Book Review: Takedown (Scot Harvath Series #5)

 

Takedown, published in 2006, is the fifth book in the now long-running series of action-adventure thriller novels set around the character of Scot Harvath written by author, Brad Thor. As he has in the prior novels in the series, Thor continues to blend real-world elements with his fictional storylines in this novel. The main storyline in this book involves a terrorist attack on New York City by fictional Al-Qeada members. Harvath essentially becomes trapped in the city and follows a group of terrorists who are hitting what appears to be random targets while seemingly looking for something or someone. The other main storyline in the book involves political fighting and maneuvering and brings the real-world enhanced interrogation technique controversy (which was just coming to light around the time Thor was writing the book) into the story. The book ends on a fairly large cliffhanger that will almost certainly affect one or more subsequent books in the series. 

The hardcover version of the book is just under 400 pages. The book has a good blend of action and suspense. There are a couple of side stories here and there, especially early on. But the main storylines are the focus. If you like the first four novels in the series you will probably like this one. If you are a fan of the genre but have not yet read the other books in the series, it is a good idea to start with the first book because the main characters are fairly established by this point and the author only does minimal character development on a couple of characters that are newly introduced in this book. It is absolutely worth the time to read.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 29

Day 29 was the start of week 5 in Lift 4, which was chest and triceps 50/50. The lifting portion of the workout was not bad. I did have to drop the amount of weight I was using on the triceps kickbacks in the third block after the first set (I did 25 for the first set, 20 for the second, and 15 for the third), but otherwise I was able to go up in weight and stay with the increased weight for all of the other exercises. The HIIT portion of the workout was tough, and I had to modify and take breaks a lot. This morning, I did corrective shoulders from 645.  

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 28

Day 28 was again the two recovery routines from Lift 4. I got them out of the way early in the day and then enjoyed a nice family get-together in the evening. I hope everyone who celebrates it has a very Merry Christmas and a great New Year. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 27

Day 27 was the two recovery routines from Lift 4. Given that I was doing last-minute Christmas preparation, I got the routines out of the way early in the day, which was nice. This past week I have just been using the regular foam roller to give myself a break from the rumble roller. I definitely do not feel it as much, but I can put more pressure on the regular roller and work the muscles a bit better. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 26

 Day 26 was legs in Lift 4 and lower body foam rolling in 645. 

The Lift 4 legs workout was another HIIT workout. That meant no lifting, which was kind of nice, but the HIIT was pretty brutal. I definitely did not have the best workout, but I managed to get through it.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 25

Day 25 was upper body foam rolling from 645 and shoulders from Lift 4. Shoulders was an interval workout so each block has two shoulder lifting exercises and then a 30-second HIIT move. The HIIT moves were not as tough as they could have been. The hardest of the bunch were the squat jumps, but the soccer sprints and speed skaters were not bad at all.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 24

Day 24 was corrective ankles from 645 and the two recovery routines from Lift 4. All of the foam rolling went well, although I did switch from the rumble roller to the regular foam roller for the lift 4 foam rolling just to give myself a break.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 23

Day 23 was corrective hips from 645 and the week 4 back and biceps workout which is a 50/50 workout. The HIIT portion of the workout was tougher than the lifting, especially the wide mountain climbers and the squats. I was able to use the increased about of weight from the prior week for all of the lifting exercises, however, which was nice.

Book Review: Star Wars: Crimson Climb

 

Crimson Climb is a young-adult novel centered on the character of Qi'ra (who was the character played by Emilia Clarke in the movie Solo: A Star Wars Story). The book begins immediately after the events of the beginning of Solo (still a very underrated movie) when Han escapes Corellia and Qi'ra is captured. It tells the story of what happened after Qi'ra returned to Lady Proxima and how she ended up in and worked her way up through, the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate to become a major player under Dryden Voss. The story also helps explain why she made the choice she did at the end of the movie.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 350 pages. The book includes new and unfamiliar characters, which may make it a bit slower to read than the novels involving more established characters. It has a good blend of action and suspense and definitely adheres to the "no honor among thieves" saying. Since the chances of a sequel movie to Solo are pretty much shot, if the story of the characters is going to be continued it will be in the novels. This is absolutely worth the time to read.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 22

Day 22 was the corrective shoulder routine from 645 and the start of week 4 in Lift 4. The Lift 4 workout was Chest and Triceps and this week it is a circuit workout, doing the two quad sets and then the burnout round. I was able to stick with the increased weight for most of the resistance exercises, but I did have to reduce the amount of weight I was using for a couple of them on the second and third sets. By the time I got to the burnout round my arms were already like limp noodles and I could barely do the push-ups.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 21

Day 21 was again the two recovery workouts from Lift 4. I again used the rumble roller for the foam rolling routine and then went right into the stretching routine. They went fine. There was no real difference between this one and the previous day.  

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 20

Day 20 was the two recovery routines from Lift 4. I was not very flexible or mobile today, and I had a large lunch so I was not exactly feeling limber. But, I got through it and got it over with.  

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 19

Day 19 was lower body foam rolling from 645 and Legs 50/50 in Lift 4. 

I again used the rumble roller for the foam rolling which really helps during the lower body foam rolling routine since you are generally spending 60 seconds foam rolling each area. The legs workout was tough because you are using extremely heavy weight for the entire lifting portion and then doing the three sets of HIIT after that. The only good thing is that the core portion is just one exercise, side planks holding for 30 seconds on each side.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 18

Day 18 was upper body foam rolling and shoulders. The shoulders workout was an interval workout. So you do two resistance exercises followed by a 30-second HIIT exercise. Then, of course, finishing with three sets of core. The upper body foam rolling in the morning definitely helped prepare for the shoulder workout, but it was still very tough. The HIIT portion, however, was not too bad.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 17

Day 17 was corrective ankles from 645 and the two recovery routines from Lift 4.

All of the foam rolling went well today. I am glad I switched back to the rumble roller because it is much more effective at this point than the regular foam roller.  My hamstrings continue to be my weak point flexibility-wise, but they are getting better, slowly.

Book Review: Tired of Winning: Donald t***p and the End of the Grand Old Party

 

Tired of Winning is a great follow-up to author and ABC New Correspondent Jonathan Karl's first two books about the former president, Front Row and Betrayal. The main focus of this book is the aftermath of the 2020 election and the danger leading into the 2024 election.

In the book, Karl expands on some of the material first reported from the January 6th investigation and provides insight into the various legal battles that little Donny Diapers is currently embroiled in. Of course, he was not getting any inside information from the prosecutors, but he still has enough sources in the orange genital wart's orbit (who are totally willing to sell t***p out and show him for the slack-jawed dipshit that he is) who detail the shit fits he has been throwing almost constantly since the indictments started flowing in. Karl also details how the vast majority of the GOP has been perfectly willing to appease and enable the orange dipshit or look the other way and pretend that they do not know what he has done or said. 

The hardcover version is the book is relatively short at just under 300 pages (before you get to the acknowledgments and endnotes). The endnotes mostly just cite various sources. In the actual text of the book, Karl does include some footnote material that expands on what he has in the text. And, for the MAGATS who would scream "fake news" (not that any of the ones who are capable of reading would read this book) one of the most entertaining parts of the book is when Karl outs "background" sources from his prior book who later accused him of making things up, attributing their names to exact quotes from recordings of their conversations, and basically dares anyone to accuse him of making shit up this time around. The big takeaway from this book is how dangerous and stupid everyone who has been around the orange shitgibbion (save for the most devoted ball lickers) thinks he is, and that they all think he would be even more dangerous in a second term than he was in the first. Karl absolutely inserts his personal opinion in the book, so it is not just a straight presentation of facts. He calls out t***p's lies and stupidity multiple times and opines that he considers t***p to be a danger to democracy and should never set foot anywhere near the levers of power again. It is absolutely a must-read.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 16

Day 16 was corrective hips from 645 and Back and Biceps in Lift 4.

The back and biceps workout was a very hard circuit workout (so two rounds of four exercises done for three sets and one burnout round with two exercises done for three sets). I was able to initially increase my weight for all of the exercises, but there were a couple of exercises for which I had to lower the weight (or even set the weight down) for the second and third sets. And, I was still breathing heavily even without doing HIIT. The core component was more challenging today than it was yesterday.  

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 15

Day 15 was the start of week 3, which was another chest and triceps workout. This time, it was a 50/50 workout, and you increase the amount of weight (or try to) for all of the exercises. I was very tired doing the workout since I spent most of the day at the hospital, but I pushed through. And, I was able to increase the amount of weight I was using for all of the resistance exercises.  The HIIT portion was hard, but I got it done and the core portion was not too bad. Hopefully, tomorrow's workout will be a bit easier, but we will see.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 14

For Day 14 I did the two recovery routines from Lift 4 plus corrective shoulders from 645. I normally do corrective shoulders on Monday mornings, but this morning I had to be with my mom at the hospital and knew that I would not have enough time to get it in, so I got it in on Sunday. I also did that workout using the regular foam roller. After an entire week of using the rumble roller, I barely felt anything going back to the regular roller. So, I will probably start using the rumble roller again for the rest of the corrective routines.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 13

Day 13 was the two recovery routines from Lift 4. I again used the rumble roller for the foam rolling routine, and it was again rough (although not as bad as it was early in the week). Then, the stretching routine went fine. I do like that it is relatively short I just am not a huge fan of the selection of stretches. It would be nice if there were more variety from what he does in the warmups and cooldowns to the regular workouts.

Book Review: Blowback (Scot Harvarth Series #4)

 

Blowback, published in 2005, is the fourth book in the Scot Harvath series of thrillers created by Brad Thor. The plot of this book involves a bioweapon threat from the Middle East. Much like Vince Flynn did in the Mitch Rapp series, which is in the same genre, Thor blends real-life events (such as the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks) with his fictional storylines. This one specifically involves an Al-Queada plot being aided by a tangential member of the Saudi Royal family.

The hardcover version of the book is a little under 450 pages. Like the previous three books in the series, it has a good blend of action and suspense. It has a few different storylines going on that intersect at different points. The main storyline is the bioterrorism storyline, but there is also a story arc involving an ambitious Senator who is looking for a VP spot on the next Democratic ticket who is clearly modeled, at least in part, after Hillary Clinton. If you liked the first few books in the series and/or are a fan of spy novels, international thrillers, or the like, it is absolutely worth the time to read.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 12

Day 12 was lower body foam rolling from 645 and Legs in Lift 4.

Since this was week 2 of Lift 4 it means legs was the HIIT workout, meaning three rounds of four exercises done for 1 minute, 45 seconds, 30 seconds, and 15 seconds, then two bonus rounds in which you do each exercise for 30 seconds. The exercises are rough after the first one (which is high-knee runs). After that you do triple bear, catcher jumps, and jump lunges.  Once you get to the core portion it is almost a relief. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 11

Day 11 was upper body foam rolling from 645 and shoulders in Lift 4.

I again used the rumble roller for the foam rolling and it definitely was uncomfortable, especially when I was foam rolling (or holding the roller on a trigger point on) my lats. The shoulders workout was an intervals workout, so each block had two lifting exercises followed immediately by a 30-second HIIT exercise. Then, the core portion had one additional set of twisting leg lifts since the cast did bicycles in the first round. So, it was a tough workout, but it was short.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 10

Day 10 was corrective ankles from 645 and the two recovery routines from Lift 4.

I again did all of the foam rolling using my rumble roller. I could not stay on it as long when rolling some areas, like my hip flexors, as I can when using the regular foam roller, but I am getting used to it. And, I find that I have fewer knots the next day since I have been using it. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 9

 Day 9 was the corrective hips workout from 645 and Back and Biceps in Lift 4.

The back and biceps workout was a 50/50 workout and was tough especially the HIIT portion. Thankfully, the lifting and core portions were not that bad (not that they was easy). I can tell that the corrective shoulders routine from 645 has helped with the Lift 4 workouts because during the rows and flys Joel was warning against shrugging your shoulders which was not a problem at all for me because of the corrective shoulders routine. I also used the rumble roller for the foam rolling portions of the corrective hips routine, which was tough to get through, but I made it.