Conclave, by Robert Harris

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

Harris returns with another remarkable novel of historical fiction, turning his narrative to the present as he explores a highly pious and political event.

THE POPE IS DEAD! This startling piece of news makes its way to the ears of Cardinal Lomeli in the early hours one October morning. Heading to the apartment of the Holy Father, Lomeli is met by a small group, who confirm the news and begin the proscribed acts required when the Vatican is without its Supreme Pontiff. As the news becomes public, Lomeli is tasked with preparing for the highly publicised, though extremely secret, event known as The Conclave.

As Dean of the College of Cardinals, Lomeli must organise the election of the next pope, which is only a few weeks hence. During the intervening time, the funeral must take place and Lomeli handles sundry pieces of Vatican business ahead of the papal election. As cardinals arrive from all over the world to cast their ballots, Lomeli wrestles with a few issues surrounding cardinal electors, including one Cardinal Tremblay—the Vatican Camerlengo and temporary leader—a French-Canadian who was apparently removed from all positions the night before the pope died.

As if this were not enough to occupy his time, as 117 confirmed cardinals have arrived for Conclave, a mysterious figure appears and makes he known that he, too, is a cardinal eligible to choose the next pontiff. Vincent Benitez, Archbishop of Baghdad, was appointed a cardinal in pectore, ‘in the heart’, and was known only to the recently deceased pope and God. Seeing the documentation and meditating on this oddity, Lomeli grants Benitez access to the Conclave and the preliminary events commence.

Even before being sequestered into the Sistene Chapel, there are a few front runners for the position, all of whom seek to solidify their supporters before the voting begins. Tremblay stands firm that he can speak best for the Catholic Church, being a North American without being from America; Bellini, the current Secretary of State from Italy, served the last pope well on the world scene and can continue with his liberal outlook in directing the Church; Adeyemi, a cardinal from Nigeria, seeks to lead the way for the Third World and present the Church with its first black pontiff; and Tedesco, Italian and pining for a return of a fellow countryman to the Throne of St. Peter, who will also remove the impediments that Vatican II ushered in, keeping the faith pure and the language of the Church equally so. These four men vie as best they can before cardinals place their minds in God’s hand to help them cast their ballots.

Once the Conclave begins, Lomeli must continue running it by the strict orders laid out in the Apostolic Constitution, which includes specific rules and processes. While the outside world is left to wonder what is going on, receiving only the most minimal of news in the form of curling smoke from a chimney, inside the Sistene Chapel there is much politicking. Lomeli uncovers great issues with two of the front runners, whose power dwindles as the Dean uses the Constitution to keep the Conclave on track.

As the ballots mount, surprises continue, and not even an act of terror can stop the cardinals from choosing the new Catholic leader. Voting continues until one cardinal receives the proscribed two-thirds of the votes, which seems almost impossible until impassioned speeches before the eighth ballot. Lomeli is on the verge of witnessing history, but even then, there is one more surprise that no one saw coming. From the embers of the deceased pope comes the cry the world has waited to hear: Habemus papam (We have a Pope)! A thought-provoking thriller that keeps readers glued to the page until the very last sentence.

This is a brilliant piece that pulls together the most political event in the world, far exceeding the election of an American president (and this is from a non-Catholic). The intricacies and nuances with a Conclave are enough to drive any historian or political fanatic mad, but to create one in a piece of fiction is surely an even more onerous task. Harris develops a wonderful collection of characters to serve as cardinals and support staff, though he promises in his author’s note that none are based on actual people. Using these multi-dimensional individuals, the narrative moves in interesting ways to enrich the story the further it advances, using Lomeli as the central protagonist throughout. From what I know of Conclaves and the rules surrounding them, Harris has used everything at his disposal to create momentum in the most interesting of spots without dragging things out too much or weighing the story down in a constitutional miasma.

Tackling the fallibility of each cardinal, the struggle between man and God, the views of the outside world, and the highly political event that is electing the Supreme Pontiff, Harris delivers a thriller that far exceeds any expectations and does so in under three hundred pages. Weaving dramatic interactions into the storyline, the reader is left to cheer on their favourite cardinal, in hopes that he will obtain the magic eighty votes. I cannot think of a novel that churned up so much political excitement in me or so flawlessly depicts this highly secretive event as a Conclave. Readers of all political and religious stripes will surely enjoy devouring this piece, which reads so fluidly and is timeless in its presentation that it could be read over the years without losing any lustre.

Kudos, Mr. Harris for entertaining, educating, and keeping the reader guessing until the very end.

Hallowe’en Party (Hercule Poirot #41), by Agatha Christie

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

Hercule Poirot returns with another spooky case, perfect for the holiday season. After a teenage girl is found drowned during a Hallowe’en party, Hercule Poirot is called upon to investigate. He’s ready to look into matters and hopes that he will be able to solve the case, as well as one from the past. A great story that touches on all the ghoulish ways that only Agatha Christie could dream up for the reader to enjoy.

It is during a Hallowe’en party that Joyce, a grumpy thirteen-year-old boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, Joyce storms off. Her disappearance is not thought about by anyone else until she is found dead, drowned in a tub of apples used for the party. When retired detective Hercule Poirot is called upon to investigate, he tries to piece it all together. He looks into who might have wanted Joyce dead, as well as the apparent murder she spoke of years ago. As Poirot peels back the evidence and finds the truth at the core, he is ready to point at the killer. Agatha Christie dazzles with this piece, perfect for the Hallowe’en season.

Agatha Christie provides stellar storytelling once more, providing the reader with many entertaining and scary moments. The story develops swiftly and uses a child as a murder victim, which only adds to the shock factor. As the narrative clips along, Christie provides key clues to solve it and leaves Poirot to shepherd everything together with ease, as those around are all put under the microscope. As characters flavour the story and the plot builds, Christie offers the reader a delightfully dark piece that leaves them wondering and begging Poirot to shed a light on what actually happened. Spooky, ghoulish, and full of ghastly moments.

Kudos, Dame Christie, for a ghostly story to read while sitting around the cauldron.

The Omen, by David Seltzer

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

David Seltzer delivers a chilling tale, perfect for the Hallowe’en season. While I have never seen the movie, I refer to it often when making connections to ill-behaved children and their dark side. The Thorn family are busy and barely have time for themselves, let alone a child. They are blessed with the arrival of Damien, who immediately changes their lives. However, in the following years, both Thorns discover that life with Damien brings a number of oddities, some highly troubling. These events get more troubling and traumatic, as Damien appears to revel in them. What’s going on and how might Damien be connected to it all? Are the Thorns in danger themselves? Seltzer delivers an eerie tale that kept me flipping pages.

Jeremy Thorn is up and coming in the American political world. While he remains busy, his wife, Katherine, pines for a child to add to their lives. Many attempts turn up with empty results or heartbreak. When Katherine takes a pregnancy to term, she is distraught when the baby dies moments after taking its first breath. In an odd turn of results, Jeremy is approached by a priest who mentions that a newborn baby is without a mother and that the Thorns ought to take that child as their own. After much discussion, the Thorns agree and begin their lives with baby Damien.

While Damien is a lovely child, something seems off. He does not speak by age four and seems quite introverted. A traumatic event at his birthday party leaves many wondering what is happening and puts the Thorns on edge. Still, Jeremy’s political future is on the rise and he becomes Ambassador to the Court of St. James’, where media are constantly looking for a news story they can use to fill headlines.

As Damien grows older, other odd events happen when he is present, which worries both Jeremy and Katherine. An odd visit by a priest to shed light on Damien’s birth is chilling but does not change how the Thorns choose to live their lives. All the same, Damien’s darker side appears to emerge and leaves many to wonder who is might be and what lies behind those cold eyes. Might Damien be more than a boy, but a symbol of something devious? Jeremy Thorn is warned that the birth of Damien might have come alongside some demonic connections that need to be neutralised. How far will the Thorns go to solve the issue before them?David Seltzer delivers an eerie story that had me hooked and wondering until the final page turn.

While I have heard a great deal about this book and movie, I never took the time to delve deeper until now. Seltzer does well to set the scene and keeps the reader wondering from the outset. The narrative flows well and keeps the reader intrigued. Connections both to the celestial world and biblical foreboding, the story keeps the reader wondering and provides a revelatory piece that can only solve itself with a clash like no other. Great character development and dark aspects flavour the story that does not delve too deeply into violence, but rather horrifying events. The story clips along with well-paced chapters and leaves the reader in dire need of discovering all they can before the end result shows how it all comes together. Plot points keeps the reader on edge and provides a wonderful eerieness that is solved only when the pieces can be connected. David Seltzer delivers a winner here.

Kudos, Mr. Seltzer, for this eerie novel, full of educational moments!

One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported, by E.J. Dionne Jr., Norman J. Ornstein, and Thomas E. Mann

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #37 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

If ever there were a call to recognise the issues with America under Trump, it comes from these three political jornalists. E.J Dionne Jr., Norman J. Ornstein, and Thomas E. Mann elucidate many of the issues America faced with the election of Donald J. Trump and how the country will need to right itself after his departure. With the 2024 presidential election looming, readers ought to look for what they had, removed, and how they can rid it from ever coming back. Through a series of analytical chapters and well-argued points, the authors leave the reader with a better understanding of the regression made during the 2016 election period and how problematic it could be to return to its foibles.

When the Founding Fathers created the American democratic framework, they could never have imagined a man like Donald Trump at the helm. This is a sentiment both sides make and are proud to espouse. However, while Trumpers feel that their leader has broken the glass ceiling and rules in ways that are not like any of his predecessors, those in the centre can decry much of what the authors are seeking to prove in this book. Never has a keen knowledge of the political system of government, democratic norms, or even societal make-up been important (read: essential) for the voter to comprehend before heading to cast a ballot… until now. Rhetoric and falsehoods cloud the air, leaving the voter and American in general confused and sometimes falling into the abyss when they are spoon-fed information.

As the authors argue throughout the opening portion of the book, Trump preys on the naive voter who seeks to have it all placed before them. He will espouse issues with the economy, immigration, out of sight threats, and even those on the other side of the political spectrum. The every day person who chooses to listen to leaders and not do the research for themselves will fall in line and sometimes grasp for what is being offered. ‘If Trump says immigration is the cause of high unemployment, I better trust him. If I am told that the left is seeking to erode the democratic system by casting three ballots in an election, it must be true. If Trump says his friends around the world are laughing at America, he is likely the one to help remove the ridicule and put things on equal ground again.’ These sentiments are so strong and the electorate so keen to take their sound byte without pulling out the research needed to substantiate it, causing panic, chaos, and increased skepticism from those who would try to use fact or challenge people to ‘look it up’.

This over-the-top set of beliefs helped push Democrat voters away from their base in 2016 and over into Trumpland, where he has the solution and knows which villains are worth ‘booing’ when he issues the cue. That Trump speaks in massive falsehoods and inconsistencies, draped in vague ‘I was told’ comments, is lost on many. This is not helped when those within the Republican Party refuse to stifle the comments for fear that they will be the next attacked in 140 characters and have reputations or campaigns ruined. This fear-mongering and fuelling of the bombastic only helps destroy trust in democracy, its institutions, and those who seek to make an honest difference. The authors emote these concerns with many of the examples they put forward.

There is hope to change this and educate the masses in an easy and straightforward way. Civic engagement will help people see outside their shells and provide context as to what is going on around America. First-hand knowledge of events and experiences will help curtail the ongoing need to despise or vilify. As the authors present their plan, they do not cut corners, challenging the reader to empathise with the other side and ‘spend some time looking at things through their perspective’. It’s only in this way that truths and honest results can come to the surface. Rather than it being an ‘us versus them’ mentality, as Trump would like it to be, Americans ought to step out and see the world for what it could be, should they give it a chance.

Is the electorate ignorant? I would hope not, as they head to the polls to choose their various representatives soon. Is there apathy towards what is going on in the world? Surely there is, or many wold not have simply accepted that pets are going missing in Ohio. It is easier to let someone else do to the work and ‘read off their sheet’, which has become the new reality. Trump used this sentiment and sought to re-write the American reality, leaving those who spoke out against him as enemies of the state. Can it be solved? It surely can, but it would take education of one’s self and surroundings, removal of those who spew vitriol for the sake of scandal, and simply try to hide their xenophobic mask by putting lipstick on a pig. The choice is out there, but E.J Dionne Jr., Norman J. Ornstein, and Thomas E. Mann cannot do the work for you. Stand up, look around, and stop letting some fool dictate what you believe. Help others see the light for themselves and let educated decision-making fuel the next trip to the ballot box, whatever that yields.

There is no doubt that this book seeks to point to some of the issues that have befallen the United States since the election of Donald Trump in 2016. However, the authors seek not to scream from the rafters and bemoan the demise. They try to get to the root of the matter in a number of well-paced chapters that can easily click for the attentive reader. Strong passages and research prove many points and offer up solutions, not simply problems that must be highlighted. All three authors use their experience, references from other books on the subject, and their countless interviews to build a strong foundation for a healthier future America. No one is to blame, but sitting idly by and being part of the problem is also not going to help things along. I learned so much myself as I read this book and can see where others would do the same. I can only hope it is not too late to save America from itself and four more years of embarrassing vitriol based on nothing but a man’s fear that he cannot solve the world’s real problems, so he must concoct others to make himself the superhero.

Kudos, Messrs. Dionne, Ornstein, and Mann, for opening my eyes and mind to the perils that await should Donald Trump not be stopped or curtailed. One will have to wait to see if the sycophants remove their blinders or simply chew cud for four more years!

Democracy at Risk: The Dangers of Project 2025, by J.E. Fowlers

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #36 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

While I have yet to read the full report of the Heritage Foundation, I have been hearing a great deal about Project 2025 as it relates to the upcoming US Presidential Election. Penned by one of the most powerful conservative organizations in America, I can only presume which of the two major candidates might seek to take a book out of the report, but I wanted to know a little more about it. J.E. Fowlers offers a stunning negative summary of the report and the future of America they wished to implement. What he found will likely shock the reader and could pose major problems for America if it is implemented in whole or even part. Very few things surprise me when it comes to American politics any longer, but that was certainly something that made me take notice. Fowlers does well to stir up concern and raise my hackles for how troublesome things could get.

Fowlers pulls no punches that Project 2025 could be a significant change in how America is run and what role the electorate will play. At the heart of the matter is the document’s centrality, putting a great deal of control on the Executive Branch. As Fowlers explains, doing so will not only concentrate too much power with one person, but also help to erase the democratic foundation of America, particularly from its other two branches, the legislative and judicial. While this would surely take the agreement of those two to ‘buy in’, Fowlers argues that this is possible with a strong leader who demands loyalty and is willing to trim those within the branches who do not comply. That strong concentration of power in the centre could lead to authoritarian rule and, should things be implemented, remove the ability or the democratic desire to change things back, as interest in a system whereby the people have no means of shifting power would still have them playing a role in the delivery of democratic results.

Some of the other highlights of Project 2025 include the removal of the Department of Education and giving the states the ability to run their systems independently. The federal government would simply toss money to the state and let them decide how to run with it. This could dilute schools and the school system to the point that smaller communities would lose their local funding and receive nothing in order to phase them out. It would also mean the removal of key programs that are suited to specific children and leave it a cookie-cutter system where children are falling through the cracks. I come from a family of educators and this does not sit well with me, nor does the idea that children would simply be the plaything of an Executive that has little or no connection to public schooling as they sit on high.

Fowlers also speaks of the significant changes in the healthcare system for Americans, specifically in the area of reproductive rights. While many will have seen the sweeping changes brought about by the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and how that changed abortion rights in America, this is only the tip of the iceberg. As Fowlers explains, the ability for a woman to have options before her are limited or fully removed. Trump posits that the states have the control over things like this now, which is where it ought to be, but that is both ignorant and short-sighted. Reproductive rights are those things that cannot simply be swept under the rug and turned political supply because it seems fair. Fowlers tackles some of the reasons reproductive rights are so important and should not be left to the choice of an Executive that is divorced from the needs of all, but also trying to pander to an ever hypocritical conservative base with their Bibles used as doorstops.

One area that stood out for me was the suppression and curtailing of free speech rights. While it would be nice to neutralise some of the vitriol spewing from the right during the election, the fact that there are freedoms to speak out proves an essential tenet of the American democratic system. Removal of that and censuring the media reporting are two areas sure to cause significant issue. No longer being able to write without fear of the iron fist of the state, or to speak openly around the Thanksgiving table, could really change the way the country works. The feat that arises when freedom of expression is diluted to only include praise for the top is inching closer to autocratic rule and has been seen in the 20th century. That there is a group trying to bend the will of a major political party and its nominee to grasp these things is shocking, though nothing can really surprise me any longer. I can only hope that being able to express oneself openly does not go away, though some on both sides of the ideological aisle have used free speech to turn racist comments into channels they can use and hide behind the Bill of Rights, like an ignorant person thinking they have an eternal forcefield.

While there is much more that Fowlers discourses and the actual document tackles, I wanted to simply pull some highlights out for all to see. There is no doubt that this is not only a troubling document, but caters to the needs of the current GOP in their efforts to push for fewer freedoms and to tighten things up for the potential of another round of Trumpian nonsense. I suppose we will have to see what happens when ballots are cast across the country and how falls in line, but I would hope that knowledge of Project 2025 helps fuel some sentiment when boxes are checked and results are tallied. Surely some will cry foul if things do not go their way, but at least we still have the freedom to say it, right?

J.E. Fowlers does a great job with this piece, It is succinct and offers readers an overview of what Project 2025 has to offer. The short chapters highlight things in digestible portions for all to understand. While I do want to get a synthesising of the pro-Project side, its 900+ pages is too much and much too dry to read and review here with ease (though I am up for the challenge if someone has an audiobook version). Fowlers provides strong sentiments and key examples to support his views and does not shy away from the drastic measures. Many will likely cry that it is skewered too far, though I must say that the worries that arose seemed in line with some of the strong-worded vitriol that Trump and the GOP sycophants have been spewing during the campaign. Thankfully not everyone is ignorant and we can hope that the right decisions are made. Perhaps one area of the report would work well, that of harder criminal sentences for those who are found guilty. Perhaps then Prisoner Trump would have a taste of his own medicine.

Kudos, Mr. Fowlers, for summarising this. If there is someone who offers the same on the other side, I would be happy to read it as well!

The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America, by Ira S. Shapiro

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #35 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

While it is apparent that Donald Trump marches to the beat of his own drum, there are a number of actors needed to push his views and support him on a daily basis. White House staff are key players, but in order to push legislative action, some are needed in the trenches. One obvious political soldier is Mitch McConnell, Republican leader in the US Senate. Ira Shapiro effectively argues that McConnell was key to paving the way for Trump to get away with significant abuses of power while abusing the power he held in the Senate to tarnish the institution. As Shapiro argues throughout the tome, McConnell sought to advance his own career by propping up President Trump, rather than serving the country and its citizens to the best of his ability. A well-argued book that sheds more light on a subject that has been put under the microscope by many authors.

Ira Shapiro has written a number of books about the US Senate in the past, using his experience and interest to develop strong arguments that are supported by research and constitutional synthesising. He argues that the Founding Fathers sought to use the Senate as a body to examine legislation presented by the House and protect the country from presidential abuses of power. This is the core tenet of the upper chamber and it is its leaders who must take this into account as they use their abilities to push legislation and votes forward.

Mitch McConnell used his role in the Senate to push his own agenda, which is not always clearly delineated as Shapiro shows throughout. McConnell pushed his right-wing views to stall legislative progress when the Democrats were trying to shape the country under Obama. McConnell tried to block financial and legal advances because it would do little to help the Republican Party and might tarnish his personal position. Repeatedly, it was apparent that McConnell only wanted to do what would make the Democrats look like fools.

As Shapiro examines over the themes in the book, McConnell’s views were used to push the Trump Administration’s needs, even when they were not in the best interest of the majority or for the country. McConnell turned a blind eye or spun things that left the rampaging Trump to turn an idea on its head and left America in dire need of greatness. McConnell baffled those on both sides of the aisle, but he was unrepentant of his views and seemed ignorant when challengers sought explanation. This betrayal served as the roadmap McConnell would follow during his entire time in the Senate.

The modern Senate had been shown to be a powerful body, as long as it is in the hands of leaders who sought to temper its strength. Instead, the US Senate has become a hyper-partisan, gridlocked entity that is a shell of its former self. Shapiro effectively argues how Senate challenges were regular occurrences and Mitch McConnell was in the middle of it, twisting rules and precedents to his favour. There is no doubt that this will not change until new leadership that is not curtailed by fear of Donald Trump emerges. McConnell’s retirement and Trump’s neutralised rants must come before anything can shift towards a better America once more.

Ira Shapiro uses this tome to effectively argue many key points about the toothless US Senate and the man who steered it in that direction. Mitch McConnell, while an effective politician, has little interest in working towards American advancement. Shapiro’s strong chapters are supported by significant research and countless interviews. This helps the reader see that this not simply a rant bound and published to knock down Trump and his presidency. With the dawn of a potential reelection of Trump and his band of merry insurrectionists, one must think about how that could play out and whether Mitch McConnell will continue to pull strings in order to steer things into a new political abyss.

Kudos, Mr. Shapiro, for this stunning book that made great arguments.

Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency, by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #34 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes deliver a stellar book that takes the reader well behind the curtain in the lead-up to the 2020 US Presidential election. While many will have heard all about how Trump botched COVID-19 and planted seeds that the election would likely be rigged (a subtle admission of knowing he could not win the end result), little time had been spent on the nitty-gritty within the Democratic Party to find a viable candidate to clash with The Donald. This book seeks to explore the race for the Democratic nomination and how one candidate would rise through the clash to become the party’s standard bearer, though he almost did not secure victory to keep the country from more Trump vitriol. With detailed explanations and countless behind-the-scenes commentary, Allen and Parnes offer up this electrifying tome, where tense truths emerge and some things the Democrats may not want revealed about their in-fighting come to light.

Joe Biden returning to the White House was a pipe dream that few had and many thought was a joke when told about the option. How did this man, who had been part of the past era in Congress, make it not only to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020, but also win the contest over the wily Donald Trump? This book explores the long and overly contention journey that Biden took in a brutal two-year journey. It was not easy and it did not start well, where large Democratic donors shied away from him, the people thought he did not have the chops, and the field was full of vibrant ideas from all corners vying for the nomination. Allen and Parnes seek to peddle things together and maker a story out of this meteoric rise to greatness.

As the book opens, it is clear that Biden is in a tough place, where he cannot use his charm and history on the Hill to garner significant support. Even his former boss, Barrack Obama, would not outrightly support him and push Biden into the lead. He had to claw for the votes, the support, and the recognition. That the field for nominee of the Democratic Party in 2020 was full proved to be an understatement. Many filed and ran to see change to the system in order to win over the ever-cringeworthy Donald Trump. There were those on the left who were nipping at the ankles of the Party—namely Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren—as well as those who sought to instil a newness in the Party—Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar—and a slew of centrists who sought to use their name recognition to garner some support. The debates were bloody and the campaigning throughout the primaries was exhausting. Was this something that Biden could do? Might he have made a better promise to his dead son, Beau, than trying to climb this mountain?

As the months wore on, the truth was beginning to appear. Biden did not have what he needed to succeed and make a difference. Voters were not accepting him, particularly when he showed poorly in the first few primaries, and some of his opponents were taking advantage of his long career to hop onto some of his landmine issues that painted Biden as a has-been and racist. But Biden would not give up and sought to find his niche, whatever that took.

As Allen and Parnes examine in the latter portion of the book, Biden’s win in South Carolina sparked what the candidate needed to begin gaining momentum. Many of the candidates saw their campaigns dry up and shifted power to Biden. This left the Democratic nomination open to two septuagenarians—Biden and Bernie Sanders—whose attacks would not desist, all while the country was trying to understand this mysterious COVID-19 pandemic. As the run to the nomination heated up, many began looking at the candidates in comparison to President Trump, a man who was sure he could crush anyone placed against him.

In a gritty battle that left Joe Biden as the nominee, the Democrats needed not only to pull in the Sanders supporters, but target how to dismantle the power Donald Trump had over the country and his rhetoric. While Biden was not averse to tossing off the gloves, this was not how he liked to run a campaign. That said, Biden had never crossed paths with anyone like Trump before. The book explores a presidential campaign against the backdrop of the pandemic, where Biden sought the careful road and Trump—shock—chose the aggressive route as he dismissed many of the precautions put before him. After securing Kamala Harris as his running mare to ensure the Black vote was secured, Biden sought to make the final push. The campaign got down to brass tacks and was as dirty as one could imagine. When all was said and done… nothing was either said or done to the sitting president.

Joe Biden eked out a victory, both with the popular vote and in the Electoral College. As the challenges mounted and Trump cried foul, the courts, the public, and the election officials saw the transformation of a man who foreboded his own catastrophe, yet when it came, he decried outrage. The book was completed the day after the January 6, 2021 insurrection, so it was not included in the narrative. It was not needed, as the themes within show just how lucky Biden was to rise above it all and sit in the Oval Office as president.

I love a good political tome, especially one that explores things that are not reported by every source. Allen and Parnes do an amazing job here to illustrate the slow and determined journey Joe Biden took, as well as the many stumbles along the way. This book seeks not only to show how resilient Biden was in 2020 (and thankfully we did not need it again in 2024), but also how the entire Democratic Party’s primary process left the field wide open and made it anything but predictable. Allen and Parnes develop these themes in thorough chapters that explore the journey while educating the curious reader. The history is there, as is slow momentum gain this story needs before climaxing in a tense presidential election between two men who sought to present completely different ideas of how America ought to be run. The narrative is clear and informative, keeping the reader in the middle of the action until all is said and done.

While no one doubts Biden was lucky to eke out a victory, the projections for 2024 had another election that could be close. Worry not, Trump has already salted the soil when he loses again. What mess will he unleash this time?

Kudos, Mr. Allen and Madam Parnes, for this sensational piece that taught me so much.

The Stakes: America at the Point of No Return, by Michael Anton

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process. 

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #33 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

One of my goals during this challenge was to be able to read books by authors who hold views of the right who can make their arguments effectively using plausible foundations. While many of the books I have read during this challenge are more interested in kissing the… (ring?) of Donald Trump and prefer to spew vitriol. Michael Anton uses his academic position to raise key arguments and thoughts that are well-supported and full of thought-provoking views that left me challenging my previous ideas. While I cannot support some of his arguments, Anton presents them clearly and kept me wondering as I read each chapter. The right surely has some views with which I cannot support and use some short-sighted ideas, but Anton makes them understandable and keeps much of the sycophantic sentiments to a minimum. A great book that sheds light on the right and some of their thinking, helping me respect Michael Anton with ease.

Anton made a name for himself when he published a controversial essay in 2016, asking voters on the right to ‘rush the cockpit’ and vote for Trump. “The Flight 93 Election” caused some chatter in the academic community, but it helped the intended audience see the importance to look away from Clinton and seek a better America. That Trump was at the helm mattered little to Anton (perhaps it was a ‘hold your nose’ moment), but rather that the GOP needed to return to controlling the direction in which America was headed to save it from a catastrophic political crash. Anton got his wish, though he does not comment on the new disaster his sentiments helped create. Perhaps that’s for another book or the final portion of the book!

Opening the book, Anton explores California, the crown jewel of left-leaning sentiments, and how it is nothing as it appears to be. He seeks to explain the problems with the left’s view of the state and how these sentiments skew the truth about the country as a whole. This is a bold start and threw me for a loop, but I can see what Anton is doing here. He seeks to shatter the Utopia and sentiment that the left’s ideal locale is anything but a facade. This is how the right begins their attack, by targeting something the left holds dear and seeks to make a mess of it. Doing so seeks to crack the foundation and find blemishes that can only be fixed by walking away. Sly work, Mr. Anton.

From there, Anton seeks to explore the role of the state in America (the political actor, not the fifty divided land masses with their own governments). The state was the key actor to the Founding Fathers and Anton argues that this is as it ought to be. He posits that the loose federation America became was meant to give the stature its own power, not a centralised government making sweeping decisions and seeking to weasel its way into the role of the states. Should states be able to run things as they see fit, the people would be happier and their leaders could do so with ease. Ask a woman seeking choices about an unwanted pregnancy and see how happy that citizen might be, Mr. Anton. Oh wait, you don’t want the citizenry to ask questions, just let their leaders (for whom a voter was cast a ballot occasionally) to hold the reins of power alone until the next election. These sentiments are short-sighted and is the encapsulated view of the right. Let them vote, shut them up, and hope the boat does not sink until next time!

Tackling views about ‘woke ideas’ (the sentiment that the people are too focussed on inclusivity rather than what is best for the people), radical racism, and immigration policies, Anton takes things on a wild exposition of how things have gone down a horrible rabbit hole that must end soon. He feels that Americans have come to stop being American and would rather dilute their sense of being to be overly inclusive. This is a means of eroding the greatness of America and leaves it ready to fall into ruin. A tad melodramatic, perhaps, but the attentive reader can see some of the views that Anton tries to peddle. He worries about the loss of the country he has come to love, as though it is gone forever. One need only worry if the choice of America is a xenophobic entity, seeking to purify itself and keep people from being open-minded. It is this view that is being dethroned, though the right would gussy up a pig and call it something else.

While I accept some of Anton’s views, including the need to stop tearing down memorials of the past, I cannot swallow many of the views he puts on offer. Anton seeks to fuel the rhetoric that the right needs to take things back and wrest control away fro the left. However, drawing parallels from Anton’s 2016 essay, ‘storming the cockpit’ to keep control, the use of violence and xenophobic views does nothing but add new problems. The idea of ‘white’ washing America back to greatness holds no water for me and I cannot see how anyone could swallow that elixir. Anton does well to lull the reader into thinking that this is the only way to ensure America will be there when needed, but his views are not plausible for a society that must stand with its fellow countries on the world scene. This makes sense only to be more divisive on the world scene and keep the citizenry pig-headed and left clueless about their ignorance. How can anyone want this and why would anyone choose a political sentiment that paves this path towards the future?

Anton does not simply whinge about the issues, he offers a multi-pronged solution. While never serving as sycophant, Anton feels that Trump holds the blueprint to future right-wing success. Be it with a revamped GOP or a new party, the right needs to heed the warnings that POTUS 45 made to create something the masses can accept. While some of the tenets sound logical and contrast well with what the Democrats have to offer, little of it works to solve things. Rather, it is a means of further alienating the America that has emerged and seeks to wash it of its immigrant-loving past that has, in Anton’s mind, helped erode all that was once good about the Republican Party and the country’s right-wing base. Sobering and spine-chilling in equal measure!

I love a good book that can challenge my views and leave me wanting to learn more. Michael Anton did that and more with this book. He explains things well and keeps the reader curious as the arguments pile up, which includes pushing some truths that the left might not want to admit. However, I cannot sit here and have his views poured into my head without seeking to challenge them. Each chapter, which is long and full of information, helps push the sentiments along and rock the automaton reader into a sleepy acceptance, but the attentive one will be able to read between the lines and understand both sides of the coin. While Anton’s academic approach helps challenge preconceived notions, his views cannot simply be accepted as gospel (nor do I see Anton as speaking for all on the right, thank goodness). I am open to seeing both sides and am pleased that Michael Anton could do so. Whatever comes to pass in November 2024, reading this has me eager to see if Anton’s predictions come true. Scare tactics usually backfire, as Trump has come to show with his ridiculous antics. Thank goodness we all know he will never let this book cross his path, as the lack of pictures is sure to help him lose interest swiftly.

Kudos, Mr. Anton, for a great thought project, even if it is simply that for those who see reality for what it is.

The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020, by Jonathan Lemire

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #32 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

While it is difficult to find new angles to explore the Trump/Biden/Harris narrative, I was eager to get my hands on Jonathan Lemire’s book. It explores the numerous issues around Trump’s’ Big Lie’ and how all-consuming it became over the last decade. Working through many of his leads as a political reporter who followed Trump from 2016 onwards, Lemire delves deeply into the narrative the GOP nominee created and how it went on to shape the conspiracy theories that would fuel the right for years thereafter. An educational read that left me intrigued about many of the conspiracies that shaped the American political scene in ways no one could have predicted.

In the opening pages of the book, Lemire explores the core of “The Big Lie”, a sentiment that an election in which Trump loses is sure to be rigged or stolen. The genesis of the idea came from a rally the GOP presumptive nominee held in Columbus, Ohio during the 2016 campaign. Trump planted the idea in the minds of many and used it to fuel an ongoing theory that morphed the longer it lingered. Trump used it to forecast a potential loss to Clinton that year, but it soon developed into a larger conspiracy for anything against the MAGA base.

That this conspiracy has only further divided the two parties is at the core of the argument, but not the sole detriment that America has seen. The divisive nature of the belief that there is no clear means of trusting the pillars of democracy helped Trump erode other beliefs and helped him hijack the GOP and its supporters. Anything he said was to become gospel, no matter how outlandish it tended to be. As Lemire explains throughout, Trump was able to vaguely claim something and it was seen as truth. Should anyone try to dispel it, they were quickly deemed part of the problem. Able to pull right-wing media into the fray, Trump now had a soapbox on which to push these lies as complete truth. Trump made this easier by labelling those who chose to report the opposite view as “fake news”.

The Big Lie moved forward and raged its ugly head incesssantly throughout the 2020 campaign, culminating in the election, where Trump was shown to lose. He kicked up the rhetoric about voter fraud, ballot tampering, and a fixed election, which only seemed to affect the votes for president (somehow other positions that ended up Republican on the same ballot were not based on fixed or illegal elections). As many readers surely know, the soap opera of Trump’s legal antics ended with all but one court ruling against him. This helped Trump bemoan The Big Lie once more and fuelled the insurrection on Capitol Hill that cold January 6, 2021, where democracy teetered on the edge. Thankfully, it was quelled and the Biden Administrstion was able to move forward with the inauguration on January 20th.

However, The Big Lie did not end there. Trump’s power over the GOP continued as he served as Marionette-in-Chief. Republicans could not do anything that might step on the toes of the ousted president. Trump spoke and every Republican appeared to fall in line. Those who did not were ejected from the party or forced to bite their tongue. Lemire posits that this cloud lingered over the new administration and created clashes with Congress, as the Democrats were left the wrestle against their opponents across the aisle, all because a Trump thumbs down was presented to them.

Lemire wonders how long The Big Lie would last, hoping that America could find its way out of this wet paper bag. President Biden sought to put the country back on its feet by pushing clear voter rights, but was met with icy stares and negative votes on the floor of both Houses by Republicans. The GOP was no longer a party, but a plaything for Trump to run like a political ghost who does not want to die. The Big Lie emerged in speeches, public sentiments, and one-liners during interviews. When politicians were called out, they would refuse to see the light, choosing to shove their heads in the sand like an ostrich. The Big Lie lingers, like a new pandemic.

With talks of Haitians eating pets in Ohio and refusal to accept a loss in 2020, Trump is back like a bad infection. His views are as skewed as ever and with new soldiers ready to fight blindly for ideas that cannot hold water. The Big Lie continues like a lipstick-wearing pig, leaving many to hope that American voters will see what needs to be done and put the country out of its misery. There is no hope that Trump will go quietly, something many have come to accept, but perhaps the voters will speak clearly and send him out to pasture.

Jonathan Lemire does really well with this piece, exploring views and sentiments many have expressed before. His journalistic investigations have revealed a great deal and help explain some of the outlandish sentiments the GOP have taken as truth. In chapters that are as interesting as they are educational, Lemire helps provide clarity for those who might not fully understand what has been happening in America over the last decade. America is once more at a crossroads, leaving the future in doubt. The ballot box is said to help guide the country, but we all know nothing is final until Congress certifies the results, come hell or high water. I am eager to see what happens and whether chaos will resume or if the country will be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Kudos, Mr. Lemire, for an insightful piece.

Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth: The President’s Falsehoods, Misleading Claims and Flat-Out Lies, by The Washington Post Fact Checking Team

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #31 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

It ought to surprise no one that Donald Trump has treated the truth like many of the women in his life; used when needed and tossed aside when it no longer suits him. While this may be true, the extent to which the truth is elusive to the 45th president is staggering. In this book of compiled statements by Donald J, Trump,the Fact Checking Staff of the Washington Post pulls together a number of them to show just how outlandish and contradictory they have been over the years. While many will not want to see the truth in print, this book seeks not only to offer the statements, but backs up what actually happened and how Trump chose to massage things for his own good. A sobering book that pulls few punches while trying to bring to light the bombastic man who feels that the truth is but a thorn in his side when trying to rally the troops. Well worth the invested time and effort.

While only looking at the first three years he was in office, the Washington Post’s analysis of Trump’s statements brought forth over 16,000 statements it could call lies or lacking a significant truth. This is a staggering number and offers the reader a baseline to understand just how little telling the actual story ever mattered to the man who feels he is above journalistic reporting. Trump has always used events in his favour and has spun truths out of nothing to suit him, or dismiss it when things no longer lean in that direction. That Trump does not care is perhaps more troubling than that he spews forth nonsense with every breath he takes.

As the Fact Checking Staff compiled these statements over the Trump Administration, they tried to rank them from minor gaffes (a single Pinocchio) to the larger lies that subsume the daily narrative (four Pinocchios). However, there are times that these ‘lying boy’ rankings are not enough, forcing a Golden and Ultimate ranking to come off the shelf and into the analytical process. That many are either blind or indifferent to these lies is shocking in an era when social media can send news out in the blink of an eye, though it is clear that massaging truth is not only the role held by politician figures. Still, one would hope that with a finger on the pulse readily available, the people would demand more of their leaders.

The book divides the statements and lies into multiple themes, which will permit the reader to better catalogue the misconceptions. The team explores Trump’s views on the economy, trade, immigration, foreign relations, and even domestic policy, using his mounting braggadocio to show how out of touch he is while puffing up his chest. Not only does the team offer the statements and their date context, but tries to provide real-world context about what happened or the quoted statement made by the person being discussed in Trump’s one-liners. The parallel statements sobers the reader a little more, leaving them to shake their heads as they stifle a laugh at the absurdity of the entire process.

One would be remiss in thinking that only Trump lies. I do not contend that America elected a man who lies, an anomaly never seen in the political world. But it is the depth and repetitiveness of these falsehoods, even when plainly obvious, that is troubling and truly worrisome. Perhaps it is worse that many lap it up and fall for the deceptive statements, treating them with more reverence than books of the Bible or sections of the US Constitution. They say that ignorance is bliss, but there must be a limit to the level of complete cluelessness those given a ballot can be allowed. Then again, perhaps there is simply a large swath of people whose spirit animal is the ostrich.

A book of this nature takes not only time and dedication, but also significant patience. Wading through statements in order to pull the actual events out to show the public is not something one can do on a coffee break or during downtime at home. It is a full-time job by an entire team. That the Washington Post has done this and is encouraged by its readers to keep doing do is worthy of applause. Well-documented chapters keep the reader enthused and educated. That the book reads with ease helps make the point with all readers and does not turn this exercise into something academic. The Fact Checking Team does well to provide concrete examples and explanations to give needed context as they sift through the piles of falsehoods and half-truths. Trump has not slowed his rhetoric going into 2024, which makes watching his circus all the more entertaining, so long as it remains only a sideshow and America does not return a clown to the most powerful position in the world’s political order.

Kudos, Washington Post Fact Checker Staff—aka Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo, and Meg Kelly—for enlightening me on just how silly one man can be as he leads many over the cliff.

How to Steal a Presidential Election, by Lawrence Lessig and Matthew Seligman

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #30 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

While America was saved from a stolen election in 2020, it could easily happen. Lawrence Lessig and Matthew Seligman explore this topic in detail. They point out the various means by which political figures could and might try to hijack the next presidential election to turn the results in the favour of a particular party. Numerous scenarios and their fallout come up in this well-researched and argued piece.

That there are legal means by which a presidential election could be stolen is troubling, though Lessig and Seligman are straightforward about it. Some of it plays into the interpretation of the US Constitution’s wording, while other aspects discuss the actors involved playing roles in a partisan manner to ensure a certain result. The discussions reveal much about the vagueness of the Constitution and how it was penned presuming men (and women) would play fairly. However, the Founding Father never met Trump or his congressional cronies!

An exploration using some of the rhetoric devised during the January 6th arguments inside the House of Representatives, as well as the sentiments expressed in its lead-up, help to shape the book’s underlying hypotheses and leave the reader shocked at the legal maneuvers that could be done. What’s more sobering is that the courts would have no recourse.

All that being said, much of the discussion is done in a vacuum under ideal circumstances. One need not entirely worry about the 2024 election, at least not with a great deal of confidence. However, as the authors explore in detail, all it takes is a few things to align and chaos of a legal nature could ensue. It is hard to believe that someone or a small group could be that on point to ensure the pieces fall into place, but more surprising things have happened in the past. However far-fetched it seems, one could have said the same about storming the Capitol and trying to create an insurrection to ensure autocratic rule, until it almost happened. Lessig and Seligman deliver a stunning account and offer real-world examples that left me slack-jawed and in awe.

I have read many books on elections, constitutions, and American democracy in my adult life, many of which left me better educated than when I started. Lawrence Lessig and Matthew Seligman did that here, while handling some poignant discussions about the future of the American election as well. In a well-crafted tome that seeks the educate and shock the reader, each chapter explores and explains key aspects to the election process and how it could be tinkered with to turn the results in a certain manner. The authors deliver an easy to digest, yet still shocking, set of tenets that are sure to shock the attentive reader. While many might have thought it was all about casting a ballot and waiting to see if your candidate won. Lessing and Seligman show how naive that is and how there are people working to pull strings and try to build a pathway so they can determine a winner and keep their hands clean.

Kudos, Messrs. Lessig and Seligman, for this eye-opening piece that I will be reading again soon to see how 2024 followed the rules.

Shadow of Doubt (Scot Harvath #23), by Brad Thor

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

Brad Thor is back with another explosive Scot Harvard thriller! As the reader is thrust into the middle of a high-impact story, Harvath is pushed to the limit once more. A Russian defector falls into Harvath’s sphere, leading the Mother Country to engage in their own form of kidnap and retribution. As Harvath makes an effort to settle the score, he also has a personal chip in the game that could change it all. Brad Thor does well to spin yet another strong story well worth the reader’s attention.

When a cargo plane takes off, its mystery is strengthened as a number of Russian fighter jets surround it in a form of airborne security. While the US has an eye on the plane, they have no idea what could be inside or whether it will prove to be a headache for the Western world.

Soon thereafter, a Russian of significant importance appears in Norway. He seeks to defect and bring along numerous secrets that could help the West better understand the latest plans Russia has in store. This is paralleled with news that a massive conspiracy is being hatched. A French agent in the heart of Paris is onto it, but the pieces are still too confusing.

The CIA is sure that something is about to happen, but cannot yet decipher what awaits them. This is where Scot Harvath comes into play, as he must eke out the truth and solve things in a timely manner. However, with a number of personal investments he hopes to foster, Harvath may not want to put it all on the line this time around. Brad Thor dazzles and impresses once again.

I have long enjoyed this series and Brad Thor has yet to disappoint. A story that pulls on strong themes in the news today, things progress well as the narrative pushes things forward. Detailed descriptions of characters and settings provide great flavouring to the story, keeping the reader highly entertained. A plot that rushes things along and provides some unpredictable aspects for the reader makes for a captivating reading experience.

Kudos, Mr. Thor, for keeping Scot enticing all these novels later!

The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right’s Assault on American Democracy, by David Neiwert

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #29 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

David Neiwert delivers a chilling and eye-opening exploration of groups who have used insurrection in America for the last number of years. The issue has not strictly been tied to the Trump Administration, but the 45th president’s presence brought these groups into the limelight and shown the parallels between what he supported and these groups sought to offer. As Neiwert delivers significant histories of many groups who felt the need to wrest control away from the standards accepted by the current state, he presents some of the ruthless steps they will take to ensure complete control of American freedom through violent acts. Stunning and disgusting in equal measure from start to finish.

While David Neiwert spends a great deal of time exploring and explaining numerous groups hoping to use violent acts and insurrections to get their points across, his focus is primarily those who might be called right-wing supporters. Referring to the state and those who support the curent government as cultural Marxists or communists, these groups go so far as to insist only they could ensure the state was saved and that violence was likely needed to wrest control away from the worst elements. Their need to be isolationists or feel small towns are the only places to find true believers, Neiwert explores many of those who have these odd mental checklists as to who stands within the tent and the problems with those on the outside.

Neiwert stresses that these groups have been around for decades, having risen into the mainstream with the emergence of the John Birch Society in the 1960s. Most hold firm that there has been an erosion of the state they used to know and that the alienation of society cannot be left to continue ruining their freedoms. These groups seek to rectify things and remove those who they see as the problem, usually with a penchant for violence to break the ongoing trends towards the left and government control of the masses. At their core appears to be use of racist, bigoted, and highly xenophobic rhetoric, standing firm that this is accepted because of free speech, rather than offering constructive arguments as to why it should continue,

While there is much talk about the soldiers on the ground who are willing to shed blood and take lives, Neiwert mentions that those who pour gasoline onto the fires are just as troubling and prove to be even more filled with vitriol. This is where Trump, Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, and a number of others who prefer to spew hatred and rile up the various groups come into play. These sentiments are wrapped in conspiracy theories and fabricated lies segments of the public drink as readily and pre-poured Kool-Aid. To say that these are warnings for the right to protect themselves against oncoming attacks on their rights and the erosion of freedom across America is embarrassing, yet they do so with a straight face. Neiwert uses media reports, including those from Fox News itself, to show what was being reported and how it was at odds with the rhetoric these (and other) influential, purposely-misdirecting men push as complete truths.

Neiwert does not forget about the group many use as a whipping boy for the entire mess. He explores Antifa and what it stands for in America, as well as their historical creation. The group has long been reactionary, answering the violence and bloodshed fascist groups began as far back as the 1930s. They have long arrived to defend once the fighting began and to make it known about the need for freedom and need to see the limitations some would place upon the populace. Neiwert provides evidence of when and how Antifa arrived to answer the Proud Boys, Oathseekers, or any other group seeking to suppress and intimidate those who would calmly protest. Their emergence came out of nowhere in the latest permutation, though they have long been treated like a hidden and weapons-compiling group. The need for an antagonist (or for some of the groups central to this book, a protagonist) to create the needed clash helps groups on both sides explain themselves. While it is curious to see just how strong hurling ‘Antifa’ can be to send groups into a frenzy, their use as bait can be disproved with ease, much to the chagrin of Trump and his supporters.

What can be done now? As David Neiwert explains at various points, the only way to end the violence and ongoing rumours is the cut off the fuel. Stop the need for using these groups and keep the truth above all the rhetoric. Unfortunately, Trump, Carlson, and even Jones will never stop their antics, as it brings them popularity and helps build flash idolatry of their personas. It will take a complete end to the influence to really nip things in the bud, which might need to be the end of anything Trump (his passing and a period of mourning thereafter). Media outlets have used the Trump bullhorn to push their ideas, so it would be a way to neuter Carlson and Jones, as well as many others. Still, it would be nice o end the ignorance before all this, though there will surely never be an end. Social media has helped spread the vitriol and that is going nowhere in the future. Surely, even the core of the right will see how outlandish and destructive it can be. I can only hope there are many within the Republican Party eager to inch themselves away from this craziness and try to serve the people in a level-headed manner.

Terrorism in America is by no means a new things. It can be traced back to the colonies and those who rose up with reason to push back against the tyrants. However, in no speeches or documents do I see Jefferson, Washington, Adams, or even Hamilton issuing pleas that the rebels kill and hunt down the peaceful Crown-supporters, or spew hatred simply because it helped keep the country from becoming too socialist and soft. As David Neiwert effectively argues in this book, the right has created many groups to ensure hate, xenophobia, and class divisions are rampant, while hiding it behind a sense of patriotism. There is nothing patriotic about killing for the sake of killing, no man or woman should be a proud boy (or girl) for this type of horrible behaviour, nor can one be expected to seek out oaths to pledge hatred and rise up with arms simply to see bloodied heads on the other side. Neiwert uses well-developed chapters to push his narrative and uses strong proofs to better explain the groups, their perspectives, and the vitriol spewed to egg them on. The reader will have to pay close attention to better understand what os happening and how things have advanced (or regressed) to this point. This was an eye-opening experience for me, as I sought to educate myself about the various groups in America that have feasted on racist and xenophobic views to justify their being. Make American Great by ridding the country of this vile group of people and their leaders who want to see more destruction.

Kudos, Mr. Neiwert, for this sobering piece I needed to read, so as to better understand the mind-numbing hate speech these groups hurl.

Justice for All (Daniel Pike #8), by William Bernhardt

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

William Bernhardt is back with another great legal thriller starring gritty defence attorney, Daniel Pike. In a unique case, Pike is working in civil court to help a man wrest control of a comic book character he helped create away from a multi-billion dollar corporation. All the while, severed heads have shown up across St. Petersburg, turning the quiet Florida city into a place of panic. Bernhardt does well to tap into legal matters in which the reader can revel.

Daniel Pike has made a name for himself in St. Petersburg legal circles, mostly as one of the strongest defence attorneys in Florida. Working with a rag-tag group, they take key cases that are sure to make a difference. However, their latest may be a stretch, as Pike heads to civil court to help a comic-book writer sue to recover the rights he has to a character whose explosive notoriety had begun earning billions while he wallows in poverty. Not Pike’s chosen field, but a challenge is always welcome.

When Pike comes up against a gritty Seattle attorney, Kenzi Rivera, he may have met his match. Rivera represents the wife of the other character creator, who feels she is due the riches. It is sure to be a stunning clash, though there is little evidence and Pike’s client is showing signs of mental dullness as age and time have whittled away at his acuity.

Seeking control is widespread, with this much power and money at hand. Severed heads appear, the first at an airport baggage drop, show that someone is trying to flex their muscle, with a solid connection to the case at hand. The war-like nature is heightened as Pike is unable to get his opponent to work towards a reasonable settlement. Civil court is tough, more so than anything Pike has seen while working on the other side.

Pike decides that he will have to find a way to impress the judge and jury to put this case to bed. However, the power grab turns violent on the courthouse steps and tensions run high over ownership of this lucrative comic book character. Worried that he has entered a realm with no clear way out, Pike will have to resolve things before he loses his head—literally—and becomes a victim. Bernhardt dazzles throughout with this great legal thriller

Not only has William Bernhardt done well for himself as a great thriller writer, he has passed along his skills through a number of high-profile symposiums, thereby extending the stellar writing for scores of others. Bernhardt prepares a solid foundation for the reader to enjoy and where the story can expand. The narrative flows with ease, mixing detail and depth peppered with needed humour to keep the reader enthralled. Developing many characters, none of whom are stagnant from one book to another, Bernhardt is able to connect with the reader in other ways and touching upon key issues of the day. The plot is both unique and binding, keeping the story exciting and free from overt predictability. This helps serve as a great launching point for a series that keeps impressing.

Kudos, Mr. Bernhardt, for a strong addition to the series.

Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop’s Battle for America’s Soul, by Michael Fanone and John Shiffman

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #28 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

I saw this book and thought that it would be a great addition to the election series because of its focus on the January 6th, riots, as told by one of the police officers in the middle of the melee. Not only does Michael Fanone tell a gripping tale of being attacked by rioters, but also recounts his story of life as a police officer in DC and the many things he encountered over his time. Raw and honest, Fanone pulls no punches with his sentiments and creates a well-written account of a man whose views changed as he saw the linguistic manipulation and subtleties hoisted upon the American public during the Trump Administration.

Michael Fanone always wanted to be a part of the solution and not contribute to the problem. Spurred on to join the police focce in reaction to the events of September 11, 2001, the book opens with the saga that was getting through training by a man whose outward appearance was quite rough and tumble. Fanone was tattooed and filterless in his speech, which left an odd impression by many. However, he excelled and soon found himself protecting many on Capitol Hill before making a move the Metropolitan Police Department, protecting those in DC’s inner city.

Fanone noticed a significant change after 2018, not only because of the Trump Administration in the White House—whom he supported—but also the increase in police brutality situations across the country. This uptick in violence against minorities created a negative image of the police, though President Trump’s assertions that the police needed to do more and forego worrying about the criminals who were caught troubled Fanone. That a leader would be so brazen in his comments left Fanone worrying about the state of the country and how he, as a police officer, would be seen by the general public.

Fanone explores how he listened to the police bandwidth radio during the early part of the January 6th, 2021 events on and around the Capitol and knew his colleagues needed assistance. Officers were being attacked or overwhelmed by rioters and Fanone could not sit idly by. He ran into the fray to help his fellow officers and found himself being attacked by those who were trying to breach the Capitol. Fanone is the officer who was famously (infamously?) caught on film being attacked with a flag before he was kicked, scratched, and tased. He was only saved from death when some of the more empathetic rioters helped get him out of the way.

In the aftermath, Fanone reflects on what happened as best he could remember and the bodycam footage that he saw of the event later. He stands firm that this was an insurrection and that Republicans refused to acknowledge it as such, as recounted in the introduction of his book. Fanone speaks from the heart and tries to offer his side of things, as well as the asinine attempts of GOP legislators to downplay things or acknowledge the help he provided because he spoke out against Trump’s antics. He was doubly shocked to see his one police union—supporters of Trump—downplay his concerns or negate them entirely. The book resonates for the reader who is able to stomach all that it offers.

Michael Fanone does not cut corners in his telling of the story, nor does he feel that he did it alone (both protecting the Capitol or writing this book), He acknowledges the hard work of his fellow officers and John Shiffman who helped him tell his story effectively and with grace. Each chapter is thorough and chilling in its depiction, with the three parts of the book clearly noting the different portions of his life as a police officer and true epiphanies he discovered along the way. While not revealing of anything tat the world did not know, I was happy —can I say that?—to see an insider’s perspective of events and listen to someone who served tell of hos he was turned off of the Trump rhetoric, which was exacerbated by those withi nthe GOP who downplayed things and continued to justify them. I do not expect this book to turn the tides of those who are adamant supporters, but would encourage them to read it, if only to see how devastating things were and how it could all have been avoided.

Kudos, Messrs. Fanone and Shiffman, for bringing this story to light.

The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore American Foreign Policy After Trump

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #27 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

Alexander Ward presents a poignant book about US foreign policy and how the Biden Administration sought to rectify what it called a disastrous four years under President Trump. What makes this read all the more interesting is that, as the 2024 election is on the horizon, Trump is seeking to paint the Biden Administration (of which he paints Kamala Harris as a prime decision maker) with a brush of ineptitude and complete disaster on the world scene. Trump has hammered down that he would never have let things get to this point and could have ‘easily’ solved things. I use Ward’s book and some general knowledge to test this theory to see just hw bad things might have been on to significant fronts, namely Afghanistan and Ukraine. Ward delivers a strong piece that kept me highly intrigued as I learned more about each foreign event and how the Biden team sought to create their own solution. A well-paced and thoroughly detailed book that left me wanting to know a great deal more.

As with many shifts in administration, Joe Biden entered the White House as president in January 2021 with a group ready to tackle many things to better the country. One of the main areas was to fix the tarnished foreign relations that America had suffered under Trump, where the 45th President sought to cater to his friends and put America in a great deal of trouble. Biden had strong political and military people ready to work hard and ensure that America could actually claim to be great once more, without the xenophobia, rhetoric, or name-calling.

The first major foreign relations policy was to handle extrication from Afghanistan, a war the country had been carrying around as a painful yoke for the past two decades. Many presidents had planned to find a way out, but none had actioned anything, leaving Biden to vow that this would be his priority. As Ward explores, the decision was not met with full support, either within the West Wing or by the leaders of Afghanistan. Worries that the Taliban were lurking and ready to strike could be heard in many meetings, but Biden remained convinced that the training wheels had to come off and that it was high time to make the move. The landing was anything but simple and found Biden left in many difficult spots, but he vowed not to backdown. The execution of the results proved highly troubling and left Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, as well as Secretary of Defence Lloyd Benson, scrambling to make sense of it all. Both had to ensure their people were ready and worked with the Afghan government to secure a transition. That it was a messy end to American presence in the region was something everyone expected, though it surely did show as being somewhat disastrous, as Ward explains in thorough the book.

The other major issue that faced Biden and his team was the precarious situation in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin had long had an eye on Ukraine and used some of his past military actions to chip away at the Ukrainian border, something that was never properly handled by the Obama Administration in 2014. However, Obama’s vice-president, one Joe Biden, vowed that Russia would no longer push to expand its territory by leaving sovereign states in peril was one that could have some significant importance in 2021. When Ukraine’s newly-elected president arrived and sought help, Biden was willing to listen, though Ward posits that it was only going through the motions. Putin had not only the Americans wondering, but many of the NATO country leaders had ties to Russia they did not want to obliterate with American aggressive stances. As Ward explores, both the UK and Germany were leery of helping out too much, but they respected that Russian aggression against Ukraine could not be left to develop without some response. Biden was ready and when Putin struck, it was a wait and see approach, though American military weapons and technology began finding its way into Kyiv and surrounding areas with ease.

As Alexander Ward explores these two areas, he makes clear that neither were stellar international situations, nor did Biden and his team show American strength when it was needed most. Was this solely for inept reasons, or could there have been a part that was based on inherited weakness that needed to be cleansed up before moving along? Ward discusses both options and uses his journalistic integrity to dig deeply into an analytical assessment for all to see. While neither ending the Afghan mission or the commencement of the Russia-Ukrainian War proved complete successes for Biden, they could not be called unmitigated disasters, as some would call them. Ward presents a sentiment that some of the issues were inherited from the Trump Administration, though it cannot solely be left at the feet of those ho came before. There were issues, discrepancies, and even shortcomings, but nothing in the realm of foreign policy or international politics is ever completely smooth. Additionally, there was no ‘dropping the ball’ when it came to Kamala Harris, as Trump tried to paint in the September 10, 2024 presidential debate. Perhaps associated guilt and accusations, but Ward does not offer any support to that hypothesis.

A book of this nature can be somewhat difficult to assess, as one has so many factors for which an account is necessary when offering a final result. Biden inherited some of the foreign policy decisions made by the Trump Administration, though how he chose to handle them falls solely on him. Biden did find himself in some gaffes of a sort, with the extrication from Afghanistan appearing to be a messy situation in which the Taliban rushed to fill the void and the Afghan government fleeing before the dust settled. The Putin attack on Ukraine could and was seen before it happened though trying to negotiate with someone who is hell-bent on something is difficult. One must also remember that trying to push too hard against someone with nuclear weapons is not the best approach.

Alexander Ward presents well-researched piece of writing that proves to be a highly educational piece for the curious reader. There is so much going on in the book that the reader will have to stay attuned with the ever-changing situation in foreign policy development and delivery. Each chapter builds on the last and provides the reader with some insightful aspects of the evolving situation. Ward offers up some great anecdotes and sidebars about what was going on, using some of his key sources to develop a complete view of what was going on. Ward seeks less to toss blame around than to tackle what was going on and make sense of it. While Trump seems to want to hammer home how Biden and Harris were solely to blame for any foreign policy issues, I cannot see that here, nor does Ward appears to shield them from any responsibility. It was unfortunate how something’s came to pass and one can hope that there is not a blatantly different approach in January 2025, whomever is sitting behind the Resolute Desk.

Kudos, Mr. Ward, for a great piece that taught me so much.

The Court v. The Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights, by Joshua A. Douglas

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #26 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

Joshua A. Douglas presents a book that explores the ongoing intervention of the US Supreme Court into the realm of elections, including numerous instances in which the face of voting has been reconfigured. Douglas offers a central hypothesis that the Court’s intervention through cases brought to it has significantly changed and limited the American right to vote, putting a great deal of the power in the hands of corporations and the state. His clear arguments, supported by case law and judicial decisions, paints a troubling picture for the future of elections and the ongoing disenfranchisement of the common voter. A well-paced book that is sure to open the eyes of the curious reader!

Joshua A. Douglas does not take his work lightly. An election law scholar, Douglas has seen a great deal as he focuses his attention on the upcoming presidential election in 2024. At hand is not only the direction for the country, but also the means by which many will be able to vote in free and fair elections. Spurred on by the allegations of voting fraud and limitations from 2020, Douglas penned this book that looks not only at how free the vote is for some, but also the impediments or limitations found over the years, which can be tracked by to nine significant cases that made their way to the US Supreme Court. Of note is the constant and continual erasing of rights facing the voter, and how the Court has played an activist role in shaping the realm of electoral democracy.

Douglas looks at the role and the power of the Court to side with the state in the early cases he explores. His tenet is that the Court has actively sought to stifle the power of the electorate over state rules and regulations. This is troubling and set the precedent for future gaffes that propounded issues that only appear to get worse over time. Placing the power of voting rules and regulations in the hands of the state (for federal elections) only relates a propensity for issues and gaffes that cannot be easily resolved. Much like giving the power of the state to define abortion rights, the differing laws in each state leaves it up to the state legislature to enact laws they see fit, with the Court deferring and citing they are completely hands off. Voters cannot flee to another state for remedy to cast their ballot, which makes this even more concerning, nor can their views of alternatives be heard or respected.

Further exploration of the book seeks to better understand the role of the state to limit voting rights. Douglas discusses how voter registration has been made exponentially more difficult over the last number of years, with odd items permitted to be used to identify voters, while more mainstream ones are no longer permissible. The veiled decision to make casting a ballot more difficult helps to fuel the debate that disenfranchisement is key to tipping the scales in one direction. Douglas bemoans the need to mute the voice of the electorate for reason that ensure state legislators can almost hand-pick a winner by quieting certain groups. This is also done through the long-held ability to gerrymander, a topic that is by no means new to the Court, though its odd preference to defer to local state election boards to determine what is best leaves many in the legal community to wonder what’s in the water justices are sipping as they formulate decisions.

Douglas presents a final theme in how the Court has overstepped its role thorough the use of the First Amendment and free speech in elections. While this is not the first time I have heard about this approach or the seminal case or Citizens United, it never fails to baffle me. The US Supreme Court sought to explore free speech in election law by expanding permissibility to include corporations weighing in to offer their views, as one would permit an individual elector. At issue is the money that comes from said “corporate individual” and the power to sway politicians. The Court has made it a point of extolling some odd. Interpretation of free speech and woven into into the fabric of voting rights or electoral democracy. While I can see the premise of not suppressing free speech through publications of a book (the example Chief Justice Roberts used in the hearing), the larger premise and how it can equate to equality for all is lost on me, a lowly citizen.

While this is a book that is not overly long, it is packed with great ideas and helps show the intense issues at hand. The US Supreme Court has not left itself there to arbitrate legal issues, but rather to help carve out a limitation to the democratic right to cast a ballot in an election. Voter fraud will never be one-hundred percent a thing of the past but its occurrence is so minuscule that it baffles Douglas as to how it is being so strenuously attacked as a harbinger of how things could be. Rules and limitations on free expression in a democracy are becoming rampant and one needs only look to the Court for falling in line with conservative views to keep many away from the polls and to have their ballots nullified or not cast at all. Douglas uses strong arguments in clear chapters to tell the story and provides countless pieces of proof to back up his claims. The reader can revel in all that he has to say, as it is written in a succinct manner and keeps the layperson in mind when presenting a case. Douglas does offer some remedies in the final chapter, all of which seem reasonable, but would take some risk on both sides of the aisle. I am impressed with what I read and how it all fits together, hoping to find more books of this nature to educate me as I make my way through more pieces of literature ahead of a highly important vote for my friends south of the border.

Kudos, Mr. Douglas, for this thought provoking book that has me highly curious about how things will go this November.

The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy, by Robert Kuttner

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #25 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

In a book penned before the 2020 election, journalist and political analyst Robert Kuttner explores the Trump presidency from 2017-2020 and how things need to change to effectively bring the country back to the mainstream. While he does not hide his preference for a Democrat in the White House, he explores the difficulties they face in trying to wrest control of the country and how past Democratic nominees (and presidents) have failed to capture the essential elements to keep America from slipping further to the right, a situation that made a Trump presidency rife with possibilities. A well-paced and thorough analysis that should be used to learn against a Trump repeat in 2024.

As Kuttner makes clear in the opening pages of his book, the 2020 presidential election would be an essential plebiscite on American democracy. While there were a number of other issues that clouded it—of which Kuttner could not have been aware when he penned this book—it surely was something with high stakes. The same can again be said in 2024, where Trump is a candidate and hopes to win the White House again, in a Grover Cleveland-esque return to power. However, there have been a number of issues that plagued America and left it ready for Trump to waltz in, which only created more issues for America and the Democrats to succeed.

Perhaps the most flagrant statement Kuttner makes in the opening chapter of the book is that America was already in a cesspool situation when Trump arrived on the scene. It had started to erode itself and turned to corporate greed, suppression of voices, and a push to divide, which was only exacerbated by a new and fresh political perspective that Trump sought to bring to the table. Kuttner explores the ‘Make America Great Again’ rallying cry that Trump used to his success, seemed to explain that it was not meant to unite people, but return the country to a place where ‘a man could be the sole bread winner—making enough to support his family—with a wife home and preparing a hot meal for his return, while Blacks knew their place in society and foreigners worked their jobs and left it at that’. While this might sound drastic, if one looks at how Trump ran things and the sentiments he professed throughout his presidency, it fits. Many of his views harkened to a pre-Civil Rights era and kept the rhetoric flowing from there.

There are strong economic and social issues that Kuttner feels must be addressed to pull America back from the brink, all of which were key stepping stones to a Trump success and on which he built stronger foundations for keeping the status quo in place. In order for an effective Democrat to re-take the White House, things needed to change drastically, but it was not ‘fine’ before Trump and broken thereafter. Rather, this has been a long slide and neither party has done much about it. Did Biden make the needed changes to return things to a stable and equal environment? Doubtful, but at least he sought to plug things from spewing added vitriol while seeking to rectify some of the damage done between 2017-2020. Pushing to create a fair and equitable field is something that is needed for America’s progress, not just the Democrats’ successes, as Kuttner explores throughout.

Looking at the democratic process as a whole, one in which Trump slipped through the cracks to win, there are major issues. Kuttner explains the numerous voter suppression tactics used by states to keep certain groups from voting, or making it harder to do so. With the Supreme Court ruling that pre-clearance is a thing of the past, states have been able to run rampant and allow swaths of voters no voice, while claiming it is to save the American democratic system, proves futile and ignorant. I could not help but wonder what a true ‘raw’ election, with no blocking of votes or voices, might look like, also free of the Trumpian accusations of fraud and irregularities. Alas, as was seen as far back as 2016 and especially in 2020 to present, as long as Trump’s name is in the fray, there will be allegations and presuppositions of fraudulent activity.

Progressive views and activity on government institutions and Cabinet positions are also key to ensuring a new and fresh approach to American democracy. Making sure that those pulling the levers of power have truth and honesty behind them is key to ensuring there will be no corrupt practices or ideas of padding one’s own pockets. Both parties have have run-ins with this issue and neither has made a clear break from it, or proposed ideas that will stop its progress. As Kuttner explores, Trump Administration rules sought to vilify those outside the tent and to pad the pockets of those within the safe space, which only helped ruin the foundational integrity of the country. I can only wonder what is to come, should Trump get another bite at the apple, though Kuttner makes it clear that it would be the complete eradication of anything worthwhile in the democratic realm. The Biden Administration did not come out as being the saviour of all this, though I cannot say I am overly surprised, for reasons best explored in another review.

With the 2024 election inching closer, what can be done to change things? I suppose it is up the the Democrats to decide how they want to run things under Kamala Harris and her campaign. It is a chance to really target the largest issues and solve them, rather than toss more mud and allow Trump to turn focus away from the issues and towards his infantile name calling. One can only surmise it is due to his not having any concrete solutions that he must be the playground bully, but perhaps also because he is used to getting his own way and a pissing contest for him requires Russian prostitutes. Whatever that might be, there is a lot to fix and Kuttner pulls no punches at how grave things have become and, with the 2024 election here, the stakes are even higher to close the drawbridge and not let Trump back in.

Robert Kuttner seeks not only to explore the woes of the Trump presidency, but also bemoan the lack of initiative Democrats had to solve things. He belittles the racists and xenophobic assertion of the Trump Administration, while chastising the Democratic Party for standing around and letting it happen, both without challenging them effectively and not being a better role model for the electorate. In well-documented chapters, Kuttner seeks to explore many of the issues and expound on solutions he sees as possible and plausible, though also showing how large a mountain it would be to climb. This approach to writing and journalism seeks to fire up the base in a healthy way to open their eyes and see what is going on, which has gone unnoticed of late. Will this all change in 2024? There is no sure way to know, but I can see Robert Kuttner ready to exact his scathing attacks on either side, if things do not get much better, as there is little room to get worse. Then again, under Trump, rock bottom would surely have a sub-basement.

Kudos, Mr. Kuttner, for this intellectual analysis on the pending American doom.

Death Stake (Brad Tasker #2), by Andrew Mayne

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Andrew Mayne, and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

I am always sure of a great reading experience when handed an ARC by Andrew Mayne. His style and adventurous storytelling keep the reader in the middle of the action while educating to no end. Bringing one of his newer protagonists back, Mayne provides the reader with a great story in the middle of Thailand and a tense investigation highly off the books. Brad Trasker will stop at nothing for answers, though his life constantly hangs in the balance. A stellar piece sure to impress many!

After an illustrious career working in Intelligence, Brad Trasker is enjoying semi-retirement as Head of Security for an aerospace facility. When a breach is noticed, Trasker is on it, though the military blowback is intense. Someone has leaked photos of a highly secretive hydrogen engine and Trasker needs to get to the center of it all. While tracing some leads, he stumbles upon a start-up in Bangkok, where three software developers have gone missing. Something is surely amiss and could hep him solve this mystery.

With a significant sum of money missing as well, Trasker is hot on their heels and heads to Thailand. Cultural and linguistic shock await him, though there is also an air of secrecy. Arriving at an address he is provided, all appears locked up by the police, but the Homicide Department of the Royal Thai Police are mum about what might have happened. Tasker won’t let that deter him, as countless dead ends lead to one conclusion, he is not welcome.

Refusing the leave without answers, Trasker soon finds himself on many hit lists, with assassins chasing him down. All the while, he loses himself in the world of cryptocurrency and digital espionage, still looking for the three coders he arrived in Bangkok to locate. He’s an old-school spy with a few of his own tricks to show off and a mission to get answers before returning stateside. A well-paced story that shows how versatile Andrew Mayne tends to be with his writing.

Andrew Mayne has always impressed me with his writing and varied ideas. I learn so much when I read his books and prove to be highly entertained. The narrative flow is clear and gritty, keeping the story moving and the humour edgy. There is so much to take away from the book, from the well-placed characters, the short chapters, and even the technological information on offer. Mayne keeps the reader wanting to know more and tosses in strong plot points to keep things from being too predictable. I am always eager to see what Andrew Mayne puts into his books and this was surely no exception!

Kudos, Mr. Mayne, for yet another winner!

Betrayal at Blackthorn Park (Evelyne Redfern #2), by Julia Kelly

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Julia Kelly, and MacMillan Audio for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Julia Kelly is back with another Evelyne Redferm story that keeps the thrills high and the historical fiction entertaining. Kelly has a great approach and uses a seemingly innocent protagonist to propel the story forward in the middle of the Second World War. After completing her spy craft studies, Evelyne is sent into the middle of a small English community before the arrival of the prime minister. What Evelyne discovers is an apparent suicide, with some odd clues that point towards murder. Who would have killed the man and for what reason? Evelyne will have to discover the truth before the arrival of Churchill or anyone else of importance. Kelly dazzles once more and kept me hooked until the very end.

After an exhausting spy school experience, former typist Evelyne Redfern is ready to help Britain however she can during the war effort. While she is eager to topple Nazi plots, she is sent on a security mission at Blackthorn Park in sleepy Sussex. This is not what Evelyne hoped or how she wanted to spend her time. Missions are meant to be exciting and clandestine, but this is still something undercover as she must keep the area safe before Prime Minister Churchill arrives. He will soon come to inspect a secret weapons research facility, key to the British war effort.

When Evelyne learns that her handler on this mission is none other than David Poole, she is doubly disappointed. He is not only as rigid an agent they come, but his dashing nature makes it harder for Evelyne to focus on the task at hand. She will have all the hurdles to overcome as a new trainee in the field. Before Evelyne and David can get used to one another, they are presented with a larger and more troubling mission. The Chief Engineer at the weapons facility is found dead in his office and what could be a suicide has hints of being something more sinister. A true mystery that must be wrapped up before the PM visit!

With the pressure high and the stakes even higher, Evelyne and David will have to gather all the evidence under cloak of darkness. They have a number of suspects to interview, though the murderer has been quite elusive. With the murderer on the loose and secrets sure to be spilled if they are not caught, the case is of the highest importance with little time to waste. Julia Kelly does well with this piece of historical fiction that is easily digestible for the curious reader.

I do enjoy historical fiction, mixing factual events with fictional accounts and characters. Julia Kelly does well to balance both and keep the story moving forward with ease. Her narrative approach helps things clip along as the story gets more intense. She is able to mix fact, fiction, and a little action to provide the reader something well worth their attention. As characters emerge throughout, they add depth and excitement to the mystery, where nothing is guaranteed throughout the experience. Plot points emerge and keep the reader guessing what is coming, as well as how it will all come together. I am eager to see where Evelyne and David will find themselves in the coming novels, as well as how Britain will remain safe with them on the prowl.

Kudos, Madam Kelly, for a wonderful reading experience.

Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Keera Duggan #2), by Robert Dugoni

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Robert Dugoni, and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Robert Dugoni returns with one of his newer series, where Keera Duggan serves as a gritty lawyer set to help those who need it most in Seattle. When she discovers her family firm has taken on quite the client, Keera js a tad ill at ease. Jenna Bernstein is a disgraced CEO of a biotech company, accused of murdering her partner. The case is troubling on many levels, including a personal one, as Keera tries to find a way out of helping. But, with a father whom she adores, Keera is soon defending Jenna and taking the case to court in hopes of saving her client. A great addition to Dugoni’s work and a stellar novel for the curious reader.

After narrowly escaping jail for murder a few years ago, Jenna Bernstein is back in the news. The disgraced CEO of a controversial biotech company had been on trial for killing one of her science advisors, but now it is her partner and former lover she is accused of killing. When she approaches the firm that helped her before, Jenna’s met with one of Seattle’s great legal minds, Patsy Duggan. However, the Irish Brawler is trying to stay clean from drink and his family law firm has another lawyer who might be able to help even more. Keera Duggan is called back from her holiday to help, though she is blindsided when she arrives and sees Jenna waiting for her. Their past comes bubbling up and Keera does not like the feeling.

While trying to put their differences aside, Keera and Jenna work swiftly, with Patsy in the middle, to cobble together a story about the victim. Jenna does not deny she was in the area, but is clear that she is innocent. The facts begin piling up and the police are gathering evidence, all of which is showing just how brazen Jenna has been in the past and how she will stop at nothing to protect her company. With the US Attorney breathing down her neck on another case, Jenna is determined to dodge the bullet and keep out of the spotlight.

As Keera tries to make her case airtight, she cannot help but remember the past she and Jenna shared. Their animosity was palpable, as they grew up, but even Keera knows that justice is something everyone ought to have. However, Jenna presents in a troubling manner, as though she is sociopathic and on the path to being completely disconnected to those around her. With the evidence piling up against her, Jenna will have to rely on Keera to save her. What’s the piece of evidence they need and will Keera be able to extract it at the right time? Dugoni fashions this great thriller against the backdrop of a fast-paced courtroom drama. Perfect for those who have enjoyed much of the author’s work in the past.

The writing of Robert Dugoni has always been of interest to me. His great storytelling abilities is matched with a strong narrative base that keeps the reader interested from the outset. As the story gains momentum, Dugoni uses a mix of chapter lengths to provide a pace that pulls the reader into the middle. Gritty action and banter seals the deal and soon there is no hope the for reader to escape. Characters emerge and provide needed depth to keep the reader curious. Returning characters offer development to advance their own storylines. While only the second book in the series, the plot is well-paced and pulls things together, providing surprises and backstory when needed to leave the reader wondering what Keera, Patsy, and even Jenna will do when faced with the reality before them. This is a series I am eager to see grow and Dugoni has his work cut out for him.

Kudos, Mr Dugoni, for once again pulling the reader into the middle of your masterful writing.

Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election, by Michael Iskikoff and Daniel Klaidman

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #24 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

While the entire 2020 election process was a complete mess, events surrounding the false allegations of voting fraud across America and the January 6, 2021 insurrection only added fuel to the fire. In their great book, investigative journalists Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman shed new light on these events, as well as the criminal proceedings brought against many—including former president Trump—during Georgia’s crackdown on spreading falsehoods and election interference during the 2020 vote counting. While the authors pull no punches, this primer provides the reader with some insights and explores some of the key players in the entire debacle, as well as how a newly-elected District Attorney decided to take on the authoritarian crybaby and his pack of hungry lawyers. An insightful book that is sure to cause waves amongst those who are blinded by the rhetoric.

Before delving too deeply into the corrupt and baseless allegations that arose after the 2020 election, the authors use the opening part of the book to offer up a biographical account of Fani Willis, newly-elected District Attorney of Fulton County and someone who will become highly important in the judicial process found in the latter part of the book. Fani Willis had a unique upbringing as a young Black girl and daughter to a well-established Civil Rights attorney. Her passion for the law came at an early age, as Fani watched her father work and she caught onto how things worked. Fani sought to rectify wrongs and would not stand down, no matter who stood before her, as exemplified throughout this piece. Fani Willis knew what she had to do when allegations of interference and pressuring Georgia political figures—namely the Governor and Secretary of State—surrounding the 2020 election. While the world watched, Fani Willis made herself known and supported the rules laid out in the Georgia constitution to ensure fair and clear election results emerged, while those who would intimidate were brought up on charges.

The book’s second section explores the 2020 presidential election and voting fraud allegations, rife with drama and accusations. While I will not recount all the dirty details here, the authors give a great summary of events and the preparatory comments made by President Trump if he were not to win, about how election fraud would likely be the case. To make such comments, almost baiting the hook, opens the door to a curious method the Trump Campaign was using to wipe the slate clean only if things did not go their way.

After the results were in and the election tilted in Joe Biden’s way, the rhetoric came out. Trump lawyers began making their outlandish accusations and scheming as best they could. The authors make it clear this was a new level of grasping at straws, though many watched in awe and these lawyers, spurned on by a losing president, sought to find issues where there were none. The allegations led to pressure by the Trump legal team—headed by Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani for a time—and President himself, calling both the Georgia Governor and the Secretary of State to swing things in the other direction. It was here that things went south for the Trump campaign, as this was meddling and trying to influence state officials to falsify election results. The red flags went up and the new District Attorney for Fulton County took notice, Fani Willis represented the area in which the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, lived and the crime—a recorded on a call between Raffensperger and President Trump—occurred. This was new level and DA Wallis could not sit idly by.

Isikoff and Klaidman take the reader deep inside the legal analysis to bring charges against members of Trump’s legal team, President Trump himself, as well as various other actors, including the White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows. The blazen disregard for actions taken cannot be dismissed as ‘impassioned hope’ or trying to fight for what was right. The law is clear, even if Trump states that fraud creates new sets of rules that work outside the typical guidelines, another blatant lie meant to muddy the waters. As the criminal investigation and grand jury testimony progressed, things got quite raw and witnesses were blunt in their assertions, which led to many of the Trump legal team taking plea bargains and Donald J, Trump having a mug shot when he was booked in Georgia. DA Willis did what she was tasked by the Fulton County electorate to do. This goes to show that lies are not always substantiated just because you want them to be an punishment is real, even if it is slow to reveal itself and Trump was permitted to run in 2024.

A book of this nature is sure to stir up a great deal of emotion on both sides of the argument. Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman do not hold back in this piece, nor should they. Their investigative journalist background help solidify the need to dig deeper and bring truths to light. The book was well-balanced with sentiments of both Democrats and Republicans, offering readers an inside look into how things unravelled in Georgia, as well as many of the unfounded allegations that were brought up (and have yet to be substantiated). While there are surely things that both sides will call as off or misrepresented, no one can scream disinformation, as the authors use court and legal documents, phone call recordings and transcripts, as well as much needed interviews to clear up some of the misnomers that have emerged. The reader can see the grandiose commentary offered by the Trump legal team and how quickly it was deflated, from lies about ballots, to counting, and even how trying to influence political figures goes nowhere except towards criminal indictments. With the next election looking, one can only wonder what new crackpot ideas the Trump campaign has ready to go. Show me to truth through the fair casting of vote by all, both in Georgia and throughout the United States. Let the results speak clearly for all to accept, without caveat!

Kudos, Messrs. Isikoff and Klaidman, for an eye-opening exploration of events and peeling back truths for all to see.

Cold Shot (DS Jack Lisbon #8), by Blair Denholm

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

First and foremost, a large thank you to Blair Denholm for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

A great fan of Blair Denholm and his Jack Lisbon series, I eagerly accepted an ARC of the eight novel in the series. Denholm has made great effort to focus on many sports as he cycles his sharp-witted detective through numerous cases and this is no exception. When a touring hockey team arrives for some exhibition play against an Australian team, the discovery of a bludgeoned hockey player on the ice after a post-game reception has DS Jack Lisbon on the scene. He searches for motive and opportunity and learns a great deal about the player and his life away from the ice, while solidifying his blossoming relationship with a colleague. A great story that shows Denholm’s abilities throughout!

While ice hockey is not the first things many might associate with Australia, there’s a exhibition tournament in North Queensland that has everyone abuzz. The rink is full and the action is high, but it is the discovery of the body of a top player post-game that stops play and sends DS Jack Lisbon in to investigate. The man has had his face pummelled in, as though there was a vendetta to resolve. Yorkville Criminal Investigation Bureau works hard to contain the scene and begin interviews, as DS Lisbon tries to handle the case swiftly, as per his orders from above.

Jonas Eriksson was more than simply a hockey player. Many had issue with him, both here and in his homeland of Sweden. While he never made it to the NHL, he was a threat on the ice and created a number of strong resentments over his playing career. His wife, too, has reason to dislike him, but her passive nature leads DS Lisbon and his partner, DC Claudia Taylor to wonder if there is something their missing.

While DS Lisbon and DC Taylor try to understand the case a little better, they are also juggling their blossoming relationship, which has them keeping tings secret. If that were not enough, DS Lisbon is trying to adjust to single parenting as his pre-teen daughter, Skye, is now living with him. The case takes some odd twists, as does the relationship and soon there’s a suspect. Problem is, nothing sticks to him and so that only sends the entire Yorkville CID into a tailspin. A great story that is full of action and excitement from the opening pages until the final reveal.

I have been following the writing of Blair Denholm for a few years and loved every minute. He adds great writing and setting. To keep his stories edgy and highly addictive. The narrative builds from the opening pages, which has the reader guessing throughout. Decent characters and development of his core group has Denholm baiting the trap for the curious reader to beg for more. Quick chapters move things along and plot points keep the reader wondering. It is a light and quick read, but with substance as the mystery blossoms at just the right time. I am highly impressed once more and cannot wait to see where DS Lisbon will head next!

Kudos, Mr. Denholm, for impressing me at every turn!

Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America, by Ted Cruz

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #23 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

While my politics will never align with those of Senator Ted Cruz, I enjoy reading the books he writes, as they help open my mind to the Tea Party views and strong right-of-centre stances. While not a complete sycophant of Donald Trump, Senator Cruz has tied himself to many of the views of the former president, even when he has been a whipping boy for the authoritarian leader. Cruz delves not only into his family’s history, but also presents a worrisome view (in his regard) that America is becoming subsumed by cultural Marxism that only the right can see and save the country from a continual slide. While there were many eye-roll moments and clear disinformation, Cruz does well supporting his views. A well-written book that shows how First Amendment stances help readers to see both sides of the coin, even if deception fuels the rhetoric.

Ted Cruz has emerged again to offer more of his views on the 21st century world and how America is hopelessly being pulled further to the left. He opens his tome with seem strong words about how the Democratic Party has helped create a country rife with cultural Marxism. Cruz adds that it is eroding all that is good for the country. Bold words, but it is not simply an open-ended statement. Cruz renounces some of the problematic things that faced his family when they were living in Cuba and the arrival of Castro’s Marxist state. He presents tales of how his grandmother was faced with indoctrinating young children with the new ideology and how sickened she was about it. Now, as a legislator in the United States, Cruz watches these views arising from his Senate seat and must stop it all or face the country’s annihilation.

While Cruz has an entire laundry list of things that he wishes to address, there are some worth mentioning in this review, as well as some commentary about them. Cruz explores many of the ‘woke’ concerns he has, which is the new buzzword for ‘politically correct’. He worries that using some of these new means of thinking will only go to destroy the greatness of America and send it onto a path towards Marxist thinking. Cruz looks at issues such as the selection of people for positions—be it jobs, important government appointments, or even political candidate nominations—that are based more on underprivileged races and ethnicities than the best reason for the job. While I tend to agree that the era of affirmative action has caused some concerning outcomes, he paints the idea of highlighting those groups who have not ad equal opportunities as problematic. Choosing people and trying to highlight some of the underrepresented to showcase a visual equality to the larger society can have merit. While Cruz says that this is the filter the Democrats use to select people, screaming foul when such people chosen for positions, he repeatedly tries to downplay any overt racism or bias by saying that it is hurting the country. This is troubling itself, but Cruz calls it a truth, thereby freeing himself from attack.

Cruz goes on numerous long rants about the issues facing him as a father when the woke culture seeps into the lives of his daughters and children in general. He bemoans the realm of new-age literature that discusses things from gay parenting, transgender living, and even addressing errors from the past. These emerge in children’s books, television shows, and even lessons in the classroom. While I will agree with Cruz about the need to scale back presenting transgender options to children in elementary and junior high, my support of his arguments ends close to there. The idea of shielding children from the realities of what is going on in society around them is both troubling and wrong. Education on all levels should be addressing the world and those within it, not creating this fairytale idea that everything is as it was in 1926. Books that talk about ‘my two dads’ or the idea that some people are born one way but feel they are another should not be banned or shelved because they talk about things that the right is not ready to admit is going on (or should be normalised) does not make them worth keeping from out children. Inclusivity and addressing past wrongs is not woke, it is coming to terms with thinking that happened and no longer glossing over them. I am not advocating tearing down statures or renaming parks/roads because of buzzwords, for that is just as bad. Pronoun policing has become a club many use to vilify large swaths of the country and I would agree that such shaming has no place in creating an evolving society. It is time to accept that there were issues and learn from them, advancing so as not to return to the racist, xenophobic, or insensitive world that is our history, but not to erase it. To ostrich one’s self is just as bad, though Cruz blames those that highlight it, rather than the ignorant person who tries to pretend it is not there.

Cruz cannot help but explore the world of subtle (and not so covert) worlds of cultural Marxism in mainstream art, literature, and culture, worrying that it will create a world where everything has to go through a filter, thereby lessening its impact on America’s greatness. Cruz argues that new guidelines to win an Academy Award or book prize creates an artistic expression that is boxed in, leaving what is left but a shell of the former greatness. He argues that musicians can no longer express themselves through lyrics or group names, forced to change them so as not to offend anyone. I could not help but laugh at this, as Cruz is stuck in some time warp, thinking that the country he reveres so much is not growing or progressing. He cannot help but fathom that there is some stagnancy worth keeping. As a traditionalist in some regards, I can see his point, but to remain so pigheaded as to think that everything has to fit into a nice box from yesteryear is silly (and the irony of calling out new guidelines as boxing the arts into something specific is not lost on me). Cruz chooses to cherrypick what he dislikes and provide only one side of the account, as if his country is being eroded from under him and he is but one of the few that can save it (alongside Authoritarian Trump). It is this view that is creeping in and must be removed before jackboots return to the American political soil.

While I cannot sit idly by and watch Ted Cruz try to toss tomatoes and destructive comments at American society that does not align with him, I like his writing. It is thought-provoking and usually quite well-founded. I do not agree with much of what he has to say, but Cruz presents himself in a thoroughly educational and well-grounded perspective, which can only help the reader with an analytical mind assess their own thoughts and sentiments. Well-paced chapters build and connect with one another, as Cruz makes his numerous points, while also injecting some of his rhetoric into the discussion. He stands firmly on the right and does not dilute his sentiments, even when they are laced with problematic assertions. While I cannot support his views, I can understand them and see where he comes from most days. As Cruz calls people ‘woke’ and forces them to wear it as a shameful badge, it is perhaps that people are waking up to the new realities of America and facing them, rather than cowering in a cave of xenophobia and cultural ignorance, where those who are different must be shunned or locked into cages for their own good.

Kudos, Senator Cruz, for another great book, though you try to fuel a fire and call it protecting America.

Identity Unknown (Kay Scarpetta #28), by Patricia Cornwell

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Patricia Cornwell, Hachette Audio, and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Always eager to get my hands on the latest Dr. Kay Scarpetta novel, I turned to yet another strong thriller by Patricia Cornwell. The story keeps the forensics high and the action edgy. When Dr. Scarpetta is sent to an abandoned theme park to find a body, she discovers it is the body of a longtime friend and colleague. His expertise in all things extraterrestrial is curious, though the fact that Dr. Scarpetta had been working on the autopsy of the theme park owner’s young daughter when she received the call is equally troubling. Who might have wanted this esteemed scientist dead and could the “accidental” death of the young girl be tied into all of it? Patricia Cornwell keeps the reader hooked as she crafts another great story.

While in the middle of an autopsy on a young girl who ‘accidentally’ died of a gunshot wound to the head, Dr. Kay Scarpetta is called to the scene of an abandoned theme park. When she arrives, she is horrified to discover that the victim is an old friend and colleague, Sal Giordano. Trying to shove the memories that Dr. Giordano was once her lover, Dr. Scarpetta tried to decipher why he might be in such an odd location. 

While Dr. Giordano was known for his work studying astronomy and extraterrestrial life, the crime scene is something completely unsettling. Petals around the body and an odd tinge of red all over the victim’s body add to the curiosity. Once reinforcements arrive, it’s determined that the body was tossed from something flying overhead, which explains the body’s mangled nature and location. Nothing points to what the airborne craft might have been, which only adds to the eerie nature of it all.

While the investigation heats up, Dr.

Scarpetta cannot shake the off parallels that the owner of the theme park is the father of the emaciated young girl she was

In the middle of autopsying when she was called away. Could there be a connection between the two? As some in the media wonder about aliens targeting Dr.

 Giordano, Kay Scarpetta had a theory that is closer to home and even more troubling.

A great addition to that shows just how strong Patricia Cornwell’s work tends to be when she puts in the effort.

I have a long enjoyment of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series, as it has piqued my interest about the world of forensic pathology.  Patricia Cornwell has been able to capture the reader’s attention with great medical situations and superior mystery writing. The book’s narrative flows with ease and keeps the reader in the middle of the action from the outset. Building with tense themes, Cornwell develops the story in multiple ways and pushes the reader to surmise what might be happening. Filled with great characters, some of whom are long-standing presences while others emerge for the first time, the novel is heightened by the numerous perspectives on offer. As with many Scarpetta novels, twists help define the tense foundation that makes these books all the more exciting. After stumbling for a time, Cornwell has found her footing and this novel proves her great abilities.

Kudos, Madam Cornwell, for another great story to entertain the reader.

Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America, by Barbara McQuade

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #22 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

Exploring some of the legal concerns about the upcoming election, I sought some ideas from MSNBC’s legal expert, Barbara McQuade. In a book that is as eye-opening as it is embarrassing, McQuade pulls no punches as she clearly outlines many of the concerns facing America ahead of the upcoming 2024 election. Tackling concerns from many angles, McQuade lays out her arguments clearly and with strong facts, rather than relying on rhetoric used by many on the right to cement their views, even without support (something that McQuade addresses within the book). A well-paced book that is sure to fan the flames and leave some wailing all the way to the ballot box (if they can meet the voting requirements in their respective states)!

The wave of mis- and dis-information is on the rise in America, of that there is no doub. Barbara McQuade cites that this is highly concerning and wishes to explore many of the problems that have come to pass and will prove troublesome when voters go to the polls in November 2024. Democracy is being eroded and there is no stopping it unless someone stands up and addresses many of the issues McQuade presents in this well-researched book.

Disinformation—the act of knowingly presenting false information to ensure people have incorrect facts—is on the rise in America and can be found in many areas. One such prevalent area is the use of social media, with little filter or limitations to what people can post. This allows those who wish to dream of sentiments or views to do so freely. How people seeing these posts will react is entirely unpredictable and creates an ever-building system of both mis- and disinformation. While free speech is espoused by many (especially those on the right who post such items), there are limits that McQuade posits can lean towards the dangerous. She wonders why some people are so susceptible to this influencing, though she offers added proof that some have means of weaving problematic anonymous support to push their views. This veiled support helps fuel ongoing confusing and lies that cannot be proven wrong.

Influences from outside the country help to create more problematic issues about spreading lies, especially since there is no means of stopping the influx coming from Russian and Chinese bots. McQuade cited many of the concerns from the 2016 and 2020 elections, where Trump used those falsifiers to fuel his campaigns. However, these falsehoods are not simply concerning about outsider meddling, but the lies and unsubstantiated comments only go to dupe those who lap it up. McQuade presents her concerns repeatedly as she explains away how many do not realise the problems before them, so they cannot think critically. Advances in technology including rapid developments in artificial intelligence threaten to make the problems even worse by amplifying false claims and manufacturing credibility.

Not only are there concerns with ongoing digital media presentation, but a complete lack of substantiation of comments made by the right in person. People are expected to simply take it at face value and not challenge what s being said, When some are challenged to support their comments, the speakers accuse those who ask them of being a part of the problem or tossing epithets in their direction, further propagating the telling of false truths. This whirlwind of chaotic sentiment can only perpetuate the ongoing issues America faces, where truths are no longer seeped in reality, but rather whatever the speaker chooses to purport as truth. “Many have said…” or “I was told by someone earlier…” become to norm as creating rumour-injected comments to fuel a truth that has no legs on which to stand. As the everyday citizen is inundated with messaging from all sides—both in person and through social media—there is a need to be highly critical, though time leaves no chance to challenge much of anything. McQuade hopes to shed light on these issues, but can only do so much hoping the reader will take up the challenge to find the truth for themselves.

Perhaps one of the most troubling aspects that McQuade addresses is the changing of voting laws to make casting a ballot all the more difficult. These laws arose years ago and had, after significant changes in the Civil Rights Movement and up until the early 21st century, a gatekeeper to ensure they were fair and just. In a post-2020 era, after Trump falsely claimed the election he lost was rigged —I cannot help but wonder if the same would have been said had he eked out a tiny win—states began changing the laws to ensure that mail-in ballots were strictly limited to prevent ‘Democratic surges’ on election night. McQuade comments that some on the right worried that people were ‘not getting the results by 10pm before they went to bed’. Laws that seek not only to limit voting hours, but also make identification difficult to procure are appearing and standing firm in Republican-backed statehouses. It is said that this is to protect the democratic process and some ate lapping it up, but the veiled choice to limit voting abilities is clearly seen and those who fire up the rhetoric machine are feasting on the lies it churns out. These limitations are surely going to influence the results, though one can hope that information campaigns can get out there to ensure voters have what they need to cast a ballot and protect the democracy Americans cherish.

A book of this nature is meant not only to stir up emotions, but to challenge views that are presented from all sided. Barbara McQuade does well to unveil many of the problems facing Americans ahead of the 2024 election, especially with an intense presidential campaign set to divide the country once more. With thorough chapters meant to explore issues and offer some answers, she seeks to dispel the numerous myths that are drowning out all the truths that linger in the shadows. Well-paced arguments and substantiated ideas help fuel the discussion, though there are times I felt McQuade was shouting int the wind, trying to shed light on something that is sure to vilify her amongst the rightists. True, she is a talking head for one of the ‘fake news’ platforms that many on the right have been told to avoid, but her comments hold water and can be seen by many, given the chance to explore them. I would welcome something from the other side that seeks to use evidence and not simply rhetoric.

America has been though the wringer, particularly with the 2021 insurrection, but there are some who want to ride that wave and hope to keep pushing the falsehoods as their own realities. What needs doing now is to challenge these views and have the general public (if not the reader alone) seek to critically analyze everything that is going on. Time is running out, but there is no expiry date on democratic views, even as authoritarians seek to change the rules and make it seem as though they are the victims.

Kudos, Madam McQuade, for shedding more light on the issues at hand and addressing many problems that are being swept under the rug or labelled as ‘left-wing conspiracies’.

The Great Reset: Joe Biden and the Rise of Twenty-First-Century Fascism

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #21 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

Admittedly, it was the title of this book that drew me in from the outset. Glenn Beck, who made his name as a nationally syndicated radio host, uses this book to rally against the Great Reset, which he is sure will drive America into the ground, while subsuming the country one policy at a time. Beck argues that the Biden Administration, pushing the Reset, is leading the country along a fascist and over-controlled pathway, which must be stopped as soon as possible with a surprising hero set to help. While he touts a non-ideological sentiment, his right-of-centre views seep out of every pore of his being and this book.

Before getting too deeply into the discussion, it would be important to understand what the Great Reset means and how it will be interpreted in this review. As Glenn Beck admits, it was drawn up by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, though a series of economic recovery initiatives. It seeks not only to bring the world back to a pre-pandemic realm, but tweaking things to focus on sustainable development. It’s a mouthful, but Beck states that it is also too leftist and pushes countries to run things on a slippery slope towards fascism (the irony is not lost on me).

Beck opens his rambling discussion with statements that the Great Reset is a conspiracy at the international level that allows bankers, business leaders, and government officials to take hold on things and inject economic strategies to resurrect a dwindling economy. The Great Reset keeps the people feeling as though this is the only way to go, pushing for stability and a long-view of the future to assuage many. While I can see his panic, this comes from a man who has trumpeted a hands-off approach over the years and one can hardly expect that he would ever want more control ever to fall in those in power. Rather, he prefers letting things reset themselves, as though the common person could handle that task on their own.

While Beck tries to say that he speaks of conspiracy facts rather than theories, one can only wonder if this is his way of trying to have the reader focus on the shiny bauble, leaving the truth to sneak in the backdoor. It is interesting to see him inundate the reader with numbers and statistics, forcing them in to a numb-brained acceptance of views as long as it will end the torture. Beck’s attempt to vilify anything Reset based and painting President Biden as its primary supporter allows him to draw a line, creating a system whereby one can only picture POTUS as a henchman with an eyepatch who ought to audition for the next Bond film.

Beck worries that the Great Reset would not only create a change to the world’s economic, social, and environmental policies, but that it would concentrate this power in the hands of a few. His worries that Biden is paving the way towards its implementation when there are some respectable political figures who would gladly wrest control from the powerful and hand it back the masses,. This would be more believable if the Beckian superhero was not Trump. (I had to rewrite that numerous times so as not to cackle when I proofread it.) Yes, Beck feels that Trump is a saviour for the masses and would keep the Great Reset from inching its way into our lives. Oh, Glenn!

While I love the numerous illustrative views that Beck presents about how America (and the world) is headed towards a fascist stranglehold if the Great Reset is left to cement itself into reality, it is all fictional banter to scare people away from larger control by the governing bodies responsible for protecting the people. I am all for independence and leaving the people to guide themselves, but I cannot agree that things would naturally ‘fall into place’ on their own or that Donald Trump is sure to save America and the world from horrible propaganda. Rather, it is the Trumpian push to let those with power run things and never be held accountable, nor share what they are doing, that is the greater worry facing the world.

I quite enjoyed this book, using a strong conspiracy theory approach while trying to nip things in the bud so that the reader would not see what is happening before them. Readers are smart and can see through the fogginess that Beck seeks to present. His thorough chapters are well-documented and Beck begs the reader to use the footnotes as a pathway for further research, something many will likely not do. However, it is his attempts to have the reader blindly follow him that is telling, though one can only expect as much from a man who espouses Trump as the true saviour for the world’s woes. I enjoyed all the detail and am pleased to see someone took time to explore the Great Reset. While Beck does well arguing, I found his tenets seeking only to vilify and toss mud at those with whom he does not agree. I don’t need hundreds of footnotes to come to that realisation, nor should the attentive and educated reader.

Kudos, Mr. Beck, for an interesting and highly entertaining piece.

The Long Game: A Memoir, by Mitch McConnell

Posted on by canadamatt

Nine stars

I have once again decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Election. This was a great success as I prepared for 2020, with an outcome at the polls (and antics by both candidates up to Inauguration Day) that only a fiction writer might have come up with at the time! Many of these will focus on actors and events intricately involved in the US political system over the last few years, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process. 

With the events of July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden chose not to seek re-election, the challenge has become harder to properly reflect the Democratic side. I will do the best I can to properly prepare and offer up books that can explore the Biden Administration, as well as whomever takes the helm into November.

This is Book #20 in my 2024 US Election Preparation Challenge.

No election readiness reading challenge can be complete without some of the strong Republican politicians who made their mark throughout the last number of years. I chose to explore the life and times of Mitch McConnell, one of the strongest and most calculating Republicans before and during the Trump era. It is also worth exploring, as this was one man who appeared to have the ear of the president, and who has been used to push the presidential ideas through the floor of the US Senate, where McConnell was a longtime leader. Through this memoir, I learned a great deal about McConnell and his views, though things end before the Trump years and left out a great deal I had hoped to understand. Still, it was a well-paced piece and worth my reading time.

Born to a long line of Democrats in Alabama, Mitch McConenell’s early years were formed by politics and intense struggles. Even before he understood the rules of politics, he wad struck with polio and forced to live in bed with a caring mother and a hard-working father. While McConnell was stuck in bed, his mother taught him a number of great things about life before he was able to explore the outside. A move to Kentucky at age eight, McConnell saw his life open up and a future left for him to explore.

It was during his youth that McConnell discovered how fickle politics can be. Due to his reverence for Dwight D. Eisenhower, McConnell’s father shifted his beliefs to the Republican Party and voted for ‘Ike’ both times he ran for president. Mitch followed suit and sought to become a good Republican throughout his youth. Running for any electoral offices in school and college, McConnell sought to make his name known amongst many voters. McConnell caught the political bug and was soon front and centre during any election. 

While McConnell headed to law school, he was not interested in practicing law, it used it as a pathway through to the political realm. Serving as a legislative advisor while finishing his degree, McConnell caught the Washington passion and knew that he wanted to make his way to the Capitol to serve his country. Shadowing whomever he could to get more experience, McConnell made sure to get his name out there and hoped to serve Kentucky and America well.

McConnell’s personal life was shadowed by his experiences in politics, but it remained front and centre in his life. With three children and a wife, McConnell tried to balance both, much to his partner’s chagrin. Slowly and surely, his marital partnership on dissolved and McConnell became a father and politician, having to ensure that he had time for both. This forced him to do his best and choose new pathways to ensure success. McConnell was soon elected as a local judge and served his time before eying larger roles, specifically in the US Senate.

McConnell explores his run for Senate during a difficult time in 1984. President Reagan was riding a wave of popularity, but did not necessarily ensure McConnell would succeed. However, he was determined to find a way to win and used political operatives to help him reach out to the Republican base in Kentucky. It appears to work and McConnell would soon become the newest (and most junior) senator in Washington. While his desk was far into the corner and his office halfway across the Capitol, Senator McConnell sought to learn and make a difference as soon as he could.

McConnell took the 1980s to learn how the political system worked in Washington and sharpened his wit. While he was often seen as drab and bland, McConnell argues that his shyness shielded him from being the front and centre politician many around him sought to be. However, McConnell used these years to learn from others and make a difference for Kentucky.

When leadership became attainable, Senator McConnell sought to make him name one that many wold consider. He used time and effort to ensure he could count on many without selling himself out. Connecting not only with those within the Republican Party, but also those across the aisle, McConnell became a respected politician and ensured that support would not only be given to shoo the man away. Rather, McConnell sought to make a difference and would not stand down until change took place.

Soon earning the role of Majority Whip, McConnell made himself known and pushed the Republicans in the Senate to vote in ways he thought best to ensure that the group wold be able to stand firm against the raging Democratic wave. McConnell focused many of his fights on the Senate floor as well as in the media, all in hopes of climbing the ladder towards his ultimate political goal, Majority Leader.

McConnell made sure to use grit and determination to earn that goal, even when he was stymied by a health scare or two, McConnell knew his limits and tried to push them, but knew that he needed to rein things in or face death. McConnell sought to use favours and stay attuned to the needs of those around him while never losing sight of the ultimate prize. Securing notoriety within the Republican Party, McConnell made sure to connect with power politicians and backed the ‘right horse’ no matter what others might say. McConnell had his own way of seeing things and they tended to be right, even if no one else saw them. Slow and intuitive, McConnell showed how often his views would prove useful, even if they stumbled the first time around. 

When he became Minority Leader, McConnell knew that it would be the fight of his life. He needed to ensure control of the Senate and make things run in a way that McConnell could accept, while also making sure Republican presidents would also agree to the ideas. No matter what happened, McConnell made sure to keep his views clear and succinct. This would help hone his skills and prove useful when things got tougher. McConnell refused to show anger publicly, choosing instead to target his ire at those who needed it most. He pined for a Republican majority in the Senate, which would permit him to finally control the political machine as Majority Leader.

Ready to do whatever it would take to keep America from going down the drain, McConnell made key decisions that would help the country, even if it would not appeal to the Kentucky base. This was how he made sure to keep his power, choosing the country over the local support. There are times sacrifices must be enforced to help the larger base, which McConnell chose to push without hesitation. 

The latter portion of the book explores much of what McConnell did to push back against the Democratic tax policies he felt were out of control. He explores many of the sentiments about small government overseeing the American people. With the rise of the Tea Party, McConnell faced a wave of right-wing pressure, but he held firm and let things play out as they would. McConnell uses this portion of the book to discuss this period in a short and succinct manner, which does not give the reader a thorough and analytical understanding of his views. McConnell wanted to change the Obama Administration’s views, in his own unique manner. While interesting to read, it did not get into the meatier portions I would have liked.

I noticed that the book stops its exploration in 2016, before the arrival of the 45th president and start to American chaos. While there was the somewhat celebratory deliverance of Senate Majority Leader in 2014 when McConnell won his sixth term and the Republicans finally won the Senate Majority, it was also rushed along. While I would have liked to see an extension to the book, tackling the years of McConnell’s power and the Trumpian miasma, as well as some of McConnell’s more controversial events, it was not to be. There is so much in this book that appealed to me and kept me intrigued aside from these chaotic four years. Perhaps something will arrive when McConnell finally hangs up his shoes and looks back on the latter years, where chaos reigned and ignorance was the flavour of the day!

There is something about a political memoir that has me excited and interested to learn a great deal more. McConnell does well to keep me hooked from the opening pages, as I learn so much about the man and his efforts to serve the American people. McConnell slowly explores his life in the political spotlight and allows the reader see how more time allows him to take on additional responsibilities. McConnell stops at nothing to explore his points and helps those on both sides of the aisle understand his sentiments. While I would have preferred some longer and more detailed analysis on many issues, McConnell delves into some areas and entertains the reader throughout. Strong chapters peppered with humour and some great anecdotes allows McConnell to paint a picture of the country and helps better explain how things run in America.

Kudos, Mr. McConnell, for a great glimpse into your life and public work.

It Starts with Us (It Ends with Us #2), by Colleen Hoover

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

After devouring the first book in the series, I had to read this one to continue the action. Colleen Hoover impressed with her book that explores the intensity of love and its fallout when violence enters the picture. Picking up where the first book ended, Hoover explored more of Atlas’ life and the connection he has when Lily is available for him, both emotionally and romantically. As they both straddle the issues of life and responsibility, they learn more about one another, as well as juggling the pain of dealing with Ryle. Mixing a little romance and a great deal of soul searching, Colleen Hoover delivers another winner with this book!

Lily is finally getting into the rhythm of co-parenting after an emotional break-up with Ryle. All that changes when Lily’s first love, Atlas, randomly crosses her path one morning. After an awkward day or two, they rekindle a friendship they shelved before the baby was born. This slowly escalates when Atlas asks Lily out on a date.

While Lily is so very happy and relishes her life, both as a mother and a single woman, things take a dark turn when Ryle begins to question her happiness. He senses that there is a rejuvenation Lily feels and it is not from him. While Ryle is still a respectable father, his anger issues boil over when he sees that he cannot get Lily back.

While Atlas has some personal issues of his own that come to the surface, he does not let it derail his connection with Lily. All the pieces are coming together, though Ryle will stop at nothing to destroy any happiness and lets his rage over a lack of control shape his sentiments, potentially putting his parental access in jeopardy. Colleen Hoover creates another winner with this piece, keeping the story going and the tension worrisome.

I do not read romance novels, but there was a certain curiousness about the first novel because of someone’s description of the movie. The story picks up where the first book ends and builds from there. Hoover knows how to craft a story that is both addictive and intense. Things gain momentum as the tension mounts and truths come to the surface once more. Using a great dual narrative approach, in which Atlas and Lily share control of the storytelling, Hoover delivers a full-circle story that leaves few gaps. 

The plot impressed me once more, adding depth to the already strong ideas from the opening novel. There are no shortage of surprises once again and different perspectives keep the action high. I am eager to see if there will be more, as Hoover leaves some issues yet to be resolved.

Characters develop depth that makes the reader wonder more than they did with the opening story. While the themes of lost love and violence are yet again part of the story, family matters are also key to this piece. New angles help fill in the gaps about Atlas’ life, as well as some added layers of trying to juggle responsibility for children in need. I could not stop reading, as they were so many great angles that begged for my attention.

Kudos, Madam Hoover, for impressing me once again!

It Ends with Us (It Ends with Us #1), by Colleen Hoover

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

While many will be rushing to get this book after seeing the movie, I chose to read it during a recent roadtrip with someone who has seen the movie and wanted some perspective against the original story. Colleen Hoover does well crafting a story that mixes romance, determination, and the difficulty of explaining things during rash moments of violence. Hoover’s style is filled with detail and a great undercurrent of imbedded themes. I quite enjoyed this piece and will surely read the sequel to see how exciting that piece is as well!

Lily has enjoyed her life in Boston after some struggles growing up in Maine. Returning from her father’s funeral, she noticed someone whose day appears to be less than stellar. Over a long rooftop conversation, they share a great deal. Lily offers up some ‘naked truths’ about a past with a homeless boy, Atlas. Ryle counters with a ‘no dating’ rule, preferring one-night stands. Though complete strangers, Lily and Ryle seem to hit it off, but are destined to never see one another again.

After getting her life in order and opening a small flower shop, Lily inadvertently hires a woman who is seeking a job to help pass the time. Alisa and Lily become fast friends, which is only made stronger when it turns out Ryle is Alisa’s sister. The ‘no dating’ rule is soon out the window and Lily is excited about this sudden change. However, two events prove to change the honeymoon period forever. The first, a night when Ryle loses his cool and strikes Lily. The second and even more surprising, Lily sees Atlas again, now a respectable chef at the ‘must try’ restaurant in Boston.

As Lily’s feelings rise and she is confused about it all, she must come to terms with the truth about her feelings for Ryle, as well as the rekindled memories about Atlas. A confrontation between Ryle and Atlas turns ugly and Lily is even more concerned. To whom will she turn and how can she deal with the truths she is presented after admitting to Atlas and herself about Ryle’s actions?

As time progresses, new truths and scary events shape Lily’s life. She cannot ignore what she feels and when Ryle tries to gaslight her, she knows the man she loves is fueled by a darker side. What will she do and how can she justify all that has been happening? Has she become her mother, accepting abuse because love will fix it all? Hoover delivers an addictive piece that is less romance and more a coming to terms with reality novel!

While I do not read romance, I was curious about this piece by Colleen Hoover. The story from the movie did intrigue me, so I was eager to read this book. The story builds from the opening pages and keeps getting better the more I read. Hoover knows how to create a strong narrative that gains momentum as the tension mounts. I was impressed by the plot and its constant development throughout. Surprises kept the story fresh and exciting, while also being dark and troublesome. I was surprised at how addictive the story got and am eager to see where things are headed from here.

Characters are not only present but develop depth that makes the reader wonder more. While I knew some of the themes that would emerge, they were presented in such a way to add a distinct flavouring for the core characters. The wonderful parallels between Lily and her mother, both having dealt with abusive partners, help add something to the story. It kept me eager to see how events would either repeat themselves or Lily would break the cycle. What will happen in the sequel and how will the characters emerge after this significant course of events?

Kudos, Madam Hoover, for a chilling story that has me eager to learn more!

Mrs. McGinty’s Dead (Hercule Poirot #32), by Agatha Christie

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

Agatha Christie thrusts Detective Hercule Poirot into the middle of a new case, filled with intrigue and a number of potential suspects. All those under the proverbial microscope have strong motives, yet try to be sly and keep their personal sentiments secret. While Poirot does not come across as highly suspicious, his intuitive nature helps eke out the truth and shines a light on the murderer whose actions cannot be explained away. Agatha Christie dazzles and impresses once more with this strong piece.

The murder of Mrs. McGinty seems straightforward. Her shifty lodger, James Bentley caved in her head and left forensic evidence all over his clothing. While he is found guilty and sentenced to hang in a few weeks, the defence is sure that something has gone awry and Bentley may be innocent. The rationale? James Bentley does not appear to be of the murderous type.

Retired Belgian Detective Hercule Poirot agrees to take on the case to investigate a little more. While he returns to the small English town where Mrs. McGinty lived, Poirot discovers that the case may have been closed prematurely. He probes through the various townsfolk and learns as much as he can about the victim. Mrs. McGinty, while serving as a member of a community, was far from one of its pillars. Her lies and deceptive ways rubbed many the wrong way, leaving a long list of possible suspects for Poirot.

While trying to make sense of it all, Poirot discovers a newspaper article that could hold more evidence than many might first surmise. He explores all angles and notifies some cracks in the appearance of the locals, while also trying to make sense of what has been happening since the murder investigation closed. What Poirot discovers is highly intriguing, but Poirot will have to stay alive long enough to share it with others and the defence, or Bentley will surely hang. Christie does well with this piece, entertaining and educating in equal measure.

Agatha Christie proves impressive, comparable to the speed by which Hercule Poirot appears able to solve crimes. The narrative flow in this piece is quick and keeps the reader engaged and trying to crack open the case. Poirot presents as a strong protagonist, riding the wave of using ‘grey cells’ to keep the mystery advancing. Christie does not let things slow down any any point, as time is of the essence. Great characters provide some entertainment and thickens the plot. These twists and turns help flavour the larger story and keeps the reader wondering as they seek to put the pieces all together.

Kudos, Dame Christie, for impressing once more!

Blood and Fire (Jinx Ballou #0.5), by Dharma Kelleher

Posted on by canadamatt

Eight stars

Dharma Kelleher has always been a great writer, mixing entertainment with education. Tackling the thriller genre with a strong focus on the LGBTQ+ and trans communities, each novel helps open my mind to better understanding areas with which I am not familiar, while also explaining that the general community has a great deal to learn. This is a prequel novella for the Jinx Ballou series and packs a major punch. From her time with Phoenix PD through to the decision to enter the world of  bail enforcement, there is a lot to cover. Kelleher does a masterful job handling it as she keeps the reader hooked!

Officer Jenna “Jinx” Ballou has only been with Phoenix PD for a year and it has been an uphill climb. Jinx is trying to locate a serial arsonist, but a scuffle ensues and she is accused of excessive force and sexual assault. During her internal  investigation, Jinx is outed by a superior for being transgender and this sends her into a tailspin. Other events into solidify that she is not happy and she is looking for a change. 

A job with a bail enforcement company opens up and Jinx leaps at it, hoping for something new and less worrisome. She makes the move and hopes for the best. When the suspected arsonists is arrested and released on bail, Jinx has her chance at retribution of the honest variety. However, she has a burning desire to set things straight, but will have to keep it in check or face consequences. A great novella by Dharma Kelleher!

I have long enjoyed the writing of Dharma Kelleher and appreciate what she brings to every one of her novels. Peppering the story with great transgender issues and struggles, Kelleher develops a strong community that is sure to keep series fans entertained. The well-paced narrative builds the tension in this shorter piece and keeps the reader wondering what awaits them. Characters emerge and develop along many themes and keep the reader wondering, sure to have gaps filled as they read the entire series to date. I enjoyed the various twists that Kelleher wove into the novella, never letting things wane as she builds up her protagonist. I cannot wait to read more in this series, as well as other Dharma Kelleher gems!

Kudos, Madam Kelleher, for a great piece of prequel writing!