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The Bibliophile

As Shakespeare put it, “Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” Before summer ends, these works by local authors can be invigorating companions during this sultry season.

Trigger: A Novel, by David Swinson, 352 pages, Mulholland Books, 2019

Author David Swinson is a retired decorated D.C. Metropolitan Police detective. He lives with his family in Northern Virginia.

Swinson has plumbed his real-life knowledge in this edgy and revealing tale of crime in our nation’s capital. The action is realistic, the dialogue taut, and the personalities vividly portrayed.

The protagonist, private investigator Frank Marr, lost his badge for conduct unbecoming of a police officer. Yet his friendships with his former colleagues are unbreakable.

Marr attempts to help his one-time partner, Al Luna, and in so doing crosses paths with his ex-girlfriend, defense attorney Leslie Costello. He confronts his past failings and tries to become a better man. The importance of second chances is an underlying motif.

Marr’s reliance on his police training is portrayed with panache. He employs it to great effect dodging bullets and approaching fearlessly knife-wielding and gun-toting assailants, petty crooks and members of the local drug syndicate. The role of CIs (confidential informants) and descriptions of street-smart behavior give this fictional tale a strong dose of realism.

The DC-neighborhood venues make following the plot of special interest to local readers. The proximity of crime and poverty, holdups, prostitution rings and drug dealing to the vaulted monuments of our national government is stark. The action follows along with speed and clarity from the pen of one with inside knowledge.

Touching the Dragon: And Other Techniques for Surviving Life’s Wars, by James Hatch and Christian D’Andrea, 336 pages, Vintage paperback, 2019

Virginia residents Navy Special Ops veteran James Hatch and co-author Christian D’Andrea have written an important addition to the literature on the psychological challenges that face wounded warriors.

Touching the Dragon means coming to grips with the sources of pain, guilt and emotional angst that produce destructive behavior by members of the armed forces. Removing that stigma and healing the psychological trauma have become one of James Hatch’s causes.

Hatch describes his own determined efforts to be accepted into the Navy SEALs. He writes about his quarter-century career. The courage, grit, tedious planning and bloody terror-filled encounters of his years in special ops are depicted.

His fellow warriors and the canines he led into perilous top-secret missions in Iran and Afghanistan are brought to life. Most significant is the story of his own encounter with depression and attempted suicide in the aftermath of serious injuries sustained in the line of duty.

Proceeds from his book go to the nonprofit Spikes K9 Fund that Hatch founded to provide protective gear and medical attention to working and wounded dogs. His charitable work with canines serves to make whole the losses in battle of his beloved four-legged warriors.

Strange and Obscure Stories of Washington, D.C.: Little-Known Tales about Our Nation’s Capital, by Tim Rowland, 196 pages, Skyhorse Publishing paperback, 2018

Our nation’s capital has seen more than its share of oddballs and villains over the years. Countless of the venal, the corrupt, the self-promoters, the arrogant and the powerful who held public attention back in the day have been relegated to the dustbin of history.

But so have a few pioneers and insightful individuals once considered radical whose ideas are mainstream today.

Enter Tim Rowland, columnist for the Hagerstown, Maryland, Herald-Mail Media. He has compiled, in this slim book, nine true entertaining tales of Washington D.C. from the late 1700s to the present decade.

Several of the subjects are familiar, most are not. Some of the individuals, such as Francis Scott Key, have achieved fame, but not for the episodes described. Reading about these figures gives us a more complete picture of their personalities — warts and all.

Worth the Wait: The Washington Capitals’ Memorable Journey to the 2018 Stanley Cup, by The Washington Post, 128 pages, Triumph Books paperback, 2018

Caps fans disappointed in the outcome this season are sure to cherish this keepsake of last year’s Stanley Cup championship. The introductory essay by Washington Post sports columnist Thomas Boswell describes the astounding playoff run culminating in victory over the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Read contemporaneous coverage by beat reporter Isabelle Khurshudyan. The six-game first and six-game second rounds, the seven games of the conference finals and the five-game Stanley Cup finals are recapped with box scores.

Alongside are color photographs of the action of the games. Scan the season statistics of every Caps player and goaltender. Check out a chart of the team’s yearly playoff history since 1982. Concluding the book are profiles of goalie Braden Holtby, former coach Barry Trotz and captain Alex Ovechkin.

Full page drawings by sports illustrator Cristiano Siqueira depict stars Holtby, Ovi, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom. A balm for the broken-hearted, a remembrance to keep hope alive, and a memento to have handy until the Caps capture another Cup.