Only 15% in, so too early to make a formal pronouncement, but I'm enjoying a western called "The Sisters Brothers" by Patrick DeWitt.
Interesting, funny, dark, violent by turns. So far, I'm glad I happened on this gem. You may be as well.
There's nothing civil about this war.
A Mitch Rapp book. A psychopathic electrical genius teams up with Isis to take down the US power grip in such a catastrophic manner that it can't come back up for a year and we all starve and die in the civilization fail. He is partially successful and Mitch and crew finally catch him but the country is severely damaged. Interesting book and it is supposed to be a warning against such an attack.
The funny thing is that you might think it is just baloney until you see the TX game and the ERCOT guy saying that they just prevented a total grid failure by minutes and that would have taken a year to fix. However, in the book - the way they catch the genius is to announce that since the TX grid is independent, they can get it back up. This infuriates him, so he breaks cover. It is not true they could do it but it suckered in the genius. However, I was amused that the TX grid seems to be so fragile that I wonder if the author is shaking his head.
Mitch is stuck in a Tesla for a bit and there's no power. Oops. I think if we all go to electric cars, the day will come when POOF on them. Not a good idea.
I'll skip my view of the TX government as I moved and no longer live there to enjoy their shenanigans.
Worth a day's read sitting in your chair looking out the window at the snow. We had a transformer nearby blow and it took out power and the Internet for a few hours last night. OMG, no TV!
Didn't you move to NY?
Attachment 68080
ETA: Not that PA's executive branch is any less of a clown show.
Last edited by NEPAKevin; 02-25-2021 at 04:19 PM.
"You can't win a war with choirboys. " Mad Mike Hoare
Book 5 in the Dark Operator series. I couldn't recommend the series any more highly. While Sci-Fi, it is grounded in reality. The audiobook is also well narrated.
I'm a big Neal Stephenson fan, and I was thinking about his latest book "Fall, or Dodge in Hell" (released about 3 years ago).
In Fall, the first bit of the book is an antagonist faking a nuclear bomb attack on the town of Moab. He hires a person to start tweeting about a mushroom cloud he saw flying over the town. He launches network attacks to knock the town out of the communications grid so it looks like it's not there. He hires people to set up road blocks posing as first responders. The hoax perpetuates for most of a day before some heroes figure out a way to get in contact with the town, but certain people keep the hoax going in social media, perpetuating the idea that there was a cover up.
Decades later, there is a significant portion of society that still believes the attack happened. There are "Remember Moab" bumper stickers and the like. The undestroyed town of Moab is believed by many to be a reconstruction, and the government somehow managed to clear all the radiation. Essentially, people were so siloed into social media circles that the hoax just never went away.
It feels pretty real right now, in a bad way.
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250041902/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
"The gripping memoir of Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart recipient SEAL Lieutenant Mark L. Donald
As A SEAL and combat medic, Mark served his country with valorous distinction for almost twenty-five years and survived some of the most dangerous combat actions imaginable.
From the rigors of BUD/S training to the horrors of the battlefield, Battle Ready dramatically immerses the reader in the unique life of the elite warrior-medic who advances into combat with life-saving equipment in one hand and life-taking weapons in the other. It is also an uplifting human story that reveals how a young Hispanic American bootstrapped himself out of a life that promised a dead-end future by enlisting in the military. That new life begins with the Marines and includes his heroic achievements on the battlefield and the operating table, and finally, of his inspirational triumph over the demons caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that threatened to destroy him and his family."
Great book, the best I've read so far this year. Compelling and well written. Worth reading just for the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. Example: "The tragedy of war is that it uses mans best to do mans worst - Harry Emerson Fosdick"
Highly recommend
The Shameless - Ace Atkins
Slow, boring, cliff hanger to get you to the next book. Full of Southern evil cliches, noble PC sheriff. Of course, the hero is a well trained Ranger. Yawn. Thought I might have found a new series but I'll pass.
It shows the general effect of series that go on too long.
I read the first couple of the Spenser books, since he took over the series after Robert Parker died 11 years ago. They felt a little...off. I can understand a family wanting to keep milking their cash cow, but I really do appreciate that Sue Grafton's family didn't do that.
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.