Month: August 2015

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Review of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ by Michael Connelly

georgepwood

Michael Connelly, The Lincoln Lawyer (New York: Grand Central, 2005). Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle Michael “Mickey” Haller is a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer who gives his clients the best defense they can afford…and he’d rather not know if they’re actually innocent of the crimes they’ve been accused of. He works out of the backseat of a Lincoln Town Car, chauffeured by a former client still working off his legal debts. Like his chauffeur, many of his clients are behind on payments or on payment programs that keep a steady but low stream of income flowing. So, when Fernando … Continue reading Review of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ by Michael Connelly

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Review of ‘X’ by Sue Grafton

georgepwood

Sue Grafton, X (New York: Putnam, 2015). Hardcover | Kindle X is the twenty-fourth installment in Sue Grafton’s long-running Kinsey Millhone mysteries. Set in Santa Teresa, California—a lightly fictionalized Santa Barbara—the novel follows two story lines: Kinsey looking for a client’s long-lost son and trying to close out a late colleague’s still-open case. There’s also a contretemps with her annoying, elderly neighbors. I am a huge fan of this series, having read each of the novels in order, beginning with A Is for Alibi. Patrick Anderson has written, “Grafton’s Millhone books are among the five or six best series any … Continue reading Review of ‘X’ by Sue Grafton

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Review of ‘Peacekeeper’ by Christopher Bryan

georgepwood

Christopher Bryan, Peacekeeper: A Novel (Sewanee, TN: Diamond, 2013). Paperback | Kindle Peacekeeper is a supernatural thriller, and like all such thrillers requires a willing suspension of disbelief. If golems, demons, apparitions, the music of the spheres, and an imminent apocalypse aren’t your cup of fictional tea, don’t read this book. You won’t like it. If, on the other hand, you’re a fan of C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce and That Hideous Strength, by all means, take a look. Peacekeeper draws inspiration from those books (and others) and tells an interesting tale about a diabolical plot to launch World … Continue reading Review of ‘Peacekeeper’ by Christopher Bryan

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Review of Anker PowerPort 6 (60W 6-Port USB Charging Hub) Multi-Port USB Charger

georgepwood

My family of three has at least nine devices that need to be charged via USB cables: two iPhones, two iPads, a Kindle Fire, two Bluetooth headphones, portable Bluetooth speaker, Mophie battery pack… You get the picture. That adds up to a lot of cords and a lot of chargers needing a lot of outlets. So, you can understand why I purchased this six-port charging USB charging hub: one device connected to one outlet charging six devices at the same time. The packaging was easy to open, the hub was easy to assemble (plug power cord into the back of … Continue reading Review of Anker PowerPort 6 (60W 6-Port USB Charging Hub) Multi-Port USB Charger

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Review of ‘Master and Commander’ by Patrick O’Brian

georgepwood

Patrick O’Brian, Master and Commander (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1969). Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle Several years ago, I read The Complete Aubrey-Maturin Novels, which begins with Master and Commander. They recount the exploits and misfortunes of Jack Aubrey, a rising British naval officer, and Stephen Maturin, his friend and ship’s doctor, across the globe in the first two decades of the Nineteenth Century. “The best way to think of these novels,” Patrick Reardon has written, “is as a single 5,000-page book.” If you, like me, are a series reader, Master and Commander will suck you in. Set in the western Mediterranean, … Continue reading Review of ‘Master and Commander’ by Patrick O’Brian

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Review of ‘Small Wars: A Jack Reacher Story’ by Lee Child

georgepwood

Lee Child, Small Wars: A Jack Reacher Story (New York: Delacorte, 2015). Kindle In the spring of 1989, Lt. Col. Caroline Crawford of the Pentagon’s War Plans department is executed—military style—in the Georgia backwoods outside Fort Smith. Maj. Jack Reacher is called in to investigate and in the process uncovers a traitor and exonerates an innocent man. A quick and entertaining read, Small Wars will whet your appetite for Make Me, the Jack Reacher novel forthcoming in September. P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page. Continue reading Review of ‘Small Wars: A Jack Reacher Story’ by Lee Child

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Review of Vansky Car Mount for Smartphones

georgepwood

  I have a iPhone 6 Plus. When I drive, I use my phone to make phone calls and to get directions from Google Maps. On long drives especially, I like to mount my iPhone on the dashboard so I can see where Google Maps is taking us. The problem is that a dashboard mount exposes the phones to the sun and excessive heat. The Vansky car mount solves the heating problem by mounting the phone to the air conditioning vents. One arm hooks onto the vent and a second arm balances on the bottom of the vent. When I first … Continue reading Review of Vansky Car Mount for Smartphones

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Review of ‘The Affair’ by Lee Child

georgepwood

Lee Child, The Affair: A Reacher Novel (New York: Delacorte Press, 2011). Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle If a whodunit is still a page-turner on the second read, it’s a good book. The Affair is a good book. Even though it’s my second time reading it, even though I knew how it would end, I still found myself turning pages late into the night until I finished it. The Affair is set in 1997. Major Jack Reacher is an active duty soldier and an experienced investigator in the military police. In response to the Clinton Era peace dividend, the U.S. … Continue reading Review of ‘The Affair’ by Lee Child