Finished: Rumpole and the Reign of Terror by John Mortimer, 2006, 0670038040.
Pretty good. A very quick read. I never read any of the Rumpole books or watched the television series. I picked this one out based on a review in Library Journal and a plot that involves British anti-terror laws.
Rumpole is a barrister who takes cases out of the Old Bailey court in London. Rumpole's main income comes from the Timson family whose wide ranging criminal progeny are in need of constant legal care. A disowned Timson approaches Rumpole to assist her Pakistani born doctor husband who has been arrested for something terrorist related. But, the government won't say what the doctor is charged with, what evidence there is, or who his accuser is.
Pretty much everyone turns against Rumpole on the assumption the doctor is guilty. Without Rumpole to advocate for him the doctor would have been totally screwed. How do you get a decent lawyer when everyone thinks you are a terrorist? Never mind that you're out of work and about to lose your freaking house - a key point in the doctor's innocence.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Read through: "Gun Digest 2007", 2006, 9780896893160
Read through: Gun Digest 2007, 2006, 9780896893160.
Eh. I get these annuals and sometimes the articles are interesting to me and sometimes not. The color photos of custom guns are always neat-o but never show enough detail.
I did the usual "Which one?" game. Each catalog page shows several photos of the items on that page. Which one would you take if you could choose one for free? Variations are: Pick one from each page to build a collection. Whatever gun chosen includes 10,000 rounds of ammunition. Gun chosen comes with no ammunition. Pick one only from each category of rifle, shotgun and handgun. So on and so forth.
Eh. I get these annuals and sometimes the articles are interesting to me and sometimes not. The color photos of custom guns are always neat-o but never show enough detail.
I did the usual "Which one?" game. Each catalog page shows several photos of the items on that page. Which one would you take if you could choose one for free? Variations are: Pick one from each page to build a collection. Whatever gun chosen includes 10,000 rounds of ammunition. Gun chosen comes with no ammunition. Pick one only from each category of rifle, shotgun and handgun. So on and so forth.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Listened to: "The Slippery Slope" by Lemony Snicket
Listened to: The Slippery Slope: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 10 by Lemony Snicket, audio version donwloaded off overdrive.com.
Good, but the last two in the series were better. This one has three new characters and more information to unravel the mystery of V.F.D.
The idea of the squared off Mortmain Mountains was too fanciful. The newly introduced villains were intriguing if they scare Count Olaf they must be really bad. The third Quagmire triplet showing up was nice, too.
Good, but the last two in the series were better. This one has three new characters and more information to unravel the mystery of V.F.D.
The idea of the squared off Mortmain Mountains was too fanciful. The newly introduced villains were intriguing if they scare Count Olaf they must be really bad. The third Quagmire triplet showing up was nice, too.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Finished: "Secret Diary of Laura Palmer" by Jennifer Lynch
Finished: Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch, 1990, found no ISBN.
I'm 17 years out of date on this one. I'm surprised the book was still available anywhere and not withdrawn. I never was interested in this when it came out because it seemed like such a cash in on Twin Peaks mania. Especially since the author is David Lynch's daughter.
I enjoyed this though. Laura Palmer was one mixed-up teenager. When Twin Peaks was on television I was the same age as the main characters and the chicks were very hot, including Laura Palmer. But now, the story of Laura as a sexually abused, cocaine addicted, amoral, manipulative, promiscuous and protstituting sixteen year old is really, really, really, really, creepy and disturbing.
I need to reserve the DVDs of the first and second seasons of Twin Peaks and watch them. When the show first premiered I read the promos about it and got real excited about seeing it. Since I didn't have a TV I was in the dorm's TV lounge where some other people were watching something else. I was hugely disappointed, but then two girls came in and asked if anyone minded if they changed the TV to the premier. Yeah!
I'm 17 years out of date on this one. I'm surprised the book was still available anywhere and not withdrawn. I never was interested in this when it came out because it seemed like such a cash in on Twin Peaks mania. Especially since the author is David Lynch's daughter.
I enjoyed this though. Laura Palmer was one mixed-up teenager. When Twin Peaks was on television I was the same age as the main characters and the chicks were very hot, including Laura Palmer. But now, the story of Laura as a sexually abused, cocaine addicted, amoral, manipulative, promiscuous and protstituting sixteen year old is really, really, really, really, creepy and disturbing.
I need to reserve the DVDs of the first and second seasons of Twin Peaks and watch them. When the show first premiered I read the promos about it and got real excited about seeing it. Since I didn't have a TV I was in the dorm's TV lounge where some other people were watching something else. I was hugely disappointed, but then two girls came in and asked if anyone minded if they changed the TV to the premier. Yeah!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Listened to: "The Hard Way" by Lee Child
Listened to: The Hard Way by Lee Child, downloaded from Overdrive.com.
Pretty good. Child writes about the main character, Jack Reacher, as living a really violent life. But, Reacher is not a particularly scary dude. Reacher is always the good guy; he can be ruthless and his size and personality are intimidating but he's not a scary character to the reader.
This took a while for me to to finish between walking to and from work and exercising. There were several parts about the plot that did not compute. Reacher gets hired by a mercenary, Lane, in New York to help find the mercenary's kidnapped wife. But, Lane is hiring Reacher right off the street. I suppose desperation and stupidity play into Lane's decision but I thought that was far fetched.
There were several points iin the first half of the novel where I was mightily impressed with Child's plotting. He kept things moving and kept me guessing. I thought I knew exactly what was going on but Child switched things around convincingly. Toward the end I could figure out a major plot point but Child had set-up the surprise very well. I was not surprised simply because I figured Child would logically explain it using clues provided earlier. He did.
I wonder if Child has a grudge or dislike for special operations/special forces soldiers. I've read two of his books, this one and The Enemy, and both feature SF guys as bad guys and not the super-soldiers they are usually portrayed as in both fiction and non-fiction.
Pretty good. Child writes about the main character, Jack Reacher, as living a really violent life. But, Reacher is not a particularly scary dude. Reacher is always the good guy; he can be ruthless and his size and personality are intimidating but he's not a scary character to the reader.
This took a while for me to to finish between walking to and from work and exercising. There were several parts about the plot that did not compute. Reacher gets hired by a mercenary, Lane, in New York to help find the mercenary's kidnapped wife. But, Lane is hiring Reacher right off the street. I suppose desperation and stupidity play into Lane's decision but I thought that was far fetched.
There were several points iin the first half of the novel where I was mightily impressed with Child's plotting. He kept things moving and kept me guessing. I thought I knew exactly what was going on but Child switched things around convincingly. Toward the end I could figure out a major plot point but Child had set-up the surprise very well. I was not surprised simply because I figured Child would logically explain it using clues provided earlier. He did.
I wonder if Child has a grudge or dislike for special operations/special forces soldiers. I've read two of his books, this one and The Enemy, and both feature SF guys as bad guys and not the super-soldiers they are usually portrayed as in both fiction and non-fiction.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Just Finished: "The Wheel Man" by Duane Swierczynski
Just Finished: The Wheel Man by Duane Swierczynski, 2005, 0312343787.
Quite good. A pulp caper novel set in Philadelphia. A good amount of twists and turns leaving you guessing who knows what and who else is to blame.
Lennon is a professional get away driver who teams up with a couple guys robbing a bank in downtown Philadelphia. After the crew get away and stash the cash their Subaru is rammed by a van and Lennon is knocked unconscious. Lennon comes to as a couple guys are about to drop his naked body down a pipe at a construction site.
Lennon escapes and has to figure out who ratted him out, avoid the cops, avoid the Russian mafia, rescue his now missing co-conspirator sister, and find the now missing $650,000. Swieiriiczzzyynkkkkis keeps things moving quickly and both plotting and pacing are very good. Characters are done well, too; kind of Richard Stark-ish.
Quite good. A pulp caper novel set in Philadelphia. A good amount of twists and turns leaving you guessing who knows what and who else is to blame.
Lennon is a professional get away driver who teams up with a couple guys robbing a bank in downtown Philadelphia. After the crew get away and stash the cash their Subaru is rammed by a van and Lennon is knocked unconscious. Lennon comes to as a couple guys are about to drop his naked body down a pipe at a construction site.
Lennon escapes and has to figure out who ratted him out, avoid the cops, avoid the Russian mafia, rescue his now missing co-conspirator sister, and find the now missing $650,000. Swieiriiczzzyynkkkkis keeps things moving quickly and both plotting and pacing are very good. Characters are done well, too; kind of Richard Stark-ish.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Read: "Booked to Die" by John Dunning
Read: Booked to Die by John Dunning, 1992, 0380718839 (pbk)
Eh. Good plotting and the information on the antiquarian and used book market is interesting but I disliked the main character.
Cliff Janeway is a Detective for the Denver Police Department and a major book nerd. Cliff has been a book collector for several years when he beats the crap out of a suspect and resigns from his job before he is fired to open his own book shop. Janeway's constant wisecracking got on my nerves. Dunning was trying just too hard for the wise-acre, hardboiled type.
Some of the characters, like red herring Jackie Winston and his beat-up girlfriend, were plot devices and poorly drawn. Hell, the damn book was 374 pages and by cutting out those two characters Dunning could have streamlined things and improved the story.
I read a different Dunning book several yearts ago, Bookman's Wake. That novel also featured Janeway and I remember liking it. The mystery plotting was good and the information on the rare book trade was really well done. Wake suffered from a lame romance storyline like Booked to Die has. Dunning's relationship writing about Janeway and would be girlfriend's was odd. I cannot explain it further than that without re-reading and analyzing my thoughts on the book - that effort will not happen.
Eh. Good plotting and the information on the antiquarian and used book market is interesting but I disliked the main character.
Cliff Janeway is a Detective for the Denver Police Department and a major book nerd. Cliff has been a book collector for several years when he beats the crap out of a suspect and resigns from his job before he is fired to open his own book shop. Janeway's constant wisecracking got on my nerves. Dunning was trying just too hard for the wise-acre, hardboiled type.
Some of the characters, like red herring Jackie Winston and his beat-up girlfriend, were plot devices and poorly drawn. Hell, the damn book was 374 pages and by cutting out those two characters Dunning could have streamlined things and improved the story.
I read a different Dunning book several yearts ago, Bookman's Wake. That novel also featured Janeway and I remember liking it. The mystery plotting was good and the information on the rare book trade was really well done. Wake suffered from a lame romance storyline like Booked to Die has. Dunning's relationship writing about Janeway and would be girlfriend's was odd. I cannot explain it further than that without re-reading and analyzing my thoughts on the book - that effort will not happen.
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