After four weeks of Christmas (!) with three sets of grandkids in Desert Dream, we’re heading out for a week of peace and quiet in an old favourite of ours, Belmond’s La Samanna in St Martin.
My reading list – Black Gold by my NZ Rugby World editor Gregor Paul, Grit, Rigour & Humour: The INEOS story and the ninth Orphan X thriller – Lone Wolf.
On my iPad:
- The Gold: A brilliant Apple TV drama series from BBC/Paramount+ about the biggest gold bullion robbery of its times – the Brink’s-Mat – an iconic true story. A seminal event in British policing/criminal history and the birth of large-scale, international money laundering. November 1983, I remember it well. The series brings back the cars, fashions, class system, Thatcherism, the birth of the mobile and the computer.
- Berlin: The Netflix prequel to the brilliant Casa de Papel (Money Heist) with the charismatic Pedro Alonso playing the eccentric dreamer Berlin.
- The Engineer: A Netflix movie about the real life manhunt of the terrorist bomb-maker Yahya Ayyash. Feels like Fauda – a great series.
- Suburraeterna: The sequel to one of my favourites – Suburra – the gritty, powerful story of the chaos/corruption in today’s Rome – the Vatican, the City and criminals are all at it – again. On Netflix.
And from Apple: Season Five of Fargo, and Idris Elba in Hijack.
Whilst Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher make for muscular, nuance-free watching for tired, escapist minds on Amazon Prime.
Here comes the sun.
