Author: ekkarn

Book 37 – Ice Cold – Tess Gerritsen

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So I finished Book 37 for the year like I wrote early between naps and then staying up until 12:25! The book was Tess Gerritsen’s new novel Ice Cold. This is the eighth Rizzoli and Isles book and the first that appeared after the debut of the TV show that has been one of the biggest hits this summer! This book is a little different from some of the others in that there are no murders to solve, or serial killers to chase and it focuses on Maura. The novel opens with Maura attending a pathologist conference in Wyoming where she meets a colleague who went to college with and lusted for Maura from afar. Soon Maura is impulsively (not at all like her) on her way with the doctor and his friends and daughter. An accident on a mountain road leads them to a cult village Kingdom Come, where they find shelter and also find that all of the residents have vanished! Soon events transpire that will test Maura’s mettle and change her life forever! What happened to the residents and soon it becomes why are people trying to kill me!!

As always the characters are great, the pace of the book is fast and it keeps you guessing to the end what really happened! While the full development of the characters isn’t know until you read all of the books but you can probably pick this one up and read and enjoy it with having read the others.

One thing I noticed in the book that Maura’s hair is black not the color of Sasha Alexander’s hair in the TV series! But overall I think the TV series does a good job of translating the book to TV. Has anyone watched it?

True Evil – Greg Iles

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Greg Iles is one of those authors that when I read one of his books I have one of those “What was I thinking?” moments for not reading his books as soon as they come out!! (Can you say too many books, too little time!) Anyway True Evil has been sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read for a long while and I’m glad I finally got around to reading it and at 637 pages it should count as two books! But like all of Iles’ books those pages just flew by!

In this book FBI agent Alexandra (Alex) Morse is called to her home of Mississippi when her sister Grace is struck down by brain hemorrhage. On her death bed she tells Alex that she was murdered by her husband and asks Alex to save her son from his father. Soon Alex, who is having one of those when it goes bad it goes bad all at the same time periods as her father was killed in a robbery attempt gone bad (Dad the ex-cop and now PI), her mother’s dying of ovarian cancer, and she has been demoted at the FBI from her position as a top hostage negotiator when a hostage situation went bad leaving her face scared and a fellow FBI agent dead, sets out to find out how her brother-in-law killed her.She soon finds that Bill Fennel had visited a divorce attorney in Jackson, who seems to be providing a service whereby clients seeking a divorce are saved losing their money, or children by having their spouses mysterious die of cancer! Alex enlists the aid of Dr. Chris Sheppard whose wife Thora has visited the same attorney and Alex is convinced Sheppard is the next victim!

Iles writes good thrillers with believable characters that keep the action moving until the last pages of the book are turned!

Raves about the book:

“A pulse-pounder…… A fresh twist on the cat-and-mouse game between an FBI agent and a fiendishly clever serial killer…. Smooth prose, psychological depth and crafty plotting” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Fascinating…. The medicine and science at the heart of this book are chillngly real” Bookreporter.com

So if you’ve never read Greg Iles pick up one of his books and I bet you won’t be able to put it down, and maybe you won’t be like me and wait too long until you read the next one!! Where is that Devil’s Punchbowl hum, I think there’s a copy up on son Andrew’s bookshelf. But, oh wait, maybe Tess Gerrritsen’s latest is still waiting for me at the library, damn!

Book 36 – True Evil – Greg Iles

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Greg Iles is one of those authors that when I read one of his books I have one of those “What was I thinking?” moments for not reading his books as soon as they come out!! (Can you say too many books, too little time!) Anyway True Evil has been sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read for a long while and I’m glad I finally got around to reading it and at 637 pages it should count as two books! But like all of Iles’ books those pages just flew by!

In this book FBI agent Alexandra (Alex) Morse is called to her home of Mississippi when her sister Grace is struck down by brain hemorrhage. On her death bed she tells Alex that she was murdered by her husband and asks Alex to save her son from his father. Soon Alex, who is having one of those when it goes bad it goes bad all at the same time periods as her father was killed in a robbery attempt gone bad (Dad the ex-cop and now PI), her mother’s dying of ovarian cancer, and she has been demoted at the FBI from her position as a top hostage negotiator when a hostage situation went bad leaving her face scared and a fellow FBI agent dead, sets out to find out how her brother-in-law killed her.She soon finds that Bill Fennel had visited a divorce attorney in Jackson, who seems to be providing a service whereby clients seeking a divorce are saved losing their money, or children by having their spouses mysterious die of cancer! Alex enlists the aid of Dr. Chris Sheppard whose wife Thora has visited the same attorney and Alex is convinced Sheppard is the next victim!

Iles writes good thrillers with believable characters that keep the action moving until the last pages of the book are turned!

Raves about the book:

“A pulse-pounder…… A fresh twist on the cat-and-mouse game between an FBI agent and a fiendishly clever serial killer…. Smooth prose, psychological depth and crafty plotting” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Fascinating…. The medicine and science at the heart of this book are chillngly real” Bookreporter.com

So if you’ve never read Greg Iles pick up one of his books and I bet you won’t be able to put it down, and maybe you won’t be like me and wait too long until you read the next one!! Where is that Devil’s Punchbowl hum, I think there’s a copy up on son Andrew’s bookshelf. But, oh wait, maybe Tess Gerrritsen’s latest is still waiting for me at the library, damn!

Vermilion Drift – William Kent Krueger

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It’s been a busy day at the College of William and Mary a nice luncheon on the grounds near the Wren Building and the President’s House and then a rout of Villanova that turned into a nail biter that ended ok as W&M won 31-24!

So there was not a lot of time for music, but I did finish Book 35 last night William Kent Krueger’s latest Vermilion Drift. The Cork O’Connor is one of my favorite series. The books all ways have much more than just a mystery in them as Krueger explores the complexities of life through Cork O’Connor.

The Story

The story opens with Cork being hired by Max Cavanaugh the owner of  Vermilion One a mine that the government is considering as a nuclear waste deposit site, hiring Cork to find his missing sister Lauren. Cork has also been called in by the mine officials to investigate  threats against the owners of the mine. Soon forty year old bodies are found in the Vermilion Drift (horizontal mine shafts)and they lead back to The Vanishings that occurred on the reservation forty years ago and the solution to the murders leads Cork to explore his past!

My Thoughts

Vermilion Drift is the tenth book in this series and while it may not be necessary to read all the books in order you may want to read Heaven’s Keep book 9 before this one to know what’s gone on in Cork’s life . But like all the books the characters and the stories are both great and I hope that Krueger keeps the series alive!

…

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Revisiting a Trip to the Princeton Record Exchange

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Revisiting a Trip to the Princeton Record Exchange

What stuck, what faded, and the thrill of the hunt

Back in [Year of Original Trip], my son Nick and I made a trip to the Princeton Record Exchange.
Nick had a gift certificate from his brother Andrew and some birthday cash from us.
We both came home with a boatload of CDs.
As usual, my picks fell into three categories:

  • Known and liked
  • Heard the name, not the music
  • Complete unknowns

Looking back now, years later, here’s what stuck with me and what didn’t.

🎵 Known and Liked (The Safe Bets)

  1. Mary Gauthier – Between Daylight and Dark
    A great songwriter with a gift for capturing the Southern sense of place.
    This one stuck—I still return to her songs, especially after rediscovering The Foundling.
  2. Jeffrey Foucault – Ghost Repeater (2006)
    Produced by Bo Ramsey, this album still hits.
    The title track became a quiet favorite over time.
  3. Grayson Capps – Wail & Ride
    I loved his storytelling and post-Katrina New Orleans vibe.
    “Can’t Find My Way” became one of the lasting tracks from this haul.
  4. Milt Jackson – The Harem (1991)
    At the time, I hadn’t spun it yet—but this lineup (Jimmy Heath, James Moody, Cedar Walton, Kenny Washington, Bob Cranshaw) is hard to beat.
    It ended up sticking as a late-night jazz favorite.
  5. Greg Trooper – Floating (2003)
    Greg has always been a favorite.
    I still smile thinking about “Muhammad Ali (The Meaning of Christmas)”—a track Steve Earle said he went home and learned after first hearing it.

🎧 Heard the Name, Not the Music

  1. Walter Parks – [Album Name, 2009]
    At the time, I was curious. His tremolo guitar and swampy Americana sounded promising.
    It didn’t become a rotation staple, but it was a pleasant surprise for a few months.
  2. Nawang Khechog – Karuna (1995)
    I bought this knowing her work with R. Carlos Nakai.
    Produced by Kitaro, it turned into a perfect work‑day ambient listen, even if it never became a personal classic.

🔍 The Unknowns

This is where crate‑digging is pure adventure.
Some of those unknowns were one‑and‑done spins; others quietly became hidden gems.
Looking back, these are the albums that faded from memory versus the ones that still pop up in my rotation.

🎵 Reflection

Trips like this remind me that music collecting is part treasure hunt, part memory bank.
Some albums become lifelong companions.
Others were just passing acquaintances—but even those had their moment.
Years later, I can trace these CDs back to that day with Nick at PREX, which makes them all part of my musical journey.

🌱 Roots and Leaves in music – some songs take root, others drift away.
Explore More Music Memories →

💿 Next Crate Safari Awaits!
Exploring thrift stores, record exchanges, and dusty shelves has its rewards.
Some albums become instant favorites, others are happy surprises along the way.
Browse More Crate Safaris →

Panasonic Recorder Playlist – 1969 – Side 1

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So somewhere about 1968 or ’69 I used my first few paychecks that I got from working for my father to buy a Panasonic reel to reel tape recorder and started making my first tapes and playlists. I kept that recorder and those tapes for a long time and years after it had broken I bought another reel to reel machine so I could play those tapes even though I had most of the songs by then on albums. A few weeks ago I found some old typed lists of the songs on the tapes and tonight with the aid of Rhapsody I remade and listened to the play list. Here it is:

“Ramblin’ Scramblin'” – Jerry Jeff Walker – still a favorite and a song that just flat out made me laugh!

I can remember recording the next few tracks, that were from a new young singer from England Elton John (only I heard and typed Elkton)

“Your Song”, “I Need You to Turn To”, “Take Me to Your Pilot” and “No Shoestrings for Louise” – what a great debut album that was!

“Who Do You Love” (Part 1) – from Quicksilver Messenger Service – listening to this track when it came to the end I wanted it go to the next track because that’s the way it should be heard – the album just flows!

Rhapsody didn’t have the next two tracks “Julie,Judy, Angel Rain” by John Stewart and one of my favorite Tom Paxton songs “Angeline is Always Friday”. I know I have them on vinyl somewhere!

“Blossom” from James Taylor’s Fire and Rain A forgotten song! It was good to hear!

“Margery” Pearls Before Swine from The Use of Ashes a favorite all time album. I saw them at the University of Florida one time and Tom Rapp told a story of how the had been recently miss billed and opened for Bob Hope needless to say it did not go well!

“Dear Mary” from The Steve Miller Band’s Sailor album. Another psychedelic favorite!

Shifting gears totally “Peggy Day” – Bob Dylan Nashville Skyline a favorite Dylan album of mine and I imagine there’s not many of us! Except that “Lay, Lady, Lay” was pretty popular at the University of Florida on Friday and Saturday nights!

“Guinevere” Crosby, Stills and Nash – probably my favorite David Crosby penned song. Well maybe tied with “Triad”!

“Mary Ann” from the Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper. I’ve recently written how Mike Bloomfield influenced a lot of guitar players and though I don’t play he was always a hero! and AL Kooper ain’t to shabby on organ!

“Thoughts About Roxanne” from John Mayall’s Turning Point album. While “Room to Move” was the big song from this album” Thoughts and “California” with Jon Mark and Johnny ALmond were my favorites!!

The night ended with “Who Do You Love – Part 2” from Happy Trails by Quicksilver Messenger Service – now I know I’ll have to listen to the whole album tomorrow!

All and all the night’s music brought back lots of memories of 1969!

So I had always know this as a Tom Paxton songs but when I went to look for “Angeline is Always Friday” I found this version by The Seeker. Looking it up on Tom Paxton 6 I see that Tom wrote the lyrics and Bruce Woodley of The Seekers wrote the music! Anyway this is a great version of the song!

Virgin Heat – Lawrence Shames

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ok so I picked out some new names and listened to a couple of tracks from several albums but never got to listen that much to any of them. A slow connecting computer coupled with a good Phillies game and finishing Book 34 Virgin Heat kept me busy tonight!

The artist that I started to listen to included: Mark Scott LaMountain and the Blue Thunder Band and their album Guitars, Gun and Southern Women,

J.J Grey and Mofro’s album Georgia Warhorse, Jay Gaunt a blues harp player whose new album is on the Roots Music Blues Chart but Rhapsody only has some earlier albums and the one I was ready to listen to was Blown Away. Th

e last thing that I previewed today was Charlie Musselwhite’s new album The Well which sounded pretty good. So I will listen to these albums tomorrow and we’ll celebrate Blues Wednesday on Thursday!

But tonight belonged to those Phils and Roy Oswalt as they extended their lead over my daughter’s team those Atlanta Braves.

Book 34 Virgin Heat. This is the first book I’ve read by Lawrence Shames and it won’t be the last! Set in Key West the book tells the tale of Angie Amaro who for years has pined for her lost love Sal Martucci. The reason she pines is that Sal is now living as Ziggy Maxx in Key West after ratting Angie’s father a mob member Paul Amaro and sending him to prison.

After Angie’s Uncle Louie visits Key West and returns with a video in which Angie recognizes Sal, she sets off for Florida to find her lover. Soon Uncle Louie takes off to find Angie and a good tale is told in the style of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen.

Ann Helmuth of the Orlando Sentinel calls it The Birdcage meets the Godfather and that’s appropriate for this often funny and touching book, full of good characters and wit! I enjoyed it and will certainly be on the look out for more Shames and there appears to be seven other books set in Key West!

Blues Wednesday – not! – Book 34 – Virgin Heat

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ok so I picked out some new names and listened to a couple of tracks from several albums but never got to listen that much to any of them. A slow connecting computer coupled with a good Phillies game and finishing Book 34 Virgin Heat kept me busy tonight! The artist that I started to listen to included: Mark Scott LaMountain and the Blue Thunder Band and their album Guitars, Gun and Southern Women, J.J Grey and Mofro’s album Georgia Warhorse, Jay Gaunt a blues harp player whose new album is on the Roots Music Blues Chart but Rhapsody only has some earlier albums and the one I was ready to listen to was Blown Away. The last thing that I previewed today was Charlie Musselwhite’s new album The Well which sounded pretty good. So I will listen to these albums tomorrow and we’ll celebrate Blues Wednesday on Thursday!

But tonight belonged to those Phils and Roy Oswalt as they extended their lead over my daughter’s team those Atlanta Braves and Book 34 Virgin Heat. This is the first book I’ve read by Lawrence Shames and it won’t be the last! Set in Key West the book tells the tale of Angie Amaro who for years has pined for her lost love Sal Martucci. The reason she pines is that Sal is now living as Ziggy Maxx in Key West after ratting Angie’s father a mob member Paul Amaro and sending him to prison. After Angie’s Uncle Louie visits Key West and returns with a video in which Angie recognizes Sal, she sets off for Florida to find her lover. Soon Uncle Louie takes off to find Angie and a good tale is told in the style of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. Ann Helmuth of the Orlando Sentinel calls it The Birdcage meets the Godfather and that’s appropriate for this often funny and touching book, full of good characters and wit! I enjoyed it and will certainly be on the look out for more Shames and there appears to be seven other books set in Key West!

Book 33 – Me of Little Faith

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Book 33 for the year is a collection Lewis Black’s thought about religion Me of Little Faith. The book is hilarious and at times makes me laugh out loud as Black takes on all religions including his own!  I’ve said before that Black is one comedian who consistently cracks me up and I can watch the same concert performance over and over and laugh all the time “If it wasn’t for that horse. I wouldn’t have spent that year in college”.  John Stewart and George Carlin’s praises on the back of the book cover are so true!

“Lewis Black is the only person I know who can actually yell in print” – Jon Stewart. (Whenever you read those statement in all  caps throughout the book you can hear him yell!)

Whenever I’m asked, “Who makes you laugh” or “Who would you pay to see?” I don’t hesitate for a moment. Lewis Black! Period. He’s got it all: brains, balls and chops.” – George Carlin

Book 34 is a book off the Mount to Be Read Laurence Shames Virgin Heat. Time for a quick easy fun read – a lot like Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiassen! Going quickly so far!

The Codex – Douglas Preston

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The Codex - Douglas Preston

So last night I didn’t do whole lot of music listening rather I was caught up in the jungles of southern Honduras finishing Douglas Preston’s latest solo book (Preston being one-half of the writing team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child) The Codex.

Some once asked why read fiction well aside from being exciting and mysterious it also takes me places I’ll never go and then sometimes teaches me about the culture.  This book takes you to the jungles of Honduras and a lost Mayan city.

The Story

The story revolves around the family of Max Broadbent, an Indiana Jones type Tomb raider whose life has been spent collecting rare artifacts legally and illegally.

The story opens when his three sons, Phillip a professor at an east coast college, Tom a veterinarian in Utah and Vernon, a hippie living in a commune in California with “The Teacher” are called to their family home.  When the sons arrive they find the house a shambles and all the artifacts gone having been packed up and taken somewhere.

They find a tape from their father which opens with “Greeting from the Dead” and tells them that he has taken his stuff and had himself buried somewhere in the world with their inheritance and because he really thinks they are failures and never worked for anything, if they want the inheritance they have to find it.

One of his treasures is a Mayan Codex containing thousands of pages listing all the medicinal uses of the jungle plants. Soon others are interested in The Codex because of the money making potential and historic significance. The rest of the story is the quest to find their father and maybe themselves in the process!

My Thoughts

The action and suspense on the quest are good and I liked the characters. I read this morning that Tom Broadbent had appeared in Tyrannosaur Canyon Preston’s previous solo novel and that he has future plans for the character.

All in all it was a good read and maybe will make me read some of the other Preston and Child books that are on my Mount to Be Read!

Douglas Preston

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About Douglas Preston

Douglas Jerome Preston (born May 31, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Although he is best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Child (including the Agent Pendergast series and Gideon Crew series), he has also written six solo novels, including the Wyman Ford series and a novel entitled Jennie, which was made into a movie by Disney. He has authored a half-dozen nonfiction books on science and exploration and writes occasionally for The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and other magazines. Wikipedia