At the time, I really wanted to use my Kung Fu like reflexes to take him out just because I believed I could, which seems quite stilly in retrospect especially for $12 and half a sack of groceries.

Regarding guns, I would be inclined to buy a large caliber gun if anything since I am much more afraid of Celeste’s Grizzly bears who eat people, and a 38 would just annoy these 1,100 pound beasts.

Woody, I just couldn’t manage to make the arrows work, visually, so I kept putting ‘em in.

Marc, I agree with everything you said about JLB, including the crying. He’s far and away my favorite of all the mystery writers. I see no one in the genre who can match his grasp of psychological complexities. (Although George Pelecanos gets more interesting with every book.) Plus his is always a big canvas, philosophically. And his descriptions of the natural world alone—and of music—are reason enough to keep reading. I think I’ve read most of his books twice, and probably read Black Cherry Blues, three times.

I think he’s ten times the writer than Connelly. I like Michael’s work a lot, a whole lot. But I find him a much better storyteller than a capital W Writer. I often find myself mentally rewriting his stuff into stronger prose.

Now.. enough. Back to The Outlook. And, no, I dont have a crush on Agent Rachel Walling.

a) Unwed mothers and no father figures. – (see previous rants)
b) Un-controlled immigration – (millions of jobs taken from blacks and rise of Hispanic gangs)
c) Longer Sentencing (3-strikes – happy to have the violent guys locked away forever, over used by DA’s on lesser offenses, should probably tweak this – increased 4 fold since 1980)
d) Drug offences (not working – need to revisit this whole problem – increased 10 fold since 1980)

I have always felt safe in the suburbs, but in the Inner City where I was robbed at the point of a gun, not so safe (now or 30 years ago when robbed).

I’m giving nothing away by saying that the portrait of the Boston-talking chief in “The Overlook” is less obvious and more nuanced than it was when he was first introduced in “The Closers.”

I also quite liked the newest non-Bosch book, The Lincoln Lawyer.

I may have said this before, so ignore me if I have, but although Bratton’s favorite mystery novelist is Connelly (and this was true before the chief…uh…became a character in the books), his wife, Rikki, prefers James Lee Burke.

Now, honestly, if you think about it, in that Bratton is one half of a couple that has their literary tastes so obviously well prioritized, isn’t that reason enough to renew his contract right there? Surely it is!

Haven’t read “The Overlook” yet but I’m looing forward to it. Been a big Connelly fan since the “Black Echo”

Celeste, just to clear up some confusion, is the guy with 23 arrows pointed at him the same one who is the subject of the post? Maybe you shouldn’t be so subtle.