Slow Horses

tags: espionage, mystery, thriller

⭐⭐

Goodreads

You don't stop being a spook just because you're no longer in the game.

Banished to Slough House from the ranks of achievers at Regent's Park for various crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal, Jackson Lamb's misfit crew of highly trained joes don't run ops, they push paper.

But not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a 'slow horse'. A boy is kidnapped and held hostage. His beheading is scheduled for live broadcast on the net. And whatever the instructions of the Service, the slow horses aren't going to just sit quiet and watch.

I tried reading British spy novels again after the death of John le Carré but got disappointed with all of them. 

I find Slough Horses just okay. It has tons of characters not unlike John le Carré​'s books and there are some humor although not as witty nor funny. The author invented his own jargon but again not as effective and unique as John le Carré's, making the book IMHO the poor man's le Carré spy novels. It's not even as good as Ian Fleming's James Bond series.

I finished reading it regardless and am currently reading the second book in the series, Dead Lions hoping it will be better than this novel. In Dead Lions, the author introduced an old lady, Molly, a character very similar to Connie Sachs who is one of my favorite recurring characters in John le Carré's Karla Trilogy. I'm not too thrilled with this copycat addition. I think I'll stop at the second installment. 

Wyrd Sisters

tags: Discworld series, fantasy, humor, parody, Terry Prachett

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads

Three witches gathered on a lonely heath.

A king cruelly murdered, his throne usurped by his ambitious cousin. A child heir and the royal crown, both missing.

Witches don't have these kinds of leadership problems themselves - in fact, they don't have leaders. Granny Weatherwax is the most highly regarded of the leaders they don't have. But even she finds that meddling in royal politics is a lot more complicated than certain playwrights would have you believe. Particularly when the blood on your hands just won't wash off . . .

Wyrd Sisters is the second book in the Witches series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.

Wyrd Sisters is one of the 41 books in Discworld written by Terry Pratchett. It is a parody of Shakespeare's works specially Macbeth and Hamlet and King Lear's Fool. Here, the Fool is a major character. There are several references to other works like Romeo and Juliet, etc.. The travelling theatrical group's playwright is a dwarf named Hwel (William?) and just like Shakespeare is drawn to ghosts, witches, and death themed plays. 

I like the humor throughout maybe because I already like Pratchett's witty fantasies and satires. There is an animated series based on the book which you can watch on YouTube. I haven't watched the entire video but it looks true to the book.

Happy 250th Birthday USA

Several countries are celebrating our 250th birthday with red white and blue lights on their most well-known buildings. Beautiful!

Enola Holmes 3

 

tags: Enola Holmes 3, Netflix movie

⭐

In 1886, Enola and Tewkesbury prepare for their nuptials, with the ceremony in Malta honoring Tewkesbury’s late father’s service there.

Enola insists she can be both a wife and a detective, but her brother Sherlock, already skeptical of the marriage, is secretly working on another case.

On the wedding day, Sherlock is abducted, and Enola must drop all plans to find him.

I think I'm done with Enola. This third movie is woke to the max. Haven't they heard woke is passe. I also don't like the Moriarty Moriarty Moriarty theme. It is overdone and also the reason I stopped watching Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock series. It got boring. Enola Holmes 3 suffers the same too much Moriarty. Adding to the negative is that Moriarty is played by the ugliest Black actress I have ever watched. And not a good actress either. Dr. Watson played by an Indian actor is not so bad but I've had enough. 

The movie is full of political correctness nonsense and I think the faithful followers of Enola will all go away. People are tired of being lectured about the sins of White people in the 19th century and making the you know who their victims.  

It's a pity because Enola and Tewkesbury are getting married and the movie should have been fun but it was ruined by the script and Moriarty story.