Still Life with Crows

Dear Reader,

Some time in the mid 1990’s I was introduced to a book that some friends thought I would enjoy.  It’s interesting how, as we move further into the electronic and digital stage of our evolution we will begin to be unable to share simple things like a paperback novel with friends.  Looking back at my earlier Blogs, you will notice that quiet a few of the books I have read come from other people either as a loan, or a book that I then pass on to someone else to enjoy.  I have always found that by sharing a book with someone, brings about a close relationship with that person or persons, giving one a common frame of reference on which to build a stronger relationship.

So at that time, I was introduced to FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast, unorthodox, intelligent, smart, yes there is a difference between being intelligent and being smart.  Pendergast is also wealthy, and somewhat eccentric, but this only adds to his colourful character.

I have read all the Pendergast novels, 11 in total, and now I have found that Preston and Childs have written the 12th due out this year.  I have started re-reading the Pendergast novels, this particular book Still Life with Crows is number 4 in the series. I had actually never re-read a book until just recently (2011).  When book 5 of George RR Martin’s series ASong of Ice and Fire, was due to be released, I decided to re-read books 1 – 4, I found it to be a great experience, re living the adventure again, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to re-read the Pendergast novels, then I discovered the upcoming 12^th book.

It takes several books to really get to know the main character, Pendergast, and even then he continues to surprise the reader with new and strange talents, one begins to wonder how one person can evolve into such and interesting personality.  The first book in this series was made into a movie, with the same name as the book “Relic”.  Unfortunately for me the only reason I wanted to see the movie was to witness first hand, on screen, the captivating personality of Pendergast, but unfortunaty for unknown reasons, of which I will never forgive, the writers/directors decided to “write out” the character of Pendergast. I have no idea why, but in my opinion it made the movie pale greatly, in comparison to the book.

Still Life with Crows could be considered to be slightly science fiction, but who really knows about the goings on in the small town like this, the creature could actually exist.

The setting is a small town in Kansas called Medicine Creek, surrounded by corn fields, this boring sleepy little town gets woken up by a series of bizarre murders.  Just after the first murder victim is found, incidentally it is interesting that the local sheriff and everyone else in town know when something dies out in the hectors of corn, by the circling of crows above the field, marking the spot.  So just after the first murder is discovered, only a few hours after, a stranger steps off the greyhound bus as it pulls up across from the sheriffs office. The stranger is dressed in a black suit, charcoal black, his pale skin is in direct contrast to the suit, and he carries his obviously wiry skin and bone frame with a smoothness that makes one thing if a silk scarf billowing in the wind, here enters Pendergast.

Pendergast in on vacation, did he just show up hoping to take in the local wild life, or visit the museum, we don’t think so, he approaches the sheriff, as the sheriff struggles with the press, Pendergast quickly disperses the press, and invites the sheriff into his own office for a chat, and from that point on Pendergast irritates the sheriff to no end, that is until everything the strange man, with the weird habits, black suit, and unorthodox methods starts to make sense.

Pendergast befriends one of the town stranger residents, a rebelling teen, who just happens to know the town inside out, it’s residents, it’s secretes, it’s history.  Pendergast needed a driver, after all he did arrive on the bus, so he hires this misfit teen with the purple hair and no future to drive him around town in her beat up old Gremlin, later on he has one of his two Rolls-Royce Silver Wraiths delivered as he feels that things are getting too dangerous for his, as now official, assistant.  Needless to say his “goth” assistant finds herself in the middle of a battle for her very existence, as she fumbles into the lair of what we know now to be a serial killer.  Pendergast must battle the unknown to save the girl, the sheriff, the killer and the town, he does it with style, and grace as only he can.

I have to thank K & N for introducing me to Douglass Preston and Lincoln Childs, they are two excellent story tellers, both as a team and as solo writers.

bfn
Brian

FEED

Dear Reader,

I'm never sure how much detail I should be putting into these blogs. I don't like giving away the juicy parts of the books as some of you might want to read them, so I decided some time ago, ok, about 3 minutes ago,(while I typed that last sentence, actually), anyway I decided that I would not worry about that, and I will leave it up to you Dear Reader, to research the book first to see if it might appeal to you, before you read my Blog. I have linked all the books in this Blog with the web site for easy access jut point and click. Try it, you never know where you might end up.

 

Oh ya, how did I score on my last Blog, did I get a passing grade?

 

At first glance Feed is all about zombies, when I received this book at Christmas LS was soooooo excited that she managed to get me a zombie book as a gift that she almost went straight out and bought the sequel to this trilogy, before finding out if I would even want to read the next one. But I don't think it would  have been money poorly spent, so please remember (LS) that I have a birthday coming up.

 

The book's cover page gives one pause to reflect, "The good news, we survived. The bad news, so did they"

They would be the zombies. Some time in our near future say around 2014, we will have found the all elusive cure for the common cold, and lung cancer, woot, this is a good thing don't you think? Be careful what you with for, all that shines is not gold, old Chinese proverb say, Not only can water float a boat, it can sink it also.

 

As science cured the cold and cancer, the human race replaced these with the ability to carry the zombie virus, named after the people who developed it, thinking that they had the ultimate cure, they also cursed every person from then on, we would turn into a Zombie when we died, or when we the living, (because zombies are not really living), when the living are bitten, or scratched, by an infected (zombie) person, they would be amplified, or converted into a zombie. None of us are exempt from amplification into the zombie form, we all will become that which will try to Feed off us. So stay out of public areas.

 

So with the news that everyone will eventually be converted or amplified, we as humans learn to adapt, we accept what we cannot change and learn to live life among the zombies. We surely do not want to come into contact with them, or allow them to get too close, so we barricade ourselves with fences, gates, walls, electronic surveillance systems to control entry and of course, we make up a whole bunch of laws and rules on how to deal with the infected.

 

After all, now that we have unwittingly created the dam virus, we can at least test you to see if the virus has begun to amplify within you, if it has not, and the flashing light turns green, we will open the door for you and let you in, however if the flashing light on the test unit turns red, well, I guess a bullet to the base of you're skull prevents you from coming in and infecting the rest of us, pretty much prevents you from doing anything else as well. Interesting note, apparently in the future you will die twice, once from the human state and the second from the zombie state, unless of course action is taken while you are in the throws of change.

 

Oh sure we will see what we can do to eliminate the virus, but so far 25 years of trying and no progress. I guess one could say, each generation will reap what the former generation has sown.

 

The title FEED leads us to think that zombies are the main focus of this book, they are a fact of life in the future and become just another daily task to deal with, like parking tickets, if you park in the wrong spot you get a ticket. You know the rules so just follow them or pay the consequences. Except now the stakes are higher.

In the future the news is provided to the populous over the world wide web, by bloggers, yep, that's correct, blogging becomes big business and the quickest and easiest method to get the word out, without having to actually get near anyone, what you are reading now is just practice for the future. The book kinda remands me of the Bourn novels, where the main character is setup for failure (no, not a zombie), in FEED they struggle against the odds to solve the mystery and bring the truth to the people, while trying desperately to follow a presidential candidate to the White House.

FEED, as in feed the zombies, and, as in the media FEED into the net. This was a pretty good book, suspenseful at times, the ending came quickly, too quickly.

It's definitely more than a zombie book.

 

 A Book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

bfn Brian

Toys

Dear Reader,

Remember when you were in school, and in the first or second English class of the year the teacher told you that you will have to read two books over the school year, and then you will have to write a book report on the books you read?  Remember how the entire class dropped their hands to the desks “thump”, then almost in unison the groans and moans of ‘do we have to” followed by “they better be easy books” and one or two might say “right, and how will that help me in the future”.  Although amongst the moaners and groaners, I think that in every school and every English class there were one or two kids who would just smile to themselves and think “whoopee we get to read and write book reports”

I was not one of those kids, I hated having to do book reports, I would drop my hands to my desk “thump”, then moan and groan, and hope to hell that the books were easy to read, and that the report did not have to be a long one.

Apparently someone knew something that I surely had no clue about, they made us read  books, and write reports, “against our better judgment of course”, and here we are, in the future, doing exactly what I never figured I would ever have to do again (voluntarily even) once I escaped from school.  How interesting our lives can become, The decisions we make, using the skills we were forced to learn, by a bunch of people, (adults, parents) who had no idea what it was like to be a kid during the time we were growing up. Sound familiar?

So here is my take on Toys, by James Patterson, I hope I get a good grade.

Toys is set in the future, our future, it is "a brave newworld”, (remember that one from grade 8) that Patterson brings us to, he creates our future as it has been seen by anyone who would consider themselves a sci-fi geek.  In Patterson’s future the world is united in country, but split in inhabitants.  Ok, let me explain further, (remember in school you would always use more words than necessary to fill up the pages), In Toys there are two factions of people, similar to the haves and the have knots, we have the human “Elite”, who have all the power, and all the toy’s, they are also the humans that have been enhanced, mentally and physically, augmented with electro-mechanical implants and genetic enhancements.  They are smarter (their opinion), faster, and richer, than those who originally created them.

The creators of the ‘Elite” were and are the humans, us, the other half of the, them and us, we are the have knots.  We, being the humans, because the reader must choose what side they want to be on, have nothing, no power, no voice, no choice, we are the servants and  the homeless.

Now the Elite are planning to purge the world of those who they deem to be unworthy, guess who, that’s right, they plan to purge the world of the humans, they have been at war with the humans, hunted the humans, and controlled them long enough, it’s time.

Time indeed, the Elite have lasers, trackers, flying cars, super speed, agility, and clones, yes clones to do the dirty work.  What do the humans have, what do WE have that could even start to have an impact on the great and mighty Elite, well, let me tell you.

Remember John Wyndham's novel The Chrysalids, where the people with the abnormalities are banished, what grade were you in when you read it?  I think I was in grade 8.  In Toys it looks like the abnormal people are the one’s taking over the world and banishing, eliminating in this case, the normal humans, do you remember how it ended?

So back to the book at hand, where were we, oh yes, what could the lowly humans possibly have to fight against the Elite, what hope, well how about the original human designers of the Elite, would they help? They might?  After all the Elite are only in their first generation, gestating in their test tubes for 2 years, and young as a species goes, and of course they do live longer. So the smart humans who developed the technology to transform the humans into the Elite should be able to help out, sometimes parents can even get their kids to help out around the house, so to speak.

Toys was an easy read, Patterson creates short chapters, which makes the reader want to know what’s next.  The main character Hays Baker, is touted as the next James Bond or Jason Bourne, according to the book cover, I’m not sure about that, it was good, but the Bourn novels are better.

Thanks for the book A.T. I look forward to reading the next Hays Baker novel if Patterson decides to make a series out of the character.

bfn Brian

11/22/63

Dear Reader,

I have at least 3 books on the go at all times, one at home, one at work and one in my I phone. I read the I-phone book while waiting for the doctor or dentist to call my name, or for the car when it gets its oil change. The book in the I-phone is needs to be an easy read, due to the slow progress, and the length of time I get to read it.

11/22/63 was one I read at home. It was one of the books I received for Christmas, this particular one came from Sarah. I appreciate it when people read the gift idea list and act upon it. This way everyone is happy (especially me J). We all enjoy that surprise gift, but there is nothing like getting a long awaited treasure like this.

I have read Stephen King from the time I was, about 23 or 24, Stephen has never failed to entertain. I will admit that some of his earlier books have a tendency to end abruptly, King builds, and builds then boom its over. I think this is one area where he has greatly improved, his endings run smoothly past while he still leaves his “constant reader” wanting to know more.

I noted while grabbing the URL for King’s web site (to link the book cover, go ahead give it a click), that he has written another chapter of The Dark Tower. “The Wind Through the Keyhole”, will be a must have on my “books to read” list.

In 11/22/63, King ventures into the idea of time travel, some believe that if we could travel back through time, we would not be able to change the events of the past, some believe that we can, and do (or will) change the past with every visit, this is called the butterfly effect, oh, by the way you should check out the move, “A Sound of Thunder” if you like the idea of time travel. And there are the people who think they can go back and change things for the better. Haven’t we all said at one time or another, if only I could go back and ….. if not to change anything, but to once and for all answer the burning questions about our past.

King manages to bring a little bit of everyone’s time travel ideals together into this one major event in the history of the United States , which had world shattering repercussions. What if JFK survived, how would this have changed the course of, not history, but the future, the future of 1963, and what would changing this event do to our “now”. Remember that our past decisions have brought us to where we are today, different decisions made in the past, the now, or the future will change where we will end up as we move forward, it will also influence what decisions we will be called upon to make in our future, so we must make our decisions wisely, we (might) only have one chance to make the right ones.

If I could go back in time, I think I would go to the book depository to see if there was a second shooter, find out how the Pyramids were built, how about Stonehenge , see the dinosaurs, or just go and hug my mom one last time.

If I only knew than what I know now………..

Our lives would be different, but would they be better?

bfn

Brian

Breaking Lorca

Dear Reader,

When I started reading this book, I did not know what it was about, I opened the “bag-o-books” and grabbed it, took it in to work to read during lunch.

I had assumed because of where and who I got it from it was a grizzly zombie or vampire tale.  The title did not give any incite as to what I would find within, unlike my previous book (see last post).

Once I started reading however, the book cover makes sense.  This book is set in El Salvador during a time of civil war, and in the USA.

The book begins in El Salvador, with a small secret squad of solders who seem to enjoy their work a little too much. All except one, our main character.  This little corner of the war is dedicated to extracting information out of the freedom fighters.

Our main character, Victor, is not interested in becoming one of the of the group, who take great pleasure out of torturing their prisoners, he gets this duty thrust upon him due to some of his own past issues, he gets demoted and sent to the “little school”.  The torture seems to be quite realistic, and is quite graphic in nature and at time actually difficult to read.  I have had no trouble watching any of the Saw movies, and  while reading this book I have realized that reading about torture is quite different and much more disturbing.

Victor is forced to observe and help in the torture and death of prisoners at what they call the “little school”.  One prisoner in particular is of great interest to the squad, and this is where young Victor is apprenticed,  this time he is forced, by threat of his own torture and death, to take part in breaking this prisoner named Lorca.  Of course we only learn her real name after two weeks of long endurance.  Now broken and telling all, the solders mean to eliminate the prisoner, no witnesses left to tell the tale of their techniques.

Victor is not like the rest of the secret group of solders, he is quiet, they are loud, he enjoys reading, they make fun of him, he wants to help, and they want to destroy.  Victor dreams of escaping his home land and traveling to America, where he can start a new life.

Now broken Lorca, is taken out to be shot, this is something that Victor is again forced to do, but due to heavy rain, and a mud slide, he misses his target as she slides down the side of a cliff, the rest of the solders thinking that Victor shot her, after all she did fall down, congratulate him and finally welcome him into their band. Only Victor and Lorca know that just as Victor pulls the trigger, the ground gives way beneath her and she falls.

Victor finally gets his chance to go to America, he changes his name, he takes the name of one of the prisoners.  The city just happens to be the same city where Lorca admitted her brother lives. Coincidence?  Not at all.  Victor wants to talk to the brother, he thinks it might help him to overcome his feelings of guilt and shame, and he wants to learn if Lorca survived the fall off the cliff.

Victor finds out that Lorca did indeed survive, although she has a great many emotional and physical scars from her two weeks in the “little school”.

Victor tells the brother that he too was a prisoner, the brother tries to convince Victor to come to dinner to talk with Lorca, Victor refuses, he cannot, what if she recognizes his voice, all the prisoners were blindfolded, he was sure she would not recognize his face.  Lorca’s brother feels that perhaps together, Victor and Lorca might be able to help one another to cope, Lorca is unable to cope alone, and her brother does not know what else to do.

Victor finally does befriend Lorca, together they find a bit of stability in their emotional world, until the past come back to haunt them.

This was a fast read, the author Giles Blunt is a Canadian, living in Toronto, he carries his reader along quite easily and leaves room for us to try to guess how the book will unfold.

Giles Blunt has written 10 more books, I think I will read another of his sometime. My next book is a “try this one, I loved it” from a friend (AT), Toys, by James Patterson.

bfn
Brian

They Thirst

Dear Reader,

One of my friends with whom I share a  love of watching zombies get “double tapped”, gave me a bag of books that he had finished reading and thought I would enjoy them as much as he had. (Thanks M.I.)

They Thirst is one that I found in that “bag-o-books”, and took it to work to read during my lunch.

One thing I learned while reading this book, yes it is about vampires, was that vampires like to sleep in a coffin that has a bit of dirt in the bottom, yep that is a new one.

I thought that a blanky and pillow was all they needed between feedings, but apparently they like all the comforts of home, if they can get dirt from home that is.

Zombies are,…. well,…. stupid. Vampires on the other hand, while having absolutely no blood, have an awareness and cunning about them, go figure. I know some people wh, … well lets  not go there.

Vampires can reason and can solve problems, and this ability over other “not quite alive” creatures has given the vampires a superiority complex, they actually think that they will take over the world, one city at a time.

In this book that was the plan, the Prince of Vampires was going to create a world of followers, meaning that everyone will be turned into vampires, ok, but then who will the vampires feed off of, after all, fresh blood, human blood is like top sirloin to them. The book has a not so surprising ending, but the method of overcoming the toothy vermin was interesting and quite timely.

I enjoyed this book more than some of the others from that “bag-o-books”, and I still have many more.  It was a Big bag.

One more thought, authors should not be allowed to make up words like “jubbling”,  really??

bfn
Brian

 

The Fifth Witness

Dear Reader,

I have just finished turning the pages on The Fifth Witness. It is the sequel to The Lincoln Lawyer, and it is every bit as good. I am not sure if it will make it to the silver screen, it does not have the uniqueness of the first book. You don’t find many lawyers whose office is their chauffeur driven Lincoln .

The book has great twisting drama during the court room deliberations and a memorable ending.

If you read the book this definition might come in handy, it is something that was referred to a few time in the book. The lawyers would join the judge in his chambers “in camera”.

“In camera (Latin: "in a chamber")^[1] is a legal term meaning "in private".^[1] It is also sometimes termed in chambers or in curia” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_camera

Why read if you can’t learn anything from it. 

Next up is one of my all-time favorite authors, Stephen King, his newest book 11/22/63.  I received this book as a Christmas present from Sarah.  Thanks Sarah.

 

                                 

bfn
Brian

The Lincoln Lawyer

Dear Reader,

Over the Christmas break, I managed to read one of the books I received for Christmas.  The Lincoln lawyer, by Michael Connelly.  I am also half way through the sequel to this book, called The Fifth Witness.

Both books have been riveting, full of twists and turns, and the fifth witness even made me laugh out loud at one point.


bfn,
Brian.