Category: Fiction Page 184 of 341

Reposting Just ‘Cuz: — King City by Lee Goldberg

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On May 22, 2019

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

So, I couldn’t get anything written tonight — and Lee Goldberg’s on my mind, so I thought I’d repost a couple of the many posts I’ve done about his books (which is probably less than 50% of what I’ve read). Here’s one from Goodreads before I started this here blog.
—

King CityKing City

by Lee Goldberg

Paperback, 246 pg.
Thomas and Mercer, 2012
Read: July 4-5, 2012

One part Jack Reacher, one part Jesse Stone, this first installment in Lee Goldberg’s new series reads like a Western set in the 21st century.

Tom Wade, a rigorously scrupulous cop is assigned to a part of King City so crime and poverty-ridden that city officials pretend it doesn’t exist. He’s sent there because the police force is overly-politicized where it isn’t overtly corrupted, and they can’t fire such an upstanding cop–but maybe his new post will lead to him being killed.

Wade is fully aware of this, but accepts his new post with gusto–he has a chance to make a difference and sets out to do so in as splashy a way as possible.

This isn’t a subtle book with complex characters–and doesn’t try to be. The characters are pretty much the dictionary definition of “stock,” the good guys are good, the bad guys are really bad–and that’s that. A fun, straightforward testosterone-y action book. Hopefully the first of many.

—–

3 Stars

Opening Lines: Killer Thriller by Lee Goldberg

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On May 21, 2019

In Fiction, Lee Goldberg, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Opening Lines

We all know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover (yet, publishing companies spend big bucks on cover design/art) (also, this has a great cover). But, the opening sentence(s)/paragraph(s) are fair game. So, when I stumble on a good opening (or remember one and pull it off the shelves), I’ll throw it up here. Dare you not to read the rest of the book.

from Killer Thriller by Lee Goldberg:

           Ian Ludlow’s UCLA creative writing professor insisted that the key to being a successful novelist was writing from personal experience. That’s why the professor was the author of five unpublished novels about sexually frustrated novelists who toiled in obscurity while teaching talentless and ungrateful students how to write.

So Ian ignored his professor’s edict and wrote escapist adventure stories that had nothing to do with his own mundane life. That’s how he flunked the class but eventually became a writer for TV shows like Hollywood & the Vine (half-man, half-plant, all cop!) and the author of the internationally bestselling series of action thrillers about Clint Straker, freelance spy for hire.

“And that’s how I ended up here,” Ian said, standing in front of a hundred people at Seattle’s Union Bay Books on a warm Saturday night.

It took precisely two sentences to make me chuckle, and two paragraphs to make me remember just how fun Ian Ludlow is as a character. It doesn’t get much more efficient than that.

Going Dark by Neil Lancaster: An Action-Packed Thrill Ride, an Interesting Spin on the Hero, and a Dynamite Plot

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On May 20, 2019

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

Going DarkGoing Dark

by Neil Lancaster
Series: Tom Novak Thriller, #1

Kindle Edition, 314 pg.
Burning Chair Publishing, 2019
Read: May 15 – 17, 2019

So Tom Novak came to the UK as a refugee from Bosnia at the age of twelve and was raised in Scotland by a wonderful couple. He joined the military, did a lot more than many soldiers had to and then came home and became a cop. He’s driven and focused — one could argue that he’s obsessed with the job — he’s talented and frustrated with the attitude of many of those above him in ranks and how little they’re able to accomplish for the common good. When given a chance to use his background to infiltrate a group of Serbian criminals who are engaging in human trafficking, prostitution, and immigration fraud he jumps at it. The primary target is a lawyer who is defrauding the government, innocent refugees, and young girls — while making a lot of money — but if he can take out the Serbs funneling girls to him, well that’s just icing on the cake.

I loved the pacing of the undercover work — it’s not one of those where the UC officer meets the bad guy and almost instantly gets taken into their confidence — there’s work, there’s time involved. Now, Lancaster takes care of most of that work and time with a time jump and a summary sentence or two. But that’s okay, the book would’ve slowed down considerably and added a few dozen pages to show us all that. He’s not giving us a play by play of UC work here — and he has the qualifications to do that — it’s not that kind of book, it’s a Thriller. He makes the nod to reality, and then keeps things moving so that the book can get to the exciting stuff.

It’s after the time jump that things go horribly, horribly wrong. Evidence goes missing and the bad guys know who Novak really is and put out a hit on him. Clearly, the police have a leak and Novak can think of only one way to survive — and maybe uncover the leak and still take care of his criminal targets — that’s by (title alert!) by Going Dark. He hops off the grid, grabs a burner phone and a phony ID he’s had ready for just such a contingency, makes a call or two to people he can trust and sets about doing what he can (which is plenty).

Like many action heroes, focus on martial arts, physical fitness, weapons and police procedure doesn’t leave a lot of time for things like learning a lot about tech, hacking, and the like. So one of the favors he calls in (from outside the police force, because he really doesn’t trust anyone there right now) results in getting loaned this nice young computer savant named Pet. Pet’s awesome — she can do pretty much everything that Novak wants, and doesn’t care what rules she breaks while doing so — and is perfectly willing to risk her neck for this relative stranger. Sure, she strains credulity a bit, but she’s entertaining enough that you really don’t care (besides, just about everyone else in the book is as realistic as you could hope for. Every thriller needs a couple of larger than life characters, might as well make it a fun techie girl in addition to the super-solider/cop).

With Pet’s help, Novak goes on the hunt for everyone involved in his precarious situation — both within and without the Metropolitan Police. And you know it’s not going to go well for anyone he finds.

You’ve really got three criminal groups at work here — the Serbs (a couple of brothers, their mother, and eventually their father); the lawyer and his brother; and the corrupt police. The Serbs are your typical rough and tumble crooks who don’t care much about their victims, the people they use or the necessity of violence — they know what they want and will do what they can to get it. Links to war criminals and larger criminal groups back home, make them more dangerous. You’ve seen the type before, you’ll see them again — and Lancaster nails their characterizations. He possibly does better with the sleazoid lawyer. It took no time at all for me to want bad things to happen to him, and then things got worse. He feels all-too-real and all-too-horrible. The same sentence could be applied to their inside-the-police tools, but I’m not going to say anything more about this group because I’ll end up giving something away. So, let’s just leave it there. Really this is a pretty impressive group of opponents for our fledgling hero to go up against, larger-than-life assistant or not.

The thing that sets Tom Novak apart from so many super-cops/soldiers/spies that the Thriller world are his particular background and his current psychology. The two are likely related, but lets ignore that. While you can’t say his childhood was as horrible as many are, or as it could’ve been given some of the events that surrounded him. It left an impression on him, it set him apart from his peers and still shapes him — he’s quick to tell anyone who says something that he’s not Scottish, or English, or anything else he’s tagged with. He may have adopted (willingly or not) his new country, but that’s not who he is at his core. More than once — particularly after things get violent — that we’re shown Novak’s emotional/psychological state. It’s not what one would expect — it’s not what he’d prefer to see — but it’s who he is. He knows he’s different, and his self-awareness helps the reader get insight. I don’t want to get into details at this point, but I really hope that Lancaster and his readers get to explore this more.

This is Lancaster’s first novel and it shows some, but really he’s pretty impressive. I really thought that early on, Lancaster had set up a particular ending. And boy did he not deliver at all. It wasn’t as narratively satisfying or expected as what I thought — but it was a lot more realistic and practical. And Novak is nothing if not practical, so it was fitting. And I always appreciate when an author makes you think you’re going to get something and gives you the opposite (in a way that’s justifiable, and not lazy or clumsy, anyway). Technically, there was an awkward phrase or two, but nothing major — I did think he stumbled pretty early by giving us the same information in two back-to-back paragraphs. But those were minor hiccups and it wasn’t long before I was too wrapped up in the story to remember them.

This is the second book I’ve read recently largely based on the recommendation of Ian Patrick, at this point, I’m thinking of just paying him a monthly fee to curate my TBR. It’s just a fun read, with the right amount of touches of realism to ground the more fantastic elements. The undercover stuff feels authentic (but what do I really know); the bureaucracy reeks of realism (but DS Novak’s complaints seem different than Sam Batford’s, Peter Grant’s, or Washington Poe’s — to name a few); the inciting crime feels as “ripped from the headlines” as anything that Dick Wolf has done; the characters are solid; pacing and twists are as well executed as you could hope and the action is right up there with the seasoned pro’s. All in all, I’m not sure what more you could want from a debut — I’m hoping I get the chance to see more from Lancaster and more about Novak tout de suite!

—–

4 Stars

LetsReadIndie Reading Challenge 2019 Cloak & Dagger Challenge

Saturday Miscellany — 5/18/19

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On May 18, 2019

In Books, Fiction, 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 feature a bunch of books that have a lot of potential, but I’m not sure I’ll work too hard to get to (but I might, because I’m pretty curious about them), and one that I’m really looking forward to:

  • Bad Bastards by Paul Heatley — Guy falls in love with a Girl. Girl’s father is head of a motorcyle gang and doesn’t approve. Gang expresses this disapproval all over the guy. Guy decides to fight back. Problems surely ensue. Sounds like the closest thing Fahrenheit Press can get to a Love Story.
  • If She Wakes by Michael Koryta — the plot doesn’t sound like something I’d enjoy (but wouldn’t judge those who do), but Koryta is constitutionally incapable of writing a non-gripping book….
  • The Window and the Mirror Book One: Oesteria and the War of Goblinkind by Henry Thomas — sounds like a perfectly fine fantasy story, and he’s that Henry Thomas, so I’m curious about what he’s done.
  • Dragons Suck by Benjamin Gamble — snarky, slacker in Fantasy World gets sent on a quest to save his village from a dragon. Looks like a bunch of fun, really.
  • Last Tango in Cyberspace by Steven Kotler — A cyberpunk tale about drugs and other things.
  • The Obsoletes by Simeon Mills — undercover teen robots in high school
  • Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson — the sequel to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to flowersinthebrain, tracyvende and Britt Skrabanek for following the blog this week.

The Killing Joke by Christa Faust, Gary Phillips: The Legendary Graphic Novel Gets the Peter Jackson’s Hobbit Treatment

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On May 17, 2019

In Comics, Fiction

The Killing JokeThe Killing Joke

by Christa Faust, Gary Phillips
Series: BatmanHardcover, 293 pg.
Titan Books, 2018

Read: May 14, 2019

Leland liked to think that she had a finely tuned bullshit detector. It went with the job and–much to the dismay of the men she dated–tended to spill over into her private life, as well. Something about the Joker, however, messed with her ability on the deepest level. Like a magnet throwing off a compass needle.

She’d dealt with more than her share of compulsive liars, narcissists, and psychotics so alienated from reality that they were unable to distinguish truth from fiction. But the Joker was different.

Her testimony in court had led to the judgment that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, and he had been remanded to her care at Arkham. Yet, in her darkest, most sleepless hours she wondered if maybe he wasn’t insane after all. Not in the clinical sense, at last. Perhaps it was all just an elaborate act. A complex joke with an unfathomable punchline they might never see coming. If it ever came at all.

I don’t think I got my hands on the original The Killing Joke in 1988, I think my friend and I waited until ’89 for financial reasons (in your early teens and unemployable, funds were tight), but maybe we were some of the early readers. The when is murky, but our reactions were not. This was a fantastic story with unbelievable art — it blew our young minds. In the years since, I’ve read it countless times, and while I still enjoy the core of the book, there are bits that make me wonder why. Bolland’s art still blows me away.

The animated movie version wasn’t bad, as I recall. I’ve only watched it once and my memory’s not crisp about it. My point is, that I know this story pretty well. When I heard that Titan books was going to be doing a series of new novels about Batman and they’d start with an adaptation of this story, I was skeptical, but at the same time — an extended version of this story? This could be really good — but how were they going to get that much material?

It turns out that the key to that is the same strategy that allowed Peter Jackson to make a smallish children’s novel into a very long movie trilogy — just make up a bunch of stuff and shove it in here and there. Obviously, any novel treatment of the graphic novel (or movie) is going to do that to some extent — but I’d be willing to wager that up to 65% of this book is new, and not even hinted at in the original. Which bothers me on one level, but intrigues me on others — also, I liked the new stuff.

Batman and Batgirl are independently (usually) looking into the appearance and distribution of a new drug on Gotham’s scene — Giggle Sniff. It’s based on the Joker’s venom and is selling like crazy. There’s a lot of bouncing around as the Caped Crusaders tear through the underworld, looking for the sources of the drug — and interfering as much as possible with the sales and distribution. Commissioner Gordon and Detective Bullock are also nosing around, and turning up the heat on the dealers. There are some great action sequences, some interesting characters introduced.

While that’s going on, the Joker’s breaking out of Arkham and setting the stage for what he wants to do next. Then we get the adaptation of the Killing joke in the last quarter or so of the novel. Here, there’s minimal changes form the source material — some expanding of ideas, but nothing major or objectionable. If you know the graphic novel, then you know exactly what happens at this point, and if you don’t, I’m not going to spill the beans. I even liked their take on Batman’s reaction to the dumb joke told at the end — I think they made that problematic moment work.

The characters are well done, the action moves well — it’s just the execution of the idea overall that gives me any pause. There’s a little bit about the birth of the Internet as we now know it that’s really nicely pulled off.

The bits of this book that were an adaptation of the Moore/Bolland graphic novel were really well done — and the way these authors filled in some of the details and gave a very contemporary backstory to part of it worked in ways I didn’t expect. Also, the Giggle Sniff part of the book was pretty good. And if either one of them had been the core of a novel, I’d very likely be more positive about those books. But shoving the two of these together? It didn’t work that well. I liked the novel, but I can’t recommend it too highly because the two parts of the novel are just too distinct from one another to see why the authors made these choices.

—–

3 Stars

GUEST POST: About THE RUSSIAN LIEUTENANT by Peter Marshall by Peter Marshall

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On May 17, 2019

In Fiction

The Russian Lieutenant
This is a story about Marina Peters, whose grandparents, Vlad and Marina Petrov, emigrated to England from Russia in the 1930s. She is a likeable and quietly ambitious single young woman working in the Communications Department of the Royal Navy’s Portsmouth Base.

Nikolai Aldanov is a handsome 35-year old widower and a Lieutenant in the Russian Navy who has been corresponding with Marina through an online dating site. The pair have been sharing details of their lives, common interests and histories. But when his ship visits Portsmouth and Marina arranges to meet her Russian Lieutenant in person, she has no inkling of the unexpected consequences of her date, as she is introduced into the ruthless world of international espionage

This is a first novel by a former journalist and broadcaster, Peter Marshall. Since his retirement in 2002, he has written or edited a dozen books on subjects including satellite communications, space flight, international travel plus two biographies. But he explains that after a career in the world of news and information he often thought about trying his hand at fiction!

Peter said: “It was the Salisbury novichok incident which focused my mind on a story bringing together Russian spies and my past experiences in both journalism and the Royal Navy – I also served as an RNVR officer in the 1960’s. Once I started writing, I found it was a really compulsive activity to create my own narrative. One chapter quickly led to another and before long I had 50,000-plus words – without knowing quite how it would end! Then after completing it with a dramatic finish, and finding a publisher, I have now embarked on writing a sequel involving some of the same characters.

“I suppose words have always been my fascination from my early days as a reporter with local and national newspapers, and then ten years with BBC News. I moved into international TV news with a subsidiary of the BBC and Reuters and became involved in developing the use of satellite communications for global news coverage and distribution. This took me to the United States, where I was involved in satellite broadcasting until my retirement when I moved back to the UK and my native West of England.”

Peter was elected as Chairman of the Royal Television Society in 1986; and during his years in America he became President of the Society of Satellite Professionals.

“The Russian Lieutenant” is available from www.amazon.co.uk as a paperback or e-book.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Russian Lieutenant by Peter Marshall

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On May 17, 2019

In Fiction

I didn’t have time to help out the publicist and read this book, so I volunteered to post this Spotlight and the Guest Post by Peter Marshall that’ll go live in a bit. I appreciate the offer to receive and read the book, and pass these along in case some of you want to give this a read.

Book Details:

Book Title: The Russian Lieutenant by Peter Marshall
Release date: April 11, 2019
Format: Ebook/Paperback
Length: 136 pages

Book Blurb:

Marina Peters, whose grandparents, Vlad and Marina Petrov, emigrated to England from Russia in the 1930s, is a likeable and quietly ambitious single young woman working in the Communications Department of the Royal Navy’s Portsmouth Base, a member of the Dockyard Commodore’s staff.

Nikolai Aldanov is a handsome 35-year old widower and a Lieutenant in the Russian Navy who has been corresponding with Marina through an online dating site for some time. The pair have been sharing details of their lives, common interests and histories and have struck up quite a friendship.

When Marina arranges to meet her Russian Lieutenant in person, she has no inkling of the unexpected consequences of her date, as she is introduced into the ruthless world of international espionage.

About Peter Marshall:

Peter MarshallPeter Marshall was a journalist in his early career, working for local and national newspapers and then the BBC before moving to Visnews, the international TV news agency (now ReutersTV) where he became General Manager. This drew him into the satellite broadcasting business, first in the UK and then in the USA for 12 years. In the UK, he served as Chairman of the Royal Television Society; and in the USA he was elected to the Satellite Hall of Fame for his pioneering work in the satellite business.

On his retirement, back in his native West of England, he began writing again and has worked as author or editor on a dozen books – on space flight, on travel and then two biographies. And now he has drawn on some of his past experiences to write a first novel – partly inspired, he says, by his promixity to the tragic Novichoc poisoning events in Salisbury. He has enjoyed writing “spy fiction” so much that he is already working on a sequel to this story about Marina and her “Russian Lieutenant.”


The novel is available at amazon.co.uk.

Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs: Goblin Royalty, Coyote, the Strangest Zombies you’ve Run Across Combine and an excess of “Next”s

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On May 16, 2019

In Fiction, Mercy Thompson, Patricia Briggs, Urban Fantasy

Storm CursedStorm Cursed

by Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson, #11

Hardcover, 355 pg.
Ace, 2019
Read: May 8 -10, 2019

Adam grinned at me, “That which doesn’t destroy us . . .”

“Leaves us scratching our heads and saying, ‘What’s next?'” I said.

There’s always plenty of things that can answer that “What’s next?” question in the land of Mercy Thompson — but Storm Cursed seems to have extra nexts in it. Briggs is such an excellent series writer — there’s always a great mix of classic favorites (Zee, Uncle Mike, Mary Jo and Ben) and the new (Goblin King, the events of Silence Fallen, the baddies of this book) — like a favorite band touring in support of their new album that no one’s heard yet, she sprinkles in enough of the familiar with the new that you can enjoy the songs you can sing along with and appreciate the new for what they bring to the table.

We start off with the typical mini-adventure featuring Mary Jo, Ben and Mercy — with a little bit of Larry mixed in. There’s a goblin on the run from law enforcement after causing some mayhem in California who thought the Tri-Cities would be a safe place to lay low. Boy, was he wrong. This goblin accomplishes a lot of other things, though. He brings Mercy and the pack into a new part of the area and the law enforcement there, for starters.

This sets things up perfectly for Mercy and Mary Jo to come to the aid of said law enforcement when it comes to a very strange supernatural outbreak. Miniature zombie goats. ’nuff said.

Zombie goats — no matter their size (as important as it is to Mercy and Stefan) don’t just show up one day. They’re the product of witchcraft, and with Elizaveta still in Europe following Silence Fallen the Ti-Cities is ripe for new witches to move in and usurp her. I’m not going to tell you if they’re successful or not, but they sure make things interesting for the defenders of the area like Mercy and Adam. This also gives Sherwood Post, the mysterious wolf sent by the Marrock to be a part of this pack after something happened that he can’t talk about/remember involving witches. He apparently picked up a thing or two, and gets the chance to demonstrate that.

I’ve liked Sherwood since he showed up the first time, and now I’m super-intrigued by him.

There’s a big, summit-like meeting between representatives of the U.S. and the Fae leadership in the making — and the Pack has a lot to do with making sure it happens without a hitch. Naturally, for reasons that are unclear (at first), the new witches in town are working to disrupt it for their own ends. Because there’s not enough going on without that — an excess of nexts, really.

Speaking of excess — Coyote is lurking in the background of many of these events and he’s determined to keep Mercy in the middle of things, for his own reasons. If he’d just been up front with her, I think she’d have been on-board without hesitation (and certainly seems glad to have helped once she figures out his play). Instead, he manipulates her into doing what he wants — which is bad for the character, good for the reader, because he’s so much fun to read, especially when it comes at Mercy’s expense.

No matter what happens in a Mercy Thompson book — they’re filled with fun, and it’s easy to fool yourself into only remembering the fun parts and pushing the darkness and trauma aside in your memory until the next book comes along and reminds you just how messed up things can get for Mercy and the rest. This book is no exception — but in may ways the evil they confront this time is a special kind of Evil that requires at least one capital when you talk about it. What happens throughout this book, what’s uncovered here — especially the last few chapters — is probably the most inherently disturbing that Briggs has given us yet. I wondered at more than one point, if even Atticus O’Sullivan could hate witches as much as Mercy does (for good reason!). I decided the two would probably end up in a tie, but that Mercy has more recent evidence for her prejudice.

There’s something that happens in the climactic battle scene that I want to talk about more than I want to talk about anything else in this book — because in the long run it’s going to be bigger and more important than anything else that happens or I’ll eat my hat. It’s so small, so quick that it’d be easy to miss — 2 sentences on one page, then twelve pages later 2 more sentences. And Briggs has at least one novel’s worth of plot seeded right there. I love when I see an author do something like that and make it look effortless. And I think I’m underselling it. But I’ll have to leave it there — maybe in book 12 (or 15) when it happens, I’ll remember to say, “Remember that thing I didn’t talk about in Storm Cursed? This is it.”

Overall, this is another very solid entry in an incredibly reliable series, and I’m already excited to see what happens in book 12. Still, I get the feeling that Briggs is holding back a lot lately — here more than usual. Maybe it’s to keep the tone light, maybe it’s to keep the page count in check. Maybe it’s just me. But it seems to me that the last few books could’ve easily been deeper, darker, and more exciting, if Briggs would just allow that to happen — like she’s pulling her punches. As much as I love these characters, this world and Briggs’ writing, I just can’t get as excited about them as I want to. This is a great read — please don’t misunderstand me — but it could be better, it feels like it’d be easy for her to make it better. So I’ve got to stick with 4 stars — which feels like I’m pulling my punches, too.

—–

4 Stars

Fletch and the Widow Bradley (Audiobook) by Gregory McDonald, Dan John Miller: An oddly contemporary-feeling Fletch novel that’s good but not really good.

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On May 15, 2019

In Audiobook, Fiction, Fletch, Gregory Mcdonald, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Fletch and the Widow Bradley (Audiobook)Fletch and the Widow Bradley

by Gregory McDonald, Dan John Miller (Narrator)
Series: Fletch, #4 (#3 Chronologically)

Unabridged Audiobook, 5 hrs., 28 min.
Blackstone Audio, 2018

Read: April 1 – 4, 2019

Fletch checks in to his office before returning from a few days away to find out that he’s fired. He’d filled in for an injured colleague to write a profile on a small local business that the Gazette had written an exposé about a few years before, just to see how they were doing in the aftermath. They were doing fine, and Fletch had quoted recent memos from the CEO demonstrating that. The teeny tiny problem there is that the particular CEO had been dead for a couple of years. Quoting corpses is generally frowned upon (unless you’re writing about voters’ views on Chicago politicians, I guess), and so Fletch is fired. Not only that, he’s probably finished forever as a journalist.

Understandably, Fletch is incensed. He’s angry. He’s also mystified — he knows what he read. He knows he did good work — how did they fool him? More importantly, why? If his career is over, he’s going to know why it happened. So he starts interviewing those nearest the dead man — his business associates, family, and so on — he eventually flies across the country a couple of times (and up to Alaska, too).

At this point in Fletch’s life, he is notoriously dead broke — recently divorced (again) with attorneys looking for alimony payments, and (as mentioned) fired. So how does he afford the gas and airline travel? Well, he found a walled with a whole lot of money in it and cannot find the owner. So he borrows a little bit. This is a very odd little storyline that I honestly have never fully understood. Not the events in it, but the reasoning behind its inclusion in the book. Other than to give Moxie (more about her in a moment) and Fletch something to talk about, and to give Fletch money for plane tickets.

Now, close readers might pick up a thing or two (if they haven’t read the books anyway) — I said Gazette (the paper that Fletch was almost certainly fired from after Fletch) and “at this point in” his life and “recently divorced.” This is the first time where Mcdonald bounces back in time for a novel — this is why I’ve noted publication order and chronological order in my post headings for this series. Mcdonald needs Fletch to have a newspaper job to tell this story — and post Fortune, that’s not really likely (it’s not like he needs the money). This chronological flexibility is both rare in a series like this one, and will become a hallmark of the books.

The best reason to read this book is the introduction of the character Moxie Mooney. Moxie’s an actress — daughter of the legendary Freddie Mooney — a major acting star of both stage and screen. Moxie’s still struggling to make it at this point, but she’s got talent. She’s also a long-time on-again/off-again romantic partner to Fletch. There’s more chemistry between the two, more genuine feelings and more obvious compatibility between Moxie and Fletch than there is between any two people in this series. She’s funny, she’s quirky, she’s driven — not unlike Irwin Maurice himself. I’m not sure how often I would have re-read the book without her

At the end of the day, this one doesn’t have the same impact and entertainment value most of the rest of the series does. There are some great moments — and I love Moxie — but there’s something missing from this one. Still, Fletch books are like that old line about pizza — when it’s good, it’s really good; and when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.

—–

3 Stars
2019 Cloak & Dagger Challenge

GUEST POST: 16 Bedtime Stories to Inspire Young Girls

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On May 14, 2019

In Books, Fiction

I’m very happy to have this guest post today — I don’t talk about kids’ books nearly as often as I could, but I do know some of these titles — most of them look pretty good. It’s good content and a spiffy looking picture, what more could you ask for?
—
16 Bedtime Stories to Inspire Young GirlsFor parents who struggle to get their kids to sleep at night, there isn’t anything quite like a good bedtime story. That relaxing time together is a great way to transition into sleep, while instilling in your child a lifelong love of reading. Many bedtimes stories teach great lessons and values, as well. Kindness, bravery, and perseverance are all often on display in children’s books. However for many little girls, there are a few important lessons missing from the classics. While the modern woman knows that women don’t have to be princesses, and the damsel can save herself, the lessons in children’s literature are still catching up.

That’s why Sleep Advisor created this visual round-up of children’s books to inspire the young girl in your life. With lessons from real life female heroes, to fairytales with a modern kick, each one of their selections is designed to empower young girls.

For the princess-lover, there’s stories of princesses taking their own destiny in their hands. To instill positive self-esteem and acceptance for others, there are children’s tales that help them learn to love and appreciate their own and others’ differences.

Pick one up today, or check a few out from your local library to empower your daughter or niece to live up to her fullest potential!

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