"Silent Prey"

In John Sandford's, "Silent Prey," which is the 4th book in the Prey series starring Lucas Davenport, Davenport has left the police force and is still making a lot of money working on his video games but they've taken a new direction -- computer simulations of police tactical problems.  His personal life is not so great since his girlfriend left with their daughter and he's a bit at loose ends.

However, his biggest case -- catching the murderer Dr. Michael Bekker (a psychotic pathologist) -- is coming back to haunt him as Bekker manages to escape jail and start killing people in New York.  Some people think Davenport should have killed Bekker when he was a Lt. with the police department -- instead of capturing him.

Davenport's life is about to get a little more complicated with the arrival of a New York policewoman, Lily, he'd worked a case with before and gotten emotionally/sexually involved with.  Lily's boss wants Davenport to come to New York to provide insight into Bekker and handle the media ostensibly but he has another agenda, too.  Someone is killing bad guys in New York and that might not upset the local police force but, whoever it is, has taken to killing a few cops now, too.  Lily's boss wants Davenport to go undercover to see if he can find out who is behind the killings because he suspects it's someone internally.

The Bekker case has Davenport paired with Barb Fell who is working the case and has street contacts that might prove useful.  Since Lily currently has a love in her life -- a policeman recovering from a heart attack, Barb seems a logical choice for a current romantic entanglement except that has its own complications.

As Davenport works both cases, some clues begin to surface pointing out why Bekker might be so successful in finding victims in New York.  As the hunt for Bekker seems to be coming to a successful conclusion, so does Davenport's theories about the police involvement in the street killings.  As usual, Sandford is a master at weaving a complex tale that holds the reader's interest and makes it difficult to put the book down until its conclusion.  Off to look for the next book in the Davenport Prey series!  pazt

"Ffolkes"

"Ffolkes" is a fast paced edge of your seat thriller starring Roger Moore, James Mason, and Anthony Perkins.   A columnist for the Mukilteo Beacon mentioned he'd watched it again recently and I thought it sounded good -- forgetting that I had actually seen it years ago.  When I brought it home from the library, my husband said, "Why did you get that movie?"  I explained that the local columnist had recommended it so I'd decided to check it out.  My hubby said he'd recently watched it a couple of times on Roku.  When he reminded me of the plot, I realized I'd seen it, too, but we both agreed it was worth watching again.

Roger Moore plays the part of Rufus Excalibur Ffolkes who has a team of underwater experts training at his castle all the time -- preparing for any emergency that might require this team's special skills.  They're very handy at martial arts, too. 

When a team of madmen headed by Lou Kramer (and portrayed by Anthony Perkins) decide to hijack a supply ship and a drilling platform in the North Seas and hold crews and equipment hostage until the British government plays them a ransom, Ffolkes and his team are called in. 

Even having seen this movie before, I was still on the edge of my seat so, if you like thrillers (with a touch of comedy), you'll enjoy this one.  Roger Moore is great as an eccentric team leader and Anthony Perkins does what he was known for doing best -- playing the bad guy!  I wonder what he was really like?!  pazt

"The Burry Man's Day"

"The Burry Man's Day" is Catriona McPherson's second Dandy Gilver murder mystery.  As in her first mystery, I had a difficult time getting into the book but one half to three quarters way into the novel, I began to "get" it as well as some clues about who might be the murderer so then I was hooked.

In this instance Dandy and her friend Daisy have been invited to South Queensferry to visit their school chum, Frederica (or Freddie).  Freddie and her new husband, Cad, have inherited an estate of which they are now Lord and Lady.  This visit coincides with the annual Ferry Fair where one of Cad's employees will act as "The Burry Man." 

The Burry Man spends a day walking around encased in a costume of burdock heads with a couple of guides who help him stop at every bar and drink his way through town but as to why I'm not quite sure.  As it turns out, the Burry Man doesn't want to participate this year and Dandy and her friends are asked to encourage him to maintain the tradition.  However, when he relents then ends up dead at the end of the day, Cad is feeling remorseful and asks Dandy to investigate so she invites her friend, Alec, to assist her.  Although the coroner is sure he died of acute alcohol poisoning, not everything adds up as far as Dandy, Alec and Cad are concerned.  As it turns out, they are right and a killer must be found!  pazt

P.S.  There really is a Ferry Fair annual in South Queensferry complete with a Burry Man.!

"Nickled and Dimed to Death"

Denise Swanson's "Nickled and Dimed to Death" is the second book in her Devereaux Dime Store Mystery series.  Dev is settled in her life back in her home town of Shadow Bend, MO, running the shop she purchased there and watching over her grandmother who has memory problems.  Her new boyfriend, Deputy U. S. Marshal Jake Del Vecchio, has been cleared to return to duty and breaks a date with her at the last minute when he's called back to duty in St. Louis.  This gives her high school sweetheart/ex-beau, Dr. Noah Underwood, a chance to try to win her back.  She accepts his invitation to attend an event with him because he has promised an introduction to a man who can greatly increase her gift basket business. 

The introduction goes well and that part of the evening is a success but, when she gets a frantic call from her good friend, Boone (an attorney), saying he's been arrested for the murder of his client, Elise Whitmore, she calls on her other good friend, Poppy, to pick her up and take her to the police station.  Thus begins the mystery and the need for Dev and Poppy to find out who really killed Elise to clear Boone's name.  Although there is animosity between Noah and Boone, Noah offers to help in the investigation and Boone's attorney friend, Tryg Price, flies in from Chicago and settles in for the duration to represent Boone and lead the investigation.

Despite the seriousness of their task to solve a murder, a romance begins to develop between Tryg and Poppy and Noah makes a move on Dev -- hoping to win her back while Jake is out of town.  Noah does prove to be invaluable in getting information from the locals and the investigation has a few twists on the way to solving the murder.  pazt

"The Librarian" DVD's

Noah Wyle stars in "The Librarian" trilogy series.  My spouse and I have watched the first two "Librarian" DVD's:  "Quest for the Spear" and "Return to King Solomon's Mines."  They are fun adventure movies and we've requested the third one from the library.

Noah Wyle is the Librarian Flynn Carson and in "Quest for the Spear" he has been kicked out of college after accumulating multiple degrees.  His professor believes he needs to stop avoiding life and get out there into it.  His widowed mother portrayed by Olympia Dukakis also thinks it time he found a nice girl and settled down to provide her with some grandchildren.

Reluctantly, Flynn applies for a position as a librarian after finding an envelope his mother has slipped into his room.  The candidates appear to be endless and unsuitable but, when Flynn is interviewed, he is hired.  His boss, Judson, at the library is played by Bob Newhart and Jane Curtain as Charlene is the library administrator.  Flynn soon discovers that what he is there to do is to protect the world's greatest treasures which are safely secured and guarded in a secret part of the library.  When a rare artifact is discovered that might threaten the fate of the world, he's sent off to recover it and bring it to safekeeping in the library.

Does he have any training for this?  No!  In the first episode Judson sends him off telling him to trust no one but he soon discovers (when he finds himself threatened) that No one (Noone) is a beautfiul protector with amazing martial art and other skills.  Noone is played by Sonya Walger.  The risk is great and Flynn's success leads to self confidence for him as well as a love life -- which pleases and surprises his mother!

In the second movie, "Return to King Solomon's Mines," Noone is no where in sight but Flynn is unintentionally paired with a beautiful archaeologist, Emily Davenport, played by Gabrielle Anwar (of  the "Burn Notice" series).  After he makes a discovery at her dig, she is not going to let him out of her sight leading them both on an adventure to again save the world while endangering both their lives.....and, there's a little romance thrown in, too.

I think what I enjoy about these "adventure" movies is the subtle humor that is also inserted and why wouldn't there be humor with Bob Newhart and Jane Curtain involved in the making of these films?
Great at home movie night movies!  pazt

"Storm Front"

John Sandford's, "Storm Front," is the next to the last novel currently in his Virgil Flowers series.  So far I love all of Sandford's series but I particularly enjoyed this Flowers' novel. 

Virgil's boss, Lucas Davenport, calls him in to work on a case involving a local professor from his area who has been accused by the Israelis of stealing a precious artifact from a dig he was working on.  The professor has a wife with Alzheimer's and he's dying of cancer and the theft seems totally out of character for him and his long career of assisting with digs.

An Israeli investigator has been sent to retrieve the relic and Flowers has been assigned to assist her but things get tricky when the original woman who shows up keeps being accused (by everyone they question) of being part of the Mossad.  As it turns out, the original investigator has been "detained" prior to getting to the U.S. and this woman has taken her place.  As soon as the real investigator arrives, the imposter fades  into the background but doesn't totally disappear.

Lots of individuals are showing an interest in the artifact that it appears the professor is preparing to sell.  His son is out of the area but Flowers contacts the professor's daughter to see if she can help him find her father.
There is also a woman, "Ma" Nobles, that Flowers has been investigating for a possible counterfeit lumber selling ring.  Even "Ma" gets involved in the investigation when it turns out the professor did her family a big favor when she was a girl that changed the course of her life so she feels she owes him.  Despite the name, "Ma," "Ma" is young and well developed and there may be more than an investigation into her criminal activities on Virgil's part that interests him.

As usual, there are some twists and turns in this Sandford novel that kept me guessing to the end and I was unable to put it down (and it's 376 pages in hardback!) until I'd finished it.  pazt

"The Light Between Oceans"

"The Light Between Oceans" is M. L. Stedman's first novel and I hope it won't be her last.  She was born and raised in Western Australia and her novel is set in Australia although she now lives in London.

Stedman weaves a complex tale full of emotion and our hero, Tom Sherbourne, is the pivotal figure.  He has spent four long years on the Western Front and comes home haunted with what he's seen in the war and  by the men who he knew who died.  It's not something he wants to talk about.

Post war finds him rescuing one woman, marrying another and becoming a lighthouse keeper -- a lonely and remote job but made bearable when he married Isabel.  Isabel is the perfect mate for him but several miscarriages leave her grieving over her inability to bear a living child.  When a boat washes up on shore with a dead man and a live baby in it, Isabel wants to keep the child and is convinced the child's mother must be dead, too.  Having recently given birth to a stillborn child, she convinces Tom (against his better judgement) not to log the man's death and the appearance of the child.  They begin to raise the child, Lucy, as their own.

However, when Tom discovers the true circumstances behind the child's parentage, he tries to convince Isabel that they must tell the truth but, by then, she is too firmly attached to let Lucy go.  As a result, Tom is faced with a wrenching decision and an ultimate decision that hurts his daughter, his wife, and another woman as well as himself.  pazt