"By implication we orphans were idiots of connectivity, overly impressed by any trace of the familial in the world. We should doubt ourselves any time we imagined a network in operation. We should leave that stuff to Minna. Just as he knew the identity of our parents but would never reveal it to us, only... Continue Reading →
Ctrl + Shift + Del Doesn’t Work
"Captivity does things to you. It shows you how base an animal you can be. How you'd do anything to stay alive and suffer a little bit less than the day before." One of my initial thoughts after finishing the book, and a subtext to the whole relevance of the plot, was how big of... Continue Reading →
It Is Happening Again
"He stopped once I pulled out my tape recorder and asked about the murders. Then it was those whirling wheels that had his full attention. People got such a charge from seeing their names in print. Proof of existence. I could picture a squabble of ghosts ripping through piles of newspapers. Pointing at a name... Continue Reading →
Is That A Symplexophon On A French Louis Philippe I See?
You know, we all have our own opinions, but what do you think is the determining characteristic that separates the have's from the have not's? What, if anything makes one better than the other? Well in Dangerous Illusions you realize that besides the multi-million dollar bookshelves, the ownership of antique musical instruments, insider or privileged... Continue Reading →
Blackened Lights Please…Draw Curtains
"Alliances with the devil often manifest themselves in virtuosic mastery of an instrument." An angelic young girl with winning good looks and a extraordinary talent for tickling the ivories; physically has all the potential a parent could want for in a prodigy in the making. Couple that with a fearlessness, curiosity, and a thirst for... Continue Reading →
Tick Tick Tick BOOOOOM
"Without thinking further, Diaz lifted his left leg and scrambled over the jersey wall. There were only a couple of feet between the curved concrete of the wall and the solid white line of the shoulder. He hewed to the wet, narrow space, absorbed the rush of air from passing cars time and again, ignored... Continue Reading →
The Art Of Living In One’s Own Mind
You would be lucky if you were to get to your toes if you were counting the amount of beautiful days for a picnic in London, England. When Mother Nature grants you a day with slightly overcast skies and a forty percent chance of precipitation you might as well take full advantage of the offer.... Continue Reading →
A Susceptible Mind
The key ingredient was to find a person of faultless poise. A person willing to see both sides of the argument, but also the ability to find an equilibrium permitting the completion of the task at hand. With two forces tugging at both ends, which way would he turn when the time came? The end... Continue Reading →
Just When I Thought I Was Out, It Pulled Me Back In
Jack Levitt lives a pretty grim existence in the classically-beautiful yet brutally-dreary city of understated Portland, Oregon. His way of life as a seventeen-year-old draws a direct correlation to the way by which he was conceived and later delivered into this world. Born an orphan after being abandoned by his parents due to their own... Continue Reading →
Brandy For My Men, Soaked Hay Cubes For My Horses
"The rough estimate of these riches was set at fifteen thousand dollars; my take of this more than tripled my savings, and as we left the musty basement, heading up the stairs and into the light, I felt two things at once: a gladness at this turn of fortune, but also an emptiness that I... Continue Reading →