BAD ATTITUDE
By Sherrilyn Kenyon
• B.A.D. – Bureau of American Defense. She looks like Angelina Jolie, only shorter and with bigger hips. He looks like a “GQ” model with dark eyes.
Sydney Westbrook is a top agent and spotter for BAD. (A spotter is the person who sets up the shot for a sniper) Sydney doesn’t want have time for pretty boys, or gung-ho soldiers who shoot at their commanding officers. But, she does need a sniper to take out the assassin who has been hired to kill a high-profile world leader on American soil.
Josh Steele would rather remain in prison than work for a government agency that doesn’t double-check their intelligence. That’s what happened to Steele’s best friend and spotter Brian. When Steele overhears his commanding officer blaming Brian’s death because they are being “lost” he loses it, and shoots the hat off the commanding officer’s head.
BAD promises to erase his prison record if he works for them, but once he does, there will be no voluntary ending of his employment. Josh infiltrates the company that hires mercenaries and assassins and his first assignment is to eliminate his only competitor for the job opening.
After car chases, bombs, and hotel rooms being shot up, Josh takes a bullet in the shoulder and has to rely on Sydney to get him help and get them both to safety.
Sydney and BAD come through and while Josh is still leery of trusting anyone, Sydney manages to break through and slowly starts to win his heart.
There are lots of twists in this first book of the “Bad” series by Sherrilyn. It’s exciting, fast-paced, and very funny in spots. Enjoy, and don’t forget the best part of a romance book is the happy ending.
E. Renae Johnson is a Library Assistant at the Covington Library, King County Library System
AIR FORCE ONE
by Kenneth Walsh
• Another good book jumped into my hands a while back. Air Force One gives recollections and impressions of every president who has relied on air travel during his term of office. (Should that read “every sitting president?”) The book gives fascinating glimpses behind the formal facades of protocol and politics.
Among those men whose presidencies I personally recall, a few insights were significant to me. Gerald Ford, everyman, wanted each of the stewards to serve him in turn so that he could get to know each of them better. Ronald Reagan maintained high standards of personal appearance, donning casual workout clothes in flight so that his suits wouldn’t wrinkle. Bill Clinton was a night owl and loved to have an audience.
A few years ago, my family and I toured a retired presidential aircraft at the Boeing Museum of Flight. One of the anecdotes told by a docent stuck with me. Lyndon Johnson enjoyed every bit of control he could garner, and used a height-adjustable desk to his advantage. (Imagine sitting at the children’s table while the President of the United States towers over you in his elevated chair!) He also liked to set the cabin’s thermostat so that others might not get too comfortable. (The crew eventually disconnected the wiring so he only thought he was controlling it.)
Air Force One is a venue both private and public. The impressive plane has often been used as a stunning backdrop for photographs. When airborne, security measures were more relaxed than anywhere else the president could visit. Conversations flowed, meals were served, movies watched, and some social conventions could be dropped. This book is a wonderful introduction to the men who have held the most amazing position of power in the world.
Katharine Richardson is a Library Assistant in the Covington Library, King County Library System
COLD DISH
By Ann Erdmann
• “Cold Dish” is an engaging tale of revenge in the wide open spaces of Wyoming.
Cody Pritchard was one of four teenagers convicted of raping Melissa Little Bird, a young Northern Cheyenne girl with fetal alcohol syndrome. The suspended sentences the boys were given after the trial angered many in the community. Two years later, Cody’s body is found in a ravine by an inquisitive flock of sheep. First indications suggest a hunting accident but when a second member of the foursome turns up dead, Sheriff Walt Longmire of Absaroka County, Wyoming is looking for someone out for revenge. As tension in the community intensifies, Walt, his deputy Victoria Moretti, and his friend Henry Standing Bear work quickly to find the killer before the killer finds the other two boys.
Craig Johnson infuses his characters with personality and life. The dialog flows smoothly, the humor is congenial and the plot believable. The Wyoming landscape and weather are an integral part of the story. Also figuring prominently in the story is the priceless Cheyenne rifle known as the Retriever of the Dead. Describing what happens when Walt handles the rifle, Johnson writes: “I allowed my breath to slowly drift out with the faint breeze and it blended with the rounded river stones, the rustling of the dying buffalo grass, and with the faint wisps of high-altitude clouds. I could hear the song I had heard before on the mountain, the one that had shaken the trees and resonated through rock. The Old Cheyenne were there now with me, and I could hear their voices ascending as I held their rifle.”
“Cold Dish” is the first book in the Sheriff Longmire series.
Ann Erdmann is a librarian at the Maple Valley Library, King County Library System.
