LeseLust & LeseLiebe

I want each of you to take a deep breath and savor it. The atmosphere inside this gondola is the last breath of free air you will ever taste. As soon as this airship departs the station you will never set foot on civilized land again, not that any of you deserve it. There are two indisputable facts about the Outcast Zone. Number one, it is the most inhospitable place you will ever visit. And number two, it will be the place where you will die. My lieutenant is handing out burlap sacks. This is the only assistance we will provide to you to help you adjust to life inside the Outcast Zone. In it you will find a loaf of bread and a wedge of cheese.  Now, you can eat the bread and cheese which should allow you to survive for a few days. Or, you can use what we have provided you to lure in rats, which are an excellent source of protein and are quite abundant. That should give you about a month before your bait runs out. Or, you could use the rats you trap to attracting larger prey who, w...

When Detective Boyko Stanchev of the Bulgarian State Agency for National Security sits down for lunch at a roadside cafe, he is furious that his partner is an inexperienced data analyst from Israel. Ayala Navon has just flown in from Tel Aviv to join the investigation of a bombing at Burgas Airport which took the lives of five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver. Ayala has never previously been to Bulgaria and Boyko feels she will interfere with his work on the case. The waiter brings their lunch: There is the ubiquitous shopska salad—finely cut wedges of tomatoes and cucumbers topped with grated salty white cheese. Next to it were small ceramic bowls of potato salad and the so-called Russian salad, which was nearly the same, except for the addition of carrots and peas. A colorful tomato salad and one made from peppers were also quite appealing; they were served on traditional Bulgarian plates. Off to the side was a bowl of yogurt spotted with drops of green. “Snezhanka salata,” Ay...

Dining with Tom Logan, Hollywood’s Premier Private Investigator They say an army marches on its stomach. The same could be said about a private detective, especially during these hard times ushered in by the Great Depression. The 1930s was not the best era to be out of work. However, that was exactly my situation after being cashiered out of the Los Angeles Police Department on a trumped-up charge of police brutality. Nevertheless, with some help I was able to get my own private investigation business going in Hollywood, but not without sacrifices.  Times were lean, and I had to cut corners where I can, and that included my meals. My earlier detective jobs ( Murder Will Out ) had me munching on hamburgers and sipping on rich, black coffee, usually from some greasy spoon. During the odd times, I would get an opportunity to get a free meal as a perk of my investigation, like during the case where I was protecting a Chinese girl from the mob. Her friends had a restaurant in LA's China...

Okay, the book stack by my bed is now officially making it hard to navigate my side of the room, so my New Year's Resolution MUST be to read it down. In the spirit of staying reasonable (and with the admission that several of the titles were on LAST year's list), I have moved 10 tomes to the top.  So this is what I will be reading in 2018, come Hell or high comforter: The Butterfly Hunter – Chris Ballard Tilt-A-Whirl – Chris Grabenstein Gone – Michael Grant Switch – Chip and Dan Heath Feral Youth – Shaun David Hutchinson Life As We Knew It – Susan Pfeffer So High a Blood – Morgan Ring Discovering Vintage New Orleans – Bonnye Stuart We Have Your Daughter – Paula Woodward Socialism is Great! – Lijia Zhang Please let me know what's on YOUR 2018 TBR list!