Tag Archives: Library Thing

Blue Moon by Lee Child (2019) – BR00168 (2019) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
November 11 2019

Plot or Premise

Reacher wanders into a town and accidentally flames the fires of a turf war between the Albanian and Ukrainian mobs.

What I Liked

The progression from what Reacher sees at the start to the war with the 2 mobs is awesome, and the almost slapstick element the way the mob interprets what’s happening reminded me of the Remo Williams series. Good escalation throughout.

What I Didn’t Like

The secondary characters were a bit, well, odd. Too ready to jump in and kill bad guys, and the waitress can suddenly figure out battle plans. Plus, Reacher is too violent even for him, regardless of the repeated justification of the shoe being on the other foot. 

The Bottom Line

Still classic Reacher, albeit more violent than usual.

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton (2018) – BR00167 (2019) – 🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
November 10 2019

Plot or Premise

A woman dumped by a guy tries to create the perfect life that will bring them back together, whether he wants it or not.

What I Liked

There is a revelation about 60% of the way through that explains some of her behaviour, a pseudo-rationale to her logic, but even it is really far-fetched. The initial incidents are just plausible enough to be believable, and the light touch that makes it feel almost like a Bridget Jones’ Diary- type storyline makes the story seem all the more creepy.

What I Didn’t Like

She got dumped, and she creates these elaborate plans that all seem to go off without a “WTF?” moment, as they take place entirely from her perspective. But the light touch the author uses to make it seem like a chic-lit romance is so inappropriate. If the protagonist was a man, everyone would see this book for what it is — some sort of stalker / revenge fantasy hybrid. But even within the storyline, there are two violent episodes (one with him in a bathroom, one with his new gf) that are completely ridiculous.

The Bottom Line

Revenge fantasy disguised as a light romance

The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge (2019) – BR00166 (2019) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
November 10 2019

Plot or Premise

A Chinese-American woman trained as a ninja and now protects abused women in L.A.

What I Liked

The story works on three levels for me. First, there is a mystery to solve involving multiple bad guys, politics, and a new subway being constructed (the motive is obvious, the details are not). Second, she helps women get away from their abusers, and feels a bit in places like the Jane Whitefield novels by Thomas Perry. Third, she is choosing romantically between a nice guy and a danger guy, similar to the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. I had a small sense of deja vu that I knew this storyline as it progressed.

What I Didn’t Like

As the first story in a series, there is a lot of exposition going on. Explaining Lily’s background, her mixed Norwegian / Chinese heritage, and even some of her relationship with her parents. Her angst with her mother is brought up about six or seven places in the novel, while 1-2 would have been fine. Equally, her father’s colloquialisms show up way too often, “doncha know”. Plus, she explains kunoichi about three times, as if we didn’t see it the first two times. The repetition was a bit heavy-handed. 

The Bottom Line

Good debut, look forward to the next story.

No Second Chance by Harlan Coben (2004) – BR00165 (2019) – 🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
November 9 2019

Plot or Premise

A surgeon wakes up in the hospital, an apparent victim of a home invasion that left him shot in the head, his wife dead, and his infant daughter missing.

What I Liked

There were a fair number of possible red herrings running around in the story, and everybody gets suspected of something. His lawyer friend, his dead wife, his sister, an ex-girlfriend, a scummy adoption lawyer, even the police investigating the crime…all of them are a little bit off.

What I Didn’t Like

There are a couple of scenes that are completely over the top, and the ending is ridiculous. All of the work to find his daughter, with lives at risk all the way along and him accused of murder, and someone he knows knew the truth all along. But he’s semi-forgiving. Ridiculous.

The Bottom Line

Over-the-top plotting in places, ridiculous relationships, and absurd ending.

The Horizontal Man by Helen Eustis (1946) – BR00164 (2019) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
November 9 2019

Plot or Premise

A professor is killed, and a young student in love with him confesses to the murder. But there are lots of other more likely suspects.

What I Liked

Eustis won the 1947 Edgar Award for Best First Novel, and it is easy to see why it won. The sense of place is strong, and a strong foreboding all the way through the novel adds some suspense. There is more than a hint of psychological darkness lurking in the shadows.

What I Didn’t Like

There are some parts that just don’t hold up. The understanding of mental health disorders was not very rich, and the interactions of the two protagonists are misogynistic to read (he continually calls her fatty and comments when she drinks a beer that there too many calories). There’s also an underlying current that women are nothing without a man. Hard to read in 2019, even as historical. The red herrings are clear by midway through the novel, and the solution / foreshadowing is obvious, leaving the last 40% of the novel just “get to it, already”.

The Bottom Line

Doesn’t hold up through the years.