Book Review: Terrorists In The Suburbs

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

An Unlikely Hero is a pretty decent thriller from Tierney James and kicks off a range known as the Enigma Series.

Tessa Scott is lovely housewife three children and in a somewhat trained marriage. Terrorists are camped nearby, and a bomb ends up in her backyard after her family leaves her behind while they head out for vacation. A secret government agency known as Enigma foil the plot and neutralize the bomb, however Tessa is swept up in the operation. The team is led by the mysterious, tortured Captain Chase Hunter, who awakens some temptations for the surprisingly resourceful Tessa Scott. Meanwhile, her husband and children become unwittingly targets themselves, and Tessa is going to need some help protecting her loved ones as well as her own life.

I actually met this author during a book signing recently and decided to take a chance. There is a little bit of a cliche setup here with the characters, but I actually started to be more forgiving of that the more I delved into this novel.

The relationships between the main characters does take some atypical turns for this genre of novel. In spite of how the novel begins, there is the affirmation of marital commitment and forgiveness woven into the stories, and some of the characters are a bit more redeemable than expected as the story unfolds.

There are a few scenes that feel a bit bogged down with exposition, but it’s not as challenging as reading something from a century ago.

In spite of the genre and the violence depicted, I got the sense that Tierney James is someone of faith, which did come out in a way that was subtle yet profound. I certainly found that to be pleasantly surprising.

There are times when Tessa and Captain Hunter sort of irritate each other in the midst of their forced alliance, and the banter between them was rather witty. I also found some of the other team members’ reaction to Tessa’s presence in this caper to be somewhat interesting. A cantankerous elderly neighbor of Tessa’s gets swept up into the chaos as well, and he turns out to be more relevant than expected as well.’

‘Some elements of the plot seem a bit ludicrous, but that’s to be expected. I found it to be more enjoyable than I expected. The author has an acknowledgement to those who work in the shadows to keep our nation safe, and I certainly can concur with that sentiment.

It has been a while since I have joined Jack Reacher on one of his exploits, so I think I will next see how authors Lee and Andrew Child have dropped him In Too Deep.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Vengeance Crossing Time And Space

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures: Operation Vengeance is a new audio drama released by Big Finish Productions and stars Tim Treloar, stepping into the shoes of the late Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. Treloar also has the distinction of co-writing the script with Nicholas Briggs, who is also directing this piece.

Jon Culshaw returns as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who was originally played by the late Nicholas Courtney. Sadie Miller reprises the role her mother originally portrayed in the television series, Sarah Jane Smith. Katy Manning returns to her role as Jo Grant. Gareth Armstrong, Hannah Blaikie, Max Bowden, and Bronte Alice-Tadman are included in the rather lengthy guest cast.

The Doctor has been to the planet Konzomia, previously accompanied by Jo Grant. An old enemy thought dead has revealed himself to be among the living and has a wicked plan of vengeance to execute. The Doctor has Sarah Jane Smith at his side and determines that he has to return to Earth during the period where the Second World War was being fought. He is able to stop and collect his stalwart and courageous friend, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in order to find Jo Grant’s father, who is in the midst of battle. The brilliant but maniacal scientist known as Raelchun is also displaced from his time and home planet and has his own plan to erase Jo from existence by killing Private Terry Grant. The Doctor, Sarah, and the Brigadier are determined to protect one of the Time Lord’s most cherished companions in the midst of one of the most terrible conflicts in Earth’s history.

There is quite a bit going on that keeps this from being a generally unpleasant listening experience, however I doubt I am going to count this among my favorites. In spite of how exciting the plot sounds, it seems to drag at times. Gareth Armstrong’s performance as Raelchun is pretty good, but he seems kind of a cliche Doctor Who villain at times.

Treloar’s efforts to emulate Jon Pertwee are quite effective. It’s not quite so hard to imagine that Pertwee himself is delivering the lines. Also, Sadie Miller is really sounding more and more like her late mother, Elisabeth Sladen.

Sometimes, the action was not that clearly depicted in the soundscape, but that’s bound to happen in an audio play.

There are some moments that are compelling, such as when we learn a bit more about the Brigadier’s past.

Although there some merits to this release, I still had some trouble staying with it all the way through.

I do applaud Treloar’s efforts to stretch himself as a writer, but it was a good thing that Briggs was there as his writing partner.

Even though I have a few criticisms of this episode, it still had some interesting ideas and themes. The chemistry between the main characters was still evident and made this more than bearable. The irony here is that very few of the characters are played by the original actors.

Anyway, it’s not the greatest thing that Big Finish has produced, but it’s still not necessary to pass it by completely. There is some still enjoyment that is not hard to find.

Book Review: The Dirt On Mrs. Dart

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Dirt is an interesting crime novel from the late Stuart Woods and features Stone Barrington, who is a somewhat strange combination of attorney and private investigator.

This is a pretty lengthy series which is still continuing with the aid of ghost writers. This particular novel was written by the man himself and published in 1996.

A syndicated gossip columnist named Amanda Dart is being harassed by faxes that expose some of her extracurricular activities. Her reputation is on the line, and Amanda isn’t used to being the one on the receiving end of embarrassing revelations. She turns to Stone Barrington for some help in identifying the perpetrators. Barrington is an ex-police detective who retired early and joined the legal profession. He now works somewhat unique cases for a law firm and does well. Stone contends with some dangerous people to help his seductively headstrong client, but he is certainly no stranger to trouble. An old friend gets murdered during the investigation, and Stone is even more motivated to run these miscreants down.

The plot itself is pretty compelling. Amanda Dart is certainly not in a panic about her situation, but she is kind of hard to sympathize with. Barrington is pretty sharp and fairly interesting as a lead character, but there isn’t that much to make him stand out in the pantheon of fictional detectives.

I am not sure if this is a regular component in a Stuart Woods novel, but I was caught a bit flat-footed by the gratuitous sex going on, particularly at the beginning. At the risk of coming off as a bit prudish, I found some of these scenes a bit jarring and distracting. I think Woods would have done better to allow more to be left to the imagination.

Even Barrington was displaying some remarkably poor judgment when it came to a couple of these liaisons.

As far as writing style, Woods is competent with his prose. It’s an easy read but not so much so that it seems insulting.

Other than the random sex scenes, there is not much that I will find memorable about this particular literary venture.

A couple of months ago, I was in a bookstore where a signing was occurring, and I went ahead and bought one from a local writer. I think it’s time to allow author Tierney James to introduce me to a An Unlikely Hero.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Early Days With Ace

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Wicked! is an audio boxset which takes the audience back to when Ace first joined the Doctor in the TARDIS in this trilogy of episodes. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred once again prove themselves to be more than capable of replicating the enthusiasm they displayed when they started out on the television series almost four decades ago.

The guest cast in this set is comprised of Luke Barton, Tom Alexander, Alexandra Barredo, Simon Callow, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Ekow Quartey, and Paulo Vieira. Samuel Clemens returns to the director’s seat for all three episodes. I was not sure about the notion of going all the way back to the beginning of Ace’s travels in the TARDIS, but the set is overall quite good.

Alison Winter kicks off the set with Backwards and in Heels, which takes place in 1920s Soho. Ace and the Doctor are swept up into a [peculiar treasure hunt, and an alien presence has the young companion questioning her decision to accompany the Time Lord.

This story was a decent one if not the most memorable. I like the setting, and Ace being kind of impressed with a 1020s flapper. The friendship between the two lead characters starts to solidify as Ace gets a taste of what like traveling with the Doctor could entail.

Katharine Armitage follows up with The Price of Snow which takes place in the futuristic ski resort where some guests have disappeared, and the authentic snow seems to have some suspicious origins. There is also an unfortunate rift between a daughter and father.

This story is a bit better than the previous one. The alien menace at the heart of this one is new and not that badly realized. Tom Alexander is pretty compelling as the owner of the resort and the architect of the dangers as he uses some pretty ruthless calculations to keep his alien guests fed.

Finally, it is Alan Ronald who brings this set to a close with The Ingenious Gentlemen as Simon Callow delivers a hugely campy yet powerful performance as Don Quixote. In this case, the windmills may be something that is needed to be fought. Ace begins to notice some strange parallels between the partnership of Don Quixote and Sancho and her association with the Doctor.

Callow is absolutely magnificent, and the Doctor’s childlike joy at meeting him is perfectly performed by McCoy.

Obviously, this is the episode I consider to be the best in this collection.

I have to say that Sophie Aldred being able to pull off her younger voice when she is now in her sixties is quite impressive. I know that Aldred is a well-practiced voice artist, and I shouldn’t be that surprised, but her precision is still something to appreciate.

McCoy has also not missed a step here, and he is much older.

The idea of returning to Ace’s early travels seems like it should have been done earlier, but Big Finish continues to develop their stories and characters quite masterfully.

Book Review: An Old Murder With New Clues

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Telling Tales is the second novel by Ann Cleeves to feature the disheveled but shrewd Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope in which she looks into a murder that occurred a decade before.

A teenager in a remote English village was murdered, and there was a conviction soon after, but it seems that new evidence does indeed exonerate the unfortunate Jeanie Long after she takes her own life after denial of her parole.

Vera knows that a murderer is still at large, especially when a new crime occurs. She and her sergeant, Joe Ashworth, are compelled to reopen old wounds and unearth secrets that the other residents would rather keep buried.

There is not much action here, and it story seems to drag a bit; however, the mystery itself was pretty good. Vera is an interesting enough heroine. Cleeves does spend quite a bit of time laying out the side characters before the inspector is drawn in properly.

This is the second novel I have read in this series, and I am interested enough to keep going with it. I have also been watching the occasional episode of the television series in which this has been adapted. Cleeves does take her time establishing the relationships between the characters upfront, which is a tried-and-true way of laying out these kinds of mysteries.

Cleeves does have an easy-going prose style without feeling too elementary or bland. She is certainly a reliable and prolific writer, and I can understand why she has such a following. I am not likely to be an overly enthusiastic follower, but I can be a reliable one. I am certainly interested enough to wish her well and hope she has plenty more books to produce for some years to come.

The next reading selection brings me back to the States with another long-running crime fiction author who is also a relatively recent addition to my literary queue. I am about to be introduced to Stone Barrington, who is the is the creation of the late Stuart Woods. Let’s dig up some Dirt.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Why The Doctor Never Goes Back

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Return of the Doctor is an audio drama from Big Finish Productions with a rather humdrum sort of title, but the episode is actually better than it would appear. Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill return to the mics as the Doctor and Yasmin Khan in a story written by Rory Thomas-Howells and directed by Bethany Weimers.

The guest cast is comprised of Stephan Bessant, Charlie Kelly, Will Kirk, and Belinda Stewart-Wilson.

The Doctor and Yaz have just stopped an alien invasion menacing the Zaarians, who apparently resemble armadillos or something. Anyway, a young Zaarian is injured but is expected to recover, so the Doctor does what she always does and takes off. Yaz talks her into returning to help with the recovery, however the TARDIS takes them ten years into the future, and another more insidious alien presence is feeding on their guilt and sowing deep suspicion. It all starts with a whisper.

Jodie Whittaker’s turn as the Doctor on television really isn’t my favorite era of the program. This episode, in spite of the dubious title, is actually pretty good. Gill and Whittaker do have a pretty compelling chemistry which is performed quite well. My issues with Whittaker’s time on the television series had more to do with the writing and production choices than her as an actress.

Also, a new race and new adversary is introduced, and they are well written and realized.

I have said for years that Big Finish Productions successfully rehabbed the Sixth Doctor, who suffered low popularity ratings among the fans until he was able to showcase his talent with the aid of much better writing. It’s possible that Whittaker can enjoy the same experience.

Anyway, this episode was quite nicely done, and I may finally be able to appreciate the Thirteenth Doctor a bit more.

Book Review: Some Streets Shouldn’t Be Crossed

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Kiowa Trail is my first foray into the works of Louis L’Amour, and it turned out to be an enjoyable read. I do not usually read westerns, but I think I will work some of that genre into my reading queue.

The story is laid out in first person from the perspective of a cattle driver named Conn Dury. Dury works for a young widow named Kate Lundy, for whom he harbors a secret love. Kate has a younger brother named Tom who is a pleasant enough man with an eye for the ladies. when he crosses the street to speak to a woman who is the daughter of a local tycoon. When he would not heed the warning to stay on one side of a certain street, he paid for that decision with his life. Kate Lundy wants her brother’s death avenged, and she thinks that Conn Dury is a man who can help.

L’Amour is a talented writer, but his plot is a little muddled at times. It wasn’t so muddled, though, that I couldn’t find some enjoyment out of it. Who doesn’t like a good revenge story in the Old West?

Anyway, Dury is kind of an interesting protagonist in that he is a tough old cowboy who had been educated in England after he had been held captive by an Apache tribe for a few years. Anyway, he has an interesting background which makes a bit more sense in the book.

There are a few moments where L’Amour seems to lose track of some of his details such as time of day in the narration, however these lapses are pretty minor.

Overall, it was a good reading experiment to dip into this genre, and I will likely continue to revisit this genre as well as the numerous works left by the late Louis L’Amour.

Next up, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope has to reexamine an old murder case where the woman convicted of the crime turns out to be innocent, which means that she still has a killer to find in Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Match Making Gone Wrong

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Star-Crossed is an audio boxset that brings River Song in close quarters with the Ninth Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston, in a satisfying trilogy of clever stories by three very reliable writers for Big Finish Productions. Alex Kingston returns to the microphone as the mysterious and often mischievous Professor River Song, and as much in love with the Doctor as ever. Helen Goldwyn gets to return to the director’s chair for this one.

The first story is written by John Dorney and is entitled Swipe Right. As the title would suggest, it concerns a dating app that has gone very wrong. The guest cast is comprised of David Holt, Tom Neenan, Beth Chalmers, and Francesca Mills.

The Doctor and River Song are each separately investigating disappearances on the planet Crell. They discover a being known as the Matchmaker. The Doctor and River Song are already married, but not just yet from the Time Lord’s perspective. As expected, the fireworks are about to light up the stars.

Dorney once again delivers an interesting story that sort of reflects something that could be going on in today’s society. Of course, no one is being forced into online dating in the real world, but there are likely going to be some interesting problems with AI.

When the Doctor and River finally meet up, it’s about as amusing and volatile as hoped. Eccleston and Kingston hit all the right notes in their performance. The script has also plenty of Doctor Who‘s expected humor.

This first entry is a solid kickoff to the set.

Lizzy Hopley follows up quite ably with Face of the Apocalypse. Charlie Tighe, Paul Reynolds, and Nadia Albina join the audio antics with Eccleston and Kingston as the guest cast.

The plot here concerns River Song’s face is being used to bring about total destruction of space and time through a complex computer algorithm. The Doctor has to unravel the problem with the help of a legendary pair of star-crossed lovers. He and River Song meet a couple whose union could be even more fraught with discord than their own. In order to save the universe, the Doctor and River will have to engage in a bit of couples’ therapy.

This story took me a little more patience to feel fully engaged. It does get better, and my appreciation for Hopley’s contribution grew due to the continued chemistry between the two leads. There are some pretty good one-liners, especially when River Song needles the Doctor about her face being the key to the universe’s survival.

It is once again down to the talent and enthusiasm exhibited by Eccleston and Kingston when performing this episode.

Finally, the set concludes with Tim Foley’s Archipelago. John Banks and Trevor Cooper are the guest actors.

The Doctor and River Song aid a captain who is taking a dangerous voyage to find his lost partner. His ship is going through a field of massive time distortion, and the last of the Time Lords may be the last chance for this boat to make it through.

The Doctor and River finally find the adventure in which they will get to know each other deeper than River could ever hope. The Doctor also gets spoilers as to his future and understands more of the connection between himself and River.

This story is a little hard to picture in my own mind, but I loved the performances. River Song is playing a dangerous game with being in the Doctor’s past. There are some amazing callbacks to the television series.

The solution is neatly imagined, and the continuity of the series remains intact.

River Song is usually an exciting foil for the Doctor in any of his incarnations. Her encounter with the Ninth Doctor was better than I thought it would be.

It’s a great set overall. I think the last story is my favorite out of this collection. So, the Doctor travels on….and so does River Song.

Book Review: The Perils Of Prosperity Island

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

How Bad Things Can Get is the latest gruesome thriller from Darcy Coates.

A group of podcast fans is invited to Prosperity Island which is privately owned by a famous influencer where there should be plenty of games and parties. A guest named Ruth, and she has a secret. Twenty years previously, she was the sole survivor of a suicide cult. The games are getting more dangerous, and Ruth is starting to learn that her past may not be as buried as she had hoped.

This is a pretty intense tale. Coates doesn’t shy away from some pretty graphic violence. It’s a bit of a standard setup of a group of people stuck on an isolated island when something evil breaks out and starts picking attendees off.

Coates is a competent writer, but she relies on some pretty formulaic tropes in the horror genre. There are a few interesting characters among the more cliche ones.

There are some moments where Coates delves into some of the psychology of some of these people who have left the cult. There is a sense that she may have done some research even though I am certainly no expert on the human phenomenon of getting so ingrained in a community such as the one depicted in this novel.

The brutality depicted in this novel is pretty extreme, so it isn’t for the squeamish.

Coates does a decent job of keeping this reader engaged at any rate, so she is certainly an effective storyteller.

Anyway, I occasionally dip into the more macabre literary experiences, and Coates has once again proven to be an interesting addition to the genre if nothing else.

Now, I am going to sample a genre with which I have had very little exposure. I am going to try one short volume from the master of the western with Louis L’amour’s Kiowa Trail.

Film Review: Missing Children And A Strange Visitor

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Weapons is one of the few recent horror films that contains some semblance of creativity from writer and director, Zach Cregger. The cast includes Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan.

This film takes a somewhat non-linear path in its laying out of the story as it shifts perspectives among the characters. Very early one morning, seventeen children suddenly flee from their homes into the darkness running in a most unusual manner. They are classmates in a particular elementary school, and only one child named Alex is accounted for. The teacher, Justine Gandy, is suspected to be somehow behind the mysterious disappearances. An aggrieved father, played by Brolin, is the main accuser. Alex’s aunt, Gladys, has also been visiting and turns out to be a practitioner of witchcraft. Justine has to endure a particularly savage attack as she and Alex’s father come together to discover the truth behind the frightening and supernatural intrusion into their community.

First of all, Brolin remains as compelling as ever as Archer, the grieving and angry father of one of the missing children. Garner and the rest of the cast are also well selected for their roles. Amy Madigan as Gladys does well with making such an outlandish presence creepy and menacing as well.

There were also some pretty sly moments of dark humor that I found to be cleverly planted throughout the script.

There is quite a bit of brutality in this movie that makes it a little hard to watch. I am not normally a squeamish movie-watcher, but some of the scenes tested by nerve a bit.

Some of the characters feel a little cliche at times, but the strong performances help me find some forgiveness there.

It’s an effectively disturbing film, as it was intended. Although I doubt it will achieve any sort of iconic cinematic status, this film is one of a rare breed in today’s cinema in that it was actually pretty compelling.