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Eleanor (1463 KP) rated The Surgeon (Rizzoli & Isles, #1) in Books

May 22, 2019

Chilling story (0 more)

Rizzoli is a nasty piece of work (0 more)

Gore heavy police procedural

This is the first book in the Rizzoli and Isles thriller series, apparently there is a TV series based off this but I’ve never seen it so went into this blind. Isles does not appear as a character in this book and even RIzzoli is more of a secondary character.

Catherine Cordell is a skilled surgeon working in Boston where she fled to following a horrific attack two years ago. Although she killed her attacker her exterior confidence hides the continued fear the trauma has instilled in her everyday life. When the impossible seems to occur and the killer returns to stalk her, Detective Moore is determined to protect along with fellow officer Rizzoli.

The villain and what he does is full on terrifying and creepy as hell (just the way I like them.) However if you are in any way squeamish and don’t like a lot of blood and gore you should probably avoid this book. There is a lot of graphic descriptions of injuries of people coming into an emergency room, surgery and torture. Rape is also a central theme and again descriptions can be disturbing so be warned.

This felt like a very solid police procedural book. The style will be familiar with Criminal Minds fans in that you get to see a bit behind the curtain. I didn’t feel there was a lot of puzzling mystery, but you were swept along in the investigation to find the unsub.

My main hope with this series is Rizzoli becomes a bit more human, in this book I just wanted to slap her for being such a cow to both victims and colleagues. Her constant internal moaning about how bad she is treated because she’s a woman made me laugh, it seemed more to be just because she isn’t a very nice person. She doesn't come across as a very good cop at all, poor at doing interviews, following procedure, working as a team. Meanwhile Moore was a much more sympathetic character.

Looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here.

Kudos

Entertainment Editor (1988 KP) rated Santorini in Tabletop Games

Mar 7, 2018

Santorini

2016 | Abstract Strategy, Ancient, Mythology

7.5

(19 Ratings)

Tabletop Game Rating

Santorini rocks as a 2-player board game!

Many years ago I was lucky enough to have my wife come along with me on a business trip to Greece. It was the first time either of us had been to Greece and we looked forward to seeing many sites over a few extra days after the business event ended.
One of the things we really wanted to do was to visit one of the Greek Isles. At the top of my list was Santorini
Unfortunately, with the limited time we had, we could only make it to one island — Mykonos. Don’t get me wrong, we loved visiting Mykonos. I just wish we could have seen more. And ever since then I’ve longed for a visit to Santorini.
Well, playing the Santorini board game by Roxley Game Laboratory has only whetted my appetite to visit the popular Greek Isle even more!
I’ll tell you straight out that the game is fantastic!

Reviewer: Trent
See the full review here: http://www.theboardgamefamily.com/2017/04/santorini-board-game-review/

Kudos

Nick Beaty (70 KP) rated The Vanishing (2018) in Movies

Jan 8, 2020 (Updated Jan 8, 2020)

The Vanishing (2018)

2018 | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

5.7

(3 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Peter Mullan is brilliant again...

Based on the true story of three lighthouse keepers who mysteriously disappeared in 1900. This is the writers interpretation of the events that occurred, as nobody knows the truth to what actually happened to the three men on the Flannan Isles.

The movie is really slow paced and quiet, so some people may find it a bit boring. For me though the acting is top notch, which is enough to keep you interested in the story.

The ever reliable Peter Mullan is brilliant again and Gerard Butler is actually really good in this one and proves he does have range as an actor.

One negative for me was that some of the more violent scenes in the movie didn't really match the tempo of the film and felt a little bit out of place. I understand that these things had to happen but I just felt they could have been done a little better.

To sum up The Vanishing is a decent enough movie but I can't help but feel it could have been much much more.