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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2434 KP) rated Murder Outside the Lines in Books
Sep 29, 2021 (Updated Sep 29, 2021)
Florrie is Haunted by Murder this Halloween
Fall is in the air with Halloween fast approaching. Florrie Fox has a special author appearance planned for Color Me Read, author and psychic Hilda Rattenhorst. However, when Hilda shows up, she claims to have seen a carpet wrapped up with a foot sticking out of it in a nearby doorway. Florrie and her boyfriend, Eric, who is also a police officer, head out to check it out only to find nothing when they arrive. Then, during her talk before signing books, Hilda claims to feel a killer’s presence in the audience. As Florrie is trying to figure out if it is a publicity stunt, one incident after another begins to happen. What is going on?
Even for a Halloween themed cozy, I was a little surprised at the number of potential supernatural elements we got at the beginning of the book. As the crimes took center stage, that began to recede a bit. I did feel the plot could have used better focus. There are quite a few elements to the story, and it felt like it was wandering in the middle. But things came together for a satisfying climax. I was once again charmed by the Georgetown neighborhood where Florrie lives and works. It was great to get reacquainted with the characters and see the next chapter in their lives. This book is for you if you are looking for a charming fall cozy.
Even for a Halloween themed cozy, I was a little surprised at the number of potential supernatural elements we got at the beginning of the book. As the crimes took center stage, that began to recede a bit. I did feel the plot could have used better focus. There are quite a few elements to the story, and it felt like it was wandering in the middle. But things came together for a satisfying climax. I was once again charmed by the Georgetown neighborhood where Florrie lives and works. It was great to get reacquainted with the characters and see the next chapter in their lives. This book is for you if you are looking for a charming fall cozy.
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong #1)
8.5
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Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend...
David McK (3623 KP) rated Aliens (1986) in Movies
Jun 23, 2020 (Updated Mar 16, 2022)
The action (1 more)
Powerloader scene
James Cameron's sequel to Ridley Scott's 'Alien', set 57 years later and turning the 'haunted-house' setup of the original into a full-blown Vietnam war movie metaphor, with the sole survivor of the Nostromo, Ellen Ripley (a career best Sigourney Weaver) rescued and woken up from hypersleep by The Company, and convinced to return to the planet where she first encountered the Xenomorph, when they suddenly lose contact with the colonists on said planets.
The Extended Edition of the movie adds even more context, with the revelation that Ripley had a daughter who has since died, to the 'found family' at the heart of the narrative - especially between Newt and Ripley herself - while Bill Paxton has the honour(?) of becoming the only actor to be killed by a Predator, an Alien and a Terminator, as one of the (initially) cocksure Colonial Marines trapped behind enemy lines.
Top it off with the iconic final act (Ripley in a Powerloader Vs the Alien Queen) and some eminently quotable lines throughout:
"Game over, man! Game Over!!"
"They mostly come at night, mostly …"
"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure"
"Get away from her, you b..."
And we have what most surely be one of the best sequels ever. Even, in my opinion, eclipsing the original.
It's just a pity it's all downhill from here ...
The Extended Edition of the movie adds even more context, with the revelation that Ripley had a daughter who has since died, to the 'found family' at the heart of the narrative - especially between Newt and Ripley herself - while Bill Paxton has the honour(?) of becoming the only actor to be killed by a Predator, an Alien and a Terminator, as one of the (initially) cocksure Colonial Marines trapped behind enemy lines.
Top it off with the iconic final act (Ripley in a Powerloader Vs the Alien Queen) and some eminently quotable lines throughout:
"Game over, man! Game Over!!"
"They mostly come at night, mostly …"
"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure"
"Get away from her, you b..."
And we have what most surely be one of the best sequels ever. Even, in my opinion, eclipsing the original.
It's just a pity it's all downhill from here ...
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Nov 27, 2022
Merissa (13358 KP) rated In the Shadow of the Bull (An Ancient Crete Mystery #1) in Books
Jul 17, 2023
IN THE SHADOW OF THE BULL is the first book in the Ancient Crete Mystery series and we start with a wedding and a murder. Martis, the fifteen-year-old sister of the victim is charged by her dead sister's ghost to find out who killed her. If she fails, she will be haunted for nine generations!
Martis is split between her duty to her sister and her need to train for bull-dancing. She is also fifteen, so her attention span isn't that good yet, and she flits from person to person, convinced each one is the killer.
I preferred the historical aspect of this story more than the mystery. For me, it wasn't so much a mystery as a when will Martis figure it out? I did like the ending, with how it tied it up, but I wanted to know more about Bais and Nuia. And what about the barbarians? Would they receive an apology or just be given permission to leave? Maybe that will happen in future books. Although it was explained to a degree, it left me wanting more.
I have no hesitation in recommending an enjoyable book with great attention to detail.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 22, 2023
Martis is split between her duty to her sister and her need to train for bull-dancing. She is also fifteen, so her attention span isn't that good yet, and she flits from person to person, convinced each one is the killer.
I preferred the historical aspect of this story more than the mystery. For me, it wasn't so much a mystery as a when will Martis figure it out? I did like the ending, with how it tied it up, but I wanted to know more about Bais and Nuia. And what about the barbarians? Would they receive an apology or just be given permission to leave? Maybe that will happen in future books. Although it was explained to a degree, it left me wanting more.
I have no hesitation in recommending an enjoyable book with great attention to detail.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 22, 2023
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2434 KP) rated Halloween Party Murder in Books
Aug 26, 2023
After Party Murder
Lucy is helping plan a haunted house fund raiser at the home of relative new comers Ty and Heather Moon. However, when Lucy finds a dead body during the after party, things take an unexpected turn. Will she figure out what is going on?
I don’t normally read this series, so I was thrilled to actually recognize the characters of Ty and Heather since they also featured prominently in the previous Halloween novella collection Leslie headlined. This novella focuses mostly on the mystery at hand, and doesn’t bring in sub-plots involving Lucy’s family. Again, since I don’t read the series, this was a good thing for me since I don’t have the connections to all the supporting characters. The mystery was good, and I enjoyed watching Lucy’s efforts to figure out what was happening. The element I struggled with the most was the politics brought into this story. There is a local election happening, and the campaigning does play into Lucy’s motives to solve the case, but I still felt like we were being lectured during many of those scenes.
NOTE 1: This is a novella, so expect something shorter than a typical novel before you pick it up.
NOTE 2: This novella was originally the headlining story in the Halloween Party Murder anthology. If you’ve already read it there, you don’t need to buy it again here.
I don’t normally read this series, so I was thrilled to actually recognize the characters of Ty and Heather since they also featured prominently in the previous Halloween novella collection Leslie headlined. This novella focuses mostly on the mystery at hand, and doesn’t bring in sub-plots involving Lucy’s family. Again, since I don’t read the series, this was a good thing for me since I don’t have the connections to all the supporting characters. The mystery was good, and I enjoyed watching Lucy’s efforts to figure out what was happening. The element I struggled with the most was the politics brought into this story. There is a local election happening, and the campaigning does play into Lucy’s motives to solve the case, but I still felt like we were being lectured during many of those scenes.
NOTE 1: This is a novella, so expect something shorter than a typical novel before you pick it up.
NOTE 2: This novella was originally the headlining story in the Halloween Party Murder anthology. If you’ve already read it there, you don’t need to buy it again here.
Death Wish (Ceruleans #1)
8.0
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IN SEARCH OF THE MEANING OF DEATH, SHE’LL FIND THE MEANING OF LIFE. The Ceruleans: mere mortals...
Paranormal Romance Young Adult
Midnight Savior (Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles #5)
8.0
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London, 1888 – Jack the Ripper Having loved and lost his soul mate three times, Broderick...
Historical Paranormal Romance
When You Burn Me (Enchanted Hearts #1)
8.0
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When fate strikes, love ignites—and some flames are meant to burn. Sienna found a family in her...
Urban Fantasy Romance Series
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Haunted (Harrison Investigation, #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
I picked up Haunted after I had finished [b:The Seance|959245|The Seance (Harrison Investigation, #5)|Heather Graham|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255876724s/959245.jpg|944150], and I was unaware that they both feature Adam and Harrison Investigations. I'm all set to read [b:The Vision|731809|The Vision (Harrison Investigation, #3)|Heather Graham|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177781638s/731809.jpg|717999] that I just picked up from the library. Even though I've completely juggled around the order of when they were written, it's lucky for me that they are standalones. In the prologue it gave background information about Adam's son, Josh, who was mentioned just briefly in The Seance, and he plays a big part in this book, so I was happy to find out all that information before I get to next book that features Harrison Investigations.
Now to get to the main story in Haunted...
Even though with the way Darcy was written you would think she was a Mary-Sue, she wasn't and I liked her just fine. Now Matt on the other hand, well he was a jerk, plain and simple. I never could like him much and that detracted a lot from the book. It seems that Heather Graham must make the male lead a hard-core skeptic that just will not believe (until the end of course) in anything paranormal and thinks the female lead is crazy or delusional or something. It would be nice if it was reversed or if maybe, just maybe, the hero is open-minded enough to say, well maybe there is 'something' out there that cannot be proven. *gasp* Is that even possible? Can a hero ever truly be open-minded? Not in these books. He has to be so narrow-minded that his thought-blocks must fit neatly into their right-shaped holes (e.g. triangle block into triangle hole, etc.).
I really enjoyed the whole Darcy/Josh/Adam/Ghost hunting thing. I thought the author did a good job describing how Darcy went about finding out about the ghosts and that's what made this book good. I really did like Darcy a lot and she was a sympathetic character who stood up for herself and acted like an adult with poise and class (unlike some other character I could mention). The mystery did keep me guessing because I was never quite sure who the ghost was or what had happened, although I had narrowed down who was behind everything to two people, leaning more on the actual culprit (yay me!), for lack of suspects. So overall, the mystery was very good, though I wish Ms. Graham would bring in more people so it isn't as easy to figure out. All in all, not as good as The Seance, but a good and entertaining read.
3.5 stars
I forgot to mention that there were tons of editing problems, which seem to be a mainstay in H.G.'s books. Once Clint's name is changed to Cliff and Josh was referred to as Matt, plus numerous other things that cropped up everywhere.
Now to get to the main story in Haunted...
Even though with the way Darcy was written you would think she was a Mary-Sue, she wasn't and I liked her just fine. Now Matt on the other hand, well he was a jerk, plain and simple. I never could like him much and that detracted a lot from the book. It seems that Heather Graham must make the male lead a hard-core skeptic that just will not believe (until the end of course) in anything paranormal and thinks the female lead is crazy or delusional or something. It would be nice if it was reversed or if maybe, just maybe, the hero is open-minded enough to say, well maybe there is 'something' out there that cannot be proven. *gasp* Is that even possible? Can a hero ever truly be open-minded? Not in these books. He has to be so narrow-minded that his thought-blocks must fit neatly into their right-shaped holes (e.g. triangle block into triangle hole, etc.).
I really enjoyed the whole Darcy/Josh/Adam/Ghost hunting thing. I thought the author did a good job describing how Darcy went about finding out about the ghosts and that's what made this book good. I really did like Darcy a lot and she was a sympathetic character who stood up for herself and acted like an adult with poise and class (unlike some other character I could mention). The mystery did keep me guessing because I was never quite sure who the ghost was or what had happened, although I had narrowed down who was behind everything to two people, leaning more on the actual culprit (yay me!), for lack of suspects. So overall, the mystery was very good, though I wish Ms. Graham would bring in more people so it isn't as easy to figure out. All in all, not as good as The Seance, but a good and entertaining read.
3.5 stars
I forgot to mention that there were tons of editing problems, which seem to be a mainstay in H.G.'s books. Once Clint's name is changed to Cliff and Josh was referred to as Matt, plus numerous other things that cropped up everywhere.