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theirresponsiblereader's Reviews (607)
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I spent a month on this so it ended up fairly coherent. If I’d posted this sooner, it’d liable to be inarticulate blather. I wanted this post to be better than it is, but I think the point gets through.
Satkunananthan Sasmal would have been the first to admit he’d had worse nights working the midnight shift at his uncle’s Valero station. For example…there was the old lady who fell asleep while driving and plowed into the first island. Satkunananthan barely hit the kill switch on pump three before diving out of the car’s path. The woman rolled down her window and asked him to fill her tank. Regular. Cash.
Then there was that time he had been robbed at gunpoint.
And the other time he had been robbed at knifepoint.
And the other time he had been robbed at spatula-point.
In his defense, it had been one of those long-handled metal barbecue spatulas.
And there was last night, when Satkunananthan Sasmal was murdered.
What’s Suburban Dicks About?
It’s about the murder of poor Satkunananthan Sasmal, to put it succinctly. The very outclassed police department of the small New Jersey city he’s from isn’t up to investigating it properly, and they take a lazy and facile answer for the crime.
This is where a couple of unlikely amateur sleuths come in. The first is Kenneth Lee, when he was a little younger, he rocketed to fame thanks to his reporting. When he was a little older, he was famously disgraced thanks to bad reporting.. Now he’s struggling to make ends meet and working for the small-timiest paper you can imagine.
The other unlikely sleuth is a mother of 4 (with one on the way) who was headed for a career as an FBI profiler hunting killers. She arrives (accidentally) on the crime scene before the police get a chance to secure the scene and notices about it than the professionals. Being there, seeing the Satkunananthan’s body, and drawing some important conclusions hooks Andrea Stern. She teams up with Lee to do the work the police are clearly not going to.
Between the two of them and some even unlikelier help that Andrea recruits, the two find themselves going down unexpected avenues of investigation, discovering secrets that few can believe, and bringing a variety of injustices to light.
Andrea Stern
In what seemed like painfully slow motion, a woman slid out through the open door as if the minivan was oozing an egg yolk. Her legs popped out first, short and stubby, then she slid her body down and out of the seat. As much bowling ball as human, she wiggled her feet until they touched the ground.
She was short, five foot threeish, with an unkempt hive of thick, curly dark hair. Her brown eyes were huge, and—Michelle had no other word for it—feral. She waddled as much as walked. She was more pregnant than any woman Michelle had ever seen in her life, and quite possibly more pregnant than any woman had ever been in the history of human civilization. If Michelle had to guess, she would have estimated the woman was about to give birth to a college sophomore.
If Andrea Stern isn’t my favorite new character this year, she’s going to be in the top 3. She made the choice to abandon her dreams of working for the FBI, of following her gifts and interests in order to be a mom. She didn’t realize how often she’d be a mother, but that’s beside the point.
Sure, she’s been wondering what might have been practically every day since then (actually, she’s pretty sure what might have been). So when she has the opportunity to investigate a murder—she grabs it and won’t let go. No matter what problems it causes her family.
She is smart, she’s funny, she’s tenacious, she gives a new meaning to resourceful, and she deserves a husband that treats her better.
She’s not perfect—it’s hard not to question a lot of her parenting choices. But I think she’d seem better were she not “more pregnant than any woman” in history and trying to recapture the years lost.
Kenneth Lee
She stared at him for several seconds, then said, “You’re not doing it ‘cause you’re a good person.”
“No, I absolutely am not,” he freely admitted. “But good will come of it. I promise you that.”
Nicieza had every opportunity to rehabilitate Lee, to make him sympathetic—even to tell a redemption story of sorts. But no, he leaves Lee pretty much where we found him—as someone who tasted the limelight and would do just about anything to get back to it.
This doesn’t mean he’s bad at his job, though. He was a solid partner in the investigation, just with less-than-honorable motives.
So, what did I think about Suburban Dicks?
I was having so much fun reading this that I was on page 200 before I noticed that I hadn’t taken a single note. So I forced myself to write down a couple of things so I could write this post. And then by page 220, I stopped taking notes again until I was finished. I was probably grinning throughout. Nicieza delivered something smack-dab in the middle of the sweet-spot for my taste.
This felt like the third or fourth book in the Andrea Stern series—starting when she was in High School (or maybe before) and then taking a break after college and picking up here. Like Veronica Mars, making this the Hulu series—just a little more successful. Andrea and her world—her family, too—felt well-established, a character that Nicieza had spent years perfecting.
That’s not all that was perfect—the book was a perfect balance of comedy, social commentary, and murder mystery. I’m not sure which aspect I appreciated most, either. Consider it a three-way tie, I guess.
It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if Lee wasn’t around in any sequel (oh, please let there by a sequel!), but I’d certainly hope to see just about everyone else—mostly characters I haven’t talked about because I want to keep this thing under 15,000 words. But the supporting characters are a great mix of cultures, economic class, and personalities—the kind you want to read about again and again.
I’m not sure what else to say—from the great opening (quoted at the beginning of this post) to a perfect last line, this is going to be one of my favorites of the year and I’m willing to bet you’ll agree if you give it a chance.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
What’s Cover Blown About?
Fresh off the events of Latent Damage DI Nash’s team dives into a new murder case. Two women have been murdered in clearly connected events, sadly, that’s the only thing that seems to connect them (well, that and they’re cat owners, but does that count?). Nash and Moretti are quickly stymied by the strange circumstances around the cases.
Meanwhile, Nash is helping out an undercover unit on the side. She’s as disciplined as possible with this, keeping her priority on the homicides, but she occasionally has to step away, leaving Moretti to direct the team’s efforts. At some point (and I’m only saying this because it’s in the publisher’s description), evidence is uncovered that indicates DI Nash had been in communication with both victims.
A Thought About DI Nash
I like Nash—watching her juggle the murder cases and the undercover operation is something you don’t get to see often in procedurals (particularly from someone of her rank). We haven’t (so far) gotten too deep with her and what makes her tick—but I like what we’ve seen so far, she’s an interesting character. Which is all I’m looking for—an interesting and compelling character.
That said, I wouldn’t want her as a boss. She’s mercurial, she seems to manage primarily through threats, and while she’ll come through or her team when the chips are down, it’d be good to see her do that before I got to that stage (she’s also better at looking out for them with outsiders than among themselves).
Basically, I like reading about her but wouldn’t want to work for/with her. There’s part of me that hopes she grows into a better manager as the series progresses—but I also enjoy seeing someone successful and flawed.
So, what did I think about Cover Blown?
While this is the Nash and Moretti series, in the first book, there was a definite emphasis on Moretti. This book focused on Nash—I really hope this balancing act continues (think Lydia Chin/Bill Smith books by S. J. Rozan, but in the third person), it’s a good way to tell the duo’s story (and the team’s) without the perspective becoming stale or allowing one character to take over.
The dialogue issues I had in the first book were either absent or so rare in this installment that they never bugged me—and that goes for some of the other stumbles I thought were made in Latent Damage—it feels like Robinson’s more comfortable in this new voice, this new world, and that’s good news for the reader.
The procedural element of this novel is one of the strengths, the sheer effort involved in making the slightest progress in a murder inquiry is something to behold. With these books, Robinson is blending the murder team, the work of those who handle informants, and an undercover unit, which is another layer of difficulty to portray well, and Robinson nails that. I can’t remember if I talked much about it in the post about the last book, but this team spends a lot of time and effort on avenues that don’t ultimately lead where they want to go. I love seeing that—particularly (and I expect realistically) when they end up turning up other criminal activity.
Good characters, fascinating cases, a couple of exciting moments, and an all-around entertaining novel. I’d encourage you to grab hop on to this series here at the beginning—this is a keeper.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Free.
That’s such a dangerous word. Sure does look pretty sitting in the space between us like that, all glittering and gem- covered. But I can’t help but wonder how much pain is on the other side of it. After all, even diamonds cut.
What’s Oh, That Shotgun Sky About?
This novella happens in the shadow of Of Honey and Wildfires with everyone trying to come to terms with the events of the novel’s ending. The Boundary has fallen, the Shine Territory is no longer walled off from the rest of the world—access isn’t as shut off. No one knows what that means. No one is ready for this “New Normal.” All anyone is sure of is that things are different now, now’s the chance to start over.
This novella chronicles some people taking advantage of the confusion, the lack of status quo to do something else with their life. We see a grieving outlaw, a Shine Company man hunting that outlaw while he tries not to die himself, and a group of camp prostitutes (essentially prisoners) who are enjoying the freedom they now have (however temporary it may be).
Without intending to, these all come into contact with each other and offer (and receive) help in these crazy days.
Yeah, that’s vague—but it has to be. I could give all the salient plot points in one healthy paragraph if I wanted to. But you don’t read these books for the plot, or even character–you read this series for Chorn’s gorgeous prose.
Love, Grief, Fear, Confusion, and a little Hope
There’s honesty in walking through the world with open wounds. No lying about the pain that’s carving me up. No hiding the injury that’s cleaving me in two. Don’t think I’ve ever been this true.
I don’t know what to do with all I’m feeling. No one ever told me that love is an ocean. That to love, you must let yourself drown.
“There is part of me that ain’t never coming back. I gave it up willingly, you understand? I gave it all to him. That’s what love is. It ain’t all soft and pretty; it’s hard and biting, too. It’s a hungry wolf, and you just keep feeding that beast bits of yourself.” I fix her with my eyes. Feel them punch all the way through her soul. “Listen to me and listen well: Love devours.”
(yeah, I couldn’t pick one line to illustrate this point)
While there’s not a lot of plot, and we don’t get a lot about what the various characters do or think—we get a thorough understanding of what they feel—three or four of the characters in particular, with a few others to a smaller extent. They have deep feelings, deep and raw, and those feelings reveal more to the reader than anything else they might do, say or think.
You cannot read this novella and not feel what these characters are going through—the emotions are practically tangible, and Chorn puts them so beautifully
So, what did I think about Oh, That Shotgun Sky?
It’s a special kind of torture to survive after the one holding your heart has died. It twists a soul something awful. Not a person in this world deserves this.
Okay, I had to cram one more quotation in.
I’m not crazy about the characters, the plot left something to be desired for me. But I could read sentences like that all day long and not get tired of it.
Last year, when I wrote about Of Honey and Wildfires, I said: “So, yeah, I didn’t like this as much as I wanted to. Many of you will wonder what’s wrong with me after you read it (a few of you will think I’m too generous). But I am glad I read this—it’s been a long time since I’ve read a book so carefully written as Of Honey and Wildfires…It’s raw, honest, open, and beautiful. I didn’t love it, but I commend it to you.” Switch out the titles, and I can’t think of a better way to talk about this.
(and like last year, I’m going to skip the stars for this one—they’d just distract from what I had to say—if I could decide how many to give)
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
What’s Latent Damage About?
Being awakened at 5 in the morning on a Saturday morning to come to a crime scene is not what DS Nick Moretti had planned. He’s got a vacation—sorry, holiday—coming up in a couple of weeks, and a homicide investigation could derail that. All part of the fun in the Met’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command.
When he arrives at the crime scene, Moretti discovers that the victim is a Muslim man whose throat was cut just across the street from his mosque. Automatically, the assumption is this is some sort of right-wing group acting out Anti-Muslim sentiment.
Moretti’s DI, Pip Nash spent some time in an undercover unit and still has a lot of contacts there—she’s able to use some of them to help once they get a direction to look in, but first they need to get a motive and some suspects.
While they’re still struggling to get some momentum for the investigation, another body shows up—with his throat cut in a similar fashion—this time, however, it’s an Anglican priest who was the victim.
Now, the team has two members of religious communities murdered in December—this is a PR nightmare in the making for the Met. Will these detectives and the rest of their team be able to stop the killer before another corpse shows up?
DI Nash and DS Moretti
DI Pip Nash is career-oriented, by the book type. She knows what she wants out of members of her team and isn’t afraid to demand it. Her background with the UC team adds a fun twist to things, and watching both the informants’ team and the UC team work with the homicide team is a nice change of pace—I’m used to seeing one of these entities at work, watching them cooperate (to whatever degree) is a great way to start a series.
DS Nick Moretti is less career-oriented (it seems), he’s definitely less by the book (he’s lucky if his alarm gets set in the morning). But he seems to do a good job of rallying the troops and putting the pieces of the murder together. His personal life is in an interesting state (although he has one, and it doesn’t seem that Nash does), and seems like it will prove fertile ground for drama in the future.
I’ve seen versions of both of these characters in books here and there—rarely as a team sharing the name of the series. I think watching their dynamic grow and develop over the next few books will prove just as interesting (maybe more so) than the crimes they investigate.
A Couple of Misgivings
So much of the dialogue in this book was awkward—some was even painful. The characters were trying to joke around or banter and it came off as stilted or excessively wordy—and it’s just off-putting. There were also a few instances of “I’m going to explain my job duties as I carry them out, despite the fact that everyone I’m talking to already knows this is my job.” The latter happens a lot with procedurals, so it’s easy to shrug off (even if these were some egregious examples). The former, however, is another matter. These are supposed to be friends or at least close colleagues, banter should feel natural. I’m going to chalk this up to Robigins just getting used to this world, and (if you count the works under his pen name) this is at least his fifth novel, and the first that I know of where practically every character wasn’t lying to everyone they talk to—it’s possible he doesn’t know how to write for people who aren’t deceiving.
So, what did I think about Latent Damage?
One thing that I’ve always really enjoyed about a good police procedural is the procedure. Watching a team go through the steps, grinding away to get the desired result is a pleasure. Sure, the procedure is dramatized, and usually only bears a passing resemblance to reality. But you can generally get a feel for what authors skew toward authenticity (few of these would be U.S.-based procedurals). And that’s pretty much what Robinson gives us—naturally, that’s helped by his years of actual experience. As such, there are investigative paths that go nowhere, and some that lead to unexpected places—and the amount of effort that goes into making small progress is a great realistic touch.
Yes, the ultimate reveals about the way the killer went about things seems a bit on the outlandish side*—but the way the team came up with his identity wasn’t. Nor was his motive, which seemed very grounded in reality.
* not unforgivably so, I’m not reading True Crime here, I don’t want a dramatized police blotter.
This is a solid, entertaining novel with a few stumbles along the way. But I’m recommending it, and am planning on coming back for at least a couple of more installments in this new series. Nash and Moretti are both the kind of characters you could build a series around, put them together and you’ve got a great foundation; the procedural element was well done, and the ending was as satisfying as you could ask for. Also, under his pen name, Robinson has crafted some of the best Crime Writing of the last few years—this series is going to improve, I know it (and even if it stayed at the same level, it’d still be worth coming back for).
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adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Before I dig into this, here’s a warning—this is the second novella in a trilogy. I cannot talk about this in any understandable fashion without talking about a couple of the things from the first book. Most of what I want to say is no big deal, but one thing is a spoiler for an important revelation in the first book. If it were me, I wouldn’t mind knowing what I’m about to say when I started Parting Shadows Still if you’d prefer to be careful—you should just go read what I had to say about Parting Shadows and move on.
Are You Still Reading? Good.
So in Parting Shadows, we hear something about a vigilante running around Landry City—Astra speculates about that vigilante being one of the SATIS girls. Also, when Isabelle goes to the Opera in Landry City, something happens that rattles her—but other events are going on which makes that not such a big deal.
Phantom Song tells us about what happened at the Opera and about the vigilante. And that’s just the early chapters.
This book overlaps the events of Phantom Song but largely happens in its aftermath. We begin with a cyborg attacking a transport ship carrying a friend of Isabelle’s, Claire, and her mother. Claire is injured, but her mother gets her to safety. She wakes up as a cyborg herself—it was the only way to keep her alive. We later learn that it was SATIS who arranged for that. While she waits to see how raising an assassin goes, she has one constructed, too.
Claire spends her nights as that vigilante in order to find the cyborg that attacked her family (actually, she’s just hunting for the cyborg, the vigilante stuff is a side effect—but let’s not get into that). During the day, she’s the star of Landry City’s Opera.
Astra comes looking for the vigilante—to see if she’s right about the SATIS tie and to recruit some help in her efforts to stop Keyes. The two end up joining forces to take down the Cyborg first.
On Odd Prejudice
For a society so run by various AIs, there is a deep-seated prejudice against humans with cybernetic augmentation—no matter the reason for it. The prejudice is so strong that hospital staff—the same people that just saved Claire’s life through the implants—treat her with scorn because of them. It’s powerful but makes no sense.
Then again, no one said prejudices have to make sense. The ones that seem most prevalent in human society certainly don’t. So, spot on there.
Because of this hatred, Claire has to adopt a new identity and cover her cybernetic parts with long sleeves, dresses, and mask. Which works because of her new identity’s celebrity, but wouldn’t cut it in any other circumstance. That’s a nice touch—and the lengths Claire has to go to to protect herself paves the way for a very successful way to protect her double life.
So, what did I think about Phantom Song?
I know even less about Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera than I do, so I’m not going to pretend to be able to talk about this take on Phantom.
This is a short enough work—and so easy to spoil its own events, much less those of the prior book, that I feel like I’ve been unusually shallow talking about it. But that’s all you’re getting from me.
After doing all the heavy lifting in the first novella—setting up the rules of the world, the way AIs work, SATIS and her girls, and so on, Swed can just play in this novella. The story is more developed, she can sink deeper into the characters (having characters who have had a natural emotional development also helps), she can involve more characters and plotlines. In short, she can do more. Which leads to this being a more enjoyable read.
I don’t think this works that well as an entry point into the series—it’s a trilogy, that makes sense. But this is a great way to follow up on Parting Shadows and sets the stage for a big conclusion in Prodigal Storm. Which is exactly what you want in the middle book of a trilogy.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s Time to Wrap up Some Things
We’ve known for some time, that someone connected to DC Smith’s time in Belfast has been trying to get in touch with him. We know almost nothing about what he did, and he’s in no rush to think about it as whoever makes these attempts. But that’s done with now.
While recuperating from knee surgery, Smith finally confronts/is confronted by (you could make the case either way) with that person and ends up using his convalescence time going to Belfast to look into something that happened (probably) the day after he left.
Smith is brought face-to-face with friends and adversaries for the first time in decades. He has to come to terms with many consequences of his actions. And he looks into a killing from that time that he didn’t even know had happened until he made the trip.
So we learn who has been looking into him/trying to communicate with him. We learn a lot about his backstory that we’d only got glimpses of shadows of before. For fans who want to know more about DC Smith, here’s the place.
There’s another plotline that gets some resolution, too—in a very pleasant way. But I’m not going to get into it.
Never Fear, There are Still Some Storylines Alive
We don’t have any resolution when it comes to this author friend and her book (and digging up all sorts of horrible memories with it). And there’s a new one introduced in the closing moments, one that will probably shake up a lot of Kings Lake…
Jackson Nails It Again
Gildart Jackson makes sure that you get what DC is feeling, how the past is coming back to haunt him while confronting him with his failures, his missed opportunities, the what could have been. This is a lonely book for Smith, and Jackson ensures the listener experiences it.
So, what did I think about In This Bright Future?
Overall, this was strange. Still good, but strange. As much as we all pick up these books for DC, it’s DC in relation to his fellow officers. Here, he’s fairly isolated—he has his ghosts, his memories, and people he hasn’t seen for decades (some he’s tried not to think about since)—but he doesn’t have his team. The fact he can’t give any tutorials, he doesn’t have anyone around to amuse with his commentary, the fact that he’s constantly on his guard, all combine to heighten the emotional impact of this one.
But man, I want to get back to King’s Lake.
This was as good as the previous entries—probably better in some ways—but in a different way. I’m all for that, let’s keep this series from getting stale. You can read/listen to this without the rest, and enjoy it. But it’s a lousy way to sample the series. If you want to know what this winning series is like, grab book 1 or 2. But if you grab this? You’re in for a very pleasant experience.
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
What’s Fan Fiction About?
During the filming of Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Brent Spiner starts receiving threatening (and disturbing) packages and letters delivered to his trailer. They’re purportedly from “Lal” (Data’s daughter from episode 3.16 “The Offspring”).
Those aren’t the only interesting letters he’s receiving, there are also a series of letters from someone claiming to speak to Spiner on the phone at night while her husband is out of town on business. These conversations are apparently quite graphic and sexual in nature, while the letters that are in response to them are very benign, and maybe a little tragic.
Spiner gets help from the LAPD, the FBI, a personal bodyguard, and fictionalized versions of his ST:TNG costars as the threats increase in intensity. This assistance bounces from comical to incredibly effective, while Spiner’s worry and stress (and increasing lack of sleep) start to spiral out of control and his grasp on sanity starts to slip.
Fan Connection
When it comes to his stalker, the late-night phone call recipient, a law enforcement officer/would-be-TV-writer, a pizza delivery man—and a few others, the relationship between fan and performer is clearly unhealthy.
But throughout there is a thread of meaningful connections being made through Spiner’s performance to the audience. There were a couple of really sweet moments we see because of this—in the midst of the satiric madness, they really ground the work and help you remember that Spiner was more than someone suffering from a sleep-deprived paranoia.
I’m Likely to be The Only One Bothered By This, But…
We spend a lot of time with ST:TNG and have references to other parts of Spiner’s career before that, but not one single nod to Bob Wheeler?
That’s the role that made me a fan of Spiner—probably would’ve found another 1/2 Star or so if there’d been a quality joke about him.
So, what did I think about Fan Fiction?
I don’t remember the last time I had this much fun reading a book—it was just a blast. I laughed and/or chuckled frequently, cringed a couple of times (in a good way), and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
That starts with the characters: Spiner’s antics and reactions to his situation were great. The comically-exaggerated versions of the ST:TNG cast were fantastic—I wouldn’t mind reading a series of Spiner’s adventures just to see those again. The Bodyguard and FBI officer rounded out the cast of characters in an entertaining way that also provided the lethal abilities required to keep Spiner alive in the face of the threat.
The stalker’s actions in other settings would be hair-raising and chilling—but given the comic tone, they become ridiculous. And you can’t wait to see what extreme “Lal” will go to next.
Spiner’s humanity (depicted as very flawed) shines through in the midst of the madness. When that’s combined with the heartwarming fan connections, they make this surprisingly sweet as much as it is comically dark. All in all, a real winner.
Fans of Star Trek or Hollywood satires need to get their hands on it.
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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N. B.: The Narrator of this series (so far, anyway) is unnamed. I find it tiresome to keep saying “The Narrator” or “our protagonist” (as I did with the last book.). So, I’m just going to call him “VD” from now until Cartmel gives him a name—as unfortunate as those initials may be.
What’s The Run-Out Groove About?
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N. B.: The Narrator of this series (so far, anyway) is unnamed. I find it tiresome to keep saying “The Narrator” or “our protagonist” (as I did with the last book.). So, I’m just going to call him “VD” from now until Cartmel gives him a name—as unfortunate as those initials may be.
What’s The Run-Out Groove About?
In the late 60s, there was a band of some repute (not all stellar) with a lead vocalist, Valerian, with an otherworldly voice. A lot of self-destructive tendencies, too, but what a voice. As too many things in that era went, Valerian’s lifestyle spiral out of control and she killed herself following the disappearance/kidnapping of her infant child.
In the present time, VD and his girlfriend, Nevada, are approached by a bickering duo. She’s working on a book about Valerian and he’s Valerian’s estranged brother. Given VD”s success with the hunt for the record (as seen in the previous novel), they’ve come to him. But it’s not just music they want VD to find—but the child.
Urban Legend has it that there’s a clue hidden on a 45 released shortly before her death—but only a few were sold and are out there in the world. It’s nearly impossible to find. Well, nearly impossible for people who aren’t VD or his friends. So that’s the jumping-off point—look into the people who remember Valerian, who were in her inner circle, while trying to track down a copy of one of the handful of 45s.
From there things go as you’d predict for a mystery novel—there are threats, some violence, some drugs (although some were ingested willingly), and the uncovering of many secrets.
An Inherently Likeable Series
The appeal to this series comes down to the characters—primarily VD. With him you’ve got a full-on geek, sitting around and indulging his passion and writing about it while drinking expensive gourmet coffee and spending time with his girlfriend and cats. It’s hard to see that as anything but a fantasy for most readers—replace jazz records with books and cats with the superior pet, and that’s my ideal life. Getting paid ridiculous sums to look into something related to—and somewhat involving—your hobby is just icing on the cake.
Because of this, I think there’s an inherently likable quality to this protagonist. He’s living a life that most of us want and seems to be unspoiled by it. Your choices are either to be envious or want to be his friend—and since he seems like such a nice guy, it’s easy to pick “friend” and hang out with him to hear his stories.
A Particular Weakness
“…I’ve got a copy of Graves’s book somewhere. No wait, damn it, I lent it to Clean Head. It was a Penguin edition. That’s why I haven’t got it back. You have to watch that girl. She’s very nice and all that but she will steal your Penguin paperbacks. She has a particular weakness for the Penguin Modern Classics series. It’s a character defect.”
Is that not the coolest supporting character quirk that you’ve ever seen?
Minor Spoiler Alert!…and it’s even exploited for the plot at one point!
So, what did I think about The Run-Out Groove?
I like VD, Nevada and the rest of the gang, the mystery was clever, and the reveal at the end was incredibly satisfying.
But…The Run-Out Groove just never grabbed me the way that Written in Dead Wax did. I don’t know if it’s a problem with me, a defect in the book, or what. (glancing at some other readers’ responses suggests that it’s not just me). I enjoyed the novels and was charmed by it and the characters—and I do plan on giving our Nameless Friend at least one more try. But it was a lesser experience.
Lesser, but not a bad one. I enjoyed the whole thing from cover to cover, I chuckled occasionally and appreciated the challenge of staying a step ahead of VD and Nevada (at least until the final pages) when it comes to sussing out the mystery. It’s a fun read and I do recommend it—but grab the first book in the series to really see the appeal.
And I just dare you to try to get through this novel without heading out to shop for some vinyl—whether or not you own a record player (although it’s more fun if you do).
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What’s The Hawthorne Legacy About?
Almost all the puzzles in The Inheritance Games were resolved by the end, just in time for it to introduce a new one in the closing paragraphs. Which is where we pick this up—and it casts a little doubt on some of what we thought was resolved before.
Essentially the core of this book focuses on Avery. Why was she chosen to be Tobias Hawthorne’s heir? What is her connection to the family?
Avery and the brothers (with some assistance from her sister, best friend, and her staff) plunge into this mystery and end up unearthing—and shedding a lot of new light on—Hawthorne family secrets and history.
Also, someone is pretty determined to kill Avery. Somewhere along the way, that should be dealt with, too, right?
Beyond that, it’s pretty near-impossible to talk about the book’s plot without giving everything past page 3 away.
Max
Avery’s best friend, Max, was one of the brightest points in the previous novel—despite her minimal appearance, and I’d hoped that we’d get to see her more in this book.
My wish was granted and we got plenty of Max. It’s the one improvement to The Inheritance Games. She’s just a lot of fun. Thanks to her particular brand of minced oaths and personality—and being one of the few people who don’t assume that their position, money, and privilege will get them what they want in the book—she shines brightly against the rest of the characters.
Also, whatever is going on between her and one of the Hawthorne brothers? I’m digging it. No matter what the next section may indicate.
Young Love
In The Inheritance Games there was a romantic subplot or two right underneath the surface—well, one or two involving Avery, anyway, plus some others. They’re not under the surface anymore. And I frankly couldn’t care less about them.
The novel doesn’t need them, the characters aren’t made more interesting because of them, and the almost-triangle nature of it seems overly stereotypical.
But I know that I’m the statistical outlier for the reader of this book, it wasn’t written for me and my typical tastes. So…take this griping with a giant rock of salt.
So, what did I think about The Hawthorne Legacy?
Bottom Line: If you enjoyed The Inheritance Games, you’re going to like this—it’s more of the same. The two could’ve been one really long book. But thinking of it as “one really long book,” it sounds dull, and it’s anything but that. I guess it’s better to think of it as Season 2 of the series, adding layers or dimensions to the ideas from The Inheritance Games and carrying the storylines forward. It might have been easier to just repost what I said about it with a minor tweak or two than to write something new.
I’m not sure I appreciated it as much as the first book—and a couple of times I sort of rolled my eyes at it, but…there’s something about Barnes’ storytelling that gets under your skin and keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can, you just need to find out what twist is coming next and what will be revealed as a result of it. Compelling feels like a slight understatement.
I think my lack of enthusiasm comes from the way that Barnes showed off all the same tricks in the previous book that she does in this one, so the “discovery” factor isn’t there. So the problem* I have with the book is that I was wowed so much already. She lived up to expectations rather than surpassing them is a really lousy complaint.
* Other than the YA Romance/kind-of-triangle. But that’s just me being a guy way outside the target audience and my inherent immunity to that.
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What’s The Case of the Missing Firefly About?
What better place than Northern Ireland’s “most haunted” island for a corporate Halloween party? This particular company is a local radio station—their on-air talent is known for heavy drinking, and being on an island (nearly) by themselves should provide a nice, safe environment for the heaviest of drinkers to indulge.
And they’re going to need to drink because they’re all going to get some bad news—and thanks to a bad storm, no one is leaving (or coming to) the island for a day or so.
Stranded with them are our intrepid Sherlock-inspired duo of Adam and Colin. Colin’s mother was the party planner and her tech guy wasn’t available, so these two get a nice payday for a quick job. While these two have matured a bit lately, easy money to mostly hang out in a hotel room where they can watch TV and play video games is worth having to endure a boat ride on choppy waters.
Naturally, because why would I be talking about this otherwise, in the midst of all the drinking and after the bad news—there’s a murder. And a robbery. With all the suspects trapped with them and almost no contact with the outside world, it’s time for Adam and Colin to dust off their Holmes and Watson act.
The Most Satisfying Paragraph of 2021?
People who read a lot—in any genre—are very likely going to see themselves in an observation the narration makes when Adam finds himself in a very tense situation. It was a great little moment, and a nice bonus to read.
It’s a small thing, but it brought a smile to my face. Each of the handful of times I’ve read it.
So, what did I think about The Case of the Missing Firefly?
There was a very somber tone to the first chapter that felt out of character for the series—but I was relieved to see it shift seamlessly into the typical Stonebridge tone in the next chapter as we get into Adam and Colin’s back and forth.
It’s good to see a little bit of the police’s attitude toward our pair—and theirs toward the police. Adam and Colin have a little notoriety—enough that the radio personalities know who they are, so the police certainly do. And, not at all shockingly, they’re not fond of a couple of amateurs making them look bad. Giving the duo a day on their own trapped on an island with the suspects to get a head start on things isn’t going to do much for long-term relations.
It’s hard to say something new about a series as consistent as this—especially with four installments in less than a year. I’m in great danger of repeating myself. So let me keep this short: The Case of the Missing Firefly* is yet another refreshing, fast-paced, and clever dose of cozy crime fiction (even for those who wouldn’t consider themselves cozy readers).
* Which, alas, is not a reference to the SF series—Adam and Colin save their fandom for Cumberbatch/Freeman and sports video games.
Go get your hands on this—and if you haven’t read the rest of the series, you should probably do that, too.