Time Capsule: October 2014

Reading:

Well, Tom Clancy may be dead, but the characters and situations that he created certainly aren't, and for most of October I found it hard to take my eyes away from the pages of Support and Defend, by Mark Greaney, which furthers the Clancy universe mostly through the eyes of former FBI agent turned operative for the top-secret The Campus agency, Dominic Caruso, who is on the hunt for an American political staffer who steals and leaks confidential information. The Iranians, a WikiLeaks-type group and even the Russians get involved and in the way of Caruso's hunt for vengeance. 

Whilst it doesn't have all of the intricate technical detail that marked so many of Clancy's novels, Support and Defend definitely has the same spy craft, action and political intrigue that I've always expected. Greaney is a worthy author to carry on the Jack Ryan universe, and long may that continue.

Watching:

Again, Chicago PD. The second season is underway, and I haven't enjoyed a show this much since the old days when 24 was at it's peak. The wonderfully morally uncertain and violent Sergeant Hank Voight is back with the rest of the District 21 Intelligence squad and they familiar detectives are joined by former patrol officer Kevin Atwater. There's early turmoil for Halstead and Lindsay, and the Burgess has to adjust to a new partner who apparently hates working with women.

There are plenty of crossovers between PD and it's sister show Chicago Fire - one in almost every episode so far this year - and what feels like it's going to be an epic three-way crossover event with the two Chicago shows and also the New York-based Law and Order: SVU.

Listening To:

Florida Georgia Line was pretty much the first country album I listened to in full, thanks to the irresistible hook of their world-conquering single "Cruise" and ever since I've become a giant fan of the crazy but awesome fusion of country, rap and rock. Their second album Anything Goes is more of the same.

My favourite song is a departure from the good times-type music that's launched Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley into the stratosphere. Instead, "Dirt" is an epic tale about a man, his wife and the unavoidable circle of life. By far the most introspective song from Florida Georgia Line and more along the lines of something that Garth Brooks or Tim McGraw might've recorded, rather than these two. But it's great. Just like the entire album.