Steven’s Comments (group member since Nov 30, 2019)

Steven’s comments from the Mount TBR 2020 group.

#83 - Stand Down by J. A. Jance

Novella following the transitions of Jance’s married homicide detectives J.P. Beaumont and Mel Soames into new careers, via a minor thriller involving professional jealousy and petty politicking. The story wanders around a bit too much, unfortunately, but it does what Jance wants it to.

#82 - Lightning by Ed McBain

#37 in the 87th Precinct series, and this time around the detectives have to contend with a serial killer who’s stringing women up from lampposts, and then, as things always get more complicated around the Precinct, a series of serial — and repeating— rapes start up. The result is a harrowing book. There’s some goofy humor, the tediousness that’s Detective Ollie Weeks, and occasionally boring side stories to fill out the time. The story has points to make, but it’s heavy-handed when it does so.

All of the detectives are concerned that the Deaf Man has returned...but that’s another story.

#81 - Graphic Audio, Green Lantern: Sleepers Book #1 by Michael A. Baron & Christopher J. Priest

Audiobook version of the novel with a full cast supporting the rather boring narrator. About as clunky as these prose tie-ins get, frankly, not aided at all by a rather dull voice cast. Green Lantern Kyle and his girlfriend Jade get sucked into an invasion from the anti-matter Qwardian universe that was already underway when Hal Jordan was Green Lantern. There’s appearances by Green Arrow, Black Canary, Plastic Man, and Alan Scott, the oldest of the Green Lanterns and the only one not powered by the Oan power battery.

The project overall (a trilogy) was quite fraught in the writing, so the story here is more than a little disjointed.

#80 - Ice by Ed McBain

The 36th 87th Precinct novel finds the city blanketed by an ice storm. Bert Kling is in a black depression over the failure of his marriage, Steve Carella is trying to come up with a Valentine’s gift for Teddy, and somebody is using a .38 to kill apparently random people. Undercover officer Eileen Burke has to catch a laundromat robber, a mad fake monk is on the rampage, and then a serial rapist shows up. So...things are hopping in the 87th.

It;s one of the most complicated stories in the 87th Precinct line. It’s not always successful, but it’s quite a read.

#79 - Cat Projects: DIY Projects to Serve Your Feline Overlords by sundry at Maker Media

As with cat ownership in general, this volume of DIY projects is full of improbably complicated things. Repurpose an old VCR as a cat feeder! Build a spring-loaded scratching post that fires out treats! An Arduino project that sends tweets for your cat!

I doubt I’d have the patience.

#78 - Heat by Ed McBain

The city is in the grip of a heat wave, and detectives Kling and Carella are called to the scene of what appears to be a suicide — one that has an oddity: the victim turned off his air conditioner before downing a fatal dose of Seconal. That starts wheels turning in Carella’s head. Meanwhile, Bert Kling tells Carella his suspicions that his wife, a gorgeous model, is having an affair.

Unbeknownst yo either of them, a killer who Kling caught literally red-handed has been paroled and has decided he needs to murder Kling as soon as possible.

One of the grimmer 87th Precinct mysteries out there.

#77 - Conan, Vol. 1: The Frost Giant's Daughter and Other Stories by Kurt Busiek, et al

The earliest of the Dark Horse Conan series goes right to adapting “The Frost Giant’s Daughter”, tying it in with several other tales that lead Conan from fighting alongside the Aesir to trying to escape the jaded immortal sorcerers of Hyperborea. It’s a muscular chunk of work, grimmer in some ways than the Marvel adaptations. I’m not sure I’ll be retreading this, though.

#76 - Ghosts by Ed McBain

Winter in Isola, and the bodies are falling like snowflakes -- best-selling author Gregory Craig has been murdered horribly, and his neighbour, a young woman, killed with a single knife thrust...the detectives of the 87th Precinct suspect the killings are connected, but they have no idea how. And then things get weirder.... Notable for McBain stepping over the line into outright fantasy for a brief moment, although the main case itself is a bit more prosaic. We also get a look at the police department's worst Christmas ever.

#75 - Fuzz by Ed McBain

The Deaf Man is back, bringing with him yet another wild scheme. It’s also the dead of winter and Carella is trying to find the hoodlums who are setting homeless men on fire. Plus there’s a robbery scheme afoot, and a host of other things too.

A longer tale, full of twists. Will Carella take down the Deaf Man at last? Read it and see.

#74 - Star Trek: Countdown To Darkness by Mike Johnson, etc

Where Star Trek: Countdown had at least some bearing on the 2009 film, providing pertinent information (since retconned by the Picard series to an extent), this prequel barely even connects to Star Trek Into Darkness, telling the story instead of a renegade Starfleet Captain — and upending the character of Robert April in the process.

Quirkyreader wrote: "Congrats on reaching Mount K."

Thanks. I figured I’d clear out one of the Humble Bundles I’ve had sitting around for a bit.

#69 - Star Trek: Ongoing, Vol. 9
#70 - Star Trek (2011-2016) Vol. 10
#71 - Star Trek (2011-2016) Vol. 11
#72 - Star Trek (2011-2016) Vol. 12
#73 - Star Trek (2011-2016) Vol. 13 all by Mike Johnson and various

More continuing adventures of the Kelvinverse Enterprise, with Q getting into the mix for a six-part story. Other stories visit the mirror Kelvinverse, tell Spock’s story after the first film (dedicated to the late Leonard Nimoy), and crossover the Prime Universe and the Kelvinverse without them physically interacting. Along the way the Enterprise gets tossed into the Delta Quadrant and we get a revised version of “The Tholian Web.”

#65 - Star Trek: Ongoing, Volume 5
#66 - Star Trek: Ongoing, Volume 6: After Darkness
#67 - Star Trek: Ongoing, Volume 7
#68 - Star Trek: Ongoing, Volume 8 all by Mike Johnson & divers hands

More stories that delve into the pasts if various characters, before a time jump gets to the other side of Star Trek Into Darkness, continuing that story into a conflict between Klingons, Romulans, and humans. There’s also a parallel timeline story that sees the crew meeting their gender-flipped counterparts, a vastly revised version of “Amok Time” that goes flying off the rails, and the tale of a long lost astronaut.

Mostly entertaining, mostly ephemeral.

#64 - The Space-Eaters by Frank Belknap Long

A Lovecraftian tale in which Lovecraft himself is a main character. It’s a morally neutral universe here — there are greater and lesser predators, functioning in a logically impenetrable way. The narrator and his friend, exploring the fictional fringes of reality, are plunged into the heart of something that, if visualized, will destroy them horribly. But how do you stop a writer from visualizing?

It’s overwrought in that 1920s Weird Tales kind of way, but intriguing. Unfortunately I encountered this in a HorrirBabble audio edition, and the narration rather leaves something to be desired.

#62 - Star Trek: Ongoing, Volume 3
#63 - Star Trek: Ongoing, Volume 4 both by Mike Johnson with divers hands

More episodic stories, with a redo of “The Return Of The Archons” that improves it and starts to set up the second movie, a Trible story that combines bits of “The Trouble With Tribbles” and the animated “More Tribbles, More Troubles” though the Glommer is considerably bigger and meaner here.

Vol.4 has stories focusing on security man Hendorff, with references to another episode and a wink to how things went in that story (the outcome here is much better), Scotty’s little sidekick Keenser, and the Kelvin version of the Mirror Universe.

All good fun, certainly.

#61 - Star Trek: Ongoing, Volume 2 by Mike Johnson & various

More gallumphing around as the Kelvin alternate revisits “Operation: Annihilate!” and serves up a tale of renegade Vulcans out to blow up Romulus. One of the lesser entries in the series, though it upends part of OA.

#60 - Star Trek: Ongoing, Volume 1 by Mike Johnson, Steve Molina, Tim Bradstreet

These are the voyages of the *other* version of NCC-1701, following on from the 2009 movie. The first volume retells “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “The Galileo 7” from TOS, albeit with a number of differences (including the shuttle being four times the size in G7, and Elizabeth Dehner being absent from WNMHGB.

Very readable, but fluff.

#59 - Carmilla by J. Sheridan LeFanu

Audible Original, with a full cast headed by David Tennant as a rather eccentric Doctor who figures out what’s going on here.

It’s a vastly more than twice told tale, the first to truly establish the idea of the sexy vampire, and challenging in that it develops a lesbian angle between protagonist and predator (very much played up here.)

#58 - Calypso by Ed McBain

The 87th Precinct gets into one of their most laborious cases when a well known but fading Calypso performer is shot to death. The case seems impossible at first, then takes a strange turn when it involves the victim’s missing brother. Then a prostitute trying to break out of the life is also shot to death in a similar manner, something that doesn’t come into the 87th’s purview for a while. Meanwhile, on a secluded island a woman keeps a man locked in her basement....

The extra space granted the author honestly sometimes seems to work against him — a lot of this book feels like padding, which works against the pace. Even narrator Dick Hill sounds weary as he plods through this book — there’s far less humour, and the emotional bursts are infrequent.

#57 - Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers, Vol. 15 by Steve Englehart, Tony Isabella, George Tuska, George Perez, Don Heck

The old order changeth, and the Avengers need new members. But first, there’s miscreants to manage, weird romance to goggle at, a missing Archer to find, an Assassin to defeat, and the Squadron Supreme’s world to set right. Frankly, a lot happens, plus the young George Perez starts his first stint in the Avengers...unfortunately inked by Vinnie Coletta at first.

Decent restoration, though the colors could do with muting a little.