So I had to take books back to the library yesterday — mine and my daughter Elizabeth’s. On the way, I told myself: “You are not getting any books out of the library. You’re already reading four or five!”
My counter-argument: “Well… maybe if I find something by someone I really love. Like Alex Kava.” I figured I was safe because her books usually come out in the summer.
I browsed the new-release shelf — nothing that called out. I moved on to the regular stacks, but someone else was blocking the aisle, so I jumped ahead to the end of the alphabet. At S I found Locked In by John Scalzi.
“Hey, I like this guy… and I’ve been meaning to read this one.”
Maybe I’ll just get this one book… And so it begins.
Back to the start of the alphabet — A…B…C…D…E… maybe I escape with just the Scalzi?
Then I reached the Ks.
And there it was.
NO!!! YES!!!
Breaking Creed — a new book from Alex Kava. Released in January? What’s with that? Maggie doesn’t usually show up until the summer! From Amazon:
New York Times– and internationally bestselling author Alex Kava’s thrilling new series introducing Ryder Creed, ex-marine turned K-9 search-and-rescue dog trainer, as he teams up with fan-favorite FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell.
Well, that did it. New series? I have to get it.
And since I already had two books in hand… I circled back to something I’d seen under G — Green-Eyed Lady by Chuck Greaves. I don’t know Greaves, but an author I do know and read, Douglas Preston, says this about the book:
“The wickedest read of the year: smart, real, vivid as hell. I loved this book.”
How do you walk away from that? Exactly — you don’t.
Luckily they’re all four-week loans, so now I just need to finish the four books I already started. OK, enough — I need to read before I head to work at Target!
Post Update (2025): Since I first wrote this library-adventure post, a few things have changed — and a few haven’t! While I’ve read several other John Scalzi books over the years, I still haven’t read Locked In. I did finish Green-Eyed Lady, but never continued the series, which only ended up with three books total. As for Alex Kava, I’ve kept up better there — I’m now up to Book 9 in the Ryder Creed series!
