2016.07.25 Meeting Notes

First things first, our upcoming books are as follows (these reflect the books chosen at the July meeting and our Christmas Party in December):
*August 22: The Guilty by David Baldacci (Kerry leading and Ashley bringing snacks)
*September 26: The Crossing by Michael Connelly (David leading and Janine bringing snacks)
*October 24: The Travelers by Chris Pavone
*November 28: Redemption Road by John Hart
*December 15: Ink & Bone by Lisa Unger
*January 23: The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith
*February 27: Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben
In January we will choose TEN books to take us through the end of 2017. 
To suggest a book, please do the following:
1. go on the Douglas County Library website and put the title into the search box to make sure the library owns 10 or more copies.
2. Log on to Book Movement, click on the "Possible Club Selections" tab, and then "Add Books." This will open a search box where you can type the book or author's name and "Select This Book" will save your suggestion.
OR
1. go on the Douglas County Library website and put the title into the search box to make sure the library owns 10 or more copies.
2. Email me the title and author's name, please put "Crime & Beyond Book Suggestion" in the subject line.
Now on to the July meeting where we discussed The Promise by Robert Crais.
In the book, Elvis Cole is hired by a woman to find a missing co-worker. Elvis learns the missing co-worker is an explosives expert and recently worked for a defense department contractor. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Scott James and his police dog track a fugitive to a house filled with explosives and a dead body (of said fugitive). Soon, the two cases intertwine and everyone is up to their necks in bombs and corrupt officials.
The book featured a LOT of recurring Crais characters: Elvis Cole, Joe Pike, Jon Stone (I think), Scott James, and our favorite…Maggie the K9. It was billed as Elvis Cole #5, Joe Pike #16, and Scott & Maggie #2. Crais likes to intermix his characters and if you’re a long time reader it can be fun to visit with more than just one in each book.
The book got excellent scores from the group, which totaled 18 people with Sharon on Skype, plus one emailed vote. It received two 9.5 and two 9s, two 8.5 scores and a whopping seven 8s. 7 is still a respectable score and it got two of those. At the lower end of the spectrum were the two 5s and one 6.5. Cindy was a DNR but she may go back and read the book.
Some of the positive comments were that we liked the story, it was quick and interesting, entertaining, wrapped up nicely, and we just plain like the author’s writing. Jay liked the multiple POVs but thought the ending was a bit too tidy. We agreed it was a chic ending: all wrapped up in a bow. I’m pretty sure Jay was saying the ending wasn’t to his liking, but since all the women were nodding with a smile on their face, we clearly saw it a different way. Pat liked the characters and where it took place.
Lots of us were just thrilled to see Maggie again, although Jeff finds Scott annoying & we’re pretty sure Crais will have him appear in all the Maggie books. Chris K. liked the book and didn’t even try to figure it out, just went along for the ride and enjoyed herself. It was Terri’s first Crais book and she enjoyed it. Judy liked that Amy was bad in the beginning but turned out good. We also liked that the guy that was responsible for her son’s death was mysteriously killed and that Jon Stone went to tell her (I think I’m getting this character’s name right, but I mean the guy who spoke a million different languages).
On the negative side, Raj thought there were way too many characters (even though Dave said that the characters are the herbs for the soup). I think Raj prefers her soup with fewer herbs. I was in Raj’s camp and the book didn’t catch my interest. I wasn’t too bothered by the many characters, but as you can tell above – I can’t quite keep them straight. Denise felt that Crais wasted her time, that the book lacked originality, was corny, and contained lots of unimportant details. Dennis agreed with Raj on the number of characters, way too many.
We suspect that this book was an intro for Crais to write a boy-buddy book soon, and he used all of the character introductions to now combine who he needs to, since they’ve all met.
Finally, I’d like to welcome Jay back to the email list. Not sure how you got removed Jay, but we’re glad to see you back (sorry about that, nothing personal. It had NOTHING to do with that low score I didn’t agree with).
Thanks, and see you on August 22nd when we discuss The Guilty by David Baldacci.
Kerry