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Becky (2020)
Becky (2020)
2020 | Action, Drama, Horror
8
7.1 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Soooo....yeah
I have been a Kevin James fan since the day that I first saw him. I think he's very funny in both his stand up and in his feature films. I've heard through the years murmurs that he was a hack actor and all the other tropes you hear from people who just want to complain in life. Let me tell you something, Kevin James is NOT a hack actor.

When I saw previews for this movie some time ago I was super intrigued as it looked like a far cry from what I'm used to seeing Kevin James star in. Months later when the movie popped into my newly available section in my digital library I thought it was time to give it a go and see what what really going on.

This movie is as far from a "normal" Kevin James role as you can possibly get. Relatively predictable. But wicked unexpected. Joel McHale (whom I've actually been moderately impressed with lately in smaller, more serious roles) also stars in what I can only describe as a thriller on steroids. It kind of reminds me of the movie Hanna if Hanna hadn't been a trained killer and was just doing things based on sheer anger and hatred.

Be warned, there are parts of this movie that are incredibly graphic. But all in all it's wild ride down the rabbit hole.
  
The Heatwave
The Heatwave
Katerina Diamond | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller
7
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Stand-alone novel by the author of the D.S. Imogen Grey series
‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Katerina Diamond, the author of the D.S. Imogen Grey series, is back with a new stand-alone novel, The Heatwave. I read Truth or Die, book #5 of her series, and was looking forward to reading The Heatwave as soon as I read the description
"The heatwave is back. And so is the killer."

Felicity fled her town and her life, determined not to return. That is until sixteen years later, and a second girl went missing. She holds the answers to what happened to the first girl and is determined to find the second before it is too late.

Diamond hooked me from the beginning. The book is 400 pages, but it was such a page-turner it felt much shorter.

As with all thrillers, there are twists, turns, and surprise reveals. The Heatwave kept me guessing until the very end. I thought I had figured everything out, but I was so wrong. After going back over the story, I realized I picked up on many of them but could not piece them all together correctly.

Goodreads does not list any other upcoming books of Katerina Diamond but added her to my "authors to read" list to keep watch for them.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 6/25/20.
  
Cheap Trick At Budokan by Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick At Budokan by Cheap Trick
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"When I was young I always dug listening to live concerts. It was like we were there. I always think that live albums are a good way to represent a body of work anyway because it shows the songs as part of a collection better than, say, a greatest hits record. It wasn't so much that Cheap Trick At Budokan was live, it was more the selection of songs. Rick [Nielsen] was really an amazing showman as a guitar player as far as the tricks that he did were concerned. Plus, the power that he had despite being essentially a three-piece rhythm outfit was amazing. Then you had Tom [Petersson] with his twelve-string bass… Whoever thought someone would play something like that? I could have done without some of the squealing but having gone to Japan so much; I get it. That's their way of showing you that they loved you. I never really considered Cheap Trick to be a glam rock band. People forget that Rick used to have long hair before he transitioned to having short hair and wearing baseball caps when they supported KISS in 1977. Take a song like 'Hello There'. It has such a killer, punk rock attitude. It reminds me of Mötley Crüe doing a song like 'Live Wire': you don't expect that kind of aggression and when you hear it you think, ""Alright, you dudes can let it rip when you want to.""

Source
  
Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock #1)
Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock #1)
Faith Hunter | 2009 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.3 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
I've been eyeing this book for a long time. I was having one of those Am-I-going-to-like-this-if-I-buy-it? moments. And then I found it in paperback quite cheap on a book site so I took the plunge.

This starts with Jane going to New Orleans to meet a vampire client who asks her to take down a rogue vampire that has been killing and eating people and just leaving what's left of them in the street. It's the first time Jane has ever met a sane vampire and she's not sure what to make of her at first and meets a mix of characters as she hunts down the rogue killer.

I did like this but as a reader of romances, I did feel this lacked it a lot. There's some flirting going on but nothing concrete. That's not to say I didn't get dragged into the story. I was as intrigued with finding out who the rogue was and how they were managing to get away all the time.

Jane was a strong character and I enjoyed seeing inside her mind and how she dealt with Beast when she turned into her cat form.

We had a handful of secondary characters like Rick, Jodi, Leo and Bruiser - George - that I grew to like and I'm intrigued how Jane's relationship with them will grow in future books.

I'm intrigued enough to continue the series at some point.