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<![CDATA[Marcie added 'Welcome to Temptation']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80419035
to: Welcome to Temptation (Dempsey's, 1)byJennifer Crusie
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<![CDATA[Marcie added 'The Scarecrow']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77114805
to: The Scarecrow (Jack McEvoy, #2)byMichael Connelly
Michael Connelly is my favorite candy. Period.
The tasty bits: I really enjoyed the details of the newsroom and news business and how it feels -- reminded me of my days there. (The hero is news reporter Jack Mcevoy.) Connelly is my age, from my era. The young J-kids today have no idea how it used to be done and thus the symbols and metaphors. I like how many details were pulled together in the killer's signature at the end. Also, I like this modern re-working of the serial killer -- finding vics on Facebook, wiring his world completely for perfect knowledge and security offline and online.
The only thing wrong with this book is that Harry Bosch isn't in it. :^) But there is an excerpt of the newest Bosch offering "Nine Dragons" in the back. "After all his years working cases, Bosch was sure of one thing. There was no easy way to die."
I have to go now and immediately find a copy of "Nine Dragons."
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<![CDATA[Marcie added 'Dangerous Women (Library Edition): Original Stories from Today's Greatest Suspense Writers']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72420525
to: Dangerous Women (Library Edition): Original Stories from Today's Greatest Suspense WritersbyLorenzo Carcaterra
Was exposed to a lot of new authors for me plus the old faves I know and love. Loved some, not so much others. But, they all had an interesting take on the theme and excellent execution. Will definitely be exploring some new authors for myself in the future. Overall, a wonderful collection with an awesome theme. As Otto writes in the Forward, "The weaker sex? Don't make me laugh."
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<![CDATA[Marcie added 'Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/67722401
to: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (Paperback)byChristopher Moore
This book contains big ideas and little ideas, and they're all good ideas. It's fun to imagine Jesus having a buddy to do all his sinning for him, and to keep him safe and alive (relatively speaking), since he has no knack for survival himself i.e. lying, cheating, stealing. And it's really fun to imagine a 15-year journey where they encounter Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, to mix with their exposure to Judaism and Roman-Greek mythology as Jewish boys to result in...Christianity.
My favorite part was their experience with the Great Wall of China as the symbol of the Big Flaw of Taoism. This is really funny stuff -- very accessible. While Jesus is debating between "eye for an eye" or "turn the other cheek" and learning about the Divine Spark, Biff is studying Kung Fu and working his way through the Kama Sutra.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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<![CDATA[Marcie added 'Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66420742
to: Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden (Millenium, #2)byStieg Larsson
Astonishing. I am in awe of this author's ability, and even though the word is he died of a heart attack, I have my doubts. Most murder mysteries have one detective pursuing the red herrings, this one has at least ten, with their individual biases governing their thoughts and actions, as they follow the misdirections and red herrings.
Complex and brilliant. Skillful.
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<![CDATA[Marcie added 'Blue Smoke and Murder']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/65895119
to: Blue Smoke and Murder (St. Kilda Consulting, #4)byElizabeth Lowell
I remember liking EL years ago; now I find her tough-guy writing style so annoying I want to throw the book across the room. She uses very short, abrupt sentences to create drama and urgency and a "snappy" delivery for all her one-dimensional characters in the EL world. She's not as witty as she thinks. For example, all her characters used the word "craptastic" at one time or another. Really irritating.
And now more than ever, she's got an underlying feminist agenda, attributing the unnamed "she" pronoun to unimportant background characters one would normally think of as a "he", such as a driver or shooter or bodyguard.
God, I would hate to be her and have to write the same book over and over again. And have to copy stereotypes from other authors, such as the villain on steroids. If I see one more "young, quirky" computer hacker, I think I'll scream.
Is it just political with me? Does the current version of feminism have a place in "romance novels/ women's fiction"? Real feminists don't need feminism to give them a voice and presence. Anyone who thinks so doesn't understand a woman's real weapons...which are humor, intelligence, understanding, will power, and sex appeal.
Enough said about a craptastic book.
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<![CDATA[Marcie added 'Sweet Savage Love']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/65160578
to: Sweet Savage Love (Mass Market Paperback)byRosemary Rogers
The book that started it all.
Everyone's first modern romance novel they read in the 70s at age 14-20 or thereabouts. Who can forget Ginny and Steve.
Love to see everyone giving it either 1-star or 5! The granddaddy of all romance novels deserves nothing less than an extreme, high-drama reaction. Yes, it said the "F-word" and the hero rapes the heroine and she loves it (what the hell is he supposed to do after he's ripped her bodice? Apologize?).
Hell, yes, rape and sex are about power and exactly who does hold it? And give it? Will never forget in the so-called big rape scene, how Steve whispers in French (Ginny doesn't know he can speak her language to this point) about the "little death", which is the French word for an orgasm. As he is shattering atop her, whispering that she is killing him, she stabs him with her hidden knife. Who's got the metaphorical penis here?
I really enjoyed reading SEP's first published novel, to see how she approached the problem of reality vs. romance, too much reality, too little? What's the right balance? As an intelligent woman writer, she wanted to write romance with real significance. Of course, she masters the balance in her later novels. But, I love this "imperfect" effort and all the criticism of it I read on this website.
It's not a romance, but more of a journey of a young woman to realize the strong woman she is meant to be, it therefore must be "woman's fiction," says one review. It's too gritty, too realistic, it's icking me out!, says another.
All the themes are there, that she will eventually explore to perfection in later works, with just the right tone. But this one has the incestuous "father," the celebrity-f***er mother who pimps her out, the "weak" anti-hero lover. SEP is unraveling the mystery of what is sex and what is romance? Do they really co-exist?...and how. So, this one is more about sex, less about romance...SEP will get the recipe just right later. Not to say that this book isn't fabulous! As woman's fiction (wink).
Note to self: Heroine does a stint in the middle of the book as a "secretary" for a touring rock band. Since I've had this gig myself, I couldn't help but smile at how much she got right. (The lead singer constantly checking his stock portfolio, the other who's really gay and/or all of the secrets they must keep from the world, the atmosphere of constant crisis and ringing phones and the bull**** tasks to be done at 1 a.m....) SEP is so fun and brilliant, i.e. the lead singer with the bright red star on his crotch (sex vs. romance), who is selling sex and reinvesting the profits and pining for the woman who thinks he's a pig.
Another fun thing: The "recreation" of the Robert Redford-Katherine Ross strip scene at gunpoint in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" with her heroine and hero...and how different reality is compared to fantasy! Well, hell, reality SUCKS! Here's to ROMANCE! Yeah, SEP! For doing her part, to keep it alive.
Freakin' awesome!
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<![CDATA[Marcie added 'Native Tongue']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63619287
to: Native Tongue (Paperback)byCarl Hiaasen
Notes for myself: Characters include Joe the burn-out ex-newspaper man turned PR hack for a rip-off amusement park, that was founded by a mob guy in the witness protection program, Frankie. Frankie's obsessed with competing with Disney. The smarmy Charles Chelsea is the head of PR, Joe's boss. Joe's girlfriend Nina who dumps him works the sex-talk phone lines. Pedro, the steroid-popping head of security, is the precursor to another character in another of his books...Tool. Also, there's Molly the pistol-packing environmentalist grandma and the two thugs she hires. Ton of other characters are woven in. Names not important because we've seen the types before in his novels...
Formulaic. He's got characters with integrity, characters with none, and those with none who get some at the end.
Two things I did like and smile when remembering: Skink is in this one, too, but not nearly as much as "Stormy Weather." He's running around the Florida swamplands, in and out of scenes wearing a radio collar(that he took off a dead panther that wildlife feds were tracking). Endangered Panther #17 was smacked by a bottle distributing company truck on the highway, and Skink is keeping its memory alive.
The other thing I really enjoyed was the "battle of press releases" between Joe and his former boss Charles...Joe's were the stuff of fantasies! How many times have I wanted to do some major damage in the media after leaving a corrupt place of employment! A very amusing fencing match-up ensues, with thrust and attack, deflect and defend, everybody spinning, throwing around fake expert testimony and careful word selection. Hilarious and well-done.
BUT overall, this ranks as #4 on the list of 4 Hiassen novels I've read to date.
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