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#BookReview: The Rules That Make Us by Oliver Sweet

Interesting Insights From An Atypical Perspective. How often have you ever heard the term “business anthropology”? Hell, how often have you ever heard the term “anthropology” and not pictured some remote tribe somewhere in some jungle or maybe desert? My guess is that your answer to both of those questions is somewhere in the range of “Rarely” to “Never” for nearly anyone reading this review. Even as widely read as *I* am, my answer would have been right there with you.

Yet here Sweet, a Xennial Londoner with a clearly leftist political bent – as in, he frequently villainizes pretty well anything white and/ or male – actually uses his experiences with both psychology and anthropology to show how the two interact to form culture in ways that you likely never even actively thought of… even if some of his observations make a fair amount of intuitive sense.

Depending on your own politics, you may well be praising Sweet’s more political commentary or you may be looking for the highest window available to you for defenestration purposes – but stick with this. Yes, it may be a touch annoying at times if you are more conservative than AOC or Bernie Sanders – sorry, Brits, I don’t know (or care about, frankly) your politics enough to give you an example from Sweet’s own backyard) – but Sweet really does have a lot of insight to offer here that you really should read, so work through your annoyances if possible and feel free to blast him on them in your review *after* you read the book, if you feel you must.

The star deduction isn’t for the political bent though, as I do try to be objective-ish with those. No, the star deduction is because of the lack of bibliography, clocking in at just 5% in the Advance Review Copy of the book that I had had for several weeks before publication and yet due to life happening just before and after the publication of this book was only able to read it a couple of weeks after publication in mid April 2026. The Sagan Standard – extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence – absolutely applies to quite a bit discussed in this text, so I would expect at least 20-30% documentation, and the given 5% falls well short of even the bare minimum 15% documentation I would expect to see from a more standard book with more standard points raised.

Still, read this book anyway. Even with the political bent (which, again, you may well appreciate depending on your own politics) and even with the lack of bibliography (which is inexcusable no matter your politics), there really is quite a bit here that is both interesting and perhaps even useful,. and if nothing else it can help show the kids in your life that there is yet another profession available to them that perhaps they may be interested in pursing and may not have been aware of. Given that so much of this book is based on Sweet’s own professional experience, it really does give almost as big an insight into what a “business anthropologist” does as it reveals about any more general cultural/ psychological insights into how we can all live together with at least somewhat more understanding of each other and how we interact with the “other”.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Rules That Make Us by Oliver Sweet was originally written on April 30, 2026.

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#BookReview: Blue Power by Stuart Schrader

Rise Of The Political Cop. Nearly 15 yrs ago now, when Michael Brown still had almost exactly a year left in his life, Radley Balko released a seminal history of the rise of the militarized police force in the United States he titled Rise Of The Warrior Cop. In it, he traced the history of policing in the American tradition all the way from its origins as the ‘Shire Reef’ in feudal England to its then most modern incarnations. (He has also released an updated version of this book in the last couple of years.)

Here, Schrader does for police unions what Balko did for police militarization, though Shrader’s historical focus is more explicitly limited to the last century or so with only brief mentions of prior periods – including the aforementioned ‘Shire Reef’.

Detailed and decently documented, with its bibliography clocking in at a reasonable 22%, this is yet another book that anyone concerned with the amount of power police wield in modern America will want to read. Schrader does a great job of showing how we got to this point via both intentional machinations… and some sheer dumb luck for those pushing for more unionization of police. Yet despite being a Johns Hopkins professor, this doesn’t really read as an academic tome. Dense, yes, with a *lot* of facts and names and dates, but also decently readable even for those less academically inclined.

Overall a truly solid look at a facet of policing in America that some talk about yet virtually no one understands the history of, this will absolutely fill in that gap for any who care to read it. It also happens to be reasonably balanced, so while there may be annoyances here or there depending on one’s own politics, there isn’t really anything here that seemingly anyone will be looking for the highest possible window to use for defenestration purposes.

Very much recommended.

This review of Blue Power by Stuart Schrader was originally written on April 28, 2026.

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#BookReview: This Land Is Your Land by Beverly Gage

Pessimist Gen X Yale Professor Takes A Selective Road Trip Through America And American History. Understood through this lens, this book isn’t as terrible as it could have been. It is still quite politically oriented in the expected directions from a Yale professor, and its treatment of history is quite surface level and routine, but it is also at least somewhat more balanced than many books from similarly situated authors – so it does have that going for it.

The bibliography clocks in at 15%, which isn’t great, but does meet my bare minimum threshold and there isn’t really much here that would demand a Sagan Standard application – again, this is primarily surface level typical Ivy League Elitist type history.

Indeed, in the areas that Gage travels and covers that I’m most familiar with – specifically, Atlanta – Gage really barely covers anything at all, yet what she does choose to cover is both very surface level yet also, again, reasonably balanced given her current position. She covers Stone Mountain, including both how difficult it is to find in modern Atlanta and how while it remains a hotbed for KKK rallies, these are also seen as a free speech issue where the kooks have to be allowed to speak… but are also largely ignored. She covers MLK and his roots in Atlanta… while missing an interesting deeper dive connection to women’s suffrage and indeed the fight for racial equality that was *right there* at the time and location she was discussing. (Look to when and where Rebecca Latimer Felton, first female US Senator and last formerly slave owning one, died… 😉 )

Overall this is as much travelogue as history, and while it is reasonable as both it also isn’t a particularly deep dive or novel tale in either. Pessimistic and clearly slanted in the expected political direction given her day job and employer, it isn’t *so* heavy handed as to be unreadable… yet those with differing political views also won’t find much use here, as most of the history covered here is fairly standard and well known. Yes, some tidbits here and there are a bit deeper, but really not enough to perhaps justify the read for those with particularly strong political viewpoints that diverge from Gage’s own.

Recommended.

This review of This Land Is Your Land by Beverly Gage was originally written on April 28, 2026.

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#BookReview: Ephraim’s Awakening by David McAfee

Stunning Return Has Me Absolutely Enraptured. I’ve been talking about McAfee’s 33AD and its resultant Bachiyr series for (nearly?) 15 yrs now. I found it back then because Amazon was insistent on recommending it to me in my early Kindle era, and eventually I picked it up… and was immediately hooked. Opening in the titular year with a vampire assassin killing another vampire who had become a believer in this charismatic rabbi from Nazareth and having a Roman centurion stumble into the aftermath, I was immediately hooked. To this day, I’ve never seen any other vampire tale done quite like this, and I’ve never seen any other historical fiction tale done quite like this either. It was a perfect combination of both, and I’ve been a fan of McAfee ever since.

But something happened over the next few years, and by the time I met him circa 2016, he had already stopped writing, even though I’d been recommending his books to basically anyone who had ears. Seriously, over the years I think I’ve recommended 33AD more than I’ve recommended any book from any author not named Jeremy Robinson – who, incidentally, designed the cover for 33AD that has remained all these years.

So for roughly a decade now I’ve been begging and teasing McAfee to write again. At all.

And y’all… this is the result of that begging and teasing.

WE FINALLY GET NEW BACHIYR CONTENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, this is just a 14 page short story that could well have been expanded into its own trilogy. The opening scene alone would have been an extremely worthy of its own full novel – and thus I need y’all to read this book, and then the Bachiyr series as a whole if you haven’t yet – and help me convince McAfee of this.

But as a “reintroduction” that also fills in at least some of the gap and sets the stage for the opening of 33AD, this is truly a tremendous effort that does exactly that.

And then there is even more recently written lore that McAfee has shown me, but I’m not sure when or in what form he will release *that*. I for one was even more impressed with that bit than this short story – and this short story is *AWESOME* in and of itself.

So read this short story. Contact McAfee via his Substack or whatever other mechanisms he establishes in his re-emergence. Beg him both to expand the opening scene here into a full novel and to *keep writing* this time. Because he is truly talented and this is a spin on vampire lore that blurs the edges of so many different genres that it is truly interesting in so many ways, and it has always been fun to try to guess what the next year/ event would be in this series. I truly did not expect him to ever go where he did in the opening scene of this story, and I’m so very glad we got even a scene there. But I absolutely want to see that entire story, and I need your help to get it.

Very much recommended. Obviously. 😉

PS: Speaking to McAfee further, I’ve learned that the additional lore is actually included in his newsletter on Substack. You’re going to want to sign up, because it is really good.

This review of Ephraim’s Awakening by David McAfee was originally written on April 27, 2026.

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#BookReview: A Cruise To Die For

Solid Cruise Mystery In Vein Of Doctor Odyssey. When Doctor Odyssey was cancelled around this time last year after barely one singular season, I was bummed. Yes, as an experienced cruiser with 25 cruises and approaching 200 days at sea, I can tell you without hesitation at all that that tale was *not* “realistic”. IT WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE! It is FICTION, and it tells an excellent tale in an exotic and exciting setting!

So very many of the 1* and 2* complaints about this book decry its “lack of realism”, and I’m here to tell you: OF COURSE IT ISN’T FUCKING REAL, IT IS FUCKING FICTION! But enjoyed in the vein of Doctor Odyssey (which, I supposed, not enough people enjoyed to begin with), this is really a fun mystery tale set on a cruise ship. Come for the mystery and action and you won’t be disappointed at all. There is a lot here, and it actually works quite well in some remarkably plausible ways that those “it wasn’t real enough” morons completely missed out on, including some explorations of extreme high tech in a few different areas. Indeed, while certain elements weren’t real *AT ALL*, others were very nearly *spot fucking on*, almost getting into “Tom Clancy spends a dozen pages on the first nanoseconds of a nuclear explosion” level actual technical precision.

Is this the *best* cruise tale I’ve ever read? No. Does it work for what it is without pretense or claims of being the best? Absolutely. With its release timed well in mid-spring, this is one of those tales that will really work the “vacation” / “beach” read scene quite well, particularly for those who enjoy mysteries with a touch of romance. Even though I personally define a “vacation” or “beach” read as anything you happen to be reading while on a vacation and/ or at a beach. 😉

Spice level wise, *maybe* jalapeno level? There is “more than kissing” happening, and more than once, but it isn’t anywhere near erotica level. More clothes flying and then fade to black level. Cussing, I’m pretty sure I’ve dropped more fucks in this review than exist in the book, and I honestly don’t even remember any shits or damns. Not that I’m an expert in remembering this, as I use these words like chefs use salt – because I’m a programmer by day and we cuss *more* than sailors – but truly, nothing stood out as particularly gratuitous at bare minimum.

Overall a fun book that did exactly what it set out to do and nothing more, and one that will work perfectly for those looking for an engaging read, particularly in the summer/ on vacation/ at a beach… or on a cruise. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of A Cruise To Die For by Heather Graham was originally written on April 27, 2026.

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#BookReview: Venom by Michael McBride

Scifi Horror Action The Way It Is Supposed To Be. If you like your action tales with a tinge of horror, or perhaps your horror tales with a lot of action in them, this is going to be a book – and a series – that you need to check out. Following on from the fallout of Spores, Book 1 of this series (so read it first!), the survivors of that tale quickly find themselves involved in another similar event – this time half a world away, in the jungles of Sierra Leone.

This book has so much going on. New leaders trying to find their place in an existing organization. So. Many. Bullets. Flying. A few key – and spectacular – explosions. A chilling and disturbing mystery just on the edge of science fiction – plausible enough to imagine it being science fact. An unstoppable enemy hoard. So. Much. Gore.

I’m not exactly one to ask about coarse language and shit, as I am a programmer and thus (according to a college professor that said this in my presence nearly three decades ago now) cuss *worse* than a sailor, but I don’t remember anything overly bad. If you’re one that can’t stand a single instance of the word shit, well, you’ve already stopped reading this review anyway. But seriously, that and maybe a fuck here or there are about as bad as it gets – and I don’t even remember any of those really.

For the sex scene crowd, no matter the direction you prefer… yeah, *some* action tales have those scenes… this one does not. This is all about the horror and action and the only thing that goes away from that really at all is the element of the new leaders adapting to their roles.

Overall truly a great tale of its type, one that is both very fun and very horrific at the same time… and one that sets up at least one other tale in this world rather well.

Very much recommended.

This review of Venom by Michael McBride was originally written on April 24, 2026.

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#BookReview: Handle With Care by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Don’t You Forget About Me. Yes, the title is a Breakfast Club reference… because at its heart, this is essentially a Breakfast Club tale for adults – of a type, at least. A group of strangers forced together all day, all with secrets of how they found themselves there at that moment. An emotional tale of what happens over those several hours.

And, in a bit of irony, other than the “it has cussing!!!!” one star review, literally every complaint in every existing one star review on Goodreads as I write this review nearly 10 days after publication of this book (despite having had it as an Advance Review Copy for several months!) is actually addressed either by realizing that this is a Breakfast Club type tale or even directly within the tale itself as things are wrapping up.

This one hit hard in a few different ways for me. One character has a situation where they made a similar choice to one I made over 20 yrs ago that continues to haunt me at times. Another faced an impossible situation that I’ve faced with far lower stakes more than once. Another sheds some light on some of the things that almost had to have been happening in those involved in the real life situation I mentioned moments ago that continues to haunt me.

But even without those direct personal connections – connections that are almost so common as to be universal, which was one of the things that, again, made Breakfast Club itself so beloved – this really is one that if you have a heart at all, it is going to feel the pull in these words. At some point, which may be different for each reader, the room is *going* to become very dusty indeed. Whalen just has a way of doing that, and this book is no different there.

Indeed, the *one* thing I can find to fault at all is a particular bit in the author’s note at the end that will leave a sour tinge of an aftertaste to many readers – but that is literally the author’s note after the story itself is completed. The story itself is truly an emotional successor to Breakfast Club for those with a bit more “life experience” since that era, and absolutely *nails* this particular vibe.

Very much recommended.

This review of Handle With Care by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen was originally written on April 23, 2026.

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#BookReview: Second Chances by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Solid Second Set. This book picks up shortly after where Silverleaf, Book 1 of this new series, ended – so absolutely read it first – and continues the story of the Haverly family, largely extending plot lines from the first book for some of the family members… and introducing a few new ones for others.

Fans of family dramas featuring elite families of some form – think a less soapy Dynasty or a more rural Blue Bloods or similar – are going to love this new series and this tale in particular, as there are some dynamics that play out in both very fun and very “AW SNAP, IT DONE HAPPENED NOW!” manners.

While this is perhaps a touch spicier than the prior book – *maybe* – it is still more akin to an eggnog or horchata than anything truly spicy. And with very few exceptions, almost always between a married couple anyway. Gilbert clearly knows her fans and target audience well, and trust me, you’ll see worse on even broadcast television these days. Which, yes, I know, isn’t saying much for some… and for others will mean that there isn’t nearly enough. But Gilbert works these scenes very well indeed to great effect for her purposes, and really, that’s what *any* scene in a book like this should strive for.

Overall truly a fun overall tale, one that perhaps touches a bit close as I deal with some similar issues as raised here in my own real life. As in, my wife left for pre-op for a major surgery related to some issues that play heavily into one of the storylines of this very book as I was finishing it. By the time this tale is officially published, my wife will have had the surgery in question and… let’s just say I know well the strain of the characters involved in this situation. In some ways, my own is a touch worse, in others, theirs is. Quite similar and all too real, regardless. And one that unfortunately far too many people will have a similar experience with.

But truly, read this book for the excellent family drama… and be ready for even more, because this series is still in its early phases.

Very much recommended.

This review of Second Chances by Kellie Coates Gilbert was originally written on April 22, 2026.

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#BookReview: Stolen Grace by B.R. Spangler

Dark, Disturbing Spinoff Starter With Meat. In a first in my experience with Spangler, this is a book where there is a lot of interesting theological discussion *just* below the surface of this tale – hidden enough so that you can enjoy the actual story as told without diving too deep, but also obvious enough that it is fairly easy to follow Spangler’s thinking for anyone who chooses to do so. That is the “meat” here – there really is a lot to ponder, and at least through certain sections of the tale, Spangler really makes you wrestle with a big theological word you rarely see outside of church… if you choose to do so.

If you don’t want to wrestle with your theological outlook, this is still, on a more surface level, a dark and disturbing thriller from a guy that is known for his dark and disturbing thrillers in his Detective Casey White series (where this spins off from, but which is only tangentially referenced – a few times -in this text). Yet as dark as some of the books in the other series got – and they got *dark* at times – this one somehow manages to go *even more dark*, to damn near approaching vantablack levels. Perhaps saved from being *that* dark more by the ages of the child victims here at least primarily being teenagers rather than even younger.

There is a *lot* here that won’t be for the squeamish at all. Saw level gory murders, shown after the fact. An act that was at least somewhat more common – at least in news reports – about 60 yrs ago or so in a specific context (but this is about as close as I can get without going more full spoiler). Fade to black #MeToo level stuff. Oh, and the entire premise of this story being based on at least one version of Christianity – the “prayer card” from the description – though I’ll refrain from elaborating on which one. Suffice it to say that it too has been in the news over the years, but that actually doesn’t reveal much, if anything. 😉 Point being, if you’re one that for whatever reason cannot/ willnot read any books with any mention of any aspect of Christianity at all… this book may not be for you. On the flip side, that prayer card was a clue to a murder in the description, so that too points in a direction where if you’re one that can’t read any book where that direction may be in play… also may not be the book for you.

But for fans of truly *dark* thrillers… yeah, again, you really don’t get much darker than some of the shit that happens in this book. So for that crowd in particular, y’all are going to LOVE this.

Also, Spangler’s fans who have been reading the Casey White books for years… as I mentioned earlier, this is very much in that same general mindset, and in fact is really close to being effectively a way to start over in that series without actually starting over or resetting anything. Truly a nice and interesting pivot of focus that allows for a lot more stories within the same overall world.

Ultimately, again, this book will NOT be for everyone. But for those who can at minimum tolerate this kind of tale, it is a really strong one. Either way, it does an excellent job of introducing us to this particular character and her world, and yes, it sets up Book 2 (apparently scheduled for roughly six months after the publication of this book) rather explosively.

Very much recommended.

This review of Stolen Grace by B.R. Spangler was originally written on April 21, 2026.

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#BookReview: Hollywood Payback by Jon Lindstrom

Hollywood Hope. This one is very different from Lindstrom’s debut, actually corrects some mistakes it made (somewhat), and even manages to land haymakers even Stephen King couldn’t land quite so well… while directly calling out King. Yes, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is called out a few times in this tale, and yes, the tale largely follows a similar path to a point… and yet Lindstrom really does take that framework and make it his own in a tale as old as Hollywood itself.

At its heart is a guy who went to Hollywood as a typical midwestern guy looking to make it as a star… who then encountered Hollywood as it actually is, up to an including a #MeToo level scene (that is brief yet present) before falling to its also far too real underbelly (or so I’ve been told – I’ve never been further west than Phoenix, AZ, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve so much as crossed the Mississippi River). This section is mostly told in flashbacks to his days before prison even as our main narrative starts as he is being released from prison, and in both sides we get an emotional, heartfelt look at both sides of that inflection point, one with a lot more heart than Lindstrom’s debut… yet also with a fair amount of action.

The action at hand is both of the Carolina Reaper level (if brief, but fairly explicit) on the one hand in the before-prison scenes (along with some perhaps more jalapeno level spice in the post-prison timeline) and of the Without Remorse sheer bloody brutality level in several scenes deep into the text.

It is within the Without Remorse type sections that we get into where Lindstrom made some improvements from Hollywood Hustle… and still shows areas he still needs to clean up. One scene in particular describes suppressed gunshots as Hollywood almost always does… which particularly in that exact situation is very nearly as far from the truth as possible. Yet later in the text, Lindstrom accurately has a character say the reality of what suppressors actually do… before showing them again being used in a more Hollywood fashion. But it is within that last part in particular that Lindstrom really shows his improvements with guns, as he specifically names – and accurately describes – a particular $1,300 ish exotic-ish shotgun and exactly how to actually use this exact model. That he then employs it with such mastery and beauty is just… chef’s kiss. Truly. Though those with low tolerances for gore are going to want to self sensor the movie running in your head in this bit! (But the Without Remorse references in this review should have warned you of that already. 😉 )

Overall this was a really solid mix of emotional depth and excellent action that really any reader will likely find at least something to enjoy about this book, particularly when you add in the free-roaming Los Angeles vibe where not many areas of the city are left unexplored in some manner.

Very much recommended.

This review of Hollywood Payback by Jon Lindstrom was originally written on April 20, 2026.