Night Prey by John Sandford (Davenport #6)

Night Prey by John Sandford


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read this as an audiobook.


From Publishers Weekly: In this sixth entry in his Prey series, streetwise Minneapolis deputy police chief Lucas Davenport is beleaguered by perplexing females. Charged with saving the political life of Rose Marie Roux, the ambitious police chief who has her eye on a Senate seat, he's given the assignment of tracking to ground the sex-crazed perpetrator of a series of murders of young women. Davenport's unwelcome colleague in this case is feminist Meagan Connell, an abrasive State Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator who's obsessed with catching the killer before she dies of cancer. Also bedeviled by the ill-timed assignment of a new partner, a yuppie who was formerly assigned to the grade schools as ``Officer Friendly'' and who happens to be the husband of the mayor's niece, Davenport is additionally saddled with the mystifying death of an elderly woman who died rather conveniently, freeing some local hoods to profit from a real-estate scam. Juxtaposing the dark consciousness of the sex-fixated murderer against the narrative perspective of Davenport, Sandford builds a compelling counter-rhythm of suspense. The narrative is sensitively embued with Davenport's humaneness as, in awe, he watches Connell courageously fight to postpone her impending death. Yet, credibly flawed, the cop also displays a roving eye when he's momentarily distracted from his deep commitment to the lovely physician Weather Karkinnen by a beautiful and seductive TV anchor.


My thoughts: I lost patience with the antagonist - Ray Coup - about half way into the book. About two thirds of the way through, after spending a night with Coup on a rooftop as he spied on "His woman" with another man, agonizing over this horrible development and then go just totally nutzo, I started skipping the bits with Coup. Yes, he's psycho. We've established that. The rest just became filler and rather dull filler at that.


We already know Davenport's a womanizer. It should come as no surprise to anyone when he starts to make eyes at a sexy reporter after having moved in with Weather. I wasn't entirely convinced his State counterpart - Megan Connell - was plausible as a character. I don't want to reveal more as her bit is someone integral to Davenports character development in this book.


Lastly, we start out with several sub-plots in addition to the main, then they just...dropped off. Plop! Like that. I think less psycho/stalker driving around aimlessly in his car and more sub-plot carry through would have made this a stronger book.


However, lest you think this one might be a 'skipper' - I liked the ending. It was getting there that was problematic for me.



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Recipe Review from 3/5/12

A bit belated, but may we welcome my new nephew, Maximus!  Born 3/4/12. 

I bought him the little Viking's onesie....aren't I a good Aunt?

A very busy week at work left me rather brain fried in the evenings and disinclined to get on the computer, but gave me more time to pull together several good meals before I crashed with a couple of books. 

Cheesy Rice Graitin with Zucchini and Eggplant  (Ckng Lght Mar, 2012)
This earned a very good rating from me not only for ease of prep (made easier by making the rice several days in advance) but also because of flavor and quantity.  This had the perfect melding of seasonings and cheese.  Now, I don't have an 11x7 pyrex pan as called for and had to use my 9x13 so it ended up a bit drier than I suspect it was supposed to.  Not a problem!  This still reheated perfectly and was even better the next day.   To make this GF, omit the crumb topping and sprinkle liberally with parmesan and chopped walnuts. 

3/4 cup uncooked long-grain brown rice**
1 pound eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes

Photo from CookingLight.com

1 pound zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated and divided (1 cup)
 1/4 cup half-and-half Click to see savings
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 ounces French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley Preparation

1. Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

2. Preheat oven to 400°.

3. Combine eggplant, zucchini, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl; toss to combine. Place eggplant mixture evenly on a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Place vegetables in a large bowl.

4. Reduce oven temperature to 375°.

5. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add onion and garlic; cook for 12 minutes or until tender. Add onion mixture to eggplant mixture. Add cooked rice, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup cheese, and the next 3 ingredients (through eggs), and stir well to combine. Spoon rice mixture into an 11 x 7–inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover with foil, and bake at 375° for 15 minutes.

6. Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 cup. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add breadcrumbs, and cook for 3 minutes or until toasted, stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat; stir in remaining 1/4 cup cheese, walnuts, and parsley.

7. Remove foil from rice mixture. Top evenly with breadcrumb mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender and topping is browned.

Wine Match: Pick a smooth, midweight red like Vietti Barbera d'Asti Tre Vigne, Piedmont, Italy, 2009 ($16). With its vibrant fruit and acidity, this soft-tannin wine stands up to the rich cheese without overpowering the tender veggies. --Scott Jones

Sidney Fry, MS, RD, Cooking Light
MARCH 2012


**My preferred method for cooking brown rice:
1 1/2 cups brown rice   (works with basmati too)
2 1/2 cups boiling water
vegetable oil or butter
seasonings if preferred (I don't prefer unless it's saffron)

Preheat oven to 350*
Bring water to a boil. 
Spray 9x9 glass pan with oil or butter. 
Dump in rice.  Pour boiling water over rice.
Cover very tightly with 2 layers of aluminum foil.
Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let stand.  Fluff with fork before serving or storing. 


Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce  (Ckng Lght March 2012)
This was another pleasant surprise.  The sauce turns out surprisingly sweet which is highlighted quite nicely with caramelizing the onions slightly and picking red, orange or yellow peppers instead of green (which I find bitter).  I made the full amount of sauce but only two eggs.  Toast didn't seem right so I subbed some flax-seed English Muffins.  Yum!   I used the leftover sauce with some pork cultets later in the week for variety, but eggs again would have been just as good. 

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups sliced red bell pepper

Photo from CookingLight.com

1 cup sliced green orange bell pepper
1 cup sliced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce (I used Barilla brand)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 large eggs  (or however many you need)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (1 1/2-ounce) slices 100% whole-wheat bread, toasted English muffins
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
4 teaspoons shaved fresh Parmesan cheese


1. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add bell peppers and onion; cook for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in marinara sauce and oregano; cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Form 4 (3-inch) indentations in vegetable mixture using back of a spoon. Break 1 egg into each indentation; sprinkle salt and black pepper evenly over eggs. Cover and cook 6 minutes or until eggs are desired degree of doneness.

3. Arrange 1 toast slice on each of 4 plates. Top each slice with 1/2 cup sauce and 1 egg. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons parsley and 1 teaspoon cheese.

David Bonom, Cooking Light
MARCH 2012

Game of Cages by Harry Connolly

Game of Cages by Harry Connolly


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Book two in the Twenty Palaces Society featuring Raymond Lilly.

From Goodreads.com: As a wealthy few gather to bid on a predator capable of destroying all life on earth, the sorcerers of the Twenty Palace Society mobilize to stop them. Caught up in the scramble is Ray Lilly, the lowest of the low in the society—an ex–car thief and the expendable assistant of a powerful sorcerer. Ray possesses exactly one spell to his name, along with a strong left hook. But when he arrives in the small town in the North Cascades where the bidding is to take place, the predator has escaped and the society’s most powerful enemies are desperate to recapture it. All Ray has to do is survive until help arrives.



My thoughts on this book are similar to book one: read a bit like an action movie, lots of running around in panic, people chasing the protagonists, attempted kidnappings, getting shot at and over coming impossible odds. And yet, I enjoyed it because the protagonist struggles with himself. Is he doing the right thing? Is this what he really wants to be doing? Is he actually helping the Twenty Palaces Society or is he causing more harm than good? Do the means justify the end? I like to see a main character who struggles with morality questions why doggedly trying to do the best he can under Not Very Nice circumstances.


Recommended if you've read Book 1: Child of Fire.



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Winter Prey by John Sandford (Davenport #5)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
From Goodreads.com: It's the dead of winter, and a killer like no other is turning a small Wisconsin town into a death trap-one that's closing in on Lucas Davenport.
This one felt a bit reminiscent of Eyes of Prey (#3) and Silent Prey (#4) in regards to the antagonist - Iceman - thinking in terms of himself and “the Beast inside”. As in “the Beast wanted to go kill them now”. The antagonist in the previous books thought of himself in terms of ‘Beauty’. Too similar for my taste and maybe when the books were first published, it wasn’t so bad given the lag in publishing dates, but since I’m reading them almost back to back, it popped out at me.

I was also disappointed in how quickly I figured this mystery out, and maybe it was Sandford’s intent that the antagonist be readily recognized by the reader. The red herrings being thrown about at the beginning were too obvious in my opinion and the set up all but screamed “I’m the bad guy!”. I won’t say who in case you haven’t read these yet.  So, I knew who the bad guy was about chapter 5ish and had to wait till chapter 21ish for confirmation.  ((sigh))

I am also curious if this one - I hate to use the term “inspired” - influenced would be a better word, Bad Blood in the Virgil Flowers series. Both touch on child molestation; murder can be unsettling enough, but toss in child abuse and the book can give a person the hebejebe’s in no time at all.

Yet it was good to finally see a different sort of mating dance from Lucas - the find the attractive woman, bed her, and find her dead was becoming tedious even after four books and I never did like the whole entrapment by child from the Jennifer character.  Nice change of pace introducing Weather.













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Recipe Review from 2/27/12

What's the saying for March? In like a Lion out like a Lamb?  Well, the lion roared on March 1st as he shook his mane and dumped something like a foot or more of snow along with 60mph winds.  It was best to just stay put and avoid any travel.  But the Lion spoke again on Saturday...sort of.  Duluth and suburbs got another 9" of the fluffy white stuff.  We, living 20+ miles outside of Duluth, got 1/2".   A localized phenomenon called "Lake Effect" where when weather conditions are just right along the great lakes, we get snow and lots of it.  Not uncommon in the Upper Peninsula of MI and over in NY to get 2' in a episode. 

We got to take advantage of this new bounty of snow at a work social for the Husband.  A trip to Mont Du Lac ski and tubing hills. After a social hour and dinner, the group went tubing!  I can't even recall the last time I went sledding and I don't think I've ever been tubing.  Oh my gosh! Loads of fun.  Can go down in singles, doubles, or groups.  With conifer covered in fresh snow, everything lit up by the lights, it was really awesome. 

However, to wrap up February:  busy busy busy.  Two weekends on the road put a kabosh on new recipes and I had to rely on pantry items.  Not a bad thing, really, I'm all for the occasional pantry reduction (actually, I encourage it! Good to rotate through the staples), but a bummer for new recipe count. 

Two notables from the last week of February, winners both:

Chicken with White BBQ Potatoes  (Ckng Lght, Mar 2012)
This was good good good!  And fairly quick too.  I had some leftover rotisserie chicken in the freezer so it was just a matter of remembering to take it out to thaw.  I started the potatoes right when I got home from work, and turned down the oven to 400* so I could have enough time to take hounds for a walk out back.  Then it was a matter of slightly shredding the chicken and mixing the sauce.  My one complaint is - no direction on whether or not one should warm the chicken up a bit.  I opted not to, but it was a bit odd having piping hot potato, and somewhat cold chicken and sauce. 

I also found that your basic 6oz potato was just a bit too large for my tastes.  I suggest smaller potatoes and serve a colorful veggie on the side.  Gluten free.

Photo from CookingLight.com

4 (6-ounce) Yukon gold or baking potatoes   (I used Yukons, err on the smaller side - 4-5 oz.  6 oz too big!)2/3 cup canola mayonnaise
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1/4 cup sliced green onions

1. Preheat oven to 450°.


2. Pierce potatoes with a fork, and coat lightly with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 50 minutes or until tender. Remove potatoes from oven, and cool slightly. Cut a lengthwise slit in each potato that goes to, but not through, the other side, and squeeze the ends to loosen potato flesh.


3. Combine mayonnaise and next 6 ingredients (through garlic) in a medium bowl. Stir in chicken and relish. Divide the chicken mixture evenly among potatoes. Top each potato with 1 tablespoon onions.


Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light
MARCH 2012


Camp Amnicon Dal over Rice  (via Yoga North studio)
This was just lovely - I enjoyed the flavors and the versatility.  Add some extra veggies like diced carrots for a bit of a nutritional boost.  Or omit if want this more soup-like.  This makes quite a bit - enough to feed the husband and I for four lunches.  Probably would freeze well if you only want to eat half and then save half for a later date.  I served it over wild rice because that's what I had in my pantry.  Not sure what to do with the leftover coconut milk?  Add it to your next smoothie!    Gluten and soy free. 

1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 - 14.9 oz (or 1- 29 oz can)  can's diced tomatoes (fire roasted recommended)
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup red or brown lentils
**optional - veggies (like diced carrot, celery, etc)
Rice - brown, basmati, white, or wild is fine.   

Saute onion in oil or butter until soft (I like to caramelize slightly).  Add carrot and garlic and saute 3 minutes.  Add spices and saute 30 seconds.  Add broth, tomatoes, coconut milk and lentils.  Bring to a boil and simmer 25 minute or until lentils are soft.  Serve over rice. 





 

Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick

Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


From Goodreads: From author Michael Swanwick—one of the most brilliantly assured and darkly inventive writers of contemporary fiction—comes a masterwork of radically altered realities and world-shattering seductions.

The Jubilee Tides will drown the continents of the planet Miranda beneath the weight of her own oceans. But as the once-in-two-centuries cataclysm approaches, an even greater catastrophe threatens this dark and dangerous planet of tale-spinners, conjurers, and shapechangers.

A man from the Bureau of Proscribed Technologies has been sent to investigate. For Gregorian has come, a genius renegade scientist and charismatic bush wizard. With magic and forbidden technology, he plans to remake the rotting, dying world in his own evil image—and to force whom or whatever remains on its diminishing surface toward a terrifying and astonishing confrontation with death and transcendence.


I found Stations of the Tide a facinating read that walked the line between fantastical and an MC Escher painting. The world setting on Ocean is simply fabulous - loved the idea that there are periodic tides that turn an lowland area into an ocean for a long period of time before eventually receding. We have the Puzzle Palace - the Escher painting - in which nothing is what it was a moment ago. We have a universe in which people can impose thier personality on a "surrogate" and send that body out to do work that they otherwise cannot get to, or go places they can't realistically travel to. The last time I recall reading a book where a person could extend thier personality into a "surrogate" to use the term from this book, was Kiln People by David Brin. He used clay golums.


But what happens when the surrogate takes on a life of it's own? What happens when the answer you seek is standing behind you? A facinating world, good characters and a convoluted plot. Recommended.


(This won the Nebula Award in 1992.)




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Child of Fire by Harry Connolly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


From Goodreads.com:  Book One in the Twenty Palaces Society. Ray Lilly is living on borrowed time. He’s the driver for Annalise Powliss, a high-ranking member of the Twenty Palace Society, a group of sorcerers devoted to hunting down and executing rogue magicians. But because Ray betrayed her once, Annalise is looking for an excuse to kill him–or let someone else do the job.



Unfortunately for both of them, Annalise’s next mission goes wrong, leaving her critically injured. With the little magic he controls, Ray must complete her assignment alone. Not only does he have to stop a sorcerer who’s sacrificing dozens of innocent lives in exchange for supernatural power, he must find–and destroy–the source of that inhuman magic.


What a fun book. An urban fantasy set in the Pacific Northwest (why does the Pacific Northwest attract all the paranormals in urban fantasies I wonder?) where our protagonist Ray ponders what it means to be a disposable tool and the mortality of his actions while kicking some serious bad ass. I thoroughly enjoyed his outlook on life (jaded); his internal philosophising (did he do the right thing?); and how he can do so much damage with so few tools (ghost knife is awesome!).


My one complaint with the book - and this is more my quirk than a reflection on the author's writing - I got a bit tired of the constant running around after the bad guys or conversely, running away from the bad guys. It read a bit like a action movie where the action is non-stop and all CGI'd. That being said, I still enjoyed the book and went and downloaded book two the next morning.



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