Bullet Train

tags: bullet train, Japanese, Shinkansen, thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from GoodReads

Nanao, nicknamed Lady Bird—the self-proclaimed “unluckiest assassin in the world”—boards a bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with one simple task: grab a suitcase and get off at the next stop. Unbeknownst to him, the deadly duo Tangerine and Lemon are also after the very same suitcase—and they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard. Satoshi, “the Prince,” with the looks of an innocent schoolboy and the mind of a viciously cunning psychopath, is also in the mix and has history with some of the others. Risk fuels him as does a good philosophical debate . . . like, is killing really wrong? Chasing the Prince is another assassin with a score to settle for the time the Prince casually pushed a young boy off of a roof, leaving him comatose.

When the five assassins discover they are all on the same train, they realize their missions are not as unrelated as they first appear.

A massive bestseller in Japan, Bullet Train is an original and propulsive thriller that fizzes with an incredible energy and surprising humor as its complex net of double-crosses and twists unwind. Award-winning author Kotaro Isaka takes readers on a tension packed journey as the bullet train hurtles toward its final destination. Who will make it off the train alive—and what awaits them at the last stop?

Can I give this novel 10 stars out of 5? Yes I can. I enjoyed the book very much and it is like reading a Takashi Miike movie script on steroid. 3 professional hired killers, 1 vengeful dad, and 1 demented bad seed teenager aboard the Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train) have different reasons for being on the train. The synopsis from GoodReads and pretty much from other booksellers is far from accurate. Only the 3 assassins have connections to each other. The dad and the brat have their own story but get to meet the other 3 people and several passengers who may or may not be connected to them.

- Nanao, the black-framed eyeglass wearing hired killer called Ladybug, in my version of the novel, is assigned to steal a suitcase filled with money, then get off the next stop. How hard could it be? Nanao finds it's rather complicated. 

- The twin fruit assassins Lemon and Tangerine brought the suitcase onboard which they have recovered after successfully rescuing the kidnapped son of a much feared underworld boss. They are to deliver both to someone at the last train stop.

- Kimura, a former hitman and a recovering alcoholic, armed with a handgun is on board to kill the teenage boy, the Prince, who pushed his son off the roof of a building and the son is now in a coma.

- the Prince is a demented 14 year old androgynous boy who looks innocent but is manipulative and deadly, and has an obsession with killing. His reason is to taunt Kimura.

What could go wrong? Heaps with a capital H. A tale that is twisty turn-y, full of humor and philosophical musings, thrilling, unpredictable. The novel is hard to put down once you start reading.

Highly recommended. EBook is available to borrow from Hoopla.

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I read that the original title is Mariabītoru (Maria Beetle) published in 2010 and is now being made into a Hollywood movie. 🙄🙄🙄 Oh please, avoid the movie which I predict will change the story to make it one of, if not the worst, movie adaptations ever. IMHO, everything Hollywood touches becomes garbage.

A Rant: People who have read the book compare it to Tarantino movies but I beg to disagree. Obviously they haven't watched a single Takashi Miike movie. Tarantino is a talentless moviemaker who steals ALL his ideas from other movies specially from Japan, Hong Kong, other Asian countries, and a few from Scandinavian countries too. Tarantino is one big poseur and a FRAUD.

   

Hue And Cry

tags: classics, mystery

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from GoodReads

In six months, Marion “Mally” Lee will wed the dashing Roger Mooring and become mistress of Curston, his family estate. Determined to enjoy her freedom before she becomes a married woman, Mally impulsively accepts a position as governess to the young daughter of a shipping magnate.
 
But when she arrives at the Peterson townhouse in London, Mally has the strangest urge to flee. Sir George Peterson, whose wife left him for an itinerant artist, is an enigma. His sister, Lena Craddock, is nice enough, but Mally’s young charge, Barbara, hates Lena’s nephew, Paul, with a passion. When Mally is suddenly branded a thief and spy after valuable papers and a priceless diamond pendant disappear, she does the only thing she can: run away.
 
With her fiancé believing the worst of her and private investigators hot on her trail, Mally goes on the lam, feeling like a fugitive from justice. But she’s stumbled upon a dangerous criminal conspiracy led by men desperate to get back the missing documents before a critical encrypted message is decoded.

The stand alone novel was written by Patricia Wentworth in 1927, a year before she created Miss Maud Silver. The tone and style is a tad different from Miss Silver books although the author's favorite word "frightful" is scattered all over the novel. It is a short but amusing and delightful novel. 

 

Some readers find Mally a frustrating character and I agree a little bit, but I do like her a lot. She is one of the funniest young female characters I have read. She is hardly meek, always speaks her mind, and does whatever she wants. Her scary but funny adventure dodging her pursuers, real and imagined, made me smile and it leads her to the truth and finding love. The man she chooses is not her handsome and debonair fiancé but a young man that she describes as hulking and ugly.

Highly recommended.   

Dragon Awards

The Dragon Awards are a set of literary and media awards voted on by fandom and presented annually since 2016 by Dragon Con for excellence in various categories of science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels, movies, television, and games. The nominations and votes are collected electronically. Participation is available to everyone, requiring only an e-mail address, but no membership or other fees, to vote. Register here.

I voted for 3 categories only:

Best Science Fiction Novel Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Best Fantasy Novel Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Best Science Fiction Or Fantasy Movie Space Sweepers [I'm surprised a Korean movie is nominated]

Go register and vote to support your favorite novels, movies, games, comic books, etc.

Hit & Run

 

tags: espionage, Israel, mystery, Netflix streaming

9 episodes,  40 - 45 minutes

in English and Hebrew

⭐⭐⭐

 from IMDB;

A happily married man's life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a mysterious hit and run accident in Tel Aviv. Grief-stricken and confused, he searches for his wife's killers, who have fled to the U.S. With the help of an ex-lover, he uncovers disturbing truths about his beloved wife and the secrets she kept from him.

So many dead people in this Israeli and American produced mystery espionage series. I liked it enough to rate it 3 stars but it has serious flaws. The script is implausible and acting is stiff as if the actors are reading. The mystery is engrossing though and the reason for the 3 stars.

I'm hoping Season 2 is better written and comes soon because the cliff hanger is sooo frustrating. I wanna know what happened to Ella!

Constance

tags: clones, mystery

⭐

from GoodReads

In the near future, advances in medicine and quantum computing make human cloning a reality. For the wealthy, cheating death is the ultimate luxury. To anticloning militants, it’s an abomination against nature. For young Constance “Con” D’Arcy, who was gifted her own clone by her late aunt, it’s terrifying.

After a routine monthly upload of her consciousness—stored for that inevitable transition—something goes wrong. When Con wakes up in the clinic, it’s eighteen months later. Her recent memories are missing. Her original, she’s told, is dead. If that’s true, what does that make her?

The secrets of Con’s disorienting new life are buried deep. So are those of how and why she died. To uncover the truth, Con is retracing the last days she can recall, crossing paths with a detective who’s just as curious. On the run, she needs someone she can trust. Because only one thing has become clear: Con is being marked for murder—all over again.

The book is one of Amazon's First Reads choices and as expected, it is disappointing. The book is touted as science fiction and thriller but I find there's very little science fiction besides the cloning of the rich people who can afford it. The novel is nothing but a mediocre murder mystery with mediocre writing.

The premise is intriguing but the author does not deliver. On top of that he insists in making it annoying mentioning the ethnicity of ALL the characters, major and those who appeared just once. Who writes like that? It's distracting and does not add anything to the story except the author appears to be trying hard to sell this book to woke Hollywood hoping it will get noticed because it is populated by the obligatory "diverse" characters. Give me a freakin' break. My new pet peeve in modern fiction that I find more awful than f and c bombs. And the clones? Forgeddaboutit! The ending reads like a chaotic slapstick comedy trying hard to be serious. And the worst part is, this is book 1 of a series. Yikes! This novel is one big Con job. Sorry, I couldn't resist. 😉

Not recommended.

Blood Red Sky

 

tags: German movie, horror, Netflix streaming, thriller, vampires

⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Netflix

When a group of terrorists hijacks an overnight transatlantic flight, a mysterious ill woman must unleash a monstrous secret to protect her young son

I watched without any idea what the movie is about. But the #1 rating on Netflix got me curious. Foreign language movies hardly get the number one position for several days on Netflix and now I understand why. It is bloody entertaining and I liked it. The story of airplane hijackers mixed with vampires is very creative IMHO. The hijackers are shown to be more horrific and inhumane than the vampire who for many years has maintained part of her humanity because she has a son to take care of. What comes next after the announcement of hijacking is naturally predictable - vampires on a plane. 

It is a tad long at 2 hours and the boy who was getting on my nerves became even more annoying on the last third, never listening to his mother, but it is part of the story which made sense at the end. Acting is okay and the movie won't win any awards but surprisingly gratifying. 

Recommended for horror fans. German and English languages.

  

Kingdom: Ashin Of The North

tags: fantasy, Kingdom series side story, Korean, Netflix streaming, revenge, sageuk, zombies

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from AsianWiki

Kingdom: Ashin of the North reveals the origin of the resurrection plant and the mystery behind Ashin’s identity.

South Korea has perfected the zombie genre starting with Train To Busan and the Netflix series Kingdom, seasons 1 and 2, a zombie sageuk (historical drama). Kingdom: Ashin Of The North released today is a side story revealing the origin of the plant and the zombies.

The resurrection plant that brings dead people back to life is used by Ashin, who appeared at the end of season 2, to avenge the death of her family and her tribe. Ashin is played by My Sassy Girl herself Jun Ji-Hyun (Gianna Jun). Best revenge and zombie mash-up movie and that zombie tiger is awesome. I hope there is a season 3 with Ashin and the crown prince.

Recommended for Korean drama and zombie fans.

Wisting

tags: Nordic series, police procedural

🥚 goose egg

from IMDB

Homicide detective William Wisting struggles with the two toughest cases of his career. His serial killer investigation crosses paths with his journalist daughter's news story, putting her in grave danger. When Wisting is accused of evidence tampering in a former case, his entire career is in jeopardy.

10 episodes, 40 - 45 minutes 

I like a few Nordic Noir movies and TV series and enjoyed the original Wallander but all the subsequent police procedural series coming from that region seem to be clones of Wallander. This latest series is the most boring yet and all the characters look like they are "acting". I read that this series is the most expensive series co-produced by 3 European countries. They should have spent the money on a good script and competent director. Cinematography alone won't carry a lousy story with sub par actors. It tries to be noir but I see it as a noir wannabe.

The actor playing the main character Wisting is ugly as sin with no charisma whatsoever and the series is partially ruined by the idiot daughter. This [grieving] father-daughter theme is done to death already and somebody should put an end to it. 

I could probably have ignored the annoying daughter but the story of an American serial killer in Norway with American FBI characters helping the police turned it into another pointless American-style woke police show. So I dropped it like a hot potato. Carrie-Ann Moss of The Matrix as one of the FBI agents is a lousy actress and she is not aging well. She's never been easy on the eyes but here she looks like a haggard grandma in need of a day in the spa. The obligatory black actor as the other FBI agent is not a good actor as well. 

Not recommended. You'll be wasting money or borrows from Hoopla.

Ravens Of Eternity

Recommended reading for sci-fi space opera fans via Amazon Kindle Vella - Ravens of Eternity

tags: mecha, series, space opera, space battles, strong female lead

from Amazon Kindle Vella

A young woman is reborn anew inside Bellum Aeterna, a mecha VRMMO embroiled in galactic warfare, and must rise above the failings of her old life or be lost forever. As she ascends, a spreading darkness threatens to tear her galaxy apart.

Read the serialized story here.

I am a fan of sci-fi space operas and have read and own several books. Although I prefer already finished books and am not into serialized stories, I like it and will continue reading not just because this series is written by my son 😉😉😉 but I find it an interesting read.

The Bride Of Lammermoor

tags: classics, gothic, historical fiction, romance, Scotland, tragedy

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from GoodReads

This is a story of national change and personal tragedy. For Lucy Ashton and Edgar Ravenswood, acts of heroism are thwarted and love is doomed by social, political and historical division. This edition restores the action to the years of uncertainty and political flux before the Union of Scotland and England in 1707.

The opera Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti is based on this tragic story, a la Romeo and Juliet, of 17 year old Lucy Ashton and 20 year old Edgar Ravenswood, The Bride Of Lammermoor written by Sir Walter Scott. Scott has said that the story is based on a true story which is included in the book as a Preface. The true story is as interesting and tragic as the fictional novel. The book is short at 350+ pages and will be worth your time reading. I was surprised that the doomed story of Lucy and Edgar does not take up the whole book, just a part of it, but essential to the narrative. 

Watch the opera first, then read the book, read the true story last. 

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The aria il dolce suono became one of the more popular soprano arias

after the release of the movie The Fifth Element. The aria is performed by the character Plavalaguna, sung by Albanian soprano Inva Mula Tchako. Inva Mula has the perfect voice for the aria. 

The Diva Dance