Books Read in 2021

  1. ****The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan). The first book in the Wheel of Time fantasy series. Enjoyed it a lot. 1/7
  2. ****The White Hart (Nancy Springer). First in a fantasy series set on an island. Five books in the series. Looks like all involve different main characters. She’s a good writer. 1/11
  3. ****Game of Snipers (Stephen Hunter). Latest in the Bob Lee Swagger series. This one involves chasing down a jihadi sniper on a mission somewhere in the United States. 1/17
  4. ***Treadstone Resurrection (Joshua Hood, 2020). A new character, Adam Hayes, who was part of Treadstone with Jason Bourne. Pretty good. 1/21
  5. ***Omega Rising (Joshua Dalzelle, 2014). The first sci-book in the Omega Force series. Jason Burke goes aboard an alien spacecraft that crash-lands near his mountain cabin, it takes off, and the adventure begins. 1/25
  6. ****Kill Zone (Jack Coughlin, 2007). First of the Kyle Swanson books. Some political intrigue, but mostly working against home-grown terrorists looking to engineer a coup. I like the Swanson character. 1/31
  7. ****Dead Shot (Jack Coughlin, 2009). The 2nd Kyle Swanson book. This one pits him against a British elite sniper who is actually Muslim. 2/3
  8. ***Atlanta Deathwatch (Ralph Dennis, 2018). First of the noir Hardman books, 13 total. Good stuff. 2/5
  9. *My Civil War and the Underground Railroad (Marion Butler, 1914). A UB man tells about his Civil War service. 2/7
  10. ****The Operator (Craig Martelle, 2020). The first of 3 (currently) Ian Bragg books, about a contract killer and the girl he hooks up with. Really enjoyed it. 2/7
  11. **First Strike (R. J. Patterson). First in a thriller series, this one mostly taking place in Afghanistan, with plenty of political intrigue stateside. A bit unrealistic for me. I’ll stop here. 2/8
  12. **Ninth & Nowhere (Jeffery Deaver). A 50-page novella, about seven persons whose lives intersect at a downtown Quick Mart. 2/9
  13. ****Jackrabbit Smile (2018, Joe Lansdale). The 11th Hap & Leonard book finds them in Hap’s hometown dealing with racists and other bad guys. 2/13
  14. ****The Suriname Job (Vince Milam). The first Case Lee book, about a former Delta operative. He takes an assignment to Suriname, where he encounters Russians and violence occurs. But the book develops strong characters, particularly with his former Delta operatives. 2/18
  15. ****The New Guinea Job (Vince Milan). The 2nd Case Lee book. This one takes him to Papua New Guinea, where spooks from the US, Britain, Russia, China, and a group of terrorists are all vying for gold. Really good. 2/21
  16. **Indiana’s War. Published documents from Indiana soldiers and civilians during the Civil War. Informative. 2/21
  17. ****The Caribbean Job (Vince Milam). The 3rd Case Lee book. This one involves a conspiracy regarding creating a new overland route through Costa Rica as an alternative to the Panama Canal. Bo Dickerson plays a big part, and a new FBI gal. 2/23
  18. **Ohio’s War. Published documents from Ohio soldiers and civilians during the Civil War. Informative. 3/3
  19. ***The Flame Bearer (2016, Bernard Cornwell). The 10th in the Saxon Chronicles series. This is the weakest book so far, even though it’s about Uhtred finally taking Bebbanburg, which should have made it very climactic. 3/3
  20. ****War of the Wolf (2018, Bernard Cornwell). the 11th Saxon Tales book. Comes several years after the previous book. Uhtred is firmly in place at Bebbanburg, but gets drawn into Mercia to fight Skoll, a Norse warlord trying to establish himself as king of Northumbria after getting run out of Ireland. 3/6
  21. ****Sword of Kings (2019, Bernard Cornwell). With King Edward dead, Uthred gets dragged into the potential Civil War in Wessex and Mercia, and comes to the aid of Aethelstan. 3/10
  22. ****Free Fall in Crimson (John D. MacDonald). The 19th Travis McGee book (out of 21), and among the best. He tracks down the killer of a dying millionaire, and ends up tangling with motorcycle gangs, pornographers, and Hollywood directors. 3/14
  23. ****Cinnamon Skin (John D. MacDonald). In the 20th Travis McGee book, Meyer’s boat is blown up, along with his niece, and they begin an investigation into what actually happened. It takes them to Mexico. 3/17
  24. ****The Lonely Silver Rain (John D. MacDonald). The final Travis McGee book. He helps a friend recover his stolen yacht, and ends up being put on a hitlist by drug lord. Great ending. 3/22
  25. ****No Good Deed (David Baldacci). The first Archer novel, about a WW2 vet who has just gotten out of prison. Good one. 3/28
  26. ***Annihilation (Jeff VandeMeer, 2014). The first of a trilogy involving an area where weird things happen. The first book was good, but I’ve read that the next two delve too much into politics and don’t answer questions, so I’ll skip them. 4/2
  27. ****The Great Hunt (Robert Jordan). The second Wheel of Time book. Stands by itself. Worth the read. 4/6
  28. ***No Way Home (Christy Cooper-Burnett, 2020). A time travel novel, involving taking convicts to sometime in the past and leaving them there. Interesting, but lots of errors. 4/8
  29. ****A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula Le Guin). The first in the famous Earthsea series. Interesting. I wouldn’t mind reading more. 4/10
  30. ****Primary Target (Jack Mars). The 1st in the “Forging of Luke Stone” series. Really good stuff, about a former Delta and the abduction of the president’s daughter. 4/12
  31. ****The Amazon Job (Vince Milam). The fourth in this tremendous series. 4/14
  32. ****Primary Command (Jack Mars). The second Luke Stone book. 4/18
  33. ****Girl Most Likely (Max Allan Collins). Murders surround a ten-year high school reunion. First book in the Krista Larson series, about the country’s youngest female police chief. 4/19
  34. ***Constitution (Nick Webb, 2014). First in the “Legacy Fleet” sci-fi trilogy about the Swarm’s efforts to conquer the human race, which has spread to many star systems. 4/20
  35. ***Warrior (Nick Webb, 2015). Second in the “Legacy Fleet” series. 4/22
  36. ***Victory (Nick Webb, 2016). Third in the Legacy Fleet series, which completes the first trilogy of what is now six books. 4/24
  37. ***Into the Fold: 1942 (Diane L. Thompson, 2018). An alien woman, humanoid, with no memory, is stranded on earth and suspected of being a Japanese spy. Several men realize who she is and try to help her. 4/26
  38. ***Into the Fold: 4102 (Diane L. Thompson, 2019). The sequel to “Into the Fold: 1942,” but set far in the future, where the woman from the first book came from.
  39. ***Into the Fold: The MarThana Mat Trials (Diane L. Thompson, 2019). Third in the series. Ends well, satisfactorily.
  40. ****Clean Kill (Jack Coughlin). The 3rd Kyle Swanson book brings back the villain from the 2nd one. Very good again.
  41. ****Navarro (R. O Lane). A good stand-alone western. 5/2
  42. **Ricochet Joe (Dean Koontz). A novella with illustrations, kind of a comic book almost. A bit strange in the ending. 5/4
  43. ****Yestertime (Andrew Cunningham). A really good time-travel book, very different take on things. Enjoyed it a lot. 5/6
  44. ****Blood Storm (Bill Brooks). The first John Henry Cole book, which takes him from Cheyenne to Deadwood, to investigate the murders of three prostitutes. Very good. Calamity Jane is there. 5/9
  45. ****An Act of Treason (Jack Coughlin). The fourth Kyle Swanson book.
  46. ****Primary Threat (Jack Mars). The third Luke Stone book find the task force chasing down a massive nuclear weapon being deployed under the Arctic icecap. Really good. 5/16
  47. ****Primary Glory (Jack Mars). The fourth Luke Stone book. Air Force One, with the president aboard, has been hijacked in Puerto Rico by Islamic terrorists, who are taking the plane to Somalia so the president can stand trail in a Sharia court. Fast-paced the entire way. Excellent. 5/18
  48. ***White Devil (Mark Dawson). The first in the Beatrix Rose series. Okay, nothing special. Set in Hong Kong. This is a novella. 5/18
  49. ****Siege of Darkness (R A Salvatore). The 9th Drizzt book, and the 3rd in a 4-book series. Here, the drow of the Underdark launch a wholesale assault on Mithral Hall. 5/22
  50. ****The Charleston Knife is Back in Town (Ralph Dennis). The second “Hardman” book, which I found much better than the first, and now has me hooked on this series. The interplay between Hardman and Hump is great. 5/23
  51. ****The Hawaii Job (Vince Milam). The 5th book in this series, which takes our hero to Hawaii and then Sudan. Almost two stories in one. 5/26
  52. ****The Orcas Island Job (Vince Gilam). The 6th book in the series, this one focused in the state of Washington. 5/28
  53. ****Wisdom Spring (Andrew Cunningham). A cross-c0untry trip ending in Alaska, involving a major conspiracy and lots of bad guys who need to be dispatched. I really like the way Cunningham writes. This is the second book I’ve ready by him in the past few weeks. 5/30
  54. ***The Last Exodus (Paul Tassi, 2015). The first of the Earthborn trilogy. Earth is dying after a war with aliens. A man finds an alien ship, and leaves earth with an alien traitor and a young woman. 5/31
  55. *****Into the Fire (Greg Hurwitz, 2019). The 6th Orphan X book. Evan Smoak is helping a man being hunted down in LA. Every time he thinks he’s taken care of the problem, he finds there’s another layer. Really good book. We also get some backstory, which leads right into the next book in the series. 6/5
  56. **The Wild One (Nick Petrie, 2019). The 5th Peter Ash book, set almost entirely in Iceland with a big conspiracy at work. Didn’t enjoy it. A disappointment. 6/7
  57. ***The Golden Girl and All (Ralph Dennis). The 3rd Hardman book involves a 6-year-old girl kidnapped by her drug-dealing mother. 6/8
  58. ****City of Truth (James Morrow). Sci-fi, where everyone is conditioned to only tell the truth. Interesting. 6/10
  59. ****Wild Ocean (Tripp Ellis). The first of the Coastal Caribbean series, which is now up to 30 books. The hero is Tyson Wild, a former assassin and dark ops operator, who settles on a Florida island where his sister and an old army buddy live. Adventures come their way. 6/11
  60. ****Wild Justice (Tripp Ellis). The 2nd Coastal Caribbean book. 6/13
  61. ****Wild Riviera (Tripp Ellis). The 3rd Coastal Caribbean book finds Tyson Wild going to Monoco to settle a score. 6/14
  62. ****Wild Tide (Tripp Ellis). The 4th Coastal Caribbean book finds Tyson Wild battling cartels. 6/15
  63. ****Wild Rain (Tripp Ellis). The 5th Coastal Caribbean book includes the murder of a stripper and a hurricane. 6/17
  64. ****Wild Captive (Tripp Ellis). The 6th in the series. A serial killer is on the loose, and a mobster wants Tyson to find his missing daughter. 6/18
  65. ****Wild Killer (Trip Ellis). The 7th Coastal Caribbean book concludes the cliff-hanger from book 6. 6/19
  66. ****The Nevada Job (Vince Milam). The 7th Case Lee book takes him into the world of rare earth metals–first to Bolivia, then to Nevada. 6/21
  67. ****The Sage Wind Blows Cold (Clint Hollingsworth). The first Mac Crow book, set in the state of Washington. Our hero is an expert tracker who works with a team of bounty hunters. Here, they are searching for a girl missing in the deep woods, with a killer at large. 6/23
  68. ****Death in the High Lonesome (Clint Hollingsworth). The 2nd Mac Crow book involves the search for an Indian accused of murder. Very good. 6/25
  69. ***Big Blow (Joe Lansdale). Interesting novella about boxer Jack. Johnson and the 1900 hurricane that his Galveston. 6/26
  70. **Postcards from Babylon (Brian Zahnd). Christian book about nationalism, war/peace, and other issues. Okay. Had some good thought. 6/26
  71. **Guardian Outcast (GJ Ogden). First of the Star Scavenger series. Okay, but decided not to continue. 6/28
  72. ****The Deep Blue Crush (Clint Hollingsworth). Third Mac Crow thriller. This time, the bounty hunters head to Hawaii to catch a swindler, and are shadowed by a psychotic ex-CIA operative. 7/2
  73. ****Dying to Win (Clint Hollingsworth). The fourth Mac Crow thriller. This involved murder during a reality show in a wilderness setting. 7/4
  74. ****Running the Maze (2012, Jack Coughlin). The 5th (of 10) Kyle Swanson books. The Muslim plot this time is in Pakistan, where a huge underground complex is being built for a Taliban leader. 7/8
  75. ****Time to Kill (2013, Jack Coughlin). The 6th Kyle Swanson book, and a very interesting one. Set in Egypt amidst a Iranian plot. 6/10
  76. ****Gold in the Keys (Matthew Rief). The first Logan Dodge book, set in the Florida Keys. He’s an ex-SEAL looking for Aztec gold with opposition from a Mexican drug cartel. 7/17
  77. ****Hunted in the Keys (Matthew Rief). The 2nd Logan Dodge book. 7/20
  78. ****Revenge in the Keys (Matthew Rief). The 3rd Logan Dodge book. 7/22
  79. ***The Sentinel (Lee Child, 2020). The first Reacher book done with Andrew Child. Not a very good one. Disappointing. 7/23
  80. ****Red War (Vince Flynn, with Kyle Mills). The 17th Mitch Rapp book involves unrest in Russia, and schemes to start a war with the west. 7/25
  81. ****On Scope (Jack Coughlin). The 7th Kyle Swanson book starts with a Muslim terrorist attack on the US consulate in Barcelona, Spain, and involves a Muslim plot to return Spain to the Muslim fold. 7/27
  82. ***Black Dawn (K. Gorman). First in the Eurynome Code series. Interesting sci-fi. 8/3
  83. ***Following Jesus (N.T. Wright). First book I’ve read by Wright. This one is basically a collection of sermons about New Testament books. 8/8
  84. ***Passage to Dawn (R. A. Salvatore). The 10th Drizzt book, and the fourth and last in the “Legacy of the Drow” series. 8/10
  85. ****The Elephant of Surprise (Joe Lansdale, 2019). They are protecting a girl being chased by Dixie Mafia hitmen, amidst a tropical storm. Moves right along. 8/11
  86. ****Force of Nature (CJ Box, 2012). The 12th Joe Pickett novel. Nate Romanowski, a scary guy, is being hunted by an even scarier guy from his past life in special forces. Very good. 8/14
  87. ****Breaking Point (CJ Box, 2013). Quite an interesting tale, involving a guy who may or may not have killed to EPA agents, and is now being hunted through the mountains. 8/18
  88. ****Stone Cold (CJ Box, 2014). The 14th Joe Pickett book. Joe investigates a rich dude who is probably a contract killer. 8/21
  89. ***Wild Honor (Tripp Ellis). The 8th Tyson Wild book is a mish-mash of story lines, mostly involving Scarlet going to Hollywood to begin acting, and the brutal murder of an elderly Medal of Honor recipient. 8/25
  90. ***Wild Gold (Tripp Ellis). The 9th Tyson Wild book . 8/29
  91. ***The DC Job (Vince Milam, 2021). The 8th Case Lee book. He is hired to find the daughter of a Polish diplomat who is kidnapped in Jordan, and ends up in Africa. Plot twists. 9/1
  92. ***Heir to the Empire (Timothy Zahn). The 1st in the Thrawn trilogy, and the first Star Wars book I’ve read. Pretty good, and I’ll probably read more. 9/7
  93. ***Choosers of the Slain (James H. Cobb, 2021). First in a series. A high-tech American destroyer is the only option when Argentinian forces basically invade Antarctica. The author basically shows off his technical knowledge of how such a ship would fight. Got a bit weary for me. But I liked the characters. 9/14
  94. ***The Lost Soul of the City (Dean Koontz). The 1st in the second batch of six Nameless books. 9/16
  95. ****Girl Can’t Help It (Max Allan Colins, 2020). The second Krista Larsen book. The first one involved a class reunion. This one involves a rock band reunion. Very good murder mystery. 9/21
  96. ****Prodigal Son (Gregg Hurwitz, 2020). The 6th Orphan X book, and another true winner. I love this series. 9/24
  97. ****The President is Missing (James Patterson and Bill Clinton). A real good cyber-terrorism thriller that scared the pants off me. A little preachy in parts about political philosophy, but that was Clinton’s work, and I just skipped over it. 9/25
  98. ****Freezer Burn (Joe Lansdale). A quirky read involving a guy involved in a murder who hides among a carnival freak show. 9/28
  99. ****Blackbird (Michael Fiegel). Interesting, offbeat tale of a serial killer who abducts and kind of fathers a young girl. The book spans at least ten years in their relationship. Very unusual book. 10/1
  100. ****The Archer’s Tale (Bernard Cornwell). First in the Grail Quest trilogy. Occurs right at the beginning of the 100 Years War between England and France, and set in France among the invading British. Involves a young English longbow soldier. 10/5
  101. ****Endangered (CJ Box). Another good one. Nate R lies near death in a hospital, and April has been savagely beaten and left for dead. Joe Pickett is on the case. 10/8
  102. ****Vagabond (Bernard Cornwell). The second “Grail Quest” book continues the story of Thomas of Hookton, this time in both England and France. 10/22
  103. ***Primary Valor (Jack Mars, 2021). A teenager is kidnapped into human trafficking by an arms-dealing lord with his own private island. Luke Short and company get involved. 10/24
  104. ***Primary Duty (Jack Mars, 2021). A Supreme Court justice is abducted by Muslim jihadis, who also take over a train heading into the Chunnel. Luke Short is there. 10/27
  105. *Karnak Cafe (Naguib Mahfouz, 1974). An Egyptian coffeeshop, young people being rounded up by the government and tortured, a little romance. I hung with the book, expecting something profound to emerge. Nothing ever did. 10/29
  106. ***Gentle is the Angel of Death (Dean Koontz, 2021). The 2nd of “season 2” of the Nameless series. 10/30
  107. ***Kaleidoscope (Dean Koontz, 2021). The 3rd of “season 2” of the Nameless series. Something is unraveling. 10/30
  108. ***Light Has Weight, but Darkness Does Not (Dean Koontz, 2021). The 4th of “season 2” of the Nameless series. Different from the others, in that he’s not doing a mission, but intervening in something he stumbles upon. 10/31
  109. ***Corkscrew (Dean Koontz, 2021). The 5th of “season 2” of the Nameless series. 11/1
  110. ***Zero In (Dean Koontz, 2021). The 6th and final episode of “season 2” of the Nameless series. 11/2
  111. ****Where the Light Fell (Philip Yancey, 2021). The life story–but mainly childhood–of Phil Yancey. Quite fascinating. He grew up in a very dysfunctional, legalistic, fundamentalist home, his father having died with he was only a few years old. 11/0
  112. ****The Dragon Reborn (Robert Jordan, 1990). Third in the Wheel of Time series. Leads to a conclusion that isn’t a conclusion. This one focuses hardly any on Rand, but a lot of other characters. 11/24
  113. *****Metropolis (Philip Kerr, 2020). The final Bernie Gunther book is actually a prequel, going back to how he became a homicide detective in 1928, well before anything that occurs in the later books. 11/25
  114. ***Random Pokes 2 (Steve Dennie, 2021). My second collection of miscellaneous writings. 11/26
  115. ***Death in Winter (Michael Jan Freedman, 2005). First in a Star Trek TNG series, as the old crew is breaking up. 11/28
  116. **Childhood’s End (Arthur C. Clarke). Considered a classic…but I found it largely uninteresting. I’m sure I read it as a teen, but didn’t recall anything. 21/2
  117. **My Journey (Ray Seilhamer, 2021). The autobiography of Bishop Ray Seilhamer. 12/3
  118. ***An American Outlaw (John Stonehouse, 2014). First in the Whicher Series, the title character being a US Marshall in Texas. Quite good. Nice feel to it. I’ll probably read more. 12/6
  119. ****All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky (Joe R. Lansdale, 2011). Three orphans in east Texas during the Depression set out in a stolen car and have adventures. You really get a feel for life in the Depression. Good characters, interesting things happen. 12/9
  120. ***Salvation (Peter Hamilton, 2018). First in a sci-fi trilogy where mankind has spread to the stars, but there is some kind of threat from an alien civilization. A series of scenes, and even at the end of the book, I wasn’t sure how they all related. Don’t think I’ll read more in the trilogy. 12/22
  121. *****War Lord (Bernard Cornwell, 2020). The 13th and final book in the Saxon Chronicles. Brings a good ending to the story of Uhtred of Bebbanberg and the Saxon conquering of Britain. 12/26
  122. ****The Texas Job (Vince Milam, 2021). The 9th book about Case Lee, and another good one. This one involves an Iranian plot, which Case Lee discovers while on a job in Barcelona, Spain. 12/29
  123. *****Her Name is Knight (Yasmin Angoe, 2021). The debut novel by a superb writer, and first in the Nena Knight series. Nena is an assassin for a multi-national African organization, almost like an African James Bond of sorts. Really interesting, all with a thoroughly African plot and feel. 12/31
  124. ****Tell Me How it ends (Valeria Luiselli, 2017). A 100-page book, superbly written, about the surge in illegal child immigration in 2015 at the end of the Obama presidency. Really helped me understand the gang problem. 12/31
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