Just a short note. We’ve been visiting family in New York City (and playing with our granddaughter), which all seems a lot more special than it did pre-covid. Hope you’re able to get out and about wherever you’re at.

The new book is back from the copyeditor, so I’m making the final adjustments. More on that in a few weeks (I hope).

Previously, I mentioned reading Richard Stark’s The Dame, the second of four books he wrote featuring Parker’s sometime accomplice Alan Grofield. (I’m a big fan of the Parker crime thrillers.) Since then I’ve read two more of these—the first one, The Damsel, and the fourth one, Lemons Never Lie.

The first one, The Damsel, which takes up with Grofield recovering from wounds he received in The Handle (Parker #8), is a little loosely plotted for my taste. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it. It just seemed to me that Stark was still finding his way with Grofield as a lead character in this book. And it’s not really a heist book: the plot is more focused on a series of unintended consequences that come out of the criminal choices made by the characters.

Now Lemons Never Lie, on the other hand, a novel where Grofield’s heist plans continually go wrong, is as good as any Parker novel. The plot just buzzes along, double cross on double cross, providing a lot of suspense and surprise as Grofield tries to end up as the last guy holding the bag of money. A fun read.

That’s all for now. Happy summer reading!