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Bad Blood

Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 12:59 on 10 May 2015

Virgil Flowers, Book 4

Okay, I hadn't actually been intending on reading any fiction book this weekend. Or at least, not starting any new books. That didn't go over very well, as I picked up the fourth Virgil Flowers book last night at 10pm and started reading. And kept reading. So much for finishing off books I've already started.

Again, I enjoyed this Flowers book. It was a bit different than the previous ones in that who did what was figured out pretty much in the middle of the book. Such a different take than most mystery books which have the bad guy revealed near the end, with only a small wrap-up after the reveal. No, Sandford has the Flowers books' mysteries figured out in the middle, maybe 2/3 of the way through, and lots of fumbling around, working to prove the case, wrapping up the details, and dealing with the aftermath of the arrest or solution.

It's a different twist on things. No idea how realistic it is in real life. Real life is mostly boring, with interesting things between. Digression, though.

I enjoyed the book, and will keep reading the Flowers books.

Raising Stony Mayhall

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 23:29 on 8 May 2015

This book took me FOREVER to finish. And by "forever" I mean over six months to actually read. I did not enjoy this book, and had to slog through it to actually finish it. "Why bother finishing it?" you may ask. I certainly asked myself that question a number of times. While I can say I didn't enjoy this book, I didn't hate it either. It sits squarely in the "meh" category of books.

Which is somewhat surprising to me, as I did enjoy We Are All Completely Fine, also by Daryl Gregory. That book I enjoyed enough that I might read Harrison Harrison after I've whittled my current to-read stack down below 20 books. This one, wow, I could not get through. Eventually, I put it on 2x speed on audiobook and just walked on the treadmill until I was done with it.

I liked the idea of the zombies existing rationally after the fever of the turn has happened, a central plot point of this book. I liked the idea of a zombie baby being able to grow into an adult. The length of the story and the just plain naiveté of Stony just grated on my nerves.

And I really did not like the ending.

I don't recommend this book unless you're a Gregory fan and want to read all of the books he's written. In that case, yeah, go ahead. Otherwise, skip this one.

Rough Country

Book Notes Instead of being asleep at 21:28 on 4 May 2015, kitt created this:

Virgil Flowers, Book 3

Continuing in the Virgil Flowers series (I finished it too fast to even put it on my in progress reading list), this book starts out with f---ing Flowers on a fishing trip, with a murder happening on the next lake over (-ish). One of the things I do like about this series is that it's like like a kabillion crimes happen in a 10 mile radius. Minnesota is big, the number of crimes happening in this series isn't that unreasonable. Of course, the stunningly high solve rate does require a suspension of disbelief, but that's okay, because it's commented upon, and Flowers actually makes mistakes. Shock.

As appears to be a trend, there's a woman-to-have-sex-with in this story, which seems to be a thing in this mystery adventure series like the Reacher series. I'm relatively unsurprised, as I mentioned, given that, well, have to keep a reader interested and entertained. This book's conquest is a little more difficult timing-wise, which provides amusement. The conversations are entertaining, the need for sleep reasonable and the non-super-human antics are refreshing. Flowers doesn't even want to carry a gun, which, in my mind, makes him more likeable.

I'm still enjoying this series, and will keep reading until my stack of them runs out. Nothing like an inexpensive borrow from the library to encourage binge reading.

Recommended.

Heat Lightning

Book Notes Instead of being asleep at 20:08 on 30 April 2015, kitt created this:

Virgil Flowers, Book 2

Moving right along with the Virgil Flowers series, I have to say that I am tickled I'm back up to 10 books a month by finishing this one. So far, both of the fuckin' Flowers books (a reference made inside the books) have been about 410-ish pages long, making them about a 5.5 hour read for me. Lounging around on vacation, these are just about right. And, I can get them from the condo association's library for free. Win!

What I am liking about these books so far, other than the fast-paced, amusing dialog, is the fact that Flowers isn't right the first time. He makes mistakes (OMG, unlike other cops) and he takes a wrong turn, and he guesses. Okay, fine, the author has written him to be human instead of super-human. The man needs to sleep, the man needs to pee. It's great.

This particular book had a few cases where I thought, "If the character finds these things weird, why doesn't he suspect this person?" And you know what? Hindsight is often clearer than live-sight, and we're the reader so OF COURSE we know what's going on. Except it isn't always clearer, and we don't always know what's going on, and the good guy doesn't always win. One could say in real life, the good guy rarely wins, it's the victor who just claims to be the good guy and writes history.

I enjoyed this book, ripped through it fast enough, even though the mystery was a little thin with some obvious plot holes. If I were giving stars, which I'm not, this one would be 4 of 5, and I would definitely say, keep reading.

Dark of the Moon

Book Notes kitt decided around 22:06 on 27 April 2015 to publish this:

Virgil Flowers, Book 1

A couple days ago, Mom had commented to me that I should start the John Sandford Virgil Flowers series. She had read them and enjoyed them, the lead character's wit and humour entertaining her. I had looked (casually, not intently) in the condo association's lending library for the first one, Dark of the Moon, without success and didn't think much of it. So, when Mom and I were at the giant bookstore in Kona yesterday, she found the book, and handed it to me to buy. Bookstore. Recommended book. Place to donate the book when I was done so that I didn't have to lug it home at the end of my vacation. All of this was leading nicely to a "Yes, please."

Boy, was I glad I bought it. I started it last night, and finished it today. As is with most vacations that aren't ultimate frisbee or safari or Antarctica bound, I had a day of sick. That would be today, so having a book to read was fantastic. In this case, also very entertaining.

We Are All Completely Fine

Book Notes Posted by kitt at 23:15 on 23 April 2015

On this vacation of mine, I (unsurprisingly) have goals. One of the ones I added was, "Read a book or two." Ten days, yeah, I should be able to finish one or two books.

Well, this is the second of two books I read on the first day of my vacation, while I was still travelling out here. Go fig. I can't even read "right" on a vacation.

That all said, this is a quick read. It starts out (appropriately) confusingly, 5 people attending a group therapy. They all have severe trauma in their past, of different flavours, their stories revealed as the plot progresses. No one wants to talk about their past, but eventually they all start talking, become a group, and begin to tell their tales. I have to say that, while the Amazon / back cover summary is nominally complete, it gives away more of the characters than it should. Don't read said summaries. The plot is much better that way.

As said, it is a quick read. I enjoyed this book. Only after reading it did I realize the author of this book is the author of Raising Stony Mayhall, which is an odd juxtaposition. I'm finding RSM terribly boring and difficult to finish. In contrast, this one was fast, engaging and interesting. Another "Go fig."

I have this book if you'd like to borrow it. I'll happily loan it out, if you bring it back. It has a nice twist at the end.

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