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ClareR (6101 KP) rated The Lock Up in Books

May 15, 2023

The Lock Up

John Banville | 2023 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

The fact that I haven’t read the previous three books in this series didn’t mean that I enjoyed it any less. It’s a character driven murder mystery, with lots of background of the pathologist, Quirke. His wife died in the last book, and whilst it’s unclear whether this is a thing with him in other books, he’s most certainly an alcoholic in THIS book. He’s deeply unhappy.

The mystery however, centres around the death of a young Jewish woman, found in her car in a lock up. DI Strafford is called in to solve the case, which becomes more complicated ass the story goes on. The beginning of the book is about a young man travelling into the mountains in Germany to escape the allies. This seems unconnected to begin with,but of course it isn’t!

The Church very much makes it’s presence felt, and there are obstacles put in the way of Strafford and Quirke solving this case.

I really liked this, and very much appreciated the descriptions of Strafford, Quirke and the other characters too. It added to the sense of time and place.

Yet another book that I’m very glad that I picked up on The Pigeonhole!

Kudos

Satantango

Laszlo Krasznahorkai

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In the darkening embers of a Communist utopia, life in a desolate Hungarian town has come to a...

Looking out of Broken Windows

Dan Powell

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Shortlisted for The 2013 Scott Prize The characters in this Scott Prize shortlisted debut collection...

Perdido Street Station

China Miéville

9.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Book

The metropolis of New Crobuzon sprawls at the centre of its own bewildering world. Humans and...

Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Predator (2018) in Movies

Sep 14, 2019

The Predator (2018)

2018 | Action, Horror

6.1

(47 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Wasn't entirely terrible

I'd heard a lot of truly terrible things about this film so hadn't been expecting much, and whilst it isn't great, there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.

The first part of the film is actually quite good. I like the Predator's arrival on earth and subsequent escape, and some of the nods to the original film. The problem is the second half with the ridiculous super Predator and turns it into even more of a farce. The cast could have been good, and there's a decent amount of names in this, but they've been let down by a very poor script and characterisation. I mean Olivia Munn's biologist who can fight and handle weapons too without any explanation? And Sterling K Brown's ridiculously hammy villain was beyond cheesy. A lot of the deaths in the second half of the film were also farcical but sadly not in an enjoyable way, and unsurprisingly the ending has been set up yet another sequel. Do we really need another Predator film after this?

This wasn't as bad as Alien vs Predator at least...