Search

Search only in certain items:

Smile Beach Murder
Smile Beach Murder
Alicia Bessette | 2022 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Murder at the Lighthouse
After being laid off from her job as a reporter, Callie Padget has returned home to Cattail Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and landed a job at the local bookstore. She is forced to face a tragedy from her past when a friend falls from the island’s lighthouse almost on the anniversary of her own mother’s tragic death at the lighthouse. Callie doesn’t buy the official police ruling of suicide, especially since the victim had just found the first clue to a treasure hunt. Can Callie figure out what really happened? Is the treasure hunt related to the death?

Despite the vacation island setting, this book does have a bit of a more serious tone thanks to Callie’s own past and how the current death impacts some of the characters. It’s a delicate balance that this book handles well. I quickly came to love the characters, and I can only see that love growing as the series progresses. The plot has a bit of a relaxed pace, but it does get us to a logical conclusion. I loved the setting; I can see myself spending a week on the island on vacation. I also appreciated how this book used all the senses to bring the setting to life. This book would be fun on a vacation, but if you are looking for a virtual vacation, you’ll be extra glad you picked this one up.
  
40x40

ClareR (5681 KP) rated South in Books

Apr 26, 2019  
South
South
Frank Owen | 2016 | Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I do like a post-apocalyptic kind of book, and this delivered in spades. It was written in a completely believable way, beginning with a second American Civil war, that was ended by the North releasing hundreds of airborne viruses that infected and killed those in the South indiscriminately. And those viruses continue to kill.
Vida meets two brothers, Garrett and Dyce, and they travel together in a world where to travel alone is death, to travel or to be outside when the wind blows is death.
I loved the world building in this. There will always be comparisons to Stephen Kings ‘The Stand’ with books like this, but other than viruses and a complete breakdown of society, I couldn’t actually see a comparison.
I’m looking forward to reading ‘North’, which is the final part of this two part series, and seeing where the authors take us.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Corvus, for my copy of this book.
  
The Green Mile (1999)
The Green Mile (1999)
1999 | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
EPIC
Coffey (Michael Clark Duncan RIP) is arrested with the charges of killing two young girls and is sentenced to death and comes to live on death row with a couple of guards and a few wild inmates. He is also blessed with an amazing gift that allows him to take the pain away from people only to inflict a horrible pain on himself. Edgecomb (Hanks) who is the lead guard takes a liking to him and learns of this gift first hand and has him help others in massive need of help even though it was gonna hurt him even more. Many of things happen from a cruel guard who finally learns his place to a fun loving mouse who finds a home with a unusual tenant. This power that Coffey has is shown through out the movie and the different ways it works is astonishing.

The cast in this movie were absolutely amazing couldn't see or would want to see another group try
  
Tideland (2006)
Tideland (2006)
2006 | Drama, Sci-Fi
A must for Terry Gilliam fans
It's funny how the DVD for this film contains an introduction by the director, Terry Gilliam, basically saying he forgives you if you hate his film because the subject matter is not for everyone. I don't know if I've ever seen that before.

This film definitely does not shy away from controversial subjects like awkward relationships between grown ups and children and the death of a parent with a girl being raised mostly on her own.

After a sudden death, a young girl and her loser father go to live in an abandoned house house in the country. The girl begins to explore her new world, makes some new friends and creates an imaginary world all her own.

I was fascinated by the film, the look, the cinematography, the acting and the story. Certainly not mainstream but well worth a look.

  
40x40

Dean (6925 KP) rated Gamer (2009) in Movies

Sep 21, 2018 (Updated Sep 29, 2018)  
Gamer (2009)
Gamer (2009)
2009 | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
6
6.8 (15 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Cool ideas (1 more)
Amazing battle scenes
Another high octane, bloody, brutal action film from the guys who gave us Crank. A real mix-match of several ideas thrown in the blender together from Running Man, eXistenZ, Death Race and games like The Sims and Gears of War. So very low on originality but still a cool idea taken a step further. Two games dominate the future world where virtual reality enables the Player to control another human being. In the Society (Sims) game things take on a weird and sexual nature. In the other game Slayers, death row prisoners can earn freedom if they manage to survive 30 missions. The battle scenes are amazing and you feel like you are there right in the middle of it, not just viewing from the sidelines. Quite violent and over the top like the Crank films. If you like those types of films, games mentioned you should like this.
  
A Room Away From the Wolves
A Room Away From the Wolves
Nova Ren Suma | 2018 | Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
So many things being represented! Like LGBTQ+, abuse, assualt, depression, etc. (1 more)
Ghosts + love + death + dark back story = recipe for the best book ever!
The beginning is a little confusing, but it ties up well in the second half. (0 more)
A wicked ghost story that will satisfy every need!
I absolutely loved this novel!! I couldn't get enough of it and didn't want it to end. There's LGBTQ+ representation, romance, death, mystery, family drama, talk of suicide and domestic violence. I mean A Room Away From the Wolves has it all!

The only reason why this novel isn't sitting at a 5-star rating is that it was a little confusing in the beginning. I didn't quite understand the story-line and plot and the characters seemed to be lacking. But once I actually delved deeper into the novel, I got my answers and everything became clear yet again.

Want to read more? Head over to my blog: bookingwayreads.wordpress.com
  
John Ashdown-Hill really has the ability to write clearly and compellingly. This latest offering takes a look at the middle of the brothers of York, George, Duke of Clarence.

Much less well known than his more famous brothers, Edward IV and Richard III, nonetheless, Clarence and his life and death were am important part of the story of this period. His supposed death by drowning in a butt of Malmsey wine is one of those well known 'facts' that might be a mythology all of its own, but Ashdown-Hill provides evidence to suggest that drowning was used as a method of execution in this period and considered kinder than hanging or beheading!

It's not a long book and a good proportion is given over to a study of the Clarence vault at Tewksbury abbey and the remains therein. If you are interested in the period, this is certainly worth a read. I look forward to the forthcoming companion volume, The Dublin King.