The Walls of the Castle

The Walls of the Castle by Tom Piccirilli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A man named Kasteel lives in the Castle, the hospital where his son died, so wracked with grief that he cannot leave...

So I got this as a reward for contributing to a Black Labyrinth Kickstarter to finance a new Joe Lansdale book. I'd heard of Tom Piccirilli before but never read him.

This was a pretty good little novella. Kasteel is a criminal who secretly lives in the hospital where his son died, acting as a guardian angel to the patients rather than letting go of his grief and going home to his wife.

The Walls of the Castle is a psychological atmospheric novel that is mainly about dealing with grief and loss. In Kasteel's case, he deals with it with violence, intimidation, and hiding from the world. Once he's convinced Abbadon, the Angel of Death, is also lurking in the hospital, the story gets even more intense.

The story read like a dark, violent Twilight Zone episode. I think it would look great filmed in black and white.

I had to dock a star because the ending felt really abrupt. I hope Kasteel remembers his name and leaves the hospital one day. Four out of five stars.





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The Trial

The Trial by Franz Kafka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On his thirtieth birthday, bank employee Josef K. is arrested for an unknown crime and prosecuted on certain Sundays by an unknown agency.

Yeah, that's a pretty vague teaser but how else do you drag someone into The Trial?

On the surface, The Trial is an absurd legal drama that nicely illustrates how inept bureaucracy can be. However, my little gray cells tell me that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Trial seems to be about how incomprehensible and absurd life can be at times. I don't think it's a coincidence that The Trial kicks off on Josef K.'s 30th birthday.

Kafka's writing is stripped down but still powerful. Aside from The Metamorphosis, the tone reminds me a bit of G.K. Chesteron's The Napoleon of Notting Hill. The book feels like a Monty Python sketch at times. I caught myself grinning on occasion and not really sure if that was the appropriate reaction.

The Trial isn't just about Josef's trial, it's also about the trial the trial becomes in Josef's life. And isn't life just one big trial anyway?

The Trial. 4 out 5 stars. Case closed.

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An Engrossing Thriller from John Verdon

Reviewed by James L. Thane
Four out of five stars


When Dave Gurney retired from the NYPD as a decorated homicide detective and moved to an isolated country farm, he thought he was putting his old life behind him. Certainly his wife, Madeleine, hoped that was the case, and she loves their new life of peace, quiet and long walks in the countryside. She delights in her flowers, the wild life that abounds around the farm, and in her various hobbies.

Dave, not so much. Gurney discovers that he misses the hunt. His job had energized and challenged him, and he finds that sitting around watching the asparagus grow is not all that fulfilling.

A few months earlier, much to Madeleine's chagrin, Dave agreed to consult on a murder investigation, known as the Mellery case (Think of a Number), and his doing so threatened his marriage and his life. Once the case was concluded, Dave determined to put homicide investigations behind him once and for all, but now he's asked to consult again on a particularly difficult and gruesome case.

A young bride has married a very successful psychiatrist and then, only moments before the wedding toast, the bride is discovered in a small cabin on the property where the wedding is being held. She has been decapitated and her head is left, sitting on a table, staring back at the rest of her body.

The prime suspect is a mysterious Mexican gardener who was working on the property, who allegedly opposed the marriage and who has now disappeared. The police have launched a massive manhunt for the missing man, but he has vanished, along with the neighbor lady with whom he was allegedly having an affair.

The bride's wealthy mother is not happy with the way the police are handling the case and she offers Gurney a huge fee if he will look into it. Naturally, Madeleine opposes the idea, but Dave is intrigued and finally suggests a compromise in which he will give the investigation a couple of weeks and will then bow out, irrespective of the state of the investigation at that point.

Well, of course we all know how that's going to work out. Before long, Dave will be deeply entangled in the most intellectually challenging case he's ever confronted, and no matter what his wife thinks, he will have to see it through.

To say much more about the plot would probably be unfair; suffice it to say that this is a complex, densely plotted and very entertaining novel with more than the usual number of unexpected twists and turns. The characters are intriguing and the crimes are challenging. The book should appeal to anyone who enjoys a well-written psychological thriller.

SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT UNLESS YOU WANT TO SEE A SIGNIFICANT PLOT POINT.

(view spoiler)[I have two reservations about this book. The first has to do with the relationship between Dave Gurney and his wife, Madeleine. Watching the way Dave's first case impacted their relationship was interesting, but watching the same story a second time was less entertaining. Clearly the two are at cross-purposes regarding the way in which Dave will spend his retirement and one of them needs to give in to the other. Either that, or they need to go their separate ways, but I would not want to read a third novel in which the two are constantly at odds over Dave's work.

My second concern involves a development that occurs when Dave engages a particularly nasty character about midway through the book. Dave is drugged and wakes up later with no memory of what has occurred over the last several hours. There is a serious possibility that he may have been photographed or filmed in a compromising situation. Dave thinks about the possibility of going to a hospital and having them run a tox screen to see what drug he might have been given. But then he decides against doing so.

SAY WHAT??? He has no idea what he might have been doing for the last few hours. He could have been set up for a very serious crime, and his only defense would be that he had been drugged and photographed in a compromising situation without his knowledge. The tox screen could confirm that he had been drugged and this is his only practical defense against whatever might be coming at him. Once the drugs are out of his system, he will have no defense. Dave is a brilliant guy and an experienced police detective. It's inconceivable that he wouldn't take this logical step to protect himself, and this colored the rest of the book for me. I still enjoyed the book a lot, but I would have enjoyed it more had it not been for these two irritating factors.

Oh Rather!

Young Men in Spats by P.G. Wodehouse
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Oh I say! Yes, jolly good, this! *nonsensical ejaculation!-cough-mutter* Another rollicking good time with the, ah, inane rich gentlemen of yesteryear - capital chaps! *throat-clearing tick* as, ah, as penned by the prolific P.G. Wodehouse...Sir Pelham Grenville, "Plum" as we called him back in good old Dulwich. Marvelous school that. He made out well there, if I recall...a First XI cricketer, I think. *wanders off in cloudy musings* Wodehouse...Wodehouse...Respectable Norfolk family, the Wodehouses, what? And what a smashing good writer the old bean turned out to be! Some say this, this, what's it...Young Men in Spats isn't as memorable as his Jeeves and Wooster stuff. Well, *huff!* I have nothing to say to that, but *huff! huff!* but that it's a bunch of hogwash and claptrap! No, no. Bunch of nonsense. Why, I chortled and snorted my way through from start to finish!

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A Pure Joy Is This Jeeves In The Morning!

Jeeves in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jeeves in the Morning, aka Joy in the Morning is the stuff to give the troops! It's one of my all-time favorites in the Jeeves/Wooster line, as penned by the prolific and long-lived P.G. Wodehouse.



It includes a heap load more tales of woe for Bertie Wooster to get into and his butler Jeeves to get him out of. Also appearing is one of the best non-appearing characters, J. Chichester Clam. The poor fellow is saddled with a ridiculous name and is put through his paces in this story without even getting to say word one. I don't want to give away much more of the story, just know that the usual suspects show up for this precisely-plotted, tightly-wound, hilarious start-to-finish rollick.

Jeeves in the Morning is not completely dissimilar to other books in the series...All right, it's quite similar. You see, Wodehouse developed a winning formula and stuck with it. Reading his books is like watching a rerun of a beloved old sitcom: you can anticipate all the jokes, but you laugh anyway. It's not only the mad-capped, slap-stick shenanigans, but rather the author's wit that has you coming back for more of the same.

I read the books first, then watched the tv series (with Stephen Frye and Hugh Laurie) based on the books.



Though it's good, I didn't enjoy the show as much and wasn't sure why. But now that I've gone back and reread one of the books, it all makes sense. The key is the narration. The Jeeves/Wooster series is written as if Wooster is the narrator and as a narrator he is hilarious. Removing that element, as the tv series did, removed half the hilarity. Read the books and get a full dose of the funny!


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Another Solid Selection of Wodehouse Stories

Lord Emsworth and Others by P.G. Wodehouse
Review by Jason Koivu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I doubt I've ever seen more mileage gotten out of an air rifle!

P.G. Wodehouse is a master at squeezing the most out of a very little bit. The reader of even a handful of his stories gets a sense of deja vu, but since those stories are always light, airy and full of fun, that's not such a bad thing.

In this collection of stories, based around a few of Wodehouse's recurring characters, it's the title story that struck a hilarious blow to my funny bone. Lord Emsworth is a hopelessly doddering old duffer with the tiniest bit of spark left in him, just enough left to make you love the old fellow.

A chunky section in the middle of the book is filled with a slew of Wodehouse golf-based one-offs, which are fine. I prefer his Blandings Castle work or the Jeeves and Wooster material, but the golf stuff has its moments, especially if you like the game. The remainder of the book is rounded out with tales of Ukridge, his overly confident ne'er-do-well character who never notices that he never does well. I wasn't a huge Ukridge fan, but these few stories revolving around his costly shenanigans actually improved my opinion of him.

All in all, Lord Emsworth and Others bounced between 3 and 4 stars, a respectable rating. Though, I would not suggest the uninitiated embark upon Wodehouse with this collection.

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Deja Vu All Over Again

My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've read this all before! I know I sometimes complain that once you've read one Wodehouse story you've read them all, but no, I mean I literally have read all these stories already. Ah well, I've also seen every episode of shows like All In The Family or Are You Being Served? about half a dozen times, so why not give these wonderful words a rerun read through?

Well the answer would be because this is not Wodehouse's best effort at joining up words in a pleasing manner. He's had better goes at it with say The Code of the Woosters, The Mating Season or Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves.

And then there's the issue of all these Jeeves & Wooster stories being set in New York. I've never been a fan of the stories set in America and I finally put my finger upon the why. Wodehouse's American characters living in America are dull. They lack the daffy spark of his English ones or even his Americans visiting the UK. What is it about England that makes them all go hilariously looney? Must be something in the gin water.

AND THEN there's the issue of the title. When a book's titled My Man Jeeves it'd better be carpetted wall-to-wall with Jeeves. This is not. Only about half of the stories are about the Jeeves and Wooster dynamic duo. The rest are about Reggie Peppers, who is a Bertie Wooster-lite.

If I was to bottomline all this, I'd say My Man Jeeves is not a rotten potato from the first Bush administration that you've finally unearthed from behind the fridge. No, it's a decent enough book and a good one to start off your Wodehouse reading career. However, there's better hilarity to be found amongst the author's canon.

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Wodehouse Will Explode Your Funnybone!

Uncle Dynamite by P.G. Wodehouse
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It all begins innocently enough with a What, Ho! and then before you know it everyone's up to their necks in the soup!

Uncle Dynamite is Uncle Fred and each of us ought to have an Uncle Fred in their lives. He's the sort of energetic, well-intentioned chap to stir up the pot, sometimes when the pot doesn't necessarily need stirring.

To explain the plot I would need to twist your brain about six ways to Sunday and attach it to a Slinky, so it must suffice to say that hijinks abound in a heisty capery sort of way with a bit of the "who's who, now?" and a whole lot of "but, but I!!!"s. There's Bonnie Babies to be avoided at all cost and love is in the air...stifled air that's headed in the wrong direction. With a well-stocked set of grey matter quick on its feet, Uncle Fred's got a solution for everything. That said, solutions often involve deceit and disguise. But of course it's all a matter of perspective, and if you'd only view it from the correct one you'd see how it's all on the up-and-up and makes perfect sense!

For this volume of comedic mayhem, Wodehouse has employed his standard script and populated it with a few familiar faces. It's not inventive genius in the literary line that you read Wodehouse for, but rather to gurgle up a good laugh or two as you follow the daffy mishaps of his parade of pranksters and paradigms of English aristocracy circa the early-ish 20th century. Besides the impossible ridiculousness of it all, Uncle Dynamite is also plentifully stocked with some of the more absurd names the author's ever produced: Frederick Altamont Cornwalis Twistleton, aka Lord Ickenham; Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton; Major Brabazon-Plank; Sir Aylmer "Mugsy" Bostock.

And with that said, I'm going to end my review rather abruptly, because why? Because here comes the last period.

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Dog On It--a mystery for dog lovers

Dog On It
Spencer Quinn
2009


Reviewed by Carol
★   ★   ★


Light fun. If you are a dog lover with a tolerance for whimsy and in the mood for some mystery, Dog On It should fit the bill.  Definitely a clever concept tailored for canine fans, Quinn mostly succeeds by staying faithful to the concept of dog as narrator.

Chet is waiting for his owner and partner Bernie to come home. When Bernie arrives, he smells a little boozy and Chet’s “back teeth were floating,” but needless to say, Chet’s a forgiving sort.  It isn’t long before a woman drops by, begging Bernie to find her missing fifteen-year old daughter. Bernie reluctantly agrees–the five hundred dollars she waves at him will make a huge difference paying overdue bills. Naturally, Chet accompanies them to the woman’s home–he was trained as a K-9, after all (if only that cat hadn’t crossed his path!). Bernie inspects her room, Chet sniffs out a bag of pot they forget to mention to the mother, and to no one’s surprise, the girl shows up while they are still there. Chet approves; she’s a fan of his mismatched ears and has a gentle pat. Case solved, they return home and to bed. The next morning, they’re awakened early by Bernie’s ex-wife and a female reporter doing a story on Bernie. In a moment of deja vu, they are called again by the teen’s mom–she’s missing again. It is soon clear that this time there’s something wrong.

So, cute concept executed reasonably well. Quinn’s strength is in characterizing Chet during his many doggie activities. He captures the (likely) time-sense of a dog well, remaining focused on the moment, whether it’s the pleasure of burying a bone, or digging it up again. Chet also makes an enjoyable narrator because of his zest for life and general enthusiasm. Really clever–although Bernie may have his human moments of frustration, depression and withdrawal, Chet remains upbeat.  However, I’d have to say that while Quinn catches a wide range of doggie behaviors, the range takes place over a few weeks at most. It comes out like a person who loves their dog and wants to share all the fun and funny things they do, and sounds less like the course of a normal day. Still, it’s fun. I found myself giggling every time neighbor dog Iggy was mentioned:


“I had never seen a real swan and was wondering how catchable they might be when I heard Iggy’s bark. Iggy had a high-pitched bark, an irritated-sounding yip-yip-yip. I barked back. There was a brief silence, and then he barked again. I barked back. He barked. I barked. He barked. I barked. He barked. We got a good rhythm going, faster and faster. I barked He barked. I –
A woman cried, ‘Iggy, for God’s sake, what the hell’s wrong with you?’ A door slammed. Iggy was silent. I barked anyway.”

Maybe I found it amusing because it happens so many times, that strange dog duet where the humans are annoyed and wondering what’s going on, but the dogs aren’t necessarily thinking anything at all, just barking because another dog is barking, and that’s what you do, duh. There’s lots of moments like that, that made me chuckle because Chet’s matter-of-fact, literal, and in-the-moment perspective so nicely represent the canine. For instance, say someone visits who smells of cat. You have to check it out, right?

“‘Hey! what the hell’s that dog doing?’
What was I doing? My job, amigo. And at that moment my job meant checking out this black car… for the presence of cats. How do you do that without standing up on your back legs and planting your front paws on the door to get your face right up close to the window? That’s basic.’”

Quinn says with emphasis that the series is “not a cozy mystery,” partly because of all the challenging things that happen to both Chet and Bernie. Which is too bad, since that’s where my problems were.  

[SPOILERS FOLLOW]
[SPOILERS]
In one particularly packed section (not the first time Chet is challenged, mind you), Chet is dognapped, Tasered, threatened with whipping and dog fighting, runs into a mountain line, temporarily joins a biker gang and is dropped off at a high-kill animal shelter. It’s excessive and not in keeping with the majority of the story in either tone or plotting. I suppose Quinn wanted is to heighten the sense of drama, and emphasize Chet’s resiliance but I ended up skimming over it, especially the shelter and the hugely coincidental rescue.

[END SPOILERS ]

The mystery itself wasn’t particularly suspenseful or interesting, and to be honest, is a little genre trope-ridden. In this case, Chet’s voice was an asset. Because he is so focused on the moment, with limited sense of past, the readers are spared the familiar trope of Lassie leading her owner where they need to be.  That was an astute decision. 

Overall, a fun little read that is likely most enjoyable for dog lovers. I’ll catch the next book, but it’ll be from the library. If you’d like a sample of the narrative style, you can catch Chet at his blog.

Choker

Choker
by Elizabeth Woods

Reviewed by Sesana
Four out of five stars

Publisher Summary:

 Sixteen-year-old Cara Lange has been a loner ever since she moved away from her best and only friend, Zoe, years ago. She eats lunch with the other girls from the track team, but they're not really her friends. Mostly she spends her time watching Ethan Gray from a distance, wishing he would finally notice her, and avoiding the popular girls who call her "Choker" after a humiliating incident in the cafeteria.

Then one day Cara comes home to find Zoe waiting for her. Zoe's on the run from problems at home, and Cara agrees to help her hide. With her best friend back, Cara's life changes overnight. Zoe gives her a new look and new confidence, and next thing she knows, she's getting invited to parties and flirting with Ethan. Best of all, she has her BFF there to confide in.

But just as quickly as Cara's life came together, it starts to unravel. A girl goes missing in her town, and everyone is a suspect—including Ethan. Worse still, Zoe starts behaving strangely, and Cara begins to wonder what exactly her friend does all day when she's at school. You're supposed to trust your best friend no matter what, but what if she turns into a total stranger?

My Review:

 The cover is pretty, but a little misleading. It looks like your average, run-of-the-mill YA PNR. There is some romance in this book, but it's limited. It's important to Cara, of course, but it isn't the most important thing, and it doesn't occupy her thoughts to the exclusion of all else. Especially later on in the book, as Zoe's behavior becomes more and more unpredictable, and stranger things happen around her.

I'll be honest and say that I saw the ending coming from very early on in the book. That didn't bother me as much as it maybe should have. I think that a lot of other readers, especially the teen girls who are the actual target audience, will take much longer to catch on, even be entirely surprised. And because I knew where it was going, I could see and appreciate how much thought and effort Woods put into making the ending work.

Cara's narration will probably make or break the book for many readers. She's painfully self-conscious around other people, verging on paranoia, and her train of thought goes off the rail with increasing frequency. This will, I'm sure, annoy some readers and leave others cold. But I found her narration to be painfully real in its details.

This is one of those books that just flew by as I was reading it. Yes, it's fairly short, but I was surprised at just how quickly I was taking it all in. Once I survived the painful second-hand embarrassment of the first chapter, I simply couldn't put it down. And I couldn't add Woods's second book, Figment, to my TBR fast enough.