media roundup
Jan. 31st, 2014 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
llcoolvadJANUARY BOOKS
1. Never Go Back, Lee Child, Thriller. In "61 Hours", our hero talks to Army Major Susan Turner, new commander of his old MP unit, on the phone and finds her very appealing as she helps him solve a problem. He decides to get himself a looksee at her and makes his way across the country to DC to say hello. Then suddenly they're both facing trumped-up charges and serious jail time, so Reacher busts them both out of military jail and they hit the road, trying to figure out what's the real story behind their troubles. Fairly typical outing, except this time both Reacher AND Turner get folding toothbrushes and don't carry so much as a backpack.
2. Fractured, Karin Slaughter, Audio, Crime. I've been reading these mostly out of order. This is the second in the "Will Trent" series by Slaughter. I had started reading her with the "Grant County" series, but the two have since combined two main characters in book 4?, 5?, so I went back to read this series. Anyway, all of Slaughter is pretty dark, with usually fairly brutal crimes and dark motivations. In this case a woman comes home to find her daughter brutally murdered and apparently raped, and a man standing over her body. She manages to kill the man, but there is evidence that there were other people at the scene when the murder happened. What is the motivation, here, and who are the others—witnesses? Other victims? Perpetrators? Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has to face a bully from his childhood orphanage, a new partner who has very good reason to hate him, and his own dyslexia to solve the case.
3. Tularosa, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Santa Fe ex-cop Kevin Kerney had to stop being a cop when he was badly injured on a stakeout, thanks to his partner's inattention. When that same ex-partner shows up two years later to ask Kerney to investigate his son's AWOL from the Army, Kerney only agrees because he likes the son. He really wants to go back to being a rancher, and is trying to save money to buy his own spread and cows and whatnot. His old cop buddy Andy gives him a temporary job so he'll have some legit credentials while he's investigating. There's an attractive Army Captain that helps him, and the crime ends up being quite complicated and involving insane Mexican drug lords. A decent read. I'll continue this series.
4. Mexican Hat, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Book 2 in the Kevin Kerney series. Kerney has shuffled on to another temporary gig. He's working for the Park Service for the season, and he has stumbled into a poaching ring and a couple of murders. He manages to solve them all, somehow, and meet a new attractive lady and make some new friends in the process. And solve a decades-old family feud. Busy!
5. Serpent Gate, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Book 3 in the Kevin Kerney series. Kerney has once again changed jobs (dunno yet if this authorial trick is going to wear on me), and is working for the New Mexico State PD as a detective on temporary assignment. Things quickly take a turn when a large amount of priceless art is stolen out of the Governor's office. Kerney's cop buddy Andy, who now happens to be the Chief of the New Mexico State Police, moves Kerney into the Deputy Chief position and puts him in charge of the investigation. Because who else could he trust?! Kerney does his thing, meets a new attractive lady who he puts in jail instead of sleeps with, shacks up with an old friend who's a gay artist, delivers a foal, and makes a new friend who's a raving schizophrenic.
I also finished two of the books (The Bat, and Slow Horses, both quite good!) that I hadn't quite finished last year.
JANUARY MOVIES
1. Fast and Furious 6, Redbox. Loads of fun. Made me sad about Paul Walker all over again. I mean, he was no genius actor, but he was fun to watch and seemed like a genuinely nice person outside of his fame. Poor Vin. They were obviously pals.
2. Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Redbox. Lacked the sense of wonder and fun of the first one (kind of like Harry Potter 2. Not enough of the 'dear god how is all of this real?' feeling). Percy finds out he has a half brother who's half cyclops, half son of Poseidon. They need to go on a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. There is mayhem. There is anti-cyclopsism from Percy's pals. Percy's brother is a nice kid. After tribulations, they succeed. Oh, SPOILERS! Sorry.
I rented The Family and The Wolverine, but returned them both unwatched. The Wolverine had some kind of defect so I couldn't play it, and I just wasn't in the mood for The Family, after all. Next time!
1. Never Go Back, Lee Child, Thriller. In "61 Hours", our hero talks to Army Major Susan Turner, new commander of his old MP unit, on the phone and finds her very appealing as she helps him solve a problem. He decides to get himself a looksee at her and makes his way across the country to DC to say hello. Then suddenly they're both facing trumped-up charges and serious jail time, so Reacher busts them both out of military jail and they hit the road, trying to figure out what's the real story behind their troubles. Fairly typical outing, except this time both Reacher AND Turner get folding toothbrushes and don't carry so much as a backpack.
2. Fractured, Karin Slaughter, Audio, Crime. I've been reading these mostly out of order. This is the second in the "Will Trent" series by Slaughter. I had started reading her with the "Grant County" series, but the two have since combined two main characters in book 4?, 5?, so I went back to read this series. Anyway, all of Slaughter is pretty dark, with usually fairly brutal crimes and dark motivations. In this case a woman comes home to find her daughter brutally murdered and apparently raped, and a man standing over her body. She manages to kill the man, but there is evidence that there were other people at the scene when the murder happened. What is the motivation, here, and who are the others—witnesses? Other victims? Perpetrators? Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has to face a bully from his childhood orphanage, a new partner who has very good reason to hate him, and his own dyslexia to solve the case.
3. Tularosa, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Santa Fe ex-cop Kevin Kerney had to stop being a cop when he was badly injured on a stakeout, thanks to his partner's inattention. When that same ex-partner shows up two years later to ask Kerney to investigate his son's AWOL from the Army, Kerney only agrees because he likes the son. He really wants to go back to being a rancher, and is trying to save money to buy his own spread and cows and whatnot. His old cop buddy Andy gives him a temporary job so he'll have some legit credentials while he's investigating. There's an attractive Army Captain that helps him, and the crime ends up being quite complicated and involving insane Mexican drug lords. A decent read. I'll continue this series.
4. Mexican Hat, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Book 2 in the Kevin Kerney series. Kerney has shuffled on to another temporary gig. He's working for the Park Service for the season, and he has stumbled into a poaching ring and a couple of murders. He manages to solve them all, somehow, and meet a new attractive lady and make some new friends in the process. And solve a decades-old family feud. Busy!
5. Serpent Gate, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Book 3 in the Kevin Kerney series. Kerney has once again changed jobs (dunno yet if this authorial trick is going to wear on me), and is working for the New Mexico State PD as a detective on temporary assignment. Things quickly take a turn when a large amount of priceless art is stolen out of the Governor's office. Kerney's cop buddy Andy, who now happens to be the Chief of the New Mexico State Police, moves Kerney into the Deputy Chief position and puts him in charge of the investigation. Because who else could he trust?! Kerney does his thing, meets a new attractive lady who he puts in jail instead of sleeps with, shacks up with an old friend who's a gay artist, delivers a foal, and makes a new friend who's a raving schizophrenic.
I also finished two of the books (The Bat, and Slow Horses, both quite good!) that I hadn't quite finished last year.
JANUARY MOVIES
1. Fast and Furious 6, Redbox. Loads of fun. Made me sad about Paul Walker all over again. I mean, he was no genius actor, but he was fun to watch and seemed like a genuinely nice person outside of his fame. Poor Vin. They were obviously pals.
2. Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Redbox. Lacked the sense of wonder and fun of the first one (kind of like Harry Potter 2. Not enough of the 'dear god how is all of this real?' feeling). Percy finds out he has a half brother who's half cyclops, half son of Poseidon. They need to go on a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. There is mayhem. There is anti-cyclopsism from Percy's pals. Percy's brother is a nice kid. After tribulations, they succeed. Oh, SPOILERS! Sorry.
I rented The Family and The Wolverine, but returned them both unwatched. The Wolverine had some kind of defect so I couldn't play it, and I just wasn't in the mood for The Family, after all. Next time!
