What Charlie Read in October 2013
That slacker Charlie! What Charlie Read in October 2013 only amounted to 5 books! When I said to him, “what’s up? What’s the deal? How come you only read 5 books in October?” he said to me “Carole, that’s one a week!”
I started this “What Charlie Read in …” series on July 14th, with an introductory post called The Voracious Reader. And, then on July 15th, Clive Cussler’s birthday (Charlie’s favorite author), I launched this series by asking Charlie to review the books he’d read in June. So, since that first report in July, here’s a breakdown of how many books Charlie has read:
- 6 books – June
- 9 books – July
- 5 books – August
- 6 books – September
- 5 books – October
- 31 books – Total
Holy cow! 31 books in 5 months! I take it back – Charlie’s still The Voracious Reader! I’m just jealous because I don’t seem to manage to read even one book in a month! Not one single, stinkin’ book!
In case you are a new reader and don’t know who the heck Charlie is, well he’s my husband of 24 years and he’s retired. I bet even if he weren’t retired, he’d find the time to read books! Since I don’t have the time (let me rephrase that – since I don’t take the time) to read books, I thought it would be fun to read his reviews and see what I’ve been missing. Even though our book choices don’t necessarily jive (I’m more of the romance-type book reader when I make the time), Charlie brings a little bit of masculinity to an otherwise female-centric blog!
Plus, with the holidays around the corner, maybe his reviews will provide readers with possible gift choices for the men on their gift list! One last note before the we delve into the reviews: we have a “butterfly” system instead of “stars”. Silly, I know; but we have butterflies as part of our logo. Here’s the breakdown:
- 5 Butterflies = excellent; definite read
- 4 Butterflies = very good; recommended read
- 3 Butterflies = good; entertaining
He doesn’t review anything under 3 Butterflies. If he reads a book he didn’t like (which has happened only once since we started this series), then he doesn’t review it. No negative reviews on this blog!
Doing Hard Time by Stuart Woods
Doing Hard Time is a new release and another addition to the Stone Barrington series. Stone Barrington is a former NYPD detective turned lawyer, whose best friend and ex-partner in the NYPD, Dino, is the current chief of detectives. Stone has had run-ins with the Russian mob in earlier stories and in this story, the Russian mob tries to get to him through Stone’s and Dino’s sons and friends. Their sons, Peter and Ben, respectively, and their friend leave New York and travel across the country via car to move to Los Angeles to pursue careers in the movie industry. Along the way, they are followed by the Russian mob. Threatened outside of Las Vegas when they are waylaid by a flat tire, the kids are rescued by improbable source. In the meantime, Stone travels from New York to Bel-Air expecting to help the kids settle in plus take a vacation from his fast-paced New York life. Instead, he meets up with an old friend and lands knee-deep in situations. Charlie thought this was great and rated it 4 Butterflies.
Inherit the Dead by 20 different authors
This book, also released this year, is unique because each chapter was written by a different author! The authors are (in alphabetical order):
-
Mark Billingham
-
Lawrence Block
-
C.J. Box
-
Ken Bruen
-
Alafair Burke
-
Stephen L. Carter
-
Marcia Clark
-
Mary Higgins Clark
-
Max Allen Collins
-
John Connolly
-
James Grady
-
Heather Graham
-
Bryan Gruley
-
Charlaine Harris
-
Val McDermd
-
S.J. Rozan
-
Jonathan Santlofer
-
Dana Stabenow
-
Lisa Unger
-
Sarah Weinman
With an introduction written by Lee Child, a crime writer that Charlie enjoys, Charlie thought this book was written by Lee Child (he didn’t read the introduction!). Instead, Lee Child explains that this collaborative book was written to support the charity, Safe Harbor. Safe Harbor is the nation’s largest provider of domestic violence services and helps over 250,000 crime victims annually. A portion of the royalties from the sale of Inherit the Dead are donated to Safe Harbor.
So, Charlie was totally oblivious to the fact that this book was written by 20 different authors, each who wrote a chapter (go figure!). With that said, Charlie thought the storyline was seamless and was quite surprised when I pointed this out after reading the book jacket! I guess Charlie doesn’t read book jackets, but instead just dives in!
Anyway, the main character, Perry Christo, is a private investigator hired to find the daughter of a prominent socialite. The socialite and her daughter have been estranged for several years and the daughter is scheduled to inherit a vast fortune on her 21st birthday. The kicker is that the daughter has to sign the paperwork on her 21st birthday to activate the trust. Set in the streets of New York and the Hamptons, this story has twists and turns and a shocking finale. Charlie gave this book 4 Butterflies.
Plan of Attack by Dale Brown
Written in 2006, this story is about a disgraced Air Force Major General, Patrick McLanahan, and his old enemy, the Russian President. McLanahan has been demoted after failing in an earlier mission, the bombing of a Russian air base by robotic warplanes. While working his new desk job, McLanahan notices a build-up at old Russian bases that have been deactivated since the Cold War. Alerting the American President and other military commanders, his warnings fall of deaf ears. The Russian President launches an all-out attack on the U.S. through Canada and McLanahan is thrust into action. Charlie enjoyed this book and rated it 3 Butterflies.
Sea Change by Robert B. Parker
Written in 2005, this story is about Parker’s recurring character, Jesse Stone. Jesse is the police chief of Paradise, a small town in New England. A female body washes up in the harbor and Jesse has to find out who she is and how she died. He discovers she is a recently divorced heiress from Florida who, along with twin sisters, has a penchant for video-taping their steamy affairs and one-night stands. Charlie thoroughly enjoys the Jesse Stone character, a flawed, compassionate and troubled soul, portrayed by Tom Selleck in multiple TV movies. Charlie gave this book 4 Butterflies.
Silent Night by Robert B. Parker
A new release, this story includes the recurring Parker character, Spenser, a private detective and his cohort, Hawk. Set in Boston in December, Spenser is approached by a young boy for help. This homeless boy has found refuge at a shelter called “Street Business”, an organization that helps young boys stay off the streets. Street Business and its founder are threatened by various thugs in the community and its closing could have dire consequences for the young boys that it helps. This book, unfinished at the time of Parker’s death, was completed by Helen Brann, Parker’s long-time agent. Charlie gave this book 4 Butterflies.
So, there you have it. A reading list of 3 new release and two a few years old! All with Charlie’s seal of approval.
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other book reviews)
Leave a Reply