THE INSANE TRAIN by Sheldon Russell
I admit I read this one because I loved the title. Turned out to be a good choice. Hook (yes, he wears a prosthesis) Runyon is a yard dog, a railroad detective who lives in a caboose in a railyard in Needles, CA, and has trouble staying out of trouble himself. After a deadly fire at a mental institution, Hook is assigned to oversee the transport of the surviving patients, including some criminally insane and extremely dangerous, to an empty facility in Oklahoma. A headstrong hound dog, a freckled nurse, a prostitute and a few WWII vets/hobos add to the flavor of this top notch 1940s tale.
I am now reading at least four books, all moderately interesting, none of which is enthralling me.
Just got ILLed the Mark Twain bio. Good Lord, it is humungous and tiny type. Not gonna bother. Too many books, too little time.
In the beginning...
...there were The Flyaways, a family who traveled in their miraculous flying machine having daring adventures with Goldilocks and Cinderella. The first in the 3-book series by Alice Dale Hardy was published by Grosset and Dunlap in 1925 and copies are almost extinct. Few people remember Ma and Pa, Tommy and Susie Flyaway now.
I became acquainted with them on my grandfather's lap, my dear Grandpa Baker who read and read and read to me every evening for as many years as I can remember. I would hold my breath as each chapter ending neared, hoping he would not stop. I would keep begging for "just one more" chapter until his voice got so hoarse I would have to run to his room to get his throat lozenges.
Over the years we covered all of Uncle Wiggly and Honey Bunch, the Bobbsey Twins, the Five Little Peppers, the Wind in the Willow series, some of them more than once. He read to me until long after I could read everything for myself, until I was into Beverly Gray, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I was safe and happy snuggled up on the couch with him and that feeling has never left me. I still read and read and read, and it still makes me feel safe and happy.
I became acquainted with them on my grandfather's lap, my dear Grandpa Baker who read and read and read to me every evening for as many years as I can remember. I would hold my breath as each chapter ending neared, hoping he would not stop. I would keep begging for "just one more" chapter until his voice got so hoarse I would have to run to his room to get his throat lozenges.
Over the years we covered all of Uncle Wiggly and Honey Bunch, the Bobbsey Twins, the Five Little Peppers, the Wind in the Willow series, some of them more than once. He read to me until long after I could read everything for myself, until I was into Beverly Gray, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I was safe and happy snuggled up on the couch with him and that feeling has never left me. I still read and read and read, and it still makes me feel safe and happy.
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