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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Murder on Sisters’ Row in Books

Aug 14, 2020  
Murder on Sisters’ Row
Murder on Sisters’ Row
Victoria Thompson | 2011 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Rescue Leads to Murder
Midwife Sarah Brandt’s latest client is a woman in an elegant house. However, over the course of her labor, Amy reveals that she is being held against her will by a madam. Sarah enlists some others to help her free Amy and her baby only for someone to turn up dead. With Frank Malloy assigned to the case, the duo finds themselves investigating another intriguing mystery. Can they figure out what happened?

While the book delves into a serious subject, it does it without forcing the details on us, something I appreciated as I read. Instead it does an excellent job of bringing life in 1890’s New York City to life once again and shining the light on another part of society during the time. I love Sarah, Frank, and the rest of the gang. While all the characters shine, there isn’t any movement in the ongoing storylines, so you could jump in here without being too lost. The new characters represent a wide part of society, and they are all brought to life well. The plot kept me engaged. I was a step or two ahead of Sarah and Frank at times, at others I was heading in the wrong direction. Everything comes together for a page turning climax. I’m doing my best to catch up on this series. If you are as behind as I am, you’ll be delighted with this entry in the series.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Murder on Lexington Avenue in Books

Jun 12, 2020  
Murder on Lexington Avenue
Murder on Lexington Avenue
Victoria Thompson | 2010 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Working on Saturday is Murder
New York City Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy is called to a murder scene at a business office on a Saturday afternoon. Frank quickly learns that the man has a deaf daughter and is heavily involved with one of the deaf schools in the area. Frank’s son is deaf as well, so he already has some knowledge of the schools, but he quickly begins to learn more about the deaf community as he investigates. He also realizes that he must bring in midwife Sarah Brandt. Sarah’s involvement turns out to be a good thing since she can get close to the victim’s family. Will she learn enough so that the two of them can solve the case?

Frank gets involved in this case pretty quickly, although Sarah’s involvement takes a little longer to develop. Still, the duo once again make a fantastic team as they work together well to solve the case. Along the way, we get plenty of suspects and twists. I was sure I had it figured out several times before we reached the end. We do get some updates on Frank and Sarah’s families, including something that I think will jump start a new longer mystery arc. I also appreciated how this book explored the deaf community in the 1890’s. You really could jump in here, but whether you start this series here or go back to the beginning, you’ll be pulled back in time with these excellent books.
  
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Darren (1599 KP) rated Revenge of the Green Dragons (2014) in Movies

Jun 21, 2019  
Revenge of the Green Dragons (2014)
Revenge of the Green Dragons (2014)
2014 | Mystery
5
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: Revenge of the Green Dragons starts as we follow the two young boys that immigrated from China to America and New York City, in a neighbourhood that is run by the Chinese gang known as the Green Dragons.

Recruited at a young age Sonny (Chon) and Steven (Wu) have grown up as part of the Green Dragons under the leadership of Paul (Shum Jr) a businessman that uses the gang to get what he wants. We get to see how the two rise through the ranks in the Green Dragons that even grabs the attention of the FBI.

 

Thoughts on Revenge of the Green Dragons

 

Characters – Sonny is the quieter of the two friends that gets taken in by the gang, he is the one that would like a life outside the gang which isn’t as easy as it seems, even when he falls in love. Steven was built for the gang, even after he gets seriously injured in the battle between the gangs, he becomes the one that won’t hesitant to pull the trigger. Paul is the leader of the Green Dragons, a businessman on the outside, that uses his intelligence to make sure he can stay ahead of the game in the gang battle.

Performances – The performances in this movie are fine, nothing is great or bad, we get to see the different ranges of emotions that the two friends must face during their decisions. We don’t have any of the performances that stand out though.

Story – The story follows the gangster storylines we have seen before, two young men or in this case boys get recruited to a rising gang to become big players in their gang in a war against another gang, until they step out of line. This time we follow Chinese immigrants in New York and it shows how they would never hold back on anybody of any age or gender. This does give us a brutality in the story, but in the end it is just more of the same.

Action/Crime – The action is just gun battles and brutality to the people who get in the way of the crimes being committed by the Green Dragons, as we see how they try to stay off the radar while conducting their business

Settings – New York will always be a great choice for settings for crime movies, this is unlike any other showing us how gangs had neighbourhoods and always want more.


Scene of the Movie – Put the gun down, it brings a clever kill.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It offered nothing new to the genre.

Final Thoughts – This is a by the book crime movie, it shows the rise of two in a gang and just where they would go onto be in the gang, but otherwise gives us nothing we haven’t seen before.

 

Overall: Been Here Seen This.

https://moviesreview101.com/2019/06/18/revenge-of-the-green-dragons-2014/