Saturday, February 4, 2012
2012 Reading Challenge via Goodreads.com
You have read 33 books toward your goal of 200 books.
Great work, you're 15 books (7%) ahead.
Vigilante by Stephen J Cannell
Vigilante (Shane Scully #11) is the final novel in the Shane Scully series after writer, and TV producer Stephen J. Cannell passed away in September 2010. Unless another writer gets the families permission to continue this story, this is good-byeQuote of the book - "Sometimes this job really kicks ass," Hitch after he and Scully solve a cold case murder that everyone thought was dead and buried by incompetent police officers with one foot out the door towards retirement.
The story is a mystery right from the very start. LAPD’s Homicide Special Squad Detectives Scully and Hitch are forced to ask tough questions after coming across a dead boy of a rather annoying, but famous trouble maker in a neighborhood known for gangs and drugs.
The questions begin immediately: Who killed Lolita "Lita" Mendez LAPD's most vocal critic and pain in the ass? Was it a police officer, or a gang banger for whom she tried to protect by filing numerous frivolous complaints? Why was she killed in the first place? Was it because she knew too many secrets about the LAPD, or was it because she was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and was set up for the fall to make someone else look brilliant by solving her murder?
If you followed America's Most Wanted, this would be like the host of that show turning up in your town and bringing his circus with him. He would first aim complaints directly at the police department and make claims that he can solve the major crime of the day before the cops.
In this case, Nixon Nash is a host of Vigilante TV who has made numerous enemies out of various police forces, including the Atlanta PD, by stepping on their shoes, and making them look stupid. Nix has a bunch of former police officers, lawyers, district attorneys, and even a judge at his beck and call.
For Scully, this case will try the very fiber of his being and put his career in jeopardy as Nix knows that the only way to get what he wants is to ruin the careers of officers like Scully.
Thankfully, this story plays out exactly like we expect from a Cannell novel. The bad guy is revealed after making some idiotic commentary, and good police work by both Scully and Hitch lead to the eventual downfall of the killer as well as solving a cold case and settling the minds of the victims’ family.
When I thought The Prostitutes' Ball (Shane Scully #10) was the last book of this series, I said I shall miss this series. I’ll miss it because of Scully, Alexa, Hitch, Chooch, and their adventurers and relationships. It's been a nice ride which unfortunately had to end.
Title: Vigilante
Author: Stephen J. Cannell
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Genres: Mystery & Thriller
Friday, February 3, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
The year is 1988 and Kinsey is turning 38 years old. She’s a private investigator who works in fictional small town of Santa Teresa, California. After spending 2 years as a police officer, she’s found her calling as a private investigator. She’s also been married several times which have both ended in bad ways.
Kinsey really hasn't changed all that much since we first met her. She wears the same old batter jeans and turtlenecks, and eats at Rosie’s even though she can’t stand the food she is being served. She cuts her own hair, and it actually wouldn't hurt her to have a make-over just once to make her better about herself.
She still has her all-purpose black dress that doesn't wrinkle or need to be washed and it doesn't show any dirt. She lives in an apartment over her garage that her octogenarian friend and neighbor Henry set up for her. She barely has any food in her cupboards to feed herself properly, yet finds a way to jog a few miles a day when she's feeling up to it and isn't bogged down by a case.
While shopping at Nordstrom’s for some much needed new and reduced under clothes, Kinsey notices a woman shoplifting. She also catches yet another female shopper doing the exact same thing. One thing leads to another, and the shoplifter is found dead at the bottom of a ravine while the younger woman escapes.
Kinsey ends up being hired by the woman’s fiancé to look into her death as well as being stalked by reporter Diana Alvarez who is looking for a story about suicides. Later, Kinsey is treated with scorn by the woman’s fiancé, and also threatened by a dirty cop to stop her from continuing her investigation. But, those of us who've read this series from the start acknowledge that Kinsey doesn't give up so easily and she often ends up in harm’s way.
The second character is Lorenzo Dante. Dante is a loan shark, and a financier of ill repute who is being investigated by all branches of law enforcement. Dante’s own brother has a temper on him, which has led to fingers being pointed at Dante instead of where they should be.
As the story opens, we see Dante in his true element loaning money to a society brat who doesn't know enough to quit gambling after losing his shirt. Instead, he gets in over his head, and ends up dead after a so-called miscommunication.
Dante also has some serious family issues starting with his father, and ending with his younger brother who has been in and out of jail and is also a killer and who may be on the take by a dirty and corrupt cop.
The third character is Nora Vogelsang whose first husband died at a young age, and her only son was believed to have committed suicide. Nora finds out that her husband, the cheating louse of an asshat, has been cheating on her with his typist and plans her own sort of revenge.
Surprisingly, Nora makes some interesting choices along the way, including a not so shocking flight with someone other than her husband out of the country.
This was one of the more interesting stories in the series and a step up from U is for Undertow. We get a better understanding of how far Kinsey will go to get to the truth as well as helping a friend who gave her her first lock and pick set.
I find myself chuckling at times because this series is set in the 1980’s where I came of age, and also ended up in the military (1980-1984) as well as graduated from college believe it or not in 1988 the same year as this story. The cult references to music and fashion are right on the money as far as I remember.
Dante is not all that bad of a person when you get right down to it. He is fiercely loyal to his employees, and loves his dying uncle like he was his own father. His brother is really awful and his ending was justified and after learning a shocking revelation about his own mother, I felt really bad for Dante that he didn’t find out sooner.
Nora ends up in a bad situation with her husband’s infidelity for which millions of women can feel her pain and suffering. She truly is a depressing character at times, but head strong when it comes down to making difficult choices and leaving the louse behind. You can pretty much guess what happens in the end of the story once Dante and Nora meet and she finds out the truth behind her son’s death.
I’ve often wondered if people were really stupid and I mean this with Kinsey’s continued torture at Rosie’s Hungarian recipes she comes up with off the top of her head. She also continually complains about the bad wine. So, why continue eating there? For me, I once got sick on Veal Parmigiana. 30 years later, I haven’t touched veal, nor do I have any inclination of doing so anytime soon.
Title: V is for Vengeance
Author: Sue Grafton
Release Date: November 14, 2011
Genres: Mystery
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Horizon by Sophie Littlefield
Cass is one of those characters that is as far from perfect as one can get. Yes, okay, so she survived being turned into a Beater, and somehow found her humanity was still within reach. She does a good enough job with Ruthie, but her relationship issues with not only Dor, but with Smoke as well, are mind boggling. You know that she loves them both, which of course leads to the dreaded and hated 3-way love triangle that I loathe like over cooked liver.
Cass also gets a surprising reunion with her once missing father who also just happens to have found his way to New Eden. Unfortunately, their reunion is pretty much on the back page because of everything else that happens including a near massacre at a shopping mall, and traveling north to find a community where Beaters don’t tread.
Dor McFall has become a relative nobody in this new community. No longer is he in charge or telling others what to do. He instead joins crews building the community as well as other essential jobs. His one grace is that his daughter Sammi was rescued by Smoke, Cass, and Dor, and brought back to New Eden with them.
Sammi has her own issues she has to deal, including the fact that she was nearly forced into an unwanted pregnancy by the Rebuilders who also killed her mother. She has to come to terms with the fact that her father seems to once again be playing the field with both Victoria the perfect, and Cass, the disturbed and troubled.
As for Smoke aka Edward Allen Schaffer, he remains in a coma after the awful beating he took at the hands of the Rebuilders. He slowly regains his ability to be a value to the survivors and once again believes he is picking up with his relationship with Cass. For me, the Smoke tale is one of heart break and serious mistakes in his past which he has been trying to correct. Readers finally figure out what has driven Smoke so hard and it’s a real shocker.
What’s worse for the survivors of Aftertime is that it seems the Beaters, aka Zombies, are becoming more aware of their abilities to the point of almost understanding and moving in concert with each other. This causes tremendous problems for the survivors of New Eden.
My Thoughts
1. Please by all that is righteous in the world fix the obvious errors before this book is released! The changing of the POV's was incoherent at times, and there was even a point where one character was confused with the other phonetically. As I write this review (12/29/2011), I’m hoping that these things have since been found and cleaned up before release.
2. The ending of this series will blow you away. I am speechless right now. Littlefield knows how to tell a story, there is no debate in that. Her world is set in the year 2022 where the Aftertimes have wreaked havoc on the survivors across America.
3. As I have said so many times now that it’s gets tired of saying it, Love triangles are like the fungus that grows in-between floor boards and shower stalls that just won't go away no matter how hard you scrub, or use powerful cleaners. They are like that obnoxious neighbor who plays his/her music so loud that it rattles your very soul and makes you numb to do anything else. I absolutely hate them and curse the day they were made to be normal in any genre. Most likely, however, there are those who will eat it up because of who the characters are and what they have gone through since the Aftertimes began.
4. There is a major surprise character (Cass’s father) that shows up in this book. Yes, he was once an asshat and left her behind, but, when the time came to standing up and showing his cards and taking responsibility, it was a very emotional moment and goes a very long way of redeeming his errors in my eyes and in the characters he ended up saving.
5. Could this story have been any better? That remains to be seen if the publisher, author, and editors catch all the mistakes before it is released. Here is my fervent wish that someone in the group reads these reviews.
*ARC Provided by NetGalley
*This is the third book in the Aftertime series; Releases January 24, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)