Wednesday, September 06, 2017

You've Been Kidnapped....




Ghostbusters! Oops.... (And shouldn't that be "whom"? Hopefully the grammar police will believe me when I tell them I didn't make the graphic!)

I don't know what happened when you read the question, but I immediately had two alternatives pop into my head. Since they're both well over six feet tall and both have large canine companions, not only did I have to smile about the sheer serendipity, I had to figure out which character I was going to choose. 

Both my characters are from series, which makes perfect sense. I've had a long time to see how both characters act in all sorts of extreme situations. Before I go any further, I'll put y'all out of your misery and tell you the two characters I'm talking about....

Todd Borg's Owen McKenna & Spot
Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire & Dog

Now you can see why I'm spoiled for choice. Both men are highly intelligent. Both men have excellent contacts in law enforcement. Both men are well-acquainted with the great outdoors (in case I've been hauled out to the middle of nowhere). When Owen and Walt make a promise, they keep it, and neither one of them know when to quit.

So. Which man do I choose to rescue me?

It all boils down to one thing: peripherals. Yes. Peripherals. With the kind of luck I have, I'd be kidnapped in the middle of the worst winter this country has ever seen and taken to some remote place in the mountains to shiver myself into oblivion. There's no doubt in my mind that both men will find me and rescue me, but there are other things to consider.

Spot may have a size advantage over Dog, but Dog has much longer thicker fur, hence he's going to be a bigger help in thawing me out. I'd also get to see just how funny Vic is, if Henry's eyes twinkle the way I think they do, and I might even get a ride in Rez Dog or Lola. So you see? It's all in the peripherals this time.

Sorry, Owen. Sorry, Spot. Man, I feel like a heel!


And now you know I have a question for all of you: Which character would you choose to come rescue you after you've been kidnapped? Inquiring minds want to know!


 

14 comments:

  1. I don't know either of your potential rescuers well enough to know if you've made the right choice...but I'll assume you have

    I think for me it would be John Ceepak from Chris Grabenstein's series in which he stars - he's got a good mix of braun and brain ...he also has a dog but Barclay is old and has smelly farts - maybe that would come in handy somehow :)

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    1. I think Ceepak (and Barclay) are very good choices!

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  2. Hmm....Longmire might be my choice, too, Cathy. Or perhaps C.J. Box's Joe Pickett...he wouldn't give up. I'd have to think about this one, and that's what makes it interesting.

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  3. My first choice would have been Longmire, but you got him, then I would have chosen Joe Pickett, but Margot got him, so I'll take Cormoron Strike.

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    1. Good choice! (And it reminds me to read the next book in the series!)

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  4. When you asked the question, the first name that popped into my mind was Bruno, Chief of Police. It brought a smile and a sigh. Since Bruno doesn't carry a gun and uses his personality a lot to solve problems, I think something more heavy duty would be needed.
    So I chose Owen McKenna from the Tahoe series who was one of your choices.He doesn't give up and is very brave. He almost seems super human in what he will attempt. However, I sure would like to see Bruno at the scene.

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    1. Perhaps everyone could get together at Bruno's place for an après-kidnap celebratory dinner?

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  5. No answer to the question at hand...but I think it would be something like 'on whom would you call'. I tend more toward prescriptivism in grammar, but an flexible enough to accept that the English language changes, and I think the use of 'whom' is starting to go away, especially since grammar is not a subject taught much in school anymore.

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  6. Gosh, I could pick a few characters.

    First to come to mind is Harry Bosch who always gets the perpetrator and he doesn't waste a moment contemplating -- acts. And he will dig under floorboards to find the kidnapped person.

    In The Wrong Side of Good-bye, Bosch's woman partner goes missing, kidnapped. He is the only one to pursue a perpetrator so aggressively that he tears the guy's house, floors, walls apart to find her. And he's fast.

    Perhaps Salvo Montalbano, but there would be a lot of yelling in Sicilian, but he'd put every police officer into the investigation. And there would be a lot of pasta eating meanwhile. It would take awhile.

    Then there's Guido Brunetto whom I adore, but he'd take longer, too. He's more contemplative than action-oriented. He'd think through every possible culprit and scenario. He'd talk to everyone, have computer searches done, etc., and he'd eat fine meals, too, while someone is missing.

    And why not women? V.I. Warshawski would find me, but there would be a lot of humor and zaniness involved. She is dogged and she has two dogs if that is a qualification.

    Then there's Irene Huss of Sweden, Helene Turston's character. She's a very good investigator, brave, hard-working, honest, and even though her dog, Sammy, died a fe books ago, in Who Watcheth? she adopts a dachshund.

    Then there's Commissaire Adamsberg who would take a team to find me and everyone would discuss philosophical questions while investigating a disappearance.

    And then there is LA cop Renee Ballard, Michael Connelly's new character. She is hyper, action-oriented. And she's strong and fights her way out of her own kidnapping.

    So, to save me faster, I'd say Michael Connelly can write it. Harry Bosch is my first choice, Renee Ballard, the second. And she has a dog, too.

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    1. I think this is one of the most entertaining comments that's ever been left on my blog! Thank you, Kathy-- and I agree with all your conclusions.

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  7. Thank you, Cathy. I did have my tongue in cheek much of the time. And I love all of these dogs being included.

    We could include David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter series. His character has dogs and saves mostly Golden Retrievers as Rosenfelt does. However, I am afraid if Carpenter tried to save us, as a defense attorney, he doesn't have those skills. But he'd use his canine friends to try to find us, and when they did, they'd lick us forever.

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