Mount TBR 2017 discussion
Level 1: Pike's Peak (12 books)
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Just a little climb
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Christine
(last edited Dec 24, 2016 10:38AM)
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Dec 11, 2016 11:05AM
Think I'll start small .... camping and climbing gear all checked, aired and ready to go!
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2017 is here .... pops, bangs and pffts of the fireworks woke me. Damn needing my sleep such a big day in store and it's still so hot (26c). I start my ascent of Pike's Peak.5.30 am - It's time to go. Temperature has dropped by a whole 2 degrees but then is sure to climb again as the sun comes up (forecast is for 27c), the sooner I get the transporter the better.
Wow ..... what a difference in climate. Australia is hot and dry but here it is so cold .... good thing I packed the woollies!
Coffee in hand, back pack loaded up (food, clothes, water and most importantly those elusive 12 books) I grab my walking pole and walk towards the base of the Peak. 4300 m doesn't sound a lot but looking up it's hard to even see the summit.
Oh well, here goes nothing .........
01/12 
Housecarl (Aelfraed #01) by Griff Hosker
Set in the years before the Battle of Hastings the story follows the trials and tribulations of Aelfraed, a young boy who aspires to be a warrior. When his uncle, Aethelward, takes him to join the warriors of Harold Godwinson, his life is irrevocably changed. Fighting the Welsh brings him great honour and when he saves the life of Edward the Confessor, he becomes a man of great reputation. The novel culminates in the battle of Stamford Bridge when the Housecarls defeated the last of the Vikings, Harald Hadrada.
02/12 Outlaw (Aelfraed #02) by Griff Hosker
It is 1066 and the Saxon leadership lie dead at Senlac Hill. Only Aelfraed and his northern rebels hold out against the Norman war machine. Fighting treachery as well as Normans Aelfraed and his warriors bravely take the fight to the Normans. Forced to become outlaws they fight a rearguard action from the northern forests until William relentlessly hunts them down.
03/12 Varangian (Aelfraed #03) by Griff Hosker
The story of the last two Housecarls from Harold Godwinson’s army who, forced from England by the Normans, journey down the Russian rivers to join the Varangian Guard where they fight, once more the Normans from Italy. The two men have to fight not only barbarians and the Empire’s enemies but treachery from within the complex world pf Byzantine politics. Culminating in the battle which finally drove the Normans back to Italy, the historically accurate book paints a picture of the dying world of the Saxon warriors.
series finished
04/12 Wife To The Bastard by Hilda Lewis
Matilda of Flanders, queen to William the Conqueror was beautiful, exquisitely small, clever, with a perfect courtesy trained in the rigid school of medieval manners. But within lay a root of darkness - inheritance, perhaps, of Viking ancestors. Twice, at least, in her lifetime the Viking streak broke through, in vengeance on a faithless lover, in fury wreaked on a rival of the marriage bed. The marriage, though fruitful of so many children, was on her side no match of love. But a passionate loyalty to her husband, an equally passionate ambition, together with her own sense of justice, gave her the will and the skill to dissemble her feelings and to make her the praise of Christendom. No Queen ever wielded so much power as she in the long years she ruled Normandy; before her no woman in England was ever crowned or was known as Queen.
05/12 Next Victim ( Abby Sinclair & Tess McCallum #2) by Michael Prescott
FBI agent Tess McCallum is obsessed with catching the serial killer who calls himself Mobius--the man who killed her lover. Now he's resurfaced in a new state with a new identity and a new means of killing. Mobius gets his hands on a chemical weapon that could raise his body count to thousands of victims. Now Mobius and Tess are engaged in a life-or-death game to the last.
06/12 Dangerous Game ( Abby Sinclair & Tess McCallum #3) by Michael Prescott
A killer is using labyrinthine storm drains to dispose of his victims, who are found handcuffed and drowned, washed out of the rain-filled drainage lines like garbage. The crimes compel FBI Agent Tess McCallum to crack the case, but they're touching a nerve in Personal Security Consultant Abby Sinclair.
She fears it's the same madman who invaded her nightmares once before. As the two women work with each other to solve the case, tensions rise and tempers flare. And as sure as the rain, a new killing season begins.
I'm not usually a fan of books that have PI's or 'independent operatives' in them ... however, these ones I find are entertaining and have a bit of a surprise when you find out who the 'bad guy' is!
07/12 The Unfaithful Queen by Carolly Erickson
Amid the turbulent, faction-ridden late reign of the fearsome Henry, eager high-spirited Catherine Howard caught the king's eye—but not before she had been the sensual plaything of at least three other men. Ignorant of her past, seeing only her youthful exuberance and believing that she could make him happy, he married her—only to discover, too late, that her heart belonged to his gentleman usher Tom Culpeper.
As the net of court intrigue tightens around her, and with the Tudor succession yet again in peril because of Prince Edward's severe illness, Queen Catherine struggles to give the angry, bloated and impotent king a son. But when her relations turn against her, she finds herself doomed, just as her cousin Anne Boleyn was, to face the executioner.
The Unfaithful Queen lays bare the dark underbelly of the Tudor court, with its sugared rivalries and bitter struggles for power, where a girl of noble family could find herself sent to labor among the turnspits in the kitchens or—should fortune favor her—be exalted to the throne.
08/12 The King's Gambit (SPQR #1) by John Maddox Roberts
In this Edgar Award nominated mystery, John Maddox Roberts takes readers back to a Rome filled with violence and evil. Vicious gangs ruled the streets of Crassus and Pompey, routinely preying on plebeian and patrician alike. So the garroting of a lowly ex-slave and the disembowelment of a foreign merchant in the dangerous Subura district seemed of little consequence to the Roman hierarchy. But Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger, high-born commander of the local vigiles, was determined to investigate. Despite official apathy, brazen bribes and sinister threats, Decius uncovers a world of corruption at the highest levels of his government that threatens to destroy him and the government he serves. Set in 70 B.C.
09/12 Mortal Faults (Abby Sinclair & Tess McCallum #04) by Michael Prescott
A one-woman private operative, Abby Sinclair stalks the stalkers. Her new client is a U.S. congressman shadowed by a mystery woman believed to be a disgruntled ex-employee. He wants her stopped. What Abby doesn't know is that FBI agent Tess McCallum is already on the case. Now, despite vowing never to work together again, Abby and Tess have been partnered in a deadly game. And this is a case that takes one surprising turn after another-because there's more to the story than anyone knows.
10/12 Ovid (Marcus Corvinus #01) by David Wishart
Nobleman by birth, loutish party boy by temperment, Marcus Corvinus is a citizen of ancient Rome, but he would be as much at home in a champagne-stained tux as he is in a toga. He'd like to shed that toga for the beautiful Lady Perilla, but in return for her favor she demands that Corvinus help retrieve her stepfather's ashes for burial in Rome. The task proves more difficult than expected: Perilla's stepfather was the famous poet Ovid, exiled years earlier and still loathsome to the Emperor Tiberius. But Corvinus' arrogance - and letch for Perilla - keep him on course, even when the Emperor's thugs try a little up-close-and-personal persuasion. Author David Wishart, a classical scholar, knows a great deal about both ancient Rome and gilded youth. You may not approve of Corvinus, but you'll have a tough time resisting his charm.
11/12 Final Sins (Abby Sinclair & Tess McCallum #05) by Michael Prescottt
A decade ago, artist Peter Faust murdered a woman and was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Today, unrepentant and living in L.A., he's become a cult celebrity among the radical fringe. When one of his fans appears to be stalking him, he hires rogue security consultant Abby Sinclair for protection. Unfortunately for Abby, her longtime adversary, FBI agent Tess McCallum, also gets drawn into the case. Both are about to discover the true meaning of evil.
I enjoyed this series, I hope there will be another one in the offering soon.
Series finished
12/12 The Catalina Conspiracy (SPQR #02) by John Maddox Roberts
It was a summer of glorious triumph for the mighty Roman Republic. Her invincible legions had brought all foreign enemies to their knees. But in Rome there was no peace. The streets were flooded with the blood of murdered citizens, and there were rumors of more atrocities to come. Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger was convinced a conspiracy existed to overthrow the government-a sinister cabal that could only be destroyed from within. But admission into the traitorous society of evil carried a grim price: the life of Decius's closest friend...and maybe his own.
Well I've had a fairly easy climb so far a little colder than I'm used to but have made the summit ... and am down 12 books.Time to catch the transporter back to the heat of Australia and get ready for the next climb, I'm sure Mount Blanc won't be quite as much fun.
Oops gotta go transporters here ... onward and upward!
Laura wrote: "Whoo hoo!!!"Thank you ..... was happy to get over this first mountain :)
Congrats on conquering your first mountain and good luck with Mt. Blanc!
