Chris and Connor finish their plot summary of Michael Crichton's 'Congo,' run the book through the Dad Lit Checklist, and cast off.

Chris and Connor discuss Michael Crichton's fifteenth novel, 'Congo.' The guys are divided on their opinion of this book. Connor provides a brief primer on the political history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chris reviews some other texts from the "Lost World" genre. A plot summary follows.

Connor provides a summary of Jack Higgins' The Valhalla Exchange,' the fictional (?) story of Martin Boorman's attempted escape from Europe in the final days of World War 2. Chris fills in some historical details and considers if this is a book he'd like to read, and reminds Connor that 'The Valhalla Exchange' and 'Valhalla Rising' are two separate books. Chris also offers more knife fighting information.

The holiday season is a wonderful opportunity to send lethal weapons through the US mail system. Chris and Connor open up gifts from each other, debate knife fighting best practices, and discuss what they've been reading lately.

It's the 2023 Dad Lit Holiday Gift Guide! Chris and Connor offer gift book suggestions for each item on the Dad Lit checklist.

Chris and Connor discuss the twenty-third book in the Jack Reacher series, 'Past Tense.' The guys consider how they might fare in a most dangerous game scenario.

Chris and Connor investigate the the "wanted man" trope in dad literature and film. Chris discusses his recent foray into the Parker Series and Connor talks about the author Scott Von Doviak. The guys read the biographies of fictional Dad Lit authors they came up with: Wes Noth, aristocrat horseman/survivalist/novelist; Don Gibson, author of the Sarajevo Cantos series and valor thief.

The boys review three spooky stories for Halloween: "The Maypole of Merry Mount" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W" by Harlan Ellison, and "The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis" by Clark Ashton Smith.

Connor and Chris discuss Alistair MacLean's 1967 novel 'Where Eagles Dare,' a classic in the World War 2-mountain top-ski lift-secret mission-buddy cop-adventure genre. The guys compare 'Where Eagles Dare' to 'The Eagle Has Landed,' and debate who is the better protagonist: Smith or Steiner?