Inkslinger Fall 2015

Local First Utah has been working with Salt Lake City government for eight years, working toward developing a program that would help foster locally owned independent businesses. Why? Because the city recognizes the benefits of local business to the economy and to the character of our community. After much planning, the city’s Community and Economic Development department,  has announced a new initiative, EnterpriseSaltLake, the local business portion of which contains several things hugely beneficial to local business:

• A Buy Your Building initiative providing low-interest loans that will help businesses buy their buildings. The result? Businesses will control their destinies, will become more sustainable, and so will our economy—and our community!
• Several changes in city hall’s planning and zoning departments which will make it far simpler to acquire permits.
• A comprehensive zoning review to remove the meaningless barriers and obsolete requirements that make change so difficult for businesses and for residents.

Thank you Salt Lake City!

Retirement isn’t a reward for Inspector Chopra who has been forced into a long-term holiday by a weak heart and a forceful wife. But he will not go willingly as he sees a new case in the form of a drowned boy whose mother demands justice for her son. She is battling the power of the political world and the higher echelon of the police department, and Inspector Chopra becomes not only her champion but also that of a baby elephant left to him by his uncle. The elephant, Ganesha, won’t eat, looks sad, and mopes around the yard and finally the living room where the maternal instincts of Poppy Chopra, who may not have wanted an elephant in the apartment, take over. The elephant is a key player in the tale, as is Mumbai and its teeming neighborhoods, as Inspector Chopra and Ganesha walk the streets of the city searching for justice for the drowned boy and his mother. They meet the poorest of the poor and the most corrupt of the rich in a mystery that contains both the sadness of the world and the lightness of a detective who knows how to manipulate authority until he gets what he wants. – Wendy Foster Leigh

What do a prosecutor, an IT nerd, and a disgraced former cop have in common? They're planning the perfect crime, a simple cash grab that won't be reported and could net them a cool hundred grand. The problem is there's no such thing as the perfect crime. Also, one of the would-be criminals is a sociopath. When robbery turns to murder even a sociopath can lose control of the situation. A twisty little standalone from the author of the Hugo Marston series with an antihero you can't help rooting for. – Paula Longhurst

Trigger Mortis slots in neatly between Fleming’s Goldfinger and Thunderball. Bond has whisked Pussy Galore back to London with him but their affair is rapidly losing its luster. A new assignment, protecting England’s most famous racing driver, beckons. During his training and the race Bond encounters driver Logan Fairfax and motoring journalist Jeopardy Lane. SMERSH rears its ugly Russian head and causes Bond to focus on their associate Jason Sin, a Korean millionaire who deals death using a pack of cards. Sin has photographs of a U.S. Vanguard rocket, and Bond suspects sabotage. He doesn’t know how wrong he is. Trigger Mortis is vintage Bond, with all the style, girls, car chases, and thrills Fleming’s fans could ask for. – Paula Longhurst