Framing the Dialogue

Archive for May, 2017

Wired

In WIRED former (retired) special operations soldier, David Desh, is brought back by a former commander to track down a very dangerous person bent on causing thousands or more deaths.  Desh’s prey, however, proves to be more than a match for Desh as she seems to be playing chess to his game of checkers.  Kira Miller is a brilliant…no genius genetic engineer whose discoveries could make her extremely wealthy, extremely dangerous, and extremely wanted.  It doesn’t take very long for Desh to wonder who is the enemy.

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Don’t Stop Me Now

In Don’t Stop Me Now  we meet an almost thirty year-old Poppy Bloom as she finishes up her PhD.  She has done well; she has done really, really well and she cannot help but bask in her dream to walk straight into a job at her university. Unfortunately for Dr. Poppy things didn’t work out as she envisioned.

“What is going on? Not even a week ago, I was planning to spend the rest of my professional life less than five metres from Dr Burley’s desk. I thought we were partners, a team; I thought we were friends. Sure, I know we were officially student and tutor, but surely, after more than ten years working closely with someone…”

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High Heat

When a young woman is brutally murdered by three jihadists in the name of Allah in the middle of New York City, Nikki Heat is tasked with finding the killers.  Worse for Heat is that the terrorists claim their next target is someone very close to Heat.   This threat puts Nikki in some High Heat.

“These men—and there had to be at least three, since there was someone behind that camera—would do whatever it took to get their hands on Rook, even if it meant martyring themselves. Especially if it meant martyring themselves. They wouldn’t stop until Rook’s head was the one bouncing on the floor.”

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Rubbernecker

Where I’m from, a rubbernecker is someone who is not involve yet takes a long look at some activity (e.g. an accident on the other side of the road).  They often impinge upon the flow because of their nosiness.  So I’m reading this novel, Rubbernecker, by Belinda Bauer and wondering where the rubberneckers are.  I never did find them.

This novel seemed to me to be a bit disjointed until the author started tying things up with the characters.  The two main characters in the story are a man who had suffered from an accident and is in a coma.  The other is a bright young man who has Asperger’s Syndrome.  A bit of a mild case at that.  One is really not in coma and understands everything around him.  He even witnesses something that scares him to death.

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Stay Close

In my opinion, Harlan Coben is one of the better thriller writers out there today.  In Stay Close we meet Megan, a suburban mother of two who seems to have it all.  Unfortunately for Megan her past has caught up with her and she needs to face her skeletons…quite literally.  Can she face the past while protecting her hard won “soccer mom” life?  Can she atone for her past and still keep her marriage?  Does she want to?

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Awesome Sh*t My Drill Sergeant Said

“And while it’s true that a drill sergeant’s larger-than-life persona and “motivational style” may incorporate some, or all, of those panic-inducing, gut-checking, strength-building forces, you might not know one other important thing . . . drill sergeants are some of the FUNNIEST people on” the planet!”

This compilation book by Dan Caddy lives up to its title, Awesome Sh*t My Drill Sergeant Said: Wit and Wisdom from America’s Finest.  This is not one for the kiddies, but it is chock full of life lessons and hilarity.  I’ve not been in the military, but my confirmed sense is that drill sergeants differentiate themselves from officers and it’s out of pride in what they do.  They transform a mishmash of raw recruits into decent fighting units in just a matter of weeks.  Oh, they seem to yell a lot too.

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Snowflakes Struck – The Next Generation

As much as I try, I cannot always avoid headlines from news sources.  One of today’s was all about how some Notre Dame students walked out on the commencement speech delivered by Vice-President Pence.  It is interesting how these Snowflakes are proud to have walked out rather than listen to someone, who is not controversial or vile, but just may have a different perspective than they do.  I guess that’s society now…a very sad truth for them.  I don’t give a shit about them.  They’ll never make it in life outside of their liberal bubble.

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The Enemy of My Enemy

The Enemy of My Enemy is my friend.  That’s how the quote goes and in this the second in author Richard Bard’s Brainrush series, a cadre of unlikely folks band together to fight another group of folks who have banded together to attack the United States.  Jake Bronson is back as the hero, but his super abilities are taking a toll on his body.  Jake and his friends race to save their loved ones as well as the country against the terrorists set on bringing down the “Great Satan”.

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Brainrush

Brainrush by author Richard Bard is a story about Jake Bronson who is in the end stages of a very serious disease.  He is in the middle of an MRI when the unthinkable happens…there is an earthquake.  Jake seems to be okay, but something has changed.  Jake is not the same; Jake will never be the same.

Jake’s new abilities are noticed by what can only be described as a mad scientist (okay there would be other ways to describe him, but I’ll stick with the mad scientist moniker).  Once in his sights, neither Jake nor anyone around him is safe.  Will Jake’s new talents save himself, his friends, and even the world?

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