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Escaping Toward Freedom
Book
Escaping Toward Freedom is the fictional story of four teens who escape a human trafficking ring....
Literature mystery suspense African American fiction
David McK (3562 KP) rated Hornblower: The Even Chance (1998) in Movies
Aug 15, 2021 (Updated Jun 29, 2025 - 3:33 PM)
First of the TV movie adaptations of CS Forester's famous nautical hero Horatio Hornblower, taking it's main inspiration and plot from the earliest (set, if not released) of those books when Hornblower had just joined the navy.
Ant, therein, I found, lies my biggest problem with the film: Ioan Gruffudd (back before Hollywood came calling - he was Mr Fantastic from the original Fantastic Four movies, remember) is simply too old for the part!
That's not to say that he doesn't give it his all, or even manage to fully inhabit the role: just that, in this one at least, I couldn't get over the fact that Midshipmen were only supposed to be in their very early teens (11, 12, thereabouts), and yet here we have an actor in his mid 20s (at the time of recording) playing a 17 year old - and even 17, to me, seems too old to be a Midshipman during the period portrayed.
Ant, therein, I found, lies my biggest problem with the film: Ioan Gruffudd (back before Hollywood came calling - he was Mr Fantastic from the original Fantastic Four movies, remember) is simply too old for the part!
That's not to say that he doesn't give it his all, or even manage to fully inhabit the role: just that, in this one at least, I couldn't get over the fact that Midshipmen were only supposed to be in their very early teens (11, 12, thereabouts), and yet here we have an actor in his mid 20s (at the time of recording) playing a 17 year old - and even 17, to me, seems too old to be a Midshipman during the period portrayed.
Midge (525 KP) rated SEAL's Homecoming in Books
Jan 31, 2019 (Updated Jan 31, 2019)
Hot romance (2 more)
Great lead characters
Action and suspense
A Delightful, Sexy Must Read!
I absolutely adored this wonderful, hot, little romance from the very beginning.
Chance McCallister is a Navy SEAL with dark brown eyes a perfectly honed body and likes sprucing up classic cars. He and his brothers have returned to their home town of Springwell, Georgia for their father’s funeral. Chance buys the car parts from the garage that his ex-girlfriend owns, who he is trying to avoid and hasn’t seen for twelve years. No problem, unless things start to get complicated....
Enter Mandy Loomis, a stunning, petite, curvy, russet-haired beauty, to whom he lost his virginity and who he thought he’d marry until she ripped out his heart just before he left for the Navy. Mandy’s gambler father died two years ago, leaving her the garage family business and a whole load of related debt, owed to a loan shark.
To Mandy, Chance was her childhood sweetheart who abandoned her 12 years ago. Then he was 18 years old, now she is drowning in lust for him and he is bigger, stronger and even sexier, with an aura of danger and a reputation of fighter and predator. Just as the two are beginning to realize they could have a future together, the loan shark starts to make some serious trouble for them, putting both their love and their lives in danger.
Although Chance has a bad-boy image, I loved the sexy chemistry between him and Mandy whenever they were together and they were both very likeable characters. Mandy is bright, ambitious, fiercely independent and very much knows her own mind. Chance is gorgeous and his actions are always carried out with good intentions.
"SEAL’s Homecoming" is a short fast-paced read with lots of action, some suspense and plenty of lust and love. Leslie North has written another brilliant story that was sweet and captivating to the end and loads of fun to read.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone.
Thank you to Hidden Gems and the author, Leslie North, for a free ARC of this book in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.
Chance McCallister is a Navy SEAL with dark brown eyes a perfectly honed body and likes sprucing up classic cars. He and his brothers have returned to their home town of Springwell, Georgia for their father’s funeral. Chance buys the car parts from the garage that his ex-girlfriend owns, who he is trying to avoid and hasn’t seen for twelve years. No problem, unless things start to get complicated....
Enter Mandy Loomis, a stunning, petite, curvy, russet-haired beauty, to whom he lost his virginity and who he thought he’d marry until she ripped out his heart just before he left for the Navy. Mandy’s gambler father died two years ago, leaving her the garage family business and a whole load of related debt, owed to a loan shark.
To Mandy, Chance was her childhood sweetheart who abandoned her 12 years ago. Then he was 18 years old, now she is drowning in lust for him and he is bigger, stronger and even sexier, with an aura of danger and a reputation of fighter and predator. Just as the two are beginning to realize they could have a future together, the loan shark starts to make some serious trouble for them, putting both their love and their lives in danger.
Although Chance has a bad-boy image, I loved the sexy chemistry between him and Mandy whenever they were together and they were both very likeable characters. Mandy is bright, ambitious, fiercely independent and very much knows her own mind. Chance is gorgeous and his actions are always carried out with good intentions.
"SEAL’s Homecoming" is a short fast-paced read with lots of action, some suspense and plenty of lust and love. Leslie North has written another brilliant story that was sweet and captivating to the end and loads of fun to read.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone.
Thank you to Hidden Gems and the author, Leslie North, for a free ARC of this book in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
A follow up to the 2008, “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” here is another modern take on those beloved classic stories of the 19th century. “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is based on the idea that Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, are in fact the same island which really does exist.
The movie opens up with the return of Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) getting caught by the police for climbing a satellite tower. To his chagrin, Josh is released into the custody of his stepfather Hank (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson), a former Navy man who wants nothing more than to be friends with his stepson. Sean’s reason for climbing the satellite tower was to get a hold of a satellite transmission code that he believes is the key to a message from his long-lost grandfather Alexander(Michael Caine).
Sean, with the help of Hank’s Navy expertise, attempts to decode the message which eventually leads them to the Mysterious Island. Along the way, the two hire a helicopter pilot Gabato (Luis Guzman), who provides the comedic relief and his daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) who, of course, is the eye candy and the romantic interest for Sean.
Upon arrival at the Mysterious Island, they locate Sean’s grandfather Alexander and they discover they must trek across the island, past a volcano that erupts gold leaves and run from dangerous creatures to find Captain Nemo’s ship. All before the island sinks!
You don’t have to be a “Vernian” to know what’s going on here. This movie was definitely geared toward a younger audience. The idea behind recreating Verne’s novels with a modern day twist was clever, however the execution was poor as the sequence of events didn’t flow from one scene to the next and the character relationships were not genuine at all. I must say, however the visual effects were stunning. as well as some of the action scenes which could have rivaled “Indiana Jones” or even “The Goonies” with just a bit more care and attention to detail.
The movie opens up with the return of Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) getting caught by the police for climbing a satellite tower. To his chagrin, Josh is released into the custody of his stepfather Hank (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson), a former Navy man who wants nothing more than to be friends with his stepson. Sean’s reason for climbing the satellite tower was to get a hold of a satellite transmission code that he believes is the key to a message from his long-lost grandfather Alexander(Michael Caine).
Sean, with the help of Hank’s Navy expertise, attempts to decode the message which eventually leads them to the Mysterious Island. Along the way, the two hire a helicopter pilot Gabato (Luis Guzman), who provides the comedic relief and his daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) who, of course, is the eye candy and the romantic interest for Sean.
Upon arrival at the Mysterious Island, they locate Sean’s grandfather Alexander and they discover they must trek across the island, past a volcano that erupts gold leaves and run from dangerous creatures to find Captain Nemo’s ship. All before the island sinks!
You don’t have to be a “Vernian” to know what’s going on here. This movie was definitely geared toward a younger audience. The idea behind recreating Verne’s novels with a modern day twist was clever, however the execution was poor as the sequence of events didn’t flow from one scene to the next and the character relationships were not genuine at all. I must say, however the visual effects were stunning. as well as some of the action scenes which could have rivaled “Indiana Jones” or even “The Goonies” with just a bit more care and attention to detail.
Merissa (12894 KP) created a post
Feb 12, 2021
Shaun Collins (3 KP) rated Lethbridge-Stewart: The Grandfather Infestation (#7) in Books
Jan 12, 2018
When a pirate radio station goes off the air suddenly, a Navy sub disappears, and a small island is overrun with killer plants, Lethbridge-Stewart and the 5th spring into action.
A breathless, well-paced action yarn that's also a hard hitting sci-fi. Great characters, great characterizations of existing friends and enemies, much military co-operation and maneuvering, it felt like a 70s era Bond flick. And like all good Bond flicks, everything blows up at the end.
If I have a complaint, it's the end. We rush headlong toward that climax and once it arrives, it feels like we barely have time to register what has happened before plummeting down the other side and the story is over. But perhaps that's the greatest compliment. The fact that the book felt and read so much like a movie, that my brain was filling the cinematic strokes for me, and I was brought back to earth by no credits at the end, well, that's an adventure tale done right!
For a full spoiler filled review, visit www.travelingthevortex.com
A breathless, well-paced action yarn that's also a hard hitting sci-fi. Great characters, great characterizations of existing friends and enemies, much military co-operation and maneuvering, it felt like a 70s era Bond flick. And like all good Bond flicks, everything blows up at the end.
If I have a complaint, it's the end. We rush headlong toward that climax and once it arrives, it feels like we barely have time to register what has happened before plummeting down the other side and the story is over. But perhaps that's the greatest compliment. The fact that the book felt and read so much like a movie, that my brain was filling the cinematic strokes for me, and I was brought back to earth by no credits at the end, well, that's an adventure tale done right!
For a full spoiler filled review, visit www.travelingthevortex.com
When I read about this book from the author that email that was sent to me. I was like yes I want read about this. I really did enjoy it.
It about the life of a Navy Seal named Adam Brown. It take you though this live from when He was born to when he died. The story starts out with an interview kind of setting. Though it goes though from How his parents meet and then and it goes though focus on Adam life. I really is a good read. It got to my emotions a bit twice though out the book.
There are somethings that Adam does that are strange but also some really bad things. You will be surpirese to see where he end up being. It quite amazing at what he was able to to do and fight though to get there. If you want a good read and Non Fiction book this is a good one to pick up and read. It read though this family and teammates and friends.
It about the life of a Navy Seal named Adam Brown. It take you though this live from when He was born to when he died. The story starts out with an interview kind of setting. Though it goes though from How his parents meet and then and it goes though focus on Adam life. I really is a good read. It got to my emotions a bit twice though out the book.
There are somethings that Adam does that are strange but also some really bad things. You will be surpirese to see where he end up being. It quite amazing at what he was able to to do and fight though to get there. If you want a good read and Non Fiction book this is a good one to pick up and read. It read though this family and teammates and friends.
When I read about this book from the author that email that was sent to me. I was like yes I want read about this. I really did enjoy it.
It about the life of a Navy Seal named Adam Brown. It take you though this live from when He was born to when he died. The story starts out with an interview kind of setting. Though it goes though from How his parents meet and then and it goes though focus on Adam life. I really is a good read. It got to my emotions a bit twice though out the book.
There are somethings that Adam does that are strange but also some really bad things. You will be surpirese to see where he end up being. It quite amazing at what he was able to to do and fight though to get there. If you want a good read and Non Fiction book this is a good one to pick up and read. It read though this family and teammates and friends.
It about the life of a Navy Seal named Adam Brown. It take you though this live from when He was born to when he died. The story starts out with an interview kind of setting. Though it goes though from How his parents meet and then and it goes though focus on Adam life. I really is a good read. It got to my emotions a bit twice though out the book.
There are somethings that Adam does that are strange but also some really bad things. You will be surpirese to see where he end up being. It quite amazing at what he was able to to do and fight though to get there. If you want a good read and Non Fiction book this is a good one to pick up and read. It read though this family and teammates and friends.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Hunter Killer (2018) in Movies
Oct 23, 2018 (Updated Oct 23, 2018)
Oh-lord-must-we submarine thriller with GERARD! BUTLER! toning it down for once as maverick navy commander Joe Glass, sent to investigate the loss of a US vessel off the Russian coast. Quite how detached from reality this film is is perhaps suggested by the fact that the female President of the USA ends up ordering Butler to save the Russian President (nothing like you-know-who, by the way) from an attempted coup. The film attempts to offset how absurdly silly the plot is by taking itself very seriously indeed; this just results in making it dull.
Special effects are competent, some rather good actors (Oldman, Stephens) phone in reasonable performances - there is very little that is flat-out bad about Hunter Killer, yet it never generates any real tension or excitement. Anything that would actually make it interesting or original seems to have been machine-tooled away. Butler's attempts to avoid going over-the-top are not necessarily for the best. Really just a very tedious, derivative, and formulaic movie.
Special effects are competent, some rather good actors (Oldman, Stephens) phone in reasonable performances - there is very little that is flat-out bad about Hunter Killer, yet it never generates any real tension or excitement. Anything that would actually make it interesting or original seems to have been machine-tooled away. Butler's attempts to avoid going over-the-top are not necessarily for the best. Really just a very tedious, derivative, and formulaic movie.
Radio Astronomer: John Bolton and a New Window on the Universe
Peter Robertson, Ron Ekers and Ken Kellerman
Book
The leading Australian astronomer of his generation, John Bolton (1922-93), was born in Sheffield...