Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch
DETAILS: Series: Andy Carpenter, #32 Publisher: Minotaur Books Publication Date: July 7, 2026 Format: eARC Length: 288 pg. Read Date: June 26, 2026
What’s Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch About?
Andy gets called by an old acquaintance—one he feels indebted to. Lou Campanelli runs a rehab center, and one of the homeless gentlemen served there has been arrested for the murder of an eccentric billionaire. He’s in need of a defense attorney.
He’s also in need of someone to care for his dog.
Both of which are Andy Carpenter specialties.
Andy and his team come to a quick conclusion about their client’s innocence. But figuring out a defense for him…well, that’s going to take some work.
Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?
I picked this up because after 31 books in the series, how do I not? Okay, I guess I have abandoned some series in the 20s. But those haven’t kept things as fresh, kept changing things (while not changing too much).
The banter between Andy and the other characters still works. Andy’s changing ideas about his work (earlier in the series he was just trying to do as little as possible, now he’s shifted to trying to retire. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s there). We’re getting to know some of these characters in new ways—even as the cast grows a little.
And the mysteries are still clever and the courtroom material never gets old.
What’s the Same? What’s Different?
As I alluded to above, to keep a series this long-running you have to balance changing things and keeping things the same to satisfy long-time fans without letting them tire of things.
Here’s a quick list of things that came to mind:
Marcus is a little more mysterious and dangerous than he’s been in the last few books. In fact, he might be his most dangerous here. He also makes a huge blunder—I’m not used to seeing that from him. I’m also not sure how it served the story. I need to think on this some more.
Sam and his hacking are reliable as ever—I’m glad that some of Andy’s crew are still uncomfortable with the legality of it, even if some of the others have given up caring.
Andy’s uneasy relationship with both the FBI and various organized crime groups continue—I wonder a little about the lengths he goes to with the latter in this book. How far is too far—and how long will he continue in the good graces of some of these mobsters?
We got very little of Edna this go-around, but the jokes made about her worked. Eddie Dowd was practically a non-entity as well. Which is a shame, he should be around for more than some of the behind-the-scenes legal work.
Not only do we have a good amount of action for the Tara Foundation here—which is always good to see—there’s discussion about the establishment of another dog rescue in town—and this one will be a nationwide chain. Rosenfelt obviously cares a lot for this kind of work, and it’s a pleasure to see him get the chance to dwell on it.
So, what did I think about Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch?
I really enjoyed this one—and really had a hard time stopping when I needed to go back to work after lunch—I’d have been much more content to finish the book then and there. Everything was firing on all cylinders for this book and It was just a pleasure to read.
Well…almost all cylinders were firing. There was a moment semi-early-on when one of the characters says something that didn’t make a lot of sense to me (I’m trying to be obscure here). After going back to check what had been said earlier with what this character said, it really seemed like a misstatement. Maybe Rosenfelt goofed and no editor picked it up. Or maybe because I had an ARC that it would be something to be fixed before the book hit the shelves.
But no. It was a clue. A very intentional thing by Rosenfelt. And boy, I felt sheepish. I really thought I was eagle-eyed by catching that. And, maybe I was. But I was so wrong in my understanding of it. Once I saw it as a clue (and no, I won’t tell you how far I was in the book before I realized that*), I really appreciated the way that Rosenfelt worked it in like he did. Even if the realization that I wasn’t so clever as I thought I was when the character goofed still smarted.
I guess everything was firing on all cylinders, but me.
It’s a clever mystery, perpetrated by believable people, with high stakes for all involved. The characters are fun and engaging. There’s really nothing more to ask for.
If Rosenfelt keeps going like this, I’m in for as many books as he cares to write. This would make a fine jumping-on point for those who like a good legal thriller (on the light side). It also works well for people who read some of the earlier books, but didn’t keep up. You’ll be fine jumping back in.
I encourage you all to do so.
* Very.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post which contains my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.
This week’s prompt is:
What are some of your favorite magical systems in fantasy? Do you like magic to be explained in detail or to be a bit vague? Do you think magic should have a “cost” or not?
I think the best way for me to tackle these three questions is all at once. But in general–I prefer magic to be at least a bit vague, otherwise it’s “science.” And I don’t know if it “should” have a cost, but most of the time, I enjoy it more when it does.
I really should’ve done more thinking ahead of time before trying to list favorite magic systems, I literally have no idea what I’m going to end up mentioning.
I really enjoy Newtonian magic as seen in The Rivers of London–and its cost to circuit boards and eventual cost to the brains of practitioners due to Thaumaturgical degradation. Although I have frequently been impatient at how long it takes Peter and others to make progress in learning the systems. At the same time, I’m intrigued by some of the other schools of magic that Peter is encountering.
On the other hand, the magic of Abercrombie’s The First Law is described so vaguely that it’s more mystery than system. Which reminds me of Tolkien’s lack of system (and, I believe, Shannara’s). It’s more magical if it can’t be explained by rules–it’s just something that happens in the way the user wants it to. There’s something inherently more interesting about that. (as fun as it is to wrap your brain around something).
I think Butcher gives us a good mix of mystery and rules in The Dresden Files and The Furies of Calderon. I think he’s on the way to giving us something similar in The Cinder Spires. Most of the cost there comes from exhaustion and the mental/physical toll taken in using it (oh, and to tech, too). You can learn a lot about the rules of this type of magic or that–here’s how potion-making work, here’s how fire magic works, etc. And then the Fury-based abilities of Calderon are just cool–even if it’s a little cheapened by everyone (except poor young Tavi) having some.
If there are rules to the magic in what Arcandius Moog does, I can’t see it. Which just makes it a joy to watch.
The clear divisions of magic abilities and classes in Benedict Jacka’s Alex Verus series are really cool to see. There are sort of rules to it all, but Jacka doesn’t give us a lot of info about it (which is just as good as there not being rules). We see how Alex uses his precognition, with a little bit of understanding of some of this allies’ abilities–but just some ideas.
Most of the magic in Jacka’s new series, Inheritance of Magic seems very rule-based, and is hard to describe as magic, it’s much more science-y. Now, I find it fascinating to watch Stephen’s autodidactic stumbling through it, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not as fun as the range-free stuff of others. The cost of this magic is primarily front-loaded, you have to have the right materials to form something–and I like that. Typically when I think of costs to magic, it’s personal cost to use it. But in this case, it’s about having all the stuff that goes into making a sigil.
That reminds me of the magic in Kevin Hearne’s Ink & Sigil books–there it’s about the materials, too. You have to know how to create the sigil, the right kind of inks to use, and then the best paper. The cost is simple–use a sigil and it’s gone. But as long as you have paper, ink, and a good pen–and the time to combine them–you’re good to go.
Then there’s the cost-heavy Seven Kennings trilogy by Hearne. Using magic takes time off of your life, people can age decades in a night if they use enough power. Seeing some people take those chances because they have to adds a lot to the drama of the situation. But it loses a few points for me by everyone having abilities.
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution has a very set-in-stone (or a precious metal) system. R. F. Kuang does a decent job of setting that up and explaining it to the reader overall. Especially when you consider that the magic system is of so little importance to the book. The cost to that magic is more of a moral and ethical thing than anything else. And that’s maybe a greater cost than some of the others on this list.
One more and then I’ll get off this ramble. M.L. Wang’s Blood Over Bright Haven has a great system to its magic. I was utterly fascinated by it and wanted more and more of it–well, until a certain point in the book where the protagonist, Sciona, really figures out the system for the first time. Then it becomes fascinating and horrifying. And the costs? Unthinkable. But I won’t say more than that. We’re all better off not knowing.
Time prevents me from getting into Raistlin’s magic, or the Kingkiller Chronicles’, or Dark Lord Davi’s magic (as fun as that might be). Or any of the others that might come to mind as I ramble on. But I think this is enough free-associating as I scan my bookshelves (and skip over more books than I want to).
I look forward to seeing what other people writing on this have to say. I expect to be reminded of a handful of things I should’ve remembered for this post, and to get some leads on new-to-me books.
It’s a tiny offering for you this week–which works out okay, because how many ‘Muricans are reading this today? (no offense to the handful of you who aren’t celebrating the Semiquincentennial).
Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
Readers’ Hit New Books of the Year (So Far)—from Goodreads, so take it with the amount of salt of your choice
The Joy of Novellas—from The British Fantasy Society
Lee Goldberg on His New Series Starter Whodunit, ‘Murder by Design’—a good profile of Goldberg. The first line describes him to a T (at least from what I know of him): “Lee Goldberg doesn’t want to change your life with his books, but he does want to entertain you.”
Book Blogging in 2026: Survey Results—Jo Lindsdell’s most recent results. I thought I submitted my answers. Apparently not. Whoops.
Let’s Not Turn Reading into a Sport—please let’s not do that. If it were a sport, I think by International Treaty or Natural Law I’d instantly be bad at it.
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Quick Book Reviews with Philippa Hall Ep. 471: M.W. Craven on The Killer’s Mark Plus the Kindle That Saved a Life in Barcelona—I learned a bit more about Craven’s new book than I wanted to know before starting it, but I’m not complaining.
SFF Addicts Ep. 209: Portal Fantasies with Seanan McGuire & Micaiah Johnson (Masterclass Panel)—I’m not quite finished with this episode yet, but it’s just fantastic. These two should be recurring guests.
My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“‘The results almost never change.’
‘Almost. I hate when a sentence sounds so reassuring but then there’s that one word that just messes the whole thing up.””—Eyes of Empire by JCM Berne
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
The Quest for Merlin: Magimakía by Rafael Lovato
Let There Be Linda by Rich Leder
Dorothy Must Die (Audiobook) by Danielle Paige, Devon Sorvarititle
And I mentioned the releases of: A Hundred Thousand Worlds by Bob Proehl, Granted, Let There Be Linda by Rich Leder, The Quest for Merlin: Magimakía by Rafael Lovato , and In Twenty Years by Allison Winn Scotch.
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
A City Dreaming by Maurice Broaddus—”the third book in [Broaddus’] Astra Black trilogy, which explores the struggles of an empire. Epic in scope and intimate in voice, it follows members of the Muungano Empire—a far-reaching coalition of city-states that stretches from Earth to Titan and beyond—as it faces renewed threats to its progress.” What I’ve seen about this really serves as an advertisement for the first two books, but I’ll take it.
Slop by Jared Leys—Leys goes the extra mile to prove that humans are capable on their own to generate slop, no LLM needed, thank you very much.
image source: https://www.instagram.com/bookstrofficial
I finished 31 titles (7 up from last month, 9 up from last June). A great month for reading. The writing…eh, not so much. Particularly my review-ish posts. As I was putting this post together, I kept saying, “Self, this explains why you’re feeling behind. You are behind.”
At least I’m aware, eh? 10/10 for accuracy. 4/10 for productivity. But rather than focusing on self-flagellation, why don’t we look at what I did do here.
The Month in Reading
(thanks to Bookmory for the image)
TBR Piles
| Audio | E-book | Physical | Goodreads Want-to-Read |
NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of 2025 |
4 | 89 | 112 | 192 | 11 |
| 1st of the Month |
2 | 92 | 133 | 201 | 8 |
| Added | 1 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| Read/ Listened |
1 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 1 |
| Current Total | 2 | 96 | 130 | 201 | 7 |
My TBR Range
If you actually want to be able to read that, click on the chart for a larger version.
Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 27
Self-/Independent Published: 4
| Genre | This Month | Year to Date |
|---|---|---|
| Children’s | 3 (10%) | 17 (11%) |
| Fantasy | 4 (13%) | 24 (15%) |
| General Fiction/ Literature | 2 (6%) | 16 (10%) |
| Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller | 8 (26%) | 39 (25%) |
| Non-Fiction | 4 (13%) | 14 (9%) |
| Science Fiction | 5 (16%) | 17 (11%) |
| Theology/ Christian Living | 4 (13%) | 14 (9%) |
| Urban Fantasy | 0 (0%) | 13 (8%) |
| “Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western) | 1 (3%) | 2 (1%) |
Review-ish Things Posted
Books of the Month
- Three Hitmen and a Baby by Rob Hart: Keeping a Toddler Alive Might Be the Downfall of These Assassins
- The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson: A Contemporary Take on a Classic Murder—and Walt Gets a New Pet?
Other Recommended Reads
- Quick-Take Catchups: The Leftovers from March
- REPOSTING: Time-Marked Warlock by Shami Stovall: A Mulligan-Equipped PI
- The Best Dog in the World edited by Alice Hoffman: All the Best Dogs (except yours or mine)
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt: A Wise Captive and Holes in Hearts
- The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen: Chen’s Most Out-of-This-World Novel Yet
- Quick-Take Catchups: The Leftovers from April
Other Things I Posted
- 20 Books of Summer 2026: Commence
- LITERARY LOCALS: A Q&A About Writing in Idaho with Tomás Baiza
- Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read
- Counting My Literary Chickens Before They Hatch: My June TBR
- Fantasy with Friends: Series or Standalones? How Much Is Too Much?
- Book Blogger Hop: Most Unusual Places to Read
- Opening Lines: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
- Picard Day Tag
- HC Chats with C.K. Jensen about Becky Chambers’ Monk and Robot duology
- Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer 2026 to-Read List (That Aren’t on My 20 Books Challenge)
- Fantasy with Friends: Which Order to Read Fantasy Series In: Chronological, Publication Order, Something Else?
- LITERARY LOCALS: A Q&A About a New Little Free Library in Idaho
Spotlights/Cover Reveals
- BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Time-Marked Warlock by Shami Stovall
- Cover Reveal: Stranded by Nicholas W Fuller
- BOOK SPOTLIGHT: A Little Bird Told Me by Rachael Gray
Music Mondays
- MUSIC MONDAY: “Running” by Rose Betts
- MUSIC MONDAY: “Better Together” by Jack Johnson
- MUSIC MONDAY: “Whoever You Are” by Geggy Tah
- MUSIC MONDAY: “Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco
- MUSIC MONDAY: “American Tune” by Paul Simon
WWW Wednesdays
- WWW Wednesday—June 3, 2026
- WWW Wednesday—June 10, 2026
- WWW Wednesday—June 17, 2026
- WWW Wednesday—June 24, 2026
Saturday Miscellanies
- Saturday Miscellany—6/6/26
- Saturday Miscellany—6/13/26
- Saturday Miscellany—6/20/26
- Saturday Miscellany—6/27/26
Enough about me—how Was Your Month?
It’s the first Friday of the month, so my Most Captivating Character of the Month post is a week late. For June, I’ve selected a character from Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils. I really could’ve picked just about everyone in that novel, but one character stood out to me. Vigga Ullasdottr, sometimes known as Vigga-Wolf (for reasons I will get into). Not only is she captivating, she’s in the running for my favorite new-to-me character of the year. I didn’t mention her when I posted about The Devils yesterday, because revealing her would be taking something away from one of the first reveals of the book (although to be fair, I really didn’t mention many characters). You’ve been warned–if you read on, it’ll take away a little from that reveal (but it’s not vital to the book).
Vigga grew up in a Norse village with a cruel mother. And she was, at best, a troubled child who tended to create havoc (unintentionally). At some point, she was bitten by a werewolf…and well, things go downhill from there for her. In her wolf form, she’s even more unstable than she is as a human. So much so that the people of her village cover her in tattoos warning others about her.
By the time we meet her, she’s living a dissolute life–or was before being captured by the Church and made part of the Chapel of the Holy Expediency’s congregation.
In battle, when she lets her wolf go, she’s essentially a berserker– her ferocity, her strength, her bloodlust, her savage nature– it’s something to behold.
Sure, you could say that she’s a gender-swapped version of Logen Ninefingers/The Bloody-Nine. And she really is. But also, she’s more–she’s deeper, she’s aware of her shortcomings, and frequently wants to change them. But she’s also easily distracted (think Dory with a homicidal streak) and prone to self-pity, so…it’s hard to say.
“I’d like to see the light,” said Vigga. “Folk keep trying to show it to me.”
But most of all, she’s just fun to read. Her personality (both of them) shines forth and charms the reader. Sure, the Vigga-Wolf is frightening and near-mindless. But in context…it makes sense. But as Vigga, she’s heartbreaking, fun, and inspirational (and someone you can laugh at). All in all, she’s captivating.
What character would you name for last month?
The Devils
by Abercrombie
DETAILS: Series: The Devils, #1 Publisher: Tor Books Publication Date: May 13, 2025 Format: Hardcover Length: 560 pgs. Read Date: June 3-8, 2026
“The missions assigned to the Chapel of the Holy Expediency are like the members of the congregation–each awful in its own special way.”
What’s The Devils About?
So a monk is called to the Sacred City and is given a new assignment, to serve the Chapel of the Holy Expediency. This particular congregation is given special missions for The Church, typically of the supernatural variety. Oh, I should mention that the congregation is made up of a necromancer, a vampire, an elf, a warrior who is cursed to remain alive, and so on. The monk that “leads” the missions seems to be a rotating door, with few surviving long (Brother Diaz doesn’t really grasp this until he’s been on his first mission for a bit).
This is kind of a Suicide Squad of a congregation–sent to deal with the biggest threats facing The Church and the Western kingdoms. Although it could be argued that Amanda Waller’s penalty for disobedience is kinder–definitely quicker–than the Pope’s. Oh, right–when the members of the congregation are sent on a mission, a binding is placed on them to keep them on-task. The discipline that binding imposes is…disturbing.
The mission that this book centers around is taking a certain street thief to Troy. This thief, it turns out, is a long-lost princess and the rightful Empress of the Eastern Kingdom. The Chapel of the Holy Expediency is to escort her to Troy and get her enthroned safely, in the hopes that she’ll be more amenable to negotiations with the West than others there happen to be. She has several new-to-her family members who want her stopped (permanently) so they can get the crown, so it won’t be easy.
The Alternate History of it All
Ignoring the fact that vampires, elves, necromancers, and so on exist, this is very much our world. With a few differences–Troy won that particular war and is a dominant city in the region (poor Constantinople), Carthage is the dominant Western culture/city (even after its “fall”), and a few other things that I’ll leave you to find.
I (or someone with greater focus and better historical knowledge) could write an entire post or two about the Alternate History that Abercrombie creates here. This is a 1400s (or was it 1300s) Europe that is recognizable—but not. There are so many small, small details that he tweaks that have giant repercussions.
There’s an argument to be made that Abercrombie went too far with his Alternate version of the Church. The Western Church looks very much like our Western Church of the time, as does the Eastern Church. The schism between the two was similar, too. But there are significant differences—God’s Daughter was sent to Earth and was executed on the wheel. In addition to differences about the understanding of the Trinity (the third member of which was never mentioned), there’s a difference in the makeup of the clergy—only male priests or either male and female? Also, the Pope is a female.
And so on—there are other differences between our Church(es) and this book’s—but I’ll leave at that. For me, it became clear that not only is this a Fantasy world that looks a lot like ours, but isn’t. It’s a religion that looks a lot like ours, but really isn’t—in much the same way that the church of The First Law, A Song of Ice and Fire, or The Gentleman Bastards aren’t ours. If you can accept those—you should have no problem with this one.
Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?
I heard an interview or two with Abercrombie around the time this was released last year—before the first interview was over, I was more than ready to buy it. And I did—I just didn’t have time to get to it. And once I learned our Fantasy Book Club was going to be discussing it in June, I stopped trying and just waited.
Why did I stick with it? It was funny, intriguing, engaging…and all the other glowing things I’m probably going to say in the last section. You could ignore all that and just focus on the Alternate History of it all, and would find enough to keep going.
I can’t understand why someone wouldn’t keep going once they picked it up (although I’m sure it’s happened—tastes differ).
What does this book tell us about humanity?
“Tell me… the elves. Are they really as bad as they say?”
“I have come to think . . . that they are no worse than men.” Jakob took a long breath. “So . . . yes.”
Everyone we meet, and I mean everyone–if even for a half-page–is in some ways a monster. Or a devil, if you want to get titular about it. There’s not a single white hat to be found anywhere. Some hats come in shades of gray, with very dark patches–piebald, I guess.
This is a recurrent theme–recurrent seems to be putting it mildly. Think of Spidey’s “With Great Power…”–especially in some of the movie versions. You just get beat over the head with it. By the time we get to that quotation above, Jakob’s line lost a little of its punch because any semi-conscious reader would’ve come to the same conclusion.
But also–and this is the important thing–there’s hope for everyone to tame their monster, to mend their ways, to get their devil to repent. We see examples of that throughout the book–some in small ways, some larger. It’s nice to see that this isn’t completely bleak.
So, what did I think about The Devils?
You can stack your doubts high before. You can polish your regrets up after. But while the fight’s on, your purpose must be pure. Kill the enemy. Don’t die yourself.
It was better than I expected—and I had high expectations. Premise; tone; characters; humor; execution of the premise; fight scenes; setting up the series/sequel; satisfying turns in the story; twists you couldn’t (but arguably should’ve seen coming); twists you sort of expected but still rocked you when they came up; fight scenes; fun twists on fantasy races; cool magic; cool magic in fight scenes…check, check, check, check, and check. (Okay, I left out some checks there, but you get the point).
Abercrombie has well demonstrated his ability to give his readers a good battle scene. Granted, I haven’t read everything he’s written, so I could be disproven here. But I think he went above and beyond his standard. If only for length. I read one review that said the final battle went on for 80 pages. I didn’t go back to check, but that sounds right. And even if that writer was wrong–zowie, the fact that he could write that and be close to right says a lot about the sequence. And it was so, so good.
Abercrombie’s twisted brand of humor is on full display here–there’s plenty of low-brow jokes (the binding the Pope puts on the congregation has, um, intense intestinal feedback for those who attempt to stray from the task), some clever dialogue, some character moments that make you laugh out loud, and…a few other types of humor that I can’t remember.
The book club discussion about this book was one of the more united conversations that I’ve been around for in the meetings:
Person 1: “What did you think about X?”
Person 2: “Oh, X was so great because Y.”
Person 3: “Not only Y, but Z and W!”
Person 2: “Oh….right, W! And the way that W led to V? Come on…”
Person 4: “And then the joke that was there about U?”
[general chuckling]
Repeat that for about an hour. I mean, it’s a generally supportive and non-confrontational group in the first place. But this meeting was a love-fest. There was more picking at bits of beloved Legends and Lattes for crying out loud.
And honestly, I could go on and on along those lines. But no one wants to read that…and I’m not sure when I could get myself to stop. So, I’ll just try to sum it up here: if you’re a fantasy reader who loves a little snark, a good deal of violence, and fantastic characters, you want to read The Devils. End of story.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
But as of today, this is my plan. After compiling this, I’m fighting with myself about what to read next…too many good options. I probably can’t (well, shouldn’t try for my own santiy, anyway) start all of them tomorrow. But I sort of want to.
Trade of Blood
by Robert Jackson Bennett
The heir to one of the Empire’s most powerful families sits in jail, accused of murder. His hands are covered in the victim’s blood, and he can neither deny his guilt nor explain his actions.
But if the great detective Ana Dolabra cannot save him from the noose, the farming canton of Sapirdad will explode into war, threatening to plunge the whole Empire into starvation and chaos.
As Ana investigates—her assistant Dinios Kol, as ever, acting as her eyes and ears—she fears her task is even more daunting than it seemed. For this murder is just the latest in a deeper, subtler web of death, woven by a mastermind with an ancient weapon at his disposal.
With their customary skill, Ana and Din pursue their adversary through the canton’s wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and reeking slaughterhouses. Yet even they are not prepared to learn the horrifying secret behind their opponent’s powers.
I’ve been eagerly awaiting this third book about Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol since March or April of last year — approximately 1 day after finishing the previous book. This is almost certain to make a Top 10 list for the year for me.
Eyes of Empire
by JCM Berne
A baby dreadnought is terrorizing two star systems. A new wormhole has been opened, a new planetary system revealed, populated by a strange and impossible race. A mad god is on the loose. The il’Drach have destroyed an entire planet, and are on their way to Wistful. Rohan just wants a peaceful day of work and a decent cup of coffee. But if he doesn’t handle the dangers facing his friends, his system, and his sector of the galaxy, who will? And if he DOES . . . what price will he pay?
Another book that I’ll likely be talking about for months to come is the fifth book in Berne’s Hybrid Helix series. I really don’t understand why I’m behind on this series–time for me to remedy that.
Detained: A boy’s journal of survival and resilience
by D. Esperanza and Gerardo Iván Morales
David Esperanza was just thirteen years old when he lost his caregivers, his beloved grandmother and uncle. Since both of his parents were working and living in the United States, David was left on his own in a small town in Honduras. He quickly realized he simply could not make enough money to survive so he made the difficult decision to head north with his cousins and hopefully reunite with his parents in el norte.
Together, the boys struggled to survive a long and treacherous journey through Central America and Mexico. Along the way, David and his cousins formed a deep bond, only for the four to be brutally separated at the border of the United States. When he is captured and processed at a facility, neither David nor his family are given an update on when he will be released or where he’ll go next. Over the next five months, he kept a journal of his experience. The pages tell a story of pain, cruelty, friendship, and resilience, a living testament to the reality of the border. Amidst the senseless inhumanity and violence of US immigration policy, David found hope in the friendship he and his fellow companions forged, and mentorship from one intrepid advocate who fought on his behalf named Gerardo Iván Morales.
Timely, powerful, and unforgettable, Detained brings the border crisis to vivid life.
A local bookstore used this to raise some funds for a charity earlier this year, now that I have it, I might as well give it a read, right?
Killer Vibes
by Jack Friday
Meet Peter Key: self-proclaimed “laziest private investigator in Texas” (it’s harder than it looks), unapologetic bisexual, dedicated stoner, and the surprised recipient of a windfall inheritance from an uncle he barely knew. Peter’s life was a mess before, but now— as the owner of a dilapidated house in one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Austin—he has a mountain of debt to deal with and pressure to sell from every side.
But Peter doesn’t like to be pushed around. And when he discovers a bag full of cash, he starts to suspect his uncle’s death wasn’t an accident. He soon finds himself pulled into a lethal game where not everybody plays by the rules.
Fortunately, Peter’s never been good at following rules.
When I saw this on NetGalley, it just looked like plenty of fun, so I requested it. It still does. Hope I’m right.
A Murder Most Fungal
by Adrian M. Gibson
The knives are out in this fast-paced, standalone Fungalverse novel. Set several months after the events of the award-winning Mushroom Blues, this side story combines the culinary wonder of Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the kitchen chaos of The Bear, and the explosive tension of Hong Kong crime thrillers.
In the aftermath of the "Fuyu Massacre," riots and whispers of revolution continue to plague the Hōpponese capital of Neo Kinoko. As a result, the iron grip of a foreign military occupation tightens day by day. Amidst this, Pocho Jiro, a once-renowned makizushi chef, has chosen to cook for Duncan MacArthur-the Coprinian Military Governor in Hōppon-as his personal chef... and indentured servant.
A run-in with dangerous fungal gangsters sets off a chain of events that Pocho cannot escape from. He's left with two choices: Assassinate MacArthur, or watch his beloved sister die in front of his eyes. Will Pocho take up his knife and prepare MacArthur's final meal?
I took too long to read Mushroom Blues, I’m not repeating that mistake with Gibson’s second book.
Murder by Design
by Lee Goldberg
Edison Bixby is wealthy, handsome, and, due to a traumatic brain injury, impulsively rude. He's also a brilliant insurance investigator who solves baffling crimes by figuring out how the design of the man-made world around us makes them possible. Enter Wally Nash: a struggling actor hired to keep Bixby from offending everyone he meets.
Their first case together looks like a simple accident. Caroline Crowley took a nasty fall down a staircase at a shopping mall in front of dozens of witnesses. Video clearly shows the deadly misstep. But Bixby is certain she was murdered by design, subtly manipulated into causing her own demise. The mall itself made the crime intentional, if not inevitable.
Now Bixby must prove his outrageous theory before a very cunning killer gets others on his hit list to murder themselves, too.
A new series from Goldberg featuring his twist on the Sherlock/Watson-type duo sounds like a very pleasant way to spend a day or two.
First Mage on the Moon
by Cameron Johnston
Ella Pickering is drowning in debt. Once a Unity skymage trained to make aerial supply runs in the great war with the Ranneas Empire, following a crash she now uses a wheelchair and works gruelling shifts making magical weapons in the Unity workshops, thinking of better days.
One night Ella witnesses an experiment by engineer Jackan Grissom go awry. His device morphs into a crude rocket blasting skywards before falling into the war’s spell-ravaged No Man’s Land. But this inspires a dangerous dream: could such a device reach the moon – the forbidden home of the gods? Could they go and beg them to stop the war?
They will need help, but as more folk get involved in their blasphemous plot, can they keep it under wraps? Can magic get them to the moon? Or will their heresy lead them to the gallows?
After The Last Shield, I knew I wanted to read more by Johnston, but before I had a chance to pick up a back catalogue item, here comes this mix of magic and a rocket to the moon? Come on…how could I resist?
The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula K. Le Guin
A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters...
Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.
I know utterly nothing about this–I really didn’t even skim what I quoted above. It’s a book club pick later this month, I’ve only heard good things about Le Guin in general, and–just this week–allysonyj urged me to read it. I’m expecting good things.
True Romance: A Noir Antholog
edited by Troy Lambert & Vincent Zandri
In True Romance: A Noir Anthology, passion isn't red roses and candlelight. Instead, it's obsession, betrayal, revenge, and the kind of desire that leaves bodies in its wake. Collected and Edited by Troy Lambert and Vincent Zandri, this dark and razor-sharp collection gathers some of the most compelling voices in crime fiction, including Reed Farrel Coleman, Charles Salzberg, Paul D. Brazill, Frank Zafiro, Scott Kikkawa, Danica Favorite, Lawrence Kelter, Rebelry Stone, Samantha Ripley, J.E. Fishman, and more. Inside these pages, you'll find:
- A philosophy professor who turns deadly revenge into an intellectual exercise.
- A society wife framed for her husband's murder in a web of mob politics and betrayal.
- Lovers whose secrets rot beneath polished exteriors.
- Killers who mistake lust for loyalty-and pay the price.
Lambert has yet to disappoint with what I’ve read by him, I imagine he and his partner put together a great line-up for this book. Brazill and Coleman are evidence of that. This’ll be good–and likely disturbing, too.
School’s First Day of School
by Adam Rex, illustrated by Christian Robinson
It's the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone's just a little bit nervous, especially the school itself. What will the children do once they come? Will they like the school? Will they be nice to him?
The school has a rough start, but as the day goes on, he soon recovers when he sees that he's not the only one going through first-day jitters.
This delightful back-to-school picture book told from the POV of the school is a great read-aloud, and perfect for readers of all ages.
That last sentence sums up my expectations a “back-to-school picture book told from the POV of the school” almost has to be delightful.
The Patient
by Tim Sullivan, read by Finlay Robertson
Introducing your new crime thriller fix: Bristol detective DS George Cross, champion of the outsider, the voiceless and the dispossessed. DS George Cross can be rude, difficult, and awkward with people. But his unfailing logic and dogged pursuit of the truth means his conviction rate is the best on the force. An outsider himself, having been diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorder, DS Cross is especially drawn to cases concerning the voiceless and the dispossessed. Now, Cross is untangling the truth about a young woman who died three days ago. With no fingerprints, no weapon and no witnesses, the Bristol Crime Unit are ready to close the case. The coroner rules suicide: the woman had a long history of drug abuse. But her mother is convinced it was murder: her daughter has been clean and sober for over two years. DS Cross is determined to defy his bosses and re-open the case, even if it costs him his career. Soon he is mired in a labyrinth of potential suspects – but can he solve the case before his superiors shut it down for good?
Let’s see if the third DS Cross book lives up to the first’s promise. Or, if it sticks with the solid level of book two. Either way, I’m going to enjoy myself.
Asteroid Savage
by Thomas Trang
On the Red Planet, oxygen is free. The truth will cost you everything. Rosa Lakhani is a legendary Martian investigator, known as the "Ripper" for her uncompromising tactics and high-end clearance rate. She's investigating a wave of terrorist attacks on Mars when her partner is nearly killed by a bomb meant for her. With the help of an AI system built by her comatose partner, Rosa ignores her bosses and keeps chasing the money that’s funding the attacks, leading her all the way up the political food chain. It also leads her to Parrish, an underworld fixer from the asteroid belt, or "savage," posing as a corporate lawyer on Mars to extract a dying informant who knows the dark truth about the Mars Terraforming Initiative. These two natural enemies must forge an uneasy alliance as they uncover evidence of corruption that will shake the entire solar system — something the most powerful interests on Mars will do anything to keep hidden. Rosa vows to bring them down, but Parrish might just be convinced to help them bury it . . . for the right price.
A gritty detective vs. organized crime novel–on Mars? How am I not going to have a blast with this.
The Lies of the Ajungo
by Moses Ose Utomi
They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City of Lies. They say there are no friends beyond the City of Lies. But would you believe what they say in the City of Lies?
In the City of Lies, they cut out your tongue when you turn thirteen, to appease the terrifying Ajungo Empire and make sure it continues sending water. Tutu will be thirteen in three days, but his parched mother won’t last that long. So Tutu goes to his oba and makes a deal: she provides water for his mother, and in exchange he will travel out into the desert and bring back water for the city. Thus begins Tutu’s quest for the salvation of his mother, his city, and himself.
The Lies of the Ajungo opens the curtains on a tremendous world, and begins the epic fable of the Forever Desert. With every word, Moses Ose Utomi weaves magic.
I have no idea what to expect from this slim volume–a whopping 84 pages! But if our Book Club, which usually tackles books in the 350-600 page range, expects to spend an hour or so talking about this, I imagine there’s going to be something special here.
Crownfall
by Michael Vadney
Nearly a decade under the empire's grip has left Burunt a troubled land.
Kyndel Heim knows the truth behind the Viceroy's rise to power. After years of torture, his only goal is vengeance, but to master his powers he needs a mentor, one that won't kill him first.
Major Jelert Egarro came to Burunt to build something better. Instead, his talents have become weapons in the wrong hands-and those hands are everywhere. He must choose between his ideals or survival.
Lady Amara Khar must renew her family's legacy. Sharp and ruthless, she's kept her house alive through smuggling and shadow deals, but reclaiming power means making allies as dangerous as her enemies.
In the struggle for power, justice, and survival, each of them must decide who they're willing to become.
This was on last month’s TBR, but thanks to shipping miscalculation on my part, it didn’t arrive in time for me to start it in June. So…here we go again.
They All Saw a Cat
by Brendan Wenzel
The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws . . . In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, author and illustrator Brendan Wenzel shows us the many lives of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. When you see a cat, what do you see?
Oh, I like the looks of this one.
(Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay)
This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
 |
|
| Eyes of the Empire by JCM Berne |
True Romance: A Noir Anthology edited by Troy Lambert & Vincent Zandri |
Berne wastes no time in getting Rohan over his head with trouble in Book 5. And I’ve barely started it–I fear for our friendly neighborhood Tow Chief.
I’ve got myself another anthology to work through for the next few weeks. It started off with a bang, and I hope that continues.
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
| The Shadow Carver by Nadine Matheson |
Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder by Rachel McCarthy James, read by Jennifer Pickens |
This might be Matheson’s best yet–it’s at least comparable to her debut, which knocked my socks off. I lost sleep (some) and writing time (plenty) to this one.
James’ book didn’t live up to the humor or brilliance promised. It was on the bloody side, so I’ll give them that. Really, I finished it because I didn’t have anything else downloaded or want to start something so late in the work week (my employer is giving some bonus days off for the holiday).
What do you think you’ll read next?
|
|
| Killer Vibes by Jack Friday |
The Patient by Tim Sullivan, read by Finlay Robertson |
I’m looking forward to meeting the supposed “laziest private investigator in Texas.” I expect he’s not, but it sounds like a fun contrast to those who are driven to action.
I’m taking a few days off work, so I’m not listening to any audiobooks over them. I think I’ll start with the third DS Cross book next week (barring a Library hold coming in and reprioritizing things)
What kinds of things are you reading to celebrate the holiday this weekend? (or read while you, like your furry companions, are avoiding the bombardment)
This is a few weeks late–but I think these lines are worth it.
Personally, this was one of the more enjoyable lists to compile in this series. Hope I’m not alone.
Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell
The tears on Cherry’s cheeks were fat.
In the months after Tom left—and the months after it became clear that he wasn’t coming home—Cherry’s tears had changed.
There were days when her eyes felt so full, the tears ran in rivulets. She’d swear that crying had never felt that way before—that before, she’d cried drops, and now, she cried streams. There must be some science to it, one sort of crying for transient pains and another sort for crippling grief.
Cherry should mind her own business… But the point of holidays—the point of family—was to mind everyone’s business.
A fat girl can’t wait for boys to pluck her like a flower or find her on the beach like a seashell.
Cherry had never been Cinderella. She’d always been the prince chasing down what she wanted. (She’d been a witch, enchanting apples.) She’d had to reach for things. For love. For attention.
Cherry had trusted Tom. She’d taken him for granted—she’d thought that she was supposed to. She’d believed they were a settled question.
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
“If someone does try to shoot me this week, do you have to dive in front of the bullet?”
“That’s the idea,” says Amy, without conviction. “Though that’s mainly in films.”
It’s hard to dive in front of a bullet, in Amy’s experience. They go very fast indeed.
The Frame Up by Gwenda Bond
Memory was a House that always seemed to win, rewriting history for either maximum escape or maximum pain.
When she took the dog to the local shelter, they’d said, “Her owner died. We can’t keep her from escaping, she’s a Houdini.”
“Is it a kill shelter?” she’d asked, a last-ditch. It had been.
So then she had a dog.
Yet, in the lowest, quietest moments of life, a dog made you feel redeemable. If a dog loved you, you must not be all bad.
Out Law by Jim Butcher
…relax, kid,” Bear said quietly. “I’ve been doing this a long, long time. I’m better at avoiding trouble than most. And if I can’t, I can at least promise you a glorious death.”
Fitz grimaced at her and said, “I know you mean that to be reassuring.”
Bear grinned. “Like the wizard said—this is the job, kid. Make peace with it.”
I’ve been through a lot. Some of the scars show. I do not look like a pleasant person. I have resting wizard face, which is to say I often look like I have had it up to here with everyone’s nonsense.
Book of Spores edited by Frasier Armitage, Eleni Argyró, Adrian M. Gibson & Ed Crocker
“On the Magic of Mushrooms: An Introduction” by Eleni Argyró
Stories are psychedelics in narrative form, and writers the shamans, healers, diviners, mediators, priests. With each word, the folds of readers’ brains expand, the doors of their perceptions open, and the fabric of reality shifts to encompass new ways of thinking, seeing, and believing.
“Farlen and The Tower of Decay” by Ryan Kirk
“You’ve got the look about you. I’ve seen it before, and it tells me you aren’t likely to see the sunrise.”
“But if I do, they’ll sing songs about me long after death eventually claims my soul.”
The stranger stared a moment longer, then shrugged and turned away, as though he’d just been in conversation with a ghost.
“The Fungitive” by Tom Bookbeard
So, make no mistake, starting my day with a guy grinding a bowie knife into my palm before I’ve flicked on my espresso machine isn’t high up on my list of morning routines.
“A Serious Track” by Krystle Matar
He was especially watchful over Eddie, because he saw— like most adults around us saw— that Eddie desperately needed someone to be especially watchful over her. From the time we were kids, she had a distance in her, a kind of distance that gave the impression that she’d just as soon disappear into the aether if you took your eyes off her for too long. A distance that drew people in, made them want to lean close and catch ahold of her before she vanished.
“A Serious Track” by Krystle Matar
I was too young to know that Uncle Victor’s supper club was at least thirty years out of fashion— too young to understand that it was mostly gold leaf and overly wrought, a pretender’s attempt at approximating wealth. It was a child’s understanding of luxury, built on the assumption that if it glittered, it must be glamorous. In that way, I was the perfect audience for Uncle Victor’s display. With my child’s covetous perspective, I wanted to touch every gilded chair, every sparkling lamp, every crystal cut candle holder on every gleaming wooden table. I wanted to sink into that place, to become a feature of it, wanted to be the sort of person who commanded so many beautiful things, empty though they were.
I remember wondering what living in Washaw must have been like, with all those nice lawns and clean alleyways and freshly painted front doors, what it must have been like to live a life where being busy was optional, where you could just hide from the world and the weather when a storm was brewing. Back in the Flats, our streets were always busy, rain or shine, because no one had the luxury of waiting for the clouds to clear in the interest of staying dry.
A gun has a habit of betraying the slightest tremor as the metal pieces clunk together, but my hands were always steady when I was doing dangerous things, no matter how much my heart raced or my breath rattled or stomach twisted itself into knots.
“The Road to Fungaddicticon” by DB Rook
Simeon was lost to the shrooms. Had he been straight- headed, he would argue he was found, but his drooling, slackened face and his ebbing pulse would have you believe otherwise.
Near-death experiences, hallucinogenics, mile after mile of hard travel, not to mention radiation and bacterial infections, had somewhat disheveled them.
“The Toadstool Witch” by Greta Kelly
Juliote didn’t cry the words, for a woman only wept for a hope that had been betrayed. And it had been many years since Juliote had felt the taste of hope on her tongue. She didn’t scream the words either, for all that her voice was hoarse it had no fight left in it. No, Juliote’s was the voice of a person utterly devoid of anything but jagged-edged desperation. The kind that drove people to crossroads at midnight to treat with nameless devils.
“A Dangerous Donation” by Emma L. Adams
…she of all people knew that deeming a situation ‘impossible’ was usually an admission of a failure of imagination rather than a statement of fact.
“The Book of Hries” by M. J. Kuhn
The rest of the work was done without my hand. Instead of leaning on the piousness of priests, I leaned on man’s hubris. Honestly, of the two, it’s always been the much sturdier cane.
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
“They used to call us the Kings of the Wyld, remember?”
“Yeah, they did. When we were twenty years younger. When our backs didn’t ache every morning and we didn’t wake up five times a night to piss. But time did what it does best, didn’t it? It beat us up. It broke us down. We got old, Gabriel. Too old to do the things we used to, no matter how good we were at doin’ ‘em.”
No king meant no law; no guards to keep the peace or discourage violence before it got out of hand. No taxes meant no one to clean gutters or lay down stone for roads, and so Clay and Gabriel sloshed through what they hoped was mud as they passed through the wide-open gates into the city whose parents had hired a prostitute as a babysitter and never come home.
He suddenly wished he were elsewhere, anywhere—or petter yet someone else entirely. A simple man doing simple things. A cobbler, maybe. Cobblers rarely, if ever, made enemies of vengeful immortals, or so he figured.
They had a saying up north: *the coin that broke the dragon’s back*. It was derived from the idea that a dragon hoarding one trinket too many might drown beneath the weight of its own avarice, and it meant—or at least Clay thought it meant—that even the mightiest of things (dragons, for example) had a point at which even the smallest detail could signify their doom.
They had a similar saying down south: *the straw that broke the camel’s back*—though why you’d put a piece of straw on a camel’s back was, to Clay, an utter mystery. They were a curious people, southerners.
Clay smiled like a man who’d won first place in a “Whose Life Sucks the Most” contest.
What was it about fathers, Clay wondered, that compelled so many of them to test their children? To insist that a daughter, or a son, prove themselves worthy of a love their mother offered without condition?
Someone, probably Gabriel, had once told him that to be courageous you had to first know fear. As Clay saw it, he would need a reserve of courage in the hours to come that demanded more fear than he had ever known, and so he let the horror of what they were about to face wash over him, soak into him, clamp around his soul like an iron fist, and squeeze…
A battle, as relayed by a poet, is a glorious thing, full of heroic stands, daring charges, and valiant sacrifice. But a battlefield, as experienced by some poor bastard mired in the thick of it, is something different altogether.
The word clusterfuck came to mind.
Matrick plied his knives like a parade drummer, his rhythm so fast his enemies didn’t know he’d murdered them until their god asked them if they took milk in their tea.
Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
“We all have our rituals,” he said, without taking his eyes off the action below. “Necessary vices that enable us to conquer our fear. Or, if not conquer it, then to at least pile furniture against the door while we duck out the back. It’s not enough to survive what we do, Tam. We must also endure it.”
“What’s the difference?” she asked.
“One concerns the body, the other the mind. Every battle has a cost,” he said quietly. “Even the ones we win.”
Tam didn’t fully understand what he meant, but decided to pretend she did, and nodded sagely. “So what’s your vice?” she wondered.
“Love,” said Freecloud, flashing his jaguar smile. “And I suspect one day it will kill me.”
She glowered like a gargoyle with an incontinent pigeon perched on its head.
You didn’t get to be the villain of one story, she supposed, unless you were the hero of another.
Some people knew how to kill a conversation. Cura, on the other hand, could make it wish it had never been born.
Go Gentle by Maria Semple
It’s a thing Stoics do: meditate on worst-case scenarios. Which is not about working yourself into a neurotic doom loop. It’s about preparing for things not to go your way. So when they inevitably don’t, you can say, “I expected that.”
Think of it as inoculation against emotional extremes. Because who needs those?
Having a teenage daughter is like Choose Your Own Adventure, a constant set of junctures in the road. She’s in a mood? How do you respond? Do you snap? Do you sympathize? I chose my go-to: ignore.
I stepped into the grand entry. The walls were plaster, the color of cream, and enriched by an exuberance of gold molding. Crystal chandeliers danced abundantly from on high. Underfoot, polished wood floors inlaid with marble. If Liberace had a mood board, this would be it.
Booked by Alison Gaylin
He smiled. “One of the many things I like about you, Sunny,” he said, “is that you get things without my having to explain them.”
I smiled back. “That’s possibly the most patronizing compliment I’ve ever received.”
“Hey, it’s from the heart.”
“You must have been in a constant state of terror,” I said.
“You want to know the truth?” Blake said. “I don’t remember him at all.”
“You don’t?”
“Not from when I was little.” Blake sliced off another hunk of sausage and shoved it into his mouth. Then he put the rest back into the bag, dropped it on the backseat, and returned his hands to the steering wheel as he finished chewing. “It’s funny,” Blake said. “People always say little kids are resilient, but it’s just that their brains aren’t fully formed. They can’t remember shit, which is a blessing.”
I looked at him. “I bet you’re right,” I said.
“I’m pretty sure I am.” Gently, he placed the knife on the dashboard. The sun glinted off the blade. “Resilient,” he said. “That’s just a word to make bad parents feel better.”
Remington Platypus by Steve Nash
‘But that’s the thing about evil. You can try, but you can never properly clip its wings.’
(Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay)