Sci-Fi with many twists and turns

I just finished ALIVE by Scott Sigler.  I picked it up randomly yesterday at the library just to pass some time.  I finished it this afternoon, partly to avoid other tasks, partly because I wanted to get to its end.

At the end he has a note “AN OH-SO-POLITE REQUEST FROM THE AUTHOR”.  His request is “no spoilers.”  Among other justifications he cites, “A reader only gets one chance to be surprised.”

So, if you want quite a few surprises, I recommend ALIVE by Scott Sigler.  You might find it so intriguing that you don’t go to bed until you finish it.

Busy feeling sorry for myself

My wife has had a long-standing cold that just doesn’t seem to go away.  She manages to do some of her chores but spends a lot of time reading.  Meanwhile, I just went on hale and hearty.

Then bam!  Last week I lost all my energy.  I first attributed it to splitting wood. lots of ice chipping, and a heavy workout at the fitness center.  But no, my cough got worse and my nose ran a lot.  I gave up on going to the cabin.  Fortunately, we had a thaw and the snow is almost gone (in February, in Duluth Minnesota?  Global warming is a hoax?)

Wait!  If you don’t like the weather in Minnesota, wait five minutes.  It is raining, the temperature is dropping, and we have snow!

My energy level was just sufficient to read books and newspapers.  Let’s see, I got through both of Aaron James’ “Asshole” books,  I finished another non-fiction book and got half-way through a fourth.  Today, I just had to finish Lisa Scottoline’s Courting Trouble.  Wow!  Does it twist and turn.

Now, I have to gather all the notes I made from reading newspapers, sort out what I have already made blog entries about, and write something that is a different take on what is being published.

I hope i don’t have to shovel snow tomorrow!

You know whodunit, but...

...how many will he kill before he is caught or killed?

That is my take half-way through Benefit of Doubt by Neal Griffin.

My wife picked it out for me when she went to the library.  She thought it would be similar to novels by John Lescroart.  I think she was going by Joseph Wambaugh's review on the back cover:

"A complicated killer seeking revenge is hunted by a complicated lawman in this unique and suspenseful debut novel by a cop-turned-author who knows the turf."

Hank Phillippi Ryan wrote that it would keep you guessing "to the unpredictable–and completely surprising–last page."

I'm about two-thirds the way through and keep wondering why I put up with all the gratuitous, graphically-described violence.  Two corrupt police officers who break the rules to line their own pockets don't endear me to the book.  However, some good guys and gals who break the rules to promote justice keep me going and guessing.

I'm tempted to stay up until I finish it, but I have lots of things to do tomorrow.  Like on the first night I started reading Benefit of Doubt, I'll probably lie awake mulling over what I read.  I do know I won't set the alarm.

Quote of the day: Sex education

"There is a pawnish settlement in the south in which they do not teach their children anything of sex.  It is kept a great mystery.  The belief of this sect is that this ignorance will keep their children from harm.  As a result, they value virginity highly and it is virtually unknown among them."
- The True Game, Sheri S. Tepper

Pawns are those used by the big players in the Game.

I wonder if Tepper had some real-life places in mind when writing this.  Most of us are certainly pawns of many in Washington and on corporate boards.