Vaccine Passport

Can we implement that at the border first?  If undocumented immigrants are allowed to cross the border into the United States without a vaccine passport, I don't see any reason an American citizen should be held to a higher standard.  Citizenship should have some privileges.

Extraction (2020)

Ovi Mahajan (Rudhraksh Jaiswal) is the son of a Mumbai drug lord.  Though his father is currently in prison, Ovi lives in a mansion and has personal bodyguards.  Despite warnings of coming straight home from school by his father's chief lieutenant, Saju (Randeep Hooda), Ovi dares to go to a club at night to meet some friends.  This proves disastrous as he is abducted by a rival drug lord who demands a ransom that will ruin Ovi's father.  Saju gets the blame for Ovi's kidnapping and is ordered to recover Ovi without paying a ransom or his son will be killed.

Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is an Australian mercenary who served multiple tours in Afghanistan.  He accepts the job of recovering Ovi from Dhaka in Bangladesh.  With the support of a crack team, he arrives 'alone' to pay the ransom after he sees Ovi alive.  Once Ovi is thus located, the non-stop action begins.  Tyler proves to be a combat monster, a John Wick-type character who overcomes wave after wave of enemies.  Not only does he have to fight the goons of the rival drug lord, he also has to battle Saju's forces who intend to snag Ovi without paying Tyler.  Then the local police and even the military join the fray.

High adrenaline action film with great combat choreography.  Unsurprisingly, the director is a veteran stuntman who worked in Deadpool, Avengers, Thor: Ragnarok, Atomic Blonde, and a long list of successful action-packed blockbusters.  Lots of fun.  Recommended.

The Reversal

Mickey Haller is called to a meeting with the district attorney of Los Angeles.  The state supreme court has reversed a 25 year-old verdict.  Jason Jessup, a tow-truck driver, was convicted of abducting and murdering a 12 year-old girl.  Modern DNA testing has determined that a semen stain on her dress does not match Jessup.  Jessup intends to sue the city for millions.  The DA would like Haller to take the case as an independent prosecutor and retry the case.  As a defense lawyer, Haller is initially stunned by the offer but he sees some positives.  He can advance his ex-wife Maggie MacPherson's career by giving her 2nd seat at the prosecution table.  Plus, his daughter can finally see him working for the 'good guys' for a change.  He accepts.  Next, he calls upon his half-brother, Harry Bosch, to serve as investigator.  Of course, Mickey is new to the prosecution game and doesn't demand bail for Jessup, much to the shock and dismay of his ex-wife.  Jessup is allowed to wander LA while he awaits trial.  Haller quickly realizes that he has taken a potentially unwinnable case.  If he loses, the blame will not fall on the district attorney's office.

An unusual turn for both Haller and Bosch but very engaging.  Not only is it a good read, but it provides great insight on the workings of the courts and law enforcement.  Highly recommended.

My Latest Book

 

Enjoy reading this blog?  Put some of it on your book shelf.  It is certain to start some conversations!

9 Dragons

Harry Bosch is called to investigate a murder at a convenience store in South LA, a place he had been many years before.  He had visited the store after escaping a mob (Angels Flight) and was offered a kindness by the Chinese-American proprietor, the murder victim.  Needing the aid of an interpreter, David Chu of the Asian Gangs Unit (AGU) is called to the scene to interview the victim's wife.   It does not take long to discover that Mr. Li was paying protection to a Triad.  Bosch has hardly begun the case than he gets a call demanding he back off.  Ignoring the threat, he arrests the Triad bagman who was the likely suspect.  And then he received a video of his daughter, bound and gagged.  Madeline lives in Hong Kong with her mother, Elinor Wish.  Bosch is on the next flight to Hong Kong.  Here is Harry Bosch meets Taken.  Yes, Harry has a particular set of skills that make him a nightmare to those who would kidnap his daughter.  There are a lot of bodies and Harry calls upon Mickey Haller to represent him.

One of the staples of Harry Bosch is his insistence that there are no coincidences.  In fact, he cracks the case because of his belief that their are no coincidences.  However, the plot of this book has the most glaring coincidence of all time.  After this, Harry is going to need to seriously rethink his belief that their are no coincidences.

It is a quick and engaging read but, toward the end, it feels like Connelly was pressing up against a deadline.  The big case is explained after the fact.  On one page, Harry is racing off to arrest the culprit and on the next, it is a week later and he is recalling the fallout from that day.  Huh?  Not one of his stronger endings.  Still, a good book and definitely recommended.

Then It Exploded!

SpaceX launched their latest rocket today in Boca Chica, Texas.  Starship SN10's launch window started at 9 AM this morning but didn't get off the ground until just after 5 PM.  Like SN8 and SN9, it climbed into the sky with all three engines firing.  After a couple of minutes, an engine cut out.  This is normal.  A minute or so later, another engine cut out.  When the rocket reached 10 kilometers in altitude, the final engine cut off, the ship reoriented itself to horizontal, and plummeted earthward.  At 6 minutes, all three engines fired and brought the ship vertical for a landing.  Throttling back to one engine, the ship landed on the pad in exactly the way that neither SN8 nor SN9 had.  Success!  Amazing!

Several minutes later, the starship detonated!  That blast appeared to center around the engines and launched the ship back into the air before it crashed horizontally onto the pad amid the flames of the explosion.  Well, it just wouldn't be a starship landing if there wasn't a massive explosion at the end.  Maybe SN11 will not only land vertically but also not explode.  That is the next milestone.  Not exploding is an important feature for rockets.