2012.11.26 Meeting Notes

Wow, it’s already over a week since our last Crime & Beyond meeting. I’m a slacker, I blame the holidays. It was a very fun meeting and I think we laughed more last Monday than at a lot of other meetings. Maybe it had something to do with finding out how easy it is to rip off someone’s ear, but I digress.
Dave powered through a bad cold in order to lead the meeting where we discussed Force of Nature by CJ Box. He also brought in some tasty Grasshoppers. If you weren’t there, you’re going to have to just wonder if I mean real ones. With this club, you never know.
The book really got some high reviews and most of us enjoyed it. Nate reminded us of Jack Reacher, and the body count was up there with what Reacher seems to leave in his wake. Both are ex-military and have their own agenda. Both are tough guys who want to do what’s right and protect people. And both seem to really please the ladies.
We were all a bit impatient about the secret Nate was keeping that related to what he had done in his past that caused the deaths of so many people. Many of us thought it took a little too long to get to the point of it all. But once we found out the connection to 9-11, we thought it was a pretty good twist and really added to the story. Most of us agreed that CJ Box is a very good writer.
We talked about the book The Looming Tower, which CJ mentioned. It was written by Lawrence Wright and is about the rise of Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9-11. It won a Pulitzer prize for non-fiction and its information was the premise for the event that caused Nate’s guilt and led up to the conflict in Force of Nature.
We also discussed Falconry, which played quite a role in the book. Dave gave us some interesting background into the “sport” and the people who do it.
The slap vote went to the chief of police. When Joe Pickett asks you to call in the SWAT team, you just call in the damn swat team! The fact that he got the other cop (the one running against him for Sheriff) shot makes it worse. I think maybe when we slap him we use some sort of blunt, club like object instead of just our hand.
I don’t think we had any Daisies here. I did think that Nate leaving behind a few clues as to his presence in the woods was a bit unlike him. Others were not taken in by his female companion and thought he shouldn’t have taken her with him. Of course, then he wouldn’t have gotten the blanket action on the hood of the car, so it all worked out. Some of us also didn’t buy that Joe would ship his whole family out of town to hide from the bad guys, but just send his FBI friend to his daughter’s college to warn her (especially thinking her new friend from Maryland might be one of the bad guys).
Lastly, it was pretty cool that the book took place in Wyoming and Colorado. It’s fun to read books that describe things so close to home. Dave recommends all of the Joe Pickett books and there are quite a few, so you may want to get started.
The next meeting is our Holiday Party. It’s a week early and will take place at Lorraine’s home on December 17th at 6:00pm (half an hour earlier than normal). Lorraine’s address is XXXXXX, XXXXXX, CO, and her number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. I have attached an invite to this email with a map.
We will discuss Michael Connelly’s The Reversal. I have Jose down to lead and we are ALL bringing snacks. Please bring a dish to pass, along with a wrapped book for the gift exchange. The book can be new or used, hardcover or paperback. We will have the usual gift stealing portion of the party, and 12 days of Christmas quiz (ok, so it’s really a 12 months of books quiz, but it sounded more festive the other way). No studying required, but sometimes if you read the old meeting notes you can get some hints.
Dave passed out his annual holiday party invite. It takes place this Saturday, December 8th from 4:00pm-10:00pm. Dave, this is my RSVP that I will be there, but we have Nutcracker tickets, so will be stopping by earlier than usual, probably around 5pm. I hope to see some of you there, Dave has great food and drinks, and it’s a fun time.
Kerry