Thematic Photography - Technological

When it comes to modern gadgets you could say I'm a bit of a technological dinosaur.

My phone is anything but smart and never rings because no-one has my number. A Pay-as-you-go phone is very cheap to run when £20 lasts just about a year. The only texts it sees are those with offers from the phone company; messages left are from my wife or someone who has a wrong number.

I can manage the Kindle successfully, but I still prefer an old fashioned book.

The I-Pad mini is my wife's. The text too small for me to read and my fingers only leave marks on the screen.

I haven't had a laptop since I finished work and the last one I had failed, and proved irrecoverable by me.

I have some technology toys which I use from time to time.

USB Memory Sticks

However I'm still disappointed that the car isn't real.

Household gadgets remain largely a mystery to me. A washing machine's controls are a marvellous example.

 To much choice and information for a 'dinosaur' like me.

However I do know that when it bleeps and the light beneath the Start button glows red that I can turn the thing off.

Fortunately there is one piece of technology I do know how to handle.

Panasonic DMC - F250

And it case anyone gets smart - yes I do know it's set on automatic, but I do have to twiddle that ring on the front.

To see the more technologically adept  don't forget to visit others' links at Carmi's Thematic-photographic-286.

The Tourist Killer

I've just  finished FCEtier's 'The Tourist Killer' on my Kindle. I don't 'do' many book reviews but this one is somewhat different and challenges your preconceptions of what makes a killer.

The dramatic start to FCEtier's debut thriller sees the execution of a serial killer by a professional assassin. At the beginning of each of the novel's seven parts we learn more about Claudia Barry and how she developed the skills to have performed a shooter's role undetected for over 30 years.

Barry does not meet the person who assigns her targets. Etier's tightly written prose takes us into the world of two powerful men who aim to control the world of the politicians; one a ruthless British CEO, the other an American billionaire. They just happen to be deadly rivals with private security guarding their every move. Barry has just two men whom she can trust but even they are not what they seem.

The action unfolding on Barry's next assignment in North Carolina and Tennessee includes favourite restaurants and shops, her battle with her conscience and an explosive motor cycle ride on dangerous mountain roads.

Although FCEtier's fast-paced story takes you into the world of personal business and government ethics you are left to decide whether the actions of the ageing Claudia Barry merit society's approval.

A thoroughly enjoyable read.

The Tourist Killer  

A Death At The Seaside

A STAC Casebook Crime Book - by David Robinson.

Review by Bob Scotney

A quarterly trip of the Sanford Third Age Club (STAC) to Filey and Scarborough is marred by the disappearance and subsequent death of Eddie Roberts one of its members. Joe Murray the proprietor of the Sanford’s Lazy Luncheonette and chairman of STAC uses his deductive skills to unravel the circumstances leading to Eddie’s death.

This short book is filled with the clues that lead Joe to the solution. Anyone who has been to Filey and Scarborough will recognise the location from David’s descriptions as well as the Yorkshire humour that permeates the text.

STAC members’ ages range from 50 to 85. The outings main events – a 60s disco night and an Abba tribute band – and club members are subtly drawn as are Joe’s foils, his assistants from the Lazy Luncheonette, the widows Sheila Reilly and Brenda Jump.

From their base at the Beachside Hotel Joe, with Sheila and Brenda, uncovers the facts behind Eddie Roberts’ disappearance, accident, suicide or murder. His investigation takes him from the unsuitability of Eddie’s personnel effects for a fishing trip on a hot day, via his own ransacked room, and a balaclava clad mugger to the climax back at the Beachside Hotel where PC Flowers has recalled STAC members at the end of their trip to make statements.

****

This book is available from Amazon and Smashwords. It's an entertaining read ad I'd recommend it to all.  You can find it at:

Lulu Store http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=707173

Amazon Store http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B004M204BC

Smashwords Store http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/dwrob

Tags: kindle david robinson stac casebook crime