Run

Run by Douglas E. Winter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Burdon Lane works for a legal gun dealer who also dabbles in some illcit side deals. When a gun deal goes south and a political figure winds up assassinated, Burdon's friends turn on him and he goes on the run. But who can he trust?

During our third booze-soaked meeting, Kemper gave me two books: Seveneves and this one.

The book started slow. The first 35% was setup, introducing all the players and getting them into position. The remaining 65% was an orgy of violence and betrayal.

Run could have easily been a no-brain thriller but raises a lot of questions on race, identity, and gun violence. Burdon Lane struggles with who he is over the course of the novel. His feelings over the deaths and betrayals set him apart from other anti-heroes, making him more than the Parker ripoff I thought he might wind up being.

While Douglas E. Winter writes great action, the relationship between Burdon and Jinx was my favorite part of the book. Jinx could have easily been a stereotype gang member but wound up being one of the better written characters in the tale.

The never-ending betrayals and brutal violence wore on me after a while. Still, I loved the showdown at the end. The aftermath was a little soft, though.

That's about all I have to say. Run is better experienced than read about anyway. 3.5 out of 5 stars.


View all my reviews

Rise of Empire

Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nyphron Rising

With a newly declared heir, the Nyphron Empire looks to gain control over everyone. Melengar stands alone against the growing colossus and Princess Arista has a desperate plan. She defies her brother, hires Riyria, and plans on forging an alliance with the Nationalist Army. Meanwhile Royce debates telling Hadrian about what Esrahaddon showed him in the tower of Avempartha. Royce doesn't trust the Wizard and first intends on learning the truth to the claims by investigating Hadrian's past.

Nyphron Rising is a solid continuation of the tale of Riyria Revelations. I enjoy the story overall, but from time to time the tropes are a heavy weight for me. The antagonists are incredibly evil while the heroes are good for goods sake...except for Royce, he does what he does for profit.

The main strength of the series remains for me as Royce and Hadrian. They are an unlikely duo yet I cheer for them, particularly Hadrian, to succeed. They are two men whose actions are far more important than most realize.

Nyphron Rising was good and I wonder what will happen next as the story continues.

3.5 out of 5 stars



The Emerald Storm

A message is intercepted regarding Merrick Marius's plans. King Alric tasks Royce and Hadrian to find out what Marius is up to which leads to them boarding the Emerald Storm. Meanwhile Princess Arista has left Ratibor in search of the true Heir of Novron.

I had a little bit of trouble with The Emerald Storm largely because much of the story revolves around Royce and Hadrian's travels on a ship. It's full of all the seaman jargon which honestly bores me. Once the duo left the high seas though the story was excellent.

Arista's story was equally strong as she taps deeper into her magical powers and performs some remarkable feats. Arista has demonstrated the most growth of any character in the series and I look forward to how her story continues.

One thing I find I dislike about the series thus far is a lot of time is spent with the characters traveling. When something particularly poignant is happening this doesn't bother me, but to show traveling for traveling sake is frustrating at times.

The Emerald Storm is likely my favorite story of the series thus far and it has me excited to read the final omnibus of the series.

4 out of 5 stars

View all my reviews

DARK ROOM BY JONATHAN MOORE

The Dark Room by Jonathan Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

”’You’d remember, if you saw her?’

‘I’d probably remember.’

‘Because she’s a knockout, right?’

The mayor glanced at the photograph. Cain wasn’t sure if he nodded or not.

‘She looks like one of those old film stars,’ Cain said. ’Lana Turner maybe.’

‘You got it mixed up,’ Castelli said. ’It’s Lauren Bacall you’re thinking of. She looks like Bacall.’

‘The Big Sleep--that was her?’

‘Bacall and Bogart,’ Castelli said. ’Yeah.’

‘One of your favorites?’

‘It was okay.’

‘I mean Bacall.’

‘Bacall?’ the mayor asked. He took another drink.’She was before my time.’

‘Way before mine,’ Cain said. ’But you see her on the screen, and it doesn’t really matter.’

‘Maybe for some guys.’”


Inspector Gavin Cain of the SFPD is interviewing San Francisco Mayor Harry Castelli about a packet of blackmail photographs that he received that date back to the 1980s. The girl in the photographs is who they are discussing. Now the interesting thing about this interview is that Cain is playing dumb on purpose. He knows the girl looks like Bacall, but he throws Lana Turner out there to make Castelli correct him. There is no way that anyone would confuse Lana Turner and Lauren Bacall. Bacall is about as distinctive of a woman to ever grace the silver screen. The only woman I’ve ever seen on film who looks even vaguely like her is Lisbeth Scott, who I always refer to as the poor director’s Lauren Bacall. If you can’t afford Bacall, you get Scott.

Now me, I’d be very leery of Cain at this point. He’s playing a bit of the Columbo, but Castelli has been drinking like a fish, not plowed, but as foggy as the streets of San Francisco. He isn’t quite tracking. If I were his handler, I’d have put the cops off until I had a chance to sober him up or at least have the cops talk to him first thing in the morning while he was hung over, but not yet starting his daily backstroke in a bourbon bath.

Castelli does the right thing calling the cops in, and Cain catches the case because he has the most seniority. He has other cases that he’d rather be working on, but a high profile case like this takes priority over everything else.

The blackmailer promises more photographs.

But doesn’t this feel like the type of thing a guy like Castelli would handle on his own? Powerful men and blackmailers go together like vodka and cunning eyed blondes. You pay off blackmailers or call in a favor to make them go away. The fact that Castelli calls the cops, instead of say a Philip Marlowe type, is interesting, maybe even puzzling.

Of course, there is always the possibility that he is innocent...naw can’t be that. The question is more about how guilty is he.

Cain goes to talk to Castelli’s wife and daughter, which if I wasn’t already having some Big Sleep flashbacks, I am now. If you remember from the book or the movie of The Big Sleep, there is the Sternwood mansion with one member of the family as crazy or crazier than the last one. Bogie spends most of the movie trying to figure out what is going on from people who haven’t had their feet planted on the real terra firma in a long time. Alexa Castelli is the daughter, and she is an IA investigation waiting to happen. She is comfortable with her body and doesn’t mind sharing it with everyone, including an unsuspecting police officer by the name of Cain. The mother is waiting for Cain with a pitcher of martinis, her eyes floating with gin dreams. Her engagement with reality is just a broken string of half thoughts and lost memories weighed down by a melancholy future.

Power and money do not make you happy. You still have to like yourself to be happy.

Cain has an interesting back story. He is involved with a piano teacher named Lucy, who has an anxiety order similar to agoraphobia. Jonathan Moore does a wonderful job giving us just enough about the source of a problem without actually revealing the story to us. He puts us on high alert for the rest of the book, looking for the clues that will reveal those missing pieces. So while we are trying to figure out the blackmailing story, we are puzzling over another case that may connect to the blackmailing case involving an exhumed casket, we fret over the backstory on Lucy, and of course, we are looking for any information that Moore wishes to breadcrumb to us regarding the mysterious Inspector Gavin Cain.

I love the way Moore sprinkles CSI stuff in that is, frankly, fascinating.

”She pulled his bottom lip out, and ran her gloved finger over the broken teeth. ‘You see that, this kind of suicide. End of a pistol’s barrel has a raised sight. It’ll crack the hell out of your teeth when the gun kicks.’

‘The bottom teeth?’ Grassley asked. ‘The sight’s on top.’

‘Most of your gun-in-the mouth guys,’ she said, ‘they put it in upside down. What else are they going to do---pull the trigger with their thumbs? So when it kicks, the sight knocks out their bottom teeth.’”

The case is strange, but becomes more twisted and sinister as more is revealed. As Cain and his partner close in on the perpetrators, the hunters become the hunted. Cain finds himself in a nightmare where he has seconds to be there in time, but is long minutes away. The conclusions will leave your heart pounding and sweat trickling down your neck. Readers who like the references reminiscent of the days of Philip Marlowe will love those subtle undertones, but those just looking for a great thriller will also be equally satisfied. The San Francisco backdrop again proves a fertile ground for Jonathan Moore. I’ve heard there is a third book already in the can. Sign me up.

Check out my Poison Artist Review

If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten

View all my reviews

A Moment with Mark Lawrence

What was the inspiration for the Broken Empire series?

There wasn’t any obvious (to me) inspiration for the story or the setting. The main character, Jorg Ancrath, was directly inspired by Alex DeLarge from Anthony Burgess’s 1962 book, A Clockwork Orange. Inspiration is a strange and nebulous thing though. We’re all products of our environment and I have been reading fantasy for a very long time.

You write, in my opinion, some of the best characters that you hate to actually like, great anti heroes. Are you just exploring a different side of the hero character, or is it a necessary extension of the world you are creating?

I don’t create worlds and then populate them with characters. I think about a character and then follow them. So no, not necessary extensions. And although my books do turn out to explore themes in what has sometimes been called a literary manner, I don’t set out to do that either. So I wouldn’t ascribe any great meaning to the character choice other than I write the books I would like to read. So I need characters that interest me. My characters aren’t vehicles for plot delivery, they have to generate the story from within, and to do that you need someone interesting and conflicted.

With shelfinflicted.com being a review site, what are you currently reading? What would you recommend?

Right this minute I am reading a self-published book with two ratings and one review on Goodreads. It’s by T.O Munro and is called The Medusa’s Daughter. I’ve only just started but it’s good so far.

My best read of last year was another self-published title that emerged from the contest I‘ve held the last two years (Google SPFBO if you’re interested). The book is Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft, a really great read.

More generally I find my tastes align with many popular choices. I love George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, I am keen for Pat Rothfuss to bring his third book out, Robin Hobb’s work is genius…

Are you a gamer? Physical or video) If so, what are you into right now?

I would certainly count myself as a video gamer, having played with dedication since the things first appeared in the 70s. The truth is though that since my writing took off I really haven’t found the time for it. I bought a PS4 and played one game on it: GTA5. The last games I really got into were some years back. I got pretty good at multiplayer Call of Duty and the RTS game Command and Conquer 3.

When I had a day job I would happily play video games when “off duty”. Now I write full time I find it hard to consider any hour “off duty”.

finally, what would you want to say to anyone who wants to have a career as a writer?

To my way of thinking wanting a career as a writer is a rather upside-down way of approaching it. It’s bit like saying “I want to be an author.” A better approach, one more likely to have a happy outcome, is to say “I want to write.” Nobody can stop you doing that and it shows that it is the writing that will make you happy and scratch that itch. From some people I get the impression that it’s the being an author they’re really after, for some imagined kudos, social approval, popularity, or wealth. And the writing is a necessary chore that will get them there. That’s unlikely to work out well.

Write because you enjoy it as an end in itself (like playing video games). If you luck out and a career comes along, then that’s a bonus!   

Red Sister By: Mark Lawrence

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes you crack a book, and next thing you know...you're done. Then in the back of your head, you realize you have in your crooked little hands, the beginning of something great.

Mark Lawrence's new tale is a friggin master class in Fantasy, beautifully written, amazing characters and a world that breathes. Page after page, a ripping story that you can't get enough of and you get mad when it ends.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC, and yes, I will buy it..its that good

I am a fan of the man, I won't lie, but this is great, and will definitely be a book of 2017. go throw money at him.

20oo out of 5 stars.

View all my reviews

King of the Wild Frontier

Davy Crockett: His Own Story by David Crockett
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm still trying to figure out how Davy Crocket, who was killed at the Alamo, was able to include details of the Battle of the Alamo in his own retrospective autobiography. I call bullshit!

Irregardless, the frontiersman of American legend and lore lays out his life in a very homespun, fireside style recollectin'. Highly enjoyable stuff here! Old-timey yarn after old-timey yarn is woven into as colorful a tapestry as you could hope for from a mostly illiterate backcountry man of his own making.

His Own Story (which I think was titled My Own Story early on) starts with Crocket's boyhood and upbringing. This is just as interesting as the battles and woodsman stories of his later life, as it gives the reader a deeper understanding of what made the man.

No matter the age through out the timeline of Crocket's life, his descriptions are sparing but adequate. His narrative often merely touches upon a subject or whole swath of an age, but once he gets into a story, he gets into it! Lively accounts of battles with the Indians and 600lb bears are relayed with so much excitement it's as good as watching a movie!

Highly recommended to those already interested in this interesting man!

...

Oh! I think I just might've figured out the whole "how did he write it if he was dead?" thing. Likely...or maybe I should say...possibly he had the memoir mostly finished and the Alamo chapter was written by someone else and slapped on the end.



View all my reviews

Over the Edge with Magellan

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When you're old like me, you hear stories about these explorers (if ya know what I mean...wink wink), but usually it's a truncated version handed down to you from a school teacher back in the 1970s, who wasn't much more well-versed in the subject than yourself...

"In 1521, Mr. Magellan was the first man to sail around the world. This was at a time when the world was flat, so it was very tricky!"

Okay, my miseducation wasn't as bad as all that. However, it is nice to fill in the gaps of knowledge with seemingly well-researched books like Laurence Bergreen's Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe.

A good amount of time is spent on Magellan's struggle just to get the backing to begin his endeavor. Maybe that might bore some people, especially since it's right up front. Getting to the actual voyage takes some time, but once you on the ship, Bergreen does a good job of making you feel like one of the crew members. Great descriptions abound of ship life, the terrible food, and general hardships endured by sailors of the period.

Beyond the hardships, there was also the great unknown. Legends and horrors imagined and intentionally invented spooked the bejesus out of people back in a time when a good part of the world was still unknown by Europeans. Just having the gonads to try this sort of caper is impressive, and this book gets you to understand the monumental importance of it all.

Using various sources, Bergreen is also able to get inside the minds of the men and that is what makes this a truly good read. It's quite rare to have so many accounts with which to draw upon for corroboration and insight for an event that happened 500 years ago. The author puts it to good use in explaining motives or at least expostulating with a fairly high level of certainty on what moved the minds of not only Magellan, but many of the important figures associated with this incredible event.

While not a perfect book, it is perfectly good and recommended for those interested in the subject and willing to slog through the minutia of history in order to glimpse scenes from an incredible and often misguided voyage.



View all my reviews

Just After Sunset

Just After Sunset by Stephen King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Willa: After a train derails leaving its passengers stranded, David Sanderson's wife wanders away from the station and he goes looking for her.

On the surface, this was a tale of people who don't realize that they're ghosts dealing with their fate. Beneath, I think it's about how time slips away and the deeper the rut you get into, the harder it is to get out and do something new. His Kingship picked a good tale to start the collection with.

Gingerbread Girl: After leaving her husband, Emily takes up running on the beach. Her life is turning around until she runs afoul of killer!

This was a pretty gripping tale about a woman running for her life from a serial killer. Serial killers have been done to death but King makes a good tale out of it.

Harvey's Dream: A woman in a boring marriage is surprised when her husband wants to share a dream of his with her.

This one felt like a well-written Twilight Zone episode to me. The characters felt very real to me.

Rest Stop: A writer on the way home stops at a rest area to pee and interrupts a man beating his wife.

This one was okay. It dealt a little with identity but was mostly a writer gathering up the courage to do something about a bad situation.

Stationary Bike: An overweight commercial artist gets a stationary bike. Twilight Zone style weirdness ensues.

Yeah, I kind of liked this but it was a little long for what it was. Stationary bike takes guy into his drawing, guys working inside his body to keep his body healthy, it was a strange ride that ultimately went nowhere. See what I did there?

The Things They Left Behind: Mysterious objects appear in a 9/11 survivor's apartment, objects belonging to his deceased co-workers.

Another Twilight Zone-ish story that should have been a lot shorter.

Graduation Afternoon: A young woman knows she's attending one of her boyfriend's family's gatherings for the last time. It turns out being the last in more ways than one.

Meh.

N: A psychiatrist commits suicide and his sister reads the file on his last patient, an OCD man named N.

Holy shit! I enjoyed the hell out of this one. An OCD guy's rituals keeping a world devouring monster straight out of H.P. Lovecraft at bay? Loved it!

The Cat From Hell: A pharmaceutical millionaire hires a hitman to kill... a cat?

Pretty brutal. You can tell this one was early King, especially compared to the writing style of the other stories. No wonder it was featured in Tales from the Dark Side: The Movie.

The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates: A woman gets an unexpected phone call from her dead husband.

Yawn. Another plane crash-related tale. King's getting soft in his old age.

Mute: After finding out his wife has been having an affair, a man picks up a deaf-mute hitchhiker and bares his soul. But was the man really deaf?

This confessional tale was pretty good. King likes his shorts Twilight Zone-ish, doesn't he?

Ayana: This was a tale about miracles. It was a little Hallmark-y for my taste.

A Very Tight Place: A guy gets trapped inside a Johnny-On-The-Spot by his vindictive neighbor.

This was a revenge story that wasn't shitty despite the setting.

Closing Thoughts: Not a bad short story collection. N and the Cat from Hell were my favorites. I wouldn't say any of the stories were duds but this wasn't my favorite King collection. Three out of five stars.





View all my reviews

Saving Sean

Con Riley
Dreamspinner Press
Reviewed by Nancy
3 out of 5 stars

Summary

Nearly a year after being rejected for another man, Seattle paramedic Peter Morse is still pining, so when the one that got away asks him for a favor, he agrees. His mission: track down Sean Reid, the runaway brother of a mutual friend. Peter isn’t thrilled about it—until he finds Sean injured by the side of the road.

Everything about Sean stirs Peter’s protective instincts—saving people is what he lives for—but he never anticipated falling for someone so hell-bent on running away. On top of his physical wounds, Sean struggles with grief and guilt, and the mess his estranged father left when he died threatens to overwhelm him.

Saving Sean means Peter must let go of his pride and turn to friends and family. Asking for help is a bitter pill for Peter to swallow, but if he can’t, how can he expect Sean to accept his help—and his love—in turn?

My Review

I was debating on whether I wanted to continue with this series or not, as my feelings about After Ben were rather lukewarm.

Though the first story was mainly about Theo recovering from the death of his partner, Ben, and finding love again, there were interesting secondary characters, such as Peter Morse, a paramedic who fell for Theo at the wrong time, and Maggie, Theo’s personal assistant and friend, who was instrumental in supporting him through the worst of his grief. It was my interest in Peter and knowing that he too will find love, that gave me the push I needed to continue reading.

While Saving Sean features characters from the first book, the focus of the story is on Peter and Sean, a young conservationist reeling from the death of his estranged father and coping with the results of his hoarding disorder. He is also a brother to Maggie.

This story shared a lot of similarities with the first one, making it feel somewhat formulaic. In spite of the fact that Theo’s partner was 10 years older, Theo was still very much hung up on age differences, even when he became involved with a considerably younger man. Likewise, Peter is hung up on a physical type. Even though Sean, with his lean build, long red hair, and pale complexion wasn't exactly Peter’s type, Peter fell for him hard and fast, leaving me feeling unconvinced that their relationship is destined to last.

Peter is a smart guy with mostly sound judgment. He worked for 15 years as a paramedic and now travels around the country training firefighters and medical professionals in emergency response. Though he deserves a nice guy in his life, I’m not convinced that Sean is a suitable companion. His unstable personality and erratic behavior annoyed me to no end and made me wonder just what exactly did Peter see in him. Sean didn't need a boyfriend; he needed a therapist. His obsession with his father’s hoard and inability to focus on the task of separating trash from items of value even though he risks losing his home led me to think it was possible he inherited the hoarding gene. Instead of being firm with Sean, Peter allowed himself to become a hostage to his unpredictable emotions. He avoided becoming angry with Sean when he frequently ran away from problems. A healthy relationship this is not. Yeah, I know Sean’s father died before they had a chance to mend fences, but that doesn't give him the right to be a selfish, whiny jerk and be ungrateful to Peter, their friends, and his boss, Vik, who are helping him manage the hoard before his home is condemned.

““It's not all garbage. It's not. There's really important stuff in dad’s office, and they're acting like it's junk.” His face twisted. “He’s acting like it's dirty.””

This made it easy for me to side with Vik’s point of view:

“He’s always looking for reasons. It makes him an excellent researcher – I was sorry to lose him to his own project – but sooner or later he’ll see the bigger picture. He won't be able to save every forest, and he can’t hope to figure out how his dad’s mind worked. Some things are inexplicable.”

Where this story shined for me was the growing closeness between Peter and his dad. While I didn't understand why Peter kept his distance from him for so long, I’m glad they developed a warm relationship. Their interactions were deeply moving.

“I felt like we were on a road trip together. Maybe we should have done that for real while you were younger. It just always seemed like there wasn’t enough time. But I guess that this way, every time you sent another postcard, it was like picking up from the same conversation. Are you home for a while, son? I’ll miss hearing from you if you are.”

His dad was withdrawn since his wife's death, spending hours in his workshop, and while he didn’t openly accept Peter’s sexuality, he certainly didn't condemn him for it. It seems to me that Peter should have been adult enough to establish communication and work past this way before now.

I found the sex scenes between Peter and Sean repetitive, lacking in sensuality, and too frequent, especially towards the end of the book. Maybe it’s because I mostly saw Sean as a child in a man’s body. I didn’t care for the way the hoarding issue was addressed, and I wanted more communication between Sean and his sister. The ending felt forced and unrealistic.

Once again, I’m left with a lukewarm feeling. Despite this, I will read the next story featuring Aiden and Marco, even though I’m expecting more of the same. I must be a glutton for punishment.

International Iron Man

International Iron Man (International Iron Man by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

After Tony Stark learned that he wasn't the son of Howard and Maria Stark, he went searching for his real parents.

It wasn't the easiest of mysteries to solve.

I don't blame Brian Michael Bendis for this Tony Stark parentage mess. I believe that honor fully belongs to Kieron Gillen. So Tony isn't Howard's son, so whose son is he? That's what International Iron Man is all about. It's dry and unfulfilling truthfully. I'm not sure what I expected, but it surely wasn't this. The concept stinks of desperation to me. They needed something shocking to happen with Iron Man so they made him into an adopted child. Oh well, it's done and will surely be undone at the first convenient moment.

View all my reviews