Paperback: "The Ninja's Blade" by Tori Eldridge

Paperback: The Ninja's Blade by Tori Eldridge, 2020, 9781951709099.

Same lady sent a solicitation email for the library to purchase her novel. Most solicitations I get are self-pubbed, too narrow in interest, or look awful. That lady - forgot who - is published with Agora, which is a subsidiary (partner?) of Polis. I order her book and was scrolling through both publisher lists and figured to try this one out.

When I got this novel and started reading I realized this is the second of the series. Damn it. I prefer to start with the first in a series. Oh, well.

Lily Wong is the of a North Dakota dad and a Hong Kong mother. They all live in Los Angeles but are absent Lily's murdered sister who was killed 4-5 years ago. North Dakota runs a Chinese restaurant and Hong Kong runs a branch of her controlling father's business that does Big Shot Money Stuff For Big Shots. Mid-twenties Lily doesn't do much of anything. Sure, she does some web consulting and marketing type stuff but she mostly spends her time kung fu-ing, karate-ing, and training to fight with traditional weapons. After her sister's rape and murder Lily has dedicated her time to kicking ass and taking names of sex traffickers and other despicable people.

Anyhoo. Lily is quite petite and gets around town on her bike, bus, or Ubers (Lyft?). She volunteers with a couple shelters for people escaping sex trafficking or leaving prostitution work. Lily is on a revenge, mourning, and blame-herself-kick. She needlessly puts herself in harm's way and does so for complete strangers as she tracks down runaways and sex trafficking victims.

Subplot has Lily hiding all her undercover investigations and fistfights from her loving family. The loving family, meanwhile, is having stress as the controlling Hong Kong Father is coming for a family/work visit and Lily's mother is stressing.

Comments:

1. I enjoyed the novel. 

2. Eldridge sounds to be super-duper kung-fuey herself and I think she writes well about the skills and training. I read some authors who get way too detailed in the lingo and language of martial arts. Eldridge writes clear action scenes describing Lily's physical actions in both training and fighting. I understood what was happening and the fight scenes read quickly with no clunky. There was no, "I did a [lingo] into a [lingo] and hit him with a [lingo] an back into a [lingo]."

3.Third novel comes out this fall. I'll likely read it. Unless I forget. Which is entirely possible.

Pandemic Paperback: "The White Mountains" by John Christopher

Pandemic Paperback: The White Mountains by John Christopher, 1967 (2003 paper edition), 076714004993A.

My brother had Christopher's Tripods series. He probably purchased them from either a Scholastic book sale or the book store that used to be off Prospect in Champaign. I ended up reading the books and would periodically recall the stories over the years. So, I may as well reread them.

I'd classify this series as young adult but for younger readers. I remember a fair amount of the novel and misremember maybe as much. 

Plot: Aliens took over the earth a handful of generations ago. The aliens are never seen but when every person turns 14 they are fitted with a metal mesh cap. The cap changes behavior and allows control by the aliens. The aliens are represented by the "Tripods". Tripods are three legged metal machines 10 stories tall with a saucer shaped top and metal tentacles. Knowledge of science, math, history, etc. have all been cut off by the Tripods. No libraries are around. 

Will lives in a small English town - all cities have been abandoned after alien invasion and war - in an agrarian, pre Industrial Revolution style economy.  Will is not too keen on getting "capped". One day Will starts talking with a "Vagrant". Vagrants are the small part of the population whose capping was unsuccesful and left them brain damaged. Vagrants wander from town to town relying on charity and mindless work. This Vagrant is a fake and he tells Will The Truth: we are controlled by aliens. Skip the capping ceremony and live free. Join us in the White Mountains across the sea. After seeing his closest, best-est friend and cousin change from the capping Will figures, "Fuck yeah. I' leaving."

Things happen. Will has a hand drawn map from the Vagrant. He's ready to rebel and ready to hit the pavement. Henry is another cousin of Will's and the two have always fought. Henry blackmails his way into going along. Will wants to ditch Henry but continue their cross country foot journey. Stealing food or poaching along the way they sleep rough and in abandoned builings.

They cross the English Channel to France - you gotta figure the locations out from description because names have changed and been forgotten over the past 100 years or so. They meet up with a French kid wearing glasses. So on. So forth. Eventually reach the White Mountains and a group of people trying to fight the seemingly all powerful Tripods.

Comments:

1. I've not much to say. The is teen rebellion. Will is a bit touchy and hotheaded. Will and Co. stay at a French castle for a time and Will is kinda gooey for the local Lord's daughter. Will considers staying at the Castle, I mean how bad can capping be, right?

2. I'm not sure if Christopher had a message behind these novels. Maybe: Hey, modern life is pretty sweet, kids. Or: Think for yourselves, stick it to The Man whose is trying to control your thinking. Maybe if I read Christopher's preface to this anniversary edition I would know. But, I won't do that.

3. French kid wears glasses which are very, very, very uncommon. French kid is super smart and figured out on his own how to make them. I recalled the glasses being described as a tortuous looking device. At first reading 40 years ago I did not initially understand Christopher's description of the glasses and I struggled to understand what was on the kid's head.

Pandaudio: "The Whites" by Harry Brandt (Richard Price)

 Pandaudio: The Whites by Harry Brandt (Richard Price), 2015, Wisconsin Digital Library. 

Cop novel I've completely forgotten about. Better look it up... OK. I kinda remember.

1. I remember trimming back a tree/bush while listening to this. What a pain that was.

2. Late shift NYPD Detective is in charge of squad. He gets a case where a victim quickly bleeds to death after a knifing in the subway. Detective recognizes the guy as a suspect from years ago with his old squad mates. The suspect got away and the lead Detective vowed to get him

3. Another long ago suspect is dead and he too had a lead Detective on the old squad vow to get the suspect.

4. Protagonist digs deeper. 

5. Protagonist is dedicated to the Rule of Law. Protagonist is also dedicated to his fellow police. Protagonist is in conflict with himself.

6. Meanwhile, another cop is a bit of a sociopath and deeply mourning his dead wife and dead brothers. He has vowed vengeance on the woman he holds responsible for the brothers's murders. The woman is Protagonist's wife. Tension and violence ensue. Protagonist has work stress, personal stress, and marital stress.

A strong novel. The Sociopathic Guy is not sociopathic exactly, he grew up under awful circumstances and his few social skills and a stunted ability to love and relate. Self loathing has him thinking his daughter would be better off living with a distant cousin. I may be off on who Sociopathic Guy is mourning but that does not matter too much.

Sociopathic Guy is competent enough as a policeman because he can follow policy and law. He's done well enough to somehow makes Detective but he is not skilled enough for the position. During the novel he starts an affair with his Guatemalan housekeeper, gets her pregnant, proposes marriage. Price's subplote of that relationship and it's resolution was very well done.

Pandaudio: "Swift Vengeance" by T. Jefferson Parker

 Pandaudio: Swift Vengeance by T. Jefferson Parker, 2018, downloaded from Wisconsin Digital Library.

Listened to this a while ago and right now I am simply getting this down in my list. Let me check the plot... Ok, I remember.

Roland Ford gets a call or visit from a former renter. The renter is a former Air Force drone pilot who fell apart with booze and gambling problems. AF Lady is in a custody battle for her young son. AF Pilot has a death threat sign Caliphornia - as in caliph, as in ISIS caliphate. AF Lady is still rebuilding her personal and work lives and does not want to put her custody case in danger by going to the cops. AF Lady figures that if she is under a death threat then the court won't want her child with her.

Roland looks into things. First he investigates the uber-rich Arabic guy AF Lady briefly dated. AF Lady former team members are then murdered. Roland teams up with the FBI. Things happen. People die. Roland rescues.

Comments:

1. Parker did his usual great job. 

2. Would the FBI really partner up with some private investigator running a one-man shop? 

3. More driving across Southern California. Hours of driving.

Pandaudio: "The House of Secrets" by Brad Meltzer and Tod Goldberg

 Pandaudio: The House of Secrets by Brad Meltzer and Tod Goldberg, 2016, downloaded from Wisconsin Digital Library.

I was looking for Tod Goldberg books and this is the only one I found. This a bit of a "meh" international thriller. 

• Protagonist Hazel-Ann wakes up after a post-car crash coma that killed her father. 
• Hazel-Ann flies to different countries. 
• A secret assassin is tracking Hazel-Ann and her brother. 
• There is a history of a small bible owned by Benedict Armold surgically emplaced into people's chests. 
• There are secretive poisonings with a secretive toxin. 
• FBI Guy gets involved. 
• Family secrets are revealed. 
• Hazel-Ann walked away from her father's rich business and TV show.
• So on. 
• So forth.

This kind of novel is not my speed.

Pandaudio: "The Room of White Fire" by T. Jefferson Parker

 Pandaudio: The Room of White Fire by T. Jefferson Parker, 2017, download from Wisconsin Digital Library.

Roland Ford series. Roland hired to find a guy who escaped from a private and secure mental health facility. The escapee is an Air Force vet and presumed dangerous. Roland finds he has hooked up with a younger woman and worries for her safety.

The mental health place is kinda sketchy. The mental health place is run by a doctor who defended and run torture facilities during the recent wars. The woman psychiatrist at the facility is sorta hot and sorta not for Ford. Ford is suspicious. Ford ask questions. Ford gets violent.

More COVID Audio: "You Can't Touch My Hair" by Phoebe Robinson

 More COVID Audio: You Can't Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson, 2016, Wisconsin Digital Library.

Well done humor book. Robinson narrated and kinda sounds like Amber Ruffin from Seth Meyers show and her own, newer, show. I kept conflating the two. That's OK, they won't know. Or care.

I don't have much to say about this because I don't remember specific details. Robinson grew up in Cleveland. Has many things to say about pop culture. Talks about her dating life. Talks about show business. Talks about a lot of things. 

She wrote a couple more books that I may check out.

Listened to in 2020 pandemic and notes typed July, 2021 and backdated.

Comments:

1. I kinda remember something about her stories about high school and being a black kid. Something else about her brother as a high school kid. Maybe something about her brother being a doctor now and,  therefore, having a much fancier job than her work as comedy writer and actress.

2. Oh, something else! Being in entertainment requires constant self-promotion and job hunting. One nice role is not guarantee of future work.