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| The View from the Wharf |
Anyway, let's start this update. I got some books in the mail on the 15th and I've finished three books since my last update on my challenges. I also plan to continue my Author's A - Z from my last entry. So lots to put down before I spend the rest of the day ironing...
New Books
"The beautiful but twisted Jakoby Twins are creating transgenic monsters and genetically - enhanced mercenaries for sale to the highest bidder. In addition, their father is using cutting - edge science to complete the Nazi Master Race Programme. Joe has to elude the National Security Agency who are gunning for him, fight his way past rogue Spetsnaz teams and stop these madmen before the Extinction Clock runs out.
And when the bloodbath claims one of his own, Joe Ledger declares total war on those people who would burn down the world in order to reshape it in their own dark image." (This is only horror? Not real life?)
"A madcap new slant on history that seems to be everyone's cup of tea...
Behind the seemingly innocuous facade of St. Mary's, a different kind of historical research is taking place. They don't do 'time - travel - they 'investigate major historical events in contemporary time'. Maintaining the appearance of harmless eccentrics is not always within their power - especially given their propensity for causing loud explosions when things get too quiet.
Meet the disaster - magnets of St. Mmary's Institute for Historical Research as they ricochet around History. Their aim is to observe and document - to try and find the answers to many of History's unanswered questions ... and not to die in the process.
But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And, as they soon discover - it's not just History they're fighting.
Follow the catastrophe curve from eleventh - century London to World War I, and from the Cretaceous Period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. For wherever Historians go, chaos is sure to follow in their wake..."
"Other than the bullet lodged less than a centimeter from his heart, ex-cop Alex McKnight thought he had put the nightmare of his partner's death and his own near -fatal injury behind him. The crime was solved, and the murderer, Maximilian Rose, had been locked away for years.
But in the small town of Paradise, Michigan, where Knight has traded his badge for a cabin in the woods, there is a murder - and it has all Rose's trademarks. Who else could know the intimate details of the old murders? And why now? It's McKnight who must unravel the mystery, and get to the heart of a deadly deception in a town which is anything but Paradise..."
Just Finished
"I read The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left Handed Poems by Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje once before 40+ years ago while at university. I decided to read it once again as one of my reading groups chose poetry as the March genre. I remember enjoying the book those many years ago and wanted to see what I thought now.
The Collected Works is a mix of poetry, vignettes and interviews and pieces from other articles about about Billy the Kid. The focus of this book is the hunting and arrest and ultimate shooting of Billy the Kid (William Bonney) by Pat Garrett. There are some fascinating little stories within the body of the work, some actually very gritty and disturbing. The book flows very nicely and the inset poetry is graphic and descriptive.
The book is a fascinating concept and as before, I found it interesting and easy to read. There are little insights into Bonney and Pat Garrett much of which is learned from incidents at the home of Sallie and John Chisum. You also get a perspective of the life during that time. All in all, I enjoyed as much as the first time. Well worth trying. (4 stars)"
"Killed at the Whim of a Hat is the 1st book in Colin Cotterill's Jimm Juree mystery series. I was introduced to his books with The Coroner's Lunch, the first book in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series. I've enjoyed the first two books in that series very much.
Jimm Juree is a female reporter in Thailand who lives with her quirky family. Her mother announces that she has sold their house and bought a hotel in the south of the country. Her brother and grandfather accompany her and her sister decides to stay in the big city. It seems on the surface to be a dysfunctional family but we see how they interact and come together as the story progresses. Bored with life at their less than successful hotel and with the seemingly backwardness of the community, Jimm finds herself getting involved with the investigation of two unrelated murders / deaths. First a VW van is discovered buried in the soil of a farm with two bodies in it. It's been there for a long time. At the same time, a monk is found murdered at a local monastery.
The investigation itself is somewhat convoluted but as the story moves along, there are interesting twists and turns and the ultimate resolution is different and surprising.
What is most entertaining is the interactions between Jimm and her other family members. All are interesting; from her mother who seems to be getting a bit senile and hunts for the killer of their dog, to her weight lifting brother, to her sister/ brother who is a computer genius and helps with the case and to her grandfather, an ex traffic cop who displays unique insight. We also meet local characters who flesh out and enrich the story. I wasn't sure I was enjoying the book at first but as it moved along and I got into it, I found it entertaining and quite different from the other series. Cotterill hasn't disappointed yet. (4 stars)"
"Riders of the Purple Sage was my first attempt at a book by Zane Grey. The Western is one of my least read genres. I did read Louis L'Amour's Sackett Family series and probably a few others.
I have to say I really struggled with this book. The story was quite different from most of the stories I try, not that would be a problem normally. I'm not stuck with any particular story line. Anyway, the story is set in Utah and is mainly about a gunslinger named Lassiter. It's set in a Mormon community and there is 'friction' or worse between the gentiles and the Mormons. The Mormons are in power and abuse the Gentiles. Jane Withersteen, a wealthy land owner is a single Mormon woman and she helps the abused Gentiles as much as she can and is a source of concern to the leaders of the Mormon community (men of course), Tull and Deacon Dyer. Her man Venters, a gentile, is abused and beaten but she protects him. Her herds of cattle are rustled; is it by the Mormons or the rustlers, lead by Oldring or are they working together. Then there is the mysterious Masked Rider, who runs with the rustlers.
So there is your basic story with many subplots.
What did I like? There were some great action scenes; the horse chase between the men who stole Jane's prized Arabians and Venters who wants to get them back. That was a well-described tense scene. The ending also has a fair bit of excitement and was ultimately satisfying.
What didn't I like? The writing was very heavy and formal. I have to say I found that with the Sackett books too. I was confused by the Mormon / gentile story line. It's not the first time I've read about this; I'm thinking of a Sherlock story; Valley of Fear? and also an alternate history by Harry Turtledove about the Civil War. Anyway, this story line bothered me as I would have liked more info about the relationship, just to clear my mind a bit. I didn't particularly like any of the main characters. I didn't feel any real empathy for them. The story seemed to drag at times; case in point, the whole portion where Venters climbs the mountain and then seems to live there forever..
Anyway... I was a bit disappointed with this story. (2.5 stars)"
Currently Reading
Besides Shakespeare's Rebel by C.C. Humphrey, these are the books I've started since I finished the books above. They are two historical mysteries and one Young Adult / Dystopian Adventure.
"Summer, 1545. England is at war, and Matthew Shardlake is about to encounter the most politically dangerous case of his career. While a massive French fleet prepares to attack, every able-bodied man is being pressed into military service. Meanwhile, an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr asks Shardlake to investigate claims of "monstrous wrongs" committed against a young ward of the court. Shardlake's inquiries take him and his loyal assistant, Jack Barak, to Hoyland Priory and Portsmouth, where the English fleet is gathering. There they uncover a startling link between the ward and a woman incarcerated in Bedlam. With a fantastic backdrop of wartime intrigue and a dramatic finale onboard one of Henry VIII's great warships, Heartstone is certain to catapult this internationally bestselling series to greater prominence."
"EVERY THING IS GOING TO CHANGE....
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is empty.
But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade,a large expanse enclosed by stone walls.
Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as anyone can remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, for just as long, they've closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the maze after dark.
The Gladers were expecting Thomas's arrival. But the next day, a girl is sent up- the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. The Gladers have always been convinced that if they can solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might find their way home... wherever that may be. But it's looking more and more as if the maze is unsolvable.
And something about the girl's arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he might just have some answers- if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind."
"The year is 1662. Alpine village hangman Jakob Kuisl receives a letter from his sister calling him to the imperial city of Regensburg, where a gruesome sight awaits him: her throat has been slit. Arrested and framed for the murder, Kuisl faces firsthand the torture he’s administered himself for years.
Jakob’s daughter, Magdalena, and a young medicus named Simon hasten to his aid. With the help of an underground network of beggars, a beer-brewing monk, and an Italian playboy, they discover that behind the false accusation is a plan that will endanger the entire German Empire.
Chock full of historical detail, The Beggar King brings to vibrant life another tale of an unlikely hangman and his tough-as-nails daughter, confirming Pötzsch’s mettle as a writer to watch."
Bill's Author List A - Z
I continue with the A's in this entry. I won't go into any detail with my first author, Karin Alvtegen, as I went through her books in a recent post. I'll link to it.
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| Karin Alvtegen |
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| Eric Ambler |
"Kenton's career as a journalist depended on his facility with languages, his knowledge of European politics, and his quick judgment. Where his judgment sometimes failed him was in his personal life. When he finds himself on a train bound for Austria with insufficient funds after a bad night of gambling, he jumps at the chance to earn a fee to help a refugee smuggle securities across the border. He soon discovers that the documents he holds have a more than monetary value, and that European politics has more twists and turns than the most convoluted newspaper account."
" The classic 1930s thrillers of Eric Ambler took the crudely patriotic certainties of John Buchan and gave them a salutary shake. Nick Marlow, the hero of Cause for Alarm is an engineer who likes to think of himself as a plain man, above politics; when he takes a sales job in Mussolini's Fascist Italy, it never occurs to him as relevant that his predecessor was killed by a hit-and-run driver or that the boring machines he sells might be used for the making of armaments. Nor does he regard the politics of his clerk as of interest, nor think of the rouged Yugoslav general Vagas as anything more than a friendly buffoon. Before he knows where he is, a web is tightening about him and the only reliable friend he has is Zaleshoff, an American businessman, oddly keen to educate him in the ways of the world ... This is a superb piece of propaganda fiction from the popular front era; the things that made it work then as a thriller--its hairs-breadth escapes, its chunks of spy-craft, its atmospheric portrayal of dark city streets and dangerous high passes--are as fresh-minted as they ever were."
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| Kingsley Amis |
"I've enjoyed the Kingsley Amis books I've read. I especially enjoyed The Riverside Villas Murder.
I Want it Now was not my favorite of his, but still enjoyable. Cynical TV presenter, Ronnie Appleyard wanders from relationship to relationship, hoping to find a wealthy woman to marry. When he meets Simona, the daughter of a wealthy American, he thinks he might have finally found her. Instead, he finds that he loves this troubled young woman and thus begins his efforts to break down her issues and also persuade her domineering mother that he is worth becoming her future son-in-law.
The writing is sparse, satirical, at times,, but also entertaining and the main characters become quite sympathetic. I've still got a few more Amis books on my shelves. Looking forward to the next. (3 stars)"
"On the whole, I've enjoyed every book by Kingsley Amis that I've read. The Anti-death League was no exception. It wasn't necessarily the best book by Amis that I've read, but it was still a different, enjoyable read. It took a bit to get into and get hold of the story-line but it improved steadily.
The book tells the story of a Army unit created and housed somewhere in England. It's part of a special project, Project Apollo, that is to take action sometime in the near future. The personnel are training for Apollo, but we don't really know what it is. One of the officers, Capt Leonard, isn't really an officer, but assigned to ferret out a spy in their midst. It's not a secret that he is, but that's his job. Into the mix as well, are two women, Catherine and Lucy. Lucy basically has men over to her house every night and spends the night in bed with each visitor, commitment issues it seems. Catherine lives there after a stay at a local asylum and is hiding from an abusive husband and trying to get her life in order. Capt. Churchill, another officer, falls for Catherine.
Throw into the mix, Dr. Best, the head of the asylum, who has treated both Catherine and Churchill and seems to be somewhat off.
So you've got a varied mix of characters and story-lines. Is it a spy story? Is it a romance? And what is the Anti-Death League, you ask? Well, they all make for an increasingly interesting story that does for the most part come to a satisfying conclusion... Well, except for one thing that I don't get really. You'll know that on the last line of the story. Amis has an interesting way of creating and telling stories. Worth giving a try. (3.5 stars)"
"A ghost story for adults. Like all good coaching inns, the Green Man is said to boast a resident ghost: Dr Thomas Underhill, a notorious seventeenth-century practitioner of black arts and sexual deviancy, rumored to have killed his wife. However, the landlord, Maurice Allington, is the sole witness to the renaissance of the malevolent Underhill. Led by an anxious desire to vindicate his sanity, Allington strives to uncover the key to Underhill's satanic powers. All the while, the skeletons in the cupboard of Allington's own domestic affairs rattle to get out too."
"This was a very entertaining book. Besides being a well-crafted mystery with interesting characters; I particularly liked Peter and the Colonel, there were some surprising bits as well; not what I expected in this story. While not graphic, there were sexual inferences that surprised me. I won't go into them as you should be surprised (titillated?) as well. This is the second Kingsley Amis novel for me; I'd previously read The Green Man and enjoyed that as well. I much preferred this story though and readily recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery. (4 stars)"
I still have two books awaiting my attention.
"Life in London means glamour, fashion, finance and art. Consider then an aging conductor, husband in an unsatisfactory marriage, father to an unhappy brood. When a young woman responds to his overtures, he breaks the marriage and bursts the family...alas, everyone loses in this drama, for nothing puts people together again."
"The scene is England 50 years after its conquest by the Soviets. The plot is to turn the occupying government upside down.
A handsome and highly sexed young Russian cavalry officer, Alexander Petrovsky, joins the plot and learns to his regret that politics and playmates don't mix."
Well, there you go.. See anything you like? Anyway, time to take the pups for their afternoon walk. Enjoy your weekend!
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