Definitely listen to this instead of reading it. The full-cast audio probably earns it a full star in my rating. The actor voices Rounded up from 3.5.
Definitely listen to this instead of reading it. The full-cast audio probably earns it a full star in my rating. The actor voices were well chosen for their parts.
As a denouncement of turning true crime into entertainment, Kill Show is good. There were multiple times during the narration that I cringed and thought "that could totally happen in real life." The lunatic truth denier was especially well done and enraging.
The plot however was only okay. It went on waaay longer than it needed to, and a final plot twist was unneeded and indeed seemed excessive. Still, the audiobook kept me very entertained on a couple of car rides....more
The Undercurrent is a mystery-thriller debut novel by Sarah Sawyer. It moves back and forth in time between 1987 and 2011 andRounded up from 3.5 stars
The Undercurrent is a mystery-thriller debut novel by Sarah Sawyer. It moves back and forth in time between 1987 and 2011 and is told from multiple points of view. A young girl admires two older boys who hang out in a field that is scheduled to be bulldozed into housing. A new mother wrestles with her marriage, her newborn, and her past. Two mothers of teenagers agonize over their children and their own hopes and dreams.
I didn’t have much patience with Bee, the new mother. As described in the novel, she has a great husband, loving and supportive, and she seems to take him for granted and long for something “else” that she can’t even put into words. The most interesting characters to me were the two mothers, Mary and Diana. Their sons are best friends, but they aren’t best friends, and as we hear their thoughts we know how wrong their assumptions are about each other. (The two fathers/husbands are both vital to the story and almost irrelevant.)
Although I sometimes felt a bit lost, and thought the author assumed I understood things that I did not understand, The Undercurrent propelled me forward. I did want to know what was going to happen next. There are some contrived plot points to make sure the reader is suspicious and unsure about various characters and their motivations. I also didn’t love the ending. It felt flat and anticlimactic. However, I will read another book by Sarah Sawyer.
I read an advance reader copy of The Undercurrent from Netgalley.
(view spoiler)[Really, Leo and Gus aren't gay? How could their families not think they were gay? I was expecting them to be revealed as gay at every point, based on how their relationship is described. (hide spoiler)]...more
A pretty good thriller. It kept my attention and I wanted to know how it would end.
The resolution was a little tidy? coincidental? incestuous? None ofA pretty good thriller. It kept my attention and I wanted to know how it would end.
The resolution was a little tidy? coincidental? incestuous? None of those is quite right, but everything wrapped up. I would read more books by the author. Maybe this will become the first in the series. The main character is interesting.
I read a print advance reader copy of The Return of Ellie Black. ...more
I mostly listened to this, and the reader was very good. He had a lot of dialog to read in different voices and handled that well.
Overall, the book waI mostly listened to this, and the reader was very good. He had a lot of dialog to read in different voices and handled that well.
Overall, the book was pretty entertaining. Not outstanding, but a decent read. I liked that the book jumped from 1987 to 2019, and bioterror operative Roberto Diaz went from hot young stud considering cheating on his wife to middle-aged man worrying about his back. I like that his original partner was a competent woman, and a woman older than him at that. The other two main characters, Teacake and Naomi, were fun to watch. There is an Independence-Day-like happy ending. Written by a blockbuster screenwriter, Cold Storage could make a terrific movie. ...more
Rounded up from 2.5 stars. Trigger warning: test subjects (animals and people).
I have not read anything by Michael C. Grumley before. With Deep Freeze,Rounded up from 2.5 stars. Trigger warning: test subjects (animals and people).
I have not read anything by Michael C. Grumley before. With Deep Freeze, I was promised a “fantastic thriller.” A “fast-paced juggernaut of a story.” A “gripping and fascinating story.” It was none of these. What I got was a snooze fest setting up, I guess, a series that may or may not be fantastic and thrilling.
Set in a dystopian near future, 100 pages in literally nothing had happened. (Aside from the bus crash in the first nine pages.) We knew about a deeply mysterious government (?) experiment. We’d met good guys, bad guys, and gray guys. The man who was frozen and unfrozen still knew almost nothing. He was also deeply mysterious. The test subject animals were also mysterious – and also dying one by one. For an action thriller, there was not much action and not many thrills. Eventually people started running/getting shot at/getting killed. There was not one character I would have missed if they had been killed (aside from the dog).
I found Deep Freeze very unoriginal. The shady bad guys who have ways to find you no matter where you are. The shady bad guys with their ulterior ulterior motives. The ex-military old friend with places to hide and people who can help. Yawn.
Deep Freeze is an overlong setup novel. It reads like a prequel written years after a wildly successful adventure series. There are so many unanswered questions, and an ending that suggests we already know what comes next. Everything about this book, I found deeply unsatisfying.
I read an advance reader copy of Deep Freeze. ...more
Book club book. Tackles GMOs, agricultural catastrophe, the loss of a child, and divorce. I never really felt engaged. Weirdly pro agribusiness. WeirdBook club book. Tackles GMOs, agricultural catastrophe, the loss of a child, and divorce. I never really felt engaged. Weirdly pro agribusiness. Weird to be rooting for the scientists modifying food. Not what I would call a “technothriller.” Started off well, with a runaway tiny smart house moving on its own through Seattle, but the strong start went nowhere. ...more
Is this series entertaining? It is, highly. The main character is unusual - a double amputee who is also missing an eye and who has amazing mathematicIs this series entertaining? It is, highly. The main character is unusual - a double amputee who is also missing an eye and who has amazing mathematical abilities. His wife is a doctor, and they have five adopted kids. He is no longer official in the FBI but has a good relationship with a sort of FBI partner, a strong, competent woman.
I guessed the big mystery very early on, and it's a little hard to believe that Dr. Lucas Page wouldn't have figured it out as well. (Big spoiler: (view spoiler)[think Strangers on a Train on a massive scale (hide spoiler)].) I'm pretty sure I've seen this plot on CSI or Law and Order. Plus, 30ish murders that no one realizes are murders? Ok, possible, even though the victims are doctors and a plot point explains some of the oversight, but still, it's a lot.
I guessed the second big mystery - who is behind all this? - pretty early too. But you know what? It was still a great read.
Pobi really enjoys describing people dying, and he really likes fire and explosions. I hope that's from doing research and writing Hollywood style, and not because he a pyro himself or something.
There was one thing about the book I really did not like. There is a running joke about cars being driven by Page's partner getting destroyed, in a few cases by falling bodies (people who were as much victims as bad guys). Pobi seemed to find this hilarious, and he is no doubt hoping to see this in a screen adaptation, but the joke was in poor taste and went on too long.
I did enjoy the part where a bad guy mistook one double amputee for another double amputee and paid for it with his life.
Anyway, it's a good series and could in fact make a good series of movies or a TV show. I hope there will be more books in the series, and I really want one of them to address the Event where Page was injured. ...more
Not as good as book one, but still a fast-paced thriller. The body count and brutality are high in this one - almost 800 victims of a mad bomber. The Not as good as book one, but still a fast-paced thriller. The body count and brutality are high in this one - almost 800 victims of a mad bomber. The author goes to great lengths to describe the victims before they get blown up.
The author really likes to put his protagonist in danger, although I had a hard time believing one scene. Two minions try to kill Dr. Page and his special agent partner after a car chase. The bad actor in this book is very very meticulous and has been planning the crimes for years. I cannot believe the baddie would send minions after Page and Whitaker in such a public way, when so many possible things could go wrong. (Which they do.) Also, Page is in a major traumatic event, but shakes it off and goes about his business? Right. Maybe the author is hoping to see these made into Hollywood-esque movies or a limited series.
Still, it's a good series that keeps my attention, and the main character has prosthetics, which you don't see often. On to book three.
(Still waiting to hear more about The Event though, where Dr. Page lost his arm, leg, and eye.)...more
A very okay novelization of a Hollywood blockbuster (that hasn’t been made yet). Two-dimensional characters right out of central casting. Predictable A very okay novelization of a Hollywood blockbuster (that hasn’t been made yet). Two-dimensional characters right out of central casting. Predictable plot turns. (Demonstrating both: The male pilot conveniently dies, leaving the Plucky Female Co-pilot in command. The Asshole on Board predictably calls her a stewardess.) This book could have benefited greatly from a good edit and the loss of at least 25-30 pages.
Props for using the song I Will Survive, “an iconic disco anthem that declared an unwavering commitment to one thing and one thing only. Survival.” (chapter 40) I enjoyed what we saw of the Hawaiian setting. ...more
Parts of The Great Transition are some of the best climate fiction I have read. In this book, climate change happened. Fires, floods. Massive numbers Parts of The Great Transition are some of the best climate fiction I have read. In this book, climate change happened. Fires, floods. Massive numbers of climate refugees. Massive extinctions. All the terrible things that we know are coming came. Then a movement took back the planet from the climate deniers and criminals and humanity reached net zero emissions.
This is a remarkable debut novel. The writing is assured. The author clearly did his research on climate change. The planet reached the brink but was pulled back, but only at incredible cost in lives and species. There is one section where the author describes the effort to save the last stand of giant sequoias that moved me to tears. What are we doing to the only planet that we have?
No mistaking, this book has an agenda. The author wants us to look in the mirror and confront what’s coming, make some changes so the worst is changed to not quite the worst. Hold accountable the people who are responsible for the climate damage. But the book also has at its center a family. Mom and dad were heroes in the effort to save the planet. Both lost their parents and families to climate change. Their daughter Emi suffers from anxiety and an eating disorder. Her mom despairs that Emi doesn’t appreciate how good she has it.
The author is a teacher and I feel like the book really shows that he knows young people today. Emi feels very believable. Her mother is still fighting the climate fight; her father has moved on and wants to appreciate the good things. This conflict causes a lot of family drama. The author uses a homework device to tell parts of the backstory; Emi is writing a report on the Great Transition. I didn’t find this wholly effective. Parts 1-3 are the best part of the book. I was wholly immersed. I did not find Parts 4-6 as effective. The family drama gets to be a bit much and the plot turns a little too Hollywood. Also, I thought the book had ended two times before it finally did. It might have been more effective to leave some things unsaid.
Still, I found this book easy to read and very thought provoking, both hopeful and terrified for our common future on planet Earth. I highly recommend it for fans of climate fiction and dystopia.
I read an advance reader copy of The Great Transition. It is scheduled to be published on August 15....more
Good, but not as good as The Kind Worth Killing. I truly hope Peter Swanson is an imaginative guy, and not an author who bases characters on people heGood, but not as good as The Kind Worth Killing. I truly hope Peter Swanson is an imaginative guy, and not an author who bases characters on people he knows. ...more
Peter Swanson has rapidly turned into a favorite thriller writer. His books keep me guessing, and The Kind Worth Killing was no exception. There was aPeter Swanson has rapidly turned into a favorite thriller writer. His books keep me guessing, and The Kind Worth Killing was no exception. There was a big twist halfway through that I feel I should have guessed but didn't, and still I couldn't figure out what the characters were going to do next. The book was hard to put down, and it features a decidedly non-stereotypical librarian.
It's best to read this without knowing too much. I'm definitely going to read the sequel - really, after that ending, there is a sequel with Henry and Lily? - and probably anything else Peter Swanson writes. ...more
Is this a great book? No. If you ask me about it a month from now will I be able to tell you many details? Also no. But did I scarf it down like a bagIs this a great book? No. If you ask me about it a month from now will I be able to tell you many details? Also no. But did I scarf it down like a bag of Nacho Doritos after a hard workout in the summer? You bet. Makkai is a good writer, which kept me going despite what I see as some flaws in the story.
Our unreliable narrator Bodie was a poor kid from Indiana who got a charity case ride to a high school boarding school in New Hampshire. Her junior year, her roommate was Thalia Keith, an It girl who had rich kid friends (which decidedly did not include Bodie). Bodie’s senior year, Thalia was murdered. Head athletic trainer Omar Evans, a 25-year-old black man, quickly became the official and only suspect in the case. He confessed under pressure and was put in prison.
Years have passed, and Bodie returns to Granby to teach a mini course on podcasting. She’s a true crime podcaster who naturally has an interest in the murder of her former roommate, and in whether justice was served. She has been obsessed with the case for years. Eventually she sounds positively unhinged.
Part I of the book is good. Bodie convinces herself that justice was not served – that Omar is innocent, and that someone else got away with murder. She has a clear suspect in mind, and that’s the person for whom she Has Questions. With a little nudge, the students in her podcasting course decide to investigate Thalia’s murder.
Makkai really hammers home the violence that women face. Her narrator reminds us of cases, so many cases that we can’t remember them all or the names of the women involved. But I found her message confused and ambiguous. I was frankly puzzled by whatever message Makkai was sending on sexual inappropriateness and violence toward women. There’s also a suggestion that Mean Girls have it just as hard as every other girl, which I don’t buy. Just because you aren't as privileged as you'd like to be, it doesn't excuse being awful to others who are even less privileged than you are. There’s a lot of unremarkable commentary on social media and how awful it is, and on how awful so many boys/men are.
While teaching, the narrator refers to a lot of movies and directors and specific scenes and techniques. I’m not a film buff so most of them meant nothing to me and didn’t advance the story. A reader who is a big movie fan may love all the movie references and find some meaning in them. Some of the plot twists, when it came to trying to prove that the wrong man was convicted, were difficult to believe, and the racism in how he was railroaded into confessing almost seems like an afterthought. And Part II is a letdown. The book is too long – I was ready for it to end about 50 pages before it did – and Part II really drags. The ending is not surprising and not especially satisfying.
Still, this book is thought provoking and will no doubt find its readers. I read an advance reader copy of I Have Some Questions for You from Netgalley. ...more
I almost bailed on this, and then it got better, and then it got weird, and then it got familiar, and then the main character thinks “I exhaled a breaI almost bailed on this, and then it got better, and then it got weird, and then it got familiar, and then the main character thinks “I exhaled a breath I hadn't realized I was holding” (chapter 29 of the advance reader copy), and I finished it but it wasn’t great. I give the ending two stars.
(Seriously, how can any author use that trite overused “exhaled a breath I/he/she didn’t know I’d/he’d/she’d been holding” phrase? How can any editor let that pass in a manuscript? Enough already with the breaths we didn’t know we’d been holding!)
I know people love this author but I was thoroughly unimpressed by his unoriginal overly long tedious novel. It reminded me of my least favorite episode of Star Trek: Voyager. (That might be considered a spoiler.)
"And what is a dream if not a story we must tell ourselves?" *eyeroll* (chapter 39 of the advance reader copy)
I read an advance reader copy of The Ferryman from Netgalley....more
The It Girl reminded me a lot of Gone Girl. It was compulsively readable. I really wanted to know what happened next, ten years ago and today. The murThe It Girl reminded me a lot of Gone Girl. It was compulsively readable. I really wanted to know what happened next, ten years ago and today. The murder victim was completely unlikable - how could anyone stay friends with such a horrible person? - and the main character, her roommate, was definitely too stupid to live. But the writing compelled me forward. Plus it was set at Oxford! I would love Oxford even if I'd never been, but I had the chance to take a library course there and that made me love it even more.
Every psychological thriller is not for every reader, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. ...more
Moody and atmospheric, with breadcrumbs of magic and mystery and .... hey, I'm halfway done and nothing has happened. You can't build a great story juMoody and atmospheric, with breadcrumbs of magic and mystery and .... hey, I'm halfway done and nothing has happened. You can't build a great story just on moodiness and atmosphere. It's terrific to have mystery and magic in a thriller but there also has to be, you know, some thrill. There just wasn't enough thrill in this for me to recommend it.
Also there was too much Bella and Edward in Emery and August for my liking. This isn't advertised as YA but it feels very YA.
The last 20 pages or so were good. This could have made a strong short story.
I read an advance reader copy from Netgalley. ...more
Terrific thriller/police procedural with an interesting main character. Lucas Page is now a college professor. He was an FBI agent until ten years agoTerrific thriller/police procedural with an interesting main character. Lucas Page is now a college professor. He was an FBI agent until ten years ago, when he lost a "drumstick, wing, and peeper" (leg, arm, and eye, as described by his fellow amputee Dingo) in something Page thinks of as The Event. Page has a unique ability to look at a scene mathematically and perceive things that others miss.
Now a sniper is killing officers of the law, and Page is pulled back in to assist. His doctor wife isn't thrilled, especially since they've just adopted their fifth child and they need to get her settled.
The mystery is pretty convoluted, as Page and a new temporary partner try to figure out who is being targeted and why. There were a couple of plot twists that really didn't make sense to me, even by the end ((view spoiler)[why did the crooked cop try to kill Page's family? for that matter, why did the sniper especially want to kill Page's family? (hide spoiler)]) and the chance of success of Page's big gamble when he confronts the sniper was very very small. Also, I expected more about The Event, but maybe we'll get that in future books in the series.
But whatever, this was a great ride and I look forward to book two. I found this book surprisingly anti-gun and anti-gun culture. ...more
I thoroughly enjoyed Dark Objects. I haven’t seen anything that indicates this is the first in a series, but I hope it is. Dark Objects is a combinatiI thoroughly enjoyed Dark Objects. I haven’t seen anything that indicates this is the first in a series, but I hope it is. Dark Objects is a combination psychological thriller and police procedural, and I need a new police procedural series to read.
The book introduces a large number of characters, and the narrative also serves as a commentary on how society reacts to violence close to home. The “dark objects” refer to items placed around first one, then two murder victims in a very deliberative fashion. The structure of the plot walks us through the significance of the items.
Tannahill Khan, the Detective Chief Inspector in charge of the case, is half Irish, half Pakistani. His arresting looks don’t protect him from racist comments and behavior. Laughton Rees, the forensics expert whose book called How to Process a Murder is one of the “dark objects,” is an extremely traumatized survivor of violence. After living on the streets, becoming an addict, and having a child as a teenager, she became a respected academic. But the trauma is always just under the surface of her life. Both Tannahill and Laughton are interesting characters with a lot of room to grow in future books, if there are any.
Other characters include a sleazy and sexist reporter with an ax to grind, Laughton’s troubled teenaged daughter, Laughton’s estranged father (the current Metropolitan Chief Commissioner), and the house cleaner who found the first body.
The author seems to know what he is talking about as far as crime scene procedures and crime scenes go. Most of my knowledge comes from watching CSI and reading police procedurals, but it all seemed to make sense to me. The author did a great job keeping my interest in the characters and the crime. I especially loved the climactic ending. This is my first book by Simon Toyne but I predict it will not be my last.
I read an advance reader copy of Dark Objects from Netgalley. Dark Objects is scheduled to be published on July 12, and the Galesburg Public Library will own it in print and digital. ...more
I wish I could say I loved this, but I did not. It reads like the novelization of a movie, or a script for a movie. It is written like a movie. Too muI wish I could say I loved this, but I did not. It reads like the novelization of a movie, or a script for a movie. It is written like a movie. Too much action, too many stock characters, too many predictable scenes. I found parts of it quite boring. I never could bring myself to care for the main character or about the Evil Villain and their Fiendish Plan.
Using chess as a metaphor, check. Having the hero climb up the side of a building, check. Setting the big climax in New York, check. (Why why why must it almost always be New York? The poor, mistreated Statue of Liberty.)
I read an advance reader copy, so maybe the book is still in the editing stage. At one point (in chapter 7) our hero meets a random woman named Miranda who embraces him; later on he is hugged by someone from his past and thinks “It was the first nonviolent physical touch I’d experienced since being kidnapped from this building almost fourteen months ago”. The memory of the guy with the perfect memory is not as good as mine apparently. ...more
Loading...
