Books-Some Recommended Reading
I do a lot of reading of books here. One of the advantages of living in a Tourist/Backpacker center is that there is a plethora of “used book” stores.
Usually when I find an author I like, especially a series of books, I stick with it until I have read them all. I found author John Sandford and was hooked.
Among other things he writes the “Prey” series. Mind Prey, Invisible Prey, Sudden Prey….you get the idea. After I had read two, I researched, on the internet, the whole series which currently stands at 19 books. I have read 17 and so far have been unable to locate the last two. Finding the books has been part of the fun.
They are crime/adventure stories that center around a protagonist who starts as a Police Detective. Later in his career he leaves the police department, but continues with other agencies. I am not usually a fan of police stories, however this writer is extremely accurate in his scenarios and parallels many of my experiences. Though I don’t realistically think anyone can get away with shooting as many villains as he has.
The author, whose real name is John Camp, seems to be quite an arrogant S.O.B. (Perhaps that is why I find him interesting). This is an excerpt from his website which is managed by his son.
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Generally speaking, he does not. If a letter is particularly noteworthy, I may forward it to him. But other than that, he does not get any email, nor does he respond to any.
I have exchanged some emails with the son who is quite pleasant. Anyway, if you are looking for what I feel is some entertaining reading I would recommend this series.
Oh, if you run across a copy of Phantom Prey or Wicked Prey please let me know.
See the website for complete information on the author and series. Click here…….
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I downloaded both Phantom Prey and Wicked Prey to my iPod in the last few days. I just checked Amazon.com and used copies of both books are readily available for fairly low prices. Since you are in Thailand, maybe you can’t do things like download audiobooks to an iPod or iTouch. Sorry if Amazon doesn’t ship there.
I spent a year stationed at Takhli RTAFB in 1968 while in USAF. Always wanted to visit Chiang Mai. I know we had some spook ops in that area. I just love the jungle. Not sure what Chiang Mai is like now. Has rep as drug smuggling portal.
Thanks for the suggestion. I will take a look at possible downloads. Shipping costs from the U.S. to Thailand make it fairly expensive to get many items, such as books. The shipping is usually more than the product. Generally I find a friend that is coming over from the states and load them up with items.
I am sure you would hardly recognize many areas of Thailand now. It has grown leaps and bounds in just the six years I have been here. Not necessarily for the better. Air pollution (mostly from traffic) is a huge problem in Chiang Mai. Drug smuggling is no longer prevalent. Like everywhere, it happens, but the huge Golden Triangle opium fields and drug lords no longer exist.
Here is an email I received from “Ros” John Sandford’s son. Quite interesting and open (posted with his permission);
“I’m getting lots of email about the latest book, most of it positive,
some of it negative, some of it accusatory. Interestingly, it’s about
the same percentage (I’m guessing here) of categories as all the
previous email. Which is to say (and THESE numbers I’m just pulling
out of my ass) 50% say that it’s the best one ever, 25% say that it’s
the worst one ever and they want the “old Lucas” back, 15% think it’s
“much better than the last one” (which I get for EVERY book), 10% say
it’s “much worse than the last one” (which I get for EVERY book) and
there are always those who insist he’s ghost writing now.
One of the amazon reviewers actually says that they think I’M
responsible for the decline in quality. To quote:
“I was very disturbed by the excessive use ofthe f-word as
Sandford never resorted to tis tactic in his previous Prey books.
It came up…but not in such excess. I, too, feel that perhaps
Sandford
is allowing Junior to contribute his own writing style. If this is the
case, I hope he wises up and writes the next Prey book on his own.”
… which is totally unfounded and, incidentally, untrue (since things
can be unfounded but true regardless). I’ve always at least edited the
books, but the two to which I’ve substantially contributed are the
third and fourth Kidd novels.
Anyway, I find the blame interesting, as it seems that the internet
rumor mill is perfectly content to just chug along without any FACTS
behind it. If someone agrees with your speculation, then darnit, it’s
been PROVEN.
(As another aside, I get the f-word complaint every time a new book
comes out, with people saying that the most recent book – whatever it
is – has the most swearing in the series. Nerd that I am, I made a
chart showing that it’s just not true: http://www.johnsandford.org/ros/Swearing.pdf)
One more thing, and this is based on the blog entry you linked me to:
my dad’s NOT actually an arrogant SOB (as you suspect). He’s actually
fairly soft-spoken and friendly and open. I think the impression is
more because of my giant listing of rules and regulations, which can
make ANYone look like they’re being arrogant or closed-off. Honestly,
my dad’s point-of-view is that he leaves the email to me because he
doesn’t have TIME for it. He likes the fans, but answering the email
himself would be another full-time job, and that’s something that
would just be way too draining. Or something like that.
I need to rewrite the website contact rules again, don’t I?
Webmaster Ros.
http://www.johnsandford.org“
After the comment from Ros, and a little research I discovered that Phantom Prey was just released in paperback in May and
Wicked Prey in hardcover in June. So it was very unlikely I would be finding them here anytime soon.
A good friend, John Kuzina, just happens to be in the U.S. right now. I sent a quick email and he purchased both books for me and will be bringing them back to Thailand on July 9.
Nothing like having good friends in the right places. Thanks again Jack.