Checking in... finally

It's been a while, but here I am.  No promises yet, but over the next few days I'm going to try to get this blog back on its feet.  I'll do this with a combination of posts telling you a little bit about why I've been gone and posts doing what this blog is supposed to do: telling you about interesting things I've read and seen (things you might enjoy, too). Fingers crossed, but there might be a little life left in this blog yet.

Before I get to the boring personal stuff, though, here's a quick book tip.  I just finished reading John Sandford's Phantom Prey, which was another terrific entry in the author's long-running police thriller series.  This time series lead Lucas Davenport is trying to solve a handful of probably-related murders taking place in the goth community.

This entry actually has a kind of supernatural vibe, because (without telling you too much) one of the characters thinks she has a ghostly presence in her life, one that is pressing her to commit some extreme acts. Is there really a dark spirit hovering around this woman, or is she simply in need of some serious help?  In the context of this terrific mystery/chase thriller (there's lots of chasing around town after clues and crooks in this one), does it really matter?

The book also has the usual Sandford richness.  In addition to the main plotline, there are also all kinds of other things (both professional and personal) going on with Lucas and his colleagues.  A stakeout subplot could have actually carried its own book, but here acts as a bit of variety and diversion from the main story.

Phantom Prey is somewhere slightly past the midpoint of this (so far) twenty-some book series.  I tend to read a Prey book about once or twice a year, not wanting to be greedy and get caught up too quickly.