Talking About Nero Wolfe? Have You Met Him? - A Genius at Solving Mysteries! In Trouble at the Brownstone...

 

I have been a fan of mysteries since I started reading fiction. Many of the early books were turned into TV series, Nero Wolfe was one of them. Since then Wolfe has been played by a number of actors. The first video is an example of one of those actors. The second one, however, is the first and became my favorite Nero... I enjoyed most the personality of this actor. Even if you don't watch both movies - more on YouTube - you will discover that Wolfe is written to be somewhat of a recluse and can be a grudge. Not to mention how he is somewhat two-faced with his staff, including, even, his gofer, you might say...

You see Nero Wolfe, being a genius, was also somewhat of a snob. He expected most people to come to his home, where he had an office. His main life was based on 3 things. or you could say, 4... Reading, acting as a PI, and his love and study of orchids... And, eating... His staff includes a highly skilled chef with whom, in the book I just finished, are somewhat of a pair whose personal skills are belabored each evening as the next day's menu is planned. The resulting menu that was described often includes meals about which I had no idea what they would actually taste like, or even pronounce sometimes... LOL But Wolfe was the boss, so the chef found himself in a position of being ordered how each meal would be prepared... Two geniuses often argue, it seems...

And it begins...

I go to the Amazon desktop library, I type in Trouble in the Brownstone which is the title of the book. I have learned that the sorting proposed by the programmers of a library for Amazon readers require certain formats... But you are never quite sure what that format for any given book will be... NORMAL people use the title--the one that is supposed to be the actual title, in italics, accordikng to typing rules... But... sometimes the subtitle Must Be Used as Well... Who Knows?! Also, I unfortunately add, if you don't remember the exact full title, well there is NO HELP Like a normal search in the past... The mistake I made was typing in when it should have ben at... What? All I get is that a message saying it is not in my library... even though I just finished reading that same book... IF this is AI use, I'm not impressed... If this is way the programmer created for potential buyers? Forget about many sales!

So now I have to go back to my reader or to the Amazon site and find how what to type in on the software provided by that same company, for a desktop computer. I retype the name, not knowing whether I used the exact title or not (sorts in the past helped in that process and brought up a possible list of what you were seeking...but that was before AI searches, it seems...or whatever the reason is that normal sorting and searching which was extremely easy for customers actually helped rather than hindered... I'm being repetitive, because this entire computer issue flashes me back to the machine trigger of PTSD...

Now, the problem is that there are now two books seen on the screen... I click on the title... It doesn't work... I click on dots at the end. a popup occurs. I click the box and I see Open...and other options... The open cannot be used... So I try the next line of the same book that was finally pulled up. It produces the same popup all of which performed exactly the same as the first line. and I still don't have the book opened...

So I go back to my reader and try to figure out just how much I have to type from the title page of the book... By the time I go back, again, one has been checked! Apparently you begin to learn that sync is extremely slow in happening... And, that the download of the book has now taken place and I can actually open that book on my desktop version... Sigh...

As an aside, I'm a fast typer. In fact, this flashes me back to when I was kicked off Facebook for nearly two years on the supposed excuse that my account may have been hacked... I kept after them and finally some brave soul sent the message "I type too fast..." TRUTH... Had I broken the computer? Do computers these days only work at one certain rate of typing? Is that on purpose, or once again they have not foreseen that a user of "their" computer programming might type fast? All I know that this company totally ignored me until I did what everybody else did and create a new account with a different name that nobody would know... That is... my 5000+ connections as a book reviewer... And none of my former groups were recoverable. I lost what I think is the first book related group on Facebook at the time I created Reviewers Roundup... All of that was lost and I was told unrecoverable... yeah, right...

Now, while I was reading I didn't find the copyright page, so I try again on the desktop and was referred to another site to get a free copy of the book, which I already have... Key to this issue is, of course, the new AI scare of authors, and I don't really blame them, because we all know that criminals on computers are prolific at hacking if they so desire... Ok, now what do I do. Do I just ignore a copyright...

That could be a problem, because the author is a new writer who has been accepted as one who is able to "continue" the writing style of the original creator and author of the Nero Wolfe series... What to do? I decide to go to Amazon and pull up my original purchase and check out, possibly, the author's page...

After several types of searches, I have given up. There is no longer the ability to read some of the book... There is no longer the ability to easily find your order since you must guess how that particular program was written... I was unable to pull up the book on my order list in a search. I was able to bring up the book with the title on the product search activity... Geesh... That means to me that they do not have an integrated computer system, even by type of product... Sad...

There was nothing that showed a copyright date which I could verify. Therefore, I haven't yet a plan how to present my actual review, except I did pick up a copy of the book cover... So I begin again... with a final comment. Evidence continues to mount that AI or whatever is happening in corporations is NOT improving buyer's happiness with actually purchasing! And their USE!

Chapter 1 

Let’s get something straight, right at the start: I am not a friend of Theodore Horstmann’s and never have been, from the first time we met in Nero Wolfe’s brownstone all those years ago. He is surly, smug, standoffish, and superior in his manner. Oh, and honesty compels me to mention that Theodore doesn’t like me, either, although you will have to ask him why. I’m not about to. And I don’t care. All of that aside, the man is part of our “family” in the old brownstone on West Thirty-Fifth Street in Manhattan, which consists of Nero Wolfe, master detective and lord of all he surveys; Fritz Brenner, chef supreme, whose gourmet meals are part of the reason Wolfe weighs a seventh of a ton; Horstmann, the orchid nurse who works with Wolfe to coddle the 10,000 orchids in the greenhouse’s three climate-controlled rooms on the roof; and me, Archie Goodwin, gofer, errand boy, and cockle burr under Wolfe’s saddle whenever he shows signs of laziness while working on a case—which is often. 

Life in the brownstone had gone smoothly since the end of the war, and now, six years later and just past the midpoint of the twentieth century, that domestic peace had been disturbed. Because Theodore is part of our aforementioned family, any animosity I have for him gets set aside when he encounters trouble, which he did just last night, and in spades. Wolfe and I were in the dining room that June evening, feasting on Fritz’s lamb cutlets and tomatoes, when the front bell began ringing with short, angry bursts, as if a telegrapher were exercising a finger. Fritz beat me to the hallway, but I was right behind him when—after peering through the one-way glass—he swung the front door open and a battered and bleeding Theodore Horstmann pitched forward into the hallway with a groan, falling down on the floor, writhing. “There were . . . two of them . . .” he gasped, looking at Fritz and me through blackened eyes that were barely open. By now, Wolfe had joined us and peered down at Theodore, his eyebrows going halfway up his forehead. “Great hounds and Cerberus!” Wolfe barked. “Get Dr. Vollmer—now!” 

Doc Vollmer, Edwin A., to be formal, is our local sawbones and lives just down the block. He has been both a friend to Wolfe and a confidant who has patched me up on occasion. Vollmer also has, when necessary, hidden one of our clients in his house and once signed a certificate that stated Wolfe was batty. Less than five minutes after I called him, Vollmer, a short specimen with large eyes, a round face, and not much chin, barreled in with his bag and looked down at Theodore, to whom Fritz, on the floor, was ministering with a cup of water and a cool compress on his forehead. “Get out of my way!” Vollmer said, his sharp tongue belying his stature, as he knelt beside Theodore and began checking his vital signs—pulse, carotid, blood pressure. He spoke to the wounded man but got no answer, as he had lapsed into labored breathing. “Archie, call an ambulance,” he spat over his shoulder. “We are going to Roosevelt Hospital—now!” 

I followed orders, and within minutes, accompanied by the sound of a siren and screeching brakes, a pair of young, square-jawed men in white coats burst into the hall with a stretcher and eased Theodore onto it as Vollmer barked orders at them with all the authority of a drill sergeant. “I will call you when I know something,” the doctor said over his shoulder to Wolfe as he and the trio, one of them clearly unconscious, left the brownstone. For one of the few times I have known him, Wolfe was both speechless and unmoored. It was enough that his dinner had been interrupted, an almost unthinkable occurrence, but his comfortable and insular world suddenly got turned upside down. Theodore had worked for Wolfe for decades, and while it’s true the two of them often sparred—sometimes noisily—over the proper care of one variety of orchid or another, Wolfe had come to rely upon this brusque and often surly man—probably more than he would admit. 

A few months back, Theodore had vacated his small quarters on the roof that adjoined the rooms in which those pampered posies reside and flourish. He told Wolfe he felt the need to have a place of his own, that he felt closed-in by spending all of his waking and sleeping hours inside the brownstone. Wolfe couldn’t argue the point, nor did he try, despite his own reluctance to leave home except for the occasional foray to the barbershop or his annual visit to the Metropolitan Orchid Show, where he was always seen as something of a celebrity. Theodore had moved into a one-bedroom apartment in a five-story building called the Elmont on Tenth Avenue, just north of Fifty-Eighth, a brisk walk from the brownstone. He still continued to eat both breakfast and lunch in the kitchen with Fritz, and also ate dinner with him on many occasions. And, of course, he still spent those inviolable four hours a day—nine-to-eleven in the morning and four-to-six in the evening—with Wolfe up in the plant rooms. With the exception of Theodore’s move to separate living quarters, life had seemed to continue apace on West Thirty-Fifth Street until that night he staggered up to the front door and collapsed. Since then, he has remained in a coma, with Doc Vollmer telling us that “there is no telling when, or if, he will regain consciousness. Specialists agree with me on that assessment.” Vollmer had Theodore moved to intensive care at the hospital, and after a weekday lunch, Wolfe had me drive him there to see the patient. We walked along the facility’s halls with a white-jacketed resident who had the requisite stethoscope draped around his neck. He seemed impressed by meeting Nero Wolfe. “I hope that you will not be shocked by Mr. Horstmann’s appearance,” the young doctor told us earnestly as we stopped at a room that had T. Horstmann typed on a card that fitted into a slot on the door. Grim-faced, Wolfe made no reply. If he indeed was shocked at what he saw, he gave no indication as he stared down at the figure in the bed, who was surrounded by wires and tubes and with bandages covering much of his still-bruised face. After no more than a minute, Wolfe said, “Let us go.” As I steered the Heron back to West Thirty-Fifth Street with my passenger in the back seat clutching the specially installed hand strap as if it were a lifeline, he said, “We will find whoever did this. Do you question that?” “No, sir, not for a moment,” I replied, wondering how much of the plural pronoun would fall to me to accomplish. But that did not matter; this was in the family. After we got home from the hospital, Wolfe settled into the reinforced chair at his desk, grimaced, and snapped, “Get Fritz.” I took that as a command and went to the kitchen, where Brenner was preparing one of tomorrow’s meals. 

“Mr. Wolfe would like to see you,” I told him. He looked confused. “Does he want beer?” “No, he wants you—now.” He put down his oven mitts and spatula and followed me into the office, his face lined with concern. “Yes, sir,” he said to Wolfe, standing at attention. “Sit down, Fritz. You have the advantage of me.” “Sir?” He clearly was uncomfortable. To him, the office was not a place where he belonged, other than to bring beer when requested and to run the vacuum cleaner and do the dusting, but only when no one else was present. Fritz looked at me in confusion and finally chose one of the yellow chairs that faced Wolfe’s desk. He was not about to park himself in the red leather chair that was reserved for clients or for Inspector Cramer of the Homicide Squad. 

“You know more about Theodore and his private life than either Archie or I do,” Wolfe said. “I would—” “How is he, Mr. Wolfe?” he interrupted. “I should have started with that, Fritz; my apologies. Theodore is comatose, but his condition appears to be stable. As to when he may emerge from the coma, that remains uncertain. We would like to learn what you know about his life away from here. All of my conversations with him have invariably been about orchids. And as you are no doubt aware, Archie has not had any substantive conversations whatever with him.” Fritz licked his lips and frowned. “I do not know what I can say to you.” “Very well,” Wolfe said. “I will assume the role of interrogator. What can you tell us about Theodore’s place of residence?” “I have not been there, but from what he has told me, he finds it to be comfortable. It has one bedroom, he says, and it is on the fourth floor of an apartment building on Tenth Avenue up in the Fifties. He can walk down here in less than a half hour.” “We have the address, of course,” Wolfe said, “so any mail that comes to us is forwarded. Has he said anything to you about his activities away from the brownstone?” Fritz nodded. “Oh yes, he tells me he has found a new hobby—bridge.” “Indeed.” “Actually, he told me he had learned to play years ago, but only since he moved had he started to take up the game again. He seems to enjoy it, and he said he plays two or three nights a week.” 

“With whom does the play? And where?” “Other men of about his age. He told me they are divorced or have never married. They have their games in a back room of a bar on Tenth Avenue, which is called McCready’s. It is just across the street from where he now lives.” Wolfe threw a questioning look in my direction. “I know of the saloon,” I said. “It’s a fixture in that neighborhood, and it’s been there as long as I can remember. I stopped in once a while back because of a case we were working on, although the lead I was chasing turned out to be a dead end. Because it is not far from the North River piers on the Hudson, it’s a hangout for a lot of longshoremen.” “That’s right,” Fritz put it. “Theodore told me that dockworkers like the place, both for drinking and for playing pocket billiards—or pool, as it is called. He also said that they seemed to be a pretty rough bunch. And they shoot pool in the same room where the bridge games are.” 

“Longshoremen can be tough, all right,” I agreed. “Seems like an odd combination of customers that McCready’s draws—dockworkers and middle-aged card players.” Fritz continued to look uncomfortable, which was not lost on Wolfe. “Is there anything else you can tell us about Theodore?” “Only that he asked his bridge-playing friends, and he referred to them as friends, to call him ‘Ted.’” “Did he tell you if any of those men knew what he does for a living?” I posed. “I did ask him that, Archie, but he said he only told them he worked as a gardener.” “Didn’t they think it strange that somebody living in the middle of Manhattan would be a gardener?” “I guess they would,” Fritz said with a shrug, “although Theodore never mentioned their reactions to me.” “Did he ever suggest anyone in that bar who might have had animus toward him?” Wolfe asked. “No, sir. I got the impression Theodore thought the dockworkers were rather crude and that they felt the card players were not overly . . . I don’t know how to express it.” “Manly?” Wolfe supplied. “Yes, that is it, manly. But according to Theodore, he and his new friends ignored the others in the bar and those around the pocket billiard table in the back room.” 

“Being ignored probably bothered the dockworkers,” I put in. “No doubt,” Wolfe concurred. “Nothing riles the swaggerer more than to be disregarded. Thank you, Fritz; we will take no more of your time.” What Wolfe really was saying was that it was necessary for Fritz to get back to his meal preparations. We were faced with an upsetting and potentially tragic situation, but that did not mean the meticulous schedule by which the brownstone operated was about to go out the window.

Goldsborough, Robert. Trouble at the Brownstone (The Nero Wolfe Mysteries Book 16) (pp. 3-10). MysteriousPress.com/Open Road. Kindle Edition. 

~~~~~~

First a comment about the author, Robert Goldsborough. This was the first book that I'd read by this new author. Most of my memories of previous Nero Wolfe connections was with the original Rex Stout...

I found this vid by accident, by searching to verify my memory for Rex Stout... Seriously, do you get the feeling that I have become sarcastic? Well, I have to say that, actually, I am writing the truth of what actually happens on my screen...

Now... now that I've introduced Rex Stout, by accident, I want to share that I found the author of the book Trouble at the Brownstone, while doing an excellent Nero Wolfe Mystery, in my opinion has improved the books. His writing of a novel surpasses what I remember. What I found was that, in broadening the scope of daily activities and the expanded character development into the personal lives of those people, I found more of a literary enjoyment than with earlier mystery novels. For me, I discovered I didn't mind that the book was slower-paced. I didn't mind that I was lingering over some parts, rather than working my brain to catch any clues of the mystery so that I could be in competition as to whether I had solved the mystery by the close of the book... LOL

You see, Nero Wolfe has a style of solving a mystery... He holds his ongoing thoughts about a case until the very end to "reveal" the guilty party(ies). Other writers have used this concept. Having just read an expert in that scene, I'd say that Nero Wolfe is the best at it...

Although his gofer associate is rarely satisfied with his own involvement. You see Archie Goodwin is, in many ways, also a main character and actual partner to Wolfe, although Wolfe's role dominates by virtue of his egotistical personality. We know how that can be, even from someone who is not a genius...but who has more power than he should, don't we? 

Archie is a PI himself. Actually, he is the character who does the actual investigation for the team. He is out doing the interviews... He is also out getting shot at or beat up, the latter actually occurring in this book. And, also in this book, we learn that Archie has a personal life with a little romance added for flavor... Just a tasty addition to the gourmet food that is also elaborately discussed... Archie is also the narrator of the story, since he, in theory, also acts as the secretary to Nero Wolfe, which includes, for instance, typing up the letters, filing of the records on the orchids, making the calls to see if so-and-so is in and available to speak to Wolfe... Yes, all these tasks, including the last one especially for ego purposes, used to be done by a title that no longer exists. A professional secretary or administrative assistant... Archie also listens in on most calls and is definitely second listener on all calls that could be relevant to the case. There is also an investigative staff in addition to Archie, but it is always Nero Wolfe who presents what has occurred: how it was done and who he considers part of the crime(s) and it is then turned over to the police representative who is included in that final Wolfe Reveal. Wolfe also enjoys sharing his formidable memory of what he's read whenever a case involves historical facts or events...

And that is how this book set historically suddenly became relevant to today's U.S.!

This mystery actually was personal for Wolfe. One of his important staff members had been beaten and throughout most of the book in a coma in the hospital. Under a doctor who was much more involved in patient health care than is now available these days... So, Wolfe had already initiated his own investigation to discover who had deprived him of his valued staff member. He is an expert in the care of orchids... So throughout the book, we hear of Wolfe 's opinion of his temporary replacement and his lack of similar skills provided from his permanent assistant...

In any event, it became so much a part of the discussion, I decided I needed some edification on the care of orchids... at the lower level of course... Mainly I just wanted to see how the orchids, which are very beautiful, actually were grown in the house... Wolfe has an entire floor in the Brownstone of actual plants, as well, I would think, of what is needed for caring for that actual greenhouse environment... Of course, you can just look at the orchid in bloom or the one that is in trouble and proceed on to more about the mystery...

To begin the mystery, we learn that Wolfe's orchid assistant, who had recently moved out of the small room he had been assigned at the Brownstone, was living in a modest hotel, and even playing bridge in the evenings with a group of friends he had found in the outside world. The bridge, and other card games, was being played at a table provided in a local bar near to his new residence. Soon after being attacked, and the investigation began, they learned that another member of the same bridge group had been murdered and thrown in the nearby waterway.

As the investigation begins, Archie is assigned to begin living in the room vacated in the nearby hotel. Obviously Archie would interview the superintendent of the building management first, but got little from him about the other occupants. In fact, as Archie attempted to greet some of his new neighbors, none of them would interact. One pointed to his mouth as if unable to speak and hurried away. Another spoke brokenly but refused to enter into any conversation. The entire building had no chatter anywhere. Until one day Archie followed a man he had just attempted to talk to... The man was headed for the bar across the street. He followed. And saw the man in a, seemingly, argument with a man who he later learned was the bar's owner. Soooo, they could speak? Perhaps it was the language? The investigation continued but broadened into the bar...

Additional investigators began to repeat attempts for interviews in these two places to various levels of success...

But once the card player was determined to be murdered and thrown into the window, the wharf became a site to explore further... By this time people were willing to talk about their awareness that men were seen coming off of ships and quickly disappearing... Soon there was a question about being paid by immigrants to bring them into the U.S. illegally...

I know, I know, I'm giving away the ending by identifying that Nazis were being illegally brought into both the North and South America. I would not normally do this. But we all know that, beginning under the first term of office, it was clear that Trump had no concern about who supported him, including known white supremacists groups, including KKK and NeoNazis... Further, it could be concluded that on January 6th, many of those white supremacists groups were part of the January 6th Insurrection incited by this president as proven by the Special Counsel...

I have been unable to determine the copyright regulations. I have therefore added an excerpt with location source reference as I had earlier announced would be my effort to comply... I did learn that this book was published June 15, 2021. However, there were no stops by the book under the Amazon library software which, in the past, stopped me with warning that I had reached publisher's limit, which I have traditionally used to comply with copyright.

Although I am no longer willing to post on Amazon because of lack of trust at this time, I still want to provide my thoughts and opinions...

The use of fiction to actually teach history I have found to be a very valuable addition to what is learned in traditional public schools. Some also exceed university level due to timing of publication. This has been another act by the republican party to attempt to ban books to exclude information about the realities of what man has done to man by citizens in the past in this nation and is simply not to be accepted!

This book goes into detail of just how badly people are hurting whenever a war by an insane man can result in those who are criminally inclined and willing to take advantage of these people in order to make money. The use of blackmail was behind the criminals ultimately identified by Wolfe. We discovered that even the nazi members were being forced to pay a fee to travel to another country. Those poorer nazi members who undoubtedly were forced into the military by their authoritarian leader. These individual who were coming into the country were not only being forced to pay for passage, but were also pulled into new criminal activities in order to begin to earn some type of money to be able to live and hopefully find a job... If they weren't killed or arrested during their assigned violent activities.

The book in my opinion reflects the lives of those immigrants who are now being targeted and placed in government facilities which are being managed and paid for by the federal government. Reports show that they are hungry, not provided with proper environmental conditions, and have very minimal medical care. Including that children are separated if a woman is pregnant and the baby born within those facilities. I am not taking the time to find videos documenting this latest inhumane act by our federal government. The killings of citizens on the streets by masked men is sufficient to alert us that this group of hired thugs are exactly who are those who are willing to do what this president commands--whatever immoral act that may include.

Aside from the excellent writing and the work of Nero Wolfe's fascinating skill in solving mysteries, I found the criminal acts too old to be of significant difficulty or interest. The criminals were clearly identifiable based upon what the investigation presented to readers. The method of repetition ensured we grasped everything. That is, Archie would discover something. He would then report to Wolfe. Later they would also report to a police detective, and/or a newspaper reporter with whom they worked based upon trust... All the normal mode of communication in historical times...

The actual Wolfe Reveal was a fascinating ending... but then sharing that is a no-no for a reviewer. Hopefully what I've shared will give you enough of the idea about the book to decide for yourself whether you'd like to read it. I will not make a specific recommendation on this one. Other books by this author might not be so revelatory with the mystery, although I can't assume that given the repetitive office environment of the Wolfe PI Investigations. I did very much enjoy it, but then I knew Nero Wolfe before I decided to select the book. Take a chance if you're looking for a very unique type of mystery based upon the main character being award-winning regardless of different authors... Let me know what you think if you do read it!

Gabby

Hot of the Press

What You Do Unto the Least of These...

You Do Unto Jesus/God

Supported by Christian Nationalists, of course...

Is There A Wrong Time to Read Certain Books? Talking Books In Today's Crazy Mess... Spotlight on Award-Winning Top Writer Sharon Sala

 

This book originally came out in 2013. An updated book was published in 2021. After the Takeover of the Haves... When people are identified by loyalty to one political party and one conman.... And Havenots do not matter.

They think...

This trilogy offers the extremely tight copyright coverage  now being used to protect authors and publishers. I've spent the last hour trying to pull up the covers for the three-book trilogy by Sharon Sala

I finally submitted a curt response to a survey on the Author's Page on Amazon. As shared below.

I am more and more dissatisfied with Amazon... But books is being discussed today. I'm looking for a trilogy. This series is not here, on the Amazon's Author Page. I also cannot easily find it on my desktop library. I also cannot easily find it here on the main site... I found the first one. In the past, a trilogy or series would have been shown as a possible purchase on the main page of the first book. Instead it is filled with many other books that have no relevance to the author in question. I have found that computer systems people do not think as a user of products, thus changes are made without regard to how the user will search for them... Or, they just don't care... I have blogged successfully for 20 years using Amazon as my primary source of books. Right now, it disturbs me that everybody is interested in providing so much information that I cannot FIND ANYTHING. For instance, the desk top file does not allow a search by author... A search by title means that you have to know the exact title and, sometimes subtitle, it is inconsistent it seems. If an author doesn't use the same exact name on each book, then we can't find it. There is absolutely no ability to, as in the past, search key words... And when I attempted to ask a question with the latest "bot", it brought up a different book on the left side of the screen from the picture on the right. AI can only do what people have created. AI is not ready for true book selling and maintaining a library. I have thousands of books. You cannot remove books that have been read from the library and perhaps archive them. Finding a book is torture now!

I could have gone on but the survey space was linear, one line...and it scrolls to the right, meaning they really didn't expect any responses to the survey...

But Gabby is Talking Now. I stopped buying anything else on Amazon for one reason only. Delivery. Amazon takes NO responsibility of the companies they sub-contract to. I have lost money--considerable--due to carelessness of the delivery people. In my opinion, Amazon is the seller. That should include accountability for actual mail delivery. They do not, I no longer buy, except for e-bo0ks... But recently I was told that they had withdrawn coverage of all but my Fire reader and my desktop library. Three readers that I can no longer enter new books into...Thrown away for a reason they didn't feel I needed to know... Amazon is Not OK. Reduced in rank to 1 out of a 1-10 rank...

In addition to the copyright, these books also disavow that any character, or how they are presented, can be construed to be anything but from the mind of the writer (my words). I can see why, in this environment, a publisher and writer must cover themselves legally...

But there was no way, I was able to do that, as a reader who connects...

~~~~~

Crime followed chaos, and it had been that way since the world began.--Sala. Sharon. Going Once: A Compelling Romantic Suspense Novel Featuring FBI Agents and a Serial Killer (Forces of Nature Book 1, MIRA Books. Kindle Edition

 As announced, I will be talking about books rather than GABixler as the professional reviewer. I acknowledge that I am Not Ok as long as the federal government is out of control and I have to watch as the world is being devastated and changed for the worse... I have no qualms speaking my Truth, as I did professionally. My reviews (in the right column) have shown that writers have appreciated my style of creating reviews. I now must include about what is being done which has brought all of the United States--and the world--into peril...

Through reading this trilogy, my mind became clear about a number of things. Based on the characters alone, I was either involved with three romances which were wonderfully created as only a wonderful author can do. I will be talking about the total trilogy rather than three different stories, however. The difference is that each book focuses on one of three different FBI team members as they meet their future wives. Each story is totally different. Each story pulls readers into the lives of these six people and I was enjoying the books totally.

He watched everyone sleep and thought how strange it was that life could be this way. One person’s world was crashing, one was being stalked by a serial killer, and everyone else went on as if nothing was wrong.--Ibid...

Except I recognized the villain comparable to one man in particular... Or, perhaps, all evil men have the same mental characteristics?

It was an easy connection in one way. One of the FBI agents was the team profiler. Sala turned out to be an individual who apparently takes the time to understand what her characters do professionally. Her descriptive coverage of the serial killer was sufficient enough that I soon had difficulty dealing with those parts of the book. Think Criminal Minds, the TV program. I've stopped watching it because the graphic descriptions of the murders proved too much for me. Watching that type of detail of what goes through the mind of an individual who has become mentally unbalanced, is not something I wanted to face on an ongoing basis.

“I can’t believe that all this started because of a flood,” she muttered. “Actually, it began in Iowa, because of a tornado,” Tate said.  Ibid.

Her overwhelming fear of showing weakness was a holdover from her days as a rookie with the Bureau. If you were tough, they called you a bitch. If you had a pretty face or showed weakness, then you couldn’t possibly do a good job. Ibid

I realized in the past that I actually enjoyed the good guy winning over the evil villain. Recently I've wondered about something that has developed due to the history of America. Our forefathers have taught us that they wanted what they wanted, whether there was peace or not...

Take for instance, the historical shows about "cowboys and indians..." You know what I mean, don't you... We learned about the white people going across the lands, establishing homesteads near water, perhaps... If they had to kill some i"njuns" to do that, well, they did... And stories were shared as news or later in books... I can remember only one early television show that changed that plot... The Lone Ranger had Tonto, as his partner in fighting crime... What culturally evolved was that white men won and pushed Native Americans who were not slaughtered in battle, into set areas of the country on which they had roamed freely before then. Peace was not sought then. Nor had it been sought in the old country where world wars and smaller wars were fought for power, land ownership, or, even, to try to "spread christianity" through violence... Remember the Crusades? One of the books I've read was when people in Spain were being attacked and forced to become christian, or else... This has been occurring for thousands of years that can be easily found in historical records... Yet we continue to sing...

I remember it was my brother who wanted to watch all of the cowboys that were being shown many years ago... Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and so many more. I finally found one that I chose as a favorite. Paladin

I liked the idea of a man traveling the globe fighting for justice, and, yes, carrying a gun to kill the bad guys... The thing is that over the years, writers got bloodier and more sensational in their death scenes... And thus we learned to enjoy watching violence and pain being forced onto who was "supposed" to be our brothers...

I could always differentiate. In those days, the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black...LOL  In any event it was a story, a book, showing what really happened in history. It was white people who were the attackers having come into North America and taking what they wanted. My memory says that it was the Quakers only who made friends with the natives, according to history... But then there were the witch trials... but I digress...

My point in all this, is that we have learned about history, written about history, and now know who was the bad guys and who was the good guys. Through news, books, and movies. Some were true; Some were not.

But now, with the Internet and the full breadth of potential entertainment toys, we also see the Truth of the world as it really is played out by humans...And we have learned just how deadly, selfish, and willing to kill our supposed brothers as they can be...on a daily basis...Right onT our streets...

***

Let me proceed, then, to talk about Sala's villain. As was created for a trilogy based on natural disasters... What we call, Acts of God because nobody is to blame... 

Wrong...

That phrase would not have included a certain death during Katrina when during the high waters, a couple had climbed to their roof to escape the high waters that were destroying homes all along the river. The wife was a diabetic; during the time on the roof she had no access to her insulin. She died in the night and slipped off the roof into the waters...

Her husband had a mental breakdown from which he later recovered. But...

He was now blaming everybody involved with the disaster and wanted retribution... and that was the first connection made to today's world. Connecting the villain with this administration was super easy...

Retribution is the major activity of the Trump administration, of course.

Climate Control is unrecognized by this administration, as witness lack of support for, say, fires in California... or emergencies in any blue state... Withholding of funds for nature's devastation... We first see that in a significant disaster, in Puerto Rico

At first there was a lighter declaration of how he viewed dealing with disasters--a lack of knowledge especially, declaring that raking forests was the best way to prevent any further fires... or throwing paper towers when there was no electricity available for the people of Puerto Rico...

The difference in Sala's villain, though, was that he was smart, a master of disguise, and kept his desire for retribution through his actions as opposed to creating a public spectacle...

But as the books progressed, it was clear to the reader that at some point, his motive changed. He became proud of his actions. He did want retribution; however, Sala placed a supernatural character, that was constantly screaming at the villain. His wife had been a follower of God and she began by pointing out that killing people was a sin. That he should not be killing on her behalf, and her attempts to stop him grew in proportion to the loss of any emotional feelings of empathy or awareness that the workers who were trying to help the people who were affected or lost in the storms could not be considered to have caused the many deaths in a natural disaster...

The news reps had soon given him a name: The StormChaser... Because what he had begun, after his wife died, due to loss of access to her medicine... the Stormchaser had begun traveling across the land, killing victims who had "lived" while his wife had died... In fact, blaming those also affected by the storm is how the man was initially identified. He had been seen by a woman who, in losing her house completely by the river, she had run, found a high tree and began climbing... And she would climb upward each time the water reached a higher level. It was at that height, she had watched as a family was on their roof, hoping and praying for air support to find them... But what she saw was a man who purposely, upon discovering the family, had murdered each of the family members, ensured they were in the water to later be found, and then walked away, passing along the tree where she had tied herself to a strong limb to ensure she would not be washed away if she would fall to sleep...

He could always go to Mexico and disappear, but that felt too much like running away. If he did that, it would mean they’d won, and that didn’t set well. Ibid

I'll just end that character analysis by pointing out that as he traveled to each emergency site, he would often join the organizations such as The Red Cross, who routinely established support and help for survivors or the families who were trying to find members of their families who lived in the area. Readers will learn much about that entire major support activity where housing/cots, food, and volunteers who did the searches were coordinated.

But what is the most devastating of the trilogy books was that the husband who had lost his wife and wanted to make somebody pay for his loss, actually became more and more violent. He began using multiple types of weapons, and even began dreaming and planning for trying, for instance, a hanging for the next individual discovered...

By the third book in the trilogy, he was selecting people, based upon where their homes were in relation to his final victim...He was totally involved in the thrill and power he now had to be able just to kill because he wanted to... You know, something like starting a war with a country for no reason other than seeking power and wanting to play with weapons of death and retribution...

WOW~

I Kid You Not...

At noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until three o'clock. Then about that time Jesus shouted, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” Some of the people standing there heard Jesus and said, “He's calling for Elijah.” One of them at once ran and grabbed a sponge. He soaked it in wine, then put it on a stick and held it up to Jesus. Others said, “Wait! Let's see if Elijah will come and save him.” Once again Jesus shouted, and then he died. At once the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, and rocks split apart. Graves opened, and many of God's people were raised to life.

!!!!!

I hasdstopped for lunch. When I came back, what I had written including the loss of my first book cover Going Once. was gone...

I had used multiple word phrases under that picture. Apparently the software hadn't know how to handle what was essentially a straight typing... Who knows?

In any event, When I opened my article this morning. All that was gone...

My caretaker had cancelled my day to go get groceries, explaining that a storm was projected... Fine... I would begin this article... 

I was in the midst of trying to salvage the pic/underwriting... I was not succeeding. Suddenly the power went out. It was growing dark. I could not see so I stopped to find my extra lighting and ensured the batteries still worked. It slowed down and my satellite was still lit, so I tried to continue to redo what had gone wrong... Lightning struck louder... I reluctantly turned off the computer. And continued to read the ending of the trilogy. Yes, I had begun without continuing more reading about what happened to the serial killer...

At noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until three o'clock. Then about that time Jesus shouted, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” Some of the people standing there heard Jesus and said, “He's calling for Elijah.” One of them at once ran and grabbed a sponge. He soaked it in wine, then put it on a stick and held it up to Jesus. Others said, “Wait! Let's see if Elijah will come and save him.” Once again Jesus shouted, and then he died. At once the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, and rocks split apart. Graves opened, and many of God's people were raised to life.

Yes, This had become a God Incident

And I actually had reposted the scripture of how the sky changed

instead of the picture I had wanted to use... Left it...

Jesus is laughing ... At US... And I started laughing and listened...

For I really needed to wait for the end of the story before I concluded yesterday's article...

WOW!

You see, there was a very special character that had been literally haunting me. It was the villain's wife who had died from diabetes.

She would talk to her husband throughout each book and, yes, the same villain played the bad guy in each book... No new cases. FBI was failing...

We would hear her talking to her husband, oftentimes screaming. Why? Was she a new part of him? I use the old definition of Split Personality diagnosis... Had his mind split? Or, Was it her spirit not leaving earth like the show about a ghost whisperer? 

Or was it God speaking to a sinner??? Murderer??? But now, after all that happened, I remembered that, often, she would include the statement. That her husband was NOT to use her name as a reason for mass killings...

Just like our government is now doing...

And it sunk in this morning after finishing the book yesterday. In fact, it made perfect sense... Do you see? Was the author sending her readers a message... Revenge is not a reason for murder. Maybe even since the latest version came out, it was happening in today's world... I don't profess to know what was in Sala's mind as she created a ghost for a character, or whatever she intended. What I do  know that, for me, it was the solution to my WHY? 

For surely, there are many in today's world who have forgotten what God sent a climate message to show His anger, His misery, His grief to see that His Son had indeed been murdered for no reason other than to respond to those who CHOSE a criminal/criminality instead of the New Water, New Life, New Peace, New Love that Jesus had brought to the earth to All of His Children...

All without vengeance, retribution, or violence/death... 

And this trilogy ended as only a messenger of God could end it...

It was the frustration, the anger of God, that so many of us are feeling right now, today, in the world... I did not know that there was even a group called USAID until the present president had it demolished. My not knowing, for me, is understandable. I was like the Havenots. I was still in most ways, working to continue to succeed. I was even scared because it was my mother who kept pushing that her last child have a real home... I needed money to do that. I was satisfied living in a mobile home. It was for my mother that I, though scared,that I wouldn't be able to make the payments, bought my first home. A Condo which I later had to sell after I was no longer working...

Even at that point, when God knew that my mother had always worked to ensure that her four children was to have a better life than she had, God supported what occurred, due to powerful men, and provided a new life in my small home in the woods...

Are We All Like Sheep Gone Astray?

Even Though The Good Shepherd has promised to walk with Us Each Day?

Gabby is... now...OK...

Are You?

These Words came...

God works in mysterious ways; His Wonders to Perform

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Trad / Eric Wyse

God Moves in a Mysterious Way lyrics © Vine Ridge Music, Love Your Enemies Publishing, Common Hymnal Publishing

Thou Shalt Not Take The Lord's Name in Vain...

Gabby Talks About John C. Lennox's Updated Edition, God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? Also Info on Copyright/AI

 

This guy was just as overwhelmed when he got the book... but he does repeat what I said about who recommends the book! So there is potential from a pastor who says so! Kinda better than me... Except he obviously hasn't planned for eyesight issues that many publishers are presenting for us... The old 12 point minimum size has gone down the tubes for many corporations who either have been caught up in losses caused by Trump, or is still trying to recover losses from COVID... He'll need to buy magnifying glasses like I had to... Really not a good substitute for enjoying a book where you're taking breaks, trying to read another paragraph during TV commercials... or whatever you need to do to be able to talk about a book that you haven't even started to read... At least I've got to sections up on him to talk about. But who's got more clout, LOL Gabby is just now starting to talk books on an ongoing basis, sigh... and I had to pick one of the most brilliant educators out there to start... more sighs...

John Carson Lennox (born 7 November 1943) is a Northern Irish mathematician, philosopher of science, Christian apologist, and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford University. He is also Pastoral Advisor of Green Templeton College and Fellow of Wycliffe Hall.

.

I like that this brilliant author, still active, is old... With all the other

 groups of people being spotted for extermination by this government, ageism is one of those groups. But, aging is something that is specific to an individual, NOT a group phenomenon. But that is similar to what the author found in the video above... Those who choose to hate first from personal prejudices, whether true or not, are the first to claim that  a human characteristic is actually a demon... or enemies within...

Before the birth of Christ, even, people looked to Greek philosophers and other science-oriented individuals to attempt to explain how the universe worked.  Even the Catholic Church looked to Aristotle as a basis of how they presented their religious beliefs... Then, of course, the Protestant Reformation began with a break from the Christianity as developed by Catholics... Those who wish to learn more look to various individuals who had gained recognition. Galileo was also one early involved...

Preface ‘What is the meaning of it all?’ Richard Feynman

Those who have been granted the spirit of curiosity and imagination have been trying to figure out just how Earth came to be. By the time the earth was populated, it had already been in existence for millions and millions of years, perhaps. I never saw this as a matter of conflict. For me, God had His own time. It was humans who later established how time was to be measured. So, whether or not the Genesis story was something I understood totally do not concern me. As you know, I love mysteries... For God, even one of the reviewers explained it for me to understand where I what was coming as I began to read...

‘This short book is more than just a critical analysis of the deep question posed in the title. It is a scientific detective story, which keeps the reader on his toes as the evidence is put in place bit by bit. John Lennox reaches his final conclusion in grand Hercule Poirot style, revealing the answer that he sees as the only possible solution to the pieces of evidence he has amassed along the way. If you begin this book thinking the answer to the question in the title is “No”, you will enjoy this masterful collecting of the evidence. If you begin it thinking it is “Yes”, maybe you won’t in the end be persuaded to change your view, but you will certainly be faced with a lot of challenging and thought-provoking ideas that will certainly tax your powers of reasoning. Whatever your final conclusion, it is impossible not to find this a stimulating read.’ --Keith Frayn, PhD ScD FRCPath, Professor of Human Metabolism, University of Oxford*

*_____Lennox, John C. God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (p. 4). Lion Hudson. Kindle Edition. 

It is clear as page after page begins, that Lennox has conducted a major research effort, pulling out all relevant books that have been written about this 2000+-year mystery. And, as a life-long student, clearly, some of which were actually within the great halls of education around the world, he begins with a Review of Research. His method to a great extent, is to take an issue and discuss both sides... BUT, and it is a big but, in the process he also clarifies that what I, for instance, may have learned along the way, has also NOW been debunked... Darwin with his evolution concept is one such supposed truth... 

And like today, when the lies are even more used by those who choose to gain their riches and fame through lies, manipulation and even criminal acts, including violence/death, there were always those who claimed that they were right and any alternative opinions were without evidence and therefore they were right...

I smiled when Lennox pointed out that they denied that Faith was evidence... Yet, in reality, were using "Faith" in their own beliefs even when it had been ultimately proven inaccurate

Kinda like the republican christian nationalist "faith" that the 2020 election was not won by President Biden... This is one time when an analogy between history and the present proves to be spot-on in Truth... even while those who deny it or claim that the election was rigged, broken, or whatever...it is still spouted by those who were elected to respond to the need of our citizens. All of Them...

Addressing the question whether science should do away with religion, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg said: ‘The world needs to wake up from the long nightmare of religion... Anything we scientists can do to weaken the hold of religion should be done, and may in fact be our greatest contribution to civilization.’ Unsurprisingly, Richard Dawkins went even further. ‘I am utterly fed up with the respect we have been brainwashed into bestowing upon religion.’ And yet, and yet... Is this really true? Are all religious people to be written off as prejudiced and underinformed? After all, some of them are scientists who have won the Nobel Prize. Are they really pinning their hopes on finding a dark corner of the universe that science can never hope to illuminate? Certainly that is scarcely a fair or true description of most of the early pioneers in science who, like Kepler, claimed that it was precisely their conviction that there was a Creator that inspired their science to ever greater heights. For them it was the dark corners of the universe that science did illuminate that provided ample evidence of the ingenuity of God.*

*_____Lennox, John C. God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (pp. 8-9). Lion Hudson. Kindle Edition. 

I think I'm going to stop for today... I am still not comfortable with how to share...with new copyright concerns... Here's what I found on a search, which happened to be from LinkedIn, so I've followed the creator and will see if I can get more specific info as it pertains to writers and book reviewers... Note that AI is now part of searching... but did not include the creator, merely the link. To me that is not AI, it is merely, perhaps upgraded, but still a search we've been doing since the Internet was created... And with this administration, we all know anything is possible if a deal is made...and money crosses hands... Dealing with the issue of AI does not address the potential theft and reproduction of somebody's creative works!

As AI technologies continue to develop at an unprecedented pace, the tension between AI developers’ need for vast amounts of data and the creative industries’ rights over their content has become a central legal and commercial challenge.

Earlier this year, the UK Government closed its consultation on AI and copyright, aiming to strike a balance between innovation and intellectual property protection. But as ever, the global picture is far from unified and the differences between jurisdictions are telling.

🔍 How are different jurisdictions responding?
🔹 UK: Proposes an opt-out model. AI developers could use copyright works unless rights holders actively reserve their rights. Transparency obligations are likely.
🔹 EU: Permits text and data mining (TDM) for both research and commercial use, under the Digital Single Market Directive. Rights holders can opt out. Transparency measures are set to tighten under the EU AI Act.
🔹 US: Relies on the broad but uncertain fair use doctrine. Each case turns on its facts — as shown by the NYT v OpenAI litigation. Legislative reform is expected, particularly under a new Trump administration.
🔹 Japan: Offers the most permissive regime. TDM and AI training are allowed even for commercial use, provided outputs comply with existing copyright law. No formal transparency rules yet, but the JCO is watching the space.

📊 TDM & Transparency: a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction snapshot:

Text & Data Mining (TDM)
🔹 UK: Currently limited to non-commercial research. Proposal on the table to allow commercial use, provided rights holders can opt out.
🔹 EU: TDM permitted for both research and commercial purposes. Rights holders may opt out.
🔹 US: Flexible, thanks to fair use doctrine, but unpredictable. No specific legislation governing TDM. Judicial decisions will shape the boundaries.
🔹 Japan: Broad scope for TDM and AI training. Legal framework already accommodates information analysis, with minimal restrictions.

Transparency Obligations
🔹 UK: Consultation suggests requiring AI developers to disclose summaries training datasets. Aims to build trust and support enforcement.
🔹 EU: The EU AI Act introduces mandatory summaries of training datasets - they must be “sufficiently detailed”.
🔹 US: California’s new Assembly Bill 2013 mandates high-level disclosure of training data. Due to take effect in January 2026, so it is subject to change under the new administration.
🔹 Japan: No clear planned legislation on disclosure. However, the JCO has raised the possibility of future guidance or regulation on transparency and dataset disclosure.

💡 Our Perspective: In our full article, we unpack the legal issues in detail and suggest a middle-ground approach. Without careful alignment, overly strict local rules may stifle AI innovation while failing to prevent the use of protected content abroad.

Read the full deep-dive and our proposed solution here: https://lnkd.in/ehQ846hu


AI & Copyright Law: comparing global approachesvwv.co.uk

Talk Soon!

Gabby

Back Again... I got interrupted by somebody at my door and I accidentally pushed the publish button. Great start for Gabby! Yikes