Origin by Dan BrownMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Monday, February 2, 2026
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Monday, January 26, 2026
Review: The Widow
The Widow by John GrishamMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Almost stopped reading this--was on page 125 and it was slow and boring. Husband assured me it got better so I persisted. It was drilled into the reader in those first pages that Simon Latch is a small time lawyer in a small time town with a marriage falling apart. He also has a gambling habit, by the way. He finds himself approached by an 80+ widow with oodles of money who wants a will and he says a chance to make a bundle as her lawyer. He gets close, takes her to lunch, writes a will that will assure him of large fees upon her death--greed overrides his normally upstanding practice of writing simple wills for simple people. By the time she dies and her autopsy reveals she was poisoned with thallium while in the hospital recovering from a car accident and Simon is arrested and charged the scenario is firmly established.
Luckily, Simon has a former sweetheart who is now a Special Agent with the FBI--comes in handy. His gambling connections also help out. And he knows a local criminal defense attorney who believes in his innocence. The rest of the next 370 pages or so are spent with his indictment, trial, time in prison, independent investigation with side bars of interaction with soon to be ex-wife and three kids, other family he's trying to borrow from and a hippie hacker and her imprisoned boyfriend. ect. The last 10 pages are the full reveal, which I figured out during the trial and a ride into the sunset. Typical Grisham--rambles on for over 300 pages and then decides he's had enough and ties it all up in two chapters covering the requisite 400 page requirement for publication.
I like Grisham but if he mentions Simon's drink of choice--bourbon and ginger ale --one more time I will scream. I assume it is rot gut with cheap no name ginger ale. Somebody has got to teach this guy how to drink bourbon, for heaven's sake--or else send him to jail for life, please.
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Sunday, January 18, 2026
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Review: Gorky Park
Gorky Park by Martin Cruz SmithMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Far too long--repetitive and filled with too much insider sarcasm about Soviet politics. The first 200 pages were like molasses to wade through. Not until Renko meets the NYPD detective does it become slightly more interesting. The last segments were confusing--thought the book was over, but no, just two more, thankfully shorter, sections added to show Renko's relocations before ending up back in Mother Russia. Do not think I can go on with this series.
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Friday, December 19, 2025
Review: The Hidden One
The Hidden One by Linda CastilloMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Having read the first two books in this series I was very excited to win this one for review. I was not disappointed. Even though out of sequence it was not dependent upon the earlier installments to understand the story--truly a stand-alone book. The Amish community is so clearly explained and shown in these books and it is interesting to read the Amish Dutch to see how closely my translation meets the immediate English the author provides. The mysteries Castillo presents are always intriguing and Kate, as a former Amish woman, is an interesting character who though no longer a member of the religious community is both understanding and respectful to its way of life. Though some view her as an outsider, her ability to speak their language and her professionalism as Police Chief often makes the less than trusting confide in her. In this book, as well as the earlier ones I've read, Kate's earlier life is revealed in small segments. Here, she is outside her area of authority doing a favor for a former childhood friend who has been arrested for the murder of his Bishop. Kate is not only an outsider to the local Amish but also to the local law enforcement agency. As her own investigation turns up some new information someone who seems to want her either silenced permanently or, at the very least, driven out of town threatened her life several times.
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