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Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
John Carreyrou | 2018 | History & Politics
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This excellent non-fiction book is about Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos. This company was touting that it could run 100s of tests on just a drop of blood. If you know ANYTHING about laboratory tests, or watched CSI and was exposed to GC/MS, you would know it is completely impossible to do tests off of a finger puncture.
Holmes is described as brilliant, and was the darling of Silicon Valley. Yes, she was brilliant, a brilliant dirtbag. Everyone was fooled by her initially (some still are), to include the author of this book, John Carreyrou, who initially wrote a glowing article about her.
However, it was all fake, as proven by various whistleblowers. This was such a good read, and pairs really well with the HBO documentary movie, The Inventor. I highly recommend this book if you like books written by journalists, the downfall of dirtbags, and stories about fraud.
  
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Blood from Stone (Retrievers, #6)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It feels like a spoiler, but since Gilman says this at the front of the book, I suppose it isn't: <i>Blood From Stone</i> is the last Retrievers novel, at least for a time. She's moving on to focus on other characters in the Cosa Nostradamus universe. I wasn't happy to read that, but after reading the book, I'm okay with it.

<i>Blood From Stone</i> definitely isn't a book to start with if you're new to Gilman's work. The Retrievers series really does need to be read sequentially. If you have read the rest, you know that Gilman has developed a very interesting universe and some very well-developed characters in the series. Book 6 doesn't disappoint at all, and brings the major plot threads to a very satisfactory close. I can't be more specific without real spoilers, though!

I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next novel in the universe, which will focus on Bonnie and the PUPIs (Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigators). I adore <i>CSI</i>, <i>Bones</i>, <i>NCIS</i> and the like, so I'm curious as to how forensics will work in urban fantasy settings. Jes Battis' <i>A Flash of Hex</i> is supposed to be waiting for me at the library, so by the time I get to <i>Hard Magic</i> I'll have something else to compare it to.
  
I suppose it must be obvious to anyone who reads my reviews that I enjoy Laura Anne Gilman's writing. I've only read every one of her Retrievers series as well as every one of her short stories sold via <a href="http://fictionwise.com/">Fictionwise</a>; (including some that I'd already read in various anthologies, but I didn't want to miss anything). I've been waiting anxiously for <i>Hard Magic</i>, the first in the new Paranormal Scene Investigations series, and it did not disappoint me in the least.

If you've read the Retrievers books, you'll recognize the main character, Bonnie Torres, immediately as Wren Valere's neighbor. If you haven't read that series, don't worry - they aren't required to enjoy this book.

I do, however, recommend hunting down the short story "Illumination," which is referred to several times during the novel. It's in the anthology [b:Unusual Suspects: Stories of Mystery & Fantasy|3395318|Unusual Suspects Stories of Mystery & Fantasy|Dana Stabenow|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1243223215s/3395318.jpg|3435306]. It isn't strictly required, but I think it would help.

If you've ever enjoyed CSI or any similar show, I think you'll really enjoy <i>Hard Magic</i> even more than others will. Bonnie and her coworkers are trying to reinvent all of the forensic science that those shows take for granted from scratch, from a magical perspective. It's fascinating to me, and I would have been happier with more geeking.

I'm really looking forward to book two!
  
BB
Burning Blue
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well, Kahlan and Lupe and other members of book club who think I'm negative over every book, I hope you're happy. REALLY happy!

Burning Blue has got to be one of the best book club reads of this year – I might even have my vote finalized for the 2014-15 Gateway Readers Award.

Of course, I want to get my hands on Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gragnon and Croak by Gina Damico first before voting... unless I don't get to it by March.

It's not all about the acid – that's a bonus – being thrown at wealthy and popular beauty queen not-a-bee Nicole Castro of New Jersey or the mere fact that a hacker is the one who decides to look at the situation more closely to find out who did it, it's the other stuff that I really enjoyed.

The writing's engrossing – we don't read from just Jay Nazarro's view, we read from Nicole Castro's journal, and a few of Dr. Julian Nye's (apparently he's like the shrink of the book) notes about Nicole. It's almost as though we're watching CSI, NCIS, or Law and Order with all the likeness to an investigation going on behind NJPD's backs, though CSI and Company (those other fun shows we call Law) are certainly less predictable than Burning Blue. Plus, TV shows have detectives, not an outcast hacker deciding to find out who the culprit is by hacking and whatnot.
<blockquote>What day is it? What night? I'm burning, burning, burning blue.</blockquote>
That obviously doesn't mean reading about Jay's past wasn't highly awkward though... or more accurately, a tad bit gross.
<blockquote>You don't get a lot of homework in the fourth grade, and I didn't have anything to do except make mini snowmen with my earwax.</blockquote>
Although the perpetrator was very predictable, I found it enjoyable to read the rest of the story and see how it would all play out in the end. I obviously watch too much TV (which by the way, isn't even close to true because I don't even watch TV most of the time and I pretty much live under a legit rock) to take a fantastically, pretty whopping close to accurate stab.

I did not, however, take a stab at who actually threw the acid. I merely guessed who came up with the entire plan in the first place.

To top it off for the non-romantics out there, Jay falling in love with Nicole as he investigates the situation further doesn't overshadow the plot at all. There are brief mentions from Jay and Nicole's journal, but that's about it, much to my delight. Really, I'm done with romance currently – eclipses suck, okay? Euphemism intended.

Perfectly paced and with great dialogue among the characters, Burning Blue is a fantastic book. Plus there's acid. Yay, chemistry!
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Original Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Original Review at <a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2015/01/review-burning-blue-by-paul-griffin.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
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