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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2652 KP) rated Bone Canyon in Books
Feb 6, 2021
Burning Need to Solve a Cold Case
A recent wildfire in the Santa Monica mountains has had a surprising side effect. The bodies of several people dead for many years have started to be found since the brush that’s been hiding them is no longer around. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Detective Eve Ronin and her partner, Duncan Pavone, have landed the most recent one of these cold cases. Their case proves to be complicated when they identify the body as that of a twenty-something who vanished several years before. As they begin to investigate, they make several startling discoveries. What exactly lead to her murder?
I enjoyed the first book in this series, and I wasn’t disappointed with this one in the slightest. Part of the fun is learning the twists of the case as they unfold, and then watching Eve try to make sense of it all. There is plenty of action on the way to a wonderful climax. Eve is a strong main character, and I enjoyed getting to know her better here. I did feel like a few of the supporting players could be stronger, but maybe that was my reaction to their poor attitudes which aren’t fully explained. While the overall tone of the book is serious, as it should be given the case, there are some very fun moments, most of them coming at the expense of Hollywood. This isn’t one of my typical cozies, so there is language, sex, and violence; be prepared before you pick up the book. I’m glad I picked up this fast paced, twisty mystery.
I enjoyed the first book in this series, and I wasn’t disappointed with this one in the slightest. Part of the fun is learning the twists of the case as they unfold, and then watching Eve try to make sense of it all. There is plenty of action on the way to a wonderful climax. Eve is a strong main character, and I enjoyed getting to know her better here. I did feel like a few of the supporting players could be stronger, but maybe that was my reaction to their poor attitudes which aren’t fully explained. While the overall tone of the book is serious, as it should be given the case, there are some very fun moments, most of them coming at the expense of Hollywood. This isn’t one of my typical cozies, so there is language, sex, and violence; be prepared before you pick up the book. I’m glad I picked up this fast paced, twisty mystery.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Flatliners (1990) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020
Stupid, to be sure (Kiefer Sutherland gets his ass kicked by a supernatural 8-year-old on multiple occasions) - and I do side with the critiques that this could have been a lot deeper, but this is still completely righteous. A ghostly, heavily portentous, lush modern day gothic-medical melodrama that came out in the 90s yet *screams* 1985 right down to the haircuts. Try to picture 𝘚𝘵. 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘰'𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 as a gen X YA horror flick. One of my all-time favorite film premises, and even Schumacher's (RIP) supporters I don't think give him enough credit for making all these interesting camp spectacles that - of all things - you can hardly say are unoriginal *nor* forgettable. A bunch of medical students chill out in an old cathedral thing which doubles as a medical lab where they perform clandestine death experiments on each other out in the open and argue about who can die the longest lmao, it's whoppingly silly stuff that thankfully takes itself dead (no pun intended) seriously. Pulpy, moody, atmospheric, and just looks extraordinary to boot - the visuals really tie that bind between our world and whatever lies beyond in an increasingly unstable way, as if some sort of constant (losing) struggle. So good that I actually even liked the infamous sentimental ending.
Infected (Releasing the Magic #1)
9.0
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What's the worst that could happen? Sit down and let me tell you. The Void Virus has been let...
The Skeleton Makes a Friend
10.0
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Georgia Thackery is feeling pretty good about her summer job teaching at prestigious Overfeld...
Ascension (Southern Spirits #7)
8.0
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Conner Sutherland never thought he'd meet the love of his life in the Afterlife… Conner...
MM Paranormal Romance
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2652 KP) rated Murder by the Seashore in Books
Oct 19, 2023
Murder Under the Pier
Scarlett Gardner is living her dream. She’s moved to Oceanside, California, and she’s opened a bookshop right on the beach. She’s opened in time for tourist season, and business is beginning to pick up. Unfortunately, a pre-work walk on the beach ends when Scarlett finds a woman dead under the pier. She recognizes the woman as her last customer the day before, but she assumes after she gives a statement to the police that her involvement is done. The next day, she finds herself pulled back into the case in a surprising way. Can she figure out what is really going on?
The premise of this one called to me with the beach and bookstore setting. I felt at home right away with Scarlett and the rest of the regulars. The plot pulled me in. It is more event heavy rather than investigation heavy (I prefer a good mix), but there were still times the events kept me reading longer than I should have. And yes, the setting is fun since I have spent some time in Oceanside on a regular basis. I hope this series runs for a long time. If you are looking for a great new cozy series, look no further.
The premise of this one called to me with the beach and bookstore setting. I felt at home right away with Scarlett and the rest of the regulars. The plot pulled me in. It is more event heavy rather than investigation heavy (I prefer a good mix), but there were still times the events kept me reading longer than I should have. And yes, the setting is fun since I have spent some time in Oceanside on a regular basis. I hope this series runs for a long time. If you are looking for a great new cozy series, look no further.
okletmereviewit (4 KP) rated Closet Monster (2016) in Movies
May 11, 2018
PTSD and Coming of Age and Out
This movie is an amazing tale of coming of age and coming to terms with ones own sexuality. This movie for being an Indie film portrays the inner dialogue and the inner turmoil of coming to terms with ones sexuality, as well as showing the hidden side of a broken home. The movie begins with young Oscar (Jack Fulton) and his father tucking him into bed and their nightly rituals of his father (Aaron Abrams) "giving him a dream".
In the next scene you see Oscar and mother (Joanne Kelly) and father giving him a present of a Hamster, and then his father declaring that Oscars mother is leaving them. You then see Oscar in his room with the hamster, who begins "talking" to Oscar (voiced by Isabella Rossellini) and names herself "Buffy" (as in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) but the voice is an inner monologue that Oscar creates for the critter and is a comforting mechanism for him, as throughout the movie you gain the feeling that Oscar only has one friend, Gemma (Sofia Banzhaf).
The PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) comes in when while coming home from school one day, Oscar notices a group of kids bullying another student. He follows them to a secluded cemetery where they see them beating the kids and sodomizing him with a piece of re-bar. Later that night Oscar and his dad are watching the News coverage of the situation and Oscars asks his dad why they did that and the father said "because he was gay" and makes a side reference to Oscars long shaggy hair. To which Oscar being scared cuts his hair himself.
Skip forward: Now Oscar as a teen (Connor Jessup) is taking pictures of Gemma for his portfolio for admissions into college. We also see that the now 18yr old Oscar is now working in a general hardware store who is ran by Allison (Mary Walsh) who teaches him the basics of greeting customers and how to help them make selections, etc. After his shift while in the employee locker room a strapping young man named Wilder (Aliocha Schneider) checks his locker for his employee uniform and realizes that it is not there and asks to borrow Oscars shirt. This is the first time that we witness Oscar's sexual preference, when Wilder takes off his shirt and puts on Oscars shirt. Oscar longingly looks at the finely toned body of Wilder.
Later the next day Wilder gives Oscar his shirt back before work, and says thanks. You then see Oscar smelling the shirt to see if it was "ok" to wear. And then he rushes into the restroom with the shirt and begins touching himself and fantasizing about Wilder, and then has a flash of the students sodomizing that other student when he was a kid.
Slowly Oscar and Wilder begin a friendship and get closer. As Oscar and Gemma seem to grow apart. Things at home take a turn for the worse as Oscars father begins seeing a woman, and Oscar becomes more frustrated with himself, work, life and everything between. It finally escalates into a fight with his father that leaves Oscar physically assaulting his dad, and running away to a party that Wilder had invited him to.
At the party he finds Wilder and his friends, and they take Oscar to a room and put together a costume for him to wear for the party. Wilders friends take some Ecstasy and begin to really party it up. Gemma runs into Oscar and realizes that he is high and Oscar excuses himself as he notices that Wilder is talking to some girls. A guy approaches Oscar and begins hitting on him, and Oscar who was holding out for Wilder notices that he is kissing a girl. So Oscar and the guy make their way into the bathroom where they begin to kiss and have sex. In the midst of it Oscar begins to have flash backs of the beaten boy in the cemetery and freaks out, vomits and passes out.
We then see Wilder waking him up and helping him home. Oscar and Wilder spend the night together in Oscars tree house. Oscar and Wilder begin talking about the escapades of the night and things turn to sexuality when Oscar mistakes Wilders reaching for a bottle of water as him wanting to kiss. Embarrassed, Oscar asks him to leave, and they begin to talk about it, and then Wilder kisses him. In the morning you see Oscar wake up and find a note from Wilder basically saying "See you later gotta run" and you are not sure if the two had slept together or not. Oscar sneaks back into his room only to find that everything had been destroyed by his father.
The next scene you see his mother and father fighting as Oscar is looking through whats left of his possessions that are scattered throughout the drive way. Oscar sees his beloved Buffy laying dead in her cage. Enraged by this, Oscar comes to terms with his sexuality and breaks something of his fathers and then moves in with his mother. The movie ends with Oscar moving to a small house near the beach. Leaving you wondering how much time had passed or if he was in a school or what was going on.
But throughout the whole of the movie. The sexuality is done in a very muted and respectable manner. There is some cussing and things like that but over all very tastefully done. If you are a lover of coming to age films or films dealing with the nature of coming out, then you are sure to love this movie.
In the next scene you see Oscar and mother (Joanne Kelly) and father giving him a present of a Hamster, and then his father declaring that Oscars mother is leaving them. You then see Oscar in his room with the hamster, who begins "talking" to Oscar (voiced by Isabella Rossellini) and names herself "Buffy" (as in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) but the voice is an inner monologue that Oscar creates for the critter and is a comforting mechanism for him, as throughout the movie you gain the feeling that Oscar only has one friend, Gemma (Sofia Banzhaf).
The PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) comes in when while coming home from school one day, Oscar notices a group of kids bullying another student. He follows them to a secluded cemetery where they see them beating the kids and sodomizing him with a piece of re-bar. Later that night Oscar and his dad are watching the News coverage of the situation and Oscars asks his dad why they did that and the father said "because he was gay" and makes a side reference to Oscars long shaggy hair. To which Oscar being scared cuts his hair himself.
Skip forward: Now Oscar as a teen (Connor Jessup) is taking pictures of Gemma for his portfolio for admissions into college. We also see that the now 18yr old Oscar is now working in a general hardware store who is ran by Allison (Mary Walsh) who teaches him the basics of greeting customers and how to help them make selections, etc. After his shift while in the employee locker room a strapping young man named Wilder (Aliocha Schneider) checks his locker for his employee uniform and realizes that it is not there and asks to borrow Oscars shirt. This is the first time that we witness Oscar's sexual preference, when Wilder takes off his shirt and puts on Oscars shirt. Oscar longingly looks at the finely toned body of Wilder.
Later the next day Wilder gives Oscar his shirt back before work, and says thanks. You then see Oscar smelling the shirt to see if it was "ok" to wear. And then he rushes into the restroom with the shirt and begins touching himself and fantasizing about Wilder, and then has a flash of the students sodomizing that other student when he was a kid.
Slowly Oscar and Wilder begin a friendship and get closer. As Oscar and Gemma seem to grow apart. Things at home take a turn for the worse as Oscars father begins seeing a woman, and Oscar becomes more frustrated with himself, work, life and everything between. It finally escalates into a fight with his father that leaves Oscar physically assaulting his dad, and running away to a party that Wilder had invited him to.
At the party he finds Wilder and his friends, and they take Oscar to a room and put together a costume for him to wear for the party. Wilders friends take some Ecstasy and begin to really party it up. Gemma runs into Oscar and realizes that he is high and Oscar excuses himself as he notices that Wilder is talking to some girls. A guy approaches Oscar and begins hitting on him, and Oscar who was holding out for Wilder notices that he is kissing a girl. So Oscar and the guy make their way into the bathroom where they begin to kiss and have sex. In the midst of it Oscar begins to have flash backs of the beaten boy in the cemetery and freaks out, vomits and passes out.
We then see Wilder waking him up and helping him home. Oscar and Wilder spend the night together in Oscars tree house. Oscar and Wilder begin talking about the escapades of the night and things turn to sexuality when Oscar mistakes Wilders reaching for a bottle of water as him wanting to kiss. Embarrassed, Oscar asks him to leave, and they begin to talk about it, and then Wilder kisses him. In the morning you see Oscar wake up and find a note from Wilder basically saying "See you later gotta run" and you are not sure if the two had slept together or not. Oscar sneaks back into his room only to find that everything had been destroyed by his father.
The next scene you see his mother and father fighting as Oscar is looking through whats left of his possessions that are scattered throughout the drive way. Oscar sees his beloved Buffy laying dead in her cage. Enraged by this, Oscar comes to terms with his sexuality and breaks something of his fathers and then moves in with his mother. The movie ends with Oscar moving to a small house near the beach. Leaving you wondering how much time had passed or if he was in a school or what was going on.
But throughout the whole of the movie. The sexuality is done in a very muted and respectable manner. There is some cussing and things like that but over all very tastefully done. If you are a lover of coming to age films or films dealing with the nature of coming out, then you are sure to love this movie.
The Drop-Dead Temple of Doom (The Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries)
10.0
Rate It
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A MOUTHFUL OF POISON FROG…. WHERE’S THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE? Ace detective Lee Alvarez is...
Cozy Mystery archeology Private Detective
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition in Video Games
Jun 19, 2019
When Blizzard brought Diablo 3 to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 systems, there was great delight amongst gamers. The ability to play the amazing game on consoles was a dream come true as was the 4 player co-op that was a key feature of the game.
With Reaper of Souls releasing for the PC soon after, many console fans longed to continue their adventure and thankfully with the release of the Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition, players can enjoy both Diablo 3 and the Reaper of Souls add on for their consoles, both new and past generation.
Players can play solo or with up to four players as they battle unending legions of undead and supernatural enemies across a vast and highly-detailed world.
Take note that the game is a challenge and Reaper takes great delight with rifts, bounties, and amazing loot, but with it comes a deadly and vast array of enemies that will not stop until you are dead.
As a long time PC player of the series, it was great to see that the loading screens were gone and how fast and smooth the game ran on the Playstation 4, without compromising any of the amazing graphics and locales that the game was famous for.
All the player classes were in place and it was nice to see the Crusader, Wizard, Monk, Demon Hunter, Barbarian and Witch Doctor in action on a console. The game offers an apprentice mode to veteran players can include newbies in their adventures and players can transfer their characters via a USB to another system so they can play with friends.
Players who own Diablo 3 can also move their characters over to the new edition with ease.
The great social aspects of the Xbox One and Playstation 4 allows players to stream their gameplay and also enjoy four players playing in one game at the same time, a truly great achievement for PC users who at times had to wait for friends to purchase a copy of the game to play.
It is hard to find anything to fault in the game, some may complain about buying Diablo 3 and needing to purchase this set to get the Reaper content instead of getting the option to upgrade, but when you look at all of the bonus material and enhanced features, this is simply a must own game for any console owner.
http://sknr.net/2014/08/20/diablo-iii-ultimate-evil-edition/
With Reaper of Souls releasing for the PC soon after, many console fans longed to continue their adventure and thankfully with the release of the Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition, players can enjoy both Diablo 3 and the Reaper of Souls add on for their consoles, both new and past generation.
Players can play solo or with up to four players as they battle unending legions of undead and supernatural enemies across a vast and highly-detailed world.
Take note that the game is a challenge and Reaper takes great delight with rifts, bounties, and amazing loot, but with it comes a deadly and vast array of enemies that will not stop until you are dead.
As a long time PC player of the series, it was great to see that the loading screens were gone and how fast and smooth the game ran on the Playstation 4, without compromising any of the amazing graphics and locales that the game was famous for.
All the player classes were in place and it was nice to see the Crusader, Wizard, Monk, Demon Hunter, Barbarian and Witch Doctor in action on a console. The game offers an apprentice mode to veteran players can include newbies in their adventures and players can transfer their characters via a USB to another system so they can play with friends.
Players who own Diablo 3 can also move their characters over to the new edition with ease.
The great social aspects of the Xbox One and Playstation 4 allows players to stream their gameplay and also enjoy four players playing in one game at the same time, a truly great achievement for PC users who at times had to wait for friends to purchase a copy of the game to play.
It is hard to find anything to fault in the game, some may complain about buying Diablo 3 and needing to purchase this set to get the Reaper content instead of getting the option to upgrade, but when you look at all of the bonus material and enhanced features, this is simply a must own game for any console owner.
http://sknr.net/2014/08/20/diablo-iii-ultimate-evil-edition/
Anna Marie Green (7 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Monster Hunter World in Video Games
Jul 3, 2018 (Updated Jul 3, 2018)
Fantastic Gameplay Possibilities (4 more)
Intelligent Monster AI
Climbing Difficulty
Good Community Management
It's Damn Good Fun (If you have $30, buy it.)
Feels Incomplete (2 more)
Experienced Players Lack Challenge
Mediocre Story
Monster Hunter, One Year Later
Monster Hunter: World was Capcom's fiest big success in the Western market. After years of cult status on the DS, they finally broke through to the world of consoles and had so much success that they dubbed MH:W their benchmark for future games.
But should they?
MH:W is, at its core, is a dungeon crawler designed to feel open-world within its own constraints. With beautiful environments such as the Coral Highlands and the toxic areas festering beneath the Rotten Vale, MHW looks and feels much more massive than the trodden paths you follow. Your first hunts feel thrilling as you take different paths to chase your limping prey, and a cycle of different weather, monsters, and endemic life keep you invested in immersion.
But after hunting a tempered Nergigante for the 20th time, things do begin to fall out of place. You experience the malaise of a Saitama-like hero. Have you become too strong?
Challenging fights become the norm. The occasional arch-tempered monster appears, but scaled damage isn't always the same thing as new difficulty.
In the handheld games, there were dozens of monsters with distinct abilities and variations. MH: Generations had 73 large monsters to hunt. You could even play as a palico.
But that variety just isn't in MH:W.
Granted, the game is an experiment and has provided some good content for no extra cost to the players, which is a feat of its own in comparison to all the other big game developers (EA, Microsoft, Square Enix, Bethesda). They also do an excellent job managing weekly challenges and encouraging community between players. Kulve Taroth hunts were a blast and the free meal in the Hub was an excellent bribe.
MH:W still needs more monsters and at least one new environment. Since its release in January 2018, only three monsters have been added to the game: Deviljho, Kulve Taroth, and Lunastra. Behemoth from Final Fantasy is also making an appearance this July. That's a monster every two months. Don't get me wrong here— that's a fair schedule for content release. Overwatch clocks in at about three months for every hero, so two months is a respectable jog for the quality of the quality of the game. Still, even Overwatch -with it's full player-controlled roster- can become a bit of a slog without those regular updates.
The easiest fix? Capcom needs to finally add in G-Ranks with weapon rarities 9 and 10, and the terrifying monsters to match. The other MH games have generally had these ranks, and the MH:W G updates have been teasing us in rumors since the release, yet we haven't seen any evidence of their existence. A massive content update containing new unique weapons trees, rarity 8 varieties of dead-end trees, armor transmogs, new endemic life and monsters, better armor designs, and more material choices... Capcom has incredible potential on their table that could rekindle gamers' interest in helping the Fifth solve the new mysteries of the New World.
Or, god forbid, suffer the gamers by making them by Monster Hunter: World 2 just to feel like they actually completed the first game.
But should they?
MH:W is, at its core, is a dungeon crawler designed to feel open-world within its own constraints. With beautiful environments such as the Coral Highlands and the toxic areas festering beneath the Rotten Vale, MHW looks and feels much more massive than the trodden paths you follow. Your first hunts feel thrilling as you take different paths to chase your limping prey, and a cycle of different weather, monsters, and endemic life keep you invested in immersion.
But after hunting a tempered Nergigante for the 20th time, things do begin to fall out of place. You experience the malaise of a Saitama-like hero. Have you become too strong?
Challenging fights become the norm. The occasional arch-tempered monster appears, but scaled damage isn't always the same thing as new difficulty.
In the handheld games, there were dozens of monsters with distinct abilities and variations. MH: Generations had 73 large monsters to hunt. You could even play as a palico.
But that variety just isn't in MH:W.
Granted, the game is an experiment and has provided some good content for no extra cost to the players, which is a feat of its own in comparison to all the other big game developers (EA, Microsoft, Square Enix, Bethesda). They also do an excellent job managing weekly challenges and encouraging community between players. Kulve Taroth hunts were a blast and the free meal in the Hub was an excellent bribe.
MH:W still needs more monsters and at least one new environment. Since its release in January 2018, only three monsters have been added to the game: Deviljho, Kulve Taroth, and Lunastra. Behemoth from Final Fantasy is also making an appearance this July. That's a monster every two months. Don't get me wrong here— that's a fair schedule for content release. Overwatch clocks in at about three months for every hero, so two months is a respectable jog for the quality of the quality of the game. Still, even Overwatch -with it's full player-controlled roster- can become a bit of a slog without those regular updates.
The easiest fix? Capcom needs to finally add in G-Ranks with weapon rarities 9 and 10, and the terrifying monsters to match. The other MH games have generally had these ranks, and the MH:W G updates have been teasing us in rumors since the release, yet we haven't seen any evidence of their existence. A massive content update containing new unique weapons trees, rarity 8 varieties of dead-end trees, armor transmogs, new endemic life and monsters, better armor designs, and more material choices... Capcom has incredible potential on their table that could rekindle gamers' interest in helping the Fifth solve the new mysteries of the New World.
Or, god forbid, suffer the gamers by making them by Monster Hunter: World 2 just to feel like they actually completed the first game.