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Deborah (162 KP) rated The Wife Trap (The Trap Trilogy, #2) in Books

Dec 21, 2018

Oh dear. Not the greatest example of the genre I have ever read it has to be said. The Wife Trap is the middle book of a trilogy by this author; the first books seems to have dealt with the courtship of the twin sister of the 'heroine' of this novel, seemingly involving deception and machinations. You could read this book without having read the first one, but of course you don't know exactly what has gone on beforehand and why exactly Jeanette has been banished to stay with cousins in Ireland.

The hero of this book was called Darragh O'Brien. My problem with that was that I got an image of Darra O'Brien (chap who presents Mock The Week etc.) in my head, and I'm guessing that wasn't quite what the author had in mind! Obviously the character wasn't strongly enough written to dislodge said, disconcerting, image!

That though is a minor quibble when compared to my big issue with this book; the so-called heroine. Jeanette is shallow, vain, silly, selfish, self-centred, childish and utterly unlikeable! I can't for the life of me understand what the hero sees in her, except that she is apparently beautiful and quite good at painting... She seems to think she 'deserves' anything she happens to fancy and is willing to stamp her foot and pout until she gets her way. She thinks it quite reasonable to disrupt everyone else so she can have a lie-in (after refusing to abandon her 'town hours' and go to bed earlier!) If it were me, I would have left her stuck in the carriage in the mud in the first chapter and rescued the servants from her!

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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Layers of Fear in Video Games

Nov 19, 2019 (Updated Nov 19, 2019)

Layers of Fear

2016 | Action/Adventure

7.6

(7 Ratings)

Video Game Rating

On the surface, Layers of Fear seems like a game that was designed purely for YouTubers to play and scream at, and I think that's a fair enough assumption based on the sheer amount of jumpscares throughout (some are cheap, some are effective).
But look a little deeper and you will be rewarded with more that you might expect.

You play as a Victorian era painter, trying to paint his magnum opus, unlocking more to your painting as you dive ever deeper into his fractured psyche.
It's one of those games that leaves a lot up to you to interpret, only finding more concrete plot pointers if you care enough to explore and find clues.
Visually, Layers of Fear is great. It captures the feeling of spiralling madness perfectly, with some decent graphics to go with it.
The constant presence of subtly morphing paintings scattered along the walls is suitably creepy, and creates a general feeling of unease as you navigate through dimly lit hallways.
The classic first person perspective adds to this unease as you constantly feel little to no control over what you're seeing, as the house shifts around you regularly.
The further you venture into the artists mind, the darker the narrative insinuations become, as the visions turn increasingly twisted.

Layers of Fear can be finished in a couple of hours, and isn't particularly challenging, but the addition of multiple endings will keep you coming back, just out of shear intrigue.
The jump scares feel a little excessive after a while but if you are a fan of the recent wave of first person horror exploration games (in the wake of P.T.) then Layers of Fear is worth seeking out.

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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) Nov 19, 2019

Good review

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Awix (3310 KP) rated Sapphire and Steel in TV

Apr 2, 2020

Sapphire and Steel

1979 | Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi

7.6

(10 Ratings)

TV Show Rating

It would be easy to mark Sapphire and Steel down just for being so obviously a low-budget, studio-bound TV show, but this would be to overlook just what a startlingly distinctive and uncompromising piece of... well, entertainment doesn't quite cover it, for the programme seemingly sets out to baffle the viewer as well as divert them. It is notionally a fantasy, but elements of SF and horror also appear. Stories mostly take place in out-of-the-way places like remote cottages, junk shops, the tops of tower blocks, disused railway stations and so on. The structure of time seems to be weaker in these places and when it breaks down or is interfered with, operatives such as Sapphire and Steel and their occasional colleagues appear to resolve the situation.

This is pretty much all we are told about the format of the series - who and what Sapphire and Steel are, what the limits of their powers are, and who they answer to, is never made clear (even the nature of their mission seems to change from story to story). The cryptic, often surreal nature of the series is one of its main attractions, along with the chemistry between the stars (occasional ally Silver, played by David Collings, is also a joy to watch).

The bleak and eerie atmosphere of the stories is consistently impressive, as is the clear understanding of visual style possessed by the makers: stories are filled with startling images and symbols, occasionally drawn from the visual arts (one adversary is basically a Magritte painting brought to life). Always memorable, and never more so than in its final episodes: the sheer unexpected bizarreness of Sapphire and Steel's fate makes it all the more shocking and downbeat. A unique and very distinctive series.