[Note from Steve: Two very different books today—more evidence for my varied reading tastes, I suppose—I’ll read most anything that attracts my attention. One is a mystery, the other is a sci-fi thriller, and they are both excellent…and excellent examples of evergreen books.]

Just Another Termination. Linda Thorne, author. I’d been meaning to read this for some time, but I was distracted a bit by my recent binge reading of series. I’m happy to say that it’s like a fine wine, aging nicely on my Kindle and giving me a great deal of reading pleasure just recently.

Judy Kenagy is an HR director in a small firm who had bad experiences at two previous companies. One was taken over and the new owners drove out a young employee who subsequently committed suicide, giving Judy a condition something like PTSD. And her last company had a dingbat psycho CEO who thought everyone was her slave. She hopes to get beyond these experiences in her new post, but when she checks up on a usually reliable employee who doesn’t show up for her shift and finds her murdered, her past haunts her. As HR director, she has to work with the local police, led by the able Carl Bombardier. They work together even when the body count increases.

This suspenseful and well plotted tale with ordinary everyday characters thrown into extraordinary situations will keep the reader guessing. And there are themes never touched befor in a mystery/crime story. The evil ex-boss reminded me of a dean I once had to work with, and I loved the police chief, an able man dedicated to his job, as is Judy, who let me get on the other side of HR work.

The Voyage of the Stingray. Richard Steinitz, author. Who’d have thunk it? Finding books to read on LinkedIn. An email thread with this new author led me to this excellent book. While I read it, I couldn’t help thinking Tom Clancy would be smiling if he could read it. Clancy’s Hunt for Red October set the bar high for submarine stories; this book moves it up a notch. Hunt for Red October was a thriller; this book is a sci-fi thriller, the sci-fi being in the author’s unusual submarine design (that makes sense, according to an ex-admiral quoted in the book).

The USS Stingray’s captain and lead character is Lt. Commander James Jefferson. He’s in charge of training the new boat’s crew and running several test dives and maneuvers. And the crew never has time to celebrate their successful completion either, because they are soon sent on their first black ops mission, where most of the suspense occurs.

I don’t know enough about submarines except for a wee bit of family history, but everything here seems authentic. There are a few situations that might test readers’ credulity, but they are easily explained away by the USN’s haste to deploy the new boat and send it on its first mission. Great plot, great characters, authentic settings and dialogue…what more could you ask for?

***

Comments are always welcome.

Mind Games. Androids with ESP? What could go wrong? As a gifted teenager tries to find the murderer of her adopted father, she discovers an evil conspiracy bent on controlling all of near-Earth space. A.B. Carolan’s terrifying novel gives new meaning to technology run amok where government programs have unintended consequences. This is the third book in the “ABC Sci-Fi Mysteries” and is available in print and Kindle formats on Amazon and in all ebook formats at Smashwords and its affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.) and lenders and library services (Scribd, Overdrive, Baker & Taylor, Gardners, etc.).

Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 19th, 2020 at 3:02 am and is filed under Mini-Reviews of Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.