Blogging from A-Z

Collision Bend. Finished 4-12-13, rating 4/5, 275 pages, pub. 1996

Book 7 of the Milan Jacovich series. (Book 1) (Book 2) (Book 3) (Book 4) (Book 5) (Book 6)

And the differences aren’t all physical differences, either.  It’s in the thinking.

Men, for instance, have great powers of concentration, almost a tunnel vision, that allows them to laser in on one spot;they are imminently suited to microsurgery, to rebuilding the transmission of a 1956 Thunderbird, and to many types of engineering.  Women, on the other hand, make wonderful executives because they are able to do several things at once, efficiently and well, and have remarkable peripheral awareness, something that is lacking in most males.  A woman president would probably do a hell of a job-better than many of the men we’ve had in the White House.

Chapter 15

Ex-cop and current Cleveland private detective, Milan Jacovich, is as old school as  they come.  He tells it like it is and doesn’t take any crap from people.  Milan has an ex-wife and two teenage boys but they don’t make an appearance, but his ex-girlfriend Mary, does.  When Mary blows back into Milan’s life it’s to ask for a favor, she wants him to prove her boyfriend innocent of murder, of murdering the other woman he was sleeping with.  Milan only wanted to hurt the guy, but he could not resist Mary and he takes the case.

Virginia Carville, a young television reporter is murdered in her home and Milan starts there, with her neighbor, bestselling romance novelist, Rosemary Kelley.  Milan shows his willingness to man up by reading one of her books, but then shows his prejudice by dismissing it.  This is one instance I thought Milan was being a little too old school 🙂 Milan has to dig to find other suspects, but when he does the storylines are compelling.  I wasn’t sure who did it, but they all deserved to get sent away for it.

I have expressed my love for Milan since discovering his first book years ago.  The fact that they take place in Cleveland and it’s nice to see my city represented was the attraction, but it’s Milan  that keeps me coming back for more.  He has such a common sense intelligence and steadfast character that you can’t help but love him.  The fact that he is tough enough to take care of himself and those he loves just makes me love him more.

This was not my favorite, BUT, I have never been disappointed in any of these mysteries and love recommending them.  Great main character and complex storylines make this series great.  Come on, get on the bandwagon 🙂  This was from my own library.

Blogging from A-Z

Kelleys Island:An Island Story by Claudia M. Brown. Finished 4/11/13, 80 pages, pub. 2006

Jason and I have been taking a yearly vacation to Kelleys Island, Ohio, with my parents since 2007.  Jason wanted somewhere close and relaxing.  I found Kelleys Island, the largest of the US Lake Erie islands at 4.4 square miles, less than an hour and a half away.  This island is so quaint and isolated that we fell in love with it as a place to get away.  There is no bridge, you’ve got to take your car over on a 20 minute ferry ride, so the place never seems overrun, even during the summer when many tourists go island hopping using the different boat for day visitors without cars.

I thought this book was fascinating.  For such a small place there is a lot of history.  Inscription Rock is there to see.  The pictographs were done by Native Americans between 1200-1600 since the latest of the pictures have white men, but no guns.  The Glacial Grooves exist from the last Ice Age, about 18,000 years ago, when the glaciers scoured into the soft limestone bedrock.  Stripped of soil these grooves are 400 ft by 35 ft. and contain a fossil record for all to see. Both of these are under the care of the Ohio Historical Society.

In the 1700′ s the Native Americans used it as shortcut to Canada but by the War of 1812 the military was using it and the Native Americans were driven away.  In 1827 only four people lived there and that’s when continuous habitation began for the white folks.  In 1833 the Kelley brothers began investing in quarrying and the rest is history.

Because it’s so isolated I’ve always been curious about the population. In 1863, there were 600 people and that was up to 1,174 in 1900.  The 2010 census had the permanent population at 312.  That’s quite a drop!  In the winter the lake freezes over and you are stuck there with no doctor, but a plane that may or may not be able to fly you to the mainland.  I love the charm of this island but don’t think I could do it. Summer residents compose about 75% of the island’s population.

Anyway, this book is a very detailed history and as someone who knows the island, I loved it!  Makes me look forward to our trip this year.  Here are links to past posts about our trips and a few pics. 2012 2011 2009