Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Cold Prey II (Foreign Horror Film / Norwegian)

Cold Prey II (Foreign Horror Film / Norwegian)

Okay, when I saw the first one a month ago I wrote that I was going to save the sequel for the cold winter months.  Obviously I didn’t.  I read some reviews about how great it was and I couldn’t wait.

Our heroine, the only survivor of the five snowboarders from the first movie, is found and is recovering in the local hospital.  The bodies of her friends, and their attacker, are brought to the morgue in the hospital’s basement; the crime techs will be there in the morning.  I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that somehow the attacker is not dead.  He needs to get out of the hospital, leaving as much death, destruction and mayhem in his path as possible, and return to the ski lodge he calls home where he can continue his dark deeds.  Our heroine, naturally, will do everything she can to stop him.  Will good prevail?

Yes, it’s a slasher movie, but it’s a semi-intelligent slasher movie.  If you act smartly, you probably won’t die.  Probably.  It’s also a great kick butt female avenger story.  Which is always a great thing.

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

Charlie Cates needs a fresh start.  She recently lost her young son and her grief is overwhelming.  She needs to get out of the home they shared and get a change of scenery.  She does need to work, but returning to her job at a women’s magazine (think Cosmo but classier) just seems too frivolous to deal with after the tragedy in her life.  Coincidentally a former employer calls her about a job.  Her former employer has gone from editing a true crime magazine to true crime books and he wants Charlie to write one of the decade books they are working on, specifically the greatest unsolved case of the 1980s, the disappearance of Gabriel Deveau. 

She can’t deal with the idea of writing about a tragedy befalling a boy even younger than her son when he died, and is going to turn the offer down when she gets a vision of a boy in a swamp.  Details from the dream seem to match what could have happened to Gabriel.  After one of her dreams comes true she feels she can’t ignore the pull to the Louisiana swamps and Evangeline, the Deveau estate.  Maybe her vision is wrong, but could she live with knowing it could be true and she did nothing?  Will she finally find Gabriel?  What else will she find?

The mystical element is integral to the plot, but it is never overwhelming.  Charlie gets occasional visions and feelings, nothing too revealing, just glimpses that help reveal things that would otherwise be hidden.  The characters are great from the ever optimistic housekeeper, to the disgruntled cop, to an extremely unlikely love interest for Charlie.  Rumor has it that this is the first in a trilogy; I certainly hope so I’d love to see these characters again.

Read this one if you enjoy well-plotted mysteries that are great at throwing in red herrings with the bona fide clues and don’t mind a little of the paranormal sprinkled in your read.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson

The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson

It is the summer of 1989 and Dionne, 16, has been raising herself and her sister Phaedra, 10, for the past few years as their mother battles depression.  At a particularly low point she sends her daughters home, to Barbados and their grandmother Hyacinth.  Life on Bird Hill is strange to the two Brooklyn natives.  Dionne is struggling with adolescence, abandonment and the first taste of freedom she’s known since taking care of Phaedra ruled over most of her life before now.  Phaedra has always been an outsider, but never more than on Bird Hill, yet she forms a connection with her grandmother and shows interest in learning the old ways of obeah.  Both girls are resigned to their stay on the island, but they are glad that the summer will end and they will return to Brooklyn.  But when it becomes clear that they will be staying in Barbados permanently, and their father returns to their lives, they find out the true meaning of family and their roots.

Another great choice on audio because of the accents; the reader brings the lilting rhythm of Barbados alive in the speech of Hyacinth.  She also voices the sisters Brooklyn accents well.  The mastery comes when the Brooklyn girls start losing their accent and adopting their grandmother’s.

This is a tale about belonging – in a family, in a community and in a country – and how hurtful not belonging can be.  It is also about grief, how you can lose someone who is already there and how losing someone who is already lost can hurt so badly.

The Weather Station (Foreign Film – Russian Thriller)

The Weather Station (Foreign Film – Russian Thriller)

Two older meteorologists and a young chef/handyman watch over a weather station in remote Russia.  A beautiful woman and her partner arrive and stay the night, planning to visit nearby caves in the morning.  Soon after one of the men sends out a distress call.  When the police arrive the next day everyone has disappeared.  The lead inspector and his protégé decide to stay the night, and possibly for the next few days since the weather is worsening, to investigate the weather station and surrounding area for clues.  Will they find out what happened?  Will they become victims themselves?

The style of this movie reminded me of British crime shows.  The action flashes between the past and present; the time leading up to the crime and the crime itself and the investigation to resolution.  Both times come together at the end of the film in a shocking, and satisfying way.  It is a dark film, set against a bleak landscape, but fans of crime shows will enjoy it.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Eva Thorvald’s mother is convinced she would be a horrible mother and her baby would be better off without her, so she leaves her husband and infant daughter to pursue her dreams of being a sommelier in California.  Eva is left behind in Minnesota to be raised by her epicurean father who begins feeding her puréed braised pork shoulder as soon as he sees fit.  Eva’s love of food as a result starts VERY early and her love of fresh foods, gardening and planting is the defining factor of her life. 

If you are a fan of eating local and fancy dinners you will love reading about the evolution of the chef with the most sought after dinner reservations around.  After a lifetime of hard knocks Eva becomes a culinary sensation running dinners in interesting locales.  Reservations are booked online, sometimes years in advance, and if you are “called” you have a week to change whatever plans you may already have and get to the location of your $5,000 a plate dinner.  Yes, it’s completely over the top, but seeing this young woman succeed so well is a joy.

The construction of the book is unique.  Each chapter is a short story revolving around an ingredient, one that shows up on the plate of the final dinner of the book.  The stories all feature Eva, but not necessarily as the main character.  In fact, in at least one of the stories I didn’t know why exactly it was included until I got to the end of the book.  I enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t the cozy lighthearted book I expected based on reviews and the cute cover.  This is a story of a life and the lives that life touches in all sorts of ways.  

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

The Jesus Cow by Michael Perry

The Jesus Cow by Michael Perry

On Christmas Eve in the small town of Swivel, Wisconsin, Harley Jackson helps his milk cow, Tina Turner, bring her calf into the world.  After one look at the calf Harley knows he’s got trouble.  Right there, in black on the calf’s white flank, is the image of Jesus Christ.  He tries his best to hide the distinguishing mark under Kiwi shoe polish, but as with most big secrets this one gets out.  Of the barn.  Literally.  Yep, Harley is right.  That calf is Trouble.

What would happen if a cow like this, a Jesus Cow, actually came into being?  Obviously with social media there would be people lined up to see it and they would want pictures with it, and would want to get souvenirs of it imprinted on anything flat.  Harley, a nice guy wanting to lead a simple existence, is suddenly in the spotlight and a millionaire (maybe more) since an international publicity firm has taken over the promotion of the Jesus Cow brand.  The small town infrastructure and pride is tested by all the outsiders and success, but not more than Harley is tested.  Will he survive being the owner of the Jesus Cow?  Will he ever find faith?

Harley is an everyman.  A man who sees a bull with a birthmark not a cow touched by the divine.  Seeing how he, and the small town folks around him, deal with having their town on the map is what makes this book so much fun.  There are seriously philosophical questions pondered in the book, but it is never ponderous.  I especially loved his best friend Billy of the amazing vocabulary and insight; a veteran content with things as they are, but realizing that they have a cash cow on their hands that will keep his legion of cats in milk for a long time to come.

This is one to listen to.  The author reads his book and he’s got the Scandihoovian dialect down pat which just makes the giggles that much better.  

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

Vera Sedge is one of those women that life is constantly throwing curveballs.  Just as she thinks she has things together, something else always falls apart.  She tries to raise money by shady methods, like collecting for charities but really collecting for her family, but she doesn’t have the spine or the wherewithal to be particularly successful.  Then one day she sees the stream of young evacuees from the Blitz in London go by and decides to take in the limping boy no one else wanted.  Noel is not really lame or simple as Vera supposed, his leg just acts up if he walks too much and he is unbelievably smart.  Noel is still grieving over the illness and death of his beloved elderly godmother Mattie but the challenge of making Vera’s collections work be more profitable is enough to put a spark back in the boy’s eyes.  Will Vera and Noel survive the war and their own bad intentions?  Will this odd pair create a new family?

There should be a reference to this book and the character Noel next to the work precocious in the dictionary.  He is always the smartest person in the room, even though he is a few years shy of puberty.  He knows it, his foster mother knows it, but the dynamic works really well.  Even though these two are usually up to no good, they are likable and while their actions are wrong their hearts are (usually) in the right place.  A very different perspective and look at life in the “countryside” during the bombings in London.

The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Nicholas Fox and Kate O’Hare are back in the third entry of the series.  This time the unofficially pardoned con-man and FBI agent are out to take down the sadistic leader of a drug cartel who surgically altered his appearance, so no one knows what he currently looks like or where he is.  But Nick and Kate are determined to find out who he is, where he is, and bring him to justice.  This time they will need a really elaborate con to get their man.

Scott Brick is one of my favorite audiobook readers and he again delivers a stellar performance.  His skill with accents is slightly challenged in this entry, and as usual he does all the accents very well.

The sexual tension between Nick and Kate still sizzles; we’ll have to see what happens next in The Scam out on September 15th!  

Super Duper Alice Cooper (Rockumentary)

Super Duper Alice Cooper (Rockumentary)

I’ve been meaning to watch this documentary since it was released and finally got around to watching it.  I figured I’d watch a few minutes, get bored, and return it.  Well, I watched the whole thing in one sitting and then listened to some of his music. 

My mom was really into rock and pop music when I was a kid and we watched concerts on television all the time, including Alice Cooper.  I started liking him when he guest starred on The Muppet Show and sang Welcome to My Nightmare (which I still own on a 45rpm record.)  A couple of years ago, remembering how much I enjoyed watching his antics in concert on television, I went to see him live and it was quite an experience and one I would like to repeat.  He’s a great entertainer who you can tell really enjoys what he does.  But the story behind how he got where he is today is almost as entertaining as a performance because this documentary is edited so well.  With all the roadblocks they encountered starting out in L.A. before meandering through the country and eventually making it big in Detroit I was surprised they stuck it out.  And then the craziness and celebrity encounters and fame soon after – I have to admit I had no idea.

Even if you aren’t an Alice Cooper fan the way the film is put together – snippets from concert footage, archival photos, old movies to create atmosphere – is something to see.