Small Favors : A Surprising Fun Paranormal Thriller

Small favors By Jim Butcher Smoothie Review

Here is yet another book I pulled from the mount of the “To read,” books I own. This time it’s a Dresden Files novel. And with that said I never read a Dresden Files novel. I have been recommended the series for a very long time but never tried it. I think the reasoning behind that the only previous exposure I had it was a very boring TV show. But sooner or later I had to give it a try so it is either now or never. The book is Small Favors by Jim Butcher.

So what is the Dresden Files? It is a about a paranormal detective who happens to be a wizard. Or to simplify things further he is practically the male counter part version of the Anita Blake series in a sense. The book Small Favors is the tenth book in the series (Yes. I entered a bit late in the series) In this one, Harry Dresden is pulled into a deal with the winter court’s Ice Queen of the fairy realm Mab, because he owes her a favor. He must investigate the disappearance of a crime lord. While this is happening, summer court of the fairy realm believes Mab hired him as a knight and sent these crazy goat men after him to stop him. During the investigation he seeks the aid of his friends who is made up of a very colorful cast of characters and find that he desperately needs them as the case quickly turns into a war against fallen angels.

So the good? This is a fun, light hearted and never takes itself seriously. Imagination is fantastic. Harry Dresden is just such a likable character. The story fell deeper on a emotion level than I would have first thought by the end. I was so worried about who would die, and I cared about their relationships. Another thing that is most impressive of it all, is that this is the tenth book in the series and this book had enough detail about what was going on, that I had a clue of what was going on. The writer did not assume that I knew the back history of everything and laid things out perfectly. Though the red court and white courts were just names to me, but the book made their importance very clear. So the author was doing a good job on that.

The bad? Well to be honest there isn’t much. The biggest problem I had was the attempts of the witty comments, that Dresden would throw in throughout the book. Some are funny and witty but half of them are lame and down right corny. I rolled my eyes who Dresden said, “Talk to the hand” after a punch. But the rest of the book does make up for that.

Overall, reading this book is like tuning into a random episode of a TV show that you never heard of. You don’t know the back story, but what’s there is a hell of a lot of fun. And since Anita Blake has taken the route of paranormal erotica rather than paranormal investigating lately, I’ll give Harry Dresden a shot. So you should know by now from the review if this is your thing. If you like this paranormal mystery adventures this book is a good one. I can’t say how it compares to the rest, but this book was fun.

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Deep Fathom : Take A Dive Into Another Archeological Adventure With Rollins

Deep Fathom By James Rollins

Nothing much to say here. I just decided to read a bit of Rollins work after a couple mediocre books. This time it it Deep Fathom.

So what is it about? That is kind of hard to answer because it has such a convulsed plot. The story begins with a Earthquake. A earthquake so big that it effected the whole world. And when the Earthquake happens, a lost ancient city surfaces. Meanwhile a American plane crashes in the Pacific. The story focuses on two different characters. One is Karen, who is investigating the new archaeological city, trying to prove her great grandfather’s theory right about a ancient long lost city. But she is quickly pursued by a ancient order who don’t want her to research there. The second is Jack, a treasure hunter and part of a salvage crew. He is hired by the US navy to extract parts of the plane with his sub. But as he does so he finds a great crystal tower that is connected to the lost civilization. It also has energy flowing through. Jack has a enemy though. A David Spangler who works for the president, but is also working behind his back framing the crash on China starting World War III. And as the war erupts, he has personal agenda to kill Jack, (Who let his sister die long ago) who in, in a odd turn of events decided to help Karen with her research.

Well the good? Well if you’re one of those people who have been waiting for a novel adaptation of Uncharted, this is it. Like most of Rollins Books. Once the action starts, it never stops. Beside running from the feather serpent order, Spangler’s men, they must avoid the chaos of the warfare erupting around them. Things are as bad as they can get and it keeps you entertained because it is just one adventure scene after another. But Rollins did so somewhat more realistic than most authors. Unlike Clive Cussler’s novels people do get injured and die. So there is a sense of danger throughout.

The bad? The story here is silly. Though it’s all based upon theoretical science, I felt it was too theoretical to some degree. Also, there is little emotion. For this kind of story, I know it might not mean much. But sometimes, I wish the author would slow down and let us look into the character’s heads. Then there’s the magical computer Gabriel. A all knowing, all seeing super computer that serves as a character. I thought it was dumb in a sense and I wish the could have connect the dots in the story without something so magical.

Despite it flaws, it was still fun, and a absolute page turner. Still not as good as Rollins first novel, but very good in general.

Overall Rating 3 1/2 smoothie out of four

Overall Rating : Take A Dive Into Another Archaeological Adventure With Rollins

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Shakespeare’s Counselor: Yet Another Bland But Light Hearted Mystery

Smoothie review

Shakespeare’s Counselor By Charlene Harris

Okay I’m always looking for something new. And I decided to give Charlene Harris a try. Why? Because it seems everyone one in my family is obsessed with her True Blood series. But borrowing those books is apparently is forbidden and they must be printed in golden ink because they are super expensive. So instead of that I ended up with a Lily Bard Mystery novel called the Shakespeare’s Counselor.

So what is it about? It focuses on a woman named Lily who had clearly had a hectic past. So to clear things up, she goes to a weekly counsel group to confers and talk about her rape incident from a while ago. But at one of these meetings, Lily and the other group members discovers a body. And Lily awakens her inner detective and gets the aid of her detective boyfriend to solve the murder. It is a very straight forward plot.

So the good? It’s a fun little mystery. It never does take itself seriously. Despite that, there are some heavy issues that show up. They don’t darken the story, but strengthens the characters. The relationship between Lily and her boyfriend, Jack is believable and adorable to some extent. Yet sadly in comparisons, the rest of the characters fall flat and shallow. And like good mysteries should, it keeps you guessing until the end There was also a fun sense of sarcasm throughout.

The bad? Well I had a hard time finding out who Lily really was. I’m not sure if this is not the first book in the series or one deep into a book series. So that threw me off. It wasn’t until half way through I put together that she really just a cleaning lady and karate expert. I felt she might had been a actually detective for the longest time. But I guess that’s the price I pay for jumping into a series in the middle. There were also some elements that seemed silly and corny, like a scene where she wants to put karate moves on a man she hates. But it wasn’t anything that hurt the story too much.

Overall it’s a cute fun story. If you like Lily Bard or light hearted mysteries check it out. If you’re not one of these people, it may be a pass. Because, hey its just another mystery. There is nothing to make it different than the rest. Very Mediocre.

2 smoothies out of four.

Overall rating : Yet Another Bland But Light Hearted Mystery

P.S. If you like books then please check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Cutthroat Island: A Tale Of What Could Have Been Epic Witty Fun

Cutthroat Island: A Tale Of What Could Have Been Epic Witty Fun

Cutthroat Island By John Gregory Betancourt

Yes. Another novel from church book give away. This time the novel is called Cutthroat Island and it is written by John Gregory Betancourt. Well I call it a novel, but I’m not sure it really counts. It is a novelization of the screenplay to apparently a old movie I never seen with the same title. So it is a movie tie in. I typically don’t read these things, but when i’ts free, Why not try it?

Anyways, what is the story? The story focuses on a woman pirate Morgan who upon her father’s death inherits the crew and pirate ship he once had. He was killed by her evil uncle Dawg, who is looking for Cutthroat Island and it’s mysterious treasure. Each of his brothers has a piece to the map, so the evil Dawg (who never was given any pieces) is killing his brother for these pieces. Meanwhile Morgan is trying to find the treasure first by stealing the pieces of the maps before her uncle finds them. But because the map is written in Latin, she finds she must break a Latin reading con man/thief out of prison, William Shaw. Together Will and Morgan go on a adventure to find this treasure and fight Dawg along the way.

So I’ll start with good. It’s a pirate book. There are so few of these so I’m glad when I find a pirate book in general. It also has a lot of adventure.

The bad? The book is very shallow. Both the character and story is. It moves quickly and refuses to give is detail during action scenes. There is a complete lack of ambitions and character depth. There is a subplot which is this story between Shaw and Morgan. It is so flat, empty, and emotionless. It just seems to fly out of nowhere. I wasn’t quite sure why this happened. The story had everything going for it. I’m guessing it because it is a movie tie in. And oddly enough there were typos. Not a big complaint. Often times I never do because I care more about the story than grammar. Also as a self publish author I understand how hard editing could be. But this had a lot of typos. But it was a movie tie in so I feel that there was little effort involved. Very odd.

Overall, the control story is good and fair. But the lack of detail and character development pulls it down. This makes it very mediocre when it could have been something much greater.

2 smoothie out of four.

Overall Rating: A Tale Of What Could Have Been Epic Witty Fun.

P.S. Like books? Then check out my book and ebook website, Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: The Real Story Is Somewhat Shallow Compared To Other Adaptations

The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Smoothie Review

Okay if you have been reading the smoothie reviews up until now, then you clearly know I love the classics. Jules Verne. HG Wells. Robert Lewis Stevenson. I love them all. But despite my love, there are still a few that I have not read yet. In this case I decided to read “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” by Robert Louis Stevenson.

So what is it about? Well given the world we grew up in, we should all have a clue. We’ve seen this tale from many versions of media, ranging from plays to horror movies to Bugs Bunny to bad hallmark adaptations and most importantly the very silly one off of the Van Helsing film. We all know it is about a man who creates a potion that triggers his dark half and transforms his figure. And I’m not spoiling anything here. But I now realize that the story is not centered on that only. Unlike all the adaptations I’ve seen, the original follows Mr. Utterson his kind hearted lawyer (Yes. You read that right) who investigates into the mystery of Mr Hyde when Dr. Jekyll leaves his inheritance to him. He is a evil man finds Mr. Hyde and as he digs deeper he feels that Dr. Jekyll may be in danger. Evidence suggests at first that Hyde may possibly be threatening Dr. Jekyll, so Mr. Utterson continues investigating until he reveals the bizarre truth.

The good? Well it’s a classic. Its paced well. It doesn’t hang up on small things and stays focused. And I have to say keeping it in the format of a mystery did help it a lot.

The bad? The story is very short. Detail of environment is minimal. But I won’t complain to much about it because the story is 150 years old. I was a bit disappointed by the ending. It ended with Utterson reading the doctors journals discovering how the doctor ruined himself by dwelling the form of a monster. Yet after the letter I felt there should be more. The family of Dr. Jekyll or even Utterson’s reaction were flat in emotion about the whole situation. I felt there should be no reaction and there was none.

Overall, it is still a classic. Is it as good as The Worlds of The Worlds, or Treasure Island? Not really. But it does fair providing that it is a very intriguing short read.

Overall Rating : The Real Story Is Somewhat Shallow Compared to Adaptations

Three smoothies out of 4

P.S. Like books, then check out my book and ebook website, Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Playground For Evil : A Retro Revamp Of A Classic That Keeps Its Charm

Playground for Evil By Broken Sea Productions

When I was really really little, I remember digging through my father’s old VHS tapes and ran across something called Kolchak: The Night Stalker. The dusty ancient tape, despite of its condition actually still played. And I found out it was this fantastic show about a investigative journalist who encounters monsters from the early seventies. And as old and dated as it was, it was a extremely fun show, that can still stand up to television today. But sadly it was something that lasted twelve episodes. But it was the show the set the mold for shows today such as X files, Miracles, Supernatural and Fringe. Nearly forty years later, I also found it has been brought back in a audio format. It’s a now a radio show, or audio book or audio drama. Take your pick. Call it what you will.

And yes. I know smoothie reviews typically are book reviews. But when I find myself on the computer for hours, editing, doing research or working on my website, it’s not all that different than a audio book is it? It’s a review on these audio stories or reviews on my favorite songs from my classic rock albums, which I think would be a big waste of your time to read. So like I said, this is a review on the audio drama on Kolchak: The Night Stalker- A Playground For Evil

Like I said before, the story centers on Carl Kolchak, a investigative journalist at the IBC newspaper who runs into monsters and such, as he gathers his story and Carl shows he is the somewhat self centered and charismatic character. He annoys those around him with his methods so much that people don’t want to even be associated with him. But he encounters a vampire in this story, that is killing people. And oh yeah. This tales place in the 1970’s.

So the good? It is such a tribute to the original show. The writing, the music and characters are fantastic. They didn’t have any of the original actors do the voice. But Monique, Mrs. Emily and his boss are as close as they could get it. And the guy who played the part of Carl Kolchak was close. Though he did not sound like Darren McGraven who originally in the TV show, he carried the character just as good as Darren did. The story is fun. Is it cheesy? Yes. In fact the whole story is dipped in cheese. But let’s admit it, the original had hints of the Scooby Doo cheesiness as well. But it will also make you crack a smile here and there as you hear one of the many jokes littered through out the witty writing. It is also a new story that is not part of the TV show.

The bad? Not much to say, other than I wish this was translated to television. I mean it was a great show and I miss it. It made me want to buy the complete series on DVD now. That and beyond the major four characters, the voice acting gets kind of flat, sounding nothing like the characters out of the original. But then again I think the listener cares for about the employees of IBC more than the chief of police or some doctor.

But overall if you loved Kolchak, you’ll love this. It had a lot of action, it’s fun, exciting, maybe a bit cheesy bit it’s something that doesn’t like itself seriously. And that’s what holds it together. It takes you along for the ride and says have fun.

Four smoothies out of 4

Overall rating : A retro revamp of a classic that keeps its charm

Find the audio drama at http://brokensea.com/kolchak/2009/09/30/episode-1/

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

The Man In The Black Suit : King’s Experiment Involving a Fisher Boy And A Devil

The Man In The Black Suit By Stephen King Smoothie Review

Surprisingly enough I have actually kind have enjoyed Stephen King’s shorts more than the novels he written in the past. Maybe it’s because they are shorter, therefore giving him less of a opportunity to over use suspense, get off topic or escape to some kind of dreamscape before returning to the actual story. Or maybe it’s because his shorts share a trait with the early Stephen King books, I actually like. Those early books were his first works before whatever spark he had, faded away over time. Anyways I could write my Stephen King conspiracy theories all day, but you don’t care. You’re reading this for the book review. This time around, the review is on the Stephen King short story, “The Man In The Black Suit” that can be found in a collection called Everything’s Eventual

As far as explanation goes, there isn’t much. It’s about a boy named Gary who lives with his family in 1914. One day he decides to go fishing to help his family. He goes down to the river out a little ways with his fishing pole. He takes a seat to fish. As he sits there fishing, the devil walks up and sits beside him. He then holds a conversation with the boy.

So the good? Well it’s different. It doesn’t really seem copied from anything else. And even though it doesn’t have much detail, there is some imagery that puts a picture that is memorable.

The bad? Well I wouldn’t call it a bad thing, but I guess to some people it would be. This short story really plays out much more like a experiment with some new ideas than a actual short. It doesn’t have a climax. I can’t even say it has a beginning, middle, and end. But unlike some of his works, the imagination didn’t seem forced. Like he sat down one day and gone “Gee I wonder” and just explored the possibilities with pen and paper as the ideas flowed through his mind. Which (as a writer myself) I feel is where some of the best writing come from this method. But enough about my opinion. You got my point. If it’s not for you, then you know already.

Overall, it’s interesting. Not spectacular. But it is intriguing. If you just like to always try new things, this is for you. If you’re looking for some dark, horrifying, twisted horror, just look somewhere else because it may have a hint of creepiness, but does not go anywhere beyond.

3 smoothies out of four.

Overall Rating: King’s Experiment Involving A Fisher boy And A Devil

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website. Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Ink Heart: An Intriguing, Imaginative Tale About What Happens When Books Come To Life, Literally.

Ink Heart By Cornelia Funke Smoothie Review

A couple years ago, I watched this fantasy movie. It was something I rented having no idea of what it was. It wasn’t the best movie in the world, but it was so imaginative that no matter how much I try to forget it, it will just hang in my head because it was just so original. It was called Ink Heart. And when I found out it was based on a book, I just had to read it. I actually went out of the way to buy Ink Heart by Cornelia Funke.

The book is a story about a man named “Mo.” It is short for Mortimore who can actually read objects out and into books. And it actually begins one peaceful night when Mo and his wife Teresa are cuddling by the fire place. Mo decides to read a bit out of a story that Teresa likes called Ink Heart. But when Mo reads, objects appear like they typically do. But his wife and two house cats were sucked into the tale of Ink Heart and as a result three book characters appeared in the living room. Two of them were villains and the other is a fire wielding street performer named Dustfinger. Baffled and shocked, he tells the three that he can not control the power to send them back home. As the villains and Dustfinger leaves to this brave new world, Mo rushes to his daughter’s room and is relieved that she’s still in his world and not trapped in Ink Heart.

The book picks up many years later where things have certainly changed. The villains Basta and Capracorn are glad that they are out of Inkheart and want to control this new world they became accustomed to. But they know they can control the world so much more easily with monsters and spells out of Ink Heart. So they are desperately searching for a Silvertounge (some one who can bring things out of books), Mo in particular. They had found some that can bring people out of books in a distorted fashion. They read out many soldiers to help Capricorn. Basta and Capricorn wants one who can do it perfectly like Mo did. Knowing this Mo and his daughter Meggie are on the move never staying in place too long to elude these villains. He works as a book restorer who, along the way, is desperately hoping to find a way to get his wife back. Dustfinger meanwhile is following Mo in the distance hoping there is a way Mo can send him home even though he told him “no” many times before. Then one day Capricorn finds Dustfinger and makes a deal. If Dustfinger tells him where Mo is, then he will command Mo to read him back into the book. Desperate to go home, he agrees and sets Mo and Meggie up to be caught. Wow. That was a whole lot of exposition. Sorry about it all that. But I didn’t know how else to explain it.

So what is good? Well first I will start with the story itself. The concept is something I never seen before. It is original and kind of brilliant. Second, I have to say Dustfinger. He is just a great character. He’s not a good guy and not a bad guy either. He just wants to go home. He feels that he doesn’t belong in this world. He doesn’t want any one hurt. He just wants to go home. And he prefers to be alone. He’s the only true anti hero I have ever seen in a book. And he’s so complex. He’s a double/triple crosser with a heart that is somewhat hidden. And he wants to desperately return to a story where
…………………………………………………………..Spoiler……………………………..
he dies at the end. Only he doesn’t know it.
……………………………………………………………Spoiler………………………..

The bad? Not much to say. Well maybe a couple tiny things. One mainly being that compared to Dustfinger, Meggie and Mo are very boring characters. He literally does steal the show. And secondly Meggie and Mo are book worms. I get that. I mean I’m a book worm too, or else I would not be writing this. But their love for books was so strong that it appeared the characters have an OCD disorder. But the again it is aimed at all audiences, especially children, so I guess that this was for them. I just thought that it was kind of weird.

But with all said and done, I recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy. It’s fresh, new and well worth the read.

4 smoothies out of four

Overall rating: An intriguing, imaginative tale about what happens when books come to life, literally.

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website at Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

We’re Alive : Zombies Have Now Invaded A New Form Of Entertainment

We’re Alive – Season 1 – From The Zombie Podcast

Overall Rating: Zombies have now invaded a new form of entertainment

Okay, I won’t deny it any more. Zombies have over taken our media and you know what? People love it. People just can’t get enough of them. They invaded our video games with Resident Evil. It has just invaded TV with the premier of The Walking Dead. It’s been in horror comics for quite a while. And then they won’t get out of our movies. And I’m not just talking about American flicks. It has spread to other countries. It’s Le Horde in France. 28 Days Later in Great Britain. And Undead in Australia. And they don’t die. I mean there’s even a Undead Nightmare cowboy game. It will never go away. So now you’re probably asking why am I talking about zombies? Well because zombies have entered a new genre, which is a audio drama called We’re Alive.

You know I review books. But a audio drama or radio show isn’t that much different than a audio book. And I have to say it’s much more entertaining than a audio book in some ways. And I actually accidentally found out about, when I was listening to another podcast about a author who began by self publishing. And they wouldn’t stop talking about We’re Alive. So I looked it up.

So We’re Alive is a podcast audio drama made up of twelve or so serial episodes that make up season one. (That’s all I’m reviewing now) It starts off with three military commandos Michael, Angel and Sol who are called to help the military with riots. But it turns out that these are not people and are actually zombies. So they actually go on a run and try to survive. They meet other survivors’ and decide to live and reinforce a apartment building. They lock themselves inside as the world falls apart around them.

But as the story goes on, it goes a bit beyond the Dawn of the Dead setup. As the story goes on, the zombies are changing, hinting that they might not be zombies at all, but something else entirely. I’ll stop there, because I might spoil something. That and people who are survivors, but are not part of Angel’s Michael’s and Sol’s community are not exactly friendly and are willing to kill them for supplies. It’s a nice post apocalyptic piece.

So the good? Well it’s a zombie podcast that is a long layered story with enjoyable characters. I mean they might seem stereotypical at first, but evolve and grow on you. I mean there’s Sol who talks like “Ah man, I ain’t play’n dog.” Don’t they call that Gansta now? I don’t know. But he was the flattest character at the beginning, but became my favorite at the end. The voice acting has emotion. (This is how it’s better than a dull monotone reading of a audio book) It had a music score and sound effects. And it is told through different point of views through out the story too, making it more interesting. And it’s an episodic format. So it’s not one giant long pod cast. And it’s not just about zombies. It’s about people. Common people who are trying to survive. The think what I like the most is, the show is creating its own mythology around zombies and not just copying everyone else.

The bad? Well some voice actors did better than others. Which isn’t too bad. Except for when a certain two characters share the same scene. Angel and Michael sound the same, so I kept on getting them mixed up when they were holding a conversation.

Overall, if you like good Resident Evil (I’m talking about the games. The older ones to be more specific) or Dawn of the Dead, this is worth looking into. I know I would just listen to it as I was working on projects, and got to hear a good story as I did it. So if you like this sort of thing , it’s on itunes and just on line to listen for free.

Listen To It Here @ http://www.zombiepodcast.com/The_Zombie_Podcast/WereAliveEpisodes.html

3 ¼ smoothies out of four

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website at Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.lelue.webs.com/

Overall Rating: Zombies have now invaded a new form of entertainment