2020s
There were many musical artists who made early impressions on me growing up, mostly country, thanks to my father’s listening habits: the Highwaymen of Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson (whom I’m named after), Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson; John Denver; Elvis; the Beatles; the Statler Brothers (the first concert I can remember going to); and Kenny Rogers. Though most people will always remember him for “The Gambler,” I was treated to his entire catalog of the ’70s and ’80s. “Love Will Turn You Around” will always be a favorite. RIP, Mr. Rogers.
Oh look, one of my other podcasts has a new episode out today. Behold, the quarantine edition of the Sneaky Good Podcast!
Lock and load, casual nerds, there’s a new episode of the Big Fat Geek Podcast! We’re talking about John Wick Chapter 2!
A happy and prosperous Newroz to our Kurdish friends, wherever they may be. Be careful jumping over those fires as you welcome the arrival of spring!
Scott Reardon’s The Dark Continent, which I reviewed on my blog, is on sale for Kindle for 99 cents for the next three days. Definitely recommended.
Retrophisch Review: The Dark Continent
Evoking plot elements from Justin Cronin’s The Passage, Scott Reardon’s The Dark Continent opens with CIA agent Karl Lyons looking for an ultra-black government project gone awry, one he had been a part of but was now on the outs with. The heavily obscured project, Prometheus, has taken a turn for the worse: on an abandoned oil rig off the coast of Alaska, scientists have begun injecting human subjects, and not just any human subjects. These are the worst of the worst: rapists, serial killers, death row inmates. Sound familiar, readers of The Passage?
Yet Reardon has his own twist on what happens to the test subjects, one that comes across as far more believable than Cronin’s vampires, but is just as terrifying. Defying the odds to escape from Chinese imprisonment, Karl joins forces with Tom Reese, the protagonist from Reardon’s first book, The Prometheus Man. I should note that I hadn’t read this first novel before diving in to The Dark Continent, but it was not an issue. Reardon gives enough backstory from the first book sprinkled throughout the second to get you up to speed and keep you engaged. After the test subjects escape, Karl and Tom must enter the heart of darkness the killers have created in middle America to take down the enhanced humans before they end life as we have become accustomed to it.
This was probably not the best choices of books to read during a pandemic and the inherent fears that go along with one, but I could not put it down. It is a “just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should” thriller that grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go. From the beginning, I was deeply invested in Karl and Tom, and Kronin (a nod to Justin Cronin?) has to be one of the scariest fiction characters since Cormac McCarthy’s Chigurh. Reardon has crafted an engaging, suspenseful story that should make one think while being entertained.
4.5/5 fins, definitely recommended
I’m two-thirds of the way through Scott Reardon’s “The Dark Continent,” and it’s probably not the kind of book to be reading in the middle of a pandemic, but man, I cannot put it down. 📚
Did you get a private concert from an incredible singer-songwriter tonight? Thanks, @rosskingmusic and @stacinking!
Today I finished that rat bastard @robkroese’s “The End of All Things,” the conclusion of his fun Counterfeit Sorcerer fantasy series. Delightfully entertaining, I highly recommend it. 📚
Chris, if you like it so much, why are you being mean and insulting to Rob?
He knows why.
When your marriage retreat gets cancelled, but you’re already there and another attendee shares your sense of humor…
Watched Ford vs Ferrari with my bride this evening. What an outstanding film. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
In a game in which they never trailed, @lsumenslacrosse downs Texas Tech 10-5 to go 1-1 on their north Texas road trip. Glad we got to see them play! #GeauxTigers
LSU vs Texas Tech lacrosse on a cold and windy Sunday morning at the University of North Texas. #GeauxTigers
Even though @lsumenslacrosse falls to SMU 16-6, still glad we got to see another #LSU team play in Dallas, and our 8 year-old, new-to-lacrosse player got to see his first collegiate lacrosse game.
