Gilbert M. Stack's Blog, page 66

Review: Irkalla by John Triptych

Irkalla by John Triptych

Four cave divers exploring a new and elaborate cave system in the Philippines stumble into John Triptych’s version of a threatened zombie apocalypse. The problem begins with a billionaire industrialist with non-existent ethics who is funding a search for a cure for cancer. He has to do this in secret because he is already in legal trouble all over the globe for his gene and DNA manipulations. He has been creating a monster to test his cures on and—you guessed it—the monster has escaped. What’s worse, the monster has infected humans with a mutant form of rabies that has had the unfortunate side-effect of turning them into aggressive “zombies” who can infect others.

 

The cave divers find themselves in the middle of all of this when they stumble upon both the monster and some infected while exploring the cave network. The group was often frustrating as they made some truly terrible decisions but that is often par for the course in this sort of novel. It certainly breeds a lot of tension as the plot winds its way toward the conclusion.

 

Review: In Enemy Hands by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

Destroyer 26 In Enemy Hands by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

While the plot of this novel is not great—the espionage version of mutually assured destruction is messed up by Congress unilaterally disarming all CIA agents so that they cannot bungle their way into creating another international incident—there is a little bit of fun in watching Murphy and Sapir satirize President Gerald Ford. This is the first time Ford appears in the series and the authors were not kind to him, taking his propensity to trip and turning it into an ability to injure himself with any and everything that comes into reach—a paper clip, a piece of paper, even a band aid. So not great on the plot—especially the alleged love interest—but marginally saved by the literary equivalent of some slapstick humor.

 

Review: The Depths by Nick Thacker

The Depths by Nick Thacker

I’ve always been a sucker for books about underwater habitats. There is something about the isolation deep beneath the ocean with the constant threat of the immense pressure of the sea water cracking the shelter that ramps up the excitement for me just about every time. Unfortunately, The Depths is the exception to the rule. It starts out okay with a kidnapped child and a parent desperately trying to locate him, but the story never quite finished grabbing my attention. There were too many irrational actors and many little details such as a lack of understanding of military protocol that really damaged my suspension of disbelief. Ultimately, the story just couldn’t hold my attention.

 

Reviews: The Depths by Nick Thacker

The Depths by Nick Thacker

I’ve always been a sucker for books about underwater habitats. There is something about the isolation deep beneath the ocean with the constant threat of the immense pressure of the sea water cracking the shelter that ramps up the excitement for me just about every time. Unfortunately, The Depths is the exception to the rule. It starts out okay with a kidnapped child and a parent desperately trying to locate him, but the story never quite finished grabbing my attention. There were too many irrational actors and many little details such as a lack of understanding of military protocol that really damaged my suspension of disbelief. Ultimately, the story just couldn’t hold my attention.

 

Review: King's Curse by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

Destroyer 24 King’s Curse by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

This novel is based on a fascinating premise—when the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire a small native kingdom survived by abandoning their territory and over the next several centuries blending into various European (and other) countries while secretly keeping their culture and their devotion to their stone god of the secret name. Their god has been put in a museum (with no one knowing of its “importance”;). When the “god” is defaced by a graffiti artist, its followers go crazy and bring back their old heart-stealing rituals to avenge the dishonor. CURE, by a coincidence, almost comes to light in the resulting chaos.

 

I admit that I’m a little tired of CURE almost getting exposed at this point. We’re only 24 books into the series and it’s been the threat of a handful of the plots already. But this is a fun book which lets Remo and Chiun’s talents shine. The authors also deserve kudos for coming up with one of their most unique threats for the assassins from Sinanju.

 

Review: Child's Play by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

Destroyer 23 Child’s Play by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

One of the problems with creating two preternaturally capable assassins is that it is difficult to find challenges for them. With that in mind, Murphy and Sapir have added an interesting concept to the idea of Sinanju. Chiun and Remo cannot harm children. Now, this is a good thing from the reader’s perspective. We do not want our heroes assassinating children and we are thrilled when Chiun takes vengeance on a child killer early in the novel. But when the children are trying to kill Remo and Chiun, it adds an interesting and much appreciated complication to our heroes’ lives.

 

And that’s basically the plot of this novel plus a little satire of educational theories during the 1970s. The bad guys are using kids as their weapons and Remo and Chiun need to figure out how to survive this unusual weapon.

 

Review: Child???s Play by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

Destroyer 23 Child’s Play by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

One of the problems with creating two preternaturally capable assassins is that it is difficult to find challenges for them. With that in mind, Murphy and Sapir have added an interesting concept to the idea of Sinanju. Chiun and Remo cannot harm children. Now, this is a good thing from the reader’s perspective. We do not want our heroes assassinating children and we are thrilled when Chiun takes vengeance on a child killer early in the novel. But when the children are trying to kill Remo and Chiun, it adds an interesting and much appreciated complication to our heroes’ lives.

 

And that’s basically the plot of this novel plus a little satire of educational theories during the 1970s. The bad guys are using kids as their weapons and Remo and Chiun need to figure out how to survive this unusual weapon.

 

Review: Brain Drain by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

Destroyer 22 Brain Drain by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

This novel opens with a horrific multiple murder in which terrible things have been done to the victims’ bodies. The crime was carried out by recurring Destroyer foe Mr. Gordons on his perpetual quest to become more creative and destroy Remo and Chiun as the major threats to his long-term survival. Mr. Gordons is a great opponent. He doesn’t think the way we do and his mechanical nature makes him a particularly difficult foe for Remo and Chiun. Perversely, he also (in my opinion) proves to be quite creative in the ways in which he goes after Remo and Chiun—even if no one in the novel admits it. (And humorously, it’s uncreative Harold Smith who finds himself most in sync with uncreative Mr. Gordons.)

 

This isn’t one of the better Destroyer novels. It struck me as being slower moving than most books in the series so far, but it’s fun to see Mr. Gordons and it was an utter delight to watch Chiun get starstruck when he gets to meet his favorite soap opera actor, Rad Rex. And even if this wasn’t my second time through the series, it would be difficult to imagine that the threat of Mr. Gordons is actually ended at the end of the book.

 

Review: My Boss is a Serial Killer by Christina Harlin

My Boss is a Serial Killer by Christina Harlin

I like the concept behind this book, the slow realization that your boss is not the person he or she appears. The moment I realized I was in for the long haul was in chapter four when Harlin brilliantly brought the very sweet relationship between her heroine and the boss to life and made me really like both of them. Now let’s face it, in a book in which the title tells us that the boss is a serial murderer, you don’t expect to like the boss and yet I honestly did. Bill Nestor is an obsessive compulsive with maybe a touch of autism who doesn’t handle stress very well and our heroine is the legal secretary who can calm him down and refocus him when he has an episode. They are a such delightful team that I immediately began to look for someone else who could fit the serial killer label and I came up with a great theory—but you will have to read the book to see if I was right because, let’s face it, it’s actually easy to imagine Bill slipping over to the dark side.

 

In addition to the mystery, there is also what I think of as a “cutesy romance” between the heroine and the detective on the case. This is necessary for plot purposes, but I wish it had taken up less of the book. I was far more interested in the heroine’s fascination with television series. Again, this was a quirk that just made her a delight to read about. She is constantly referencing an old TV series and I loved searching my brain to see if I remembered it, or better yet, had watched it for a time. It was a fantastic tool for getting me, the reader, to connect with the heroine.

 

So—good mystery, good characters, good book!

 

Review: The Double Shadow by Clark Ashton Smith

The Double Shadow by Clark Ashton Smith

What a creepy tale! This is the first Clark Ashton Smith short story I have ever listened to, but I’m going to have to seek out more. Smith has the gift of creating beautiful and yet sinister prose and narrator, William L. Hahn, has the chops to bring the story to eerie life. This story is a great length for enjoying in one sitting and will certainly help you to understand why Smith is considered a master of the pulp era. But beware—when you finish it you’ll be glancing over your shoulder to check out your own shadow.