Vanilla Ride; Lady in Red; The Case for Jamie

"Vanilla Ride", Joe Landsdale's next Hap and Leonard book after "Captains Outrageous", was a good deal shorter, but still packed a punch. The premise is familiar: Marvin asks Hap and Leonard to help him rescue his granddaughter from an abusive drug dealer (remember how well it worked out when they rescued Brett's daughter Tillie from her abusive pimp? Yeah...) Hap and Leonard are able to get Gadget (yes, Gadget. I know) away but in the process piss off the Dixie Mafia. They send a hit woman out for them, known only as Vanilla Ride. Sure, okay. For the moment, Hap and Leonard are okay, but I think it will only be a matter of time before Vanilla Ride shows up again...

Sheila Tate was Mrs. Reagan's press secretary during the first four years of Ronald Reagan's presidency, and was able to give us an insider's look as to how official business is done in the East Wing. State dinners, her Just Say No campaign, Sheila helped manage all that. She wanted to share her good memories, since Nancy had a reputation of being a big overbearing and a "dragon lady". It was a sweet rememberance.

I *almost* didn't bother to read "The Case for Jamie", since I hated "Last of August" so much. But I did love the first one, "A Study in Charlotte", and I hoped the series would end on a good note, so I gave it a shot. It wasn't too bad. Definitely better than the second one, but not as good as the first. At least it wasn't as complicated. Jamie is back at Sherringford boarding school, he hasn't seen Charlotte Holmes in a year, not since her brother, Milo, killed August and Charlotte took the fall. He's dating Elizabeth, and playing rugby, and working hard to get into a good college. He still has the occasional panic attack, but he's doing better. It switched back and forth between Jamie and Charlotte's POVs: Charlotte is trying to smoke out Lucien, August's evil older brother. The ending was nice, not too "all tied up in a neat bow".


And finally, a sad note. My little puppy dog, Siddalee, passed away on Monday. She was a sweet, funny little dog, and we'll all miss her a lot. RIP, Sidda.