Author: HCNewton Page 520 of 629

Forever We Play by David Belisle

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On August 6, 2016

In Fiction

Forever We PlayForever We Play

by David Belisle

Kindle Edition, 95 pg.
David Belisle, 2016

Read: August 6, 2016


It’s been a few years since I’ve been able to watch a game, but at one point I was a semi-serious baseball fan. So when given the opportunity to read a novella where baseball is a religion, I had to try it. Especially when I’m told it’s a satire.

Now, I’ve known a few people for whom sports are a religion (see Fever Pitch — book or movie), but nothing like this. In a nutshell, Heaven is overcrowded and so entry has to be limited. Upon death, people have to pick a team and they will remain in Purgatory until that team wins the World Series. It’s more complicated and convoluted than that, but there’s the essence.

Naturally, there are a lot of Cubs fans in Purgatory.

Also, there’s a thin-ly disguised Devil running around (actually, I didn’t realize it was a disguise for a while — that’s how thin it was). He’s plotting and planning and stirring up trouble.

There’s a lot of goofiness, jokes that land, jokes that just don’t, a convoluted plot involving the last Cubs’ series win, a strange mix of various religions, and an attempt at a love story or two. I don’t think anything was as developed as it should’ve been to really tell a winning story — the characters were sketchy, the plot details too vague, and many of the jokes didn’t have enough meat to them to really get the point across. Everything came close to working, but not much did.

In the end, I enjoyed this. But man, it was a mess. A mess with a heart and wit, don’t get me wrong.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from the author in exchange for this post.

—–

3 Stars

Saturday Miscellany – 8/6/16

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On August 6, 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. Okay, that’s a lie — I don’t have time for all these this month (ignoring the stack of things on my shelf and Kindle I do need to get to) — you probably won’t see these soon, you’ve either seen them here, or maybe later this year. But I’d like to read them all now.:

  • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Official Script Book of the Original West End Production Special Rehearsal Edition by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany — Good thing that I mentioned this, right? None of you has heard of it. Picked up my copy today, I may get to it this coming week (assuming I have the time and my daughter lets me near it)
  • Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter — I blabbed about this before, if this isn’t the best thing that Hunter’s done, it’s in the running. I just hope book 2 is almost as strong.
  • Repo Madness by W. Bruce Cameron — I did not expect The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man to get a sequel, it didn’t need one. But I’ll gladly read it.
  • Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia — No, that’s not my placeholder text, that’s the actual title. It’s supposedly Gossip Girl meets House of Cards, but looks better than that.
  • Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky — a subversive traditional fantasy. If it’s 60% as good as Jeff Somers says that it is, I’ve gotta give it a shot.
  • Amaryllis and Other Stories by Carrie Vaughn — I like non-Kitty Norville Vaughn stuff, just not as much. Still, this collection of her shorter works from across genres seems pretty appealing.
  • The Hike by Drew Magary — Wired says: “It’s kind of a more cynical version of The Phantom Tollbooth mixed with a game of Dungeons & Dragons.” ‘Nuff said.
  • The Bad Decisions Playlist by Michael Rubens — a little more YA material. I liked Rubens’ SF work from a couple of years ago, will give this a glance when I can.
  • The Coaster by Erich Wurster — Again, I’ve already talked about this, so read that if you’d like. This first novel is promising enough to make you want more from Wurster.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to alittlebirdtweets, kmelerine , and Peter Ranger for following the blog this week.

Deep Down (Audiobook) by Lee Child, Dick Hill

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On August 5, 2016

In Fiction, Jack Reacher, Lee Child, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Deep Down Deep Down

by Lee Child, Dick Hill (Narrator)
Series: Jack Reacher, #16.5

Unabridged Audiobook, 1 hr, 43 min.
Random House Audio, 2013

Read: August 4, 2016


Ahh, this is more like it — I was afraid that I was going to have to give up on these shorts to preserve my appreciation for the novels. But Lee Child and Dick Hill pulled it off.

Its the mid-80s, Reacher’s a Captain in the Army and is called to Washington to go undercover as an Army sniper. Someone is leaking information from a Congressional investigation into whether the Army and Marines need a new, super-cutting-edge sniper rifle. The Army’s got it narrowed down to 4 suspects, they want him to narrow it down. Reacher is repeatedly assured that this will just be talking and that there is “no danger.” So, yeah, things are going to get dicey.

The suspects are four women on the fast track to the top of the Army — if not Commander-in-Chief (Child apparently likes the idea of women on the Fast-Track in the Army) — we get to spend a little time getting to know them with Reacher. His handler wants Reacher to try to use his masculine wiles with one or all of them. Reacher has a pretty good idea who is target is, and then plunges in, pretty sure he’ll have to come up with something better than attempting to seduce superior officers.

Interspersed with the early portions of this story are snippets of two different individuals heading toward the center of D.C. — it’s not immediately clear what’s going on with either of them, but you get plenty of opportunities to guess. They do a decent job of increasing the tension, though.

Reacher does get enough clues (naturally) to identify the leak — not only that, he’s able to uncover a whole lot more. Best yet, the book includes a fantastic Reacher fight scene (don’t get me wrong, I love it when he uses his brain, but the last two short stories I listened to didn’t have a lot of action.).

Some of Hill’s female voices leave a little to be desired. But I have no other complaints — good stuff (he has sort of a Stan Lee quality to his voice from time to time — if Child ever made him say “true believers,” I’d flip).

Good, strong story. Capable narration — a great way to spend 100 minutes.

—–

4 Stars

The Most Feared Books of All Time

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On August 4, 2016

In Books, News/Misc.

It almost seems as though any book that gets famous enough is going to earn some complaints and criticism. These usually come from parents looking to protect their children from topics and material they deem unfit for consumption. When a complaint is formally submitted with the intent to remove reading material from a library or required reading list, it is known as a challenge. A successful challenge results in a ban.

Although it may seem like a positive thing from the outside, challenges are usually met with much resistance from educators and faculty member. The team at Readers.com researched and illustrated a timeline of some of the most feared and banned books in history and tracked why people wanted to get these works banned in the first place. Check out the graphic to see the entire list! How many of your favorite books actually made it on that list?

The Most Feared Books of All Time

(thanks to Bryan from Readers.com for asking me to post this and for writing the intro)

A Few Quick Questions With…Cathy Kennedy

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On August 4, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., YA/MG/Children's Books

I just posted my thoughts on Cathy Kennedy’s Meeting of the Mustangs, and now I’m glad to present her first interview-ish thing. Hope you enjoy — I probably chuckled more at these answers than I have any of the other Q&A’s I’ve done.

What initially prompted this story (if you can recall, that is)? Why did you come back to it years later?
My dad gave me an Olivetti electric typewriter and a ream of nice, thick paper. I rolled a piece of paper into the typewriter and just started typing. After moving away from that house in the country where we owned horses, the story was abandoned. That was about a hundred years ago and I still have that old manuscript.

Coming back to it was very difficult. I was dealing with a nasty case of writer’s block. Even though for years I knew in my head (mostly) how the story would end, I just couldn’t get it into words. I eventually moved back to the country and now have horses for neighbors. That helped tremendously, and once I got going again, I was okay.

I suppose I should also give some credit to my sister, who never left it alone ~
“Are you working on your book?”
“Are you working on your book?”
“Are you working on your book?”
etc., etc., etc…
What kinds, if any, of specific research did you do?
There wasn’t much research involved, really. The one thing that sticks out to me was looking at a map of the United States. I wanted to have the horses traveling through more than one state and tried keep the original manuscript as intact as possible. I had to look at the map to find where several states were in close proximity so the horses wouldn’t get too tired.
What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?
Oh, no. I’m kind of an old soul. I don’t watch or read much of anything new.

Do commercials count? I like the Neosporin commercial where the little girl is telling her friends about how she jumped the rapids on her bike. That’s really cute writing.
What was the biggest surprise about the writing itself? Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”.
Okay, that one’s easy. If I had known marketing was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV. Ugh. Let’s just say I have a new respect for successful salespeople that I’ve never had before this. Getting an unknown author’s story into the hands of readers is an ongoing struggle. /td>
What’s next for Cathy Kennedy, Author?
Well, I’ve had more than one person tell me they’d like to see a sequel. Please don’t tell my sister.

Meeting of the Mustangs by Cathy Kennedy

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On August 4, 2016

In Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Meeting of the MustangsMeeting of the Mustangs

by Cathy Kennedy

Kindle Edition, 80 pg.
Cathy Kennedy, 2015

Read: August 1, 2016


It’s been forever since I’ve read an animal book, particularly one focused on a horse. I remember reading The Black Stallion and Black Beauty, some Jack London stuff, and whatnot as a kid, but nothing really since. As I recall, most horse stories are about a horse moving from owner to owner, some good, some bad. Most wild animal stories are just a series of mini-crises where the animal bounces along from event to event and occasionally (by coincidence) runs into an animal he knows. Meeting of the Mustangs is a hybrid, doing both.

We meet our central character when he’s a few months old and follow him for a couple of years — he’s on his own a lot, and then falls into the hands of some humans — bounces around a little and eventually comes into his own. Pretty straight-forward animal story, but told with a lot of heart.

Amazon’s description puts this at 10-12 year old level — I think it’s probably 7-9, but what do I know about stuff like that? Most of what I was reading when I was 12 wasn’t on anyone’s age-appropriate list. The writing was crisp and clear, things moved along a a good clip and never dragged on. Kennedy is better at writing animals than people, but it wouldn’t take much to fix that (and since the book like something like 80%+ animals, who cares?).

I am absolutely, positively not the audience for this book — but it wasn’t bad, and I enjoyed it. If I was a younger kid who was into animal stories? I’d have really had a great time with it. It’s charming, solid and I have no problem seeing it as someone’s favorite.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from the author in exchange for this post.

—–

3 Stars
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Full of Briars by Seanan McGuire

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On August 3, 2016

In Fiction, K-O, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye

Full of BriarsFull of Briars

by Seanan McGuire
Series: Toby Daye, #9.3 (but it takes place before The Winter Long)

Kindle Edition, 44 pg.
DAW, 2016

Read: August 8, 2016


I’m pretty torn about this one, to tell you the truth. Toby’s squire, Quentin, is our narrator this time out — and it’s worth reading just to see Toby, May, and Tybalt from his perspective. His parents have come to make everything official with the new Queen of the Mists — and while they’re around, they might as well check in on him and maybe bring him home.

There’s no action, no violence, Toby doesn’t come close to dying — it was so weird. There was a lot of talking — which was fun. Toby was Toby, being irreverent and nigh-disrespectful to Quentin’s parents, as she argued for them to leave him where he is. Tybalt was more Tybalt-y than usual, making sure that Quentin’s folks knew how little he cared about their status. Quentin’s growth as a character, as a person — his maturation, thanks to age and his service to Toby — is what’s on display here.

It was fun to read, and I wouldn’t discourage anyone from it — but I’m not sure it added a lot to my understanding of Toby or anyone else (including the central character). This is the first non-full length story I’ve read in this universe, and it doesn’t really make me think about trying another one. Still, it was entertaining enough — and had one killer line (and a few that were really good) — so I might.

—–

3 Stars

The Innocents by Ace Atkins

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On August 3, 2016

In Ace Atkins, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Quinn Colson

The InnocentsThe Innocents

by Ace Atkins
Series: Quinn Colson, #6

Hardcover, 367 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2016

Read: July 25 – 26, 2016

“I never met this girl or knew her family,” [Ophelia] said. “But, holy shit, this is a horror among horrors. I try to not focus on Old Testament stuff. But . . . I hope there’s some revenge out there somewhere. I don’t know if there’s another way to make it right.”

“You can’t make shit like this right,” Quinn said.

But before we get to the horror, we get one of the funniest openings that Tibbehah County has given us — a meth-head steals a shotgun and a four-wheeler, and is apprehended by the acting Sheriff, Lillie Virgil(!!), in a very effective, but not that orthodox a manner. And then, of course, after Atkins gets you chuckling he introduces you to the murder victim. It’s not unheard of in a crime novel, but we spent a decent amount of time getting to know her before she died in one the worst ways I remember reading. Reading as many Detective/Crime/etc novels as I do, I’ve read some evil ways to kill some one, and some really sick things — see Val McDermid, Thomas Harris, Stieg Larsson –but this ranks up there with the worst. And it felt real, like something that could happen down the road, not the victim of diseased mind like the psychos those listed above write about. In fact, Ophelia Bundren, the coroner (who, incidentally has some of the best lines in the book — and not just what was quoted above) spoke for just about everyone in the county there (including some of the least-upstanding members of the community who will echo her). It’s a good thing that Tibbehah County has their most capable law enforcement officer in forever at the helm (and she hires a certain former Sheriff as temporary help).

It took no time at all to know how did it (or at least who was largely responsible) — actually, pretty sure I’d identified the perpetrator and the motive before the killing — but that didn’t stop this from being one of Atkins’ most compelling crime stories.

Along with all that, there are plenty of other goings on . . .

Lillie Virgil is acting as Sheriff, and isn’t dealing well with the politics. She deals well with the policing, but that’s it — between being a woman, having almost no people skills and not backing down when people want her to, things aren’t going too well for her. Which is a shame, still, it’s nice to see her in the spotlight.

Johnny Stagg’s in federal prison, and learning just who his friends are. Not surprisingly, there are fewer than he’s used to. Someone else has taken over the Booby Trap, given it a better name (finally!) and a make over. All in all, it’s a better class of strip club and the owner appears slightly less despicable.

Jason Colson has a new pipe dream and he looks to be sucking Quinn into helping out — honestly, my patience with this character is pretty low — I think the only person in the world who likes him less is Quinn’s mother, Jason’s ex. He’s not as destructive a force as the storm that just about wiped out the town a couple of years ago, but it’s a close race.

And things with Anna Lee are in a pivotal spot. That’s enough about that.

Quinn’s still in that same period of decision after losing the election a year or so ago — the man needs a little direction in his life and hopefully he gets it soon.

The power of small-town High School football, convenient racism, small town crime, Real World Evil, friendship, and personal history — as usual, Atkins brings it all and delivers it with skill, charm and aplomb. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip to Mississippi and look forward to my next trip there.

—–

4 Stars

Pub Day Repost: The Coaster by Erich Wurster

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On August 2, 2016

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

The CoasterThe Coaster

by Erich Wurster
eARC, 284 pg.
Poisoned Pen Press, 2016
Read: July 23 – 25, 2016

This is one of those mystery/crime novels that’s hard to talk about without giving too much away (which seems to be especially true when it comes to darker comedies in that genre). So this is going to have to be vague: The Coaster — an amusing read, but hard to talk about without spilling the beans. But let’s see what I can do:

Rob and Sarah have been married for about 19 years, with a couple of kids, and several horses. Sarah’s dad is a self-made, very successful businessman, and Sarah is being groomed to be his successor — and likely has an even better aptitude for business. Rob, um, is well-liked and good at making it look like he’s working. When Sarah’s father dies unexpectedly, Rob is even more unexpectedly named trustee and given oversight of the finances.

Not long after this, an old college drinking buddy comes to town to work on a business deal that was put on hold after the death and he begins to use some tactics that aren’t going to get him in well with the Better Business Bureau (gross oversimplification, but roll with is). One thing leads to another, and Rob and Sarah find themselves sinking in a metaphorical quicksand of crime. It’s pretty nonviolent, and most of the violence is implied.

Rob’s really not that likeable when you stop and think about it — he says he’s a good dad and husband, but I’m not sure there’s all that much evidence for it. Yeah, I can see how he gets by with superficial relationships in social settings, and even with his friends (or reasonable facsimiles thereof), but as far as family goes? Nope. Early on, especially because we only see her through Rob’s eyes, Sarah’s even less likeable — I was at the 20% mark before I noticed any real affection between Bob and Sarah, or any indication at all why someone would like Sarah. After that, I had no problem believing it, they actually start functioning well as a couple (or at least we see it in a way we couldn’t before).

Erich Wurster’s debut novel, The Coaster, is a charming dark comedy. It was pretty easy to guess what was going on with the criminals and how Rob and Sarah could extricate themselves, and most of the twists weren’t that twisty. But, it was a fun ride regardless. Wurster was able to get me to find this pretty unlikeable guy fun and entertaining. I wanted the couple to get out of trouble (relatively) unscathed, and enjoyed seeing if it was possible. The pacing was fine, the wit was sharp and the comedy was the right mix of light and dark for this. A solid first novel that made me interested in seeing more.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Poisoned Pen Press
via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for the book.
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

Pub Day Repost: Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter

By

On August 2, 2016

In Faith Hunter, Fiction, Jane Yellowrock/Soulwood, Urban Fantasy

Blood of the EarthBlood of the Earth

by Faith Hunter
Series: Soulwood, #1

eARC, 384 pg.
Roc, 216
Read: July 5 – 8, 2016

Nell Ingram had her life turned up side down by Jane Yellowrock when she came through her land on a vampire hunt. Months later, a PsyLED team — led by good ol’ Rick LaFleur — comes to her for help and to offer her a job. Nell had been raised in a cult that seems to be involved with — on some level, anyway — with an anti-supernatural terrorist group who seem to be kidnapping local girls.

God’s Cloud of Glory Church, the cult that Nell was raised in (and that her family is still immersed in) is involved with some petty harassment of Nell — although some leaders are leaning more toward horrifying harassment. LaFleur, Paka and Pea help her get out of one tight spot. But that won’t be enough to stop them, it did however, lead to the line: “[Pea] she looked like something out of a fairy tale, one of the old stories that was fluffy on the surface but dark and bloody underneath.” Nell’s magic takes a major step further in development at that point, too.

Nell coming to grips with the fact that she has some sort of magic is the heart of the novel. Well, that and her doing a better job of leaving the cult. Technically and geographically, she’d moved on — but her mind and lifestyle are largely conditioned by the Church. Her involvement with the PsyLED team (and their crappy diet) leads to some of the most entertaining parts of the book — her introductions to Krispy Kreme donuts and pizza are fantastic.

There really aren’t that many ways that Nell and Jane are similar — they are both deliberately and stubbornly independent, they both start out not understanding really who or what they are, and both of them are really good at ignoring the one vital, pivotal and fairly obvious thing until it’s almost too late. But things kept moving well enough that I was able to ignore it (although I probably talked back at the book a lot every time this point came up).

But it’s not just about Nell — LaFluer’s got a whole team with him. While he’s prominent, he’s really a secondary character (Paka and Pea are more so). Frankly, I was relieved by that — I really expected this to be Ricky-Bo and his Amazing Friends — I would’ve read that, but I’m not sure how psyched I was for it. Instead, Nell and the others on the team are great characters to meet and spend time with — and I want to spend more time with them all. It’d take too much space to talk about the PsyLED team as individuals, so let’s leave it with the aggregate: a very promising and entertaining ensemble.

Nell’s family are a strong presence (even before we met them) and should prove to be good fodder for character growth and even future plot (I just hope it’s not a well they go back to too often). The same can be said for the rest of the world we’re introduced to here.

The plot involving the church, the terrorists, the kidnappings is pretty strong and moves well. The resolution is violent, but not as much as it would’ve been in a Yellowrock book. Nell’s magic is different (and her team uses fewer firearms and knives). I’m not sure how to talk about this pre-release, maybe in book 2, it’ll be easier. Let’s just leave it with Nell et al. deal with things in a way that’s true to the genre, but doesn’t feel like every other UF around. Nell’s what Atticus O’Sullivan might be without his sword (maybe).

There were two pretty glaring errors that I noticed: Nell at one point identifies someones actions as stemming from their being postmillennialist (I’ve never met a postmillennialist like this, I think she meant post-tribulation premillennialist) and she identifies a Biblical quotation as from Acts, when it was from Romans. There are three explanations that I can think of for this: 1. Honest mistakes that will be fixed between the ARC and official release; 2. It’s been long enough since Nell’s been involved in the cult and her memory for details like this is foggy; 3. It was a cult, and they’ve mis-educated their people. I could be convinced of #2, but it’d take some work; #1 or #3 I could completely buy.

Why do I continually underestimate Faith Hunter? It’s only been in the last few Jane Yellowrocks that I pick them up with high expectations and I came to this curious, but unsure that she could do anything distinctive from Yellowrock. That ends now — Hunter blew me away with this one, yeah, it’s in the Yellowrock ‘verse — and it fits in it — but it couldn’t be more different. I’m not sure how this is a series, it’s a great stand-alone, maybe a duology. But I don’t see how this keeps going (but Hunter’s better at this than I am, so I’m willing to believe it is one — especially with these characters). I really want to give Blood of the Earth 5 stars, but I’m going to hold off going too far in my raving over this series until I see how Hunter follows up. Which may be stupid, but it’s what makes sense to me.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC via NetGalley with major thanks to Roc, I appreciate this greatly.

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 1/2 Stars

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