"The Shadowed Sun" by N. K. Jemisin is the second book in her Dreamblood fantasy series. I had forgotten how much I love Jemisin's writing as I've had this book checked out from the library for a while and always chose to read my mysteries first. However, it was time to return the book and I decided I should read it first!
I think what stalls my starting one is the complex world Jemisin sets up with its own vocabulary and I feel lost until I really get into the book. (The author does provide a glossary of terms to help navigate her fantasy world.) Once I'm in it, though, I don't want to put it down. This book has a very strong feminine heroine - the first woman ever allowed to join the dream godddess's priesthood. Paired with an exiled prince they need to free the city of Gujaareh from the imperial rule of the Kisuati Protectorate as well as a deadly nightmare plague that is killing citizens in their sleep. If you enjoy fantasy, I'd recommend this series. pazt
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Sunday, December 18, 2016
"The Thin Man"
Dashiell Hammett's "Thin Man" movies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy have always been a favorite of my spouse and I so we decided it was time to watch them again for some lighthearted detecting. We started with "The Thin Man" DVD and I didn't remember it so I either haven't seen this one or it's been so long ago that it was all new to me. (I suspect it was the latter.)
Powell and Loy portray Nick and Nora Charles -- a married couple from very different backgrounds. Nick has been used to hanging out with the low lifes and being a detective while Nora comes from highbrow society. After they marry and her father dies, Nick retires from detecting to manage all the companies Nora inherited. However, Nora encourages Nick to become involved in helping solve a series of murders that involve a family who have been Nick's close friends for many years.
This movie had four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and five sequels were made. W. S. "Woody" Van Dyke promised to shoot this movie in three weeks but actually accomplished it in 12 days. It was fun entertainment! pazt
Powell and Loy portray Nick and Nora Charles -- a married couple from very different backgrounds. Nick has been used to hanging out with the low lifes and being a detective while Nora comes from highbrow society. After they marry and her father dies, Nick retires from detecting to manage all the companies Nora inherited. However, Nora encourages Nick to become involved in helping solve a series of murders that involve a family who have been Nick's close friends for many years.
This movie had four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and five sequels were made. W. S. "Woody" Van Dyke promised to shoot this movie in three weeks but actually accomplished it in 12 days. It was fun entertainment! pazt
Saturday, December 17, 2016
"Heat"
I checked out the "Heat" DVD starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy because I'd read a write up describing it as hilarious. Sorry -- my spouse and I really tried watching it but didn't find it funny at all and gave up about halfway through. The story pairs an uptight FBI special agent (Sandra) with a local unconventional cop (Melissa) whose paths collide on a case Sandra is working on. Where Sandra is "Professional," Melissa's character is crude and foul mouthed and it was just a little too much crude and rude for me. I'd have to give this a thumbs down from my family! pazt
Sunday, December 11, 2016
"Styx & Stone"
"Styx & Stone" is an Ellie Stone mystery - the first in a series written by James W. Ziskin - and is set in the year 1960.
Ellie Stone works for a newspaper - the New Holland Republic - where she ended up after her mother's death and her estrangement from her father. When she receives a call to tell her that her father is in the hospital, she returns to New York City to stay at his apartment until he is well enough to come home.
However, when she arrives in New York, she learns (courtesy of Sergeant McKeever) that her father was the victim of an apparent burglary in his apartment and being bludgeoned over the head has him in the hospital in a coma. On the same night her father was attacked another professor in the department where he worked was found dead in his apartment -- an apparent accident.
When Ellie questions Sergeant McKeever and some of the evidence that has been uncovered, she begins working on her own and with the Sergeant because she suspects murder and attempted murder is what they are really looking at. In the meantime, a second attempt is made on her father's life in the hospital and convinces the Sergeant that she might have a point.
Some of the professorial and linguistic references were above my head at times but I enjoyed the way Ellie unraveled the mystery and helped the Sergeant solve the crimes. I look forward to reading the second book in this series. pazt
Ellie Stone works for a newspaper - the New Holland Republic - where she ended up after her mother's death and her estrangement from her father. When she receives a call to tell her that her father is in the hospital, she returns to New York City to stay at his apartment until he is well enough to come home.
However, when she arrives in New York, she learns (courtesy of Sergeant McKeever) that her father was the victim of an apparent burglary in his apartment and being bludgeoned over the head has him in the hospital in a coma. On the same night her father was attacked another professor in the department where he worked was found dead in his apartment -- an apparent accident.
When Ellie questions Sergeant McKeever and some of the evidence that has been uncovered, she begins working on her own and with the Sergeant because she suspects murder and attempted murder is what they are really looking at. In the meantime, a second attempt is made on her father's life in the hospital and convinces the Sergeant that she might have a point.
Some of the professorial and linguistic references were above my head at times but I enjoyed the way Ellie unraveled the mystery and helped the Sergeant solve the crimes. I look forward to reading the second book in this series. pazt
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
"Secret Asset"
"Secret Asset" is Stella Rimington's second novel featuring Liz Carlyle,a young MI5 intelligence officer. She reports to Charles Wetherby who is Director of Counter-Terrorism.
When one of Carlyle's agents reports suspicious activities in an Islamic bookstore, Liz is surprised when Wetherby pulls her off the case to work on a special project for him. He wants her to find someone who may have been planted as a mole by the IRA but never activated. It's a rumor from a credible source and he is taking it seriously but he doesn't want anyone but Liz and Peggy, a young woman loaned from MI6 to work with her, to know the true reason he has them vetting older agents.
At first it seems pretty unlikely to Liz but as she and Peggy begin their vetting project, they make a discovery that ties the mole to the current operation Liz was removed from. Will they be able to confirm the mole's identity and stop whatever he and his rogue colleagues have in mind?
In the meantime, Carlyle's mother is in need of surgery to remove a cancerous tumor so Liz is preoccupied with her mother's situation but it doesn't keep her from maintaining her on the job focus.
It's another exciting race to the finish -- can't wait to read the third book in the series! pazt
When one of Carlyle's agents reports suspicious activities in an Islamic bookstore, Liz is surprised when Wetherby pulls her off the case to work on a special project for him. He wants her to find someone who may have been planted as a mole by the IRA but never activated. It's a rumor from a credible source and he is taking it seriously but he doesn't want anyone but Liz and Peggy, a young woman loaned from MI6 to work with her, to know the true reason he has them vetting older agents.
At first it seems pretty unlikely to Liz but as she and Peggy begin their vetting project, they make a discovery that ties the mole to the current operation Liz was removed from. Will they be able to confirm the mole's identity and stop whatever he and his rogue colleagues have in mind?
In the meantime, Carlyle's mother is in need of surgery to remove a cancerous tumor so Liz is preoccupied with her mother's situation but it doesn't keep her from maintaining her on the job focus.
It's another exciting race to the finish -- can't wait to read the third book in the series! pazt
Thursday, December 1, 2016
"The Lucky One"
"The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks is, like the other novels I've read by him, a love story but it is also a journey to find one's self. If you read my blog regularly, you probably can guess that I enjoy mysteries and action, spy stories best. Romance novels aren't my scene except when it comes to Nicholas Sparks. I do like his love stories because they also contain substance. I read "The Lucky One" in one day despite the fact I probably shouldn't have taken a day out to read it. I was enjoying it so much that I kept going back to it until I finished it! pazt
Saturday, November 26, 2016
"The Innocent"
"The Innocent" is a novel by Harlan Coben and it's in memory of Steven Z. Miller. That write up was intriguing enough for me to google Steven Z. Miller and the results I found indicate he was Dr. Steven Z.Miller. Dr. Miller was the director of pediatric emergency medicine at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University. He died tragically too young at age 46 in a plane crash leaving behind family and colleagues to mourn his loss.
This novel, however, isn't about Dr. Miller. It's the love story of two people from completely different backgrounds. Matt Hunter grew up in an upper-middle-class suburb in northern New Jersey. Unfortunately, he caused the death of another student when he was in college as he was trying to intervene when his friend was being attacked. Matt ended up spending time in prison for manslaughter and that changed his life.
While he was in college and on a getaway with friends, he met Olivia. They felt a connection in the one night they spent talking together but he went home and expected he'd never see her again. However, when their paths did cross years later after he was out of prison and working in a law firm with his brother, there was still a spark. Now they're married, expecting their first child, and preparing to move into a suburb in the area where Matt grew up.
Life's course never runs smooth in Coben's books, though, and we have lots of twists and turns along the way. A nun is dead and the head of the school where she taught has requested a former student, Investigator Loren Muse, to look into the death as she has concerns it might not be from natural causes. While Loren is working that case, two men are found dead in different situations, Matt Hunter becomes a person of interest in Loren's investigation due to a phone call the dead nun made to his sister-in-law's home.
In the meantime,Matt receives what appear to be compromising pictures of his wife with another man during a time she is supposed to be out of town on business. He calls Cingle Shaker, a private eye he uses in the course of his job, to try to discover the true story behind the pictures. When the FBI shows an interest in what they've uncovered, some feds show up to take the case away from Loren. Loren is a determined young woman, though, and despite being told to stay away, she thinks there is something fishy going on with what might be a frame-up of Matt.
A showdown in Nevada where Loren, Matt, and Olivia all converge from separate locations leads to more deaths but also unravels the truth. Will they be able to survive it? As usual, Coben creates a great story and I rarely can figure out the twists behind them which always makes them a great read for me!
"The Innocent" has a bonus story at the end: "The Rise and Fall of Super D." I was concerned the whole short story wasn't there and almost didn't read it but it is complete and is another tale true to Coben -- a surprise twist I didn't see coming! pazt
This novel, however, isn't about Dr. Miller. It's the love story of two people from completely different backgrounds. Matt Hunter grew up in an upper-middle-class suburb in northern New Jersey. Unfortunately, he caused the death of another student when he was in college as he was trying to intervene when his friend was being attacked. Matt ended up spending time in prison for manslaughter and that changed his life.
While he was in college and on a getaway with friends, he met Olivia. They felt a connection in the one night they spent talking together but he went home and expected he'd never see her again. However, when their paths did cross years later after he was out of prison and working in a law firm with his brother, there was still a spark. Now they're married, expecting their first child, and preparing to move into a suburb in the area where Matt grew up.
Life's course never runs smooth in Coben's books, though, and we have lots of twists and turns along the way. A nun is dead and the head of the school where she taught has requested a former student, Investigator Loren Muse, to look into the death as she has concerns it might not be from natural causes. While Loren is working that case, two men are found dead in different situations, Matt Hunter becomes a person of interest in Loren's investigation due to a phone call the dead nun made to his sister-in-law's home.
In the meantime,Matt receives what appear to be compromising pictures of his wife with another man during a time she is supposed to be out of town on business. He calls Cingle Shaker, a private eye he uses in the course of his job, to try to discover the true story behind the pictures. When the FBI shows an interest in what they've uncovered, some feds show up to take the case away from Loren. Loren is a determined young woman, though, and despite being told to stay away, she thinks there is something fishy going on with what might be a frame-up of Matt.
A showdown in Nevada where Loren, Matt, and Olivia all converge from separate locations leads to more deaths but also unravels the truth. Will they be able to survive it? As usual, Coben creates a great story and I rarely can figure out the twists behind them which always makes them a great read for me!
"The Innocent" has a bonus story at the end: "The Rise and Fall of Super D." I was concerned the whole short story wasn't there and almost didn't read it but it is complete and is another tale true to Coben -- a surprise twist I didn't see coming! pazt
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