Tag: 4 Stars Page 19 of 83

I’ve spent a couple of hours trying to say something about the third book in this trilogy, but haven’t come up with more than “this is good.” So I’m going to repost this (and then what I said about Book 2 later on) while I go back to the drawing board.

The Last Adventure of Constance Verity

by A. Lee Martinez
Series: Constance Verity, #1

Hardcover, 384 pg.
Saga Press, 2016

Read: September 8 -12, 2016

“I didn’t think you believed in jinxes,” said Tia.

Connie didn’t.

But she wasn’t so sure that jinxes didn’t believe in her, and they’d had a long, long time to build a grudge.

I go in to a Martinez book assuming I’ll like it, this one took less time than usual for me to know I liked it. Lines like that are just part of why.

Thanks to a gift from a fairy godmother, since she was 7, Constance Verity has been saving the world as she goes on unbelievable adventure after unbelievable adventure — she travels the galaxy, time, alternate realities and all over (and under) the Earth. She’s run into demons, aliens, wizards, killer robots, mad scientists and many more threats — and overcome them all. A couple of decades later, she’s starting to think that she’s missing out on something despite all the excitement. She’s missing out on being ordinary.

Haven’t you saved the world on multiple occasions?”

“That’s what people tell me, but I’m beginning to think that the world isn’t as fragile as all that. The universe got along just fine for billions of years without me. I don’t think it needs me to save it. I think it all works out about the same in the end. Sometimes, I like to think of myself with a dead-end job that I dislike, a husband who is letting himself go, and some ungrateful kids I take to soccer practice. It sounds dreary, but at least it would be my life.”

Connie doesn’t stop to consider if she’s really cut out for ordinary, but if anyone can rise to the challenge of normality, it’s Constance Verity.

So she and her ~~sidekick~~ best-friend, Tia, head out to get that normal life for her. Step 1: Kill her fairly godmother.

I really don’t know what to say about the book beyond this without getting into more details than I ought. I guess I could say a few things about character. Connie is a great character, for someone who’s lived a superhuman life, she’s really human. Tia is incredible — wise, funny, caring, a real good friend. The relationship between the two is almost perfect.

This is a typical Martinez — a strange combination of loony and thoughtful. You can laugh and then be struck by a profound thought within a couple of pages. This is a fun adventure (a handful, really), and a bit of a commentary on heroes, villains, tropes and themes in SF stories (particularly the pulp-ier variety).

This is the first installment in a series — which is something Martinez hasn’t done before — I have no clue how he’ll pull this off, the book ends like I’d expect a Martinez stand-alone to end, so I have no idea how he’s going to follow this up. But I cannot wait to see.

—–

4 Stars

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair: No case too tough. No case too crazy.

By HCNewton

On April 5, 2022

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Science Fiction

After you finish this, take a minute to go register for the Giveaway!

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire

by G.M. Nair

DETAILS:
Series: Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire, #1
Publisher: dS-dF
Publication Date: June 30, 2019
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 302 pg.
Read Date: March 30-April 1, 2022

What’s Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire About?

I have been dreading this day for a little bit now, because I have to answer this question, and I’m not sure I can. At one point, Stephanie Dyer describes their
experiences as:

It’s like Quantum Leap, but if Scott Bakula had a concussion.

I’m tempted to leave it there and move on, but you’re going to want a little more than that.

So, Michael Duckett shares an apartment with his best friend since childhood, Stephanie Dyer. Shares is being generous—he pays the rent, utilities, and food bills. Stephanie tries not to cause trouble for him. Sometimes.

Michael hates his/their apartment, his job, and his life in general. What he doesn’t hate is flirting with a particular woman at the laundromat. There’s really not much more to say about his life—until a woman accosts him on the way home from the laundromat, demanding that he takes her case. He’s confused, and she presents an advertisement for his detective agency.

He has no idea what she’s talking about or where the advertisement came from. Stephanie doesn’t, either. Soon they’re hired to look into a woman’s disappearance by that woman. Somehow, she knew she was about to disappear and wants them to find out what’s about to happen to her/has happened to her by the time they get on the case.

Clear as mud? Yeah, I know.

Meanwhile, a grizzled detective is trying to take down a drug dealer—until he disappears in a way he can’t explain. It’s not long before he crosses paths with Duckett and Dyer and things get stranger for him (by this time, they’re already pretty strange for the detectives, but it gets worse for them, too).

The Multiverse of Madness

(with apologies to a certain franchise)

“That’s it?” Michael scowled. “It looks like you took a stopwatch and glued some extra stuff on it.”

Matteo slammed the box closed and yanked it away. “You make your own dimension hopping device on a grad school budget and see how it looks.”

Without giving too much away, the duo finds themselves bouncing from parallel universe to parallel universe—some have a slightly asynchronous timeline, others have bigger differences—some have differences that are so small, like people’s hair color.

The explanation for both their travel and the research that led to it being possible (and how they’ll stop, I should add) is slightly more coherent than a certain someone’s “wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey” speech. Coherent, but goofy and entertainingly explained. The jumping from universe to universe is a great joke delivery mechanism, Nair was able to let his imagination run wild here—and it was worth it.

The Humor

“You’re kidding me. You’re traveling across dimensions using black holes?”

“Yeah. Plus I made the whole thing light up blue. Took me a whole weekend to figure out how to do that. I think it looks cool,” Matteo was quite pleased with himself.

Speaking of joke delivery mechanisms—Nair has quite a few of them at work here. Some of the humor is quiet and observational, some is the classic situational kind of thing that comes from the Odd Couple-esque pairing of Michael and Stephanie, and then there’s the ridiculous SF/Multiverse stuff—I don’t even know how to describe that.

This story felt like the love child of Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency and Comedy Central’s Corporate, but sweeter. The humor is sophisticated and juvenile, subtle and broad, cynical and sentimental. Not only was the story unpredictable, but so was the humor—Nair almost never went where you thought he would go with the jokes.

So, what did I think about Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire?

“I can’t believe there are people who actually want to hire a couple of detectives with no experience.”

“Don’t doubt the power of internet marketing,” Stephanie said.

“Also, the ad said we’ve been in business since 1989.”

“We were born in 1989.”

She shrugged, “So, technically, I guess. It’s true.”

This was just absurd (in the best way). It’s not novel to combine any of the genres involved in the novel, but the way Nair does it makes it feel fresh and original—why didn’t anyone think of this before?

Both Stephanie and Michael are hard to like sometimes—okay, Michael is difficult to like as a person more than sometimes—mostly you take him because Stephanie likes him. Actually, just about every character is realistically human and flawed—very flawed. That’s not something you often get in such a comic novel, it’s nice when you do.

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire is a great start to this trilogy—it’s an SF romp with just a touch of Detective Fiction. Once things get moving, it’s one of the faster-paced books I’ve read this year, and the jokes keep the story moving well. You’re not going to find a lot of books like this one—you’d better pounce on it (and the sequel) when you can.

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.

My thanks to Escapist Book Tours for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the novel) they provided. The opinions expressed by me are honest and my own.

Payback Is Forever by Nick Kolakowski: There’s a lot of opportunity in doom.

By HCNewton

On April 4, 2022

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

Payback Is Forever

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
Publication Date: March 24, 2022
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 170 pg.
Read Date: March 29-30, 2022

What’s Payback Is Forever About?

Miller’s a thief, a fairly successful one. This comes in handy because he’s not as successful when it comes to gambling. He needs to pay a debt, so he takes a job with a couple of strangers. They betray him, the job goes wrong, and Miller (and the cash) escape without his partners. They don’t know his name or home base, so he figures he’s safe for a little bit.

He’s soon contacted by a figure from his past, Rick Redfield:

“I’ve entered into an arrangement with some… men of violence, shall we say. Which means I need the services of the most violent man I know. Which is you.”

“I’m no bodyguard.”

“No. You’re capable of terrible acts, and that’s the necessary thing here. Besides, bodyguards ask too many questions.”

With the promise of a large payday on the horizon, Miller’s in—and soon finds himself involved with some Nazis who escaped from Germany in the waning days of the war, Nazi hunters, and a few more dead bodies than Miller was prepared to deal with.

Supporting Cast

Miller and most of the characters that he deals with are of a fairly typical sort—you’ll recognize the types easily. They’re interestingly-drawn and well-used, but they’re types.

Then there’s Jill Reilly—she’s Miller’s love interest and is a secretary in the Medical Examiner’s office. Given the proper circumstances, she’d probably make a pretty good Examiner herself—but between the education, she’d need, and the rampant chauvinism in the office, that’s probably not going to happen. Reilly feels like she’s got one foot in the Girl Friday type, but with a rebellious streak that keeps the other foot out of the type.

The other character that stands out as not fitting into a typical mold is Scott, Redfield’s friend who acts as a liaison to the outside world when Redfield needs to stay out of the light. He’s a timid, uncertain man—who needs to use a ventriloquist’s dummy, Colonel Longshanks, to communicate those things that are too much for Scott to handle. Miller has no patience for either of them—but can force himself to work with Scott. The Colonel on the other hand…

There was a moment where I wondered if Scott/Colonel Longshanks would over-take Monkey Man as my favorite strange Kolakowski character. He didn’t, but that he was in the running says something about the character development in this short novel.

The Hidden Agenda

If what I’ve described seems pretty straight-forward, it is. If anyone’s read Kolakowski before, that’s not how he rolls. Right?

There is something else afoot here. I don’t know that it added much (if anything), but it didn’t hurt anything either. Maybe if I was in a different mood when I read this I’d have a more positive take on the “something else,” but right now, I can take it or leave it.

The material with Miller, the Nazis, Nazi Hunters is enough to focus on and keep you entertained. If you happen to get the rest of it, that’s gravy.

So, what did I think about Payback Is Forever?

This feels like the kind of pulpy thrillers from the 1960s and 70s I’ve read—just in a post-WWII setting with a dash of Nathanael West thrown in. It’s a surprisingly effective combination, and I’d have read another 200 pages of it without blinking. Although I do think this lean, mean, streamlined approach is far more effective.

Miller’s absolutely the kind of character you want in this setting—his morality is stuck in the gray—it’s a pretty dark gray, but he’s not a full-on villain. And he’s thinking about reforming, at least a little.

There were two scenes—or parts of scenes—that make this more than a quick, fun read. There’s a visual in the last big gunfight that’s so ridiculous, so comical, in the middle of a big action scene that makes you want a film version immediately (but it may be better in your imagination).

Before that there’s another scene that I can’t describe—you start it assuming X might happen, and yet when X does happen you still sit up and pay attention because you can’t believe that Kolakowski actually did that. And then over the next 3 or 4 paragraphs, the shocking scene becomes something so unexpected that you have to read it a couple of times to make sure you read it right. Cackling while you read it every time makes the comprehension a little difficult.

A solid, stylish thriller with Kolakowski’s style and sense of character is exactly what I needed to read last week, and Payback is Forever delivered. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

4 Stars

Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us by Michael Horton

By HCNewton

On April 3, 2022

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Recovering Our Sanity:
How the Fear of God Conquers
the Fears that Divide Us

by Michael Horton

DETAILS:
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date:  February 14, 2022 
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 320 pg.
Read Date: February 27-March 13, 2022

Even in more conservative contexts today, the reading of a “fear of God” passage is often quickly followed up with an explanation, dying the death of a thousand qualifications. The upshot is that fear doesn’t really mean “fear.” In such widespread dismissals we are not only failing to give God his due but are depriving ourselves and each other of the only antidote to the crippling fears that haunt us.

…The fear of God leads to trust, and trust bears the fruit of the Spirit, producing a harvest of blessings for ourselves and for others. Fear really is worship— we fear what we believe is ultimate, what we think has the last word over our lives.

What’s Recovering Our Sanity About?

In Part 1, “The Fear to End All Fears,” the goal is to remind readers about the Biblical virtue of the Fear of God—what it means, how it contrasts to other fears, and how when our focus is on the Fear of God, other fears lose significance and power.

In Part 2, “Facing Our Fears with Eyes Raised to God,” Horton puts shoe leather to this understanding of Fear of God vs. other fears. He looks at our fears of death, suffering, disease, the future—and, perhaps most importantly, other human beings.

Confronting Our Fear of Each Other

Once we regain the fear of God— indeed, of Christ as well (he’s not just the friend of sinners but the judge of all)—and face up to who we are before him, coming with empty hands to receive his Son, we’ll begin to lose this fear of the world. We will not be embarrassed when the unkempt widow sings off-key with the gusto of heartfelt conviction or when the building is drab or if we have never had a brush with greatness and our pastor has never been photographed with anybody in the news. The faithful preaching of the Word, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper; the gracious care, encouragement, and warnings of elders and the wider body; the extension of Christ’s love for temporal needs through the deacons; common prayers, singing, confession of our faith and of our sins, Christ’s declaration of forgiveness, and even God’s greeting at the beginning and his benediction at the end— all these will seem so marvelously familiar and new to us at the same time. And then we will begin to not need the world’s affection any longer.

Roughly the last third of the book is taken up by the third part of Part 2, “Confronts Our Fear of Each Other.” In this Horton talks about the fear we have of other Christians and other people outside the Church—there’s a focus on social and political issues and how American Christians ought to react to them instead of how we tend to. Horton avoids a “Left Wing” or “Republican” response—finding positive things on both sides of an issue (many of which shouldn’t find binary responses, but it seems impossible for Americans to do anything else), as well as things to critique on both sides.

Horton goes out of his way not to demonize those who disagree, but reminds his readers that there are those on each side who are fellow image-bearers, and all need Christ more than they need to be corrected or encouraged about their stances on any issue. The Church’s calling is to set aside the focus on the temporal and point others to the eternal and the world to come, while showing our gratitude for Christ’s work by serving those around us.

This sub-section is worth the price of the book (not that the rest was a waste).

So, what did I think about Recovering Our Sanity?

My goal in this book is not to take sides in cultural and political debates. Instead, it is to raise our eyes to heaven so that our sanity can be restored, as Nebuchadnezzar experienced in Daniel 4.

There were more than a few times where I wondered if Horton had lost track of the thesis of the book—I found each chapter, each topic that he covered very valuable and was impressed by the wisdom that Horton offered.

But I was wrong about that—and by the end, it was easier to see where he was going all along. Horton’s been one of those writers that have been helpful to me for a couple of decades now and it’s good to see that hasn’t changed.

There’s a lot to chew on here, and as I said, a lot of wisdom to be gleaned. I can’t imagine every reader is going to agree with everything he has to say (and I can’t believe that Horton expects that, either)—but his major points are sound, Biblical, and needed by the American Church so that we remember what our priorities are supposed to be.

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, opinions are my own.

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen: A Tale of Oil, Murder, and Land

By HCNewton

On March 22, 2022

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

Pay Dirt Road

by Samantha Jayne Allen

DETAILS:
Series: Annie McIntyre Mysteries, Volume 1
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: April 19, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 304 pg.
Read Date: March 21, 2022

What’s Pay Dirt Road About?

Annie just graduated from college and moves back to her hometown to decide her next move. That’s the generous way to look at it, anyway, we’ll get back to that in a bit. She’s waiting tables at a local diner—well, the local diner in Garnett, TX. It’s hard to say exactly how large Garnett is, but it’s not big. But given the nearby oil fields, there’s a lot of money as well as a lot of poverty in this smaller town.

Annie and her roommate/cousin spend a lot of their evenings drinking, frequently with others they graduated from high school with. One night they go to a bonfire at the home of one of Annie’s former classmates and unexpectedly run into a co-worker, Victoria. Victoria has overserved herself at this point and doesn’t show signs of slowing down. When Annie decides to leave, she tries to find Victoria but is told that she’s gone off with someone.

That’s the last anyone sees Victoria—the last anyone will admit to, anyway. Her body is found a few days later. Driven by guilt for abandoning her, Annie takes advantage of an offer from her grandfather—former sheriff, now a PI—to work for him and look into the case.

Annie

Annie is what many would call a deeply flawed character, but others would just say human. She’s trapped by her own insecurities as well as ego. She knows she could likely do well in law school—but it would be hard and risky. She could probably talk herself into the challenge, but failing means losing hope she could get away from Garnett, and I don’t think she’s willing to do that.

Like so many people in similar circumstances, not knowing what to do, she drinks, so she doesn’t have to think about it for a while. And drinks a lot. This wouldn’t be a big deal for me as a reader, but Annie spends a lot of time judging her grandfather for his drinking—especially when they’re supposed to be working. She doesn’t say anything to him, she just keeps it inside and lets herself indulge. It’s things like this that make her a wonderful, complex character.

The Sense of Place

I’m vague on a lot about the town of Garnett (size, demographics, etc.), but I also have some concrete visions of certain parts of it. It reminds me a lot of the TV version of Dillon, Texas—which seemed to change size, economic status, and makeup from week to week, depending on what the story called for.

As I type that, I realize that my ideas about Garnett are basically half-Samantha Jayne Allen/half-Friday Night Lights. Annie would basically fit in with the Tyra Colletes and Tim Riggins of the world, not the Jason Streets and Lyla Garritys (although we get glimpses of that part of Garnett, too). I just thought of three paragraphs I could do paralleling the worlds of these two fictional towns, so I’d better move on before this becomes a very different kind of post.

What I kept getting was a feel for the town more than anything—it’s the kind of place where the best and brightest leave after high school, and the big question is: will they come back? You get the impression that if they do, it’s not because they chose to—they either have no choice, or it’s just as a way station–like Annie intends. Some of those in the latter category end up sticking around, usually not by choice. This bleakness covers the whole of the novel—in the successes as well as the failures (and the in-between moments).

At the same time, it seems that few of these people are there by choice. It is their home. Up until two weeks before her death, Victoria had been tied to Garnett, but she had plans. Annie intends on leaving. But when it comes to the land of Garnett? Their families’ acres? There’s a reflexive, instinctive, and deep sense of possession and binding. Everyone knows that Annie’s going to leave town at some point—but when there’s a suggestion that someone is going to buy the land she’s set to eventually inherit? That sets an emotional fire in her that I think surprised even her. You see something similar with Victoria, too. People like them may not like Garnett, may not want to live there but it’s home. It’s their home, and will be.

So, what did I think about Pay Dirt Road?

I don’t know that I can say that I particularly enjoyed this book—by design, it’s not a good time. But it’s a great experience. Allen’s sense of character and sense of place ensures that the reader feels what’s going on. Particularly, but not limited to, Annie’s experiences.

Like with any good mystery—and look at character—Pay Dirt Road is as much about the investigation as it is the history of the characters—for Annie, this goes back to High School, for her family, the history we see goes back far before that. The past illumines the present, and helps the reader—and eventually, Annie and others—to see what’s going on in the present.

Last year, I finally got around to reading The Far Empty by J. Todd Scott. Garnett doesn’t have the same kind of corruption (at least that we see) going on, but it has the sense of setting, of bleakness, and dedication to place/city/home. Between these two books—not to mention Locke’s Bluebird, Bluebird and Kent’s The Dime—I’m starting to think I should focus more of my Crime reading on the Lone Star State.

This could be the beginning of a series—and if it is, I’ll be at the front of the line for the sequel. This could be a stand-alone, and if so, it leaves the characters in a good place—both in terms of closure and promise for the future. Either way, this is a book that’s going to linger in the back of my mind for a while, and I think that’ll be true for others.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

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, opinions are my own.

REPOSTING JUST CUZ: Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? by L. Michael Morales

By HCNewton

On March 20, 2022

In Theology/Christian Living

Fatigue is winning over my will to get the post I intended for today finished. So, I’m going to repost this—I’ve been thinking a lot about this book recently, but I feel like I remember too much of it to commit, even if I want to master the arguments. I didn’t do justice to the book when I wrote the original post, but maybe it’ll nudge someone to read the book.

Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus

by L. Michael Morales
Series: New Studies in Biblical Theology, #37Paperback, 306 pg.
IVP Academic, 2015
Read: October 16 – November 27, 2016

So this is another one of those books that I’m not really qualified to talk about, but . . . whoops, here I go.

Morales doesn’t give us what you typically find/look for in a study of Leviticus — detailed explanations — or dodges — of the various purity laws and other commands and regulations contained in it. Instead, he begins by explaining his conclusion that Leviticus is the center of the Pentateuch, and that Chapter 16 is the center of it. Beginning in Genesis, everything is leading up to the Day of Atonement, and then everything from that is to be seen as the result of, or in light of that day.

That’s a lousy summary, but that’s the best you’re going to get from me in a couple of sentences. The argument is so detailed, so complex that I can’t really do much better without spending a few pages on it — and no one wants to read that (especially since you can read Morales doing a better job). At first, I thought that it was an interesting idea, but it really didn’t matter much. But as I read on and understood what he was doing better, it started to capture my imagination and draw me in. This was well argued, well researched — and well explained for even non-technical types like me.

But when it comes to Biblical Theology, the proof in the pudding comes from tying in his theses to the unfolding story of redemption — first in Israel’s story and then showing how it leads to Christ and His work on earth, His Ascension and pouring out of His Spirit to prepare a people to meet with Him on Mount Zion. The last two chapters were fantastic — and I’m going to have to reread them a few times to really wrap my brain around it all. There were moments of beauty here — it’s hard for an academically-inclined work to inspire and touch the emotions of a reader, but Morales did it.

This volume is the first I’ve read in New Studies in Biblical Theology (I believe it’s the first I heard of it, too) — the series is edited by D. A. Carson. The series aims “to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead. . . While volume notes interact with the best of recent research, the text of each work avoids untransliterated Greek and Hebrew or too much specialist jargon. The volumes are written within the framework of confessional evangelicalism, but they also engage a variety of other relevant viewpoints and significant literature.” If this is a representative volume, it won’t be my last in the series. If I can just pick another — the list of 41 is daunting — just too many choices.

Anyway, Who Shall Ascend was a challenging, interesting, educational and inspiring work — there’s not much more that you can ask for. If you’re up for the work, I heartily recommend it.

—–

4 Stars

Spelunking Through Hell by Seanan McGuire: It’s Always the Last Place You Look, Right?

By HCNewton

On March 17, 2022

In InCryptid, Seanan McGuire, Urban Fantasy

Spelunking Through Hell:
A Visitor’s Guide to the Underworld

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: InCryptid, #11
Publisher: DAW
Publication Date: February 28, 2022
Format: Trade Paperback
Length: 267
Read Date: March 14, 2022

If Thomas is there, if he’s still alive and waiting for me to find him, I can’t make him wait because I’m finally stopping to worry about my own neck. My neck doesn’t matter. My neck made a lot of choices, and none of them said ‘hey, it would be fun to survive a long, long time.’

What’s Spelunking Through Hell About?

Alice Price—grandmother to the primary protagonists of this series—has spent the last fifty years jumping from one dimensional reality to another, seeking her husband who has been taken from her as part of the deal he made with the crossroads. Alice has sacrificed just about everything—her health, almost every waking moment, her children’s childhoods, and her relationship with them, for starters.

Now, given some information Annie was given as she defeated the crossroads recently, Alice knows that the clock is running out, she’s going to have to take some risky and dramatic moves in a last-ditch effort to bring her husband home. Assuming she can find him, that he’s still alive, and interested in coming home, that is.

Alice calls in markers, gets help from several allies, and takes some big—possibly fatal—risks to follow her last theory about where to look.

Hopefully, it’s worth it.

Quo Vadimus

The first five books in the series, while interconnected, felt very stand-aloneish. Then we got Annie trilogy—which started out as something in the same vein, but then shifted into something else, something else that ended up informing this book—and then we had the pretty intense duology about Sarah. Now we have this one, which feels stand-aloneish again, but is also the consummation of things that go back to the beginning.

That’s how the series struck me as I read it, anyway—although between what McGuire has said and a little bit of thinking I’ve done in the last day or so, maybe it’s not the best way to think of things—easier to say from this vantage point. At any rate, this book sure feels like a turning point in the InCryptid series.

So where does the series go from here? Well, it can go back to the whole Covenant of St. George vs. the Prices (and all Cryptids in North America) conflict. Maybe touching base with things in Australia, along the way? It’d be nice if we saw Alex and Shelby again. Maybe there’s more fallout from Annie’s Crossroads takedown or Sarah’s adventures to deal with, too. Or something that seems out-of-nowhere but that McGuire’s been planting seeds for since at least the second book—I put nothing past her.

I realize it’s silly to speculate, but when a book is where a series has been heading for a while, it invites theories about where the series might be going next. Knowing McGuire, the answers are somewhere online already, but I’m going to wait until Book 12 to see.

So, what did I think about Spelunking Through Hell?

The last couple of books just didn’t do as much for me as the earlier books in the series did, I was so glad to get back to the previous levels here (sorry, Sarah!). There’s just so much to commend about this book, and so little to complain about. There was at least one point in the book that was a “Eureka!” moment for me—I couldn’t believe McGuire had tied X into this book. Thirty seconds or so after I got that surprise, I realized I should’ve been expecting it. I’m glad I hadn’t taken the time to think about things so that I would expect it, it’s more fun to get the Eureka.

Alice shares the same quippy attitude as her grandchildren, the same stubborn streak and aptitude for violence—which isn’t that surprising, really, where did I think the kids got it? Still, as has been the case for the other four narrators in the series, while there’s a family resemblance, there are individual distinctives so that you don’t confuse her with the previous narrators.

Inside the crunchy candy shell of quips, magic, trans-dimensional travel, and people fighting for their survival, there’s a chewy center of a very sweet love story. I have no problem with the crunch shell, but like with a Tootsie Pop, the center is what makes it all worth it. The dénouement may be better, however—I know I didn’t get through it with dry eyes.

This is not the book to jump into this series with. Yeah, I’ve said it feels like a stand-alone, which seems like it’d serve as a jumping-on point, but it’s really not. Go back at least to Magic for Nothing, but you’d be best served going back to Discount Armageddon. Just know that when you start (and you really should if you haven’t yet) at one of those points, you’re in for a heckuva ride when you get to this book.

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, opinions are my own.

Madam Tulip and the Rainbow’s End by David Ahern: Derry and Bruce on the Hunt for Treasures Not Associated with Leprechauns

By HCNewton

On March 16, 2022

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

Madam Tulip and the Rainbow’s End

by David Ahern

DETAILS:
Series: Madam Tulip, #5
Publisher: Malin Press
Publication Date: March 1, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 274 pgs.
Read Date: March 5-8, 2022

Yeah, okay, the post title is pretty lame. It’s the best I can come up with. Let’s move past that, okay?

What’s Madam Tulip and the Rainbow’s End About?

Thanks to a series of events that probably rings true for many struggling actors, Derry and Bruce find themselves stranded by the touring company they’d been a part of without funds and a pretty hefty hotel/bar tab. One thing leads to another, and Derry finds herself suiting up as Madam Tulip to do some fortune-telling at a charity event to work off this debt.

She’s happy to do that for a few reasons—it seems that Derry’s trying to cut back on her Tulip work, and really only does it for charities anymore. This time, she can do it for her own benefit and a charity, so she’s okay with that.

As she’s wont to do, as Madam Tulip she befriends a couple of women—one local, and one fellow American (who turns out to employ the local woman). Both women have recently had family members die, and are still grieving. The local woman comes to Madam Tulip for confirmation of her suspicion that her brother was murdered—which Tulip gave her without realizing it. The other woman’s father was supposed to leave her a large amount of money, but didn’t—her focus isn’t on the money as much as it is on understanding what happened (which makes it so much easier to like her).

Having confirmation of her brother’s murder, Mary Jo sets out to prove it and find the murderer—Derry’s friend, Bruce, is going to prove more useful than his psychic bestie on this front and is happy to try. Being able to look at things more objectively, Derry’s able to suggest a thing or two to Lena that might help her find the closure she needs.

Given the nature of a cozy mystery novel, obviously, it won’t be long until Derry finds herself more caught up in the efforts of both women to get the answers they seek—and a little more peril than any three of them expected.*

* Although by this point, Derry should know better—even without any psychic abilities..

Derry’s Gift

Derry’s abilities that stem from being the daughter of a seventh son of a seventh son have gotten her into (and out of) plenty of trouble in the past few books—but they’re never enough by themselves. Derry’s got to figure things out and take advantage of the information she gains—and frequently needs an assist from Bruce for those things that those abilities can’t cover.

This time out, she doesn’t get to take advantage of that gift too much—there are a couple of tarot readings that help her friends (and maybe some of the other readings she does in between those, but we don’t see them). But that’s pretty much it—the rest comes from Derry putting on her metaphorical deerstalker and sussing things out for herself (talking things over with Bruce helps, too).

I think I like it better this way—Derry’s never used her psychic (or whatever) capabilities as a crutch to get to the bottom of things. But the further she gets from that, the better for me.

(although, I can’t imagine I’d complain too loudly if Book 6 or 7 has Derry acting more like Jean Grey/Professor X than Jessica Fletcher)

Jacko Off-the-Grid

You can’t have a Madam Tulip novel without Derry’s father, Jacko, turning up to make things interesting. This time, fresh off a new variety of financial woes (for him, anyway), he decides to rent out his home and go live on an isolated island for a while—to reconnect with his art and avoid the distractions of technology and the city.

Neither Derry nor her mother have a lot of faith that this is going to work too well. But Derry wants to give him the chance and refuses when her mother tries to enlist her to stop him.

In the end, Jacko’s storyline brushes up against Derry’s in a few places, but in more of a “what a small world” kind of way. The two barely interact with each other, and Jacko’s never part of the main action. This is a good use of the character, who is prone to taking over the books (in an entertaining way, but a bit too dominant). Here he gets to go full-on with his antics without impacting the main story—that’s perfect.

So, what did I think about Madam Tulip and the Rainbow’s End?

At this point, getting a Madam Tulip book is a chance to spend time with some friends—with all the warmth, comfort, and pleasantness that comparison brings to mind. Ahern’s got his world and characters down pat now, and the novel moves like clockwork.

This isn’t the same old-same old by any means, however. As he mentioned in our Q&A about this book, Derry not only has to solve a crime this time but there’s a puzzle, too.

Madam Tulip and the Rainbow’s End gives you everything you want in a cozy mystery—good characters, a grin or two, a clever mystery or two, a well-constructed story, and a diverting read for a couple of hours. As expected from this series/author, I’m glad to recommend it to you.

I know Madam Tulip #6 is on the way, and I’m looking forward to it—and hopefully, several more before people in Ireland figure out that they need to stop inviting the fortune teller to their events if they want things to go smoothly (especially nefarious things).

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from the author in exchange for this post. I thank him for that, but the opinions expressed are mine.

4 Stars

Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones: An Action-Packed, Dark Sequel

By HCNewton

On March 15, 2022

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

Lives Laid Away

by Stephen Mack Jones

DETAILS:
Series: August Snow, #2
Publisher: Soho Crime
Publication Date: January 7, 2019
Format: Paperback
Length: 296
Read Date: March 9-10, 2022

What’s Lives Laid Away About?

While August Snow is considering how to help out his neighbors in the middle of an ICE crackdown/intimidation campaign, his friend from the coroner’s office brings him a case he can’t get out of his mind. A young, unidentified, Hispanic woman was tortured, raped, killed, and dumped while dressed as Marie Antoinette. The police can’t get anywhere with the case and are ready to move on. Falconi can’t do that. So he comes to August for help.

Snow’s not able to get the photos he’s been shown out of his mind, either. So he starts looking into it—knowing the right people to ask, he’s able to identify the woman within a day. This gets him looking in the right direction for answers—sadly, that direction is full of organized crime, disorganized crime, human trafficking, and corrupt government officials.

August gets backup in both his brushes with ICE and the murder case from new and unexpected allies. There’s a lot going on in Detroit (and in his own past) that August had been previously unaware of, and he’s likely going to wish he’d stayed in the dark before all is said and done here.

Tomás

We met Tomás Gutierrez, August’s godfather, in the previous book and he provided some of the backup August required then. In this book, he’s basically August’s partner.

He fills the fairly typical modern detective sidekick role (Hawk, Joe Pike, Bubba Rogowski, Nate Romanowski, Nick Petrie’s Lewis, etc.)—a little meaner, a little less bound by conscience, a little more prone to violence, has a better personal weapons stash, and so on. The big twist here is that he’s so much older than August. I don’t know if we’re told his age anywhere, but he’s no spring chicken—He’s his godfather, was good friends with his parents, he has a grandchild. And while his age is mentioned every now and then, he seems too spry to be really believable in this role.

This might be because of the subjects of the book—his wife is being threatened, the dead woman was known to his wife, etc.—and in the next book, he won’t be as involved in whatever is happening. If that’s the case? I have no problem with it—but if he keeps acting as a partner, it’s going to have to be addressed.

I like the character of Tomás and how Jones has been using him so far, I just don’t know if he’s a viable long-term option.

What is it About Places Like This?

Back in 2019, I posted about M. W. Craven’s Black Summer, and discussed how Craven’s description of a seedy pub made me feel like I was there. I had a flashback to that moment when Jones described the biker bar Taffy’s on the Lake here. It was so crystal clear and detailed that I felt like I was there. I don’t know if it’s me, and the one or two nasty bars that I’ve been in have stuck with me so much that when Craven or Jones describes one that I’m taken there, or if they’re just so good that I’d feel the same way without personal experience.

I’m going to credit them with this, not just for the sake of my mental health. For example, in August Snow, Jones did a similar job with a small Mexican restaurant. In that case, his writing made me want to feel like I was there.

He’s so good at describing places in a way that brings in all of your senses (there are other examples I could cite, but this one paralleled so nicely with Black Summer), that without ever stepping foot in Detroit (or the state of Michigan) that I can really get a strong feel for the settings.

So, what did I think about Lives Laid Away?

Is this as good as August Snow? I don’t think so. But that says more about how good it was than about the quality of Lives Laid Away. This was intense and exciting. You’re kept on the edge of your seat while being given things to think about.

At the same time, while August Snow had enough action to satisfy any thriller reader, Jones stepped up the violence this time. I don’t know if this is the direction of the series in general, or if something about these circumstances brought it out in August, but wow. I can think of Jack Reacher/Peter Ash novels that contain less violence and action—I wouldn’t have expected that given the first novel. This is not a criticism, I’m just putting that out there for potential readers—it really worked for me (although I’m not sure I needed all the “enhanced interrogation” scenes).

Along those lines, I’m not sure I really realized how ominous, “I gotta see a guy about a thing,” could sound.

This isn’t just a novel about a vigilante ex-cop on a crusade—it is that, but it’s more—it’s also about a city dealing with contemporary pressures, contemporary issues, and a troubled (to be nice about) past. What is Detroit becoming? How is it treating the people who live there? How should it be? These questions loom large while August is trying to figure out who killed these women and why. Lives Laid Away is a solid, action-filled thriller with a social conscience and heart. This is not a combination that you see that much, but I wish we’d see more of.

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, opinions are my own.

The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson: A Hilarious Fantasy Filled with Adventure and Shenanigans. Definitely Shenanigans.

By HCNewton

On March 14, 2022

In Fantasy, Fiction, Humor

The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True

by Sean Gibson

DETAILS:
Publisher: The Parliament House
Publication Date: December 10, 2020
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 358 pg.
Read Date: March 10-12, 2022

I am, if not the most well-known bard in Erithea (yet), arguably the most talented, and unarguably the cleverest. I also wouldn’t quibble if you suggested that I’m the most beautiful, but that’s just because I’m very agreeable (and beautiful)…

Decades ago, I was sworn to secrecy regarding the true story of the great and terrible “Dragonia,” but recent developments have released me from that promise, and so I can finally tell the tale.

What’s The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True About?

This is that true story about Dragonia, told alongside the “official” account so the reader can see how the details were adjusted and tweaked to create the story everyone knows.

The town (or village, depending on who you ask) of Skendrick is being terrorized by a dragon—crops are being ruined, trade is disrupted, and the town is about to fall apart. Desperate, they put out a call for adventurers to come and kill the dragon. But they get no takers—so they go to Plan B. The villagers (or townspeople) pool their meager resources to hire a bard. This bard is to compose a song to make the attempt to kill the dragon sound appealing enough—and its treasure (which may or may not actually exist) enticing enough—to get a band of adventurers to come.

This is where Heloise comes in. She takes the gig and soon gets a new and yet unaccomplished band of adventurers to take up the call to action. I don’t want to get into describing the group, you want to meet them in the book.

They encounter difficulties from without and within; nasty, malodorous geography; orcs and other creatures; and, well, the dragon.

Heloise the Bard

“You’re not half as funny as you think you are, as I suspect you have a very high opinion of yourself.”

“My opinion of myself is in direct proportion to my amazingness,” I said sweetly.

The half-elf, Heloise the Bard is our narrator—as you can tell from the quotations above, she has a fairly high opinion of herself and her abilities. She’s also rather impressed with her hair and certain other physical attributes. Probably her greatest skill is self-promotion.

She decides to accompany the adventurers, to chronicle their journey and the outcome of their clash with the dragon. Her wit and quick thinking prove valuable to their effort and her particular set of skills make all the difference.

She is a hoot. It’d be easy for Heloise to be an annoying, over-the-top character, but somehow Gibson keeps her as an entertaining, over-the-top character. I’ve been trying to come up with a character to compare her to, and I’m failing. Maybe she’s the Fantasy version of Evanovich’s Lula, except Heloise has the skills that Lula thinks she has. Maybe she’s the equivalent of High Fidelity‘s Barry. Somewhere in the Venn Diagram featuring Fantasy, Lula, and Barry, I guess.

She appears in a couple of other books by Gibson, and I’m eager to spend some more time with her.

The Humor

The section could easily be merged with the previous one because the humor displayed in the book is primarily Heloise’s. The jokes are pretty much non-stop—even in the middle of fight scenes, or when death is nigh. The danger is still present, and the combat (and so on) is as deadly as it would be in another book—it’s just surrounded by laughs.

It didn’t take me long before I’d highlighted too many lines to quote—not that it stopped me from going on. My notes on this one are ridiculous. I kept chuckling throughout the reading. I probably would’ve finished the book in 2/3 the time, if reacting to the jokes didn’t make me stop reading for a moment.

If you’ve read The Tales of Pell, you’ve got a good idea for the pace of the jokes—and tone of the book, too.

There’s slapstick, there’s scatological humor, a great Meatloaf (the singer) line, some fantastic bursts of alliteration for the sake of a laugh, some general silliness, clever dialogue, and…honestly, I’m having a hard time thinking of a kind of humor that’s not in there. There’s a running gag (that I’ve alluded to) throughout about whether Skendrick is a town or a village—I can’t tell you how often it’s brought up. And the joke works every time—I should’ve gotten sick of it, and I never did. I don’t know how Gibson pulled that off, but that alone is the mark of a fantastic humor writer.

In addition to The Tales of Pell, if you’ve enjoyed Christopher Healy, Dave Barry, K.R.R. Lockhaven, Peter David, Scott Meyer, Joe Zieja, Jim C. Hines’ Jig the Goblin series, or John Scalzi—you’re going to dig the humor here. And if you dig the humor, you’re going to really enjoy the book. It’s that simple.

So, what did I think about The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True?

You know by this point that one of my main goals in telling this story is to show that the adventuring life isn’t all it’s thought to be. It’s mostly boring, frustrating, dangerous (though not excitingly dangerous), smelly (dear gods, so smelly), and not particularly lucrative. Occasionally, however, it’s exactly how the songs make it sound, and in those moments, it’s easy to see why people—even smart, capable people like Nadi—would devote their lives to doing something so irrational. Let the record show that entering a dragon’s lair for the first time is one of those moments, and it’s fair to say that each member of our intrepid band experienced more than a frisson of excitement as we crept across that threshold.

I think it’s pretty clear that I had a blast with this book, but I should probably make that explicit. I had a blast reading this book.

I think I should not that this is not a book to read if you’re in a “find out what happened and get to the end of the story” frame of mind. This is a “enjoy the trip, not the destination”/”stop and smell the roses” kind of book. The destination/what happens is fully satisfying, but the getting-there is so much better.

In addition to the jokes and the dragon, there is a running commentary on what “the adventuring life” is like outside of the glamorous or exciting bits. A lot of fantasy novels will show bits of it, but not enough of them do—and most don’t do it this way. For example, The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True contains more description of various odors than every 99% of the fantasy novels I’ve read by a significant factor. If this were a scratch and sniff book…well, I can’t imagine anyone would stock it—you just don’t want that in your warehouse/store. Sure, it’s silly talking about realism in a book featuring orcs, halflings, elves, etc.—but this factor does ground the book and give it a seriousness (for lack of a better term) that makes this more than a collection of jokes.

This is the funniest book I’ve read in 2022, and I can’t imagine it’ll face much competition. It’s got it all, go get your hands on it.

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, opinions are my own.