So, I've been itching to dive into this John D. McDonald Gold Medal title (Murder in the Wind) for weeks since I bought it from my favorite used bookstore. I knew I shouldn't have taken JDM with me to read at the dentist's office, but I did it anyway. I mean when I've got a few spare minutes, what better way is there to spend them than reading a good book?

Well, it's ten minutes before my appointment. I began reading JDM's vivid prose and marvelous sentence rhythms. Predictably, I'm hooked by page one. My heart is pepping up its beat, and I'm really digging JDM.

Then before I know it, I realize I'm on page 45, and nobody has called my name. I know I registered at the clipboard sign-in sheet. With a startle, I see I've been reading for a half-hour. Whoa! I've got to get back, so I'm in panic mode. Luckily, they hadn't forgotten me and took me right on when I inquired at the desk.

Lesson learned: If you take a book to occupy you while you're waiting at the dentist's office, make sure it's a boring book, not a JDM Gold Medal.

Happy reading to you and yours!

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"A curling and sparking electric wire of a read!"
Frank Wheeler, Crime Factory