Author: HCNewton Page 513 of 625

Pub Day Repost: Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart

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On September 6, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Lady Cop Makes TroubleLady Cop Makes Trouble

by Amy Stewart
Series: The Kopp Sisters, #2
eARC, 320 pg.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016
Read: August 6 – 8, 2016

Miss Constance Kopp, who once hid behind a tree near her home in Wyckoff, N.J., for five hours waiting to get a shot at a gang of Black Handers who had annoyed her, is now a Deputy Sheriff of Bergen County, N.J., and a terror to evildoers. — New York Press, December 20, 1915

The novel’s epigraph tells you pretty much everything you need to know. In the previous book, Girl Waits with Gun, Constance goes to extremes to protect her family from criminals, now she’s moved on to being an official “terror to evildoers.”

Constance begins the novel as a Deputy Sheriff, but political pressure removes her (temporarily she’s assured) and she’s demoted to matron of the women’s jail. She’d been serving in that capacity anyway, but now that’s all she does. She notes, and is probably on to something, that the police are far more willing to arrest women knowing there;s a matron at the jail to watch over them than they were when it was just men. That’s probably not the kind of women’s equality that people hoped for, but I guess you take what you can get. During this time, Constance makes a horrible blunder — one that jeopardizes her career as well as that of Sheriff Heath.

Bound and determined to keep her job (and for her friend and boss to keep his), as well as to see justice done, Constance ignores orders, protocol and (what some would consider) good sense and sets off to correct her error. Doing so will take her out of her comfort zone and into a long investigation that will remind her just what kind of evil lurks in the hearts of men.

Reading about Constance — and some of the professional women she meets in NYC — reminds me of the book I recently read about Nelly Bly and the efforts of female journalists to be taken seriously, and given the opportunities to do more than society page work. Another female law enforcement officer that Constance meets in the opening pages isn’t allowed to do much at all in her role — far less than Constance can (and does). Now this other woman seems content in that, even scandalized at Constance manhandling a suspect, but that doesn’t change the fact that times are changing, and it’s determined women like Constance and Nelly Bly that are going to make them change.

The friendship — and mutual respect — between Constance and Sheriff Heath continues to bloom, and be misunderstood by everyone (with the possible exception of Norma) from Mrs. Heath to juvenile delinquents. But really, there are no romantic sparks (and I expect Stewart will keep things that way — as did history, it seems). I do wish that more people in Bergen County — particularly some of her coworkers (even just one) — most people outside of her home (see especially almost everyone in New York) seem to be encouraging/accepting of a female Deputy.

Norma and Fleurette aren’t as important to the progress of the plot in the sequel — Norma’s stubborn, no-nonsense streak keeps Constance moving when she needs it. Fleurette’s naïveté and desire for a different life fuel Constance’s desire to make the world a better place — at least their corner of it — and to keep the money rolling in. Watching the Sheriff Heath interact with these ladies is a hoot.

I’m not sure it stacks up to its predecessor as a novel — it’s not as deep, the story’s really straightforward, and you might argue the ending is a bit rushed. But, it’s a whole lot more fun to read. Having established the world so effectively in the first book, Stewart can just let her characters live in it. This is a solid crime novel, elevated by the historical circumstances and actual history that undergirds it. Stewart really won me over with this one, I hope we have many more installments to come.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for this.
N.B.: As this was an ARC, any quotations above may be changed in the published work — I will endeavor to verify them as soon as possible.

—–

4 Stars

The Key to the Coward’s Spell by Alex Bledsoe

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On September 6, 2016

In Alex Bledsoe, Eddie LaCrosse, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Key to the Coward's SpellThe Key to the Coward’s Spell

by Alex Bledsoe
Series: Eddie LaCrosse, #?

Kindle Edition, 27 pg.
Tor Books, 2016

Read: September 3, 2016


This over-before-you-realize-it short story is a welcome dip of the toe back into the world of Eddie LaCrosse, sword jockey (i.e., medieval private eye). Bledsoe’s Tufa series is one of the best things around, but man, I enjoy this series so much.

LaCrosse has been hired by a local blacksmith to find his kidnapped son. LaCrosse is sporting a broken arm, so he’s going to need a little more help than normal, Jane Argo, for one — and some new faces, too. There’s really not a lot to say, here — half of the action takes place before the story starts. LaCrosse gets a little more intel, and then jumps into action.

The action is brief and to the point — with a nice twist or two along the way. Nothing special, but it’s a good couple of sequences. And a brief reminder that no matter what you dress it up in — modern time/tech/clothing, generic fantasy tropes, SF, whatever — there are some forms of evil that transcend those details and are just evil that need to be fought in whatever little way we can.

Yeah, it was fun to spend some time in this world and with LaCrosse and everyone. But man, just as you get into it, the story’s over. Just not enough to really satisfy, but it was a fun taste. I don’t know that this is a good intro to the character (it might be), but it’s a good reminder for those who’ve met him before that they want to read more about him.

—–

3 Stars

The Essential Trinity by Brandon D. Crowe and Carl R. Trueman, eds.

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On September 4, 2016

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

The Essential Trinity The Essential Trinity: New Testament Foundations and Practical Relevance

by Brandon D. Crowe and Carl R. Trueman, eds.

Paperback, 273 pg.
Inter-Varsity Press, 2016

Read: July 31 – August 14, 2016

As far as consistency of quality amongst edited volumes goes, Crowe and Trueman have assembled one of the stronger line-ups I’ve read in a while — men from a spectrum of persuasions of Evangelical-ish thought have given the Church fourteen articles (approximately 20 pages each) to deepen our thinking about the Trinity. The aim was for a volume that “eschews overly technical discussion and focuses attention on the importance of the doctrine for every Christian.”

In Part 1, the articles look at the “trinitarian contours of every corpus of the New Testament, along with a chapter reflecting on the Old Testament roots of trinitarian doctrine.” If there are weak chapters in the volume, they’re in this part — but they aren’t that weak, either. Crowe’s chapter on Matthew is excellent, but the chapters on the Mark, Luke-Acts and John aren’t far off that Mark. Brian S. Rosner’s chapter on “Paul and the Trinity” is worth the price of the book. The chapters on the rest of the epistles are very helpful (particularity Hebrews). Mark S. Gignilliat’s article, “The Trinity and the Old Testament: real presence or imposition?” is very helpful and insightful — and as an added bonus, it’s the most stylistically entertaining and engaging piece in the book.

Benjamin Gladd’s chapter exploring Daniel’s influence on Revelation’s view of the Trinity is the biggest mental workout you’ll get in the book. I appreciated the material covered and the argument Gladd makes, but I’m going to have to read it a few more times before I think I have a good handle on it.

Part 2 addresses the importance of the Trinity for everyday living — many would say the doctrine is impractical and only belongs in Statements of Faith and academia. The authors here show the fallacy of that. It begins with a brief, but excellent, description of the doctrine by Scott R. Swain. Carl Trueman has the next chapter, “The Trinity and prayer,” which is probably as valuable as Rosner’s — it’s actually about more than prayer, but the material specifically on prayer is great — hugely indebted to John Owen (but not uncritically so). Robert Letham’s chapter on “The Trinity and worship” also draws deeply from Owen; if he doesn’t move you to worship as you understand the work of the Trinity in it, you aren’t paying attention (I probably have more problems with some of what he says than anything else in the book). Michael Reeves, typically, made me chuckle in his chapter on preaching — but he did more than that, too.

Timely, convicting, thoughtful and inspiring, this examination of the Trinity in Scripture and Life should be a great benefit to any believer ho reads it. It may not be the easiest thing read all year (but really, it’s not that difficult), but it’ll be one of the most rewarding.

—–

4 Stars

Saturday Miscellany – 9/3/16

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On September 3, 2016

In Books, News/Misc.

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

    This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:

  • The Kingdom of Speech by Tom Wolfe — ’nuff said
  • Curioddity by Paul Jenkins — Urban Fantasy’s version of Warehouse 13?
  • The Key to the Coward’s Spell by Alex Bledsoe — an Eddie LaCrosse short story. Our favorite sword jockey is on the hunt for a missing kid and finds more than he bargained for.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to drjohnpatrickkeefeii, Char’s Horror Corner and BrokenTune for the new follows this week.

Timothy Other: The Boy Who Climbed Marzipan Mountain by L. Sydney Abel

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On September 2, 2016

In Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Timothy Other: The Boy Who Climbed Marzipan MountainTimothy Other: The Boy Who Climbed Marzipan Mountain

by L. Sydney Abel
Series: Timothy Other, #1

Kindle Edition, 325 pg.
Speaking Volumes, 2016

Read: August 11 – 13, 2016


A nameless boy is left at the Dreams and Hopes Orphanage (and don’t think I didn’t have to concentrate really hard not to flip those two every time I read/wrote the name) and is named Timothy Other — which is not the most interesting name in the book, trust me — where he spends the first twelve years of his life happy, healthy (insanely so) and cared for. Until the man who ran the orphanage dies and the bank takes ownership of the mortgaged-to-the-hilt facility. The people that take it over might as well have been Miss Hannigan and Dolores Umbridge.

Not surprisingly, Timothy wants something else in his life, runs away — and straight out of Candide ends up at Marzipan Mountain (his name for it); befriending a giant mouse, caterpillar and Sasquatch-like creature; and on the trail of his birth parents (something he learns much later); and a way to rescue the orphanage. Meanwhile, back home we learn about the nefarious schemes that are behind the takeover of the orphanage and the various motivations behind them.

Some of the subject matter and way it’s depicted seem a little more “adult,” dark or whatever than is acceptable for kids’ literature. On the whole (there might be a line or two I wouldn’t defend), this is silly and doesn’t give kids enough credit. It also ignores the history of these kind of books — from Lewis Carroll and J. M. Barrie to Rowling and Gaiman — kids can handle this stuff if presented right. Frequently better than adults can.

Eventually, Timothy and one of his new friends come back home to save the day, right wrongs, and give many the happy ending you expect given the genre and setup. There’s a bit of redemption, a bit of justice, and a lot of hope and love at work here — Dreams and Hopes, I guess you could say, as these various characters pursue the Golden Life and launch Timothy on further adventures in the sequel(s). All the makings of a good introductory novel for a series.

There’s a nice hat-tip to another British children’s fantasy series that should tickle everyone who catches it — and mean nothing at all to those who don’t.

With each major character (and most of the minor) there’s a moment or two, a couple of lines, or a scene that doesn’t seem to fit with what we’ve been told/seen about the character. It’d take too much space to illustrate this, but when you get to that scene (and you’ll recognize it just about every time), just shake it off and move on, Timothy or Edwin or Itling or whoever will get back to themselves soon.

I had a hard time nailing down the feel of this one, there’s sort of a fairy-tale feel to it. Not Grimm Brothers’ fairy-tale, but the warm-fuzzy kind (with a hint of the other), like J. K. Rowling-light. Even a dash Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle at the beginning. Later on, it morphs into a Neil Gaiman-esque children’s book feel. Now, Abel never quite hits the Rowling/MacDonald/Lewis/Gaiman tone exactly — which is good, he’s doing his own thing, but it’s in those ballparks. The one thing that would help his tone is a bit more economy of words — he takes a few too many to pull of the whimsy, the sense of play, that he seems to be going for.

Actually, that goes for pretty much the book as a whole — Abel could’ve trimmed just about everything a bit. It’s a slow read, which is not necessary a bad thing, I’ve got nothing against them. But I think it works against what he’s trying to do and I think I have a little more patience than the target audience would. I’m not saying it needs to be a hundred pages shorter — but it could read a little smoother, quicker. Really — how many people noticed the length of Goblet of Fire? You didn’t because of the way it was written (not just the exciting parts, either).

I want to be clear, I’m not saying the writing isn’t good — but the pacing and language are so close to being very good, the fact that he misses the target by a little emphasizes the fact that he missed it. This is a winsome and charming book that should enchant younger readers, if they just give it the opportunity.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for this post/my honest thoughts. I’d like to thank him for the book and for his patience, I took far too long with this.

—–

3 Stars

The Granite Moth by Erica Wright

By

On September 1, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Granite MothGranite Moth

by Erica Wright
Series: Kathleen Stone, #2

Kindle Edition, 284 pg.
Pegasus, 2015

Read: August 23, 2016


Kathleen Stone (sometimes known as Kennedy Vaners, as Katya Lincoln, Kathy Stevens, or Kevin(!)), is a former NYPD undercover officer turned P.I.

You know, typing that sentence made me think of Orphan Black, and I’m now picturing Tatiana Maslany as our main character. Which absolutely works. I may see her in my mind when I get the chance to read the first book about Kathleen, and probably as I write the rest of this.

Where was I? Oh yeah, so the circumstances leading to the “former” part of her NYPD tenure are a little murky — maybe we get it all explained in The Red Chameleon and I just need to catch up, or maybe it’s left vague because Kathleen doesn’t want to share the details. Either explanation is believable. Not since Stephen J. Cannell’s Wiseguy, have I seen something deal so effectively with the emotional toll of a double life — although strangely enough, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, came close last season (I’m not saying there aren’t others, I just don’t know about them — feel free to fill me in in the comments).

Kathleen has two cases to work here, a personal vendetta to pursue, and some personal/personnel issues to deal with. Not a bad day’s reading. Although, really everything sort of fits in the personal vendetta category, come to think of it — but she’s only paid for 2 of them. First, she’s watching the Halloween parade, just to see her friend Dolly and other drag queens perform on the float advertising their club. While she’s watching, the float explodes — her friend survives, but not everyone does. The club owner hires Kathleen to track down whoever sabotaged the float. There’s a pretty good reason to suspect foul play, and that the police aren’t taking things as seriously as they should.

The personal vendetta is related to her assigned target in the undercover operation, who is still walking around. While following up a new bit of information she’s come across, she witnesses a murder. Another witness to this actually knows who she is and hires her to investigate.

Both of these cases involve Kathleen donning a few wigs (her wigs are almost as good as those used by Elizabeth and Philip on The Americans) and personalities, putting herself in harms’ way, dealing with grieving families (which might be harder on her than the physical danger), and facing some unpleasant truths about herself. Although honestly, the personal/personnel issues might be the most dangerous, come to think of it.

The nature of leading a double life — undercover cop, drag queen, upper class heir living a middle class life, etc. — runs throughout this book and gives you a lot to think about while doing so. Yet, Wright doesn’t beat you over the head with it, you could probably ignore it if you wanted to.

This was a well-written, well-paced and engaging mystery novel, with a narrator that I thoroughly enjoyed and was intrigued by. Kathleen is the kind of detective that Ellie Hatcher wants to be, and Lydia Chin would be if circumstances and ethnicity were different. I want to read more of her, soon. I hope I get the chance.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for this post/my honest thoughts. I’d like to thank her for the book and for her patience, I took too long with this.

—–

3.5 Stars

August 2016 Report

By

On September 1, 2016

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

So, here’s what happened here in August.

Books/Novellas Read/Listened to/Consumed:

The Essential Trinity Calvin The Phantom Tollbooth
4 Stars 3.5 Stars 4 Stars
Meeting of the Mustangs Beyond the Gray Leaf Deep Down
3 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
The Corruption of Chastity Forever We Play Lady Cop Makes Trouble
3 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
Full of Briars The Purloined Poodle Off to be the Wizard
3 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars
United as One Timothy Other: The Boy Who Climbed Marzipan Mountain Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 3
3 Stars 3 Stars 5 Stars
The Lordship of Christ Time Siege Mechanical Failure
3 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars
Shadowed Career of Evil Debt to Pay
3.5 Stars 4 1/2 Stars 4 1/2 Stars
Granite Moth Trampling in the Land of Woe Before the Fall
3.5 Stars 3 Stars 3.5 Stars
Outfoxed The Twelve Dogs of Christmas The FATOFF Conspiracy
3.5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency            
3.5 Stars            

Still Reading:

Biblical Authority after Babel Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 4 The Hidden Oracle

Reviews Posted:

How was your month?

Mechanical Failure by Joe Zieja is Not [EXPLETIVE] Reviewed Here Today

By

On August 31, 2016

In Epic Failure, Joe Zieja, Science Fiction, Uncategorized

Mechanical FailureMechanical Failure

by Joe Zieja
Series: Epic Failure, #1

Hardcover, 343 pg.
Saga Press, 2016

Read: August 17 – 18, 2016

I tried, I really, really tried to get this up today, but I didn’t. So I’ll just say: read it. Probably best if you buy it so 1. the publisher/Zieja get money and want to do more and 2. you’ll have it to loan to people when you’re done. It’s good, it’s funny, you’ll enjoy it.

If you want more details, come back in a day (I hope) or seven (ugh, I hope not) and they’ll be here.

Update: Yeah, come back next week — I’m out of town, and want my copy at hand while I write it up. Rats.

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by David Rosenfelt

By

On August 30, 2016

In Andy Carpenter, David Rosenfelt, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Twelve Dogs of ChristmasThe Twelve Dogs of Christmas

by David Rosenfelt
Series: Andy Carpenter, #15

eARC, 336 pg.
Minotaur Books, 2016

Read: August 27, 2016


I’m not a big fan of holiday-themed installments of long-running series (see the Holiday Plum novels or the Silent Night Spenser novel as glaring examples of how bad these can be). But you know I’m a completist — and if I could make it through the aforementioned books, I could handle this. Thankfully, this was pretty light on the Christmas theme (sure, there are trees and gifts and whatnot, but it’s not really that different from your standard Andy Carpenter novel. So, if you think like I do — don’t worry. If you don’t mind/like a little holiday cheer — don’t worry, you’ll find it.

A friend of the Tara Foundation, “Pups” (so-called because she takes care of stray puppies until they’re old enough to adopt out, and might be pickier than Willie when it comes to worthy humans). Is facing eviction because of the large number of puppies she has in her home, and a new neighbor is complaining. Pups isn’t really what you call “friendly,” “polite” or someone who “should be allowed to interact with people.” She’s crabby, opinionated, blunt and has no patience for fools — particularly fools that seem intent on messing with her and her puppies. So Pups has said a few things that make it sound like she’d be happy if the neighbor stopped breathing.

Which, naturally, means that he ends up killed and that someone did a really sloppy frame job on ol’ Pups. The frame job is actually bigger than just this one killing, but you can read that for yourself.

Why prosecutors continue to play hardball with Carpenter clients, I just don’t get. I never understood why Hamilton Burger insisted on taking Perry Mason’s clients to trial, and I can’t understand why New Jersey’s prosecutors don’t just dismiss charges the instant that Carpenter and Hike show up on the other side of a courtroom. But they don’t, which means we get to watch Andy do his thing, fret about his jury deliberation superstitions, and annoy a judge. Who could ask for more?

I really think the mystery, the culprit and the way things unfold in Twelve Dogs is better than the last few books in this series. Everything’s clicking just like it should in these pages. This may be some of the best Marcus material in quite a while — the way that the gang leader acts around and talks about “Mr. Marcus” tells you more about Marcus than anything that Andy could possible tell us. The book would be worth reading just for that.

Minor spoiler: and hopefully once the book is published, this’ll be taken care of. It was a shame to see Andy betting since he and Ricky and just made a promise to stop doing that about a third way through the last book (I’m too lazy to look up page number, an approach Andy would probably endorse) — and Laurie made it clear that he was expected to keep that promise. It’s a minor note that I probably only caught because I read the two passages in the same 24-hour period.

It’d be really hard to rank Carpenter books in terms of happy and/or sweet endings. But if you were bored/ambitious enough to take on that task, I’m pretty sure that this would find itself close to the top. A great addition to one of the more entertaining mystery series around.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Minotaur Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for this.

—–

4 Stars

Outfoxed by David Rosenfelt

By

On August 30, 2016

In Andy Carpenter, David Rosenfelt, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

OutfoxedOutfoxed

by David Rosenfelt
Series: Andy Carpenter, #14

Hardcover, 326 pg.
Minotaur Books, 2016

Read: August 26 – 27, 2016


Last week, I talked about how difficult it is to come up with things to talk about with a long-running series like the Walt Longmire books — at a certain point, series like that hit a good stride and only vary a little in quality or interest for readers. Well, the Andy Carpenter series is even longer and more difficult to write about. I don’t know if I can do much, but I’ll try.

This time out, Andy has inherited a client already in prison, he’s basically supposed to deal with routine things and be ready to help him at the end of his sentence. This is made easier in that the client, Brian Atkins, is working with a dog training program that the Tara Foundation has going with the minimum security prison he’s in.

But then he breaks out of prison and is found leaving the scene of the murder of his estranged wife and his former partner.

But it’s so much bigger than just this (really, the case doesn’t seem as difficult as many of his — finding the actual killer is, but not the case) — Andy’s going to find himself at odds with one of the most dangerous foes he’s tangled with. Speaking of easy, I sort of think that everything ended a bit too easily, a bit too pat — I’m not sure how doing what they did really keeps Andy and his family safe.

I was wondering how Andy and Laurie were going to deal with juggling parenting and these cases, and man, do I hope they come up with better ways than this one. It works once, but not twice. I liked the little bit of fathering we get to see from Andy, though, and Ricky seems like he can be a decent addition to the series.

I don’t want to sound like I’m down on this book — or this series. It was a whole lotta fun, a nice puzzle, and watching the pieces fall into place was pretty satisfying. If you’re not reading these books, you’re missing out.

—–

3.5 Stars

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