Friday, October 30, 2015

62. Tag Man - Archer Mayor

Joe Gunther #22
7 unabridged cds
2011 Minotaur Books
290 pgs.
Adult mystery
Finished 10/28/15
Goodreads rating:  3.79
My rating:  2.5
Setting: Contemporary Brattleboro, VT

First line/s:  "He sat in the center of the love seat, in the darkened bedroom, settled against the soft pillows behind him.  His hands, clad in thin cotton gloves, were folded in his lap; his feet, wrapped in blue surgical booties stretched out before the neatened coffee table before him."

My comments: A police procedural "murder mystery" set in contemporary Brattleboro, Vermont.  There were lots and lots of books in the series that came before this one, none that I'd read, but I had no problem at all following the characters or plot.  It was okay.  I don't know why I wanted more, but I did.

Goodreads Summary:  Someone is breaking into the homes of the rich, bypassing their high-tech security, their state-of-the-art locks and then making himself at home. The intruder doesn’t seem to steal anything except some food. At each break-in, he leaves the remains of his snack out and a Post-it note stuck next to the bed where the owners are sleeping. One word is written on the note: Tag.
Although the press loves him, problems begin for the elusive Tag Man when he removes some documents from the home of a mobbed-up man. Shortly thereafter, the danger increases when a trip through a beautifully furnished mansion turns up a secret basement room, where the Tag Man discovers a truly horrifying secret. Joe Gunther, struggling to recover from a devastating personal loss, leads his VBI team to untangle the many conflicting pieces of evidence, while the burglar himself struggles for survival in the no-man's-land between the police and the villains.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

61. Victims - Jonathan Kellerman

Alex Delaware #27
listened to the audio cd on the way back and forth from work
audio read by John Rubenstein - very enjoyable
2012, Random House Audio,
12 hours/10 unabridged cds
338 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 10/6/2015
Goodreads rating: 3.91
My rating: 4/ very good storytelling, though gritty/gross
Setting: contemporary LA area

First line/s:  "This one was different.  The first hint was Milo's tight-voiced eight a.m. message, stripped of details."

My comments:  I haven't read a Jonathan Kellerman for many years, but have read a few in the past, so decided to read this one out-of-order (I'm so anal, I don't usually do this).  Very interesting story, especially when looking at the deep dark workings of the human psyche that have gone awry...very awry.  Alex Delaware is the psycho-therapist sidekick to LA detective Milo Sturgis.  He doesn't really do too much, perhaps sheds a little insight, but when Milo Sturgis is on the track, watch out.  I love the way that John Rubenstein "reads" Sturgis - tough, gritty, but with great empathy.  I enjoyed this one, as super-gritty (gross) as it was...

Goodreads Summary:

Monday, October 5, 2015

MOVIE - Black Mass

R (2:02)
Wide release 9-18-15
Viewed 10-1-15 at ElCon with Sheila and Connie
RT Critic:  76  Audience:   76
Cag:  5/Loved it 
Directed by Scott Cooper
Warner Bros. Studios
Based on the true story of Jimmy "Whitey" Bulger,  South Boston crime lord

Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Dakota Johnson, Julianne Nicholson....and even Peter Sarsgaard

My comments:  This was a good one.  A true story I could relate to (being "from" Boston) - excellent story retelling and super actors.  Enjoyed every minute.  Interesting to watch the goodness in someone collide with the badness and watch a psychopath become crazier.  And then there's corruption.  Cops.  I grew up in the 60s and cops have always given me the heebie-jeebies, my 60s residue.  This movie reminded me of so much - especially Southie vs. the North End.....

RT Summary:  In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) persuades Irish mobster James "Whitey" Bulger (Johnny Depp) to collaborate with the FBI and eliminate a common enemy: the Italian mob. The drama tells the story of this unholy alliance, which spiraled out of control, allowing Whitey to evade law enforcement, consolidate power, and become one of the most ruthless and powerful gangsters in Boston history.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

2015 Row By Row

6/21/2015 - 9/8/2015
Go to the National website here.

License Plates I Have:
11 States! 18 PLATES (Didn't get them from every shop I perused....)

CT - HAPPY QUILTING - Quilting By the Yard,, Vernon
DE - BEACH QUILTER - Mare's Bears Quilt Shop, Lewes
ID - T + G + P = LUV - The Gathering Place, Rupert
ME - SEW NOT NORMAL - The Cotton Cupboard Quilt Shop, Bangor
ME - QUILTING LOONS - Choppin' Cotton, Bangor
ME -
ME - VIRTUOSEW - Sewing by the Sea, Trenton
MI - SEW FINE - The Quilters Garden, Fenton
MI - GOT FABRIC? :) - Delphine's Quilt Shop, Gaylord
MI - SEW BY THE LAKE - Fabric Patch, Ironwood
MN - SUPERIOR DAYS - Hannah Johnson Fabrics, Duluth
MN - I BR8k 4 FABRIC - Quilts on Broadway, Foley
MN - QUILTERS ROCK! - Quarry Quilts & Yarns, LLC, Sandstone
NV - EVERYTHING COZY - Comfy Cozy Quilt Shop, Winnemucca
NJ - QUILTR 4 EVR - Budding Star Quilts, Lebanon
OH - SEWK UP COLOR - Sew Deja Vu, Stow
PA - BSHORE2MBELLISH - Half Moon Handwerks, New Cumberland
WI - CHEQUAMEGON BAY - (shih-KWAN-a-men) Ashland Area Fabric & Quilt, Ashland