X

 Kinsey Millhone, mystery, private detective

X:  The number ten. An unknown quantity. A mistake. A cross. A kiss.
X:  The shortest entry in Webster’s Unabridged. Derived from Greek and Latin and commonly found in science, medicine, and religion. The most graphically dramatic letter. Notoriously tricky to pronounce: think xylophone.
X:  The twenty-fourth letter in the English alphabet.

Sue Grafton’s X: Perhaps her darkest and most chilling novel, it features a remorseless serial killer who leaves no trace of his crimes. Once again breaking the rules and establishing new paths, Grafton wastes little time identifying this sociopath. The test is whether Kinsey can prove her case against him before she becomes his next victim.

Kinsey seems a little bit different in this 24th installment of her alphabet series. She says sh*t more frequently and she's grumpier than ever before which is IMHO a good thing because eventually it worked well for her and her landlord Henry. She also is funnier, showing a lot of her sense of humor. I'll miss Kinsey when the series comes to an end. Yes, only 2 more to go, Y and Z.

Spoilers ahead

The Mentor

 mystery, police procedural, revenge

 

GoodReads

As Scotland Yard chief forensics detective Eric Shaw works a case with some resemblance to a crime he investigated twenty years earlier, he is convinced it is just a coincidence. But when more deaths occur in a style similar to those killings from the past, Shaw suspects that he has a serial killer on his hands—one who is pursuing a personal, cold-blooded vendetta.

Working closely with his protégée, Detective Miriam Leroux, Shaw analyzes the crimes down to the finest detail. He finds himself increasingly drawn to the lab, where criminologist Adele Pennington, a beautiful, enigmatic woman more than two decades his junior, proves distracting. Determined to maintain his professionalism despite the attraction, Shaw struggles to keep her at arm’s length. Yet Pennington’s unique insight proves critical, and as the investigation develops, so does their personal connection. With a killer on the loose, Shaw must follow a winding, blood-soaked trail that will take him in an unexpected and terrifying direction.  

The short mystery novel is one of six Amazon Kindle First choices for October 2015. The book will be officially issued on November 2015. It is originally written in Italian and may have lost something in translation into English. It has a very high average rating (mostly by Italians and the author herself???) on GoodReads and once again, I'm in the minority.

The reasons for my 1-star rating
>main character is not believable as a Scotland Yard chief forensics detective; he's too emotional and weak; he acts more like a new recruit instead of a seasoned tough detective who has seen many crime scenes

• Eric couldn't stop staring at the corpse. He found it magnetic...He realized he was hyperventilating.
• He (Eric) forced himself to breathe, in and out, in and out. He struggled to calm himself down. Losing control now wouldn't help him.

>serial killer is obvious: "hey, I'm the one you're looking for" is tattooed on forehead
>amateurish writing - meanders and reads like a movie script...oh no, not again...*SMH*
>murder-mystery and romance never go together well...ever...specially between a 49 year-old super and his 27 year-old subordinate. It's just icky.

I do not recommend the book.



Make Me

 mystery, thriller

Goodreads

“Why is this town called Mother’s Rest?” That’s all Reacher wants to know. But no one will tell him. It’s a tiny place hidden in a thousand square miles of wheat fields, with a railroad stop, and sullen and watchful people, and a worried woman named Michelle Chang, who mistakes him for someone else: her missing partner in a private investigation she thinks must have started small and then turned lethal.

Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, and there’s something about Chang . . . so he teams up with her and starts to ask around. He thinks: How bad can this thing be? But before long he’s plunged into a desperate race through LA, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco, and through the hidden parts of the internet, up against thugs and assassins every step of the way—right back to where he started, in Mother’s Rest, where he must confront the worst nightmare he could imagine. Walking away would have been easier.

But as always, Reacher’s rule is: If you want me to stop, you’re going to have to make me.

This is the 20th Jack Reacher book in the series. I didn't like it as much for several reasons. For one, it reads like a movie script. What is going on with these novelists, wrting a book with a movie in their mind? Although it is a tad better than The Revenge of Adam Defoe, it's almost as tedious to read, too wordy, describing each character's build, clothing, hair, head/footwear, etc., and repetitious too. It reads as though it was written by another author. I have enjoyed several of the earlier books in the series but the last 2 books are not as thrilling and IMHO, this latest is the worst yet.

Another reason I didn't like is Jack sort of becomes a softie and acquires a girlfriend, the character Michelle Chang. Lee Child did not make this character an interesting person. She's too bland, dry, and obscure, almost like a cardboard cutout. I can't explain why I read her that way.

In past books, Reacher eliminates the bad guys without having to "converse" with them as he does in this one. But why? It is so out of character, I was waiting and waiting for the real Jack Reacher to emerge.

Ultimately, I didn't like the dark storyline itself. Jack Reacher does not deserve to fight brutal, subhuman, and degenerate antagonists.

Not recommended.



The Capital Of Latecomers

from GoodReads

Local folklore tells the story of an ancient people wandering through the desert, discovering an oasis-like paradise. But they stayed for too long, and when they returned home all their loved ones were dead. These people are forever known as the “latecomers.”

Now an exclusive compound providing residents with complete and utter privacy stands on the site where their village once was. Rhein, a thirty-year-old former darling of the art world, has lost his confidence and chosen the life of a recluse. When a body turns up in Rhein’s studio, he has no choice but to come out of his yearlong seclusion to prove his innocence. More deaths occur, and the evidence incriminating Rhein is so convincing he honestly doesn’t know what to believe. Working with his eccentric neighbors, all of whom are also hiding from their pasts, he finds that the path to the truth careens through tribal folklore and quantum physics, and nothing is as it seems.

This September Kindle First free for Amazon Prime Members book defies categorization. It's a mash-up of folklore, murder mystery, quantum physics, science fiction, a little romance, schizophrenia, and so on and so forth. One thing is for sure, I love it. It is a novel that has its lovers and haters. I belong to the former. Just look at the ratings on Amazon and Goodreads.

Recommended only for readers who like the strange tales of Haruki Murakami and David Mitchell.

Amazon ratings

GoodReads ratings

The book I rated 1-star, The Revenge Of Adam Defoe, has a very high average rating on Goodreads. They love it for the same reasons I didn't like it. O.o

Funny Girl

tags: dramedy, musical

I'm currently reading Funny Girl: A Novel by Nick Hornby, a satire set in London in the 1960s about a former beauty queen who becomes a TV star. The title somehow reminds me of Barbara Streisand's Funny Girl which I have never seen before. The only movies on video of Barbara's I've seen are Yentl and Ben Stiller's Meet The Fockers. I also never listened nor owned a single Barbara Streisand song. Well, it's not entirely correct because just last week, I downloaded from the library her version of Paul Williams's Evergreen.

Although musicals are not my cup of tea, I actually liked this movie and of course the very young Barbara. She's funny, acts natural, and sings beautifully. The movie ends in a sad note but it's okay, I was entertained the whole 2 hours. The only actor I didn't like is Omar Sharif. He looked 10 years older than his actual age of 36. I also don't find him dashing nor handsome and he's not that great in the acting department either. And what's up with his hair, or is it a rug? I don't recall seeing any of this guy's movies. This is the first and most probably will be the last.

If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend watching it before it expires on Amazon streaming.

Philip K Dick

I'm currently on my PKD binge-reading and watching period, The Man in the High Castle being the latest. The novel is a 5-star fascinating, complex, and hard to categorize 274-page work of fiction. Readers usually add it to alternate history, science fiction, and book within a book genres.

from GoodReads

It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty years earlier the United States lost a war—and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan. This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to wake.

I love the novel and has become my PKD favorite along with VALIS Trilogy. It's a little different from his other works and very well written. It has to be read more than twice to fully appreciate.

Its adaptation - the pilot is streaming on Amazon - is one of the worst I've seen. The pilot is dumbed down and strayed too much from the story. The book within a book is changed to film within a film which is stupid. The performers and director are incompetent, as usual. I do not recommend the Amazon original series for serious PKD fans specially those who love this novel.  

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Most, with a few exceptions, PKD's novels and short stories adapted to movie and TV screenplays are so far off from the stories, they're unrecognizable. Minority Report and Next are the two worst adaptations. It's so frustrating having high hopes for the visuals only to get annoyed by the script and the actors and directors who obviously haven't read the stories.

Below is a list of PKD screen adaptations I've watched. The star ratings are for the movies only; the more stars, the more faithful they are to the novels and short stories. My star ratings for the novels and stories are mostly 5, 4, and 3.

 

A Scanner Darkly - A Scanner Darkly
Radio Free Albemuth - VALIS Trilogy - RFA rewritten and improved

Impostor  - Impostor (short story)

Total Recall - We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (short story)

Blade Runner (I love this movie but it is not a good adaptation of the book) - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (5 stars)
Paycheck - Paycheck (short story)


Minority Report - The Minority Report
Goose Egg
Next - The Golden Man: Short Story
The Man In The High Castle - The Man in the High Castle

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I recently got a 5-volume paperback set of PKD short stories. I already have several in my Kindle but many stories in these volumes are new to me. I started reading Volume 5 and The Pre-Persons caught my eye. It is a great read and surprised me as I didn't expect PKD as someone who would write a good argument against abortion. The story is really short, about 11 pages long, has an important message specially to pro-abortion crowd. The volume's Notes has this PKD quote regarding the short story. Nothing has changed; the pro-abortion groups were nasty then and even nastier now:

In this I incurred the absolute hate of Joanna Russ who wrote me the nastiest letter I’ve ever received; at one point she said she usually offered to beat up people (she didn’t use the word people) who expressed opinions such as this …I am sorry to offend those who disagree with me about abortion on demand… But for the pre-person’s sake I am not sorry. I stand where I stand: “Hier steh Ich; Ich kann nicht anders,” as Martin Luther is supposed to have said.

You can read the entire short story here or the PDF copy here.

The Revenge Of Adam Defoe

 revenge, "thriller"

Book description from Amazon

Is the greatest revenge really served cold?

Dr. Yoav Walberg is one hell of a lucky guy. He is heir to a huge fortune, engaged to a beautiful woman and is soon to be appointed to a senior position in a prestigious hospital. However, when his best friends become jealous of his success, they plot a devilish and sophisticated scheme against him. Will he notice the deadly spider webs woven around him in time to avoid the bite that will bring about his inevitable death?

As fortune continues to play with him, after three miserable years, Dr. Walberg in tragic coincidence arrives in Tibet, where he has once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to start his life from scratch.

After many years, he turned into the known and successful American businessman, Adam Defoe. Will Adam Defoe uncover the true story behind the attempt on his life?

Will he pity the responsible? The powers he must outwit are very dangerous, and he finds himself, once again, fighting for his life.

Hahaha, I am amazed at myself for reading this train wreck in its entirety. I chose the book for this month's Kindle lending program because of the glowing 5 star ratings/reviews. I'm wondering if I read the same book they did. Although I like revenge stories, this novel didn't deliver in its execution. The novel is really really really really painful to read. The author wrote it like it's a cheesy 80s movie/TV show script or storyboard without the drawings. It is beyond dreadful.

One of the tedious things I didn't particularly like is the author describing in detail the hair color/style/length, eye color, clothing color and style, of every character including those who don't have anything to do with the story and only appear once, for example, a waiter. And he does this throughout the friggin' book. He also is prone to describing the enormous luxurious houses - living room, kitchen, bedroom, etc. And he never forgets to remind the reader of Yoav's magnificent incredibly ripped body. Who writes like that? How did this get published on Amazon Kindle?

Note: The author did mention that this is one of his screenplays but if it is in a book format, he should have hired a competent editor to polish the text.

On to the story. Spoilers.

Child 44

tags: drama, police procedural, Stalin era Russia, thriller

Set in Stalinist-era Russia, this gritty drama centers on Leo Demidov, a dutiful member of the secret police who becomes a government target when he begins investigating a string of brutal child murders.

Bad fake accents normally make me cringe but this movie made me disregard it completely because it tells a very effective cautionary tale of being under a communist government. The subject of serial child murders is just there to show how repressive a police state is. I also like that the child abductions/murders are not graphic. Anyone who opposes the government will be sent to the gulag, killed, or charged with being a spy and eventually punished. Every citizen is scared of the Ministry of State Security personnel including their spouses as revealed by Leo's wife Raisa at the last fourth of the film.

Anyone who romanticizes communism and the mass murderer Stalin should have his/her head examined, look up history, and watch this film. It is not perfect but I still recommend it.

Wiki for plot summary with spoilers

Follow You Home

 mystery, "thriller"

from Amazon.com

It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, a final adventure before settling down. But after a perfect start, an encounter with a young couple on a night train forces Daniel and Laura to cut their dream trip short and flee home.

Back in London, Daniel and Laura vow never to talk about what happened that night. But as they try to fit into their old lives again, they realise they are in terrible danger—and that their nightmare is just beginning…

Most of the books I read the past 3 months are not good, except for Haruki Murakami's Wind/Pinball (4 stars). The very popular Girl On A Train by British author Paula Hawkins and Follow Me Home by another British writer both got a 1-star from me. I'm wondering what is happening with British authors. They have become more and more mediocre, I'm really missing my favorite authors.

Follow You Home promises to be a psychological thriller but to me is not a thriller at all. The mystery of what happened to Daniel and Laura in Romania was revealed way too late (somewhere at 53% of the book) that I lost interest because the writing is worse than mediocre, as if it's penned by a 5th grader. I'm not kidding. The full "secret" actually is too flimsy a reason for them not to talk about it with anybody and causing an unnecessary death of a friend of Daniel's. Daniel is a wimp and I couldn't understand why he is still pursuing the crazy Laura knowing what really happened to them.The author has watched way too many mystery/crime telly and it shows in his book.

Not recommended.

The Martian Movie Adaptation Trailer

The trailer for the movie adaptation of The Martian is on YouTube and after watching it, I am extremely disappointed. When I learned that Matt Damon is cast as Mark Watney, I thought he will not be a good Mark Watney. Mark Watney has a wicked sense of humor and Matt Damon being a joyless person in real life doesn't project Mark's boundless enthusiasm, energy, and sense of humor in the trailer. And why are the earth personnel and the freaking music overly dramatic? I'm not going to watch this adaptation. Nope, not worth my time. Another good novel ruined by Hollywood.

*I noticed that Matt lost some weight. He probably saw his pudgy self on Interstellar and decided to work out.*