I recently discovered a new CBS TV series called . After watching and enjoying the first episode, I saw in the credits that it is ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
I recently discovered a new CBS TV series called . After watching and enjoying the first episode, I saw in the credits that it is based on a series of books by Jeffery Deaver. The show's protagonist is Colter Shaw who seeks out rewards across the country and helps police and private citizens solve crimes. [image] I am a fan of Deaver and have read quite a few of his novels including many of his Lincoln Rhyme series, but haven't read anything by him for a few years. So I was unaware of his Colter Shaw novels but decided to check out the first in the series from the library.
THE NEVER GAME provides a lot of the back story for Shaw. He is the son of a survivalist who died years ago amid suspicious circumstances. Colter had returned to the Bay area to try to find some information on his father's death. He suspected he was killed by his older brother but was that really what happened? He also hopes to claim a $10,000 reward being offered by the father of a young woman who has gone missing and presumed kidnapped in Silicon Valley. This throws Colter into a deadly game involving the billion-dollar video gaming industry. After a second victim is kidnapped, clues point to someone playing out a video game called "The Whispering Man" in real life where the victim has to survive after being abandoned in a perilous location. So is this a gamer gone psycho or is something else motivating these kidnappings?
Overall, I did enjoy this new character from Deaver and think some of the subsequent novels may be more to my liking since I am not really a big fan of video games. The Colter character in the TV series is pretty close to the character in the book and I did enjoy the first couple of episodes of the series. I'll probably be reading more of the books as well to see how the character develops. Deaver provided some nuggets at the end of the novel related to possible future outings which is a motivation to continue with the series....more
This book is the first teaming of Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard. Ballard was introduced in Connelly's THE LATE SHOW which I read and enjoyed a year orThis book is the first teaming of Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard. Ballard was introduced in Connelly's THE LATE SHOW which I read and enjoyed a year or so ago. She works the night shift or "Late Show" after being ostracized for filing a sexual harassment suit against her Lieutenant and getting no backup from her partner. After being out on the case of a dead woman found in a bathtub, she returns to Hollywood Station to find a stranger going through old file cabinets. Turns out the stranger was Bosch who was looking for records that may tie to a cold case he is looking into on his own time while away from his part-time duties at the San Fernando PD. The case involved a young girl named Daisy Clayton who was murdered and left in a dumpster nine years ago in 2009. Bosch has promised the girl's mother to find the perp. So Ballard also decides to look into the case after Bosch leaves and ends up working with him to try to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, she is called out on other various cases and Bosch works another cold case at SFPD involving the murder of a latino gang member. This case puts both Bosch and his daughter, Maddie, in peril along the way.
This was overall a very good police procedural with both Bosch and Ballard working the cold case along with their other duties and callouts for Ballard to go to various crime scenes. The case involving Daisy takes a lot of different turns along the way with a host of possible suspects as Ballard and Bosch zero in on the killer. I liked this compelling story and will look forward to reading more of Connelly's followup novels featuring these two detectives. I also hope to read quite a few of the prior Bosch novels I have missed. . . hopefully soon but my TBR piles don't seem to get any smaller. ...more
COLD is very aptly titled. It takes place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during a winter blizzard where after it cleared, the temperature dropped COLD is very aptly titled. It takes place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during a winter blizzard where after it cleared, the temperature dropped to minus 50 degrees. Norman Haas was serving time in prison and during this blizzard, he simply walked away from his work detail without being detected. After walking through the snow and cold, barely surviving, he arrives at a farmhouse of a lonely woman named Liesl, who gives him temporary shelter but then walks him through the snow using snow shoes to turn him back in. Along the way, Norman escapes again when Liesl is injured and is able to make it to his home in North Eicher where he confronts Noel, the woman who first wronged him. She had married Norman's detestable brother and given birth to a baby while Norman was in prison. Despite this, Norman was still in love with her. On Norman's trail is Sheriff Maki, a dedicated lawman who tracks him doggedly. But there are other things going on in North Eicher that contributed to Norman's prison sentence. These involve Norman's worthless brother and Noel's heartless father and a scheme related to the abundance of bears in the locale.
A few years ago, I read and enjoyed Smolens' novel THE ANARCHIST about the assassination of President McKinley. Based on that, I decided to find another book by the same author and have had COLD on my shelves for awhile. Finally got around to reading it and found it to be a very compelling and engaging thriller. It was very unlike THE ANARCHIST which was an historical novel but very satisfying nonetheless. The characters were well-developed and the story kept me turning the pages. Overall good recommendation for this one....more
Another superior thriller from Michael Connelly! This is his third book featuring Jack McEvoy, the reporter who had taken down killers in Connelly's pAnother superior thriller from Michael Connelly! This is his third book featuring Jack McEvoy, the reporter who had taken down killers in Connelly's previous books, THE POET and THE SCARECROW. In this one, Jack works for a consumer watchdog website called FairWarning. It has a small staff but is dedicated to looking after the consumer. Then out of the blue, the police arrive at Jack's door telling him he is a suspect in the murder of a woman he had a one-night stand with. The woman died in a brutal way where her neck was broken so that she is decapitated from within. Because Jack is accused of a crime he didn't commit, he decides to look further into this and discovers that there are more women across the country that died in the same way. He also discovers that these woman had all sent in their DNA for hereditary analysis to the same lab. So what's the connection? Jack discusses this with his former lover and former FBI agent, Rachel Walling, who is drawn into the case. This all leads to discovering that a serial killer is out there called "The Shrike" who uses DNA profiles to target susceptible women.
I have read and enjoyed several suspense thrillers from Connelly including some of his Bosch novels. Connelly is a very prolific writer and he is able to keep up on the latest in police procedure and technology. In FAIR WARNING he shows the pitfalls of DNA technology and its possible abuse on the dark web. This was a great page-turner that I read in a couple of days and now I am definitely looking forward to reading THE SCARECROW. I read THE POET several years ago and remember thinking it was one of his best. Hopefully Connelly will write more about McEvoy but I know he is busy with Bosch, Renee Ballard, and the Lincoln Lawyer. In the meantime, I definitely need to read more of his Bosch series....more
was born in 1946 and is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors to write in German and was awar was born in 1946 and is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors to write in German and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that, with extraordinary linguistic zeal, reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power". She is considered to be among the most important living playwrights of the German language.
THE PIANO TEACHER was published in 1983 and was the first of Jelinek's novels to be translated to English. The protagonist of the novel is Erika Kohut, a piano teacher in her 30s who lives with and is devoted to her mother. She is also sexually suppressed and finds pleasure by looking at peep shows and porn films and also by hurting herself using a razor. Then a young student enters her life, Walter Klemmer, who wants to conquer Erika's affection. But Erika's masochistic nature makes this a difficult task. She writes Klemmer a letter detailing a long list of perversity that she wants done to her. This disturbs Klemmer and ultimately ends in violence.
This novel was definitely disturbing and without enjoyment. I read this mainly because it is on the list of "1001 books you must read before you die." But I think I could have lived fine without reading this. I didn't really like the subject matter or the writing style of the novel. It was mainly short descriptive sentences with the use of a lot of metaphors. There was little or no dialog in the writing. And the descriptions bordered on the pornographic. I know Jelinek was making a point about women's sexuality and showing that women as well as men have strong sexual desires and fantasies that may not be attainable but this was a little over the top. I'm not sure if Jelinek received her Nobel Prize based partly on this novel but if so, I really must be missing something....more
Murder on the Orient Express was first published in 1934 and is considered by many to be one of Christie's masterpieces. It was originally published iMurder on the Orient Express was first published in 1934 and is considered by many to be one of Christie's masterpieces. It was originally published in the U.S. under the title Murder in the Calais Coach. It is the tenth novel featuring Hercule Poirot and takes place mainly in the Calais Coach of the Orient Express. In the novel, Poirot had been in Syria and expected to spend some time in Istanbul but received a telegram summoning him back to London. He makes a booking on the Orient Express which is almost completely booked which is unusual in the winter. Among the passengers is a man named Ratchett who has an appearance of evil and who ends up being murdered by multiple stab wounds. The murder occurred as the train was stuck in a snow drift and couldn't be moved. So Poirot is called to investigate by his friend who is the director of the train line. Turns out there are a myriad of clues and red herrings. Ratchett is found to be a kidnapper who was let off in the states after a most heinous crime resulting in the death of a young girl as well as some family members. The clues all point to someone in the Calais coach as the murderer because no one could leave the train since it was stranded in the snow. So what really happened and can Poirot get to the bottom of the case? (The inspiration for this novel is obviously the Lindbergh kidnapping in 1932.)
I have been a fan of Christie's for years but for some reason I had never read this one even though it is one of her most celebrated novels. I remember seeing the of this many years ago and as I read the novel some of my recollections from the movie must have come through to my memory because it did seem very familiar. There was also a remake of the and the copy of the novel I read is a movie tie-in to that film. I guess I need to watch that one. Anyway, I would consider this to be one of Christie's best and would recommend it. I will also be reading more of her works . . . although I've read quite a few of them, I don't think I've hardly scratched the surface of her prolific output....more
Max Brand is one of the pseudonyms used by the prolific American writer, Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 � May 12, 1944). Using the Max Brand pMax Brand is one of the pseudonyms used by the prolific American writer, Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 � May 12, 1944). Using the Max Brand pseudonym, he wrote hundreds of western stories and novels as well as creating the Dr. Kildare character. Destry Rides Again was first published in 1930, in a series of installments under the title "Twelve Peers" in Frank Blackwell's Western Story Magazine. [image][image] It was republished, as a paperback, later that year under the title Destry Rides Again. It remains one of Brand's most famous works and had been in print for 70 years after its first publication. There were three film versions made of it between 1932 and 1954. However, these owe little to the novel other than their name; the plots are completely unrelated to Brand's story, and Destry's first name is also changed from Harry to Tom in the movies. The most famous version was made in 1939 and starred Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. [image] I have had this old Triangle hardcover copy on my shelves for years and decided to finally read it. DESTRY is a typical western of its time. It takes place mostly in and around the fictional town of Wham, Texas. The protagonist, Harry Destry, was a young hotheaded man with a reputation for fighting and reckless behavior. He had fought and bested many of his peers when he was growing up in Wham and was therefore not well-liked. But then he is framed for the robbery of the Express train and is sentenced to ten years in prison by a jury of his peers. Destry looks down on the twelve jurors and feels that he was sentenced unjustly and vows to get vengeance on them. He ends up being released after six years and as in the title he rides again to call on these twelve peers for the wrong he feels they did him. But is he really taking vengeance on the right people? Who actually framed him for the robbery?
Like I said, this is definitely a novel of its time. Of course, Destry also has a love interest in the story, Charlotte Dangerfield, the daughter of a wealthy rancher. The novel was full of action but it also contained some surprising racist remarks including using the N word on more that one occasion. For example, one discussion between Charlotte and her father: "I never seen anything the way you throw money away on them ns, the worthless good-for-nothin's! . . . Money is no good for ns, said Dangerfield. Money and votes ain't no good for them." The author was obviously against allowing blacks to vote. I know that this attitude was included in many works of the time but it still was somewhat triggering. I guess this book is considered a classic but I would only mildly recommend it....more
Another very good entry in the Leaphorn and Chee series by Hillerman. I have only read a few of these but I really enjoy the series and started readinAnother very good entry in the Leaphorn and Chee series by Hillerman. I have only read a few of these but I really enjoy the series and started reading them after watching and enjoying the TV series . This is the fifteenth book in the series and unfortunately I have been reading these very much out of sequence. However, the stories can definitely be read without knowing the backstories of all the characters.
In this one Leaphorn is retired, Chee is a sergeant with the Navaho Tribal Police and Bernadette Manuelito is an officer on the force. Bernie is out on patrol when she gets a call to investigate an abandoned vehicle. Turns out the vehicle contains a dead man who appears to have died naturally. However, he was actually shot and had been moved with no apparent visible blood resulting in Bernie being dinged for mishandling the scene. The dead man did have the phone number of a rich ex-con in his pocket and nearby was an old Prince Albert tobacco tin containing some tracer gold. The ex-con was a wealthy oil-lease magnate named Wiley Denton who confessed to shooting a con man named Marvin McKay dead two years previously. McKay was trying to get into a partnership with Denton to find the lost Golden Calf goldmine and as part of the deal receive $50k from Denton. Denton got a light sentence and served his time for manslaughter. This case had always bothered Leaphorn who wondered what became of Denton’s beautiful young wife Linda, who vanished the day of the killing. So is this second murder related to the Denton case? The murdered man, Thomas Doherty, also had some evidence in his truck related to the Golden Calf goldmine. So can Leaphorn, Chee, and Bernie sort out what really happened and why?
As usual, I enjoyed this one very much. Hillerman's knowledge of the Navaho adds so much to the story and his descriptions of desert southwest are really special. I'll be looking forward to reading more in this series....more
I have been a fan of T.C. Boyle for many years and have read several of his novels and short story collections. For the most part, I have enjoyed themI have been a fan of T.C. Boyle for many years and have read several of his novels and short story collections. For the most part, I have enjoyed them all and really feel that Boyle is a masterful writer and storyteller. TORTILLA CURTAIN is a book that I've had on my shelves for several years and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. It tells the story of what happens when two different cultures collide in the Topanga Canyon of Southern California. Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher are a liberal couple living in a gated community in the hills of the canyon while Candido and America Rincon are illegals living in a makeshift camp in the ravine striving to stay alive. The novel starts out with Delaney accidentally hitting Candido with his car and badly injuring him as he is walking along the canyon road. Candido does not want medical assistance in fear of being deported. So Delaney gives him 20 bucks and doesn't report the accident. This all leads to a change in attitude for Delaney who once believed in rights for all, but the illegals living in the canyon upset him with their littering and disregard to the nature Delaney is so fond of and he is led to believe that Candido allowed himself to be hit by his car in order to receive some kind of monetary claim. The book details the life of both the illegals and their struggles and the life of the the California family living their dream with the wife being a successful realtor and the husband being a writer for a nature magazine. All of this eventually leads to misunderstanding and tragedy.
This definitely was not a happy story. Nothing good ever happens especially to Candido and America. Candido tries to find work but his injury results in America also hoping to find some kind of job. They try to save their money to rent some kind of apartment but tragedy seems to follow them. Although this was overall a very sad and depressing story, I would still rank it as one of Boyle's best. It is so relatable to the border crisis of today even though it was published in 1995. Things have definitely gotten worse since then with no solution in sight. And if Trump gets reelected, I don't foresee anything good happening with future immigration policy....more
was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. He is best known for his 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which was an immediate commercial and critical success and was made into the popular movie starring Jack Nicholson. During the period of writing Cuckoo, Kesey participated in CIA-financed studies involving hallucinogenic drugs (including mescaline and LSD) to supplement his income and later became known for hosting happenings with former colleagues which involved LSD consumption.
SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION was Kesey's second novel about an Oregon logging family that Kesey aspired to the modernist grandeur of William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha saga and regarded it as his magnum opus. He took the title from the song "Goodnight, Irene", popularized by Lead Belly.
Sometimes I lives in the country Sometimes I lives in the town Sometimes I haves a great notion To jump into the river an' drown
The novel is set around an Oregon logging camp and it focuses on the Stamper family who are at odds with the town and their union, and also at odds with each other. The story revolves around brothers Hank and Leland Stamper and their conflict dating back to when Leland was a small child. Leland left Oregon with his mother (Hank's step-mother) and had lived in New York going to college. But when he receives a post card from Hank and the other Stampers wanting him to help in the work in Oregon, he returns to get involved in the middle of a conflict with the trade union. But Leland is also returning to seek vengeance on Hank who he feels wronged him and his mother years before.
This was a very long (over 600 pages) and sprawling novel written with many vivid descriptions of the Oregon logging community and the risks and dangers of the logging profession. It was filled with a wide-range of emotions including both humor and tragedy. Kesey's style did take a little getting used to; he would randomly change first person narratives from one person to another making it sometimes hard to keep track of who was giving the account. But overall, I would consider this a great novel which did somewhat remind me of Faulkner. This was also made into a movie in 1970 with Paul Newman and Henry Fonda. I saw this when it first came out and remember enjoying it but I know it was definitely watered down from the novel. I may seek it out again for a rewatch. [image]...more
Interesting paranormal/historical/romance tale involving werewolves, vampires, and touches of steampunk including dirigibles and a nasty automaton. ThInteresting paranormal/historical/romance tale involving werewolves, vampires, and touches of steampunk including dirigibles and a nasty automaton. The novel takes place in Victorian era London and revolves around Alexia Tarabotti, a spinster with half Italian blood who is considered by her half-sisters and mother to be less than desirable. But Alexia is also a preternatural, a being with no soul who is able to counter supernaturals including werewolves and vampires by merely touching them. This comes in handy near the beginning of the novel when she is attacked by a vampire who she accidentally kills after rendering him normal and then using her parasol weighted with brass to drive a wooden hairpin through its heart. This leads to an investigation by the BUR, the Bureau of Unnatural Registry, and its emissary, Lord Maccon, an Alpha werewolf. All of this turns out to be related to unexpected vampires appearing and other known ones disappearing. So what is actually happening? Is it a nefarious plot to rid the land of supernaturals?
I'm not a big fan of modern vampire literature where the vampires are less than gruesome but I did find this novel to be engaging and somewhat fun. I also don't really care for romance novels and this can definitely be considered one with Alexia and Lord Maccon being the involved parties. But it did include a lot of humor and the antics of Alexia and the supernatural cast were quite entertaining. Overall, a mild recommendation and I will probably be reading more in this series....more
In STORMY WEATHER, Hiaasen satirizes what happens after a Florida hurricane. The story focuses on the shoddy construction that occurred before the stoIn STORMY WEATHER, Hiaasen satirizes what happens after a Florida hurricane. The story focuses on the shoddy construction that occurred before the storm, the payoffs that resulted in the poor construction, greedy would-be construction workers and roofers trying to take advantage of the devastation, and schemes to defraud the insurance companies after the storm. The story, as usual, includes some very demented characters who try to make a killing on the destruction caused by the storm. This includes a beautiful young woman who was in Florida to try to seduce one of the Kennedys and winds up partnering with an ex-con named Snapper to try and fleece a homeowner hit by the hurricane. Snapper is called that because of his shocking appearance including a dislocated jaw. Other characters include Avila, a building inspector who didn't really inspect the houses and trailers that were destroyed during the storm and who performs blood sacrifices to help his cause; a young newlywed couple who were honeymooning at Disneyworld but after the storm the husband decides to rush south to capture the devastation on video; a man who owns a wild animal preserve that also has a collection of skulls that he likes to juggle; and of course Skink, the ex-governor of Florida who lives in the wilderness and was hoping the hurricane would be more devastating and was not thrilled with the young husband taking video of its aftermath. Skink is a recurring character in several of Hiaasen's works and is one of my favorites.
Carl Hiaasen has been one of my favorite authors for the past couple of decades. I always enjoy his humorous romps through South Florida and his cast of the wacky denizens living there. STORMY WEATHER was another enjoyable romp but unfortunately, after reading this one I only have a couple of his adult novels left to read. Maybe I'll put them off for a while to have something to look forward to. ...more
The Shipping News was published in 1993 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1994. This was a somewhat compelling novel as the story revolves aroThe Shipping News was published in 1993 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1994. This was a somewhat compelling novel as the story revolves around Quoyle, a newspaper reporter from New York. Quoyle's story is filled with tragedy. His philandering wife is killed in a car accident leaving him with his two daughters, Bunny and Sunshine, who he has to rescue from a man who bought the two girls from his wife. Quoyle's father had immigrated from Newfoundland and with little prospects in New York, his paternal aunt, Agnis Hamm, convinces him to make a new beginning by returning to their ancestral home there. There, they move into Agnis's childhood home, an empty and abandoned house on Quoyle's Point. Quoyle finds work as a reporter for the Gammy Bird, the local newspaper in Killick-Claw, a small town. The editor asks him to cover traffic accidents and also the shipping news, documenting the arrivals and departures of ships from the local port. His reporting develops as Quoyle's signature column. Quoyle experiences the hardships of living in the bleak and frozen land of Newfoundland. He finds out secrets about his ancestors, makes friends with the locals as he builds a new life in Newfoundland.
Overall, I did enjoy this novel and its look at the people and place of Newfoundland. It tells of the fishing community and how the fisheries have almost disappeared. Many tragedies happen through the years including the drowning deaths of family members close to Quoyle. The novel is also full of humor and very colorful characters. The names of people and places were also very unusual and colorful including the towns of Killick-Claw and Four Hands Cove and the characters Nutbeem, Tert Card, and Wavey. However, Proulx's writing style was a little hard to read sometimes with many fragmented sentences among her descriptions. There is also a 2001 movie adaptation of this starring Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, and Judi Dench that I'll be on the lookout for. [image]...more
I really enjoyed this taut thriller. This is the first novel written by Iles and it is definitely a departure from his later novels which are mostly sI really enjoyed this taut thriller. This is the first novel written by Iles and it is definitely a departure from his later novels which are mostly suspense thrillers set in the current time. SPANDAU PHOENIX was written in 1993 and takes place mostly in 1987 but the theme of the novel involves a Nazi plot involving , Hitler's second in command. In 1941, Hess made a solo flight to Scotland, where according to history, he hoped to arrange peace talks with the Duke of Hamilton, whom he believed to be a prominent opponent of the British government's war policy. Hess was captured and convicted at Nuremberg of war crimes and served a life sentence in Spandau Prison in Germany. But is this what really happened and the reason for Hess's solo flight to Britain?
The novel tells of the discovery of a document at Spandau Prison after Hess's death that revealed a conspiracy by the British and that proved that the prisoner at Spandau was not really Hess. This document is discovered by a German policeman and is wanted by both the Russians, the English, the Germans, and a far-right group called Phoenix operating in Germany and South Africa. So what is so important about the document and why are people being tortured to try to recover it? The novel delves into the psuedo-Nazi group headquartered in South Africa and a sinister plot to eliminate the Jews in Israel.
This was a long novel at close to 700 pages but it kept me interested throughout. There were a myriad of characters involved and the plot lines went from Germany to England to Israel to South Africa with other stops along the way. The characters were well developed and the story was compelling and exciting. The story was along the lines of a Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy novel and overall I would highly recommend it. I have read several of Iles's other novels including the first three Penn Cage novels and have enjoyed all of them. This one was no exception!...more
from 1947 starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison has always been one of my favorite movies. I also enjoyed the TV series f from 1947 starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison has always been one of my favorite movies. I also enjoyed the TV series from the 1960s that starred Hope Lange. I always wanted to read the novel that inspired these shows and about 15 years ago I bought a hardcover reprint of it online published by Buccaneer Books. Copies of the original were and still are very hard to find and quite expensive. [image][image] R.A. Dick was the pseudonym of Josephine Aimee Campbell Leslie who wrote the novel which I thought was a very charming story that pretty much was in line with the film from 1947. If you haven't seen the movie, the plot focuses on Mrs. Lucy Muir, a young widow with two children, who must move because of financial difficulties after her husband's death. She finds a small cottage near the sea that is very affordable (because it is supposedly haunted) and decides to move into it even after conversing with the old sea captain who was said to have committed suicide in the cottage. Well Captain Gregg tells her that he did not commit suicide but accidentally succumbed to some leaky gas from the kitchen stove. Captain Gregg uses the saltiest of language but Lucy decides to stay getting Gregg to agree not to reveal himself to her children. Over the years, Lucy and Gregg bond with each other and to relieve some debt, Lucy agrees to take down Gregg's life story which is published as Blood and Swash, a real man's tale that goes through several printings and makes Lucy's livelihood for her.
I enjoyed this novel very much although I still like the movie version better. The novel is basically a fun romance and as such is not a real literary masterpiece. But the characters are well done and the ending is one of the best. I would definitely recommend this but also see the the movie if you haven't already!...more
This was a very intense psychological thriller taking place in South Korea. The author, Y0u-Jeong Jeong initially trained and worked as a nurse. She iThis was a very intense psychological thriller taking place in South Korea. The author, Y0u-Jeong Jeong initially trained and worked as a nurse. She is now considered South Korea's leading writer of psychological crime and thriller fiction and is often compared to Stephen King and Raymond Chandler.
The novel starts out with this sentence: "The smell of blood awoke me." It goes on to tell how 25-year-old Yu-Jin wakes up to discover his mother dead lying in a pool of blood. Yu-Jin suffers from seizures so he can't recall anything that occurred although he himself is covered in blood. So what happened? The novel goes on to tell of Yu-Jin's quest to try to find out what really happened that night. He soon discovers that another murder of a young woman occurred close by on that same night and as he ponders these gruesome events, his memory slowly returns. This leads him to events that occurred in his past including the death of his brother and father ten years earlier. The novel builds up to a rather shocking conclusion.
I found this one to be quite compelling reminding me somewhat of a Hitchcock movie. The novel was translated from Korean and the sentence structure was definitely rendered in an Asian tone. It was told in the first person from Yu-Jin's point of view and the author takes the reader into a rather tortured mind. A very good suspense novel that I would recommend....more
I went into this book without knowing what it was about but soon got drawn into this very intense sci-fi/horror/techno-thriller. The story starts out I went into this book without knowing what it was about but soon got drawn into this very intense sci-fi/horror/techno-thriller. The story starts out in 1906 in Panama where a very strange creature is discovered buried in a sarcophagus-like coffin with strange hieroglyphics written on it. This is discovered during the building of the Panama Canal and President Teddy Roosevelt happens to be on sight to witness the strange being. After viewing it, he orders that it be moved to the U.S. and put in a very secure location. After one hundred years of study, the creature wakes up from the coma it was in and is still being studied by a group of scientists and others in a secret underground facility in New Mexico. There is a biologist to analyze its structure, a veterinarian to study behavior, a linguist to try to translate its language, and two theologians -- one Catholic and the other Jewish. So what is the creature? It appears to be the likeness of a demon straight from Hell. Could it actually be the Satan from the Bible? The creature seems to be impervious to harm and can regenerate body parts and heal itself almost instantaneously. But is the creature malevolent or is it benign and only wants peace? And what specifically is its origin? Does the creature pose a threat to mankind?
I found this novel to be very intense and compelling reading. The whole premise of the story was fascinating and the powers of the creature were very imaginative. I also thought the characters in the story were very well written, especially Andy the linguist, and Sun the vet. The creature, nicknamed Bub, was also a character to be reckoned with. Very imaginative and creative writing that I would recommend. This book is part of a series but I understand all the books can be read as stand-alone novels. I may be seeking out more of these....more
Pattie Boyd was a model working in London in the 1960s and was fortunate enough to be cast as a school girl in the movie Hard Days Night where she metPattie Boyd was a model working in London in the 1960s and was fortunate enough to be cast as a school girl in the movie Hard Days Night where she met, fell in love with, and ended up marrying George Harrison of The Beatles. This thrust her into the heyday of 60s rock and roll and especially into Beatlemania. As the years progressed, she became less infatuated with George and left him for Eric Clapton who she also married thus becoming the wife of two of rock's icons. Boyd inspired Harrison's song "Something", and Clapton's songs "Layla", "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight".
This memoir by Boyd provided a lot of insights into both Harrison and Clapton including the good and the darker sides of both. Both Harrison and Clapton were brilliant musicians but they also drank, used drugs, and were unfaithful to Pattie. Clapton was especially portrayed as a really offensive person who was an alcoholic and kept Pattie away from him so he could have affairs with other women. I know in recent years Clapton has been vilified because of some racist comments he has made and also because of his anti-vaccine stance during Covid.
Boyd also includes in the memoir her life before and after these marriages including growing up in Kenya, the divorce of her parents, and her early modeling career. Later she also became quite well known for her photography, especially her photos of musicians during the 1960s. But her story often meanders and she throws in a lot of information about her trips to various locations around the world, fixing up houses with descriptions of the furniture, her forays into cooking, etc. that don't really provide any meaningful content to her relationships. Overall, I did like that the memoir gave a first hand look into the lives of some of the great rock legends of the 60s, especially the Beatles, but it also was very disjointed and I often got confused trying to keep track of some of the people mentioned -- Pattie had a tendency to throw out a lot of first names throughout the memoir that I could not really remember who they were, family members, friends, other musicians, or ?? Only a mild recommendation for this one....more
Cornell Woolrich was a prolific American novelist and short story writer who is considered by many to be one of the best c⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 � rounded to four.
Cornell Woolrich was a prolific American novelist and short story writer who is considered by many to be one of the best crime writers of his day along with Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler and was one of the inventors of noir fiction. Many of his novels and short stories were made into movies including Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, Black Angel, and many others.
This is the first Woolrich novel I have read. I've had this one along with a few others of his on my shelves for several years. I first heard about Woolrich after reading about some of his collectible novels in the magazine "Firsts" but for some reason hadn't gotten around to reading any of them until now.
BLACK ANGEL was published in 1943 and takes place in New York. It is told in the first person by a female protagonist, Alberta Murray, whose husband has been convicted of the murder of his mistress. Alberta is convinced that her husband is not guilty of the murder and basically the novel deals with her trying to track down the real murderer. To do this she uses a clue that she found at the murder site before the police arrived that indicates the murderer's name starts with the letter 'M'. While she was there, she also took the murdered woman's address book and she uses it to track down the men listed under 'M'. As she does this, she gets involved in the shadier side of the city including down-and-outs on skid row, drug dealers, gangsters, and murderers. But is she able to find the real killer?
This was really an unusual crime novel. Being told from a woman's perspective was definitely different and a little strange for a noir story. Some of what Alberta did in her quest was very bold especially for a woman of the 1940s. Also, I didn't understand why she continued looking for the killer after she discovered who left the clue with the "M" at the murder scene. After that, it seemed like anyone in the address book could have been the killer. There were also some things included in the story that were not fully explained including a blackmail storyline involving one of the suspects. I did enjoy the writing with Woolrich painting a vivid picture of the underside of New York. I can see why he is considered one of the great crime writers of the 40s. This was also made into a starring Dan Duryea, June Vincent and Peter Lorre but a lot of the story points were changed. Cornell Woolrich disliked the film version and stated after seeing it, "I was so ashamed when I came out of there ... it took me two or three days to get over it. All I could keep thinking of in the dark was: Is that what I wasted my whole life at?" Based on this, I'm not sure if I will try to find and watch it online. [image]...more
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