If you put Agatha Christie and Lee Child’s Make Me in a blender, you’d get Catherine Steadman’s Look In the Mirror. In alternating chapters, we follow three women on a harrowing experience complete with danger and deadly puzzles.

Nina Hepworth is grieving the death of her father, a brilliant but enigmatic professor, when she receives a letter from a legal firm informing her of a property her father has left her: a 3-bedroom Beachfront Estate in Pond Bay, Gorda, British Virgin Islands. Mystified because she knew nothing of her father’s activities in the Virgin Islands, Nina accepts the legal firm’s offer to fly her to tour the property.

Meanwhile, Maria, a Cornell Medical School dropout, has a contract to be a nanny for the super-rich. The money is better and the variety of exotic locations appeals to her. But as the days go by in the Virgin Island estate, Maria relaxes in the pool and the sauna waiting for the wealthy clients as her imperilment increases.

Lucinda, an executive type, is the linchpin of the story. She’s the beautiful, elegant contact between Nina and Maria who knows the perils that await them.

If you’re in the mood for a suspenseful, twisty, and mysterious novel with a nefarious plot featuring puzzles in the form of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, give Look In the Mirror a try. GRADE: B+

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought I’d feature one the best horror novels I’ve ever read. Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House (1959), is certainly the most influential haunted house tale of all time. It was a finalist for the National Book Award and has been made into two feature films (The Haunting, directed by Robert Wise, and its remake), a play, and is the basis of a Netflix series.

Jackson sets up a scary situation when a group of four supernatural phenomena researchers stay at a haunted house. The reader is confronted with the question: do ghosts really exist? The researchers all perceive the haunted house in different ways with plenty of dread and horror.

In 2018, The New York Times polled 13 writers to choose the scariest book of fiction they have ever read, and Carmen Maria Machado and Neil Gaiman both chose The Haunting of Hill House. You can add me to that list! Are you a fan of Shirley Jackson? GRADE: A

Back in 1979, I moved back to Western NY from Madison, Wisconsin. I was about to start a new career as a college professor. Diane and I were looking at houses in the neighborhood we wanted to live in. The mortgage interest rates were 13% back then! And, I listened to a lot of songs on the radio as I was driving around from job to job.

Naturally, I heard The Cars’ “Let’s Go” many, many times. And Smokey Robinson’s “Cruising'” while I was cruising around North Tonawanda.

We’ve all been hearing “YMCA” at Trump rallies lately. And when I see Laura Loomer hanging out with Trump, Joe Jackson’s “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” seems appropriate for the moment.

Back in 1979, Nicolette Larson’s “Lotta Love” received heavy airplay on our local radio stations. Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B

TRACK LIST:

Murder Most Feline: Cunning Tales of Cats and Crime is another volume in Martin H. Greenberg’s Murder Most … series. This time, Greenberg is assisted by Ed Gorman and Larry Segriff.

My favorite story in Murder Most Feline is Bill Crider’s clever “It’s In the Bag.” During a trial, a cat in a bag becomes a key element in solving the crime. I also enjoyed Parnell Hall’s “The Witness Cat” where a murder gets resolved with the aid of a kitty.

As with the other Murder Most… volumes, Greenberg and company present a variety of stories, some serious, some funny, but all featuring a cat in a pivotal role in the solving of a crime. If you like mysteries and cats, Murder Most Feline is the cat’s meow! Are you a cat person? GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction — vii

The witness cat / Parnell Hall — 3

Justice knows no paws / Jon L. Breen — 23

It’s in the bag / Bill Crider — 35

Animal sounds / Dulcy Brainard — 49

Blue eyes / Janet Dawson — 65

Cat, the jury / Catherine Dain — 79

The memory pool / Tracy Knight — 91

The lawlessness west of the Pecos / Jan Grape — 105

Catnip / Dick Lochte — 123

Hoskin’s cat / Shirley Rousseau Murphy — 147

Missing the cat / Mat Coward — 159

Prints / Ann Barrett — 171

Mr. Biggles for the defense / Matthew J. Costello — 185

Family ties / Richard Chizmar and Barry Hoffman — 197

For the benefit of Bootsy / Jeremiah Healy — 207

In the lowlands / Gary A. Braunbeck — 221

Author Biographies — 245

Copyrights — 248

Diane and I took our 14-year-old Oreck vacuum cleaner for its annual maintenance checkup at Supervacuums in Hamburg, NY. The young technician looked at our Oreck and said, “I could give you a $150 rebate for your Oreck if you buy a new Riccar SupraLite Standard Lightweight Vacuum (R10S).”

Diane and I tried out the Riccar R10S in the store and liked it. So we traded our old Oreck for a new Riccar. Diane, who does most of the vacuuming, tested it in our living room and liked its maneuverability and suction. So far, so good. How do you like your vacuum cleaner?

Hugh Milford is a Professor of History at California State University, Long Beach. Milford is a gifted writer and I love his snarky approach to the CIA. Here’s an example:

“In Indonesia, the hoped for mutiny in the military failed to materialize and Sukarno actually benefited from psychological warfare measures intended to discredit him. In one notorious instance, the CIA had sponsored the production of a pornographic movie featuring an actor made up to look like president [Sukarno]. Rumor had it that the movie backfired because Indonesians were so impressed by the the virility of the Sukarno look-alike.” (p. 91-92)

Wilford’s approach is designed to give the reader an accurate history of the CIA–both Good and Bad. Wilford starts with a brief description of international conditions that lead to the forming of the CIA in 1947. The focus then shifts to the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s. The CIA declined in the 1970s as part of the anti-imperial backlash against the CIA at home. But President Reagan reinvigorated the CIA in the 1980s as the Cold War with Russia was ending. Finally, Wilford examines the CIA’s role in the United States’s Global War on Terror and the menacing resurgence of Cold War-like tensions with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

I found The CIA: An Imperial History (2024) compelling and informative. If you want to know more about the CIA, this is the place to look. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION — 1

Prologue: Imperial precursors — 11

Part 1. Overseas:

Intelligence — 35

Regime change — 69

Regime maintenance — 107P

Part 2. At Home:

Counterintelligence — 147

Publicity — 193

Unintended consequences — 239

Epilogue: The Global War on Terror — 279

Conclusion — 305

Acknowledgements — 315

Notes — 319

Index — 349

With the 23-20 win over the NY Jets on Monday Night Football, the 4-2 Bills are 8 1/2 point favorites over the 1-4 Tennessee Titans. The weather in Western NY is unusually warm and mild! Game Time conditions will be 70 degrees and sunny with 5 mph winds. The Bills should win this game, but in the NFL, You Never Know.

How will your favorite NFL do today?

Diane and I were part of the 2000 attendees of a Jon Meacham event at the Center for the Arts at the State University of New York at Buffalo, part of the Distinguished Speaker Series. Diane and I have read some of Jon Meacham’s many books, seen him speak on MSNBC and other TV news shows, and generally agree with his historical and political analysis of where America is right now.

Meacham spoke for about 90 minutes, then answered questions for 30 more minutes. The 2-hour event didn’t feel like 2 hours–it felt like about 20 minutes! Right now, Meacham is teaching a class in History & Politics at Vanderbilt University. It’s an elective class. Guess how many students signed up for it? If you guessed 1,100 students, you’re right! Meacham’s class is the biggest class in Vanderbilt’s history!

Meacham acknowledged that things don’t look great for America right now, but looking over the history of our country, Meacham pointed out we’ve been down before–the Great Depression, World War II, Vietnam, etc.–and managed to overcome our troubles.

Diane and I enjoyed Meacham’s use of humor to illustrate his points. Meacham is close friends of the Bushes and Meacham has a killer imitation of George H. W. Bush! Very funny!

Here’s more information about Jon Meacham:

Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham is one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals. A contributor to TIME, Meacham is a highly sought-after commentator, regularly appearing on MSNBC, CNN and other news outlets. A skilled orator with a depth of knowledge about politics, religion and current affairs, Meacham has the unique ability to bring history to life and offer historical context to current events and issues impacting our daily lives—whether we realize it or not—to audiences of all backgrounds and levels of understanding.

He served as Newsweek’s managing editor from 1998 to 2006 and as editor from 2006 to 2010.

Meacham released two podcasts with the History Channel: “Hope Through History” and “It Was Said.” Narrated and written by Meacham, season two of the critically acclaimed “Hope Through History” podcast explores some of the most historic and trying times in American History, how the nation dealt with the impact of these moments, and how we came through these moments a more unified nation. “It Was Said,” tells the stories of those crucial words, taking listeners back to inflection points ranging from the McCarthy era to our present time through the real-time rhetoric that shaped and suffused America as the country struggled through storm and strife. “It Was Said” captures the nation we’ve been, and points ahead to the nation we hope to become.

Meacham is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers including, “Songs of America,” which is a celebration of the music that helped shape a nation. Co-written by musician Tim McGraw, “Songs of America” was praised as “a glorious celebration of our diversity” by Quincy Jones and an “unusually well-written and moving story” by Ken Burns. Another #1 New York Times bestseller, “The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels,”examines the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in U.S. history when hope overcame division and fear. He released “His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope”—an intimate and revealing portrait of civil rights icon and longtime U.S. congressman John Lewis that quickly gained bestseller status.

Meacham’s presidential biography of George H. W. Bush, “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush,” debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. According to the Times, “‘Destiny and Power’ reflects the qualities of both subject and biographer: judicious, balanced, deliberative, with a deep appreciation of history and the personalities who shape it.” He is a co-author of “Impeachment: An American History,” which reveals the complicated motives behind the three impeachments in U.S. history. A #1 New York Times bestseller, “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power” was hailed as “masterful and intimate” by Fortune magazine. Meacham’s other national bestsellers include “Franklin and Winston,” “American Gospel,” and “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House,” which won a Pulitzer Prize.

Meacham is a frequent guest on “Morning Joe;” “Real Time with Bill Maher;” “The 11th Hour,” and was featured in Ken Burns’ documentary series “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.” FOX News produced an hour-long special about Meacham’s “Destiny and Power.”

Named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Meacham is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University where he holds the Rogers Chair in the American Presidency. His latest New York Times bestseller, “And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle,” was published in October 2022.

The University at Buffalo’s 2024–2025 Distinguished Speakers Series features four speakers, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a Nobel Laureate, a ballet dancer, and a Buffalo Bills player:

• Jon MeachamPresidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who will speak on October 16, 2024
• Nadia MuradNobel Laureate, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, and bestselling author who will speak on November 14, 2024
• Misty CopelandPrincipal dancer for American Ballet Theatre, philanthropist, and New York Times bestselling author who will speak on February 12, 2025
• Damar HamlinBuffalo Bills safety and commotio cordis survivor who will speak on March 13, 2025 

Originally published in the June 1983 issue of Analog and the winner of both the 1983 Nebula and 1984 Hugo awards for Best Novelette, Greg Bear’s classic story of biotechnology became one of the Science Fiction Book Club’s celebrated titles for their SFBC 50th Anniversary Collection.

I was a subscriber to the Science Fiction Book Club for a number of years. I liked the reasonable prices for the books and the unique omnibus books they offered.

Greg Bear’s Blood Music is Number 32 of the 40 books in this series. Here’s a list of the books in this celebratory series. How many have you read?

SFBC 50th Collection

Over the years, I bought a lot of Arista albums. I remember playing Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat album in 1976 and wearing the grooves out! I was also fond of Patti Smith’s “Because the Night”–written with Bruce Springsteen–on her 1978 album, Easter.

Arista liked British bands like The Alan Parsons Project, the Thompson Twins, and the Eurythmics and promoted them relentlessly in the U.S.

“Founded in November 1974 by Clive Davis and deactivated in 2011, Arista was re-established in 2018. Along with RCA Records, Columbia Records, and Epic Records, it is one of Sony Music’s four flagship record labels.” — Wikipedia

Were you a fan of Arista? Any favorites here? GRADE: B

TRACK LIST: