As for my reading -
Ran through a few more of the Chester Himes "Harlem Detective" series, best to start at the beginning with these. They get a bit lazy toward the middle of the series, and you do need to to allow some lee-way for some plot points. They're fun reads, and an interesting time capsule of the era if you read them like that.
Clubland, by Frank Owen. Although some take umbrage with it, I found it a nice read on the whole Gatien/Alig/Paciello night club scandals. 4/5 rating if the topic is of interest to you.
The Promise by Robert Crais. I usually feel that even bad Crais is still pretty good, and this was no exception, but it did feel a bit like lazy writing. Some of the characters feel like they only show up only because that's what the book buyers want. Ending showdown is fast, and some of it feels a bit cheesy, and tacked on.
Also, as much as I love dogs, I couldn't get into the fact that Crais writes major portions of the book from the view point of a police dog. It was cute for a bit, but not multiple chapters.
Still, it's not horrible, just not up to his usual standard, 3/3.5 - 5.
Just started Stephen Hunters's "Dirty White Boys" - Solid bit of noir from the few chapters I'm in.