Author: HCNewton Page 517 of 634

Pub Day Repost: The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by David Rosenfelt

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On October 18, 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, #15eARC, 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

Elphie Goes Trick or Treating by Hagit R. Oron, Or Oron

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On October 18, 2016

In Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Elphie Goes Trick or TreatingElphie Goes Trick or Treating

by Hagit R. Oron, Or Oron (Illustrator)
Series: Elphie’s Books, #3

eARC, 15 pg.
Orons, 2016

Read: October 15, 2016


We’re back for another batch of fun with Elphie — this time her Halloween is off to a rocky start. Her mom is able to help her out a little bit, and gets her out the door. But that’s not the end of the trouble — but her friend Phante comes through and saves the day, getting Elphie to see how silly she was being. I actually thought they were going to end up in a different direction after her initial hesitation with the costume, but liked theirs better. But that’s not all — Phante starts having problems, and Elphie comes through and saves his holiday.

One plus to this book is that it’s not just about people helping Elphie with something. It’s everybody (including the neighbors) pitching in — not that there’s anything wrong with Mom and Dad helping out Elphie, but the variety is nice.

Okay, I’m in danger of writing a post longer than the book, so I’ll wrap up. As always, it’s a cute story with fun art — an elephant in a tiger costume is just what you need to bring a smile to your face. This continues to be a series I recommend to those who are looking for picture books.

—–

3 Stars

Operation Cure Boredom by Dan Martin

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On October 18, 2016

In (Auto)Biography, Non-Fiction

Operation Cure BoredomOperation Cure Boredom

by Dan Martin

Kindle Edition, 260 pg.
Rascal Press, 2016

Read: October 11 – 12, 2016


In serious need of direction, training, something to do with his life post-rehab — and gullible enough to fall for the outrageous assurances of military recruiters — Dan Martin finds himself in Air Force boot camp. Which isn’t as bad as, say, what Eugene Jerome went through in Biloxi or what “Joker” Davis endured at Parris Island — but it’s pretty bad. Thankfully, Martin can now laugh about it. And he does a pretty good job getting his readers to do the same. Martin’s look back on his years in the military is told as a series of comic anecdotes — while he is trying to portray what happened to him, he’s doing it to make the reader laugh.

He never sees any kind of action — Desert Storm began and ended too soon for that, but he did travel the world as part of an aircrew maintenance team. Which leads him to all sorts of interesting locales — and even more not-so-interesting ones. Throughout his enrollment, he matures — somewhat — making this a sort of coming-of-age tale, and the Martin that is honorably discharged isn’t the same loser that enlisted.

I do think this could be 1/4-1/3 shorter, tightening up the narratives a bit would help. It meanders a bit, both in the individual stories and the overall narrative. I don’t know that I found anything out and out funny, but I found much of it amusing. That’s probably taste, or just the particular day I read it (although I think a more streamlined approach might have helped).

This could be the Non-Fiction Prequel to Joe Zieja’s Mechanical Failure, the sensibilities that characterize Sgt. Rogers are seen very clearly in Martin. Martin’s memories are good reminders for us that the military isn’t just full of heroes or hyper-violent patriots, it’s primarily full of regular Americans just trying to get their jobs done. Less over the top than Heller, Hooker and Abrams — but in the same vein, and hewing closer to the truth. Operation Cure Boredom is the military memoir we all needed.

—–

3 Stars

United States of Books – Rabbit, Run by John Updike

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On October 17, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

I think Teri liked this one a little more than I did. A few years back, I read it and threw up a few paragraphs onto Goodreads, which I posted here a while ago. After reading Teri’s more thoughtful review, you might want to check out mine, which I tagged (somewhat aggressively) “Why Would Anyone Read This Willingly.”
—

Rabbit, RunRabbit, Run

by John Updike

Author: Teri at Sportochick’s Musings

Synopsis

Rabbit, Run is the book that established John Updike as one of the major American novelists of his—or any other—generation. Its hero is Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, a onetime high-school basketball star who on an impulse deserts his wife and son. He is twenty-six years old, a man-child caught in a struggle between instinct and thought, self and society, sexual gratification and family duty—even, in a sense, human hard-heartedness and divine Grace. Though his flight from home traces a zigzag of evasion, he holds to the faith that he is on the right path, an invisible line toward his own salvation as straight as a ruler’s edge.

Review

Throughout the book I kept hoping that Rabbit would find himself and become a man, husband, and father but he just kept getting more confused. It was apparent that this man couldn’t make up his mind about anything and that he would drift forever lost. Also what was abundantly clear was that he had no conscience. He just couldn’t figure out what was right and what was wrong nor would he take responsibly for his part in any of the events that lead to his baby’s death, his wives destructive life, his son’s feeling of loss or his mistresses pregnancy.

Reverend Eccles was the one of two redeeming characters in this book. He tried really hard to help Rabbit but in reality Rabbit starts to lead him astray no matter how hard he continually tries to help. Ruth, his mistress, well she was someone to be admired. She understood who Rabbit was, stood firm and strong about them ending their relationship with her taking care of the baby they would still have.

The book ended just as I thought. Rabbit is so confused. STILL! Bye bye Rabbit! Keep running away from life but realize you will never have one you love till you confront yourself.

I give this 1 star. I just disliked the main character, Rabbit, too much to find any value in this book.

John Bunyan and the Grace of Fearing God by Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley

By

On October 16, 2016

In (Auto)Biography, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

John Bunyan and the Grace of Fearing GodJohn Bunyan and the Grace of Fearing God

by Joel R. Beeke, Paul M. Smalley

eARC, 160 pg.
P & R Publishing, 2016

Read: October 2 – 9, 2016


This brief book is a look at the life — spiritual and natural — of John Bunyan and his understanding of the fear of the Lord as traced through his writings.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have only the most basic understanding of Bunyan beyond The Pilgrim’s Progress and that quotation from John Owen about his preaching (only cited twice in this book), so I can’t judge the scholarship of Beeke and Smalley when it comes to that. I can say that I thought their approach to both the man and the material could’ve been deeper. The brief biographical material did everything it needed to — it wasn’t too long and it covered the bases, giving an understanding of what he went through and his historical context.

After the biographical section, the authors turn to the Fear of God, and soon lay out this distinction:

…Bunyan deduced that God forbids some fear as ungodly, but commends another kind of fear. This distinction proves to be crucial for Bunyan’s theology, allowing him to differentiate unhealthy, sinful fear from the spiritually sound and fruitful fear of the Lord.

They examine the ungodly fear some more and then look at various spiritually sound fears — and the ways that is can promote growth in holiness and perseverance.

A lot of this material was helpful — I’m not sure if it was because of the way that Beeke and Smalley compiled it or Bunyan’s insights that helped me the most, but I don’t think I understood any of the ideas the way I wanted to. Yes, the authors would point me at Bunyan and the Bible as a resource, but I think they could’ve helped me more.

I thought the evangelical appeal at the end of the book a little out of place — it didn’t seem to fit the intentions or voice of the book up to that point — and I can’t imagine that anyone who isn’t a convert reading this book. I hope I’m wrong and that this is an effective tool, I should stress — but it seemed inorganic.

This isn’t a bad book, it’s just a slight one. It’s too much of a survey, not an examination or an explanation. There’s no depth to the look at Bunyan, while there certainly appears to be breadth. I might have walked away with a better understanding of what kinds of things Bunyan wrote and when — but I don’t think it furthered my understanding of the man or his writing beyond that. If the authors had given use another 100 – 150 pages and I think I’d be writing something very positive.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from P&R Publishing 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.

—–

3 Stars

Saturday Miscellany – 10/15/16

By

On October 15, 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:

    There was only one New Release this week that grabbed me — and I’ve already read it. My TBR list doesn’t grow — phew!:

  • Genrenauts: The Complete Season One Collection by Michael R. Underwood — Probably the last time I talk about this series for a while, but let me tell you one more time that the Genrenaut series is great and you should be reading it — now in one handy and cheaper edition — no more waiting between episodes. Get ’em all at once.


NYPD Red 2 (Audiobook) by James Patterson, Marshall Karp, Edoardo Ballerini, Jay Snyder

By

On October 14, 2016

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

NYPD Red 2 NYPD Red 2

by James Patterson, Marshall Karp , Edoardo Ballerini (Narrator), Jay Snyder (Narrator)
Series: NYPD Red, #2

Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs, 8 min.
Hachette Audio, 2014

Read: October 6 – 7, 2016


Yeah, I was underwhelmed by NYPD Red, but thought that maybe this series would pick up a little, with everything established in the first. Wow, was I wrong.

This is basically a Dexter retelling — murderers who got off thanks to good lawyers, bad prosecutors, etc being kidnapped, tortured and killed. Before they’re killed, they record a video confession to their crimes, which is uploaded to YouTube shortly after their body is discovered.

Of course, one of the victims is the campaign manager for a mayoral candidate, and the body is discovered 8 days before the election — making the whole investigation a political issue in addition to a pressing crime. Given the prestige and notoriety of the latest victim, the case is bumped up to the NYPD Red team.

From there, it’s pretty much a paint-by-numbers affair — I called the whole thing, even the twists, early on. There’s so little to commend in this book that I can’t think of a positive way to finish this sentence.

I guess I understand why you’d have two narrators for the audiobook — one for the first person detective narration, one for the other perspectives. But I think we’re all smart enough to follow things with just one voice. Both narrators did a decent job, but nothing remarkable. They probably did the best they could with the flat prose and dull dialogue.

Dull, predictable plot with personal side-stories that made me like everyone less. Both authors are capable of such more — I don’t know why they aren’t delivering with this series.

—–

2 Stars

The Dispatcher (Audiobook) by John Scalzi, Zachary Quinto

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On October 14, 2016

In Fiction, John Scalzi, Urban Fantasy

The Dispatcher The Dispatcher

by John Scalzi, Zachary Quinto (Narrator)
Series: The Dispatcher, #1


Unabridged Audiobook, 2 hrs, 19 min.
Audible Studios, 2016

Read: October 5, 2016


Last year, when he was in Boise, I heard John Scalzi read the first chapter of this book and I’ve been waiting for this ever since.

It’s an Urban Fantasy set in a world where natural or accidental death is possible, but if you’re murdered there’s an almost 100% possibility that you’ll come back to life. Huh? Yeah — heckuva hook, right? There’s no explanation for this, it just started — and it may just end at some point. But in the meantime people are taking full advantage of this.

Tony Valdez is a dispatcher — insurance companies and individuals have started hiring dispatchers to “dispatch” someone just before they die, so there’s a good chance — a fantastic chance, really — that they’ll survive. One of Tony’s coworkers has disappeared and a Chicago police detective has drafted him to help her track down his colleague. To find him, they have to look into the dark side of the dispatcher trade and the desperate lengths some will go through to extend the lives of their loved ones or themselves.

It was a fun book to listen to, a story that drew you in and drug you along to the gripping end. But once it was over, and I started thinking about it, all sorts of questions came to mind, not really plot holes, just things that weren’t adequately addressed. I think a lot of it was length, if this had been a novel, some of them wouldn’t have come up. The more I thought of it, it was almost like this novella was Scalzi’s attempt to prove a point/win a bet that, yes, he can write UF. A strongly written, convincing story that entertained from beginning to end — but there was just no heart to it, it just seemed like a writing exercise.

Quinto did a bang-up job — I think I only thought of him as the actor once or twice — he nailed every bit of this. If that whole movie star thing doesn’t work out for him, he could have a future doing this sort of thing. I should probably give this an extra star just for his work.

Very entertaining, a great experience — just don’t think about it too terribly much.

—–

3 Stars

The House of Secrets (Audiobook) by Brad Meltzer, Tod Goldberg, Scott Brick, January LaVoy

By

On October 14, 2016

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

The House of Secrets The House of Secrets

by Brad Meltzer, Tod Goldberg, Scott Brick (Narrator), January LaVoy(Narrator)

Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs, 14 min.
Hachette Audio, 2016
Read: September 22 – 28, 2016


I’ve appreciated the work of Meltzer (comics only, haven’t tried a novel) and Tod Goldberg in the past, so I was intrigued by the idea of them working together, but the book itself just didn’t seem like my cup of tea. Then I heard them interviewed on The Writers Panel podcast and I changed my mind (give it a listen, it’s fun).

Boy was that a mistake. Mostly.

So, the host of a Ripley’s Believe it or Not-esque show all about the crazy conspiracies, hidden stories, and unexplained throughout history is about to retire but is killed in an auto accident. His son and daughter are in the car with him — Junior survives with minor bumps and bruises, Hazel is seriously injured and suffers a traumatic brain injury. She pretty much forgets who she is.

She starts investigating her own background and starts finding questions about her father and his show — there seems to be more than just a TV show afoot. And…yeah, I just can’t care enough to do more than this, I’ve already spent more time on this than I wanted to.

It was a fun, potboiler-y book that was entertaining enough to justify the ten hours — and then the ending, the explanation for everything, and the denouement were horrible. Not just disappointing, but worse. It really made me mad.

I typically like Scott Brick’s narration — but something about the approach he used this time just didn’t work for me. I can’t put my finger on why — maybe it was a bit too aggressive sounding? Like I said, I really don’t know. I did find LaVoy’s work interesting and engaging, however. Maybe it was the contrast between the two that left Brick’s performance wanting (I don’t think so, but it’s a thought that occurs).

As frustrating as I found the story (eventually beyond frustrating), it was an entertaining, gripping book. Structurally sound, moved along at a good pace — everything you want in escapist fiction. But man . . . the ending (and really all of it, therefore, as it is a mystery) was plain ol’ bad. The first 9-ish (maybe 8-ish) hours were good enough that I can’t rate this too low (but man, the ending made me want to).

—–

2 1/2 Stars

I Was a Bitch by Emily Ruben

By

On October 12, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I Was a BitchI Was a Bitch

by Emily Ruben

Kindle Edition, 401 pg.
Inkitt, 2016

Read: October 3 – 4, 2016


There’s a moment in teen comedies where the ugly duckling (who’s become the beautiful swan, backstabbed/betrayed/turned on/disappointed their life-long friends and become a real jerk) is forced to realize that what they’ve become and what they’ve done — from The DUFF to Can’t Buy Me Love and all points between (and probably points earlier), this is a standard and pivotal plot point. Can this be done in a tired and clichéd way? Yup, and regularly is. Can this be done in a creative and worthwhile way? Yup. But it’s hard to pull off.

And then Emily Ruben comes along and does this in a creative and worthwhile way — and makes it look like a walk in the park. Don’t get me wrong — making something look that easy takes a lot of work, I know this. But Ruben makes it look effortless. And one of the many creative things she does with this is who she has tell her protagonist that she’s become a bitch — herself.

Lacey comes out of a coma that’s lasted months and doesn’t remember the last couple of years. She starts using context clues, Facebook, utter strangers appearing in her hospital room, text messages, etc. to start piecing those two years together. What she learns about herself does not please her. She’s in shape — beyond that, she’s in great shape and dresses to flaunt it. Her “friends” are equally hot, as shallow as you’d expect and just nasty to others. Her boyfriend might as well be wearing a Kobra Kai uniform. She’s hidden some aspects of her personality — her sense of humor, kindness, clumsiness, intelligence, bookishness — and replaced them with, well, not much.

But there’s this Finn guy — who no one seems to know, but he sure seems to know her. Possibly more attractive than her boyfriend, definitely nicer than anyone she’s not related to. Just who is he, and what is he to her?

Lacey continues to investigate these questions (and more) while she recovers, goes through physical therapy, and returns to high school. And once she gets some answers — and some of her memories — about who she had become in the last two years, she has to make some decisions about who she’s going to be from now on.

We don’t get a full explanation of why Lacey took the steps she did to become who she became — but we get enough (and I think Lacey feels the same way). I like the fact that we are left with a few “i” not dotted and a handful of “t”s not crossed. Ruben had to resist a good deal of temptation to keep things vague at points — kudos to her.

I have a growing impatience for books who maintain dramatic tension through characters not having the guts to be honest with each other, to ask a question, to make a confession (not to a crime, but to something that’ll be uncomfortable) — but that’s just me. My notes are full of me complaining about Lacey ducking opportunities to have these conversations. By having her character take this road, Ruben doesn’t do anything that 97%+ of writers in all media wouldn’t do — sure, it’d be nice if she swam against the stream, but I can’t fault her too much for this.

Outside of those books where the parents/a parent/guardian/older family member turn out to be the villain, I can think of few worse parents than Lacey’s. I get that after a few months, they can’t afford to spend all day at the hospital — they have to work to pay the bills. But there are plenty of hours in the day for them to get over there after work — they regularly spend days without visiting her. And big brother comes back from traveling the world to be with her during her recovery — and he’s barely a presence. Sure, this gives time for her to deal the memory thing and the romantic problems, but it’s just done in a way that infuriates parents — there’s no way that any parent worth their salt isn’t around more. (it doesn’t get much better once she gets out of the hospital, either).

I loved Lacey’s voice, her interior monologue — who she really was. Her use of the phrase “Neville Longbottomed” to describe her physical changes is one of the best things I’ve read lately. I had a lot of fun reading this book and expect I won’t be alone.

As a forty-something father of four — I’m so not the target audience for this, possibly the furthest from it. But I gotta say, this was an enjoyable and entertaining read.

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this book by Inkitt in exchange for my honest opinions.

—–

3.5 Stars

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