Category: Books-Fiction

Think of a Number – John Verdon – (Dave Gurney # 1) – A Great Series Starter!

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Think of a Number - John Verdon - Dave Gurney Number 1
Think of a Number – Dave Gurney #1

Originally posted on July 20, 2015. Updated October 2025 with new links, images, and reflections after reading additional books in the Dave Gurney series.

John Verdon’s  debut novel Think of a Number has  been on my To Be Read bookshelves for a very long time. Each time I pass the book, I say to myself “you know you should read that book”. Until last week, my answer was “I’ll get to it one of these days!”. Well, one of these days came last week and now I can kick myself for not reading it earlier!! Maybe I should have just taken the time to read the David Baldacci quote on the cover:

“Remarkable…The writing is haunting and quotable. the twists expertly placed and infinitely plausible… You can read the book as a game of cat and mouse, a ride of chilling suspense or a literary repast, since it provides all in abundance.”

All of the above is true.. the line he left out is you’ll feel like kicking yourself if you don’t read it!!

The cat and mouse in the story are retired, NYPD Detective Dave Gurney and the mouse a meticulous and diabolical serial killer.

The Plot

The story begins when Dave receives a call  form an old classmate who is panicked. He has received a letter that asks him to ‘think of a number any number up to a thousand – the first number that comes to your mind. Picture it. Now see how well I know your secrets. Open the envelope”.  When the envelope is opened and the number 658 is revealed the classmate is panicked. He can not believe that the letter writer guessed correctly. What else may he know! What did he do to anger this man!

Soon additional poetic letters arrive one requesting money. The classmate of course pays. Soon the letters become more threatening, culminating in the ritualistic murder of the classmate. He is stabbed multiple times in the neck with a broken bottle of Four Roses whiskey. The minimal evidence left at the scene, a folding lawn chair, cigarette butts and tracks in the snow, all lead nowhere and Dave and the police are left baffled!

When another victim turns up in Brooklyn murder in a similar fashion, Dave knows that its the work of a serial killer. But with no evidence of significance found at either crime scene how will they catch this killer!  But catch him they must or more will die!!

What I Thought –  Rating 4.5 out of 5.

Think of the Number is  a well-crafted debut novel. I thought the storyline was original and intricate. I enjoyed the characters, particularly Dave Gurney. During the time that Gurney served in the New York Police Department, he caught more serial killers than anyone else in the history of the NYPD.

Now even though he is retired from the force, he can’t stop doing what he does best – Catching Bad Guys!! Of course Dave is caught between a rock and a hard place though.

His wife Madeline wants Dave to stay retired and out of harms way. She knows though, that Dave’s not going to let this one go, especially since the victim was a friend. Of course there is the other reason, too. Dave is a cop who loves to solve cases, and this one is one intriguing cases to crack!! So Check it Out!

As for me, I am now set to move on to book two in the series Shut Your Eyes Tight. The good part is that the book is already on my Kindle!! I bought it a while back, when Amazon had it on sale for $1.99!

I also have book four Peter Pan Must Die on the Kindle, bought in a similar fashion!!

Now all I need is for book 3 Let The Devil Sleep to go on sale before I finish book 2! My guess is that will not happen. But there’s always hope – and the library!! Oh no Book 5 Wolf Lake was release on July 16th!!

Update (October 2025): Since first posting this review, I’ve continued with John Verdon’s Dave Gurney series — reading Book 2, Shut Your Eyes Tight and Book 3, Let the Devil Sleep. Both build on Gurney’s analytical mind and Verdon’s knack for psychological tension. I’m looking forward to diving into Book 4, Peter Pan Must Die next.

Links

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Amazon

John Verdon

John P. Verdon is an American novelist. In 2010, Crown/Random House published his first mystery thriller, Think of a Number, the debut novel in the Dave Gurney detective series. Wikipedia

Born: 1942 (age 83 years), The Bronx, New York, NY

Education: Fordham University, Regis High School

Here is the trailer for Think of a Number.…..

Visit Shut Your Eyes Tight – Dave Gurney Book #2

Smorgasblog Episode 1 – Books, Music and More….

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A Tasty Smorgasblog Episode 1

 

So what the hell is a smorgasblog?? According to the Urban Dictionary  defines a smorgasblog as….

A blog entry in which the writer writes about several different, often unrelated topics.

In yesterday’s smorgasblog he wrote about everything from global warming to what he had for breakfast to how he hates golf to his travel plans for next summer.

A blog entry in which the writer writes about several different, often unrelated topics.
In yesterday’s smorgasblog he wrote about everything from global warming to what he had for breakfast to how he hates golf to his travel plans for next summer

It seems that the word is perfect for a blogger whose thoughts and interests are all over the place! Uh, that would be me! So if you are here looking for a little bit of everything – Welcome!!

A Little Family Update

Now what’s been happening! Well, this week is the second week that I have not been babysitting my grandson Oliver at least one or  to days a week. I have been doing that since he was he was four or five months old. (He is now 27 months old and is going to daycare now five days a week, and while it is a good change from the physical side, mentally I miss him! So my wife decided that we should pick him up early on Wednesday and spend the early evening with him, which we did yesterday and it worked out well! And before you think I’ve had a bunch of time on my hands over those two weeks, think again, because our babysitting duties with our granddaughter Zoe have increased now that he mommy’s job went from part to full-time and her great-grandmother’s sitting time has been limited. But babysitting for both of them is a joy!

The Books

Even with the increase in babysitting Zoe,, I have been able to finish three books over the last three weeks bringing the total of books read for the year to 28! So I am on pace to read 56 books in 2016.and while that is two books off of the pace to read 60 books, it is still ahead of last year’s pace. Last year’s total number of books read was 51. The last three books I have read are

Small Move, Big Change - Smorgasblog 1 BookBook 26. Small Move, Big Change: using microresolutions to transform your life permanently by Caroline I. Arnold/ – I thought that this was a really good book and one that I will need to go back and investigate more in-depth and try to implement some of Ms. Arnold’s ideas. I totally agree we her basic theory that small measurable resolutions are much better than big sweeping resolutions. It may be easier to say I will read five books a month than 60 in a year. The goal of reading 60 books seems so unreachable but five per month, well, maybe I can do that. Here is a good summation of the book.

‘I  love this book! From page one, Small Move, Big Change is filled with wisdom. insight, and whip-smart “micro” suggestions that you can I actually implement to change your life” – Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

I am in total agreement with Ms Chua assessment of Small Move, Big Change. By the way all those who are familiar with Amy Chua, raise your hand. I know you can’t see them, but my hands never left the keyboard!! So I went to Amazon and then to the Burlington County Library and here’s what  I found out about Amy ….

An awe-inspiring, often hilarious, and unerringly honest story of one mother’s exercise in extreme parenting, revealing the rewards-and the costs-of raising her children the Chinese way.

All decent parents want to do what’s best for their children. What Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother reveals is that the Chinese just have a totally different idea of how to do that. Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions and providing a nurturing environment. The Chinese believe that the best way to protect your children is by preparing them for the future and arming them with skills, strong work habits, and inner confidence. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother chronicles Chua’s iron-willed decision to raise her daughters, Sophia and Lulu, her way-the Chinese way-and the remarkable results her choice inspires.  Read More

Hmm, to late for thoughts about how to raise my kids…..but there’s always that grandchildren….I may have to check this book out!

Books number 27 and 28 were both thrillers. One from an author that is new to me Chris Carter and the second from one of my favorites James Rollins. I will write more about both books soon, but here are some initial though about each book

An Evil Mind

 

 

Book 27. An Evil Mind – Chris Carter –  (Robert Hunter #6) This may be a 5-star book for me. I thought it was extremely well crafted. I loved it! From Amazon….

.A freak accident in rural Wyoming leads the Sheriff’s Department to arrest a man for a possible double homicide, but further investigations suggest a much more horrifying discovery – a serial killer who has been kidnapping, torturing and mutilating victims all over the United States for at least twenty-five years.

The suspect claims he is a pawn in a huge labyrinth of lies and deception – and he will now only speak to Robert Hunter of the LAPD.

Just a riveting read, that will certainly send me scampering to find other books in the series! Maybe Books 1 and 7 so I can stay current and also find out what has gone on before!

War Hawk

 

Book 28 War Hawk – James Rollins and Grant Blackwood. I am a big fan of James Rollins’ Sigma Force novels and this second installment of the Tucker Wayne series has all the makings of being just as good. Roliins and Blackwood offer the same blend of cutting edge science and technology with great characters (one of them in this series is a K-9) and action!

Former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and his war dog Kane are thrust into a global conspiracy that threatens to shake the foundations of American democracy in this second exciting Sigma Force spinoff adventure from New York Times bestselling authors James Rollins and Grant Blackwood.

Tucker Wayne’s past and his present collide when a former army colleague comes to him for help. She’s on the run from brutal assassins hunting her and her son. To keep them safe, Tucker must discover who killed a brilliant young idealist—a crime that leads back to the most powerful figures in the U.S. government. Read more

Another winner!!

The Music

So to wrap up this first Smorgasblog how about some of the music I’ve been listening to….(music listing has been somewhat limited I am afraid I  just have too much to do!) Two of the albums that I have really enjoyed over the last couple of days are the latest from Sherry Finzer, Darin Mahoney and Will Clipman Trialogue.  A New Age tour-de force! You’ll be ready more about this album in the future! And the new album from jazz trumpeter Marquis Hill The Way We Play. So check them out!

Here’s the opening track from Trialogue

Jack 1939 – Francine Mathews

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Jack 1939 – Francine Mathews’s story of JFK in Europe in 1939

 

The inspiration for the historical novel Jack 1939 came to author Francine Mathew after seeing a photograph of John Kennedy on a street in Germany in 1937. She writes this about the picture..he was….

….wearing clothes he’d probably slept in for a week, tousled hair, head thrown back , mouth opened in a grin. He was  juggling fruit for the camera. He looked like a wild and free street busker without a care in the world; he was also rail thin, the bones in his face painfully prominent I forgot completely that he had ever been that young. The image haunted me for weeks. I wanted to know more about that boy….

So Francine read several books about Jack Kennedy and the Kennedy family. Based upon the facts, she wrote Jack 1939, a novel of speculative fiction that tells a tale of Jack in Europe in 1939, ostensibly traveling through Europe for the purpose of gathering information for his thesis. While actually gathering information for President Franklin Roosevelt about Hitler’s spy rings and plans as the world braces for the war to come. In the novel Jack is confronted by a sadistic killer, meets a beautiful married woman, encounters the Enigma machine and searches for a ledger stolen for a charity with information that could bring down the House of Kennedy!!

Here’s what some others say about the novel…

“A triumph: an exciting thriller, an intriguing exploration of a troubled time, and an absorbing take on the early history of one of America’s most iconic figures. Highly recommended”. Iain Pears author of An Instance of the Fingerpost

” Like JFK  himself, this book is smart, sexy and unafraid to take risks. With nimble prose and easy charm. Francine Mathews leads us beyond the frontiers of history to make us believe in her version of a young Kennedy at large in a dark-world of prewar spies and secrets”. – Dan Fesperman, author of Lie in the Dark

In the Afterward of Jack 1939 Francine says that she roughly used the actual times and places that Kennedy was as he crossed Europe in 1939, gathering information for his senior thesis. For me that made this novel a whole lot better.

The book did provide a great glimpse into the early life of JFK and for me his medical problems were particularly interesting. I never knew about how fragile his health was. They did a great job of hiding that both during his Presidential campaign and his years as President.

Bottom Line: I thought that the descriptions of Jack and the Kennedy family and even Roosevelt, Hoover and Churchill were better than the storyline. I had so trouble getting through the middle of the book, but the last half of the book was better than the first half. Overall, I liked the Jack 1939 but it was not a page-turner for me. So it is a 3 star out of 5 book for me!! But well worth checking out!

Book 25 for 2016

Robotham and Donlea End April on High Note

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Starter House by Sonja Condit Starts May Right!

Over the last several weeks I have finished reading several books and over the weekend I added several to my “to be read” shelf. Here are the books that I have finished….along with the date finished and the book’s number on my list of books read in 2016……

20. Close Your Eyes – Michael Robotham (April 27th) Book Joseph O’Loughlin #8

From Goodreads….

When a former student bungles a murder investigation, clinical psychologist Joseph O’Loughlin steps in to face a ruthless killer.

A mother and her teenage daughter are found murdered in a remote farmhouse, one defiled by multiple stab wounds and the other posed like Sleeping Beauty waiting for her Prince. Joe O’Loughlin is drawn into the investigation when a former student, trading on Joe’s reputation by calling himself the “Mindhunter,” jeopardizes the police inquiry by leaking details to the media and stirring up public anger.

With no shortage of suspects and tempers beginning to fray, Joe discovers a link between these murders and a series of brutal attacks where the men and women are choked unconscious and the letter “A” is carved into their foreheads. Read More

Along with the above there is a secondary storyline the book. Joe is asked by his estranged wife to move back into their cottage with his family which includes his wife and their two daughters. Joe is thrilled at the prospect of reuniting with his wife and daughters only problem is that his wife has cancer. And once again Joe is faced with the problem of balancing his work and his family!!

Bottom Line: Close Your Eyes is another excellent book from Michael Robotham. This series is one of my favorites and like many of them it keeps getting better which is very hard to do because Robotham set the bar really high with his early books!! I will even forgive him for joining the ranks of William Kent Krueger and Karin Slaughter Ratings: Goodreads **** (4.15)  *RGrandad **** 1/2 (4.5)

Summit Lake a recent reads21. Summit Lake – Charlie Donlea (April 29th)

From Goodreads…..

Set in a small, picturesque North Carolina town, Charlie Donlea’s suspenseful debut novel tells the haunting story of a murdered law school student, the reporter assigned to her story—and the intimate connection that comes when the living walk in the footsteps of the dead.

“No suspects. No persons of interest. Just a girl who was alive one day and dead the next.” Read More

This is Charlie Donlea’s debut novel and a smashingly good debut it is! The murder victim is Becca Eckersley a first year law student and the daughter of a powerful attorney who is about to become a judge. After Becca is murdered investigator Kelsey Castle is sent by her employer Events magazine to Summit Lake to find out what happened. Once she arrives Kelsey discovers that the murder appears to be more complex than the theory that the Feds are promoting that it was a random robbery gone bad. The story is told by both flashbacks which chronicle the last year of Becca’s life and Kelsey’s current investigation.

Bottom Line: Summit Lake was a very good read. It took me a while to get into the story and I must admit that I found some aspects of the story somewhat implausible. Particularly the willingness of the county police chief to give police files to Kelsey. But the overall story more than made up for those minor dislikes.  Ratings Goodreads **** (4.07) RGranddad ****

 

Starter House a recent read22. Starter House –  Sonja Condit  (May 8th)

From Goodreads…..

In the vein of Heart-Shaped Box and The Thirteenth Tale, Starter House is a haunting and skillfully told debut novel about a newlywed couple and their first home — a home that seems to be haunted by a very malicious ghost. Read More

This was a Dollar Tree purchase and I have to say that the were more aspects of this book that troubled me than in Summit Lake.  The first thing that bothered me was that after meeting that little boy and feeling a presence that pushed her down the stairs resulting in almost losing her baby.,Lacey Miszlak didn’t just say I’m not staying in this house. Secondly, is that she never really tells her husband what’s going on in the house! Poor Eric! But as the storyline progressed those things seemed less and less important and I enjoyed the unraveling mystery.

Bottom Line : While I liked Starter House it never really that scared me . I did get engrossed in the book about two-thirds of the way in and really liked it from then on until the end. While I enjoyed the characters I never really connected all that much with them particularly Eric, whose character I really did not like that much at all. So over all good but not great for me! Ratings Goodreads: ***+ (3.16) RGranddad *** (3.00)

Ok so I was going to discuss the three new books that I added to my to be read pile in this post, but I think that I’ll save that for another post!!

Entry Island – Peter May

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Peter May’s – Entry Island  A Read for Mystery Lovers and Lovers of Genealogy

 

I always say that I love to read because books take me to places that i will never visit. One such place is the Outer Hebrides islands off of the western coast of Scotland. I have visited these islands four times thanks to the books of Peter May. The first three visits came via May’s Lewis Trilogy. That trilogy is composed of Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chessmen. Each of these books is a terrific read. The last visit was through another of May’s books Entry Island. The setting for the trilogy is modern-day Scotland and features Edinburgh, police detective Fin Macleod. The dual settings for Entry Island are contemporary Entry Island in the St Gulf of St.Lawrence in Canada and the Outer Hebrides of the mid-19th century. The one thing that one gets from all the books is the life is rough in the Outer Hebrides!!

A Brief Synopsis

Entry Island begins when police detective Sime MacKenzie is sent to the island as part of a team investigating a murder. The main suspect of the murder is the victim’s wife and when Sime first meets her he swears he knows her! As he mulls over why he may know her, Sime begins to have vivid dreams based on the stories that his grandmother used to read to him and his sister when they were little. The stories came from Sime’s great-grandfather’s dairies. They focus on the his life in Scotland and eventually Canada in the mid-1800s.

Entry Island works as both a fine mystery novel with many twists and turns before the final murderer is revealed and a historic tale about the adversities faced by residents of the Outer Hebrides.The novel also paints a grim picture of the conditions that many of our ancestors faced as they made their way to a new land. Reading the novel  made me stop and think about what it must have been like for my ancestors who came to America in the 1800s. from both Scotland and Ireland.

Here’s what some others say……

“Told with exceptional clarity and a fine eyefor the clausrophobia of island life, it weaves a hypnotic spell as it jumps between generations and proves that May is a writer to be cherished” – Geoffrey Wansell, Daily Mail

“May is the master of painting a vivid picture of his chosen landscapes and weaving a fascinating plot. The research he has packed into this well-paced dual tale is impressive…. An absorbing tale from a writer at the top of his game.” Daily Express

Bottom Line:

Entry Island is another fantastic read from Peter May. It works for both mystery lovers and those who love genealogy! Entry Island was named the Deanston Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2014, and it also won the ITV Specsavers Book Club Dagger for the Best Read of the Year 2014, So Check it Out!!   Rating **** Book 19 of 2016

Links for Further Exploration of the Books of Peter May

Website
Goodreads
Amazon

The 6th Extinction – James Rollins

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The 6th Extinction - James Rollins

Originally posted April 2016 Revised and updated April 2026

I don’t think there are many authors who blend science, history and action together better than James Rollins. I read several of his early stand-alone novels before I read my first Sigma Force novel Map of Bones and since then I don’t think I’ve missed an installment in the series.

One thing I love about James Rollins is that at the end of his books he always discusses the truth or fiction of  the science or history contained in the book,

In the6th Extinction that discussion  covers ten pages! The science discussed ranges from XNA, Jumping genes, De-Extinction, Extremophiles to Antarctic life and geology. While the history discussed includes Darwin’s Voyage on the Beagle and the Germans in Antarctica!….

From Goodreads – The Story

A remote military research station broadcasts a frantic distress call that ends with a chilling message: Kill us all. When soldiers arrive to investigate, they discover everyone in the lab is dead—not just the scientists, but every living thing for fifty square miles is annihilated: every animal, plant, and insect, even bacteria. The land is completely sterile—and the blight is spreading.

To prevent the inevitable, Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma must decipher a threat that rises out of the distant past.  A time, when Antarctica was green and Earth’s life balanced on a knife edge. Following clues from an ancient map rescued from the lost Library of Alexandria, Sigma will make a shocking discovery involving a prehistoric continent, and a new form of death buried under miles of ice. Read More

The Bottom Line:

The 6th Extinction is scary good, because most of the technological stuff is real and it’s scary!! The book gets 4.5 stars out of 5. Next up on the Rollins front is The Bone Labyrinth the latest Sigma Force adventure!

Author’s Website
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James Rollins

About James Rollins

James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers. His writing has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold more than 20 million books. The New York Times says, “Rollins is what you might wind up with if you tossed Michael Crichton and Dan Brown into a particle accelerator together.” NPR calls his work, “Adventurous and enormously engrossing.”

Far From True – Linwood Barclay

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Far From True – Linwood Barclay (Promise Fall #2)

(Book 16 of 2016)

Far From True is the second book in the Promise Falls trilogy from Linwood Barclay and once again Barclay has hit it out of the park! The book picks up where its predecessor Broken Promise leaves off, only  now there’s more upheaval in the quiet town of Promise Falls, leaving Detective Barry Duckworth with his hands full! The new trouble starts when a bomb goes off  on the closing night of the Constellation Drive-In and its big screen comes tumbling down and wreaks havoc on the town. Two of the people killed are Adam and Mariam Chalmers.The couple were crushed in Adam’s prized Jaguar when said screen came tumbling down.

The next morning, Private Investigator Cal Weaver receives a call from Adam’s daughter. Someone had broken into her parents house, She hires Weaver to investigate the break-in. When he discovers a secret room in the basement used for sex parties, complete with cameras to record the action, he figures someone may have taken some incriminating DVDs from the home. But who and why is the question??

Meanwhile Barry Duckworth is still trying to figure out who killed two Promise Falls women three years apart. First Olivia Fisher three years prior, and most recently Rosemary Grayson who along with her husband were central figures in Broken Promise. Both women were killed in a similarly brutal manner.

As if all of the above is not enough, another Promise Falls resident Samantha Worthington has her own problems. Her in-laws have been attempting to take her nine-year old son Carl away from her, any way they can, legal or illegal! In Broken Promise she was photographed in a compromising position, which her in-laws have tried to us to have her give up Carl. Now they are in Promise Falls to apologize??

I could probably add  more telling you about the disgraced ex-mayor who wants to run for reelection and his campaign manager, who by the way was the other person photographed in that compromising picture, or that several incidents in the town including the drive-in explosion have revolved around the number 23, but let’s just say that there’s a lot going on in this sleepy little town. Which is probably the reason that Barclay has needed three books to tell the tale!

But wait the tales of many of the residents of Promise Falls didn’t start with Broken Promise, they started back in Too Close to Home when readers met Derek Cutter and his family. Then readers met David  Harwood and his son Ethan in Never Look Away and although he wasn’t living in Promise Falls at the time, they met former Promise Falls police officer now private investigator Cal Weaver in A Tap on the Window. Each of these Promise Falls residents have played pivotal roles in these last two books.

I can’t think of any other authors who have taken characters from several stand-alone books and blended them into a series like this Promise Falls series. I for one can’t wait until November when the final book of the trilogy will be released!

Bottom Line – Linwood Barclay is a master of telling stories about common people facing extraordinary problems whether it’s a missing child (Never Look Away) or trying to discover why your son committed suicide (A Tap on the Window)  Now Barclay has now returned to his roots and made a series from his Promise Falls characters. I say return to his roots, because his first four books were a series, featuring the original common man facing extraordinary circumstances – Zack Walker! For me Far From True is one of Linwood Barclay’s best books, like C.J. Box he just keeps getting better and better!!

The New York Times Book Review writes…..

“Some days, all you really want is for someone to tell you a wicked good story. Linwood Barclay answers the reader’s perpetual prayer”

I for one say thank you Linwood Barclay!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Novels of Linwood Barclay

Author’s Website
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Amazon

Off the Grid – C; J  Box  – (Joe Pickett #16) The Stories Get Better and Better.

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Off the Grid - C,J,Box

Soon after finishing The Hunting Wind by Steve Hamilton, I received notice that C J Box’s new novel Off the Grid was available for pick-up at the library. So I hurried over to the library and then I came home and quickly devoured the book!

Yes, Off the Grid, book 16 in the Joe Pickett series is a good one! I finished Endangered book 15 in the series last April and it took me a little while to remember what happened in that one but Box as always kept revealing little bits of that storyline, which jogged my memory and brought that story back to me.

But while it is definitely better if you know the back story and the relationship between Nate Romanowski and Joe and his family it is not essential to the enjoyment of this book.

The Story

In this installment two Federal Agents approach Nate, who has been living off the grid since escaping from the hospital at the end of Endangered (Book 15 Joe Pickett), and present a proposal to him.

The agents want Nate’s help in destroying a suspected terrorist cell in Wyoming’s Red Desert. If the operation is a success the agents will make Nate’s criminal record disappear!!

So Nate soon finds himself alone in the Red Desert facing the biggest challenge of his life a group of “patriots” led by a charismatic falconer who have created a weapon that could wreak havoc, if it falls in the wrong hands, and those wrong hands may be within the group!

Meanwhile, Joe has his hands full with a grizzly bear before Wyoming’s governor sends him on a special assignment to find out what they Feds and Nate are up to in his state! So now Joe and Nate are facing down the terror cell and to make matters worse Joe’s oldest daughter and her roommate end up on old sheep ranch that serves as the base for the group.

My Thoughts

The Joe Pickett series has been a favorite of mine for a long time now and the great thing about the series is that the books are just getting better and better and Off the Grid is one of the best!

 I think what sets the Joe Pickett books apart from other books in the genre is the Pickett Family, Over the course of the series, the reader has watched the two Pickett girls Sheridan and Lucy grow up. In addition their adopted daughter April has become a central character in the series. Even Joe’s mother-in-law Missy has been key in several books!! Here’s what Booklist says……

“Is there a crime-fiction family as fully fleshed out as Joe Pickett’s? In singing the praises of Box’s series, we often praise the plotting, pacing, and the down-to-earth hero’s friendship with force-of-nature Nate Romanowski But Pickett’s supporting cast – wife Marybeth and daughters Sheridan. Lucy and April – lends a continuity to this series that sets it apart.”

My answer to that first question is maybe.The O’Connor family from William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series may be tied with them! But Joe’s family still makes this series special!

Bottom Line

Off the Grid for me is one of C.J.Box’s best books. it had a believable, scary plot with lots of page-turning action. I do believe that the final paragraph set the stage for the next book in the series and I for one can’t wait.

So join Joe and his family for this adventure, and while you wait for the next installment, go back and catch-up with the past lives of Joe and Nate and the rest of the clan!

iAuthor’s Website
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Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series

C J Box author of Storm Watch

About C J Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

Visit the Author Page

If you like the family and character connections in this series…

You might also enjoy:

William Kent Kreuger
Michael Robotham
Michael Robotham
Peter May
  • William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
  • Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
  • Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together

 

The Hunting Wind (Alex McKnight #3)- Steve Hamilton

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The Hunting Wind by Steve Hamilton was just as good the second time around!

One of the things that I have been doing on a fairly consistently this winter and into the spring is reading, I have set a goal that requires me to read books at a faster pace than last year and while i on a pace that is slightly slower than I need it to be, I am still reading at the same pace as last year finishing book 15 of the year just about on the same day as I finished book 15 last year!

Now one of the things that I did do recently that is out of the ordinary is that I reread a book! When ever my wife wants me to get rid of books she always says that I should get rid of them because I never reread a book! Well, while she will have to change that to you almost never reread a book, because I reread Steve Hamilton‘s The Hunting Wind a last week!

One of the reasons that I reread the book was that when I checked my Goodreads shelf for the book it was not there! The status was “want to read”!

When I started rereading the book which is book #3 in Steve Hamilton’s Alex McKnight series, I didn’t remember the storyline. The adventure begins when Alex’s former minor league teammate, from his days thirty years prior as a catcher with the Toledo Mud Hens, visits Alex’s home in Paradise, in Michigan’s upper peninsula and wants him to help find a girl he dated for ten days way back in 1971!

As Alex and Randy start their search for Maria who was the daughter of a fortune-teller Madame Valeska, they discover that Maria is in hiding. Maria is hiding from her dead husbands former business partner, who Maria believes murdered her husband and now is out to get her! But soon it appears that all is not as it seems to be and maybe it never was??? I think that it took until somewhere in the middle of the book that things started to become familiar and even when they did things still weren’t all that familiar, i.e. I didn’t remember the ending, which by the way is very good!!

Steve Hamilton’s first book to feature Alex McKnight a former Detroit police officer for eight years,now living in Paradise, MI, A Cold Day in Paradise won both an Edgar and Shamus award which was an unprecedented feat! The series is now up to book number 10 Let It Burn, which I think I once checked out of the library but did not read!  Alex is a great character and the surrounding cast in the series is also very good.  While Alex’s friend Vinnie is not featured in this book Jackie and the Glasgow Inn are present.

Bottom line: The Hunting Wind is a real page-turner even when I kinda knew what was going to happen. Like I said Alex is a great character and the story line twists and turns enough to keep the pages flying by. So check it out!

As for rereading a book it was a pleasant experience. It appears that I most likely read The Hunting Wind in 2004, as that’s, when I read books 1,2 and 4. So maybe the key to rereading books is that it works real well for books I’ve read 10 or more years ago!! Let’s see that would put most of the Robert Ludlum in play and many, many more!!

The Forgotten Room – Lincoln Child

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The Forgotten Room – Lincoln Child (Jeremy Logan #4)

The Forgotten Room is the fourth book in  Lincoln Child’s series featuring enigmalogist Jeremy Logan. While I have read many of the books in the Pendergrast series, which Child writes with Douglas Preston, this is the first of his solo books, that I have read.

The setting of the book is a Gothic Mansion in Rhode Island that is the home of the elite think-tank The Lux.  Jeremy returns to the Lux, where he was a resident for many years, before he was asked to leave, to help determine what happened to one of the Lux’s top scientists. The scientist began to exhibit strange behavior several weeks prior, and ended up committing suicide in a horrific manner. The erratic behavior started soon after the scientist was asked to direct the remodeling of the forgotten West Wing of the mansion. Soon after Logan begins his investigation he discovers a room hidden within the wing. The room has no windows or doors leaving no means to enter or leave the room. In the middle of the room was a piece of equipment unlike anything Jeremy has seen! What does it do? What is the purpose of the room and does it have anything to do with the death of the scientist or the sights and sounds that others, including Jeremy are experiencing? So Jeremy and the scientist’s assistant set out to find out what’s happening before someone else dies.

While I don’t think that The Forgotten Room is one the same level as the popular Pendergrast series, I do think it’s a damn good read. Many of the things that have happened at the Lux including voices that lead people to contemplate suicide, remind me of Patrick Lee’s book Runner. Overall,I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot more than the character of Jeremy Logan. That may be because I haven’t read any of the previous novels in which he appears.So to really enjoy the series I think I’ll need to go back and read the first book! Here’s what are some others have to say about The Forgotten Room

“Reflects the best of the ‘mad scientist and locked room’ mysteries of the early twentieth century . . . Fun and intriguing.” —Associated Press

“Chilling. . . . Child makes the most of the creepy setting, his unusual lead character, and an intricate plot.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“[A] very imaginative story for those who prefer a soft blending of mystery and paranormal.” —Booklist

An interesting sidelight of the book was that at one point in the book the  neurological phenomenon of synesthesia became a part of the story line. In one form of this phenomenon people see numbers and letters as being different colors, others see time as a 3 dimensional time-line. In others at time inanimate objects seem to exhibit emotions. The condition was studied extensively in the 18th and 19th century but interest dropped off in the 20th century. What’s interesting or odd is that one of the other books that I was reading at the same time was The Toaster Oven Mocks Me by Steve Margolis. That book was a mini-memoir from Margolis who has the disorder and throughout most of his life he never told anyone about what he saw or heard because he thought they would just think he was crazy.  I just thought I’d throw that in because I thought that it was amazing that I was reading two books at the same time that mentioned synesthesia!

Bottom Line: While I didn’t find The Forgotten Room all that chilling or creepy, I did find the intricate plot enjoyable and the pages flew by fairly quickly. The book can be enjoyed without having read the other books. The question is though would I have enjoyed it even more if I knew more of Logan;s back story? As such,  I will probably read another book in the Jeremy Logan series. Maybe first though, I’ll read a Douglas Preston’s solo books. I have read one of Preston’s solo efforts The Codex, which I enjoyed! (Book 14 of 2016)

Links for the Further Exploration of the Novels of Lincoln Child

Author’s Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon
Preston and Child