death tribble Posted December 29, 2019 Report Share Posted December 29, 2019 The Icarus Agenda by Robert Ludlum. A book of its time. A congressman makes his way to the Middle East to trace a charismatic but elusive behind the scenes figure responsible for an ongoing embassy crisis. Upon its resolution he finds he is being manoeuvred into taking high office but there are those who don't want it that way. Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larrson. This is the second of the Millennium trilogy and Liz Salander is suspected of the murder of a lawyer who was her guardian and a journalist and his girlfriend. But if she did not do it, then who did and why ? If you liked the first of the series then you should like this. Violent but entertaining with a heroine who is not what you would expect. tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted April 30, 2020 Report Share Posted April 30, 2020 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. The last of the Millennium trilogy. Salander is in hospital with a head wound. Her father is also in the same hospital. Her brother is on the loose and a section within the Swedish Secret Police have to deal with both father and daughter. Can Blomkvist help ? The whole trilogy is worth reading but the first book is the one most people will read and remember. Lawnmower Boy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. If M*A*S*H were a novel written by Douglas Adams, it would be this. It was not an easy read, though. There's virtually no plot for the first 2/3 of the book, which is more like a character-by-character series of vignettes, complicated by abrupt flashbacks and references to events that happened in the past and/or haven't happened yet. But it's the most damning satire of war, the military, authority, capitalism, religion, medicine, psychiatry, relationships, bureaucracy, law enforcement, patriotism, and society that I have ever read. And when it finally takes off, it's a page turner. It does get really dark though. Cancer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 Walk the Wire by Baldacci. Amos Decker is back investigating a simple murder in North Dakota. Too bad the murder was the only thing simple about it CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted June 1, 2021 Report Share Posted June 1, 2021 The Jeeves Omnibus 1 by P G Wodehouse (Thank You Jeeves, the Code of The Woosters and The Inimitable Jeeves) The first of these is about Jeeves leaving Bertie Wooster because Wooster is playing a musical instrument. This also gets Wooster expelled from his flat. Staying at a friend's cottage he fins himself embroiled in the friend's attempt to woo an American heiress that Wooster himself was engaged to for 2 days. Also present are an old enemy of Wooster and the friend's aunt Complications ensue. The Second book is Code... and Bertie must contrive to steal a cow creamer from an ex-magistrate who fined him for stealing a policeman's helmet in the past.. Also he must help a friend woo a lady. Complications again abound. The magistrate has a friend staying who wants to thrash Wooster, the friend has a notebook where he makes observations about people and he loses it, the notebook is recovered by a young woman who wants Bertie to steal the Cow Creamer for her in return for the notebook and not for his aunt. The last book concerns another old school friend of Bertie's called Bing and his lovelife, Aunt Agatha meddling in Bertie's life with the intention of seeing him married and dismissing Jeeves who she dislikes and two of Bertie's cousins who are a handfull. Overall I found in difficult to get into and had great trouble finishing .Maybe the humour has dated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted June 2, 2021 Report Share Posted June 2, 2021 THe Sentinel by Child and Child: Jack Reacher is protecting the voting process from Russian spies and American nazis CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted June 3, 2021 Report Share Posted June 3, 2021 THe long road to mercy by Baldacci. Atlee Pine suffered an attack and had her sister kidnapped when she was a little girl. She becomes a weightlifter, fighter, FBI agent. When a mule is killed in the Grand Canyon, Pine has to figure out why CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 G. K. Chesterton, The Adventures of Father Brown and The Amazing Adventures of Father Brown. The original sleuth priest. Social attitudes have changed a bit, as have literary styles (Chesterton's auctorial commentary about various classes of people are, hm, intrusive), but still some very clever mysteries, with writing that is often witty. Occasionally gets deeper into questions of moral responsibility: Sometimes the point of the story is not merely solving the crime, but figuring out what the crime *is* and what to do about it. Gamers might mine the stories for situations to adapt. Of particular use, many stories are "Scoobie-Doo" mysteries in which something supernatural seems to be happening, but Father Brown exposes the deception. (Because of this aspect, I already mentioned the Father Brown mysteries in the SF/Fantasy thread, because theat was the thread I could find. Now that this thread has resurfaced, I can post more accurately.) Since the Father Brown mysteries are old enough to be public domain, you can find them online, and there are more than in these two collections. Dean Shomshak tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 44 minutes ago, DShomshak said: G. K. Chesterton, The Adventures of Father Brown and The Amazing Adventures of Father Brown. The original sleuth priest. Social attitudes have changed a bit, as have literary styles (Chesterton's auctorial commentary about various classes of people are, hm, intrusive), but still some very clever mysteries, with writing that is often witty. Occasionally gets deeper into questions of moral responsibility: Sometimes the point of the story is not merely solving the crime, but figuring out what the crime *is* and what to do about it. Gamers might mine the stories for situations to adapt. Of particular use, many stories are "Scoobie-Doo" mysteries in which something supernatural seems to be happening, but Father Brown exposes the deception. (Because of this aspect, I already mentioned the Father Brown mysteries in the SF/Fantasy thread, because theat was the thread I could find. Now that this thread has resurfaced, I can post more accurately.) Since the Father Brown mysteries are old enough to be public domain, you can find them online, and there are more than in these two collections. Dean Shomshak Have you seen the BBC series based on the novels? They're quite good, although I prefer the earlier seasons. They also moved the time period a few decades ahead. Spence 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 One of my local public TV stations is showing the series now. I noticed it with "A Whistle in the Dark," a "Scoobie Doo" story Chesterton might have liked, which also tied into James' classic ghost story, "Oh, Whistle And I'll Come To You, My Lad." I was disappointed that the series was already on its 7th season -- would I ever see the previous 6? But this year, the station is airing season 3! I know my local library has at least one season on DVD, as well. In the "Modern Locations for the Land of Legends" thread, Kembleford was one of the inspirations for Little Murderton, the now-archetypal "sleepy village" in which cunning murders happen with shocking regularity... Dean Shomshak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted July 21, 2021 Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 The Dirty South by John Connelly Charlie Parker is investigating the murder of a young black girl in Arkansas but this does not sit well with some people. Technically this fits in just after the start of Every Dead Thing, the first of the Charlie Parker books but it also ends up at the end as well. Worth reading the rest of the series first but if you like the Charlie Parker books then add this to the set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted July 31, 2021 Report Share Posted July 31, 2021 The Jeeves Omnibus 2: Right Ho Jeeves, Joy in the Morning and Carry On Jeeves by P G Wodehouse Three books where Jeeves and Wooster have to get out of matrimony or get his friends in or out of matrimony. A gentler form of comedy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted August 1, 2021 Report Share Posted August 1, 2021 Altdorf (the Forest Knights 1) by J.K. Swift. It was okay, an interesting concept, retelling the story behind William Tell without William Tell -- the same events in history. But the bad guy was to one-dimensional and the druids had magic powers, but Christianity is treated as stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted August 8, 2021 Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 Read the Breaker by Petrie. Peter Ash is supposed to be hiding out from the law, but instead decides to find out why someone held another man at gunpoint and then fled the scene. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted September 30, 2021 Report Share Posted September 30, 2021 The Jeeves Omnibus Volume 3: Ring for Jeeves, The Mating Season and Very Good Jeeves by P G Wodehouse For some reason I have found it difficult to read these in a consistent fashion. I suppose it is just not my cup of tea. Ho hum. Ring for Jeeves does not feature Bertie Wooster but has Jeeves helping someone else. A betting scam goes awry and a hunter is after the bookie who is a Lord on the verge of marriage who has a dilapidated home which he hopes to sell to an American widow. Things get complicated from here on in. The Mating Season has a great wall of confusion as Bertie has to go to a country house as someone else and the person he is impersonating later turns up impersonating him. Bertie has to sunder some relationships and repair others. Difficult to say the least. Very Good Jeeves is a collection of shorter stories which is much easier going. Bertie has to help his Uncle George and aid Aunts Agatha and Diana while also stopping Tuppy Glossop from going off with another woman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted December 14, 2021 Report Share Posted December 14, 2021 Read Never Back Down by Child and Child. Jack Reacher helps a lady with one leg find her brother. I wonder if Lee asked his son to help with the books since Reacher is getting an Amazon show. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted December 15, 2021 Report Share Posted December 15, 2021 3 hours ago, csyphrett said: Read Never Back Down by Child and Child. Jack Reacher helps a lady with one leg find her brother. I wonder if Lee asked his son to help with the books since Reacher is getting an Amazon show. CES This always makes me a little nervous. Are we going to get a series/movie based on Jack Reacher or will we get something else with the name plastered on it? I have read a couple of the Reacher books and enjoyed them, but I've seen the results of too many destroyed books as some hack decides to "improve" them because audiences are too stupid to understand anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted December 15, 2021 Report Share Posted December 15, 2021 6 hours ago, Spence said: This always makes me a little nervous. Are we going to get a series/movie based on Jack Reacher or will we get something else with the name plastered on it? I have read a couple of the Reacher books and enjoyed them, but I've seen the results of too many destroyed books as some hack decides to "improve" them because audiences are too stupid to understand anything. The trailer seems to be posted around The Killing Floor. Note the Sunglasses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted December 15, 2021 Report Share Posted December 15, 2021 15 hours ago, csyphrett said: The trailer seems to be posted around The Killing Floor. Note the Sunglasses. At least the actor is big enough for the part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted December 16, 2021 Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 8 hours ago, Spence said: At least the actor is big enough for the part. the casting call was probably Need a gorilla for physical work. CES Spence 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 Nocturnes by John Connolly This is a selection of short horror stories and one Charlie Parker novella. The Charlie Parker books are the ones that John Connolly is known for and the novella has the first appearance of the enigmatic Collector who appears in quite a few of the other books. The other stories vary and have well known horror as well as lesser known ones as well. There is a vampire one, a werewolf one but each is not what you would expect. If you like the Charlie Parker books then you should like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archer Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 On 12/14/2021 at 7:03 PM, Spence said: This always makes me a little nervous. Are we going to get a series/movie based on Jack Reacher or will we get something else with the name plastered on it? I have read a couple of the Reacher books and enjoyed them, but I've seen the results of too many destroyed books as some hack decides to "improve" them because audiences are too stupid to understand anything. So far the series has been surprisingly enjoyable and not predictable (which is high praise from me). I haven't read the books. But the series is far and away more enjoyable than the Jack Reacher character in the movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 Gave the Reacher series a try, but one of the early books has someone implanting hypnotic controls on people, long term and against said person's best interests to the point of allowing their murder. Sorry, but while I enjoy some urban fantasy, it's got no place in a gritty thriller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 13 hours ago, archer said: So far the series has been surprisingly enjoyable and not predictable (which is high praise from me). I haven't read the books. But the series is far and away more enjoyable than the Jack Reacher character in the movies. Thx, good to hear. The Tom Cruz movies were lacking. Plus Cruz just didn't have the stature to carry the part. 10 hours ago, Sundog said: Gave the Reacher series a try, but one of the early books has someone implanting hypnotic controls on people, long term and against said person's best interests to the point of allowing their murder. Sorry, but while I enjoy some urban fantasy, it's got no place in a gritty thriller. Odd, but I have not read them all. The ones I read were all real world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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