HALLOWE'EN PARTY (Mystery-Hercule Periot-England-Contemp) – 36th in series – Agatha Christie At a Halloween party, Joyce—a hostile thirteen-year-old—boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the `evil presence'. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer.
Don – Okay – Liked that there was a cast of characters. The book worked well as an airplane book. Gabriel – Okay - I was often bored, sometimes somewhat interested. At least the plotting was good--everything fits together in the end. There's a scene where there's a character who's one of those artistic, pretentious psychopaths, & I thought, "Where does this come from?" But when Poirot explained everything, it all fit together. I prefer Agatha Christie adaptations to reading her. Her talent--sometimes genius--was for plot, which can be transferred to other media. Her characters aren't that interesting, and she was pretty bland as a stylist. (Unlike Conan Doyle, who was quite good at atmosphere.) On the Poirot TV show, David Suchet's performance makes Poirot a lot more interesting. Kathy J – Okay – It's the first Christie she's read. She's only seen them on television before and there were some differences. Loved Mrs. Oliver. Thought the coincidence was weak. Katie – Okay – Found it interesting, especially through an historical lens. Christie's comments on criminal justice were interesting. It was a weird trope on a small village, but an interesting read. Linda M – Poor - Likes Christie's standalone books better. Christie kept using the work "nowadays" over-and-over. She was aggravated by the attitude of the teenage girl.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: Okay
FAIRIE TALE (Super. Susp-the Hastings family-Pennsylvania-Contemp) – Standalone – Raymond E. Feist Phil Hastings was a lucky man-he had money, a growing reputation as a screenwriter, a happy, loving family with three kids, and he'd just moved into the house of his dreams in rural of magic-and about to be altered irrevocably by a magic more real than any he dared imagine. For with the Magic came the Bad Thing, and the Faerie, and then the cool. . .and the resurrection of a primordial war with a forgotten people-a war that not only the Hastings but the whole human race could lose.
Christine – DNF – Hated it. Gabriel – Okay – It did have imagination and Gabriel was curious enough to read it. LJ – VG+ - I love this book, but I love this type of fantasy. It is a book I read every year or so on Midsummer’s Day (June 24th). It is not a child’s faerie tale even though it involves brotherly love and courage. It is fantasy; it is horror. It is creepy, dark, at times violent, at times sexual and always a page-turner. Those who love Celtic myth and Shakespeare will recognize magical elements of The Fool, elf-shot, Trooping Faeires, and more. It is one of those rare books that makes one feel as though it “could” be possible. It may even cause even non-Catholics to wish for a vial of holy water, a silver sword and a true faerie stone. One may find oneself researching the legends and faerie folk involved, looking for erl-king hills and avoiding faeire rings at midnight on Midsummer’s Night and All Hollow’s Eve. It's wise to remember to start earlier in the day so one is not up until midnight finishing it. Staying out of the woods is also a good idea. To me, "Faerie Tale" is the perfect blending of fantasy in contemporary life which makes this book so compelling, frightening and memorable.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: Good
GHOSTS (Pol Proc-87th Precinct-NYC-Contemp) – 34th in series – Ed McBain A young woman stops at the grocery store after work, but she never makes it home—at least not all the way. She is stabbed to death in front of her building, her groceries strewn across the cold pavement. Upstairs her neighbor and popular ghost story author Gregory Craig lay dead as well, stabbed in his apartment. When Craig’s publisher is found murdered just days later, Detective Steve Carella has a deadly mystery on his hands, one unlike any he’s ever had before. Searching for clues, Carella instead finds Craig’s girlfriend, a medium whose spooky predictions keep him guessing. When some leads take him to a “haunted” house on the New England shores, strange events turn even stranger…until, back in the city, he turns up the crucial evidence he needs to track down the killer. A rare twist in Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series, Ghosts weaves the haunting uneasiness of the supernatural thriller with a classic, tightly plotted police procedural. Stephen King hails Ghosts as “excellent. It’s a fine—and creepy—mystery, and a fine novel.”
Don – Okay – Jeanne – DNF – It was a little too macho for her. Kathy J – Okay – Appreciated it's length. He got everything in and told the story very concisely without it feeling truncated. He created a lot of depth without the need for length. Liked that he used the theme of ghosts in more than one way. Kathy M – Okay – The idea of ghosts in a detective story didn't work for her, but she liked all the references to pay phones, mimeograph machines, etc. Liked the conciseness of style. Katie – Okay – The sexist stuff bothered her. Didn't think the psychic element was that well used. Appreciated the series of heists on Christmas. LJ – EX – McBain is a master of dialogue and of telling a story with multiple story lines in a very concise manner. There is a realism to having multiple cases handled by the different teams of detectives, including both forensic and procedural details. McBain captured this time both in the lack of technology and in cultural references. Having a psychic involved made me wonder how much research McBain had done, and having the ghosts added a delightfully seasonal creep factor. But it's McBain's writing which always captures me.
At a Halloween party, Joyce—a hostile thirteen-year-old—boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the `evil presence'. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer.
Don – Okay – Liked that there was a cast of characters. The book worked well as an airplane book.
Gabriel – Okay - I was often bored, sometimes somewhat interested. At least the plotting was good--everything fits together in the end. There's a scene where there's a character who's one of those artistic, pretentious psychopaths, & I thought, "Where does this come from?" But when Poirot explained everything, it all fit together. I prefer Agatha Christie adaptations to reading her. Her talent--sometimes genius--was for plot, which can be transferred to other media. Her characters aren't that interesting, and she was pretty bland as a stylist. (Unlike Conan Doyle, who was quite good at atmosphere.) On the Poirot TV show, David Suchet's performance makes Poirot a lot more interesting.
Kathy J – Okay – It's the first Christie she's read. She's only seen them on television before and there were some differences. Loved Mrs. Oliver. Thought the coincidence was weak.
Katie – Okay – Found it interesting, especially through an historical lens. Christie's comments on criminal justice were interesting. It was a weird trope on a small village, but an interesting read.
Linda M – Poor - Likes Christie's standalone books better. Christie kept using the work "nowadays" over-and-over. She was aggravated by the attitude of the teenage girl.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: Okay
FAIRIE TALE (Super. Susp-the Hastings family-Pennsylvania-Contemp) – Standalone – Raymond E. Feist
Phil Hastings was a lucky man-he had money, a growing reputation as a screenwriter, a happy, loving family with three kids, and he'd just moved into the house of his dreams in rural of magic-and about to be altered irrevocably by a magic more real than any he dared imagine. For with the Magic came the Bad Thing, and the Faerie, and then the cool. . .and the resurrection of a primordial war with a forgotten people-a war that not only the Hastings but the whole human race could lose.
Christine – DNF – Hated it.
Gabriel – Okay – It did have imagination and Gabriel was curious enough to read it.
LJ – VG+ - I love this book, but I love this type of fantasy. It is a book I read every year or so on Midsummer’s Day (June 24th). It is not a child’s faerie tale even though it involves brotherly love and courage. It is fantasy; it is horror. It is creepy, dark, at times violent, at times sexual and always a page-turner. Those who love Celtic myth and Shakespeare will recognize magical elements of The Fool, elf-shot, Trooping Faeires, and more. It is one of those rare books that makes one feel as though it “could” be possible. It may even cause even non-Catholics to wish for a vial of holy water, a silver sword and a true faerie stone. One may find oneself researching the legends and faerie folk involved, looking for erl-king hills and avoiding faeire rings at midnight on Midsummer’s Night and All Hollow’s Eve. It's wise to remember to start earlier in the day so one is not up until midnight finishing it. Staying out of the woods is also a good idea. To me, "Faerie Tale" is the perfect blending of fantasy in contemporary life which makes this book so compelling, frightening and memorable.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: Good
GHOSTS (Pol Proc-87th Precinct-NYC-Contemp) – 34th in series – Ed McBain
A young woman stops at the grocery store after work, but she never makes it home—at least not all the way. She is stabbed to death in front of her building, her groceries strewn across the cold pavement. Upstairs her neighbor and popular ghost story author Gregory Craig lay dead as well, stabbed in his apartment. When Craig’s publisher is found murdered just days later, Detective Steve Carella has a deadly mystery on his hands, one unlike any he’s ever had before. Searching for clues, Carella instead finds Craig’s girlfriend, a medium whose spooky predictions keep him guessing. When some leads take him to a “haunted” house on the New England shores, strange events turn even stranger…until, back in the city, he turns up the crucial evidence he needs to track down the killer. A rare twist in Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series, Ghosts weaves the haunting uneasiness of the supernatural thriller with a classic, tightly plotted police procedural. Stephen King hails Ghosts as “excellent. It’s a fine—and creepy—mystery, and a fine novel.”
Don – Okay –
Jeanne – DNF – It was a little too macho for her.
Kathy J – Okay – Appreciated it's length. He got everything in and told the story very concisely without it feeling truncated. He created a lot of depth without the need for length. Liked that he used the theme of ghosts in more than one way.
Kathy M – Okay – The idea of ghosts in a detective story didn't work for her, but she liked all the references to pay phones, mimeograph machines, etc. Liked the conciseness of style.
Katie – Okay – The sexist stuff bothered her. Didn't think the psychic element was that well used. Appreciated the series of heists on Christmas.
LJ – EX – McBain is a master of dialogue and of telling a story with multiple story lines in a very concise manner. There is a realism to having multiple cases handled by the different teams of detectives, including both forensic and procedural details. McBain captured this time both in the lack of technology and in cultural references. Having a psychic involved made me wonder how much research McBain had done, and having the ghosts added a delightfully seasonal creep factor. But it's McBain's writing which always captures me.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: Good