Tag: fiction

Book Review: Winter Finds Love And More Murder

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

After That, the Dark is quite the compelling addition to the Cameron Winter mystery series penned by Andrew Klavan. This is the fifth novel in the series and was released late last year.

Things are looking up for the former assassin and current English professor, Cameron Winter. The ongoing depression that sent him to therapy some time before seems to have lifted. He is falling in love with a woman who seems to really want to be with him. Of course, that doesn’t mean that dangerous men have decided to let the good professor live in peace. Cameron’s girlfriend, Gwendolyn Lord, tells him of a locked room mystery in which a rather unconventional murder suspect was himself dispatched by an unusual projectile. Cameron Winter decides to make a few inquiries and learns that the man who was killed in Oklahoma had inexplicably murdered and child. Winter also learns that an old adversary is stalking him once he learns that some troubling experiments may be in the works stemming from a mysterious billionaire who has some connection to his mentor known only as the Recruiter. Winter finds that his tendency to amateur sleuthing may lead to a violent end for a blossoming romance that bring him a peace that he has never known before.

This has been an interesting series so far, and this novel brings the development of Cameron Winter’s character to a critical point. The structure of the novels was a little unique in that Winter’s past comes to light during the scenes when he is in therapy. The reader gets to know of the Recruiter, a man of deep faith and deadly cunning. The Recruiter has his own enemies closing in, and Winter has to determine if his trust and faith in him has been misplaced or not.

Klavan has often claimed that this is his best novel in this series. I am not sure about that, but I can agree that it’s quite good. There is a bit of a twist that dips into some science fiction elements, but it still works. I also like that Cameron seems to be evolving as the series moves along, and the introduction of Gwendolyn Lord raises the stakes quite a bit if he continues to probe the oddest of misdeeds on the side.

It’s a little debatable for me if this is the best novel in the series, but there is no question that reading it is time well spent for mystery fans. I am quite ready for the next installment to be released later this year.

In the meantime, I return to a recent addition to a much longer running range written by Jonathan Kellerman. Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis find another potential killer is stalking the streets of Los Angelos as if it’s Open Season.

Film Review: An Android Named Alice

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Subservience is a very mediocre science fiction film directed by S.K. Dale and written by Will Honley and April Maguire. This is another film which delves into the potential troubles of having a synthetic caretaker in the household. Megan Fox is in the lead role as the android who is given the name Alice.

Other cast members include Michele Marrone, Madeline Zima, and Matilda Firth. The actors were reasonably well cast. I never considered Fox to be a uniquely memorable actress, but she does well enough in this role.

A husband and father is needing a little extra help caring for his daughter when his wife is in need of a heart transplant. He goes to the local android dealership and finds a hot-looking brunette model that should stir up no temptations. Anyway, the young daughter likes her immediately and names the artificial aide Alice. Alice starts to develop something resembling an obsession for the husband. She offers to help the hapless guy named Nick with stress relief of the most carnal kind which leads to more confusion. Then, the wife finally undergoes the heart surgery which actually turns out to be successful. She makes it home which really makes matters more awkward, bringing out Alice’s more homicidal urges.

The film is nicely shot, and the performances were not noticeably lacking. The plot is just too familiar and tediously predictable. Megan Fox wasn’t given much material to have her seductive android character stand out.

I did find that having the wife go through a heart transplant was something resembling originality. Really, Megan Fox was the only actor I actually recognized. I was pleasantly surprised that the other cast members weren’t really bad.

The problem, as usual, lies in the writing and tapping too much into a very familiar trope of science fiction.

Yet again, I have to conclude that this film manages to avoid being utterly terrible without much else to give it merit. Nothing extraordinary to see here, even with a steamy Megan Fox sex scene.

Book Review: Bolitar In The Rough With The Wrong Club

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Back Spin by Harlan Coben is another satisfying thriller featuring that sleuthing sports agent Myron Bolitar, and sees him unearthing secrets and scandal in the supposedly civilized world of professional golf.

The teen-aged son of a pair of prominent golfers is apparently abducted. The husband was on the verge of a comeback after losing the US Open several years ago under some questionable circumstances. Myron’s peculiar and dangerous best friend, known as Win, is strangely reluctant to lend. Not only Myron is finding out long buried secrets of the family, but he learns something of Win’s troubled past that could explain his unique emotional detachment from most people and strange, strict code of ethics. A kidnapping is always terrible and traumatic, but Myron is finding this situation more complicated than most.

This novel was first published in 1997.

Coben delivers a pretty solid suspense story with a healthy collection of red herrings. He does a pretty good job ratcheting up the tension with the questions concerning whether this kidnapping is some kind of hoax or something even darker than it seems.

Myron is a pretty interesting protagonist on the whole. He seems to be on a roller coaster relationship with a woman he cannot quite shake in spite of her history of flightiness. He is a sharp investigator even though that isn’t his profession. His ethics as a sports agent seem a little too perfect to be believable, but that’s kind of understandable. Myron is a flawed but reliable character. His friendship with Win is the winning ticket as far as holding a reader’s interest. Windsor Horne Lockwood III is one of those sidekick characters that could seem to overshadow the main hero at times since he is so complex and fun to follow.

There is a lot to like about Back Spin. It’s not exactly going to be the brightest star of the mystery genre, but it will be a solid, reliable distraction from the pressures of everyday life, which is something Coben is trusted to deliver consistently.

Next up on the eternal literary journey is an anthology that is published annually. I am going to see what works were selected by John Grisham for The Mysterious Bookshop’s The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2025. This is one of the many publications presented by series editor Otto Penzler.

Book Review: Grace In Space

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Project Hail Mary is Andy Weir’s most recent science fiction novel which was published in 2021 to well-deserved acclaim.

Dr. Ryland Grace wakes up with no memory of how he got aboard a spaceship many miles from Earth. He has to piece together clues that will reveal the nature of the mission he was on to save the planet. His other two crew members died while in an induced coma for the trip to another solar system. As Grace races against the clock, he soon discovers that he is not alone in the system, and an unlikely alliance is forged with a being from another civilization trying to solve a similar catastrophic threat facing its own homeworld.

Weir continues to demonstrate a talent for making the science in his works seem plausible. It’s easy to determine that he actually does quite a bit of research.

Some of the scientific jargon and exposition does slow the pace of the story somewhat, but that’ problem’s something that seems kind of expected and hard to avoid in a work such as this.

Weir’s previous two novels, The Martian and Artemis had protagonists who were persistently sarcastic in their narration. Although this novel has much of the familiar sort of humor, the blatant sarcasm is a bit more restrained which I: appreciated. I don’t necessarily mind sarcastic heroes, but when two different characters share that trait, it does make me wonder about the author’s ability to come up with more diverse personalities.

Anyway, the film adaptation of this novel is just a few days away, and I wanted to read the book before I would make my way to the cinema, so that mission is accomplished.’

I expect the novel will be better as usual, but this is also basically a very enjoyable and thought-provoking read. In spite of a bit of slogging through some technical exposition, I still appreciated the plot and the grit exhibited by Grace and his alien companion who is dubbed “Rocky”. I did appreciate the detail that went into explaining how Grace and Rocky would eventually be able to communicate. Weir is a talented and imaginative enough of a writer to make the technical jargon tolerable.

Although this is clearly a pretty fantastical situation, Weir’s obviously careful research into the possibilities is much respected and appreciated. It does lend some kind of credibility to the tale when some actual scientific theories seem to be genuinely considered in the real world.

I have now read all three of Andy Weir’s current works and hope to hear some news about his fourth contribution before too long.

There are plenty of options in the reading queue, but I have decided to return to the works of Harlan Coben for my next indulgence. This time, it appears that even a relatively quiet and civilized game such as golf has its rough players. Everyone’s favorite sleuthing sports agent, Myron Bolitar is going to learn that very thing in Back Spin.

Film Review: Agatha In Disguise

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Agatha and the Truth of Murder is a television movie which speculates how Agatha Christie herself would solve a murder. It takes place during the time of her eleven-day disappearance in 1926 and revolves around the murder of Florence Nightingale’s goddaughter which actually did take place in 1920.

Ruth Bradley leads the cast as the Queen of Crime herself. Other cast members include Pippa Haywood, Bebe Cave, Blake Harrison, and Ralph Ineson.

Tom Dalton penned the script with Terry Loane calling the shots as director.

In 1926, Agatha is facing the dissolution of her first marriage as well as frustrations of her mystery novels being found to be too predictable. A long-time nurse has come to Agatha to ask for her assistance in solving the murder of her friend, who happens to be the goddaughter of Florence Nightingale. The woman was beaten to death while riding a train. Her own private investigations do happen to lead to a small group of suspects. Agatha disappears for a time and goes undercover as a legal representative to look into some of these people who knew the young nurse.

Another murder occurs at the estate, and Agatha finds herself working alongside a detective who is short-handed due to the authorities frantically trying to locate the already renowned author herself.

This was actually a pretty fun movie, and Ruth Bradley seems to be a pretty solid casting choice. It’s still a somewhat predictable British murder mystery with all of the usual tropes, but it was still entertaining.

The disguise Agatha adopts is pretty simple but still rather effective. It works because this version of the writer is still recognizable in spite of the change in hair style and glasses.

I do not know much about Ruth Bradley, but she is a compelling actress. I was kind of aware of her because she had performed in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas a few years ago.

I also found Ralph Ineson to be a great addition to the cast as Detective Inspector Dicks. There is a kind of a sweet moment when Agatha and the inspector bond over their failed marriages.

The plot is a little too much like one of Agatha’s novels at times and could have benefited from something a little original than the expected comparison.

Anyway, it was a bit more enjoyable than I expected. I think most Agatha Christie devotees would get a kick out if it.

Book Review: Nothing Like An Icepick Through The Eye

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

A Stab in the Dark is a pretty engaging mystery from one of the considered masters of the genre, Lawrence Block. It features the unofficial private eye, Matthew Scudder and was first published in 1981.

Nine years previously, a serial killer with an icepick terrorized New York City and then disappeared. The police have made an arrest, but the father of one of the victims believes that he did not commit the brutal murder of his daughter. Charles London comes to Matthew Scudder to take another look into his daughter’s death to see if the truth is something more her falling victim to a maniac. Scudder is an ex-cop who sometimes works for a fee or a favor. He dusts off his investigative skills and starts examining facts that are almost a decade old. Of course, Scudder unearths some uncomfortable secrets from the neighborhood where Barbara Ettinger met her tragic end. One killer is in custody, however someone even more cunning may be waiting in the shadows to savagely protect their secrets from Scudder’s prying eyes.

It’s a pretty straight-forward, tightly written novel that is not very long. Scudder is a bit of a train wreck with his alcoholism and cynicism, but he is still a capable and interesting investigator. He does have scruples and is a little more civilized at times then Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, but he can handle himself in a fight if needed.

Block also creates a dubious set of suspects who are pretty compelling. The red herrings and clues are pretty well planned out as well.

I haven’t read a whole lot of Block’s works, so I am not sure where I would place this one in the rankings, but I did find that I enjoyed this one well enough to keep returning to the world of Matthew Scudder.

Block is a talented writer who keeps the story moving pretty well. Scudder gets a lot done between working his case along with some personal encounters in something that comes in under two hundred pages.

For those who like the old-fashioned, hard-boiled private eye novel where the protagonist is about as messy as those he meets, this one is a pretty good addition to the bookshelves.

I think more poor decisions and ultimately murder is called for when I return to the works of John Sandford. Deadline is the lucky winner for my next literary diversion.

Book Review: Is April Alive Or Not?

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Below Zero i another effective entry into the Jope Pickett series written by C.J. Box. Even if the plot is not the best idea, Joe Pickett and his family are too charming and interesting for me to mind that very much.

Joe Pickett is on temporary assignment as game warden some distance away from his beloved family. His daughter, Sheridan, starts receiving text messages from her former foster sister, April. The problem is that April was murdered six years ago and thought dead. Joe and Sheridan find enough information to begin their pursuit of whoever is sending these text messages. Another problem is that there seems to be connection to some deadly environmental crimes. A father and son who are traveling with a young teen-age girl are at the heart of all these questions. Joe is not sure if he is headed to a joyous and unexpected reunion or a heartbreak that will shatter his family.

I thought the plot was a sort of mediocre idea with a couple of villains I didn’t find all that interesting. The title refers to a debt that a former mobster believes he owes to his radical son who monitors carbon footprints and the like to justify his crimes committed in the name of protecting the planet.

Although I was anxious to determine if April’s supposed resurrection was the real deal, I was not that enthralled with the duo who may be in her company.

The chemistry within the Pickett family remains as engaging as ever, so the basic plot being a little lacking wasn’t too distracting.

Sheridan gets to accompany her father on an investigation, and there was something about that I found to be endearing. The children are growing up within Box’s world. The family banter was well-written as well.

Anyway, it’s an enjoyable, if flawed, enough of a novel. The suspense of what happened with April did keep me engaged.

As another novel comes to an end, a new one is on the verge of being explored. This time, my attention will turn to Marcia Muller’s The Dangerous Hour.

Book Review: It Doesn’t Always Glitter On The Gold Coast

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Gold Coast is a novel that is a little hard to categorize in the recognized genres. Nelson DeMille is primarily known as a suspense or thriller writer, but this one has a bit more meat to it.

John Sutter is a married Wall Street lawyer who lives on a prestigious stretch of shore on Long Island. He and his wife have an unusual and rather strangely kinky marriage. Anyway, their lives take an unexpected turn when a reputed Mafia don moves in next door. Frank Bellarosa certainly knows how to make an impression. A peculiar friendship develops between the two men, and Sutter gets a glimpse into a world darker than he can imagine. His life and marriage were already complicated enough before Bellarosa’s arrival, and these new developments are about to take him into deeper waters in which he may never be able to escape.

DeMille is known to give his protagonists a certain bit of wry sarcasm that is kind of distinctive and common. The novel is written in first person from Sutter’s point of view, and he tuns out to be an interesting guy even if his profession sounds a bit stuffy.

In this edition, DeMille has penned an introduction in which he considers this novel one of his best works, and he is probably right. I have not read many of his works, but I have been exposed enough to them to determine that he does have talent. Many of his characters do sort of run together because it seems most of them have a similar sardonic manner. Fortunately, DeMille is actually rather funny in his prose, so it’s not that annoying or distracting.

The story does have a slow burn at the beginning. There is a lot of exposition describing the layout of the Gold Coast and the particulars of Sutter’s marriage. There is a sense of authenticity in that Sutter’s situation is rather complicated, which is more often true in real life, particularly when it comes to those with wealth and large assets. This means that DeMille does a great job of making totally fictional characters at least plausible.

Although I could probably have lived without the gratuitous sexual shenanigans between Sutter and his wife, this novel was a good start to the reading journey of 2026. I did enjoy it very much even though it took me a little longer than I prefer to get through it.

I should also mention that this novel was published in 1990, so it was kind of nice to get a reminder of what the country was like back then and in an environment and lifestyle that I will likely never be able to touch. DeMille does a great job of sparking the imagination and nostalgia which is one of the many great joys of being an avid fiction reader.

Now, I will be turning into some more familiar territory on my next reading selection. It has been a few months since I checked in with game warden Joe Pickett and his family. This will have a somewhat ironic title since my neighbors and I have just endured quite a blast of frigid weather. C.J. Box is about to continue the exploits of Joe Pickett with Below Zero.

Book Review: The Man Of Bronze Finds Gold…Or Does He?

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Sea Magician by Kenneth Robeson features an early version of a superhero known as Doc Savage. This series was written for a couple of decades in the mid-twentieth century and is probably one of the earlier versions of a superhero.

Doc Savage is a super genius with super strength and throws himself unhesitatingly into the fight against evildoers. Of course, he has the color of bronze and is immensely powerful. He is one of those protagonists who seems so virtuous and powerful that he runs the risk of being rather boring.

In this little volume, Doc Savage is investigating the disappearance of one of his associates when he learns of an invention that apparently produces gold from seawater. It begins with the hapless assistant looking into tales of a specter resembling King John lurking around a marsh in England known as the Wash. Doc Savage finds a troubling conspiracy is afoot and many people are needing rescue before the end of this caper is in sight.

This was a pretty fun diversion, although I am not sure I am going to be going out of my way to collect this series. I doubt this will be the last Doc Savage adventure I enjoy.

There is some enjoyment to be found in this short novel, but that may be more due to the stirrings of nostalgia it evokes. The author is apparently a pseudonym because it seems a certain Lester Dent was the main writer of the novel series. The series does have a somewhat interesting publication history, which I discovered in Wikipedia.

I didn’t really dislike the novel, but I had some trouble with staying interested due to Doc Savage not really having any interesting quirks or flaws. Sometimes, a hero’s weaknesses can make the story a little more compelling although there is a risk of that indulgence being overdone.

I will say there is a certain richness in the prose that is often missing from more recent works that I appreciated.

In spite of my reservations which I expressed here, I didn’t hate this one or the concept. I may try a few more in the series as I come across them as I peruse the used bookstores.

Before all of that, I have plenty of other unread volumes to go through. The next selection will be Nelson DeMille’s The Gold Coast.

Book Review: Imposter Alert!

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Identity Theft is a recent Star Trek novel by Greg Cox that kind of tested my patience at the beginning and got better as my voyage through the pages progressed.

The crew of the Enterprise is sent to the planet Voyzr twenty years after they had helped the denizens end a civil war to attend a celebration of the peace agreement that has lasted. The problem is that a group of exiles have hatched a plot to assassinate the current leader of Voyzr since not everyone felt they received fair treatment. This group has gotten hold of a mind transference device and are able to abduct one Commander Pavel Chekov to have him replaced with a disgruntled and determined imposter. Chekov, now in the body of an alien, must escape his captors, catch up to the Enterprise, which has been sidetracked by another rescue mission, and stop an insidious plot to reignite a war.

I experienced a moment of exasperation when I realized that this was a mind-swap story, which is a pretty common plot in science fiction or fantasy. The novels tend to spend a little too much with somewhat nostalgic plots. Of course, the television episode, Turnabout Intruder, was heavily referenced.

As the story unfolded, I found myself more compelled by the idea of Chekov being the focus of the story. This takes place sometime just before The Undiscovered Country. The crew have already experienced the death and subsequent rebirth of Spock, the voyage to the twentieth century to find whales in order to save Earth and facing down a being who was impersonating God.

This novel focused on an older Chekov, who was able to use his Starfleet experience and the examples left by Captain Kirk to overcome the various obstacles to reclaim his body and foil the assassination plot.

Cox has written several Star Trek novels and is usually quite reliable. I should have had a bit more faith in his ability to make this somewhat overdone science fiction trope into something a bit more compelling.

He also delves into the mind of the would-be assassin named Ryjo, who finds himself experiencing the special comradery Chekov has experienced serving with his friends for a couple of decades. Ryjo ends up being instrumental in saving the lives of several of his crewmates when their unexpected rescue mission goes seriously awry.

This novel turned into a nice surprise in that I enjoyed more than I expected when I first started out. I always have fun revisiting the Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk, and Cox helped make sure that I will return when the next installment hits the shelves.

Next up, I am going to see what all the hype is about concerning Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid.