Book Review: A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly

A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly is a team up novel of 3 of Michael Connelly’s characters that have had their own books, Harry Bosch who has had 6 books so far (The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde, The Last Coyote, Trunk Music, and Angels Flight), Terry McCaleb was previously in Blood Work, and Jack McEvoy from The Poet. This is more of a Terry McCaleb book than Harry Bosch who is more of a supporting cast or Jack McEvoy who is like a guest star. A Darkness More Than Night is part procedural and part court room drama. The book is an interesting team up between Mc Caleb who sees the world more black and white and Bosch who sees the world more grey. The morality of the two is tested when all signs point to Harry Bosch having stepped over the line, and murdered a horrible person that escaped justice based on a technicality. The pace of the book is a little slow Terry McCaleb is a very detailed investigator and goes over stuff more than Bosch which slows down the pace, once Harry Bosch is involved the story moves faster. The ending was fairly satisfying. There’s a really good reveal at the end with some of Connelly’s best writing. Since this book is a team up I would recommend reading The Last Coyote, The Poet, and Blood Work to get you caught up on the characters both instances in the books are brought up. A Darkness More Than Night’s plot was used in Season 3 of Bosch the TV show on Amazon Prime. A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly was published on March 1 2002 by Warner Books.

Plot Summary: Three Years After Terry McCaleb solved his last case in Blood Work he has continued to retire from the FBI and to police work in Catolina Island and has a charter business with Buddy and has a brand new baby. Jaye Winston who was a big help in solving the blood work case is stuck on a new case the murder of Gunn and needs a second set of eyes. Terry agrees and is struck the sight of a stuffed owl in the crime scene photo, even more curiouser when he looks at the crime scene in person it is missing. In Terry’s work one of the last people to see the deceased was Harry Bosch a detective Terry has worked with years ago when he was in the FBI, he knows Bosch is a good detective but often skirts the rules. Harry has been perusing the victim Gunn for years, and believes he escaped justice years earlier. Terry find the Owl and finds it is an omen to justice in a famous painter work Hieronymus Bosch which is Harry’s real name. Has Bosch stepped over the line too far.

What I Liked: The Dynamic of Terry and Harry being opposites the of law and order. I liked the Climax both the action and the court room battle. I liked the court room scenes especially the cross examination. The final confrontation between Terry and Harry is one of the best scenes that Connelly has written so far, such a good character review of Bosch. I liked the connection Terry and Bosch have with the name of Terry’s new born. I thought the research on the painter Hieronymus Bosch was really interesting with how it fit with the case. I like Harry admitting to a murder he feels deeply responsible for in The Last Coyote another person that was not a lover. I liked where the title quote comes from “A Darkness More Than Night”.

What I Disliked: Jack McEvoy was really different from his character in The Poet a reporter that would go to extreme lengths to report the truth, hardly digs on this case just accepts too much. I think his character wasn’t even needed at all. The slow pace at the beginning was really slow for a Connelly book. I really don’t like the way Terry treats Buddy, a guy that has always been there for him.

Recommendation: This book started off slow but has a really strong finish. This book is a better of the series and really ask good questions to the reader about which justice is right, where the criminal gets arrested but goes free or the one where the criminal gets murdered just like the crime he committed. The series is so great and have not read a bad book so far. This is my 9th Connelly book, as I’m reading the the Harry Bosch Universe order, and the series is so intriguing and has such great moments where it exceed the mystery genre. I give the Harry Bosch Universe series a 4 star rating out of 5 so far. I rated A Darkness More Than Night By Michael Connelly 4 out of 5. Harry Bosch Universe Book reading book order so far 1) the Black Echo, 2) The Black Ice, 3) The Concrete Blonde, 4) The Last Coyote, 5) The Poet, 6) Trunk Music, 7) Angels Flight, 8) Blood Work and A Darkness More Than Night. The order in which I rank them from best to worst is 1) The Poet, 2) Angels Flight, 3)Concrete Blonde, 4) The Black Ice, 5) A Darkness More Than Night, 6) Trunk Music, 7) The Last Coyote, 8) Blood Work, and 9) The Black Echo.

Book Reveiws: Goosebumps – The Headless Ghost by R. L. Stine

Goosebumps – The Headless Ghost by R. L. Stine is a good old fashioned ghost story. The Headless Ghost is Goosebumps book 37 in the original series order. The story of the ghost and how he became headless is really great and scary, reminded me of a good campfire ghost story. The story takes place at Hill House which is an homage to the Shirley Jackson ghost story The Haunting of Hill House. This story is focused from the beginning and one of the best paced Goosebumps. The story is spooky and the danger feels real. The two co-leads Stephanie and Duane felt like good friends that really cared about each other. he twist at the end was pretty good and went with the story pretty well. This story is a personal one for me, as I can remember reading this story to bed for one of my little sister. I have read the Goosebumps stories in order and can say this story is one of the best, at the end of this review I have a full ranking of the Goosebumps books I have read so far. The Headless Ghost was published by Scholastic Inc. on November 1 1995.

Plot Summary: Duane and Stephanie are best friends because of their love of horror and scaring others. There favorite place to go is Hill House that has a ghost tour and is rumored to be haunted by a headless ghost. We hear the story of how the ghost lost his head and is still searching for it today. Stephanie and Duane get the idea to break away from the tour and find the head, but when they do they learn that ghost are real and they might just loose their own heads.

What I Liked: The ghost story with in the story is R. L. Stine best writing, it was super spooky and a good story. The pace of the story is nonstop and a hard book to put down, I read it in one setting I think I have only done that 7 times out of 37, so the story is good. The friendship was really good and worked really well. The empty room with all the voices was never explained but pretty spooky. I felt the descriptions were really good and the story was easy to picture. This story had nothing that could date it, some of Stine’s story’s are so 90’s but this one was pretty timeless. The only thing of pop culture mentioned in a Minnie watch but their still around.

What I Disliked: There’s about 4 pranks in this story and most of them work but the first one is a little lame. But that is it this story is really solid.

Recommendations: This story is one of the best Goosebumps that I have read it is scary, very atmospheric, and claustrophobic, you and the kids feel trapped in the haunted house. The story is great and Stine’s writing is at it’s best. I recommend you seek out this story. I rated The Haunted Ghost by R. L. Stine 5 out of 5 stars. Here’s my full ranking of the 37 Goosebumps books that I have read in order to my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) The Headless Ghost, 4) Ghost Beach, 5) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 6) The Haunted Mask, 7) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 8) One Day At Horrorland, 9) Night of the Living Dummy, 10) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 11) A Shocker on Shock Street, 12)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 13) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 14) The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, 15) Say Cheese and Die, 16) Let’s Get Invisible, 17) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 18) Welcome to Dead House, 19) Monster Blood II, 20) The Girl who Cried Monster, 21)Deep Trouble, 22) The Ghost Next Door, 23)Night of the Living Dummy 2, 24) My Hairiest Adventure, 25) Be Careful What You Wish For… , 26) Return of the Mummy, 27) Why I’m Afraid of Bees, 28)The Haunted Mask II, 29)Attack of the Mutant, 30) Go Eat Worms!, 31) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 32)The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 33) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 34) Monster Blood, 35) The Barking Ghost, 36) You Can’t Scare Me!, and 37) Monster Blood III.

Book Review: Star Trek: Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore

Star Trek: Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore is the second book in the 9 book Star Trek Vangaurd series. This book takes place very soon after Harbinger by David Mack ended. This book does not feature anyone from the Star Trek the Original series, like the last one did, but with events that happened in this book Kirk, Scotty, Chekov, and Uhura will all return in the series soon. The event of this book take place in the far reaches of space between The Klingon Empire and Tholian space on Starbase 47 also called Vangaurd. The Starfleet mission is set up to look like a peace keeping mission, but really the Starfleet Federation is looking at a higher life form and a potential weapon. The first book had a lot of internal conflict and character development, this book continues the conflict but loses some of the character development. This book had more action than the first but did not always do the best job describing it. This story had a great beginning but lost momentum in the middle a little bit and pulled out a decent ending that made me want to read more. The Shedai Wanderer has some great action scenes and seems like a really interesting character that could be the enemy or really misunderstood. Star Trek: Vangaurd 2 Summon the Thunder was published by Pocket Books on July 1 2006.

Plot Summary: The spaceship the Endeavour is on a mission to check out a power source and possible weapon that was discovered in the last book on the ice planet Erilon. The surface team thinks they are investigating a dormant planet with a power source beneath the planet until they are attacked both on the surface and in the air. The Klingons are searching the same thing on another planet as they are attacked on the surface and in air, but this time the end result is different with the Shedai against the battle hardened Klingons. Also to make things more interesting the Romulans curious abut what is going on see the power of the weapon first hand. Things get messy as the Vanguard sets up peace talks while hiding what they know of power of Shedai.

What I Liked: The political intrigue was told really well and made more interesting by the Romulans join the fight. The Quinn and Pennington adventure was fun and I liked a twist element that was in the story. Both these characters were my favorite of the last book, they are not in too many scenes but make the most when involved. I liked Reyes finally letting his lover and second in command know the truth. I like the science of the crystalline material. I liked the Shedai and how it operates, it is not explained really well until the second battle. I liked the Romulan involvement and really liked all the scenes they were in. The Reyes and Pennington scene really good writing in that scene.

What I Disliked: The first battle on Erilon was a mess and I feel was not described well at all. I had a real hard time picturing it. There is no line break or anything when the narrative switches characters with in the chapter, it was really annoying and done at least 3 times. T’Prynn knows someone is a spy but did not seem to know this in the first book and doesn’t include the reader in how they found out or how long they have know it kind of came out of nowhere and didn’t even act like it was a big deal, when to the narrative it is a really big deal. Dropped the ball a bit in character development for this novel, when it was really excellent in the first.

Recommendations: This is a solid second novel in a series, that adds onto what was started in the first book. This book had a lot more action 2 big battles and one smaller one. The character were rarely developed further but David Mack did such a good job in the first I noticed it more than I perhaps would’ve. The story overall was good and made me want to read more of the series. The next book David Mack returns which makes me really excited for the series. I rated Star Trek: Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Book review: Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 -Knightquest by Chuck Dixon

Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 -Knightquest by Chuck Dixon continues the long saga of Knightfall the big Batman DC Comics event of the 90’s. This volume is loaded with 694 pages of comics. Batman -Bruce Wayne has been broken by villain Bane and he handed the reigns over John Paul Valley who was Arzael a conflicted hero an ex-assassin. John Paul turns the Batsuit into a dangerous weapon with a full redesign making him look like an angry robot, he beats Bane and starts his crusade to take Gotham back from the Darkness all the while not using the same rules. This starts Knightquest! The comics are all leading to something but it is really unfocused, and when it gets to the end I don’t know if it was totally earned. It reminds me of the current MCU, the first phases were so focused all leading to a big event like the first volume of Knightfall, then phase 4 was a mess with no direction like the second volume of Knightfall. I did like where the volume ended up and think this is the best direction for the final volume of the series. This volume was missing a lot of notable villains, it featured Joker, Catwoman, Clayface III and Lady Clayface, the rest of the villains are throw away villains with the creators having fun one group of villains is a punk spoof on the Three Stooges, the other is two twin gunslingers. The tension between John Paul and Tim Drake -Red Robin is interesting but over too soon. The pace moves okay, though the long storyline involving the villain Abattoir gets played out really fast and the story should not have been 9 issues long. Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 – Knightquest collects Detective Comics #667-675, Shadow of the Bat #19-20, #24-28, Batman #501-508, Catwoman #6-7 and Robin #7. Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 – Knightquest was published in May 1 2012.

Plot Summary: John Paul has just defeated Bane and cemented his role as the new Batman. Bruce is off on a mission to bring Tim Drake’s father back that maybe Bane’s people took and he has left Red Robin to watch over, only the new Batman works alone and nearly kills Robin to keep him away and has started fortifying the Bat Cave so only he has an entrance. Batman’s first test is a twin gunslingers that come to town to cause trouble and rob the money train, The new Batman prefers to travel by a new Batmobile that runs on subway and incline rails. Batman has drawn the attention of the Joker who knows the new Batman is a fake and wants to kill him for a movie he is directing. Catwoman is back in Gotham and part of a nerve gas plot. This story is the best as the new Batman sees only Catwoman as a criminal and not how the original Batman came to see here as a petty criminal but not someone who would harm others. Abattoir who kills mostly his family and does a blood ritual to gain more power escaped from Arkham and is a relative to the Mayor of Gotham that he wants dead, Batman must stop this plot using any means necessary. One of the relatives who is in prison and father to the mayor makes thinks more crazy as he puts a hit on Abattoir. Batman is pushed to his limits and starts seeing visions of his father who wanted to turn him into an assassin before the original Batman stepped in start leading his thoughts on his quest to take Gotham out of the darkness by any means necessary making himself the villain in some peoples eyes.

What I Liked: I like how the title Knightquest works since John Paul Valley is on a crusade much like his Templar ancestry Saint Dumas and the order he serves. I liked the visions and how the ghost of John Paul Valley’s father has a different view then the original Saint Dumas who end up fighting for control of Batman’s quest. The tension between the new Batman and a robin that he clearly does not want was great I felt this moment could have been stretched, but I like where the tension eventually ends up in a pretty good fight. I liked the Catwoman story and the story where Commissioner Gordon stands up and wants nothing to do with the new Batman that he knows is not the same person. I like that John Paul only lives in the Batcave and let Wayne Manor go to pieces. The Twin Shooters won me over I did not like them at first but ended up enjoying their 3 issue arc. I did really like the end of this volume and what it means for the final volume of Knightfall.

What I Disliked: Abattoir as this volumes big bad, he stinks and was not interesting at all. He was worthy of an issue or two not 9 issues. I was happy to see this villain on the worst villains of Batman list. Batman needed more established villains to go wait this is not the same Batman I’ve been battling for years he’s different and to see how that played out. The dropped story line of Catwoman went to South America on Bruce Wayne’s private plane to learn more about Bane and is back in Gotham with no mention, maybe it was explained somewhere else but not here. Bane even though he’s defeated should have still been involved in the story some how since events that were involving him are still playing out.

Recommendation: This book could have been better, but the whole Knightfall story is still worth it. I don’t think reading all the comics included in this collection are necessary, some barely move the main story along at all. I rated Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 -Knightquest by Chuck Dixon 3 out of 5 stars. This book has been the weakest in the series so far with Volume 1 and the Prelude being better and more focused.

Book Review: All Hallows by Christopher Golden

All Hallows by Christopher Golden is a Halloween horror that takes place in 1984. The story is slow paced for about 70% of the story then goes at rapid pace and doesn’t stop until the end. The horror and the gore when we finally get there is intense and no holds barred. The narrative of the story consist of 15 perspectives which for the most part is families parents and children. This was an element I did not care for it was too much too soon, I had a real hard time keeping up with who was related to who and who was friends with who. It was pretty messy, until the 50% mark then I was able to put it together. I felt the parents were a lot more memorable than the kids, and generally liked most of their stories over the kids who at the beginning only one kid really stuck out. I felt the lore was lazy and missing a lot for me to by the premiss. This book was almost a do not finish but the last half was actually good and finally caught my interest. The finally has some good moments and gets pretty intense. The over all story was just okay it had a good twist or two, but when I found out the major twist I was not too impressed. There’s so okay characterization especially the LGTBQ story line which was the only kids story I enjoyed. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin Press for giving me a free copy to review. All Hallows was published on January 24 2023.

Plot Summary: It is Halloween 1984 in the small town of Coventry, Massachusetts. One Family that has a a big plot of land and loves Halloween makes a haunted woods for charity, every year but this one will me the last. Everything goes well but the town start noticing kids in vintage costumes that no one seems to know. The kids in vintage costumes have no family ad ask adults and kids for help as they’re being stalked by a tall jack o’lanterned man with candle lit eyes.

What I Liked: How hardcore the story gets where at the end no one is safe. I really liked the LGTBQ storyline and first kiss. I Liked most of the adults stories that were way more interesting than the kids. I like the way the Haunted woods was described, I wished more of the story would have taken place around that area. One twist was pretty memorable and changed the story for the good. I loved the cover art, it was creepy and eye catching.

What I Disliked: The kids stories, it took so long for their characters to develop and to have unique thought which made them stand out from the other kids. The backstory for the horror element was really under developed, and did not explain enough about the kids or the boogie man. The start was too slow nothing happens for way too long.

Recommendations: All Hallows is a story I can not recommend, there’s way more interesting horror that is written better with bigger ideas. The story for this book was lacking and I needed a lot better pace. I have been recommended Christopher Golden book from my fellow horror bloggers, so maybe this was a fluke and will try him out another time. I rated All Hallows by Christopher Golden 2.5 out of 5 stars. I kept going back and forth between 2 and 3 stars, the last 30% boosted it a little.

Wrap Up: February 2023

Dear Readers,  February was an okay month for reading . I did not complete my goal of 6 books this month, I read only four. The books I did were for the most part good. I read 1 horror, 1 mystery and 1 histoical fiction. I read one book over 1,000 pages I read 3 books from a book series Goosebumps The Haunted Mask II , Batman Knightfall Volume 1 and  Blood Work from the Harry Bosch Universe. I read one 5 star book, one 4 star book, and two 3 star books.

Five Star Reviews:

Chesapeake by James A Michener is an epic historical fiction that explores 400 years of American history all about the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The novel starts out in 1583 and ends in 1978. The stories are so real, vivid, and intertwined in history that you can almost swear Michener is telling family dynasty’s through the years. This novel is deep in historical fiction and has a 13 page appendix of historical help. We get 14 vignettes or slices of life from about 5 main families and how they changed through out the years. I like that the story does not just stick to humans and tells stories of a Canadian geese migrating for the winter and a Maryland crab surviving the fresh water of the Bay. The novel starts with the American Indian, before the white man has touched the land. This epic 1,000 page book offers topics on religion, slavery, racism, poverty, farming, ship building, life, and freedom. This book taught me a lot on history and explained things history books can’t or will not it.

Four Star Reviews:

Batman: Knightfall Volume 1 by Chuck Dixon is the complete Knightfall collection 2012 edition that is over 650 pages long.  This is an epic book with a epic Batman story. Bane has escaped a hellish South American prison and is set his sights on breaking the Batman to rule Gotham.  Batman is pressed to his limits both mentally and psychically as Bane sets free all the the Arkham Asylum inmates who destroy Gotham.  The action and weight of stress are apparent on Batman.  The rising action is great leading to the breaking of the bat, and of John Paul Valley known as Azrael taking up the mantle and challenging Bane. This collection has almost all of Batman’s villains, The Joker, Killer Croc, Anarky, Catwoman, Firefly, The Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, The Scarecrow, Two-Face, The Ventriloquist and Scarface, Victor Zsasz, Amygdala, The Riddler, and a lot of lesser know villians. 

Three Star Reviews:

Blood Work by Michael Connelly is a thriller with a great hook. Solve the murder of the person who gave you the organs to survive. The novel hooked me right away. The pace of Blood Work was slower than I expected the twists are really slight until the end where there is a big one. The climax was okay I liked how personal it got at the end. Terry McCaleb was a different character than Harry Bosch but had too many of the same qualities like knowing hypnosis and breaking the rules for justice. This novel did have a lot of repetition in it. We see two murders on tape about 20 times it’s cool when there’s new information, which changes the scene, but sometimes nothing is different and someone else is just describing the scene again. Blood Work was turned into a movie starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Daniels in 2002 which has the same set up but a different ending and bad guy. This is book 8 in the Harry Bosch Universe and book one of Terry McCaleb.

The Haunted Mask II by R. L. Stine is a sequel to the original The Haunted Mask. This is Goosebumps book 36 in the original series order. It has Carly Beth back as one of the most rememberable human characters from Goosebumps, but she is just a supporting character and one of her friends that would scare her in The original The Haunted Mask is the lead protagonist in The Haunted Mask II. It has 5 characters in total it brings back from the first that is the most recurring characters so far, after Monster Blood brought back 4 characters. The story which I will give credit is not a retelling of The Haunted Mask but has it’s own idea, the set up is the same but thing go differently. Where in the first one Carly Beth turned into the haunt, Steve is kind of haunted by his own mask. I liked the first half but the second half fell apart.

Book Reviews: Goosebumps-The Haunted Mask 2 by R. L. Stine

The Haunted Mask II by R. L. Stine is a sequel to the original The Haunted Mask. This is Goosebumps book 36 in the original series order. It has Carly Beth back as one of the most rememberable human characters from Goosebumps, but she is just a supporting character and one of her friends that would scare her in The original The Haunted Mask is the lead protagonist in The Haunted Mask II. It has 5 character in total it brings back from the first which is the most recurring characters so far, after Monster Blood brought back 4 characters. The story which I will give credit is not a retelling of The Haunted Mask but has it’s own idea, the set up is the same but thing go differently. Where in the first one Carly Beth turned into the haunt, Steve is kind of haunted by his own mask. I liked the first half but the second half fell apart. The story is different from the first Haunted Mask but not that good. The reason to put on the mask and scare people is good, but when that story has a twist and diverts the story, it has no direction going forward. The endings to goosebumps always have a final twist and this one is one of the worst, I rolled my eyes pretty hard. This story isn’t all that scary unlike the first, but the way Stine described the mask is really good and quite scary. The Haunted Mask 2 was published on October 1 1995.

Plot Summary: Steve, 12 got in trouble at school and he had two options multiple detentions or to coach a first grade soccer team after school. He chose coaching and is now the coach of the Hogs. The Hogs are filled with terrorizing first graders that torture Steve and he wants revenge in the form of scaring them. For this to work he will need a terrifying mask, he remembers the one mask his friend Carly Beth scared him for last year’s Halloween. Carly Beth doesn’t want to tell him where she got it since the mask possessed her last year, but she eventually does and the store is closed but Steve finds a way in, before he can find the right one the owner comes back and Steve barely escaped, but Steve stole a mask as he was fleeing an Old rotting man. When he puts the mask on their is something wrong he can’t take off the mask and embodies the characteristics of the mask. Will Stave be able to escape the mask?

What I Liked: I loved the Hogs and how they were described and I love the twist when Steve meets them with the mask. I like that the story isn’t a remake of the first one it has the same premise but goes in a different route, I might have not liked the way it went but give credit for it being different. I loved seeing Carly Beth at first I thought it would just be a cameo but she ended up impacting the story and was in a quarter of the overall story.

What I Disliked: The second half of the book was just not good, it felt that it just wasn’t focused. I felt there was no payoff where the story went with the Hogs. Does Steve still want to scare them still after everything happened? The final twist made no sense since Halloween was over, why would this character hide this, it made this sense. All the poster show a green skinned mask yet there is no mention of a green skinned mask only green slime coming out of his nose.

Recommendations: This is the 36 Goosebumps book that I have read and I love them all this book is okay far from the worst but not the best. The original The Haunted Mask is one of my favorites and my favorite television episodes (since it is a two-parter) from the original series. I rated The Haunted Mask 2 or II by R. L. Stine 3 out of 5 stars. Here’s my full ranking of the 36 Goosebumps books that I have read in order to my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) Ghost Beach, 4) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 5) The Haunted Mask, 6) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 7) One Day At Horrorland, 8) Night of the Living Dummy, 9) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 10) A Shocker on Shock Street, 11)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 12) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 13) The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, 14) Say Cheese and Die, 15) Let’s Get Invisible, 16) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 17) Welcome to Dead House, 18) Monster Blood II, 19) The Girl who Cried Monster, 20)Deep Trouble, 21) The Ghost Next Door, 22)Night of the Living Dummy 2, 23) My Hairiest Adventure, 24) Be Careful What You Wish For… , 25) Return of the Mummy, 26) Why I’m Afraid of Bees, 27)The Haunted Mask II, 28)Attack of the Mutant, 29) Go Eat Worms!, 30) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 31)The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 32) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 33) Monster Blood, 34) The Barking Ghost, 35) You Can’t Scare Me!, and 36) Monster Blood III.

Book Review: Blood Work by Michael Connelly

Blood Work by Michael Connelly is a thriller with a great hook. Solve the murder of the person who gave you the organs to survive. The novel hooked me right away. The pace of Blood Work was slower than I expected the twists are really slight until the end where there is a big one. The climax was okay I liked how personal it got at the end. Terry McCaleb was a different character than Harry Bosch but had too many of the same qualities like knowing hypnosis and breaking the rules for justice. This novel did have a lot of repetition in it. We see two murders on tape about 20 times it’s cool when there’s new information which changes the scene, but sometimes nothing is different and the scene is just getting described again by someone else. Blood Work was turned into a movie starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Daniels in 2002 which has the same set up but a different ending and bad guy. This is book 8 in the Harry Bosch Universe and book one of Terry McCaleb. The Lincoln Lawyer is brought up and Harry Bosch’s father as well and in the last Harry Bosch novel Angels Flight, Terry McCaleb’s name was brought up by Bosch. Blood Work was published on March 2 1998.

Plot Summary: Terry McCaleb is enjoying retirement from the FBI, he took an early retirement due to a heart condition and a recent transplant. He meets Graciella a woman that has just read of exploits and wants to hire him, he politely declines but her insistence and saying he’s the only one who can solve it, he ask why? And she tells him he has her sister’s heart and she was murdered please solve it. Terry takes the case but he soon finds out that this seeming random robbery kill was the work of a twisted serial killer.

What I Liked: The hook for the mystery was so good I was hooked right away. I liked how personal the case got and the reason behind the murders. The clues are little stuff that adds up to a big reveal. I liked how Connelly keeps surprising me with clues and direction of his stories. I really liked the hypnosis scene even though it went a little too long.

What I Disliked: I Disliked how Terry treated Buddy he was just helping him and he got treated like crap. Thank goodness this book has such a great hook because it slows down a lot after the opening. I felt like the harmonicas were some clue since everybody interacts with them but it went nowhere. I hate that we never got the significance of the code numbers.

Recommendation: Blood Work is a good but not great mystery with an incredible hook. It sits at a 4.13 on Goodreads which is solid. I did not like this one as much as previous Harry Bosch mysteries. I have seen the Clint Eastwood movie and have a little more appreciation with the changes they made to put up the action and the drama. I rated Blood Work by Michael Connelly 3 out of 5 stars.Harry Bosch Universe Book reading book order so far 1) the Black Echo, 2) The Black Ice, 3) The Concrete Blonde, 4) The Last Coyote, 5) The Poet, 6) Trunk Music, 7) Angels Flight, and 8) Blood Work. The order in which I rank them from best to worst is 1) The Poet, 2) Angels Flight, 3) Concrete Blonde, 4) The Black Ice, 5) Trunk Music 6)The Last Coyote, 7) Blood Work, and 8) The Black Echo.

Book Review: Chesapeake by James A. Michener

Chesapeake by James A Michener is an epic historical fiction that explores 400 years of American history all about the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The novel starts out in 1583 and ends in 1978. The stories are so real, vivid, and intertwined in history that you can almost swear Michener is telling family dynasty’s through the years. This novel is deep in historical fiction and has a 13 page appendix of historical help. We get 14 vignettes or slices of life from about 5 main families and how they changed through out the years. I like that the story does not just stick to humans and tells stories of a Canadian geese migrating for the winter and a Maryland crab surviving the fresh water of the Bay. The novel starts with the American Indian, before the white man has touched the land. Events, people and pieces of history that characters have a direct interaction with in Chesapeake: John Smith, Henry The Eighth, George Washington, Ben Franklin, American Revolution, War of 1812, Dread Scott, Franklin Douglass, Civil War, Spanish Armada, Blackbeard the Pirate, King George, Abraham Lincoln, Boston Tea Party, Irish Potato Famine, World War I, Adolf Hitler, World War II, Watergate Scandal, and Richard Nixon. This epic 1,000 page book offers topics on religion, slavery, racism, poverty, farming, ship building, life, and freedom. This book taught me a lot on history and explained things history books can’t or will not. The text broke down arguments showing 2 and sometime 3 sides of an argument. The flow of the book is steady I loved some chapters over overs but only one chapter out of 14 was a letdown. This book would probably be banned in schools since it is so race heavy which is sad because it shows all sides to the issue, it made me cry showing mistreatment of people over race and religion that are still going on today. Trigger warning the book does use the “N” not an excessive amount, the book feature some times graphic whippings, enslavement, and incest. Chesapeake was published on January 1 1978.

Plot Summary: It starts with an American Indian running from his warring tribe where he finds an island all to himself. He settles the Island where he lives until he see’s a white man with a glowing hat (conquistador) in a ship. He knows more will come and decides to settle with a peaceful tribe he has been watching for some time. He becomes the chief of the tribe and when the White man does come in the form of explorer John Smith he is the one to meet him, and his squire Steed. Steed falls in love with the island that the chief once settled. When Steed is done exploring with John Smith he decides to settle on the island he names Devon Island, after paying the chief for it. Steed is a man persecuted for his Catholic religion back in England and sees the island as a fresh start. The Chief begs Steed to marry but he has already purchased a wife from a ship, she a rude strong woman that is not Catholic, his family in England was looking for him a wife when he married this woman more for help than love. When a Catholic woman his family sent him in England arrives the current wife hands the woman her infant and leaves. Turlock is a thief and banned from England and and sold into indentured servitude, he works for the Janney’s on their new tobacco farm. Janney talks Steed into the tobacco industry and gets an unexpected guest Turlock a runaway. He ran away in the winter and can’t be returned he helps Steed since he knows how tobacco is made, he also steals axes and tools for his eventual escape. Turlock has fallen in love with the Marsh lands just off the island. When Janney returns Turlock escapes with the Indians ends up with the chief’s daughter. He makes a deal to for the marsh land selling the stolen tools for the land. Paxmore a Quaker persecuted for his religion escapes to the area with the other judged people of Maryland the Turlocks in the Marsh and the Catholic Steed’s on Devon Island. The Paxmores settle on a cliff overlooking the Turlocks and the Steeds. When slaves start coming in the the family’s were united but the Quaker religions interpretation of the Bible does not allow another man to be owned, and the Paxmores become a haven for runaway slaves, and part of the underground railroad in getting the slaves to freedom. The Carter Family has the most interesting background forced in to slavery from their African tribe, start riot on the ship and take it, killing one of the three Maryland farmers. They sail to the French who turn them into the British where some are hung break shipping laws. But Carter who started but drove the ship and did not partake in the killing was sold to American as a slave. He is seen as trouble and sent to a slave breaker, but soon finds what he must say and do to avoid the punishment, he ends up working on the Steed farm and is good with machinery and develops a lot of inventions that assist the steeds, his future wife works for the Steed s and is set free where she works and buys his freedom, when they marry he needs a name and wants to turn the name of the slave breaker Carter and takes the last name to change it. One of the Families eventually find out he was on the slave ship where his family member died and a lot of drama starts. This summary covers one third of the book we get to see the families grow, marry, intertwine, and unite through out history.

What I Liked: All the history was really cool and was explained in a way that made since, I had a lot of flashbacks to my college and high school American history class and this book did better than they did at putting it all together. The characters are so good and so real the Paxmore’s were my favorite the stood up for an injustice 300 years before it was undone. I loved the debates on religion, slavery, and race all which are still relevant, where some of the arguments still take place. I like the way the land is described, I could capture it pretty easily in my mind. I thought the ending of the book really worked as all the families are united and watch something that effected them all. I liked the detail that went into everything ship building, sailing, fishing, and farming are explained in detail.

What I Disliked: The Watergate Scandal was not explained very well. You would think this would get the most details as it happened 5 years before, but maybe it was still new, I did not like the family member picked to participate in this and wanted more explanation how they went with this decision. The novel attempts to explain but does not do a great job. I liked the geese chapter as the narrator but not the crab storyline.

Recommendation: This is one heck of an epic 1,000 page book. The history is so good and the individual stories surrounding the big events of American History, fill in so many questions I had has a kid learning about it. Chesapeake is really good and will lead to discussion with others as so many topics are covered. This book covers every side and tries to issues and gets to the root cause of anger and fear of many topics. I rated Chesapeake by James A. Michener 5 out of 5 stars. This is my first James A Michener book and will not be my last. I picked up this book for my Father-in-law., who just read and Texas by Michener and loved it, I can’t wait to talk about this one with him.

Book Review: Batman: Knightfall Volume 1 by Chuck Dixon

Batman: Knightfall Volume 1 by Chuck Dixon is the complete Knightfall collection 2012 edition that is over 650 pages long. This is an epic book with a epic Batman story. Bane has escaped a hellish South American prison and is set his sights on breaking the Batman to rule Gotham. Batman is pressed to his limits both mentally and psychically as Bane sets free all the the Arkham Asylum inmates who destroy Gotham. The action and weight of stress are apparent on Batman. The rising action is great leading to the breaking of the bat, and of John Paul Valley known as Azrael taking up the mantle and challenging Bane. Not all comics worked the two-parter with Two-Face is a stretch and it seems like it was already written and had to be reworked to fit Knightfall. The Ulimate story of Knightfall and all it encompasses is a great story. The art is by a lot of different artist but I loved the way Detective Comics and the Shadow of the Bat were drawn. The Batman Comics were not great and it was sometimes laughable the way Robin’s face was drawn. This comic has almost all of Batman’s villains, The Joker, Killer Croc, Anarky, Catwoman, Firefly, The Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, The Scarecrow, Two-Face, The Ventriloquist and Scarface, Victor Zsasz, Amygdala, The Riddler, and a lot of lesser know villians. Batman: Knightfall Volume 1 collects Batman: Vengeance of Bane Special #1, Batman #491-500, Detective Comics #659-666, Showcase ’93 #7-8 and Batman: Shadow of the Bat #16-18.

Plot Summary: Bane has just fired an RPG into the front gates of Arkham Asylum and started releasing every inmate. We get some interesting team up the Scarecrow and the Joker, and The Ventriloquist and Amygdala. Batman was near exhaustion before the escape now has to control the city of Gotham with no energy, he wants to do it alone because Bane scares him and fears what he will do to Robin. Batman is not Bane’s only enemy as he broke Killer Croc’s arm to prove a point to Batman, Killer Croc wants vengeance as well as Batman. Batman puts some criminals back in Arkham but when Bane feels he is ready he will put him in a gauntlet that will break the Batman.

What I Liked: How Epic Bane makes beating the Batman, he both resects and fears him, and even Bane hows that he must weaken Batman before he can break him. I loved the Scarecrow and Joker together with The Scarecrow keep taunting The Joker with his fear gas. then he gives it to him and Joker wants more. I liked that The Ventriloquist is searching for Scarface and has to use other puppets who have an issue when scarface is found. I like the place Bane chose to break the Batman. and knew Batman was a symbol and needed to show everyone he beat it. I like what Azrael did to the batsuit and the ending and how it leads into Knightquest. I really liked the 3 Shadow of the Bat issues that was awesome and I liked the Scarecrow and Anarky’s story with the new Batman. I loved a broken wheelchair bound Bruce Wayne fighting off criminals.

What I Disliked: I really hated that two of the same comics were repeated in Batman the Prelude to Knightfall where I thought 4 part the Sword of Azrael should have been included now even more so. I really didn’t like the two issues of Showcase ’93 that were about Two-face since the issues were after the break but about Batman arresting Two-face before the breaking of his back, it was not good the way they tried to bring it back in the second issue after not talking about it in the first.

Recommendation: Knightfall was one of the biggest events when I started collecting comics, I can remember purchasing some of the books and were I was when I read some of them. I like how complete the collection is. I had a great time reminiscing. Bane is a great character and has n’t been used this well again. I rated Batman: Knightfall Volume 1 by Chuck Dixon 4 out of 5 stars. I will continue on to Knightquest Volume 2 in the series next month.