Edmond Gagnon is a retired police officer turned novelist. He is the author of eleven crime novels in two crime series', a collection of short travel stories and a paranormal thriller.
Ed also travels the world, visiting forty countries on five continents. And he posts videos and photos in his blog.
BORDER CITY CHRONICLES – BOOK 2 – 4 stars out of 5 – Editorial Review:
Detective Norm Strom is back, along with several detectives we already know. Our favorite detective relates four more stories of local crime in the Windsor area. Although more detailed in police procedures, each story relates a varied and interesting case file.
1. GONE FISHING – A fishing story that involves catching brutal attackers rather than fish and explains the failings of the judicial system in caring for victims.
2. THE HATFIELDS AND MCKAYS – A tale of a family feud that ends in murder.
3. VICTIMLESS CRIME – a narrative explaining the flaws in the system that is supposed to protect people from scams and frauds.
4. 30 YEARS COLD – A body of a man is discovered. Missing 30 years ago, the discovery shakes his family. This story of his death echoes your mind.
This book held my interest as Norm worked the various cases. The suspense and intrigue ran through the narrative and each story held different perspectives of police work. This book is a well-written story and its social and political implications gave a realistic feel to the plot-definitely a book worth reading.
Official Release Date: August 1st, 2023 – Pre-orders now available
Cathryn and I always enjoy getting out to see a good movie on the big screen, even though there’s been barely anything to go see. If you’re a superhero fan then there’s been plenty of flicks to entertain you. But with the lack of attendance at local theatres and so many movies going directly to venues like Netflix and Prime, seeing a movie out is becoming a rare occurrence.
You would think that a blockbuster series like Indiana Jones, strategically released during Canadian and American holidays, would rake in the dough. But the Dial of Destiny grossed only tens of millions instead of the usual figures around ten times that amount.
Having seen all the previous Indy movies, we came away from this one a bit disappointed. Perhaps it was the same old Nazi villains, or Indy’s old friends, or the old Harrison Ford himself. There’s lots of computer magic in this film, even parts where they’ve dubbed in a younger face on the old one-time action movie star. It wasn’t hard to imagine the actors in front of the green screen through the sequence of chase scenes – so much looked way too fake.
But who could expect so much action from an old fart. After seeing Ford in the Yellowstone prequill, 1923, I wondered how and why he would take on another Indiana Jones roll. I guess the repetitious plot has finally worn itself out, much like Ford himself.
Having said all that, the movie is still somewhat fun and entertaining, and worth the trip out to eat dry and overpriced popcorn. Thankfully, I now qualify for seniors discount on movie tickets.
Reading the intro on the back of this book, I was leery, thinking it would be a yawner with a ho-hum plot. But thankfully, I was wrong. I guess what put me off was that the story was about Joe Citizen investigating a car accident that caused the death of his wife. As I tread cautiously into the first few chapters, Linwood Barclay’s mastery as a story teller quickly grabbed my attention. What appeared to be a common tale told by a common man, slowly evolved into a good whodunnit mystery thriller. Our protagonist in this story is not a super hero or even a dogged police detective. He is the guy next door who has a natural curiosity about his wife’s death. He has questions. And in seeking answers to the ones that keep him up at night, he starts to unravel a complex and complicated plot that keeps readers guessing throughout the whole book. Kudos to fellow Canadian author Linwood Barclay for a very good read.
An entertaining read, action-packed and fast paced, but all too predictable. The familiar story…an elite special force sets out to save the world, getting hunted, shot and or stabbed along the way. Count on at least one or two of the secondary characters getting bumped off but the mai characters save the world at the very last minute (not really a spoiler alert) and live happily until the next mission comes along. Rollins is a good author but he’s relied on the tried and true method of telling the same old story to secure readers. Personally, I prefer something out of the ordinary to pique my interest. Having said that, I did enjoy the material about matter from outer space and the many things we really don’t know about our own universe.
It seems there’s nothing on at the movie theatres these days except action hero and children’s films. Cathryn and I have been itching to see something worthwhile on the big screen since out last visit to see Top Gun Maverick.
The trailer for ‘Air’ looked interesting even though we knew it wouldn’t be worthy of the big screen. But we were looking to get out of the house and I had a popcorn craving.
If you’re looking for a sports or basketball movie, this is not it. With Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Bateman and Viola Davis, we figured there would at least be some good acting and interaction between characters.
It was a cool story that I’m sure many people aren’t aware of…inspired by real events when Nike went after rookie Michael Jordan to expand their basketball shoe line.
70’s music and attire give the movie a ‘real feel’ for those who lived it. It’s a serious but sometime comedic flick.
Cathryn and I enjoyed the movie and we both give it an 8 out of 10.
This book has received great reviews from other readers, and it’s probably worthy of 4 or 5 stars, but I just couldn’t do it. Granted, I only read the first 115 pages so maybe I’m being unfair. Regardless, this book moves slower than watching a tree grow. Starting in the future, the story covers several decades, revealing more as time reverses itself. Kind of a cool concept I thought, but it only led to confusion as I tried to wrap my head around new characters introduced and the piles of back story for each and every one of them. In my opinion the book could have been easily reduced by 100 pages, but that’s just me. Please read other reviews posted for this yawner since it has appealed to many other readers.
What a great novel for author Steve Byrne’s first time out. Skim is a prohibition era yarn, set in the City of Windsor during it’s nefarious rum-running days. The story is about one man, a war hero, who wants to do better by his family and chooses to get involved with local gangsters who are tied into the renowned Purple Gang, and their illegal whiskey business. Maurice “Moose” Ducharme uses his milk route to deliver black market Canadian Club whiskey to his booze-thirsty clients, taking a big risk by getting in deep with the local crime syndicate. Being a bit of a Winsor history buff, the story kept me turning pages and routing for the underdog. For anyone interested in local history, prohibition, and Windsor’s dark past, this book is must read.
Do you remember those days, a few years ago, when you could go to just about any restaurant and receive good food and sometimes great service? You do remember-it was before something called Covid came along and changed our lives forever.
I remember it well, sitting in restaurants or bars with friends, joking about a virus invented in China but named after a beer in Mexico. How we made fun of it, but nervously whispered about cancelled travel plans and government overreaction.
Then people started dying and those of us abroad had to go home, for fear of being stranded forever with no way to escape the chaos. And so we all went home, hunkered down, quarantined and avoided human contact with anyone outside our personal bubble.
Fast forward three years, to a time where Covid is scoffed at because we have vaccinations and boosters and masks, and have learned to socially distance ourselves. Some of us got tired of ordering food and groceries in and have ventured out into the apocalyptic world to see what’s left of it.
We were happy that some of our favorite restaurants weathered the storm but sad that others couldn’t survive and had to lock their doors. It was so nice to breathe and talk to people without a face mask muffling your voice and causing more pimples than you had as a teenager.
Restaurants re-opened and welcomed us back, but only on certain days of the week. They had difficulty getting their staff back or hiring new people to replace them. The newbies had to be trained, thus taxing our patience after waiting three years.
Cathryn and I formed a new habit, checking web sites of our favorite restaurants before we ventured out. More than once we drove to dinner only to find the doors locked. I hate searching for food when I’m hangry. And when we finally took refuge in one of our favorite breakfast or dinner spots, the service was terrible.
Every restaurant has good and bad days so we shrugged it off at first. But we travelled to Europe last summer and found the same problem, restaurants with limited hours and staff shortages. We spoke to owners who shared their frustrations, many with ‘help wanted’ signs posted in their windows.
So my question is, where the hell did the workforce go? They didn’t all retire and couldn’t have left the country because everyone’s having the same problem everywhere. One theory I’ve heard is that nobody can afford to work for such low wages anymore. If that’s the case then how are they surviving? Government subsidies ran out long ago.
We’re now in Mexico, finding the same problem. And it’s not that people don’t need the work. Restaurants are stocked with young and inexperienced employees who are more interested in their electronic devices than another hungry human being. Is it just me or does the new generation seem inept and disinterested in working for a living?
Hopefully everything works out and I can enjoy a meal without having to text the server to get their attention. Time will only tell.
Being a retired police officer who spent five years in narcotics, some of that time working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, I found this book interesting and somewhat comical at times. The story takes place a few years before I was a Narc, but the good guys vs the bad guys scenario that played out in the plot rang very true to me. Granted, most of the drug dealers I had contact with where nowhere near as smart and cunning as Art Williams, the Mounties main target. I was blown awaybyt the lengths he went to stay under the radar, yet taunt the police at the same time. It was like he was always one step ahead of them. The story contains personal accounts from various people who knew Art Williams before he ‘disappeared’ under mysterious circumstances. I don’t want to give away the whole story but can easily recommend this book as and entertaining read.
As far as I’m concerned, this novel doesn’t live up to Grisham standards. It was a slow starter and not what I’d call a page turner. But if you’re looking for a book that you can pick up and put down every other day or so, Camino Winds is a decent story.
The plot tries to accelerate and get you to the conclusion quickly but falls short and is more of a police procedural, with average citizens taking on investigative rolls, while trying to solve their friend’s murder.
The story combines the fury of a level 4 hurricane with the curiosity of a local group of authors and a book store owner. Use your imagination to fill in the blanks.
Life Written and Reviewed 