Tucker Elliot's Blog, page 8
December 11, 2015
Music Review: Calm Within
This is really an extraordinary album. I have used a hundred different forms of white noise to block out my mind and help me sleep, but the soothing and beautiful melodies on this album are far superior to anything I’ve ever tried.
I think the best track is ‘Sands of Time’ – and while I don’t really have a music vocabulary that would allow me to adequately convey the effect of this particular track, I can put it in different terms that might do it justice: it’s like getting a massage at sunset on Kuta Beach.
I would definitely recommend this album to anyone in need of relaxing music for sleep, massage or yoga purposes – an emphatic 5/5 stars. Use this Amazon affiliate link to read more.
December 4, 2015
Book Review: Commander in Chief
I’ve said before that Mark Greaney is my favorite of the Tom Clancy “co-authors” and the perfect choice to continue the Jack Ryan series — however, I was disappointed with Commander in Chief.
On the plus side, it is very true to the Clancy formula, which has many characters and disparate plot lines developing simultaneously. I have always loved this, because even if you knew what was going to happen, you also knew the plots were going to converge in a tense, dramatic way.
But the problem here is that the convergence is completely void of suspense or any kind of tension. I’m not even sure why, because the story itself is actually good. It involves an out of control Putin-esque Russian president who is annexing former Soviet states and daring NATO to intervene. It’s very much straight from the news and relevant to the times we live in … but it’s just not written in a way that’s very exciting. I found much of the book to be predictable and boring, and was actually hoping for an ending reminiscent of Debt of Honor because otherwise the events in the book would be entirely forgettable.
I was also disappointed with the way a number of characters are now being written: Clark, Chavez, Dom and Ryan Jr. are more like characters from a James Bond movie than the realistic, gritty characters from an old school Tom Clancy novel. And in Commander in Chief there are also two professional assassins from Amsterdam that, if I’m being honest, felt like they were from a really bad B movie or even a no-name dark comic book series.
The plot is old school Clancy, but the characters are pseudo-Jason Bourne — and I think that’s why it fell flat for me. I will continue to read the series though, with the hope it gets back on track.
3/5 stars
Use this Amazon affiliate link to read more about Commander in Chief.
November 13, 2015
Book Review: The Promise
This is a difficult book for me to review because Robert Crais is one of my favorite authors and Elvis and Pike are two of my favorite fictional characters. It’s been more than three years since the last Elvis/Pike novel—and maybe that’s why I feel so disappointed with The Promise. I expected a lot more from a book that was delayed several months—presumably for rewrites—and then hyped so much.
In fact, someone who has never read an Elvis/Pike novel might find this more entertaining/enjoyable than longtime fans of the series. If you don’t already have a connection to the central characters, then you won’t notice that the spark is missing this time around.
Don’t get me wrong—Robert Crais is a terrific author, and a disappointing book in this series is still better than the overwhelming majority of books in this genre. But I think longtime readers/fans will be disappointed. I’ll list a few reasons why:
– Elvis’s trademark humor is flat and almost non-existent.
– Jon Stone—who somehow gets younger, more talented, and speaks another language with each novel—is more of a central character than Pike. I’d love to see a standalone Jon Stone novel, but I’d rather see more of Pike in this series.
– The Promise was originally billed in the product description as Elvis and Pike give their word and they keep it. They make a promise to a client, and they will keep it no matter the consequences. It also had Pike “bloodied” in a warehouse as Scott and Maggie arrive on the scene, and a group of rogue veteran soldiers up to no good—but none of that made it into the actual book. Which begs the question: why wasn’t the title changed? Because very little of the plot/storyline touches on the theme implied by the title and the product description.
– I didn’t like the hybrid Elvis/Pike/Scott & Maggie show. There were too many POVs and protagonists for a novel of this length.
Overall, it’s a good book for this genre—but a disappointing book for such a great series: 3/5 stars. Use this Amazon affiliate link to read more about this book.
November 11, 2015
November 10, 2015
November 5, 2015
Travel: Uzbek-Afghan Border Region
I took this photo in the Uzbek-Afghan border region. It’s a porous border in a dangerous area, with illegal crossings on a daily basis—people fleeing war, people searching for drugs, people searching for weapons—and neither government has the will nor the means to deal with the problem.
Unfortunately, people live in this area. They have dilapidated homes and menial jobs and kids that go to dangerous schools.
This particular photo is taken inside a complex of homes. At night people urinate, defecate, and sleep in this narrow hallway. They are exposed to the elements, and the kids who live inside the rooms are afraid to go outside. There’s no nighttime traffic, but you often will hear gunfire.
I see these things in my work and travel, but then I come back to the United States and it can be so hard to process everything: the whiny, selfish kids in Wal-Mart; the parents that hassle teachers at school for dumb reasons; the teachers who deserve to be hassled for serious reasons.
The absurd. The asinine.
There’s so much of it. You reach a point you feel like a sponge that’s been submerged in a lake. There’s simply no room left to feel much of anything.
If you dwell on it too much it can be unhealthy.
But you can’t ignore it and also be moral.
What then?
I took this photo and taped it above my computer. For all its beauty, we live in a dangerous world filled with great heartache—and this picture is my reminder to be grateful that my corner of the world has been blessed far beyond anything we ever deserved.
November 4, 2015
Book Review: The Crossing
There are very few books I look forward to more than a new Michael Connelly novel – especially when it features both Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller. The Crossing is excellent and I think fans of both Bosch and Haller will really enjoy it.
The plot has Haller defending a client who is accused of murdering a cop’s wife. But Haller truly believes his client is innocent, and after his PI is injured in a motorcycle accident he persuades his half-brother Bosch to take a look at the case.
The title refers to two things that really are the crux of the book – and for me it illustrates why Michael Connelly is the best working author in this genre. The first “crossing” is what Bosch refers to as the point where the lives of the victim and perpetrator intersect. Bosch asserts that if he can find that point, then he will understand everything about the crime. The second “crossing” refers to Bosch – who is now a retired LAPD detective – changing sides and working for a criminal defense attorney.
It is the second crossing that provides much of the conflict in the story: Bosch vs. himself, his daughter, his former colleagues, and even Haller.
But ultimately it comes down to one thing for Bosch: if Haller’s client is really innocent, then an actual killer is on the street and someone needs to bring him to justice.
This novel is incredibly well written. It is fast-paced with sharp dialogue, and I would highly recommend it to readers of mysteries/thrillers/crime fiction: 5/5 stars. Use this Amazon affiliate link to see more information about The Crossing.
October 29, 2015
Travel: Shahidlar Xotirasi Monument (Tashkent)
I think you will find a war memorial in every capital city in the world. I’ve lost count how many memorials I’ve visited, but I always think it is time well-spent. Whether you are searching for meaning, perspective or simply to understand, the need to honor our dead and the way we do so is a telling commentary on both our values and humanity.
I had an opportunity to visit the Shahidlar Xotirasi Memorial in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It literally means “memory of the victims of repressions” and it was built to honor the 13,000 Uzbek citizens who were shot on orders from Stalin. On the inside, it bears the inscription: “The memory of those who died for their country will live forever.”
