Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Trophy Hunt

Posted on March 17, 2025 by smellincoffee

Game Warden Joe Pickett’s peaceful fishing trip with his daughters is interrupted by a foul odor in the air — and following the scent, as the game warden must, leads him to an astonishing sight: the massive corpse of a … Continue reading →

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The Late Show

Posted on March 14, 2025 by smellincoffee

A few years ago Renee Ballard was an up-and-comer,  rising through the ranks at the LAPD’s detective ranks: then a supervisor sexually assaulted her, she reported it, and  soon found herself delegated to the ‘late show’.  She and her new … Continue reading →

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Winterkill

Posted on March 13, 2025 by smellincoffee

The peace of the wintry woods was shattered by rifle shots – a series of them. Game Warden Joe Pickett follows the sound and is stupefied to find the county’s leading forest service officer  massacring elk, surrounded by seven massive … Continue reading →

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Savage Run

Posted on March 11, 2025 by smellincoffee

Joe Pickett has encountered a lot of strange stuff in his so-far brief tenure as a game warden, but exploding cows is a first. The culprit here was a cow strapped with explosives, making players of Command and Conquer: Red … Continue reading →

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Open Season

Posted on March 10, 2025 by smellincoffee

It’s been a long time since I actually thrilled by a thriller — so emotionally charged up by it that I wanted to will the clock to slow down so I could finish the final chapters at lunch and not … Continue reading →

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The Brass Verdict

Posted on March 6, 2025 by smellincoffee

Attorney Mickey Haller hasn’t been practicing law the last year or so, having been recuperating from being shot and a subsequent addiction to pain meds that could have destroyed his life. On the verge of getting back in the game, … Continue reading →

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Camino Ghosts

Posted on March 2, 2025 by smellincoffee

In The Guardians, readers were teased with a voodoo-cursed cabin that..ended up never being visiting again, causing me to wonder why on Earth it had been included to begin with. Camino Ghosts revisits not that cabin, but the general premise … Continue reading →

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The Half-Blood Heir

Posted on February 28, 2025 by smellincoffee

Nathaniel Perry survived the Battle of Waterloo, despite the odds: two thirds of his unit have answered the last post and call, but he got through with just a bullet through the calf. Newly promoted to Major, he’s contemplating his … Continue reading →

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Short rounds: politics!

Posted on February 26, 2025 by smellincoffee

As mentioned yesterday I’m feeling burnt out between all the serious stuff I’ve been binging, global affairs, and ongoing drama with my computer (it was finally repaired and sent back from the manufacturer, but arrived in such a state that … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Mature Flâneur

Posted on February 21, 2025 by smellincoffee

While rooting around for books for The Grand Tour, I spotted ‘flâneur’ and immediately went for the bait. I know this word from back in 2012 when I was an ardent Francophile and was reading books like French Women Don’t … Continue reading →

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