![]() Michael Harrison had it all: good looks, charm, natural leadership, a wicked sense of humor, and now, Ashley, his fiancée. One of the Grace novels, a cool-sounding thriller called DEAD SIMPLE, is looking for all the world like it’s about to head to the big screen… with James captaining the ship and British thesp Hugh Bonneville ( “Downton Abbey”) taking on the lead role of Detective Grace. Most of that popularity stems from his “Grace” novels, a seven-book series of books featuring Detective Roy Grace and the various criminal cases he becomes involved in. ![]() ![]() I’m not familiar with Peter James, the UK-based crime author, although apparently he’s tremendously popular his books have evidently sold over 10 million copies to date worldwide and have been translated into 34 different languages. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() The way that Pinkie tries to force people to accept his version of reality has a lot in common with certain totalitarian governments today (another thing to regret, alas). ![]() Pinkie is also smart but he’s anything but sentimental, so the two characters act as a foil, each to the other, like diametrical opposite components in an interlocking pair that makes a different shape. Ida tipples during the day and has a generous figure that she uses to her advantage but she’s smart as well as sentimental. Like Vera, Ida feels a deep compassion for her fellow human beings and it is this that drives her to investigate the death of a man she’d met only briefly one day in Brighton. Ida reminded me strongly of Vera Stanhope, the detective in the ITV network’s crime drama ‘Vera’ which is a favourited of mine on Sunday nights (a series regrettably ended at the end of August). Greene’s inventions – Pinkie, the 17-year-old gangster, and Ida Arnold, the middle-aged local who likes a laugh and a Guinness in the afternoon – are fabulous. The book is not long but it wastes no time and a good amount of action is packed into a series of eventful seaside days. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The very moment I am conscious of my immortality, I am completely subjective, and I cannot become immortal in partnership in rotation with two other single gentlemen. In his major work, “Concluding Unscientific Postscript,” he says: This point becomes clear in Kierkegaard’s view on the question of immortality. ![]() Kierkegaard’s main motto is that “subjectivity is truth.” He’s not looking for objective, scientific knowledge, but starts with the individual human soul, and that soul’s first-person experience of the world. The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who’s often thought of as the father of existentialism, can help bring some insight to this situation. So, what’s going on? There Are Two Kinds of People But this Knight stays perfectly calm, and greets Death as an old friend. When the average person runs into Death, he would probably lose his mind with fear. The first scene itself is enough for you to see that there’s something strange about this guy. ![]() The rest of the film is just about the Knight encountering different people and trying to find some meaning with what time he has left as he continues to play for his life (with the rule that he can keep living as long the game is in progress). ![]() ![]() ![]() I have to admit that this over-reliance on tropes does get exhausting after a certain point as you are bombarded with them and simply are given a passing explanation as to why they are there. ![]() The Riryia Revelations is, as many reviewers have mentioned, a sword and sorcery fantasy novel, which builds on already existing tropes in the fantasy genre, instead of deconstructing them or twisting them or giving them a new flavor. That being said I am ready to embrace more diverse adult fantasy novels, now that I know I can actually get through them □įirst on my list is probably one of the easiest to comprehend. Only my Young Adult Fantasy reads have had more variety. My adult fantasy reads have been really limited to tell the truth. ![]() ![]() Now I did mean for a long time to read Riyria Revelationstrilogy, but I never managed it because… well I just wanted to read more Sanderson which is a long term goal mind you. May contain spoilers! Read at your own risk! Did I mention that I finished this book while having the worst of stomach aches? Missed like 3 job interviews and all I wanna do is sleep.īut then again I do like making reviews and the further away this one is from the time I actually finished the book (2 days ago, if you’re wondering) the less I remember. ![]() ![]() Our identity is changing from moment to moment Four Lessons on Anti-Racism from Brené Brown and Ibram X. Read a few highlights here, and be sure to listen to their full interview. Kendi, the New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist (as well as the upcoming Antiracist Baby) and the Director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, together with research professor, author, and podcast host Brené Brown offers us clear and heart-opening lessons to integrate into our anti-racist toolbox. This rich conversation between professor Ibram X. We need to work for change on every level-supporting individual change, social change, and policy change-in order to fully acknowledge and end racism. ![]() ![]() ![]() We are collectively facing a moment where people are hearing the call from Black communities and rising to action. ![]() ![]() ![]() There was a Gallup poll asking Americans to assess the last nine presidents from Kennedy forward. Well, he certainly has a hold on the public’s imagination in this country. How does Kennedy stand after all these years in the annals of American presidents? Kennedy, whose inaugural address is noted for its eloquence. January 20 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy’s enduring mystique has to do with the fact that he lives in the public imagination as a perennially young man full of promise, says Dallek, and that the Kennedy family story combines tragedy and high achievement. As for Vietnam, Dallek says, Kennedy wanted to limit U.S. Kennedy did orchestrate some foreign policy successes, Dallek says, most notably avoiding a nuclear war with the Soviet Union over the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and negotiating a Limited Test Ban Treaty the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 was one for which Kennedy chastised himself. ![]() ![]() Kennedy’s domestic agenda as president included initiatives on Medicare, civil rights, and other issues that didn’t get enacted until the Johnson administration. However, his thousand days in office didn’t yield many historic achievements, Dallek notes. Kennedy, 1917-63, says Kennedy remains the most popular U.S. Kennedy’s January 20, 1961, inaugural address, Robert Dallek, the presidential historian who wrote An Unfinished Life, John F. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Shaw is able to work with Sally and Dirk, her trusted dolphins, learning more about them and some of the hierarchy that exist. Marine biologist Alison Shaw and her team see the perils and choose to hide it as best they can, while still honing its power to the best of their abilities. The IMIS system is getting to be quite the commodity, especially as other agencies learn that communication between humans and animals (dolphins and gorillas for the time being) is possible. Meant solely for series fans (as there is no way one could pick this book up as a standalone), Grumley does a masterful job filling in the gaps and creating new ones for those who seek more. Packed with action, there is little time for the reader to catch their breath. All the while, a young Chinese girl holds a powerful secret inside her, one that could revolutionize the understanding of inter-species communication and connectivity. A young gorilla and capuchin monkey shed much light on life in Africa for another biologist, keen to see new parallels between humans and other species. Alison Shaw continues to make amazing discoveries alongside her two trusty dolphins, leading to some interesting revelations off the coast of Trinidad. Gathering up the threads from past novels, this story pushes ahead in many facets. Peppering in a little science fiction alongside his strong plots, Grumley transports the reader on a journey like no other. Grumley uses his captivating narrative to keep exploring the world of life beyond humans and how our evolution is strongly tied to the animals around us. ![]() ![]() SK later said he thought it was clear that it was going to work, and that the book has this relatively happy ending. The book ends before we see the actual results of this theory put in practice. In that book, young Jordan explains his theory about restarting/rebooting the brain of the affected people, with a high degree of certainty that it could work (at least, it was worth trying it). Whatever it takes to convince this otherwise rational man to do what is needed.īut a couple of days after I finished reading it, I thought of Cell. Oz might let Rachel keep up appearances to Louis (he himself would try to convince his brain that everything is alright) at least until he tells other people about that place, who knows (even if they have to live hiding after what happened, that place would call back to him).Īll the things he kept thinking about how Rachel had not been touched by whatever was in there because he was quick to bury her this time are obviously caused by the Oz. Obviously, it has an interest on having people keep using the graveyard, so I suppose it might let Louis live, only to have him "infect" others with the knowledge of that burying ground. ![]() We know how it plays with humans' minds and makes them do what it wants. ![]() We have seen evidence of that evil thing's powers and influence. I really liked the story and the characters.Īt the end, we see Louis being forced by whatever is in those woods to bury someone else there. ![]() I finished reading Pet Sematary last week. ![]() ![]() ![]() Working together, Easy and Candice might just be able to beat the odds. ![]() Searing heat and powerful chemistry collide in this slow-burn, romantic suspense along with the danger of a vengeful zealot. What's more dangerous: the desert or her new partner? The problem is, she doesn't know if she even likes the fast-talking rogue, let alone trusts her. Now the find of a lifetime is beckoning from the middle of the Sahara, but she'll have to throw her lot in with Easy Nevada to get to it. But to uncover it, she'll need help.īy-the-book Candice Cushing only ever wanted to conduct archaeology the traditional way. Now she's after one last score, the biggest of all: a relic so cursed that it was buried with Cleopatra in a secret tomb over two thousand years ago. A full-throttle, thrilling, adventure romance with kick-ass lesbians, action, and more heat than the Sahara.įor years, mercenary Easy Nevada risked her life finding ancient artefacts for a mysterious benefactor. ![]() ![]() ![]() A fine novel that is destined to become a classic.” -Tim Lebbon, New York Times–bestselling author of the Relics series Read more Wild Fell is supernatural fiction of the highest order.” -Clive Barker, author of The Scarlet Gospels “Deeply textured, richly imagined, and with characters that leap from the book, Wild Fell is an atmospheric ghost story that grips from the first page. ![]() “A novel for lovers of fine storytelling a book that evokes terrors both ancient and modern . . . How could he say no?Įxcept something is waiting inside the house for Jameson, ready to show him his senses can’t always be trusted and the past isn’t always gone forever . . . It’s a good location, and the price is a steal. Jameson Browning is ready for a break from all the drama in his life when he discovers an ad in the newspaper for a turn-of-the-century estate on a private island in Georgian Bay. The townspeople do their best to avoid the place, and no one has lived there for over fifty years-until now. ![]() A sinister past lies within its walls, and rumors of teenagers disappearing nearby have become the stuff of local legend. Rising from the fog over the waters of Devil’s Lake, Blackmore Island is home to the infamous summerhouse called Wild Fell. ![]() An unforgettable contemporary ghost story in the tradition of Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw from the award-winning author of October. ![]() |