The Games, by Ted Kosmatka

An unspecified time in the future.   An Olympic game of gladiators fighting to the death is a bit hit.   The twist is, geneticists manufacture the contestants, and the key rule is that no human DNA may be used.   So disposable living creatures are built to fight in an arena.

Here's where things go bad because of poor writing and plot development:  a genius builds a computer which then designs the genetic blueprint for the US entry to these events.   It is deadly.

Much confusion.   Massive gaps in character development too.

Bottom line: I read through this so that you don't need to.  Instead, take my advice and pass.

Kill Shot, by Vince Flynn

It must be that I'm in the mood for predictable reading this week.   Not that the specific plot of Mr. Flynn's novel is predictable.  Rather in the sense of wanting a reliably interesting espionage thriller.   Sometimes you want to stay at a small local hotel, and sometimes you want the predictable service of a Four Seasons.   This novel provides, in effect, the latter.

So with that long preamble:   same hero (Mitch Rapp), same supporting characters, some new villains, surprises only in how things come to closure but no doubt that they would.   An excellent book of the genre.

Full Black, by Brad Thor

Mr. Thor's books deliver very consistently:   spy adventure, a Fox News -style of thinking to save the world from socialism slowing worming its way into American life as illustrated by government handouts and an entitlement point of view.    Many of the negative reviews of his novel focus on the political statements.   But I don't share in that criticism:  you get what you get from Mr. Thor, and either the plot and thrills are worth the political context setting or not.  (Or, a third choice:  you agree with him.)

In my case, I'm after the thrills, so to speak.  And that, Mr. Thor delivers undeniably reliably.   This isn't a fantastic example of the spy thriller genre, but it is a solidly good example.

In Pursuit of the Unknown, by Ian Stewart

The sub-title is "17 equations that changed the world."  I was very optimistic about Professor Stewart's book and really wanted it to be great.   Sadly, that was not to be.

Why not?   With few exceptions, Stewart failed to make the complex equations understandable.   It is pretty easy to explain Pythagora's theorem.   Logarithms too, although the author didn't do a great job.  By the time we got to Euler's formula for polyhedra, things were going downhill at an alarming rate.

In fairness, it isn't easy to explain all these equations in lay terms.   But also in fairness, that was Stewart's mission; the job he took on and he failed at it.

The good news:  some interesting commentary about the figures behind the equations.

Don't waste your time, though, unless you're extremely well grounded in mathematics.

ISBN 0465029736

The Professionals, by Owen Laukkanen

Mr. Laukkanen, in his first novel, has taken the title of top notch mystery writer.    It is clear that the two main characters of this book, FBI agent Carla Windemere and Minnesota state police investigator Kirk Stevens, will be the basis for a long series to come.

To avoid spoilers, I won't say much about the plot.   A group of young college grads, unable or unwilling to find "normal" jobs, take on small scale kidnapping as a career.   Things go wrong.   Police, and other bad guys, get involved.

The writing is great, plot is great, pacing is great.  I'm a big fan.

If you like mysteries, you'll want to read this book.

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, by Gail Damerow

This is the go to book on the topic.   Its breadth is amazing:  from understanding how chickens communicate (and differentiating between different sounds) to how best to kill and pluck a meat bird.  It is a phenomenal reference.

If anything, it provides a bit too much information:  if you're considering some egg layers but read this book first, you might reconsider, just because you'll learn about all the little details.   In that regard, it is like reading too much about what might happen during pregnancy:  at some point, you get a head ache.

Having said that, this is worth having as a reference for anyone with chickens, and is an interesting read even if you're fowl-free.

Keeping a Family Cow, by Joann Grohman

If you have any interest in having your own dairy cow, this is the go to book.   You will have to endure a bit of proselytizing for the concept of humans drinking cow milk up front.   By the way, I don't drink milk.   Mostly because I stopped nursing a very long time ago and continuing to do so, even with another species' milk -- or especially with another species' milk -- would at best make no sense and at worst be just gross.

But I am interested in homesteading and in the general topic of having a household cow.   For that, this book is superb.   It covers everything from nutrition to behavior, and the author just drips with credibility from her personal experiences.

Certainly if you do drink cow's milk, and you want to avoid steroids, chemicals and who knows what sort of living conditions your source experiences, having your own dairy cow seems a great alternative.

You will, however, have to wake up to milk every single morning.  Even if it is raining, you had a bit to drink the night before, and you just want to stay in bed.   That laziness, that lack of discipline, is perhaps the most significant reason for me to forgo home grown dairy products.

The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning, by Hallgrimur Helgason

This is not a great book.   I got it at deep discount and would have been ahead on my savings had I not bothered to complete the read.

The plot:  an assassin leaves New York, ends up in Iceland, finds love and reforms.

The writing is not great; were the author American and not Icelandic, I'd say dreadful but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and the ability to blame it all on a poor translator.   Realistically though, I believe the problems are far beyond translation issues.

Oddly enough, the last several pages were the best written in the book.   Still, it would be cruel of me to recommend this.

Even on discount.

Vulture Peak, by John Burdett

It has been nearly two years since I read a John Burdett novel, and the last one didn't impress me as being up to his level of quality.   In this, his latest mystery featuring the unlikely hero Sonchai Jitpleecheep, devout Buddhist, pimp and police detective, Mr. Burdett has more than redeemed himself.

An excellent novel!   But to try to summarize the plot -- well, it is complicated, at the edge of convoluted. Worth reading though.

As an aside:  this is the first book I've read in Adobe Digital Editions; I borrowed the novel electronically from my public library.   It worked quite well, and was very readable.   Would have been more convenient to read on a Kindle though.

Asylum, by Claude Bouchard

One review (unfortunately read after I'd finished this novel) used the word "unreadable."   That's pretty close to my view.  Sadly, I'm so obstinate, I wasted my time reading this to the end.   The ending was almost predictable.  That I'd look back on this as a theft of my time was also predictable after the 10th page or so.   Oh well.

Just say no to this novel.