Tag: Virginia

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#BookReview: The Gray Ghost by David Wood And Stephen John

Maddock AND Bones. Back Together! And Taking On A Civil War Mystery! This is what I love to see from Wood. Both Dane Maddock and Uriah ‘Bones’ Bonebrake back together again solving archaeological mysteries and kicking ass when needed.

The mystery – and adventure – here are awesome for this Son of the South who frequently notes how the Civil War is literally still visible in my home region between Atlanta and Chattanooga… and it isn’t even hard to find in that particular region. While this mystery starts in Virginia, it does in fact also find itself in a location I’ve been to a few times – even taken a date or two out there, *many* years ago. Atlanta’s Stone Mountain Park, home of the largest bas-relief sculpture in the world… and site of many anti-Confederacy protests over the years.

But even if you’re not from the Southern United States and haven’t grown up with this history all around you (as only certain regions of even the South have), the mystery here is still top-notch, and the action is even better. If you like say National Treasure, the 2000s era movie where Nic Cage steals the Declaration of Independence… now imagine Nic and his best friend are both former US Navy SEALs, with action – and danger – ramping up to challenge even them.

Ultimately this was the same type of dangerous (for the characters) yet fun (for the reader) action/ adventure tale that makes this series so excellent, and this was yet another truly great entry in this long running series.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Gray Ghost by David Wood and Stephen John was originally written on March 2, 2025.

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#BookReview: A Barefoot Tide by Grace Greene

Sometimes All It Takes Is A Break. This was a remarkable tale of a woman who was down on her luck being given a chance to take a break… who comes to realize all that she does have, and, perhaps, all that she needs to change. The book-within-a-book was a great technique that is sure to grab the attention of the literati types, but overall Lilliane’s story was a great crossover between Greene’s mountain based Cub Creek series and beach based Emerald Isle series, one full of heart and… well, grace. 😀 The ending left this particular reader hoping for at least one more book with these characters, though the two sentence description of that book is quite clear of where it needs to go. So y’all need to go buy this book and give Greene a reason to come back to these particular characters. 😀 Very much recommended.

This review of A Barefoot Tide by Grace Greene was originally written on January 11, 2021.

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#BookReview: Fulfillment by Alec MacGillis

Amazon’s Long Shadow. This book seeks to show the America that was, and the America that is in the Age of Amazon and how the former became the latter. And in that goal, it actually does remarkably well. Sprinkling case study after case study after case study with history, political science, and social science, this book truly does a remarkable job of showing the changing reality of living and working in an America that has gone from hyper local business to one of hyper global – and the giant blue smiley swoosh that has accompanied much of this transition over the last 2o years in particular. Very much a literary style work, this perhaps won’t work for those looking for a more in-depth attack on Amazon, nor will it really work for those looking for a true in-depth look at Amazon’s specific practices. But it does serve as a solid work of showing many of Amazon’s overall tactics and how they are both the result of change and the precipice of other change. Very much recommended.

This review of Fulfillment by Alec MacGillis was originally written on November 25, 2020.