Friday 10/25
Is that John Malkovich out front? Yorkshire, UK, Leeds Night of Light, photo by Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu/Getty Images, posted at theguardian.com:
Michael Byrnes studied business in college, earning an MBA from Rutgers. I was unable to find any more info on his background, so I have no idea what inspired him to write. He has had four novels published. I just finished The Sacred Blood, which was issued in 2009, sequel to The Sacred Bones, described as “archeological thrillers” at his Wiki profile. I didn’t feel lost not having read the first. It is a third person account of a female geneticist, archaeologist, rabbi, priest and Muslim activist entwined in a complex plot of biblical proportions. There are many twists and turns and a high body count. For non-believers such as myself, the suspension of disbelief is required. It is likened to Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code, which I haven’t read or seen on screen, my reluctance perhaps professional jealousy, of success, not content. Whatever. Byrnes’ novel reminded me of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1986). I enjoyed it. The writing is solid. The knowledge of religions and history is impressive. It must have required a staggering amount of research. The pace is fast, most of the chapters very short. The 255 pages of the hardcover version are packed tight, the print a bit small. 1600+ users at Amazon have rated The Sacred Blood, forging to a consensus of 4.3 on a scale of five. I’ll go with 3.25. Sales have slumped. Byrnes has not published since 2016. Is he bogged down in research, bummed that sales are not what he’d hoped, out of ideas? Who knows? He has done better than 90% of writers. Kudos. He is a father of three. Photos from Google Images:
According to a nypost.com article by David Propper, edited by yours truly: 480,000 New Yorkers left the state last year, 300,000 new residents arrived, better than the net loss of 244,000 in ‘22.
Here’s a gem from the column of NYP sports media critic Phil Mushnick: “Reader Robert H. McNeil suggests that there are now two Monday night football games, one on ESPN, the other on ABC/ESPN, so that ESPN BET can cash in extra big on suckers betting two-team parlays.”
Among today’s many celebrations, it’s National Greasy Foods Day. Resistance is futile.
Will DT overcome this? Headline from foxnews.com on a statement out of Virginia: “Gov Youngkin reacts to ‘stunning’ ruling keeping ‘self-identified’ noncitizens on rolls.” And this from Pennsylvania: “Battleground state county investigating 2,500 voter forms flagged for fraud.”
California corn maze open to the public. Looks like fun. Photo by Fred Greaves/Reuters:
The weather is spoiling everyone. Not a hint of breeze today, making the Anti-Inflation Book Shop as light an endeavor as possible. My thanks to the woman who donated four hardcovers in Russian, and to Lynn, who brought Christmas books that will go on ice until post-Thanksgiving; and to my Constant Benefactress, who insisted on paying for Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard despite delivering a handful of books; and to the gentleman who bought a novel in Russian, two Russian CDs and one in the Understanding Music CD series. I put more books in the free kiosk and left a bag full of Russian in the garden.
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