Saturday, May 23, 2020
Scott's Take: Thanos: Death Sentence by Stuart Moore
Thanos: Death Sentence by Stuart Moore features the
Marvel villain Thanos on a cosmic walk about after his latest defeat at the
hands of the Avengers. Since this is the marvel comic version of Thanos -- not
the movie version -- he is radically different then what movie fans would
expect. Thanos in the comics does everything he does out of being in love with Death.
He wants her. Thus, he seeks to kill every living thing in the galaxy to
impress and win the love of Death. She has spurned him again after he was
defeated by the Avengers. Spurned and having been defeated yet again, Thanos
goes on a journey to figure out what he wants and who he is.
The book guest stars the Avengers,
the Black Order, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and others as it takes readers
across the Marvel Universe. The book is a focus on Thanos and his flaws and why
he will never be happy for as long as he chooses to cut a bloody trail across
the universe.
This is an original tale that is
fairly dark with murder and sexual content. The many murders are very graphic
though the sexual content is not. This is not a book for younger readers. Neither
is particularly graphic, but this is not a book for younger readers. As one
reads this, one must understand than Thanos himself is an unreliable narrator.
Called the “Mad Titan” for a reason, he frequently lies to himself as well as
many others so there are times in the read where one does not know if what
Thanos is saying is true.
If you are Marvel fan this may not be
the book for you as the Avengers are not in most of the book. If you are a Thanos
fan, or are open to reading from the perspective of the hated villain, Thanos:
Death Sentence by Stuart Moore is for you. I enjoyed the read and recommend
it with the understanding as outlined in this review.
My reading copy came from the Central,
aka Downtown Branch, of the Dallas Public Library System back in the middle of
March shorty before the library system closed their doors due to the ongoing
pandemic.
Scott A. Tipple ©2020
Friday, May 22, 2020
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins: Reviewed by Jeanne Grace Wheeler was a foster child, dragged from home to home with her younger sister, Hannah, until they fou...
Physicals
We did the Doc visit this morning and things went off the rails a bit. We had to do the fasting bloodwork deal which meant Scott had to take his blood pressure med without food. While pulling his blood for all the usual tests, he passed out on them. Not woozy. Completely out to the point they had to get him on the floor and do smelling salts. Meanwhile Dad is down the hall in another room freaking out once I realized nearly all of the staff was dealing with him.
After a few minutes, he was okay. Thanks to not eating, his BP pill pushed him low and taking the blood sample caused the pressure drop that took him out. Once they got some stuff into him, he was okay and they could finish the bloodwork and the physical.
Picture below is from the hallway before the doc opened. We were wearing fabric masks courtesy of Jim Nesbitt. We had to switch them out for medical masks once the office opened and we were checked and allowed in the office.
After a few minutes, he was okay. Thanks to not eating, his BP pill pushed him low and taking the blood sample caused the pressure drop that took him out. Once they got some stuff into him, he was okay and they could finish the bloodwork and the physical.
Picture below is from the hallway before the doc opened. We were wearing fabric masks courtesy of Jim Nesbitt. We had to switch them out for medical masks once the office opened and we were checked and allowed in the office.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Beneath the Stains of Time: Death Knows No Calendar (1942) by John Bude
Beneath the Stains of Time: Death Knows No Calendar (1942) by John Bude: Some years ago, I reviewed three, once very obscure, mystery novels by John Bude, The Cornish Coast Murder (1935), The Cheltenham Square...
Do Some Damage: Dead Girl Blues: Living With the Monster.
Do Some Damage: Dead Girl Blues: Living With the Monster.: Back when I was an aspiring writer, one thing would always puzzle me, and that thing was the oft-repeated phrase “Find your own voice.” ...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote ...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote ...: Reviewed by Christy The Woman’s Hour opens with several female activists, some suffragists and some anti, on a train ...
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
MAKE MINE MYSTERY: Concern, Cash and Capitulation – My Love/Hate of K...
MAKE MINE MYSTERY: Concern, Cash and Capitulation – My Love/Hate of K...: by Janis Patterson/Janis Susan May According to some, ...
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett: Reviewed by Jeanne I love Book Bingo. It really pushes me to read outside my usual mysteries and I find books I love that I ...
Review: Throwing Off Sparks: A Riley Reeves Mystery by Michael Pool
Throwing Off Sparks: A Riley Reeves Mystery by Michael Pool is the first book in what promises to be a highly entertaining
series. There are numerous references to an earlier case which was the focus of
the story, “Weathering The Storm,” in The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes
From The Panhandle To The Piney Woods anthology edited by Michael
Bracken that came out last year. While it is not necessary to have read
that short story before reading this novel, it would not hurt as those events
still have personal repercussions in this novel set more than a year later.
Most of Riley Reeves cases are
missing persons and surveillance cases. Divorced and stubborn, she could have
easily slid into police work following her legendary father. She is not good
with rules so doing private investigator work is her thing as she goes about
her life while her brother sits in prison. She works out of a small office
building on the square of downtown Tyler that she inherited from her dad and
lives in the family home after mom passed. There are wrinkles to both
situations that add depth to character and setup conflicts best read instead of
being detailed here.
She needs a case as the bills are
mounting. The man and woman who walk into her office that morning clearly have
money. The wife also clearly has attitude, so she is going to be problematic.
They have a problem and seem to want her help. At least the man does, but the
wife is another thing.
Paul and Lee Anne Wallace have a 17-year-old
daughter, Carmen. Somebody started playing small pranks on her and things seem
to have escalated to full on stalking behavior. Somebody is putting nasty notes
on her car as well as occasionally vandalizing it. The same person is also apparently
coming by in the middle of the night and tapping on her bedroom window. Other
little things have been happening as well in recent weeks. Mom, Leanne, is sure
it is a neighbor boy who has a bit of a reputation. Dad, Paul, is not so sure
he is the one doing it. While they do not agree as to who is doing it, the
parents are in agreement that they want and need it stopped.
There is no evidence that the
neighbor kid is the one doing it. In fact, there really is not much evidence of
anything so the Sheriff’s department can’t really help. For any parent such a
situation would be of concern, but their daughter has major life-threatening
medical issues so that makes things worse.
While Riley Reese is not sure she can
really do anything that has not been tried already, she agrees to come look
around the property and talk to their daughter. Once she does that, if she
thinks she can help, they can all decide on a plan of action and other details.
Before long, Reese has her hands full
with their case and a host of other problems. Things get very complicated very
fast in this fast pace mystery. Throwing Off Sparks: A Riley Reeves Mystery by
Michael Pool is clearly a foundational book for the series. That means there is
a lot of backstory to the various primary characters, especially Riley, so as
to set up for the reader how she perceives her world and the people in it. That
backstory provides nuance and depth to the characters and does not slow down
the read at all because it is weaved in so well. If the coming series follows
the precedent here, the series should be really good.
I received an eBook ARC of this read
awhile back from the author with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2020
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