Jeff Sexton

Fast Paced Action Thriller Featuring Atypical Hero - Yet Set During "Real"-World Collapse. Straight up: This would have *easily* been a 5* book for me had it been set in literally any period of human history *other than* 2020 - 2022... unfortunately, where it as actually set. Kara is awesome as a non-straight (it is never made clear in *this* text exactly what her sexuality is, though it may have been clarified in the preceding book, To Catch A Storm, which I read 20 months and 300+ books ago) badass with a certain condition that Mejia works with well to show its uses and detriments. Max is excellent as the more by-the-book cop just trying to do his best to do his job and get back to his wife and son, particularly during the period the book is set in. Together (and separately), they're going to find themselves in some pretty cool to watch action sequences that would get most of us real dead, real fast in real life. But ultimately, that is exactly what you're coming into a book like this for - escapist action of a near cinematic quality, and other than the time period this is set in (which, to Mejia's both benefit and detriment, she *does* show all too realistically and all too well), this book *is* that very action first with solid backstory and drama kind of tale that is generally so pleasing to read.

So for those of you who can withstand a book set entirely within the COVID lockdown period... this is one of the best books I've seen written telling a story within that period. But for those of us who - for whatever reason - *don't* want to read a story set in that period... unfortunately you're going to miss out on a truly fun, kick ass book unless you can overcome that particular mental objection.

Very much recommended.

Brilliant Examination - Yet Outdated By The Author's Day Job Just Before Publication. Define irony. One sense may be writing a book wherein you detail how one Supreme Court decision in particular a few decades ago allowed for an exponential growth in the number of laws and regulations Americans must abide by... and then just a handful of weeks before publication of the book you made this point in, joining with five of your eight colleagues in your day job in announcing that you collectively have... *over ruled*... that very prior SCOTUS decision in question. One might consider that a form of irony.

Beyond the discussion of Chevron though, Gorsuch and apparent longtime assistant Nitze do a truly admirable job here of showing just how much the laws and other edicts with force of law of the United States have grown in just the last few decades alone, primarily at the National level, but with brief examinations of the volume of State and local laws as well. Various case studies are used to illustrate various ways in which the explosion has occurred and how it has harmed every day working class Americans of nearly any imaginable stripe, and showing how many Americans can be in violation of some rule or regulation... and not even know it until cops raid their house with guns drawn in order to kidnap these "perpetrators".

Indeed, some of the cases are quite sobering and harrowing indeed, including the one that opens the book - that of a Florida fisherman suddenly accused of tampering with evidence... due to a law that passed as a result of the Enron scandal. In other cases, Gorsuch and Nitze show various other "offenses", including at least a few - such as civil asset forfeiture and occupational licensing - that will be on Gorsuch's desk in his day job over the next couple of years, thanks in large part to the efforts of groups such as the Institute for Justice, which actively seeks to combat the very problem Gorsuch details in this book.

One thing that I can't speak to that I normally do in this space is the length of the bibliography, as I read the Audible edition of this book on my way back home to Jacksonville, FL from my homeland north of Atlanta, GA yesterday. (Though I *can* note, from that, that it can easily be read at 1.5x speed on a 7 ish hr drive. ;) )

Truly both a well written and genuinely important book for all Americans to read.

Very much recommended.

All Too Identifiable. Ok, so the first version of this review was basically comparing my life to Vance's as he relates in in this book, but let's face it - y'all don't care about the details there. :D Suffice it to say that as a trailer park kid from the southern Appalachian foothills outside of Atlanta, who also spent time "in the country" (though Atlanta has now fully taken over that region since my childhood) at his family's farm and who also became the first person in his immediate family to go to - and graduate from - college... yeah, there was quite a bit I could identify with in this book. There was also quite a bit where we diverged, specifically in that while the hardships Vance lived through within his own family were frequently seen in my *friends'* and *schoolmates'* and *neighbors'* lives... *very* little of it was ever as immediately in my face for me, even back in the trailer park.

I read the Audible version of this book, actually as I was driving from my home in Jacksonville, FL to my homeland north of Atlanta over the weekend, so I don't have any information about the breadth of any bibliography here. What I can say is that Vance's words, from his perspectives of his experience, ring true with my own observations and experiences in a similar-ish background, time, and region.

I can also say that Vance describes his time in the Marines much as I've seen and heard others of our generation describe them, particularly as it relates to being crystal clear that while he served in the Green Zone in Iraq, he never directly saw enemy fire or fired on the enemy.

Overall there is truly little if anything to fault here. The writing style - and reading style, in Audible form - were very easy to flow with, it is clear that Vance is actively examining his life and not simply making excuses for himself or anyone else, and in the end, again, this truly does ring all-too-true to my own observations as a contemporary in a similar ish region of the country.

Very much recommended.

More Consistent Yet Less Grounded Storytelling Than Predecessor. When The Sky Falls, for all of its faults in rather clunkily combining two prior books into one, was a very grounded story of survival in both the immediate aftermath of an Apocalypse and several years later. Here, we continue not long after the events of Part 2 of When The Sky Falls leave off - indeed, seemingly just hours after the events of that book's finale.

And we wind up getting a far more consistent - if also much more fanciful - tale in this book. Without going *too* deep into spoiler territory, I'll say that some elements of the ending of When The Sky Falls are continued and continued quite effectively, but the newer elements of this tale are where it becomes far less grounded and much deeper into the realm of scifi than simply a post-Apocalyptic story. We get some versions of some answers to some questions, and we're left with a lot more questions... seemingly leaving room for Spangler to come back to this world, if the third time revising and rereleasing these stories is indeed the charm and sales truly increase such that this may be an option for him.

While When The Sky Falls had a few dusty rooms, this tale has a very different feel that taps into a very different but nearly equally visceral emotion - particularly in some more blatant moments. It is hard to describe this part while avoiding all spoilers, so I'll just leave it at that. I enjoyed this stretch and thought it well done, but admittedly it could be a bit much and perhaps a bit complex for some readers.

So come along for the ride and see what happens after the sky falls and when the dawn finally breaks. ;)

Very much recommended.

Explosive Opener Leads To Survival Epic. One of the first things you need to know about this particular (now) duology of When The Sky Falls and When The Dawn Breaks is that this is now the third time this story has been revised and repackaged - thus, when it feels like the book suddenly switches gears and becomes seemingly an entirely different book at around the 2/3 mark or so... that's because in its original forms, it *was* a second book at that point.

But taking that into consideration and reading this duology back to back, effectively reading what was formerly a four book series all at once, feels a bit like reading a shorter version of Douglas Adams' epic five volume romp through space in The Hithhiker's Guide To the Galaxy... but in a far more grounded, survival scifi type story. As with The Complete Hitchhiker though, this story actually works quite well in this form.

Part I has the explosive opener reminiscent of the opener of Brett Battles' SICK, the opening salvo of his seven volume epic apocalyptic survival series PROJECT EDEN, and in some ways - the mall scenes in particular, but also some of the scenes between the opening and that point - really challenge Battles as to which is truly the more compelling story.

Part 2 of this text is set a bit "down the road" from the events of Part I. The Apocalypse has effectively happened, and the survivors have set up what civilization they can. Here, the story becomes more of an exploration-survival story, where we learn how the world has changed from the one we know... and how humanity, in many ways, never really changes much.

While Part I has its heart wrenching moments and makes the room a bit dusty at times in certain ways, Part 2 manages to twist these things a touch and do a bit of its own thing - which is why it can be jarring to read it in the same book as Part I - but also manages to up the stakes a bit in its own way, before finally leaving the reader almost literally begging for the continuation of the story - now to follow in When The Dawn Breaks, with both books being released together.

Very much recommended.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics. On the one hand, if this text is true, the words often attributed to Mark Twain have likely never been more true. If this text is true, you can effectively toss out any and all probaballistic claims you've ever heard. Which means virtually everything about any social science (psychology, sociology, etc). The vast bulk of climate science. Indeed, most anything that cannot be repeatedly accurately measured in verifiable ways is pretty much gone. On the other, the claims herein could be seen as constituting yet another battle in yet another Ivory Tower world with little real-world implications at all. Indeed, one section in particular - where the author imagines a super computer trained in the ways of the opposing camp and an unknowing statistics student - could be argued as being little more than a straight up straw man attack. And it is these very points - regarding the possibility of this being little more than an Ivory Tower battle and the seeming straw man - that form part of the reasoning for the star deduction. The other two points are these: 1) Lack of bibliography. As the text repeatedly and painfully makes the point of astounding claims requiring astounding proof, the fact that this bibliography is only about 10% of this (advance reader copy, so potentially fixable before publication) copy is quite remarkable. Particularly when considering that other science books this reader has read within the last few weeks have made far less astounding claims and yet had much lengthier bibliographies. 2) There isn't a way around this one: This is one dense book. I fully cop to not being able to follow all of the math, but the explanations seem reasonable themselves. This is simply an extremely dense book that someone that hasn't had at least Statistics 1 in college likely won't be able to follow at all, even as it not only proposes new systems of statistics but also follows the historical development of statistics and statistical thinking. And it is based, largely, on a paper that came out roughly when this reader was indeed in said Statistics 1 class in college - 2003. As to the actual mathematical arguments presented here and their validity, this reader will simply note that he has but a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science - and thus at least some knowledge of the field, but isn't anywhere near being able to confirm or refute someone possessing a PhD in some Statistics-adjacent field. But as someone who reads many books across many genres and disciplines, the overall points made in this one... well, go back to the beginning of the review. If true, they are indeed earth quaking if not shattering. But one could easily see them to just as likely be just another academic war. In the end, this is a book that is indeed recommended, though one may wish to assess their own mathematical and statistical knowledge before attempting to read this polemic.

Light And Fun - Mostly. In this installment of the Valentine's Inc Cruises MM romance series, we get paranormal author Pandora Pine's effort, and it is indicative of her stylings while only tangentially being related to her overall world. If you're like me and have been on many cruises, there's a lot here that will bring back your best memories - including Stingray City in Grand Cayman and the Magic Chair at Mahogany Bay. If you've never been on a cruise before, this is a good introduction to what ship life can be. If you've been curious about Pine but are a bit leery of paranormal stories, this is an excellent way to see how she tells a story while only having the barest mention of her normal schtick. (And btw, her paranormal stories are awesome, so you should try them anyway.) This is a somewhat standard ish romantic comedy in that there is obviously the fight right before the happily ever after, but really that is the only time this book really veers away from being as light and airy as a cruise is supposed to be. Excellent work, and I'm looking forward to more from both this series and Pine.

Quick Battles. This is an enemies to lovers tale that also happens to be a very fast read. Cournoyer does an excellent job of quickly showing just how much these two guys don't like each other... and then the hijinks ensue. Great tale of one man being burned by love and another not sure what he is coming together rather explosively. My first from this author, will not be my last. Very much recommended.

Brand New Characters Feel Ultra Deep. (And not always in a sexual way.) This is a MMM romance that is brand new yet feels like it is a continuation of a very deep series - and is very intriguing because of it. The dynamics of the setup of the story work well, then the rest of it falls into place in a very well paced shortish novella. My first from this author (somehow), will not be my last. Very much recommended.

Precise Shipping. This is the first book I've seen in the Valentine's Inc Cruises series to take on the actual staff, and it does an excellent job of showing the lives of the officers at least - at least the lives of two certain officers. :) Precise in details most normally miss (cruise ships don't actually use actual anchors much if ever any more) and plays with details when needed for the story (debarkation from one cruise is followed within minutes by embarkation of the next cruise, not the next day as shown here). But ultimately both the precision and the license are used very effectvely to tell a great story, and that is what matters the most. The brief descriptions of San Juan and St Thomas in particular are spot on in my experience in both ports, and even better is how well they serve the budding romance between these two. The scene where each realizes who the other is - after a relatively anonymous night together - is worth the price of the book alone, and Phoenix spins an amazing romance tale throughout the entirety of the book. As a romantic drama, one of the strongest in a truly excellent series, and very much recommended.

This one time, NOT at band camp...

When Ryan Met Sawyer...

The universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has generally been regarded as a bad move.

If you enjoyed the trip down this rabbit hole that the top line being in the book sent my brain down and you like pop culture references like the end battles of Avengers: Endgame, the Battle of Winterfell from Game of Thrones, and others... you're going to love this book. So quit reading this review and go read the dang book already!

Stormy Cruise. This was probably the fastest read of the entire Valentine's Inc Cruises series, and one of the shortest in terms of page count. Very fun, mostly light, with a couple of solidly steamy scenes. And I really liked that it tackled seasickness and having named storms (tropical storm or higher) affect a cruise, as both do in fact happen from time to time. Yet again my first from an author involved in this project, and yet again won't be my last. Very much recommended.

Well Documented History Of The Event. The massacre at Kent State happened when my parents were not quite 10 yrs old and still almost as long away from meeting. It wouldn't be until over a decade after this event when they wed, and I was born just a couple of years later. One uncle was already nearly 30 by the time of the massacre, and my youngest aunt was still in middle single digits at the time. The rest of my dozen or so aunts and uncles were somewhere in between, including at least a couple of them that were college age at the time, and one that fought in Vietnam in this era. (I'm not sure exactly when he was deployed there, but I *know* he went and did... something. He was a career Marine, beginning then.) All of this is a long way of saying that this is a history of events that preceded me, but which my direct family knew of at various ages of their own lives and saw how it affected each of them.

Thus, other than the barest of facts of "there was a protest, the National Guard got called in, and the Guard shot and killed a few students"... I never really knew about the details of this massacre before reading this book. I've never read any of the other histories, I've never really seen it covered much at all - and certainly not to this detail - in any other medium. So I can't really say if it has any "new" information about the event and its fallout.

What I *can* say about this book is that it is very well documented, with 23% of its text being official bibliography, and the extensive footnotes throughout the text probably adding another couple of percentage points, *maybe* up to an additional 5% or so. Bringing the total documentation here to somewhere in the 25-28% range, which is pretty solid in my extensive review work of the last several years - I've read books making far stronger claims than this that had far less documentation.

This book is also exceedingly detailed in its presentation of the events of those few days in May at this campus, giving brief biographical sketches of pretty well every single person named- be they victim, shooter, parent, lawyer, politician, commander, or anything else- and detailing with a fair degree of precision exactly where each person was in the periods before, during, and after the massacre. Up to and including which shooters had which guns pointing which directions. Indeed, one of the most tragic and explicit parts of this book is just how graphically the shots are described as they hit the 13 victims, and indeed there are some photographs of some of the bodies included in the text as well. So for those that get particularly squeamish about such details... you may want to skim over these bits. But also don't, because VanDeMark's presentation here, though excessively detailed, also does a tremendous job of showing just how tragic the event was.

To be clear, VanDeMark presents a remarkably *balanced* history as well, not really siding with either side in the debate as to who was at fault, simply presenting the available facts and showing how tragic it was that a group of young adults were all in this situation to begin with, from all of the varying sides. Indeed, perhaps this is the greatest overall strength of the text at hand - in its balance, we are allowed to get perhaps the truest picture available of what is known to have occurred and when, allowing the reader to decide for themselves, with their own biases, who was at fault and why.

After detailing the events of the day, VanDeMark closes the narrative with following the various efforts at criminal and civil trials of the shooters as well as various efforts to memorialize the events before moving on to how each of the survivors - family of the dead, the surviving victims, the shooters, and the various officials - handled the events of that weekend the rest of their lives, reaching right up into the 2020s.

Overall a truly detailed, graphic at times, and moving text, and one anyone with any interest at all in the subject should read.

Very much recommended.

Mystery/ Thriller With Cults And Magical Realism? Yes Please. First off, if you're turned off by any discussion of cults... this book likely isn't your thing. If you're turned off by any element of magical realism... this book probably isn't your thing. If you can't handle books dealing with domestic violence and/ or sexual assault/ rape... this book probably isn't your thing. If you can't handle books with multiple POVs... this book probably isn't your thing. If you're turned off by books with dual timelines... this book probably isn't your thing. If you're turned off by books with any LGBT characters at all... this book probably isn't your thing.

With all of *that* out of the way, I thought this book was done particularly well and told a not-overly-typical (because it dealt so intrinsically with cults/ life after cults) tale in new and interesting ways (re: magical realism elements). All of the various elements work well to create a story with an admittedly slow start that absolutely heats up later in the text, particularly during a somewhat detailed account of the night everything came crashing down in the earlier timeline. The overall mystery ties both timelines together well, and while the front of the book can seem a bit disjointed at times with its POV switches, it *does* all come together quite beautifully and dramatically down the stretch.

Ultimately a fun read that is different enough to stick out in a very crowded field of similar ish (re: mystery/ thriller) books, this is definitely one to check out - even if it is a touch longer than some will be comfortable with (just over 400 pages).

Very much recommended.

Is Michelle Alexander Wrong? Not even that arguably, one of the most cited texts in the field of mass incarceration examinations is Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow, which alleges that the rise of mass incarceration is *solely* due to racism. Here, Smith puts that claim - and many others, including competing theories alleging racism has nothing to do with it at all - to the test, and, well, as he notes early in the text... pretty well *no* partisan is going to be happy with what he finds. He proclaims - and throughout the text shows - that almost no matter what you think causes mass incarceration... you're probably at least partially wrong.

I'm not going to get into his actual conclusions here, you need to read this book for yourself to see them.

I will say that the text is reasonably well documented, clocking in at 23% of the text I read and with Smith claiming to have an even more extensive online appendix (which I have not examined at review time) detailing his methodologies used throughout the text.

Ultimately this is a short ish (sub 200 page) yet dense read, accessible to the non-scholar (in that the methodology discussion *is* left to said online appendix) yet still with a *lot* of at least discussion of the mathematical results (if a bit of hand waving about *precisely* how he got there, likely more detailed in that appendix). Still, if you're interested in the causes of mass incarceration, what mass incarceration is costing the US, and at least a few potential suggestions on what might be looked into for potential solutions... this is actually a remarkable text, one that *should* supplant Alexander's as among the most cited in the field. We'll see if that happens. ;)

Very much recommended.