Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "Make Me: A Jack Reacher Thriller" by Lee Child

Friday, May 24, 2024

Review of "Make Me: A Jack Reacher Thriller" by Lee Child

In this 20th book in the 'Jack Reacher' series, the former military cop helps search for a missing man. Like all Reacher books, the novel works fine as a standalone.

*****

Jack Reacher, a former military cop who wanders from place to place, exits a train in an Oklahoma town called 'Mother's Rest', curious to find out the origin of the name.

At the train station, Reacher happens to meet a private detective named Michelle Chang, whose business partner - whom she was supposed to meet in Mother's Rest - has vanished.

Reacher decides to help Chang search for her partner, and the duo soon discover that the residents of Mother's Rest are EXTREMELY hostile, and obviously hiding something.

>

Reacher and Chang are essentially run out of town, and they embark on an investigation to find Chang's missing partner and discover what's going on in Mother's Rest.

The search takes the twosome around the country, and they finally get some valuable assistance from a journalist in Los Angeles, whom people constantly call with conspiracy theories.

There's plenty of action in the story, since Reacher hasn't met a man (or probably woman) he couldn't beat up. I don't want to give away spoilers, but we see a dark side of human nature in the tale's climax. There's also a touch of romance, for folks who like that sort of thing.

Rating: 3 stars

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This seriocomic novel addresses the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, in which humanity declines and robots ascend. ***** Charles is a valet robot who's been serving his master, who resides in a swanky manor, for many years. Charles is performing his daily duties as usual, which include checking his master's travel arrangements, though his master hasn't ventured out for the past 2,230 days; setting out his master's travel clothes for the non-existent trip; and so on. Charles is also programmed to ask the majordomo about the lady of the house, and the majordomo replies, 'Charles, there has been no lady of the house for seventeen years and twelve days.' Charles is detached about all this, and remains emotionless upon discovering that - this morning - he killed his master with a shaving razor. Charles promptly confesses to the crime and is ordered to present himself to a robot analysis complex. There the cyborg will go to Diagnostics - for investigation of his aberrant behavior; and then to Decommissioning - where he'll be retired. The valet is also stripped of his designation, Charles, and becomes an 'Undesignated Valet Unit' (UVU). The UVU embarks on the long walk to the robot analysis complex and - along the way - observes an absence of humans. The UVU does see a non-functioning gardener robot..... ......and a footman robot with green decay. It's clear something has gone wrong with society. Upon arrival at the Diagnostics edifice, the UVU sees a VERY long line of robots that aren't moving at all. The UVU, determining it would take hundreds of years to get to the front of the line, walks past the automatons into the center. There the UVU meets an odd-looking unit he calls the Diagnostician. The Diagnostician is a defective cyborg who, unlike robots that can communicate 'online', relies on speaking and hearing......

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It's 1964, and Cecily Bridge-Davis is an African-American college teacher who lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband Winston and young boys Jason and Lloyd. When Cecily learns she's inherited sixty acres of Bridge family land near Charlottesville, Virginia, Cecily takes a trip to Virginia, with plans to sell the property. Upon arrival at the Bridge land, Cecily finds a compound with a number of homes, an old apple orchard, various outbuildings, animal pastures, and so on. The original Bridge family house is a dilapidated structure containing decrepit furniture, a few family possessions..... .....and a carefully preserved Bible whose flyleaf contains a family history from the 1760s to the 1920s. The Bible also holds a map of the Bridge property, with X's marked here and there. Inspired by the family Bible, Cecily decides to research her ancestry using the local library; newspaper archives; and family papers. Cecily also examines the closest spot marked by an X, and there - buried near the bottom of a tree - Cecily finds a tote with necessities for survival: a flint and steel firemaking kit; a compass; mittens; a folding knife; desiccated hardtack (survival food); and a piece of paper listing the Bridge family rules. The Bridge Family Rules read as follows: * Never interfere with past events. * Always carry your freedom papers. (Freedom papers were proof a Black person was free, and not a runaway slave.) * Search for the survival packs in the orchard. * Do not speak to strangers unless absolutely necessary....

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Interspersed with discussions about specific plays are miscellaneous chapters, including: Stratford-Upon-Avon; Play; Company; Fireside Ramblings; Rose Theatre; Failure; Rehearsal; Critics; Shakespeare's Language; Audience; Changing Times; Future of Shakespeare; and Advice. In addition the audiobook concludes with a fun 'off the cuff' talk between O'Hea and Dench. Dame Judi Dench chatting with Brendan O'Hea Though I've seen some Shakespeare productions, I'll admit I looked up synopses of the plays being discussed, to familiarize myself with the plots and characters. Thus the book was a twofer for me - Judi Dench's memoir and a bit of a primer on Shakespeare. Prompted by O'Hea, Dench discusses the plays' plots, language, staging, costumes, cast, directors, relevance, mishaps, and more, and Judi is knowledgeable, fun, introspective, philosophical, practical, honest....all kinds of good things. Dench also gives us a glimpse of her personal life, with anecdotes about her parents; her husband Michael (Mikey) Williams, her daughter Finty, and people she's met and worked with during her long career. I'll give examples of the chitchat, to provide a feel for the book. Macbeth Speaking about Lady Macbeth, Dench opines: "Macbeth needs a push, and with the help of the spirits his wife is the one to do it. She is the spur that pricks him on....She's not interested [in being the Queen]....She does it for him....towards what she believes to be his due." Judi Dench (as Lady Macbeth) and Ian McKellan (as Macbeth) in Shakespeare's Macbeth On a light note, thinking about doing the play in Africa, and acting outside in the heat, Judi recalls, "I remember seeing vultures sitting in the trees and I said to the actors, 'For God's sake, twitch when you're dead, they're waiting to eat us."

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Journalist Anderson Cooper, scion of the (once) fabulously wealthy Vanderbilt family partnered with historian Katherine Howe to write about his ancestors. The book, Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, was an excellent overview of the legendary clan. Cooper partnered with Howe once again to tell the story of another (once) fabulously wealthy family, the Astors. For the Vanderbilts, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794 - 1877) made the family's initial fortune in the 1800s, from transportation. For the Astors, John Jacob Astor (1763 - 1848) accumulated the family's original wealth in the 1700s and 1800s, from the fur trade and from being a slumlord. The fur trade John Jacob Astor was born in Waldorf, Germany in 1763 and arrived in America in 1783. On the voyage over, John Jacob learned he could get rich by buying and selling animal pelts, and all he needed was the fortitude to travel into the wilderness. Astor was enthusiastic, though working with pelts has been described as "repulsive to anyone not used to bad smells, blood, and mess." " John Jacob Astor Processing furs is a smelly bloody business In 1785 Astor married Sarah Todd, and "together they forged an alliance that would become nothing less than a juggernaut." Sarah had a knack for business, and she supported her husband's fur trading trips while she took care of the household and bore eight children......

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Many people think Misty Copeland, who became a principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre in 2015, was American's first Black ballerina. This is incorrect. In 1969, African American danseur Arthur Mitchell founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH), a company that featured Black ballet dancers. Misty Copeland Arthur Mitchell For many years, it was 'common knowledge' that Black dancers belonged in modern dance, not classical ballet. Mitchell explains, "I said to hell with that; I wasn't raised speaking Swahili or doing native dances. Why not classical ballet?" So Mitchell became a danseur in George Balanchine's New York City Ballet, and later founded DTH. Arthur Mitchell Arthur Mitchell instructing a ballerina Dance Theatre of Harlem DTH's five pioneer ballerinas were well known in their time, but subsequently faded from memory. Author Karen Valby, who's White, thought it was time to restore these women - whom she calls the Swans of Harlem - to their place in history. In an interview, Valby said, "Fundamentally, I consider this book a gift to my [adopted] daughters — young Black girls who are dancers themselves. They deserve to know about the Swans, and to feel surrounded by the power of example. Writing in this case felt like an act of mothering.”.....

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Sean Carroll is an American theoretical physicist and philosopher who specializes in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and the philosophy of science. Among other things, Carroll writes about cosmology, the arrow of time, and the Higgs boson. Sean Carroll This book addresses a variety of topics, but concentrates largely on 'time.' There are many ways to define time, but in essence, "Time is the agent of change. We move through it, or - equivalently - time flows past us, from the past, through the present, towards the future." In other words, time goes one way - from past to future. In the first Superman movie, Superman flies around the Earth so fast that he reverses time....time runs backwards instead of forwards so that Superman can rescue Lois Lane. Can we really go back in time? No! Sean Carroll writes, "In the actual, non-imaginary world, it never happens. Time has a direction, and it has the same direction for everybody." A corollary is that "Paradoxes do not happen." For instance, you can't go back in time and kill your grandfather, so that you will not be born....and then you wouldn't be around to go back in time. Several whimsical examples are included in the narrative as Carroll makes this point. Don't get me wrong. For the lay person, this book is VERY HEAVY on physics. But Carroll has a good sense of humor and his levity helps the medicine go down (so to speak). 🙂 In this review I'm going to include a few things I found especially interesting in the book, just to provide a tiny feel for the topics. 🌌 Entropy Most people who've taken a basic science class have heard of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which (in simple terms) states that, "something called entropy, which measures the 'disorderliness' of a system, has a tendency to increase as time passes. And the reason is deceptively simple: There are more ways to be disorderly than to be orderly." It's not that hard to break an egg and scramble the egg molecules, but putting them back into the shape of a whole egg is impossible.......

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In this 4th book in the 'Grilled Cheese Mysteries' series, restaurateur/amateur sleuth Carly Hale feels compelled to investigate when a young man she knows is suspected of murder. The book works fine as a standalone. When thirtysomething Carly Hale's husband died in a tragic accident, she moved back to her hometown of Balsam Dell, Vermont and opened Carly's Grilled Cheese Eatery. In time Carly's grief subsided, and she started dating an electrician named Ari Mitchell. Carly and Ari are now in a serious relationship, and very happy together. Carly's restaurant has become quite popular, and she currently employs assistant manager Valerie Wells; part-time server Suzanne Rivers; and grill cook/aspiring chef Grant Robinson, who'll soon be off to culinary school. In addition, a young man called Ross Baxter, who's saving up for college, delivers food from Carly's Grilled Cheese Eatery to elderly residents of Balsam Dell. Ross is personable, and all the senior citizens like him except for one grumpy woman, Mrs. Octavia Gray. Ross confides in Carly that Mrs. Gray called his grandmother, and complained that Ross was rude, spied on her, and ate some of her chips - none of which is true.......

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Ray Carney, who's a Harlem furniture store owner..... ......and a criminal fence, was introduced in the darkly comic book 'Harlem Shuffle', set in the 1960s. In Harlem Shuffle, Ray is recruited to fence goods acquired from the heist of an upscale Harlem hotel; things go wrong; and crooked cops, gangsters, and other baddies are involved. ***** Ray and his family, friends, and acquaintances are back in 'Crook Manifesto', set in the 1970s. As the book opens, Ray, his wife Elizabeth, and their two children, named John and May, have moved to a nicer neighborhood. Ray has been going straight for the past four years, having given up his fencing sideline. Ray's store, Carney's Furniture, is doing very well, and Ray prides himself on selling quality goods to Harlem residents: "Carney outfitted newlyweds for their expedition and upgraded living rooms to suit improved circumstances, coached retirees through the array of modern recliners. It was a grave responsibility." Try as he might, though, Ray can't stay on the right side of the law, and trouble ensues. The book is divided into three parts: 1971, 1973, and 1976. 🕵 1971 Ray is a loving father, and when his teenage daughter May wants to see 'The Jackson Five' at Madison Square Garden, Ray vows to get tickets for the show. Ray hits up various contacts with no luck, and finally resorts to asking a bent white cop named Munson - who patrols Harlem - for a favor. Munson agrees to get The Jackson Five tickets for a return favor: Ray must fence pricey gems Munson acquired from the robbery of a jewelry store. Ray agrees to fence the stolen goods, not knowing that Munson has a much bigger agenda.........

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Journalist Anderson Cooper, scion of the (once) fabulously wealthy Vanderbilt family, was silent about his heritage for most of his life. Then, when Anderson's mother Gloria Vanderbilt reached her nineties, Cooper published the book The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss - which details his mother's fascinating history. Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt The Vanderbilts are a larger-than-life clan that made and squandered huge fortunes over the generations. After the death of his mother, Cooper was going through her boxes of journals, documents, letters, and other memorabilia, and he 'began to hear the voices of his ancestors.' Wanting to know more, Cooper decided to research his heritage. This book, written with historian Katherine Howe, is the result. Cooper's ancestors arrived in the New World in the 1600s, when a Dutch farmer named Jan Aertsen van der Bilt ('from the Bilt'), arrived in New Amsterdam (the future New York). New Amsterdam in the 1600s By the 1700s Jan Aertsen's descendant Jacob van der Bilt lived in Staten Island, and this branch of the family gave rise to Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt - the man who made the family's initial fortune. Cornelius started out by running ferry boats on the Staten Island waterfront in the early 1800s, when he was eleven years old. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt Young Cornelius ran ferries on the Staten Island waterfront in the 1800s Cornelius then graduated to running steamboats between New York and New Jersey at the age of twenty-three, and went on to establish a vast shipping and railroad empire. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt built a railroad empire Cooper and Howe write, "Commodore Vanderbilt was a master manipulator, disseminator, and inventor of his own legend [who] reveled in attention, in being feared by men in business with him and, certainly by men in business against him. He was feared also by his children, whose lives he dominated. More than anything else, however, the Commodore thrived on money. When his final breath escaped his body, this man would leave behind a veritable monument of money." In fact the Commodore left $100 million, the equivalent of more than $2 billion today........

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Author Paul Hendrickson is an award-winning American journalist and author. After much research and many interviews, Hendrickson penned this book about his father, Joe Paul Hendrickson (1918-2003), pilot of a P-61 Black Widow fighter plane based in Iwo Jima during World War II. Hendrickson describes his father's plane as follows: "A sleek and lethal thing, poisonous as the spider from which she'd taken her name, a combination fighter-bomber, a pursuit ship, from the Northrop Aircraft Corporation, with a twin-boom tail design and with a crew of three: pilot, radar operator, gunner." Joe Paul Hendrickson P-61 Black Widow Pilot Joe Hendrickson (center), with radio operator Jack Kerr (left), and gunner Leo E. Vough (right) Hendrickson starts with the early decades of his father's life, so we get to know the future pilot and his family. In brief, Joe grew up in a large family on a Kentucky farm; joined the Army Air Corps in 1937, when he was nineteen; and gradually worked his way up from airplane mechanic school to flight school, becoming an officer along the way. Hendrickson describes his father's training in detail, and includes depictions of other pilots, radar operators, and gunners in his father's unit. Joe married his wife Rita Bernardine Kyne in early 1942, and "after marriage, and with the war on, the young officer and his bride crisscrossed the country, airfield to airfield, base to base: Santa Ana, Yuma, Kissimmee, Bakersfield, Orlando, La Junta, Fresno." Once Joe qualified, he volunteered for night fighters and the almost mythic Black Widow......

Barb's Book Reviews

Friday, May 24, 2024

Review of "Make Me: A Jack Reacher Thriller" by Lee Child

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