THE KILL CODE COLLECTIVE

 THE KILL CODE COLLECTIVE

by Brian Lutterman, John Baird Rogers, Julie Holmes,

Chris Norbury and Rob Jung 

A Midwest Mystery Works Thriller  

A VERY up-to-date crime novel! Five excellent  Midwestern mystery authors have combined their talents, and their leading characters, into a story with almost frightful real implications. How much control and protection do certain patients have? When an electronic device is implanted, let's say a pacemaker, and the device is designed to send certain kinds of electronic signals to a monitoring physician, what are the vulnerabilities, if any? And should a corrupt corporate raider decide to go after the manufacturer of the device, what kind of defense is needed? Five Minnesota mystery authors decided to combine their considerable talents to explore those questions. The five carefully and judiciously brought their characters together in one story to defend a corporation and save certain key patients. Why are some patients targeted? Read this excellent novel to discover the answers. From every perspective of this kind of plotting, the authors have blended their talents and inserted established characters into new uncertain circumstances that will test their wit and intellects and provide readers with a satisfying and intensely interesting novel.

MUSIC IN THE PARK SERIES

Not a crime book series, this is a many-years-old music series established in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood of Saint Paul. Because I attend and support such an excellent series, I occasionally review  concerts, even though this is not a crime novel. The music series takes place five Sunday afternoons each year in the sanctuary of the United Church of Christ, formerly a Congregational Church. This was the final concert of the current season. The Miro quartet is a world-recognized groupof string musicians. Their collaborator for this program included virtuoso saxophone artist Steven Banks. He plays soprano and tenor instruments in the concert, including the fine original piece, he composed. It's title, "Come What May."  The rest of the concert included an ancient piece by Hildigard of Birgen, two delightful works by Caroline Shaw, sweet, joyful, precise and moving, then part of Beethoven's String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132. Throughout, the concert, including the final suburbly moving piece, a 1994 suite from Osvaldo Golijov titled "The Dreams and Prayers  of Isaac the Blind," Throughout, the musicians performed  with precision, complex coordination, and considerable emotion over a wide range of musicianship. It was a very moving concert, enhanced by the significant architecture and sound characteristics of the venue. As a concert venue for smaller groups and solo performers, this place is surely one of the finest in the Twin Cities.

 

THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS - Review

THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS--Review

 by Colin Norman

 ISBN: 9781687325815

 A 2019 UK Release by the author

 The novel purports to be a blend of spy catcher, thriller and love story. What it turn out to be is a short,casual, almost cozy, beach romance, set on the English coast. A man on a rare vacation meets an attracive young woman. They spend a lot of time together, sunbathing and chatting. It turns out she has defected from Russia with her brother and may be the target of of a pretty incompetent Russian hit team. The plot wanders between romance and hiding in sight, the chraacters chat, avoid one another or connect. They also dine and travel here and there. The romance between the woman and the vacationer rises swiftly from handshakes to cheek kisses. The conclusion of this short novel is abrupt, relatively unemotional and leaves character and readers to wonder about the future. The manuscript should have been more carefully line edited. This is a story that never was quite completed.