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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Ghosts of Winter (Grey Areas #2) in Books

Nov 13, 2019

Ghosts of Winter (Grey Areas #2)

Brad Carl | 2015 | Crime, Romance, Thriller

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Following his flight from Gable, Iowa after getting inadvertently involved in a drug war, Barrett Grayson is determined to stay on the run from the FBI. However some bad news from home makes him re-evaluate his actions. Back in Gable the fallout from the fateful night of Chum's party continues with the local police and DEA determined to track down the missing drugs and the cartel prepared to stop at nothing to get hold of them instead. Meanwhile Claire can't shake thoughts of 'Henry Fields' from her head.

The first book in this sage was good; this second is even better. Carl is a very talented author who can move seamlessly between emotional and romantic to crime drama without missing a beat. As with the first book, despite a large cast of characters each one is depicted with incredible realism.

The thrust of the saga is that black and white don't exist, that everyone has shades of grey and has to make decisions which may be compromising or morally questionable, and that is brought into sharp relief here with what would normally be 'good guys' and 'bad guys' both blurring a lot of lines and meeting in the middle.

Despite being the second in a sequence of four books this does have its own plot which moves to a satisfying conclusion but obviously leaves all the main players in place for the next book. Anyone who picks this up and reads it will not be disappointed.

Kudos

Joseph Rogers (13 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) in Movies

Jan 14, 2020

Another Star Wars Movie, And It's Great!

The Good:
The saga is over and we finally know where Rey comes from! Would have preferred not to have known but who cares!
A lot of people dislike this movie, almost more than Last Jedi I feel but I take it for what it is: a Star Wars movie. If they didn't make it people would be mad but they did and you can dislike the movie but it's the facetious reviews I can't stand.
We see a lot of older characters return and it really felt like a reunion of old and new.

The Bad:
The editing felt really wonky in places, the first 30mins alone was too much to handle in one sitting (had to see it twice).
I did feel like they suffered slightly by getting a different director in for Last Jedi as they're bound to have a different outlook on Star Wars. That's not discrediting Rian Johnson's directing at all. I'm just a purest and completeist, if you're going to start a trilogy with one director, keep that director for the rest of the movies.

All in all a movie worth watching over and over if you're a star wars fan. I tend to rate a movie 10/10 if it's part of a franchise like star wars that I know I'd watch over and over but as it just came out I'll leave it at 9 for now 😉