**spoiler alert** I have enjoyed the Matthew Corbett series since I first stumbled across it. This is the last book in the excellent series and I feel**spoiler alert** I have enjoyed the Matthew Corbett series since I first stumbled across it. This is the last book in the excellent series and I feel like it was a let down. My issues with the book are that the two people who should have been the antagonists in the book were eliminated early and replaced with twin siblings that are the heads of a crime family. At no point in any other book were these two hinted at, let alone introduced. The second major issue that I had with the book is that for every other book in the series, there were suspicions of supernatural events but the were all explained by natural means. That was thrown out the window with this book. When they finally find the mirror and the ritual is conducted, it actually summons a demon. This actual supernatural element came out of nowhere and felt like it was a forced surprise. The final issue is that the epilogue has a time jump to over two hundred years in the future and has Matthew's descendant, who just so happens to have the same name, going into the PI business with the possible descendant of Hudson Greathouse. If the book had just ended with Matthew and Berry getting married and living happily together, I would have been happy but he put in this epilogue that just felt like it was there to leave things open for another series.
The writing for the book was just as good as the previous books, but this one just felt a little rushed and some weird plot elements hurt the finale of an otherwise excellent series. Overall, this isn't a bad book it just takes some directions that I fell cause it to be weaker than the rest of the series....more
I found out about this book while listening to Val McDermid talk about a novella she published and this sounded like something that I would find interI found out about this book while listening to Val McDermid talk about a novella she published and this sounded like something that I would find interesting.
After a rain storm a body is uncovered in the marshes of England’s Lake District. It becomes clear that the body is from the 1700’s and the tattoos on it indicate that the person was a sailor. This leads Wordsworth scholar Jane Grisham to believe in the local legend that Fletcher Christian secretly returned to England from Pitcairn Island after the mutiny on The Bounty and told his story to his childhood friend and schoolmate William Wordsworth who then turned it into an epic poem that he didn’t publish and became lost.
I wanted to like this book and if it had stayed as a search for a lost manuscript, I probably would have given a higher rating but she had to put a murder into the book and a manhunt for a teenage girl suspected of committing it, all of which seemed unrelated to the main plot. The characters in this book were boring and barely fleshed out but even though I feel like I was supposed to really hate Jane’s ex who’s now working for a manuscript dealer and stalking her to get the manuscript first so it can be sold for a huge profit, I hated her brother even more. He acted like a jerk for no reason and there wasn’t any explanation given for why he doesn’t like her and falsely accuses her of everything. The characterization was so bad that I couldn’t finish the book.
This book makes me reluctant to try the novella that I originally wanted to read by her and I don’t want to read any other books by her. If it had stayed a book about rival scholars looking for a lost manuscript, I would have enjoyed it so much more but including a murder subplot for seemingly no reason plus the poorly thought out characters made me give it up. ...more
After being away from comics for over a decade, I decided to pick up trades from runs that I heard good things about. One of them was Chip Zdarsky's DAfter being away from comics for over a decade, I decided to pick up trades from runs that I heard good things about. One of them was Chip Zdarsky's Daredevil. When this starts, Daredevil is recovering from an accident and makes the decision to go back out before he's fully recovered. While stopping an armed robbery, one of the robbers suffers a head injury and dies. This leads to Daredevil spiraling, thinking that someone is framing him including Wilson "The Kingpin" Fisk who is now mayor of New York City. All the while, a newly detective newly transferred from Chicago is set on arresting all the city's vigilantes but Daredevil in particular. This is a strong start to a new run dealing where the character is dealing with the fall out of his actions and strong art that fits with the noir feel from the story. ...more
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