I am a huge fan of Tim Farrington, having discovered The Monk Downstairs a few years ago, followed by The Monk Upstairs, and then concluding with every other book Farrington has ever written before re-reading the Monk books again (and maybe again). So when I found out he had written another book, I got it and started reading immediately.
The follow-up to the first two Monk books, The Lazarus Kid does not disappoint. Farrington’s beautiful descriptive writing paints each scene, placing a microscope on some points or aspects of certain scenes, and panning way out for a broader view in others. Farrington has a way with believability, offering details that breathe so much life into each event, it’s almost as if you are right there inside the scene instead of just reading the story from a page.
The characters have evolved since the first two books. Mike is still contemplative and spiritual in both mind and mannerisms, but we now see him in a deeper role as a father and stepfather – even if much of his parenting is done at a distance due to chaos on the job. Rebecca is a better mom than I am of a precocious teen, handling infuriating circumstances with clenched fists and outward grace. And Mary Margaret is every bit the rebelling teen, though I never once found her character to be cliche. Rather, I saw my own teen daughter in her (hence, my awe at Rebecca’s skills of keeping a level head).
Of course, there’s so much more to the story, but I don’t want to offer any spoilers at all. Just know that when you read anything by Tim Farrington, you’ll never be disappointed. I can only hope that Mr. Farrington has more books up his sleeve very soon.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
PG for some adult language. Aimed at adults.
A burning fire in the fireplace. If I could, I’d use the fireplace every night, all year long. Of course, our weather on the North Coast is pretty warm most of the year. But once the cold weather comes, our fireplace is roaring and I’m sitting right in front of it. The only time we don’t have a fire is when we’re going through a Spare the Air Day (thanks, drought), or we’re experiencing a warm November night.
NaNoWriMo! November is 
Soup weather! I eat soup all year long, but I especially love it in the fall. Soup is the perfect meal, because you can make it out of pretty much anything. My favorites are pureed soup. I make a pretty mean Carrot Sweet Potato Soup, and my kids love when I make my Detox Veggie Soup (filled with so many vegetables!). Add some sausage or chicken (or don’t), and you’ve got a complete meal. (here’s my 
This past Saturday, I was one of the featured readers at the Redwood Writers Open Mic event at Gaia’s Garden in Santa Rosa. What’s cool about being the featured reader at this event is I get to read from my novel for 20 full minutes. What’s terrifying is I get to read from my novel for 20 full minutes.
That was the moment that my tongue decided I hadn’t had enough to drink. It dried out completely, replacing itself with a wad of cotton. I had brought a drink on stage with me, but it was just out of reach. So I powered through, licking my lips every now and then to try and turn my cotton tongue back to normal. I was aware of every word that came out of my mouth, sure that people could hear the garbled texture of my words as they spilled out over my cotton tongue.
