big sixteen-wheeler (pg. 218) -- I cannot visualize the wheel arrangement on that.
W.R. Burnett's Dark Hazard (pg. 268) -- A book Tom is reading on the train. It's about a man with a gambling problem. His racing dog is the title character. Edward G. Robinson was in the movie, in 1934.
Icepick, Long Island (pg. 293) -- Refers to the state mental hospital in Islip.
Toyota Chemistra (pg. 293) -- Huh, I don't remember that model.
bar of magnesium is welded (pg. 413) -- Turns out you CAN weld magnesium.
Pontiac Prix Fixe (pg. 418) -- What a minute...
Datsun S.E.X 69 (pg. 418) -- Now I think Westlake is having fun with us.
Her left hand pretend-smoked, fiddling with an imaginary cigarette, flicking ghost ashes on the floor, something she hadn't done since just after she quit. (pg. 3)
scrofulous fleas (pg. 123) --
milk and mell (pg. 156) -- It is explained in great detail two pages farther. It's honey.
mezuzahs (pg. 191) -- A small piece of parchment inscribed with biblical passages that is rolled up in a container and affixed by many Jewish households to their door frames in conformity with Jewish law and as a sign of their faith.
marplot (pg. 251) -- An officious meddler whose interference compromises the success of an undertaking.
vassalage (pg. 272) -- The condition of being a vassal.
schismatic (pg. 271) -- One who promotes or engages in schism.
hospodar (pg. 272) -- 1. A Slav. word meaning lord, master. 2. A title borne by the princes or governors of Moldavia and Wallachia before those countries were united as Rumania.
rustling claque (pg. 273) -- A group of persons hired to applaud at a performance.
quasistable (pg. 334) -- More often used with a hyphen between quasi and stable, a term formerly (before the discovery of charmed particles) used for elementary particles that cannot decay into other particles through strong interactions and that have lifetimes longer than 10-20 second. Also known as semistable elementary particle.
subsumed (pg. 337) -- To classify, include, or incorporate in a more comprehensive category or under a general principle.
Like Hans Brinker himself, he could skate with aplomb over the occasional patch of thin ice, such as plant safety or disposal of contaminated wastes, awing and distracting the populace with the grace and assurance of his arabesques. (pg. 129) First Hans Brinker simile I've ever seen. Loved that book!
crapen neck (pg. 30) -- Does not seem to be a "real" word. Is crapelike at dictionary.com.
steep hills serving as the only redan against the proles of the Valley (pg. 69) -- A v-shaped projection from a fortification.
Not great reader reviews on Amazon, and I agree with their points. I was thinking, "No one has heard of solar cell phone chargers?". And some of the tech seems sketchy, especially that wonderful perpetual motion generator.