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Railroaded 4 Murder (Sophie Kimball Mystery)
Railroaded 4 Murder (Sophie Kimball Mystery)
J.C. Eaton | 2021 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
That Cover! 5 stars

But seriously, I honestly can imagine Streetman behaving that way. Every time I see the cover I giggle just a little bit. Between his actual antics and Sophie’s love-to-hate-him relationship, it is safe to say the dog is the star of the show (and he probably knows it too)

How Sophie keeps her sanity with her mom, her mom’s friends, and that dog is beyond me. Any one of them is a natural disaster waiting to happen without the involvement of the rest, but together???

When a friend of Sophie’s mom is wrongly accused of murdering her probably philandering husband, the book club goes undercover into a dance group and a model train club with some hilarious results. Actual experience with either activity is apparently not required. These Arizona seniors are a force to be reckoned with and they take no prisoners. With operation Agatha in full swing, Sophie is dragged into helping them find proof of the woman’s innocence any way she can.

You can’t go wrong with a J.C. Eaton book. Fun, (sometimes frustratingly) quirky characters, and a great quest of a mystery with a satisfying unsuspected ending coupled with just enough of the ongoing drama that is the life that Sophie shares with her mom and her sleuthing friends keep readers coming back for more, page after page, book after book. Plus, you know, a tap-dancing dog… It is always an enjoyable reading experience.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I received an advance review copy for free through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
  
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Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Lie to Me in Books

May 10, 2018  
Lie to Me
Lie to Me
J.T. Ellison | 2017 | Mystery, Thriller
8
7.8 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
On the outside, Ethan and Sutton Montclair seem like the perfect couple. They are both writers and are crazy about each other. But they have secrets in their past that will soon surface. Sutton has disappeared and told her husband she didn't want to be found. Her friends are convinced, that Ethan has done something to hurt her, but the police are not convinced. When bodies turn up and secrets are revealed, will Ethan be able to maintain his innocence?

I gave this book 4.5 stars(why won't GR let us to halves). This was quite a thrilling story that kept me on the edge of my seat. But I figured out early on who the culprit was although I didn't see all the twists and turns that were coming along with it.

Ethan Montclair was the more famous of the two, but Sutton didn't mind that at all. They had agreed when they got married, that their lives were too busy and complicated for a child so they wouldn't have them, but when Ethan switches out her birth control pills and Sutton gets pregnant anyway, at first she hates him, but when their son is born, all of that changes. Not too long after though, he dies and their whole world comes crashing down. Ethan can no longer write and he spends his time bothering Sutton while she tries to. They have a few altercations and then Sutton decides she can't take it anymore and leaves. Or does she? Has she really just picked up and left without a trace? Not taking any of her belongings with her? Or has Ethan done something to her as her friends suspect? You have to read the book to find out.
  
Picture of Innocence
Picture of Innocence
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My name is Lydia. I’m 12 years old. I’m not an evil person, but I did something bad.
My name is Maddie. I’d never hurt my son. But can I be sure if I don’t remember?
With three children under ten, Maddie is struggling. On the outside, she’s a happy young mother, running a charity as well as a household. But inside, she’s exhausted. She knows she’s lucky to have to have a support network around her. Not just her loving husband, but her family and friends too.
But is Maddie putting her trust in the right people? Because when tragedy strikes, she is certain someone has hurt her child – and everyone is a suspect, including Maddie herself…
The women in this book are about to discover that looks can be deceiving… because anyone is capable of terrible things. Even the most innocent, even you.
This is the story of every mother’s worst fear. But it’s not a story you know… and nothing is what it seems.

Picture Of Innocence is a dark psychological thriller.
This novel had me utterly hooked!
The story follows the lives of two women: Maddie and Lydia, and the theme is nature versus nurture.
I really enjoyed the two stories of two women in two different periods of time and watching how those stories intertwined.
This is one devious thriller!
There are so many twists, turns and red herrings in this book; you will be guessing and open mouthed even down to the last page!
I won’t give any spoilers, suffice to say that it’s shocking and dreadful and heartbreaking all at the same time.
 I have to commend T. J. Stimson for a brilliant read!

Many Thanks to AVON Books, UK and NetGalley for a wonderful read
  
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Steve Fearon (84 KP) rated Halloween (1978) in Movies

Sep 5, 2018 (Updated Sep 5, 2018)  
Halloween (1978)
Halloween (1978)
1978 | Horror
Well shot, intense, patient and the birth of a horror icon (0 more)
A little tame compared to the horrors that followed, at times the soundtrack can overwhelm the dialog to the detriment of the film. (0 more)
John Carpenter's Slasher still stands tallest
Contains spoilers, click to show
That theme song starts.

You feel it somewhere deep inside, that feeling that something special is going to happen.

Halloween is THE Slasher, with a silent antagonist, an over-the-top performance from Donald Pleasance, the introduction of Jamie Lee Curtis, and the establishment of John Carpenter as one of the foremost purveyors of horror.

Patiently paced, with little time given to explanation of exposition, we are taken on the slow build up of tension as we go from the legendary intro sequence, to a breakout at the asylum, through to the stalking of teenagers by the man in the William Shatner mask.

Lots of shots of Myers just watching, waiting, judging, which could be interpreted as boring on paper, but it is just the right side of unnerving, and it is this constant threat which means the viewer is constantly scanning the edges of the screen, looking for our antagonist.

It contrasts beautifully with the naivety and innocence of his victims, who are just trying to enjoy Halloween as most teenagers are wont to do.

Yes this film is relatively tame compared to the films that have come after, but few can touch the pure sinister feel and atmosphere that Carpenter creates, and it is a simply iconic entry in cinema history.

Watch it for what it is, a genre changing horror film, that changed all that followed it.

No Myers, No Friday 13th, No Scream, No Nightmare On Elm Street.

Its that important.
  
TL
The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn, #1)
Peter S. Beagle | 1968 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
harpy scene (2 more)
the characters
The timelessness and that it grows with you
harpy scene (0 more)
As a child l loved this movie. And I cannot write a review with out chiming in with the movie. Both the book and screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle. So they are very similar the book expands most of the scenes. And the only thing that is omitted is basically chapter 10(?). I had watched the movie the first time when I was around 5 or 6 and first read the book while I was a college student 17 or 18 and loved it too. The book and movie is for all ages (although that harpy scene...) and it does and doesn’t change as you grow older. It’s about love and duty, innocence and aging, loss and sorrow and many many things in between. Smendrick is still my favorite character although know I’m older I realize the importance of Molly Grue. A very well written story. Good on a lazy day when you don’t want to rush through a book.
I will leave with this one quote:
“It’s a rare man who is taken for what he truly is,...there is much misjudgment in the world. Now, I knew you for a unicorn when I first saw you, and I know I am your friend. Yet you take me for a clown, or a clod, or a betrayer, and so must I be if you see me so. The magic on you is only magic and will vanish as soon as you are free, but the enchantment of error that you put on me I must wear forever in your eyes. We are not always what we seem, and hardly what we dream.”