Design for Dying: A Lillina Frost & Edit Head Novel by Renee Patrick 2016

Renee Patrick is a pseudonym for a married couple.  Rosemarie and Vince Keenan. Rosemarie is a research administrator and a poet. Vince is a screenwriter and a journalist.  Design for Dying is a 1930's detective novel set in Hollywood.  The main character comes to Hollywood to be an actress but quickly turn to dress design as a way to actually make a living.

I think the authors have probably recreated the language patterns and idioms of the 1930's Hollywood film industry and detective fiction.  It is also likely that the prose actually feels more like a screen play.  Initially it took me a while to feel comfortable with the prose but by the end of the book I felt ready to dive back into Dashiell Hammett and black and white films.  Another joy of reading the book is the use of famous Hollywood folks as characters within the story (including Edith Head).

The number of characters and potential killers can be a bit confusing.  I hope in future books the authors pare down the cast a bit.  I'd prefer more depth in characters possible only by cutting some out.

I am drawn to Lilian Frost, the main character.  She is young but learning fast.  I look forward to a second book in the series.

Gray Matter by Nick Pirog

I've been buying some inexpensive books recommended by a service called Book Bub--it sends me a daily list of "bargins."  Some of these have been really good reads, others I abandon.  This particular title is somewhere in between.  There were many flaws in the book, which made me a little agitated as I read, but overall I think Pirog is a promising author.  I finished the book in spite of the occasional lapses.  This is a "detective fiction" book with murder investigation as the primary plot. It is set primarily in the Northwest United States.

Pirog needs a good (and ruthless) editor.  The main character should be a relatively mature adult, certainly the life experiences that he has had would season someone of his intelligence and background.  However, he consistently behaves and thinks as a "semi-adult"--more like someone in their early twenties that the more early 40s that would be suggested by the book.  There are numerous technical errors in the book which should have been resolved through better research and editing.  One research lapse that I found particularly offensive was the extremely casual research about the wolf reintroduction programs in the Northwest and the habits of wolf packs.  I have a middle stand on wolf reintroduction, however this hot topic is not aided by inaccurate representations of the dangers of wolves.   Other irrelevant sub-plots should have been eliminated including the girl-friend at the beginning of the book and "Harold's story."

Still, the book shows that Pirog is a promising young author.  I have plenty of other options and still I was willing to keep reading.  I see from Internet searches that he has several other books out.  I think perhaps I'll give another one a try and see if he has worked on his author's craft since his first book.

Star Island, by Carl Hiaasen

The Governor and Jim Tile are at it again!  This time Hiaasen takes on pop music and real estate developers.  If you haven't read any of the books in this series I strongly recommend starting at the beginning.  It will be difficult to fully understand many of the character and plot twists if you do not have the history of these two characters.

Hiaasen generally writes amusing and slightly outrageous tales set in Florida.  That's true of this book as well.  The governor's antics are somewhat predictable, but still amusing.  This is a good book for relief from high-stress weeks.  It will offer diversion and a few chuckles.  I've added "ecology" as a tag because of the Governor's choice of "residence" and his mission.

This is definitely an adult book.  I don't think I would probably mention it in schools.  (Does that make it a guilty pleasure for me?) 

The Reluctant Assassin, by Eoin Colfer

I am generally an Eoin Colfer fan.  However, this book did not really grab me.  Typically I really like books set in the Victorian Era.  But this one didn't really seem to settle down.

The basic plot line has to do with time travel, the FBI, and folks trying to kill each other.  Basically the Victorian aspects were quite authentic enough for me and the time travel/ FBI plotting wasn't compelling enough.  I think sometimes Colfer gets too involved with the sci-fi gizmos and loses a strong plot line.  Perhaps in the second book the characters will be more fully developed as was the case with the Artemis Fowl cast. 

The reviews from the professional reviewers were much more positive than mine.  I will admit that I was listening to an audio book rather than reading words on the page.  I could be that I was just too distracted by intruding thoughts to become an involved reader.  The reviews on Barnes & Noble suggest that this book is perhaps not getting much readership.  There are only 11 reviews with a 4.5 (out of 5) average.

Good Reads had similar results to my own with a larger sample size:

rating	frequency	%	#
5		19%	21
4		38%	41
3		32%	35
2		6%	7
1		2%	3

91% of people liked it

All editions:	3.69 average rating, 1017 ratings, 189 reviews, added by 5286 people, 870 to-reads
This edition:	3.70 average rating, 847 ratings, 141 reviews, added by 4241 people

Bone Bed, by Patricia Cornwell

2012

I am a devoted Cornwell reader, but was concerned by early reviews of her book.  Consequently I used my Nook "read for free" option for this book.  I'm afraid that I agree with the early reviews.

This began as a typical (and enjoyable) Scarpetta book.  I was enjoying exploring her new offices and catching up with the other characters' lives in this repertoire series.  Unfortunately the ending of the book was very unsatisfying.  I think all the pieces were in place to have a typical race-to-the-finish ending, but it wasn't delivered.  Cornwell finished the book most abruptly.  It almost feels as if she had hit her publisher's deadline and tied it all up as quickly as possible.

I hope that the next Scarpetta book is finished a little more carefully.  I will look for early reviews before I decide whether or not to purchase it.

Have you read this?  I'd love to hear from my followers to see if I was alone in my disappointment.  Leave a comment!

Drain You, by M. Beth Bloom

2012

This is one of the titles I learned about through "bookbub," an online notification system for value priced E-books. I've had relatively mixed results with this service. Some of the books are good reads, others not really worth the 0-4 dollars you pay for them.

I'm happy to recommend that this title as a promising new young adult series. It is about vampires but I find the characters and their development very intriguing and something innovative within the genre. The main character, Quinn, comes from a family of privilege in the Los Angeles area and is working part time as a punk/Goth/grunge clerk in a video rental store. (An element which is likely to date this book, in a few years readers are not going to remember what video rental stores were.) It took me a little while to become accustomed to Quinn's voice, but once I developed some hypotheses about how to read,  I began to really appreciate her as a unique character.

Of course, Quinn falls for a vampire even though she has a very solid respectable young man who would like to be romantically involved with her. James, her vampire love interest, actually has a brother and sister with whom he lives. Set in the privileged, urban-punk/grunge milieu I can't really speak to the authenticity of the culture of that Bloom portrays. However, I can accept it as believable.  I do wish that parents were not portrayed as quite so neglectful.  Quinn's parents are preoccupied with their social events, although they are present and do seem to support and care for Quinn.  Other parents in the book seem to have gone missing.  James' parents are relatively famous anthropologists out on a "dig."

Bloom it is just beginning her career as a writer. As far as I can tell, this is her first published book. Although some have been critical about her character development, style, and plot development; I think that this will appeal to many young adult paranormal romance readers. She became relatively explicit about sexual encounters between Quinn and James. As a result, I cannot recommend this to all young adults (I would have to be selective and warn them about some brief "PG-16" scenes). However, even though the intercourse but is portrayed in some detail I don't believe it reaches unacceptable levels for mature adolescents. The parties that Quinn attends also include quite a bit of alcohol consumption and drug use is mentioned but not directly portrayed.

Gideon's Corpse, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

I have been a fan of Preston and Child's Pendergast series.  I think as their popularity as writers grows, the quality of their writing is diminishing.  Even in their most recent Pendergast book, I felt they had shortchanged their readers.  I am guessing that publisher pressures to turn out books quickly are forcing them to release books that are incomplete and not polished as much is they had been before they became best selling writers. I have had a similar experience with reading Dean Koontz's Frankenstein series. I felt the last couple books have ended prematurely.  They feel almost more like chapters that should be part of a longer book.

The plot of this book focuses on terrorism and dirty nuclear weapons.  I think the plot had great potential but the characters, plot and settings were not as well developed as in the earlier books by this writing team. Much of this book is set in New Mexico, a state with which I am very familiar.  I couldn't help but compare the visualizations of New Mexico in earlier books by this writing duo.  I felt that they shortchanged the descriptions of setting and culture of New Mexico.  Particularly, Los Alamos, one of America's nuclear research facilities, deserved a little more detailed description.

For some reason I am less enamored of Gideon as a main character than I am of Pendergast. I can't really explain it, they're both larger than life and surrounded by mystery. Perhaps because Pendergast's history is more complex and revealed more slowly he becomes a more engaging protagonist than  Gideon.  It may also be that Gideon is very much a loner.  Although this could be said of Pendergast as well, he also has a collection of friends and supporters that add texture and depth to Pendergast as a character.

City of Lost Souls, by Cassandra Clare

Up to this book I have enjoyed the Mortal Instruments series. This particular title ended up being too much like romance fiction for me to enjoy it in the way that I had the other titles in the series.

We still have vampires, elves, werewolves, and other supernatural beings working within the mundane world. As in her other books, most of the main characters are well developed and help adolescents understand the strengths and weaknesses inherent in every individual. Unfortunately, for this reader, too much of the book was captured by romantic interludes involving several pairs of the series continuing characters. One of the things I appreciate about this series is the degree to which Clare explores friendship and family ties and responsibilities. Even in this title, with its increased amount of romance,Clare still helps teenagers explore the boundaries of these various groups in their lives.

There will be a sixth book in the series and the first book is being made into a movie. Although I was disappointed in this particular title, I will probably go ahead and read the next book as well just to see how Clare pulls it all together.

Shiver (and Linger), by Maggie Stiefvater

Werewolves in Minnesota--hot young teen romance.  That pretty much sums up the plot of these two books.  There are also some themes of parenting (mostly bad parenting).  This shows up as a well reviewed book on several review sites.  I think it must be popular because of the romance themes.

Overall the book feels a bit derivative of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer.  It has a little more description of romantic interactions that will appeal to romance readers.

Stiefvater has interests and songwriting, music, and art all of which appear as part of the book. And there were spots in the book where I think the writing could have used some improvement.  I didn't always agree with Stiefvater's word choices.

Since I'm not much of a romance reader I don't think I will go on to read the third and final book in the series.  I do have a mild interest in whether or not the main characters are able to find a cure for the werewolf virus.  Unfortunately, I don't think I can get through all of the steamy romantic scenes to find out. I like to feel like I've learned something about the world as I read a book in addition to enjoying the plot, characters, settings and language. I didn't really feel like I came away with much from this book other than just entertainment.

The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle, by Jim Butcher illustrated by Ardian Syaf (2008)

A graphic novel, this is a side story to the others in The Dresden Files.  In his introduction Butcher explains that "comics" were one of his early literary loves.  I can appreciate that--I spent hours as a child with comics--but I don't have the fondness for them that many have.  It could be that males respond to the genre differently than females.  I don't remember reading Wonder Woman comics--that may have changed my perceptions.

Welcome to the Jungle, much of it set in the Chicago Zoo, is fairly classic Dresden fare.  However, I find myself less compelled by the graphic version.  I can understand how less able readers would prefer this genre.  The illustrations do an excellent job of filling in many of the plot, setting and mood.  But to me, the illustrations lumped the book in with a sort of stock set of visuals.  When I read a Butcher book I am able to visualize the Chicago I know well and feel the gritty atmosphere under the El and other locations.  The illustrations here took me to a sort of "Gotham City" set. 

When I got to the back matter and saw the concept illustrations by Chris McGrath I knew that it was more than a personal preference.  McGrath's illustrations offered much more the "feel" I'd prefer for my personal vision for the setting and characters of The Dresden Files.  On the other hand--Butcher selected the illustrations by Syaf, Ketcham & DeVito and says they are "spot on" for his personal vision for Dresden.  This probably proves Louise Rosenblatt's reader response theory.  The interaction between me and Butcher is different from the vision Butcher has on his own.  That's okay.  Many authors say that their "critics" see very different things in their work than they had intended.  My vision of The Dresden Files won't be spoiled by the content of this graphic novel.  I will also be able to use it to introduce graphic novel fans to Butcher's work.

The plot line left me a little disappointed, but then it isn't possible to work all the character development and plot twists that are typical in The Dresden Files into a graphic novel length work.  I look forward to introducing this to some readers to gather their responses.

Vampirates:Tide of Terror, by Justin Somper

I enjoyed the first book in this series greatly. This second book was somewhat disappointing. At first I thought I was, perhaps, less engaged with the book because I listened to it on CD. But once I turned to the reviews I saw that I am not the only reader who was disappointed. The first book in the series was exciting and pulled you easily into the world of vampire/pirates who were generally good. This book sort of lost its direction by having too many threads to the plot.

I expect there will be some devoted readers of the series--Somper is now up to book number in the series. It's a series I would recommend only to readers who are obsessed with either pirates or vampires--but even so I would be cautious. I try to recommend books that I think are quality literature, even within a fantasy genre. I don't think this really fits.

Somper has tried to work in a mystery--who the Vampirate Captain actually is. I think I know the answer--but am tempted to read the rest of the series to discover the truth. Somper is from the UK and some readers may be able to detect the language and cultural differences. The series appears to be quite popular with kids.

The Death Collector by Justin Richards (2006)

This period techno-thriller from the Victorian Era is not one that really grabbed me. Perhaps because I listened to in on cd rather than read it in paper. Richards is quite a prolific YA author and writes collaboratively with Jack Higgins. He has also authored a series, The Invisible Detective. Others have a much more favorable opinion of the book than I. I got good reviews from Kirkus and The School Library Journal. I may need to sit down with a paper copy and see if audio/print really does make a difference.

For younger adolescents there is some interesting horror in the plot--Zombies and reanimation. I will revise this review if I find the paper copy produces a different response.