Books, Hotels, Restaurants, and a Favor to Ask

When Caryl and I began traveling twenty-plus years ago, we had very few options when it came to planning. Life is too short and money too tight to eat bad food or stay in crappy hotels. So about December of each year we would begin shopping, first for vacation spots and then for books about that spot.

The right travel guide (Mobil used to publish our favorite) could steer us toward fantastic restaurants, attractions, and hotels that fit our budget and our demographics. But today, fortunately, something far better than the Mobil Guide exists.

It's you. And you. And you. And you. All of you joining together through a variety of Internet sites and applications to express your opinions about everything from books to restaurants to doctors to handymen. Once our best option was looking at the opinions and evaluations of a few "experts" who wrote for Fodders and Consumer Reports and newspapers.

Now I can ask you - thousands and thousands of you - what you think of a certain book, travel destination, or restaurant. And, like the Olympics, I can throw out the high and low scores and come up with a pretty decent picture of what I'm going to get if I spend my money on this attraction or that hotel.

ReviewPush published an article in 2012 explaining point by point how and why online reviews are so important. You can read it here: http://www.reviewpush.com/blog/how-online-reviews-impact-your-business/.

As the article points out, we are now blessed with the opportunity to hear from dozens, hundreds, or thousands of like-minded people on a variety of subjects for which we share a common interest. As we read the reviews, it is even possible to say, "Wow, this person was having a really bad day. I'm not sure I trust their opinion on that particular restaurant." On TripAdvisor, we can even read multiple reviews by the same person to see if they are easy or hard graders. (Since TripAdvisor almost always sends me to great restaurants, hotels, and attractions, I very seldom need to write bad reviews.)

The moral of the story is this: If you like (or dislike) something, your opinion matters. Those who have read The Ecuadorian Deception are probably tired of me asking them to post reviews on amazon.com. However, I know - and research validates - that book buyers are fiercely reliant on those reviews to help them make their purchases. I even heard one person, in discussing books, say he chose a particular novel because some of the reviewers claimed it had large amounts of gratuitous violence, sex, and bad language. This person, a doctor, said he liked that in a novel. (He may not enjoy The Ecuadorian Deception, by the way.)

That's not how I pick my books, but hey, it works for him. And it shows that even people with very different points of view can do you a great service in helping you make your next purchase. If you're not on sites like www.tripadvisor.com, you're missing out on a wonderful resource.

And, if you haven't written your review yet of the latest book you've read, it's time to get cracking at www.amazon.com. Enough said.

A Tip of the Hat to a Couple of Great Mystery Writers

The audience for The Ecuadorian Deception continues to grow, both in softback and Kindle edition. People living in South America especially seem to appreciate availability on Kindle since books in English are hard to come by and expensive there.

One of my motivations for writing this book, besides wanting to turn out a first-rate mystery, was to acquaint people with two incredible cities, Guayaquil and Cuenca. Over the years I have particularly enjoyed writers who took their audience on a grand tour of real places with a rip-roaring cast of characters.

Sue Henry is particularly known for what I call Travel Mysteries. Her heroine Maxie and faithful traveling companion Stretch the weenie dog travel around the US on adventures that leave you with a pretty good understanding of the places the story happens, as well.

My suspicion is that Ms. Henry, who originally made her reputation writing mysteries/detective novels set in her native Alaska, got the traveling jones. As she traveled about the nation, so did her alter ego Maxie.

Good for her. Better for us.

When my wife and I traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii a few years ago, Henry's book The Refuge served as an education about the history of the island's cultures, as well as introducing us to the best places to visit. It's really fun to stand in the very place an author stood when he or she was creating a yarn.

Another talented mystery writer who also provides a great travelogue for the open road is Nevada Barr. Now, let me provide this disclaimer: I don't believe you have to have foul language to have a gritty story. In fact, I'm of the Humphrey Bogart school of thought. Nobody ever said The Maltese Falcon wasn't a gritty movie, but it didn't lean on the crutch of profanity to get it there.

I very much wish Ms. Barr was less reliant on profanity. Having said that, credit where credit is due. She writes some of the most spine-tingling edge-of-your-seat material you could ever want to read. In addition, each of the stories happens in one of our national parks.

Ms. Barr is/was in a unique position to use these settings. She is a former park ranger. Her first novel, Track of the Cat, was set in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas. My favorite, Borderline, is set in Big Bend.

While traveling to the places where these mysteries is set adds to the adventure, I don't recommend reading her mystery Hard Truth while visiting Rocky Mountain National Park outside Estes Park, Colorado. The book involves the hunt for a psychopath who has stolen children and is using them for his gratification while murdering anyone who gets in his way.

That's probably not the kind of unsettling image you want while sitting beside the tranquil waters of Bear Lake or enjoying an autumn day among the aspens.

If you've got a favorite author who also takes you on the road for adventures, I'd love to know about him or her. Please comment below. Until then, enjoy these two masters of mystery. Oh, and don't forget to read the new novel from that up-and-comer Bear Mills. I'm working to build a fan base and would love you have you in on the ground floor.