Copyright 2017 by Marcus Miller. Self-published.

This is the first of a series of 6 “forgotten man” books by Miller. The forgotten man is cast in the image of Jack Reacher – an iconoclast loner who roams the world, carrying few possessions, owning nearly nothing. But trouble finds him and he has an almost supernatural ability to deal with trouble in an ultra-violent way, without repercussions.

The forgotten man is Steve Rawlings, a man with a history of clandestine operations, mostly in Central and South America. Because of his past he is able to get some assistance when needed from his old colleagues in the CIA. That assistance comes in handy in this case.

The story begins with a late-night secret drilling operation in western Wyoming, followed shortly by some strong-arming of the rancher who owns that land. With the assistance of a local banker who calls in the rancher’s loan, some threats from a neighbor that keep the rancher from hiring the help he needs to get his cattle to market and a beating that prevents him from doing it himself, the rancher is facing the loss of everything he owns.

But Steve Rawlings is there to help. With the assistance of his CIA buddies, the bad guys start disappearing. The banker and the other rancher die violent deaths and their bodies are never found, thanks to the CIA’s cleanup team. Then Steve goes after the drilling company. Which turns out to be more than just a drilling company.

The violence is graphic but is balanced by the oh-so-sweet dialog between Steve and the rancher and his wife. Oddly, the book never misses an opportunity to let us know when Steve pees (but never when he poops – maybe he has a blockage?). And the transition from “thanks, ma’am” to an ice pick in the ear is stark.

I find the writing style odd, but the story is interesting. And I learned quite a bit about cattle ranching and horsemanship.

Odd but interesting.

5 out of 10.

Copyright 2008 by Sandra Brown Management Ltd, published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc, New York

Britt Shelley is a young, ambitious television news reporter in Charleston SC. She is a rising star. But she goes to a party hosted by her old friend and occasional lover, Jay Burgess, has a drink and wakes up the next morning, naked, in bed with Jay. A very dead Jay. Jay, who had told her that he was dying and had something to tell her. Something big. Something that would make her a star at the television station. But instead of a juicy story she has become a suspect in a very suspicious death.

Things only get worse from there. She is kidnapped by Raley Gannon, a fire investigator who, it turns out, had had a similar experience – having a drink and waking up in bed with a dead woman. What was going on? Soon attempts would be made to kill both of them. They needed to hide and needed to team up to find out why their lives were being threatened.

It all had something to do with a fire at an old police station 5 years earlier. But what was the connection? Unraveling that secret – and following the pair through a series of harrowing adventures – is what this book is about.

The solution was not the most surprising I have ever encountered and some of the plot stretched my credulity. But not bad.

6 out of 10.

Copyright 1961 by Bruce Catton. Published by Broadway Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc, New York.

This is the third of the three books in Catton’s American Civil War Trilogy. It covers from 1864 to the end of the war. As with the other two volumes, it provided me with a new perspective on the Civil War.

What did I learn?

• Braxton Bragg was a lousy general. Which makes me wonder why Fort Bragg is not only named after a Confederate general but a lousy Confederate general.
• Sherman’s “march to the sea” was instrumental in ending the war. But it was made possible by the attrition in the Confederate and massive resource advantages of the North that wore the South down.
• In 1864, as in the previous years of the war, poor military leadership on both sides prolonged the war. In hindsight this war should have lasted a year. Two years tops.
• Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves as an act that was necessary to win the war but was personally in favor of exiling all Negroes to a remote land. When that proved infeasible he reluctantly accepted that they must become full citizens, complete with equal education and the right to vote (for the men).
• Full equality for Negroes was a bridge too far for most Northerners and nearly all Southerners. When Lincoln was assassinated, the idea of full equality died with him. And that is still an issue for the US some 180 years later.

This trilogy is long – almost 1,500 pages. But it is well-written and it was a pleasure to read. Informative and pleasurable – a good combination.

8 out of 10.