Whispers Under Ground: The Third PC Grant Mystery
Stephen Walter and Ben Aaronovitch
9.0
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Book
Doctor Who Screenwriter Ben Aaronovitch's superbly entertaining supernatural crime series has, with...
Greig Plays: v. 1: Europe; The Architect; The Cosmonaut's Last Message
Book
The first collection of plays of one of Scotland's best-known contemporary dramatists EUROPE is set...
Outlaw: How I Became Britain's Most Wanted Man
Book
Ray Bishop was on the run, skulking in a dealer's house in north London, when an image of his face...
The Kingdom (2007)
8.0
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Movie
Thriller starring Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper. When a terrorist bomb detonates inside a Western...
Clearly made on a punishingly low budget, and the vision of the future is occasionally a bit wonky from a modern perspective, but the five episodes written by series creator Chris Boucher are some of the best, most intelligent, wittiest and most cynical SF ever broadcast by the BBC. The other episodes not so much: everything gets a bit campy and there are a lot of national stereotypes on display. (Plus, the theme tune has been called the worst in TV history, and most of the incidental music is rubbish too.) Even when it's not particularly good, it's always trying to do something a bit different, and David Calder is consistently excellent as Spring. Not the first nor the last SF or fantasy show to be cut loose by the BBC before it had a chance to realise its potential.
Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint
Book
R. Andrew Chesnut offers a fascinating portrayal of Santa Muerte, a skeleton saint whose cult has...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Ultraviolet in TV
Jan 3, 2021
One of the many post-X Files genre shows to appear in the UK in the late 90s, but much better than most of them, largely because it resists the temptation to go overboard with the flashy fantasy elements: vampires rarely appear in the early episodes and this more closely resembles a police procedural show. But definitely a horror series, and an effective one for the most part, written and played with great skill. Starts off as an episodic show before the serial elements gradually take over - the standalone episodes are best - and comes up with some clever new spins on vampire lore. One wishes they could have made more than just the six episodes (plus a US pilot with a mostly different cast and rather different approach), but as it this this definitely counts as small but perfectly formed.
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated My Sister, the Serial Killer in Books
Mar 16, 2021
A book about a sister who covers up her own sisters murders, before realising that her sister has hit the number of murders to make her a serial killer. And still she doesn’t report her to the police or try to do much to stop her. At one point, someone tells her she’s worse than her sister and I think that is very true. Her sister might be the murderess but she is standing by and letting it happen time and time again.
The style of the writing was very different to most books, with the short chapters and each chapter name being taken from something that happened in the chapter. It was also quite a short book, so something that can be read in an evening.
I didn’t find myself particularly sad that it was coming to an end, and that we didn’t find out if either sister ever had a happy ending or not. The book was ok, but not really one that I found myself looking forward to a bit of free time to continue reading or picking up for half an hour before bed.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Bonds of Blood (DI Dani Stephens #4) in Books
May 30, 2021
This is a great story - it starts pretty brutally with the murder of a husband and wife in their bed so be prepared - and one that follows DI Stephens and her team's investigation into the brutal murder which is far from straight forward.
Full of lies, deceit and secrets, this is a tricky one to try and work out who did it which makes it all the more enjoyable. It's full of great characters and is written at a good pace and I would definitely recommend to those who love a police procedural where it's not obvious who the perpetrator is until close to the end.
Thank you to Canelo and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.