BYHALIA, MS to BLUFFTON, IN: 635 miles (606 loaded + 29 deadhead)
Tuesday June 16th, I arrived at the shipper at 3:00pm after having made a delivery earlier in the day in Memphis, TN. This was a live load and the process took two-and-half hours. I left the shipper at 5:30pm and drove two-and-half hours back to Hurricane Mills, TN, Pilot where I had spent the previous night. On the way there I made a quick stop to scale the load that was heavy coming in at 73,040lbs of the maximum 80,000lbs allowed by DOT Regulations. I fueled the truck and shut it down for the night at 8:30pm. Then I went across the street for dinner at Log Cabin Restaurant for a nice Southern meal consisting of fried chicken breasts, onion rings, a side salad and chess pie for dessert.
Wednesday June 17th, I started my day at 9:30am with the pre-trip inspection of the truck. I drove eight hours arriving at the consignee at 6:30pm being slowed down by heavy traffic along the route.
BOOK REVIEW: The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier (2014 & paperback 2024), THRILLER – RATING (*****)
WOW! A captivating psychological thriller that starts with a shocking revelation. The many subplots all blend nicely into the narrative and help maintain the suspense. Superbly written such that the characters’ personalities jump out of the pages.
Samantha “Sam”, a strong FMC, is a crime non-fiction author focused on serial killers. She suspects that her mother was a victim of the Beacon Hill Butcher. A serial killer that terrorized the Seattle area in the 70s to mid 80s when he was killed by the police. The problem with her theory is that her mom was murdered in 1987, two years after The Butcher was killed so could not have been him or did the police kill an innocent man? Former Chief of Police Edward Shank headed the team that pinpointed The Butcher. Shank’s personality is one of the highlights of the story. He’s a no-nonsense Dirty Harry type of character. His grandson, Matt, is Samantha’s boyfriend. He’s an up-and-coming Chef with a restaurant, several food trucks and a contract for a TV Show. Detective Roberto Sanchez investigated Sam’s mom’s murder and has kept an eye on her since because she was put in foster care at the age of two years-old. There are other secondary characters that play a key role.
Though there are many descriptions of The Butcher’s killings and psychopath ideas they are not defined with gruesome details.
Very entertaining.
