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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2353 KP) rated Death al Fresco in Books

Mar 14, 2018

Death al Fresco

Leslie Karst | 2018 | Mystery

7.8

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

Corpse in the Kelp

Sally and her friend Eric are taking an outdoor painting class around Santa Cruz. During class one Saturday, Sally’s dog finds a dead body in the kelp. The man was a regular at Sally’s family’s restaurant, and his last few days seem to be connected to his time there. Can Sally figure out what happened before the restaurant’s reputation is ruined?

This book has a good mystery with viable suspects and a couple of good twists to it. It also has some strong sub-plot, which are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they take the focus off the mystery a bit too much at times. On the other hand, they are the perfect showcases for some of the recurring characters, and I enjoyed seeing them again and how they are growing. Overall, I found this a satisfying read.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) in Movies

Feb 24, 2018

(The other) Young Frankenstein

At the start of the 1970s Hammer tried to relaunch both their main series with new leading men (Ralph Bates replacing Christopher Lee in this case); this was the only reboot which eventually happened. The basics of the Frankenstein story are (just about) retold; young Victor decides to make a man, if not of himself, then from some body parts.

There's no doubt that Ralph Bates could have been a brilliant Frankenstein, but not in a film with a script like this one's. The film attempts to appeal to a hip young audience by including cleavage by the yard and lots of sub-Carry On film humour; script is also thick-headed and repetitive. The moment Frankenstein's experiments included resurrecting a tortoise everyone involved should have realised there was a serious problem here. Not funny, not scary, not interesting, barely worth watching except for Hammer fans. They got Peter Cushing back for the next one.

Kudos

Eilidh G Clark (177 KP) rated The Diving-bell and the Butterfly in Books

Jul 2, 2019

Well written and easy to read (0 more)

Bit slow sometimes (0 more)

Emotional

Contains spoilers, click to show

This is a short memoir with snip-bits of chapters. The late Bauby had locked in syndrome, this is one of the reasons that makes this book remarkable. Being unable to speak or move, his story is captured by a friend through the authors blinking with his left eye. He finds a way to rearrange the alphabet in order of letter usage in French. This is not a heart rendering account of a man trapped in (as he calls it) a cocoon, but rather a snap shot of the way he copes, the way his memory allows him to heighten his imagination, the way he separates his existence from the outside world and the way his mind saves him from boredom.
Beautifully written with a conversational tone, this is a wonderful glimpse into the mind of a person whose body no longer works.

Kudos

Vegas (725 KP) rated The Guest House in Books

Jan 24, 2020

The Guest House

Abbie Frost | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Keeps you guessing (2 more)

Atmospheric

Great setting

Can picture this as a good film

7 people in a remote house in Ireland, booked as a B&B through an online app. A family of 3, A man and his father and 2 young ladies, both on their own.

The weather sets in and strange things start happening, from food and drink going missing to sounds of a child crying and power cuts, but when a body is found, things can only get worse...

You learn a lot obout the history of the house, the back ground of the guests, with some of the story told in flashback form, and it is difficult to try and second guess what is going to happen.

The author manages to make the setting very atmospheric and you can almost feel the tension and pressure they are suffering through the narrative...

If you are a fan of psychological thrillers either as a book or film you should enjoy this.