Category: Fiction Page 44 of 317

Backpacking Through Bedlam by Seanan McGuire: Now, Where Were We? Oh, Right…

Backpacking Through BedlamBackpacking Through Bedlam

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: InCryptid, #12
Publisher: Daw Books
Publication Date: March 07, 2023
Format: Trade Paperback
Length: 285 pg.
Read Date: March 30-April 3, 2023


Back to the Covenant Story

The first few books of this series featured an ongoing arc concerning the looming threat of an invasion of the Americas by The Covenant of St. George. In the fifth book, Chaos Choreography, Verity basically invited that invasion. In the next book, Antimony went undercover to infiltrate them in order to gather intel on the coming invasion—and we largely abandoned that storyline for the rest of the Antimony-trilogy (the Covenant was around, obviously, but other things seemed far more important most of the time). Then with the next three books, that storyline took a giant backseat and most of the action focused on non-Earthbound species and/or didn’t take place on Earth.

Now that Alice, Thomas, and Sally are back on Earth, we can rejoin the Covenant story, already in progress.

What’s Backpacking Through Bedlam About?

This is precisely what this novel is about—Alice trying to reintroduce Thomas and Sally to Earth (the latter will be far easier since she hasn’t been gone quite as long) while coming to fight alongside Verity’s ragtag “army” in New York to protect the dragon.

Thomas doesn’t have to just remember what Earth is like and catch up on a few decades worth of technological advances, political and cultural changes, etc.—he also has to get used to his wife again. They’ve both grown and changed—yes, still deeply in love and committed to each other. But…they’re not the same people they were when he left.

Meanwhile, Alice has to learn to accept Sally as the not-quite-adult-daughter she’s never met. And Sally has to figure out her place in her new family. All while Verity and the rest of the Prices are going to have to adjust to Thomas actually being alive.

And, yeah, they have to fight a war and protect as many cryptids as they can from the Covenant. Should be a walk in the park, right? Or maybe that’s where the titular Bedlam comes in.

So, what did I think about Backpacking Through Bedlam?

When Verity declared war, I remember being taken aback by it—but also thinking, “all right, now things will get really interesting!” Just for that to be pushed to the background—or not even discussed—for quite some time. After getting over my initial disappointment, I settled in and didn’t have a problem with it, because what we got was plenty entertaining and intriguing on its own—who needed them to be the focus of the antagonism when you had all this other stuff going on?

But, I tell you what, it felt good to get back to this story. I really appreciate that we came back to it as we did, with Alice and the others having to jump in and catch up. This made it easy for the reader to get backstory thrown at us and we didn’t have to go back to the time of Magic for Nothing or thereabouts to see watch the invasion.

This was a solid novel in the series, and I think will serve as a really good way for the next arc to launch—letting us see all the Prices (in one way or another) fighting the Covenant. I don’t have much to say beyond that—InCryptid books bring a lot of snark, a dash of romance, a good amount of action, and some interesting musings on life, family, and what makes a decent person (human or not). That’s what you get in Backpacking through Bedlam.

I have no idea what’s coming next—or who our primary character will be in the next book—and I don’t care. I’m just eager to see it.

This wouldn’t be a bad place to jump on—there’s enough recapping of various and sundry storylines going on that it’s probably the best one since the fifth book (books 1, 3, 5, and now, 12 I think are the optimal jumping-on points). Just know that if you try it, you’re going to want to go back to the beginning.


3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani: This Will Hit You Like a Bolt of Something


Sunbolt Tour Banner

SunboltSunbolt

by Intisar Khanani

DETAILS:
Series: The Sunbolt Chronicles, #1
Publisher: Purple Monkey Press
Publication Date: June 17, 2013
Format: eBook
Length: 152 pg.
Read Date: May 9, 2023

What’s Sunbolt About?

We start with a chase scene through a street market that might as well be scored by Alan Menken (although Jafar or Genie is to be found anywhere in the rest of the book, Hitomi would have no problem with a Jafar). Our protagonist, a thief—and someone of a clearly different ethnicity to everyone around her—is scrappy and nimble, getting away from her pursuers (quasi-official mercenaries) with the help of some of the sellers in the market.

We learn that this brash young woman is named Hitomi and she’s allied (somewhat) with a group calling itself the Shadow League, which is trying to stand up to an increasingly corrupt and oppressive government. The government is backed by the Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame (who is just about to be running everything through puppets).

Hitomi and some allies head out one night to save a powerful family from arrest and (likely) execution—and almost everything that could go wrong does. Hitomi and some of the family are captured. And then…well, this book about scrappy freedom fighters becomes something very different.

The World Building

At the beginning of the book, Khanani provides a guide to pronouncing some of the names in the book—I always appreciate that kind of thing (if one was grading, I’d have gotten a low B, incidentally, on my own). In her lead-up to that, she mentions that the fantasy world she’s created and the cultures within it “are primarily based on a variety of real-world historical cultures.” I wish she’d have listed (at least a partial list) of those cultures just for curiosity’s sake. I spent a little too much time wondering what X or Y came from after reading that. (and was very likely wrong 60+% of the time)

But ultimately, it doesn’t matter what those sources were, because she’s made them into something new and fit for her world. And whatever the backgrounds may be, they work really well for this novel—perhaps better than it do in our own. It’s familiar and yet foreign all at once. Khanani doesn’t drown us in details or anything like that (thankfully), but you have the impression that everything has been worked out thoroughly (whether or not it has been) and that this a fully-developed world with a fascinating history and a future worth saving.

We only get a hint of the magic system, but has a lot of promise. The variety of magical races (for lack of a better term) is great, and (again) familiar to a fantasy reader, but specific to Khanani’s world. You can’t help but want to learn more about both the magic system and the races, you get enough to carry you through the novel—but you want more.

So, what did I think about Sunbolt?

Sunbolt is short. Freakishly short for the genre, really. But that brevity works so well for this story. Like a wizard and punctuality, this book is precisely as long as it needed to be. It tells the story it needs to in a satisfying manner and then is done. Yes, it prepares you for the second book in the series, but not in a cliffhanger way.

I wouldn’t have minded if the book was longer if it meant we got to spend more time with the characters—but that’s what a sequel is for, right?

There’s a moment really early on that made me grimace—Khanani over-explained a moment robbing it of its power. And as I so often do, I murmured a silent plea (pointless since the book had been out for a decade) for her to trust her audience. But that was the only time that the book stopped me with something like that—most of the writing was subtle, nuanced, and smooth. I did have to stop a few times to re-read sentences because I liked them so much.

Hitomi—fierce, independent, determined, and over-her-head—is one of those characters you gravitate to immediately and while you know she’s making a blunder here and there, you can’t help but root for her. Sadly for her, her blunders tend to work out better than some of her plans—a treat for her readers, however.

I’m going to avoid a deep dive on the rest of the characters, although I think many of them deserve it. I’m not sure I trust everyone in the Shadow League, but they’re all intriguing characters—and I’d gladly read a Shadow League novel tomorrow to get to know them better. The villains are some of the worst I’ve run across this year, and you can’t complain about that. Then there’s someone who becomes rather important to Hitomi in the closing chapters…I think they could go down as one of my favorites of the year (and easily become someone I despise in a future encounter).

A well-paced story, with strong characters, and a great fantasy world to explore. That’s all the makings of a winner in my book. Sunbolt is a quick, fascinating read that will make you want to click on the order button for the sequel as soon as you finish.


4 Stars

My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the novel) they provided.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for Intisar Khanani’s Sunbolt, it has a fancy new cover being released today, too. In addition this Spotlight, my post about the book will be coming along in a little bit. In the meantime, go check out https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours over the next few days to see a lot of bloggers write interesting things about this book. Sunbolt was a finalist for the 2022 Book Blogger’s Novel of the Year Award, so you know there’s a lot of good to be said about it–but before getting to the spotlight for it, let’s start with a word about BBNYA.

BBNYA:

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Sunbolt Tour Banner

Book Details:

Publisher: Purple Monkey Press
Genre: Fantasy
Age Category: Middle Young Adult
Release date: June 17, 2013
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 152 pages
Sunbolt Cover

About the Book:

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

Book Links:

Amazon.ca ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

Intisar KhananiIntisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. She has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah, on the coast of the Red Sea. Intisar used to write grants and develop projects to address community health and infant mortality with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. She is the author of The Sunbolt Chronicles, and The Dauntless Path novels, beginning with Thorn.

Author Links:

Website ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Facebook

My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Arvia: Heart of the Sky by D.H. Willison

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for third volume of D.H. Willison’s Arvira series, , on its publication day! I couldn’t fit it into my reading schedule, but if you take a look at the feed for https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours over the next few days, you’ll see a lot of bloggers who did find the time to write interesting things about it. Still, I wanted to spread the word a bit while cursing my time managment.

Heart of the Sky Tour Banner

Book Details:

Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Next Chapter
Format: /Ebook
Length: 359 pages
Heart of the Sky Cover

About the Book:

It takes great courage to stand against a ferocious mythic monster.

It takes far greater to stand WITH one who’s at her most vulnerable.

Tremors rock the land. Wild magic and creatures from the abyss ravage a formerly bountiful forest, while a creeping magic ailment spreads among the harpies. A fragile peace between harpy and human teeters on the brink.

Darin and Rinloh, oddest couple in all the land. They must become the oddest of heroes to save the land.

Heart of the Sky. A charming blend of whimsy, terror, and a lot of heart.

Book Links:

Amazon UK ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

D.H. WillisonD.H. Willison is a reader, writer, game enthusiast and developer, engineer, and history buff. He’s lived or worked in over a dozen countries, learning different cultures, viewpoints, and attitudes, which have influenced his writing, contributing to one of his major themes: alternate and creative conflict resolution. The same situations can be viewed by different cultures quite differently. Sometimes it leads to conflict, sometimes to hilarity. Both make for a great story.

He’s also never missed a chance to visit historic sites, from castle dungeons, to catacombs, to the holds of tall ships, to the tunnels of the Maginot Line. It might be considered research, except for the minor fact that his tales are all set on the whimsical and terrifying world of Arvia. Where giant mythic monsters are often more easily overcome with empathy than explosions.

Subscribe to his newsletter for art, stories, and humorous articles (some of which are actually intended to be humorous).

Author Links:

Website ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Twitter~ Goodreads


My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

Opening Lines: Sacred by Dennis Lehane

Head & Shoulders used to tell us that, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That’s true for wearing dark shirts, and it’s especially true for books. Sometimes the characters will hook the reader, sometimes the premise, sometimes it’s just knowing the author—but nothing beats a great opening for getting a reader to commit. This is the third book in one of my favorite series (and the fourth I’d read when I first encountered it), so I was pre-commited when I picked it up. But if I’d never read Lehane before, this would’ve done it for me.

A piece of advice: If you ever follow someone in my neighborhood, don’t wear pink.

The first day Angie and I picked up the little round guy on our tail, he wore a pink shirt under a gray suit and a black topcoat. The suit was double-breasted, Italian, and too nice for my part of town by several hundred dollars. The topcoat was cashmere. People in my neighborhood could afford cashmere, I suppose, but usually they spend so much on the duct tape that keeps their tail pipes attached to their ’82 Chevys, that they don’t have much left over for anything but that trip to Aruba.

The second day, the little round guy replaced the pink shirt with a more subdued white, lost the cashmere and the Italian suit, but still stuck out like Michael Jackson in a day care center by wearing a hat. Nobody in my neighborhood–or any of Boston’s inner-city neighborhoods that I know of–wears anything on their head but a baseball cap or the occasional tweed Scally. And our friend, the Weeble, as we’d come to call him, wore a bowler. A fine-looking bowler, don’t get me wrong, but a bowler just the same.

“He could be an alien,” Angie said. I looked out the window of the Avenue Coffee Shop. The Weeble’s head jerked and then he bent to fiddle with his shoelaces.

“An alien,” I said. “From where exactly? France?”

She frowned at me and lathered cream cheese over, bagel so strong with onions my eyes watered just looking at it. “No, stupid. From the future. Didn’t you ever see that old Star Trek where Kirk and Spock ended wp on earth in the thirties and were hopelessly out of step?”

“I hate Star Trek.”

“But you’re familiar with the concept.”

I nodded, then yawned. The Weeble studied a telephone pole as if he’d never seen one before. Maybe Angie was right.

“How can you not like Star Trek?” Angie said.

“Easy. I watch it, it annoys me, I turn it off.”

“Even Next Generation?”

“What’s that?” I said.

“When you were born,” she said, “I bet your father held you up to your mother and said, ‘Look, hon, you just gave birth to a beautiful crabby old man.'”

“What’s your point?” I said.

from Sacred by Dennis Lehane
Sacred

Opening Lines Logo

Lie to Her by Melinda Leigh: Bree Taggert’s on the Hunt for a Killer Out for Revenge

Lie to HerLie to Her

by Melinda Leigh

DETAILS:
Series: Bree Taggert, #6
Publisher: Montlake
Publication Date: January 17, 2023
Format: Paperback
Length: 292 pg.
Read Date: May 5-6, 2023


What’s Lie to Her About?

The first crime scene Bree and her department are called to in this book centers around a man incapacitated by a stun gun and then had his head wrapped in a thick layer of plastic wrap to smother him. If that image doesn’t stick in your head for a while, you probably didn’t pay attention. During the autopsy, when the wrap is removed, it’s revealed that the word “Liar” had been carved into his forehead.

The rest of the crime scene was clean, leading Bree and Matt to conclude that this was a well-planned as well as very personal crime. The question is, was this enough for the killer? Or did they have a list of victims?

Sadly, it seems to be a list—another victim is discovered soon after. It doesn’t take the Sheriff’s Department long to focus on the dating app usage of both men and the women in common from their history.

It then becomes a race against time as the killer may have other targets—and they just might have added Bree to their list.

Chief Deputy Todd Harvey

I’ve had a section with this title for a few books now, and I might be on the verge of dropping it. Leigh’s starting to do right by Harvey! Sure, he had to go through some trauma in Dead Against Her to get to this point, but he’s coming back from it (it seems Bree’s having a harder time with it than Todd is).

Yes, he is still largely there to serve as a conduit for exposition—but in this novel he had both an independent personal story, and conducted part of the investigation on his own, trusting his gut and skills. It’s satisfying to see.

The Time Frame

We’re told (repeatedly) over the course of this book that it’s been almost a year since the murder of Bree’s sister, bringing her to town and to her new career as Sherriff.

It’s only been a year? That’s a lot of serial killers, multiple murderers, and so on for one smaller community. Not to mention all the havoc wreaked on the lives of the county as a whole. But if you just focus on what’s happened to Bree’s family and close associates? It’s a testimony to her that anyone’s still around her (multiple kidnappings, serious wounds, assaults, and attempted murders).

Hopefully, things slow down for them (in series-time, not in the release of books).

So, what did I think about Lie to Her?

Like with many police procedurals (or mystery novels in general), our main characters spend a lot of time pursuing dead ends. The reader isn’t given the killer’s identity here like it so often happens, but most readers will be able to tell that’s what is going on. By the time that Bree, Matt, and Todd are convinced it’s X and head out to make an arrest, the reader will likely have figured it out, though, and know they’re wrong—if only because of how many pages are left. Minor spoiler: Leigh gets our heroes on the right track much quicker than I expected, though.

I mention that because I didn’t spend as much time being frustrated with our investigators as I so often get—they’re pursuing the leads they have in a way that makes sense, and it’s not the case (for most of the novel) that the reader has more information, either. Leigh keeps the story moving at a good enough pace that the reader stays engaged while knowing that the wrong target is being chased.

The mystery itself was pretty satisfying, with a good motive and an interesting plan for the killer. The observations about the motive and method after the killer is stopped helped justify some of the story choices.

The personal storylines were just as satisfying—nothing exciting, just good and steady development.

The Bree Taggert series continues to be a reliable procedural and one I think mystery fans will appreciate. Lie to Her works as a jumping-on point for those who don’t feel compelled to start at the beginning (as do any of the novels in the series), and I’d recommend giving this a shot if you haven’t tried the series yet.


3 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

The Book That No One Wanted to Read by Richard Ayoade, Tor Freeman, Jarvis Cocker, Lydia Fox: In Print or Audio, It’s Just Delightful

I am fully aware that the following post overuses the word “delightful.” I wanted to use it at least a dozen more times. This is both a sign that my working vocabulary needs expansion and that this book is a delight. More the latter than the former.


The Book That No One Wanted to ReadThe Book That No One Wanted to Read

(Hardcover/Audiobook)
by Richard Ayoade
Narrated by Richard Ayoade, Jarvis Cocker, Lydia Fox
Illustrated by Tor Freeman

DETAILS:
Publisher: Walker Books US (hardcover); W.F. Howes, LTD. (audiobook)
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Format: Hardcover/Audio
Length: 108 pg./49 min.
Read Date: April 4, 2023


What’s The Book That No One Wanted to Read About?

This is tricky without giving the whole thing away…but I think I can get close to it. Maybe more idea of the flavor?

We’re told at the very beginning that this book isn’t like others—other books are written by authors, while this book is written by a book. A book with opinions. For example, about authors:

Take it from me, authors can be quite annoying. They go on and on, filling up up page after page, but they have no idea what it’s like to be a book.

or these parts of Top Five Things That Grate My Gears (I’m only giving selections, but I want to give the whole thing):

1. People who fold the corner of the page to save their place.Have these savages not heard of novelty bookmarks? Or paper?…Which part of your body would you most like to have folded back on itself?*

2. People who underline certain words. ALL THE WORDS ARE IMPORTANT!

3. People who skip to the end. If the end was meant to come sooner, it’d be called “the middle.”

and don’t get it started on Ipswitch.

* The accompanying illustration of examples of ways to fold a body is delightful.

This book then goes on to tell a story in the second person about someone (presumably a middle-grade child, but really it could be anyone) who is going through a very large library and comes across the shelf holding The Book That No One Wanted To Read. That book then begins having a telepathic conversation with the “you” about being a book, the book’s plight as being so ignored, and how “you” can help it.

I’m not sure that makes sense—but it should give you an inkling of what you’re in for.

The Narration

Jarvis Cocker handles the bulk of the narration—he’s the voice of the opinionated Book telling the story, and as such is the voice that describes the “you” walking around. I could listen to his portions on repeat for a few hours at a time and be quite content (when I wasn’t laughing).

Richard Ayoade is the voice of the titular book and brings his distinguishing style to that narration. If you don’t smile listening to him as this character, you’re doing something wrong.

Lydia Fox provides the voice for the middle grader in conversation with the book. She’s just as fantastic as the others, and I only mention her last as I went in order of appearance.

This is one of those multi-narrator audiobooks where all the narrators are equally good—capturing the spirit and tone of the text and bringing it to life. I’d say that Cocker is the best narrator of the three, unless you asked me in the middle of one of Ayoade’s lines. Or while Fox was reading. I just loved all the audio aspects of this book.

The Illustrations

Oh, wow. I love the illustrations—they are absolutely great. It’s a sketchy kind of art, immediately relatable (think Jules Feiffer). They grab you right away and are just delightful—as funny as the text, without overshadowing it. They have the same voice, the same kind of humor, but don’t just retell the jokes in the book—sometimes they riff off them, expand them, and sometimes the humor is just adjacent to the jokes in the text.

I don’t normally recommend this kind of thing, but you can pick up the book and just look at the pictures (and read the captions) and have a good time without bothering with anything The Book is trying to convey.

So, what did I think about The Book That No One Wanted to Read?

When I heard about the book a few months ago, I was intrigued and made a mental note to look into it when it was released. Then I promptly forgot about it until I saw it on my library’s app. I’d intended on getting the text version, but I needed something short, so I jumped on it.

I was charmed instantly and loved the experience so much that I ran out to get the Hardcover so I could see the text, re-read portions—and check out the pictures. I haven’t found the time to read the whole book yet—but I have looked at every illustration and read bits of it a few times. This is why I’m giving you this strange hybrid format post.

If you’re going to encounter this book without the vocal stylings of Fox, Cocker, or Ayoade, you need the illustrations to make up for them. If you’re going to read the book without the benefit of the illustrations, you need narrators as strong as those three.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m doing much better at conveying my reaction to the book than I am the book itself. The voice and tenor of the book are great—it’s goofy and strange, the humor is occasionally dry, it’s imaginative, it’s affirming and encouraging, it wraps you in a blanket of fun and makes you feel good. The characters all three of them—”you”, The Book That No One Wanted to Read, and the Book telling the story—are the perfect way to convey the contents. You don’t want a lot of characters wandering in and out of this one—keep it simple. But you don’t want this to become a monologue or an essay (although judging by the first and final chapter, it’d be great as one of those), so you need the three voices.

The best thing that comes to mind to compare it to is The Phantom Tollbooth. But shorter. And with the humor dialed up by a factor of 50.

I have one reservation. I’m not sure that the style of humor or the content of all the jokes are going to land right with an American Fifth Grader. It feels, perhaps, too British for that. But then again, American Fifth Graders are exposed to more than I was. Also, this could be the kind of thing that trains an 11-year-old’s sense of humor in the same way that stand-up albums I didn’t fully understand did mine. So what do I know?

Bookish adults are going to have a blast with this. Middle-Grade readers who are into slightly off-kilter books will really enjoy this. Most middle-graders, as far as I know, are slightly off-kilter themselves, so maybe they’re all the right audience. Just give them this book in their preferred format and you’ve likely got a winner.

I adore this book—and think it’s going to be a favorite of mine for years to come. I can’t wait to introduce my grandson to it—and frankly, a few older friends and relatives, too.


4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Tower of Babel by Michael Sears: Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of

Come back this afternoon for a Q&A with the author, Michael Sears, it’s a good one.

Tower of Babel was published a month ago, and I was trying to get this posted in that first week. I missed significantly, and I wanted to start things off by apologizing to Michael Sears and Wiley Saichek, the publicist that connected me with Sears, for that.


Tower of BabelTower of Babel

by Michael Sears

DETAILS:
Series: Ted Molloy, #1
Publisher: Soho Crime
Publication Date: April 6, 2023
Format: ARC
Length: 394 pg.
Read Date: March 27-29, 2023


What’s Tower of Babel About?

I really don’t like not providing my own synopsis/tease for a novel. But I’m overdue with this post, and a lot of that has to do with stumbling on this section. So I’m going to appropriate it from Soho Press’ site:

Queens, New York—the most diverse place on earth. Native son Ted Molloy knows these streets like the back of his hand. Ted was once a high-powered Manhattan lawyer, but after a spectacular fall from grace, he has found himself back on his home turf, scraping by as a foreclosure profiteer. It’s a grubby business, but a safe one—until Ted’s case sourcer, a mostly reformed small-time conman named Richie Rubiano, turns up murdered shortly after tipping Ted off to an improbably lucrative lead.

With Richie’s widow on his back and shadows of the past popping up at every turn, Ted realizes he’s gotten himself embroiled in a murder investigation. His quest for the truth will take him all over Queens, plunging him into the machinations of greedy developers, mobsters, enraged activists, old litigator foes and old-school New York City operators.

Haaaaave You Met Ted?*

* Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Not that I tried all that hard.

Ted’s a good example of a very familiar type of Crime Fiction protagonist. At one point in the not-too-distant past, he’d been very successful for his age with a bright future ahead of him. Then he hits a personal and professional rough patch, and all that success and future vanishes. He’s now had to recalibrate his life, his legal career in ruins and so begins a new—albeit somewhat related—career, with new routines, a new home, new allies, and so on to restart his life.

Like most of this type, he’s moved on, but not really. He still misses his old life, still laments it, regrets the things that happened (unjustly) to bring down his house of cards, and would go back if he could. He’s given chances over the course of Tower of Babel to revisit that life, to see how green the grass is on that side of the fence, and his response to that really tells the reader more about who he is than anything else in the book can.

In a New York State of Mind

I love when a novel hits me with a great sense of place—and Tower of Babel did that to me. Sears doesn’t spend that much time describing the city or its landmarks or anything like that. But the city permeates everything. Travis Bickle drove the same streets as Mohammad did (and probably in a safer manner). Sherman McCoy struck deals with the same kinds of people. Det. Denny Malone would be known to the detectives on the murder.

This is a novel that has to take place in New York.* I just don’t see it working anywhere else—are there shady real estate deals, corrupt politicians, organized crime, and entities with too much power in Chicago, Miami, L.A., Boston, London, etc.? Absolutely. Do other major cities have teams that have a fanbase as devoted and as constantly disappointed as the Mets? Absolutely (although most of them don’t have to share a city with the Yankees). Ethnic diversity and economic disparity might have different mixes and present in different ways from metropolitan to metropolitan, but they’re there just the same. But I just don’t see how this novel works in Miami or Boston. The organized crime of it all would be different in Chicago. There’s something about shady real estate antics that seems quintessentially NYC (it shouldn’t, but it does).

* Granted, I’m just some dude from Idaho, what do I know?

Any book that transports me so convincingly is worth the time and effort (not that this took much of the latter).

Ted and Jill

Ted is still friends with his ex-wife, Jill. They’re obviously very important to each other and spend a good deal of time together—primarily because of the NY Mets and Ted’s season tickets. I absolutely loved this version of divorced adults interacting with each other (there were no kids involved, which likely helped). Early on, when I wasn’t as sold as I eventually would be on the murder storyline (and was still trying to understand the real estate angle), I put in my notes that I’d have enjoyed the novel more if it was just about them spending time together. By the novel’s end, I’d changed my mind—but I’d still take a novella just about the two of them.

It’s a healthy friendship, supportive and challenging—and just fun. (then again, this is a noir-ish Crime Novel, so I make no promises that the way things start is the way they will end).

So, what did I think about Tower of Babel?

I stumbled a little in the beginning trying to understand the way that Ted’s making his money now and the antics involved in all the real estate transactions (ethical, legal, and otherwise), but that’s primarily because my brain doesn’t do well with that sort of thing. I ultimately gave up trying and just accepted it in the same way I do with Asimov’s worldbuilding or things along those lines. By the end of the novel, I (am pretty sure that) I understood it all because I’d stopped trying to decipher it (I still can’t totally explain psychohistory or Asimov’s take on superluminal flight, for what’s it’s worth). The details are both not as important to the novel as everything else and not as difficult as I was making it.

I can see Sears settling into this character and this world and turning Molloy into a typical scrappy lawyer character in the vein of Mickey Haller or Eddie Flynn. But I don’t think that’s the direction this is going—would I read that version? Absolutely, but I already have Haller, Flynn, et al. It feels to me that this is headed in a more David vs. Corporate Goliaths tack, maybe with some murder, etc. thrown in, sure—but my money is on this series focusing on corporate crimes, and corruption (both political and economic). Either way, I’m in for at least one or two more books—and I expect most readers will feel the same way.

This is not your typical Legal Thriller, and Sears sucks you into the story in ways you won’t expect—actually, I think you’ll end up expecting very little about the story and characters as you go along. But in the end, you’ll realize that just about everything had to go the way it did. I love that feeling of being taken unaware and then seeing that there was no other way for this jigsaw to be put together. It’s so satisfying when you can look at the whole thing (and a great ride along the way).

Crimes you’re not accustomed to reading about—crimes you’re very familiar with—a cast of characters you don’t see every day, and an ethically dubious protagonist (or is he?). Tower of Babel is a great entryway into a series that should garner a fanbase, and you should think about hopping on before the bandwagon builds up too much speed.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from the author via Wiley Saichek and Saichek Publicity in exchange for this post—while I appreciate that, the opinions expressed are wholly mine.


4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 21: Turn Around by R. T. Slaywood: The Aftermath

The Ballad of BonadukeThe Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 21: Turn Around

by R.T. Slaywood

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #21
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: April 20, 2023

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

Before then, he gets himself drunk and we get some of his tragic backstory. As he ponders this, he decides to use some of his ill-gotten-gains to buy more booze and walks into a liquor store robbery. He foils it in some sort of magical fashion, gets some more to drink, and heads off to the park to drink until he’s arrested (probably for the failed robbery). At least that’s his plan, but it gets interrupted by being hit by a car. He wakes up on some sort of short, metal bed and is unsure what’s going on. It turns out that some group is subjecting him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

Things get hairy and Bonaduke leaves and finds himself back in the neighborhood he started from. Taking refuge in a homeless encampment, Bonaduke has to make some decisions. He starts to get his thoughts in order when the police begin a raid at the camp. During the raid, he’s apprehended by…well, we need to find out. But first, the interrogation kicks off—Bonaduke tries to work his grift to get him out, and while that effort starts off promisingly…it didn’t quite go the way he’d intended.

What’s Turn Around About?

The effects of his grift were a bit more than Bonaduke was prepared for, but he’s able to push through the carnage and escape from the interrogation room—now he just has to get out of the police station. Which turns out to be more difficult than he’d bargained for.

Trying to move surreptitiously around while looking for an exit, Bonaduke thinks about what he left in that interrogation room and what the ramifications will be for someone other than himself. This bit of reflection leads him to a decision—which we’ll probably get to see in Episode 22.

So, what did I think about Turn Around?

I was both eager and nervous after the last episode. Will we get some more water-treading or will he keep things moving in the same vein? Thankfully, the answer was pretty much the latter.

My initial reaction was that there was something missing from this episode, just a little something that would’ve really helped it come together. But I have no idea what that could be—the more I ponder, the less I can think of that’d be missing. I guess maybe knowing exactly what his plan is at the end would’ve helped, but that’s supposed to propel us into Ep. 22, so I can understand the choice to keep it from us.

Other than that, this really clicked—we get to see his reaction to the events of Room 5 and his scrambling to make the most of it. There’s a lot of tension from the anticipation of action—and Slayton executes it this time in a way that moves things forward, we’re not standing still with indecision here.

A great touch was Bonaduke thinking of others—and not just in a “how can I avoid or get something from them” kind of way. We haven’t really gotten a lot of that kind of thing in the previous 20 episodes, it’s been all about him. Slow character development, but noticeable. That’s always good to see.

I’m really looking forward to the next episode.


3.5 Stars

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah: Are You Not Entertained?

Chain-Gang All-StarsChain-Gang All-Stars

by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

DETAILS:
Publisher: Pantheon
Publication Date: May 2, 2023
Format: eARC
Length: 348 pg.
Read Date: April 24-29, 2023



Before I begin, let me just say that you are wasting your time reading this post when you could be out buying or borrowing and reading this book.

If you’ve made the mistake of sticking around, I’ll go ahead and talk about the book, I guess. But really, your priorities are wrong.

What’s Chain-Gang All-Stars About?

In the not-too-distant future, laws regarding the incarceration of serious felons have been adjusted, and the Criminal Action Penal Entertainment program is born. Under CAPE, convicted murderers (many with other convictions as well) can be set free before the end of their sentence if they agree to participate. Participation however, could result in their violent death.

Under CAPE, these felons will face off one-on-one (sometimes two-on-two) against other felons in a fight to the death. If you survive a bout, you score some points and progress to the next fight (in a week or so). As you gain victories, you can earn points to be used for weapons, better food, clothing, equipment, etc. After three years, you will be released.

These felons are organized in Chain Gangs associated with the participating prisons. Links (as the fighters are called) in the same Chain do not face off against each other, and become (to varying degrees depending on their chain) teams—encouraging each other, giving tips, etc.

This has become the largest sports entertainment in the U.S. Throngs show up for live events or to watch a stream. You can also subscribe to almost constant live feeds of the Links between fights. Some fighters become superstars, with corporate sponsors, merchandise, inspiring their own fashion trends, etc.

Over the course of the novel, we follow (primarily) one Link from her initial bout to the final weeks of her time. We get to know her Chain—a couple of Links in particular—as well as Links from other Chains, so we can see how people join, survive, and (usually) die through this entertainment. We also get to know some of the executives and sportscasters becoming rich from this, some fans and subscribers—as well as some of the protestors trying to stop the program.

The Links

Most of the time we follow Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker. LT’s on the verge of freedom, and Staxxx isn’t far behind. They try (with some success) to get their Chain to act differently, to help each other in ways others don’t. At the same time, they’re dealing with the emotions of LT not being around for much longer (one way or another) and Staxxx moving into the leadership role. We get to know them and their team, what brought them to this point in their lives, and what might be around the corner.

But we don’t just focus on those two—there are other Links, in other Chains, that we watch. Some as they make the transition from prisoner to Link, some in their early (and final) bouts. As horrible as the fights to the death are—and they are—it’s the time with these other Links that really cements the horror of what is happening to and through all the Links. There’s one man who spends a lot of time in solitary confinement and some of what he goes through made a bigger impact on me than the bloodiest death.

None of these links would claim to be a good person—well, there’s one wrongly convicted man, but his innocence doesn’t last long as a Link. They know they’re criminals, killers, and most would say they don’t deserve life or freedom. But none of them deserve this.

Everyone Else

As fantastic as the portions of the novel about the Links are, I think it’s these characters and seeing how they relate to CAPE that is the genius of the novel. A society cannot spend so much money (and earn it, too) on something like this without it shaping it and the people in it. Think of how so much of the US economy, news, and entertainment in January/February is devoted to the Super Bowl. Now magnify that, make it year-long, and add some serious ethical and moral issues.

The corporate figures are easy enough to write off as villains. And Adjei-Brenyah does that really well—but he makes sure we see them as human villains. The kind of people it’s easy to imagine existing given the right circumstances—these are not cartoons.

The protestors we see are complex as well—they’re smart, passionate people, who are trying their best to put an end to this modern slavery. They make bold moves, some stupid ones, too. But they also have to wrestle with the ramifications of their positions. One in particular is the child of a Link—she doesn’t have a relationship with him anymore, she doesn’t want anything to do with him but doesn’t want him killed in this way. But she doesn’t want him roaming around outside of a prison, either. There’s an honesty to the portrayal of these protestors that I find admirable—they may not have the answers about the right way to deal with serious criminals, but they do know what’s wrong and are willing to take their stand.

The portrayal that’s going to stay with me the longest is of a young woman who finds the matches distasteful—not necessarily morally repugnant, but not the kind of thing she wants to watch. But goes along with her boyfriend to placate him—he’s a giant fanboy with strong opinions and facts to back them up. He’s reciting them to her constantly, but she tries not to pay attention. She does start to get involved in the live streams about the out-of-combat lives of these Links—think Survivor meets Big Brother. She eventually becomes invested in some Links through those streams and that opens a can of worms.

The Endnotes

The Endnotes are a particularly interesting feature of this book—so interesting I’ll bite back my default complaint about choosing to use endnotes when footnotes exist.

In this novel, the notes are a fascinating combination. The first type are notes about the characters and events in the novel—a little more background, or other detail that doesn’t fit in the text proper. I don’t remember seeing this kind of footnote in a book as serious as this one, but Adjei-Brenyah pulled it off well.

The second type of endnote material cites laws (real and fictional), studies, and actual history surrounding the contemporary American penal system. In addition to being valuable information for the reader to have in general—or when it comes to talking about this book—this is a clever device for Adjei-Brenyah to keep it fresh in the reader’s mind that while this is a novel, it’s a novel well-grounded in things that matter—things he wants the reader to care about and hopefully take action in response to knowing this material.

So, what did I think about Chain-Gang All-Stars?

This is going to be one of the best books I’ve read in 2023. It’s well-written, the characters are fantastically drawn and depicted, the pacing is perfect—the story doesn’t stop moving, and the perspective jumps just draw you in closer. The moral and ethical questions are real, but not all of the answers are. I don’t know how you walk away from this book unmoved and unprovoked to think and perhaps act. There are moments when Adjei-Brenyah makes it clear that you can enjoy yourself with these characters—but there are many more that will make you hate this world. Most of those will remind you how easily it could be ours.

But you won’t stop turning the pages until the end.

There’s so much that I want to talk about, so many things that Adjei-Brenyah did that many writers don’t—or wouldn’t have thought of. But I just don’t have the time to get into it (or I’d ruin the experience for you).

Here’s one example. At some point around the 20% mark, we’re given an (well-executed and seamless) infodump, that largely serves to tell the reader that anything they’ve surmised about the CAPE program is correct (or to adjust any misunderstandings, I guess) and to give a few more details. A well-timed and well-executed infodump is great to find—one that’s largely a reaffirmation is even better. That affirmation is welcome so that you can move on with certainty.

The author talks about changes in his outlook on the American penal system during the writing and research he did for this book. I don’t know that I can agree with him on those, but it’s something I had to consider because of the novel. And I can certainly empathize with his thinking. I can’t imagine there are many who don’t think our penal system needs reformation of some kind—there’s little agreement on what needs reform, and less on how it should be done. But a side-benefit of this novel is that the reader will have to think about their own positions some. It’s not all a diatribe about our prisons—it’s a book that you can just read for the story—but you’ll not want to.

Lastly, for a book that’s about death—violent death at the hands of violent people who only hope to go on so they can kill again—the book is really about life. It’s a celebration of life, a call to protect it, a call to see it for what it is. It’s a reminder that “where life is precious, life is precious.”

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.


4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

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