Make me

Find Me The Votes: Michael Isikoff & Daniel Klaidman

Reporters/authors Michael Isikoff & Daniel Klaidman chronicle a fascinating report on the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath in Georgia.

“Find Me the Votes” doesn’t tell the full story of the charges Donald Trump faces in Georgia. The trial has yet to happen. The book was published at about the same time as revelations of a relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and another prosecutor in the case.

There’s still a lot that will and can happen in the election interference case against the former president.

But Isikoff and Klaidman bring plenty of details and insight into the case with “Find Me the Votes.” Many of the events are familiar; other incidents and details shed new light on what happened with the election in Georgia.

The book opens with chapters laying out the biography of Willis then explores the meat and potatoes of the case against Trump: The Trump phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger urging him to find additional votes – the call which led to the election interference charges; Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s refusal to help Trump steal the election; Rudy Giuliani’s visit to Georgia to drum up support for Trump; the Texas push to overturn Georgia’s election results; the Trump team’s numerous failed court cases; elected Georgia officials, election officials and poll workers receiving death threats and having to live in hiding after being targeted by Trump, etc.

While the end of the book must still be played out, “Find Me the Votes” lives up to the promise of its subtitle: “A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election.”

Make Me: Lee Child

Jack Reacher often falls into his adventures out of curiosity, having nothing better to do and/or feeling it’s the morally right thing to do.

After all, being a retired Army military police major, with no job, no home, traveling the United States by bus, walking and hitch-hiking, Reacher has the time and the inclination to do these things.

In “Make Me,” the 20th book in author Lee Child’s series, Reacher is pulled into a case because he wants to know why a small midwestern town is called Mother’s Rest. None of the residents knows the answer either.

While trying to learn the town’s origins, Reacher is mistaken for the partner of another stranger in town – Michelle Chang, a private investigator awaiting the arrival of her missing colleague.

She believes he is missing because his case turned lethal.

Though his interest started with a small town, Reacher and Chang are soon traveling to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago, dealing with goon squads and assassins everywhere they turn. All in an attempt to find out what happened to Chang’s fellow investigator and why.

In “Make Me,” Child keeps to the successful formula of his Reacher novels. Reacher stumbles into a situation. Once involved, he stays to see it through. He’s accompanied by a woman who needs his help but who is plenty resourceful on her own. Reacher seems to fall for Chang but regular readers have seen this happen before. Reacher may seem infatuated with someone, but when the dust clears, he’s pocketed his portable toothbrush and is off to find the next thing that piques his curiosity.