The Twice Dead King: Ruin (Warhammer 40K: Necrons) 3.5Stars

 

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: The Twice Dead King: Ruin
Series: Warhammer 40K: Necrons
Author: Nate Crowley
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 306
Words: 108K

I am wicked glad I read The Infinite and the Divine before diving into this The Twice Dead King duology. While Crowley (the author) does a great job of using flashbacks to explain how the Necrontyr (the people) became the Necrons (immortal metal beings), already knowing the basics helped me process other parts of the story better. Also, being familiar with the Shards and how they affect Necrons explained a lot that wasn’t explained here.

What we get here is the first part of a duology that shows why the Necrons haven’t taken over the entire universe, even being as powerful as they are. It shows their degradation over the millions of years that they slept in their tombs, to awaken, or to awaken insane or to not awaken at all. Factor in that there can never be any more little baby Necrons, well, you have a race of beings that don’t want to die but were tricked into committing long term race suicide and are now going insane over the issue.

Literally insane. Like, eating humans to try to get flesh into their metal bodies, even though they have no mouths or digestive organs. The main character also has an episode, which I guess is common to Necrons, where his brain “remembers” being flesh and has what amounts to a killer panic attack because he can’t “breathe” even though he’s a robot.

How messed up is all of that? Very messed up, that’s how much. And it fits perfectly within the Warhammer 40K grimdark universe. You think you are getting immortality and the chance to rule the universe and BAM, you’re totally boned by some nasty other race. And even if you kill them all, they still bone you for millions of years because they were that nasty.

The Empire of Man makes an appearance and boy howdy, do they do a number on the Necrons. They are on a Crusade and are wiping out the Necrons one world at a time and Oltyx (the main Necron character) is trying to save his House (Necrons are divided up into factions based upon Family and it is as messy as anything humans ever experienced). Which is when he discovers his King has gone insane and is eating people and “stuff”. He manages to make it off his home planet with a small contingent of survivors by the book’s end, but I am not sure what the next book will entail. Without the ability to increase his forces, he is ultimately doomed, even if it takes another million years.

I was impressed with how well Crowley wrote this story. It was a good story (within the framework of the WH:40K universe I mean) and didn’t read like a game codex turned into a book in 3 days.

To close, I’d like to talk about that cover. Terminator looking machines with glow’y axes. How cool is that? It’s WICKED cool, that’s how cool it is! Definitely going to be a strong contender for cover love at the end of the month.

★★★✬☆

From the Publisher

Pride is everything for the dynastic kings of the Necron race, who have awakened after millennia to see their empires occupied by foul beasts and simple minds. For the Necron Lord Oltyx, the Ithakas dynasty was his by right, but the machinations of the court see him stripped of his position and exiled to a forgotten world.

Exiled to the miserable world of Sedh, the disgraced Necron Lord Oltyx is consumed with bitterness. Once heir to the throne of a dynasty, he now commands nothing but a dwindling garrison of warriors, in a never-ending struggle against Ork invaders. Oltyx can think of nothing but the prospect of vengeance against his betrayers, and the reclamation of his birthright. But the Orks are merely the harbingers of a truly unstoppable force. Unless Oltyx acts to save his dynasty, revenge will win him only ashes. And so he must return to the crownworld, and to the heart of the very court which cast him out. But what awaits there is a horror more profound than any invader, whose roots are tangled with the dark origins of the Necrons themselves.

Service with a Smile (Blandings Castle #8A) 4Stars

 

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: Service with a Smile
Series: Blandings Castle #8A
Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humor
Pages: 173
Words: 57K

I believe this was actually supposed to be #8 in the Blandings Castle series, but Wikipedia let me down and claimed this was an “Uncle Fred” story, even though it features everyone from Blandings AND takes place at Blandings Castle. One more proof that Wikipedia is a hotbed of liberals and communists with a political agenda!

It has been over a year and a half since I read a PG Wodehouse story and I found that that break did wonders. I thoroughly enjoyed this completely recycled novel. There was not ONE original part of a story in this. Connie yells at her brother the Duke. Young Love is thwarted and reunited. Pigs are kidnapped, or not. Money changes hands at the speed of blackmail. Plus some of the usual smaller things. And I still had a blast.

That is all I ask of a Wodehouse novel. And that’s all you are getting for a review.

★★★★☆

From Wikipedia

Myra Schoonmaker is staying at Blandings Castle, her London season having been cut short by Connie. Connie is not happy that Myra wants to marry the impoverished East End curate Bill Bailey. Lord Emsworth is not happy with his sister, with his latest secretary Lavender Briggs and with the houseguest Duke of Dunstable. Adding to the unpleasantness, Lady Constance invites a party of Church Lads to camp out at the lake, young boys who enjoy taunting Emsworth.

When Connie says she will be away for a day having her hair done in Shrewsbury, Myra contacts Bailey, arranging to meet in a registry office and get married. Bailey, with his friend Pongo Twistleton and Pongo's Uncle Fred, waits at the selected spot, but Myra does not appear. Uncle Fred is an old friend of Myra and her father, and he likes Bailey. Fred then meets Emsworth, who is in London to attend the Opening of Parliament), and invites himself to Blandings to help Emsworth, the unhappy earl. He brings Bailey under the name of "Cuthbert Meriweather", an old friend returned from Brazil.

At the castle, Bailey and Myra are reunited, after learning each was waiting at a different registry office. The Church Lads trick Emsworth into diving into the lake to rescue one of their number, which turns out to be a log. This leads the Duke of Dunstable to again question Emsworth's sanity, always manifest in Emsworth’s affection for his pig. Emsworth, at Fred's suggestion, takes his revenge on the Church Lads by cutting the ropes of their tent in the small hours.

Dunstable plans to steal the pig and sell it to Lord Tilbury for £2000. Lavender Briggs proposes to do the work of stealing the pig for £500; Dunstable will not sign a contract, so she insists he make a clear verbal agreement. Briggs enlists the pig man Wellbeloved to help and she has a second assistant available. She goes to London to deposit the cheque.

Myra tells Uncle Fred that Briggs is blackmailing her beloved Bailey, as she has recognised him, into helping with the pig scheme. Before Fred can come up with a plan, Bailey confesses all to Lord Emsworth, who in his wrath fires both Briggs and Wellbeloved. Emsworth then relates all of this to his sister, including Meriweather’s true identity. Connie orders Fred and Bailey out of the castle; they stay, as Fred threatens to reveal to the county that Beach cut the tent ropes, which would lead to embarrassment and the loss of a superlative butler. Upset at her failure in finding a good match for Myra, Connie cables James Schoonmaker to come to her aid from his home in New York.

When George Threepwood tells Dunstable that he has photographed his grandfather in the act of cutting the tent ropes, Dunstable realises that Briggs is no longer needed, as he can blackmail Emsworth into parting with the pig with the photos. He meets up with Tilbury at The Emsworth Arms, where Lavender Briggs, returned from her day in London and unaware she has been fired, overhears him telling Tilbury he has cancelled her cheque; Dunstable raises the price for Tilbury to £3000 for the pig, which Tilbury will consider. After Dunstable leaves, Briggs approaches Tilbury, her former employer, with her offer to steal the pig for Tilbury at a lower price; he accepts and pays her. On leaving the inn, Briggs meets Uncle Fred, who tells her that Emsworth has fired her; he advises her to head back to London to deposit Tilbury's cheque. She wants this money to open her own secretarial service.

Schoonmaker arrives, answering Connie's request. Fred intercepts him at the railway station and takes him to the Emsworth Arms, where they catch up on old times. Fred informs his old friend of Myra's engagement to Archie Gilpin, which she did after breaking off with Bailey for his rash confession). Schoonmaker reveals he loves Connie, but lacks the courage to propose. Fred tells him that she has feelings for him, encourages Schoonmaker to propose to her. Later Gilpin tells Fred he has once again become engaged to Millicent Rigby, with whom he had had a minor falling out, and now finds himself engaged to two girls at once; he needs £1000, to buy into his cousin Ricky's onion-soup business and support his future wife. Fred encourages Archie to break it off with Myra.

Uncle Fred tricks Dunstable into thinking Schoonmaker is broke, and persuades him to pay out £1000 to get his nephew Archie out of his engagement to Myra. Fred persuades him that Bill Bailey is a more suitable match for Myra. Connie is in tears on hearing Myra is engaged to Bailey, which gives Schoonmaker the nerve to propose to Connie. With help from Lavender Briggs, Fred plays for Dunstable the tape-recording of him scheming to steal the pig. In return for Fred keeping that quiet, Dunstable turns over the photos of Lord Emsworth to Fred. Fred keeps the tape so Dunstable will not stop the cheque to his nephew Archie.

With Bill and Myra off to a registry office, Archie back with Millicent and set up in business, Connie and Schoonmaker engaged and Dunstable well and truly scuppered, Fred smiles at the services he has done for one and all.

Giant Strength - MTG 4E

 

He'd be a little more impressive if he didn't have that potbelly, you know?

Metal Giants (Short Story) 3Stars

 

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: Metal Giants
Series: -----
Author: Edmond Hamilton
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 30
Words: 10K

Take War of the Worlds and replace the Martians with a mad scientist and the tripods and aliens driving them with an AI that wants to exterminate humanity and voila, you have this story. Of course, the mad scientist repents of what he did and dies in rectifying the situation, but man, WotW was all I could think of when reading this.

March is not turning out to be much of a “reviewing” month for me, so I’m going to end now. I just don’t care.
★★★☆☆

From Bookstooge

A mad scientist creates an AI, which in turn begins building its own robotic servants who begin exterminating humanity. The mad scientist in a fit of remorse builds a giant wheel and crushes the AI to death and dies in the process.

• All of My “Edmund Hamilton” Reviews

Eric (Discworld #9) 3.5Stars

 

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: Eric
Series: Discworld #9
Author: Terry Pratchett
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 94
Words: 35K

While I enjoyed this, this is also where I feel that Pratchett lost the zaniness that is Rincewind. Don’t get me wrong, Pratchett tries, he really does. But the magic is gone, completely.

Amusing but not really funny. I would still recommend this if you’re reading Discworld. Every little bit helps fill in the bigger picture of just how crazy that world is.

Well, onward to the next book...

★★★✬☆☆

From Wikipedia.org

The story is a parody of the tale of Faust, and follows the events of Sourcery in which the Wizard Rincewind was trapped in the Dungeon Dimensions. Rincewind is summoned by the thirteen-year-old demonologist, Eric Thursley, who wanted a demon to grant his heart's desires. He is disappointed when Rincewind tells him he is unable to grant wishes. Rincewind is disheartened to learn that the spells to confine demons work on him; Eric's parrot tells him that because he was summoned as a demon, he is subject to the same terms. The arrival of Rincewind's Luggage causes Eric to suspect deceit on Rincewind's part. Eric's demands are renewed and Rincewind finds that snapping his fingers allows him to grant the following wishes.

• To be Ruler of the World. Eric and Rincewind are transported to the rain forests of Klatch in the Tezumen empire (a parody of the Aztec Empire). The locals declare Eric Ruler of the World. During this tribute, Rincewind and the parrot explore the temple of Quezovercoatl (a parody of Quetzalcoatl), where they find a prisoner, Ponce da Quirm (a parody of Juan Ponce de León), who is to be sacrificed. Da Quirm tells Rincewind about the terrible fate the Tezumen have planned for the Ruler of the World, on whom they blame all of life's misfortunes. Rincewind, Eric and da Quirm are tied up at the top of a pyramid to be sacrificed, when Quezovercoatl makes his appearance. Unfortunately for him, the Luggage also makes an appearance, trampling the six-inch-tall Quezovercoatl in the process. The Tezumen, pleased to see Quezovercoatl destroyed, release the prisoners and deify the Luggage in the place of their god.

• To Meet the Most Beautiful Woman in All History. Rincewind transports himself and Eric inside in a large wooden horse (a parody of the Trojan Horse). Exiting, they are surrounded by Tsortean soldiers, who take them for an Ephebian invasion force. Rincewind manages to talk their way out from the guards and out of the city, only to fall into the hands of the invading army. Rincewind and Eric are taken to Lavaeolus, the man who built the horse as a decoy so that he and his men could sneak in while their enemies waited around the horse for them to come out. They re-enter Tsort through a secret passage, and find Elenor (a parody of Helen of Troy). Eric and Lavaeolus are disappointed to find that Elenor is now a plump mother of several children, and that artistic licence had been taken in her description. The Ephebians escape the city while Tsort burns, and Lavaeolus and his army set out for home. Eric notes that "Lavaeolus" in Ephebian translates to "Rinser of Winds", hinting that Lavaeolus is an ancestor of Rincewind.

• To Live Forever. Rincewind brings Eric and him outside time, just before the beginning of existence. They meet the Creator, who is just forming the Discworld. Rincewind and Eric are left on the newly formed world, with the realisation that "to live forever" means to live for all time, from start to finish. To escape, Rincewind has Eric reverse his summoning, taking them both to hell.

They discover hell steeped in bureaucracy, the Demon King Astfgl having decided that boredom might be the ultimate form of torture. Rincewind uses his university experience to confuse the demons, so he and Eric can escape. While crossing through the recently reformed levels of hell (satirical forms of Dante's Inferno) they encounter da Quirm and the parrot, as well as Lavaeolus, who tells them where the exit is.

The source of Rincewind's demonic powers is revealed to be Lord Vassenego, a Demon Lord leading a secret revolt against Astfgl. Using Rincewind to keep Astfgl occupied while gathering support amongst the demons, Vassenego confronts his king just as Astfgl finally catches up to Rincewind and Eric. Vassenego announces the council of demons has made Astfgl "Supreme Life President of Hell", and that he is to plan out the course of action for demons. With Astfgl lost in the bureaucratic prison of his own making, Vassenego takes over as king and lets Rincewind and Eric escape, so that stories about hell can be told. As they leave, Rincewind and Eric notice that the path they are fleeing along has good intentions written on each cobble.

• Eric (2007 Review)

• All of My “Discworld” Reviews

• All of My “Discworld: Rincewind” Reviews

• All of My “Discworld: Witches” Reviews

• All of My “Discworld: Death” Reviews

• All of My “Discworld: The Watch” Reviews

February '25 Roundup & Ramblings

 

Raw Data:

Novels - 13 -

Short Stories - 1 ↑

Manga/Graphic Novels - 1 -

Comics - 1 -

Average Rating - 3.06 ↓↓

Pages - 3008 ↑

Words - 988K ↑

The Bad:

Mephisto's Game - 2stars of me abandoning the Galaxy's Edge authors :-(

Faust: A Story in 9 Letters - 2stars of russian infidelity without repentance

Death in Ecstasy - 2stars of continued wallowing in the fallen human condition

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Sept '12 - 2stars of not very good stories

The Good:

The Finality Problem - 5stars of ending for Warlock Holmes

Too Many Clients - 4stars of Nero Wolfe not wallowing in the fallen human condition

Nemesis - 4stars of monster butt kicking

Movie:

YuYu Hakusho: The Spirit Detective arc was a fun rewatch and gave me hope that maybe I'm not too old for anime, not yet anyway.

Miscellaneous Posts:

• [Food] Chicken Pot Pie
• Gaseous Form - MTG 4E
• [Journal] Maya Angelou: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings OR My Week
• The Book Titles Tag
• Ghost Ship - MTG 4E
• [Poem] Would It Be Ok?
• Book Recommendations VI (The Penultimate Edition)
• Giant Growth - MTG 4E
• [Art] Tainted Love
• Giant Spider - MTG 4E

Personal:

Just like the last couple of years, February has been the month where Winter bared it's arm and smacked us as hard as it possibly could. Multiple snow storms kept us busy and made work a real bear (pope) of a time.

Yes, the Pope DOES wear a hat...

Readingwise, this month also felt bad. Getting three 2-2.5star books in a row in the second to last week was like getting kicked in the sensitives. If you're wondering, that is NOT a good thing. If it wasn't for those books, my average would have stayed the same or even gone up a tiny bit from last month.

Cover Love:

Veruchia by Edwin Tubb. Really no surprise. Nothing else really came close to even challenging it. Curse of the Spider King was the only challenger but with all the "dark" on the cover, I said "no".

Plans for Next Month:

Magic cards will be moving to noon or 1pm while the book review for that day will go at 5am. So still a double posting on Monday but in a different order, as what I consider more important goes first.

Mr Zip will be making an appearance one Monday, so for all his fans, you now have something to look forward to. You are welcome.

Other than that, it is all the usual magic, journal/my week, reviews and blatherings you can cope with.

The Village of Miggledy (Groo the Wanderer #37) 3.5Stars

 

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: The Village of Miggledy
Series: Groo the Wanderer #37
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 25
Words: 2K

This is a game of telephone, but with Groo being the message and the consequences being the destruction of an entire village. The very IDEA of Groo is enough to wreck a village, and it’s funny. Now that is incredible work by Aragones!

While Groo is trying to be a hunter, and failing miserably, the village self-destructs and things escalate at an incredible rate. I’m going to leave the synopsis unhidden, because it’s so amusing (to me anyway).

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge

Groo is hungry but has no money. He tries to train Rufferto to hunt and fails miserably. He decides to go to the nearest town to beg some food. Several villagers overhear him and return to the village with the bad news. By the end of the comic, the king’s army is in the town to protect it, the villagers have all been driven out by pimps, gamblers and land speculators and villagers from the next village over have bought all their houses dirt cheap. THEN Groo shows up while the town is burning to the ground.

• All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Curse of the Spider King (The Berinfell Prophecies #1) 3Stars

 

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: Curse of the Spider King
Series: The Berinfell Prophecies #1
Author: Wayne Batson & Christopher Hopper
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Pages: 335
Words: 107K

After how my last ya/middle grade book went (The Beggar Queen by Lloyd Alexander) I was just about ready to bag the whole idea of reading books geared toward the younger audience. Before I called it quits I asked some of the kids at church what they were reading. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect much. But I ended up with a suggestion for the Berinfell Prophecies and after reading the synopsis, I decided it certainly couldn’t be as bad as the Beggar Queen. And it wasn’t, at all.

It IS more middle grade than young adult, as the main characters involved are all 13 year olds. There are also 7 of them. That concerned me a bit at first, because finding the right balance for points of view is hard and the more pov’s authors introduce, the harder the balance is to find. Thankfully, Batson and Hopper did an admirable job of giving each kid just the right amount of page time to tell the story they needed but without artificially giving more or less pages to each character.

Another thing that I liked, but wasn’t expecting, is that the authors are Christian and insert Christian elements into the story. No in a preachy way, but in many regards like Lewis does with his Chronicles of Narnia books. I only noticed it three or four times too, so it’s not like they are trying to drown their readers in it either.

This book is all about the gathering of the seven kids and how the elves were trying to get them all back to their original world. It had a good beginning, an exciting middle as all the kids had adventures and then the ending sees them all just crossing over. I am looking forward to the next book to see how things work out.

One final note. As this is middle grade, don’t expect any of the adults to be “actual” adults. They are adults per children’s views and act accordingly. Hence the “surprise” ambush near the end I saw coming from a mile away, but a kid wouldn’t, so the adults in the story didn’t.

★★★☆☆

From Fandom.com

Elves ruled over the land of Allyra for thousands of years until, in a great battle, the capital, Berinfell, was overtaken by an army of Drefids, Gwar, Warspiders, and Wisps under the command of the Spider King. Now as he rules the land, the remnant of the Elven race lives, hidden, in a network of subterranean passages called Nightwish Caverns.
In that battle, the seven heirs to the thrones of Berinfell were captured as babies and taken to the realm of the humans, known as Earth. Disguised among the millions of people on Earth, these Elf Lords have no clue of their identity until, around their thirteenth birthdays, some strange events start happening. Some are stalked by mysterious, creepy strangers, and others receive odd books from teachers, librarians, or bookstore owners. Eventually, the people, who had given the Elves the books, reveal to the Seven Lords their true identity, and the fact that they are being hunted by villainous creatures. These assassins, once held back by an old curse, are now free to kill the Seven. This they intend to do in order to keep the teenagers from returning to Allyra and rallying the Elves against their oppressor, the Spider King.
Autumn and Johnny are attacked in their house by a pack of Drefids, Jett and his family are assaulted by Cragons, and a Wisp of Jimmy's neighbor comes to the boy's school and attempts to quietly kill Miss Finney. Kat and Anna are pursued in a vicious car chase by Drefids, and Kiri Lee is later almost assassinated by Wisps posing as her parents in her own home. Tommy, Goldarrow and Mr. Charlie are forced to fight off another group of Drefids in an abandoned asylum while attempting to find a portal to Allyra.
In the final scene, all the Elven Lords and their escorts (except Autumn, Johnny, and Nelly) have assembled for a concert in Scotland before entering the nearby portal. In the middle of the performance, attended by humans and disguised Elves alike, a massive army of Gwar, Drefids, Cragons, and Wisps attack. In the midst of the chaos, Johnny, Autumn and Nelly arrive. They join the desperate rush of fighting Elves attempting to reach the portal. When they arrive, it is rapidly shrinking. Unbeknownst to everyone else, at the rear of the group Mr. Wallace is killed and replaced by a Wisp. As the final few Elves are diving into the portal, the Wisp kills Mr. Charlie and enters Allyra just before the doorway is completely closed. Once in the Elven world, the returning group of warriors are met by Grimwarden and a team of Elves, who assist the Lords and their guardians into the Underground. Mr. Wallace's Wisp accompanies them, a spy among their number.

Monster Hunter Nemesis (MHI #5) 4Stars

 

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: Monster Hunter Nemesis
Series: MHI #5
Author: Larry Correia
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 336
Words: 133K

I made the mistake of reading my review from 2014. Boy, everything I was going to say now, I said it a decade ago.

The only difference is that I gave a bit more weight to the theological side of things and thus removed yet another half star. God is presented as the Ruler of just our universe and just one amongst the multiverse, which while perfectly fine within Mormon theology goes directly against what the Bible says. Which is one more reason Mormonism is accounted a cult instead of just another denomination.

A good time reading and lots of fun. I think most people would just read this and enjoy it. I recommend you try that.

★★★★☆

From MHI.Fandom.com & Bookstooge

Agent Franks of the U.S. Monster Control Bureau is a man of many parts—parts from other people, that is. Franks is nearly seven feet tall and all muscle. He's nearly indestructible. Plus he’s animated by a powerful alchemical substance and inhabited by a super-intelligent spirit more ancient than humanity itself.

Good thing he’s on our side. More or less.

Sworn to serve and protect the United States of America from all monsters by one of the country’s founding fathers, Franks has only one condition to the agreement: no matter what the government learns of him, no matter what is discovered concerning his odd physiology or the alchemy behind the elixir that made him, the government is never, ever allowed to try and make more like him. Such is absolutely forbidden and should the powers-that-be do so, then the agreement is null and void.

Project Nemesis: in a secret location, using sophisticated technology and advanced genetic engineering, the director of the very agency Franks works for is making more like him. And the director is not content with making one. Nope, he’s making thirteen.

Now all bets are off, and Hell hath no fury like a monster betrayed. Particularly if that monster happens to be an undying killing machine capable of taking out vampires and werewolves with one hand tied behind his back.

Agent Franks is center stage in a Special Task Force Unicorn vendetta. Franks is on the run while he must clear his name, destroy a whole set of bodies based upon him AND prevent an invasion of the original fallen angels.

• Monster Hunter Nemesis (2014 Review)

• All of My “MHI” Reviews

B is for Burglar (Kinsey Millhone #2) 3Stars

 

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: B is for Burglar
Series: Kinsey Millhone #2
Author: Sue Grafton
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 230
Words: 81K

I enjoyed this a good bit more than A is for Alibi. Most of that comes down to Kinsey not being the unlikeable jackass she was in A. I also came to the realization that I had spelled her last name wrong the entire review of that book. I had written “Milhone” while it is supposed be “Millhone”. That extra L is a killer.

This takes place two weeks later and sees Kinsey gallivanting from California to Florida in the quest to find a missing woman, the sister of Kinsey’s client (notice how I am calling her Kinsey? No more of that Millhone balogna). Things get complicated and it ends up being a murder.

The reason this doesn’t get an extra half star bump is because Kinsey acts like a total fool at the end. Instead of going to the police, she goes to an abandoned house to “prove” the murder, doesn’t take her gun AND runs into the murderous couple, which she KNEW was a distinct possibility. She does everything wrong and is only saved by pure luck. What an idiot.

I have this feeling I am going to be saying that a lot throughout this series :-(

The non-idiot parts were well done and carried me through. I hope that happens a lot in this series too :-)

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired by Beverly Danziger to locate her missing sister, Elaine Boldt, whose name is needed on some paperwork regarding an inheritance. Elaine was last seen getting into a cab with the intention of flying down to Boca Raton, Florida, where she spends her winters, but appears to have disappeared along the way. It seems a relatively straightforward matter, so much so that Millhone is not sure Beverly needs a PI; but she agrees to take the case.

Things are not as easy as they seem, however, as Millhone can find no trace of Elaine anywhere in Florida, although she does find a woman called Pat Usher, who claims Elaine agreed to let her sublet the Boca Raton apartment where Elaine lived while she was off travelling. This claim rings false, since no one but Pat Usher has received a postcard from Elaine on her supposed trip. Millhone secures the able assistance of Elaine's elderly neighbour, Julia, to keep an eye on things in Florida while she goes back to California.

Millhone suspects there is a link between Elaine's disappearance and the death of her Santa Teresa neighbor, Marty Grice, who was apparently killed by a burglar who then set fire to the Grice home a week before Elaine left. Someone breaks into the home of Tillie, the supervisor of Elaine's Santa Teresa apartment complex, apparently on the track of some of Elaine's bills that Tillie was holding ready to forward to her. Someone also searches the detective's apartment, and Millhone realizes the thief is after Elaine's passport.

Gravely concerned for Elaine's safety, Millhone suggests to Beverly that Elaine's disappearance should be reported to the police; but Beverly objects so violently that Millhone terminates their relationship and starts working for Julia instead. Kinsey reports the disappearance and meets Jonah Robb, a recently separated cop working on missing persons. A visit from Beverly's husband Aubrey complicates matters further, as it turns out he was having an affair with Elaine, which Beverly had discovered. This raises suspicion around whether Beverly could have had a hand in Elaine's disappearance.

Millhone is increasingly convinced that Elaine is dead and that Pat Usher is involved. Pat disappears after vandalizing the Boca Raton apartment. Millhone discovers that Pat Usher has applied for a driver's license in Elaine's name, thus proving Pat's involvement.

Marty's nephew Mike, a teenage drug dealer, confesses that he was at the Grice home the night of the murder. From the discrepancy in times between his account and what was told to the police, Millhone realizes that it was Elaine who died in the Grice fire, not Marty. Marty and her husband killed Elaine to steal her identity and her money. They then passed Elaine's dead body off as Marty's by switching the dental records. Marty departed for Florida as Elaine and arrived as Pat Usher, with some cosmetic surgery to help. Unable to find Elaine's passport, she and her husband were forced to wait for a new one to come through before they can skip the country. Kinsey returns to the Grice home to look for the murder weapon; but the Grices find her. Marty Grice is shot in the left arm during the fight that ensues, but Kinsey manages to detain the two criminals and call for help.