All Hail the Underdogs

Breakaway #3

All Hail the Underdogs

E.L. Massey

Patrick Roman (Rome) is a poor heavily freckled white boy from Northern Maine. Damien Boudreaux is black and gay and adopted by super rich white parents. Too accustomed to being reported for break and enter by his white neighbours and being pulled over for driving a porche. As a centre and wing man they make beautiful hockey but the cultural divide.... Damien and his trust fund school mates are so rich they don't consider sharing it with the less well off charity. He has no concept of Rome being unable to afford to go out with his teammates, owning only 3 shirts which he patches or having no bed sheets. And having never met someone of colour and having no understanding of being gay Damien's world is utterly foreign.

AIDS is seemingly not an issue for this pair but testosterone fuelled egos plagued by acceptance issues make trusting one another difficult. They are hockey players but the game takes back seat to emotional issues and the interplay between team members who are not cut-out extras. The pair explore one-another's bodies and do a great deal of petting but we are spared coital probing. Several epilogues take us past the point we reached in book 2 and a book 4 seems to introduce yet another set of players. I will say that I enjoyed this outing.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

Nine Dragons

Harry Bosch #14

Nine Dragons

Michael Connelly, Len Cariou (Narrator)

One of the talking points in this story is the known fact that the Triads made inroads into Southern California in particular because recruitment standards precluded anyone who spoke Chinese dialects joining the police service so they had no one who spoke the language.

I'm "reading" earlier books in the series as they become available. In this one Harry has a young rookie detective partner who is preoccupied with a demanding wife, newborn twins, and lack of sleep. Failure to follow Harry's advice gets him killed.

And that isn't the only loss in his life. Bearding the Triads in their stronghold in Asia to find his kidnapped daughter seems rather daring.

Harry insists on independent action as leaks within police ranks compromise most enforcement efforts.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

Bruno's Challenge: And Other Stories of the French Countryside

Bruno, Chief of Police

Bruno's Challenge: And Other Stories of the French Countryside

Martin Walker, Robert Ian MacKenzie (Narrator)

A series of short stories. Bruno tends his garden, harvests his truffles, walks his dog Balzac, rides his horse Hector, and wines and dines his friends.

The final story is a reader digest version of a previous book.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

Two Kinds of Truth

Harry Bosch #20

Two Kinds of Truth

Michael Connelly, Titus Welliver (Narrator)

I'm reading, or in this case listening too, the books available at my local library. Harry has finally retired and is now doing volunteer work on cold cases for an understaffed police division. His workplace is an old jail cell.

Modern DNA evidence would seem to exonerate a murderer who has sat on death row for 30 years and the case was Harry's. Meanwhile he's called out to investigate a live case involving a young druggist.

The cold case involved evidence tampering, the druggist a cartel.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

A Château Under Siege

Bruno, Chief of Police #16

A Château Under Siege: Library Edition

Martin Walker, Robert Ian MacKenzie (narrator)

Bruno enters the world of international espionage when a re-enactor is injured during a melee near Bruno's turf. The local listening centre is an open secret among locals just as a similar one in South Dakota located in a cornfield collects terabytes of data from satellites in space.

Bruno is in over his head on this one but his local savvy is more important than understanding electronic surveillance, drones, and computer tech.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

To Kill a Troubadour

Bruno, Chief of Police #15

To Kill a Troubadour

Martin Walker, Robert Ian MacKenzie (Narrator)

Once more Bruno is drawn into international intrigue as he seeks to protect a group of musicians intent on presenting a concert in Bruno's bailiwick. Balzac and his puppies figure in the tale along with Bruno's gastronomic creations.

And we see how those who are being the subject of protection can often be their own worst enemies.

For once only the bad guys die here.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

The Glass Cage

The Glass Cage

by Joseph J. Dowling

This short seems to exist in cyberspace.

Ask the Shermans how they enjoy the millions they made owning Apotex; you can't, their murder is unsolved 7 years later. Ask Justin Bieber about dropping by MacDonalds or Tim Hortons for coffee; he can't, his face would cause a riot.

This book is essentially about the cost of fame. God forbid you get your desires, you may find the price too high as the gal in this story learned as she tries to drop out of the fame trap.

Sonya finds her career managed by her father who sees her fame as a cash cow that will make him rich. Sonya only wants out of the constant barrage of stage lights, camera flashes and crazed fans.

If this book seemed familiar, it was as I read it over a year ago before Goodreads listed it on their site. It still isn't available on Amazon but is offered on Story Origin.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

The Coldest Case

Bruno, Chief of Police #14

The Coldest Case

Martin Walker

read by Robert Ian MacKenzie

As the title suggests a cold case thirty years old that modern techniques may give clues to solving. I'm using an audiobook version. Bruno still spends a great deal of time schmoozing and dining.

Published in 2021 the story becomes topical when a fire caused by global warming threatens but it would take Bruno to use medieval technology to fight it.

As the story ends the authorities pull a fast one on bad guy.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

Wunderkind

Wunderkind

ZZ Adams

Another book that begins by jumping between at least three principal characters and locations. There's a cat burglar who gets caught trying to lift something from the British Museum. A spy tracking a child in the Tube. And 14 yr old Elliot Goshawk, who is off to study at Oxford and it seems was that child. Several laptops are mentioned so we have some notion of the period involved.

Next we have Elliot's roommates, they have separate sleeping quarters. There's a thirty-something Irishman studying Physics also Elliot's Subject, Kat who studies history. And finally the haughty who seems rather full of herself.

At this point things start getting weirder and weirder. The plot shifts off world to other realities and our Elliot is attacked by spectral beings.

Book 2 is not on my to read list.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

Down with the Dance

Middle School Mayhem #1

Down with the Dance

C.T. Walsh

A more inept set of misfits is rarely encountered. The book has been delisted by Goodreads.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

The Heron's Cry

Two Rivers #2

The Heron's Cry

Ann Cleeves

I'd forgotten reading volume 1 of this series so learning that Detective Matthew Venn had a husband came as a surprise.

Stories such as this give one a deeper sense of the personal lives of the officers with whom we come in contact. Complicating matters is the fact that in small town and rural areas officers often know the people they have to interview on a personal level.

In contrast to the review I'm writing about an American ex-military few are licensed in Britain to own arms and its police service is largely unarmed something unthinkable in America. That doesn't prevent those who would finding ways to kill one another.

A convoluted plot with a snapper ending and a number of surprises along the way. When it comes to whodonits I'm rather clueless.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

August Into Winter

August Into Winter

Guy Vanderhaeghe

Narrated by: R.H. Thomson, Kelley Jo Burke

In the first chapter how the body was disposed of and what happened to the cruiser is left unanswered. The officer's fatal error was hubris that had him acting without backup. The story does little to enhance the RCMP's reputation.

Each chapter begins with a newspaper headline from the Fall of 1939.

The RCMP's ineptitude continues even to keeping the mass murderer when he is captured.

After 20 hours Dill finally gets the gal and moves to Vancouver.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

Bruno's Cookbook: Recipes and Traditions from a French Country Kitchen

Bruno, Chief of Police

Bruno's Cookbook: Recipes and Traditions from a French Country Kitchen

Martin Walker, Julia Watson

Recipes used by a fictional small town cop with a penchant for gourmet culinary pursuits. Many of the ingredients are either hard to find outside large cities or too expensive for the average budget. This is French Cuisine at its finest. Most don't have a wild boar or a basset to help find truffles or have a taste for paté de foie gras. I'd never thought of cooking with duck fat--$32 for 11 oz. on Amazon--nor am I ever likely to try. It is interesting to see how the other half eats mind you. These are Jones with whom I have no desire to emulate.

Restaurants with delusions of grandeur tend to use French equivalents to describe their dishes. For example Coulis rather than fruit sauce. Crème Glacée for ice cream. Pomme de Terre Frit for French Fries.

I'm not likely to ever use any of these recipes but the descriptions and chatter are interesting.

r

Virus-free.www.avast.com

Ghost Towns of Ontario Volume 2

Ghost Towns of Ontario Volume 2

Ron Brown

I'm reading the 1989 edition. This outing uses the same publisher as Volume 1 but it's a vast improvement. First of all the cover photo is identified. But more importantly there is a vast improvement in the quality of photo reproduction throughout the book.

The towns described reflect an entrepreneur's exploitation of a natural resource leading to an influx of population which decamps when the resource runs out and the industry folds.

For example much of the storied Algonquin has been logged as many as 5 times and logging still goes on. Pine trees planted in straight rows reflect reforestation lacking in much of Northern Ontario where trees are left in a 200 ft band along highways for appearance sake.

Ghost towns are testimony to human greed. Lakes and rivers were fished to the point that the fish were unable to reproduce; forests were clear-cut with no thought to second growth, mines were run with the objective of maximizing ore production and profits, not sustainable employment. When the resource ran out the owners left with their ill-gotten wealth.

The Sleeping Giant must be viewed from 35 mile's distance in Thunderbay. If you spend the night on the peninsula stay considerable distance from the diesel generator. Silver Islet is a 20 mile drive from the park entrance. I've looked across the lake at the islet. If you think the hardships faced by the silver miners exaggerated consider that the day in June I hiked with a group to the top of the giant's head it snowed.

The picture caption on p. 83 lists Ophir as North-East of the Sault. The map on p. 33 plainly shows it South-East. A modern day map shows it due East.

The road to Cobalt as with the road to Durango, CO is the million dollar highway in this case due to the silver in the tailings used to build it. In all more than 460 million ounces of silver were pulled out of mines in the hills surrounding the area or as the author puts it $5 worth for every person in Canada at one point.

Parks Ontario offers historical brochures showing beautiful sketches of heritage buildings that once graced its parks. Often the sad truth is that the MNR has razed and burned those buildings. This wanton destruction of Ontario Heritage is a frequent wail in documenting former Ghost Towns.

The book makes rather depressing reading.

Virus-free.www.avast.com