Tag: 4 1/2 Stars Page 7 of 27

PUB DAY REPOST: A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones: A Good Way to End the Trilogy (even if I don’t want it to end)

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On December 6, 2022

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

A Hard Day for a HangoverA Hard Day for a Hangover

by Darynda Jones

DETAILS:
Series: Sunshine Vicram, #3
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 352 pg.
Read Date: November 16-19, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

What’s A Hard Day for a Hangover About?

Wow, this is hard to do. This is the third book in a trilogy, so let’s start off with this—all the ongoing storylines are progressing—barrelling to some sort of conclusion, we get to know everyone a little better, we see the ramifications and ripple effects of the deaths, arrests, plots, and everything else from book 1 and 2, secrets are revealed, lives are changed, and….well, it’s a third book. A lot happens, many things end, and some things start.

There are a couple of new/book-specific plotlines: the town flasher gets stabbed by an unlikely weapon; a prisoner escapes from state custody, which leads to some uncomfortable questions for Sherrif Vicram; someone breaks into the home of one of the town’s elderly residents (and she wants it covered up); a young woman is found beaten and hanging on for dear life—and she may not be the first woman in that situation; and a group of grade schoolers starts a boy band (you won’t believe which of those storylines intersect).

All in all, this is a bad week for Sunny to start hungover.

Hot Ones

I’m not a die-hard fan, but my wife and I watch a lot of Hot Ones—and we frequently buy and use the sauces we see on the show. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you should fix that, and this illustration won’t make much sense. Sorry about that.

When I’m eating those sauces, I generally prefer the ones that are in the 1-3 slots, but occasionally, I can enjoy up to a 5 (and, yes, I’ve eaten sauces in all 10 spots—and have consumed “The Last Dab” more than once). If you convert Hot Ones‘s sauces into sex scenes in books, I think you’d find my tastes for those pretty well align. Keep things mild, close the door before things go too far, and let these people have some privacy.

Jones clearly has no designs to do anything like that. This book (like the rest of the series) is definitely not erotica—but it’s far too spicy for my taste. It’s not so distasteful that I have to stop reading, but my skim-reflex does kick in. As I said when I talked about A Good Day for Chardonnay, All I could think of as I read those sections was, “My mom is going to read this.” She’s going to read it because I bought her the first book. Not only is she going to read this book, but she’s also going to know that I read those scenes. And then I wanted to burst into flames.

I would guess that there are fewer spicey scenes in this book, but they rank higher on the Scoville scale. That’s going to please some (most?) fans, but others should know that going in.

Too Much?

Like the previous two books, Jones keeps the action jumping back and forth between Sunny and Auri, from case to case, or from case to personal arc constantly. And every time you think you’re about to settle into one of the stories for a while, she yanks the focus from you to something else (quite possibly something you’d forgotten was going on). There are times I felt like a lab dropped into a herd of squirrels, never sure what I should be focused on because there were so many things to watch.

And, on the whole, I found this as effective and fun as before. I don’t think Jones could write a boring story, but I’m not sure because she never gives you the chance to start to get bored with a storyline, before she changes things.

But…I’m not sure it was the right choice for this book. She’d given us so many great characters, so many wonderful ideas and plots, plus the new ones we that she introduced in this novel. I think it was just too much. There were (at least) two great characters that we never got to see this whole novel—they were mentioned, but the life-changing nature of what transpired in the storyline they’re attached to could’ve used their presence. Mostly, I’m bothered because one of them was one of the brightest rays of sunshine in the series (and in this series, that’s saying something).*

* I take that back. Sort of. One of the two I’m thinking of shows up for one scene. The fact that I remembered this just before publishing both illustrates what I said about this being overstuffed and undercuts my complaint.

Then there are storylines that seem to be given short-shrift—I can’t get into specifics without spoilers—but there were a couple of storylines that we’d spent so much time over the previous two books that I expected something major to occur here—but we get token bits of instead. That’s largely true for some of the storylines introduced in these pages, too.

Still, there’s just so much happening—so much to enjoy and get caught up in—that other than the absence of that bright ray of sunshine I mentioned, I didn’t notice and/or care about this until I sat down to think about and write about the book. I do think that this novel could’ve benefited from another 70-100 pages to give us all the characters readers expect to see and give adequate space for all the storylines. But in 350 pages for Jones to accomplish all that she does is an impressive feat and I don’t want to complain about that.

I guess I’m just feeling like someone who goes to a concert for a favorite band and they don’t play as many of their hits that you wanted them to, just most of them—and seemed to cut off the encore a little sooner than you’d hoped.

So, what did I think about A Hard Day for a Hangover?

I had such a blast with this. I seriously didn’t want it to end—not just because of what I talked about in the last section—but unless this trilogy spawns a sequel or becomes a longer series, this is the end of the road for these characters. I don’t want to be done with them—especially not Auri and her friends. We’ve gone so far with all of these characters and I want to see what happens to them next.

That doesn’t seem fair to this book—it’s funny, it’s charming, it’s sweet—probably sweeter than the rest just because of where various storylines resolve. Even the silly raccoon storyline will elicit a few “awwww”s. The banter between Sunny and Auri is as great as ever—ditto for Quincy and Sunny. I don’t need plots, Jones can just release occasional 30-40 page collections of conversations between those pairs every now and then as they go about their daily lives, and I’ll buy every one.

The mysteries were resolved nicely (and I got one pretty large surprise along the way)—although I thought the missing prisoner story was resolved a bit too neatly (space issue, I’m sure). It’d be easy to overlook most of those stories in the midst of all the other stuff going on, and that’d be a shame—Jones really can tell a mystery story well and I hope she returns to the genre soon.

I’m honestly at a loss for what to say beyond this—if you’ve read A Bad Day for Sunshine and A Good Day for Chardonnay, of course, you’re going to want to read this—and you’ll be so glad that you did. If you haven’t read the previous novels—do not start here, go back and start from A Bad Day and you’ll thank me. This book—like the series—is a little bit Moonlighting, it’s a little bit Veronica Mars, it’s a little bit Gilmore Girls, and it’s a lot of warm-hearted fun.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press 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.

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan: A Rollicking Adventure I Should Have Read Years Ago

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On November 25, 2022

In Fantasy

Theft of SwordsTheft of Swords

by Michael J. Sullivan

DETAILS:
Series: The Riyria Revelations, Volume 1
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: November 23, 2011
Format: Paperback
Length: 649 pg.
Read Date: November 10-16, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

First Things First

Back in Down the TBR Hole (18 of 24+) (January 2021), I removed a form of this book from my “Want-To-Read” list, despite everyone I’d ever talked to about Sullivan being a fan. In response, Bookstooge did offer a pretty convincing counter-argument, “BECAUSE I SAID SO!!!!” I should have listened. Sorry, Bookstooge! Thankfully, Micah recommended this for the 12 Books Challenge, so my compounded errors (not reading it as soon as I put it on my “Want-To-Read” shelf, removing it from my list, and then ignoring that Bookstooge) were corrected.

It’s pretty obvious already, but let me officially spoil the conclusion of this post: I heartily encourage picking up this book.

What’s Theft of Swords About?

The Riyria are thieves—so proficient, so renowned that they might not actually exist. They may be the Fantasy World equivalent of Urban Legends. Except they really do exist—they are Hadrian Blackwater a mercenary fighter who’s about as skilled a swordsman as you’re going to find, and Royce Meborn, a thief who’s probably better at that than Hadrian is with a sword. Together they can steal just about anything. Hadrian has a strong impulse to do the heroic action, he wants to help. Royce is a misanthrope who is only interested in helping himself and a few friends and acquaintances. Except when he’s not.

This book is about two jobs they should not have taken but do. And then all the things they have to do after taking those jobs. At the core, each job is about stealing a sword. That’s pretty much where the similarities end.

The first has them hired to steal a sword from the King’s castle (it doesn’t belong to any member of the royal family, but someone who is visiting there). This job lands them in prison, in the middle of an investigation into the murder of a royal, in an effort to save two other royals, and freeing another prisoner or two.

The second involves them helping a damsel in distress and her family—and it’s Royce’s call to take this job for far less than it’s going to cost them to carry it out. That job lands them in the battle to save a small village, in the middle of a conspiracy to wrest power from the rightful possessor, and in danger of being eaten by a magical lizard.

What will see them through is a very strange assortment of allies and each other. And a whole lot of luck—much of which they have to manufacture or steal from themselves. In the end, it will put the pair on a path that may lead to changes in the broken empire they live in—very unbeknownst to them (or they’d probably run screaming in the other direction).

The Dialogue

As a genre, Fantasy isn’t well-known for having snappy and witty dialogue. Of course, there are exceptions—and I can point to a number of them on my own shelves, you don’t need to point out all the ways I’m wrong. But come on, let’s be real here—from Tolkein on, it’s rare that you read dialogue that really grabs you outside of a line or two. It’s what the characters are and do that attracts you, it’s the stories, it’s the settings, etc.

Put the Riyria Revelations down as one of those exceptions. I was pretty sure of this on page three, and the 646 following pages didn’t change my mind. It’s strongest between Royce and Hadrian—they’re the veterans who’ve seen enough that they can have a wry detachment from danger and drama to joke their way through it. But there’s plenty to get a kick out of in the conversation of others.

The narrative voice that shows us what the characters are thinking and not saying is good, possibly better.

The Politics

In addition to your nobles of various ranks and importance of land-holdings vying for prominence against each other, there are three political movements running around this world—I’m not going to describe them much because I’m afraid I’m going to miss a nuance or two and give a skewed description given my space constraints. I’m not accustomed to seeing something like this in Fantasy—seeing two competing political philosophies/contingents within one Empire/Kingdom, sure—but the way it’s set up here (and we really have only scratched the surface up to this point) seems pretty novel.

On top of that, there are some ecclesiastical machinations and divided camps within the same religion (or one religion with two divergent streams…I’m not one hundred percent sure the fairest way to describe this)—a mix of conviction and connivance for political power. There are a lot of earnest believers within the clergy, some that may believe, but are more convinced they’re right when it comes to affairs of this world, and some that are really good at using the belief of others to get their way.

Adding the ecclesiastical politics into the mix with the wholly secular stuff? Sullivan’s really given us a treat here. In this particular book, it’s largely (but not wholly) a backdrop to the main action—but I doubt it’s going to stay that way for long.

Then there are the relations between races like Dwarves and Elves marked by prejudice and distrust all around. I can’t wait to see how some of this plays out.

The Wizard

There’s a Gandalf/Allanon/Bayaz-ish wizard in the middle of all of this. I really want to like him, and think I do. I really want to distrust him deeply. And I definitely do.

Is he Gandalf or is he Saruman? I’m not sure. He may be a little of both. He may be neither. Don’t know. Don’t care (at least for now). He’s a fantastic character to watch at work.

In retrospect, I guess that makes him more like Bayaz than the rest of the names I’ve tossed around. But Bayaz might be more trustworthy.

So, what did I think about Theft of Swords?

I’ve enjoyed being exposed to works I probably/definitely wouldn’t have gotten around to because of this challenge. Personally, Micah‘s recommendation has solidified a lesson I will definitely learn from. He’s now recommended the DI Eva Harris series, the DC Smith/Kings Lake Investigation series, and this one. I need to start following his recommendations blindly.

Okay, that personal note out of the way, let’s focus on the book—by mid-way through the opening scene, I was hooked—and had basically signed up for the trilogy. While not really being the same kind of scene, it evoked the same kind of feel as the opening of “Our Mrs. Reynolds” (the “if your hand touches metal, I swear, by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.” scene). That feeling continued to grow through the first book. I don’t think it deepened in the second book, but it didn’t falter.

I’ve already invoked Firefly, and this hit the pleasure center in the brain as that show did—also Kings of the Wyld and The Lies of Locke Lamora. I think the storytelling of this is more straightforward than Lynch’s, but there’s a similar vibe. The relationship between Royce and Hadrian is as tight as you’re going to find in the aforementioned works—they might as well be brothers (they’re closer than, say, the twins Caramon and Rastlin Majere). But they’re quick to add others as friends and allies—or even to their “family” group. Remarkably, this also extends to those they’d planned on killing at the first opportunity. This gives the whole book this warm glow of camaraderie that just augments the likability of all the characters—and the novel as a whole. I fully expect this to continue throughout the series.

The action is great, I loved the sword fights, in particular. We get character deaths that might as well be punches to the gut (when you don’t want to cheer them). The imagination showed in the magic system, the magical creatures, and the politics—between races, within the remnants of the human empire, and the ecclesiastical politics—are really well conceived and effectively portrayed. On that last point, I really want to stress how nicely (not perfectly, but good enough) Sullivan catches us up on hundreds of years of history and backstory without making the infodumps painful and/or dull. These villains are truly foul, and yes, it’s typically pretty clear who’s a White Hat and who’s a Black Hat from the initial meeting—but Sullivan also gives us some characters that could easily go either way before this series ends—possibly bouncing back and forth, too. I relish a good combination like that.

In a very real sense, there’s almost nothing that someone who’s read/watched a handful of fantasy series hasn’t been exposed to before. It’s the way that Sullivan has assembled these tried and true elements that is going to make you happy—that and the characters. Not just Hadrian and Royce, but especially Hadrian and Royce. Their banter alone would be enough to sign me up for two more books.

I think I’m in danger of just finding new ways to say that I really dug this work without adding anything worth reading, so I’m going to cut myself off. If you haven’t read this yet, and you enjoy a good fantasy adventure—this is me adding my voice to your friends who have probably already told you to read this. If you don’t have any friends who’ve given you that advice already, I’ll loan you a couple of mine.

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.

A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones: A Good Way to End the Trilogy (even if I don’t want it to end)

By

On November 23, 2022

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

A Hard Day for a HangoverA Hard Day for a Hangover

by Darynda Jones

DETAILS:
Series: Sunshine Vicram, #3
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 352 pg.
Read Date: November 16-19, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

What’s A Hard Day for a Hangover About?

Wow, this is hard to do. This is the third book in a trilogy, so let’s start off with this—all the ongoing storylines are progressing—barrelling to some sort of conclusion, we get to know everyone a little better, we see the ramifications and ripple effects of the deaths, arrests, plots, and everything else from book 1 and 2, secrets are revealed, lives are changed, and….well, it’s a third book. A lot happens, many things end, and some things start.

There are a couple of new/book-specific plotlines: the town flasher gets stabbed by an unlikely weapon; a prisoner escapes from state custody, which leads to some uncomfortable questions for Sherrif Vicram; someone breaks into the home of one of the town’s elderly residents (and she wants it covered up); a young woman is found beaten and hanging on for dear life—and she may not be the first woman in that situation; and a group of grade schoolers starts a boy band (you won’t believe which of those storylines intersect).

All in all, this is a bad week for Sunny to start hungover.

Hot Ones

I’m not a die-hard fan, but my wife and I watch a lot of Hot Ones—and we frequently buy and use the sauces we see on the show. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you should fix that, and this illustration won’t make much sense. Sorry about that.

When I’m eating those sauces, I generally prefer the ones that are in the 1-3 slots, but occasionally, I can enjoy up to a 5 (and, yes, I’ve eaten sauces in all 10 spots—and have consumed “The Last Dab” more than once). If you convert Hot Ones‘s sauces into sex scenes in books, I think you’d find my tastes for those pretty well align. Keep things mild, close the door before things go too far, and let these people have some privacy.

Jones clearly has no designs to do anything like that. This book (like the rest of the series) is definitely not erotica—but it’s far too spicy for my taste. It’s not so distasteful that I have to stop reading, but my skim-reflex does kick in. As I said when I talked about A Good Day for Chardonnay, All I could think of as I read those sections was, “My mom is going to read this.” She’s going to read it because I bought her the first book. Not only is she going to read this book, but she’s also going to know that I read those scenes. And then I wanted to burst into flames.

I would guess that there are fewer spicey scenes in this book, but they rank higher on the Scoville scale. That’s going to please some (most?) fans, but others should know that going in.

Too Much?

Like the previous two books, Jones keeps the action jumping back and forth between Sunny and Auri, from case to case, or from case to personal arc constantly. And every time you think you’re about to settle into one of the stories for a while, she yanks the focus from you to something else (quite possibly something you’d forgotten was going on). There are times I felt like a lab dropped into a herd of squirrels, never sure what I should be focused on because there were so many things to watch.

And, on the whole, I found this as effective and fun as before. I don’t think Jones could write a boring story, but I’m not sure because she never gives you the chance to start to get bored with a storyline, before she changes things.

But…I’m not sure it was the right choice for this book. She’d given us so many great characters, so many wonderful ideas and plots, plus the new ones we that she introduced in this novel. I think it was just too much. There were (at least) two great characters that we never got to see this whole novel—they were mentioned, but the life-changing nature of what transpired in the storyline they’re attached to could’ve used their presence. Mostly, I’m bothered because one of them was one of the brightest rays of sunshine in the series (and in this series, that’s saying something).*

* I take that back. Sort of. One of the two I’m thinking of shows up for one scene. The fact that I remembered this just before publishing both illustrates what I said about this being overstuffed and undercuts my complaint.

Then there are storylines that seem to be given short-shrift—I can’t get into specifics without spoilers—but there were a couple of storylines that we’d spent so much time over the previous two books that I expected something major to occur here—but we get token bits of instead. That’s largely true for some of the storylines introduced in these pages, too.

Still, there’s just so much happening—so much to enjoy and get caught up in—that other than the absence of that bright ray of sunshine I mentioned, I didn’t notice and/or care about this until I sat down to think about and write about the book. I do think that this novel could’ve benefited from another 70-100 pages to give us all the characters readers expect to see and give adequate space for all the storylines. But in 350 pages for Jones to accomplish all that she does is an impressive feat and I don’t want to complain about that.

I guess I’m just feeling like someone who goes to a concert for a favorite band and they don’t play as many of their hits that you wanted them to, just most of them—and seemed to cut off the encore a little sooner than you’d hoped.

So, what did I think about A Hard Day for a Hangover?

I had such a blast with this. I seriously didn’t want it to end—not just because of what I talked about in the last section—but unless this trilogy spawns a sequel or becomes a longer series, this is the end of the road for these characters. I don’t want to be done with them—especially not Auri and her friends. We’ve gone so far with all of these characters and I want to see what happens to them next.

That doesn’t seem fair to this book—it’s funny, it’s charming, it’s sweet—probably sweeter than the rest just because of where various storylines resolve. Even the silly raccoon storyline will elicit a few “awwww”s. The banter between Sunny and Auri is as great as ever—ditto for Quincy and Sunny. I don’t need plots, Jones can just release occasional 30-40 page collections of conversations between those pairs every now and then as they go about their daily lives, and I’ll buy every one.

The mysteries were resolved nicely (and I got one pretty large surprise along the way)—although I thought the missing prisoner story was resolved a bit too neatly (space issue, I’m sure). It’d be easy to overlook most of those stories in the midst of all the other stuff going on, and that’d be a shame—Jones really can tell a mystery story well and I hope she returns to the genre soon.

I’m honestly at a loss for what to say beyond this—if you’ve read A Bad Day for Sunshine and A Good Day for Chardonnay, of course, you’re going to want to read this—and you’ll be so glad that you did. If you haven’t read the previous novels—do not start here, go back and start from A Bad Day and you’ll thank me. This book—like the series—is a little bit Moonlighting, it’s a little bit Veronica Mars, it’s a little bit Gilmore Girls, and it’s a lot of warm-hearted fun.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press 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.

The Iron Gate by Harry Connolly: The Twenty Palaces—Back and Better than Ever

By

On October 10, 2022

In Harry Connolly, Twenty Palaces, Urban Fantasy

The Iron GateThe Iron Gate

by Harry Connolly

DETAILS:
Series: Twenty Palaces, #4
Publisher: Radar Avenue Press
Publication Date: September 30, 2022
Format: E-book
Length: 390 pg.
Read Date: October 1, 2022

“My name is Ray Lilly,” I said to the empty room.

There it was. I’d remembered my name, and with it came the realization that I had come to this place, whatever this place was, to find someone—no idea who at the moment—and kill them.

Setting the Stage

It’s been a while since the last Twenty Palaces fiction was published (a novella 5 years ago, a novel more than twice that), let me give a quick review.

Magic is in the world, people who come across a book of it run the risk of opening a gate to another dimension and letting monsters (called predators) into our world. Once in, they won’t stop until our reality is gone.

Standing in the way is the Twenty Palaces Society—their peers track down the books and those who are using them and stop them. Almost always this is a lethal stopping. Annalise has been a peer for quite a while now, she gets the job done without really worrying too much about what stands between her and the target.

Ray Lilly is her wooden man. His job is to be a distraction, getting the attention of the troublemakers (human) and the predators focused on him, so Annalise can dispatch them. He’s not supposed to survive for long, but somehow he’s both lived and proven pretty effective when helping Annalise. Before this, he was a criminal—a car thief, freshly released from prison and trying to live a better life for the sake of the relatives who supported him.

What’s The Iron Gate About?

Annalise sends Ray into a building in a small coastal town to do some recon. They know a predator is in the building, but before she does something (probably destroying the building) he goes in—something happens and his ghost knife (the one spell Ray possesses) lands at her feet. Ray’s been taken by that predator but is still alive. She cancels the “apocalyptic tsunami of magic” she had planned for the building to wait for Ray to either die (which would get that tsunami rescheduled) or to escape.

Meanwhile, Ray finds himself in an Everytown, USA. Everyone calls him “Carl” and…ugh, I’m just going to copy and paste from the book description, because it’s more concise (and better) than what I’ve come up with:

[Ray] realizes that for some time now he’s been living as a puppet, his body and mind under the complete domination of an unknown power, and the townsfolk think this puppet is his real identity.

And that power can still seize control of Ray’s body at any time, forcing him and the people around him to playact in nonsense stories that center around a mysterious boy and his monster dog.

The town and its people shift and change, but only Ray seems to notice.

While she waits to find out what’s going on with Ray, Annalise devotes her time, energy, and money into keeping other people from getting access to that building. The last thing she wants is anyone else feeding that monster.

It’s the Little Things

Ray’s Ghost Knife could easily be the MVP of this series. Despite being a simple spell—and Ray’s version of it screams “bargain basement” in an endearing and charming way—is a surprisingly effective and reliable piece of magic. It turns out to be as versatile as a certain someone’s Sonic Screwdriver.

The way it’s utilized in this book is completely different than we’ve seen before, and is probably responsible for me spending more time thinking about it than I would’ve otherwise (although it’s always been a favorite thing in each book/story). As much as I enjoy the whole world and magic system that Connolly has given us, it might really be this tiny element—which almost seems to be a forgettable gadget when we first saw it—that could be his masterstroke. Just for what it’s allowed him to do in each setting.

Character Growth?

There are certain characters you run into in novels/series that are formed. They don’t display a lot of growth and development and that’s fine, they don’t need to. Most of the time, that’s a flaw in the writing/character design—but sometimes the character just is who they are and that’s good. Everyone around them changes and grows, but they remain a rock. Like a rock that Marcus Aurelias would talk about amidst the raging waves.

Annalise Powliss has always seemed like one of those characters to me—Ray and the civilians they were around would change, and Annalise would remain pretty much the same (maybe relaxing a bit and trusting Ray, but that’s it). But man, over the course of this novel, things happen to change her. The Annalise who drives away from this is not the one we met in Child of Fire.

I’ve liked her since the beginning, but this version takes less effort. More than that, I enjoyed watching the transformation (and how much she hated it when she noticed it happening, yet she rolled with it).

So, what did I think about The Iron Gate?

This book is everything I’ve thought this series could be—not that I thought the previous novels, novellas, short stories, etc. lacked anything, but this seemed to be a slightly better version of them. That’s probably because Connolly’s a better novelist now than he was when he started the series.

Given the set-up for this series, that extra-dimensional powers are about to break into this reality and devour everything—there’s an inherent darkness to the books. Ray, Annalise, and the rest of the Twenty Palaces are the equivalent of the proverbial little Dutch Boy, and they might be running out of fingers to hold back the destruction. There’s a sense of futility to what they’re about, every victory is Pyrrhic. That doesn’t take away from the gripping nature of the storytelling or the entertainment value of the novels—but you don’t shake the feeling of impending loss. I didn’t feel that this time—I have a few theories to explain it, but most feel inadequate, so I’m not going to share them. I don’t know if that’s a tweak Connolly’s making to the series, something tied to The Iron Gate‘s events, or if he’s setting us up for something. I’ll buy any of those explanations—or a combination.

I wonder a little bit if that makes this a more commercial novel than the previous ones. Hopefully—and hopefully word gets out about this book and it finds the audience it deserves.

There’s so much in this book to celebrate—the way Ray figures out what’s going on and how he tries to address it, everything Annalise gets up to, the way things wrap up, and the promise of the last chapter for what’s to come. Connolly is firing on all cylinders here, and it’s great to see. You’ve got unique magic, great action, flawed protagonists, unexpected humor, and a couple of compelling intertwined plots—what more can you ask for?

This would be a good jumping-on point for this series, Connolly gives you enough to get your footing in this world and overarching story while immersing you in this book’s plot (actually, he probably made this as accessible for new readers as the first book was). This is an Urban Fantasy for those who want something out-of-the norm, and is well worth your time.

4 1/2 Stars

PUB DAY REPOST: Hell of a Mess by Nick Kolakowski: A Whole Bunch of Plans that Don’t Come Together

By

On August 26, 2022

In Fiction, Love & Bullets Hookups, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

I also did a Q&A with the author about this book, give it a look!

Hell of a MessHell of a Mess

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Series: Love & Bullets, #4
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
Publication Date: August 26, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 234
Read Date: August 1, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

What’s Hell of a Mess About?

Well, isn’t that a tricky question? There is too much. Let me sum up. There are multiple people who start off intending to commit one crime and end up doing something entirely different.

Fiona’s been hired to steal something, and it’s a timely thing (and she’s not deterred by much), so despite an impending hurricane, she goes for it. Sure, the Inside Man tries to wave her off, but, again—she’s not deterred by much. Which is a shame—she should’ve paid attention to either the weather or the Inside Man. She ends up with a price on her head and multiple people around the city.

While she’s busy, Bill’s trying to prep for the storm in the home they’re squatting in when some police break in looking for the man who lives there. One thing leads to another, and they kidnap Bill, believing he can lead them to the millions his former employer had hidden away.

Thankfully. that assassin they thought Fiona killed at the end of A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps survived—readers knew that, but Fiona and Bill didn’t. Not only did he live, but he’s been keeping tabs on them. He’s been trying to live a different—less lethal—life and he has a chance to help them. Will he be enough?

(I have no idea if the above makes any sense—trying to cram it into three brief paragraphs doesn’t do the plot any favors. In the non-condensed version, it works. Trust me.)

The Unnamed Assassin

Up to the point where it looked like Fiona killed him (maybe a little sooner), I thought that the hitman who was sent after Bill in the first book was the protagonist. His is the only first-person perspective we get through the series—almost like he’s relaying what he knows and hears about this crazy couple while he’s dealing with his own problems like they’re a diversion for him.

His personal arc is very different from theirs—they claim to be trying to get out and live a straight life, if only they get one more decent score to set them up. The unnamed assassin is going a different path, he’s still a violent criminal, but like Jules Winnfield, he’s looking for something more. There are lines he won’t cross anymore (he seems to be making those rules up on the fly, but at least he has them.

As you can probably tell, I find it difficult to articulate his development and role in the series—but using him (sparingly, on the whole) and his arc throughout in juxtaposition to Fiona and Bill adds a layer to these books that few authors would have utilized, but make the whole thing better.

Be sure to check out my Q&A with Kolakowski (posting later today) for more about him.

Unanswered Questions

The thing that really kicks off the Fiona storyline is her stumbling across something she wasn’t expecting while discovering the thing she came to steal wasn’t there. Her discovery of the other nefarious action—and the way she prevented it from being completed*—is what starts the manhunt for her, more than the attempted heist. If she’d just walked away, I think it’s likely no one would’ve come after her.

* It is so tricky to discuss this obliquely.

Then when it comes time for Fiona to go save Bill, that storyline is dropped. Which is actually fine and good, because ultimately what it’s replaced by is more interesting. But in the back of my mind couldn’t stop asking—and, a week later, still can’t—what happened? What led up to Fiona’s discovery? What happened after she and the unnamed killer ran off to rescue Bill?

Typically, leaving these threads hanging would annoy me enough that I’d downgrade a novel over it—but Kolakowski pulls it off. If you’re going to abandon a plotline, this is the way to do it.

That said, I’d pony up twice the typical Shotgun Honey novella price today to get Love & Bullets #5 if it picks up right after this to tell the rest of that story. Maybe thrice.

So, what did I think about Hell of a Mess?

The previous three installments were novellas, but this is a novel, clocking in at 50-100 pages longer than the rest. And it didn’t feel like it at all. It was the same adrenaline-fueled, not-quite-frenzied pace and was over before I was ready for it to be. My daily schedule kept this from being a one-sitting read, but I think I could’ve done it in one sitting without realizing it.

This is pulpy fun. There’s action, there’s heart, there’s comedy (some subtle, some absolutely not), there’s a lot of violence, and you can’t forget the bunch of heartbroken saps that are at the center of things. They’re crooks and killers that really seem like decent people when you stack them up next to the nastier crooks and killers they can’t stop encountering. In the middle of all that chaos (and you can’t forget the chaos of the storm), there’s hope, forgiveness, and love. And who can’t use a little of that?

I don’t know if Kolakowski is going to come back to these characters in the future—I’d be content with what he’s given already, but I also know that I’d jump on any future installments, too. I encourage you to do the same.

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.

Reposting Just Cuz: The Last Adam by Brandon D. Crowe

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On August 14, 2022

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

The Last AdamThe Last Adam: A Theology of the Obedient Life of Jesus in the Gospels

by Brandon D. Crowe

Paperback, 215 pg.
Baker Academic, 2017

Read: February 19 – March 19, 2017


I just don’t know how to sum up this book succinctly honestly. After a few attempts that are best never seen by anyone, I decided that no one does it better than Crowe does in the first three paragraphs:

What is the purpose and significance of the life and ministry of Jesus in the Gospels? At one level, this may seem like an obvious question. The Gospels are all about Jesus. Moreover, given the structure of each of the four Gospels, it is difficult to miss the central role played by the Passion Narratives. And yet there is much more in the Gospels beyond the Passion Narratives. Jesus is amazingly active. He preaches, heals, exorcises, prays, rebukes, forgives, calls, authorizes, confounds, challenges, rejoices, weeps, blesses, curses, prophesies, and more. In addition, he consistently draws attention to himself as he does these things.

And then there are the Christmas stories (that is, the infancy narratives). These are among the more familiar parts of the Gospels in today’s culture. But what is the relationship between the infancy narratives and salvation? Jesus appears to be quite passive lying in the manger as he is adored by shepherds, and we do not find him to be very active when the magi come and prostrate themselves before him in Matthew 2. But can we look even to the infancy of Jesus and say that Jesus was somehow already beginning to accomplish something of significance? To ask this question is to lead us back to the driving question of this volume, since Jesus did not bypass infancy, childhood, adolescence, or adulthood on his way to the cross. Why? What was it about the life of Jesus that was necessary for salvation—from the manger to the cross and everything in between? Do the Evangelists themselves give us any indications that this is a question they have in view as they write their Gospels? I will argue that they do.

In this volume I will argue that we find a shared perspective among the diversity of the four Gospels that the obedient life of Jesus—in its entirety—is vicarious and salvific in character. More specifically, I will argue that Jesus is portrayed in the Gospels as the last Adam whose obedience is necessary for God’s people to experience the blessings of salvation. In pursuit of this thesis, I will consider what the Gospels themselves say about the lifelong obedience of Jesus, which concomitantly involves considering how Jesus’s life and ministry are related to his passion. By concentrating on the Gospels I do not intend to imply that these are the only documents in the New Testament that speak to this issue. I do believe, however, that a focus on the Gospels qua Gospels is important because of the way they narrate the life of Jesus, and because their testimony to the significance of Jesus’s life for salvation has often not been given sufficient attention. Thus a sub-aim of this book is to help us read and interpret the Gospels theologically.

So, there’s his aim, rather, there are his aims. How does he go about it? Here’s the Table of Contents to give you a look at how he’s approaching his arguments (yeah, I’m quoting a lot here, but you try to tackle this book in a blog post rather than a dozen or so page review and see how easy it is):

1. A Tale of Two Adams in the History of Interpretation
2. The Last Adam and the Son of Man in the Gospels
3. The Last Adam as the Obedient Son of God
4. The Last Adam and the Fulfillment of Scripture
5. The Glory of the Last Adam in the Gospel of John
6. The Last Adam and the Kingdom of Righteousness
7. The Death and Resurrection of the Last Adam
8. The Last Adam and Salvation: Theological Synthesis and Conclusions

This is primarily an exegetical work — dealing with the text of the Gospels directly. But Crowe leans upon historical and systematic theology as well (especially in Chapter 8). Outside of Chapter 5, he’s primarily dealing with the Synoptics — but not exclusively. It is not impossible to read for the dedicated layman — I’ve read more difficult works in the last few months, but it’s not something you can skim with profit. There are issues that I’m not sure I understand the purpose of addressing, as I’m not aware of all of the academic controversies he’s addressing, but even when you don’t understand everything about those portions of the book, you can still gain from working through them.

I learned a lot. I thought about passages in a way I haven’t before — seeing things in a new light, or at least a different light. I really don’t have a lot to say about this particular book — primarily I just wanted to post about it to maybe get a reader or two to look at it that might not have otherwise. I loved it, even when I had to work a little harder than usual to get what he was saying, it was worth it. This is the kind of thing the Church needs more of.

This is written from a Confessionally Reformed perspective, but not necessarily for the Confessionally Reformed any more than other Evangelical/Evangelical-ish readers. Although, the Reformed will be more used to thinking in some of the categories he uses than others (as Crowe indicates late in this interview).

This is not an easy read, this is not a quick read, but it is a good read (why do I feel like Lewis’ Mr. Beaver now?). This is theology that will lead to doxology — as well as more theological and doxological reflection and study. I wasn’t sure what I expected to get out of this book, but Crowe delivered it and more. I’m not doing a good job summing things up here, just get this book and read it (as well as all the books Crowe writes that you can afford, I’m pretty sure I never got around to posting about his book on the General Epistles which was almost as good as this one (and easier to read)).

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Hell of a Mess by Nick Kolakowski: A Whole Bunch of Plans that Don’t Come Together

By

On August 8, 2022

In Fiction, Love & Bullets Hookups, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

Hell of a MessHell of a Mess

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Series: Love & Bullets, #4
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
Publication Date: August 26, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 234
Read Date: August 1, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

What’s Hell of a Mess About?

Well, isn’t that a tricky question? There is too much. Let me sum up. There are multiple people who start off intending to commit one crime and end up doing something entirely different.

Fiona’s been hired to steal something, and it’s a timely thing (and she’s not deterred by much), so despite an impending hurricane, she goes for it. Sure, the Inside Man tries to wave her off, but, again—she’s not deterred by much. Which is a shame—she should’ve paid attention to either the weather or the Inside Man. She ends up with a price on her head and multiple people around the city.

While she’s busy, Bill’s trying to prep for the storm in the home they’re squatting in when some police break in looking for the man who lives there. One thing leads to another, and they kidnap Bill, believing he can lead them to the millions his former employer had hidden away.

Thankfully. that assassin they thought Fiona killed at the end of A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps survived—readers knew that, but Fiona and Bill didn’t. Not only did he live, but he’s been keeping tabs on them. He’s been trying to live a different—less lethal—life and he has a chance to help them. Will he be enough?

(I have no idea if the above makes any sense—trying to cram it into three brief paragraphs doesn’t do the plot any favors. In the non-condensed version, it works. Trust me.)

The Unnamed Assassin

Up to the point where it looked like Fiona killed him (maybe a little sooner), I thought that the hitman who was sent after Bill in the first book was the protagonist. His is the only first-person perspective we get through the series—almost like he’s relaying what he knows and hears about this crazy couple while he’s dealing with his own problems like they’re a diversion for him.

His personal arc is very different from theirs—they claim to be trying to get out and live a straight life, if only they get one more decent score to set them up. The unnamed assassin is going a different path, he’s still a violent criminal, but like Jules Winnfield, he’s looking for something more. There are lines he won’t cross anymore (he seems to be making those rules up on the fly, but at least he has them.

As you can probably tell, I find it difficult to articulate his development and role in the series—but using him (sparingly, on the whole) and his arc throughout in juxtaposition to Fiona and Bill adds a layer to these books that few authors would have utilized, but make the whole thing better.

Be sure to check out my Q&A with Kolakowski (posting later today) for more about him.

Unanswered Questions

The thing that really kicks off the Fiona storyline is her stumbling across something she wasn’t expecting while discovering the thing she came to steal wasn’t there. Her discovery of the other nefarious action—and the way she prevented it from being completed*—is what starts the manhunt for her, more than the attempted heist. If she’d just walked away, I think it’s likely no one would’ve come after her.

* It is so tricky to discuss this obliquely.

Then when it comes time for Fiona to go save Bill, that storyline is dropped. Which is actually fine and good, because ultimately what it’s replaced by is more interesting. But in the back of my mind couldn’t stop asking—and, a week later, still can’t—what happened? What led up to Fiona’s discovery? What happened after she and the unnamed killer ran off to rescue Bill?

Typically, leaving these threads hanging would annoy me enough that I’d downgrade a novel over it—but Kolakowski pulls it off. If you’re going to abandon a plotline, this is the way to do it.

That said, I’d pony up twice the typical Shotgun Honey novella price today to get Love & Bullets #5 if it picks up right after this to tell the rest of that story. Maybe thrice.

So, what did I think about Hell of a Mess?

The previous three installments were novellas, but this is a novel, clocking in at 50-100 pages longer than the rest. And it didn’t feel like it at all. It was the same adrenaline-fueled, not-quite-frenzied pace and was over before I was ready for it to be. My daily schedule kept this from being a one-sitting read, but I think I could’ve done it in one sitting without realizing it.

This is pulpy fun. There’s action, there’s heart, there’s comedy (some subtle, some absolutely not), there’s a lot of violence, and you can’t forget the bunch of heartbroken saps that are at the center of things. They’re crooks and killers that really seem like decent people when you stack them up next to the nastier crooks and killers they can’t stop encountering. In the middle of all that chaos (and you can’t forget the chaos of the storm), there’s hope, forgiveness, and love. And who can’t use a little of that?

I don’t know if Kolakowski is going to come back to these characters in the future—I’d be content with what he’s given already, but I also know that I’d jump on any future installments, too. I encourage you to do the same.

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.

On Eden Street (Audiobook) by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson: Grainger is at the Top of His Game for this one

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On July 28, 2022

In Audiobook, DC Smith & Kings Lake, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

On Eden StreetOn Eden Street

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: A Kings Lake Investigation, #2
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication Date: April 28, 2020
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length:10 hrs., 5 min.
Read Date: July 25-27, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

What’s On Eden Street About?

Sure, in Songbird we got a glimmer of what to expect from DCI Cara Freeman’s Murder Squad, but this book opens on the first day with the entire team in their office. They expect to get to know each other, spend some time chatting, hear something from Freeman and their new DI about how things are going to go for them—but that doesn’t happen. Before they can much further than hearing everyone’s name, they’re called to investigate a murder. A homeless man’s body has been discovered blocking the entrance to a restaurant downtown.

Instead of through awkward conversations, this squad gets to know each other by seeing them at work—canvassing for witnesses, looking for security cameras, dealing with the officers on-scene, and so on.

They will eventually uncover a connection to a previous case the King’s Lake Central detectives worked on—and encounter a witness that DS Chris Waters encountered in yet another case.

But mostly what they’ll learn is that nothing in this case—nothing—is what it seems. From a blind woman having to “rescue” the detectives from a dog guarding the body, to the identity of the victim, to how easily things can go astray when a helpful and efficient office worker does their job just a little too well…this new squad is going to get off to a very bumpy start.

The Murder Squad

Oh…I really like this new group. There are a bunch of new characters brought in here and we don’t get to spend enough time with them. But I appreciated what time we got with them—I think going forward this is going to be a group of characters I really enjoy—more than the King’s Lake detective squad and the petty rivalries (although those rivalries aren’t gone as is clear in the beginning of this book).

We get to know DCI Cara Freeman better as we spend more time with her—and as Chris gets to work with/evaluate her more. I’m seriously enjoying her.

There’s one new character (name withheld to prevent spoilers/lack thereof) in particular that we get less of than the rest. I think it was purposeful, and I can’t wait to see why that character is on board and what Grainger is going to eventually do with her. I trust that all will be revealed, and I’m super curious.

But the best new addition is the new Detective Inspector. Over the last handful of years, I’ve met a lot of fictional DIs, and I don’t think I’ve met one like DI Green. We don’t get to know him incredibly well or anything, we don’t know what makes him tick yet. But the ticking is a lot of fun to watch.

This is primarily Chris Waters’ series now, however, and we spend the most time with him—and I couldn’t be happier with that. It’s great to watch him develop as a detective and as a person. It’s similar to the evolution of Eve Ronin—this isn’t about the investigations of a seasoned pro, it’s about watching a promising young detective fulfill that promise.

Shadow of D.C.

I’m not sure at this stage of the series who’s having a harder time letting go of DC Smith—the detectives of King’s Lake, the readers, or Grainger.

I liked the way that DC himself appeared in this novel—it felt very natural. And, of course, Chris is going to think about his mentor a lot, as are old colleagues. But it just felt like we got too much about him overall. Too many callbacks, references to other cases, etc. But if you ran down a list of each reference/appearance of Smith in this book, and asked if they should be cut individually, I’d say no to each one—they fit, helped moved things along, served the character and moment…but the cumulative weight of them was too much.

Does that make sense? Any Grainger fans out there have some input for me?

Gildart Jackson’s Work

I don’t have anything new to say about Jackson at this point. I thoroughly enjoy his work, I can’t imagine listening to one of this series with anyone else, nor do I think I’d enjoy reading one on my own half as much.

So, what did I think about On Eden Street?

Grainger had a healthy agenda going into this: introduce and begin to establish several new characters, help the existing characters settle into new roles, help us get a better handle on Freeman (who is both new and established at this point), touch base with DC, start a new personal arc for Chris, and, in between all that, tell a good story about a murder investigation. And he succeeds so well on all fronts.

Long-time readers/listeners of this series are used to the way that Grainger will give a resolution/solution to the investigation that will fly against expectations—both of the detectives at the beginning of the book and most of what Police Procedural fans expect to see. It’s largely a given for this series. But to start with a dead homeless veteran as this opens and to end where we do? Nope. No way did anyone see >98% of this coming.

But by the time the book closes, there is simply no other way for things to have gone. Grainger’s at the top of his game here, and it’s to be celebrated. My friends and/or readers—please take my advice and start reading these books, you don’t know what you’re missing.

4 1/2 Stars

20 Books of Summer

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, opinions are my own.

You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World by Alan Noble: Correcting Our Understanding of Humanity

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On July 17, 2022

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

You Are Not Your OwnYou Are Not Your Own:
Belonging to God in an Inhuman World

by Alan Noble

DETAILS:
Publisher: IVP
Publication Date: October 11, 2021
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 232 pg.
Read Date:  May 29-June 12, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org


I’ve tried to write this post 4 times since I finished it—and I’ve struck out each time, because I keep trying to interact with and reflect on Noble’s arguments—because there’s a lot to chew on, a lot to commend, and a great deal to unpack. But that’s not what I’m supposed to be doing here—I’m supposed to talk about the book, talk about how Noble wrote it, and what I thought about it—sure that involves some reflection on the content, but it’s not supposed to be my focus (as much as I might like it to be). So, I’m going to take a more surface-level approach, just so I can get something out.

(I said something similar with Winslow’s The Border recently—you’re probably not going to find a lot of people discussing these two books in similar fashions anywhere else)

The Back of the Book Description

(from ivpress.com)

“You are your own, and you belong to yourself.”

This is the fundamental assumption of modern life. And if we are our own, then it’s up to us to forge our own identities and to make our lives significant. But while that may sound empowering, it turns out to be a crushing responsibility—one that never actually delivers on its promise of a free and fulfilled life, but instead leaves us burned out, depressed, anxious, and alone. This phenomenon is mapped out onto the very structures of our society, and helps explain our society’s underlying disorder.

But the Christian gospel offers a strikingly different vision. As the Heidelberg Catechism puts it, “I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” In You Are Not Your Own, Alan Noble explores how this simple truth reframes the way we understand ourselves, our families, our society, and God. Contrasting these two visions of life, he invites us past the sickness of contemporary life into a better understanding of who we are and to whom we belong.

Acting as If We Are Our Own

The part of the argument from the first paragraph takes the first four chapters and the majority of the book. I guess you could consider this the “Here’s What’s Wrong and Why” part—if we are our own (as we’re told) several problems ensue—personally, culturally, and ecclesially. We (and Noble includes most of the American Church here) have a faulty anthropology, and that results in many problems.

Noble explains where he sees the faulty anthropology leading with compassion and sensitivity, while not pulling any of his punches.

Understanding We Belong to Christ

But for the Christian, our faith begins with the realization that we are not our own (as explained in the words of Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1). Noble points the believer to recalibrate their understanding of human nature—particularly redeemed human nature—to begin to understand what being the possession of Christ means to our life, our future, our identity.

The strength of this section comes from Noble’s honesty:

At this point you might expect me to introduce my “Five Steps for Changing Your Life by Accepting That You Are Not Your Own.” But as this is a work of nonfiction, I won’t be doing that.

Instead, he gives some advice, based on his own experiences and observations—but he offers no guarantees. I found his honesty refreshing and thought there was a lot of wisdom to his advice, but I was mostly impressed by the humble nature of the approach—advice, not a program or techniques.

So, what did I think about You Are Not Your Own?

I really liked this—I thought it was insightful and helpful. Noble’s diagnosis and advice were sound—they seemed to match up with the world around us and the problems we see. More importantly, he points to the One whose grace, mercy, and care offer any true hope and help in this broken and dying world.

Noble’s writing flows—he’s engaging, compassionate, and relatable. It’s easy to understand even the more complex points he’s making, and his illustrations give the reader plenty to hang on to.

I think Noble’s book would serve as a great companion piece to Kapic’s You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News*. Both of these authors remind the reader of our place in the world, and why we’re there—so we can respond in dependence and trust accordingly.

* Meador’s What Are Christians For?: Life Together at the End of the World, and even the better parts of Thompson’s Growing Downward fit here, too, I think—just not as neatly.

I’ve already re-read parts of this book, and find myself chewing on it repeatedly—especially as I compare it to Kapic’s. I heartily recommend and encourage you to pick it up.

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, opinions are my own.

Movieland by Lee Goldberg: It’s No Walk in the Park for Eve Ronin

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On June 30, 2022

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

MovielandMovieland

by Lee Goldberg

DETAILS:
Series: Eve Ronin, #4
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date: June 20, 2022
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 329 pgs. 
Read Date: June 21-22, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

“It’s hard enough solving a case without the victim working against you.”

“Now you know how I feel.”

Eve walked alongside her sister across the parking lot. “What do you mean?”

“Patients almost never do what we tell them is best for their health and then complain when they just get sicker or their injuries don’t heal. It’s incredibly frustrating.”

“So you’re saying what we do is futile.”

“All it takes is one win, one life saved, and all the other bullshit doesn’t matter.”

What’s Movieland About?

The way that Lee Goldberg describes Malibu Creek State Park in this book makes ti seem like something he created just to have a setting for this book. Exhaustive research (Duck Duck Go +45 seconds) shows me that he didn’t make it up and that he barely scratched the surface of what a great place that must be. Sadly, if Goldberg has Eve Ronin and her partner, Duncan Pavone, at the Park, it can only mean one thing: someone’s been murdered there.

Before Eve got promoted and assigned to Lost Hills station, causing upheaval in Duncan’s life, he’d been trying to tie together a series of cases of shootings (at buildings, cars, that kind of thing) around the Park. He was convinced it they were related, but once he started mentoring Eve through high-profile murder cases, that got put on the back burner. But now, his gut tells him that those shootings and this shooting are related.

The LASD brass doesn’t want to hear it–they want the two focused on the murder and preventing the media storm that’s brewing around it–also, they want this all to come to a quick resolution so the Park can be reopened and people will be willing to use it again.

This is, of course, when things get complicated.

The Victim as a Hurdle

The victim’s girlfriend is an activist blogger well-known in the area for taking on developers, local politicians, celebrities–and the LASD. She was also injured in the attack. She might be the only person who is more skeptical of the Department than Eve. Zena’s convinced that her girlfriend either was killed to silence her or that Zena herself was the intended target and the wrong person was killed.

Zena doesn’t trust the Sherriff’s Department to find the murderer, she assumes they’re not that interested, either. She has her own list of suspects and lashes out at them on the blog she works for, muddying the waters and serving as a distraction to the avenues of investigation that Eve and Duncan want to pursue.

This is a great dynamic to see play out in the book–I don’t remember seeing this a lot in fiction, but seeing the way media attention (however well-intended) makes it hard for the police to do their job properly is a great way to ratchet up the tension.

Is Eve Learning?

“When I start investigating a homicide, I go all-in.”

“You become obsessed.”

“I become focused,” she said.

He shook his head. “You can’t sustain that, physically or emotionally. I keep telling you that. The way you’re going, I’ll outlive you.”

I’ve talked before about Eve’s reckless, pursue-the-case-at-all-costs mentality, and how that’s not sustainable–Duncan’s been on her for quite a while, too. From the way she reacts after this conversation, he might be getting through to her. Then again, action is her default position, so who knows how well it’ll stick.

She also might be paying attention to what he (and others) have been saying about the way she interacts with people, how she plays politics–and tries to apply it.

Basically, Eve’s learning. Goldberg said from the beginning that this was about a rookie detective learning, making mistakes (and we see the blowback from past mistakes here–as well as new ones), and growing into a seasoned detective. Bosch was fully formed when we met him. Ditto for John Rebus, Renee Ballard, Walt Longmire, Jesse Stone, and so on. We really don’t see that many detectives learning their trade. I love this aspect of it.

Frank Belson Redux?

“Is there a way to broach it that won’t offend all of them?”

“Nope, so I’ll handle it,” he said.

“Why you?”

Duncan got out of the car with a groan, clutching his right knee. “Because I’m lovable and retiring and you’re abrasive and sticking around.

I finally put my finger on it while reading this book–Duncan Pavone is Goldberg’s version of Sgt. Frank Belson, from Parker’s Spenser series without the cigar. He’s closer to Ron McLarty’s portrayal in Spenser: For Hire, actually. He’s a slob, getting food on every item of clothing, he doesn’t seem to be incredibly interested in the job, etc. But he doesn’t miss a thing, he’s doggedly stubborn, and will do what it takes to close a case. (he’s also quick to make a caustic and/or cynical comment, and will dole out unsolicited advice like it’s his life purpose).

Knowing that when this book opens that he was 2 weeks away from retirement (which makes him impervious to political pressures, incidentally) cast a shadow over everything in the novel. Eve’s a great character, but I’m really starting to think that Duncan’s the guy to watch in this series.

So, what did I think about Movieland?

“How old so I to be before people stop offering me life lessons?”

“It’s not age, it’s experience.”

“There’s another one,” Eve said, but with a smile, to show there was no bitterness or anger behind the remark.

“It won’t be long, Eve. You’ve crammed more experience into the last few months than most detectives I know have in decades.”

It shouldn’t be this way, but I always end up liking an Eve Ronin book more than I expect to going in–and I’m always champing at the bit for the next one. This is no exception. The Eve Ronin books are one of my favorites in the last couple of years. Movieland is the twistiest, most complex case she’s dealt with, there’s a harder edge to this novel, and fewer reasons to grin or chuckle.

That is not a complaint, it’s a description. Nor does it mean that this is harder to read–Goldberg doesn’t do that–the action moves quickly, his style is deceptively breezy, and the characters pop off the page.

At this point, I’m really invested in these characters and can’t wait to see what’s next for them.

The book also features someone who might be Michael Connelly’s most misguided fan. That was a nice little treat.

Readers of this series probably don’t need the encouragement to read this, but here it is. People who are looking for solid police procedurals with engaging characters and great plots would do well to hop on the Eve Ronin train now (or jump back to book one, Lost Hills).

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, opinions are my own.

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