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Blood Runs Cold (DS Max Craigie #4)
Blood Runs Cold (DS Max Craigie #4)
Neil Lancaster | 2023 | Crime, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Wow ... just wow!!!

Once again, Mr Lancaster has written an absolute cracker in this brilliant series and whilst this is the fourth, it is quite successful as a standalone however, I would highly recommend you go back and read the other three because it will help with getting to know the main characters but also because they are just really good books!

DS Max Craigie and his team are strong characters that work well as a small but formidable team rooting out corruption within Police Scotland; Mr Lancaster has written them so well that I have found myself becoming really attached to them. Their relationship and dialogue feels authentic and I found myself tittering away to myself at times which helped to lighten what is, essentially, a very dark story.

This is a dark, gritty and fast paced police procedural that I was totally and completely absorbed by from the very start. The plot is scarily plausible and realistic with some excellent twists and turns which adds to the intensity.

Highly recommended and I urge everyone to read this excellent series; I can't wait for the next instalment and I must thank HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of the brilliant Blood Runs Cold.
  
Inherent Vice (2015)
Inherent Vice (2015)
2015 | Drama, Mystery
10
6.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
“Inherent Vice” Follows Doc (Joaquin Phoenix), a private investigator, as he falls down a dark rabbit hole into a world of crime and systemic corruption.
Phoenix is a transformative actor, delving deep into his role. We’ve seen him do it before in movies like “Walk the Line.” He becomes his character to the point that it is conceivable this just might be the real him.

It is set in bohemian 1970s California. Everything from the way the camera captures the scene, to the outfits that adorn the characters, exudes a hippy-grunge vibe.
The film encompasses multiple genres including crime, comedy, and drama.

Similar to movies like “The Big Lebowski,” it is filled with humorous moments as Doc, a well-meaning and laid back stoner, is constantly found in the middle of the proverbial shit.
When his ex-girlfriend Shasta Fay (Katherine Waterston) reappears one random day, telling him of a plot to kidnap her billionaire boyfriend and then disappears shortly after, Doc becomes consumed by his investigation into her whereabouts. He is led into a conspiracy-like web of drugs, crime, and corruption.

It is not a typical movie with a coherent storyline, rather it is an experience of what Doc goes through as a mind bending mystery unfolds before him.
Strange, subtle details leave a trail of breadcrumbs for the audience to follow along with Doc, as he tries to make some sense out of the connections he stumbles across.
The plot transpires in a blur, floating into the perceptions of the audience like the winding smoke of an opium den. With a few dull moments, it drags on at times, much like the reality of human experience tends to do.

The musical selection only adds to the film’s tantalizing stylistic ambiance – at times it’s a dull and prolonged high, other times it’s a seedy bluesy underground, or absolute instrumental lunacy. Interestingly, much of the music was composed by Radiohead lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

Adding to the intricacy and authenticity of the film, is a brief cameo by what is perhaps the most psychedelic band of our time, The Growlers. This moment will only be recognized by fans who are paying close attention, but is an absolutely fitting detail.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson adapted the film from the original novel written by Thomas Pynchon. Like reading a novel, the film is consuming. But because it goes by much quicker than reading a book, it may need to be watched several times for the viewer to grasp exactly what happened.

Audiences will leave theaters with a resonating feeling of pure delirium from the cerebral experience that is “Inherent Vice.”

A surreal masterpiece, I give “Inherent Vice” 5 out of 5 stars.
  
The Trespasser: Dublin Murder Squad
The Trespasser: Dublin Murder Squad
Tana French | 2016 | Crime, Thriller
7
8.6 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
Good, realistic but fairly anti-climactic
Tana French's look into the Dublin police force is gritty and rather depressing, filled with backbiting and even sabotage. It is gripping in the beginning, seeing a murder investigation almost in real time. The downfall of this book, ironically, is its length, having revealed most of the plot three-quarters of the way through the novel.

The plot of The Trespasser centres on a murder investigation viewed as a straightforward domestic with the murderer being the victim’s boyfriend, but Antoinette and Steve discover something far more sinister. The obvious suspect is subjected to interrogation in a most unorthodox and questionable manner with harsh treatment and language that is likely to be unconvincing to readers – and hopefully is far-fetched. Narrative is largely via Antoinette, and her language and dialogue are irritatingly intrusive throughout the book.

In addition to background support a third detective is added to the team who attempts to force an early arrest of the prime suspect, but Antoinette and Steve are looking elsewhere. The plot becomes hugely complex as corruption is exposed and doubts creep in that the murderer may be closer than the murder victim’s boyfriend. With that being said, the to-ing and fro-ing between three suspects becomes tedious and the big reveal as a result, is rather anti-climactic. Interesting read nevertheless.
  
Last Stop in Brooklyn
Last Stop in Brooklyn
Lawrence Levy | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Mystery
6
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Mary is a case when she feels like someone is following her. But she cannot tell who at the moment. Once she sees her friend's husband talking to Colleen. She thinks the worse of her best friend's husband.

On her way out, she confronts a man see that is following her. When she does, he wants her to look into his brother case that is that Ben Ali is not a killer.

There seems to be some corruption going on in the NYPD in the year of 1894. Who does all the cover-up? Who the Killer of more than a dozen woman.

Looks like Mary get pulled into an investigation that has to do with Sage Bombing and as she gets more into the case of Ben Ali she finds more clues and finding the killer. Who is Jack the Ripper, the killer?

You will be turning the page to find out. Have you read the book you learn about that time period in NY? We even meet Teddy Roosevelt before he becomes President of United States and the reason why or at least partly.

If you are a historical Fiction fan you will enjoy this book. It a Mystery and part historical so you will get both if you are a fan of both or one or the other.