Category: Fiction Page 307 of 341

by S.J. Rozan
Series: Lydia Chin & Bill Smith, #3

Mass Market Paperback, 275 pg.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 1997
Read: Feb. 10, 2014

As much as I enjoyed Concourse, Mandarin Plaid reminded me of the problems I had with it — namely, it didn’t have enough Lydia Chin. We’re back to Lydia as narrator, and her carrying a lot more of the investigative and sleuthing burden. Which leads to a more interesting and satisfying read.

Once again, it’s one of Lydia’s brothers that brings her the client — and then tries to get her off the case — which starts off pretty simply, Lydia making a money drop to retrieve some stolen property. Lydia’s Chinatown connections prove invaluable to her sussing things out when the ransom drop doesn’t go according to plan.

Not that her partner, Bill Smith doesn’t bring connections to the table — he has a long history with the NYPD in general, and the NYPD detective they cross paths with. Whereas Lydia’s connections provide assistance and (mostly) useful information; Smith’s bring them grief and harassment from the NYPD.

Things move along at a good clip, Lydia’s voice is just as strong and self-assured. The case itself was pretty interesting and tricky enough to satisfy the whodunit reader. Rozan faked me out a couple of times, and in the end, when I was wrong, I could take it, because she laid the groundwork for what was really going on.

I think I’m in this series for the long-haul.

—–

3.5 Stars

The Humans by Matt Haig

By HCNewton

On February 12, 2014

In Fiction, Science Fiction

The Humans

by Matt Haig
Hardcover, 304 pg.
Simon & Schuster, 2013
Read: Feb. 4-6, 2014

A couple of years back, I remember enjoying Haig’s The Radley’s about a family of vampires who’ve stopped feeding on humans, and have (mostly) assimilated into everyday society. It was fun, quirky, and had a lot more to offer than I’d have guessed. So when I stumbled onto this at the library, I had to grab it (and shame on me for not keeping an eye out for more by him).

The concept’s pretty simple: a brilliant mathematician has just made a break-through that puts humanity far, far ahead of where an alien race thinks they ought to be in terms of development based on how emotional and violent we are as a race. So, they send one of their own to kill him, take on his form and eradicate any and all people who might have knowledge of this breakthrough. Along the way, said assassin starts to understand and even appreciate humanity’s quirks and tries to stop the killing. Along the way we are treated to his observations about humanity. For example,

…I was able to work out that what humans may have lacked in physical attractiveness, they made up for in gullibility. You could tell them anything in a convincing-enough voice and they would believe it. Anything, of course, except the truth.

Basically, the key rule is, if you want to appear sane on Earth, you have to be in the right place, wearing the right clothes, saying the right things, and only stepping on the right kind of grass.

Or this description of browsing a bookstore:

Understandably, humans need to know what kind of book they are about to read, because time is money and money costs time and there’s no time like the present and all of that. They need to know if it is a love story. Or a murder story. Or a story about aliens. Perhaps the book they have in their hands is a war story. It wouldn’t be a surprise.
There are other questions too that humans have in bookstores. Such as, is it one of those books they read to feel clever, or one of those they will pretend they never read in order to stay looking clever? Will it make them laugh or cry? Or will it simply force them to stare out of the window watching the tracks of raindrops? Is it a true story? Or is it a false one? Is it the kind of story that will work on their brain or one which aims for lower organs? Is it one of those books that ends up acquiring religious followers or getting burned by them? Is it a book about mathematics or — like everything else in the universe — simply because of it? And also, of course, there is the ultimate, all-important questions: does it have a dog in it?

(amen to that last question)

A lot of these observations reminded me of the classic article, “Body Ritual among the Nacirema,” that social science undergrads have chuckled at for decades. And, at a point they got a little tired — but by the point that the book threatened to become an endless series of “here’s another way humans are odd” riffs, the story took over, and the characters became more than a collection of quirks. Which isn’t to say that the alien stopped having the observations, they were just mixed in with enough plot and character development that they became seasoning.

Another danger for the reader is that you could easily get so busy chuckling at things like a partial list of inventions that humans don’t know how to handle: “the atomic bomb, the Internet, the semicolon”; or the observation that a cat “was very much like a dog. But smaller, and without the self-esteem issues.” that you can let the poignant and thoughtful things slip by. This was not unlike Scalzi’s Redshirts in that way (it was on my mind because I was reading this when the news was released about the Redshirts TV adaptation).

Funny, moving, profound (not as profound as it wants to be, I don’t think — but close), look at what it means to be human, what it means to live, to love and why we bother with any of it.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Hell Hole by Chris Grabenstein

By HCNewton

On February 11, 2014

In Authors, Chris Grabenstein, F-J, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Hell Hole

by Chris Grabenstein
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published July 22nd 2008 by Minotaur Books
Read: Feb. 9, 2014

The fourth Ceepak/Boyle Mystery was a pleasant change of pace, while keeping the essence of the series intact. When he’s not patrolling with Ceepak, Danny Boyle is mentoring a spunky new part-time summer officer, Samantha Starky. The two respond to a noise complaint — a group of soldiers between Iraq deployments, celebrating a bit too loudly. While Boyle and Starky are convincing them to quiet down, their Sergeant gets a call, he needs to go identify a body in a nearby town — apparently one of the team has committed suicide. Danny’s not going to let anyone this drunk drive, so they take him to the scene. Here’s where things get going.

First, the sloppy CSI from Ceepak and Boyle’s first major case is on the scene; and there’s something about what he’s seeing that doesn’t set right with Danny. This being the 21st century, he uses his phone to snap a few pictures so he can think about it. When that doesn’t do the trick, he shows the pictures to Ceepak — who not only shares Danny’s sentiment, he can point to what was wrong in the pictures. No longer a suicide, yet out of their jurisdiction, the two have to get creative to find a way to solve this murder (while never wavering from Ceepak’s rigid code of honor and honesty).

Naturally, things aren’t that easy — there are distractions, celebrities, a US Sentator/Presumptive GOP Presidential candidate, local thieves — and some major drama on the personal front for Ceepak. There’s more to Sea Haven’s best cop than his Boy Scout attitude, his military past and devotion to Law & Order, and we get a healthy helping of that now.

Yes, yes, yes there are a few thing in retrospect that bother me: our heroes don’t have as many roadblocks to investigating a crime outside their jurisdiction that the should, and the external assistance that came along at the end was just a leeeetle too easy. But in the moment, Grabenstein sold it. And that’s what counts.

Hell Hole does feature one of the scariest sentences I’ve ever read: “They make an awesome tofustrami sandwich.” Seriously? Tofustrami is a thing?

As fun add these boss are, we see real evil on them. We see a deep kind of evil here — and the seeds are planted for a truly dark next adventure. Hell Hole has your standard Grabenstein balance of comedy and drama, serious and light, heart and suspense. Things strike closer to home than usual for our characters this time, and that just makes everything better.

—–

4 Stars

Dusted Off: Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio

By HCNewton

On February 10, 2014

In Fiction, Science Fiction, Steampunk

Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess

by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio
Hardcover, 461 pg.
Night Shade Books, 2012
Read: May 6-8, 2012

What a delightful read! All the strengths of the comic–but augmented and amplified–and, sadly, all of the weaknesses. But since the balance is so far to the “strength” side…who cares?

The last 1/4 (or so) of the book–like the source material–is just too convoluted for my taste, too many balls in the air at once. Still, I had an easier time following it in prose, so I’m not complaining too much.

If you haven’t yet–go read the comic (www.girlgeniusonline.com) tout de suite. Then go read the novels (not that I need to say that if you’ve read the comic)

Can’t wait for the next installment!

—–

4 Stars

Dusted Off: The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac by Kris D’Agostino

By HCNewton

On February 10, 2014

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac

by Kris D’Agostino
Paperback, 352 g.
Algonquin Books, 2012
Read from May 13-14, 2012

blech. I feel like I’ve read this book 3 times this year (see also: Flatscreen: A Novel and The Fallback Plan). Each time I’ve been disappointed. What a waste of talent (the dude can write, sure).

Oh, and I think that people who write blurbs for un-funny books that promise “hilarity” or something along those lines should be excessively fined–maybe imprisoned.

—–

2 Stars

Unnatural Selection by Aaron J. Elkins

By HCNewton

On February 7, 2014

In Aaron Elkins, Fiction, Gideon Oliver, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Unnatural Selection

by Aaron Elkins
Hardcover, 288 pg.
Berkley Hardcover, 2006
Read: Dec. 26-27, 2014

So Gideon and Julie are off to the Scilly Isles in the UK for Julie to attend an ecology conference. While she’s busy talking about ways to save the world, Gideon plans on some sightseeing, hanging out in a museum doing some volunteer work, enjoying life.

But, no surprise here, Gideon stumbles onto a bone that doesn’t belong there. And we’re off to the races with the Skeleton Detective.

Elkins doesn’t come up with an excuse for Mr. and Mrs. Lau to come along to Julie’s conference, but thankfully, there are a couple of British policemen to fill his skeptical-then-fawning shoes. Which is not a knock on everyone’s favorite FBI Agent, it’s his role in the books, I get that. I enjoy him, even when the role gets tired. Anyway, the local constabulary are a fun pair.

Elkins clearly did some research on cadaver (et cetera) dogs, and he was eager to share it. Yeah, it was info-dumpy, which generally turns me off. But, Elkins made his dog expert pretty entertaining — and hey, it was about dogs. Ended up enjoying those bits.

Amusing characters, interesting puzzle, a new location, and Elkins’ writing is always enjoyable — put that all together for a thoroughly entertaining book. This wasn’t the greatest mystery I’ve read, or even the best of this series, but it was fun. That’s good enough.

—–

3 Stars

Split Second by David Baldacci

By HCNewton

On February 6, 2014

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

Split Second

by David Baldacci
Series: King & Maxwell, #1

Hardcover, 416 pages
Published August 31st 2003 by Warner Books
Read: Jan. 21-22, 2014

This is the pilot novel for the King and Maxwell series. It reads so much like a TV pilot that I almost have to think of it that way — introducing our characters, learning their back-stories, how they get together as a team, and set off on a new set of adventures. It might as well have an image of Stephen J. Cannell tearing a page out of his typewriter at the end.

Sean King is a former Secret Service Agent, turned lawyer when the presidential candidate he was guarding was assassinated right next to him. Eight years later, Michelle Maxwell is guarding another candidate, who’s kidnapped from under her nose. With the clock on her career winding down, Maxwell throws herself into the search — as well as looking for help and guidance from the one former agent who’d understand what she’s going through.

There’s an okay chemistry between the characters — it looks briefly like romance would be in the air, but they turn from that pretty quickly. Maxwell and King settle into an burgeoning friendship as they search for the candidate, sift through lies, rumors, half-truths, and conspiracies that have been building for decades leading up to the kidnapping.

I won’t say I was grabbed by the plot at any point — and actually, I found most of the crimes in question to be pretty far-fetched. But it was good enough (just) to keep me turning the pages. Sometimes, that’s enough.

Like with many TV pilots, it’s hard to tell what the rest of the series is going to be like, but I liked this enough to try the next one. I just hope it’s a little more grounded.

—–

3 Stars

Fobbit by David Abrams

By HCNewton

On February 5, 2014

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Fobbit

by David Abrams
Paperback, 384 pg,
Grove Press, Black Cat, 2012
Read: Jan. 23-25, 2014

I enjoy a good satire — no matter if the target is one I identify with or oppose, a good satire is a treat. Fobbit didn’t totally work for me as a satire, but it came close.

As the cover says, a Fobbit is someone stationed at the Forward Operating Base during the Iraq war. The novel follows a handful of Fobbits as they try to survive their deployment while accomplishing as much as The Powers That Be allow them to (which includes a surprising number of PowerPoint presentations).

Staff Sergeant Gooding of Public Affairs attempts to keep various media outlets appraised of events, but before he can, he has to run everything up the flagpole — beginning with the impossibly political Lt. Col. Harkleroad. By the time Harkleroad and his superiors get done massaging/mangling the presentation of the facts to suit their needs, CNN, etc. have already discovered the reality, ran their stories, and moved on to something else.

On the other end of things, Sgt. Lumely is on the front-lines, but has to endure the inept command of Capt. Abe Shrinkle, who’s probably just as dangerous to his men as Iraqi insurgents (if not more). Lt. Vic Duret is Shrinkle’s commander, and he’s as frustrated trying to minimize Shrinkle’s damage.

Fobbit starts slow, and builds slower — but, eventually (and organically), the plot picks up and the lives of these poor Fobbits spiral out of control. Then it stopped feeling like a “eat your veggies” kind of read, and one that I could enjoy.

Fobbit‘s not as pointed as Catch-22, or as laugh-out-loud funny as Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors — as much as it wants to be in that company. But it’s honest, upfront, and feels authentic.

This is a satire of the circumstances these soldiers found themselves in, about the way the war was being fought, not about whether it should be or not. As nearly as possible, it’s an a-political book — pro-Operation Iraqi Freedom or anti- — it can be appreciated for what it is. Well-written, with characters that are a little more human than satire necessitates, and a world more grounded than expected.

—–

3 Stars

Screwed by Eoin Colfer

By HCNewton

On February 4, 2014

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

Screwed

by Eoin Colfer
Hardcover, 304 pg.
Overlook Hardcover, 2013
Read: Jan. 27-31, 2014

I saw that the sequel to Colfer’s Plugged was out, and I had a dim recollection that I enjoyed Plugged (and can look up my rating on Goodreads), but I can’t remember a lick of it. Which bothered me, but I figure it’ll come back to me with some work — so I put a reserve on it at the library. When I went to pick it up, I still couldn’t remember anything about its predecessor, which still bugged me. I read the jacket copy — doesn’t help, and now it’s driving me crazy. I read the first two pages — nothing. But at the bottom of the second page I read:

And those eyes? Big and blue, rimmed with way too much eyeliner. Men have climbed into hollow wooden horses for eyes like that.

With lines like that, who cares what I remembered? This is a great read, so much fun, and laugh out loud funny when you’re not horrified by the violence. Colfer writes like a Don Winslow who hasn’t slept in a week thanks to existing on a truly inhuman amount of energy drinks.

It’s not long after that observation that the tide starts to turn for Daniel McEvoy, our narrator. The two-bit gangster he angered in Plugged has decided on a way for McEvoy to start to make things right between them. Sure, it’s probably just a set-up, but what choice does he have? Especially with his best friend and the owner of those eyes serving as handy targets.

Before he gets the chance to figure out just what’s going on, Daniel stumbles across his long-lost aunt (in the middle of a decades-long bender), his grandfather’s fourth (or so, I don’t remember exactly) wife, a young wanna-be wiseguy, the wanna-be’s actual wiseguy henchman, the would-be gangster, a couple of corrupt policemen, a masked assassin, a killer lightning bolt, a car at the bottom of the river, and a few other obstacles. Daniel deals with each of these with a combination of world-weary cynicism, gallows humor, an unexpected romanticism with a trace of optimism and lethal force. The latter is really what carries the day, obviously, but it’s the rest that makes reading his exploits worth it — and darn enjoyable.

For example, towards the end of the book, Daniel makes this aside:

The Key to staying alive until you die is to not get yourself killed.
I saved this nugget till close to the end on account of how bleeding obvious it reads, which might bring on a little gnashing of teeth. But to most people not getting yourself killed involves nothing more than just doing what you’re already doing and maybe cutting down on mayonnaise, which is more or less liquid fat.

All Daniel wants to do is hang out with his friends, make some money with the casino/bar he and a partner are opening, and maybe, juuuust maybe pursue a romance. When describing some of the jokes he and his friend are making rather than deal with the harsh reality of their situation, he says

. . . Zeb and I spend a lot of our free time, as two single middle-aged bucks, watching TV. How cool and edgy is that? Most of our references are pop culture and our favorites at the moment are old episodes of the egregiously canceled shows Terriers and Deadwood.

Colfer buys himself and extra half-star or more for name-dropping Terriers and complaining about its cancellation — twice!!*

When you boil things down in the end, Daniel McEvoy is a basically decent man who’s seen and done things that no one should. Which prepares him (possibly makes him seek out) more of the same now. Which doesn’t change the fact that he’s really a good Irish man who likes telling a story and loves to play with language — even if the story (and his life) end up being hyper-violent and he has a propensity for letting his metaphors run out of control. Grab Plugged for context if you want, but definitely grab Screwed and buckle-in for a fun ride.

One more quotation that doesn’t fit anywhere, but made me chuckle enough to copy it down:

[I]f you want to see teenagers crap themselves laughing, try explaining what a pager used to be. You tell ’em about cassette tapes and they think you’re only a lying, old Depends-wearing motherfucker.
The following is a transcript of a conversation I had with Jason’s nephew:
Me: The songs were pressed onto a long tape. Six songs per side, then you turned it over.
Nephew: Turned what over?
Me: The tape in the machine, but you had to be careful or the machine would eat the tape and you’d have to straighten it out with a pencil.
Nephew: Fuck off, Gandalf. You’re making this shit up.

—–

^* Not entirely true. It was my plan early on, but the book turned out to be too good to require that.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Dusted Off: Empire Falls by Richard Russo

By HCNewton

On February 3, 2014

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Hardcover, 483 pg.
Knopf, 2011
Read: May 22-27, 2012

Wow. Just wow. Not sure what else to say.

I’d suspected/wondered that something like the big climactic event was going to happen–yet when it happened, I was on the edge of my seat, saying “No fraking way!” (and just about decapitated my son who interrupted me during the middle of it) But even before that, the book had grabbed me with its humor, tragedy and humanity.

This one’s going to haunt me (in good and bad ways) for a long time.

—–

5 Stars