Big Medicine (A John Tall Wolf Novel Book 5) --by Joseph Flynn

Fiction / Mystery

153 pages / 3198 KB

5 stars

We have our second female President, and she wants John Tall Wolf in her cabinet, a position he doesn't want, but when your President asks...

And Marlene has disappeared. She turned in her resignation when President Morrissey took office and hasn't been seen since. Where is Coyote? What is she up to?

As if those weren't enough to give Tall Wolf a migraine, his Great Grandfather, Alan White River known the world over for stealing the Super Chief has been released from prison after serving two years and is now living with Tall Wolf in DC. Rebecca, Tall Wolf's wife is living and working in Los Angeles area. And Tall Wolf must find a stolen lap top computer that contains information that can be used for tremendous good or tremendous evil, and he has 3 days in which to do so.

Oh, yes, and Bodaway, Tall Wolf's cousin who tried to kill him and had an up close and personal encounter with Coyote that he lives to regret, returns. Others who, for whatever reasons, have such up close and personal encounters with Coyote do not live to tell about it. 

The fun thing about these books is the characters. And they are fun. I laugh out loud often. I'd truly like to have coffee with most of them. Well, not the antagonists, maybe, but the protagonists. We see another side of Coyote here. It's different. But it's Marlene. And it just might surprise you.

Oh, and there's another mistake. And, no, I'm not telling. Read the book. It's a fun read, even if you find the mistrake. Honest. Trust me.

Smoke Signals (A John Tall Wolf Novel Book 4) --by Joseph Flynn

Fiction / Mystery

189 Pages / 1958 KB

5 Star

Coyote is Trickster. Coyote is also very intelligent. One reason Coyote has survived so long since humans came into her territory, is she learns, she adapts, she's wily.

John Tall Wolf his fiancé of the RCMPs, and his boss, Marlene (Coyote) find themselves in the Washington Cascade mountains. Marlene still wants Tall Wolf, but she is learning, adapting, becoming more wily. Who will win this dancing contest? It's anybody's guess, but there is a strong indication that Coyote has met her match. Will she figure it out?

There is a bear prowling these woods and he's hungry. He isn't particular who he eats, he just wants someone, anyone, and seems to really want Tall Wolf. There is also a monster who makes an appearance or two. Something no one has seen and lived to talk about. The monster also wants Tall Wolf.

Again, Tall Wolf is playing well with others, which I find refreshing, instead of all the books with protagonists who are terminally ill with testosterone poisoning. Tall Wolf has his share, and then some, but he isn't poisoned by it. He sees no harm in sharing, in fact, he sees benefit in same, if not now, perhaps later. He even tries to make his boss look good.

Marlene has more of a presence in this book, and it's great. How much does she change? I'm not sure, but Book 5 is waiting for my perusal.

Super Chief (A John Tall Wolf Novel Book 3) --by Joseph Flynn

Fiction / Mystery

220 pages / 3419 KB

5 Stars

Want to make a statement? Want to commit an act of domestic terrorism and not have anyone die? Steal a train! Not just any old Amtrak train, but the Super Chief, spiffed up and on its way to a museum in Chicago. Make it disappear. Then hope and pray that John Tall Wolf isn't sent to find you. (Your prayers will not be answered.)

Tall Wolf, the Apache and Navajo adopted by Haden Wolf and his wife Serafina Wolf y Padilla, finds himself being forced to go the one place he swore he'd never go – onto a reservation. Not just any reservation, but the one his birth mother was from. And some members of his blood family still want him dead. But not all.

If you've not read any of the series, you can start here, but I highly recommend you start at the beginning and read sequentially. Many of the minor characters move through the books, and I think you'll enjoy the series more if you get in at the beginning.

Once again, Tall Wolf is playing well with others, local cops, train cops, and feds. Coyote is still trying to get Tall Wolf, but something changes. Just barely. True, she wants Tall Wolf, has claimed him, and that claimed ownership makes her meaner than a mama bear when someone else goes after him. They are still dancing around each other, and my advice is, don't get between them as Tall Wolf's cousin, Bodaway, found out.

A terrific series to binge read

War Party (A John Tall Wolf Novel Book 2) --by Joseph Flynn

Fiction /  Mystery

155 pages / 2182KB

5 stars

John Tall Wolf is Apache and Navajo who works as a BIA cop. His boss is Coyote. If that's not enough to grab your attention and hold it, as a Fed, he should be in competition with other Feds, like the FBI &c. Instead, Tall Wolf plays well with others including the local cops and actually prefers others get the credit. 

Eight 'Indians' rob a bank in New Orleans during a city-wide hacking job where all traffic lights go 'green.' Due to the Native American ethnicity of the robbers, Tall Wolf is called in. 

Why eight? What kind of sign language do they use during the robberies (yes, there's more than one)? What tribe do they belong to? All good questions, and eventually, all is made clear.

There was one major mistake in the story. Is Mr. Flynn using Aaron Elkins's tactic of deliberately placing a mistake in his books to get letters from readers? I don't know. Was their a mistake in Book 1? I don't remember. And, no, I'm not divulging said mistake. If you catch it, you'll chuckle like I did. If you don't, it won't affect the story at all.

A great read. In this time of Novel Coronovirus, I think I'll binge the whole series.

Other Ways to Pray --Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye

Nonfiction / Poetry

61 pages

5 Stars

A friend cleaned out his bookshelf the other day and gave me his copy of Different Ways to Pray, because he knows I'd love it and appreciate it. He was so right!

Ms Nye is bi-cultural (American/Palestinian) and finds the commonality in peoples throughout the world. Many of these poems are from a time she spent in South America, there is at least one for her grandmother in Palestine. They show how people the world over pray, not by rote or ritual, but by love and living. 

I have, and have read these books by Nye. Unfortunately, I read them before I started this blog, so do not have reviews posted:

19 Varieties of Gazelle

Yellow Glove

Fuel

Hugging the Jukebox

Mint Snowball

Red Suitcase

Words Under the Words

What Have You Lost? (anthology selected by Naomi Shihab Nye)

Never In a Hurry (essays)

Upstream, selected essays --by Mary Oliver

Nonfiction / essays

187 pages / 1778 KB

5 Stars

I am so sorry I never had the opportunity to meet Ms. Oliver, and so delighted to live in an age of books, where I can have her at my beck and call.

She has long been one of my favorite poets, and now she is also one of my favorite essayists. These essays, like her poems, are of everyday observations – the gull she rescued, the turtle she watched who laid her eggs, the dog who climbed fences and the dog catcher who brought him home. She saw beauty in everythin, and shared it with us.

The news is filled with Covid 19 as it rages around our planet, this book is filled with beauty and peace. It is a perfect antidote to our situation today.

Other books I've read and reviewed by Mary Oliver

Felicity http://lenoragood.blogspot.com/2020/01/felicity-by-mary-oliver.html

A Poetry Handbook http://lenoragood.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-poetry-handbook-by-mary-oliver.html

New and Selected Poems http://lenoragood.blogspot.com/2017/11/new-and-selected-poems-by-mary-oliver.html

Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays http://lenoragood.blogspot.com/2020/01/owls-and-other-fantasies-poems-and.html

Wabbits --by Weld Champneys

Nonfiction / poetry

118 pages

5 Stars

This book of light verse is just what the doctor ordered for these stressful times. Some will make you chuckle, some may make you laugh out loud, and some will give you pause for great thoughts.

Poetry Pickles, written with his daughter, Lisa, is marvelous! And Grinner Groaner will, indeed, make you grin—and groan. 

I do believe Ogden Nash would love this book! 

Other books by this author I've reviewed:

 Jabberosity. http://lenoragood.blogspot.com/2019/01/jabberosity-by-weld-champneys.html