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Final Witness

tags: mystery-crime

⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

One summer night, two men break into an isolated manor house and kill Lady Anne Robinson. Her son, Thomas, convinces the police that his father’s beautiful personal assistant sent the killers, but Thomas is known for his overactive imagination, and he has reasons to lie.

Thomas’s father, Sir Peter Robinson, the British minister of defense, refuses to believe his son. Instead, he marries his assistant, Greta Grahame, and will be giving evidence for the defense at her trial. He will be the final witness.

Author Simon Tolkien successfully combines legal suspense and psychological tension in this sharply etched portrait of four people whose lives are changed by a murder. Alternating between the trial in London’s Central Criminal Court and private moments among the characters, Tolkien expertly describes the art of the trial, the clash between Britain’s social classes, and, most notably, the complexity of family relations. Who is telling the truth—the new wife or the bereaved son? What will Sir Peter tell the court? With tantalizing ambiguity, Tolkien keeps readers guessing about the true motivations of these characters until the final witness.

We moved to a new house and I found a hard copy of this book while putting back books in shelves. No one in my house claimed ownership of the book. I certainly did not buy it because I hardly buy hard covers anymore. I have gotten used to reading Kindle books although I have both hard and ebook copies of my favorites.

I like the book. It is not the best but a quick read and satisfying murder mystery and courtroom drama. 

Eric

tags: drama, Netflix series

⭐⭐

Vincent is a puppeteer in 1980s New York whose nine-year-old son, Edgar, has gone missing. Vincent's increasingly volatile behavior alienates him from his friends and family.

After issues with substance abuse, Vincent becomes convinced that he can reunite with Edgar with the help of his seven-foot-tall puppet, Eric.

Oh boy. What a disaster this series is. Almost all the characters are unlikeable except maybe for the homeless young Black man who is befriended by the missing child.. 

It is a mishmash of dysfunctional family, racial issues, corrupt police, gay people hiding their sexuality, pedophilia, the usual rich snobby parents, and annoying puppets. 

Benedict is maybe a good actor but he can only do so much with a stupid story and script. His character is an alcoholic, does drugs, constantly quarrels with his wife, and sometimes ignores his child. 

I wasted 6 hours on this series. Not recommended. 

Night Watch Series

tags: magicians, sorcerers, Russian book series, shape shifters, thriller, urban fantasy, vampires

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Amazon  

Ignite your imagination with this immersive fantasy read!

"Like Tolkien getting mugged in a Moscow back alley by John Le Carre." —Bleeding Cool

The explosive first installment in Sergei Lukyanenko's visionary and internationally bestselling Night Watch series—an inventive blend of atmospheric urban fantasy and riveting spy thriller set in contemporary Moscow.

The Night Watch series tells the story of the Others, an ancient race of magicians, shape-shifters, vampires, and other supernatural beings that live among us, and swear allegiance to either the powers of Darkness or the forces of Light.

For the past 1000 years, the two sides have been locked in an uneasy truce, keeping their powers in balance as each side secretly plots to take the advantage for themselves. The forces of the Light tasked with keeping the Dark Others in check are the Night Watch.

Night Watch features Anton Gorodetsky, a mid-level Light magician, who during his first field assignment, stumbles upon a cursed young woman—an Other of tremendous potential power who has yet to choose between Light and Darkness. As the two sides prepare for battle, Anton discovers that their destinies are closely intertwined, and the slightest wrong move could cause the destruction of Moscow, or even the world.

The first story of the novel, Destiny, was made into a successful Russian film, Night Watch, which, although keeping the characters and many of the events of the original novel, alters some significant elements of the story.

6 books in the series, available on Kindle

Night Watch

Day Watch

Twilight Watch (also known as Dusk Watch)

Last Watch (also known as Final Watch)

New Watch

Sixth Watch

****************************************************************************

I saw the movies first before reading the books. I love the movies but I love the books more.

Read the synopses of the books here

City Hunter

I've been waiting a year for this live action City Hunter. Streaming on Netflix April 25. 

A Small Town In Germany

tags: comedic, mystery, spy catcher

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
From Goodreads

The British Embassy in Bonn is up in arms. Her Majesty's financially troubled government is seeking admission to Europe's Common Market just as anti-British factions are rising to power in Germany. Rioters are demanding reunification, and the last thing the Crown can afford is a scandal.

Then Leo Harting—an embassy nobody—goes missing with a case full of confidential files. London sends Alan Turner to control the damage, but he soon realizes that neither side really wants Leo found—alive.

Set against the threat of a German-Soviet alliance, John le Carré's A Small Town in Germany is a superb chronicle of Cold War paranoia and political compromise.

With an introduction by the author.

John le Carré's short novel was first published in 1968 and in the "introduction" he wrote that he was not happy with the book. He meant it to be comedic but the German people were not too happy with his depiction of them. He revised some of what he wrote and he was half satisfied with the finished novelette. 

I disagree with him. I loved the novel. It really has several laugh out loud portions specially the dinner with the German guests. The description of the wife of one of the guests is so funny. The book has the signature le Carré numerous characters that have their own quirks and personalities. 

Alan Turner, the spy catcher that everyone at the embassy despised and feared, was sent to Bonn to find Leo. He had a clever and hilarious brusque way of extracting information from the embassy people in order to know Leo and where he could be. All the embassy people told half truths about their relationship with Leo, including the 2 women, one worked at the embassy and the other was the wife of the head of the embassy. They both loved Leo. 

Leo never spoke throughout the book and only appeared on the last page but he was so alive and present through the descriptions of various people in and out of the embassy.

The book is comedic but tragic. Alan and Leo have become 2 of my most favorite characters created by  le Carré. 

Highly recommended for John le Carré enthusiasts.

Ripley

Goose🥚

The actor Andrew Scott is almost 50 years old and therefore much too old to play 25 year-old Tom Ripley. He looks more like the father of Marge or an older friend of Dickie. Who did the terrible casting? 

Scott also lacks the irresistible charm of Tom Ripley as described in the books. What young people befriend an old man with no charisma nor good looks? 

Filming in black and white screams overly pretentious and it annoyed me so much. 

I've seen two versions, one with Matt Damon and another with Alain Delon. They are not perfect but I enjoyed them more because both actors did excellent job as a con artist. Watch those instead. 

Not recommended even if you haven't read the book.