Alex Benedict, #2. The crew and passengers mysteriously disappears from a space yacht that had journeyed to see the star Delta Karpis collide with a dwarf. Many years (a hundred?) later Alex and Chase get involved in finding out what happened. And why does someone not want them to?
The scene where the house AI was disabled while burglars searched the house, stealing some not-all-that valuable stuff, which was later dumped in a river; well, it seems very familiar. Like I read it recently in another book by this author? I'll have to look around and see.
Quote:
The author never settled for a single adjective where two or three could be levered in.
Quote:
Scramblers could, of course, be manufactured to resemble comm links or compacts or virtually any other kind of metal object. But my philosophy is that if someone has a weapon pointed at him, he should know about it.
Alex Benedict, #9. Not-an-archeologist in space! An interesting read, but I'm not getting too excited here. Possibly the AIs are my favorite characters!
Quote:
She ordered toast and grapes from the generator.
Quote:
"It's my library card," she said. "It should be more than sufficient to prove that you found us."
Kids who disappeared and reappeared are sent by their desperate parents to a peculiar school run by Miss Eleanor West. Really nicely written. First of a series.
A confusing mystery of a body in a cement mixer, multiple girlfriends, and money. Who is that bearded guy in Kentucky? Who lets their kid have a trap door?
I can't believe I don't have any other books by this author on The Big List! I've read several, and many of his stories in Outdoor Life. I enjoy his comedic outdoor adventures. This is a light mystery, taking place in Idaho, as far as I can tell, the second of the Sheriff Bo Tully series. Some editing boo-boos (A character is called by the wrong name; Bo visits a crime scene that he has already visited, yet asks directions to it.). Interesting characters, but not a lot of depth. I guess I said "light mystery", didn't I!
Smoke Quote:
"Those things are already killing me," Tully said. "I might as well smoke them myself."
Hank recounts his inadvertent adventures with Ralph, who is quite the character. The shenanigans run from burglary to involvement in a murder.
The author seems to have confused CB "channels" with "stations", unless this is a Chicago thing. It certainly is not in the Big Dummy's Guide To CB Radio!
Quote:
"You see anything good?"
"What do you mean?"
"Cassette deck, turntables, ham radio?"
"Ham radio? What's a ham radio?? (pg. 98)
Quote:
"See!" she said. "It's always about you!"
I started for my bike, but I yelled behind me. "I'm me! Why shouldn't it be about me?" (pg. 158)
A Norse boy named Peter leads the children of their village in transporting the town's gold from the bank to a fishing boat so the Nazis don't steal it. Written in 1942, interestingly. Recommended by Tiffany.
Rousing story of young Jeff Robbins who signs on a cargo schooner just before the start of the War of 1812 and pressed-ganged into service on a British warship. Good stuff!
Words I Had To Look Up:
Right as a trivet (pg. 312) -- Initially "as steady as a trivet", implying stability. In the book, "right as rain" might have fit the sentence better, though.
Janie's parents have to leave the U.S. for England in 1952 because of persecution by the government. Janie a little trouble adjusting, but then she meets an interesting boy. And THEN things get weird.
I enjoyed this story very much, and especially the observations on post-ware life in London.
I should have realized there was gonna be a sequel!
Tour of the Merrimack #1. The battleship is chasing down Hive, finds a unknown populated planet, some battle fought, the timeline is changed, black hole, blah blah.
Book three of the U.S.S. Merrimack series. Gosh, I didn't care for the first book and here I am on the third one! Oddly, SPQR came up in conversation (on television they were showing The Robe), Cam translated it (High school Latin pays off again!), and now I find it on page 90, among pages. Whoops, I misspelled the title!
Tour of the Merrimack #2. Didn't care much for the last book, and here I am reading book two! Wept a bit at page 322. Now I gotta go walk to the library and get the next one.