...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.
Showing posts with label John Lescroart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Lescroart. Show all posts
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The company with the computer for the rest of us forgot the rest of us
When Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984, they dubbed it "The Computer for the Rest of Us". With its WIMP interface (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pictures) it was certainly a step up from the alphabetic command interface of all the other microcomputers of the time. Even an experienced assembly-language programmer like me found the interface superior to remembering a whole bunch of commands that had to be spelled correctly with the correct syntax.
Over the decades, Apple has introduced hundreds of ideas that make Macintoshes, iPhones, and iPad even easier to use, mostly. But sometimes they are devilishly difficult to use. A case in point is trying to do a simple thing like buy an eBook.
My wife wanted an eBook for a book group that meets this week because she was unable to get it at the library in time. She has never bought an eBook for her iPad mini, and even though she taught computer classes for years, she would rather have me do it.
She gave me the title, her AppleID, and her password. I found the book in a few minutes. I pressed on the price which turned into a "Buy Book" button. Why not have a separate "Buy Book" button? I pressed the "Buy Book" button and the price appeared again. Sometimes the button changed to downloading, but the gear icon for internet use never appeared. Eventually, for some reason the iPad eventually asked for my wife's password. I entered that. The iPad asked if she wanted to select security questions. I clicked "Not now". Now we saw the price button again. Repeat and repeat.
Finally, I clicked that we would select security questions. I had to enter her password again. Remember that poking a small screen is more cumbersome than a full-size keyboard. We selected the questions and gave the answers.
Now, as expected, we had to give payment method details. I don't remember if we had to enter her password before we could proceed. It certainly seemed as if we did. I gave the payment details, and I was asked again for her password.
Now I could click on the price, click on the resulting "Buy Book", and once again enter her password. Finally we see the "downloading" button stay on and the gear go round and round. In a few minutes she had her book and her acknowledgment of activity in her email.
She is now in her favorite chair with her iPad mini, engrossed in her book. Once I post this diatribe I hope I will be engrossed in the latest hardcover John Lescroart murder mystery.
Over the decades, Apple has introduced hundreds of ideas that make Macintoshes, iPhones, and iPad even easier to use, mostly. But sometimes they are devilishly difficult to use. A case in point is trying to do a simple thing like buy an eBook.
My wife wanted an eBook for a book group that meets this week because she was unable to get it at the library in time. She has never bought an eBook for her iPad mini, and even though she taught computer classes for years, she would rather have me do it.
She gave me the title, her AppleID, and her password. I found the book in a few minutes. I pressed on the price which turned into a "Buy Book" button. Why not have a separate "Buy Book" button? I pressed the "Buy Book" button and the price appeared again. Sometimes the button changed to downloading, but the gear icon for internet use never appeared. Eventually, for some reason the iPad eventually asked for my wife's password. I entered that. The iPad asked if she wanted to select security questions. I clicked "Not now". Now we saw the price button again. Repeat and repeat.
Finally, I clicked that we would select security questions. I had to enter her password again. Remember that poking a small screen is more cumbersome than a full-size keyboard. We selected the questions and gave the answers.
Now, as expected, we had to give payment method details. I don't remember if we had to enter her password before we could proceed. It certainly seemed as if we did. I gave the payment details, and I was asked again for her password.
Now I could click on the price, click on the resulting "Buy Book", and once again enter her password. Finally we see the "downloading" button stay on and the gear go round and round. In a few minutes she had her book and her acknowledgment of activity in her email.
She is now in her favorite chair with her iPad mini, engrossed in her book. Once I post this diatribe I hope I will be engrossed in the latest hardcover John Lescroart murder mystery.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Quote of the day: Law as a game
I am cleaning my desk of many miscellaneous scraps of papers, some over ten years old. One intriguing one is a photocopy of two pages from "The True Game" by Sheri S. Tepper. I don't think it is buried in our bookshelves, and it is not in the Duluth Public Library. It is at the Hennepin County Library, and so I must have borrowed it between 1996 when it was published and 1999 when we moved to Duluth.
The paragraph that I bracketed is:
"We are going to try to do what Windlow would have wanted," he said. "He told us that nations of men fell into disorder, so nations of law were set up instead. He told us that nations of law then forgot justice and let the law become a Game, a Game in which the moves and the winning were more important than truth. He told us to seek justice rather than the Game. It was the laws, the rules which made Gaming. It was Gaming that made injustice. We can only try something new and hope that it is better."
How true! One only need read the novels of John Lescroart or look at the work of the sausage factory called Congress to see how people game the system and ignore justice.
The paragraph that I bracketed is:
"We are going to try to do what Windlow would have wanted," he said. "He told us that nations of men fell into disorder, so nations of law were set up instead. He told us that nations of law then forgot justice and let the law become a Game, a Game in which the moves and the winning were more important than truth. He told us to seek justice rather than the Game. It was the laws, the rules which made Gaming. It was Gaming that made injustice. We can only try something new and hope that it is better."
How true! One only need read the novels of John Lescroart or look at the work of the sausage factory called Congress to see how people game the system and ignore justice.
Monday, March 12, 2012
If you cant spel, dont right!
Actually, even if you can spell, check what you wrote. Your spell checker may have changed a word that you really meant to write. It took me three tries to get the title as incorrect as I intended it to be.
For the last several years, John Lescroart has brought out a new Dismas Hardy novel in January. They are so popular that I gave up trying to get them at the Duluth Public Library. Instead, I would buy a copy at my favorite book store and then donate it to the library when I finished.
Unfortunately, my favorite book store (Northern Lights Books) has closed, and I have not found its equal yet. So, I didn't order the latest John Lescroart novel earlier this year. Today I finally got around to checking the library catalog and didn't see anything new from Lescroart.
I went to his website and saw only a comment about another novel concerning one of his usual characters. Then I clicked on his books heading. The top book was "The Hunter" and its page was subtitled "Due out January, 2012".
I went back to the library catalog and looked up "The Hunter". Hoo boy! Over 800 hits. I limited the search to 2012 publication, and Bingo! The bad news is that all eight copies are out. I bet the reserve list for each is quite long. I could read it in large print if I wanted.
What does all this have to do with the title of this entry? On Lescroart's main page he has a little snippet "Fumblerules of Grammar" and gave five examples. He also gave a link to a much longer list that was created by William Safire in 1979. Click here for the complete list of Fumblerules.
For the last several years, John Lescroart has brought out a new Dismas Hardy novel in January. They are so popular that I gave up trying to get them at the Duluth Public Library. Instead, I would buy a copy at my favorite book store and then donate it to the library when I finished.
Unfortunately, my favorite book store (Northern Lights Books) has closed, and I have not found its equal yet. So, I didn't order the latest John Lescroart novel earlier this year. Today I finally got around to checking the library catalog and didn't see anything new from Lescroart.
I went to his website and saw only a comment about another novel concerning one of his usual characters. Then I clicked on his books heading. The top book was "The Hunter" and its page was subtitled "Due out January, 2012".
I went back to the library catalog and looked up "The Hunter". Hoo boy! Over 800 hits. I limited the search to 2012 publication, and Bingo! The bad news is that all eight copies are out. I bet the reserve list for each is quite long. I could read it in large print if I wanted.
What does all this have to do with the title of this entry? On Lescroart's main page he has a little snippet "Fumblerules of Grammar" and gave five examples. He also gave a link to a much longer list that was created by William Safire in 1979. Click here for the complete list of Fumblerules.
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