Lifeguard by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The loudest kudos I can offer of this book are the location references. Some of Lifeguard takes place in Massachuets and I know nothing about that place. Florida, on the other hand, I very much do. Someone involved with the authoring of this book did a crackerjack job of checking locations to get this book set in the right palace. The Palm Beach County locations are right on. The Coleman Correction Center was also very good (though it’s a good 5 hours to get to Delray Beach from Coleman). It might have been fun to have the character have to be trying to put together the 32 dollars to pay for parking at The Breakers.

Humor is one thing missing from this book. There are some attempts at humor but otherwise this is just short of being a Matthew Reilly binge of action. There is plenty of character development, but when a book like this moves like it does – Who cares? Thus, I really didn’t care about any of the characters.

The story is intertwined with all kinds of switchbacks, but I was on to them at the start and, as always, HATE IT when I’m right and know the ending so soon.

The problem, to me, seems to be that there were three writers, at least, working on this book. I could tell tenor changes all over the book. Me reading this book was sometimes like roaring across an unpaved road. It also seemed to pave the way for an inevitable conclusion. Too many cooks have to be careful not to add to many ingredients to spoil the stew.

I sure had fun reading the book and I think anyone would. But it sure would be neat to have been crafted by a better writer like John D. MacDonald and see what the book could have been.

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Angel’s Cove by Allan Pedrazad

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The formula method bleeds through this a bit too obviously. What helps that is the main character who is only sketched out. I left this book not sure who the main character really is. The other characters seemed drawn from a mystery clipart book. There are a few interesting characters, but the author never fleshes out anyone enough to really care about them or what happens to them. One of the better characters is taken out before half way through. I kept hoping that character would be resurrected anytime during the book to give more dimension to the story. The saddest part is the ending that is severely lacking. There is some very good writing. Some asides are very inspired, even though I don’t agree with the politics included. It seems the writer is good at putting editorial writing in place but not, in this case, a good story.

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Always Say Goodbye by Stuart M. Kaminsky

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first I’ve read of the Stuart Kaminsky series involving Lew Fonesca that otherwise takes place in Sarasota. This entry in the series, though, mostly takes place in Chicago as the main character looks for the murderer of his wife. The writing is well done. Especially in getting the Chicago dialogue to read true. There are a number of twists. One twist involving one character is especially well done. Also, this is not an overwritten novel as so many others are today.

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WOW! I got behind posting the books I’ve read! This should catch is up. To date, this year, I’ve got 25 under my belt.

Here’s this list:
Dade’s Last Command : The non-fiction story of Francis Dade and his soldiers in 1835 and the massacre that followed that started the 2nd Seminole War. Excellent!

Separation of Power: Vince Flynn’s 3rd novel of Mitch Rapp and his war on terrorism. Not the best of the series that I’ve read yet.

The Lincoln Lawyer: A fellow cartoonist recommended author Michael Connelly, so I read this. Maybe I should read another…

Night of Thunder: I continue to read a few contemporary authors and continue to be disappointed. This would have been OK, if I hadn’t figured out the ‘Big Twist’ as soon as the character was introduced.

A Brief History of the Everglades City Area: Good stories, but could have used some fleshing out. The stories are a bit too short. I’m just glad this volume got put together to help document the area in Collier County.

Blackwater Sound: Back to Florida fiction and James W. Hall does it again. I’d put off reading this for a few years and it was great riding an adventure with Thorn again.

True Tales of the Everglades: A fine collection of stories by an author who knows them.

Nuclear Jellyfish: A fun Serge Storm’s story as the serial killer continues his hilarious mayhem across our state of Florida.

Cracker Florida: Don’t know what author Washington was thinking, but most all profiled in this volume are not Crackers. All of the stories are about folks in later years in Florida and what happened from their time moving to Florida or the few with a lifetime here.

The Dreadful Lemon Sky: I bought my friend Jeremy a copy of this book when it struck me it had been 30 years since I read it. So I read it again. WOW! What a difference part of a lifetime makes. Still one of my favorite books, but my understanding and working knowledge of Florida really assisted me in appreciating the story.

Pelts, Plume and Hides – White Traders among the Seminole Indians 1870 – 1930: An excellent examination of the Semino0le and Mikasuki people and their interaction in terms of trade with the white man during the years stated. Terrific book!

Two more Florida based mysteries read. One of Mignon Eberhart’s Tampa Bay novels and a later Miami-based Mike Shayne mystery. Eberhart writes of a fictious Florida County on the east coast with a pretty good understanding of the area. The Shayne novel is after the actual series by Dave Dresser. This one stays pretty true to the original series, just with curse words. I veered into one of Vince Flynn’s latest, ‘Protect and Defend’. Another good thriller.