Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (1889)

Content

Hard Beat (Driven, #7)

K. Bromberg

10.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of Sweet Ache comes a blistering new novel filled with...

The Death of Vivek Oji

Akwaeke Emezi

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

One afternoon, in a town in southeastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her...

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Stillwater (2021) in Movies

Sep 3, 2021

Stillwater (2021)

2021 | Crime, Drama

5.5

(4 Ratings)

Movie Rating

On paper this has it all: Matt Damon's first great performance in *years*, an actually good sidekick child actor, a complex and consistently surprising father/daughter relationship, and though I initially dreaded the 2hr20min runtime it ended up being insanely economical with it against all odds. The only problem is it does all that without offering up a single piece of compelling imagery - framed into another one of these "white American solves problems in foreign country" things (to the point where a French woman asks Damon if he owns a gun while she's fucking him, like okay...) with a bargain-bin Lifetime Channel score. Not to mention the surreal way this rips off/takes inspiration from the Amanda Knox trial. Though you know what - they'd have their own separate sets of problems either way but - I'm glad this took the route of normie-fied mom & pop film as opposed to a tiring, self-serious prestige slog if it just had to be one or the other; that way it makes the unexpected shift in tone a little over halfway through so much more special. And that ending is a real gut punch.

Kudos

Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Dec 17, 2021

Cover reveal alert! Check out the awesome cover for PERFECT PAYBACK, a mystery/thriller/suspense, by Bill Briscoe! (This book sounds amazing!)

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/12/cover-reveal-perfect-payback-pepperman.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
When Jim and Laura Pepperman find a musty German Olympic jacket and an old journal in their attic, they stumble onto a gripping pre-World War II story of a cousin Jim knows nothing about.

After a career-ending injury forces Hans Pepperman to lose his spot on the 1936 Olympic boxing team, he trades his athletic aspirations for a degree in mechanical engineering and secures his dream job working for the famous Willy Messerschmitt. Tasked to solve the stalling issues of the BF109 fighter plane engine, Hans finds himself smack in the middle of the Abwher Intelligence Service’s radar. Pro-Germany but anti-Nazi, he reluctantly agrees to help flush out the spy leaking secret information on the BF109 engine to foreign agencies . . . and finds himself a suspect of espionage and murder. Unsure who to trust, he must unravel the tangle of lies he’s caught in before he falls prey to the Nazi agenda slowly and stealthily taking over the country he loves.

Kudos Comment

Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Criers War ( criers war book 1) in Books

Mar 13, 2023

29 of 235
Kindle
Criers War (Book 1)
By Nina Varela
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, designed to be the playthings of royals, usurped their owners’ estates and bent the human race to their will.

Now Ayla, a human servant rising in the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging her family’s death…by killing the sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier.

Crier was Made to be beautiful, flawless, and to carry on her father’s legacy. But that was before her betrothal to the enigmatic Scyre Kinok, before she discovered her father isn’t the benevolent king she once admired, and most importantly, before she met Ayla.

Now, with growing human unrest across the land, pressures from a foreign queen, and an evil new leader on the rise, Crier and Ayla find there may be only one path to love: war.

This was one I didn’t want to put down. It was brilliant from start to finish a unique story. The characters are exactly how you expect them to be I just could not fault it. Highly recommended! Also a new author for me!

Kudos

Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Valerie’s Calling (Half-blood Rising 2) in Books

Nov 27, 2023

177 of 235
Kindle
The Valkyries Calling (Half-blood Rising 2)
By Lucy Roy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The conquest of Lindoroth seems all-but settled. The monarchs have fled the capital, the usurpers have taken over the thrones, and two foreign armies have descended on the five realms. Lindoroth's fate has fallen at the feet of a king and queen in exile and a spy for the Lindorothian crown.

While Freya and Aerelius hunt for allies in places they least expect to find them, Lea Calliwell takes matters into her own hands by infiltrating the lives of the people who murdered her family and stole her kingdom. Thrust into peril at opposite ends of the world, Freya and Lea must do whatever it takes to save their people, even if it means making the greatest sacrifice of all.

This world and its story are so intense. The characters are all worth investing in. This is part 2 and after escaping with their lives just about the new King and Queen have to find a way to win the war. It’s really really good!