peter rietbergen

so you're presenting us with the threads that'll allow you to weave a new tapestry...?

I think a lot happened in this chapter. No crises of epic proportions, but - yes - a crisis of greater importance, given the emotions it forced K to face. Well done.

"No," Alex stated, his voice a low, hard vibration that cut through the noise of the argument. "I appreciate your concern, mi vida, but I need you to call your… new friends with CSIS, si?” He fished out the Satellite phone and tossed it over to Brian. I’ll go and get the vehicle alone." Am I correct when I feel that this implies that Brian must now conclude that Alex knows he has entered into a deal with the CSIS - which means that B's choice isn't a secret anymore? But what does that fact - and its consequences for B's and the others' actions - entail for the future of B's family and friends?

Well...... Why: well? because I'm not convinced. I can see how C and J plotted this - cleverl;y. Not how, even in the privacy of their own apartment - as, e.g., in the previous chapter - they acted as if the two of them were really ending a long-standing, once loving relationship. Maybe if such scenes had not been included in the entire story to mislead us, I would have been - yes: more convinced.

A mouth-watering tale. But no wonder so many Americans turn out obese. In my country such meals - yes, even on vacation - would be accused of seducing us to commit the sin of gluttony.

Fascinating... Perhaps because I am a "liberated" Dutchmen, who went to boarding school (also in England, though) where we always showered naked. The idea of wearing underwear .... unimaginable. But, admittedly: over the past two decades the influx of people from, mainly, non-western - Asian and African - countries/cultures has greatly - and negatively - influenced whatver "liberation" we once enjoyed. And, alas, conversely it creates a tabu on nakedness - turning it into eroticism, sex and what not - that does not help emancipation....

I'm constantly amazed at how prudish Americans are...😊

One doesn't need a ghost to, sometimes, know what one has to do to help someone else....

Weren't Byzantine emperors not only crowned but also raised on the shield and cariied around?

Unless I'm realy dumb, I must assume that B being with Alex, now, means he has signed the agreement with the CSCI. What that means for this tale...?

I love the Holloway. I remember my Father allowing me to see the films he starred in - Whisky Galore and such. Wasn't there one about a train, too? And didn't he do Doolittle in the MFLady extravaganza? As to Josephine: ah, I suppose nowadays such a cover would be totally PC-unacceptable: coloured and near-naked, i.e. racist and sexist....Sometimes I think PCness robs us of our innocence.

Will you raise C to the shield...?

This is awesome indeed. The structure of the tale but, of course, in it the very emotion that it conveys - one that many people experience, sometimes (often?) without finding the "signs" to express and show their deepest feelings.

Alas, in *Topher's" universe, that resembles ours to an alarming extent, all men working to uphold the mostly pernicious power of institutions lack any sense of moral responsibility.

Political thriller meets near-sci-fi. An exciting mix.

It definitely is a good chapter, but to be really honest: I feel you turn Tommy into another Jonah. For me that doesn't quite work.

If I were Chris, I'd tell K: suit yourself.

No James Bond film can hold a candle to this saga.

The soufflés had risen cleanly, dusted with powdered honey and the barest whisper of sweetener. Dexter noted the height, the color—and something else. No sugar on the palate. When he broke the surface with his spoon, the give was different. No egg structure. He tasted: rich chocolate, moist crumb, a silky center, a hazelnut note—Nutella, likely. Mouth-watering. A preper end to an unusual story. Thanks.

The drone's chassis exploded in a shower of plastic and failing circuits. The world did not go black. It dissolved into a final, catastrophic error message. A scream of overloading processors, a flash of searing heat, and then… the serene, absolute zero of termination. Given the world's present, desolate state - and the role of a few men who I hold responsible - I wish I had the command over a few drones that could penetrate their defences and declare their mission an aberration - to then return to at least a modicum of "normalcy"....without, alas, holding out much hope for a really better future...

But of course.... Even so: exciting.

In many ways, this is a very good, and, also, convincing chapter indeed. Only the scene(s) where Christian goes down to the basement to feed J: it is told as if N and Jonah can see it. And, later, the bathroom-scene, too, seems to have conflicting "perpectives". But: never mind... As to an "ideal" sequel: hard to say. In real life, the healing of Jack would take a long time indeed. Whether it is interesting enough a process to structure another story, a sequel...? But: without it, there may be no story. A difficult choice.

Of course, it was obvious B and Luke were more than future in-laws. And of course Luke wanted Lyn to understand that any hopes he might have had of B should be over. Of course, there still is that moment "eight years" ago that we do not yet know about, but should explain a lot, if not everything. But it will not explain Lyn's obtuse stupidity in so many fields. Thinking that A has a long history of female courtships or what not - why has he never even asked, not even after the fuck-sessions with A in the present? And why is Lyn telling himself that A is his "best friend" now - after those eight years of crushing on Brad (which, admiddtedly, i find hard to believe in any adult...) and after, as far as I can make out, not having set an eye on A for the entire period? Indeed, despite Cane23's "defense'of Lyn's sharp intuition, I feel that, at least regarding his won (emotional) life, he's almost totally led by rather primitive instincts....

If only all GA writers were as careful as you generally are....

while I can see the "appela"of this fantasy, I would argue that, especially in such a specific sport as boxing, it will not work, neither physically nor psychologically. As to the reactions of any onlookers - besides, of course, fans of porn...More than highly unlikely.