors, open freedom was something most Japanese had never experienced and there were many bumps in the road. <i>Embracing Defeat</i> was a remarkably well-researched book, and although I’ve had an interest in Japan for many decades, there were themes in this book that I had not previously considered. Many of those themes have not been mentioned in this brief review. If this topic of interest to you, then I invite you to read this masterpiece of scholarship about the war’s aftermath.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-52591889945116228522024-02-29T06:32:00.000-08:002024-02-29T06:32:49.815-08:00The Exchange<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYUqeoqK0anpehtubssIkAJcTIJrWwjjugJGjWiypk_Yxq-9oJOzBhJo6TJd_5_PCALtXTSfAmZZ0YeUTK8LhbsxQiSL4zKB7Sm9GqVZB9AvZUwne6EEl0V9Wa7gQc-QdSTD18ebq0FvDwuNgsteIb8CxTRlMK89wdyJkMHsaIYuhmvkiGVI8iJbOQK8/s500/exchange.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYUqeoqK0anpehtubssIkAJcTIJrWwjjugJGjWiypk_Yxq-9oJOzBhJo6TJd_5_PCALtXTSfAmZZ0YeUTK8LhbsxQiSL4zKB7Sm9GqVZB9AvZUwne6EEl0V9Wa7gQc-QdSTD18ebq0FvDwuNgsteIb8CxTRlMK89wdyJkMHsaIYuhmvkiGVI8iJbOQK8/s320/exchange.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The Firm</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> was John Grisham’s second book and it was hugely successful, published in 1991, and after writing many bestselling novels since then, in 2023 Grisham chose to write the sequel, <i>The Exchange. </i>After the surprise decision to take the lucrative offer at a Memphis firm rather than to take an offer from one of the blue blood firms that had made offers to Mitch McDeere, who finished fourth in his Harvard Law School class, Mitch and his wife Abby settled into life in Memphis. It was then that he discovered the vast corruption in which his firm was engaged. Risking his life McDeere turned to the Feds for help. Such was the subject of <i>The Firm. </i>So what happened to Mitch and Abby since then? Meanwhile, the firm in Memphis ended up with all its members in jail for long prison terms.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The Exchange</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> takes place 15 years later, in 2005. Mitch and Abby had fled the country until they decided it was time to return to the U.S. to start a family. Mitch chose to go back to the law, but this time he was hired by the largest law firm in the world and he began working in their Manhattan office. Ever the rebel, Mitch took advantage of the firm’s “no dress code” policy. He grew a beard and wore a ponytail, and he typically went to the office in jeans. But, Mitch was a star and quickly ascended to the position of partner, and he was close to the senior partner and founder of the firm, Luca Sandroni who was dying of cancer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">It was only Luca who could persuade Mitch to take on a case that led him back to Memphis, a place he said he would never go again. Luca was big into pro bono work, and the case was a longshot deal to try to save the life of a man who was due to be executed in 90 days. In fact, the man committed suicide before the efforts to save him could occur. But, that put Mitch even closer to Luca in his dying days. He asked Mitch for another favor. Mitch was being sent on an international adventure to Libya where he was to try to collect money from Muammar Gaddafi that was due to the firm. The favor was for Mitch to take Luca’s daughter along. Luca was worried that Giovanna was getting tired of the law and was about to leave the firm, and she was asking to be involved in this effort, despite the known dangers of Libya. Not only was Gaddafi a lawless psychopath, but there were armed and militant tribes Libya which even Gaddafi could not control. It was one of those tribes that abducted Giovanna for ransom for $100,000,000.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Unexpectedly, Abby was pulled into the scene as the person who had to deliver the money in order to collect Giovanna. During her time since living in Memphis, Abby had become a successful publisher of cookbooks, and she had absolutely no background for the task she was being asked to complete. How does one cobble together $100k when the insurance company refused to pay on the claim and when the other wealthy partners refused to risk their own wealth to save Luca’s daughter?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I’ve always thought Grisham’s best writing was about legal battles and courtroom drama. He did write about some interesting issues in international law in this book, but there was little courtroom action. However, Grisham has another winner on his hands. I thoroughly enjoyed this effort, and I devoured this book in audio format rather than the usual way. It gets my 5/5 rating.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-14971128532385825842024-02-26T15:26:00.000-08:002024-02-26T15:26:13.943-08:00The Killings at Kingfisher Hill (associated with the Agatha Christie series)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKzbjm2pHBRnG4ghU_71X1cuSw2L2eQ4-2xzzQlDLsD0vUg4hFi8MEPnPy3IRpagLrgcVlKQdO8wt0MOi3XCaFwoJ43eNrWeBYvKqyYIyT_h6NDVPCUlJxx19od3zHi7EXD7-S_HTWbNBGOGeVQQQb-ltYtmgUBHOizyx3PAOndY_9ISz3aPgNIv7CQ4/s400/kingfisherhill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKzbjm2pHBRnG4ghU_71X1cuSw2L2eQ4-2xzzQlDLsD0vUg4hFi8MEPnPy3IRpagLrgcVlKQdO8wt0MOi3XCaFwoJ43eNrWeBYvKqyYIyT_h6NDVPCUlJxx19od3zHi7EXD7-S_HTWbNBGOGeVQQQb-ltYtmgUBHOizyx3PAOndY_9ISz3aPgNIv7CQ4/s320/kingfisherhill.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Once again, I ran out of audiobooks for my early morning dog walks. I had a number of books on hold on Libby, but that was not going to work for right now, so I grabbed at what was immediately available. I came up with </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Killings at Kingfisher Hill</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> by Sophie Hanna which is part of the Agatha Christie collection. Ms. Hanna was reported to be a NY Times bestselling author, but I’m quite sure it was not for this book. It’s been a longtime since I’ve read anything from Agatha Christie, but I did recently watch the movie remake of </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Murder on the Orient Expression</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. In this plot, Hercule Poirot was engaged by Richard Devenport to solve the murder of his brother, Frank Devonport, even though the fiancee of Richard had confessed to committing the murder. Richard was sure she was innocent. As usual there were numerous plot manipulations to confuse the crime which only Poirot could figure his way through. I thought Ms. Hanna overdid it with the plot twists to a great extent and I simply did not find this experience of reading this novel to be worthwhile. I’d give it a 2/5 rating – best to avoid this one That must be why it was available and all the good books in the Libby library were already taken.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-26819909097861408612024-02-24T17:55:00.000-08:002024-02-24T17:55:18.260-08:00Broadcasting Politics in Japan<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSA9Xbrmk1RPHKrskJLgfiHRJstsllEj57u7lgo-gimVT8Hkv3nc_FXxV3T3S3NRyYAgS_7EMaT5OprnFKXBPeuFEF6vB2x7BnIOrB8azgX-wtx-rfmdxyvRbd-i0rWw6dUv-EDRrR5_s5cTh1ns2ET-g9eCpIRE516uKvltGv9ZRrmme4jtO4cYUJ20/s1920/broadcastingpolitics.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSA9Xbrmk1RPHKrskJLgfiHRJstsllEj57u7lgo-gimVT8Hkv3nc_FXxV3T3S3NRyYAgS_7EMaT5OprnFKXBPeuFEF6vB2x7BnIOrB8azgX-wtx-rfmdxyvRbd-i0rWw6dUv-EDRrR5_s5cTh1ns2ET-g9eCpIRE516uKvltGv9ZRrmme4jtO4cYUJ20/s320/broadcastingpolitics.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">This book may not draw much interest from many of this blog’s regular readers, but I’m better informed for having read it. Ellis S. Krauss is an internationally renown scholar of Asian history and policies, and his specific specialty is Japan where he has lived and/or visited for the last 50 years. He has received prestigious awards for his work. I’ve seen a picture of him receiving a medal from the Emperor of Japan. He now has emeritus status at UCSD where he taught in the global studies area, and he has lectured at many other American and Japanese universities. It has been my serendipitous good fortune to have met him through a dear friend and colleague, and he and his wife Martha have lovingly provided a reading list of books for me and my wife as we prepare for a tour of Japan.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">In <i>Broadcasting Politics in Japan, </i>which was published in 2000, he reviewed his research into the development of political news coverage in Japan, beginning in the immediate post WWII era. The U.S. occupied Japan until 1952, and the U.S. agents wrote the laws and playbook for the development of the reporting of political news to the Japanese public with the intent of helping to legitimize the democratic society that was being taught to the populace. Particularly, he described the evolution of NHK, Nippon Hoso Kyokai, the Japan Broadcasting Company. NHK maintained its dominance of the political news delivery systems in Japan until the late 1980s when competition with commercial news networks finally caught up with it. The commercial news seemed to appeal more to the younger generation, but NHK has maintained an important part of the political news scene.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Dr. Krauss had access to all of the key players in this story, and his documented research efforts are impressive. I’ll leave you there with the topic, and I hope you’ll have a look at his impressive and most interesting research.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-35784944067065100782024-02-23T06:48:00.000-08:002024-02-23T06:50:12.786-08:00High Wire by Kam Majd<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVhtW22sP8jzu8RFZMC3ioQrxrDxPNxfQNV6TWD_aiQhdTMZNBL6mjxf59TmoJw7Hu4Um8YA7RSNXFucHmPT_JG47JXseKcqM4x-XnO7WLGE3dFX0flduIV7kYfbmfqMu0_IPrrQjN9nxPaPpc-tnZn7OMDBGm9u__qf-1m-Opue14boPvLxb4Fv-bO8/s758/highwire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="474" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVhtW22sP8jzu8RFZMC3ioQrxrDxPNxfQNV6TWD_aiQhdTMZNBL6mjxf59TmoJw7Hu4Um8YA7RSNXFucHmPT_JG47JXseKcqM4x-XnO7WLGE3dFX0flduIV7kYfbmfqMu0_IPrrQjN9nxPaPpc-tnZn7OMDBGm9u__qf-1m-Opue14boPvLxb4Fv-bO8/s320/highwire.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I think anyone would hate to be hired simply to check some
box, but plenty of folks think that Kate Gallagher was hired by Jet East
airlines because she was 1. Female; 2. youngest female pilot; 3. Single mom;
and 4. It doesn’t hurt that she’s kinda hot.<br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kate got hooked on flying as a teenager when, on a dare, she
did a sky dive. After a few more jumps, she realized the thrill wasn’t in the
going down but in the going up. Went through all the steps to become a pilot
eventually qualifying as a commercial pilot. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Now she can sit in both chairs,
first officer or as the captain. She’s piloting a full winter evening flight
from DC to JFK. New York weather sux but still passable for landing. The first
approach is shaky because of wind and the controls feel wonky. The next
approach, the plane starts to have a mind of its own. Not only is it
non-responsive, but it is performing random actions. As she fights for control
on final approach, it becomes obvious that the next step is a nose-down collision
with the ground. Only way she can see to avoid it is to simply shut the plane
off and glide in as best she can. The resulting crash claims six lives, but her
actions saved the rest of the passengers and crew. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">NTSB arrives promptly. Barely ahead of the media. No clue
why the plane started acting on its own. The media comes to their own conclusion:
pilot error. And of course, the plane crashed because of a young, marginally
experienced female pilot — a token hire — was at the controls.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kate is now caught up in a media storm at the airport, her
home, anywhere she tries to go. She knows it wasn’t her fault, but without
clues from the plane’s data recorders, it’s hard to prove she wasn’t at fault. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kate is no shrinking violet. She’s a hard charger. If the
NTSB is slow in its investigation, she’ll have to speed things up. She starts with
instructors at the Jet East training school to see what electronic/mechanical steps
would be needed for a plane to act on its own. One of the possibilities may be
found in the backup navigation systems called STAR so she approaches them.
Turns out a freight jet in the Jet East system also went down a few months earlier.
Pilot suicide was ruled the cause, so Kate also checks in with the widow. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kate stays a step or two ahead of the NTSB (burdened by
established protocols) and eventually learns how the planes have been hacked
and the who and why is behind it. The conclusion of the investigation is absolutely
‘can’t put it down’ territory. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The author is an earlier Edgar nominee, and the author notes
suggest that this book will be the start of a Kate Gallagher series. I can
guarantee I’ll be there for the next installment. Kate Gallagher kicks open doors
like none other. One reviewer called her, “Erin Brockovich meets Jack Ryan.’ The author is an Iranian-born, US commercial pilot so the techno aspects of the book as stunning. Write about what you know is the saying. He's done just that.<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Looking for a riveting, machine-gun rapid fire plotting
thriller? Look no further.This'll take your breath away<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">ECD </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>East Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06245156716045092960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-55543230513844253802024-02-17T11:00:00.000-08:002024-02-17T11:00:07.540-08:00Engame<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKKNO7Gr5eGB52s5WCx56jpjCtUmYpa5LoPI5zXtDly9jmjlf9lz5OyHs5Wyko7_2VfqduMi8wiOORmIoZP9nHPfC0GQn1MpjKwcTuK5Z8ruxc8v64YH_EOj5eamtF98c_iAHXexnw8VQccwKiUD44m2B3IqpFDRyeJYFN5b1f0qhXgziej9P5l_lq1o/s218/Endgame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKKNO7Gr5eGB52s5WCx56jpjCtUmYpa5LoPI5zXtDly9jmjlf9lz5OyHs5Wyko7_2VfqduMi8wiOORmIoZP9nHPfC0GQn1MpjKwcTuK5Z8ruxc8v64YH_EOj5eamtF98c_iAHXexnw8VQccwKiUD44m2B3IqpFDRyeJYFN5b1f0qhXgziej9P5l_lq1o/s1600/Endgame.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I enjoyed </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Endgame </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">by Omid Scobie in audiobook format. The author was also the reader, and he was a delightful man to listen to. This was a good follow up to Prince Harry’s book, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Spare. </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you have no interest in England’s royalty, then read no farther. I got through both books as the result of not finding an audiobook in Libby, and I really like to have an audiobook for my morning dog walks.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Scobie’s book included details about the struggles in the current royal family, and in addressing his theme that the faux monarchy could be coming to an end with either current King Charles or Prince William. There is a strong movement afoot in England to stop paying for the costly royal family’s expenses. Scobie also provided a longer history of the real monarchy, the transition to it becoming more of a ceremonial station, and its fairly rapid deterioration in the absence of Queen Elizabeth II.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Regarding the falling out between William and Harry, Scobie admitted that he was very much in the camp of Harry and Meghan, as to the camp of William and Kate. He gave lots of information about why that was the case. With this book, he has essentially permanently cut ties with Charles and Camilla who apparently feel that he has betrayed them. My take away is that the royal family has seriously mismanaged the attempted inclusion of Meghan into the family. Scobie gave examples of the Palace lying to the public as an attempt to make William and Kate more sympathetic characters. Clearly, Prince Andrews debacle with Jeffrey Epstein caused further damage with the public. At any rate, I found the book to be well-written and interesting.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-35578519518097983322024-02-12T12:10:00.000-08:002024-02-12T12:10:31.827-08:00Pacific Crucible, War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TTDJM0d-fPXmLXUmkFC_ofRjdJS2ONnLaCj_nztlO21X82HxYw7nvyoNHefwY6Sposl4_QCaAW3E8_fZ_Pek5rfVLzf8QnfGChGAwkRR_kpygzmhocd6ueh36JhdGB7oXol9dI1qp3HUSKap13O8XmuzaEgZsS-S-z5_4RFrkf7kRCm-1606Q3Ci8fY/s214/pacificcrucible.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="142" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TTDJM0d-fPXmLXUmkFC_ofRjdJS2ONnLaCj_nztlO21X82HxYw7nvyoNHefwY6Sposl4_QCaAW3E8_fZ_Pek5rfVLzf8QnfGChGAwkRR_kpygzmhocd6ueh36JhdGB7oXol9dI1qp3HUSKap13O8XmuzaEgZsS-S-z5_4RFrkf7kRCm-1606Q3Ci8fY/s1600/pacificcrucible.webp" width="142" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As I continue my dive into information about Japan, I decided to read another nonfiction work about the naval war in the Pacific during WWII, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pacific Crucible</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> by Ian W. Toll. This is the first of a trilogy and it has a subtitle </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. Essentially, this covered the beginning of the Pacific war with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese fleet on 12/7/41, the Battle of the Coral Sea on 5/7-8/42, and the Battle of Midway from 6/3/42 to 6/6/42. I had already read about Pearl Harbor and had visited there twice, so I felt I was fairly well informed about that part of the Pacific war. I had seen the 1970 movie </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tora, Tora, Tora</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> shortly before my first visit there, and then </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pearl Harbor </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">which was released in 2001. I remember standing in the memorial of the U.S.S. Oklahoma and imaging the sudden attack that led to the ship being on the bottom of the harbor within minutes of the first bomb that was dropped. However, as much as the attack was a surprise, I was newly stunned at the degree of denial that was rampant among the people in Oahu who were witnessing the attack. So many thought that it was a superior and well planned drill that was being carried out by U.S. forces, even as they saw the Rising Sun insignias on the Japanese plans and even as they saw smoke pouring out of the ships docked in Pearl.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The U.S. armed forces made countless mistakes that allowed the attack to occur, at least to the extent of the surprise. While battleships were terribly destroyed and damaged by the attack, it luckily turned out that U.S. aircraft carriers were not in port at the time of the attack as the Japanese expected, and the use of battleships unexpectedly turned out to be an ineffective weapon in the war.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I really had no idea of the timing of the war, especially that the U.S. was involved in the Battle of the Coral Sea so early in the response to the Pearl Harbor assault, only six months later in early 5/42. That was a battle that did not go so well for the U.S., and the vitally important aircraft carrier Lexington was lost in the battle. However, the Battle of Midway occurred only a month later. The U.S. intelligence operation was successful in that they were able to decode Japanese messaging to the fleet, and most importantly, they destroyed and/or sunk four Japanese carriers that had been employed in the attack. Toll wrote about all the luck that benefitted the U.S., in addition to their good intelligence. But Toll implied that without the lucky elements of the battle, the outcome could have been very different.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Although the war would not officially end for another three years, Toll opined that the Battle of Midway was the single most important naval battle of WWII and that Japan’s defeat was ensured at the result of that victory. The author brought the intensity of anxiety of the war to the pages of his book. As I continue to learn about Japan in prep for a trip there and a plan to visit old friends, I’m not sure I’ll get to books two and three of the trilogy. However, I must complement Mr. Toll on his scholarship and the quality of his writing. If this aspect of WWII interests you, this is a book for you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-85925767929724930252024-02-12T12:09:00.000-08:002024-02-12T12:09:55.159-08:00The Edge<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQA-wsqKfyTE7WQ_0sFUPS5cIiSHFvBFzhyphenhyphenNk3UP8ZkZ3kNY-JINhE-23V671Swb_zJUf_4KzunV8u6BBZyOTHkP9Z71hTPwbGwtBAiMtgaoDGe6UPXWpHztynYBOnITyLf3reeQuouyGfgo-ATfVL3tMGpD22ZtIWVPASkRsphHJQ8MS4BOjPC6rmOb4/s425/theedge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="282" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQA-wsqKfyTE7WQ_0sFUPS5cIiSHFvBFzhyphenhyphenNk3UP8ZkZ3kNY-JINhE-23V671Swb_zJUf_4KzunV8u6BBZyOTHkP9Z71hTPwbGwtBAiMtgaoDGe6UPXWpHztynYBOnITyLf3reeQuouyGfgo-ATfVL3tMGpD22ZtIWVPASkRsphHJQ8MS4BOjPC6rmOb4/s320/theedge.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">While looking at this blog before writing this review, I was surprised to see that this is the 20<sup>th</sup> Baldacci novel that we’ve reviewed. I had no idea that we had read so much of his prolific output, and eight of those reviews came from me. I was very entertained by his 5-book <i>Camel Club</i> series but those books were read and reviewed by in me 2011. By 2024, I had come to think of Baldacci as being a B+ writer which means a dependable effort could be expected but that he had not captured the same excitement I felt from reading his earlier books. So, I took on <i>The Edge</i> when I had run out of autobooks and this one became available on Libby. And, my impression of this mystery novel was most favorable. It gets a strong recommendation from me for all of you murder mystery and espionage readers. This is the second book in the<i> 6:20 Man </i>series, although I liked the second book much more than the first one.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Jenny Silkwell, a CIA operative, was killed when she went to her family home in Maine, and Travis Devine was called to investigate. Initially, it looked like a simple case to solve, but Putnam Maine was a place that did not trust outsiders like Devine, and it had a long list of secrets that the town folks did not want revealed. There were two powerful families that dominated the scene, including a Senator who was slowly slipping away as the result of Alzheimer’s Disease. This was a town were everyone knew each others’ business. Devine discovered that the assault and rape of Jenny’s sister, Alex, had been hushed up, and Travis was sure there was a connection between that long ago event, and the current murder. So, it’s a good mystery and I did not see the plot’s final twist until I was upon it. Baldacci certainly showed his skill as a writer in this book.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-82250974613594664732024-02-07T19:30:00.000-08:002024-02-07T19:30:52.583-08:00You Gotta Have Wa<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFeOvMpw-7QChdMyTtnkd3_9Rl_Exrhyphenhyphen9WEc3x1QVlV9Nqh-fsudjSce8gHhv7CxtU7Dh27m1uoTYPqKrJhqzEfSLp0W_baO4qATTdOJ4L49wiN6P37KWenU2wFiU3GroWiVzDdZIbMZqb4RGIc5JiAgA2He-dJk3n-G93XJnh9IZbHqTJA_v8edDR5oY/s218/gotta%20have%20wa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="140" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFeOvMpw-7QChdMyTtnkd3_9Rl_Exrhyphenhyphen9WEc3x1QVlV9Nqh-fsudjSce8gHhv7CxtU7Dh27m1uoTYPqKrJhqzEfSLp0W_baO4qATTdOJ4L49wiN6P37KWenU2wFiU3GroWiVzDdZIbMZqb4RGIc5JiAgA2He-dJk3n-G93XJnh9IZbHqTJA_v8edDR5oY/s1600/gotta%20have%20wa.jpg" width="140" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">In my rush to read Japanese literature, I would not have guessed I would end up with a book on Japanese baseball, like the 1990 title <i>You Gotta Have Wa b</i>y Robert Whiting. As I’ve been trying to learn more about Japanese culture, it just so happens I could not have found a better source of information. The rules in baseball or <i>besuboru</i> are the same in the U.S. as the rules in Japan, but the cultural differences that influence how the game is conducted are fascinating. Two words are used to define baseball in Japan, <i>wa</i>, and <i>doryoku</i>. <i>Wa </i>means harmony and <i>doryoku</i> means effort.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">This book is 34 years old and much has changed since then. It was accepted in America that the Japanese game was inferior, and the post WWII era supported that as the U.S.-Japan games were totally dominated by the Americans. However, in 2024, we have more Japanese players in the majors than ever before, and most notably we have Shohei Ohtani who is playing at a level that Americans have not seen since Babe Ruth. The administration of the game has evolved as have the salaries, but this is a book about cultural differences and cultural clashes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Whiting paraphrased a line from Bob Horner, a former major leaguer who finished his career in Japan after a successful career in America’s major leagues. Horner said American’s <i>played ball.</i> Japanese <i>worked</i> at it. To further explain this difference, Whiting quotoed Chris Arnold, a former player for both San Francisco Giants and Kintetsu Buffalo: “I’ll tell you the big difference between Japan and the U.S. In the U.S., we believe that a player has a certain amount of natural ability and with practice he reaches a certain peak point, but after that no amount of practice will make him better – because after a certain point your ability reaches its limits. But the Japanese believe there is no peak point. They don’t recognize limits.” Whiting explained, “For Americans baseball is a job. For the Japanese it is a way of life.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Harmony in the Japanese game infers the notion of just going along with team rules, whatever that may be. It’s a statement about cohesion of everyone involved with a team, and it’s a belief against individualism. Arguing with an umpire or the manager is definitely not part of the Japanese culture. It also impacted how one negotiated with a team about the players’ contracts. Whiting presented a brief history of Japan and the development of amateur and professional competitions, as well as the effect of WWII on the Japanese game. The Japanese have two leagues which each have six teams, and they play a 130-game schedule. He writes of the trouble American’s have adjusting to the small ball Japanese game and the expectations of their conduct, and he writes of the difficulties of the Japanese players as they try to adjust to the presence of people who <i>play </i>ball. One of the shocks for Americans was the amount of drilling expected of Japanese players. It was typical in the 1990s for Japanese players to have rigorous workouts for 2 ½ hours before every game, often leaving them exhausted by the time the games started. The Americans noticed that the Japanese were physically spent by the time the season was halfway through. Pitchers were expected to throw every day of the season and to pitch despite the pain that it was causing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I thought the richest part of the book was the author’s descriptions of both Americans and Japanese players and managers talking about each other and their bafflement at those differences. He particularly followed stars from both sides of these clashes. When I combine the information about baseball differences between the U.S. and Japan with the fiction and nonfiction books I have been reading about Japan, the extent of misunderstanding by both sides of this equation in all facets of life is staggering. I’m planning to read another <i>besuboru</i> book, as well as some other material. Although my 16 days in Japan are tightly scheduled, I’m trying to figure out how to get to a game in Tokyo or Osaka so I can witness the frenzy of Japanese baseball fans that I have been learning about.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-12469488487979463102024-02-05T18:22:00.000-08:002024-02-05T18:22:06.033-08:00Lost Empire, A Fargo Adventure<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfECZ4mX2yNDDT7ZqP0CTGf4FF9EWpGvo3u4il0_hV15JrZzqQaA_mAnqWgAYDoS7BhA1NRgxJBJ1O-sGXleDokirtEz8JCPRwMcv-LCGIgaBItSqTxYYAzTJT-Oerxb17s8L6DeAPEJX9jxUjQDNIl9ZziUKvFiH-VqgjBzo0Y42kG8-gGKL6-t9oU0/s500/lostempire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfECZ4mX2yNDDT7ZqP0CTGf4FF9EWpGvo3u4il0_hV15JrZzqQaA_mAnqWgAYDoS7BhA1NRgxJBJ1O-sGXleDokirtEz8JCPRwMcv-LCGIgaBItSqTxYYAzTJT-Oerxb17s8L6DeAPEJX9jxUjQDNIl9ZziUKvFiH-VqgjBzo0Y42kG8-gGKL6-t9oU0/s320/lostempire.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I must have read at least 10 Clive Cussler books in the 70’s and 80’s, but I got a bit tired of his formula for Dirk Pitt, who was mostly a two-dimensional hero. What I loved about the books were the grand adventures that happen while Pitt solved incredible mysteries, travelled the world, and dove into relevant history, all at the same time. Currently, it was at a moment that I had run out of audiobooks that I found <i>Lost Empire</i> on the Libby app, a book that was published in 2010. Unfortunately, after a prolific career, Clive died in 2000, so the books that are now under his title, are written by someone else, this one Grant Blackwood.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mr. Blackwood made a great effort to mimic Cussler’s style. This one had a grand adventure, and the story spanned the U.S. and Africa, while also touching down in some other locations. Rather than just one primary hero, Blackwood wrote about the married treasure hunters, Sam and Remy Fargo. They lived in a great home in La Jolla which is near my home in Southern California. And, Sam and Remy Fargo had a great team of women to assist them with research and logistics. There was more depth of character to Fargo’s crew than existed with the very early Cussler books. This was a story about the current corrupt president of Mexico, his attempt to hide the information about the true origin the Aztecs, and his use of the false information to heighten his own popularity. This one is a good airplane book, one that could entertain you during a cross country flight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-22765074156809503472024-02-04T12:25:00.000-08:002024-02-04T12:25:36.489-08:00Alex Cross Must Die<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQ9LP2lXzvnMDIv56XQK_KspCeb1FxIn_E5674sGQGUmBgNkbXvSBrSdrZjiY3dnzsZj-s8_qknrkdSo6wc6BGTThII55KKQH0DBEMSdzhUdVCjVIcSUMcYxik1reslNd5SCVLBQhHo3efT90EfbWuEt1ZAeMwWxFr8Tmls2YFye5vMFB-qb7VXNzgUc/s218/alexcrossmustdie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQ9LP2lXzvnMDIv56XQK_KspCeb1FxIn_E5674sGQGUmBgNkbXvSBrSdrZjiY3dnzsZj-s8_qknrkdSo6wc6BGTThII55KKQH0DBEMSdzhUdVCjVIcSUMcYxik1reslNd5SCVLBQhHo3efT90EfbWuEt1ZAeMwWxFr8Tmls2YFye5vMFB-qb7VXNzgUc/s1600/alexcrossmustdie.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><br /> <i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Alex Cross Must Die</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is the 32<sup>nd</sup> novel in the Alex Cross series by James Patterson, although it has been some years since I’ve read one of these. In this one, Alex must deal with a madman who just shot down an American Airlines plane while it was on its final approach to Reagan Airport in D.C., killing more than 100 people. Cross is also working to solve serial murder case. Meanwhile, he continues with his current love interest, recovers from a shooting injury in the prior book, and contends with his bright high school student son who is very interested in finding a way to help his dad solve the serial murder case, even though dad has just grounded him for unexpectedly showing up at a crime scene.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The book is a thriller. Although I didn’t gain any valuable information from the book, and although I missed the reason for the title, I was entertained for some hours. I would classify this book as an airplane book – a novel that will distract me for the length of a LAX to JFK flight, but it would not distract me from taking a nap if that’s what I wanted to do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-89052453864176516372024-02-03T12:16:00.000-08:002024-02-03T12:16:11.939-08:00A Lethal Question by Mark Rubinstein<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_GoBack"></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbjhDuy0qmgtWG6Y0tpf9Wlx8PueYe-sPowx14pCHec9MRtc5cz_Fg_72m5V3yQcCDyICQDV2BKkIIU6Pq1qhy8uUNsJXZ8fRNtURfUbsMRn3RWL3u-t5Jmie3Gm3ExHo9fdFlRHt-vb3rCBRwK3C9rmIzdDD5XG-pbpVP8RCpCzcCr7rIYIvLGKJ4v8/s300/LethalQuestion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbjhDuy0qmgtWG6Y0tpf9Wlx8PueYe-sPowx14pCHec9MRtc5cz_Fg_72m5V3yQcCDyICQDV2BKkIIU6Pq1qhy8uUNsJXZ8fRNtURfUbsMRn3RWL3u-t5Jmie3Gm3ExHo9fdFlRHt-vb3rCBRwK3C9rmIzdDD5XG-pbpVP8RCpCzcCr7rIYIvLGKJ4v8/s1600/LethalQuestion.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Meet Dr. Bil Madrian . . . Manhattan-based psychiatrist . .
. two years past the sudden death of his fiancé from a brain aneurysm . . . lives
alone and retains everything that belonged to her . . .has a married sister
(hubby is a criminal defense attorney) with 2 daughters and a nosy, widowed
mother . . . a peaceful, if empty, and unpretentious life . . . has a new patient
who he has seen just a few times . . . Alex Bronzi. <br /><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Alex is early 20s, still lives with his parents and thinks
he should be allowed a bigger role in the family business (drugs, money laundering,
trafficking). Dad thinks otherwise. Alex sought counseling to help with his
relationship with his father. Alex is Albanian-American, immature, and a bit of
a braggart in his attempts to boost his standing with others. During his most
recent session. Alex blurts out a question: “Hey Doc. You wanna know who
clipped Boris Levenko?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Levenko was a Ukrainian mob boss in the Brighton Beach area.
He and two associates were gunned down in a restaurant earlier in the week. Madrian
is bound by doctor-patient confidentiality, of course but the Levenko hit was a
broad daylight execution. If the killers aren’t found, this could be the start
of another mob war. Should Madrian tell the cops or FBI? More importantly, is
Alex going to blab that he’s been seeing a shrink, that
he posed that loaded question to the doc? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Figuring that Alex won’t keep his mouth shut, Madrian’s
imagination starts to run wild. Is he next to be silenced? How does an amateur keep
from being tracked down in Manhattan? What about his family and nieces? His
patients? Does he stay in his apartment? He knows enough to know that a digital
footprint follows everyone. He does have a racquetball friend whom he has never
contacted by email, text, or cell phone. Luck is on his side as this friend and
wife are vacationing in the Caribbean and generously offers his brownstone. Get
the key from a tenant who lives in the basement apartment, a late 20s librarian
named Elena.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Given that he’s now been dumped into a criminal case, he quietly
asks his brother-in-law for advice - he’s dealt with the underworld. Surely he’ll
have some suggestion. His firm has used what might be called a fixer, guy who
goes by the name of Rami. Madrian is told that once he contacts Rami, his
immediate future is in Rami’s hands and must do everything Rami says exactly as
Rami describes. Get multiple burner phones, absolutely stay off the internet,
cancel patient appointments, no contact with family. Stay in that brownstone.
Let Rami do what he does and he'll get his life back.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Madrian gets the key from Elena. Big mistake: he eventually tells her
why he’s upstairs. They venture out to lay in some food and Bill thinks he
notices someone might be following him. Over the next couple days, they stick
close in her flat and (as you might guess) start to get close. Meanwhile, the
Albanians are getting closer, and he still hasn’t heard from Rami.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Think of this book as a cross between The Sopranos (a mobster
seeing a shrink) and Three Days of the Condor (the Robert Redford movie where he’s
on run from a hired hitman and takes up with a photographer to hide at her
place). The story is told almost entirely from Bill Madrian’s perspective where
Rubinstein delivers generous doses of suspicion, paranoia, fear, lunacy, madness,
depression, and impending insanity descending on Bill. Rubinstein presents a
fast based cat-and-mouse chase in and around NYC. Kept me riveted to my couch
and I’m sure you will be too. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rubinstein, a psychiatrist to boot, is a much-published author of fiction and non-fiction.
He has 8 fiction books, mostly featuring physicians/lawyers (but I’d not call
any a ‘legal thriller’), all published by Oceanview. You’ll find quite several
Oceanview books (Rubinstein included) reviewed by the boys here at MRB and I’d be hard pressed to say
any weren’t solid winners. Oceanview knows how to pick its authors.<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reviewer copy.
Anticipated publication date is 7 May 2024.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">East Coast Don</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sopranos + 6 Days of the Condor</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>East Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06245156716045092960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-8334328754538581492024-01-31T17:35:00.000-08:002024-01-31T17:35:00.705-08:00Shogun<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpE2xoUFV10YHjGli8hN4AQr8KUAsFPu2DvEKbBTY3rkaOTFDP8_eNh2rEkY42REmex_dRhvz875JEkCZd3fLkKmaXxFSSYf8uVCgXNdf428r9tkK2WgyqroHNMwDs_y23oJm1bH8f-1MujsVWS8WqC0jc4Wfb8afbyy53mP_ltVDAhbEPbirloFAdqCw/s276/Shogun%20-%20Clavell.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="179" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpE2xoUFV10YHjGli8hN4AQr8KUAsFPu2DvEKbBTY3rkaOTFDP8_eNh2rEkY42REmex_dRhvz875JEkCZd3fLkKmaXxFSSYf8uVCgXNdf428r9tkK2WgyqroHNMwDs_y23oJm1bH8f-1MujsVWS8WqC0jc4Wfb8afbyy53mP_ltVDAhbEPbirloFAdqCw/s1600/Shogun%20-%20Clavell.webp" width="179" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">As I continue to read books about Japan in anticipation of a trip there in March 2024, it was suggested by an Asian scholar that I read <i>Shogun</i>, a book that I read nearly 50 years ago after it was first published in 1975. I chose to get the audiobook format, and I enjoyed this 53-hour listen while doing my twice-daily dog walks. I can’t say which version I liked best, the book itself or the audiobook. Both are wonderful.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">In this blog, we’ve now reviewed 1,638 books, and I’m certain that I read at least that many books before the blog was started in 2009. Among those books, this one is in my top five novels ever, and Amazon lists it as the 36<sup>th</sup> bestselling historical novel of all time. This is one of those memorable books that is soul-gripping. Even before getting to the novel for the second time, I vividly recalled parts of the book, such as when the pilot of the Erasmus John Blackthorne became the first non-Portuguese person to sail through the Straits of Magellen. This book follows closely to the actual history of Japan. It is known that the real name of this Englishman who hired to guide a Dutch ship was named Will Adams. At the time of his arrival in the midst of a typhoon, the Portuguese were already well established in the country and had already spread their Catholic version of Christianity, and the Portuguese believed that the Dutch Protestant form of Christianity was heretical, something the Japanese did not immediately understand. The interaction between Blackthorne and the Jesuits was an important subplot throughout the story.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">This book was such a big hit in the 70s that two television miniseries have been made about it, and a third miniseries is about to be aired. The novel is a historical and cultural masterpiece, and I can hardly wait to get back to Japan to savor all that I’m learning about this unique culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-77688431871325818242024-01-31T16:44:00.000-08:002024-01-31T16:44:04.266-08:00Geisha<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbRO0tPNXk6xaYTIj5ICExQ7i22SYA0LYhb9YGQRp4iliPL-N0swPvSWo0TYqAgFSlj3T6rLW73hWEWyvUf6NO3KE4DP2UT1pEoVM3ddCUa0jq7yD9ml33F9cgrqX3__Ih4XmT07yfHJXcFxpdFaqi629vxI0H8z55P2DoY9WDV_x5iSAbbVe3L-iB4M/s276/Geisha%20by%20Dalby.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="180" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbRO0tPNXk6xaYTIj5ICExQ7i22SYA0LYhb9YGQRp4iliPL-N0swPvSWo0TYqAgFSlj3T6rLW73hWEWyvUf6NO3KE4DP2UT1pEoVM3ddCUa0jq7yD9ml33F9cgrqX3__Ih4XmT07yfHJXcFxpdFaqi629vxI0H8z55P2DoY9WDV_x5iSAbbVe3L-iB4M/s1600/Geisha%20by%20Dalby.webp" width="180" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Continuing my Japanese studies in anticipation of a trip there for the 2004 cherry blossom season, I read <i>Geisha</i> by Liza Dalby which was first published in 1983. In 2008, the 25<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the first publishing, the book was released again with a new preface to the second addition. Dalby did her research for the book as a part of her effort to complete her Ph.D. in anthropology, so she went to Japan to live there for a year as she pursued research about Geisha. She referred to herself as a geisha anthropologist.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Ms. Dalby wrote not only about the geisha culture in Kyoto and Tokyo, but also geisha life in much smaller towns. This is a historical, cultural, experiential, and autobiographical story. After meeting with many different geisha, she thought she would be better able to understand and write about her subject if she herself trained to become geisha. She is known as the only non-Japanese woman to undertake such training and actually become geisha. Her book was very well received, and she was interviewed extensively on television inboth Japan and the United States about her experiences there. If you’re headed to Japan or just have an interest in the country’s history, this is a very good source of knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-50327442954383612832024-01-28T08:45:00.000-08:002024-01-28T08:45:48.030-08:00Leave No Trace by A.J. Landau<p><span class="formatted"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1nN1Zd_VgnxKDxQyOXiQVU5pDgWshEFrWZ8CNr5lWt6PbWtvEVLxywkOlc7v9mwFxpBILc_-_wYzZwr55o9e5_3yEtgvmSftcVyYJuwo70dtydlMwTVZNAx9qybEcWUPURhTBK7fEAIFNqVJKyzThQsHhBLIomPNJy5finVfnzzrhz_4TTKpYymaKPM/s350/Trace.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="230" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1nN1Zd_VgnxKDxQyOXiQVU5pDgWshEFrWZ8CNr5lWt6PbWtvEVLxywkOlc7v9mwFxpBILc_-_wYzZwr55o9e5_3yEtgvmSftcVyYJuwo70dtydlMwTVZNAx9qybEcWUPURhTBK7fEAIFNqVJKyzThQsHhBLIomPNJy5finVfnzzrhz_4TTKpYymaKPM/s320/Trace.jpeg" width="210" /></a></div>A bright sunny weekend in NYC is
rocked when the base of the Statue of Liberty explodes. The eventual death toll
will climb over 700. Michael Walker, on the National Park Service’s
Investigative Service Branch (or is it Bureau?) is whisked to NY from his base
in the Smokies. As the Statue of Liberty is under the jurisdiction of the NPS, he
figures to be among the lead investigators. Upon arrival, he’s told in no
uncertain terms that the Joint Terrorism Task Force is running the show under Agent
Gina Delgado. <br />
<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="formatted">Pushed aside at the site, Michael inspects
the devastation finding a 15yo boy lost in shock. Michael tries to comfort the young
man who’s probably just lost his family in the explosion. While trying to help the
boy to regain his senses, the boy points out that a retired harbor patrol boat had been just off the island’s shore and appeared to be recording video – the kid
knew his boats. Seeing this, he then started recording the boat right up until
the explosion. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="formatted">Michael realizes he may have a witness
with video and places the kid under park service guard to get him to a hospital.
This pisses off Delgado as Mike made that decision without getting the OK from up
the command chain. But it was a fortuitous decision, especially after Michael
saves the kid from the terrorists while in the hospital and that the phone’s
video provides valuable clues to the identity of the terrorists. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="formatted">The chase is on. Find the perpetrators,
see how far this plot reaches, and stop any further actions. The terrorists
have a complex plan to shake the foundations of the public by attacking more
and more national landmarks – next stop is Constitution Hall in Philadelphia.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="formatted">Michael’s actions in NY convince
Delgado that he’d be a valuable asset because of his knowledge of the park system
so they head west attempting to catch up with the leadership behind the
attacks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="formatted">If you choose to read this, buckle up for
a blistering pace. One of the fastest paced books I’ve read in a long time and could easily have been a single-sitting read. And
despite requiring the reader to suspend some manner of logic, it’s still a whale
of a ride as this cat-mouse game jumps to Mt. Rainier, the Arch in St Louis, Zion
National Park, the mountains of Colorado, secret compounds underneath
Washington, DC, abandoned military bases, and dozens of other known and lesser-known
locations in the country to the final confrontations in SD and OH. Be prepared
for a bunch of subplots that help define the plot. Just make sure you go into
this book knowing it’s a plot-base story and not character-based. We learn
plenty about Michael and Delgado, but some might say what we learn just
scratches the surface.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="formatted">This is listed as being written by ‘AJ
Landau’ but in reality is a joint effort of Jon Land and Jeff Ayers who write
under the Landau pseudonym. And it looks like this is part 1 of a National
Parks thriller series. As the national park system is perhaps the best thing
our government ever did, I’m sure I’ll be looking for any future offerings by
Landau.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="formatted">Thanks to NetGalley for making the advance reviewer copy available. Publication date is 27 February 2024.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="formatted">ECD <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>East Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06245156716045092960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-10518382146345708762024-01-26T11:19:00.000-08:002024-01-26T11:19:48.595-08:00War Without Mercy<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZ61cg8HqqGLeT1RE7B_2j3dzKKM4mcqS0WCN19PJ_NrS_u4_pkl_5WiMqok0-ArrRE9TXsk5_4hIebOmJUHGGwobuNULbqZoeyjei2ci-oiXp4l8Enc4saUv1AxvFdavKe1SMMjLYqwbuCVE15E69ffFP-hx8sV_aWpmjCCuJtSwmq9ldKjgS4rjk50/s218/WarwithoutMercy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="141" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZ61cg8HqqGLeT1RE7B_2j3dzKKM4mcqS0WCN19PJ_NrS_u4_pkl_5WiMqok0-ArrRE9TXsk5_4hIebOmJUHGGwobuNULbqZoeyjei2ci-oiXp4l8Enc4saUv1AxvFdavKe1SMMjLYqwbuCVE15E69ffFP-hx8sV_aWpmjCCuJtSwmq9ldKjgS4rjk50/w155-h240/WarwithoutMercy.jpg" width="155" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">While continuing my crash reading course on Japan, I read </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">War Without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">, written by John W. Dower, a 1986 nonfiction work, the content of which is explained in the title. While I’ve read hundreds of WWII novels and nonfiction texts based in the European theater, I realize now how little I’ve read about the Pacific War. I assume that I’ll get through a couple more Pacific WWII books before I head to Japan in late March 2024. I can’t say I would recommend this book to just any reader. In order to get through this book, you must have a strong interest in the material suggested by the title.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">While I’ve been aware of the issue of racism as a driving force behind WWII, I really hadn’t given it nearly as much thought with regard to the Pacific War. Essentially, the author successfully argues that the mistakes made by Americans and Japanese were based on a complete misunderstanding of the other’s culture. Both Americans and Japanese took somewhat identical approaches to their war propaganda. Both sides looked at themselves as superior races to their enemy who were, at best, only subhuman. Hypocrisy was rampant in both cultures. Both sides committed substantial atrocities. While the post-war rapprochement was surprisingly nonviolent and did reach a deeper understanding of one anothers cultures, since WWII, there continues to be evidence of similar shallow pre-war language in both countries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-23760797569819902642024-01-25T14:15:00.000-08:002024-01-25T14:15:29.906-08:00The Prince of Beverly Hills<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiboPA8udZTgUUWLSPGzS60zB2Uzd2rhWK143Gg2IIREOZx8grg1Gko_c_r7SC4_-S29C2QU5q58MDYKYApGCfjvxZyMiJES4tVgKjXv55T4zLqy2gsE3_3JRFGTT_zCgIj1XbrzpDE9dAcuTTxURvZj_ZOVnBH-eLARZaKnlarqEX9SvmponsAEQB9dlU/s466/PrinceofBH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiboPA8udZTgUUWLSPGzS60zB2Uzd2rhWK143Gg2IIREOZx8grg1Gko_c_r7SC4_-S29C2QU5q58MDYKYApGCfjvxZyMiJES4tVgKjXv55T4zLqy2gsE3_3JRFGTT_zCgIj1XbrzpDE9dAcuTTxURvZj_ZOVnBH-eLARZaKnlarqEX9SvmponsAEQB9dlU/s320/PrinceofBH.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Stuart Woods wrote 52 novels, and <i>Prince of Beverly Hills</i> is the seventh review of his novels in this blog, so all three of our reviewers have written positively about his stories. His first book was published in 1991 and the last one was published in 2018, and he died in 2022. This was a delightful murder mystery about Rick Barron, a Beverly Hills cop who had just been demoted from a plum detective position to a beat cop because he had gotten a young woman pregnant, and she was a relative of the police chief. Rick had been a cop for eight years and he was tired of the work and bitter about the demotion. Then, an opportunity arose.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">The story takes place in 1939, and it had the definite feel of an old time detective story which could have been written by Raymond Chandler. Late at night, near the end of his shift, Rick was sitting at a stoplight on Sunset Blvd when a fatal accident took place right in front of it. A woman ran a red light and was instantly killed, but the driver of the other car, Clete Barrow, was ejected and only bruised. Clete Barrow was a movie star, immediately recognized by Rick, who basically got him away from the accident scene and protected from the media finding out about it. The head of Barrow’s studio was grateful for Rick’s discretion and offered him the job of being the head of security for the studio. He was initially given the task of getting Barrow to the set on time for the day’s shooting of a new and important movie, despite Barrow’s horrible alcoholism. As he babysat Barrow, he quickly was seen time and again at all the Hollywood restaurants and a newspaper gossip columnist began calling him “The Prince of Beverly Hills.” Rick learned that he was hired to fill the job of a man who, along with his wife, were recently murdered, and that was the real plot of the book.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">I thoroughly enjoyed this light read and I’ll I’d be glad to read another Stuart Woods murder mystery.<o:p></o:p></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-83218849651090075292024-01-24T17:44:00.000-08:002024-01-24T17:44:42.517-08:00The Chaos Agent by Mark Greaney<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgadIviDV6M0_B_cYeTpqeF5OloaAoEEo5shI61FBjrYLkdMarg6ycHO96Dn6NtK9NHiK8XA9YN2zTu3dGyPAOsi7HpmNoyrDaGrdVBr0KxoWXUu197VFum2iQ531YYSWf7nRU8MTD65trhmB9-bSLOOXjGHBbGP8Ab19QhG1pNrB31qAL63UQQP9tYbdk/s400/Chaos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgadIviDV6M0_B_cYeTpqeF5OloaAoEEo5shI61FBjrYLkdMarg6ycHO96Dn6NtK9NHiK8XA9YN2zTu3dGyPAOsi7HpmNoyrDaGrdVBr0KxoWXUu197VFum2iQ531YYSWf7nRU8MTD65trhmB9-bSLOOXjGHBbGP8Ab19QhG1pNrB31qAL63UQQP9tYbdk/s320/Chaos.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">Artificial intelligence is a societal buzzword. AI is the
amalgamation of numerous technologies that, when successful, allow the AI agent
to learn and modify its actions. The tech is so new and still scattered. Now if
someone with a futurist’s vision could unify the tech . . . </span><p></p><p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">Let’s say someone has kind of figured out how to integrate
the tech. That might be the savior or destroyer of the world, depending on what
the AI learns and applies. Let’s say there are a couple dozen different ‘modules’
of tech needed to fully realize AI’s potential. To ensure one’s place at the
top of the pyramid, the geniuses behind each module would need to be eliminated.</span></p></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">Over the span of about 1 week, billionaire tech geniuses are
dying by accident, ‘natural causes’ or just plain murder. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">Courtland Gentry (aka ‘the gray man’) and Zoya Zakharova are
staying a couple steps ahead of the CIA and the SVR hiding out in Guatemala. One
of Zoya’s former mentors reaches out for help in guarding a Russian AI genius in
transit to Mexico City, but the genius is struck down. A day before and after
finds others killed in Vegas and Canada. Each hit was carried out by a highly
skilled shooter who has equally skilled oversight provided by an expert drone
pilot. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">The video captured at the Mexico hit is sent back to a control
center in Malaysia where facial recognition identifies Zoya. She is traced back
to Guatemala and the AI of the control center (‘Cyrus’) decides that she and
her companion need to be eliminated. A cat and mouse game ensues with the Malaysia
control center following Court and Zoya. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">Meanwhile, in the UK a hit on a Kiwi AI genius fails. The
Kiwi, Anton Hinton, flees the UK for one of his protected labs around the
world, this on in Cuba. And you can guess what happens next: Court/Zoya and
Hinton kind of butt heads in Cuba. At issues is the future of the tech. Will it
be used for the betterment of humanity or does it have the potential to self-actualize
and run amok like Cyberdyne in the Terminator movies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">I see that this is the 13<sup>th</sup> Gray Man book produced
by Greaney. We’ve reviewed a few of them here, all favorably. And this is no exception.
A first rate action-thriller. The Chaos Agent is a wild ride of deception, murder, and some serious passages
of action tying up multiple scenarios around just where and how AI will best be
pursued. It had been a while since I last read a Greaney book so I streamed The Gray
May (with Ryan Gosling). Not sure how much that helped but it did show the
extent to which Greaney will go to portray action. Let’s just say, be prepared
for a wild ride over the last 25% of the book.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">Thanks to Netgalley for the advance reviewer copy of the
book. Their website was offline for maintenance so I can’t say when in 2024 it’ll
be available. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">East Coast Don</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>East Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06245156716045092960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-90746530623769034332024-01-22T10:50:00.000-08:002024-01-22T10:50:40.762-08:00Japanese Inn<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HjGA82ujFYF6imbNHaI14ERnb6rtbBAWxc6y1lWVm0uBMDwb31or0NozeByGpohCJeJ9HCxu09p5BHM1pCwp4yvluz-sw9MptRHVD-pi7ZC0YZ8YV6OfaibZBYzFKXECr3C7jETkzmY3Zst9f-1KJEk6pqJIcI9Foh5qB8o8qXxP6n41Kg_433s1YVs/s475/Japanese%20Inn.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HjGA82ujFYF6imbNHaI14ERnb6rtbBAWxc6y1lWVm0uBMDwb31or0NozeByGpohCJeJ9HCxu09p5BHM1pCwp4yvluz-sw9MptRHVD-pi7ZC0YZ8YV6OfaibZBYzFKXECr3C7jETkzmY3Zst9f-1KJEk6pqJIcI9Foh5qB8o8qXxP6n41Kg_433s1YVs/s320/Japanese%20Inn.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First of all, I’m way off base with this book, far from our genre, but let me explain. First, I do like to keep track of the books I read and the blog helps with that. Typically, it keeps me from getting annoying and shameful reminders from Amazon that I already have the given title in my Kindle library</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second, I like to go off-genre when I’m about to take a big trip to a new place. It’s also true that I’ve been to Japan before, but that was 53 years ago next month (which suggests I might not be a young man). So, our plan is to be in Japan this year for the cherry blossoms. I’m excited. Then I ran into a woman whose husband is an Asian scholar and she’s been to Japan ever year for the last 35 years. She was excited to be helpful to my preparation for this trip. There’s time to adjust the itinerary, and she has started me on a book list. I had planned to re-read </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shogun</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">, the 1975 book by James Clavell, but I ended up getting the 53-hour audiobook, so I’m nearly ½-way through that, which also gives me time to actually read a different book. </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shogun</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is one of my top 10 novels ever, so when I get through it, I’ll let you know with another post. I was excited to know that this was near the top of my new friend’s book recommendations. My early opinion is that I’m enjoying it more than before. Furthermore, as I read some nonfiction Japanese history, it’s remarkable how close Clavell came to making his book a nonfiction work.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">It was recommended by my new friend to have a look at <i>Japanese Inn</i>, a 1961 historical novel by Oliver Statler. In part, it’s a story about Minaguchi-ya, the name of the inn which is in Okitsu, which lies along the Tokaido Road, the old route between the capitals of Kyoko and Tokyo. It covers the history of the founding of the Inn and the 20 generations of people who owned and managed it. The story covered 400 years. Really, this is a story of Japan from its imperial days, through its first encounters with the Western world, to the Portugese stranglehold on commerce between Japan and China, to the opening of Japan by Admiral Perry in 1852, the effects of WWII on the population, and finally to the transition to its modern day form. It was in <i>Japanese Inn</i> that I learned that the name of the pilot, the real protagonist in <i>Shogun</i>, Mr. Pilot, Anjin-sama, was the Englishman Will Adams, the first Englishman that reached Japan.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Meanwhile, Minaguchi-ya evolved with the changing times until it ended its hotel functions in 1985 and is now open as a museum. I know that my travels will take me to the Tokaido Road, and Kyoto, but I’m not sure that I’ll actually find my way to Okitsu. At any rate, if the fascinating history of Japan is of interest to you, this book is wonderful and entertaining. My recommendation – have a look.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6007821715822079362.post-7357861595478145202024-01-09T09:19:00.000-08:002024-01-09T09:19:13.639-08:00Dead of Night<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVv3GeNMqP_Y47ruSdYfW0nFanEduGxyn61FCNQ53afFAswGz7k0gKmdi1dtkLfQejcFNi-sQkMPiNl5hbfL1M3kOny5o59npoDMV64uuPRISax8h4b1VslC0f76buV9iYhkNa22g2UGN6CTShVYm5YgFLa7L1ggwtHf1VQquYykTrMPb_h9jER1Pm9fE/s500/dead%20of%20night.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="325" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVv3GeNMqP_Y47ruSdYfW0nFanEduGxyn61FCNQ53afFAswGz7k0gKmdi1dtkLfQejcFNi-sQkMPiNl5hbfL1M3kOny5o59npoDMV64uuPRISax8h4b1VslC0f76buV9iYhkNa22g2UGN6CTShVYm5YgFLa7L1ggwtHf1VQquYykTrMPb_h9jER1Pm9fE/s320/dead%20of%20night.jpeg" width="208" /></a></div><br /> <i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Dead of Night</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is the second novel reviewed in this blog by the prolific writer, Simon Scarrow. I read the first one nearly two years ago entitled <i>Blackout </i>which took place in Berlin in December 1939. In this series, the protagonist is once again Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke, and the setting is again in Berlin, just a few months later in early 1940. It’s such an interesting idea for Scarrow to put his honest investigator in the midst of the holocaust where human tragedies abound, not only the slaughter of the Jewish population, but also the murder of thousands of others for not fitting into Hitler’s master Aryan ideal. Also at risk of the loss of their lives were any people who defied that Aryan ideal.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this case, Schenke was made aware of the murder of a doctor, who like so many other physicians, joined the SS, created by Himmler. Himmler's chief deputy was SS-Gruppenfuhrer Richard Heydrich. The doctor, Manfred Schmesler, was thought to have joined the SS in order to protect his license to practice medicine, just as so many other physicians had done. But then, this seemingly good man was murdered. It was the same woman, Ruth Frankl, who helped Schenke solve the mysterious murders in <i>Blackout</i> that brought the murder of Schmesler to Schenke’s attention. It was the practice of eugenics that became the essence of this novel. Although eugenics was known to be a principle of the Nazi regime, due to objections of the general citizenry, the movement was initially pushed underground. Schenke, a skilled investigator, found his detective efforts to learn more about Schmesler’s death were blocked in every way possible by the police hierarchy. He was specifically warned off the case by Heydrich, the most frightening of characters.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Next, Schenke began to investigate the multiple deaths of children at a specific hospital in Germany, children who were somehow handicapped. The Nazi regime was uninterested in pursuing this investigation, but then Schenke found a link between the deaths of the children and the work that Schmesler had been assigned by the Nazis. He pursued that information at the very real risk of his own life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mixed in with the murders of the children, and the brutal beatings to which Schneke was treated due to his stubborn persistence, Schneke found a surprising link to Schmesler. He found himself in a fascinating double bind which I will let the author explain. Meanwhile, in part because of his dedication to the job and his need to be away from home, Schneke’s relationship with his live-in girlfriend Karin became quite strained. At the same time, Ruth Frankl became an ally and love interest to Schenke. Since she was a Jew, the two of them were playing out a very risky romance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I liked this book a lot. The dilemma of an honest man who was in an impossible situation, and the risk of his death and those around him as a result of pursuing his necessary detective work. The book gets my very strong recommendation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>West Coast Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555365033439126908noreply@blogger.com0