It’s very rare that I read a book in one day. As much as I like to read, I just can’t block out that much time in a day to read. 50 pages is a good day for me. There are always exceptions.

My Amazon order arrived at my office just before lunch. It contained Mike Oliveri’s The Pack: Winter Kill and I stuck it in my pocket on the way out the door. Eating alone that day, I sidled down at my favorite cafe, Capital Roasters, with a hot Cuban, unsweet Ice Tea and the book.

Munching away at the delectable pulled pork and ham sandwich, I bit into the first chapter of The Pack: Winter Kill. By the time I had finished my sandwich and started in on chips, I had devoured 40 pages. I finished it up that evening in 15 and 30 minute bites. Consumed and Satisfied.

The Pack: Winter Kill is a page turner with fast action, succinct dialogue and short chapters. Mike Oliveri races you through the book and you clamber to turn the pages fast enough.

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It was a bit of a shock this morning when I learned (via Sarah Weinman’s blog) that Robert B. Parker, writer of the popular Spenser and Jesse Stone series, had died.

As a reader I discovered Parker in the mid-eighties while in high school in large part to to the television series “Spenser for Hire” starring the late Robert Urich. I blame that series for the love of Spenser and Robert Urich, more so the latter. I enjoyed and read these books into my college years. Somewhere along the way I stopped, no real reason that I can think of. I guess we just grew apart.

Then television brought us together again. This time with Jesse Stone as played by Tom Selleck, who I also enjoy. I’m giving away too many man crushes for this post, but then again Parker wrote tough, albeit imperfect, heroes that you couldn’t help but admire or in some fantasy emulate.

So sitting on my reading stack are several Jesse Stone novels I bought last year, that I had given to my grandfather, 94 years young, to read. He enjoyed them and sadly there will only be one more book hand off to him later this year.

I read that Mr. Parker died at his desk which, as a writer, I find a wonderful ending.

How I stumbled onto the name or the works of Charlie Huston, I can’t really say. It was a bit of happenstance. Possibly browsing the web, scouring through domain names (for a while finding and buying URLs was a habit) or possibly just following links from one author to another.

At any rate over the holidays I picked up three Charlie Huston books: Caught Stealing, Already Dead and The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death. I chose to read Caught Stealing first based on follow up recommendations.

I was warned and I pass this on to you, that Charlie Huston writes writes in a unique first person style. It might take some getting used to, but it also really works.

Caught Stealing is the first of three novels in the Hank Thompson series.

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