And Sometimes They Kill You, by Pamela Cross
“Please help me. My husband has a gun and he’s in the house with my son.”
Thus, we begin Pamela Cross’ harrowing deep dive into gender-based violence. And Sometimes They Kill You (Confronting the epidemic of intimate partner violence) from Ontario-based lawyer Cross, who had wanted to be a lawyer since her days as a pre-teen hiding behind her parents' couch as they watched television lawyer Perry Mason as he solved one legal problem after another.
Cross first opened her law practice in the summer of 1995, and her initial client, a woman she referred to in this book as Susana, kickstarted her career as a feminist lawyer and as a respected expert on violence against women.
Before you start to think that this book is some sort of anti-male screed take another look at the words in the subtitle – intimate partner violence. Violence and abuse can happen to anyone in any sort of partner-to-partner relationship. Of course, the legal ramifications of these situations vary from locale to locale, and Cross as well takes a close look at this topic.
As for the title itself, Cross explains that it came from a round table discussion on family conflicts when a 12-year-old girl said, “Sometimes you argue, and sometimes they kill you.”
More information on this book can be found at the publisher’s website of or from the author herself at .
Just Say Yes, by Bob McDonald.
“Welcome to visions of tomorrow.” A well-dressed young man with a good sense of humour was on stage at the outdoor ampitheatre in my hometown of Orillia, Ontario. I was seven years old...”
And so it began: Bob McDonald’s lifelong journey into the wonderful world of science. Long known worldwide as the host of the CBC radio program Quirks and Quarks, McDonald has written a number of non-fiction science books in the past, but Just Say Yes is his intimate view of the path that brought him from a working class background to his current role as the foremost explainer of all things scientific. McDonald has been on the air with Quirks and Quarks since 1992 and – get this – he does NOT have a university degree; he just simply as curious as can be. Which is a trait perhaps we can all cultivate. McDonald was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011 and in 2014 an asteroid was named after him. He is a biker and a sailor but is without a personal website.
Just Say Yes by Bob McDonald is from Canadian publisher Douglas & McIntyre with a current list price of $34.95.
Billy Summers, by Stephen King
“Billy Summers sits in the hotel lobby, waiting for his ride. It’s Friday noon.”
Welcome to the world of Billy Summers, as outlined by Stephen King in his 2021 novel of the same name. I can hear you now, “Another Stephen King book. Vampires? Monsters who hide in sewers? Strange fogs that creep into buildings?”
Nope.
This is an intricate, rewarding story about the title character, who is a killer for hire and rated as the best in the business. But he’s ready to retire after he completes one last contract. What could go wrong? Aye, and there’s the rub.
Summers has that one final job to do, but at the same time he is writing a book. Or is the book writing him? This is a tale about love, luck, fate, and perhaps redemption. You’ll have to read it to find out for sure.
I have the Scribner’s hard cover edition of Billy Summers with 2021 list price of $39.99 Canadian, with plenty of soft cover copies certainly available most everywhere. For more facts concerning the perpetual motion writing machine known as Stephen King simply drop into his website at .
Cover photos courtesy Dennis Rimmer
