I’m always interested in finding a good detective series. I’m especially partial to strong male protagonists–tough guys. Even within those confines, there’s plenty of variety, from Jack Reacher at the hard end of the tough-guy spectrum, to the somewhat soft Kurt Wallander at the other end–still a fairly tough guy, but not terribly formidable. Between those bookends you’ll find Spenser, Lew Archer, Hammett’s nameless Continental Op, Marlowe, Jesse Stone, Martin Beck, Lucas Davenport, and Alex Cross. Among others.
I’m always looking for a good new series. And with that in mind, I recently tried two new authors.
Stuart Woods wrote a series–now up to 18 books–around private investigator Stone Barrington, a former cop in New York City. I actually read one of the later books in the series, “Fresh Disasters,” but wasn’t too impressed. However, I promised myself I’d give Woods another chance. That chance came with “Dirt,” the second book in the series.
“Dirt” was a true-blue winner. Someone is publishing dirt–not gossip, but real factual stuff–about a famous gossip writer. It’s the turning of the tables. She asks Barrington to find the identify of the anonymous gossipmonger. The job takes him into the high society social scene, and people inevitably die.
This was a superb book which kept me guessing. All the details dropped along the way came together in the end. And now I’m hooked. I need more Stone Barrington books.
Now let’s switch to the left coast. Robert Crais was totally new to me, as was his 12-time protagonist, Elvis Cole. I picked up “Chasing Darkness” at Sam’s Club, and ignored it for most of a year. Until last week.
I was immediately taken with Cole and his mysterious bad-guy friend Pike. They are definitely modeled, however loosely, on Spenser and Hawk, but it’s on a whole different (lower) level of writing–still good, but not on par with Robert Parker. But then, nobody is.
Still, I really liked Elvis Cole. A man is found dead, an apparent suicide, with a book showing photos of seven murdered women. The case seems to be ironclad: he’s the serial killer who has eluded the police for most of a decade. But Cole, who cleared this guy of one of those murders three years before, just can’t accept the evidence. It was an interesting plot, which took some unexpected turns just as I thought I had things figured out.
I really really enjoyed Elvis Cole and the collection of friends he draws on. Liked him even better than Stone Barrington. So now I’ve got two lengthy series to relish in the years ahead.
Pundit/comedian Bill Maher says Apple CEO Steve Jobs would do a better job of running America than the Obama administration.
“Drill, baby, drill” made a sure-fire applause line during the Republican Convention. But now we’re seeing one side effect of off-shore drilling. Because of our addiction to oil, and our official pampering of Big Oil, the fishing, tourist, and other industries on the Gulf Cost are suffering big-time. 
Here are some movies Pam and I have watched recently on DVD. Haven’t been to a theater all year…yet.
Stieg Larsson (right), a Swede, turned in all three books to a publisher in 2004, and the first book (called “Men Who Hate Women” in Sweden) had just been published…and then he died of a massive heart attack. He was 50. Since he and his companion of 32 years, Eva, never married, the entire estate went to Larsson’s father and brother; she got nothing. This is a big scandal in Sweden, though their laws are pretty clear. A case of bad planning. 
“The Girl Who Played with Fire” starts pretty much where “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” left off, though it mostly occurs two years later. It starts with an upcoming, blockbuster Millennium expose of sex trafficking, but turns into a murder mystery, and then gets taken over by plotlines from “Dragon Tattoo.” Halfway through the book, Salander disappears entirely for a long period as a full-fledged police investigation begins, and Larsson acquaints us with the persons on the police team. 
“Eight Lives Down,” by Chris Hunter, is the reality version of “The Hurt Locker,” the 2009 Oscar winning film. The subtitle says, “The Story of the World’s Most Dangerous Job in the World’s Most Dangerous Place.” 
I’ve read several books about our current two wars, but this is the first one from a non-American perspective. It was interesting seeing how British troops behave and interact with each other–not much different from American troops, except perhaps a bit more straight-laced. They are certainly highly trained warriors. 
