Tag: books

Doctor Who Audio Review: A Reality Without The Doctor Scarcely Bears Thinking About

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Doctor Who: The Haunted Windmill is an audio boxset from Big Finish Productions which has the Second Doctor, played by Michael Troughton, escape into an alternative reality where his various interventions in Earth’s troubles never happened. There are three episodes all written by Alan Barnes and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

Troughton continues his efforts to channel the spirit of his late father, Patrick Troughton, and bring a fairly impressive vocal performance that at times almost matches the elder’s. Anyway, I really like the Second Doctor, and Barnes is a reliable writer who once again delivers a solid contribution to the lore.

Fraser Hines returns to the mic as Jamie McCrimmon and a descendent of his, who is revealed. Wendy Padbury is also on deck, returning as Zoe Herriot. Other familiar characters from the Doctor’s past also gather around him in spite of the unfamiliar circumstances.

Also, this TARDIS team has picked up another companion in the form of the Time Lady, known as Raven, who is portrayed by Emma Noakes. Raven has been a presence for a little while in the Second Doctor Adventures, and she has been growing on me.

To be clear, this is a period after the Doctor was sentenced to exile in The War Games but before that sentence was actually carried out. He has yet to regenerate into his third incarnation. He has been reunited with Jamie and Zoe who are now older in this range.

Anyway, Alan Barnes usually comes through with some entertaining and pulls it off yet again.

The Haunted Windmill starts off with the Doctor, Jamie, Zoe, and Raven don’t want to be dragged back to Gallifrey, so they make their escape into a parallel universe and arrive on Earth in 1963, which is not entirely identical to what the Doctor remembers. After Jamie and Zoe suddenly vanish, the Doctor and Raven find an abandoned windmill where they must set up shop to repair the TARDIS. Detective Inspector Lethbridge-Steward, played by Jon Culshaw, is investigating a series of strange thefts. A ghost has been sighted on the marsh. A pair of youngsters are drawn into the Doctor’s presence. This reality may not be what the Doctor remembers, but dangerous adversaries are starting to find their way to him.

It’s not a bad start because the chemistry between the Doctor and Raven is really starting to develop with Jamie and Zoe sidelined. Although Padbury and Hines are still around as a part of their lineages, and it works well. In effect, the Doctor gains two new companions in the shape of Bertie and Lucius, played by Olivia Woolhouse and Ilan Galkoff, respectively.

Besides, who can fail to be intrigued by a haunted windmill?

The Crystal Ship is the second story and probably isn’t going to count as a favorite, but it’s a fine addition. Daisy Ashford makes an appearance as Liz Shaw, a role originally brought to life by her mother, Caroline John. The Doctor finds that an experimental rocket plane has been taken over by some familiar adversaries, but they have not encou8ntered him before in this altered reality.

There are some fun performances here. Roger Ringrose seems to really get into his role as the obnoxious Professor Quigley. I thought bringing Liz Shaw in was a bold decision, but it does work pretty well.

Michael Troughton continues to improve in his performance. He says that he is not trying to a carbon copy of his father’s performance in interviews and believes that his father would approve of his efforts to leave something of himself on the performance. He is probably right, so I try not to be too critical of his participation. What is more important is that Michael doesn’t manage to wreck the nostalgia and still keep his version of this Doctor familiar. He is accomplishing that much.

Anyway, I am not sure this is Barnes’ best effort, but it gets the job done and manages to keep me pretty close to the right amount of suspense.

Finally, this set comes to an end with The Hungry Glass in which the Doctor and Raven come across a peculiar mirror which contains something more than reflections. Another old friend is trapped behind the glass, and very familiar old enemies are also lurking. The Doctor’s past is converging on him even more, and his future becomes even more in doubt.

Overall, I did enjoy this set and the efforts to scramble the canon just enough to keep things interesting without tossing the whole history into the trash can.

Alan Banes was a great choice to continue this range. I am not one of those fans intrigued too much by the mythical season 6b, but Barnes does a good job playing with some of those concepts. Of course, I am willing to give a lot of leeway which it comes to the Second Doctor.

Book Review: A Temporary Assignment Nearly Kills Joe Pickett

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Nowhere to Run by C.J. Box is another solid installment in a pretty compelling series featuring game warden Joe Pickett.

Joe Pickett is wrapping up a temporary assignment in Baggs, Wyoming before returning home to his wife and daughters. He gets reports of some harassment of campers and an elk that was illegally butchered. Pickett looks into the matter and encounters a pair known as the Grim Brothers. When an attempted arrest goes very wrong, Pickett barely escapes with his life. There also seems to be a peculiar connection to an aspiring Olympic runner who had vanished a couple of years earlier. Pickett’s word comes into question when subsequent investigators can find no evidence of his harrowing ordeal with the Grim Brothers. Pickett has to decide if he needs to return to the mountain for the sake of justice and his peace of mind.

Box kind of flirts with the supernatural here when the legend of Wendigos is mentioned. A wendigo is a legendary evil spirit that can resemble a human that may eat human flesh.

Box does a pretty good job of threading together a pretty diverse set of unusual circumstances. Pickett also deals with the challenges of being a father of growing daughters, including a traumatized and sullen foster daughter. The devotion he has for his wife and daughters is rather moving and inspiring.

Pickett is a flawed yet unquestionably noble protagonist and is too often accused of being stubborn. It is an admirable stubbornness, however.

Box continues to be a competent writer and storyteller. He has a pretty good pace when it comes to letting the story unfold.

This novel does get better as more secretes are revealed. There is nothing too extraordinary about this particular installment in the series, but Box does a good job of keeping the reader’s attention.

I have decided to take a different literary path for the time being. The next read is Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.

Book Review: For Love Of Bonnie

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Quinn is a suspense novel written by long-time author Iris Johansen and is the second in a trilogy featuring Eve Duncan’s search for her long-missing daughter.

Joe Quinn has been stabbed critically and is in the hospital with an uncertain chance of survival. He is Eve’s long-time boyfriend who has been roped into the search for Bonnie which has lasted for years. Eve works as some kind of forensic sculptor while Joe is a former Nave SEAL and current federal investigator. The current suspect is Bonnie’s father, John Gallo, who also has some dangerous skills and a possible mental condition. There seems to be a conspiracy afoot as well preventing the truth from coming to full light.

The story reveals how Quinn and Eve first meant, which precipitated a long crusade against a variety of killers and psychopaths.

This turned out to be a bit more gruesome than I expected which I don’t necessarily mind, except the story does involve children victimized in the worst ways.

Johansen is a competent enough writer, which is not surprising because she has been around forever. I had some trouble with staying interested, probably due to me just reading this one at random, jumping right in the middle of a long running series.

A friend of Eve’s named Catherine Ling has caught up to John Gallo, initiating a weird mutual stalking scenario in a forest that lasts for a couple of weeks.

Johansen’s roots as a romance writer are still prevalent here. The banter and sexual tension between Catherine and Gallo don’t really come off as very plausible.

Quinn himself is kind of interesting, but only because he’s a little too perfect as a sensitive yet ruthless manhunter.

Johansen also adds some supernatural flavor to the story with the main characters having visions of Bonnie.

There’s a chance I will return to this trilogy and see how things turn out, but I doubt I will make it a priority. I am definitely not the target audience for this author or this book. Fortunately, Johansen isn’t so bad where I am forced to wonder how she has stayed in business for so long.

This one is another case where the book was not outright terrible, but it’s not all that riveting either.

I believe it’s time to return to more familiar literary territory in which game warden Joe Pickett can find that even the most experienced at survival can find themselves with Nowhere to Run by C.J. Box.

Book Review: A Fatal Treatment

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Clinic is a reasonably engaging thriller by Cate Quinn about a luxury rehab center that is at the center of a puzzling death of a famous singer. The singer’s sister, Meg, goes into the isolated clinic to see how her sister could have died in what should have been one of the safest clinics in the world. The novel is structured as a first-person narrative that is split between two characters’ perspectives.

Meg works at a casino as an undercover card player who is there to expose cheaters and other illegal activities. She also has a drug addiction that actually does need treatment, but she wants to enter the rehab facility to find out what happened to her sister. She has a friend who is an ex-cop who can help her get in, but he is trying to get her to actually take advantage of the treatment options. Meg gets to know the other patients who are mainly celebrities and becomes convinced that her sister was killed by one of them. She starts to get written warnings that are seemingly signed by her sister. Meg’s search for her sister’s killer is of course hampered by her own addiction, but it also seems that her cover is not quite as secure as she hoped.

Cara is the manager of the facility and starts to suspect that there is something more sinister going on than just good-hearted doctors wanting to help the rich and famous fight their various addictions and compulsions. Her own search for the truth concerning the history of the owner, Dr. Lutz, leads her down her own dangerous path that could also lead to life cut abruptly short.

This particular structure of storytelling seems to be getting more trendy among today’s female thriller novelists. It’s not that hard to follow once the reader gets used to shifting perspectives like that.

The plot is kind of standard, although Med admittedly has an interesting job. I am a bit of a sucker for the isolated manors being the scene of some deadly shenanigans. It does usually work, and Quinn does make good use of it here as well.

Some of the twists are a bit outlandish, but that’s a common complaint from me when reading these types of thrillers. Quinn apparently has struggled with addiction herself which does give this tale some authenticity.

It’s a reasonably entertaining and interesting ride, but there weren’t too many characters I liked. Quinn does like to show off a bit when it comes to her familiarity with clinical jargon. I recognized some of the terms and theories regarding addiction and trauma due to previous profession.

Anyway, Quinn is fine as a writer, but there wasn’t much that really stood out. It just felt like a standard thriller in a remote facility with shifty characters. I will likely try another of her novels, but I doubt it will be anytime soon.

The endless literary exploration will continue with a novel by Iris Johansen entitled Quinn,

Audiobook Review: Poison In The Ink

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Skin Collector is a thriller written by the prolific and popular Jeffery Deaver and features the quadriplegic criminalist, Lincoln Rhyme. The audiobook is read by Edoardo Ballerini.

This time, Rhyme and his partner, Amelia Sachs, have a couple of investigations going. While Rhyme is somewhat morose over the death of a very worthy and dangerous adversary, another killer is on the loose. This particular unsub likes to tattoo his victims with a good dose of poison mixed into the ink. There seems to be a connection to another killer known as the Bone Collector, the case that brought Rhyme and Sachs together. As Rhyme and his team dig a little deeper, there seems to be a more complicated motive than just some depraved lunatic getting his kicks. In fact, a more lethal conspiracy seems to be in the making, and Rhyme and Sachs find that this killer may have infiltrated their haven and targeting those clostest to them.

Ballerini does a decent job presenting this story, but it’s not a plot that I found all that memorable. There were too many callbacks to previous cases. I confess that I have not read many books in this series, so I was a little handicapped when it came to recalling or understanding everything that led to this particular novel.

Deaver seems to be a little overly fond of providing somewhat outlandish monikers to his killers. Rhyme starts off this one reflecting over his mental duels with someone known as the Watchmaker, who had recently been reported deceased.

Anyway, Rhyme is just brilliant and curmudgeonly enough to stay interesting overall. Deavber had some pretty good and macabre twists. He is another writer where I can understand why he is such a following, but I doubt that I will be a consistent fan. I may not return to his works in a hurry, but I will likely find my way back to his catalog eventually.

Film Review: Some Goodbyes Do Not Come Quick Enough

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Long Goodbye is a detective film featuring Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, and this version was less than impressive. It was released in 1973 under the direction of Robert Altman. Leigh Brackett adapted the screenplay from the original Chandler novel. Elliot Gould stars as the iconic L.A. private eye. Other cast members include Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, David Arkin, and Henry Gibson. There is an unexpected and uncredited appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger as a henchman.

Marlowe gets a visit from an old friend who he ends up giving a ride to Mexio. Upon his return, he is greeted by police officers who arrest him as a possible accomplice to a murder. The friend who visited him seems to have killed his wife. News is sent that the friend committed suicide. Once Marlowe is released, he is then hired to find a wayward husband who is rather eccentric in the vein of Ernest Hemingway. Marlowe then is also having to contend with some gangsters that the dead friend had apparently swindled. Marlowe finds that little is how it seems.

Gould is a fine actor, but I struggled with his interpretation of Marlowe. He does not come across as tough as I had seen Marlowe presented before. There are a lot of times where characters talk over each other which makes it hard to follow. There is a very long introduction in which Marlowe just goes grocery shopping for his cat. I found this film to be a bit boring, which is disappointing to say about a Philip Marlowe movie.

The ending was pretty good, but it took too long for me to really care about the resolution.

I thought Mark Rydell kind of stood out as the ruthless Augustine. He was one of those charming psychos that could react violently with startling suddenness.

I am not exactly sure how Altman stayed to the source material, but it sure felt like a lot of liberties were taken. I sure didn’t find Gould’s depiction of Philip Marlowe to be all that familiar. Obviously, he is no Humphrey Bogart.

Anyway, the film fell a little below average as a viewing experience. There are worse movies out there, but this particular adaptation is not something where I would call a must-see.

Book Review: Even Doctors Can Hear Confessions

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Confessions of a Yakuza is a compelling memoir of one of the last traditional members of the Yakuza, a Japanese version of the Mafia, written by Junichi Saga. John Bester is the one who penned the translation into English.

Saga apparently was a doctor treating Ijichi Eiji, who had been a leader in the criminal syndicate known as the Yakuza. Eiji decides to reveal his life story to this doctor, who apparently decided to record the account and write it up for publication.

The story moves along quite well and provides some insight into some aspects of Japanese culture in the early twentieth century through the end of the Second World War. Eiji gives his account from a turbulent childhood through his rise to be one of the bosses in the criminal organization, and it is laid out quite plainly.

Saga is not too bad when it comes to bringing the reader to the “present day” scenes. It was prudent to give a reminder of how these confessions unfolded and who was recording these reminiscences.

I think much of the credit is due to John Bester’s translation which opened the window for those not terribly familiar with Japanese culture.

Sometimes the exposition can seem to slow things a little, but it wasn’t too egregious. Although there are many works that detail criminal organizations, this one did feel like a unique reading experience in many ways.

Saga seems to be a pretty efficient storyteller, and I would have likely found the company of Eiji to be absolutely fascinating as well.

A friend finds this to be a good campfire read, and I think I know what he means. It was a good recommendation that I am more than pleased to pass on.

Next up, I have decided to check into Cate Quinn’s The Clinic.

Book Review: The Great War Brings A Great Detective Out Of Retirement

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram of War by Nicholas Meyer may not be the best of the pastiche novels featuring the most renowned fictional detective, but there is still some enjoyment to be discovered as a reading experience.

Dr. John Watson is quite a bit older, but he is able to still use his medical skills to care for the soldiers wounded in the First World War. His old friend, Sherlock Holmes, suddenly appears looking as if he was on the wrong end of a fight and explains that he is about to undertake a rather important mission on behalf of the British government. A telegram has been sent to Mexico, and the two elderly adventurers are still able to track it down, but it will take a lengthy trip to the United States during wartime where German U-boats prowl the seas, and an assassin apparently has them in their sights. It may be their most important case, and they are not young anymore, but it is often still a mistake to count out the tenacity and ingenuity of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

Meyer is unquestionably a talented writer, but I had some trouble staying all that interested in the plot because it does not entirely feel like something Arthur Conan Doyle would actually delve into in spite of the views presented in the review excerpts. Some of the photos of the real historical figures encountered by Holmes and Watson and Meyer’s enthusiastic depictions of the research he has obviously done sometimes gets a littl distracting from the plot.

I did find the Watson’s reflections and doubts about his ability to continue living in this manner at his age to be a bit more interesting than the actual plot. There are some concerns that Holmes’ deductive abilities have waned as well, but they still press on.

Meyer does explore some aspects of the First World War that do not seem widely known. Watson’s narration is still interesting enough when he reveals thoughts and fears that appear rarely in previous exploits. Meyer is good at keeping such well-known characters recognizable. Although I doubt that Doyle would have had such a convoluted plot, the characters still appear consistent with how he would have written them.

I still consider Meyer to be one of the better writers who have contributed to the Sherlock Holmes literature not written by the original creator. This particular novel didn’t have as many highlights as I would have preferred, but it was still a worthwhile read.

I think it’s time to make a slight variance in my usual reading indulgences. I will gain some insight into the Japanese underworld with Junichi Saga’s Confessions of a Yakuza.

Book Review: Strike In Parliament

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Lethal White is the rather lengthy, convoluted fourth novel featuring Cormoran Strike by Robert Galbraith, who is really J.K. Rowling. It is still quite good, but some of the more personal dynamics between Strike and his partner, Robin Ellacott, tends to grab my interest more than the actual murder mystery.

It has been a year since Robin has entered what appears to be a troubled marriage. She has been elevated to partner in Strike’s detective agency. Strike has been gaining some notoriety due his involvement in some high-profile murders occurring in London. He is also the illegitimate son of a popular rock star. He also lost a leg when he served king and country in the military. Needless to say, he is a guy with a colorful past.

Well, this caper starts off with a very troubled young man bursting into Strike’s office and claiming to have witnessed a strangulation when he was a child. When he and Robin start to take a look at this claim, a minister in Parliament shows up and hires the agency to assist in a blackmail situation which sends Robin undercover, much to the frustration of her new husband.

Anyway, a connection between the aforementioned strange visit and this minister’s problem becomes apparent. Once again, Strike and Robin have to risk their lives as they also navigate the complications in their friendship.

Galbraith is unquestionably a talented, interesting writer on the whole, but this novel felt a little more dense than necessary at times. Strike and Robin’s banter certainly helps one navigate this unwieldy plot.

Robin’s situation with her husband feels a bit cliche at times, but it was still interesting. There is an obvious “will they or won’t they” vibe going on between Strike and Robin, which is a little trite but still engaging.

As I work my way through the series, I doubt Lethal White will rank as a favorite, but it’s still worth the time. Galbraith still manages to be compelling enough to keep me returning to the series.

As usual, I will get the next installment a few books down the road. For now, it is time to revisit the living room of 221B Baker Street as Nicholas Meyer unveils the story of Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram From Hell.

Book Review: Tracking A Killer Is No Easy Business

~ Peter Kanelis ~ 2 Comments

White Butterfly by Walter Mosley is the third installment in the Easy Rawlins mystery series and is okay. Rawlins is becoming a little too dysfunctional for me to gin up much sympathy for him.

Mosley is still a talented writer, and the book wasn’t a total waste of time.

Rawlins is now married with a new baby and doing well as a property owner. He has not been involved in any major investigations in a few years. The police come to him to ask him to head into the ghettos of Los Angeles to look for a killer of several women. Initially, it was black women who were in somewhat less wholesome occupations targeted by this psychopath. When a young white woman is found, the police get more interested and seek Easy’s unique ability to assist. As extra motivation, they have his best friend, Mouse, in their crosshairs. Mouse is a dangerous psychopath, but even he has some standards. Easy Rawlins risks his marriage and his life once again as a reluctant assistant to the police as he crosses into territory where only he could gather the clues to identify one of L.A.’s dark souls..

This one has a plot that is a little stale. Easy does go through a bit of an emotional wringer, but he brings a lot of his personal troubles on himself. The friendship between him and Mouse is kind of interesting, although the idea of the somewhat psychopathic sidekick is also kind of an overdone trope in detective fiction.

The story takes place in 1956, not long after Easy’s service in the Second World War.

Mosley is a fine writer on the whole, and my dissatisfaction with this novel isn’t going to be keep me away from his works for long. Ezekial Rawlins is still a pretty compelling character for me to not to give up on the series. Mosley also has other series which I am likely to explore as well in the near future.

Anyway, White Butterfly isn’t terrible, but it could have used a bit more originality in the climax. Walter Mosley is still a writer worthy of having some space reserved on any mystery fans’ bookshelves.

It is time for the literary journey to take a rare detour into some classic science fiction. I, Robot by the revered Isaac Asimov is next to be lifted from the still growing stack of novels still to be read.