Noah Wyle stars in "The Librarian" trilogy series. My spouse and I have watched the first two "Librarian" DVD's: "Quest for the Spear" and "Return to King Solomon's Mines." They are fun adventure movies and we've requested the third one from the library.
Noah Wyle is the Librarian Flynn Carson and in "Quest for the Spear" he has been kicked out of college after accumulating multiple degrees. His professor believes he needs to stop avoiding life and get out there into it. His widowed mother portrayed by Olympia Dukakis also thinks it time he found a nice girl and settled down to provide her with some grandchildren.
Reluctantly, Flynn applies for a position as a librarian after finding an envelope his mother has slipped into his room. The candidates appear to be endless and unsuitable but, when Flynn is interviewed, he is hired. His boss, Judson, at the library is played by Bob Newhart and Jane Curtain as Charlene is the library administrator. Flynn soon discovers that what he is there to do is to protect the world's greatest treasures which are safely secured and guarded in a secret part of the library. When a rare artifact is discovered that might threaten the fate of the world, he's sent off to recover it and bring it to safekeeping in the library.
Does he have any training for this? No! In the first episode Judson sends him off telling him to trust no one but he soon discovers (when he finds himself threatened) that No one (Noone) is a beautfiul protector with amazing martial art and other skills. Noone is played by Sonya Walger. The risk is great and Flynn's success leads to self confidence for him as well as a love life -- which pleases and surprises his mother!
In the second movie, "Return to King Solomon's Mines," Noone is no where in sight but Flynn is unintentionally paired with a beautiful archaeologist, Emily Davenport, played by Gabrielle Anwar (of the "Burn Notice" series). After he makes a discovery at her dig, she is not going to let him out of her sight leading them both on an adventure to again save the world while endangering both their lives.....and, there's a little romance thrown in, too.
I think what I enjoy about these "adventure" movies is the subtle humor that is also inserted and why wouldn't there be humor with Bob Newhart and Jane Curtain involved in the making of these films?
Great at home movie night movies! pazt
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
"Storm Front"
John Sandford's, "Storm Front," is the next to the last novel currently in his Virgil Flowers series. So far I love all of Sandford's series but I particularly enjoyed this Flowers' novel.
Virgil's boss, Lucas Davenport, calls him in to work on a case involving a local professor from his area who has been accused by the Israelis of stealing a precious artifact from a dig he was working on. The professor has a wife with Alzheimer's and he's dying of cancer and the theft seems totally out of character for him and his long career of assisting with digs.
An Israeli investigator has been sent to retrieve the relic and Flowers has been assigned to assist her but things get tricky when the original woman who shows up keeps being accused (by everyone they question) of being part of the Mossad. As it turns out, the original investigator has been "detained" prior to getting to the U.S. and this woman has taken her place. As soon as the real investigator arrives, the imposter fades into the background but doesn't totally disappear.
Lots of individuals are showing an interest in the artifact that it appears the professor is preparing to sell. His son is out of the area but Flowers contacts the professor's daughter to see if she can help him find her father.
There is also a woman, "Ma" Nobles, that Flowers has been investigating for a possible counterfeit lumber selling ring. Even "Ma" gets involved in the investigation when it turns out the professor did her family a big favor when she was a girl that changed the course of her life so she feels she owes him. Despite the name, "Ma," "Ma" is young and well developed and there may be more than an investigation into her criminal activities on Virgil's part that interests him.
As usual, there are some twists and turns in this Sandford novel that kept me guessing to the end and I was unable to put it down (and it's 376 pages in hardback!) until I'd finished it. pazt
Virgil's boss, Lucas Davenport, calls him in to work on a case involving a local professor from his area who has been accused by the Israelis of stealing a precious artifact from a dig he was working on. The professor has a wife with Alzheimer's and he's dying of cancer and the theft seems totally out of character for him and his long career of assisting with digs.
An Israeli investigator has been sent to retrieve the relic and Flowers has been assigned to assist her but things get tricky when the original woman who shows up keeps being accused (by everyone they question) of being part of the Mossad. As it turns out, the original investigator has been "detained" prior to getting to the U.S. and this woman has taken her place. As soon as the real investigator arrives, the imposter fades into the background but doesn't totally disappear.
Lots of individuals are showing an interest in the artifact that it appears the professor is preparing to sell. His son is out of the area but Flowers contacts the professor's daughter to see if she can help him find her father.
There is also a woman, "Ma" Nobles, that Flowers has been investigating for a possible counterfeit lumber selling ring. Even "Ma" gets involved in the investigation when it turns out the professor did her family a big favor when she was a girl that changed the course of her life so she feels she owes him. Despite the name, "Ma," "Ma" is young and well developed and there may be more than an investigation into her criminal activities on Virgil's part that interests him.
As usual, there are some twists and turns in this Sandford novel that kept me guessing to the end and I was unable to put it down (and it's 376 pages in hardback!) until I'd finished it. pazt
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
"The Light Between Oceans"
"The Light Between Oceans" is M. L. Stedman's first novel and I hope it won't be her last. She was born and raised in Western Australia and her novel is set in Australia although she now lives in London.
Stedman weaves a complex tale full of emotion and our hero, Tom Sherbourne, is the pivotal figure. He has spent four long years on the Western Front and comes home haunted with what he's seen in the war and by the men who he knew who died. It's not something he wants to talk about.
Post war finds him rescuing one woman, marrying another and becoming a lighthouse keeper -- a lonely and remote job but made bearable when he married Isabel. Isabel is the perfect mate for him but several miscarriages leave her grieving over her inability to bear a living child. When a boat washes up on shore with a dead man and a live baby in it, Isabel wants to keep the child and is convinced the child's mother must be dead, too. Having recently given birth to a stillborn child, she convinces Tom (against his better judgement) not to log the man's death and the appearance of the child. They begin to raise the child, Lucy, as their own.
However, when Tom discovers the true circumstances behind the child's parentage, he tries to convince Isabel that they must tell the truth but, by then, she is too firmly attached to let Lucy go. As a result, Tom is faced with a wrenching decision and an ultimate decision that hurts his daughter, his wife, and another woman as well as himself. pazt
Stedman weaves a complex tale full of emotion and our hero, Tom Sherbourne, is the pivotal figure. He has spent four long years on the Western Front and comes home haunted with what he's seen in the war and by the men who he knew who died. It's not something he wants to talk about.
Post war finds him rescuing one woman, marrying another and becoming a lighthouse keeper -- a lonely and remote job but made bearable when he married Isabel. Isabel is the perfect mate for him but several miscarriages leave her grieving over her inability to bear a living child. When a boat washes up on shore with a dead man and a live baby in it, Isabel wants to keep the child and is convinced the child's mother must be dead, too. Having recently given birth to a stillborn child, she convinces Tom (against his better judgement) not to log the man's death and the appearance of the child. They begin to raise the child, Lucy, as their own.
However, when Tom discovers the true circumstances behind the child's parentage, he tries to convince Isabel that they must tell the truth but, by then, she is too firmly attached to let Lucy go. As a result, Tom is faced with a wrenching decision and an ultimate decision that hurts his daughter, his wife, and another woman as well as himself. pazt
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
"The Fool's Run"
"The Fool's Run" is a new series by John Sandford starring Kidd. Kidd is an artist and he'd prefer to be left alone to do his art but it doesn't quite pay the rent so he takes on some side jobs utilizing other special skills he has with computers. His "consulting" gigs help keep him in an apartment and paint. When Kidd is approached by Maggie, who works for a wealthy business owner in Chicago, she asks him to take on a job for her boss. Kidd's reluctant but the money is too good to pass up -- in fact, it could set him up for life.
The job calls for some assistance, though, so he recruits a newspaper friend, Dace, as well as LuEllen, a thief he happened upon one night when she was stealing from one of his neighbors. All seems to be going well until the job is almost over then Dace is shot in cold blood and Kidd and LuEllen are running for their lives. The question is, who is after them? Is it a case of mistaken identity or are they the actual targets? They go into hiding to try to work out what is going on then come up with a plan to get even and get safe. Another great novel by Sandford....pazt
The job calls for some assistance, though, so he recruits a newspaper friend, Dace, as well as LuEllen, a thief he happened upon one night when she was stealing from one of his neighbors. All seems to be going well until the job is almost over then Dace is shot in cold blood and Kidd and LuEllen are running for their lives. The question is, who is after them? Is it a case of mistaken identity or are they the actual targets? They go into hiding to try to work out what is going on then come up with a plan to get even and get safe. Another great novel by Sandford....pazt
Thursday, May 15, 2014
"In Harm's Way"
"In Harm's Way" is Ridley Pearson's 4th Walt Fleming novel. Sun Valley sheriff Fleming has his hands full running the police department and trying to make a home life for his twin daughters who divide their time between his home and where his ex-wife lives with one of his deputies. Although Fleming is still coping with the aftermath of his divorce, he has feelings for Fiona Kenshaw, a local photographer who assists in taking crime scene pictures for his department. As he acts on those feelings (which are reciprocated), both their lives are unexpectedly churned upside down when an out-of-town sport celebrity (who has just been released from prison) is killed and Fleming must investigate.
This case may have ties to a homicide in Seattle which brings Lou Boldt, a legendary homicide sergeant from Seattle, to the area. Fleming and Boldt develop a good working rapport and continue to compare notes when Boldt returns to Seattle -- trying to connect the two cases and solve both of them.
In the meantime, Fleming is concerned about Fiona's change of behaviour and the fact that a young woman (former victim of sexual assault) who Fiona has taken under her wing, seems to be missing from around the time of the murder. For the first time in his career, he finds himself wanting to ignore some of the evidence in the case because it might point the finger at one of them being involved.
As usual, Pearson weaves a complex tale with an unexpected turn near the end that helps both he and Boldt solve their cases. I wouldn't miss one of Pearson's books and hope he has another Walt Fleming sequel in the works. pazt
This case may have ties to a homicide in Seattle which brings Lou Boldt, a legendary homicide sergeant from Seattle, to the area. Fleming and Boldt develop a good working rapport and continue to compare notes when Boldt returns to Seattle -- trying to connect the two cases and solve both of them.
In the meantime, Fleming is concerned about Fiona's change of behaviour and the fact that a young woman (former victim of sexual assault) who Fiona has taken under her wing, seems to be missing from around the time of the murder. For the first time in his career, he finds himself wanting to ignore some of the evidence in the case because it might point the finger at one of them being involved.
As usual, Pearson weaves a complex tale with an unexpected turn near the end that helps both he and Boldt solve their cases. I wouldn't miss one of Pearson's books and hope he has another Walt Fleming sequel in the works. pazt
Sunday, May 11, 2014
"Shock Wave"
John Sandford's "Shock Wave" is the 5th book, I believe, in the Virgil Flowers series and it's another fast read despite its 388 pages. The stage is set when PyeMart decides it wants to move into the small Minnesota river town of Butternut Falls but there are a lot of factions opposed to the idea who are ready to do what they can to stop the construction.
Step one occurs when someone places a bomb in the corporate boardroom of Pye Pinnacle in Michigan. Instead of killing Willard Pye, though, it goes off before a board meeting starts and kills his executive assistant and seriously injures a food service worker.
Three weeks later a bomb goes off at the PyeMart construction site just outside Butternut Falls and kills a construction superintendent and injures the civil engineer with him. So, of course, Lucas Davenport calls Virgil Flowers and sends him to Butternut Falls to find the bomber before more people are killed.
Unfortunately, he's not able to stop some additional bombings and deaths but he and his persistent crew are on the trail of suspects and narrowing the field. In the meantime, they and Flowers are at risk, too.
And....just to make things interesting, it appears the local council were bribed to change the zoning laws to allow PyeMart to build in a location that wasn't meant to be built on. Davenport would find it a plus if Flowers could manage to take down those who were bribed while finding the bomber.
On a personal note, Virgil's current love, Lee Coakley, is in L.A. working as a consultant on a made-for-TV movie based on one of her cases. Virgil feels things beginning to cool between them when they talk by phone but isn't quite ready to let go yet even though he's feeling some attraction towards Pye's assistant.
Flowers is juggling a lot right now -- is he up to it? If previous Flowers' novels are any indication, he is! I found this another great Sandford read. pazt
Step one occurs when someone places a bomb in the corporate boardroom of Pye Pinnacle in Michigan. Instead of killing Willard Pye, though, it goes off before a board meeting starts and kills his executive assistant and seriously injures a food service worker.
Three weeks later a bomb goes off at the PyeMart construction site just outside Butternut Falls and kills a construction superintendent and injures the civil engineer with him. So, of course, Lucas Davenport calls Virgil Flowers and sends him to Butternut Falls to find the bomber before more people are killed.
Unfortunately, he's not able to stop some additional bombings and deaths but he and his persistent crew are on the trail of suspects and narrowing the field. In the meantime, they and Flowers are at risk, too.
And....just to make things interesting, it appears the local council were bribed to change the zoning laws to allow PyeMart to build in a location that wasn't meant to be built on. Davenport would find it a plus if Flowers could manage to take down those who were bribed while finding the bomber.
On a personal note, Virgil's current love, Lee Coakley, is in L.A. working as a consultant on a made-for-TV movie based on one of her cases. Virgil feels things beginning to cool between them when they talk by phone but isn't quite ready to let go yet even though he's feeling some attraction towards Pye's assistant.
Flowers is juggling a lot right now -- is he up to it? If previous Flowers' novels are any indication, he is! I found this another great Sandford read. pazt
Monday, May 5, 2014
"True Spies"
"True Spies" is Shana Galen's second in a series of English uppercrust spy couples. The first one was "Lord and Lady Spy." In "True Spies" Lady Elinor is getting bored and looking for a little excitement in her life. Her husband, Baron Winslow Keating (known as Winn to her) has spent most of their married life managing his estates all over the country. His long absences weren't so hard to bear when her daughters were younger and needed more of her attention. The Lady is quite good at managing the household and arranging parties as well as helping others with their parties. When an acquaintance hints he's a spy and needs her help, she is ready for a little adventure.
Unknown to Elinor, though, her husband is a spy and this acquaintance is just an imposter trying to bed her. When Winn shows her he's an imposter and, to his regret, also gets her caught up in a very dangerous mission he's involved in, Elinor gets her excitement. For safety, their daughters are sent off to spend time with Winn's mother and Winn and Elinor embark on an adventure that ends with her becoming a real spy and winning the love of her husband.
It's a fun, light read with some sex thrown in for those looking for some romance in their mystery spy thrillers! pazt
Unknown to Elinor, though, her husband is a spy and this acquaintance is just an imposter trying to bed her. When Winn shows her he's an imposter and, to his regret, also gets her caught up in a very dangerous mission he's involved in, Elinor gets her excitement. For safety, their daughters are sent off to spend time with Winn's mother and Winn and Elinor embark on an adventure that ends with her becoming a real spy and winning the love of her husband.
It's a fun, light read with some sex thrown in for those looking for some romance in their mystery spy thrillers! pazt
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