A good friend of mine who owns Old Port Wine & Cigar, Jacques deVillier, has recently decided to begin an exercise program that involves lots of walking. He's even walked 5k and 10k races -- including the just completed Sea Dog's Mother's Day 5k as shown below.
For the full effect, when looking at the picture, click on the music link below it.
Vangelis - Chariots of Fire Theme
Talk about making your parents proud. A male inmate in the Cumberland County jail has had his picture and that of the female prisoner he had sex with on the front page of the Portland Press Herald the last couple of days because of how he managed to slip out of his cell and into hers almost -- almost without being noticed.
Talk about making your parents proud!
Not only is your son or daughter in jail, but now there pictures are plastered on the front page of the paper for having sex while in jail.
From these articles in the Portland Press Herald, here and here, it's clear that spending $33 million to renovate the Civic Center is going to be money wasted unless they try to substantially expand the seating of the place. As Steve Crane, general manager of the civic center, states:
"The first thing that happens is, I get a call from the promoter, somebody who buys the talent and takes the financial risk," Crane said. "The first thing they want to know is if we have that date open. The second thing they want to know is how many seats we have."
The civic center has a maximum concert capacity of about 8,000, as compared to about 11,700 for Manchester, NH and 20,000 or more concert seats at Boston's TD Garden. With all its gambling money, even Bangor will soon have a very modern $65 million civic center with a similar seating capacity.
So capacity sells. So, you might ask, what are the planned renovations for the Cumberland County Civic Center? As stated in the article:
The civic center renovation will not significantly increase seating capacity, but will add premium suites and special seating opportunities to patrons. It also will expand the concourse to improve concessions and rest rooms, and rebuild the loading docks and staging areas.
In other words, the $33 million will be window dressing that will not significantly do anything to increase business at the Civic Center.
What a waste.
Make no mistake, I'm a diehard Patriots fan. But I wasn't surprised by the result. My prediction for the game was 24-21 Giants. Why?
They beat us 4 years ago in the Super Bowl and they beat us this year at home. I didn't care what Vegas said about the odds or point favorite being the Pats -- the Giants are a better team.
I told at least a dozen people over the last two weeks that I expected the Giants to win. That's not to say that I wasn't there rooting for the Pats on every play -- I was. And when 10 big wigs from Maine predicted the score of the big game in Saturday's paper, only Stephen King astutely predicted a 24-17 Giants win. And he's an acknowledged New England fan just like I am!
So what happened?
The Giants got most of the breaks and New England's offense failed them at a critical time. Case in point: New Englad forced three fumbles and the Giants got back every one of them.
And when the Pats were ahead on the scoreboard and trying to run down the clock, Brady passed with about four minutes left to a wide open Wes Welker. This catch would have made a first down and allowed the Pats to run down the clock -- perhaps after scoring and putting the game out of reach. Unfortuneately, Welker dropped the ball.
The result of that drop was that the Giants marched down the field and scored the winning touchdown, leaving less than a minute on the clock.
Then the Pats had the ball again -- but the receivers couldn't hold onto the passes. In the final crutial set of downs, Branch couldn't come up with a ball that was only slightly tipped; Hernandez dropped the next pass as he was trying to get upfield before hauling the ball in; and then Brady was sacked.
The final play was a Hail Mary that every person playing and watching the game knew was coming. When it was batted down, the Pats once again went home empty handed.
Some fans will undoubtedly blame the defense. And sure, that was a heck of a pass Manning made to Mario Manningham during the Giant's final scoring drive. But it was a perfect pass followed by a fantastic catch.
The problem the Pats had was getting their own offense in gear. You can't expect to win the Super Bowl by scoring only 7 points in the last two quarters of the game. Brady had a solid game -- there's not a lot he can do when his receivers are dropping balls. But the Patriots needed to take a few more chances to get into the end zone.
Manning has proven that when he gets the ball toward the end of the game with just a few minutes left, he's going to score. Everyone knows it. He got the ball with just over three minutes left in the game. He drove 88 yards in nine plays. He scored. The Pats couldn't stop him.
The Patriots had their opportunities but they missed them.
End of story. End of season.
Taken
By Robert Crais
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
$26.95, hard cover, 341 pages, 978-0-399-15827-8 (2012)
Talk about an enjoyable read. This novel has it all: Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, innocent young adults, a determined parent, evil men and women with no sense of morality, and bajadores – ruthless bandits who prey on other bandits. Mix them all together with drugs, weapons, the buying and selling of victims, and brutal murder and you have the ingredients for compelling novel.
Add the painstaking detective work, the genuine humanity, the nerve-racking tension, the thrilling action, and unbelievable suspense that only a talented writer like Robert Crais can bring to this novel and you have a thriller that you won’t soon forget.
Taken is the fifteenth Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel and it’s the first to feature them both equally. While I’ve enjoyed the last two books that had Joe Pike in the starring role, this novel ratchets up the tension by having Cole lead early and Pike take over in the second half.
The story centers on a young Latina and her Anglo boyfriend who are kidnapped by bandits along the Mexican border. These criminals are the worst of the worst – preying on other criminals figuring they can’t or won’t go to the police. This novel centers on bajadores who steal immigrants bound for the United States. This people kidnapping business is a rampant but often ignored problem along the Mexican border.
The mother of the kidnapped woman hires Elvis Cole to rescue her daughter. Cole soon discovers what has happened to her and he enters into a risky arrangement with a Korean organized criminal. It’s a desperate move and Cole knows it.
“I was now in business with a Korean gang known for extortion, brutality, and violence, and about to put my trust into a drug cartel known for torture and mass murder. I told myself it was worth it. I told myself I had no choice. I lied to myself, and knew I was lying, but chose to believe the lies.”
When the plan doesn't work out, Cole is seized by the bajadores and Pike must come to his rescue. With backup from fellow mercenary Jon Stone, Pike follows the trail left by his captors and holds nothing back from search for his best friend. The feds are also on the hunt for Cole and Pike must find him first before the federal agents make mistakes that could blow Cole’s cover – and his life.
This is vintage Robert Crais weaving one of the most suspenseful thrillers I’ve read in a long time. This is a book you’ll want to savor but if you’re like me, the tension will build so quickly that you’ll be unable to put it down. I finished it in a weekend. With fewer things to do, I’d have been done the same day.
Buy it on Amazon here.
Soft Target
By Stephen Hunter
Simon & Schuster
$26.99, hard cover, 256 pages, 978-1-4391-3870-0 (2011)
Stephen Hunter is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read practically everything he’s written. From the fabulous Time to Hunt, Point of Impact, and Dirty White Boys, to the mediocre Night of Thunder and The 47th Samurai, I’ve kept coming back for more. And who can blame me? Bob Lee Swagger, a/k/a Bob the Nailer, is a fascinating, no-holds-barred lead character that takes over a story the same way a fine actor mesmerizes on the screen.
Early in his writing career, Hunter had compelling writing with more action and suspense in a single chapter than many novels had in the entire story. Unfortunately, his more recent work has been hit or miss. So with a fair amount of trepidation, I dug into his latest novel: Soft Target.
What a disappointment.
Don’t get me wrong. The book isn’t horrible – in fact certain sections were quite good. But the difficulty in reading a new book from Hunter is that having read his previous works, I know that he’s a fabulous writer. And he’s certainly capable of much better than this. (It’s like having an A student come home with a paper in which he’s gotten a B-. It’s not that the grade is horrible – it’s just so much less than you know the student is capable of doing.)
The other problem is that the bad guys just aren’t talented enough. The story centers on a dozen terrorists taking over a thinly disguised Mall of America on Black Friday – the huge shopping day after Thanksgiving. Ray Cruz, the hero in Dead Zero, (and Swagger’s illegitimate son, for those who are keeping track), just happens to be in the mall when the action starts.
After the terrorists kill lots of folks and herd the remaining 1000 or so shoppers to the center of the complex, Cruz and a few other shoppers manage to escape. Soon Cruz takes down one of the terrorists and is armed. From then on, it’s just a straight shooter with little character development or excitement.
One of the problems is the bad guys just aren’t all that talented. Except for one, the terrorists are all young and inexperienced. To Cruz, they’re fish in a barrel. And the brain behind the terrorist plot is a villain too farfetched to be remotely believable.
This is Die Hard at the mall. Literally.
Buy it on Amazon here.
Yes, I do have my official New England Patriots necktie on today, thank you very much....
The Affair
By Lee Child
Delacourt Press
$28.00, hard cover, 405 pages, 978-0-385-34432-6 (2011)
This is a thrilling read about Jack Reacher when he was still a military cop and (sort of) following orders. The story centers on a murder in Mississippi in the year 1997. A woman is dead (and others soon follow) and it appears that a soldier at a nearby military base is responsible. But that soldier has a powerful senator for a father and favors are called in.
Reacher is ordered undercover in the town to find out what is going on and to keep the local police in line. Reacher is supposed to just assess the situation and not make waves – but this wouldn’t be much of a story if Reacher backed off from finding the truth. So even though he is ordered to be a good soldier, Reacher works to find out the truth no matter where it leads.
He soon links up with the local sheriff, Elizabeth Deveraux, a former military cop who just happens to be drop dead gorgeous (naturally). Soon Reacher is working closely, very closely, with Deveraux. But other forces are at work and Deveraux may be more than she appears to be. As usual, Reacher needs to find the truth and to hell with anyone who gets in his way.
This is vintage Jack Reacher who plows headlong into a full investigation of the underbelly of this small town, its sheriff, and those in the military and politics who want these crimes covered up and hidden. Despite his orders, Reacher only knows one way: straight ahead. And pity anyone who gets in his way.
Buy it on Amazon here.
Tim Tebow pulls off another huge win -- this time over the Steelers yesterday. It sets up a showdown with the New England Patriots. It was an amazing overtime victory that must have Broncos fans going crazy with excitement.
Of the three teams that the Pats could have faced in the playoffs, the Broncos were the one team I didn't want to play again. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the Tebow MVP of the free world camp. He has serious flaws as a quarterback, but he also has the heart of a lion.
What concerns me most is his unpredictability. Yeah, I know. The Pats cruised to an easy 41-23 win against the Broncos just three weeks ago. I also know that in week 8, we lost against the Steelers, 25-17.
So count me a nervous Patriots fan. Tebow's unorthodox, unpredictable play means that the Pats have to be vigilent on defense -- especially when Tebow is scrambling. That's when he'll pull up and run or just throw a bomb. Either way, the Patiots need to be ready for absolutely anything on game day.
You know I'll be watching....
More Mini Reviews
Power Down
By Ben Coes
St. Martin’s Press
$24.99, hard cover, 449 pages, 978-0-312-58074-2 (2010)
This is a terrific first novel by Coes who worked at the White House as a spec writer for former President Ronald Reagan. He was also the campaign manager for Mitt Romney’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign. This action-packed novel reminds me of a Mission Impossible movie – full of impressive locations and heart pounding adventures.
The book begins with a hydroelectric dam being blown up and one of the world’s largest offshore oil field destroyed by terrorists. Though hundreds die, the crew chief of the oil platform, Dewey Andrews, survives and even manages to kill the terrorist leading the attack. Andrews, a former Army Ranger and Delta, (think an older Tom Cruise), vows to find the men behind the attack and a high stakes cat-and-mouse game begins.
The action begins in Columbia where Dewey barely escapes with his life. Soon other targets are destroyed – including a major port in California. Dewey is from Maine and when the FBI gets involved, it becomes clear that Bath Iron Works is also in the terrorist’s sights.
This is a fabulous thriller that moves at a relentless pace – complete with absorbing characters, a flawed but likable hero, an all-too-believable storyline, and edge of your seat suspense. I can’t wait to read this talented writer’s next novel.
Buy it on Amazon here.
Micro
By Michael Crichton and Richard Preston
HarperCollins
$28.99, hard cover, 429 pages, 978-0-06-087302-8 (2011)
At the time of his death in 2008, Crichton had written a substantial portion of this novel. Richard Preston, a bestselling author in his own right, was chosen to finish the manuscript. The novel is about groundbreaking technology that allows the shrinking of objects and even people to explore the forests of Oahu, Hawaii in search of new drugs and applications for humanity. Preston does a great job of capturing the painstaking technical details of micro life – complete with all its wonders and dangers.
What starts out as a recruiting expedition by seven graduate students at Cambridge, Massachusetts soon evolves into survival on a micro scale – with this unlikely band of young people shrunk to a size where facing a wasp or an army of ants is a life-or-death situation.
The students face not only natural enemies – but full-sized humans who are out to kill them before they can report how this technology is being used for destructive purposes.
Micro was an entertaining read. But I kept thinking about the novel that Crichton is known for: Jurassic Park. No offense, but after the thrill-ride of being chased by dinosaurs, it’s kind of tough to get all worked up about being stalked by insects.
Buy it on Amazon here.
The Pack
By Jason Starr
Ace Books
$25.95, hard cover, 341 pages, 978-0-441-02008-9 (2011)
I’ve reviewed books recently about vampires and zombies, so I thought I’d try for a trifecta by reading a novel featuring another type of creature common to movie-going audiences: the werewolf. The Pack is about Simon Burns, a senior account manager who is unceremoniously fired from his job at a New York City advertising agency.
He is furious with his boss for letting him go, but after talking things over with his wife, he decides to become a stay-at-home dad for his young son. He soon meets a trio of other dads at a playground and immediately notices how bonded they are, how physically fit and confident they are. When he’s asked to meet them for a guy’s night out, he immediately accepts.
But that night turns into something far more than what he had imagined. He blacks out and wakes up in the woods in New Jersey. Upon getting home, he finds out that the boss he was angry at for firing him has been murdered – killed by a wolf.
Soon Simon is experiencing disquieting changes in his body, his perceptions, and his outlook on life. He suspects what has happened to him, but refuses to believe it. The evidence is soon overwhelming and Simon must use all of his new-found powers to just stay alive.
This is a clever, suspenseful novel that treats the werewolf genre with sparkling originality of thought. It grips you right from the beginning and keeps you turning the pages. Though there were some plot missteps – especially at the end – it was a ride worth taking.
Buy it on Amazon here.
Maine's largest newspaper, the Portland Press Herald, had this headline on the front page of the Sunday paper today:
Moon's Gravity is Serious Business
You're kidding me right? The front page?
What's next?
Temperatures below Freezing are Cold
Planes Fly High in the Sky
Overeating Makes People Gain Weight
Lack of Sunlight Causes Darkness
I mean, really. The article itself was about a NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon. How about a headline that at least hints at that information.
In the first quarter, the Bills scored on their first 3 possessions, 21-0. The Patriots looked overmatched on defense being unable to do anything at all to stop the onslaught. Then in the second quarter, everything changed. The defense held, and Brady and Co. went to work. At halftime, the score was 21-14.
In the 3rd, the Pats scored two field goals, and then a touchdown with a 2-point conversion by Danny Woodhead. Then it was no looking back. Having scored 14 points in both the second and the third quarters, the Patriots scored three touchdowns, 21 points, in the last quarter.
After having played a perfect first quarter, Buffalo allowed 49 unanswered points.
Ouch.
Now the Pats will have to see if they can make it past the first round of the playoffs. The last two years haven't been to the Patriots in the playoffs. And this season, they have allowed more net passing yards than any other team, not just this year, but in the history of the NFL. Despite their 13-3 record, t's difficult to feel confident about this team.
--------------------
And over in Denver, it looks like it may be the end of Tebow fever. Former Bronco quarterback Kyle Orton, who was traded when the decision was made to start Tim Tebow, led the Kansas City Chiefs to a 7-3 over Denver. Tebow's 4th quarter heroics fell flat again as Denver suffered its third loss in a row. It's not quite the end of Tebow fever since the Broncos made the playoffs with an 8-8 record. But really, now that the defenses have figured out how to defend a running quarterback, Denver will be lucky to win another game.
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Heading into the NFL season, Rex Ryan guaranteed that his N.Y. Jets would win the Super Bowl this year. That's going to be tough to do from the sidelines as Miami's 19-17 win eliminated them from even getting a wild card spot. There's a fine line between motivating your players with promises of a great year, and being such an egotistical braggart that you tick off the rest of the NFL. I think Ryan crossed that line before the season even began. So nice to see him get his comeuppance.
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to complain about big corporations, unfair distribution of wealth, lack of jobs, and many other things they believe are unjust. In the last three months, the Occupy Movement has spread from Wall Street to major cities throughout the U.S. Wikipedia lists over 300 cities in the United States alone where occupiers have made a stand -- and there are many more in other countries.
But as the protests go on, more and more city governments and private landowners where the occupiers live and protest appear to be losing their faith in the movement. Many of the protesters have been removed from various locations due to unhealthy living conditions, high crime, the cost of added police details, and other reasons.
When the movement began, it had laudable goals and generated lots of favorable publicity. Now however, at least locally here in Portland, stories in the paper focus on the occupy movement in Lincoln Park being filled with homeless people, unsanitary conditions, assaults, arrests, and the need for regular police intervention.
The troubling issue often expressed was the diversity of the message from the occupy protesters. It seemed that they lacked a coherent focus and that you could get a different reason for the protest from each protester you spoke with. From the beginning, I wondered how anything could be changed without a clear and consistent message.
So what exactly has the movement accomplished in three months? What policies have been changed directly due to the movement? What local or state governments have revised their proceddures? What businesses have changed how they operate? Other than a general message that many people are unhappy with a wide variety of matters today, what good have the protests done? What goals of the protesters have been met?
Hello.
Anyone?
No one predicted the Colts to win against the Patriots yesterday. The Pats cruised 31 - 24 -- putting subs in the 4th quarter after leading 31 - 3. Oh sure, the Colts scored 3 touchdowns in the final quarter -- so what? It's not like the Patriots were playing all their starters.
Any doubt about the importance of quarterbacks in the NFL should be clear from looking at the Colts. Without Peyton Manning (who has been out for the season due to injury), Indianapolis is winless this season. Like the importance of a top pitcher in baseball, a top-notch quarterback can make or break an NFL team.
No Peyton -- no wins. The Colts are currently on a runaway train. Even when the Pats lost Tom Brady in 2008, they managed to have a winning season.
But there is no discounting what an exceptional quarterback does for a football team. Just ask the Denver Broncos.
Ouch -- not only do the airlines charge you for your luggage on the plane, but you have guys like this who rob you blind when your bags are out of your possession. As reported in the Portland Press Herald, two Maine men stole electronics while baggage handlers.
Zone One
By Colson Whitehead
Doubleday
$25.95, hardcover, 259 pages, 978-0-385-52807-8 (2011)
This is your classic zombie novel written more beautifully than you’ve ever imagined. Never before have zombies been described so elegantly – and Whitehead even has two types: skels and stragglers. Skels are the zombies of modern times: fast, horrific, flesh-eaters. They are to be avoided or killed quickly. Stragglers, on the other hand, are stuck in a repeating loop of some activity they performed before the world went to hell.
The former shrink, plague-blind, sat in her requisite lounge chair, feet up on the ottoman, blank attentive face waiting for the patient who was late, ever late, and unpacking the reason for this would consume a large portion of a session that would never occur. The patient failed to arrive, was quite tardy, was dead, was running through a swamp with a hatchet, pursed by monsters. A man bent before a mirror that perched on the glass counter of a sunglasses store, his fingers holding on the arms of invisible shades. A woman cradled a wedding dress in the dressing room’s murk, reenacting without end a primal moment of expectation. A man lifted the hood of a copy machine. They did not move when you happened upon them. They didn’t know you were there. They kept watching their movies.
Over the course of three days, Zone One follows a man nicknamed “Mark Spitz” and his fellow zombie-killers from the Omega Unit as they rid New York City of skels and stragglers. Spitz, a black man who can’t, recounts how he got his nickname by shooting his way out of a swarm of zombies rather than doing the sensible thing and diving into the river to escape. He carries plenty of baggage from Last Night (the name for the time when the zombie epidemic began) and his fellow Omega Unit killers each have their own quirks.
This is a novel that explores emotional, social, psychological, and philosophical aspects of life after the unthinkable happens. The reader is left with the same questions that Spitz often poses about life before the plague: with all the abundance that life has to offer, are you living life to its fullest?
Buy it on Amazon here.
Feast Day of Fools
By James Lee Burke
Simon & Schuster
$26.99, hardcover, 463 pages, 978-1-4516-4311-4 (2011)
When alcoholic Danny Boy Lorca witnesses a man tortured to death, Sheriff Hackberry Holland knows that the small Southwest Texas border town that he patrols is in for more trouble. As he and his sometime lover deputy, Pam Tibbs, pursue leads, Anton Ling, a Chinese woman known as La Magdalena, seems to know more than she’s sharing.
Though presumed dead in Burke’s last novel, Rain Gods, serial killer Preacher Jack Collins is back with his machine deadly gun. Juxtaposed with the deeply moral Sheriff, who unerringly seeks justice, the Preacher is a riveting and vividly portrayed psychpath.
Burkes is best known for his mysteries featuring Louisiana P.I. Dave Robicheaux. If you’ve like those novels, and even if you’ve given them a chance and they didn’t grab you, this compelling thriller about a flawed but eminently admirable West Texas lawman is a gem. Not to be missed.
Buy it on Amazon here.
The Night Eternal
By Guillermo Dedl Toro and Chuck Hogan
William Morrow
$26.99, hardcover, 371 pages, 978-0-06-155826-9 (2011)
This is the third book in this trilogy of the world being decimated by a vampire virus. It started with The Strain, and then came The Fall, and now the remaining heroes of those earlier novels battle against the mass extermination of humans.
Although I didn’t review the earlier novels, I read them both and enjoyed them immensely. Any time something new and fresh can be added to the vampire lore, it’s a good thing. These novels bring a new, unique perspective to vampires that make them seem more plausible and revolting at the same time.
Only a rag-tag band of humans is left to fight the Master. Luckily, they’re assisted by Mr. Quinlan – a half-breed offspring of the Master that has lived for centuries waiting for the perfect time to obtain revenge.
The Strain was all about this world-wide plague of vampires and the unique way they were portrayed. The Fall pits the leader of the humans against the Master. The Night Eternal brings all the elements of the previous two books to a head with a life or death struggle for mankind. These are highly entertaining novels that no lover of vampires should miss.
That being said, for me at least, one line toward the end of The Night Eternal practically ruined the entire series. As one of the main characters is killed, he “screamed like a lobster being boiled.”
What?
As a Maine native, I’ve probably cooked hundreds of lobsters in my lifetime and I have yet to hear any of them make a single sound. That description struck me as so odd and out-of-place that I almost stopped reading at that point. It just goes to show you how a poorly phrased description can nearly destroy the mood of entire book – or even three.
But don’t allow that peculiar description to dissuade you from reading this highly entertaining series.
Buy it on Amazon here.
2011 Mini Reviews
I’m way, way behind in my reviews. I often read books that I don't write a full review about but still think that they're worth mentioning. Here are just a few of the books I've read this year that fall into that category.
Moonwalking with Einstein
By Joshua Foer
The Penguin Press
$26.95, hard cover, 307 pages, 978-1-59420-229-2 (2011)
Alabama – Montgomery.
This is a fascinating book about memory. The unusual title derives from a memory technique used by the author while competing in the US Memory Championship – a strange contest held each year in New York City where people try to remember the names of strangers, random digits, poetry, and a shuffled deck of playing cards.
Alaska – Juneau.
The author went to the event as a journalist and ended up becoming friends with some of the competitors. One thing led to another and before he knew it, he was studying both ancient and modern memory techniques and competing at the next US Memory Championship.
Arizona – Phoenix.
What I enjoyed about this book was that it told a story about memory devices, people with famous memories and the ability to recall unbelievable amounts of data (like the real life Rain Man: Kim Peek). It was interesting to learn about people with unusual abilities and how, with a little effort, everyday people could train their memories to recall many more things than you ever thought possible.
California – Sacramento.
As opposed to the dry memory books that just teach various mnemonic tricks, Moonwalking with Einstein draws you in to an absorbing story with a likable writer as the central character. In the best possible way, Foer makes exercising your memory sound – if not exciting – at least worthwhile.
Colorado – Denver.
It prompted me to try out a couple of the techniques. As a result, I now know all the US states in alphabetical order – along with their capitals.
Connecticut – Hartford.
Next stop: the US Presidents in order, including the years they served.
George Washington - 1789 – 1797.
After that – who knows? The Gettysburg Address?
Buy it on Amazon here.
The Cut
By George Pelecanos
Little, Brown and Company
$25.99, hard cover, 292 pages, 978-0-316-07842-9 (2011)
George Pelecanos is an award winning writer and is both a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer on the HBO series The Wire. That being the case, I expected impressive things from this novel about a returning Marine from Iraq who recovers stolen property for a cool 40 percent fee, no questions asked.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Spero Lucas is the adopted son of a Greek-American family who has returned to Washington, D.C. and lands a somewhat unsatisfying job working as an unlicensed investigator for a defense lawyer. When offered the opportunity to earn a little more money by a drug dealer doing time, Lucas puts any qualms about legality aside and agrees to do what he’s good at, recovering property for his 40 percent cut.
But what begins as a recovery of stolen marijuana soon turns into dead drug dealers, crooked cops, kidnapping, and unsavory thugs looking to outwit Lucas. Following this investigation through the eyes of Lucas as he bikes, kayaks, does calisthenics and beds beautiful women – all while taking in all the hot spots of DC – is a pleasure. It’s one I look forward to again in the next installment of this entertaining series about a flawed but likable returning vet.
Buy it on Amazon here.
Before I Go To Sleep
By S.J. Watson
Harper
$25.99, hard cover, 360 pages, 978-0-06-206055-6 (2011)
This debut novel starts out with a young woman waking up in strange bed next to an older man. She notices that he’s wearing a wedding ring and is ashamed at what she’s done. She thinks last night must have been a party where she got so drunk she doesn’t remember anything at all. She cautiously slinks out of bed, finds the bathroom, locks the door, and then looks in the mirror. That’s when things go horribly wrong.
"The face I see looking back at me is not my own. The hair has no volume and is cut much shorter than I wear it; the skin on the cheeks and under the chin sags; the lips are thin; the mouth turned down. I cry out, a wordless gasp that would turn into a shriek of shock were I to let it, and then notice the eyes. The skin around them is lined, yes, but despite everything else, I can see that they are mine. The person in the mirror is me, but I am twenty years too old. Twenty-five. More.”
Just imagine: you’re a 47 year old woman who can’t remember most of her entire adult life. Her physician, Dr. Nash, explains that she’s had amnesia for a long time. “You can't retain new memories, so you've forgotten much of what's happened to you for your entire adult life. Every day you wake up as if you are a young woman. Some days you wake as if you are a child."
Faced with this physical disability, Dr. Nash encourages her to keep a journal. She gradually remembers her name: Christine Lucas. But her inability to recall much else means she must rely heavily on the two men in her life: Dr. Nash and her husband Ben. But are they trustworthy? Are the fleeting memories she has accurate? And what about the eerie entry in her journal, just below her name, in blue ink and capital letters:
DON’T TRUST BEN.
Dennis Lehane, one of my favorite authors, describes this novel as “Momento on crystal meth.” While it doesn’t contain quite the number of twists and turns as that cult favorite movie, it still packs a wallop.
Buy it on Amazon here.
There is little more satisfying in life than beating a bragger. Make no mistake, that's just what Rex Ryan, the Jet's coach, is -- a big ego with a big mouth to match. So having the Patriots hand the Jets their lunch with a 37-16 triumph was just a joy to watch.
Having Brady march down the field in the 4th quarter to put the Pats up by two touchdowns was gratifying. But whenRob Minkovich grabbed his (second) interception of a Sanchez pass and ran it into the end zone -- that was a dagger in Ryan's heart.
Sweet.
Just like in the 2008 SuperBowl between the same teams, Eli Manning led the N.Y. Giants to a last minute score to beat the Patriots today in Foxborough 24-20. True, this one didn't come after the Pats won every game of the season leading up to the title game. And naturally, this lose wasn't as devastating as that one.
But come on, Pats! Losing by a touchdown in the last 15 seconds? Getting costly pass interference penalties late in the game that changed the outcome. The whole league knows that the Patriot defense stinks -- it's in last place. The real question is that will the season half over, why isn't it getting any better?
Sure, the final score read Pittsburg 25, New England 17 -- but make no mistake, the Pats were reeling from the opening drive. The Steelers walked all over the Pats defense. Not only was QB Roethlisberger passing all over the field at will, he had what seemed like minutes before feeling any pressure.
The Patriots main weakness -- defense -- was thoroughly exploited.
If Brady doesn't have a scoring field day to make up for the lack of D, the Patriots are in trouble. Yesterdays game showed that weakness in full display.
Make no mistake, the Pats will win more games this year. But until they find a way to pressure the other side's quarterback and learn to stop pass receivers, their dreams of a SuperBowl are just that: dreams.