The Rising Sea by Clive Cussler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Never fails to satisfy. A delightful story that has adventure, science and heroism. These folks spin a tale that is interesting and informative. I know more about sea levels than I need to and I know a bit more about swords than I wanted to.. a fun read.

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When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A book club selection. Not my genre but still a thoughtful and thought provoking book. Made me want to hug my loved ones more often and spend more time on constructive things. We all die, its not how you die but how you live. No one lives a perfect life but we all can love more and hate less, build more and destroy less. Is this worth a read? Most definitely! Gives you an additional perspective on life and that is a good thing.

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Twisted Prey by John Sandford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

John Sandford is so readable. The characters so easy to picture and for the most part believable. Lucas Davenport has matured and become much more than a smart cop. He and his new side-kicks are fascinating. They story is rich with twists and turns. The characters seem real and this story is "ripped from the headlines..." Takes place in DC and the politicians are as sleazy and sick as one might expect from real life. Love this book. If you've never read a Prey novel, this one might stand alone and be a good place to start.

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Greeks Bearing Gifts by Philip Kerr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This may be the last of the Bernie Gunther books. He died in March, 2018. You can read his obituary in the Guardian. He was just 62. This book, like the whole series, shows us some of the emotions and conflicts people have in impossible situations. To quote the obit about Bernie Gunther: "morally ambiguous fictional private detective Bernie Gunther first appeared in March Violets (1989), set in the city in 1936, after the Nazis’ rise to power, and the first of his Berlin Noir trilogy. Each book, he later admitted, was aimed at painting Gunther into a corner “so that he can’t cross the floor without getting paint on his shoes”

Bernie's life before, during and after the war shows him filled with massive ambiguity and some moral ambivalence too. I love that this character seems not just real but gritty and thoughtful in a way that real people might never be. He sees things in ways that are interesting and enlightening. I read and reread parts of this book because they were telling the truth about people and history, truth that has often been obscured by current events.

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