Image: Pixabay
Rich red wine
From the very best vine.
Drink and dine, drink and dine.
Later together me and you
Zip right through
This long powdery line.
Marking
The beginning
Of our decline.
The Finish Line
Barely Thirty
Image: Pixabay
Feeling young
And carefree,
Air blowing hair
As I’m cruising,
Suddenly horns are honking,
Now feeling eighty
For going barely thirty
On I-65 toward Indy.
Lost Dreams
Image: Pixabay
Woulda
Coulda
Shoulda
Been either
A mover or shaker.
Instead
Settled
Disgruntled
Became neither
Just a lost dreamer.
Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz (a book blurt)
This book is the first of a series about an orphan who is raised and trained to be a lethal agent to handle covert missions for the U.S. government. After years of stealthily assassinating so-called dangerous people, our hero, Evan Smoak, starts to question if he’s really killing “the bad guys” and decides to leave the program. By doing so, he puts his handler, Jack Johns, into a precarious situation. An older man, turns out Johns is more than Smoak’s handler; he’s also the one who raised Smoak since childhood, growing fond of him along the way.
Smoak successfully escapes anyway and transforms himself into an undercover “fairy-tale godmother” by helping one desperate individual a year. Usually, the help involves ridding the bad forces that have made the individual’s life impossible. A bigger-than-life hero is what makes a thriller thrilling, and this story delivers such a character in spades. Prepare for all kinds of action and twists. The second book in the series is now available, The Nowhere Man, and I’m on it! (I just finished reading The Nowhere Man and it is even more action-packed than ever. Our hero finds himself close to being “no more man.”)
I must mention another book similar to this in many ways, and just as thrilling: Kill the Father by Sandrone Dazieri. For a full book review, read Bookidote. (This book is also the first of a new series.)
4/23/17: Subsequently, I’ve gone on to read more of Hurwitz’s books, as listed below.
The Tower
Minutes to Burn
Don’t Look Back
The Nowhere Man (2nd of Orphan X series)
The Crime Writer
Trust No One
Don’t Look Back
They’re Watching
Hell Bent (3rd of Orphan X series)
You’re Next
Out of the Dark (4th of Orphan X series)
Into the Fire (5th of Orphan X series)
Prodigal Son (6th of Orphan X series)
Dark Horse (7th of Orphan X series)
Do No Harm
The Kill Clause
Last Shot
The Survivor
Tell No Lies
Grinnin’ Green
Photo by bloggeta
Is that cabbage between your teeth? Guinness on the breath? Corned beef dancing on your lip? Join the parade and get thee to the pub to celebrate . . .
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Childish Memories
Image: Pixabay
Jack is nimble,
Small as a thimble,
Just like his friend Tom,
Whose last name goes by Thumb.
Raining cats and dog,
Better than warts and hogs.
Though rain won’t go away,
Thinking of Rebecca’s sunny day.
Still with hundreds of kids
All crammed in a Keds,
That old woman makes enough soup
To last until they droop.
He goes by Rumpelstiltskin
With such an evil grin,
He’s known to be mischievous
And can be so devious.
Tales so wondrous,
Fond memories
Of my friends,
Invisibles and pretends.
Grumble (50-word story)
Dee’s abdomen churned all day and seemed to bloat by night. She rested in discomfort. Hours later it was no better. A membranous sac of creepy crawly critters burst out of her belly. Goodbye. No more all-you-can-eat feasts for Dee, observed little Tommy, who had been feeding his favorite mouse.
The Whistleblower (six-word story)
Trussed up with seconds to go.
Faded Beauty
Image: Pixabay
Once a dazzler,
Called a stunner.
Years later,
Just a wheezer,
Waiting for the reaper.
The Custodian
Image: Pixabay
The clock strikes five. All the worker bees in Suite 320 suddenly come to life, shutting down their computers, tossing their empty coffee cups. Others lock up their drawers as if afraid somebody might steal their company-issued office supplies.
“Bye, Henry.”
“Have a nice weekend, Linda.”
“TGIF!”
Farewells among colleagues are exchanged; they give and accept their goodbyes like eager squirrels storing away their nuts for winter.
Less than five minutes later, the whole office is cleared. Sounds of rolling wheels break the silence as the little man behind a gray trash barrel comes in. As Head Custodian, he rips up all the computers, along with the desks and pitches them into the bottomless barrel. He has determined this last batch of worker bees does not work hard enough. They will not have a place to work when they return on Monday morning. He wheels away to the next floor to decide on the fate of the group in Suite 420.
Karina Pinella 
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