
A Spot of Folly: Ten and a Quarter New Tales of Murder and Mayhem
Book
Ruth Rendell was an acknowledged master of psychological suspense: these are ten (and a quarter) of...
crime mystery

Max Einstein: Rebels with a Cause
James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
Book
"A fast-paced, science-filled caper." --The Wall Street JournalMax Einstein is the first and only...
A Mob Of Troubles
Book
Felicia Brooks is looking back at her life. Starting with an intense, highly emotional love...

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
Charlaine Harris and Karen Chance
Book
Anthology of urban fantasy short stories Karen Chance short story: Rogue Elements Someone is...
urbna fantasy

The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious #2)
Book
The Truly Devious case—an unsolved kidnapping and triple murder that rocked Ellingham Academy in...

Merissa (12894 KP) rated Seduced (Blood Rose Tales #3) in Books
Apr 15, 2023
This is a fast-paced and exciting quick read, as we learn about both Charlotte and Willem. There are hard decisions to be made, with terrifying consequences if the wrong choice is made. There is no going back.
Excellently written and no grammatical errors that I found. This is another brilliant addition to the Blood Rose Tales. Definitely recommended.
* 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!
Sep 13, 2015

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Spy School Goes North in Books
Feb 5, 2024
I’ve been a fan of the series since the beginning, but it is beginning to feel a little too familiar. It would be nice if we could defeat some recurring characters and move on to some new stories. Additionally, there are a couple of lectures that threw me out of the book, even when I agreed with the characters. There’s also a relationship that bothered me on multiple levels. From a story standpoint, this relationship felt completely forced and the plot relied on it too much. It just wasn’t earned. On the other hand, I did enjoy spending time with the characters as always, and the action and laughs kept me turning pages. Here’s hoping that the next will take things in a fresh direction.

A Rogue’s Company
Book
In Allison Montclair's A Rogue's Company, business becomes personal for the Right Sort Marriage...

Darren (1599 KP) rated Eternal Code (2019) in Movies
Sep 13, 2019
Performances – This is a movie that does try to use the biggest names to sale the movie, Scout Taylor-Compton being the biggest name in the film, even though she is mostly just a criminal thug, she doesn’t give us a bad performance, just she isn’t really a main character. Damien Chinappi would be one of the leads in the film as the he does bring us a performance that does fit the action side of the film, where we do feel sympathy for his character. Richard Tyson will always make for a great villain and this is no different. When we look at the rest of the cast, we see solid performances across the board.
Story – The story here follows the events of a kidnapping which takes a turn, when a war veteran looks to help the helpless, while a corrupt businessman looks to complete a project which will change everything as we know it in the world. When it comes to the idea of the kidnapping side of the story, we do get a nice spin on how everything unfolds, making it truly unpredictable with what will happen next. While that is a good thing, it can mean we do meet a couple of too many characters, which doesn’t let other get flushed out enough. We are left with seeing just how dealing with inventions will see people looking for greed, while seeing a war veteran getting another shot to prove himself in combat is nice to see.
Action – The action is restricted, but it does show how the conflicts are meant to be edgy and more in the shadows which is better to watch for the tone.
Settings – The film is set in and around one city which shows how the minds in it would operate, we see how the project would be secretly locked away from the world and see how the criminals will act in the shadows of abandoned locations.
Scene of the Movie – Corey military trained scenes.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does feel like we have a few too many characters at time.
Final Thoughts – This is an action thriller that does have a lot of direction you wouldn’t normally see, it does keep us guessing despite having a couple of characters we don’t need to have.
Overall: Action film that goes down different paves.

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) in Movies
Jul 8, 2019
The follow up to the critically acclaimed 2015 film Sicario, this movie is an intense action thriller. The cast is good but Del Toro is outstanding. This character really suits him. Italian director Stefano Sollima (Suburra) does a great job taking over for Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival). The story is really well done. Writer Taylor Sheridan (Sicario, Hell or High Water, Wind River) really put together a film that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The pace was good and the sound really added to the intense mood. I thought it flowed well with the first film, having the same writer helps, and it is a credit to Sollima. There were a few parts that went a little far in believability but overall it felt realistic.
Overall, the film was fast paced and as I mentioned before intense. There are a few twists and turns that keep you guess as to how it will all end. The movie earns it R rating with violence and a decent amount of blood. I enjoyed the first film and my expectations were high for this film. The story is similar enough that you feel like it connects to the first film but it stands on its own.