Tag: thriller

February in Books

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

The challenge to blog daily got me motivated to read more and shorter books. I read 15 last month, which I’ve not done since the day(s) I read The Chronicles of Amber. I didn’t blog about most of them, though. Didn’t feel right.

The best books for the month were Five and Six by Janet Evanovich and the two Thraxas. Number Seven is already lined up in my phone, and the next two Thraxas arrived as a paperback from a second-hand shop.

The worst by a wide margin was David Baldacci’s Memory Man. I awarded it 3* but it doesn’t sit well in my memory. The way I remember it, it’s already a hard 1*.

Death by Hollywood – Steven Bochco

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I did it! I successfully read a book with a Goodreads rating of 3/5. Given that most people give 5s by default, the 3 is a pretty big deal. It’s like an IMDb rating of 4 for a movie.

What grabbed my attention was the writing style of the first few pages. It sounded like the writer knew the world he was describing very well, and I wanted to learn more. A screenwriter witnesses a crime and decides he’ll write a script based on it instead of reporting it to the authorities. He inserts himself into the lives of the victim, the killer, and the detective. A world of corruption, sin, and hypocrisy uncovers where everyone is greedy and nobody is spared.

The book is not linear. It has a dog named Bob. Half of the books I read in February feature a prominent canine supporting character Bob. Is that even a reasonable dog name? Bob is a very clever dog, so clever that the book leaves the realm of crime and enters the urban fantasy. Bob makes this book a 5 rather than a 4. 4 would be fair – the book is fresh but not that fresh – there is not much to like, except for Bob. It’s difficult to finish and the non-linear nature introduces 2 or 3 brief throw-away-the-book moments. I bet this is what happened to most people who voted 3 or under – they just gave up at the first difficult moment.

TL;DR – 5/5 but the book is unusual and many didn’t like it. It keeps on giving if you don’t give up. Goodreads link

Stephanie Plum – books 4 to 6

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I keep reading the Stephanie Plum series. My original plan was to get to book 5 but I’m going to extend that to book 10. The series keeps being cool and I consistently award high scores.

Stephanie Plum is a headhunter who does more and more PI work and less and less headhunting. She somehow manages to trigger events that lead to flying dead bodies and crashing criminal enterprises. She’s far too lucky though, the cars would always explode when she wasn’t inside and the bullets would miss. I think this is turning into a main positive feature of the series – you can rely on her having some Ring World-style extreme luck and that it will all be okay.

There’s a lingering love story between her and a few gigachads. Janet Evanovich doesn’t let that stand in the way of a good thriller. It’s more of a reminder that Stephanie Plum is a human and has feelings than an actual love story. Both men I’ve previously described as translucent – they are like imaginary resource-rich and powerful genies, essences of some dominant male-ness, and are almost as good as ghosts. Unlike these two, all the other characters, new and recurring, keep being fresh and vivid.

Thanks to this series (and blogging about it), I’m on track to have my best month for reading in years.

Two for the Dough and Three to Get Deadly

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Stephanie Plum is a young 30-ish old woman with no job and no future. She starts working as a headhunter and hunts for dangerous criminals who skipped bond, primarily relatives and beloved members of the community. She seems to be good at that. Dead bodies are flying everywhere for no clear reason.

There’s a saying that once a writer breaks through with a story, they’re expected to write the same story over and over until they die from old age. I sense a mild risk that Janet Evanovich does that. Book 2 is too close to Book 1 to deserve a separate review. It’s still enjoyable because Stephanie Plum is an enjoyable character and some of the supporting cast are also quite nice but it’s about hunting a guy named Kennie, and that summarizes it.

The names of each book in the series follow a naming convention of a number followed by some clickbait. Two Dough. Three Deadly. Four Whatever. Of course, Deadly is more interesting than Dough and without it, there would be no new post on the series. Ranked both with Five but objectively, Two is Four.

The villain in Three is Uncle Mo. Everyone loves Uncle Mo and will absolutely not assist the evil headhunter who tries to capture him. Uncle Mo is also the first male character that’s built with care. Why does everyone like Mo? Is he a fraud? I guess we’ll find out 🙂

Five for the Goodreads.

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I like thrillers where a strong detective or military or whatever solves mysteries, catches murderers, and restores the balance of the force. Last week, I found the series about Stephanie Plum. She’s a headhunter, a field dominated by men on both sides. She fights with persistence, brains, and a bag full of stuff. Her first big target is an ex, and the chemistry is not gone just yet, to make things messier.

It is so refreshing to read about a strong female main character who is not superhuman. Silvia Azdreeva was one, and before her book, I read the main books from the Livia Lone series. Livia Lone was also fine but it felt like reading about Dexter Morgan with a female name. Stephanie Plum is far more interesting and fresh. No secret superpowers! I’d give a +1 star bonus on Goodreads just for that. She could happen with some imagination, perhaps more so than Silvia. All she needs to do is capture a bunch of criminals and send them to court without flying, laser eyes, or talking to the stars. How hard can that be?

5/5