Elias McClellan > Recent Status Updates

Powerful opening, strong/compelling character. I really enjoying this.

The characters, (men, anyway) are fully formed with distinct voices--no easy task with a cast this large. But as my slow progress demonstrates, I'm struggling with the pace. There is a lot of self-indulgence here and I see the signs of literary construct around the edges of the story.

The dialogue, (between men, anyway) is like conversations with old friends. Dialogue involving women is more terse and/or stern.

In the first chapter we've been told what something isn't. Also, this quite a prosperous family (a TV in 1957?) to have four kids with twins inbound on a mill worker's salary.

The prose here are in turns rich and florid--the description of "flame red blossoms" in February--then obsidian-hard, "Delhi put you through extremes, be it with its weather or its people."

The story grabs you right out of the gate with a compelling heroine searching New Delhi for her son. Sparse words--HUGE drama.

The middle act is a bit of a slog, here.

Interesting origins of a lot of tropes. Or, the original plot thickens!

Collins' shift in narrators is seamless--while completely capturing different personalities.

Surprisingly breakneck pace for a Victorian spooky. There are some Henry James sentences/paragraphs but Collins does manage to have a point and he gets to his point with greater success than many contemporary suspense authors.

So far, so great. I'd recommend skipping he book-length introduction entirely but I do appreciate the spoiler alert. For his part, Collins gets right to the chase.

This is SO much better than I expected it to be. By that I mean Ms. Clinton is warm, funny, and engaging. Far from a one-note dirge, this is an thoroughly enjoyable read.

I'm struggling to hold interest in this book. Had I read it at 12 or 13, I would have LOVED IT.

Part anthropology, part biography, and all-social commentary, Michael W. Twitty's first-class writing, brutal honesty, and poignant humor make this "cooking" book a must-read.

Chester Himes does one step forward and six steps back through McCarthy-era America and America-fatigued Europe.

Absolutely ruthless in his honesty, Jackson is a consummate biographer.

I cannot leave this book alone.

Please note: I did not complete this book but I am thoroughly finished with it.

The Accountant's Story is bad. Not simply bad writing--Escobar is not a writer after all. It is literary malpractice. David Fisher's bibliography indicates talent that is nowhere to be found in this sloth-smudged cash grab. If this had been the 1st true-crime/crime bio I read, I probably wouldn't have read another book in the genre.

There's spin and then there's historical revision. Literal quotes, "They say Pablo made all his advancements based on brutality and threats but that is not true. He paid his people and everything he did benefits the people." Then, in the same chapter, "They say Pablo killed hundreds of people. I do not know about that or much about how he ran his business then." FROM THE TITULAR ACCOUNTANT.

"For a while he [Mickey Munday] had a skinny girlfriend with blond hair like his who dressed in all-white-jean outfits. Mickey got jeans to match. The two of them would ride p on Mickey's motorcycle... looked like they might have been out hunting unicorns together."

"For a while he [Mickey Munday] had a skinny girlfriend with blond hair like his who dressed in all-white-jean outfits. Mickey got jeans to match. The two of them would ride p on Mickey's motorcycle... looked like they might have been out hunting unicorns together."

Opens strong. Roberts gets a little tedious through the teen years--but who doesn't? If you can get through the Vietnam experience, it is an engaging read.

I really wanted to dislike this guy, Dutch, but...

"I think it's what I love about you. This whole walking dichotomy you’ve got working—ultimate psycho killer versus tormented tender soul."

Sidenote: I've never not loved a book with a character named "Avery."

I always knew that even those who loved us desperately could sometimes commit the ugliest of sins against us...

Pavamani, Madhuri. Dutch (The Keeper Series) (Kindle Locations 817-818). St. Martin's Press. Kindle Edition.
Pavamani, Madhuri. Dutch (The Keeper Series) (Kindle Locations 578-581). St. Martin's Press. Kindle E