Cheat Work Thursday

As if Jeffrey Archer needed the introduction or promotion. But it is my responsibility to tell you that I read 14 of his books in the past two and a half years. Four. Teen. Archer’s books are like 20 seasons of reality TV. People always say how great a storyteller he is. The baffling thing is, the stories are almost of the same formula: there would be two friends, a number of nemeses, close voting, years of a chronicle, and language that feels like it’s from the 1920s, probably. But familiarity and routine are easy and comforting, I guess. So there I was, reading one book after another in the Harry Clifton and William Warwick series as if I'd never heard of this storyline before. I’m done with Archer for now. I need a new genre recommendation, please -- every couple of years, I’d have this problem. That said, I'm posting the summary for each of the books in the two series. I think blogging them makes me remember these stories. Is it important, though, that we remembe...

4 January, 2024.  By now I'd done five days of the antibiotics. The coughing seemed to reduce, but it was still strong especially at night and in the morning. I did the scan at the first private hospital I went to last week. And it was an emotional experience. My mother had her surgery, scans and early rounds of doctor appointments there. As if I'd gone one day since her passing not thinking about her, but being in the room, thinking how she had also been there for her scans, was rough. This was probably the same machine that she used. How scared was she? But she was strong. She was probably not as scared as I was. Also, I'm scared of needles. Every time needles are involved, I'd be emotional. The report was out within two hours. I read and googled it but didn't understand a thing. So I requested to see a doctor there. I couldn't wait 19 January for Public Hospital A for this. I'd go crazy by then. So, the doctor explained it to me. There was atelec...

So, this was me, four months after losing my mother to uterine cancer. At about the same time, we also lost two uncles (one of them not blood-related) to cancer. It was three funerals to the same disease in a span of five weeks. In 2020, we lost an aunt (not blood-related) to lung cancer. 29 December, 2023. Friday, 4PM. Still at the GP. The doctor couldn't tell what the white spot was and said they needed to send the x-ray to Public Hospital A for investigation, which would take three weeks. Three weeks. While my coughing was getting worse. I asked to bring it to the hospital myself, but she said, no. If this was something bad, what good would waiting for three weeks do for me?? But this was a Friday before the long New Year's weekend. I ran to two private hospitals' EDs, trying to find a specialist who could give me an answer, and there was none. But the staff at the second hospital suggested that I go to Public Hospital A's ED; there's always a specialis...

This time last year, at 1AM, I just came back from the ED (don't worry, it was a green zone) on one of the many doctor visits and health scares that I've had in the past 14 months. It started with a cold in early November, which came with a low-grade fever but seemed to take more days than usual to go away. Surprisingly, I had another one in early December. And the second one was a doozy. 6 December, 2023. I had severe diarrhea and vomiting late at night that I couldn't pinpoint the cause of, except that I had KFC for dinner that night. I don't think that was it. But it was bad. Probably one of the worst that I've ever experienced in my life. Luckily, it was only for a few hours. After a few trips to the bathroom, I was ok. The next morning, the coughing started, which was also bad. It was dry and strong, and it wouldn't stop. It got worse in the next five days. Eventually, it felt like I was coughing every five minutes. And I started to have a chest p...

Directed by the same director, Edward Berger, Conclave brought me to this movie. So, the beautiful, painting-like cinematography and the attention to details as a way of storytelling are no surprise. But this third movie adaptation of the book , in short, is just omg brutal 🫠. I could only watch it a few minutes at a time. The year is 1917. Seventeen-year-old Paul joins the German Army alongside his friends Ludwig, Albert and Franz to fight in WWI. Once they reach the front line, the merciless reality of the trench warfare snaps the naivete and enthusiasm out of them. It brings nothing but gory and heartbreaking deaths in a stupid formula: you cross to the other side's trenches and kill every single man in them. Then the other side will do the same to you. Eighteen months later, these kids are seasoned soldiers. They have lost friends and make new friends and sometimes get to leave the trenches for five minutes, where we'll be reminded of the humanity on both sides. Thes...

I love Vatican movies . And Conclave is my new favourite -- superb score, stunning cinematography, regal wardrobe, perfect lineup, chef's kiss acting, gasp-inducing twist. But is it possible for us to get a different plot in the future -- you know, other than this usual electing-a-new-pope thing -- like an elaborate affair or a legal thriller or a post-apocalyptic chaos or a romantic comedy inside the Vatican? I mean, will it be tricky with the approval ? Do these movies need to be approved ? So, Conclave starts with the death of the pope. Three weeks later, the College of Cardinals, led by the Dean, Thomas Lawrence, gathers to elect a new pope. The main contenders in the beginning are Bellini, a liberal; Tremblay, a moderate; and Tedesco and Adeyemi, two conservatives. I never knew that the candidates for the pope are identified by these political ideologies. It's like watching the US presidential election all over again. “If we liberals are not united, Tedesco w...

MUST READ: THE FIRST TWO The Judge's List (2021) Lacy Stoltz from The Whistler is back. She's contacted by Jeri Crosby, who wants her to investigate a Florida circuit judge whom Jeri's certain is a murderer with multiple victims. One of the victims was Bryan Burke, Jeri's father. The case was never solved, and it happened 22 years ago. Burke was a retired law professor, and the judge in question was one of his students. And the motive is insane: apparently, this man felt humiliated by a heated debate he had with Burke in class, which led him to have an episode of mental breakdown. Jeri has no proof to back up her claim, but from two decades of investigating her father's murder, she has identified five other victims along the way, and they were all connected by two things: they were killed by a hit on the head, then strangled by the same type of rope, and they all had wronged this judge in some way. Lacy later figures out that the judge is Ross Bannick. And ...

MUST READ: THE GUARDIANS AND CAMINO WINDS This is my customary annual attempt to come back to this space 😅. Let's pick up where we left off. The Guardians (2019) Guardian Ministries is a non-profit legal foundation focusing on innocence, forgotten cases. It was started by Vicki Gourley after a young man convicted for murder by the jury she was on was later proven not guilty. The outfit employs two lawyers, Cullen Post and Mazy Ruffin, and a freelance investigator, Frankie Tatum, who was also its first client and exoneree. Operating on grants and donations, it's safe to say this is a poor organization – the number of cases is limited, and the process is far from speedy. Post is also an ordained minister. When he signed on with Guardian, he says, he also took a vow of poverty. The story follows Post and his work for Quincy Miller, Duke Russell and Shasta Briley. Quincy is sentenced to life imprisonment and has been incarcerated for 22 years for the murder of his di...

MUST READ: ALL THREE The Whistler (2016) A once disbarred, ex-con lawyer named Ramsey Mix contacts the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct (BJC) with the information of the most corrupt judge in US history. Lacy Stoltz, an investigator with the Board, and her partner, Hugo Hatch, are assigned to the case. The judge in question has been aiding the local mafia skimming money from the Indian casinos and covering for the mafia’s various crimes, including murders. She is revealed to be Claudia McDover, and Mix supplies the information on behalf of a mole who wants to file a claim under the Florida Whistleblower Statute and collect possibly millions from it. This is a story of two mice trying to corner several huge cats. For five minutes, it spooked me to drive alone at night. Also, after Gray Mountain, this pattern of pulling the rug from under the feet in the middle of the plotlines feels familiar to me. Is this new? I don’t remember this in Grisham's older books. What did he d...

MUST READ: GRAY MOUNTAIN It has been a while since I last read Grisham. I’m catching up, because loyalty. (As usual, this may contain spoilers.) The Racketeer (2012) It’s a story about a Black attorney Malcolm Bannister from a small town in Virginia who was set up and convicted for racketeering. He's sentenced to 10 years and pretty much loses everything in his life: career, marriage, contact with his young son, and people who care – except for his aging father, who visits him once a month in prison. Halfway doing time, a federal judge and his mistress are brutally murdered. Malcolm makes a deal with the FBI, giving them the name of the murderer in exchange for his release and a witness protection programme. He demands for a face-changing surgery under the programme, then disappears. Halfway reading it, you can already sense where the story is going – of the long plot he’s planned with his best friend and girlfriend – which you’ll read with an urgent need to warn him ...