Book Review: The Dark Hours Belong to Ballard

April 18, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Dark Hours is a pretty intriguing novel by Michael Connelly and features Harry Bosch and his most recent series character, Renee Ballard. Bosch has been retired from LAPD for some time, but Detective Ballard still manages to draw him back into an investigation or two.

This thriller takes place during the thick of COVID lockdowns and mask-wearing. Ballard has been called out in the middle of the night to look into a fatal shooting. Evidence leads her to look into an unsolved case that was once investigated by Harry Bosch. Meanwhile, a pair of rapists have been stalking the streets of Los Angelos and have also attracted Ballard’s attention and ire. Bosch once again provides some invaluable support and insight even though he no longer carries a badge. Ballard also has to navigate the treacherous waters of department politics as well and finds her pool of allies getting smaller. It’s another cluster of tense situations provided by the prolific Michael Connelly.

I would have been fine if Connelly ignored the pandemic situation in his novels, but it’s not my call. Once thing that adds a dose of reality to his crime fiction is that his characters are often working more than one case in a particular novel. There is usually a primary plot, but Connelly will often have a side project for his protagonists going on and manages to skillfully weave in and out of them quite skillfully.

I don’t know if Connelly is really a master of the craft, but I don’t begrudge him his current popularity and success. Connelly is consistently good, and this particular novel isn’t the one to change my mind. I was pretty well hooked and inwardly cheering when Bosch would appear. This was still mostly a Ballard story, but I was fine with that. I enjoy the friendship that Connelly has developed between them. I found it interesting that Ballard acknowledged that Bosch has become sort of a mentor because that was not immediately obvious since Ballard is pretty sharp on her own. I thought it was pretty cool when she actually verbalized that aspect of their relationship. I also appreciate that Connelly has also chosen to not shoehorn in some romantic spark between them. Since there is a significant age gap between the two detectives, it would just seem tawdry and unnecessary, and Connelly seems to agree.

Overall, I enjoyed this one quite a bit, but I haven’t come across a Connelly novel that I did not enjoy in some degree. It was pretty good and should be one that crime fiction enthusiasts add to their reading lists.

Next up, I am reading my first J.K. Rowling novel, however it’s not her Harry Potter series. Time to meet Cormoran Strike in The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith. Yes, Galbraith is really J.K. Rowling. Anyway, that’s the next step in my path of literary indulgence.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Detective Orion Hood Is On The Case

April 16, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Two pretty good stories make up the latest set of Fifth Doctor audio dramas just released by Big Finish Productions. Peter Davison is reunited with his original TARDIS crew portrayed by Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, and Matthew Waterhouse in a pair of audio dramas written by Tim Foley and Lizzie Hopley. Ken Bentley is in the director’s chair yet again.

The great Agatha Christie is channeled in Tim Foley’s The Merfolk Murders which kicks off this set. The guest cast includes Tom Alexander, Pearl Appleby, and Josie Lawrence. The TARDIS arrives in 1940 Scotland at the dawn of the Second World War. They encounter a little group known as the Merfolk Society, who meet to discuss murder mysteries. They are gathered to discuss The Casebook of Orion Hood, whose protagonist is quite familiar to the Doctor and his friends. It seems that the Doctor spent some time as an amateur detective in his previous incarnation, and those adventures were chronicled by one Sarah Jane Smith, who was using a pseudonym at the time. Anyway, a murder has occurred, and the Doctor has to slip back into the role of Orion Hood.to get to the bottom of the disturbing crime.

This was a pretty fun and interesting story. The red herrings were pretty effective. Apparently, this is a set-up for a future Big Finish project which is likely to star the great Tom Baker. I am a great fan of murder mysteries of this sort, so Doctor Who dipping into this genre is a bit of an extra treat. The main cast continue to display their usual chemistry. I do struggle with ignoring how much Peter Davison’s voice has changed over the years. He was in his early thirties when he first played the Doctor on television. Although he does not really sound bad in these new stories, his voice seems to have changed the most compared to the other Doctors participating in these recordings. His acting is still on par, and I still enjoy dipping into the range of stories regardless. This is still a pretty good addition to the Fifth Doctor catalogue of Big Finish stories.

Dream Team is written by Lizzie Hopley and brings back creatures first introduced in the new series known as the Dream Crabs. The Crabs latch on their victims’ face and puts them into a deep sleep, feeding on their brains as they dream. They’re actually rather effectively chilling. The Doctor and his friends arrive in a place that specializes in corporate bonding and find themselves experiencing some very vivid nightmares. There is no guest cast in this story, and it’s a two-parter. Hopley manages to pack in a lot in this relatively short episode which focuses solely on the main cast. It’s another one of the stronger episodes that Big Finish has been putting out recently.

I will also mention that there is a range included in some of the recent downloaded releases known as Interludes. This release included one of these episodes entitled Meanwhile, Turlough by Jonathan Blum and features the talented Dan Starkey presenting this audio short story. While the Doctor and Tegan Jovanka deal with a crisis on a planet where the TARDIS has recently arrived, Turlough has his own crisis going in that his escape from his exile on Earth has been noticed, and he has to contend with a monitor from his own planet who has recognized him. Starkey is pretty good as a narrator and actor, but his efforts to emulate the Fifth Doctor is not that good. He actually is closer to mimicking Mark Strickson, who plays Turlough in the series. It’s an interesting story, but I am easily intrigued by Turlough. He was definitely one of the Doctor’s more enigmatic and intriguing companions. Blum has a long history of writing Doctor Who stories, and I was reminded why he was one my favorite contributors.

The whole set is quite good. The main cast once again prevails in making any plot holes much less meaningful. Davison is getting older, and one can hear it, however he is still welcome to keep me entertained as I listen to his new recordings with Big Finish. I think the murder mystery at the top of the release is going to be my preference, but the whole collection is worth the time.

Film Review: Possession Or Insanity…Who Can Say?

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Nefarious had an intriguing idea, but this supernatural thriller didn’t quite pull off the execution onscreen. More than likely, the book written by Steve Deace is considerably better.

Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon wrote and directed this film. Sean Patrick Flannery and Jordan Belfi are the leads alongside Tim Ohmer and Glenn Beck, who makes a special appearance toward the end of the film.

The film starts off with a psychiatrist who commits suicide by throwing himself off a building for some inexplicable reason. His protégé, played by Belfi, takes his place interviewing a death row inmate to determine if a notorious killer is legally sane, which would allow the execution to proceed. Flannery offers a fairly chilling performance as the killer known as Edward Wayne Brady. Beady explains that he is actually a demon in possession of this body. Brady was actually coerced into committing the murders that have landed him in this predicament. Of course, the shrink is an atheist, and what follows is a pretty lengthy match of verbal jousting which ended up being somewhat predictable and rather clumsily written.

Anyway, the film is apparently billed as a Christian film, which becomes more evident when social issues such as abortion come up. I don’t actually disagree with the position the writers and producers apparently take. I do sort of question the whole demonic possession angle, but some of the theological points made did resonate with me. I just wish there was some better skill in the writing.

I will say that the transformation Flannery undergoes for his character is actually quite impressive. I actually had to recognize his name to realize that I had seen him quite often before. Flannery is a pretty good actor, but I always kind of considered him a pretty boy. That wasn’t there in this one.

Overall, I appreciate the effort for some of these studios to put out some more faith-based content, and this film is not that bad. It just isn’t that great either. It had a low-budget feel to it, and the writing just wasn’t strong enough to overcome that.

Book Review: The White House Turns On Mitch Rapp…Big Mistake

April 11, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Oath of Loyalty is a pretty entertaining but outlandish continuation of the Mitch Rapp series originally created by the late Vince Flynn. Kyle Mills has been writing the latest installments for the past several years.

In this story, President Anthony Cook is the current occupant of the Oval Office, and he is a corrupt piece of work. Mitch Rapp is reeling from the discovery of a recent betrayal from one of his most trusted friends. His feud with the current fictional president has led him to live in exile from the United States. CIA Director Irene Kennedy has brokered a truce between the two men, but the president is not sure that Rapp will honor that and decides to make a presumptive strike. Rapp is currently in a relationship with a former assassin who has a young daughter. He has a complicated situation with this woman, Claudia, in that her deceased husband was responsible for the death of Rapp’s wife. Claudia also has a young daughter who has come to love Mitch as well. Anyway, President Cook’s fear of Mitch Rapp leads him to break the truce in the typical Washington sleazy manner by influencing Claudia’s past enemies to make a move. Rapp has a more direct way to take his opponents off the board, and he is not letting Cook’s current position prevent him from doing what he does best.

Mills has done a pretty decent job of emulating Flynn’s style of writing. Although the plot is an interesting idea, the implausibility of the characters and the situation is a little distracting. I also am not sure that I like that Rapp has become a bit of a mythical boogeyman throughout the halls of Capitol Hill. He seems a little too indestructible sometimes, which sort of dilutes the suspense. There is also a new recurring character who is a trillionaire. It’s still fun to see what Rapp and his regular allies will get into. I guess none of these new pieces is really impossible, but it is getting a little harder to suspend disbelief as the series progresses. I do wonder what Vince Flynn would think of the direction his series has taken since his demise.

Vince Flynn fans who have followed Mills’ efforts to keep Mitch Rapp alive, figuratively will likely not be too disappointed. I wasn’t either, but I think Mills would do well to show some restraint in his plot ideas. I still had fun reading this, and the final confrontation between Rapp and the president is worth the journey. I will be reading the next one.

Next up, time to return to Michael Connelly’s L.A. seen through the eyes of detectives, Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch with The Dark Hours.

Book Review: An Ancient Sword Draws The Attention Of Sherlock Holmes

April 4, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Sherlock Holmes and the Sacred Sword by Frank Thomas misses the mark when it comes to emulating the talents of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was first published in 1980, and Thomas is not likely one of the better-known pastiche authors who has made an effort to add something to the Sherlock Holmes legend. After reading this book, there is little reason that he should be counted among the better contributors.

The story starts off with a man being brought to 221 B Baker Street where he dies in the presence of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. That and a rather peculiar burglary draws the duo into the search for an ancient sword that was said to have belonged to Mohammed. An old enemy who leads a criminal Chinese enterprise also plans to ensnare Holmes and Watson as they travel the world and end up in Egypt where a lethal confrontation will take place.

Thomas is not necessarily as bad writer. He just seems to draw more inspiration from the Basil Rathbone films than Doyle’s original works. I enjoy the Basil Rathbone films, but they also seem to take some artistic liberties when it comes to the mannerisms of Doyle’s creations. Thomas probably would have done better with applying his talents to his own characters and literary world more than trying to indulge himself within the landscape created by Doyle. There were some moments where the story sort of dragged, but that’s usually the risk when trying to write something that takes place in the Victorian Era.

It was an interesting challenge to get through this novel even though it is not that long. Frank Thomas is likely a competent enough writer in his own right, but the decision to bring his pen to 221 B Baker Street just didn’t seem that well thought out.

It’s time to return to the world of Vince Flynn’s creation, Mitch Rapp. Flynn has been deceased for some time, but Kyle Mills has kept the Mitch Rapp series going for the past few years. Oath of Loyalty is next my port of call on the lengthy literary voyage.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Sontarans In Ireland

April 4, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Sontarans vs Rutans: The Battle of Giant’s Causeway is another triumphant beginning to a pretty fun series of Doctor Who audio dramas from Big Finish Productions. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary since the introduction of the Sontarans in Doctor Who, and Big Finish decided to mark the occasion by a short series of dramas that feature aspects of the ongoing war between the Sontarans and the Rutans.

The first episode features the return of Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. India Fisher reprises her role as Charlotte Pollard with Conrad Westmaas returning to the role of C’rizz after fifteen years since audiences heard the tragic departure of the character. This is basically a flashback story that sort of tantalizes the nostalgia for long-time Big Finish listeners. John Banks and Dan Starkey return to voice the absurdly militaristic Sontarans. Lizzie Hopley wrote the script, and Ken Bentley returns to the director’s chair. Michelle Fox and Amanda Hurwitz round out the guest cast.

A temporal tidal wave throws the TARDIS to Ancient Ireland, and the Doctor, C’rizz, and Charley encounter Sontarans behaving like Roman Legionnaires. They have landed in a region known as the Giant’s Causeway, and something has shut the TARDIS down, leaving the Doctor and his friends stranded in the midst of a brewing war between two alien forces who have been displaced and the savagery of those who are supposed to live in that time and place.

Doctor Who is a pretty strange show on the outset, and this script is up there when it comes to odd plotlines. Hopley is talented enough to make this work. The Sontarans are acting odder than usual, but Starkey and Banks still manage to make them compelling and amusing. McGann, Fisher, and Westmaas easily recapture the chemistry that made them a popular team in earlier times. I would not consider this script to be one the greats, but it’s still pretty enjoyable. Hopley shows some creativity in bringing in some fresh amusement in the depiction of the Sontarans and the Rutans. Yes, we’ll be hearing more from the Rutans in this little mini-series. Hopley gives this range a pretty decent kick-off.

Film Review: The Titans Get Ready To Rumble Once Again

April 4, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has awesome visual effects, great monster fight scenes, and almost impressive mediocrity in any other basic elements of filmmaking. This is the ultimate in a mind-numbing popcorn flick.

It took three screenwriters for this one to underwhelm me. Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater concocted this exercise in screenwriting shallowness. Adam Wingard directed this latest addition to the Monarch storyline. Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, and Kaylee Hottle are the human leads. Kaylee Hottle, the teen-ager who has a unique friendship with King Kong, is probably the most interesting character, Jia. Jia is the last survivor of a tribe that resided on Skull Island and is deaf, as is the actress herself.

While Godzilla is either sleeping in some ruins in Rome or wandering the globe protecting humanity from less agreeable Titans, Kong has set up camp in Hollow Earth where he looks for any survivors from his species. Kong discovers an unknown region of Hollow Earth where he starts a new exploration. In the meantime, the scientists studying these Titans notice that Godzilla is seemingly powering himself up to face a threat that he has suddenly sensed. They have also encountered a signal that has been traced to Hollow Earth. A new threat is rising to the surface, and Kong and Godzilla have to join forces to protect humans from a very big, very ancient enemy.

The film is not terrible, but I hard time caring about the characters. Somehow, Godzilla and Kong seem to have picked up some moves from WWE and Jackie Chan films. I know these films are going to have some natural absurdity and should be shown some grace considering the genre, however the overall lack of originality in the human characters makes it hard to pull that off. The CGI was quite stunning, and big giant creatures smashing buildings is almost always a fun treat, but there was little else that worked with any consistency.

The cast is talented enough and did the best they could, but the material was no real help to them or the audience.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Even The Doctor’s Memory Could Use Some Repair

April 3, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Broken Memories is the title of the latest Doctor Who audio collection from the Classic Doctors New Monsters range, and Big Finish Productions once again releases an intriguing and enjoyable collection of tales featuring numerous incarnations of Time Lord.

The premise of this series, which is directed by Barnaby Edwards, is to have Doctors from the classic era face monsters and adversaries that were introduced in the current run that started in 2005. It’s an ambitious idea that almost always pays off. I tend to enjoy the series, and there are four in this particular set to briefly examine.

Tom Baker is up first as the Fourth Doctor in Invasion of the Body Stealers by Jonathan Morris. He is joined by Sadie Miller, who has taken the role of Sarah Jane Smith. Miller’s mother, Elisabeth Sladen, originated the performance, so Sadie is able to breathe new life into one of the most popular companions to enter the TARDIS. The Doctor and Sarah arrive in time to offer aid to crashed spaceship and encounter the body-swapping criminal organization known as Harmony Shoal. I am not that fond of the title, but the story is actually pretty good. Baker still sounds great, and Sadie Miller does a pretty job emulating her mother. There is a truly chilling moment when one of the supporting characters is about to have his brain ripped out of his skull, and the sound effects and score actually freaked me out a little. Anyway, it’s a promising start to this collection.

The Queen of Clocks by Jacqueline Rayner features Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, and he is accompanied by the always welcome Bonnie Langford as Mel. The Clockwork Droids are invading a kingdom with a peculiar obsession with time. The Doctor and Mel are about to learn of a tragedy that had started well before their intervention. In spite of the absurdity of the plot, there is a clever yet heartbreaking twist on the horizon. Baker and Langford, as usual, perform this one beautifully. There were some moments that were a little picture to pull into imaginary focus, but that’s always a risk when listening to Doctor Who in this manner. Rayner has contributed to the franchise in some form or another for many years, and this contribution affirms that she has earned the repeated invites to write something new. It has one of those revelations that I wasn’t expecting but felt that I should have been. Anyway, Rayner’s offering here is quite engaging, but there is little reason to expect anything less.

David K. Barnes has a two-part story featuring the race known as the Silence. Once someone turns away from a member of this race, they cannot retain the memory of that encounter. The Eighth Doctor arrives in the city of Sunset during the events of The Silent Priest and to find some solace from the Time War. Paul McGann delivers another masterful performance here. Two rival criminal gangs are at war, and a mysterious priest who no one can remember meeting holds the key to bringing peace. Nicholas Briggs voices the Silence with the correct amount of creepy, sibilant whispers and hisses. This was pretty good, and the Silent featured here was much more interesting than I remember from those in the television series. The overdone Eastern American accents were a little off, and that distracted me a bit. Overall, it was an interesting story and sets up the concluding story quite well.

Sylvester McCoy returns as the Seventh Doctor as he arrives sometime after his future self. The Silent City finds the Doctor looking into an unusually successful casino which has come into being after crime has apparently disappeared. The Doctor is facing the outcome of an adventure he has yet to experience. McCoy is back in all of his Scottish glory, and he also delivers his usual enthusiastic, r-rolling vocal talents. It’s great to see him, and this story ties matters up quite effectively.

I liked all of the stories, although the first one stands out a bit more in spite of its questionable title. All of the Doctors featured showed their formidable talents in spite of their advancing years. This is a collection that is worth the time.

Book Review: A Strange Professor With A Strange Mind

March 28, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The House of Love and Death is the third intriguing novel by Andrew Klavan to feature Cameron Winter, a college professor with a dangerous path and something he calls “a strange habit of mind”. Winter has the sort of imagination where he can place himself in a horrific crime scene and mentally dissect it with more detail than most people could fathom. Winter currently works as an English professor at a university; however, he was once a government operative who manipulated others into their own demise.

Klavan has an interesting set-up in these Winter novels. The good professor has been seeing a therapist. The book is usually divided into four parts. The beginning of each section reveals a first-person narrative as Winter discusses some aspect of his troubling past with this therapist. The subsequent chapter will then chronicle the therapist’s reaction to what she has just heard and how she guides Winter into some personal epiphany.

Winter also has the peculiar tendency to insert himself into cases that intrigue him uniquely. This time, a family just outside of Chicago had been shot, and their house was set on fire. Some details of the matter bother Winter enough to motivate him to a closer look at the situation where he finds supposedly well-respected people engaging in some pretty shady and lascivious behaviors. Although there are some dangerous people coming to light by Winter’s investigation, they have little idea that Winter himself could very well be more dangerous than they imagine.

This is the third and most recent novel in this series. Klavan has set a pretty predictable pattern on how his plots unfold. There is quite a bit of imagination when it comes to this story. I am getting to know Cameron Winter a little better, and he is an interesting and likeable character, although it’s a little far-fetched. Winter is described as basically being ethereally handsome, which makes him a little hard to picture in the mind’s eye. The relationship between Winter and his much older therapist sometimes seems just a little odd and distracting. There is nothing really inappropriate going on there, but there are some thoughts being revealed which are not quite as professional as expected at times. Still, the therapist seems to have some pretty sharp insights herself which does make her interesting to this reader.

I think I am starting to understand this “strange habit of mind” concept a little better. Klavan isn’t really trying to convey that Winter has some sort of supernatural ability, but that this gift is more of a strange sort of deduction and imagination. Klavan isn’t likely going to be considered to be some master of the mystery genre, but he manages to tell a pretty compelling tale. Also, I am already looking forward to following Cameron Winter’s next caper.

I think it’s time to revisit 221 B Baker Street with the help of author Frank Thomas, who has tried his hand at continuing the exploits of Sherlock Holmes. In 1980, Thomas managed to get Sherlock Holmes and the Sacred Sword on the shelves, and a copy has recently found its way to my hands..

Film Review: The Ghostbusters Break The Ice

March 24, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a decent continuation of one of the most popular cinematic franchises in recent decades, but as expected, it doesn’t quite measure up to the original 1984 film.

Gil Kenan directed this film as well as cowriting it alongside Jason Reitman. Original Ghostbuster stars, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, and Annie Potts return to the firehouse alongside the cast portraying the descendants of Egon Spengler. Paul Rudd, Carrie Coons, McKenna Grace, and Finn Wolfhard reprise their roles from the most recent predecessor, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt also get in on the mayhem for this installment. William Atherton returns as another familiar face from the original film, the officious, snobbish Walter Peck, who somehow is the elected mayor of New York City. Even though there a lot of familiar elements from the original film, I was relieved that we actually got a brand spectral adversary as the main villain.

Callie Spengler has returned to New York with her two children and apparent boyfriend, Gary Grooberson, and has revived the Ghostbusting business with the help of Winston Zeddenore, who has become some uber-rich business mogul who has helped upgrade the Ghostbusters equipment. The new superpowered specter is some dark god who unleashes a deadly chill when he is feeding on people’s fear. He can also control the minds of other ghosts and wants to recruit the spirits being held in the Ghostbusters’ containment unit. This thing can be defeated by a group of sorcerers known as Fire Masters, and the Ghostbusters encounter a hapless, somewhat shallow descendant of one of the Fire Masters, who may be the key to defeat this latest phantasmal being.

The film has some pretty good moments, but nothing really stands out as being terrifically mind-blowing. The return of the surviving members of the main cast of the original film provides a decent helping of the warm fuzzies, and I actually have come to like Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon in the leads of the newer Ghostbusters. McKenna Grace is a bit of a scene stealer at times, but she has such a distinctive and eccentric role as Phoebe Spengler, that it seems easy to predict that would be the case. Still, Grace’s performance is actually pretty compelling even though she is only about 16 years old when this was filmed. I really have little to criticize about the performances, and I enjoyed revisiting most of these characters from both the original film and Afterlife.

The special effects were pretty good, but that doesn’t appear that hard to accomplish with the technology available for movie magic these days.

Overall, this film serves the purpose as an adequate fun distraction, but it’s not going to be much more than that. The expectation that the sequel almost never touches the joy of the first time out continues to hold true this time.