Here are the book I read in January of 2019. They certainly have gotten my reading year off to a great start!
The she that is riding shotgun is young Polly McCluskey .And she’s riding shotgun with her father Nate McCluskey. Nate is just getting out of prison when he runs afoul of the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. The leader put out a green light on his murder . That puts everyone he cares for including his ex-wife and daughter Polly in danger.
Soon Nate and Polly are riding for their lives and freedom. This is a great book with great characters. It’s one of those books that works on multiple levels to teach us about love, life and family. So Check It Out! Here’s a great review
Read LJ’s 5-star review of She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper
2. Beyond the Messy Truth – Van Jones
Van Jones discusses the political divide in the United States. In letters to both sides he provides areas of common ground we can all can meet. You can read more about Beyond the Messy Truth at Goodreads
3. The Other Wife – Michael Robotham
Michael Robotham series featuring Joe O’Loughlin is one of my favorites.. In this installment of the series Joe gets a call from a distraught woman who tells him he must come to London. His father has been attacked and is fighting for his life. She claims to be his father’s “other wife” and has been that for the last twenty years! Talk about your life being turned upside down!
Anyway, Joe is left to discover the truth about the attack and “the other wife”. Once again Joe and his friend former Police inspector Vincent Cruz set out to discover what’s going on!!
Read LJ’s 5-star review of The Other Wife by Michael Robotham
Been So Long
4. Been So Long – Jorma Kaukonen
Been So Long is, as the subtitle says, the tale of the Life and Music of Jorma Kaukonen. For those of you who weren’t around for the birth of psychedelic rock, Jorma was the lead guitarist for Jefferson Airplane.
Jorma’s career from those early days in San Francisco. Although, I admit I really didn’t follow the music of Hot Tuna beyond the first two albums That is until Jorma and Jack Casady went back in the studio and recorded Steady As She Goes. At the time of the album’s release it was the first Hot Tuna album in 35 years!
I did though follow Jorma’s solo career that started with his dream bluegrass album Blue Country Heart
I learned a lot about the life of Jorma from Been So Long. Jorma does not tell his story by looking through 60s rose colored glass. He tells it like it is and at times it wasn’t pretty. Several times while reading the section of the book covering Hot Tuna I went to Spotify and listened and enjoyed albums I never listened to before! Anyway, it’s a great read for any music fan! So Check It Out!
5. Valhalla Rising – Clive Cussler
Ok so looking at my Goodreads I see that the last Dirk Pitt novel I read was Treasure. It’s book 10 in the series. I finished Treasure on June 24, 1990!! Yikes!! That’s five months before my daughter Elizabeth was born.
Anyway, the next book in the series is Sahara which along with several other novels is on my bookshelf. But for some reason Valhalla Rising (#16) caught my eye. I thought I haven’t read a book in this series for a while! Not remembering the true length of time it’s been!
Valhalla Rising is another action packed Dirk Pitt adventure. As Dirk battles a ruthless corporate executive who will stop at nothing and that includes killing innocent people to get what he wants!
I always enjoy books where I learn something along the way. Valhalla Rising I learned something’s about Norse settlements in the Hudson River Valley as well as the model for Jules Vernes’ Captain Nemo of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea fame. So Check It Out! As for me the next book I the series Trojan Odyssey is on my book shelf????
6. A Noise Downstairs – Linwood Barclay
Over the last few years, Linwood Barclay has been one of my favorite authors. His Promise Falls books have solidified him as one of the best. At least in my humble opinion.
Characters often appear in more than one of his standalone books. In A Noise Downstairs the setting of Mitford, Connecticut is a familiar locale.
The story begins when College Professor Paul Davis spots a colleagues car traveling with a broken taillight. Paul follows his friend. When the friend stops, so does Paul. When Paul gets near the car he sees that his friend is holding a shovel and there are two dead women are in the back seat of the car.
By the time Paul realizes what’s happening the shovel is flying towards Paul’s head.
Paul survives, his friend goes to jail. Eight months later Paul is still battling demons and wondering why his friend did what he did. He decides to write about it. His wife is supportive and one day brings home an old typewriter fo him to use. Soon Paul hears the typewriter clicking in the middle of the night! Notes appear a seemingly written by the dead women. What’s going on? Can he discover the truth before he goes mad??
Once again Barclay creates an ordinary man caught in an extraordinary situation. A situation that will take survival skills to the limit!
A.J. Finn writes….
“Linwood Barclay’s novels -as intelligent as Michael Connelly’s, as compelling as Harlan Coben’s – never fail to astonish. A Noise Downstairs, his best work yet, is a cobra of a story. Smooth,slippery , unnerving …. and likely to strike when you least expect it. I devoured this book”
Me, too. You should, too!
