The Honourable Schoolboy

tags: espionage, reread, thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From GoodReads

John le Carré's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge and have earned him -- and his hero, British Secret Service agent George Smiley -- unprecedented worldwide acclaim.

In this classic masterwork, le Carré expands upon his extraordinary vision of a secret world as George Smiley goes on the attack.

In the wake of a demoralizing infiltration by a Soviet double agent, Smiley has been made ringmaster of the Circus (aka the British Secret Service). Determined to restore the organization's health and reputation, and bent on revenge, Smiley thrusts his own handpicked operative into action. Jerry Westerby, "The Honourable Schoolboy," is dispatched to the Far East. A burial ground of French, British, and American colonial cultures, the region is a fabled testing ground of patriotic allegiances and a new showdown is about to begin.

I was compelled to reread The Honourable Schoolboy after reading The Matchmaker: A Spy In Berlin which I borrowed because of high rating and glowing reviews, comparing it to works of Graham Greene and John le Carré. No way! The story and main character Anne of The Matchmaker are dull dull dull, the novel devoid of suspense. Nice try, Mr. Paul Vidich and promoters, but it was a no and zero star for me.

It was 10 years ago when I last read The Honourable Schoolboy which I deem the best of the George Smiley Versus Karla trilogy. The storytelling is beautifully written and brilliant with le Carré's signature biting sense of humor, and characterization is topnotch. Still 5-star out of 5 spy thriller.

The novel is set mostly in Asia - Hong Kong, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, a little bit in China and Tuscany, Italy. Extra point for making me nostalgic re familiar Hong Kong scenes such as Wanchai, Causeway Bay, Mid-Levels, Victoria Peak, Happy Valley, the shops, atmosphere, ferry, and people, etc.

The Overnight Guest

tags: mystery, ugh!

from GoodReads

True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.

As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls—haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.

Oh for Pete's sake! Another highly rated "thriller" on GoodReads and Amazon but the book makes no sense and has zero entertainment value. It's a snoozefest from the first paragraph down to the last. It is poorly written with 3 POVs and timelines, going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...Wylie is one of the dumbest fictional characters I have ever read.

Murder, kidnapping and imprisonment, rape, torture, more grisly murders that lasted for 22 years. If you are a normal person, don't bother reading unless you are not and love these icky stuff.

Blackwater: The Complete Saga

tags: fantasy, historical fiction, mystery, Southern Gothic, supernatural

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From GoodReads

Michael McDowell was proclaimed “the finest writer of paperback originals in America” by Stephen King, and “one of the best writers of horror in this country” by Peter Straub.

Now, McDowell’s masterpiece—the serial novel, Blackwater—returns to thrill and terrify a new generation of readers, with all six volumes available for the first time as a single e-book.

Featuring an insightful new introduction by John Langan, Blackwater traces more than fifty years in the lives of the powerful Caskey family of Perdido, Alabama, under the influence of the mysterious and beautiful—but not quite human—Elinor Dammert.

The Flood heralds the arrival of a visitor who will change the Caskey family—and the town—forever…

When the town builds The Levee, it proves a vain attempt to control a horrific power that can never be contained…

The House hides terrible secrets that whisper in closed rooms and scrabble at locked doors…

The War reveals family secrets more deadly and devastating than anything Perdido has ever dreamed in its deepest nightmares…

The Fortune brings happiness and power—but even greater terror… And finally, the mysterious saga of the Caskey family ends the only way it can—in terrible judgment and fury delivered under the cover of a relentless, earth-shattering Rain.

The book was originally published as a series of six volumes in 1983 and issued recently as one book. Wow! I didn't notice it has more than 800 pages. I couldn't put the book down, kept on reading from the first word to the last. It is a family saga a la Dallas, set in early 1900 but is more Southern Gothic than ordinary soap opera. It is equally sweet and creepy and I like the author's wit and sense of humor. 

A river monster crawls out of the river, takes the form of a human, and marries the eldest son of the wealthiest family, disregarding the matriarch opposing the union. They have 2 daughters, one a full human and one half river monster.

The book is hard to categorize and some readers put it under the horror genre. It is a little bit specially when some characters unexpectedly are torn limb by limb like a ragdoll while still alive, one character's head torn and impaled with lumber from a moving truck. Yikes! There are also a few vengeful ghosts living in a closet, mother-in-law from hell who has unreasonable behavior towards everyone including her children and grandchildren. Very Southern gothic. And the children, oh my, the children. 

Metal Lords

tags: comedy, drama, post-metal music, Netflix streaming, teen movie

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from IMDB

Two kids want to start a heavy metal band in a high school where exactly two kids care about heavy metal. They try to find a bass player, and fail but they do find a girl who is very good at cello. If the three of them can't settle their differences and work together, they're never going to win the Battle of the Bands.

I couldn't care less if the movie is rated unsatisfactory by "professional" reviewers. Yes, it is clichéd and has a predictable ending but it is funny and engaging. I loved it. Sometimes, Netflix comes up with an enjoyable movie about high schoolers that is worth a second watch.

Old Enough

Another Japanese TV show with children as young as 2½ years old running errands such as shopping, delivery, or doing chores ALONE. That's absolutely crazy! Only in Japan and I think in South Korea too. It's amazing the children can communicate properly with adults in the shops and can identify different vehicles such as police cars, buses, etc. Of course, a TV crew is filming so there isn't any danger of them getting hit by a car or snatched by perverts.

On the first episode, the 2 year 9 month old boy has a gross yellowish snot, walking 1 kilometer all the way to his house, dragging the flowers on the road, completing the 3 items to buy for his mother. Kawaii! Very entertaining and some of the kids are natural comedians and some have boundless energy. The camera people must be exhausted with the 2 children running and running even after going up 200 steps. The series is quite addicting to watch.

Streaming on Netflix 20 episodes, 7 to 21 minutes

Thermæ Romæ Novæ

 

New bingeable anime Thermæ Romæ Novæ on Netflix streaming 

11 Episodes, 27 - 36 minutes

2012 live action is also ridiculous and hilarious.

Breathless

tags: mystery, spiritual, supernatural

⭐⭐⭐⭐

From GoodReads

#1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz delivers a thrilling novel of suspense and adventure, as the lives of strangers converge around a mystery unfolding high in the Colorado mountains—and the balance of the world begins to tilt….

In the stillness of a golden September afternoon, deep in the wilderness of the Rockies, a solitary craftsman, Grady Adams, and his magnificent Irish wolfhound Merlin step from shadow into light…and into an encounter with enchantment. That night, through the trees, under the moon, a pair of singular animals will watch Grady's isolated home, waiting to make their approach.A few miles away, Camillia Rivers, a local veterinarian, begins to unravel the threads of a puzzle that will bring all the forces of a government in peril to her door.At a nearby farm, long-estranged identical twins come together to begin a descent into darkness. In Las Vegas, a specialist in chaos theory probes the boundaries of the unknowable.On a Seattle golf course, two men make matter-of-fact arrangements for murder. Along a highway by the sea, a vagrant scarred by the past begins a trek toward his destiny.

In a novel that is at once wholly of our time and timeless, fearless and funny, Dean Koontz takes readers into the moment between one turn of the world and the next, across the border between knowing and mystery. It is a journey that will leave all who take it Breathless.

Breathless is one of Dean Koontz books that I skipped reading because at the time the synopsis sounded the same as his other books. I was wrong to presume that Breathless has the same old same old supernatural sci-fi mystery. Good against evil is ever present but the story is more spiritual IMHO. Maybe I'm wrong but that's my opinion. The novel dismisses the belief of man's evolution and I agree with the novel that there is a creator. Grady Adams and his friend Camilla believe that the animals with human like intelligence that suddenly materialized in the woods belong to a new "created" species and did not evolve from some organism. Puzzle and Riddle, the names given to them by Grady Adams, are not only cute like small children, but very intelligent and adapt quickly to humans and the Irish Wolfhound. Although they cannot speak, they have their own way of communicating.