I’m not sure if I even liked this book but I’m fascinated by it. I’ve never tried bizarro fiction. It’s not a genre that appeals to me. But when I saw this on a list of weird crime novels from the irreplaceable CrimeReads.com website, I figured I’d give it a chance since I love LA noirs. I went in with low expectations, knowing this isn’t the kind of thing I normally read. And while I don’t have a desire to try more bizarro fiction, I […]
You’re Not Over The Hill If You Can Still Match Wits With German Spies
This is the year that I will finish reading Agatha Christie, and what that means is that I have just a few left, and the ones that are left are not her best work. I long ago read And Then There Were None, along with all of the rest of the Poirot mysteries. I’ve finished Superintendent Battle and Colonel Race, and most of Marple (although I am saving Sleeping Murder for the end, because I’ve heard that it doesn’t suck). When I started figuring out […]
Disturbing parallels to modern-day society
I liked this one well enough, but I can’t say it wasn’t a little bit of a disappointment after liking Faye’s other books so much. The pacing was very uneven here and I wonder if cutting some of the material (the book is about 400 pages) would have helped. There’s a great book in here somewhere, surrounded by too much extra. One thing I really loved? The setting. I don’t think I’ve ever read pre-civil war historical fiction that isn’t pioneer-ish before. This takes place […]
Ugh
I wanted to like this book. I haven’t seen the movie, but reviews of the film made it sound campy and fun. I’m usually too wimpy to watch thrillers but I do enjoy reading them, so I thought I’d try the book instead. I have never encountered a protagonist I found more off-putting than Stephanie. I know that the author was intending this to some extent, but the other narrative voices are not much better. I certainly don’t think that an unlikable narrator is such […]