What Did You Read in February?
Spuddie
the middle of George R.R. Martin's A FEAST FOR CROWS and I know I
won't finish it by tomorrow night so here we go. Down a bit in number
of books this month, but a couple of these are big books and I spent
a fair bit of time busy with other stuff, too. An enjoyable month, to
be sure!
1. DEATH MASKS by Jim Butcher. #5 Harry Dresden paranormal series.
Once again Harry races through the book on 20 minutes sleep chasing
bad guys, trying to earn enough money to stay out of the poorhouse,
and to keep one step ahead of the White Council. In this book, Harry
is challenged to a duel to the death by a warlord vampire of the Red
Court, is hired by a Vatican official to recover the Shroud of Turin,
which has been stolen by an international mob of religious artifacts
thieves known as the Churchmice, and must deal with the return of
Susan, his girlfriend who has been turned into a sort of ‘half a
vampire’ and who has been away from Chicago for a year. Quick-paced,
full of Harry’s usual wit and wisdom, and enjoyable as always. A.
2.AMAGANSETT by Mark Mills. Historical mystery set in coastal NY
after WWII. This book was a slow starter; I nearly gave up after 40
or 50 pages, but I’m glad I didn’t because at some point I found
myself totally sucked in and the book got very difficult to put down.
Story of a young socialite found drowned off the coast of Long
Island, hauled in by two fishermen when her body became tangled in
their nets. The medical examiner lists it as an accidental drowning,
but Deputy Hollis has a ‘feeling’ that she didn’t die of natural
causes although there are no overt signs of foul play. He’s ordered
to leave the case alone but investigates on his own. Told from the
perspective of Hollis as well as Conrad Labarde, one of the fishermen
who found the body. Lots of flashbacking and backstory explanations
which did get a little tedious over time but also helped to really
flesh out the main characters. It’s only this extensive flashbacking
that caused me to lower the grade slightly as I felt it distracting.
Otherwise, excellent story! B+
3. BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD by Sean Chercover. I started reading this book
and after just a few pages, thought to myself, “Oh no! It’s a MOB
book!” Mob books and movies are definitely not my favorites. As in, I
would not knowingly pick one up. LOL But I kept reading for a few
more pages, and the next thing you know, I was coming up for air at
the end of chapter nine. This is the best hardboiled PI mystery that
I’ve read in a long time, mob book or no. PI Ray Dudgeon is a
likable, if doomed character with a set of very interesting friends
and acquaintances, some of whom are affiliated with the
Chicago “Outfit” as we’re told the Mafia are referred to there.
Excellent book. Fast-paced, well-plotted and with well-fleshed
characters, it’s hard to believe that it’s a first novel. A+
4. THE LAST JUDGEMENT by Iain Pears. #4 Jonathan Argyll “art history”
mystery in which ghosts of the past float up to haunt Flavia and
Jonathan as they try to figure out how a painting that Jonathan
bought figures into two murders and a multitude of other curious
incidents. Enjoyable read as always, as our two intrepid heroes jaunt
across Europe chasing answers about an obscure and unimportant
painting, The Death of Socrates, and the people who owned it in the
past. Tied in with Nazi war criminals, Resistance members, and people
who aren’t what they seem, the painting is causing Jonathan more
trouble than he ever dreamed possible. A.
5. FROM TIME TO TIME by Jack Finney. Sequel to Finney’s time-travel
classic, Time and Again, this book begins with Simon Morley, our
intrepid hero, back in the 1880’s, the time he chose to stay in. But
something happens that spurs him to temporarily leave his wife Julia
and their son Willy in 1882 and head back to modern times—and then
again to another time altogether! While I mostly enjoyed this book, I
felt it got a bit draggy and repetitive in spots and it wasn’t quite
as compelling a read as Time and Again. The book raises some
interesting questions: if you could go back in time and change a few
small things that would ultimately change history and affect the
world you live in today in unfathomable ways, would you? I give this
one a B.
6. THE MAGICIAN’S GUILD by Trudi Canavan. Black Magician trilogy Book
1, about a teenage girl named Sonea, a commoner who gets caught up in
a protest against the Magicians on Purge day. When she becomes very
angry and throws a rock that breaches the Magicians’ magical barrier,
it’s obvious that Sonea must have latent magical power. Soon everyone
is searching for her—from the Guild itself to fellow slum-dwellers,
eager for the reward that turning her in would bring. Sonea is
shuttled from hiding place to hiding place by a small group of
friends while trying to make sense of her new-found magic power—only
to discover just how dangerous it can be when she has no idea how to
control it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The writing style kept
you reading on and on, and while it contains many of the elements
that make up other fantasy books and is not a terribly unique story-
line, I thought it was a very well-told story and the author was able
to make her characters and settings come to life. A.
7. THE MUGGER by Ed McBain. #2 in the 87th Precinct police procedural
series, this book is an oldy moldy! It’s older than I am, and that’s
pretty darned old. LOL I’ve read many of these years ago and am now
in the process of re-reading them all and will eventually catch up
with the newer ones. This book features a mugger who wears sunglasses
at night, robs women of their money, slugs them in the face and then
bows at the waist and says, “Clifford thanks you” before running off.
It’s a foregone conclusion that things are going to go beyond mugging
at some point, and they do. The book is a bit dated (this WAS written
in 1956 after all!) so there were some things I had a good chuckle
about, like a Detective 2nd Grade making just over $5k a year, and
other things that were sort of annoying—like a stool pigeon who talks
constantly in that 50’s hip slang, daddy-o, you dig? (I kept thinking
of him as Maynard G. Krebs! LOL) But it was a quick, enjoyable read
and I look forward to the rest of the series. B+
8. THIRTY-THREE TEETH by Colin Cotterill. #2 Dr. Siri Paiboun
mystery, set in 1970’s Laos. Dr. Siri is the reluctant 72-year-old
national coroner in post-Vietnam war Laos, as well as the current
embodiment of an ancient Hmong shaman. Thus, he sees ghosts and hears
spirits which help him in his mystery-solving. With his devil-may-
care attitude, he is often bordering on running afoul of the new
Communist regime in Laos, mostly because he would love nothing more
than for his superiors to remove him from office and let him retire
in peace. As with the last book, several mysteries and sub-plots join
forces to make this a full and interesting book. Full of ‘woo woo’
(supernatural stuff) so if you don’t like that sort of thing, you may
as well just stay away from this one. Except that Dr. Siri is such a
delightful character I would recommend him to anyone! A+.
9. DEAD SOULS by Ian Rankin. #10 Inspector Rebus British police
procedural. For some reason, I had a hard time getting into and
getting through this book. Rebus investigates the disappearance of
the 19-year-old son of some old school friends from Fife, and the
whole issue of “MisPers” (missing persons) is explored. While that is
happening, he also contemplates the suicide death of a fellow officer
who seemed to have it all going for him, and Rebus believes he was
murdered for some reason. Then the subject of paedophiles and
childhood abuse comes up, with that theme running through several
cases, old and new. The book seemed a bit ‘bloated’ though, the
storylines getting sidetracked from time to time, and this detracted
from the story rather than enhancing it as sometimes is the case.
Usually when I pick up a Rebus book, it’s hard for me to put it down
and I’m done in a day or two. This one, I would read a couple dozen
pages and become distracted, set it aside to go read something else
for awhile and it took me nearly a week to get through it. C+
10. THE LAST JEW by Noah Gordon. Historical fiction taking place in
1490’s to early 1500’s during the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
Many converted to Catholicism rather than leave, but many who
converted (‘conversos’) were later hunted down by the Inquisition,
persecuted and burned at the stake. This is the story of Yonah
Toledano, teenage son of a master silversmith who is separated from
his family during their hasty flight from their home. His father is
killed, his younger brother, aunt and uncle flee to who knows where,
and Yonah finds himself totally alone, to the point where he feels
like the last Jew in Spain. As he wanders from town to town, farm to
farm, working manual labor jobs and staying in each place for only a
few seasons (occasionally a few years until trouble managed to find
him again) and eventually apprenticing himself to a physician in
Saragossa, pretending outwardly to be Christian but inside still
trying to stay true to the memory of his father and remain a Jew,
Yonah meets many fascinating people and has many adventures.
Absolutely wonderful story—a bit wandering at times, but very
atmospheric and moving. A+
11. AGATHA RAISIN AND THE FAIRIES OF FRYFAM by M.C. Beaton. #10
Agatha Raisin mystery in which Agatha (once again fleeing Carsely to
try to escape the memory of her beloved James who is still “away”)
ventures off to rent a cottage in the little Norfolk village of
Fryfam. It’s not long before Agatha’s out of sorts, a murder has
occurred and she’s tangled up right in the midst of it. Meanwhile,
little mysterious lights keep appearing in her garden, and the
neighbors, a superstitious lot, attribute them to ‘the fairies’ since
this is such an ‘old country’ and all. A typical, light enjoyable
Agatha Raisin book with a bit of a surprise ending. B+
12. CROWNER’S QUEST by Bernard Knight. #3 in the Crowner John
historical mystery series set in 1190’s Devon, UK. A priest is found
hanged in the privy behind his home, at first presumed a suicide but
upon further investigation, it’s obvious someone else did the deed.
Why would anyone kill such a quiet, mousy little man who was happiest
in the church library poring over history books, especially on a holy
day such as the Eve of Christ’s Mass? When a second murder takes
place a few days later, Crowner John de Wolfe begins to see the
connections though of course his brother-in-law the Sheriff would
disagree and seems to be deliberately trying to keep the coroner from
investigating fully. Political intrigues and women troubles plague
the Crowner in this book and a simple little murder is never quite
what it seems. Enjoyable historical mystery with refreshingly
realistic characters. A.
13. GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE by Susan Vreeland. Historical fiction,
actually a book of short stories that follow a painting from modern
times back to the painter and the subject of the painting. It’s many
different stories and varied lives woven into one tale. I like
stories like this that follow an object (a painting, a house, a
place) through history, and Vreeland did this one very well, able to
narrate a story from the perspective of a wide variety of characters,
from a modern-day math professor in the USA to a French Lady in the
time of Louis XIV, to a poor Dutch farm wife. I enjoyed it very much
and will be looking for more from this author. A.
DNF: SHADOWMANCER by G.P. Taylor. Fantasy book that was (to me)
childishly and amateurishly written. Gave it a good 40 pages but
couldn’t get interested in the story or the characters and the
author’s writing style I just found annoying.
Cheryl
~~~Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this: that you are
dreadfully like other people.~~~ (James Russell Lowell)
Jeanie
> Agatha Raisin mystery in which Agatha (once again fleeing Carsely to
> try to escape the memory of her beloved James who is still "away")
> ventures off to rent a cottage in the little Norfolk village of
> Fryfam. It's not long before Agatha's out of sorts, a murder has
> occurred and she's tangled up right in the midst of it. Meanwhile,
> little mysterious lights keep appearing in her garden, and the
> neighbors, a superstitious lot, attribute them to 'the fairies' since
> this is such an 'old country' and all. A typical, light enjoyable
> Agatha Raisin book with a bit of a surprise ending. B+
>
I thinnk I have this one on my list at booksfree. I'm not sure I'm reading
these books entirely in order, though. Been a while since I spent a spell
with Agatha. Maybe I'll bump this one up on the list a bit and get it
shortly.
Jeanie
Cathy
month! LOL
Title: Noise Abatement
Author: Carol Anne Davis
Protagonist(s): Stephen and Caroline Day
Setting: present-day Edinburgh, Scotland
Rating: C-
First line: "How vulnerable Walkman-wearers are to advancing enemies Stephen
thought as he walked twenty feet behind Lewis and his personal stereo."
I've had a little experience in this myself, so I was interested to see what
Davis did with the premise of noisy neighbors. Stephen and Caroline Day
can't bear their upstairs neighbors' constant, thumping music, and as they
sink into an anxious, sleep-deprived existence, Caroline can no longer run
her home-based business and suffers a stress-induced illness. Stephen, a
dentist, is a walking zombie. They go through all the proper channels to try
to get the neighbors to cease and desist. Nothing works. They try to sell
their very nice apartment. They can't--because of the constant,
window-rattling noise coming from upstairs. Stephen can't take it anymore
and decides to take matters into his own hands.
This was an interesting premise, but it just didn't work for me. For it to
work, I would've had to had sympathy for Stephen, and I didn't because his
very first thought was menacing. To me, Stephen was every bit as bad as his
upstairs neighbors.
Title: Monkey Wrench
Author: Liza Cody
Protagonist: Eva Wylie, the London Lassassin
Setting: the mean streets of present-day London
Series: #2
Rating: A-
First Line: "I only wanted a bunch of bananas."
Eva Wylie is a character who's so real that it's difficult to believe she
doesn't exist somewhere. She inhabits a thoroughly believable world that
revolves around a gym--she's a female wrestling villain--and two vicious
watch dogs in the toughest part of London. Eva finds her personal code put
to the test when Crystal, the closest thing to a friend Eva will allow
herself, asks for help in finding and punishing her prostitute sister's
killer. Eva reluctantly agrees. The rocket fuel behind this offbeat mystery
isn't the need to find out whodunit, but the power of Eva's voice as she
tells her story. In turns menacing, barely in control of her anger,
vulnerable and funny, she reveals herself to be a treasure. Thank you, 4MA,
for bringing my attention to these books!
Title: Storm Front
Author: Jim Butcher
Protagonist: Harry Dresden, a wizard of a private investigator
Setting: present-day Chicago, Illinois
Series: #1 in The Dresden Files
Rating: C
First Line: "I heard the mailman approach my office door, half an hour
earlier than usual."
Business stinks, so Harry sees dollar signs when the Chicago PD bring him in
to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic. You see,
the everyday world is actually full of strange and magical things, so the PD
has come to the conclusion that it takes a wizard (Dresden) to catch one.
Trouble is, if there's black magic being practiced, there's a black mage
behind it, and now that mage knows Harry's name.
Normally books like this are right up my alley, but Storm Front and Harry
Dresden didn't click for me. I don't have the slightest idea why.
Title: The Burning Girl
Author: Mark Billingham
Protagonist: Detective Inspector Tom Thorne
Setting: present-day London, England
Series: #4
Rating: B
First Line: "Later, Carol Chamberlain would convince herself that she had
actually been dreaming about Jessica Clarke when she got the first call."
Thorne is letting pathologist Phil Hendricks stay with him while Hendricks'
flat is being remodeled. While he's experiencing firsthand the irritations
of being one half of an Odd Couple, he gets a call from another friend,
ex-DCI Carol Chamberlain, who's uncovered new evidence about a case from the
1980s in which a young schoolgirl was set on fire. The man wrongly
imprisoned for that crime is a career criminal whom no one wants to see set
free. A second case Thorne is working on involves the murder of a Turkish
video store owner--the latest in an alarming set of killings whose pattern
Thorne has to decipher.
This book is the weakest in the series so far. There are so many slimy
characters roaming around in the narrative that I almost lost interest. (Eh,
they're all guilty of something. Lock 'em all up!) Billingham is quite good
at raising my moral hackles with the character of Tom Thorne. I didn't like
the way Thorne kept slanting the evidence to prove his suspect guilty in the
first book, and he irritated me several times in The Burning Girl as well.
However he is such a richly drawn character that I know I'm going to keep
reading this series. Since he's fictional, I can always pretend that I'm
going to meet him in a London pub and slap him upside the head.
Title: The Case of the Missing Books
Author: Ian Sansom
Protagonist: congenitally stupid English librarian, Israel Armstrong
Setting: present-day Tumdrum, Northern Ireland
Series: #1
Rating: D
First Line: "No."
Transplanted Londoner Israel Armstrong shows up at the Tumdrum District
Public Library eager to assume his post as the new librarian only to find
the building boarded up. Told that it is now his job to load up and drive
the dilapidated mobile library instead, when he finally gets inside the
library he finds that all 15,000 books have disappeared. Now he has to find
the books before he can get the mobile library on the road.
Somehow Sansom seems to have gotten the idea that having an incredibly
stupid main character is a surefire laugh riot. It's not. It's downright
embarrassing. It's a wonder that Israel remembers to breathe in a timely
fashion. To borrow a page from the book, as this series progresses, Israel
seems doomed to drive his rusty bookmobile on an endless loop from
Ballymuckery to Ballygullable.
Title: The Conquest
Author: Yxta Maya Murray
Protagonist: Sara Gonzales, rare book restorer
Setting: present-day southern California
Standalone
Rating: C+
First Line: "The museum is dark tonight."
Sara Gonzales is a rare book restorer at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
While working on a 16th-century manuscript, she becomes obsessed with its
story of an Aztec woman captured by Cortez and sent to Europe to entertain
the pope. The narrator of the manuscript, "Helen", describes her encounters
with the painter Titian, her many lovers, and her desire to avenge the
deaths of her people by assassinating Cortez, the pope and Charles V, the
Holy Roman emperor. The scholarly community believes the manuscript is a
work of fiction, but Sara believes the story to be true, and forsakes
everything to prove Helen's existence and authorship.
The two stories of Helen and Sara blend together well--Sara's life of
scholarship is so claustrophobic compared to the swashbuckling tales of
Helen. However, the two main themes of obsession and revenge just aren't my
favorites, and I didn't find much of a mystery in the identity of Helen
either.
Title: The Old Buzzard Had It Coming
Author: Donis Casey
Protagonist: farm wife Alafair Tucker
Setting: rural Oklahoma in 1912
Series: #1
Rating: A-
First Line: "It was just after dinner on that January day in 1912, and very
cold with a threat of snow, when Harley Day began the journey to his eternal
reward."
Running a successful farm is hard work, and on the Tucker farm everyone in
the family has a job to do. So when the local drunk is found dead in the
snow and one of the Tucker girls might be involved in the murder, Alafair
Tucker pours all her considerable energy into uncovering the truth. Of
course she'll eventually find it, for this mother of nine living children
"knows everything all the time".
Casey began compiling the genealogy for her large extended clan, and by the
time she'd rounded up all the recorded facts and all the oral history from
every one of the old folks still living, she realized she had a ton of
material for books. The main characters in this series are all based on
members of Casey's family who lived in Oklahoma at the turn of the twentieth
century. She's got life on a farm down pat, and the warmth and feeling she
has for these ancestors shines through the pages. Unfortunately the plot is
the weak spot in the book. There were no surprises in whodunit, and too many
details were rehashed from one run into town after the next. Sure, you're
going to get repeats on the information when you're gossiping with the post
mistress and the livery stable owner, but there has to be a better way to
deal with it. Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed this glimpse into another
world--probably because my own ancestors were farmers with large families. I
felt as if I were reading about home folk, and I'm looking forward to my
next meeting with Alafair and her brood.
Title: The Price of an Orphan
Author: Patricia Carlon
Protagonist(s): Johnny, a nine-year-old city boy placed with a couple on a
cattle ranch, and Kay Heath, his foster mother
Setting: Australian outback in the 1960s
Standalone
Rating: A-
First Line: "Megan Gale was singing."
Johnnie is a nine-year-old city boy whose father is in prison. Stuart and
Kay Heath want to adopt a child, so Johnnie is placed with them. It isn't a
good fit. Johnnie is very much the city boy and can't stand life on a cattle
ranch in the Australian outback. Stuart and Kay haven't been married very
long, and have unrealistic expectations of Johnnie. It's not long before
everyone believes the boy is lazy, cowardly, stubborn, and a liar of the
first degree. When he claims to have witnessed a murder, no one believes
him. Stuart and Kay give up and decide to send him back to the orphanage,
but before he can go back to the city, Johnnie and Kay are invited on a
camping trip. Is this camping trip a special treat, or a cunning trap set by
a murderer?
Carlon's The Whispering Wall was one of my favorites in 2006. I've read
three of her other mysteries and hadn't found one to come close to TWW, so I
picked this one up with a little trepidation. What I found was a nail
biter--a good setting in the Australian outback, well-drawn characters, and
the camping trip from hell. I kept reading faster and faster in an attempt
to find out how it all ended. The only speed bump was at the very last with
the ambiguous end of the villain. I'd invested enough time loathing the
villain that I wanted to know exactly what happened--in minute detail!
Title: Unwanted Company
Author: Barbara Seranella
Protagonist: ex-addict Munch Mancini
Setting: Southern California, 1984
Series: #3
Rating: A-
First Line: "Artificial green garlands wound around the lampposts topped
with aluminum silver stars."
Munch Mancini is hanging onto a marginal existence by her fingernails,
working as an auto mechanic and running her own limo service. By agreeing to
drive federal agent Raleigh Ward and his charge, Romanian diplomat Victor
Draicu, around for a week, Munch finds that she's bitten off more than she
bargained for. A serial killer is on the loose, and the two young women last
seen in the company of Ward and Draicu in Munch's limo are the latest
victims. More complications arise when Munch holds out a helping hand to
Ellen who's just been released from jail.
For this character-driven reader, Munch is a dream come true. Thank you,
Barbara.
Title: Wildfire at Midnight
Author: Mary Stewart
Protagonist: fashion model Gianetta Drury
Setting: the Isle of Skye, Scotland, in the 1950s
Standalone
Rating: B
First Line: "In the first place, I suppose, it was my parents' fault for
giving me a silly name like Gianetta."
Fashion model Gianetta Drury
decides to take a holiday on Skye to de-stress. When she arrives, she finds
that her stay is going to be anything but stress-free. Her ex-husband is
staying at the same hotel, and a young girl was recently murdered not far
away from the place. The police are sure that one of the people staying at
the hotel is the murderer.
Originally written in 1956, the book has aged gracefully. The only thing
that really dates it is having the heroine smoke like the proverbial
chimney. The setting is superbly done, and although the murderer was easily
guessed, Wildfire at Midnight was a very pleasant way to spend a couple of
hours.
Title: A Place of Execution
Author: Val McDermid
Protagonist(s): Detective Inspector George Bennett, journalist Catherine
Heathcote
Setting: Derbyshire, England in 1963 and 1998
Standalone
Rating: A+
First Line: "Like Alison Carter, I was born in Derbyshire in 1950."
I've read a couple of McDermid's Kate Brannigan mystery series and enjoyed
them so much that I thought I would try one of her standalones. I was not
disappointed. McDermid is becoming one of my favorite authors.
It is a freezing cold December in 1963. 13-year-old Alison Carter lives in a
tiny isolated community in Derbyshire called Scardale. She is envied by her
friends because her stepfather buys her all the latest records. (And if
you're an English teenager in 1963, Beatles records are a must.) One
evening she steps out with her dog to take a walk and disappears. Newly
promoted Detective Inspector George Bennett takes over the investigation. He
doesn't have the experience, but everyone else is on leave. He takes
Alison's disappearance to heart and in due course finds that the biggest
obstacle to finding her is the distrust of the villagers. Thirty-five years
later, Catherine Heathcote decides to write a book on the case that made
Bennett's career. No one is prepared for what happens next.
Usually when I read a mystery, one thing stands above all the rest, whether
it's the characterization or the setting or the plot. In A Place of
Execution, all three are brilliantly done and each has an integral part in
the book. One scene in particular will always stand out in my mind. In that
scene, McDermid's language is simple and direct without being overly
graphic--but I was left stunned, sickened, and with tears swimming in my
eyes. Very powerful and moving! I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is
one of my Top Ten reads of the year.
==Non-Mystery==
Title: Practical Demonkeeping
Author: Christopher Moore
Protagonist(s): Travis O'Hearn and Catch, the demon
Setting: Pine Cove, California
Moore's début novel
Rating: B
First Line: "The Breeze blew into San Junipero in the shotgun seat of Billy
Winston's Pinto wagon."
In Practical Demonkeeping, we meet one of the most mis-matched pairs in
fiction. The good-looking one is 100-year-old ex-seminarian, Travis O'Hearn.
His green traveling companion is Catch, a demon with the nasty habit of
eating most of the people he meets. They've been on the road for most of the
twentieth century, and Travis hasn't found it easy to keep Catch on a strict
diet. When they drive into Pine Cove, California, Catch sees a five-star
buffet, but Travis thinks he might have found a way to end the partnership.
Add into the mix an ill-tempered genie and some rather peculiar Pine Cove
residents, and you're in for a bumpy ride. (I grew quite partial to Mavis,
the barkeep.)
This is the second Moore book I've read. Both show flashes of what I've
heard Moore's capable of, but they're only flashes.
Title: Island of the Sequined Love Nun
Author: Christopher Moore
Protagonist: pilot and screw-up, Tucker Case
Setting: present-day, a small island in Micronesia
Standalone
Rating: C+
First Line: "Tucker Case awoke to find himself hanging from a breadfruit
tree by a coconut fiber rope."
Tucker Case has a cushy job piloting cosmetics magnate Mary Jean Dobbins
around, but he's not content until he's screwed that up and has nowhere to
go but down. Down happens to be a small island in Micronesia that's home to
300 or so natives who belong to a "cargo cult"--they worship the memory of a
WWII bomber pilot who once visited their island in his plane, the Sky
Priestess, and brought them the wonders of American consumables.
Unfortunately Case learns that his new bosses aren't quite what they say
they are, and he's got to find his way off the island pronto.
This is the third book by Moore that I've read, and although I do find
several funny passages in this one (my favorite character was Roberto the
fruit bat), I'm beginning to believe that Moore just isn't for me. He's
great with wisecracks, but his dependence on sidekick stereotypes and Swiss
cheese plots just don't do much for me. Oh well, at least I gave him three
tries before I gave up!
--
--Cathy.
"If I were to name the three most precious resources of life, I should
say books, friends, and nature...." (John Burroughs)
http://www.cathyskye.com
Michael Hudson
"Cathy" <the_boilerm...@gofc.com> wrote:
> snipt >
> Title: Storm Front
> Author: Jim Butcher
> Protagonist: Harry Dresden, a wizard of a private investigator
> Setting: present-day Chicago, Illinois
> Series: #1 in The Dresden Files
> Rating: C
>
> First Line: "I heard the mailman approach my office door, half an hour
> earlier than usual."
>
> Business stinks, so Harry sees dollar signs when the Chicago PD bring him in
> to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic. You see,
> the everyday world is actually full of strange and magical things, so the PD
> has come to the conclusion that it takes a wizard (Dresden) to catch one.
> Trouble is, if there's black magic being practiced, there's a black mage
> behind it, and now that mage knows Harry's name.
>
> Normally books like this are right up my alley, but Storm Front and Harry
> Dresden didn't click for me. I don't have the slightest idea why.
>
>snipt>
Are you aware that the SciFi Channel is currently running "The Dresden
Files" as a series. I've seen four episodes - I think - and have been
mostly impressed with it. Harry, a bit of a goofball, is played by
Paul Blackthorne But Bob played by Terrance Mann steals the show as a
ghostlike guy who did something really bad - I haven't quite figured
out what yet - a long, long time ago and has been sentenced to live a
spectral life trapped in his own skull. I like it but many wouldn't!
--
Later
Mike
--
No man's life, liberty, or property is safe
while the legislature is in session. - Mark Twain (1866)
Cathy
> Are you aware that the SciFi Channel is currently running "The Dresden
> Files" as a series. I've seen four episodes - I think - and have been
> mostly impressed with it. Harry, a bit of a goofball, is played by
> Paul Blackthorne But Bob played by Terrance Mann steals the show as a
> ghostlike guy who did something really bad - I haven't quite figured
> out what yet - a long, long time ago and has been sentenced to live a
> spectral life trapped in his own skull. I like it but many wouldn't!
Yes, I was aware of this, Mike, but I missed the first episode and have just
stayed away ever since. I figure I'll catch up either on a SciFi marathon or
courtesy of Netflix. I have an idea that I might like Harry better on the
small screen than in print. (Which has happened to me with "Hamish
Macbeth".)
buff
> Michael Hudson wrote:
> > Are you aware that the SciFi Channel is currently running "The
> > Dresden Files" as a series. I've seen four episodes - I think -
> > and have been mostly impressed with it. Harry, a bit of a
> > goofball, is played by Paul Blackthorne But Bob played by
> > Terrance Mann steals the show as a ghostlike guy who did
> > something really bad - I haven't quite figured out what yet - a
> > long, long time ago and has been sentenced to live a spectral
> > life trapped in his own skull. I like it but many wouldn't!
>
> Yes, I was aware of this, Mike, but I missed the first episode and
> have just stayed away ever since. I figure I'll catch up either on
> a SciFi marathon or courtesy of Netflix. I have an idea that I
> might like Harry better on the small screen than in print. (Which
> has happened to me with "Hamish Macbeth".)
Understandable. Robert Carlyle would have anyone like the character better
than the written word. He's sooooo cute!
--
Buff
Cathy
>> I have an idea that I
>> might like Harry better on the small screen than in print. (Which
>> has happened to me with "Hamish Macbeth".)
>
> Understandable. Robert Carlyle would have anyone like the character
> better than the written word. He's sooooo cute!
Although I'm not far into reading the series, so far it's not just Robert
Carlyle. I prefer the cast of characters and the scenery, too. One place
we're going to visit next month (we'll be on Skye for a week) is Plockton,
the village the film makers chose to "portray" Lochdubh.
Spuddie
air, Michael Hudson <us...@foobar.com.invalid> prefaced the speech with
"I want my baby back ribs!" and added:
>Are you aware that the SciFi Channel is currently running "The Dresden
>Files" as a series. I've seen four episodes - I think - and have been
>mostly impressed with it. Harry, a bit of a goofball, is played by
>Paul Blackthorne But Bob played by Terrance Mann steals the show as a
>ghostlike guy who did something really bad - I haven't quite figured
>out what yet - a long, long time ago and has been sentenced to live a
>spectral life trapped in his own skull. I like it but many wouldn't!
>
>--
>Later
>Mike
I've been reading the series of books for a couple years now, well
spaced out (#6 is up next) and really enjoyed them. I also like the
series on TV--there are huge differences between the two, which has
caused a lot of fans of the books to dislike the series, but I'm
enjoying both of them. And Paul Blackthorne is rather delicious.
Except I want to keep lending him some lip balm. LOL I had no clue he
was a Brit--he does the American accent very well! Right now, The
Dresden Files is the only TV show I watch routinely.
Jim Butcher is coming to our local SFF book shop (Uncle Hugo's) next
month and my daughter and I are playing hooky from work for an hour to
go meet him and have him sign his latest book for us. She's a fan,
too, but she likes the TV series better since that's where she started
from.
Cheryl
~~~We've got a blind date with Destiny -- and it looks like she's
ordered the lobster.~~~ (from "Mystery Men")
Spuddie
air, "Cathy" <the_boilerm...@gofc.com> prefaced the speech
with "I want my baby back ribs!" and added:
>I'd better post this before Spuddie the Great wants to know what I read THIS
>month! LOL
Oy, you've still got a few days yet! LOL As usual, I see a few of my
favorites on your list and a few that are new-to-me that I'm keeping
in the back of my mind...I'm trying not to acquire any more books
right now, but our local Friends of the Library sale is coming up next
month so I know my resolve will dissolve then. LOL
Cheryl
~~~I've been ionized, but I'm okay now.~~~
(from "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension")
Ærchie
any sense had already left town. Yet Cathy and Spuddie was standin' in
the doorway talking about the books they have read this month:
So I thought I would butt in and post about my most recent book
"Cloudstreet". I have already posted this review on my blog but for those
who don't go there (I don't blame you, it is a seedy place) here it is in
my favourite place on the 'net.
I have just finished reading a book about me. About my life, my family and
my times.
Tim Winton set “Cloudstreet” in places I knew as a child during the times I
knew as a child. This made it a very disturbing read. I rediscovered a lot
of myself which the years had dimmed.
The people. The old blokes who drank and smoked and gambled and somehow
lost everything except themselves. The blokes who had gone away to war and
came back changed. The blokes whom had gone through the Great Depression as
unemployed scroungers. Their women who coped with all that life threw at
them. The kids like me who grew up and out of this mishmash.
The places. I lived in the Wheatbelt where my father was the Repertory Club
person who spent his working days trying to learn about contour plowing and
killing excess kangaroos while dreaming of being a radio announcer. Who
always seemed to have ladies who were friends and in retrospect perhaps
that is why we moved so often.The slow-flowing Swan River with its jetties
and jelly-fish and the all-pervading pong from its mudflats. The suburbs
close to Perth; Subiaco, Shenton Park and the posher Nedlands with its
University, Mosman Park and Cottesloe. OK, I lived on the other side of the
River, Belmont and Bentley in those days before the Narrows Bridge when it
was necessary to travel through Victoria Park and across the Causeway to
the City. As a new driver, I drove through bushland which over a couple of
decades became the “Northern Suburbs” with all their sterility and
pretension right before my eyes.
The times. Growing through schools, many, with friends who lasted until the
next move. Dreaming, like Rose, of something better. The heiress girlfriend
from the posh suburb and the embarrassment of meeting her friends. The
fears of being a man, like Quick. Unable to cope fully with the
expectations of society and relying on a mother, a wife, to cover the
cracks in my being. The very real monster who, among so many killings,
killed the babysitter who had been in my class at high school and who was
the last man hanged in Western Australia. The discovery of sex and the
realisation that my parents knew nothing about it. The pressure of
examinations, the constant lack of money, the part time jobs selling
newspapers. The expectation that you would get a job and stay in that
organisation for the rest of your working life.
The sense of belonging. No matter how rich or poor, how educated or
uneducated, if your family was from “The West” then you belonged. We were
isolated, we were overlooked. Everything that happened, happened elsewhere.
We were a state, separate from the rest of Australia; Perth, a country town
which hoped to become a city. We had differences amongst ourselves but we
were united against all outsiders. Until the “Monster” we did not lock our
doors. We did not lock our cars. We trusted each other. And another of the
monster’s sons grew up to important positions and great respect in the
community. Somehow, most of us grew up and away from those post-war roots.
Never realising where we had come from and what we lost in all that we
gained.
The book. I heard about “Cloudstreet” when it was first released. I chose
not to read it because what interest could there be in the streets I knew,
in the people I knew? I finally decided to read it. It was a task done
slowly as I relived so much of my own life. At the end I had to agree with
Sister Veronica Brady, noted Nun of our parish, who reviewed the novel for
our local newspaper. She said, “It is, I suspect, a masterpiece.”
I can but agree. A masterpiece and a work of genius and a bloody good read.
Oh yes, Now I am reading "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf. And I am
afraid of Virginia Woolf!
Ærchie
--
Don't visit my blog, it is private property!
http://archiearchive.wordpress.com/
Latest Post - Book Review - "Cloudstreet", Tim Winton