Smashbomb

Today on my blog, I have an interview with author Rob Witherspoon. Check out his satirical humor fiction novel THE SQUARE ROOT OF TEXAS: THE FIRST CALAMITY OF QED MORNINGWOOD, and enter the GIVEAWAY to win a signed copy of this book as well as the second book in the series - three winners total.

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/11/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-square-root.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
QED Morningwood is a liar, braggart and teller of tall tales. When he shows up at the domino parlor with a mysterious Russian crate in the back of his pick-up truck, he confides to the players he is a ‘Shadow’ member of the NRA, not on their official membership roll, and has a load of rocket propelled grenades – all lies. The news spreads to the real Shadow NRA, the FBI and Homeland Security. Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Cultural Preservation sends an agent to retrieve the crate, the actual contents known only to the Russians.

The Russian agent, an FBI team, a DHS undercover agent and a Shadow NRA hit team arrive in Heelstring, Texas looking for QED and his crate. Their convergence is followed by interrogations, seduction, lies, arrests, jailbreak, kidnapping and rescue – along with car chases and explosions. If not for Cotton Widdershins, an ancient black man with secrets of his own, who acts as QED’s mentor and savior, the Morningwood line would be doomed to end, or at best spend life in a federal penitentiary.

Kudos Comment

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Every Day Above Ground in Books

Mar 16, 2021

Greed is a Trap

Former army ranger Van Shaw is in desperate need of money, so when one of his late grandfather’s former associates, Mickey, comes with a story of long forgotten gold, it is too much for Van to resist. Teaming up with Mickey, Van goes to the abandoned office where the gold is only to find they’ve walked into a trap. Mickey is captured by persons unknown and Van barely escapes. In order to get Mickey back, Van will have to figure out who laid the trap and what they want. Can he do it?

This is very different from my normal cozy reads, both in the inclusion of language and violence, but also because Van is really an anti-hero. This is the most he’s slipped into that role, however, and knowing him from the previous two books helped me still root for him. It really helps that I do like him and the other regular characters and I want to see them succeed. While a few of the events of the book are expected, there were still some twists I wasn’t expecting along the way, and I loved the creativity of some of the locations Van used over the course of the book in his attempts to defeat the villains and come out on top. This is a fun, fasted paced thriller that will keep you turning pages.

Kudos

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Devil's Rejects (2005) in Movies

Oct 10, 2020

Still largely prefer the viscera of gross circus-esque horror movie eye candy of 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 1000 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘴, but this one somehow might be more repulsive and disturbing. I'm astounded this movie even works at all, revisiting such ostentatious caricatures by way of Americana on-the-run crime movie should never have worked - but not only did it manage to be one of the best crime thrillers of the 21st century, but it also set the template for how more sequels oughta look into telling their story, by completely flipping the script and going with an entirely different genre while still maintaining the root of what makes the characters so great. Loaded with moody desolate (both physically and morally) cinematography, a deliciously over-the-top William Forsythe villain, pounds upon pounds of stomach-churning brutality, and a rich late-70s tone that takes over anything from the aesthetic to the soundtrack. Zombie has created some of the hall-of-fame best horror movie characters ever put to screen through Baby, Otis, and Captain Spaulding - not only gleefully cruel, unique, and uproariously riveting but also able to see the fault of their own detrimental wickedness yet still choosing not to change even if they could. Their own self-destructiveness isn't even allowed to take full hold because of the American system they're forced to act within, also the "Free Bird" ending is as amazing as everyone says.

Kudos

Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated American Made (2017) in Movies

Sep 25, 2019

Barry Seal is officially a pilot for TWA. Unofficially he also smuggles a few cigars around. Until the CIA catch him in the act. Now he's unofficially smuggling more than cigars, and not just for the CIA.

The adverts for this made it look like quite a good film, and I honestly couldn't believe that this actually happened. Well, I sort of can, but still.

I'm not a massive fan of Tom Cruise, I think possibly because all of his films I've seen don't give him much variation from who he is, but this one was different. It kind of made me feel he was the Del Boy of America. Always looking for a quick buck and a little bit bumbling. Even if it was on a much bigger scale. I don't quite think that Del Boy would have done well with cartels.

As is the way in Hollywood the story has been tweaked to suit the cinematic needs. Since writing the paragraph above I have read a bit more about Barry Seal and it seems the films as made him a bit more shiny for the purposes of marketing. And by that I mean that it sounds as if he wasn't quite as innocent at the beginning as the film makes it appear. But, that just from reading a few articles, I'll let you come to your own conclusions.

An enjoyable films though, that kind of made you root for the "bad guy".

Kudos

Amelia's Tea (8 KP) rated Mistborn: The Final Empire in Books

Sep 30, 2019

Mistborn: The Final Empire

Brandon Sanderson | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy

8.4

(8 Ratings)

Book Rating

Incredible world-building. A fascinating magic system, and great lore. (2 more)

Great characters, with believable backstories and motivations.

Female protagonist who feels real, flawed, and is relatable.

At times, the action/combat scenes can be hard to follow. Not to say they aren't gripping, it can just be a confusing flurry of motion. (0 more)

A Welcome Surprise

Honestly, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, as I bought it on a whim based on positive discussion around the author, Sanderson. I took this with me on a holiday, and spent 2 days pouring over the pages - it totally sucked me in!

Initially I found the book hard to get into, just for the sheer amount of information to take in, however when I got over this hump I was sucked in.
I loved the protagonist, Vin. I found her very believable and easy to root for. Without spoiling anything, her story is amazing to follow. She's not a Mary Sue, has her flaws and even failures.
In general, I loved the characters - even the hateable ones, I loved to hate them.

The world-building is incredibly extensive and enjoyable. The lore is fascinating, and this book left me dying to find out more. I ordered the follow-up book while I was still on my holiday, so that it would arrive once I landed home!

Overall I definitely recommend this book for fantasy fans.