The Running Kind by Craig McDonald … crime novelist Hector
Lassiter is reunited with an old mate from prior adventures in the Lassiter
series, Jimmy Hanrahan. It’s 1950 and too close to Christmas when Hector and
Jimmy (a cop) are huddled indoors from an Ohio blizzard and a young girl
approaches Hector with a plea for help. Her mom and aunt are in danger because
one of them is a Cleveland mafia boss’s wife and the other his girlfriend (comare—pronouced Goomarr if you’re from the East Coast). Hector’s been having a few
with Jimmy, but there’s no way he’ll deny the young girl’s request for help. A
battle quickly ensues, which is the start of a cross country adventure that
involves several notables, to include Elliot Ness and J. Edgar Hoover (and his
G-men), still ambivalent about this so-called mafia thing (which is about to
hit the television airwaves). There’s also an appearance by a young Rod
Serling, and by adventure’s end, old Blue eyes himself, accompanied by the
woman he couldn’t wait to own (and never would), Ava Gardner. Frank is there
with a message from Momo (Sam Giancana).
As it turns out, the mom and comare have something on the mob boss and are looking to turn
witness, which is a tough sell when there are so many in law enforcement
enthusiastically on the mob’s payroll. It’s one treachery after another, until
it becomes the safer play to head out of town. It is in Missouri where Hector,
who’s already had a little fling with one of the two women (the mother or the
girlfriend?), and winds up falling for the mother of the mother, as did this
reader, has to draw battle lines.
It’s a raucous ride wherein Hector is eventually matched up
against a hitman with a scary nickname and mad tracking abilities. Seems
everybody is running in this terrific read, and one can only hope Hector can
make it back alive for the life he’s often dreamed of, and with a woman he’s
always hoped he’d fine.
It’s a start to finish thriller featuring honorable men in a
dishonorable world of corruption. Hardboiled and ready to burst, with a
wonderful touch of Americana and celebrities. One more from a wonderful
series—a hell of a read.
An extra bonus (at least for me) was the dedication.
North Dixie Highway
by Joseph Haske … This one quickly became one of my favorite reads of the year,
and I look forward to this author’s future works. Buck Metzger is back from the
conflict in Bosnia and he’s having problems with the changes that happened at
home since he left. Sleep doesn’t come easy, even when he drinks himself into a
stupor in his car. He’s haunted by a life he no longer recognizes, and he’s unsure
of what his world is supposed to be now that he’s home—home being the Eastern
Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Home is as rural as it gets, except a lot colder
in the winter. From an initial ride with family men to a casino where copious
amounts of liquor are consumed and tiny stakes of coin are lost (a great touch
because it shows just how poor these people are), we are drawn into an
unforgiving world where steady employment has fled the scene, and living off
the land and/or what swims in the river is more often a must than not. And
booze, of course, there’s always booze where employment suffers most, and
Buck’s people are no slouches when it comes to consuming alcohol.
Metzger’s story is told in flashbacks from his youth, with
lessons learned from hard men living hard lives. It is family loyalty over all
else, with whatever is necessary to maintain the code, be it feuding, drinking,
and/or promises of revenge. Buck loves his family, no matter the makeup. He’s learned
much from his grandfather, from survival skills to a code of honor that offers
no excuses. He’s also learned much from his Vietnam veteran dad, including a
cruel-to-be-kind slaughter of wild animals when they show up in the wrong place
at the wrong time. The bear scene alone was worth the price of entry into this
state of nature world that exists alongside and within two centuries of
progress.
Buck reads to sustain his sanity, and although his friends
and family can’t understand the point in doing so while living in a world where
it seems to serve no purpose, it is a form of salvation for a man trying to
find himself. The old family feud involving the death of his grandfather often
consumes his being, but there’s a lesson learned in that dilemma as well.
Ultimately, Buck tells the story of his family and the
community they live in, where cold-heartedness and compassion do not mix well.
It is not a world devoid of compassion, however, and the men and women (women
every bit as hard as the men), provide it in doses when necessary.
Comparisons to Cormac McCarthy and Daniel Woodrell are
justifiable, although I was also reminded of Bonnie Jo Campbell’s wonderful
works. There’s a special place on one of my bookshelves at Casa Stella for
novels like North Dixie Highway, and Haske’s debut takes its proper place
there. Simply put, it is a wonderful read, recommended and sent to me by
Gonzalo Baeza. Haske’s debut novel is an intriguing read at least equal to the
best of his contemporaries, to include McCarthy, Woodrell, and Campbell.
Feeling the Bern …
Assuming Herr Drumpf survives the various investigations seeking to topple his
never ending buffoonery, assuming he makes the Over in a 2 year Over/Under,
what comes after Trump? Will there be a Trump II?
I’m afraid this is where progressives and/or socialists like
myself are feeling the worst of the AfterBern. After the fiasco that was the
2016 Democrat presidential primary, with all that was exposed, and all that is
being covered up in a Florida courthouse where former Berners are seeking
restitution from the DNC in a FRAUD case for being robbed of our coin, we’re
left wondering what might have been. Not if Sanders had won the nomination and
then presidency. I’ve never been sure Sanders would’ve beaten the Clown currently
occupying the White House, mostly because patriotism, with our collective ignorance,
is an easy sell. What troubles those like myself most about the Sanders
revolutionary retreat was the missed opportunity for a viable third party.
There’s no denying the strength of the Sanders’ influence in
the political arena last year. His message woke up a population used to
sleeping through the process, but his eventual capitulation to a party that
rejected him to the point of cheating was something many of his new and old
supporters have yet to digest. Sanders supporters were selflessly loyal,
reaching into their own pockets to fund his campaign over and again, so when
the Wikileaks dump exposed how unfairly his campaign was treated, and just how
corrupt the entire process is, many Sanders supporters rejected his plea to
back the establishment candidate. Some didn’t vote. Others voted Green. And
some voted for her opposition. Protests votes all, but all very effective in
rejecting Hillary Clinton.
What is most disconcerting about the Sanders capitulation is
what might have been. Had Sanders joined the Greens, or went solo and formed a
Labor Party, any third party, I’m pretty sure at least half of the 14 million who
voted for him in the primary would’ve gone with him. At the very least, he
would’ve had a place on the debate stage where he could’ve gone after both
Clinton and Trump without DNC handcuffs. At the very least, there would be a
viable third party to push forward now, when it is obviously most needed.
In retrospect, I have to believe he was never serious. His
reluctance to be another Ralph Nader, what he’s stated, is a pathetic excuse
for people seeking political revolution.
While none of us know what will happen down the road, so far
the DNC doesn’t look any more interested in shifting to the left now as it did
during their fake primary. Those who supported Sanders remain on the outs.
Those who supported Clinton cling to the nonsensical Russian conspiracy as the
reason for her loss.
In the meantime, Progressives like myself dig our heels
deeper. There will be no more a compromise in 2018 or 2020 than there was in
2016. The DNC has retained its corrupt super delegate format, allowing
lobbyists to vote alongside establishment politicians to overturn the voice of
their own electorate. How does anyone stay with a party that ignores its
voters?
Make no mistake, we’ll be around to remind the public how
voters in several states might as well stay home come the next Democrat
Presidential primary, when super delegates get to ignore wins as big as 12%,
22%, or 88% of the registered democrat voters within each state.
I offered a compromise the DNC so badly needs, but I suspect
it too is in vain. Rather than exile Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, how about
embracing her efforts to do the right thing during the primary and excuse
herself from her co-chair position with the DNC rather than hand off debate
questions to the DNC’s choice for nominee? How about one giant apology for the
scathing letter sent to her by the DNC for her support of Sanders? (Thank you,
Wikileaks.) How about backing off the attacks on Nina Turner (who would be my
choice to reform the sewer that is the Democrat Party)? How about a Turner-Gabbard
or Gabbard-Turner ticket? Do you really want to shatter glass ceilings? Well,
there it is.
Pretty much everyone outside of Sanders sycophants feels as
though the Bern left us scorched for all our efforts and coin. Bernie, while
continuing his political revolutionary rhetoric, no longer retains our faith or
support. We know Bernie talks a great game, but to many of us, he’s proved
himself just another good democrat. We can only hope that people like Nina
Turner and Tulsi Gabbard leave the mess that is the Democrat Party to establish
a third party with the help of former Berners. We were generous with the
Sanders campaign only to get doubly screwed. Many of us on the left have
pledged to never give our money to any Democrat candidate again. Not while the
party maintains super delegates and operates like a third rate, desperate,
mafia family waiting for the other party to fall apart.
There’s nothing about the current Democrat Party that
inspires. Leaving it seems the way to go, and with Hillary Clinton continuing her excuse/blame tour (currently having the nerve to attack the very organization that rigged the primary for her -- the DNC), it seems her latest round of "Me, Me, Me" will continue to tear the party apart.
—Knucks
RIP, Gregg Allman … The Allman Brothers Band …
