Jeff Sexton

Not For Everyone. Read It Anyway. This is one of those tales that with its focus on a distinct type of character - namely, elderly residents of a care home - and with its use of multiple perspectives to tell its tale won't be something everyone likes. Well, not everyone likes [insert your personal favorite book here], so read this one anyway and maybe see some things from perspectives you might never have considered before. To me, Glass creates her characters well - yes, they are all old and have some stereotypical elder shenanigans, but they're also all truly complex characters with their own secrets and motivations and connections, and this winds up working well to drive the narrative, particularly as we get deeper into the overall story here.

Ultimately a satisfying thriller that sits comfortably within its genre as far as overall story goes, and with the particular characters employed helps it to stand out a bit from the literal millions of other books within this general space. If you enjoy thrillers at all, this is absolutely one you should check out. And even if you don't generally enjoy thrillers, this is still an interesting one to try out to see if you may be more open to the genre than you thought.

Very much recommended.

One Sitting Read Perfect Introduction To Author. This is one of those novellas that is *so* short that it is actually possible to read it in one sitting - by the time most anyone (barring certain medical conditions) will need to get up again... you're already done with this 80 ish page book.

And yet it really is a perfect introduction to Wood's style of storytelling and this ever expanding "Dane Maddock Universe" in particular. There's enough references here to prior events that newer readers will be enticed to go back to read about those particular adventures, and these same references make it fun for longer term fans to remember "oh yeah, that happened in that book".

So either for long term fans looking for the next bit of fun or people new to Wood and these characters, you're going to have fun with this one sitting read.

And yes, it had a bit of particular interest *for me* since it happened to take place not far from an area I lived in for several years - this particular swamp where this takes place is basically on the other side of Columbia, SC from where I lived and worked on the shores of Lake Murray, just across and outside town.

Overall a fun, quick read for anyone, and thus a great one to help hit those reading goals either at the end of a month or perhaps at the end of a year.

Very much recommended.

Solidly Short Sequel. This book is a direct sequel to the Christmas 2024 era book A Wood-Fired Christmas, and like that book, it works quite well indeed as a particularly short romance novella that manages to pack quite a bit of tale and even emotional heft in its short, sub 100 page, length.

Long time fans of Evans know what to expect, but for newbies - and this series *is* a great introduction to her style with minimal time commitments - Evans tends to write "clean" (I wouldn't go so far as to say "sweet", as they usually involve some level of emotional drama) somewhat off-beat or even quirky romances, and this one is absolutely that.

Here we get two well meaning people who come from very different backgrounds trying to figure out how to come together as a couple, along with the continuing escapades of the brother of one of them an the boss of all of them (including the brother)... who are both the couple featured in Wood Fired Christmas.

Overall truly a fun little romance book perfect for when you're just trying to make it to double digit books read by the end of the month (as I was, perfect timing Maddie!) or whenever you may have only a few spare minutes to read.

Very much recommended.

Visceral Horror Thriller Sets Up Horrifying Series. When two different friends release a book with the same sky high general premise within a year of each other - in this case, fungi, with this book and Jeremy Robinson's POINT NEMO - it is always interesting to see how divergent they will be. While Robinson's has some horror-ish elements, it remains more of a pure scifi action thriller. *This* book however is absolutely scifi horror, on the level that will have you squeamish at best and potentially mind-melting at worst. Featuring elements similar to Greig Beck's BENEATH THE DARK ICE and even Lee Child's DIE TRYING, this book manages to combine a deep backstory from decades earlier with hot off the presses current issues of environmental protection in the Western US (and even specifically referencing the Centralia, Pennsylvania coal mine fire that has been burning for over 60 yrs now).

Truly a book horror fans, and particularly fans of multiple types of horror, will love, this one has everything from scenes that will make those suffering claustrophobia lose their minds to several great creature horror elements and scenes that will give creature feature lovers chills in the best possible ways. This book is going to make your heart pound *hard* almost no matter what makes you anxious or or terrified - it truly does have a bit of everything, including even elements of disaster stories.

And then that ending... wow. Blatantly sets up an ongoing series, but that is all that I will reveal about it here.

Truly one of the better books early in the year, and very much recommended.

Spangler Returns With One Of His Creepiest Killers Yet. Seriously, while Spangler has had some pretty creepy killers in this series in particular, this one is certainly near the top of that particular chart - and we see this from essentially the opening words of this text.

Maintaining the series cohesion, this tale is nearly as much about Detective Casey White's personal and professional struggles as it is the "freak of the week" murder mystery, so even as White finds herself going up against one of her toughest investigations to date... she's also encountering a lot of things that make her question a lot of things, and these ultimately could prove quite interesting indeed to the overall series - or even perhaps an ending at some point in the near-ish future?

For me, this particular tale, with its falsely accused high school student in particular, took a bit of a more personal tack, as I too ran into a somewhat similar situation at that age, so I know all too well what that feels like. In my personal case, while it wound up leading me to leave that school, it also wound up giving me everything I now have thanks to a very crucial several month period there between Fall 1998 and Summer 1999. I'll simply note that I have - still, all these years later - a very nicely written apology letter from one of the leaders of those falsely accusing me back then and that because of all of that, I met my high school mentor, Tommy Harris, then of the now long defunct Bartow Academy in Cartersville, Georgia - and it was Mr. Harris who became so instrumental in helping shape truly the rest of my life. So while we don't know how this situation affects the rest of this particular character's life in the world Spangler has created here, I can state with confidence that such situations *can* wind up ultimately benefitting the falsely accused - even though the hell they go through in the short term can be quite immense, and Spangler does a great job of showing this.

Read this book because it really is an excellently written creepy murder mystery set, as always with this series, in North Carolina's Outer Banks. And hey, maybe something in it will resonate with you too. Either way, make sure to leave a review once you've read it.

Very much recommended.

Great Laid Back Gulf Coast Mystery In The Big Easy. This particular mystery manages to capture the aura and allure of both Hollywood and New Orleans (and my AI voices I use for the Audio book reviews I post to YouTube aren't going to be able to pick up the Southern, much less local, pronunciation of that town's name). You've got the glitzy high priced hotels and the down in the weed drug dealers. You've got Cafe Du Monde and a bayou full of gators. You've got the real world pressures of being on set on a movie and trying to stay within budget... and a lead actor who likes to sleep around with the locals.

And then you've got Jake Longly, his girlfriend Nicole, his dad Ray, and his best friend Pancake. Yet again doing what they do, and yet again using each of their talents to help solve the mystery - and resolve the resultant fight scene. Jake being the former MLB pitcher who knows his way around a bat, Nicole learning her way in a fight, Ray being the former SpecOps-adjacent soldier, and Pancake being a beefy guy that could likely hold his own with Jack None Reacher, should the crew ever come across him.

This particular entry in the series is absolutely more New Orleans focused than general Gulf Coast / Floribama vibe that the other books in this series generally have, and yet it absolutely works for the story told here.

Very much recommended.

Interesting. Possibly Benefits From My Reading Audible Version. The day I was finishing reading this book, my own dad was being congratulated for reaching 15 years working at Cobb County, Ga's RL Sutton Water Reclamation Facility. One of my brothers had also worked at a similar facility several years ago, before dad even started working there, so I've had a tangential knowledge of at least some of the issues raised in this book for even longer than the near 20 yrs since George first began writing it back in 2006.

And this tale is absolutely interesting. Perhaps a bit dry at times, and certainly with many references from earlier tales in the book the deeper you get into it, but as a global tale of how the world takes on the issue of "solid waste management", as the US euphemism goes, this was truly a fascinating and globe trotting tale that perhaps spent a bit more time in the Indian subcontinent than it arguably should have and could maybe have used a foray into South America, but was still utterly fascinating in what it did cover nonetheless.

From the origins of sewers as we currently know them in London to the high tech roboticized toilets of Japan to the open defecation so prevalent even then in India as George was writing this book, this is a globe trotting adventure that takes us on a look at an area of life that we all do... and do our best not to think about.

Ultimately this was a very well written examination of its topic, and one that I would love to see yet another update to - or perhaps even a full on sequel of - now that we *are* approaching the 20 yr anniversary of George's first research into the topic.

Very much recommended.

Eye Opening, Yet Critically Flawed. Bedat does phenomenal work in this text when reporting what she has found in her investigations of trying to track even a “typical” cotton garment from the cotton seed to its eventual use and destruction. Using each chapter as a way to trace one particular step in the chain was truly a stroke of editing genius, as it concentrates just what is happening at that particular stage. And some of it - including the direct link, in Bangladesh at minimum, between garment factories and sex work (where in one particular harrowing tale, a source tells Bedat that when she gets in the van to be taken to a factory as a day worker, she sometimes finds herself at a massage parlor instead) - is utterly horrific. It is these sections of the book that are so strong that the book had to be rated fairly highly.

HOWEVER, when Bedat speaks almost at all of policy or her own opinions... well, this is when the critical flaws become apparent. To be fair, she is at least somewhat more balanced than many leftists, and outright points out things that ardent Bernie Sanders / AOC types won't want to hear. But in her attacks of “neoliberalist capitalism” - a running strawman throughout the narrative - ... eh, I'll be a touch gentle and go with “YMMV”. If you happen to be on that side, you're going to love her commentary here. If, like me, you find yourself more an adherent of Milton, Mises, Hayek, Bastiat, etc (the so-called “Austrian School of Economics”)... you're not going to like her commentary so much. The star reduction, to be clear, isn't from the fact that I don't like much of the commentary - but that I can so easily refute it, despite not being a trained economist (just a - clearly ;) - well read human :D).

And yet, the actual reporting here is simply too strong, too eye opening. This is a book that needs to be read for its current issues reporting, if for no other reason - and even if her commentary leads one to contemplate defenestration of the book. If you've read Hafsa Lodi's Modesty or Virginia Postrel's Fabric of Civilization (among presumably numerous other recent texts on fashion / clothing/ fabric), do yourself a favor and read this one too. Even if you haven't, do yourself a favor and read all three books. ;)

Very much recommended.

More Southern Fiction Than Legal Thriller. Admittedly it has been several years since I last picked up a book by Whitlow, but back in the day this author was essentially a Christian form of John Grisham - he's going to give you tight, exciting legal thrillers of some form (via inside or outside the courtroom itself), but a Christian version of it where people more openly pray and talk about "God stuff" and such.

This book... keeps all the "God stuff" *in spades* (seriously, if you're openly hostile to anything Christian or even just not at all interested in anything Christian... don't bother reading this book, you're not going to like it) but ditches the legal thriller aspects in favor of a more Boo Walker or Nicholas Sparks or Pat Conroy ish Southern fiction tale.

The story is long, some might argue too long, drawn out, yet ultimately satisfying for what it actually is and the multiple sub plots it is running concurrently. There is a *touch* of action near the end, but it really is more of a "slight rise on a kiddie coaster" level than anything particularly suspenseful - more suspenseful than anything else in this tale, but that only serves to highlight just how little actual danger there seems to be at any point here.

Still a great tale for what it actually is, just in no way any form of thriller or suspense.

Very much recommended.

Not Fully German. Not Fully Jewish. Not Fully Straight. How Will They Survive The Holocaust? Yet again Soraya Lane returns to historical fiction during WWII with yet another aspect you've never likely considered. Before the rise of Hitler, before the collapse of Germany due to the Versailles excesses, it was possible - if perhaps frowned upon in at least some circles - for a German to marry a Jew and have kids with them. What happens *after* the rise of Hitler and Nazism to those children?

We know from the history books that homosexuals were sent to some of the same concentration -and extermination - camps Jews were during the "Final Solution". But have *you* ever read a fictionalized version of what their lives could have been like? What if I told you that one particularly harrowing incident - you'll know it when you see it here - was taken straight from Lane's actual research and that that particular scene was only barely fictionalized at all?

Lane, as usual, manages to build a metric shit-ton of research into making her historical fiction as real and as tense as possible, without making it ever seem like an info-dump in any way. These people, though completely fictional, are going to *feel* like people you will think you could have known during this period. (Which gets weird if you, like me, are the grandchild of two American soldiers of this period, both of whom survived the Battle of the Bulge during the period of the story in this book, one of whom got a few fairly high ranking medals for his actions in that particular battle.)

For those that could ever doubt just how horrible the Third Reich was - and yet, just how *normal* at least some people who lived under it were - Lane is here to show you in stark imagery just how wrong you truly are. And yet she's never going to preach to you at all - she's simply going to tell her story her way and highlight several different very real incidents along the way. Incidents you may not have heard about, no matter how much you study that period yourself.

Very much recommended.

Fun Cruise Read. But It Has The Wrong Best Video Game Ever. When this book releases on my birthday - US Presidential Inauguration Day as well, this year - I will literally be out of the country. Specifically, I'll be on Grand Turk with the Carnival Mardi Gras... yes, on a cruise myself that week. :D

Reading this one in the last few days before I drop down to Orlando and Port Canaveral to meet up with the Mardi Gras was particularly fun, but I can tell you from over 4 months of cruising across nearly 20 years now that this book really does capture the spirit of the modern cruise industry quite well. Some of the other aspects re: group cruises or partial charters (and particularly the type of group doing the charter here), I'm less familiar with as neither group cruises nor this particular type of group are really my scene. Even there, from what I've seen of that group, Dorminy shows the group in a favorable light and does a solid job of incorporating the better elements of that group within the overall story being told here.

And the story being told here is actually one of the more interesting romcoms I've read in quite some time, mostly because even though it uses several tropes (what romance book these days doesn't?), it uses them in far more rare and interesting ways. The comedy segments are done particularly well in many different aspects, including some that will have you literally laughing out loud. The "spice" is somewhere around call it habanero or so. It gets a bit interesting without going so far as to cause really anyone to "get the vapors" or anything, though it *is* more than some will want to handle.

Overall a fun and interesting read, great for getting in the "vacation mood" without necessarily hearing Jimmy Buffett (but also, thankfully, no Sweet Caroline either).

Oh, and the *actual* best video game ever? Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Find it on any console or PC, and you'll thank me for the game recommendation even more than the book recommendation.

Very much recommended.

Intriguing If A Touch Meandering. Will Be Divisive. I believe this is my first ever review with an asterisk on the rating as far as I'm concerned - because for the first time ever I may well come back and reduce it by a star, depending on how the next book plays out. My reasons here can't be explained without delving into spoiler territory, but I've written about my thoughts on what happens here in other contexts in other places, so they are at least quantities that can be known - and which should be at least partially obvious to those who have read the book.

For what it is though, this book itself is truly a fun and intriguing look at a Sherlock-variant "super detective" who finds herself placed in a situation she refuses to believe is actually true. The story then meanders quite a bit before the big reveal, which then explains the meandering before leading into the final sequences here.

Even in the meandering, the plot is well paced with a lot going on in different areas around the globe, making this easily the most expansive book in the series to date. The characters all play their roles superbly, and the result is a book that reads at least as good as some of the movies that are of its ultimate form. But again, because of the nature of this book, there is really only so much that can be said without revealing spoilers of some form or another.

Very much recommended.

A Warning For The Entire US Eastern And Gulf Coasts. This book is fairly comprehensive in its history of coastal development, with particular emphasis on the back bays of New Jersey but also discussing development all the way South to Florida and up along the Florida Gulf Coast all the way to Galveston Bay and Houston, with detailed discussions of Mobile and New Orleans along the way. And even discounting its heavy emphasis on global warming / global cooling / climate change / whatever the alarmists are calling it these days, the book paints a very stark picture about just how much coastal redevelopment costs people all over the country, including the landlocked midwest, due to heavy Federal subsidies in the post-WWII era. Its ultimate points are solid, yet it is also extremely realistic that the best solution to the problem is extremely politically unlikely. Very much recommended reading, and certainly a discussion that should factor into election discussions going into the 2020 Presidential race.