New Book
This is the last book in the Mr. Moto series. I've read 4 so far and enjoyed it very much.
"A suspense story of today's cloak and dagger boys, as Jack Rhyce is sent out to Tokyo to explore the sources of the unrest reported by the local agent as sparked by a mystery man, "Big Ben". Jack finds himself paired with a girl, Ruth Bogard, with whom he reluctantly falls in love. This complicates their mission and a number of missteps result, as they stop off in Hawaii, think they have identified ""Big Ben"" as an airline employee who whistles tunes from The Red Mill and knows far too much about their doings. Once in Tokyo they find their goal blocked by the Japanese secret service, with our old friend Mr. Moto in control."
Just Finished
I finished the following two books since my last entry.
"Gold from Gemini is the second Lovejoy antique mystery by Jonathan Gash. Many, many years ago I'd enjoyed the TV series based on the books. It starred Ian McShane as Lovejoy and he was quite excellent in the role. He played him as a lady-killing rogue and in the books he is that, although not quite so lovable.
In Gold for Gemini, Lovejoy gets involved in a mystery that takes him to the Isle of Man in search of ancient Roman coins. He gets interested in this by chance; finding a painting by a deceased man, an excellent forgery that piques his interest in the man. Discovering that Roman coins had been stolen from the local museum and that they had been donated by the man, Lovejoy feels that there are more hidden someplace. He acquires diaries that the man had written and hopes these might provide clues to the location of the coins. He is threatened by one of the nieces of the man and her 'fixer' to turn over the diaries to them. A death of a fellow antique hunter adds to the mystery and a personal tragedy to Lovejoy adds to the tension.
Along with Janie, his rich mistress (one of many), and Algernon, a young protege, the journey finds them on the Isle of Man searching for the coins. The story takes great leaps which I sometimes find frustrating, but this is tempered with the interesting information on antiques and creating forgeries and both Janie and Algernon are interesting characters. The story moves along almost too quickly but I found the overall story and mystery interesting and a page turner. I'll obviously continue with the series and see how Lovejoy's character develops. (3.5 stars)"
"I enjoyed Sister Crazy by Emma Richler very much. Richler is the daughter of Canadian author, Mordecai Richler. Sister Crazy was her first novel.
It's a fascinating picture of a strange but wonderful family, a series of anecdotes and thoughts on movies, books, etc that adds to her perceptions of this family. Jemima is Weiss #3, with two older brothers; Ben (#1) and Jude (#2), her almost twin and then two younger siblings, Harriet (#4) and Gus (#5). They are raised by 2 wonderful parents, her Jewish father and her Christian mother.
The girls are sent to school at local convent schools, first in England and then in Canada (described only as her father's country).
Jem's closest relationship is with her brother Jude; I enjoyed their playing with Action Man figurines, the worlds they create and the pain of their growing apart as Jude starts to strike out more and more on his own.
The story moves between childhood and the present but is focused on their growing up. There are lovely vignettes / interactions between the children and their feelings towards their parents; the lovely mother (Good Witch?) and their loud father (the Sun around which life revolves?)
There are hints at other issues, especially Jem's mental issues but maybe they aren't important enough to the story to get into in detail, and also incidents that make you want to explore more; her mother taken away in an ambulance; what happens to the family as they grow older, does Jem marry? So many things left untold, which is why I can't give it a perfect 5. But even so, it's a truly wonderful, enjoyable first story and worth trying. (4.5 stars)"
Just Started
To replace the two completed books, I've started the two below.
"In the remote Brazilian town of Cascatas do Pontal, where landless peasants are confronting the owners of vast estates, the bishop arrives by helicopter to consecrate a new church and is assassinated.
Mario Silva, chief inspector for criminal matters of the federal police of Brazil, is dispatched to the interior to find the killer. The pope himself has called Brazil’s president; the pressure is on Silva to perform. Assisted by his nephew, Hector Costa, also a federal policeman, Silva must battle the state police and a corrupt judiciary as well as criminals who prey on street kids, the warring factions of the Landless League, the big landowners, and the church itself, in order to solve the initial murder and several brutal killings that follow. Justice is hard to come by. An old priest, a secret liberation theologist, finally metes it out. Here is a Brazil that tourists never encounter."
"Blanche Lake is not like the other mothers who come to collect their children at the local nursery school on New York’s Upper East Side. She lives alone, has a job, and has never been married. It’s the first day of school when this story begins, and Blanche is eager to see how her daughter, Bunny, has fared away from home. But her expectant waiting becomes a mother’s most dreaded nightmare: Bunny never materializes. Neither teachers nor students recall the small girl, and soon Blanche is engaged in a frantic search for any trace of her missing daughter. And the worst part is . . . no one believes her.
In this fraught and at times freakish tale of suspense, Evelyn Piper takes us deep into the psyche of the 1950s to explore American fetishes, fallacies, and fears around motherhood and sexuality. Even the police refuse to help Blanche search for Bunny, lacking evidence of the girl’s existence. Emerging from the book’s moments of hysteria as a new kind of heroine—the hard-boiled mom—Blanche Lake turns 1950s psychology on its head. Her unbridled, red-blooded instincts win over the psychologist, Dr. Newhouse, and expose the creepiness of anti-sexual social norms. No wonder the film version of Bunny Lake Is Missing was reset in swinging 1960s London. Directed by Otto Preminger and starring Carol Lynley and Laurence Olivier (with music by the Zombies), the film reexamines motherhood and sexuality with a new plot twist that pins the problems on men."
Bill's Author's A - Z
The last person mentioned was Linda Buckley - Archer.
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| John Burdett |
"Excellent introduction to John Burdett's Sonchai Jitpleecheep mysteries. Set in a very exotic locale of Bangkok Thailand with so many interesting things going on; great characters, I loved the relationship between Sonchai and the FBI agent. I kept wanting them to get together. One of the strangest murders I've ever read; so much interplay between cultures, the American, Thai, Buddhism, etc. Fascinating story. Loved it very much. I will read more."
"This is the 2nd book in the Sonchai Jitpleecheep police series, set in Bangkok, Thailand. The first book, Bangkok 8 was excellent and this follow-up was just as good. The story is a rambling mystery, starting off with the discovery of the body of a CIA agent, who has been mutilated. Sonchai and his boss, Colonel Vikorn, work to protect the prostitute who was with the body. The story wanders through the underworld of Thailand, with Sonchai meeting with CIA agents, Muslim 'terrorists', the Yakuza and many others as he tries to solve the murder. There were nice surprises throughout and the story and the characters and the locale are all so interesting. Well worth following Sonchai on his journey to solve this case."
The other books in the series are -
a. Bangkok Haunts
b. The Godfather of Kathmandu
c. Vulture Peak
d. The Bangkok Asset.
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| Anthony Burgess |
"I'm glad I read this book. It's been a long time coming. I tried back in my university days, but couldn't get past the language. But really, the story is easy to understand; it reminds me of 1984, maybe more Brave New World, that view of the future. The story is told from the point of view of Alex; a gang boy, who spends his evenings on drugs with his mates, then beating people up, raping women.. Sent to prison for killing an old woman, he takes part in an experimental program, so he can get out early. This involves brain washing him so the thought of violence makes him ill. It's an interesting concept, an argument between mind control by the state or free will, even if that free will is a violent sociopath. I think the ending was a bit of a throw-away, but all in all, still an interesting concept and story."
"I'm not quite sure what to make of Nothing Like the Sun by Anthony Burgess. The only other book I'd read by Burgess was A Clockwork Orange, a strange and interesting story of a dystopic future. Nothing Like the Sun is a tale of William Shakespeare and his purported relationships with the Earl of Southampton and Fatima, the Dark Lady.
Like Clockwork, Burgess has a way with language, Nothing Like the Sun written in an oldish English, as if you are reading a Shakespearean play. The story, itself, starts with a young William's life in Stratford, working for his father's glove - making business. Shakespeare is a moody boy, writing sonnets, chasing women until he is forced to marry Anne Hathaway after getting her pregnant.
Shakespeare then joins a traveling troupe of actors, begins writing their plays and moves to London, where he meets the Earl of Southampton and becomes involved in a romantic relationship. As well, influenced by a previous experience with a black prostitute in Bristol, he begins a relationship with Fatima, who he meets in London.
All the while, he writes sonnets for his lovers and plays for the public. His family is mentioned, he sometimes visits Stratford and at one point discovers his wife may not have been faithful to him either.
But, ultimately, for it being an interesting historical story that flowed nicely once you got used to the language and spent a bit of time with the book, I wondered if it really meant that much to me or if it provided me with any real information about Shakespeare. I'll have to try Bill Bryson's history of Shakespeare's life and compare... Just not right this minute. (3 stars)"
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| James Lee Burke |
"Texas attorney Billy Bob Holland has many secrets in his dark past. Among them is his illegitimate son, Lucas Smothers. When Lucas is arrested for murdering his girlfriend, Holland knows that he has no choice but to try to save the boy, regardless of what it may mean to his own--or the boy's--reputation.
The boy is a country musician, abused by his stepfather and haunted by the possibility that he did, indeed, commit the murder in a drunken black-out. But Billy Bob knows the propensity of the small Texas town to make scapegoats of the innocent, and to exploit and sexually abuse those who are without power.
The dead woman was with Lucas the night she died. Everyone knows that. But they were also with the East Enders--the kids from the good homes with the rich daddies, whose morals are as loose as their pocket-books. Lucas doesn't want Billy Bob to drag the dead girl's name through the mud, but Billy Bob knows that he'll need to do much worse if he is to save his son's life."
"Billy Bob has a problem with local kingpin, Earl Deitrich, but also has a passion for Deitrich's wife. So he has to be very careful when he takes on the defense of Wilbur Pickett, a man accused of stealing from Deitrich."
Well there you go... Time to head out and get the BBQ started. I think a neighbour has already started because it smells pretty good..
Enjoy your week!
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