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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2456 KP) rated The Bootlegger’s Daughter in Books

May 2, 2024

Danger in Prohibition-era Los Angeles

It’s 1927, and Letty Hart is struggling to keep the family vineyard afloat on the outskirts of Los Angeles. When their contract to provide sacramental wine is canceled abruptly, the discovery of some illegal alcohol her father left behind seems too good to pass up. Meanwhile, Annabel Forman is trying to prove she deserves the promotion to detective in the LAPD. She is assigned a joke of a case, but she quickly begins to think she’s stumbled on a connection between several murdered bootleggers.

Obviously, these two women are destined to meet. The story along the way is enjoyable, and the further I got into the book, the more I wanted to keep reading. There are some surprises on the way to a suspenseful climax. I did feel like a few aspects of the plot were rushed, but that’s a minor complaint overall. We get the story from three different character’s points of view, Letty in first person and the other two in third person. These changes happen at chapter breaks and are all clearly labeled. The book is written in present tense, and once my brain got used to it, it didn’t matter. Many of the supporting characters don’t get much page time to be fully developed, but they feel real in the time they have. Letty and Annabel, however, are wonderful characters, and I enjoyed watching them deal with what life has given them. If you are looking for a historic crime story, you’ll be glad you picked this one up.

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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2456 KP) rated The Baker Street Letters (Baker Street Letters #1) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

Reggie Heath has rented the offices that would be Sherlock Holmes address if he'd been, you know, real. Part of his lease involves answering the letters, a job he's assigned to younger brother Nigel. But one letter sends Nigel on a trip to Los Angeles with Reggie close behind. What has Nigel stumbled into?

I'm not a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, but I was intrigued by this book. Turned out to be a fun twisty read with good characters. It took a little bit to feel like I was part of the story, but once I got going, I couldn't put it down.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-review-baker-street-letters.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

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Awix (3310 KP) rated Them! (1954) in Movies

Feb 19, 2018 (Updated Feb 19, 2018)

Them! (1954)

1954 | Classics, Horror, Sci-Fi

7.1

(9 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Granddaddy of atomic bug movies works incredibly hard to stay credible as a drama; mostly succeeds. Government agents discover giant mutant ants on the rampage; can they contain the threat and keep the secret until the ants can be destroyed? Not quite documentary-style realism, but close enough; hard edged, takes itself impressively seriously.

Notable for featuring some relatively famous faces early in their careers - also for its use of full-scale ant puppets rather than animation or trick photography. Atom-fear angle is underplayed for the most part; this still stands up well as an SF thriller. The climax, with machine guns and flamethrowers battling snapping mandibles and exoskeletal monsters in the sewers under Los Angeles, was surely an influence on Aliens.