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Mothergamer (1543 KP) rated Chapelwaite in TV

Sep 30, 2021  
Chapelwaite
Chapelwaite
2021 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
6
7.3 (3 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
It's not a bad show, but it definitely could be better. It's based on the short story by Stephen King from his Night Shift anthology setting up a prequel to Salem's Lot. The premise is good, but the execution is lacking. It's meant to be a horror show, but sometimes it feels very dull with one or two jump scares. It takes far too long to get to the point and reveal with what is going on in the town and with Charles and his family. The cast is uneven too. Adrien Brody does a great job and some of the other cast are great too, but then you have some of the cast that don't deliver lines well, in a stilted robotic manner. If you're going to do a horror show, then do a horror show that is actually scary rather than boring and hardly any horror.
  
Echo of the Dead (DSI William Lorimer #19)
Echo of the Dead (DSI William Lorimer #19)
Alex Gray | 2022 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is another entertaining outing for DSI Lorimer and whilst this is the 19th in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone.

Echo of the Dead if set in the Scottish Highlands and Alex Gray does an excellent job of 'selling' the area to the reader despite the darkness of the story.

Lorimer is on a break with his friend, Daniel, when they stumble upon a body. A short time later, another body is found and Lorimer returns with his Team to investigate. Are these connected and could they be related to an historical massacre?

With a great cast of characters, this is an intriguing mystery with twists and is a great edition to the series and one that I would recommend to lovers of this genre.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
The Druids Lair (Warrior #2)
The Druids Lair (Warrior #2)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The second of, I believe, five e-book novellas based around the life of Caratacus, this is framed the same as the previous entry (The King in Rome, in that it is presented as Caratacus recounting his life - warts and all - to a minor Roman historian whilst in captivity/exile in Rome.

If that previous novella was centred around his younger life, then this one is around (roughly) his teenage years, where he is sent to be mentored by the Druids of Briton and initiated into their ways.

As is often the case, Caratacus must also find some way of dealing with the local bully, who is both older and stronger than the new initiates.

As a novella, this also must stand on it's own, as it were, complete with an opening, the main body of the story and then a conclusion within a relatively short number of (digital) pages!
  
Black List, White Death
Black List, White Death
Steve Hockensmith | 2023 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Two More Novellas with the Reds
The book features two novellas featuring cowboy detectives Old Red and Big Red. Up first, the two travel to the Arizona territory to try to find a list of names related to a murder that happened years before. Then, they go undercover at a tuberculosis sanitarium in Colorado where patients have died of unnatural causes. In between, we get a short story involving Big Red’s first solo case in which a package pickup goes wrong.

When you combine the three stories, you get a full-length book. And all three stories are filled with fun. I laughed multiple times while reading. But they are solid mysteries, and I’m always amazed at how Old Red pieces things together. As always, the brothers’ interactions are fun, and I really do enjoy spending time with them as they navigate cases in the 1890’s.
  
I suppose it must be obvious to anyone who reads my reviews that I enjoy Laura Anne Gilman's writing. I've only read every one of her Retrievers series as well as every one of her short stories sold via <a href="http://fictionwise.com/">Fictionwise</a>; (including some that I'd already read in various anthologies, but I didn't want to miss anything). I've been waiting anxiously for <i>Hard Magic</i>, the first in the new Paranormal Scene Investigations series, and it did not disappoint me in the least.

If you've read the Retrievers books, you'll recognize the main character, Bonnie Torres, immediately as Wren Valere's neighbor. If you haven't read that series, don't worry - they aren't required to enjoy this book.

I do, however, recommend hunting down the short story "Illumination," which is referred to several times during the novel. It's in the anthology [b:Unusual Suspects: Stories of Mystery & Fantasy|3395318|Unusual Suspects Stories of Mystery & Fantasy|Dana Stabenow|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1243223215s/3395318.jpg|3435306]. It isn't strictly required, but I think it would help.

If you've ever enjoyed CSI or any similar show, I think you'll really enjoy <i>Hard Magic</i> even more than others will. Bonnie and her coworkers are trying to reinvent all of the forensic science that those shows take for granted from scratch, from a magical perspective. It's fascinating to me, and I would have been happier with more geeking.

I'm really looking forward to book two!