The Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2015

Here are 2015's best mysteries and thrillers as compiled by NPR. I like it because of it's inclusion of titles and authors we might now otherwise encounter.

Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon

The Blondes by Emily Schultz

Descent by Tim Johnston

Innocence by Heda Margolius Kovaly

All the Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer

Spy Games by Adam Brookes

Secrets of State by Matthew Palmer

The World Before Us by Aislinn Hunter

Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham

Palace of Treason by Jason Matthews

Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates

A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer

Orient by Christopher Bollen

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Last Taxi Ride by A. X. Ahmad

in a dark, dark wood by ruth ware

Freedom's Child by Jax Miller

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

The Ghost Network by Catie Disabato

The Crossing by Michael Connelly

My Sunshine Away by M. O. Walsh

The Whites by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz

My Life In The Movies by Ace Toscano

(From a column I wrote for a small North Carolina newspaper back in the early 90s.)

Look out - You're about to be buried beneath an avalanche of news inspired, made-for-TV docudramas. Coming soon to a tube near you will be movies inspired by the standoff in Waco, the Twin Towers bombing, the plight of a young couple and baby lost in the snowy nowheres of Nevada, skiers lost over Aspen and the Blizzard of '93.

The slate of coming attractions will be rounded off by the heartwarming family drama, Mia and Woody, and a possible Amy Fisher sequel, I Love the Warden, And the Warden Loves Me.

In addition to providing us with (yuk-yuk) top-notch entertainment, the sale of film rights to these tales provides otherwise ordinary folks like us, folks whose lives are instantly magnified and Magnavoxed, with some heavy-duty compensation. Some Hollywood yoyo recently paid out a half million dollars to a lady scalded by hot coffee.

Well, naturally, this got me thinking. I've led a full life. I actually saw John Madden's bus once - it was traveling the other way on I-40 - and I could always use another half million bucks. So, why not hop that Hollywood freight and sell the rights to some of my greatest moments? Yes... why not!

Immediately, I started pouring through my memory bands, hunting down experiences best suited for that nine to eleven time slot. Here are a few ideas that should whet your cinematic appetites.

How about a movie for kids based on me and my childhood pet, Ozzie the Turkey. A compelling tale of faithful companionship, it could chronicle events right up to the tragic day he wound up as the main ingredient in the Sunday gravy. We might call this flick The Gizzard of Oz.

To satisfy the sci-fi contingent, the moguls could recreate my recent kidnapping by a saucer full of alien scientists. These evil demons strapped me to their operating table and surgically removed every last hair from the top of my head, replacing each with a tiny, mega-powerful microchip. My scalp is now as powerful as 623 mainframe computers and I'm the focal point of an interplanetary information processing system. Let's call this epic The Martian Follicles.

In the realm of action-adventures, here's a swashbuckler with a leading role Harrison Ford or Arnold would be glad to sink their teeth into. High up on the roof, repairing the chimney flashing, our hero is suddenly hailed by exigencies below. As he races down the ladder, his feet get tangled and he plummets 23 feet, landing on his head and nearly breaking his neck. He recovers, yes, but the rose bush and his $30 jeans do not. The working title of this supercharged saga is When the Prunes Kicked In.

And there are more, plenty more. The way I figure it, I've got more than enough stock to keep the major networks supplied up to and beyond the coming millennium.

I suppose, now, you'll all be rushing out to buy yourselves big-screen TVs. Good idea. I recommend a 39 incher with surround sound. And here's a viewing tip: turn up the volume when our hero races for the ladder. You'll love the sound effects.

(Taken from My Live in the Movies and other writings: Collected Wit, Humor and Reflections of an Aspiring Hack by Ace Toscano)

The Astral Herbal: First Kindle Edition

Just released, the Kindle edition of the seminal work by me, Michael "Ace" Toscano, and Bob Ricciotti that sent Astrology buffs everywhere frolicking through woods, fields and swamps hunting down medicinal herbs compatible with their signs. It's the ground-breaking book "The Astral Herbal: An Astrologer's Guide To Medicinal Plants."

Download The Astral Herbal onto your phone and have the plant descriptions and illustrations with you when you go out stalking the medicinal herbs associated with your sign.

And follow The Astral Herbal on Facebook.

Pasco Tree and Crane Service - A Thumbs Down Review

They Fooled Me Once. Don't Let Them Fool You

Having just moved into a house, we've had to seek the service of various local companies - a plumber, a sprinkler service, a lawn and landscaping service, a concrete contractor, and, unfortunately, a tree service, the latter to remove some large trees from the property.

Let's get this straight, they can remove trees. Of course, during that part of the operation the boss/owner was there. Though he didn't identify himself as such, he was operating the crane. Unfortunately, when his work was done he left, leaving the stump grinding to his son and his crew. They don't have the same sense of honor nor the impulse to do good work as the owner. Not realizing this, I was operating under the premise that they wanted to do a good job for me. That's why when their foreman Sean approached me and suggested that instead of hauling away the chips from the biggest tree, a camphor tree, it might be a good idea for him to spread them around so the lawn, once sod was placed on top of the chips, would slope away from the house. It sounded like a good idea to me, so I said okay. That was a mistake. One, I didn't realize the mass of chips that stump and its roots would produce; and two, I didn't realize, as my landscaper later told me, that sod would not grow on top of the camphor chips and that it would take 5 or 6 years for the chips to compost.

My landscaper figured that PTCS had just been trying to save the cost of disposing of the chips. I think they were just lazy. BTW, did I mention that they covered a few of my sprinkler heads?

Anyway, I called the company and explained that my landscaper had told me the chips would have to be hauled away before sod was laid down and wondered if they would come back and pick up the chips. I was told they would get back to me, but they didn't. They weren't inclined to come back. Why should they? They had been paid their $2,000+.

I wanted to make sure I was operating under the proper premise regarding wood chips and sod so I googled for answers. It's pretty clear that it is not a good idea to place sod over wood chips. Check out this video:



And this article: How to Plant Sod Grass Over Tree Stump Grindings which suggests you "Remove any large wood chunks or sticks from the area. Remove as much of the wood chips and sawdust as possible and work the remainder into the soil."

So, I asked my landscaper to remove the chips. He and his two helpers did so for $275. In the process of removing the chips they uncovered parts of the tree, roots and stumps, that hadn't been ground down below ground level. He suggested I call PTCS and tell them to come back and finish the job. I called and was told by the girl who answered the phone that she would get back to me after she conferred with the men. She didn't get back to me. Before I called again, I emailed them some pictures.

That produced the desired effect. The boss came out to examine the unfinished job and told me they would be out the next day to finish the job the way it should have been finished the first time. They did. I was so pleased with the outcome that I was tempted to give this review a slight boost but, in his haste to leave the property, the foreman ran over a lawn sprinkler that he had been told he had to avoid. As a consequence, I continue to rate them "Avoid". If you do decide to use them, do so with caution.