The reason for the quiz is that on this day, November 5th in 1838 the Federal Republic of Central America began to disintegrate when Nicaragua separated from the Federation – more to come…Click on the title to take the quiz!
[mtouchquiz 1]
Author: ekkarn
Exploring the Joys of Grandparenthood! Halloween’s made fun again!
So after many years of being an irrelevant holiday, my grandchildren made Halloween relevant today!! Oliver and his mom Meaghan visited my wife and I at my wife’s workplace today (Riverside schools) and then Zoe and her parents had dinner with us tonight!!
I love music of all kinds,
but there’s no greater music
than the sound of my grandchildren laughing;
my kids, too.
Hum, the music from Oliver appears to be the blues…..
“Why oh Why, did they dress me like this!”
“I said, why, oh, why did they dress me like this….
While Zoe appears to be channeling Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’
” I’ll Put a Spell on You!”
Treasures From a Library Used Book Sale! Does It Get Much Better?
The other day I got to do one of my favorite things, go to a used book sale at the library. The visit was made even better because I 
got to do it on the first day of the sale, when there were still a lot of books there! Typically, I’m there on the last day and sometimes during the last hour or so of the sale. When I went into the sale I decided that I was going to look, not for the typical mysteries that I usually go for, but for a few books that may be a more on the literature side.
Actually, the first books that I found were more on the mystery side, from the pen of Ken Follett I found some pretty nice copies of The Man from St Petersburg, The Key to Rebecca, and The Eye of the Needle. The only one of the three that I have read is the last which of course is great!! So my first $1.50 was spent!
The next couple of books were of the literature mold. First Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried I’ve seen this book on many list of the top 100 books or books that you should read. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Award. Next came The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. L A Times writes.. “A mystery, a thriller, a ghost story, and a literary tour de force“. Edward says and why haven’t I read this book!!
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney followed. I’ve looked at this book many times, but have never picked it up. Once again the blurb on the back of the book leaves me scratching my head…..”An original and readable MIXTURE IF MYSTERY AND HiSTORY, with a goo dollop of old-fashioned adventure” – The Times (London)
Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories was the next purchase. I have always heard read how great Atkinson is and yet I still have not read one of her books! The blurbs are to many and make me feel pretty bad for never reading this book!!
Finally, the last book is truly great literature… the best of the bunch Island of the Sequined Love Nun from Christopher Moore. I’ve had trouble getting into Moore’s last few books, not so, with his early works like Practical Demonkeeping, Coyote Blue and The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove. These books along with Lamb are just some of my favorite all time reads. Yeah, I know they’re not great literature but who cares!!
So there’s the next $5.00 that I spent for a grand total of $6.50 for 8 books not bad, eh?? Now the hard par, finding time to read them all!
Those Who Wish Me Dead – Michael Koryta – A Grade A Thriller!
Table of Contents
Those Who Wish Me Dead are the sadistic and evil Blackwell brothers, who Jace Wilson saw murder a man in a quarry in Indiana.
Their quest to hunt down and kill Jace leads the Blackwell brothers to the mountains of Montana , where Ethan and Allison Serbin run a summer survival training program for troubled youths.
Jace was placed in the program by Jamie Bennett ,who was a former student of Serbin’s, Arriving in a snowstorm, Bennett asks Ethan’s help in getting Jace “off the grid” to protect him, something Bennett does not think she can do by herself.
Although both Allison and Ethan have doubts about Bennett, they agree to help for the sake of the boy. Soon the Blackwell brothers arrive, bringing their evil to the mountains.
Can Ethan and Allison keep their promise to keep Connor safe? The task becomes more difficult when Jace, sets out to escape from the brothers, alone!
While the brother’s bring evil and a devastating fire to the mountains, Jace encounters an ex-elite firefighter Hannah Faber, who joins the fight to keep Jace safe.
So begins Michael Kortya’s latest book Those Who Wish Me Dead about which Harlan Coben says…..
“Warnng: Michael Koryta‘s wonderful, riveting, and harrowing Those Who Wish Me Dead may just move you to tears. Enjoy at Your Own Risk”
My Thoughts
I have been a reader of Michael Koryta’s work since I read several of the books in his Lincoln Perry series. (Note to self find The Silent Hour Lincoln Perry #4) I have enjoyed all of his books that I have read, they are typically filled with lots of action and a good story line and this one joins the group!!
I don’t think that Koryta is as descriptive of either his characters or the setting of the story as other authors that read but he does a great job holding your interest until the end.
At first, I wasn’t sure about the book, a survivalist teacher and a group of boys with two evil men on their trail, ho hum! But that’s not the way that the story develops at all!!
Actually, it seemed to me it became a quest for Jace to overcome his fears, for Hannah to make amends for decisions that she made as a firefighter and Ethan to prove to a military father that he was capable of killing when necessary!
Bottom Line
Bottom line: a very good adventure that should make a terrific movie, so read it now so you’ll be ready to compare the two!!
Grade: A- I figured out certain aspects of the story too early, but the action, twists, and the details about forest fires and tracking overcame that!!
About Michael Koryta
Michael Koryta is a New York Times-bestselling author whose work has been translated into more than 20 languages and has won or been nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Edgar® Award, Shamus Award, Barry Award, Quill Award, International Thriller Writers Award, and the Golden Dagger. They’ve been selected as “best books of the year” by numerous publications.
Kathleen Mallory #11- It Happens in the Dark – Carol O’Connell
In Kathleen Mallory, Carol O’Connell created one of the most distinctive characters in the mystery–thriller world. Mallory is brilliant, relentless, and shaped by a brutal childhood—raised on New York streets until Officer Louis Markowitz took her in. She grows into an NYPD detective with a ferocious intelligence, an icy focus, and a small orbit of people who care about her: Riker, Charles Butler, Jack Coffey, and Markowitz’s old poker pals.
The Story
It Happens in the Dark (#11) drops Mallory and Riker into a Broadway theater where “a play to die for” keeps stopping for all the wrong reasons. Night one: an audience member dies during Act I. Night two: the playwright’s throat is slashed—suicide or murder? The production is somehow a hit and no one has even seen Act II. As Mallory digs, it turns out the script isn’t the playwright’s anymore—a ghostwriter has been rewriting it piece by piece. Now every cast and crew member is a suspect: a once-famous movie star, a troubled leading lady, a wardrobe mistress who isn’t what she seems, a gofer with secrets, and a pair of brothers as unhinged as the roles they play.
Final Thoughts
When I first discovered Mallory, I tore through the first six books. Then came a lull—#7–#9 still sit on my TBR stack. I picked the series back up with The Chalk Girl (#10) and then this one. I loved being back with Mallory, Riker, Charles, and the gang, but this entry didn’t land quite as hard for me. The plot threads were occasionally hard to track (I mixed up the two crew members and the two psychos at one point), the pacing sagged, and the culprit felt a bit easy to spot—the real question became “why?” more than “who?”
That said, the series remains terrific because the characters remain terrific. Some readers complain Mallory hasn’t changed much over time; my take is: why mess with a good thing? (Has Stephanie Plum changed that much?) When O’Connell’s machinery hums, Mallory is a force of nature and impossible to look away from.
Grade: B+ • Book #25 for 2014
Book 2 in Peter May’s Lewis Trilogy – The Lewis Man – another winner!
The Lewis Man is the second book in Peter May’s wonderful Lewis Trilogy and in the words of The Guardian it is…..
“As good as its predecessor…not only a good mystery, but also a moving and evocative portrayal of a place where the weather is matched only by the church’s harsh patronage….”
The place is the Isles of Lewis, from the book’s prologue….
On this storm lashed island three hours off the northwest coast of Scotland, what little soil exists gives the people their food and their heat. It also takes their dead. And very occasionally, as today, gives one up.
The body that it gave up is that of a nineteen year old male found in a peat bog during the annual peat harvest. The body is a typical bog body, Bodies found in peat bogs are sometimes perfectly preserved, retaining their skin and internal organs due to the unusual conditions of the surrounding area. These bodies sometimes are thousands of years old! In this case it is the body of a nineteen year old boy, who was brutally murdered. He stabbed several times and had hos throat slit! The Elvis tatoo on his forearm though squashed any theories that the body was centuries old. Since the bodies internal organs were intact DNA was used to help determine who the boy was. Matched against DNA of male islanders (samples had been collected and tested a year prior see The Blackhouse) a match was found – Tormod MacDonald. Tormod is the father of Marsaili, the childhood sweetheart of Fin MacLeod. MacLeod is a recently retired Edinburgh police detective who has returned to Lewis to restore his family croft and maybe some personal relationships. Tormod suffers from dementia and lives in a hazy world of past and present. Soon Fin and Marsaili are on a quest to find out who the bog boy was and how and why he was murdered. The story of the murdered boy is told through the haze of Tormod’s dementia, as Tormod tells a tale of two brothers, neither of whom Marsaili or other Lewis residents have any knowledge of, and reveals long lost and buried secrets that change everything Marsaili thought about her past and ancestry! Last week, my wife sent the Facebook challenge to me to list 10 books that have stayed with me, The Blackhouse should have been included on that list and now The Lewis Man should be among those books also! As the quote at the beginning of this post says, the book is not only a good mystery that is not unraveled until the close of the book, but also a wonderful portrayal of the harsh lives of the MacDonalds, MacLeods, Murrays and other families who live in the harsh environment found on the Isle of Lewis. Scotsman Peter May now lives and writes in France. I have read several of his China Thrillers that feature Beijing detective Li Yan and American forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell and they are also great reads. I have yet to read any of the books in his other series The Enzo Files which feature a Scottish forensic scientist Enzo MacLeod, but I should!! The Lewis Man has won…
- the Prix des Lecteurs of Le Télégramme newspaper in France, a 10,000 Euro prize judged by readers of the newspaper
- the Prix des Lecteurs 2012 at Les Ancres Noires Festival, Le Havre, France.
- the 2012 Prix International at the Polar&Co Festival, Cognac, France.
and was shortlisted for…
- the UK Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library Award for 2012
- the Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2012
- the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime novel of the Year 2013
So if you have never read a Peter May book grab a copy of The Blackhouse, I do believe you will be moving quickly on to The Lewis Man!! (Book 24 for 2014) (Grade 4.5 out of 5.0)
The Lewis Man by Peter May – another winner!
The Lewis Man is the second book in Peter May’s wonderful Lewis Trilogy and in the words of The Guardian it is…..
“As good as its predecessor…not only a good mystery, but also a moving and evocative portrayal of a place where the weather is matched only by the church’s harsh patronage….”
The place is the Isles of Lewis, from the book’s prologue….
On this storm lashed island three hours off the northwest coast of Scotland, what little soil exists gives the people their food and their heat. It also takes their dead. And very occasionally, as today, gives one up.
The body that it gave up is that of a nineteen year old male found in a peat bog during the annual peat harvest. The body is a typical bog body, Bodies found in peat bogs are sometimes perfectly preserved, retaining their skin and internal organs due to the unusual conditions of the surrounding area.
These bodies sometimes are thousands of years old! In this case it is the body of a nineteen year old boy, who was brutally murdered. He stabbed several times and had hos throat slit! The Elvis tatoo on his forearm though squashed any theories that the body was centuries old. Since the bodies internal organs were intact DNA was used to help determine who the boy was. Matched against DNA of male islanders (samples had been collected and tested a year prior see The Blackhouse) a match was found – Tormod MacDonald. Tormod is the father of Marsaili, the childhood sweetheart of Fin MacLeod. MacLeod is a recently retired Edinburgh police detective who has returned to Lewis to restore his family croft and maybe some personal relationships.
Tormod suffers from dementia and lives in a hazy world of past and present. Soon Fin and Marsaili are on a quest to find out who the bog boy was and how and why he was murdered.
The story of the murdered boy is told through the haze of Tormod’s dementia, as Tormod tells a tale of two brothers, neither of whom Marsaili or other Lewis residents have any knowledge of, and reveals long lost and buried secrets that change everything
Marsaili thought about her past and ancestry! Last week, my wife sent the Facebook challenge to me to list 10 books that have stayed with me, The Blackhouse should have been included on that list and now The Lewis Man should be among those books also!
As the quote at the beginning of this post says, the book is not only a good mystery that is not unraveled until the close of the book, but also a wonderful portrayal of the harsh lives of the MacDonalds, MacLeods, Murrays and other families who live in the harsh environment found on the Isle of Lewis.
Scotsman Peter May now lives and writes in France. I have read several of his China Thrillers that feature Beijing detective Li Yan and American forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell and they are also great reads.
I have yet to read any of the books in his other series The Enzo Files which feature a Scottish forensic scientist Enzo MacLeod, but I should!!
The Lewis Man has won…
- the Prix des Lecteurs of Le Télégramme newspaper in France, a 10,000 Euro prize judged by readers of the newspaper
- the Prix des Lecteurs 2012 at Les Ancres Noires Festival, Le Havre, France.
- the 2012 Prix International at the Polar&Co Festival, Cognac, France.
and was shortlisted for…
- the UK Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library Award for 2012
- the Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2012
- the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime novel of the Year 2013
So if you have never read a Peter May book grab a copy of The Blackhouse, I do believe you will be moving quickly on to The Lewis Man!! (Book 24 for 2014) (Grade 4.75 out of 5.0)
Exploring the Jazz of Post-Bop Drummer – Elvin Jones – Elvin!
Origianally Posted at FreeWheelin Jazz Safari – Sept 14, 2014
Among the Jazz birthdays on September 9th was post-bop drummer Elvin Jones. Jones was born in 1927 and was best known for
his time with the John Coltrane Quartet. Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan and was one of seven children of Henry and Olivia Jones. His family was very musical and his two older brothers Hank and Thad both became respected jazz musicians. Hank was a pianist and Thad played trumpet and coronet.
After serving in the Army from 1946-49, Elvin moved to New York to make his way in jazz nusic. He played with a variety of musicians including Charles Mingus, Teddy Charles, Bud Powell, From 1960 to 1966 Jones was part of the John Coltrane Quartet with pianist McCoy Tyner and bassist Jimmy Garrison. It was during this period, that Coltrane recorded the classic album A Love Supreme. By 1966 Coltrane’s music was moving in a direction that didn’t really mesh with Jones drumming style. Coltrane added a second drummer, Rashied Ali and Jones departed.
From the start of his career as a leader in 1961, through his time with Coltrane, extending until 1999 Jones released more than 40 albums as a leader and 30 plus albums as a sideman with artist like: Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Joe Farrell, Frank Foster, Ray Brown, John McLaughlin and Michael Brecker. Prior to joining Coltrane, Jones had played on and additional 30 plus albums.
Jones suffered heart failure and passed away in May of 2004. Over his last years he remained active even as his health was declining. He would sometimes even take the stage accompanied by his oxygen tank!
Over the last several days I have been listening to his debut album as a leader, Elvin! The album was recorded in July and 
December of 1961 and January of 1962 and released in 1962 on the Riverside label. The album was produced by the legendary Orrin Keepnews.
The sextet that is featured on the album includes, in addtion to Elvin, his brothers Hank on piano, and Thad on coronet and trumpet, Frank Weiss on flute, Frank Foster on tenor saxophone, and bassist Art Davis. The first thing that caught my attention on this album aside from Jones drumming was Frank Weiss’ flute, I loved it!! After that, I noticed the great piano and wondered who was playing, it wasn’t until I read about the album, after several listens, that I found out that it was his brother Hank! After I read, it was Hank, I smacked my head and said, duh. See I knew Hank Jones‘ name, but never connected the two, or for that matter throw in brother Thad and make that the three of them!!
Anyway I love the album and it certainly gets a grade of A from me, this album will definitely find a spot in my music library!! The album’s only drawback is that it contains only 7 tracks and is only 38 minutes in length!!! As always I have a vast discography to explore along with the discographies of Hank and Thad Jones and Frank Weiss!!
Here’s the Elvin Jones Quartet circa 1979 Pat La Barbera – Sax, Ryo Kawasaki – Guitar, David Williams – Bass performing “The Card Molly! Go Elvin!!
No Safe House – Linwood Barclay
Table of Contents
The first Linwood Barclay books I read were his Zack Walker mystery books, and I loved them! After I fnished the third book and was ready to move on, I discovered that Mr. Barclay had left that series, and moved on to write stand alone thrillers.
The first one was No Time to Say Goodbye and it was great! Since then I have read and enjoyed all of his books. The latest is No Safe House\. In No Safe House, Barclay treats his readers to further adventures of the Archer family, the main characters in No Time to Say Goodbye!
No Safe House – The Story
In the prologue an elderly couple is brutally slain in the Archer’s hometown of Mitford, Connecticut by a sadistic duo, who are in search of something or someone…..
When we meet the Archer family, daughter Grace is now fourteen and as she moves into adolescence, she is rebelling, One night during an argument with her mother, Grace is seriously burned. Her mother, Cynthia decides that she needs time away from the family and moves out, leaving husband Terry and Grace on their own. Then disaster strikes, when Grace foolishly follows her date Stuart Koch, into a strange house. Grace ends up with a gun in her had, Stuart hears someone else in the house. Shots are fired. Were they from Grace’s gun?, Where’s Stuart? Did Grace shoot him?. Someone rushes past Grace! Stricken with panic Grace leaves the house, calls for help to a friend and her father.
Soon the Archers are thrown into the middle of a mess, because not only were shots fired, but valuables were stolen from the house, valuables that didn’t belong to the homeowner, but rather to a career criminal Vincent Fleming, who is also Stuart’s father’s boss! This isn’t the Archer;s first encounter with Vince. Years ago, Vincent helped the Archer’s with their problems. His help saved the Archer’sbut left him needing a urine bag after being shot. Needless to say he is not a friend of the Archer’s. Through the rest of the book the Archer’s mainly Terry try to unravel the mystery of what happened that night, to keep Grace safe and their family together!! What about those killers – what are they looking for? Their killing spree and search continues right up until the climax of the book.
My Thoughts
As in all of Barclay’s books the pace of the action is swift, and the pages keep flying by. This book lacked a little of the tension that I have encountered in other works by Barclay, but the whole story isn’t resolved until the closing pages of the book which makes for damn good reading!!
One of the complaints about the book was that other readers didn’t really like the characters. I don’t have a problem with the characters. For example Terry is resolute in finding the answers that will save his daughter and he goes well outside his comfort level to do such and while Vincent is a thug, he is also a father, all be it a stepfather, who will also do anything for his daughter!
Bottom Line
it was another great read from Barclay, a little less thrilling than past works, but the over all it was a good story. In the words of the New York Times Book Review…..
“Some days, all you really want is for someone to tell you a wicked-good story. Linwood Barclay answers the reader’s perpetual prayer.”
Amen to that!!
About Linwood Barclay
Linwood Barclay continues to be a prolific author, releasing new, critically acclaimed thrillers annually. Known for his high-octane plots and relatable characters, his recent work has solidified his status as a master of contemporary suspense.
If You Like Standalone Mystery/Thrillers ……
You might also enjoy:
- Charlie Donlea — tightly plotted thrillers often built around cold cases, missing persons, and strong female leads, with twists that keep coming
- Michael Koryta / Scott Carson — blends crime, suspense, and sometimes the supernatural, with a darker tone and strong atmosphere
- Riley Sager — modern psychological thrillers with big twists, often centered on isolated settings and unreliable pasts
Today in Music – Happy 50th Birthday – Victor Wooten (September 11, 1964)
English: Victor Wooten playing his bass guitar at the Belly Up, 2006-03-04. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Originally posted at Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries…..
So this morning as I was looking at the people born on this date, I thought how badly you must feel every year now as you celebrate your birthday on this tragic date. I think I’d celebrate either the day before or the day after, or maybe you just say, hey it was my day before you ruined it!
Two names stood out Leo Kottke, born on this day in 1945 in Athens Ga. I didn’t know that Leo is one of those musicians whose music I should listen to more often!! Oh, by the way I didn’t know he was born in Athens!! The other name was Victor Wooten whose name I know but couldn’t place where I knew it from. I did remember though that he played bass!! So my first stop was at Wikipedia:
Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bass player, composer, author, producer, and recipient of five Grammy Awards.[1]
Wooten has won the “Bass Player of the Year” award from Bass Player magazine three times in a row, and was the first person to win the award more than once.[1] In addition to a solo career and collaborations with various artists, Wooten has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group’s formation in 1988.
In 2008, Wooten joined Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller to record an album. The trio of bassists, under the name SMV, released Thunder in August 2008 and began a supporting tour the same month.[2]
Wooten has also written a novel titled “The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music“.[3] On his website he has stated that he is currently writing a sequel and intends to release at least three more books
Now I remember the name!! Bela Fleck and the Flecktones!! So now my next stop was Victor’s website to find out a little more about him and his music!
Wooten, now a five-time Grammy winner, hit the worldwide scene in 1990 as a founding member of the super-group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Continuing to blaze a musical trail with the band, Victor has also become widely known for his own Grammy nominated solo recordings and tours.
Among other things, he is a loving husband and father of four, a skilled naturalist and teacher, a published author, a magician and acrobat, and has won every major award given to a bass guitarist including being voted Bassist of the Year in Bass Player Magazine’s readers poll three times (the only person to win it more than once.) In 2011, Rolling Stone Magazine voted Victor one of the Top Ten Bassist of ALL TIME.
…. A few years after he began touring with the Flecktones, Victor released his first solo project, A Show of Hands. Recorded with only a 4-string bass, no multi-tracking, and a lot of groove and soul, this revolutionary CD was voted one of the most important bass records of all time. Read More
Damn another of those people who can do everything, while all people like me can do is listen and work!
In between my stops at Wikipedia and Victorwooten.com I stopped at YouTube and watched this video! As I watched the opening of the video, I thought “Is he really playing a bass?” and then “Amazing Grace” started and I thought that the first comment I read was spot on!
Mathew Varghese: Before Wooten played this, it was called Grace!! So Happy Birthday, Victor! Now I need to go to MOG and find Show of Hands and more of Victor’s Wooten music!
