The Mystery Starts Here

I was on a break from my acting class last Monday, and happened upon a table full of books - FREE books. It was a book exchange, read what you like and bring it or another book back to share. What fun! Hard covers, paperbacks, fiction, non-fiction. Of course I picked them up, one by one, and read the back blurb or or the first page or something to see if I might want to take a few home. The young woman with me just stood there. I was intrigued - how can anyone stand in front of a table full of books and not want to touch them?

Well, I’m a writer, I’m nosy so I asked her what kind of books she liked to read. “Oh, I don’t read much,” she answered. “I have a hard time concentrating on the words.” Wow, I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. I didn’t say anything - what could I say? But, I almost wept. I simply cannot envision a world without books. I cannot imagine one day going by in my life when I haven’t read something. My husband is an avid reader, too, and we spend many happy hours side by side, reading. I’ve been to every country in the world, by reading books. I’ve studied history and gone to other worlds, met vampires, werewolves, fallen in love with handsome Duke’s and helped solve horrid murders, all from the comfort of my cosy chair. Not read books? I’d rather die.

“Fringe” the new series on Fox wasn’t hyped nearly as much as “True Blood” and guess what? I liked it so much better! A combination of mystery, sci-fi, adventure, some romance and humor, there’s a lot to like about this new show.

The first show started with a great mysery. A jumbo jet from Germany, full of dead people, lands by itself in Boston. The bodies are all degraded and really yucky - neat! The government seals the plane and Hasmet is called in but no one can figure out just what happened.

Then we see two FBI agents in bed together - the man professes his love for the woman even though they both know they shouldn’t be fraternizing. Before things can heat up, each of their cell phones goes off and they are called to the airport. They follow clues and discover a storage locker with a lot of scientific equipment - and a man. The male FBI agent chases the man with his female partner following closely. The bad guy triggers a device which blows up the male FBI agent and…his skin starts to harden like those of the people on the plane.

For the rest of the story the female FBI agent trying to track down the person or people who injured her lover so she can reverse the process and save the man she loves. There’s a mad scientist, his attractive and arrogant son and a cow. Gotta love the cow!

The action was fast, and the show had one of the best twists in it that I’ve seen in a long while. Some the plot strains credulity, but hey, it’s fiction and it’s great fun! I’m really looking forward to the next installment of “Fringe” this week on Tuesday at 9:00 PM. Watch it and let me know what you think.