Search
Spy (2015)
7.9
Rate It
Movie Watch
Mild-mannered CIA analyst Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is the "voice in the ear" of superstar...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2225 KP) rated Guaranteed to Bleed in Books
Jun 10, 2020
Guaranteed to Entertain
Ellison Russel is spending this particular Friday night in September 1974 at a high school football game. Not because she loves the sport, but because her daughter, Grace, is a cheerleader. Unfortunately, early in the second half, she stumbles on Bobby Lowell who begs Ellison “Tell her I love her” before he dies. Bobby and Grace grew up together, so the murder hits close to home. Ellison isn’t trying to solve things, but she can’t help but figure it out as she tries to figure out who the mysterious woman is. Will she pass on Bobby’s message? Will she find the killer?
I’m glad I was finally able to return to Ellison’s world. The story is strong. It doesn’t unfold in typical cozy mystery fashion, but that didn’t bother me. I got more and more involved the further into the book I got. Ellison is a great main character, and I loved watching the growth in the character here. The rest of the cast is also great, although I wish her Mother weren’t so focused on everything being perfect. I find it funny at times, but it can be annoying. The book walks a fine line between humor and more serious themes, and the result is rich. The book does venture into some PG-13 topics, but know that going into the book and you’ll be fine since it never gets too graphic. I do recommend reading book one before you read this one since it includes fallout from the events of that story. Hopefully, it won’t be so long before I visit Ellison again.
I’m glad I was finally able to return to Ellison’s world. The story is strong. It doesn’t unfold in typical cozy mystery fashion, but that didn’t bother me. I got more and more involved the further into the book I got. Ellison is a great main character, and I loved watching the growth in the character here. The rest of the cast is also great, although I wish her Mother weren’t so focused on everything being perfect. I find it funny at times, but it can be annoying. The book walks a fine line between humor and more serious themes, and the result is rich. The book does venture into some PG-13 topics, but know that going into the book and you’ll be fine since it never gets too graphic. I do recommend reading book one before you read this one since it includes fallout from the events of that story. Hopefully, it won’t be so long before I visit Ellison again.
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Bone Key (Supernatural, #3) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
While I like the idea behind this, it just didn't come together very well. Part of the problem may have been that there were too many viewpoints from characters that usually had no other purpose than to die. A few of these would have been fine, but there was more than enough. The characterizations of Sam and Dean were on maybe half the time -- maybe -- though I'd venture closer to forty percent. Bobby fared better after a somewhat strange beginning. Some of the dialogue was so badly worded I couldn't imagine either of them saying what they did, or using such poor grammar in one sentence, even Dean. Now we get to the word 'gonna.' Would it kill anyone -- <i>anyone!</i> -- to say 'going to' every once in a while? Or is there some kind of curse that will give them continuous diarrhea for a year if they do? That really started setting my teeth on edge after a while. There was one passage from Dean that was particularly painful and I wish I had kept the page number so I could have typed the passage out for posterity. I can't say the book was horrible, but it wasn't good either and it's definitely the worst out of the first three <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/42135-supernatural">Supernatural</a>; books.