Welshrogue

From the Publisher

New Year”s Eve, 1999. After an early morning machine-gun attack by a madman man called the Digger leaves dozens dead in the Washington, D.C. subway, the mayor”s office receives a message demanding twenty million dollars by midnight or more innocents will die. With the ransom note as the only evidence, Special Agent Margaret Lukas calls upon retired FBI agent and the nation”s premiere document examiner Parker Kincaid, to join the manhunt for the Digger — or for hundreds, the first moments of the new century will be their last on earth.

There’s a mad man on the lose, unstopable, untraceable, and he is going around killing innocent bystanders. Who you going to call? Someone who examines documents … yeah, kinda different choice to what I would have made as well but what can I say? I didn’t write it. The typical JD book, races along with detail and characters but doesn’t seem to know where to stop, one twist in the tail after another. Almost the complete opposite of Michael Crichton, whereas with Crichton novels you get the feeling that he wrote the plot and himself into a corner that normally requires either a cop out or a mundain ending, Deaver tacks on two or three different endings in the guise of twists because he couldn’t decide which one he liked more. Still an enjoyable read though.

Woo hoo, bought Crossing The Line by Clinton McKenzie, not supposed to be out until March!! I am pretty happy with that!!

For fear of spoiling stories and plots I won't mention book titles or authors, but in four books that I have read recently, by three different authors, the surprise twist in the tail has been that the main character has found out he is a father. Now the circumstances have been different, one found out the little girl was his while he assumed it was a relatives, another found out from an ex-girlfriend who had married someone else the day after conception of the baby, a third assumed his ex-wife was running away with a man, and then found it out it was his child, not a rival for her love, and the fourth found out his had been a father for two years before finding out from his ex-wife. And while I was writing this long long sentence… I thought of a fifth that I read last year, where the main character found out he had twins who were in their early twenties.

Perhaps this is just a blip on the book readers radar rather than a trend, much like flared pants and platform shoes but even five out of the last twenty books is a pretty big blip!!

From the Publisher

His code name is Phate — a sadistic computer hacker who infiltrates people”s computers, invades their lives, and with chilling precision lures them to their deaths. To stop him, the authorities free imprisoned former hacker Wyatt Gillette to aid the investigation. Teamed with old-school homicide detective Frank Bishop, Gillette must combine their disparate talents to catch a

brilliant and merciless killer.

A thriller about a hacker who is killing people. Fast, twisty, fun. A good read, not too technical but still not too dumb to make it stupid. Usual twists thrown in along the way. Enjoyed it!

NameThatMovie

Sign up and you receive two e-mails a week with two movies that you have to name from the clues given. Challenging but fun!!

Ever feel like you are banging your head against a wall? That is how I feel 2 1/2 weeks into the 12 step program……… I don't feel a change at all, if anything I am struggling on some of the weights. The only thing I have found out is that music helps me go to the gym but… thats it…..9 1/2 weeks to go, and fingers crossed I actually show some signs of benefit otherwise I am going to have to eat a lot of ice cream to cheer myself up!!

From the Publisher
Murder is afoot in the tropical climes of the Florida Keys–Peter Falconer, the son of wealthy parents who stands to gain a fortune in inheritance on his 30th birthday, is missing and presumed dead. Ex-Army investigator Daniel Shaw, who is currently studying law and preparing for the Bar exam, is summoned by the devious–and incredibly witty–attorney Tom Petrie to find Peter and rescue the inheritance money. The pursuit leads Daniel from the Keys to Jamaica to South America, where he tangles with the larger-than-life criminal Raven Ahriman and his partner, Charles Angleton, Peter”s childhood friend who ultimately orchestrated Peter”s disappearance in connection with some dubious dealings in snuff films and the death of two young girls who participated in the filming. With the assistance of Tom; Peter”s sister, Susan, who is devastated to learn of her brother”s shady interests; and Daniel”s hired loose-cannon “bodyguard” Leroy, Daniel tracks Raven through the Mosquito Keys and onto the high seas, where the small group is left for dead on a ship. But after the discovery of Peter Falconer and a heroic escape, Daniel must ultimately face Raven in a battle for his life in this superbly crafted novel by thriller-writer Faust.?

Not a good book, annoying characters, confusing interplay, and a plot that wasn’t so much bad as just dumb. Ah well, ya live and learn!!

Hollywood Stock Exchange

Want to play the market? Not interested in real stocks? Try Hollywood Stock Exchange. Put pretend money on real movies and movie stars. Blah blah blah

this is actually lots of fun apart from the fact that it is s.l.o.w……… obviously it takes weeks, months, even years to make money in any large amount but its still fun!

From the Publisher
D-Day is approaching. They don’t know where or when, but the Germans know it’ll be soon, and for Felicity “Flick” Clariet, the stakes have never been higher.

A senior agent in the ranks of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) responsible for sabotage, Flick has survived to become oe of Britain’s most effective operatives in Northern France. She knows that the Germans’ ability to thwart the Allied attack depends upon their lines of communications, and in the days before the invasion no target is of greater strategic importance than the largest telephone exchange in Europe.

But when Flick and her Resistance-leader husband try a direct, head-on assault that goes horribly wrong, her world turns upside down. Her group destroyed, her husband missing, her superiors unsure of her, her own confidence badly shaken, she has one last chance at the target, but the challenge, once daunting, is now near-impossible. The new plan requires an all-woman team, none of them professionals, to be assembled and trained within days. Code-named the Jackdaws, they will attempt to infiltrate the exchange under the noses of the Germans-but the Germans are waiting for them now and have plans of their own. There are secrets Flick does not know-secrets within the German ranks, secrets among her hastily recruited team, secrets among those she trusts the most. And as the hours tick down to the point of no return, most daunting of all, there are secrets within herself….

Set in world war 2, it tells of a desperate mission made up of women trying to blow up a telephone exchange before the invasion.

Think of it as dirty 1/2 dozen with girlies instead of men. Diverse characters, a plot that skips along, and action. Brilliant book, more than enough to make me buy more Ken Follett books.

Yesterday (Thursday), all my troubles seemed so far away…… OK, I don't really have troubles, but one week into my 12 step, I mean week, (or should that be weak) program I am finding that working out can be fun!! I actually did 40 situps in one go last night, This comes as a surprise since I have the ab muscles of a relaxed jellyfish. The secret to a good, fun workout, I have discovered, is to play music, and to play it loud. To this end, I have complied a long list of songs from which I put a random selection onto my MP3 player and deafen myself as I try to lift weights (or open the door to the gym!). Of course, this plan has some flaws, some of which could be considered fatal. Such as, trying to lift weights, or pull down as in this instance, while trying not to sing "Delilah" at the top of your voice can put a strain on several parts of your body at once. It turns out, my face is also getting a work out as I find myself either smiling or grinning a lot of the time as I listen to songs from my past or present. So far so good though, I haven't burst into "Dancing Queen" yet.