The People of Sand and Slag   Paolo Bacigalupi

Short work by an author I love about a future of people who live on sand and slag who find a biological dog. Bacigalupi’s usual good prose and acid view of our future. Short, but a good distraction.

Cleaning the Gold   Lee Child and Karin Slaughter

Novel with Child’s Jack Reacher and Slaughter’s Will Trent teaming up to investigate espionage occurring at Fort Knox. Brief, but interesting enough to be a distraction. Always like Reacher and Child’s prose. Read it on my phone.

The Christmas Scorpion   Lee Child

A Jack Reacher story I read on my phone. Very short, almost nothing to it. What’s here is fine, brief hunt for an assassin, written in Child’s crisp prose, but there isn’t much. Almost not worth the $1.99 it cost. Disappointing because more would have been nice.

Neon Prey   John Sandford

Most recent book in the Lucas Davenport Prey series, nearly all of which I have read. As always, the star is Camp’s prose which is a pleasure to read, followed closely by the interplay of the characters, especially the cops. A good plot with murder, cannibalism, betrayal, and a snake bite. Well executed and interesting. An excellent distraction, wish it had gone on a little longer.