For the purposes of Stale Reviews, I must ask if Blogs count as reading?
First, it has been my sole intention to review the books that I read over the course of...well, forever. I love to read and enjoy soaking in stories. So, do blogs count as reading? Should they even be reviewed?
I have been reading this one blog by this fella named Randy. He's posting on the regular over at http://mobilecodgers.blogspot.com/. Anyway, Randy is living a good life, apparently. He spends most of his time in New Mexico dragging his house behind his truck and settling wherever he damn well pleases. Yep, he's got himself a little trailer house and goes and parks wherever the wind takes him. I'm guessing he's retired but I'm not a hundred percent on that one.
So, reading his blog I get the strangest sensation. But, I can't tell what it is. So, I will put the possibilities out there for us all.
1. I like him. He is living the life that he wants in the way that he wants. I totally dig that.
2. I want to be him. See above. There is freedom there...also dig that.
3. I want to punch him right in the fucking ballsack. While he is living his life the way he wants, Randy also comes off as a pompous, arrogant, know-it-all type as he expounds ever so generously on religion, living a traditional life, and so on... Fuck, that annoys a reader.
Anyway, this ain't a normal Stale Review type review. But, it's a blog. It's somewhat interesting and has tons of pictures of people and places. Just forget that Randy can be a blowhard that doesn't quite know how to use his spell check and you'll be just fine.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Stale Book Review #25: White Fire
White Fire by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Cost: $0.00US (Gift)
Page Count: 470
I honestly cannot think of another writing tandem that I admire more than Preston & Child. These dudes can weave a story and write a good book. Not once have they ever failed to entertain my brain...not once.
White Fire is yet another installment in a long line of novels protagonized (I made this word up...I like it so fuck you if you don't)
by Special Agent Aloysious Pendergast. Forget all those other detectives in those other stories written by those other authors...Pendergast is the real deal (he's the shit!). That crippled detective in the Jeff Deaver novels don't have anything on Preston & Child's guy. Pendergast is smooth, calm, forceful, and never afraid to get whatever he needs to get the case solved. He's that lone wolf, whatever-it-takes kind of character. I dig him.
Anyway, in White Fire Pendergast's protegee Corrie Swanson is doing some research in a posh ski town in Colorado. Far from her home in New York, Corrie has to make do with the research and find cooperative individuals in town to help. Not an easy task. Anyway, she starts snooping around and finding out interesting tidbits that hide kind of a seedy underbelly of the town. Then large mansions start a-burning. Corrie soon realizes something totally fucked is going on and eventually finds herself in jail.
In swoops Pendergast from parts unknown to help his protegee out of a jam. The Special Agent is wiling to help but the newly free Corrie wants to go it alone. Pendergast wants her to pack it all up and go home. Frustration betwixt the two.
Anyway, there are lots of fires, lots of conspiracies pondered, and killers/arsonists tracked down and killed...the usual for a book of this ilk.
But, Preston and Child really do write a good book. It's well written: very smooth, keeps a decent pace throughout, and they throw in interesting plot twists that keep you guessing just enough but not enough to throw you from the main plot. They're good.
Anyway, White Fire may not be the best Preston & Child book with Pendergast as protagonist. But, it's not the worst of the lot, either. Two Graves, their previous effort, was a little weak, for example.
The verdict: Read it. You'll plow through it in no time. Guaranteed.
I honestly cannot think of another writing tandem that I admire more than Preston & Child. These dudes can weave a story and write a good book. Not once have they ever failed to entertain my brain...not once.
White Fire is yet another installment in a long line of novels protagonized (I made this word up...I like it so fuck you if you don't)
by Special Agent Aloysious Pendergast. Forget all those other detectives in those other stories written by those other authors...Pendergast is the real deal (he's the shit!). That crippled detective in the Jeff Deaver novels don't have anything on Preston & Child's guy. Pendergast is smooth, calm, forceful, and never afraid to get whatever he needs to get the case solved. He's that lone wolf, whatever-it-takes kind of character. I dig him.
Anyway, in White Fire Pendergast's protegee Corrie Swanson is doing some research in a posh ski town in Colorado. Far from her home in New York, Corrie has to make do with the research and find cooperative individuals in town to help. Not an easy task. Anyway, she starts snooping around and finding out interesting tidbits that hide kind of a seedy underbelly of the town. Then large mansions start a-burning. Corrie soon realizes something totally fucked is going on and eventually finds herself in jail.
In swoops Pendergast from parts unknown to help his protegee out of a jam. The Special Agent is wiling to help but the newly free Corrie wants to go it alone. Pendergast wants her to pack it all up and go home. Frustration betwixt the two.Anyway, there are lots of fires, lots of conspiracies pondered, and killers/arsonists tracked down and killed...the usual for a book of this ilk.
But, Preston and Child really do write a good book. It's well written: very smooth, keeps a decent pace throughout, and they throw in interesting plot twists that keep you guessing just enough but not enough to throw you from the main plot. They're good.
Anyway, White Fire may not be the best Preston & Child book with Pendergast as protagonist. But, it's not the worst of the lot, either. Two Graves, their previous effort, was a little weak, for example.
The verdict: Read it. You'll plow through it in no time. Guaranteed.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Stale Book Review #24: The Burning Wire
The Burning Wire by Jeffrey Deaver
Cost: $4.95US
Page Count: 414
This review has been sitting in my 'Draft' folder for a little while now. I figure that I might as well go ahead and write the review before every single detail about the book goes right on out of my head. These things tend to happen.
Anyway, The Burning Wire is yet another in the Lincoln Rhyme series of books by Jeff Deaver. For those that have never read a Rhyme book here's a little bit of info: Rhyme was a hotshot forensic detective dude before he got injured and is now a quadriplegic. He struggles with the condition but his mind is sharp and he still solves crimes with the assistance of Amelia Sachs, a cop and his lover. Interesting, yes. But, I am never interested in the romantic aspects of any book. It just doesn't get to me like it does some people.
An interesting side note: In the movie adaptation of The Bone Collector (an early Deaver work), Lincoln Ryhme is played by none other than Denzel Washington. I love Denzel but Rhyme is clearly a white dude in the books. Read them and you will see. The casting really threw me off and ruined what could've been a great flick. Still got love for you Denzel!
In The Burning Wire, a killer is on the loose and Rhyme and his team must catch him using their wits and forensics and such. Not really a new plot theme, Deaver. But anyway, the killer is using massive amounts of electricity to kill the victims. That one IS new and pretty cool. As is Deaver's style, the reader is led down many wrong paths, is pointed at would-be suspects that turn out to be innocent, and the like. The Burning Wire doesn't have many surprises. Until the end.
A side-plot of the novel is Rhyme's tracking, along with Mexican officials, of his arch-nemesis The Watchmaker. The final showdown and reveal of the killer at the end of the book is what makes the whole thing worth reading. It's actually kind of cool that Deaver somehow got his main plot and sub-plot to intertwine at the end. But, I am not giving away book endings and shit. That ain't my style.
You've gotta read it for yourself. Or, check out the synopsis on Wikipedia if you're a punk-bitch and don't want to read the book. If you can't afford it, shoot me an email and I'll send you my copy for free!
This review has been sitting in my 'Draft' folder for a little while now. I figure that I might as well go ahead and write the review before every single detail about the book goes right on out of my head. These things tend to happen.
Anyway, The Burning Wire is yet another in the Lincoln Rhyme series of books by Jeff Deaver. For those that have never read a Rhyme book here's a little bit of info: Rhyme was a hotshot forensic detective dude before he got injured and is now a quadriplegic. He struggles with the condition but his mind is sharp and he still solves crimes with the assistance of Amelia Sachs, a cop and his lover. Interesting, yes. But, I am never interested in the romantic aspects of any book. It just doesn't get to me like it does some people. An interesting side note: In the movie adaptation of The Bone Collector (an early Deaver work), Lincoln Ryhme is played by none other than Denzel Washington. I love Denzel but Rhyme is clearly a white dude in the books. Read them and you will see. The casting really threw me off and ruined what could've been a great flick. Still got love for you Denzel!
In The Burning Wire, a killer is on the loose and Rhyme and his team must catch him using their wits and forensics and such. Not really a new plot theme, Deaver. But anyway, the killer is using massive amounts of electricity to kill the victims. That one IS new and pretty cool. As is Deaver's style, the reader is led down many wrong paths, is pointed at would-be suspects that turn out to be innocent, and the like. The Burning Wire doesn't have many surprises. Until the end.
A side-plot of the novel is Rhyme's tracking, along with Mexican officials, of his arch-nemesis The Watchmaker. The final showdown and reveal of the killer at the end of the book is what makes the whole thing worth reading. It's actually kind of cool that Deaver somehow got his main plot and sub-plot to intertwine at the end. But, I am not giving away book endings and shit. That ain't my style.
You've gotta read it for yourself. Or, check out the synopsis on Wikipedia if you're a punk-bitch and don't want to read the book. If you can't afford it, shoot me an email and I'll send you my copy for free!
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Stale Book Review #23: Inferno
Inferno by Dan Brown
So anyway, Langdon gets help from a lady (again), Sienna, a kind doctor who was helping him during his convalescence. There's a whole twist about Sienna that you will have to read for yourself. But, as usual, the inclusion of a secondary female character is getting a bit old. Brown really needs to work on this aspect of his novels. Sienna and Langdon find a little projector thingie that shows a map of Hell that must be interpreted if the mystery is to be solved. Luckily, Langdon is a fucking genius at that shit.
Cost: $0.00US (Gift)
Page Count: 611
Ah, Dan Brown. For all of his supposed faults, the man can write a fuckin' story. Yes, there are those that nitpick on his 'facts' and claims. I disagree with those people for one reason: Brown is a FICTION writer and has, to my knowledge, never claimed to be writing true stories. So, Inferno is another Brown work that I'm sure will get the history-buff's panties into quite a twist.
Inferno follows the ever-present Brown protagonist, Robert Langdon throughout Italy (again) while he efforts to regain his lost memory. Yes, at the beginning of the book Langdon is suffering from a bout of amnesia. Not the most clever start of a novel, but I can live with it. Anyway, the chase is on with a cabal of enemies (again) as Langdon tries to find the missing death mask of famed author, Dante. You know, the guy from the Divine Comedy fame.
So anyway, Langdon gets help from a lady (again), Sienna, a kind doctor who was helping him during his convalescence. There's a whole twist about Sienna that you will have to read for yourself. But, as usual, the inclusion of a secondary female character is getting a bit old. Brown really needs to work on this aspect of his novels. Sienna and Langdon find a little projector thingie that shows a map of Hell that must be interpreted if the mystery is to be solved. Luckily, Langdon is a fucking genius at that shit.
Of course there are chases, gunshots, secret passages, and items within magnificent works of art that must be interpreted to reveal the location of the mask. Of course there are bad guys hell bent on making sure Langdon fails. Of course there are conspiracies involved. Hell, this is what makes a Dan Brown novel. Why should he stray from the formula? It's made him one rich motherfucker.
What's cool about Inferno is that there is never a lack of action. The book ALWAYS moves along. That is what makes Brown so popular. People want to read a book that goes along at a brisk pace and Brown appeals to the TV watching public. Kudos...he's a smart dude.
No spoilers here, folks. You've just got to read the book. Trust me, if you have a fifth grade education you can read this novel in no time.
So, is Inferno worth a read? Sure. Is it something that is going to tax your brain and really cause you to think about the plot line? Fuck no. Inferno is the perfect beach-read or vacation novel. It won't crush your brain and it'll keep your attention.
Is this 'high literature'? Nope. But, it's fun and that's what we look for in popular novels.
Isn't it?
Stale Book Review #22: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
Cost: $6.98US
Page Count: 262
Proving that I AM capable of spending more than a buck or two, I picked up The Man Who Loved Books Too Much for a staggering seven bucks..it was a hardback in the clearance bin. So, not everything I read has to be paid for with pocket change.
The premise of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is quite interesting. It follows the author, yes this is a pseudo-biographical work, in her search for the title character, a man named John Gilkey. Apparently, Mr. Gilkey was a scam artist who looked only to pilfer fine books in order to satiate his addiction to literature. He wished to own a huge library filled with rare and valuable tomes. So, the author, Ms. Bartlett, searches and interviews Gilkey and a small cast of booksellers who have been duped by the scammer.
There's actually not much in the way of 'action' in this book. But, that's ok. It's really a well-written document of one man's insatiable addiction to books. The author tries to understand what makes the criminal tick, interviewing him in various places including prison. Gilkey spends as much time in jail as he does free but doesn't really have much remorse for ripping off countless booksellers around the country. In my humble opinion, Gilkey is a common thief and a typical lying douche.
One particular book-man, Ken Sanders, is prominently involved. That's because he is the de-facto watchdog for the booksellers. He acts as a sort of detective in trying to solve the theft of rare and valuable books. Pretty neat job, if you can get it. But, Sanders is obsessed himself. Obsessed with finding those, not just Gilkey, that steal literary masterpieces. So, in some respects there is a correlation between the criminal and the sleuth. Sanders, at times, comes off as kind of a douche, as well.
Overall, I'd say The Man Who Loved Books Too Much was worth a read. But, only because it is short. Any longer, and I would have grown tired of the back and forth between the author and the criminal. There is, however, a whole cornucopia of information about rare books and the business itself. To me, that's cool because I am somewhat interested in the whole realm. But, to the layperson this may be sort of a snoozer.
Proving that I AM capable of spending more than a buck or two, I picked up The Man Who Loved Books Too Much for a staggering seven bucks..it was a hardback in the clearance bin. So, not everything I read has to be paid for with pocket change.
The premise of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is quite interesting. It follows the author, yes this is a pseudo-biographical work, in her search for the title character, a man named John Gilkey. Apparently, Mr. Gilkey was a scam artist who looked only to pilfer fine books in order to satiate his addiction to literature. He wished to own a huge library filled with rare and valuable tomes. So, the author, Ms. Bartlett, searches and interviews Gilkey and a small cast of booksellers who have been duped by the scammer.
There's actually not much in the way of 'action' in this book. But, that's ok. It's really a well-written document of one man's insatiable addiction to books. The author tries to understand what makes the criminal tick, interviewing him in various places including prison. Gilkey spends as much time in jail as he does free but doesn't really have much remorse for ripping off countless booksellers around the country. In my humble opinion, Gilkey is a common thief and a typical lying douche.
One particular book-man, Ken Sanders, is prominently involved. That's because he is the de-facto watchdog for the booksellers. He acts as a sort of detective in trying to solve the theft of rare and valuable books. Pretty neat job, if you can get it. But, Sanders is obsessed himself. Obsessed with finding those, not just Gilkey, that steal literary masterpieces. So, in some respects there is a correlation between the criminal and the sleuth. Sanders, at times, comes off as kind of a douche, as well.
Overall, I'd say The Man Who Loved Books Too Much was worth a read. But, only because it is short. Any longer, and I would have grown tired of the back and forth between the author and the criminal. There is, however, a whole cornucopia of information about rare books and the business itself. To me, that's cool because I am somewhat interested in the whole realm. But, to the layperson this may be sort of a snoozer.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Stale Book Review #21: The Closers
The Closers by Michael Connelly
Cost: $1.00US
Page Count: 403
The Closers is yet another Harry Bosch novel in the canon of M. Connelly. While I normally really enjoy the Bosch novels, this one didn't really stick with me. Seriously. I finished it a little over a week ago and am having serious trouble trying to remember much about the book. So, this review may be a little off kilter.
Harry Bosch had spent three years away from police work. In The Closers, he returns to work with his old partner Kiz Rider in the unsolved crimes unit. There is little pressure within the unsolved crimes unit and that doesn't really seem to fit with Bosch and his personality. Anyway, the two snag an extremely old case and begin to work the case. Turns out, there are some big wigs in the police force that were involved over twenty years ago on this case.
So, Bosch and Rider have to navigate some shitty police politics while still trying to solve the case. Without giving much away, shit hits the fan and some big time officials get their asses in hot water. Which, for Connelly, is fairly par for the course.
In The Closers, Michael Connelly didn't really break much new ground. In fact, he may have written his most forgettable novel. Which is a bummer because Connelly is a fairly talented writer and Harry Bosch is a haunted and interesting character.
This book...well, I can't tell you if it was good or bad. It just was...there to be read.
The Closers is yet another Harry Bosch novel in the canon of M. Connelly. While I normally really enjoy the Bosch novels, this one didn't really stick with me. Seriously. I finished it a little over a week ago and am having serious trouble trying to remember much about the book. So, this review may be a little off kilter.
Harry Bosch had spent three years away from police work. In The Closers, he returns to work with his old partner Kiz Rider in the unsolved crimes unit. There is little pressure within the unsolved crimes unit and that doesn't really seem to fit with Bosch and his personality. Anyway, the two snag an extremely old case and begin to work the case. Turns out, there are some big wigs in the police force that were involved over twenty years ago on this case.So, Bosch and Rider have to navigate some shitty police politics while still trying to solve the case. Without giving much away, shit hits the fan and some big time officials get their asses in hot water. Which, for Connelly, is fairly par for the course.
In The Closers, Michael Connelly didn't really break much new ground. In fact, he may have written his most forgettable novel. Which is a bummer because Connelly is a fairly talented writer and Harry Bosch is a haunted and interesting character.
This book...well, I can't tell you if it was good or bad. It just was...there to be read.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Stale Book Review #20: The Zero Game
The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer
Anyway, The Zero Game is just what you would expect from Meltzer. There's two guys, both of whom have positions within offices on Capital Hill. Nothing new there, Brad. One of them presents the other with a game, The Zero Game, that places friendly wagers on legislation, how many pubic hairs a senator has, or any other mundane activity within Congress. It seems harmless, of course. That is until one of the two protagonists gets offed within the first forty pages. Killing off a main character fairly early in the book is actually something new. I liked it.
Cost: $0.90US
Page Count: 468
I've reviewed Brad Meltzer's books on Stale Reviews before. In fact, I believe that I have read most of his catalogue. To be absolutely truthful, I'm growing tired of his subject matter. They always have the same protagonist with a similar plot line. It's growing stale for me and I really wish he would mix up his formula a little bit.
Anyway, The Zero Game is just what you would expect from Meltzer. There's two guys, both of whom have positions within offices on Capital Hill. Nothing new there, Brad. One of them presents the other with a game, The Zero Game, that places friendly wagers on legislation, how many pubic hairs a senator has, or any other mundane activity within Congress. It seems harmless, of course. That is until one of the two protagonists gets offed within the first forty pages. Killing off a main character fairly early in the book is actually something new. I liked it.
So, there is some betrayal. There are some hair-raising chases. There is a diabolical killer with a weird weapon of choice. The Zero Game is pure Meltzer. Really, no one else could have written this book and no one reading would mistake it as anything but a Brad story.
The Zero Game is kinda lame. But, it's a super easy read and if you have the reading ability of a fourth grader you can knock this thing out in a day or two. It might be the literary equivalent of an Everybody Loves Raymond Episode.
Spoiler alert: The good guys come out on top.
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