frosenblum

Chronically constipated? That's never been a problem for me after eating Mexican food.

I'm more worried about Wayne & Sandi's fate. Will Nichols have them killed so they don't cause any trouble for him? Would Peter Nichols and his sons even be around to assert dominance over W&S, or would they be off enjoying themselves "processing" Elijah?

CJ's 30th is also that year, as well as most the original Squaddies. A big party year. Of course, Chipper will have the biggest party, probably a global livestream broadcast.

I have an M.S. in math, but arithmetic still trips me up.

Thank you, @Reader1810. Trust a beta reader to meticulously keep track of such details.

Was Ritch 1992 and Liebe 2019?

Another great chapter. And your fan club, including me, sure likes to add to the reading material. At the risk of being torn to threads by your bloodthirsty readers 🧛‍♂️🧟‍♂️I'm gonna show some sympathy for Mr. Northman. It must be super frustrating for Northman. Every four to eight years, along comes a new ambassador, a political appointee who thinks they know better than career employees like Northman who are doing the "real" work year in, year out. On top of that, for the past nine years, it's been revolving door Secretaries of State, each one rearranging the State Department. It's enough to drive Stephen up the wall. No wonder he only pays lip service to the ambassador. As if that's not enough, along comes this rich kid just out of college who seems to think he already knows better than Northman and thinkgs can do whatever he wants, who goes out of his way to garner publicity for himself, etc., etc., etc. Somebody needs to swat some sense into this kid. I'm not saying that Northman is a good guy 😇, but he's also not an evil villain 💀.

The key word is "about." If there were exactly 5 years between each of them, CJ would have been born when Cesar was only 15.

Yay, we'll get a little more time with Ritch in the next chapter.

Julia Child's CIA/OSS webpage (I included the link in another comment.) says "The repellent was a critical tool during WWII, and was coated on explosives that were targeting German U-boats. Before the introduction of the shark repellent, curious sharks would sometimes set off the explosives when they bumped into them." Stupid sharks!🙄

When we do we get to read that story?

Here's the CIA (public) page on Julia Child. https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/julia-child-cooking-up-spy-ops-for-oss/

Let's hope he has a nice body. One worthy of that 1982 VP campaign button.

Another excellent chapter. Lots of info and planning. The calm before the storm. A good few days for your readers to chill on the beach. Because high tension is rising on the horizon.

Those pesky von Helmuth Molkes, the Uncle, known at "the Elder," and the nephew, known as "the Younger." The Elder, Helmuth Carl Bernard von Molke, died in 1891. The quoted saying originated in an essay he wrote in 1871. (The original quotation was shortened over the years to the current version.) The Younger, Helmuth Johannes Ludwig von Moltke, was the one who was the head of the German forces for the first fifty days of WWI was. BTW, the Younger's nephew, Helmuth James von Molke, was executed by the Nazis for treason during WWII.

"little white lies"???? Like these: "Who us? We're completely harmless. We're only here to bring down your multi-million dollar criminal enterprise and destroying the corrupt shifter global power structure. Nothing important. Don't mind us." Is that what you were referring to?

I found Sebastian's explanation about the scents a little confusing. It was like being back in a college organic chemistry class.🤕😴 So let be check what I think Sebastian said. Wayne & Sandi are going to smell like garlic & oregano 24/7. That's is to mask the I'm-lying-in-your-face scent that wolves give off. Is that correct? Of course, to avoid suspicion, they will actually have to eat Italian food for almost every meal.😁 Next. Elijah is going shapeshift into a pubescent wolf. He'll regularly swallow butt stink bills so he smells all the time like he's at first-shift age. Is that correct? Why will his pills also include oregano and garlic. Reilly's tea was hiding his male scent, yes? And maybe his lambda scent? What scent will Elijah be trying to hide? Thanks in advance for an explanation.

Um, @Carlos Hazday , did you forget about Lola? It'd be a no brainer for you to to get a gun into your MC's hands.

AM was acting in interests of safety. The trauma of rape is huge. Even if it was her husband, being forced to have intercourse when she doesn't want it would be repeated rape.

I just this book over the weekend, based on local library monthly newsletter. It was one of the best books I've read in a long time. Totally absorbing, with surprising twists and turns. I also thought this was no just a YA book, sophisticated writing, complex people and relationships, and intriguing sci-fi. I recommend it to any sci-fi fan.

I think people are being too hard on Mom. She gave bad advice (like men stop wanting sex as they get older 🤣). And AM is certainly not the first person who gave their partner a sleeping pill to avoid having unwanted sex.

Mom's said her first concern to prevent AM getting depressed. (Mom was misinformed, but it's only relatively recently that the effects of trauma and PTSD have become wide public knowledge.) Not wanting her friends to know may well have also come from wanting to protect AM. That was a time that many people would have thought of AM as "damaged goods" (that still happens today), which meant AM suffering odd looks and whispers wherever she went in town. Mom may not have made the smartest decisions, but she was doing the best she knew how within the cultural restraints of that time. Also, Mom's advice to AM about sleeping pills also seems sensible. The double dose was an accident, not Mom's fault. I If it wasn't intentional, it wasn't a murder. It was at most manslaughter.

Please, no blows to the head or hands. Or Carlos won't be able to write at all.😬😨 As they say, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Great chapter. What is it about Carson that, without him even opening his mouth, people in positions of power immediately jump on him?

The tension is rising!