Category: Fiction Page 322 of 341

Kenzie and Gennaro are hired by the aunt of a missing 4 year old girl, who’s been missing so long that good news is almost impossible. Following a trail started by her worthless mother leads the pair and the police to drug dealers (small time and large), child molesters and other monsters and a tangled web so intricate that it makes what the protagonists have been through before seem like a picnic.

This book was my first exposure to Lehane, and turned me into a devotee for life (probably). Even though I’ve read this 4-5 times, it had me on the edge of my seat, and got me choked up and horrified by the evil depicted.

Best.Thing.He’s.Written. (not that I’ve read the new one yet)

Dusted Off: Sacred by Dennis Lehane

By HCNewton

On August 5, 2013

In Authors, Dennis Lehane, Fiction, K-O, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Sacred by Dennis Lehane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Easily the weakest Kenzie/Gennaro book, and I don’t know why. On this, like every other, re-read, I’ve tried to a. convince myself I really like this one or b. put my finger on what seems wrong with this one, and I can’t do either.

Drives me crazy.

Oh well, Gone, Baby Gone is up next.

Dusted Off: Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

By HCNewton

On August 5, 2013

In Authors, Dennis Lehane, Fiction, K-O, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve read this 4 or 5 times now, still got tense at all the right spots (thankfully, it was the middle of the day this time so I wasn’t quite as jumpy as usual). Pretty sure that’s a sign of an author who knows what he’s doing. Not the best of the series, which isn’t taking away anything from this one, just saying how good some of the others (like Gone, Baby Gone) are.

Dusted Off: A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

By HCNewton

On August 5, 2013

In Authors, Dennis Lehane, Fiction, K-O, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

wanted to read these before #5 comes out next month, just to get back in that world–it’s been too long since I’ve read a Lehane I liked. Took me less than a page to remember why I got into Kenzie/Gennaro, and within 5 it was like I’d been reunited with a long-lost love. This is a great read–the language, the plot, the characters…really can’t ask for more.

Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway

By HCNewton

On August 3, 2013

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It’s like a December-May version of the movie Before Sunrise. Except instead of Ethan Hawke, you have a bitter ex-General (now Colonel) in the US Army with some sort of terminal cardiac condition. And instead of Julie Delpy, you have a young, selfish, stupid/naive girl (or at least one who acts stupid and naive). The relationship between the two is so skeevy that you can imagine that some reviewer came up with the word just to describe this. Okay, so it’s actually nothing like Before Sunrise in that it’s very talky and the couple spends the time bouncing around a European city.

There’s practically nothing redeeming about this novel — there are flashes of Hemingway’s brilliance. Occasionally — very occasionally — the couple’s dialogue is dynamite. The conversations the Colonel has with a portrait of the girl are almost completely superior and more interesting. You have sentences like

The Colonel breakfasted with the leisure of a fighter who has been clipped badly, hears four, and knows how to relax truly for five seconds more.

You can’t hate a book that contains things like that — as much as you might want to.

It’s books like this that make me wonder if I’m just not as savvy a reader as I think, that all the literature courses I took were a waste. This was just pointless — and not in an artistic, or even Seinfeld-esque manner. The conclusion was typical for Hemingway, and broadcast for about 90% of the book. And then you get the infuriating last line, which I’ll be honest, I don’t get. Was it supposed to be funny? Nihilistic? Something else? By this point, I couldn’t bring myself to care enough to get it.

Flashes of brilliance like I said, but not enough to warrant the time or effort involved. Spare yourself.

Kitty in the Underworld by Carrie Vaughn

By HCNewton

On August 2, 2013

In Carrie Vaughn, Fiction, Kitty Norville

Kitty in the Underworld by Carrie Vaughn
Series: Kitty Norville, #12

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a little surprised at my rating for this one — not that Vaughn’s not more than capable of writing a four or five-star book — but based on my reactions while reading which were definitely not favorable. But my reactions were strong enough — based on the claustrophobic note frequently struck here, and how much I cared about what Kitty was doing/going through — that I knew Vaughn had delivered. Hadn’t necessarily written the book I wanted/expected, but she got the job done very effectively.

N.B. I get vaguely spoilery beyond here — I don’t think it’s too terrible, nothing I’d really have minded reading before picking up this book.

So the idea behind Kitty ~~Drinks the Kool-Aid~~ in the Underground is that while some vampires, and Kitty herself think the whole Regina Luporum thing is a joke, there are some who take it very seriously. So seriously, that they kidnap Kitty to get her assistance in making a major attack on Roman/Dux Bellorum.

Now, this may strike you as a particularly stupid way to get someone to help you out — as it should, it definitely strikes Kitty that way. But for whatever reason/delusion, her kidnappers don’t see it that way.

Now, over the last 11 books, we’ve seen impetuous Kitty, rash Kitty, leaping-before-she-looks Kitty — and while Ben and Cormac grit their teeth and fret, the reader just smiles, content in our knowledge that this is just Kitty being Kitty. However, in Kitty ~~gets Stockholm Syndrome~~ in the Underground we see Kitty being just stupid.

She gives a magic user (that she doesn’t know) access to her blood. She lets a strange vampire feed off of her. She passes up chances to escape. She lets her guard down with her captors. Now, Kitty’s generally quick to trust — which is part of her charm — but she generally has some sort of basis for that. Not here. Well, at least no rational basis. Here’s she’s just so desperate to take down Dux Bellorum, that she throws reason and caution to the wind.

She spends large amount of time being rational, thinking things through, reacting as she should — and then she seems to shut that down to work with these people. I talked back to the book a lot (this is a behavior I don’t typically engage in at all). My favorite werewolf had taken leave of her senses and was risking it all.

This book should’ve been twice as long (at least). Kitty needed more time in the cave before she acted the way she acted. The reader needed to get a better idea of the rich and colorful characters that were introduced here. It would’ve been nice to see Kitty’s pack at work trying to find and rescue her. So much of what was going on in this book was new, terribly interesting, and worthy of exploration, it’s a shame we didn’t get the chance.

Although, a longer book would’ve likely given me a stroke. So I shouldn’t complain.

For all my gripes, it was a tense, taught adventure that will have interesting (to say the least) ramifications going on. Now I have to start counting down for the next one. Can’t come soon enough.

Farewell, Dorothy Parker by Ellen Meister

By HCNewton

On August 1, 2013

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Farewell, Dorothy Parker by Ellen Meister
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The main character of this novel, Violet Epps,a movie critic, begins a review stating:

There’s nothing I like better than a cheesy story done well. Then when it’s over I can cheer for the triumphant protagonist free of embarrassment

I hope it’s not too back-handed of a compliment to say that in many ways Violet described my take on this book.

That said, Ellen Meister was a whole lot more successful telling her story in my eyes, than the director of A Foundling’s Story was in Violet’s estimation. This was “[semi-]cheesy story done well.”

It’s pretty clear right away (if I couldn’t tell from the book jacket’s description or design) that this book isn’t my normal cup of tea — but you stick “Dorothy Parker” in the title of anything, and I’m going to give it a second (and probably a third and fourth) look. I’m not an expert on Parker, can’t even say I’ve read half of her extant material — but I really enjoy her poems, and what stories I’ve read are among the better short stories I’ve bothered with. And anyone who’s flipped through a collection of her best quips has to see the sharper mind behind that sharp tongue. This book was clearly as much a tribute to Parker as it was the story of Violet Epps, so I had to give it a try.

I enjoyed Meister’s version Parker — both in her more somber, reflective moments as well as her more humorous/witty moments. The relationship between Violet and her niece — the heart of the book — is great, and I’d really liked to see more of it. The romance was . . . well, that’s where the cheesy really came into things.

You don’t have to read too much of this book before you know exactly how it’s going to turn out (there’s a strong chance you’d be close after reading the book description alone). But that’s okay, because Meister’s execution and characters are strong enough to carry you along.

I laughed, I cheered (inwardly) at the moments of triumph at the end of the book, I enjoyed my time with Violet, her niece and the ghost of Dorothy Parker. I was also inspired to track down some of the resources Meister recommended about her muse — as well as to re-read some of Parker’s own work. I was entertained enough that even though she doesn’t seem to work in a genre I frequent, I’m inclined to track down more by Meister herself.

61 Hours by Lee Child

By HCNewton

On July 31, 2013

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

61 Hours by Lee Child
Series: Jack Reacher, #14

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It struck me while reading 61 Hours that the Reacher series is the literary equivalent of those wandering hero TV shows that we don’t seem to have any more, like Route 66, The Incredible Hulk, Knight Rider, and even Highway to Heaven — hero wanders into a town, sees some sort of injustice afoot, takes it upon himself (and/or is forced to) confront the source of the injustice, cleans up town and leaves. I started off thinking about the Hulk, but expanded it a bit the further I got in the book. Reacher is both Banner and the monster (don’t make Reacher angry, you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry). I think I’m going to start listening to “The Lonely Man Theme” during the last chapter of all future Reacher books.

Yeah, that’s a bit rambling, sorry. But I think the same impulse that kept people coming back to those shows is what brings us to Reacher. The outsider who saves the day and moves on. What we might be powerless to see, or incapable of doing — he can, with no fear of consequences. There’s something totemic about that.

That’s exactly what 61 Hours promises and delivers. The villian was a bit more villainous than some (but he’s not the worst human being Reacher’s faced off with, just the worst lately), the mystery’s a bit of a gimme –but no one’s ever confused Reacher with Nero Wolfe, and it’s easy to see why Reacher doesn’t put the pieces together as early as the reader does. It’s possible that this is the least violent novel in the series, but you know that violence is on the way –and when it arrives, Child makes every bullet and hit count.

The title/hook is something different for Child. He basically starts a countdown at the end of the first chapter — 61 hours until something’s going to happen. And then we get frequent updates — “Fifty-four hours to go”, “Thirty-one hours until it starts”, and that sort of thing (not real quotations, just examples). Really ratchets up the tension — I can’t imagine it’d work more than once, but it really worked well this time.

Frequently, the relationships that Reacher develops/finds with people are the weak areas of the book, but Child gives us three strong ones this time around — the Deputy Chief of a small police department who knows enough to see that Reacher is a resource, the spunky elderly woman who’s the target of Big Bad, and the Major sitting in Reacher’s old desk at his old command. With each of them we see different facets of our hero at work — and seeing both what they respond to in Reacher, and what he is drawn to in them helps flesh out all four characters, but Reacher more than the rest. I’m not sure we learn a lot more about our favorite wandering ex-MP through this, but we know it better.

61 Hours is one more piece of evidence proving that Lee Child is one of the (if not the) best, the most consistent writers working today. Long live the king.

Dusted Off: Bad Luck and Trouble

By HCNewton

On July 31, 2013

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

Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child
Series: Jack Reacher, #11

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Here’s what you know going in:
Will Reacher win? Yup.
How many of the bad guys will get what’s coming to them? All of them.

What don’t you know? What kind of bad guys are there? What bad stuff are they up to? Who will Reacher’s allies be?

Nice look at a couple of years in Reacher’s backstory along with a typically gripping, pedal-to-the-metal thriller.

Dusted Off: The Hard Way by Lee Child

By HCNewton

On July 31, 2013

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

The Hard Way by Lee Child
Series: Jack Reacher, #10

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The thing about a Reacher book is that the instant the conflict is introduced (this time, a kidnapping), you know the major plot points for the book: Reacher will rescue the kidnapped people; there will be some physical altercations and at least 1 gunfight; he will meet (and likely bed) an attractive woman; and the Bad Guy will be vanquished (likely forever); justice will triumph.

Knowing a;; this, which pretty much eliminates all suspense, you also know that it’ll still be a fun, intense, edge-of-your-seat read.

How does Child pull that off?

Don’t know. Don’t care, as long as he keeps it up.