The World's Common Tater

I still have a day and a half to possibly finish one more book, but today is the only day I know I will have time to do this, so my current book will go to October regardless of when I finish.

I only managed four books in September. I thought I was doing better than that.

1. Something Wicked by David Housewright

This is the 19th book in the Rushmore McKenzie series. It is one of my favorite detective series. McKenzie is a retired cop, turned millionaire who works as an unlicensed detective for friends when needed. In this one, a friend of his wife calls and asks him to investigate her grandmother’s death. She thinks a family member killed her because she had decided against selling the family estate/resort to developers for millions. While in town other crimes connected to the family occur and McKenzie works with the chief of police to solve them.

It took me a bit to get into this one. There was way too much Covid talk at the beginning since McKenzie’s wife owns a restaurant and the place they were going was a resort. He also mentioned several times who was or was not wearing a mask. He stopped the incessant Covid talk early enough for me to get into the story and it was a good mystery. The family was dysfunctional and any of them could have been involved in the crimes. There was also a group called Sons of Europa that had an adjacent property that might be involved. I didn’t piece it together until the end. It is a very good series. I would recommend it.

2. Upgrade by Blake Crouch

Logan Ramsay is an agent working for the government fighting gene editing. He is doing so to atone for the sins of his mother, scientist Miriam Ramsay who caused the death of millions with a miscalculated experiment. Logan is breaching a house during an investigation when a bomb explodes and fills him with a virus that rewrites his genes. He is becoming stronger, smarter, and faster. Logan goes on the run to discover who did it and why.

I usually enjoy Crouch’s books. I could not get into this one. It took me forever to read. I just didn’t care about Logan as a character and then we got less human as the book moved forward. a thriller is hard when you don’t care if the main character survives. There was a lot of action and science, but I found it dry and dull.

3. Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand

Grady Kendall takes a job as a caretaker on the Hawaiian property of a billionaire. He flies from his home in Maine to Hawai’i for the job. On the plane, he meets Jessie who is going to live with a friend. They make plans to meet up once they are out of quarantine. Grady soon discovers that people routinely go missing on the island. When Jessie becomes one of the missing he becomes determined to find her.

I struggled with how to rate this one. I liked it. I thought it was well written and the story kept me interested. I still struggle with books that make the pandemic part of the story. Hand was not as bad as others with the constant mention of who is or isn’t wearing a mask, but it was there. I guess I need to get used to it. I’m not sure she did a great job with weaving Hawaiian folklore into the story. It might have been better without it. In the end, I did like it and would recommend it.

4. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

 Ove is a curmudgeon. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. His world is turned upside down when a new family moves in next door and enters his daily life.

I feel like I’m the last person to read this one. I’ve heard about it for years. I’ve seen it at the library. People have raved about it. I read another book by the author and didn’t enjoy it, so I never picked this one up. Then, my book club chose it to read. I loved it. I love Ove as a character. I love the idea of the cranky old man secretly being the guy who walked around town on vacation in Spain helping random people. I loved all of the characters. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a while.