Once again I was disappointed in the story of Max & Angela.
I am a bit taken aback at how low my rating was for this book versus the first, but I thinOnce again I was disappointed in the story of Max & Angela.
I am a bit taken aback at how low my rating was for this book versus the first, but I think it is deserved. The first volume, Bust, was laugh out loud funny. Like the second volume, Slide, the final book was more annoying than funny. The Max, like Slide, also lacked the deeper message of the first volume. In Bust I saw a cautionary tale similar to Fargo - don't invite evil into your life.
By the end of the book I was hoping that something terrible would happen to each and everyone of the major characters. The only redeeming characters in the whole story were the minor ones and usually something bad happened to those guys.
A sad two stars. I wanted to rate this book higher given how much I liked Bust, but I just couldn't. ...more
Slide picks up the story of Max and Angela after the events in Bust. I was somewhat disappointed in the story. The first book had been so much fun andSlide picks up the story of Max and Angela after the events in Bust. I was somewhat disappointed in the story. The first book had been so much fun and I was looking forward to more of the same. Unfortunately I felt like a kid who had had one too many pieces of candy after Halloween. Whereas the scenarios and situations that the characters found themselves in were laugh out loud funny in Bust, they were kind of annoying in Slide. The characters were just as flawed and still sociopaths, only now I found it harder to read about them. On a final note, I found the twists and turns almost too contrived - it felt like the authors were forcing it. In Bust the story felt reasonably plausible. In Slide I had to suspend my sense of disbelief.
When I picked this book I had no idea of what I was in for. Bust was a book that made me think simultaneously of Fargo and Bonfire of the Vanities. AnWhen I picked this book I had no idea of what I was in for. Bust was a book that made me think simultaneously of Fargo and Bonfire of the Vanities. And I enjoyed every minute of it. I wished I had picked it up earlier. It was that good.
Max Fisher is screwing his secretary, Angela. He thinks he's in love with her - or at least he's in love with her ... attributes. The only problem is that bitch of a wife of his will take him for everything he's got if he divorces her. Angela and Max cook up a solution in bed together: hire a hit man to kill Max' wife. What could possibly go wrong?
It turns out that just about everything can go wrong. And that is what makes this book work. Bust actually made me laugh out loud at several points. (When Max woke up with a little itching and scratching in a tender place I lost it.)
Bust is a dirty, trashy story about nasty, ugly people. Bust is also a cautionary tale - or at least I saw it that way. Bust is a story about what happens when an ordinary man invites evil into his life. As in Fargo, he finds that he cannot control the chain of events that he has unleashed.
If you are looking for a fun, trashy read do yourself a favor and pick up this book. Great fun.
Downgraded to 4 stars after some time and reflection. A fun book but not a five star book....more
I really wasn't sure about Fade to Blonde as I read the book. The story follows a complex web surrounding (surprise, surprise!) a drop dead gorgeous bI really wasn't sure about Fade to Blonde as I read the book. The story follows a complex web surrounding (surprise, surprise!) a drop dead gorgeous blonde. She is wrapped up in a tangle involving gangsters, drugs, stag movies, and more.
To be frank, I probably wouldn't have finished it if I hadn't been on an airplane with nothing other to read. The story had a few too many twists in it and also jumped around. For large chunks of the story I found myself wondering why the protagonist was doing this or going there. Connections only became clear after the fact.
I was set to give the book two stars until the end. The end was perfect. So many of these Hard case books have seriously depressing endings it was nice to find one that resolved itself in a good way. ...more
I picked up this book after finishing Money Shot, and I was disappointed. The book had been highly recommended from other readers and I figured it wouI picked up this book after finishing Money Shot, and I was disappointed. The book had been highly recommended from other readers and I figured it would be a no-brainer - something I would read, laugh and enjoy after a stressful week and a long flight back from Charleston. Unfortunately, I just didn't get it.
Dortmunder is a ex-convict down on his luck. He's been released from prison and he finds himself master-minding a new heist. It should be quick and easy. Of course, like everything that promises to be quick and easy it turned out to be far from it. Dortmunder and his gang find themselves executing one heist after another to steal a gem. And each heist is more over the top then the last. The predicament is, in a way, funny. But it was only funny "hehe" rather than that rip-roaring funny that I had wanted.
Maybe the problem was one of expectations. I wanted more out of the book and had been expecting more. Many people really liked the book. Maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed? I don't know. I just found the exponentially spiraling caper annoying in the end. What can I say? I didn't like the movie Mrs. Doubtfire, either. Apparently lots of people liked it.
What I can say is that the writing and characters were excellent. I suspect this was just a case of me being in a bad disposition when I read the book. Two and a half stars....more
Songs of Innocence picks up three years after Little Girl Lost. Blake is out of the P.I. business. The mess around Miranda had left him shaken and he Songs of Innocence picks up three years after Little Girl Lost. Blake is out of the P.I. business. The mess around Miranda had left him shaken and he just wanted to move on with his life. He is working in Columbia as a low level administrator.
And life is ... okay. Not great, just okay. After Miranda there is a darkness in Blake and this permeates the whole story. He's been battling depression. He's found a sympathetic soul, Dorothy Burke, who is fighting her own demons. And then she winds up dead of an apparent suicide. But John knows that it's not. Because Blake knows her secret.
Digging into Dorothy's death leads Blake back into the seedier night life of the city. He visits massage parlors, strip clubs, runs afoul of gangsters, is chased by the cops, and, ultimately, finds the man responsible for his friend's death. And that discovery destroys what is left of Blake's soul. At the end of the story he is lost.
This is a much darker story than Little Girl Lost (which I highly recommend). It is probably not a good thing to read these two books out of order, although I suppose you could. I worry that someone who read this book first might not read the earlier volume. I know that I probably would not have.
John Blake wakes up and his whole world changes. His high school sweetheart, Miranda Sugarman, is splashed all over the morning papers. Instead of livJohn Blake wakes up and his whole world changes. His high school sweetheart, Miranda Sugarman, is splashed all over the morning papers. Instead of living comfortably in the Midwest as an ophthalmologist, she is found dead atop a seedy dead end strip club. A budding detective working in a small, independent two person detective agency, John decides - against his partner's advice - to start digging. And the deeper he digs the dirtier things get.
I picked this book up for kicks and I am seriously glad that I did so. This book was loads of fun. It won't ever be considered classic fiction, but it was a blast to read. It had everything - sex, violence, humor, sympathetic characters, and most especially some seriously unexpected twists and turns.
Money Shot is at heart a story of revenge and retribution. Angel Dare (an ex-porn star turned adult model agency owner) is swept up into a broader conMoney Shot is at heart a story of revenge and retribution. Angel Dare (an ex-porn star turned adult model agency owner) is swept up into a broader conspiracy. She is tricked into a compromising position by an old friend, shot and then left for dead in the trunk of a beat up car.
All I can say is that if you kill someone you had better make sure that they are dead. Angel spends the remainder of the book tracking down the people who wronged her and then exacting her revenge - all while getting to the bottom of the crime.
Money Shot was definitely out of my standard reading fare but I was in the mood to try something different. I liked the book. The genre was a nice change of pace and the story moved along at a crisp pace. I could quibble with a few things but only one thing comes to mind as seriously troubling. The security guard that she hired to protect and escort the models only a few weeks ago risks all to help her out. I found this a bit odd. Why would someone in his shoes help Angel after only working for her for a few weeks? Maybe a year or two, but a few weeks? I didn't get it.
I feel kind of bad about reviewing the book after so long away from finishing it. I usually try to review the book within a day or two of finishing it; however, work was really getting in the way so I couldn't do so immediately. How much did I lose after finishing the book on that flight to Atlanta? I give the book 3.5 stars. It was fun....more
I picked this book up on a whim. I saw it on Amazon for a decent price and was in the mood to try something new. A number of people had rated it highlI picked this book up on a whim. I saw it on Amazon for a decent price and was in the mood to try something new. A number of people had rated it highly; others had rated it poorly. One reviewer had called the book "an odd duck" and I think that fits. I struggled with the book, trying to figure out whether or not I liked it through most of the book. Some parts absolutely grabbed me; others not so much.
At its heart, Mystery Girl is a story about a crime that happened in the past and someone will do just about anything to keep the past buried. The reader follows the main character as he at first in unaware of the danger coiling at his feet and then as he actively tries to unravel the knot.
When the story stays focused on this mystery it is pretty good. This is what kept me going - trying to figure out how all these moving parts were related and what, exactly, the secret was. When the story veers off the rails it became a struggle for me. The author spends far too much time navel gazing in the world of avant-garde cinema and experimental literature. It just wasn't my thing and I found it hard not to lose interest.
And was it just me or was every significant woman in the story a terrible person - one was a, well, whore, and the other was not much better. And both were pretty deceitful. It would have been nice if one of the women (or perhaps a third character) could have exhibited better traits. Or maybe MJ could have been developed more?
On that note all of the characters were deeply flawed people. I guess this is true and reflects real life to some extent, but, I don't know, when I read fiction I don't know if I want to be reminded of that fact quite so intensely. The book opens up with the main character's wife running out on him and he spends maybe a quarter of the book psychoanalyzing himself. (I wondered if the author was pouring his own life experience into the story as a form of therapy.)
Two stars. The story line was intriguing, but my interest in the whole book waxed and waned. ...more
Sometimes you are lucky enough to read the right book at the right time. Joyland was that book for me. Joyland is the story of a young man, Devin JoneSometimes you are lucky enough to read the right book at the right time. Joyland was that book for me. Joyland is the story of a young man, Devin Jones, with a broken heart. He leaves his northeastern college town and, almost on a whim, takes a summer job working at a second rate amusement park, Joyland. During that summer he does some growing up, learns what it means to be a his own person, and unravels a mystery.
Several years before the story begins, a young woman was murdered on a ghost house ride. Since that time, some people say that her ghost lingers in that ride. And, as summer draws to a close and the leaves start turning and scuttling across the closed fairways and sidewalks of Joyland, the story gets suitably creepy. Not over the edge, scare your pants off creepy, but just skin-tingling creepy. The kind of creepy suitable for the whole family.
Maybe it was just me, but this was a really special book. In addition to the mystery and the ghost, I appreciated the books tone and perspective. The story was told by an older man remembering his youthful past. Reading it I couldn't help but recall what it was like to be twenty. Sure, Devin is dirt poor and living in a crappy one room apartment, but it was his crappy one room apartment. And because of that it was special. Being young and just starting out is a magical time in anyone's life - or it should be.
Four and a half stars rounded up to five. My main knock on the story was the ending. It was way, way to abrupt for a story that grew and built slowly.
A great book to start off the Halloween reading season....more
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