This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine Series: May 2012 Editor: Linda Landrigan Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Crime Fiction Pages: 115 Words: 41K
Having finished up the collections of old Hitchcock anthologies that I had on hand, I found a couple of the “new” Mystery Magazines and decided to try them out. This was touted (on the cover) as the “humor issue” and I’m afraid the writers took that to mean “light and whimsical” instead of as funny.
The stories themselves barely passed muster and if I’d had to read a whole book, instead of a magazine, of them, I think I can safely say this would have gotten 2.5stars. These were the kind of stories that get salted between good stories in the old collections; that way you didn’t notice their mediocrity as much. You just forgot about them. But here, all you had was mediocre and so while I have already forgotten them, I can’t collectively forget them.
I have several issues of this magazine to try out. What does give me hope is that you can still get subscriptions (paper or digital) to AHMM, so they must have done something correct to keep on going this long. I just hope I find out what, because this issue was not very good.
What I am afraid of is that people are so undiscriminating in their reading tastes that anything with Hitchcock’s name will draw them in and they will accept any old sock as a “good story” when it really isn’t.
I’m just being really negative right now though. So here’s to a brighter future in later issues!
★★★☆☆
Table of Contents – click to open
Department: EDITOR’S NOTE: UNEXPECTED by Linda Landrigan
Department: THE LINEUP
Fiction: SHANKS COMMENCES by Robert Lopresti
Fiction: LEWIS AND CLARK by John M. Floyd
Fiction: SPRING BREAK by R.T. Lawton
Department: MYSTERIOUS PHOTOGRAPH: DOGWATCH
Fiction: WIND POWER by Eve Fisher
Department: BOOKED & PRINTED by Robert C. Hahn
Fiction: FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY by Ron Goulart
Fiction: FASHIONED FOR MURDER by Shauna Washington
My memories of 9/11 are specifically tied to the Twin Towers, as I saw them fall on tv. But that was not all that happened that day and I think it is time for me to start remembering that.
Three planes were hijacked that day. In one of them, the brave men and women who were the passengers fought back against the hijackers, causing the plane to crash into the ground, causing no additional harm, unlike what happened to the Twin Towers. They sacrificed themselves so that no others would come to harm. That is the true definition of a Hero. Heroes don’t always get happy endings in real life. Those men and women all died, just like the people in the other two planes. Don’t get me wrong, I am not denigrating the passengers in the other planes. While I would like to think I would have stood up and fought back, I know myself well enough that I am sure I would have frozen up. And things happened FAST.
Today I choose to remember the brave men and women who sacrificed themselves so that no one else had to die. I Will Never Forget!
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Doctor Syn on the High Seas Series: Doctor Syn #2 Author: Arthur Russell Thorndike Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 182 Words: 66K
In the first book, which was the last book chronologically and sees Doctor Syn killed (oh, wait, did I just spoil that for you? Oh boo hoo, I am sooooooo sorry. Get over it, pansy), I wondered how someone who was a man of the cloth could preach what he did and still do the things that Doctor Syn did. Well, from this book it is obvious that his theology never went more than skin deep, if even that. To be blunt, Syn was a hypocrite was the start.
He is not a hero or an anti-hero, Syn is a straight up villain. He pillages, plunders and kills with nary a thought or regret and is the very definition of an Evil Pirate Captain. His revenge is the consuming fire in his life, over ruling every other thought and feeling in his head.
From a purely storywise angle, this was good stuff. Syn is talented, skilled, well off and implacable. Nothing stops him and his adventures here are many. When the local lord kidnapped Imogene and her mother near the beginning, I almost put the book down because Thorndike really had me wondering just how far he was going to go with the situation. Thankfully, while the end goal was stated, it never got there.
I’m really up in the air about continuing this series. It is grand adventure, but Syn is a scoundrel and hypocrite and I find that abominable. I will read the next book and if I still feel this way, I’ll be stopping. There is no need to read about or promote scoundrels and villains.
★★★☆☆
From Bookstooge.blog
Synopsis – click to open
Doctor Syn (a Doctor of Theology), a young man at seminary college, meets and falls in love with a beautiful spanish girl. He and his close friend save her and her mother from falling into the financial clutches of a local lord with the worst of reputations. Imogene in turn falls in love with Dr Syn. Stymied, the local lord decides to get his revenge by kidnapping Imogene and her mother and forcing Imogene to marry him. They are rescued by Dr Syn and friend and the local lord is killed, to nobody’s regret, not even his nephew, who now inherits and was a one time suitor to Imogene.
Dr Syn and Imogene marry and move to Romney Marsh. But it is too gloomy for Imogene and she goes back to one of the big towns to “help her mother”. She meets her former suitor and they seduce each other and run away to Spain together. Dr Syn gives up the cloth and vows revenge. He begins to chase them down.
He is then captured by pirates but because of his brains and skill at sword play, kills the pirate captain and takes over the crew. He loots the sea to fuel his fortune to hunt down Imogene and the Seducer. He blows up the pirate ship he is on, killing all the pirates and takes the treasure for himself. He continues his chase but each time, never quite catches them. He goes pirating again and repeats the same formula as before.
Eventually, Imogene and the Seducer drop out of sight and Dr Syn makes his way back to Romney Marsh to settle down to what unsettled peace he can have. The book ends with the ship he is on crashing on the shores of Romney Marsh and Dr Syn swimming for shore.
There were times you needed some mana of a color that your opponent had. I can’t remember exactly what those circumstances were, but they existed and Fellwar Stone was there to provide it. Plus, the quote was tailor made for the stone. It probably was actually.
In the last episode, we were introduced to Li Syaoran and boy, was he a real jerk. He also comes from a family of magicians that gives him the ability to capture, and thus use, Clow cards. Unfortunately for Sakura, Li thinks his family is the ONLY one “good enough” to do so.
Each episode is a Clow Card of the week and follows the predictable pattern of Sakura and/or Li discovering a Clow Card and then having to capture it. But we begin to see Li more as a person and he begins to understand that not everything is quite as cut and dried as he declared when we first met him.
Being a Magical Girl anime, there’s romance here, albeit from a 10/11 year old’s viewpoint. From a schoolgirl crush on her teacher to Sakura’s dad fighting with his dead wife’s cousin, there is no lack of relational drama. Throw in that this was created by CLAMP and there’s the almost obligatory boyslove that those perverted women just love.
We also get adults acting like how 10year olds must imagine they do. Which is some real writing, as most of CLAMP were in their 30’s (I believe. It’s hard to tell as the members have changed throughout the years). But adults play a VERY small part and thus are relegated to almost non-beings. It does keep the show focused on Sakura and forces her to solve her own problems, with the help of various friends of course. Kids need that.
Another quite enjoyable foray into a wonderful shojo anime. Only the utterly curmudgeonly and cantankerous wouldn’t love this.
Episodes & Summaries
Click to Open
Episode 9 – Sakura and the Mysterious Brooch
Tomoyo and Rika try to cheer Sakura up by taking her shopping after Syaoran upsets her, but Rika suddenly attacks Sakura when she puts on a new brooch.
Episode 10 – Sakura and the Sport’s Day of Flowers
It’s Sports Day at Sakura’s school. Tomoyo’s mother seems to know Sakura’s father, but her glares say that it’s not a friendly reunion.
Episode 11 – Sakura, Tomoyo, and a Mansion
Tomoyo asks Sakura over to get her help opening a special box full of mementos. Kero senses the presence of a Clow Card.
Episode 12 – Sakura’s Never-Ending Day
Sakura messes up during her music test; the next day at school everything repeats in exactly the same way. Syaoran and Sakura realize it’s a Clow Card
….that I will take VERY seriously and so should you. This post will explain why you should take it seriously and why, if you don’t, you are a filthy commie and not even worthy to be devoured with bbq sauce by starving Chilean soccer players.
Cheesecake. Yes, cheesecake. That delicious confection that will leave you dying in delight!
Mrs B and I happened to recently celebrate our 16th Wedding Anniversary. As is our wont each year, we travelled to the bowels of Hell itself to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. We always eat well, we have plenty of time to talk about the past year and the upcoming year and then we order 4 slices of cheesecake to go.
Each slice averages between 1100-1300 calories. So we eat our meal at the restaurant, eat one slice the next evening and then eat the final slice the following day. One visit lasts us 3 days. It’s a Miracle 😀
And that’s why you should take it so seriously, like me. *cracks fist or else.
With his plans frustrated by his inability to find the Hidden King due to the Soul Guardian’s protection, the Chartreuse Emperor began constructing his most powerful, yet most dangerous, weapon, an Entropymancer.
Taking the last of the mythical Lord of the Poppies, and subjecting him to untold Suffering, the Mad Emperor brought forth an Entropymancer. Unstoppable. Unkillable. Consumed by a lust to destroy. An Entropymancer was released like an arrow, speeding towards his target, and only death could be the final result.
This was the blasphemous act that the Hidden King could not bring himself to commit. If he had sacrificed his beloved Elf Mage and subjected her to the Ultimate Pain, he could have created an Entropymancer of his own, to aim at the heart of the Chartreuse Emperor. But better the world to burn than for him to taint his soul with such a rite or sacrifice the one he held most dear.
And now, dear reader, what shall be the fate of this world? Roll your Dice. Play your Magic Cards. Consult the Codex. Is the destiny of this world written stone? Or, as John Connor once said “The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” Let me know your thoughts.
Well, good morning Pilgrim. I figure you’re not really a Stranger any more if you’ve come back for the final edition of my Most Miserable Book Haul of All Time Ever, all thanks to Vault Books. (do I know how to give credit where credit is due or what?)
In February of 2023, I received the second special edition book of the Grimnoir Chronicles. It had been 5 years since I had received the first special edition book. Everything was clicking, right? We expected to have the third and final book in our hands within 6 months, because now that all the obstacles were overcome, we were sure the guy at Vault Books (Steve Diamond. Again, nothing positive is being said here) wanted this project over with just as much as we did. 4 months later Lord Larry claimed book 3 was almost ready to go. We were hopeful and thought Christmas of 2023 at the latest. Then crickets. Again. In October there was a random comment from the Vault Guy on Lord Larry’s site saying the book was going to the printer. Then crickets. Again. January of 2024 passed and still nothing. Not until April of 2024 did we get another snippet of info, from Lord Larry (who we were sick of hounding for *(&^%$ updates) and that was to say there were “issues” with the cover. Another 4 fething months of waiting.
And then, I finally got the final book, Warbound. Here are the beautiful pictures.
Opened September 5, 20247 1/2 years later, I FINALLY get the third book. Never again.Beautiful CoverGold Stamping really stands outLucky Number 98!
I will not say this has been worth the wait. This has been the MOST MISERABLE EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD FOR BUYING OR BACKING A BOOK PROJECT. While I will continue to buy Larry’s book (I just love his stories) I will never again back a project he suggests. I will certainly never buy a book by Steve Diamond (who is an author).
That being said, these are beautiful books and I will enjoy looking at them. They also have new introductions so when I go to re-read these, I plan on reading these editions and not my old ebook versions.
So Pilgrim, do you feel ready to move on now? That’s really good to hear. Mainly because you’re a ghost and I’m sick and tired of getting the chills every time you come to haunt me thinking you’re a real live blogger. Shoo, ghost, shoo!
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Conan and the Emerald Lotus Series: Conan the Barbarian #20 Author: John Hocking Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages: 209 Words: 70K
This was BARELY 3stars. I really thought about knocking it down to 2.5, but it did have some pretty good action scenes, so that saved it.
Once I was done reading this, I went to find a synopsis online to use for this review and somebody seriously screwed up. The blurb from the publisher is completely wrong and/or misrepresents what actually happens in the story and if I had read it first, I’d be seriously annoyed. I’m still annoyed, but not enough to do more than write this one little paragraph about it. And it’s not even the author’s fault; it’s all on the publisher. Sometimes I despise publishers as much as I do writers.
I guess my biggest issue with this story was that the wizard, one who dealt specifically with plant based magics, somehow thinks he can use the Emerald Lotus and not get addicted to it? He experimented on two other wizards, one of who died from withdrawal symptoms for goodness sake. It was exactly like watching a heroine junkie. My issue is that he should have known better and we’re given no reason why he suddenly went “stupid” and used it with no safeguards in place. That’s just plain bad story telling right there.
There was also the distinct lack of full, heaving bosoms, luscious thighs and shapely buttocks. At this point I feel that words like those are part of the Conan lore as much as the descriptions of Conan’s mighty thews, piercing blue eyes and rough cut black hair. Conan is just as randy in this story as in any of the others, but Hocking seems to feel the need to pull a feather down blanket on his descriptions instead of the gauzy silk we’re used to. It’s not necessarily good or bad, but it is different and finding differences in style for the authors who write these Conan fan-ficts is part of why I read them 🙂
This was Hocking’s only Conan story and I’m glad of that. Means I don’t have to spend any time hunting down any more by him and since I wasn’t impressed by this, I certainly won’t be searching out any other books by him.
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia & Bookstooge.blog
Synopsis & Real Synopsis – click to open
Having refused to enter the service of a Stygian wizard, Ethram-Fal, Conan suffers a curse which is gradually robbing him of his life. The beautiful sorceress, Lady Zelandra, offers to lift his curse if Conan retrieves for her a deadly emerald lotus which she is addicted to—currently in the possession of Ethram-Fal. To save his own life from the evil wizard, Conan must challenge Ethram-Fal again by stealing Zelandra’s prize from his desert fortress. During his adventure, Conan faces off against bandits, a demon disguised as an oasis, and zombie bodyguards. He’s aided in his quest by the dagger-throwing Neesa and a mute thief named Heng Shih.
-That is from Wikipedia and bears absolutely no relation to the actual book beyond the characters’ names.
Ethram-Fal, rejected from the Black Circle, vows to find the legendary Emerald Lotus, an unearthly plant that increases a wizards power one hundred fold. He finds it and uses two wizards to experiment with it. One of them dies from withdrawal, but not before he kills his own servant and zombifies him to chase down and kill Conan, who refused a job from him. Conan ends up with the other wizard, who is going after Ethram-Fal to kill him and gain enough of the Emerald Lotus dust to wean herself off of it.
So they go into the deepest desert to track down Ethram-Fal, who has taken over the palace of a mythological Stygian sorcerer from millennia ago. Bad things happen, Ethram-Fal is killed by the living plant of the Emerald Lotus and Conan goes on his merry way.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: A Man Lay Dead Series: Roderick Alleyn #1 Author: Ngaio Marsh Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Mystery Pages: 153 Words: 49K
This had the misfortune to be read immediately after a Nero Wolfe book. But it had the good fortune of me having issues with said Nero Wolfe book, so in the end, it all evens out.
Nancy, who blogs on Random Thoughts, brought this series to my attention back in ‘22 (Nancy’s Review of A Man Lay Dead). She has continued to read the series and each one that she has reviewed has kept my interest level simmering. Therefore, only two years later, I have taken the plunge myself. Pretty good, eh?
There are 33’ish Roderick Alleyn novels and as such, I will be reading a couple then taking a break and then coming back. Much like I am doing with the Discworld books. Very few series are written well enough to be consumed continuously every 6-9 weeks. Nero Wolfe is such a series but from my reading of this, I’ll need the break.
The influence of Agatha Christie is quite evident and this almost bordered on the “cozy”. If it weren’t for the inclusion of some Communist plots, and a few well placed needles under our heroes fingernails, I’d be adding a cozy tag for sure. When someone gets murdered in a house and it has to be one of the guests, and they all go on with each other like it’s no big deal, that’s quintessential “cozy” to me.
This was written in the 1930’s and shows the culture and mores of the times quite well. The man who is killed was a womanizing jackass and I wasn’t sad at all that he was killed. He was carrying on with a married woman, who was unrepentant about the affair after it’s revelation. Very seamy and unpleasant. I have a feeling Marsh will dive into that tainted pool throughout the series, so I’m trying to prepare myself.
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia
Synopsis – click to open
Journalist Nigel Bathgate somewhat begrudgingly attends a weekend house party at the estate of Sir Hubert Handesley. Sir Hubert is known for his elaborate murder games. Amongst the other guests are Nigel’s womanizing cousin Charles Rankin, Sir Hubert’s niece Angela North, Arthur and Marjorie Wilde, Rosamund Grant and Dr. Tokareff, a Russian doctor. Charles shows off a Russian dagger he recently acquired which causes Tokareff to rebuke him. That dagger belongs to a secret Russian brotherhood and is said to bring tragedy to anyone who possess it and is not a member of the brotherhood.
The weekend party is off to a tense start. Rankin makes unwanted passes at the women in attendance. The Wildes argue over their debt, largely collected by Marjorie. Arthur Wilde becomes the brunt of several jokes that culminate with Rankin pantsing him in front of several guests. Nigel overhears Mrs. Wilde having an affair with Charles.
Vassily, the Russian butler, begins the murder game by covertly selecting the killer. The killer has roughly a day and a half to tap another guest on the shoulder to “kill” them then ring a gong to signal that the murder has occurred. The other guests must remain still for two minutes to allow the killer to establish an alibi. In the evening, the gong sounds out but when the guests investigate, they find Charles Rankin genuinely murdered with his Russian dagger in his back.
Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn is called in to investigate. Everyone has some kind of alibi. Charles was murdered on the ground floor while everyone else was upstairs. Arthur Wilde admits to being the killer in the murder game but Nigel, who strikes up a friendship with Alleyn, provides him with an alibi. Wilde then confesses to killing Charles but is unable to provide accurate information as to how he pulled it off. Alleyn speculates Wilde is covering for his wife.
There are few clues to aid Alleyn. The dagger lacks fingermarks and the staff saw no one come downstairs. Alleyn discovers a partially charred glove in the fireplace that belongs to Mrs. Wilde who claims the glove went missing earlier. No one seems to have a satisfying motive. Nigel inherits Rankin’s estate while Sir Hubert inherits the dagger. Wilde also receives a small inheritance. Alleyn begins to consider the possibility Rankin’s murder may be connected to a murder in London associated with Russian Communists. However, this turns out to be a dead end.
In the denouement, Alleyn reveals all. Arthur Wilde murdered Charles Rankin. His confession was simply a misdirect to clear his name. The Wildes were heavily in debt and needed the small but sufficient inheritance Charles left. Wilde created an alibi for himself by talking to Nigel through their shared bathroom door. Wilde turned on the bathtub then ran into the hallway through the door in his bedroom. To save time, he slid down the banister and stabbed Charles on the way down. In under a minute, Wilde was back in the bathtub, talking to Nigel through the latter’s connecting door. Although Nigel provided Wilde with an alibi, only Nigel was doing the talking.
The novel ends with Nigel, now a rich man, free to pursue the heart of Angela North.
