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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Avengers - Season 3 in TV
Jul 15, 2020
The third series of The Avengers is slicker, more confident, and slightly more inclined towards silliness than the one before, particularly as Brian Clemens writes more of the scripts. The occasional very serious thriller or crime episode still sneaks through, and these are often very good, but for the first time one finds stories about lunatics looking to restore the Roman Empire in addition to plots about drug smuggling.
It's still a slightly mixed bag but the two stars are endlessly watchable and the chemistry between them is great. The best episodes bear comparison to ones from the better-known filmed seasons that made up the rest of the series' run. Maybe not quite up to the standard of those later shows, but this is the foundation they were built on, and entertaining in its own right.
It's still a slightly mixed bag but the two stars are endlessly watchable and the chemistry between them is great. The best episodes bear comparison to ones from the better-known filmed seasons that made up the rest of the series' run. Maybe not quite up to the standard of those later shows, but this is the foundation they were built on, and entertaining in its own right.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated What Will Burn (Inspector McLean #11) in Books
Mar 7, 2021
This is the 11th outing for Inspector McLean and although it's not completely necessary to have read any of the previous books in the series, it does help a little but I definitely think it works well as a stand-alone.
Mr Oswald manages to continue to write ever interesting and intriguing stories featuring DI Tony McLean, his excellent team and eclectic mix of friends, which are all superbly written, within a story which cleverly mixes the past and the present with a smattering of the unexplained; it all blends together seamlessly to give an engaging and totally engrossing read.
I would highly recommend reading any of the books in the series especially if you enjoy something a bit different than the usual police procedurals.
Thank you to Headline and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Mr Oswald manages to continue to write ever interesting and intriguing stories featuring DI Tony McLean, his excellent team and eclectic mix of friends, which are all superbly written, within a story which cleverly mixes the past and the present with a smattering of the unexplained; it all blends together seamlessly to give an engaging and totally engrossing read.
I would highly recommend reading any of the books in the series especially if you enjoy something a bit different than the usual police procedurals.
Thank you to Headline and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Carol (3 KP) rated Christmas Bliss in Books
Jan 10, 2018
Christmas Bliss was the last of my Christmas reads for the year. I have read two others in the series and really like Weezie and BeBe. This time around, Weezie’s getting ready to marry her chef boyfriend, Daniel, but he’s off in New York on a temporary gig at a very swanky restaurant. BeBe’s pregnant and refuses to marry her live-in boyfriend Harry, but she also might still be married to one of her exes. It’s complicated.
It’s a sweet story. There’s not much conflict and the couple of “issues” that crop up are quickly resolved. Weezie and BeBe are great characters, fun, quirky, but I don’t know that this would work as well as a stand-alone. It was nice to already know them and appreciate that they were getting their “happily ever afters.”
It’s a sweet story. There’s not much conflict and the couple of “issues” that crop up are quickly resolved. Weezie and BeBe are great characters, fun, quirky, but I don’t know that this would work as well as a stand-alone. It was nice to already know them and appreciate that they were getting their “happily ever afters.”
Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated Death of a Ghost (Hamish Macbeth, #32) in Books
Feb 21, 2018
This is good classic Hamish Macbeth. If you are a fan of the series already, then you won't be disappointed. If not, I think you could easily pick this one up and enjoy it as a stand-alone mystery without having read the previous books.
Called to the village of Drim to investigate claims of a "haunted" castle, Hamish and Charlie discover no ghosts, but they do find a dead body. Unfortunately it disappears before CDI Blair arrives on the scene. When the investigation points to local smugglers, the department is quick to wrap up the case. Hamish is not convinced, however, and puts his own life on the line to find the real killer.
Read more on <a href="https://booksthething.com/2017/02/03/review-death-of-a-ghost-by-m-c-beaton/">The Book's the Thing</a>.
<i>Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.</i>
Called to the village of Drim to investigate claims of a "haunted" castle, Hamish and Charlie discover no ghosts, but they do find a dead body. Unfortunately it disappears before CDI Blair arrives on the scene. When the investigation points to local smugglers, the department is quick to wrap up the case. Hamish is not convinced, however, and puts his own life on the line to find the real killer.
Read more on <a href="https://booksthething.com/2017/02/03/review-death-of-a-ghost-by-m-c-beaton/">The Book's the Thing</a>.
<i>Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.</i>
David McK (3832 KP) rated The Maharajah's General (Jack Lark, #2) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Following [a: Paul Fraser Collard|7024929|Paul Fraser Collard|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1368086413p2/7024929.jpg]'s [b: The Scarlet Thief|18752323|The Scarlet Thief|Paul Fraser Collard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1383577532s/18752323.jpg|24752025] (which dealt primarily with the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War), you would be forgiven for thinking that the Jack Lark series as a whole would be set during such war.
That's not the case.
Instead, in this, we move to an even further outpost of the British Imperial Empire: to India, to be precise, with Jack Lark impersonating a different officer than before.
I don't want to give too much away - suffice it to say that things do not always go to plan and that Jack finds himself caught up in the beginnings of the Indian Mutiny: a mutiny which, in retrospect, was no surprise given the way they were treated!
I have to say, I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable 'Boys Own' style of read!
That's not the case.
Instead, in this, we move to an even further outpost of the British Imperial Empire: to India, to be precise, with Jack Lark impersonating a different officer than before.
I don't want to give too much away - suffice it to say that things do not always go to plan and that Jack finds himself caught up in the beginnings of the Indian Mutiny: a mutiny which, in retrospect, was no surprise given the way they were treated!
I have to say, I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable 'Boys Own' style of read!
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) in Movies
Jan 28, 2020
I've only ever seen the first F&F movie , not being particularly interested in cars and put off by the prospect of 8 movies so its fair to say I went into this with fairly low expectations. Considering I am not really up on the characters back stories (I gather there has been some beef of some sort) I actually thought this was quite good fun. Its got nothing to do with the street racing origins of the series and is now more of a poor mans Mission Impossible. Some cobblers about a virus wiping out the planet and a surgically enhanced Idris Elba shouting allot is about the gist of it. All you need to know there is some quite entertaining switch your brain off action scenes and plenty of wisecracks and banter from Statham and Johnson to keep you entertained. You know its all bollocks but you just can't help but enjoy it.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Star Trek: Picard in TV
Apr 27, 2020
The latest big-budget generic sci-fi series to have the Star Trek brand on it in an attempt to secure an audience. Ex-Admiral Picard meets the hot young daughter of his dead android mate and goes off to help save her twin sister with a bunch of young actors who are cheaper to employ than the ones playing his actual friends.
Not quite as mad as Discovery, and seeing the old characters again (mostly in cameos) is undeniably affecting for those of us who were there thirty years ago. But the plotting is laborious and lazy, and we seem to have lost the idea that the whole point of Star Trek is that things will improve and be different in the future: regardless of the odd ways in which this setting doesn't really match canon, this lot just act like 21st century folks in fancy dress. I'm not even going to get started on the F-bombing Starfleet Admiral or the Irish and Australian Romulans.
Not quite as mad as Discovery, and seeing the old characters again (mostly in cameos) is undeniably affecting for those of us who were there thirty years ago. But the plotting is laborious and lazy, and we seem to have lost the idea that the whole point of Star Trek is that things will improve and be different in the future: regardless of the odd ways in which this setting doesn't really match canon, this lot just act like 21st century folks in fancy dress. I'm not even going to get started on the F-bombing Starfleet Admiral or the Irish and Australian Romulans.
CT
Chance: The Science and Secrets of Luck, Randomness and Probability
Book
For you to be here today reading this requires a mind-boggling series of lucky breaks, starting with...
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Avengers - Season 1 in TV
May 20, 2021
Only three episodes of this first season are believed to exist, so it's hard to speak with great authority as to its quality - but the ones we have are brisk, efficient thrillers, as good as the videotaped Honor Blackman episodes (and possibly more coherent). This is 60-year-old TV so the production can be primitive in places, but much of the acting holds up.
Again, judging solely from the three surviving episodes, the arc of the season seems to go from fairly 'straight' stories (Girl on a Trapeze doesn't feature Steed at all) towards the kind of tongue-in-cheek, off-beat material the series is best remembered for (Tunnel of Fear is rather more extravagant, with more of a focus on Steed as an entertaining eccentric). You can almost see the producers figuring out the potential of Patrick Macnee, not that Hendry isn't completely reliable. Not the show in its iconic form, but you can see how it started heading that way very early.
Again, judging solely from the three surviving episodes, the arc of the season seems to go from fairly 'straight' stories (Girl on a Trapeze doesn't feature Steed at all) towards the kind of tongue-in-cheek, off-beat material the series is best remembered for (Tunnel of Fear is rather more extravagant, with more of a focus on Steed as an entertaining eccentric). You can almost see the producers figuring out the potential of Patrick Macnee, not that Hendry isn't completely reliable. Not the show in its iconic form, but you can see how it started heading that way very early.
TravelersWife4Life (31 KP) rated Scrumptious Independence (Merriweather Island #2) in Books
Feb 23, 2021
Next in the independence Island series…Scrumptious Independence by Melissa Wardwell! I have been looking forward to this book for months. and boy was it worth the wait. I loved her balance of character interaction with the emotions and memories she invoked in me through her characters. It truly was a fun book to read that I had a hard time putting down.
I thought Melissa Wardwell did a great job engaging not just your eyes but your memories too! From her yummy sounding recipes (that may or may not have set off a cooking spree, much to my husband’s delight), to the hints of a mystery within, added with a dash of super sweet romance between Beth and Scott… I mean what more can I say? This book is a recipe for a good clean engaging read. Well done Melissa Wardwell, now I can’t wait to see what will happen on the Merriweather Islands next
I thought Melissa Wardwell did a great job engaging not just your eyes but your memories too! From her yummy sounding recipes (that may or may not have set off a cooking spree, much to my husband’s delight), to the hints of a mystery within, added with a dash of super sweet romance between Beth and Scott… I mean what more can I say? This book is a recipe for a good clean engaging read. Well done Melissa Wardwell, now I can’t wait to see what will happen on the Merriweather Islands next