Anniversary Harvest

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I had a work anniversary a few days ago and rewarded myself with some new thrillers.

Left to right:

  • Killman Creek by Rachel Caine – a continuation of a very successful first part.
  • Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Weatherspoon and Harlan Coben. Bad Goodreads reviews on this one but I respect both authors and will give it a chance. Harlan Coben has been on a negative trend lately. I hope this collaboration gets him out of the slope.
  • Exit Strategy by Andrew and Lee Child. In Too Deep was a flop but I adjusted my expectations. I now imagine Jack Reacher as played by late-day Steven Seagal – arrogant, slow, and absurd. After reading a scene where Reacher defeated an armed opponent while tied to a table, I expect nothing less. Looking forward to seeing if he can beat an international conspiracy while sitting on a chair.

Almost Spring

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

The wiring on the last photo says “The floor is LAVA”. The only way to proceed safely is to jump from one white dot to another. Minecraft.

The Edge by Lucy Goacher, Book Review

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

Clementine’s sister, Poppy, has supposedly taken her own life. For six months Clementine accepts it as suicide and lives with the grief of not picking up the phone right before it happened. Then new information surfaces, and it starts to look a lot more like a serial killer. Almost right after, it becomes evident to Clementine that the killer might be one of the 3-4 men in her life.

But which one?

At different points in the book, I was convinced it could be any of them. Lucy Goacher keeps us guessing the entire time, pushing the story to a Agatha Christie style grand finale, after explaining all the bits and pieces leading to it.

The book brought to mind the novels by Nicci French, where nobody believes the main character for countless pages and she has to face some dark force entirely on her own. The book is translated by the same translator, published by the same publisher, and designed in the same style as the Nicci French’s series. It’s up to the bar. I marked it as 4/5. It’s more Maud O’Connor than Frieda Klein. A lot more “nobody believes me” than “I’m going to run over the killer like a train and he won’t see it coming”.

Sunny Sofia

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments

I did 17k steps today, which included more than 1h of playing football with kids between 1st and 6th grade. We finished 6-6, which was not easy to the youngest and oldest participants. The youngest one saved a kick that was too strong and now wears an elastic stripe. The oldest had to run and get reminded that nobody is faster than the ball.

I also went to the park for a longer than normal pull-ups exercise. The weather was almost summer-like. The day was more than fine but my actual hopes for it were to just sleep until noon and then have an afternoon nap. All that sun and blue sky arranged things otherwise.

On the photos, San Stefano street, a sidewalk, and the Seven Saints Church.

The Revenge of the Damned, Book Review

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

The Revenge of the Damned is something like the closing act of the story arc about Sten fighting against the Taan empire. Over the course of the previous books, Taan had the upper hand – more military power and superior leadership. However, the Empire had a lead in manufacturing capacity and energy production. In book 5, the clash between the Empire and the Taan has already passed its inflection point. At this stage it’s less a question of who wins but more like when and how Sten’s boss wins.

There’s just one small complication: Sten has been captured and now has to somehow win the war from prison.

The book has its good and bad moments. The first part, let’s call it Prison Break, is strong, and the final part probably is too. The middle, however, contains long stretches that read like excerpts from a history textbook, explaining events and background in great detail. These sections are a bit tedious and slow things down. I generally don’t like things being told to me in books, I prefer things shown to me instead.

Several new characters appear, clearly meant to make it to the finale and perhaps show up in future books. There’s a cat-like creature who can’t see in daylight but is exceptionally good with forging, a professional gambler, and a faithful alien with prophet-level beliefs. Alex, on the other hand, feels like he’s running a little low on fuel and is a burden to the story.

At this point, it’s fair to say the main story is essentially finished. There are sequels, but if the series continues, it will probably have to be about something else.

4/5