Finished Su 11/25/18
This is a hardback that Janny loaned to me, and right off the bat, I realized that I'd read it before, but it's such an intricate story that it was just as good the second time around.
A 'deep-cover' informant contacts The Board On Judicial Contact to expose the most corrupt judge in American history, Claudia McDover.
A secret organized crime mob is skimming money from an Indian casino in Florida. Because the casino is on Indian land, the Indians are completely in charge of 'the count'. The is no accountability and millions were stolen.
Lacey and Hugo are two agents for the BJC. They are not agents- only lawyers. Hugo and Lacey are lured to the reservation and Hugo is killed in a truck/ car accident. Lacey is driving and the seat belts and airbag on the passenger side were disabled. Hugo was killed instantly- he went through the window and Lacey was badly injured.
Because of Hugo's murder, they were able to engage the FBI in the investigation.
The informants made a percentage of the money that was skimmed and this was their motivation. They ended up with a fortune- years later.
Plot from the novel's page at wikipedia-
"A mysterious source contacts the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct (BJC) promising information that will reveal the identity and crimes of the most corrupt judge in the history of the United States. Investigator Lacy Stoltz is assigned to the case, and takes her sometimes-partner Hugo Hatch with her to St. Augustine to meet the source in person. The source is revealed to be a disgraced lawyer from Pensacola named Ramsey Mix, now calling himself Greg Myers, who lives on a boat named The Conspirator.
In this and subsequent meetings Mix/Meyers reveals that the judge in question is Claudia McDover of Florida's 24th Circuit, who resides in the fictional Brunswick County, in the panhandle of Florida between Tallahassee and Pensacola. Over the course of almost two decades of corruption, Judge McDover has aided the Coast Mafia in their scheme to build the Treasure Key casino in partnership with the Tappacola Indian Nation. Aside from skimming money from the casino itself, the Coast Mafia has also been responsible for many lucrative real estate developments in the vicinity of the casino, with any legal problems or challenges smoothed over by Judge McDover, who has been well paid in cash and condominiums.
In addition, the Coast Mafia stages the murder of Son Razko, a prominent anti-casino member of the Tappacola Nation, and with the help of Judge McDover makes sure that his right-hand man Junior Mace is falsely convicted of the crime. Mix/Meyers has been given this information by an intermediary representing an unknown "mole" close to Judge McDover.
Stoltz and Hatch begin to investigate the allegations before bringing any formal charges against Judge McDover. The leader of the Coast Mafia, Vonn Dubose, gets wind of the investigation and decides to retaliate. Stoltz and Hatch are lured to a rural part of the Tappacola Reservation by a member of the Tappacola Nation claiming to be an employee of the casino with important information. Driving away from the uneventful meeting, Hatch and Stoltz are deliberately struck head-on by a truck. Hugo Hatch is killed and Lacy Stoltz is badly injured.
The escalation of danger involved with the case convinces the director of the BJC, Michael Geismar, to call in the aid of the FBI. The heavy-handed intimidation tactic that killed Hugo Hatch ends up being the undoing of the Coast Mafia, as the up-and-coming lieutenant tasked with its execution was inexperienced in such matters and left behind evidence at the scene of the crime and was also subsequently caught on video at a nearby all-night convenience store. Following this evidence, and helped by the former Tappacola Nation constable, BJC and FBI investigators find the Coast Mafia henchmen directly responsible for Hatch's murder and offer them reduced sentences in exchange for information and future testimony against those higher up in the Coast Mafia organization.
As their operation begins to unravel, Vonn Dubose and Judge McDover realize that information must have been leaked from someone close to one of them, and suspicion lands on Judge McDover's court recorder of seven years, Jo Hellen Hooper, who is in fact "The Whistler." Realizing her danger, Jo Hellen flees her job and home in Brunswick County to hide in a cheap hotel on Panama City Beach, but she is tracked there by a Coast Mafia hitman. With the help of Lacy Stoltz, Hooper manages to evade the hitman and the two drive to Valdosta, Georgia where they are met at the airport by Lacy's brother Gunther Stoltz, a real estate developer from Atlanta. Gunther flies the two women to western North Carolina in a private plane. There they hide in a lakeside cabin in the mountains while the FBI punishes Vonn Dubose and his partners in crime. Judge McDover is sentenced to 25 years in prison".
I liked the novel, but John Grisham and David Baldacci are more 'story teller's, and 'writers' are more like Ian Rankin and Lawrence Block. I began 'LET IT BLEED' by Ian Rankin Sunday evening after I finished 'THE WHISTLER'. I think that I've been referring to 'THE WHISTLER' on the blog as 'THE WHISPERER'- in error.
Monday, November 26, 2018
Saturday, November 24, 2018
A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD by Anne Tyler
Finished Fr 11/23/18
The November, 2018 selection for the Contemporary Book Club
Anne Tyler's 20th novel
Roland Park, MD- oldest planned community in the US; 1890-1920. Bouton St., where the Whitshanks live is named for one of the founders. Oldest strip-mall. Six stores under one roof; Tudor looking; fire station on one end.
6.7 miles south of Coldbrook Rd./ Lutherville Timonium Elementary. About six miles to Baltimore city.
THE WHITSHANKS
J.R. (Junior) built the house for The Brill's. The house is a character in the novel.
Linnie Mae- He was 14 and he was 26. Insisted the the house had some 'blue'. Low class but tenacious.
Red- father that inherited the house on Bouton. When he met Abby is one of the 'family stories'. Merrick is his sister and she married into wealth, Trey. He's an alcoholic and kind of ignores her. They also have a house in Sarasota Fl.
Abby- The Mother Figure. A social worker, but her work is never mentioned in the book. I wonder why? Micromanages Denny
Amanda- lawyer; married a 'Hugh'. Upper income family
Jeannie- works as a carpenter in Red's construction company, founded by JR. 3 little boys.Married to 'another Hugh'.
Denny- On the scale? no goals, French horn, no long term relationships. The Prodigal Son
'Stem' (because of his beautiful neck), Douglas. He was 'adopted' by Abby and Red. His father was 'Trouble' the carpenter that gave JR his start when he came to Baltimore from the South. Stem's mother was one of Abby's 'orphans' and saw the family occasionally on holidays. She had an irritating laugh and the family thought that this woman was a kind of joke.
The book's page in wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Spool_of_Blue_Thread
The November, 2018 selection for the Contemporary Book Club
Anne Tyler's 20th novel
Roland Park, MD- oldest planned community in the US; 1890-1920. Bouton St., where the Whitshanks live is named for one of the founders. Oldest strip-mall. Six stores under one roof; Tudor looking; fire station on one end.
6.7 miles south of Coldbrook Rd./ Lutherville Timonium Elementary. About six miles to Baltimore city.
THE WHITSHANKS
J.R. (Junior) built the house for The Brill's. The house is a character in the novel.
Linnie Mae- He was 14 and he was 26. Insisted the the house had some 'blue'. Low class but tenacious.
Red- father that inherited the house on Bouton. When he met Abby is one of the 'family stories'. Merrick is his sister and she married into wealth, Trey. He's an alcoholic and kind of ignores her. They also have a house in Sarasota Fl.
Abby- The Mother Figure. A social worker, but her work is never mentioned in the book. I wonder why? Micromanages Denny
Amanda- lawyer; married a 'Hugh'. Upper income family
Jeannie- works as a carpenter in Red's construction company, founded by JR. 3 little boys.Married to 'another Hugh'.
Denny- On the scale? no goals, French horn, no long term relationships. The Prodigal Son
'Stem' (because of his beautiful neck), Douglas. He was 'adopted' by Abby and Red. His father was 'Trouble' the carpenter that gave JR his start when he came to Baltimore from the South. Stem's mother was one of Abby's 'orphans' and saw the family occasionally on holidays. She had an irritating laugh and the family thought that this woman was a kind of joke.
The book's page in wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Spool_of_Blue_Thread
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
ZAP GUN by Philip K. Dick
Finished Tu 11/20/18
One of my paperbacks that I had never read.
A very difficult read, and even PKD admits that the first part of the book is almost unreadable. However, the ideas are outstanding.
Asimov and Heinlein appear today almost quaint and outdated. The idea that technology will have no downside in the future is completely out of fashion. And, Dick's utopian vision is far more reasonable.
The book is a kind of black comedy of the Arms Race of the fifties and early sixties. Mutually Assured Destruction.
In the book, the world is divided into two sides; 'Peeps-East and The Western Bloc' or pretty much like East and West of the 20th century.
Psychics 'dream up' the weapons, and they are not even real.
Lars Powderdry for the West, and Lilo Topchev (a young woman) for the East
From the book's page on wikipedia-
"This novel is set in a then-future 2004. There is still a (theoretical) Cold War between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. At the elite governmental level, however, both "sides" have secretly come to an agreement. They have decided that, instead of continuing the ecologically and economically crippling nuclear and conventional arms race, they will pretend to be constantly developing new weapons, which are then "plowshared." This means that these items are transformed into novel but baroque consumer products. Most of these weapon designers are mediums, who create their new designs in trance states. Design of weapons are extracted telepathically from a motion comic book, The Blue Cephalopod Man from Titan, created by mad Italian artist Oral Giacomini.
One Wes-Bloc weapons designer, Lars Powderdry (Mr. Lars of Mr. Lars Incorporated) is the central character. He is depressed that his industry is little more than a fraud, as none of his "weapons" are functional, having become fashion items instead. The plowshared guidance system of Item 202, a telepathic featureless brazen head named Ol' Orville, explains that this depression is merely a projection of his own fears of professional and physical impotence. His female Peep-East counterpart is Lilo Topchev, whom he knows nothing about, but whom Ol' Orville advises him to seduce. He also has a mistress, Maren Faine, head of his company's Parisian branch.
Apart from the comic overtones of this deception, there is a subplot related to alien invasion. Sirian aliens invade Earth, and are determined to enslave its populace. The aliens' first target is New Orleans, which is enshrouded in a "gray curtain of death." Earth has a problem, given the deceptive nature of its arms race and the absence of functional weapons technology. Lilo immediately tries to kill Lars, despite the intentions of their blocs otherwise, but eventually they collaborate. Neither can design functional weapons, however.
There is a further subplot about a conspiracy theorist, Surley G. Febbs, who is elected as an "average man" to the governing body of Wes-Bloc. The conclusion involves an eclectic mixture of time travel, androids, drugs, toys, and comic books."
The book was very difficult to follow because of the clunky writing style. I watched a number of Youtube videos about Dick and learned that during this period he was writing nonstop and was up for days on cheap Mexican speed. He had already been married a few times and was basically writing to support his wives and children.
Although he is regarded as the 'Preeminent LSD Author', he only tripped one time, and it was a very bad bummer. He went to the 'black place of death'.
A little of Dick goes a long way, but his vision and ideas are priceless.
Sometimes the idea of a PK Dick novel is better than the book itself.
ZAP GUN might have worked better as a graphic novel.
One of my paperbacks that I had never read.
A very difficult read, and even PKD admits that the first part of the book is almost unreadable. However, the ideas are outstanding.
Asimov and Heinlein appear today almost quaint and outdated. The idea that technology will have no downside in the future is completely out of fashion. And, Dick's utopian vision is far more reasonable.
The book is a kind of black comedy of the Arms Race of the fifties and early sixties. Mutually Assured Destruction.
In the book, the world is divided into two sides; 'Peeps-East and The Western Bloc' or pretty much like East and West of the 20th century.
Psychics 'dream up' the weapons, and they are not even real.
Lars Powderdry for the West, and Lilo Topchev (a young woman) for the East
From the book's page on wikipedia-
"This novel is set in a then-future 2004. There is still a (theoretical) Cold War between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. At the elite governmental level, however, both "sides" have secretly come to an agreement. They have decided that, instead of continuing the ecologically and economically crippling nuclear and conventional arms race, they will pretend to be constantly developing new weapons, which are then "plowshared." This means that these items are transformed into novel but baroque consumer products. Most of these weapon designers are mediums, who create their new designs in trance states. Design of weapons are extracted telepathically from a motion comic book, The Blue Cephalopod Man from Titan, created by mad Italian artist Oral Giacomini.
One Wes-Bloc weapons designer, Lars Powderdry (Mr. Lars of Mr. Lars Incorporated) is the central character. He is depressed that his industry is little more than a fraud, as none of his "weapons" are functional, having become fashion items instead. The plowshared guidance system of Item 202, a telepathic featureless brazen head named Ol' Orville, explains that this depression is merely a projection of his own fears of professional and physical impotence. His female Peep-East counterpart is Lilo Topchev, whom he knows nothing about, but whom Ol' Orville advises him to seduce. He also has a mistress, Maren Faine, head of his company's Parisian branch.
Apart from the comic overtones of this deception, there is a subplot related to alien invasion. Sirian aliens invade Earth, and are determined to enslave its populace. The aliens' first target is New Orleans, which is enshrouded in a "gray curtain of death." Earth has a problem, given the deceptive nature of its arms race and the absence of functional weapons technology. Lilo immediately tries to kill Lars, despite the intentions of their blocs otherwise, but eventually they collaborate. Neither can design functional weapons, however.
There is a further subplot about a conspiracy theorist, Surley G. Febbs, who is elected as an "average man" to the governing body of Wes-Bloc. The conclusion involves an eclectic mixture of time travel, androids, drugs, toys, and comic books."
The book was very difficult to follow because of the clunky writing style. I watched a number of Youtube videos about Dick and learned that during this period he was writing nonstop and was up for days on cheap Mexican speed. He had already been married a few times and was basically writing to support his wives and children.
Although he is regarded as the 'Preeminent LSD Author', he only tripped one time, and it was a very bad bummer. He went to the 'black place of death'.
A little of Dick goes a long way, but his vision and ideas are priceless.
Sometimes the idea of a PK Dick novel is better than the book itself.
ZAP GUN might have worked better as a graphic novel.
Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free by Linda Kay Klein
I borrowed this book from the library and forgot to write it up. Probably finished the first or second week of November.
I loved the book and was most surprised (outraged!) that 'Purity' was funded by taxes as a viable 'birth control message'. This foolishness is the, " Just Say No' of the 90's and early 2000's. And, studies prove that people that use the 'Purity' method (abstinence) have no discernable difference between people who don't use any kind of birth control.
I was also pleased to see that although kids are exposed to far more about sex than people of other eras, however they know absolutely nothing more about the actual facts of sex and babies than people who were not exposed to Internet sex.
From a woman who has been there and back, the first inside look at the devastating effects evangelical Christianity’s purity culture has had on a generation of young women—in a potent combination of journalism, cultural commentary, and memoir.
In the 1990s, a “purity industry” emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual “stumbling blocks” for boys and men, and any expression of a girl’s sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls—resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder—and trapped them in a cycle of shame.
From the book's page at amazon-
"This is the sex education Linda Kay Klein grew up with.
Fearing being marked a Jezebel, Klein broke up with her high school boyfriend because she thought God told her to, and took pregnancy tests though she was a virgin, terrified that any sexual activity would be punished with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. When the youth pastor of her church was convicted of sexual enticement of a twelve-year-old girl, Klein began to question the purity-based sexual ethic. She contacted young women she knew, asking if they were coping with the same shame-induced issues she was. These intimate conversations developed into a twelve-year quest that took her across the country and into the lives of women raised in similar religious communities—a journey that facilitated her own healing and led her to churches that are seeking a new way to reconcile sexuality and spirituality.
Sexual shame is by no means confined to evangelical culture; Pure is a powerful wake-up call about our society’s subjugation of women."
Also, these people believe that 'Christian woman cannot be raped'. If she is raped, this proves that she really wasn't a very good Christian. How was she dressed? Why was she there? Why did she not conceal her sexuality? or Why did she flaunt it?
Men are not part of the 'rape equation'. Women are responsible for controlling their sexual wiles, and if this turns on men to the point that the men can't control themselves, then this is the fault of the women.
Also, women are expected to put on a 'happy face', regardless of how they really feel. 24/7 they are kind of like ambassadors of the Christian Faith, and it is extremely bad form to appear to be 'down' or depressed.
The author was suffering from Crohn's disease and it wasn't until she relocated to Australia did she receive a proper diagnosis. She just kept a 'happy face' during all of her very real pain.
Young girls are expected to have absolutely No Physical Contact with their boyfriends until after they are married.
"A lamb during the daytime, and a tiger at night (ind bed)". Obviously, there is no switch that can be turned on, and this is a ridiculously in-human view of sexuality.
The book was completely absorbing and compelling and I wish I owned a copy.
I loved the book and was most surprised (outraged!) that 'Purity' was funded by taxes as a viable 'birth control message'. This foolishness is the, " Just Say No' of the 90's and early 2000's. And, studies prove that people that use the 'Purity' method (abstinence) have no discernable difference between people who don't use any kind of birth control.
I was also pleased to see that although kids are exposed to far more about sex than people of other eras, however they know absolutely nothing more about the actual facts of sex and babies than people who were not exposed to Internet sex.
From a woman who has been there and back, the first inside look at the devastating effects evangelical Christianity’s purity culture has had on a generation of young women—in a potent combination of journalism, cultural commentary, and memoir.
In the 1990s, a “purity industry” emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual “stumbling blocks” for boys and men, and any expression of a girl’s sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls—resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder—and trapped them in a cycle of shame.
From the book's page at amazon-
"This is the sex education Linda Kay Klein grew up with.
Fearing being marked a Jezebel, Klein broke up with her high school boyfriend because she thought God told her to, and took pregnancy tests though she was a virgin, terrified that any sexual activity would be punished with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. When the youth pastor of her church was convicted of sexual enticement of a twelve-year-old girl, Klein began to question the purity-based sexual ethic. She contacted young women she knew, asking if they were coping with the same shame-induced issues she was. These intimate conversations developed into a twelve-year quest that took her across the country and into the lives of women raised in similar religious communities—a journey that facilitated her own healing and led her to churches that are seeking a new way to reconcile sexuality and spirituality.
Sexual shame is by no means confined to evangelical culture; Pure is a powerful wake-up call about our society’s subjugation of women."
Also, these people believe that 'Christian woman cannot be raped'. If she is raped, this proves that she really wasn't a very good Christian. How was she dressed? Why was she there? Why did she not conceal her sexuality? or Why did she flaunt it?
Men are not part of the 'rape equation'. Women are responsible for controlling their sexual wiles, and if this turns on men to the point that the men can't control themselves, then this is the fault of the women.
Also, women are expected to put on a 'happy face', regardless of how they really feel. 24/7 they are kind of like ambassadors of the Christian Faith, and it is extremely bad form to appear to be 'down' or depressed.
The author was suffering from Crohn's disease and it wasn't until she relocated to Australia did she receive a proper diagnosis. She just kept a 'happy face' during all of her very real pain.
Young girls are expected to have absolutely No Physical Contact with their boyfriends until after they are married.
"A lamb during the daytime, and a tiger at night (ind bed)". Obviously, there is no switch that can be turned on, and this is a ridiculously in-human view of sexuality.
The book was completely absorbing and compelling and I wish I owned a copy.
Saturday, November 17, 2018
I AM ALIVE AND YOU ARE DEAD- A Journey Into The Mind Of Philip K. Dick by Emmanuel Carrere
Finished Fr 11/16/18
The author's page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Carr%C3%A8re
I remembered how much I loved his film 'La Moustache', and it was most definitely a 'phildickian' movie.
His mother sounds like a real piece of work. She got caught up in the beginning of the pharmaceutical industry. Trading her pills and theories with her friends and family as if they were baseball cards.
Phil was in therapy (because of his mother) since the age of fourteen. He was savy in taking the tests and answering the questions and he could manipulate most counselors.
I wonder how much his dead twin, Jane, really had on his makeup, or was he just using this to create 'a character'.
His drug rehabilitation in Vancouver, CA 'X-KALAY, was really a harsh environment. Started in 1967 and the guy is still alive and is now a talk show host on the radio. Maybe Phil craved the hard-line discipline since he had been spending so much time with shiftless and aimless people.
"VAST ACTIVE LIVING INTELLIGENCE" came during the writing of Ubik
FEBRUARY 3, 1974
From Dick's page on wikipedia-
"Throughout February and March 1974, Dick experienced a series of hallucinations, which he referred to as "2-3-74", shorthand for February–March 1974. Aside from the "pink beam", Dick described the initial hallucinations as geometric patterns, and, occasionally, brief pictures of Jesus and ancient Rome. As the hallucinations increased in length and frequency, Dick claimed he began to live two parallel lives, one as himself, "Philip K. Dick", and one as "Thomas", a Christian persecuted by Romans in the first century AD. He referred to the "transcendentally rational mind" as "Zebra", "God" and "VALIS". Dick wrote about the experiences, first in the semi-autobiographical novel Radio Free Albemuth and then in VALIS, The Divine Invasion and the unfinished The Owl in Daylight (the VALIS trilogy)."
This is the link to the excellent Youtube interview and many of the incidents that he mentions in the book are covered in this discussion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=YEohNAXLSOE
He had an amazing number of women in his life and it wasn't that he was a Casanova as much as that he was just terrified to be alone. His real view of woman was very 1950-ish and not 'modern' at all. Women were there to serve and console him, and they should just fade into the background when he didn't need them. Even though they lived in squalor, he refused to let any of them work although some of them did anyway.
For most of his life he lived in houses, but in the end he lived in an apartment complex. Here is where he met KW Jeter and Tim Powers. He was also living with his wife Doris who was dying of cancer. This woman later moved into the apartment next to his and recovered.
No explanation is given as to how Phil was able to correctly diagnose his son Christopher's hernia. Maybe it really was a divine manifestation.
The breakin that shattered his life is revealed to be a pretty much normal occurrence that was fairly common during the time that he lived in that area. He ties it from everything to the Black Panthers to aliens from outer space, but he was convinced that the American federal government (FBI) was keeping close tabs on him his entire life. After the Freedom of Information Act he saw that there was only a single page in his file, but this 'proved' that the surveillance was real because they obviously had redacted his file- He makes the negative prove the positive.
The author's page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Carr%C3%A8re
I remembered how much I loved his film 'La Moustache', and it was most definitely a 'phildickian' movie.
His mother sounds like a real piece of work. She got caught up in the beginning of the pharmaceutical industry. Trading her pills and theories with her friends and family as if they were baseball cards.
Phil was in therapy (because of his mother) since the age of fourteen. He was savy in taking the tests and answering the questions and he could manipulate most counselors.
I wonder how much his dead twin, Jane, really had on his makeup, or was he just using this to create 'a character'.
His drug rehabilitation in Vancouver, CA 'X-KALAY, was really a harsh environment. Started in 1967 and the guy is still alive and is now a talk show host on the radio. Maybe Phil craved the hard-line discipline since he had been spending so much time with shiftless and aimless people.
"VAST ACTIVE LIVING INTELLIGENCE" came during the writing of Ubik
FEBRUARY 3, 1974
From Dick's page on wikipedia-
"Throughout February and March 1974, Dick experienced a series of hallucinations, which he referred to as "2-3-74", shorthand for February–March 1974. Aside from the "pink beam", Dick described the initial hallucinations as geometric patterns, and, occasionally, brief pictures of Jesus and ancient Rome. As the hallucinations increased in length and frequency, Dick claimed he began to live two parallel lives, one as himself, "Philip K. Dick", and one as "Thomas", a Christian persecuted by Romans in the first century AD. He referred to the "transcendentally rational mind" as "Zebra", "God" and "VALIS". Dick wrote about the experiences, first in the semi-autobiographical novel Radio Free Albemuth and then in VALIS, The Divine Invasion and the unfinished The Owl in Daylight (the VALIS trilogy)."
This is the link to the excellent Youtube interview and many of the incidents that he mentions in the book are covered in this discussion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=YEohNAXLSOE
He had an amazing number of women in his life and it wasn't that he was a Casanova as much as that he was just terrified to be alone. His real view of woman was very 1950-ish and not 'modern' at all. Women were there to serve and console him, and they should just fade into the background when he didn't need them. Even though they lived in squalor, he refused to let any of them work although some of them did anyway.
For most of his life he lived in houses, but in the end he lived in an apartment complex. Here is where he met KW Jeter and Tim Powers. He was also living with his wife Doris who was dying of cancer. This woman later moved into the apartment next to his and recovered.
No explanation is given as to how Phil was able to correctly diagnose his son Christopher's hernia. Maybe it really was a divine manifestation.
The breakin that shattered his life is revealed to be a pretty much normal occurrence that was fairly common during the time that he lived in that area. He ties it from everything to the Black Panthers to aliens from outer space, but he was convinced that the American federal government (FBI) was keeping close tabs on him his entire life. After the Freedom of Information Act he saw that there was only a single page in his file, but this 'proved' that the surveillance was real because they obviously had redacted his file- He makes the negative prove the positive.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
NATCHEZ BURNING by Greg Iles
Finished Su 11/11/18
This is the first book in the 'MISSISSIPPI BURNING' trilogy and I bought all three books late last month.
I've read a couple of other books by Iles and I wanted to read the entire trilogy. The central character in this book is Penn Cage and he was also in the 'stand-alone' novels that I've read.
Penn is a novelist, ex-lawyer, and former mayor of the town of Natchez where the story is set.
Dr. Tom Cage is Penn's father and this man is the epitome of 'the kindly, small-town physician'. A friend and hero to rich and poor, black and white.
The story revolves around a series of civil rights murders that happened in the late sixties and also Dr. Cage's relationship with a beautiful black nurse, Viola. She worked in Cage's office and he had a sexual affair with her, but she left the town in 1968 for Chicago.
Viola Turner was gang raped by klansman and told to never come back. She doesn't, and has a son who's father is one of the rapists. Dr. Tom also might be the father (he isn't).
A music store owner was murdered by the klan. This man would allow blacks and whites to sleep together in his store. For a 'mixed' couple even to be seen on the streets was a big deal and this man was really taking a risk to allow them to have sex in his store.
The young black man was having sex with a white girl who was the daughter of a prominent white man and klansman.
The owner and two young black men are murdered. A flamethrower was used in the commission of the killing.
Two other young black men are killed and their bodies are hidden in the swamp by 'the bone tree'. This is the title of another novel in the series.
'THE DOUBLE EAGLES' is a radical branch of the KKK that has been active in the town since the 60's. Prominent white men and hardcore white trash as in the group. One of the white members is a high ranking officer in the Louisiana state police.
Henry Sexton is a local reporter who has been gathering information about 'the Double Eagles' and the KKK for almost forty years.
Caitlin is Penn's girlfriend and she is also a reporter and she works with Sexton to 'get the story out'.
Lots of bombings, shootings, kidnappings, and violent mayhem occur.
It's a great read, but I devoted almost ten days to get through it- almost 800 pages of fairly dense prose.
From the book's page at Amazon-
"Raised in the southern splendor of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage learned all he knows of duty from his father, Dr. Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor has been accused of murdering the African American nurse with whom he worked in the dark days of the 1960s. Once a crusading prosecutor, Penn is determined to save his father, but Tom, stubbornly invoking doctor-patient privilege, refuses even to speak in his own defense.
Penn's quest for the truth sends him deep into his father's past, where a sexually charged secret lies. More chilling, this long-buried sin is only one thread in a conspiracy of greed and murder involving the vicious Double Eagles, an offshoot of the KKK controlled by some of the most powerful men in the state. Aided by a dedicated reporter privy to Natchez's oldest secrets and by his fiancée, Caitlin Masters, Penn uncovers a trail of corruption and brutality that places his family squarely in the Double Eagles' crosshairs.
With every step costing blood and faith, Penn is forced to confront the most wrenching dilemma of his life: Does a man of honor choose his father or the truth?"
This is the first book in the 'MISSISSIPPI BURNING' trilogy and I bought all three books late last month.
I've read a couple of other books by Iles and I wanted to read the entire trilogy. The central character in this book is Penn Cage and he was also in the 'stand-alone' novels that I've read.
Penn is a novelist, ex-lawyer, and former mayor of the town of Natchez where the story is set.
Dr. Tom Cage is Penn's father and this man is the epitome of 'the kindly, small-town physician'. A friend and hero to rich and poor, black and white.
The story revolves around a series of civil rights murders that happened in the late sixties and also Dr. Cage's relationship with a beautiful black nurse, Viola. She worked in Cage's office and he had a sexual affair with her, but she left the town in 1968 for Chicago.
Viola Turner was gang raped by klansman and told to never come back. She doesn't, and has a son who's father is one of the rapists. Dr. Tom also might be the father (he isn't).
A music store owner was murdered by the klan. This man would allow blacks and whites to sleep together in his store. For a 'mixed' couple even to be seen on the streets was a big deal and this man was really taking a risk to allow them to have sex in his store.
The young black man was having sex with a white girl who was the daughter of a prominent white man and klansman.
The owner and two young black men are murdered. A flamethrower was used in the commission of the killing.
Two other young black men are killed and their bodies are hidden in the swamp by 'the bone tree'. This is the title of another novel in the series.
'THE DOUBLE EAGLES' is a radical branch of the KKK that has been active in the town since the 60's. Prominent white men and hardcore white trash as in the group. One of the white members is a high ranking officer in the Louisiana state police.
Henry Sexton is a local reporter who has been gathering information about 'the Double Eagles' and the KKK for almost forty years.
Caitlin is Penn's girlfriend and she is also a reporter and she works with Sexton to 'get the story out'.
Lots of bombings, shootings, kidnappings, and violent mayhem occur.
It's a great read, but I devoted almost ten days to get through it- almost 800 pages of fairly dense prose.
From the book's page at Amazon-
"Raised in the southern splendor of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage learned all he knows of duty from his father, Dr. Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor has been accused of murdering the African American nurse with whom he worked in the dark days of the 1960s. Once a crusading prosecutor, Penn is determined to save his father, but Tom, stubbornly invoking doctor-patient privilege, refuses even to speak in his own defense.
Penn's quest for the truth sends him deep into his father's past, where a sexually charged secret lies. More chilling, this long-buried sin is only one thread in a conspiracy of greed and murder involving the vicious Double Eagles, an offshoot of the KKK controlled by some of the most powerful men in the state. Aided by a dedicated reporter privy to Natchez's oldest secrets and by his fiancée, Caitlin Masters, Penn uncovers a trail of corruption and brutality that places his family squarely in the Double Eagles' crosshairs.
With every step costing blood and faith, Penn is forced to confront the most wrenching dilemma of his life: Does a man of honor choose his father or the truth?"
Friday, November 2, 2018
THE STRANGER by Harlan Coben
Finished Th 11/2/18
This was a paperback that Cindy gave me from Chris's collection in late September.
OVERALL PREMISE-
A small group of people is traveling the country revealing people's deepest and darkest equipment. They have an almost religious intensity because they believe that only when the secret is revealed, can healing begin. Usually it's a man and a woman, and the man identifies himself as 'the stranger'.
Adam Price learns that his wife faked a pregnancy. 'The stranger' contacts Adam at his son's lacrosse practice (sons; Tom- 16 yrs. old, Ryan- 12 yrs. old). Corine is Adam's wife.
Later we find that the reason that Corine 'faked' the pregnancy several years before was that she had tracking device on all of her family's phones. One day she noticed that Adam had visited the home of one of his female legal assistants- Adam's a lawyer. She thought that he was having an affair- he wasn't, but the pregnancy angle was Corine's way of bringing Adam and her back together.
Adam confronts Corine. 'The stranger' told him to check out an online website and he learned that this site specialized in selling things so that a woman could fake a pregnancy. Adam receives a text from Corine and it tells him that 'it's not what you think, and I need a few days; take care of the kids'.
SUBPLOT-
Two other women have been murdered and seem to be linked to Corine's disappearance. A middle aged woman in Ohio, Heidi, is shot in the knee and shot in the head.
Heidi's daughter was going to college in NYC and has become involved in an online escort service to make extra money. This is 'the secret' that 'the stranger' told Heidi.
Police chief Johanna Griffin was friends with Heidi and she becomes involved in the case. The county authorities focus on Heidi's husband, but Johanna knows that isn't possible. She teams up with Adam and they share all their info.
Corine is the treasurer of the lacrosse league and it's learned that when Corine leaves there is also thousands of dollars missing from the lacrosse league.
Tripp Evans was also an officer of the lacrosse league and he's the one who has stolen the money and murdered Corine. In the end he shows Adam where he buried Corine and sets it up so that Adam will shot and kill him. He wants his family to get the insurance money because he's lost all of his money. He used to be a high powered lawyer, but no longer.
Tripp hired an outside security agency to find info on Corine so that she could be framed for the money that he had stolen.
When Adam shots and kills Tripp Johanna is there (but Adam didn't know) and she arranges the murder scene to look like self defense.
This novel is similar to the writing style of David Baldacci- simple style with a dynamite story-line.
After this book I'm beginning Greg Iles's Mississippi Trilogy, and the writing is miles above Coben or Baldacci and also has a dynamite story-line. It ain't Either/ Or, it can be both.
This was a paperback that Cindy gave me from Chris's collection in late September.
OVERALL PREMISE-
A small group of people is traveling the country revealing people's deepest and darkest equipment. They have an almost religious intensity because they believe that only when the secret is revealed, can healing begin. Usually it's a man and a woman, and the man identifies himself as 'the stranger'.
Adam Price learns that his wife faked a pregnancy. 'The stranger' contacts Adam at his son's lacrosse practice (sons; Tom- 16 yrs. old, Ryan- 12 yrs. old). Corine is Adam's wife.
Later we find that the reason that Corine 'faked' the pregnancy several years before was that she had tracking device on all of her family's phones. One day she noticed that Adam had visited the home of one of his female legal assistants- Adam's a lawyer. She thought that he was having an affair- he wasn't, but the pregnancy angle was Corine's way of bringing Adam and her back together.
Adam confronts Corine. 'The stranger' told him to check out an online website and he learned that this site specialized in selling things so that a woman could fake a pregnancy. Adam receives a text from Corine and it tells him that 'it's not what you think, and I need a few days; take care of the kids'.
SUBPLOT-
Two other women have been murdered and seem to be linked to Corine's disappearance. A middle aged woman in Ohio, Heidi, is shot in the knee and shot in the head.
Heidi's daughter was going to college in NYC and has become involved in an online escort service to make extra money. This is 'the secret' that 'the stranger' told Heidi.
Police chief Johanna Griffin was friends with Heidi and she becomes involved in the case. The county authorities focus on Heidi's husband, but Johanna knows that isn't possible. She teams up with Adam and they share all their info.
Corine is the treasurer of the lacrosse league and it's learned that when Corine leaves there is also thousands of dollars missing from the lacrosse league.
Tripp Evans was also an officer of the lacrosse league and he's the one who has stolen the money and murdered Corine. In the end he shows Adam where he buried Corine and sets it up so that Adam will shot and kill him. He wants his family to get the insurance money because he's lost all of his money. He used to be a high powered lawyer, but no longer.
Tripp hired an outside security agency to find info on Corine so that she could be framed for the money that he had stolen.
When Adam shots and kills Tripp Johanna is there (but Adam didn't know) and she arranges the murder scene to look like self defense.
This novel is similar to the writing style of David Baldacci- simple style with a dynamite story-line.
After this book I'm beginning Greg Iles's Mississippi Trilogy, and the writing is miles above Coben or Baldacci and also has a dynamite story-line. It ain't Either/ Or, it can be both.
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