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Debbiereadsbook (1727 KP) rated The Final Hunt in Books

Jun 20, 2022

The Final Hunt

Audrey J. Cole | 2022 | Thriller

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

3 good, but not for me, stars

Independent reviewer for Arcaheolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is the second book of Cole's I've read, and I think, the last. I had pretty much the same feeling about this one as I had about the other book I read.

Cameron is mourning her husband and finds a memory stick that sends her life into a tailspin. Finding out your husband is a serial killer is bad enough, but thinking he might not actually be dead and that he implicated her? She knows what she needs to do.

Sometimes, you need a book that has everything laid out for you very early on, and you can see exactly where it's gonna go, what's gonna happen and it veers very little from that long straight road. And I think, that this is such a book.

You put everything together quickly enough, putting all the pieces on the board and watching them do their thing. There was a few minor twists and turns, but none that were total shockers.

I did like the way Cameron dealt with the situation she found herself in, and that little bit at the end that did actually leave me wondering!

I can't say it was a Nice book, because of the subject matter, but it really is a relatively easy read that wiled away a few hours. I'm just sorry it really wasn't one for me.

While it isn't for me, what is here is well written, well delivered and well edited.

3 good, but not for me, stars.

*same worded review will appear elsewhere

Kudos

Darren (1599 KP) rated Doctor Sleep (2019) in Movies

Nov 7, 2019

Characters – Danny Torrance grew up to learn how to contain the nightmares of the Overlook Hotel, he has turned to alcohol and drugs to get him through adult life, until he looks to clean up his life and start fresh, using his ability to guide people to the afterlife. He does make a new friend that communicates through a wall, one that will force him into using his ability to a new fight, a new evil, where he must protect a teenage girl who is being targeted. Rose the Hat is the leader of the cult, she selects who to eat or who to turn, she is the strongest of her group and keeps them in line, she searches for the next targets, with her eyes set on Abra, only to learn just how strong she really is. Abra is a teenage girl that has the ability to look and see miles away from her location, feeling the pain of the victims, she communicates with Danny for years and now calls for his help to deal with Rose and her friends. Billy is the man that sees the good in Danny and wants to help him clean up his act, becoming his best friend. Snakebite Andi shows what it is like to be recruited by Rose, she is one character that you did want to learn more about, because it feels like certain parts of her arc are left in the editing room.

Performances – Ewan McGregor taking the leading role is wonderful in this film, showing how damaged his character’s life is. Rebecca Ferguson is a joy to watch in the villainous role. Kyliegh Curran gives a fantastic performance filled with fear, determination and aggression in the fight.

Story – The story here brings us into the modern times as Danny Torrance is all grown up, dealing with most of the nightmares from his childhood, until he starts communicating with a teenage girl that has seen herself targeted by a cult that preys on the children with the shining abilities. This is a sequel to the much-loved The Shining and does bring us a brand-new story that does make complete sense. We do see certain ideas from other Stephen King novels come to light, with the idea of good and evil joining up before a battle, much like The Stand, while we get references of others through the film. The biggest and best part of the story comes from the idea that both sides can be dealt with the scarier moments in the story, making nobody feel safe.

Horror – The horror is the most interesting and strongest part of the film, we get Danny having his nightmares and to impress more, Abra and Rose using their abilities to try and stay ahead of each other, not to mention one of the most disturbing sequences of the year.

Settings – The film might be known for the iconic location of the Overlook Hotel, the rest of the locations see the gypsy characters travelling around showing how the powers are more than just a long time alone in a hotel.

Special Effects – The effects in this film show just what will happen to the cult if they don’t receive the steam, while also managing to recreate iconic moments from the original.

Scene of the Movie – Rose visits Abra.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Snakebite Andi did seem to have more to her story.

Final Thoughts – This is by far the best horror film of the year, it spins the horror ideas on its head by having both sides being put through the horror elements and does continue the legacy created by The Shining.

Overall: One of the Best Horrors Ever.

Kudos

Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Criminal (2016) in Movies

Jul 21, 2017

Criminal (2016)

2016 | Action, Drama, Mystery

5.6

(8 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Bad dialogue (2 more)

Rubbish Ending

Poorly written script

How To Waste A Great Cast

The trailers for this movie had me sold, as did the top class cast and the plot also sounded interesting, even if it is very similar to something that Ryan Reynolds was involved in previously. Last year he was in a film with Ben Kingsley called Selfless, in which Kingsley played an old millionaire who wanted his brain to be transferred into a young man’s body, and so he took over the body of Reynolds’ character. In this movie Reynolds plays a government agent who gets killed in action, but before he died, he had information that no one else knew and that the government needed. So the head of his team, played by Gary Oldman, recruits a scientist, played by Tommy Lee Jones, to use pioneering biology to transfer the memories of Reynolds’ character into Kevin Costner’s character, who is a psychopath with a child’s mind and has spent the majority of his life in prison. Predictably, Costner’s character starts developing symptoms of multiple personality disorder and having memories of Reynold’s character and from this point on, the film is kind of a mess. A poorly written script results in the audience struggling to find anyone to root with and this lack of a protagonist causes the movie to feel aimless from the start. The closest thing we get to a good guy is Ryan Reynolds and he dies at the very start of the movie, but then the filmmaker expects you to suddenly root for Kevin Costner’s character, even though he is a murderous psycho with absolutely no morals. Gary Oldman certainly isn’t a good guy, since he’s willing to go to whatever measures necessary to get this information that Reynolds’ character had when he died, no matter how extreme or morally ambiguous. Honestly this is one to skip, there isn’t even any payoff at the end of the movie and most of the dialogue throughout is pure cliché nonsense, go see something else instead.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2534 KP) rated A Simple Murder (Will Rees, #1) in Books

Feb 9, 2020

Simple Time but Complex Murder

It’s 1795, and Will Rees has spent the last few years as a traveling weaver while grieving his wife. He’s left his son and his Maine farm in the care of his sister and her husband, but his most recent trip home leads to the discovery that they’ve been abusing that trust, and his son, David, has run away to a Shaker community over a day’s travel away. Will goes to try to repair their relationship only to find himself involved in a murder. One of the Shaker women has been killed in their community, and the Elders have asked Will to find the killer. His problem, however, is that he is an outsider. Will anyone trust him enough to share the information he needs to solve the case?

I’m always on the lookout for a good historical mystery, so I was quite eager to pick this one up. I’m not familiar with the Shakers, so that was also an interesting aspect of the book. The plot is good with plenty of twists and a logical conclusion, however, I felt like the pacing could have been better. That might have just been me since Will could only talk to a couple of people at a time if he had to travel far to talk to them. This is a historical mystery, after all. That travel time may have helped lead me to feel like things were slow. The characters are strong. I really came to care for Will and several of the others. The characters were just as strong, and I had no trouble keeping them apart. However, as Will begins to find complex family relationships, I had a hard time keeping all of those straight. The everyday details of life in the time period were strong and helped make me feel like I was back in time when I was reading the book. I am definitely planning to visit Will again to find out what happens to him next.