Librarian, occasional reader. Queer and prone to sorting things.
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In 2008, nine mountaineers failed to return from a winter backpacking trip in the New Mexico mountains. At their last …
This book did not go how I was expecting it to go. I had told others that Preston & Child thrillers had a reputation for getting a bit extravagant in their development and resolutions, but apparently I hadn't really believed it.
Which made this one more entertaining for me, I think. I spent about ⅔ of Diablo Mesa expecting it to be much like the atomic mystery of The Scorpion's Tail, and wondering just how the clues uncovered would be explained as having given a misleading impression. But, no, it went way out there. More-so than if Old Bones had featured the cannibal cults and ghosts that I had initially been expecting.
Having been lulled into a false sense of security after the first two books in the series featured more ordinary treasure hunts and conspiracies, I am curious to see how the next couple will follow on …
This book did not go how I was expecting it to go. I had told others that Preston & Child thrillers had a reputation for getting a bit extravagant in their development and resolutions, but apparently I hadn't really believed it.
Which made this one more entertaining for me, I think. I spent about ⅔ of Diablo Mesa expecting it to be much like the atomic mystery of The Scorpion's Tail, and wondering just how the clues uncovered would be explained as having given a misleading impression. But, no, it went way out there. More-so than if Old Bones had featured the cannibal cults and ghosts that I had initially been expecting.
Having been lulled into a false sense of security after the first two books in the series featured more ordinary treasure hunts and conspiracies, I am curious to see how the next couple will follow on from this one. Do we return to normalcy, or will it become (somehow) still more extravagant?
The writing is fast and functional, but I am entertained and mostly getting what I want out of these.
P.S. Corrie Swanson's prospective romance did make a reappearance here, but it seems we are taking a slow path on whether that goes anywhere. Nora Kelly, however, moves much faster. I was not expecting that one.
Content warning vague tangential spoilers for the previous volume in the series, Old Bones
Much less spooky ghost story than Old Bones, much more open thriller. I did end up wondering how small the area it takes place in is, given all the near-daily travelling back and forth was going on. Some threads wrapped up a bit too neatly in the end and I think I am going to have to accept a bit of serendipity along the way if I keep reading these. But I am accustomed to going along with that in other detective stories.
Perhaps more surprisingly, a couple of threads in each of Old Bones and The Scorpion's Tail were not wrapped up, with the ambiguous matter of ghosts in the former and the provenance of Nora's knife in this volume. Although I certainly assumed when it came up that it was a gift from Pendergast for the times when adventure continued to find her, I did expect it to get addressed explicitly at some point. Perhaps that's a longer-term mystery, although I don't think so. Am also curious whether the sheriff Watts will prove to be a recurring member of the team, or even a romantic interest for Corrie, or if he is a one-off guest character.
Onto the next!
The #1 NYT bestselling authors Preston & Child bring the true story of the ill-fated …
My strategy of explaining this book to people by asking if they remember the 1997 movie "Relic" was perhaps doomed to failure. Especially since Old Bones is actually the beginning of a spin-off series featuring a couple of side characters from Preston & Child's main series, Dr Nora Kelly and Special Agent Corrie Swanson (who apparently didn't know they were both spun off of the same series until Pendergast made a cameo appearance at the end to solve a bonus mystery for them). Maybe someday I will go back and read his books too.
Anyway, Old Bones. I was looking for a fast-reading thriller that wasn't afraid to go high stakes and maybe include a touch of the supernatural or the monstrous. On that I was mostly satisfied, albeit the resolution seemed a little abrupt. Which is a complaint I've had a lot about mysteries, so I wonder if …
My strategy of explaining this book to people by asking if they remember the 1997 movie "Relic" was perhaps doomed to failure. Especially since Old Bones is actually the beginning of a spin-off series featuring a couple of side characters from Preston & Child's main series, Dr Nora Kelly and Special Agent Corrie Swanson (who apparently didn't know they were both spun off of the same series until Pendergast made a cameo appearance at the end to solve a bonus mystery for them). Maybe someday I will go back and read his books too.
Anyway, Old Bones. I was looking for a fast-reading thriller that wasn't afraid to go high stakes and maybe include a touch of the supernatural or the monstrous. On that I was mostly satisfied, albeit the resolution seemed a little abrupt. Which is a complaint I've had a lot about mysteries, so I wonder if there is something specific I am looking for and not getting. Hopefully not a villain running a deathtrap or an extended climactic battle scene; I'd like to think that isn't my scene. Shall have to think on that more.
One disappointment (I think? still evaluating that as a stylistic choice) is that heroes and villains can largely be identified through their likeability. Am reading the subsequent volumes with this in mind to see how well that holds up as a trend.
But overall, exactly what I wanted from this novel. So, I'm satisfied.
The #1 NYT bestselling authors Preston & Child bring the true story of the ill-fated Donner Party to new life …
A very quick read. This felt like a bridging volume, transitioning the series from the previous loose trilogy of Cormac solving mysteries in the face of police corruption, to whatever comes next. Which appears to be a supporting cast change and handling internal corruption and misconduct investigations among the garda. Of course, the focus on stopping bad cops serves to reinforce the notion that there are good ones, but you can't really get away from that in this genre.
As with the last few in the series I enjoyed the careful investigative work, but there didn't seem to be much of that before we came to a rapid and convenient conclusion.
A very quick read. This felt like a bridging volume, transitioning the series from the previous loose trilogy of Cormac solving mysteries in the face of police corruption, to whatever comes next. Which appears to be a supporting cast change and handling internal corruption and misconduct investigations among the garda. Of course, the focus on stopping bad cops serves to reinforce the notion that there are good ones, but you can't really get away from that in this genre.
As with the last few in the series I enjoyed the careful investigative work, but there didn't seem to be much of that before we came to a rapid and convenient conclusion.
This one was slow going. Interesting though. Roughly the first half is a biogeographical history of Europe from dinosaurs on Hateg Island where the European landmass would later be, and the second half is a closer look at the last 400,000 years since hominids arrived in the area. It felt almost like reading two different yet closely related books. Fascinating and very much inspiring me to think about deep (but not too deep) time, especially the tens of thousands of years humans lived in Europe before they started building cities, and how closely in time we missed some of the most recently extinct species. Further back there were many species mentioned for which their closest modern relatives are as far afield as Australia, which surprised me.
If you are European, there is a chance you may feel othered by this book, although Flannery doesn't distance himself much from a …
This one was slow going. Interesting though. Roughly the first half is a biogeographical history of Europe from dinosaurs on Hateg Island where the European landmass would later be, and the second half is a closer look at the last 400,000 years since hominids arrived in the area. It felt almost like reading two different yet closely related books. Fascinating and very much inspiring me to think about deep (but not too deep) time, especially the tens of thousands of years humans lived in Europe before they started building cities, and how closely in time we missed some of the most recently extinct species. Further back there were many species mentioned for which their closest modern relatives are as far afield as Australia, which surprised me.
If you are European, there is a chance you may feel othered by this book, although Flannery doesn't distance himself much from a European identity. He does however communicate a clear disdain for both Nazis and Romans (who, we hear repeatedly, failed to domesticate even a single animal!)
I was expecting this book to be a history of each of the featured games. Their origins, development of their rules and strategies of play, notable figures, that sort of thing. Instead it was mainly a history of artificial intelligence research devoted to "solving" each game.
Not what I was looking for. Interesting, but not as interesting as it might have been.
I was expecting this book to be a history of each of the featured games. Their origins, development of their rules and strategies of play, notable figures, that sort of thing. Instead it was mainly a history of artificial intelligence research devoted to "solving" each game.
Not what I was looking for. Interesting, but not as interesting as it might have been.
I wish I had thought to comment on this when I actually thought to read it.
Delightful, and we did get an answer to the proposal, so not strung along too long on that question. Not quite as much of the other characters as I had been hoping for. I thought Emily Wilde was going to learn a lesson about accepting help from others and not trying to do it all herself, but that hasn't happened yet. I was close on the resolution of the big mystery of the novel, but not close enough.
Looking forward to reading the third volume next month (September). Having a segment narrated by Wendell seems to be a once-per-book thing, so we will see if that continues in book 3, and how many of the secondary cast are returning, and to what extent. I expected the third book to be the conclusion, …
I wish I had thought to comment on this when I actually thought to read it.
Delightful, and we did get an answer to the proposal, so not strung along too long on that question. Not quite as much of the other characters as I had been hoping for. I thought Emily Wilde was going to learn a lesson about accepting help from others and not trying to do it all herself, but that hasn't happened yet. I was close on the resolution of the big mystery of the novel, but not close enough.
Looking forward to reading the third volume next month (September). Having a segment narrated by Wendell seems to be a once-per-book thing, so we will see if that continues in book 3, and how many of the secondary cast are returning, and to what extent. I expected the third book to be the conclusion, but it seems there is at least another planned. Hopefully Fawcett won't be breaking them up for drama. The series has been mercifully free from the water of that well so far.
Felt like I was learning a lot about the various ecologies of Earth, and it was startlingly refreshing to read a book that scarcely mentions a single human name throughout. There were one or two—for example Darwin—but few and far between.
I don't know how much I will retain long term, but it is inspiring while it lasts. I had a copy of The Trials of Life as a child; there is one more book in Attenborough's trilogy that Life on Earth belongs to, but I don't know if I have read that one yet.
Felt like I was learning a lot about the various ecologies of Earth, and it was startlingly refreshing to read a book that scarcely mentions a single human name throughout. There were one or two—for example Darwin—but few and far between.
I don't know how much I will retain long term, but it is inspiring while it lasts. I had a copy of The Trials of Life as a child; there is one more book in Attenborough's trilogy that Life on Earth belongs to, but I don't know if I have read that one yet.
