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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2017 17:05:44 GMT -5
Finished Donald Westlake's Forever and a Death. It was a good read, but I was expecting more of a James Bond pastiche, since it's based on his outline for the follow up to Goldeneye. Still a fun read though.
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Post by brutalis on Oct 5, 2017 8:27:17 GMT -5
Keeping the Donald Westlake love going strong I read over the weekend Lemons Never Lie. Writing under the name Richard Stark this is a quick easy read which focuses on a Parker side character Alan Grofield in his his own story. Not a lot of characterizations in this as Grofield isn't all that deep but it is a fun zippy story worth reading as it shows how things go wrong or into left field on criminal capers. Grofield is one of those likable rogues with a conscience and a mostly non violent guy who ends up in violent situations who keeps his calm and his head straight. Reads like a comedy of errors and very enjoyable!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 5, 2017 12:22:53 GMT -5
Keeping the Donald Westlake love going strong I read over the weekend Lemons Never Lie. Writing under the name Richard Stark this is a quick easy read which focuses on a Parker side character Alan Grofield in his his own story. Not a lot of characterizations in this as Grofield isn't all that deep but it is a fun zippy story worth reading as it shows how things go wrong or into left field on criminal capers. Grofield is one of those likable rogues with a conscience and a mostly non violent guy who ends up in violent situations who keeps his calm and his head straight. Reads like a comedy of errors and very enjoyable! Westlake did four Grofield novels. Lemons is the easiest to find because Hard Case did a reprint. I've read all the Parker novels, but not the Grofield ones because the other three, while not really hard to find, are hard to find cheap. I wish Hard Case had done all four of them.
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Post by brutalis on Oct 5, 2017 14:25:32 GMT -5
Keeping the Donald Westlake love going strong I read over the weekend Lemons Never Lie. Writing under the name Richard Stark this is a quick easy read which focuses on a Parker side character Alan Grofield in his his own story. Not a lot of characterizations in this as Grofield isn't all that deep but it is a fun zippy story worth reading as it shows how things go wrong or into left field on criminal capers. Grofield is one of those likable rogues with a conscience and a mostly non violent guy who ends up in violent situations who keeps his calm and his head straight. Reads like a comedy of errors and very enjoyable! Westlake did four Grofield novels. Lemons is the easiest to find because Hard Case did a reprint. I've read all the Parker novels, but not the Grofield ones because the other three, while not really hard to find, are hard to find cheap. I wish Hard Case had done all four of them. Found the Hard Case reprinting at a Dollar store of all places. Thanks to that store I now have 5 Hard Case books to read. Chose Lemons as it was the thinnest/shortest of the batch. They could have likley been able to place all four into one book if they tried.
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Post by brutalis on Oct 9, 2017 8:38:38 GMT -5
Friday night finished reading Martin Caidin's The Last Dogfight. World War 2 story of two ace fighter pilots, one American and one Japanese during the final days of WWII and their eventual showdown to decide who is best. Exquisite details of what it was like flying during those days of war. You will lose your day quickly as you become enthusiastically engrossed in reading this adventure where 2 men gain reputations as the killers of the skies and yet it delivers on showing their humanity and that there is little to no difference for each is doing what is expected of them from their respective countries during war. You feel the wind and stress of their fights flashing through the skies along with their adrenaline rush of excitement and thrills during the battles. It reminds us that underneath it all that there is more to every person than what is seen on the outside representation.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 10, 2017 20:02:14 GMT -5
Kings of Infinite Space by Nigel Balchin c. 1967 Unlike what the cover implies (the cover here on good reads is much more representative), this isn't actually a sci fi book, but rather a fictional account of astronaut training in the late 60s. While it's not a bad story for that, it doesn't seem to be trying to say anything in particular. There's an essay at the end about man's purpose for space travel, but it's kind of meandering and didn't really do much. Apparently the author wrote alot of good WWII stuff, and some screen plays... this seems to fall into the category of 'why was this in the pile again'
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 17, 2017 12:54:17 GMT -5
Cold Dish Craig Johnson
I really enjoyed the TV show (Longmire), so I thought surely the books would be even better. Sadly, the book was so very, very different that the show, I had difficulty getting past it. The story (one that was done, in slightly modified form in the show) was similar, but with a twist ending that I thought was just a little too far out of left field to be interesting.
Overall, I'm glad I checked it out, but I'm not sure I'll read the others.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 20, 2017 10:53:39 GMT -5
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I don't think I'd read this book since it was published in 2005. But having re-read American Gods I wanted to re-read this spin-off. Anansi is dead. And we follow the adventures of his sons Fat Charlie Nancy and Spider. The world seems to have it in for Fat Charlie, who just wants to lead a normal boring life. And Spider seems to have gotten all the magic involved with having a God for a father. Of course this is a Spider story and all is not as it seems. This book pales by comparison to American Gods and while that's probably understandable it's also probably not fair. This isn't meant to be an epic in the tradition of American Gods. It's a fable. A long fable, but a fable, nonetheless. I also think I was probably not in the right mindset for it while I was re-reading it. It's a good book. It's a good story. It just wasn't what I needed at the time I was reading it.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 20, 2017 11:09:27 GMT -5
The Late Lamented by Fredric Brown. Ed and Am Hunter are back and have been subcontracted by the Starlock Agency to look into an embezzlement case with missing money, an allegedly dead embezzler and his beautiful daughter who may or may not know where the money is located. It's Ed's job to get close to the girl (a rope job) and find out if she knows anything. This is the sixth and penultimate book in the Hunter series. While the first five came out at a rate of about one per year, Brown waited eight years between the fifth book and this one. The last two books are generally seen as weaker than the original five, but I'm not at all sure why that's the case with this one. It's one of the stronger books in the series. Brown plays a bit against type by having both Am and Ed flub the job very early on, but they are able to salvage it. There is only one murder (leaving aside the death of the possible embezzler which precipitates the action) and it happens late in the book and offscreen. Brown really does try to show what actual private detection feels like, within the confines of the need for some action and adventure. I found this to be a solid entry in a very solid series.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 20, 2017 12:42:37 GMT -5
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I don't think I'd read this book since it was published in 2005. But having re-read American Gods I wanted to re-read this spin-off. Anansi is dead. And we follow the adventures of his sons Fat Charlie Nancy and Spider. The world seems to have it in for Fat Charlie, who just wants to lead a normal boring life. And Spider seems to have gotten all the magic involved with having a God for a father. Of course this is a Spider story and all is not as it seems. This book pales by comparison to American Gods and while that's probably understandable it's also probably not fair. This isn't meant to be an epic in the tradition of American Gods. It's a fable. A long fable, but a fable, nonetheless. I also think I was probably not in the right mindset for it while I was re-reading it. It's a good book. It's a good story. It just wasn't what I needed at the time I was reading it. I honestly don't remember it that well, but I definitely liked this one better than American Gods... but then you described it as a fable, and I'm a big fan of fables.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 20, 2017 22:23:03 GMT -5
Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
It's hard to even compare this with the dreck that is the Chuck Wendig series... this book is definitely Star Wars. Sure, it's got a bit of 'Forrest Gump' syndrome, where the main characters end up stuck retroactively in every important moment in the original trilogy.. but it's not as bad as it could be... I found myself picturing the scenes in question and being able to see these character as the ones in the background. It also wasn't THAT bad.. they didn't make Thane suddenly the hero of the rebellion, and they clearly don't know everything that was going on at the time.
Where the book really makes it's mark, IMO, is they way we see the Empire from the point of view of a 'regular' person in the galaxy. They were far from the bad guys at first. Perhaps even more interesting (and well done) was the internal reasoning the characters in the book used to justify the increasingly evil stuff that gets done.
Meanwhile, we see how one defects, and it all makes alot of sense, which is pretty cool.
It also ties in pretty nicely to Aftermath (at least I didn't notice anything off).. perhaps too much so... I almost felt like I had already read that scene.
It is pretty heavy on the young adult angst and sappy romance, but I know that's the target audience.. it was bearable for all the good stuff.
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Post by berkley on Oct 20, 2017 22:34:44 GMT -5
The Late Lamented by Fredric Brown. Ed and Am Hunter are back and have been subcontracted by the Starlock Agency to look into an embezzlement case with missing money, an allegedly dead embezzler and his beautiful daughter who may or may not know where the money is located. It's Ed's job to get close to the girl (a rope job) and find out if she knows anything. This is the sixth and penultimate book in the Hunter series. While the first five came out at a rate of about one per year, Brown waited eight years between the fifth book and this one. The last two books are generally seen as weaker than the original five, but I'm not at all sure why that's the case with this one. It's one of the stronger books in the series. Brown plays a bit against type by having both Am and Ed flub the job very early on, but they are able to salvage it. There is only one murder (leaving aside the death of the possible embezzler which precipitates the action) and it happens late in the book and offscreen. Brown really does try to show what actual private detection feels like, within the confines of the need for some action and adventure. I found this to be a solid entry in a very solid series. What are the best of Frederic Brown's hard-boiled novels, would you say? I have The Far Cry and a kind of omnibus with 4 or 5 short novels, including Screaming Mimi. I'll probably try to get to at least a couple of those in the next year or two.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 21, 2017 10:09:58 GMT -5
The Late Lamented by Fredric Brown. Ed and Am Hunter are back and have been subcontracted by the Starlock Agency to look into an embezzlement case with missing money, an allegedly dead embezzler and his beautiful daughter who may or may not know where the money is located. It's Ed's job to get close to the girl (a rope job) and find out if she knows anything. This is the sixth and penultimate book in the Hunter series. While the first five came out at a rate of about one per year, Brown waited eight years between the fifth book and this one. The last two books are generally seen as weaker than the original five, but I'm not at all sure why that's the case with this one. It's one of the stronger books in the series. Brown plays a bit against type by having both Am and Ed flub the job very early on, but they are able to salvage it. There is only one murder (leaving aside the death of the possible embezzler which precipitates the action) and it happens late in the book and offscreen. Brown really does try to show what actual private detection feels like, within the confines of the need for some action and adventure. I found this to be a solid entry in a very solid series. What are the best of Frederic Brown's hard-boiled novels, would you say? I have The Far Cry and a kind of omnibus with 4 or 5 short novels, including Screaming Mimi. I'll probably try to get to at least a couple of those in the next year or two. I'm not sure I have a good answer for you. I haven't read more than maybe a quarter of Brown's hard-boiled/mystery output and that has largely been the Ed and Am Hunter novels. Of those the best is still probably the first, The Fabulous Clipjoint. The only one of his singles that I've read (not counting SF) is Night of the Jabberwock. It's a mystery, but it's not really hard-boiled...and it's not really cozy either. Both are well worth a read. The Screaming Mimi is definitely on my extremely long list of books to read, but I'm not sure when I'll get too it.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 22, 2017 22:50:07 GMT -5
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
I'd been putting off reading this book for a while.. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was too popular. Or too many people said I'd love it. Whatever the reason, it took book club choosing it to get me to read it... and I did, in fact, read it in less than 48 hours.
I'm not sure I'd say I loved it, but it was awfully fun to read. It's basically Willy Wonka for this generation.. I mean, back then, what kid wouldn't want to run a candy factory. For those of us that spent their youth on text RPGs and Atari, it's being the king of a legit VR internet.
The references came fast and hard, and helped me come to the conclusion that I think the author is one of my peeps.... I mean just about every major 80s item he focused on is a favorite of mine.. even some (like Rush and Monty Python) that I wouldn't call 80s in particular. I also really appreciated the (few) subtle call outs, and suspect there were a couple a missed.
As for the book itself, the story isn't anything too special, and is certainly predictable, but it's YA targeted, so that's to be expected. It's certainly a page turner.
I suspect people who don't have a love of old video games and 80s TV see it as just another in a sea of YA dystopian novels, but if you're on board for the references, it's a great ride.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 22, 2017 23:35:19 GMT -5
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline I'd been putting off reading this book for a while.. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was too popular. Or too many people said I'd love it. Whatever the reason, it took book club choosing it to get me to read it... and I did, in fact, read it in less than 48 hours. I'm not sure I'd say I loved it, but it was awfully fun to read. It's basically Willy Wonka for this generation.. I mean, back then, what kid wouldn't want to run a candy factory. For those of us that spent their youth on text RPGs and Atari, it's being the king of a legit VR internet. The references came fast and hard, and helped me come to the conclusion that I think the author is one of my peeps.... I mean just about every major 80s item he focused on is a favorite of mine.. even some (like Rush and Monty Python) that I wouldn't call 80s in particular. I also really appreciated the (few) subtle call outs, and suspect there were a couple a missed. As for the book itself, the story isn't anything too special, and is certainly predictable, but it's YA targeted, so that's to be expected. It's certainly a page turner. I suspect people who don't have a love of old video games and 80s TV see it as just another in a sea of YA dystopian novels, but if you're on board for the references, it's a great ride. This is what I had to say when I read it... "I get it. This is nostalgia porn. It is. It's aimed at those of us who grew up in the late 70s and the 80s. Especially if you were a bit of a nerd. And that's why I had avoided it. I can wax nostalgic about some things, but Sturgeon's law applies. However, after Amazon and Goodreads and every other durned thing telling me I needed to read this book, I finally caved. And it was okay. It was decently written. Nice, if not incredibly original premise. Then BAM!! The Tomb of Horrors became a major plot-point. And I got it. This works. It works for me...partly because of what it is. Partly because of what it says. Partly as nostalgia porn. I didn't even end up tremendously upset by the Hollywood ending. I got suckered in. And that's okay." I do have to disagree that it's aimed at YA. It's aimed squarely at people who grew up in the 80s. The YA market wouldn't get 80% of the references in the book.
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