Down and Out of it.

Just finishing my fourth Memorial Day weekend book. I have traveled no farther than between the bedroom and the deck for three straight days. The only time I've been without a book in hand is when the leash was in it. Okay, so I'm depressed, but I've done some good reading. I reached for an old friend - Jack Reacher in Lee Child's new 61 Hours. It was a barn burner and I raced through it. A bus trip halted by a mad winter storm strands Jack in a small South Dakota town in the midst of a good cop/bad cop scenario,a mysterious army installation, bikers and meth, a prison riot, a Mexican sadist and a stalwart old lady trying to do the right thing. An inferno of an ending leaves Jack's fate in doubt.

John Sandford'sStorm Preyfinds Lucas Davenport's surgeon wife Weather on the hit list after she glimpses the face of a killer. The intrigue heats up when another doctor is implicated in the robbery of the hospital pharmacy and death of a brave attendant. Weather meanwhile refuses to take precautions because of her participation in a rare proceedure necessary to separate conjoined twins. Where is Virgil Flowers when a real woman wants him?

Should be finished in the next hour with The Burial Place by Brian Freeman which I started this morning. Obviously a good read, involving a missing baby and a string of grisly murders, interesting cops, bad marriages.

Also finished today the Scent of a Dog by search and rescue trainer Susannah Charleson who adopts her own Golden Retriever puppy to train in the SAR field. Loved the dog relationship insights as well as the details of SAR ops.

Spent some time with The Essential Rumi, poet of love and separation. I'm feeling it. Working my pile down. Not manageable yet, but if I don't leave the house for another month or so, maybe.

Army Doc

I have a soft spot for military doctors and, although he is now a veteran suffering from PTSD and manning a mobile street hospital in D.C., Nick Garrity is a winning hero. Nick is carrying on a search for his best bud who saved his life in Afghanistan in the same disastrous suicide mission that killed Nick's fiancee. After four years, a slim clue surfaces that might lead him to his friend, and by following it, Nick and psych nurse Jillian Coates are embroiled with a psychopath in a complicated medical murder plot. The Last Surgeon by Michael Palmer was a thriller that delivered.

Crazy Heart

I love this title. It resonated with me before I even knew what the book was about. No, I haven't seen the movie, but I can see why they made a movie based on it and I imagine it is good. Thomas Cobb's Bad Blake is the quintessential c/w singer boozing his way through the honky-tonks and his life. I don't know if it is stereotypical or true to life but it certainly hits all the right buttons. Gritty and colorful and sad.

The Autobiography of an Execution by David Dow recounts true experiences of a lawyer who handles only death row appeals. Not meaty enough for me.

The Way We Get By (dvd-documentary)investigates the lives and motivations of the veterans and other greeters at the Bangor, Maine airport who bid hello and goodbye to the military personnel on their way back and forth to combat.

Our Lady of Immaculate Deception by Nancy Martin is a weak imitation of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. Didn’t finish it.

Saving Gracie by Carol Bradley is a heartbreaker and hopefully an eye-opener for pet lovers. True stories of puppy mills and one Cavalier King Charles spaniel who was rescued from a life of breeding. Informative, but tough to stomach.

How To Raise the Perfect Dog by Cesar Millan
This book was not very helpful and Millan is a jerk.

Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas After reading The Rainmaker I’m beginning to fall for these sappy tearjerkers as a pleasant way to waste an afternoon. In 1920’s Colorado mining town, kids are killed in an avalanche; this recounts their parent’s sad backstories leading up to the tragedy.

A Thousand Cuts by Simon Lelic
Didn’t like it, didn’t finish.