Tag Archives: adventure

Backcountry Lawman

Posted on September 22, 2025 by smellincoffee

Readers may remember that earlier this year I fell into CJ Box’s game warden novels starring Joe Pickett with the eagerness of a winter traveler who finds a cabin laden with quilts and fresh chili. I subsequently found Paul Doiron’s … Continue reading →

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Breaking Point

Posted on April 21, 2025 by smellincoffee

While on patrol counting herds and listening for sounds of poachers,  Game Warden Joe Pickett notices a Forestry fence that’s been cut. Upon investigation the warden realizes this fence was cut relatively recently, and whoever did it may still be … Continue reading →

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An Unexpected Hero

Posted on December 28, 2024 by smellincoffee

It was a night like any other: Danny was on the stage at a dive bar, very nearly earning his keep but ruining it by digging at customers who got on his nerves. Then, one of them decided to teach … Continue reading →

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A Prince of Wales

Posted on April 26, 2024 by smellincoffee

Gwynedd calls for aid! A few years ago, the rightful king of Gwynedd, Lylwelyn, marched to the assistance of the Earl of Chesire, largely out of friendship to the Earl’s men Roger and Roland. Now, ambushed after a parlay with … Continue reading →

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The Ransomed Crown

Posted on April 23, 2024 by smellincoffee

Sir Roland Inness is returning to the hills he fled from as an outlaw, as a boy who’d slain three Norman men-at-arms for murdering his father and burning his home. He comes here not merely to pay respects to the … Continue reading →

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Warcross

Posted on August 20, 2023 by smellincoffee

Emika Chen is a young woman, desperately in debt because a past criminal record makes it impossible for her to obtain the kinds of work that she’s developed skills for. What’s she’s good at coding and hacking, and these days … Continue reading →

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Farming for xp and fields

Posted on June 16, 2023 by smellincoffee

More short rounds today, bringing together a lite SF title and a collection of Wendell Berry’s farming essays. First up is Craig Anderson’s Level Up, a title in the relatively new field of ‘litrpg’ in which video game elements are … Continue reading →

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Vein Pursuits

Posted on June 3, 2023 by smellincoffee

Vein Pursuits© 2023 Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle322 pages | Audible version read by Roger Clark, 11 hours & change Cold as Hell introduced readers to James Crowley, an undead gunman who was killed trying to protect an innocent … Continue reading →

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The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights

Posted on April 27, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Acts of so-called Arthur King and his Noble Kannnnnigits© 1976 John Steinbeck364 pages It befell in the days of yore, as I rode by a book-stall in a great city, that mine eye was caught by a fair volume … Continue reading →

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Lost on Purpose

Posted on December 12, 2022 by smellincoffee

Lost on Purpose: The Adventures of a 21st Century Mountain Man© 2015 Patrick Taylor187 pages The real adventure for me was letting go of everything I had defined as important and conducting another experiment with my life. Lost on Purpose … Continue reading →

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