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/

The Thief Lord : Despite Its Imagination Originality, It Can’t Save The Story From The Lack Of Action.

The Thief Lord By Cornelia Flunk Smoothie review

So another book from my giant “to read” list is pulled at random. It has been read now and is ready for a review. What is it this time? Its called the Thief Lord by Cornola Funke. Where it came from? I’m not sure. I just know my edition is a very battered paperback and with the imagination this author put into her previous Ink Heart novels, I could only hope that this would be just as good.

So what is the story about? It’s about a number of different things. A great number of story lines intertwine into one by the end. The main focus is the band of orphans living inside a abandoned movie theatre and doing what they can to live on the streets of Venice. The gang is a likable bunch who gets some things they value from being thieves. But most things come from this shadow in the night, Scipio, the thief lord who robs from the rich and give to the orphans in Venice. Two of these orphans are brothers, who ran away from their rich aunt. Their aunt wanted to keep the younger boy named Bo and then throw his older brother in a boarding school. Not wanting to be separated, they went on the run to a place that their late mother called magical, “Venice.” So anyways their aunt hires a detective to find Bo. So the kids run into trouble when the snoop starts chasing after them. Meanwhile Scipio, and the gang are offered a great deal to rob a expensive house and revenue the equivalent of $500,000 in return So they start to get to work on the house, but odd events unfold as Scipio is not who he says he is. Even odder things happen when they uncover thee mystery that ties a old Venice fairy tale and their client together.

This story is a mix of elements taken from Robin Hood, Oliver Twist, and oddly enough toward the need it has a little bit of “Something Wicked Comes This Way.” It has a lot nods to those earlier works. So if you read the classics, you’ll know what sort of book it is.

Anyway onto the good and bad? Let’s start with the good. It is a young adult novel that manages to stand out from the rest. With an over saturation of supernatural teen romances and epic Harry Potter and Percy Jackson like fantasies, it s nice to see some do something that does not fall in with all the others. Though written in a simple fashion, the characters are enjoyable. And most of all, the book is unpredictable, which is great. I hate knowing the ending of a book.

The bad boils down to one real element that hurts the whole story. Since it is oriented for a younger audience, the author was very hesitant about inserting any violence. There were parts, where they were leading you to something exciting and then it turned into a kid friendly solution and I would sadly find myself disappointed. There was so much more potential with the story than what the author did.

Overall its original and interesting. But it is directed toward a younger audience, so it’s not for everyone. So I say its great for kids, and if you are a lover of classic you might get something out of it too. Despite my praise for originality it gets a mediocre score.

2 smoothies out of four.

Overall Rating: Despite its imagination Originality. It can’t save the Story From the Lack of Action.

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/

A Clean Sweep : Sadly, A Very Mediocre And Shallow Story In Laurell’s Collection

A Clean Sweep By Laurell K Hamilton

This yet another short out of Strange Candy collection by Laurell K Hamilton. So here is a review of “A Clean Sweep.”

So what is it about? It is about a superhero called Captain Housework. Despite the silly name he had saved lives and cities from man eating mildew, Dr Grimes, evil storms, and the dust bunny gangs. And within the last decade all the villains had went into retirement. Given his name people are now calling him through the superhero hotlines and then reveal they just want him to clean the house. He had became the emergency maid. And he hates it. He misses the good old days of crime fighting and can not stand being used like this. And lets just say this is the story where Mr. Housework reaches his snapping point.

So the good? It’s light hearted. And its one rare occasion where we get a chance to see Laurell K Hamilton try her hand at new material. Something that doesn’t involve monsters. So in a sense it’s like a breath of fresh air. Also she kept her wry sense of humor. I loved the ending.

So the bad? Well it’s sad, but I have to regrettably say Laurell was lazy with this one. Yes. I say lazy. There is hardly any detail at all. The sense of being pulled into the world that she uses on the reader in all of her other works is not here. And I’m not sure why. It just doesn’t feel like her. It’s a skeleton of a story not fleshed out. Therefore, it is shallow and very short.

Overall it’s nice and cute. But I can’t recommend it to anyone. It’s not bad. It just should have been so much better.

2 smoothies out of four.

Overall rating: Sadly a very mediocre and shallow story in Laurells’ collection

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

The City Of Ember :The Dark Gloomy Setting Makes A Blunder Of Potential Kid’s Book

The City Of Ember by Jeanne Duprau

I’ve been curious about this book. Ever since I’ve seen the movie long ago, I was always wondering what the book was like because the premise is so good. So when I found it cheap, I got it and read it to satisfy my curiosity. The book is the City Of Ember by Jeanne Duprau.

So what is it about? It’s about a city that was built deep underground. It was meant to be a safe haven people fled to. What happened? We don’t know. We can only assume it was something very bad on “the end of the world,” level of things. The city is meant to last 200 years. But 200 years later things are very different. The instructions to leave the great city are lost and forgotten. The great generator that powers the millions on lights is breaking down constantly. People are starving because there is a food shortage. The government is corrupted. And the belief through out Ember, is that Ember is the only light in the darkness. And there is nothing out in the darkness. They must wait for the day that the mythical “Builders” will return to save them. This is very very heavy scifi stuff. But here’s the weird thing. It’s aimed at kids. It follows two twelve years olds as they unravel the mystery and find their way out of Ember.

So the good? Oddly enough the city. It is so vivid and the author explained the sad, gloomy, falling apart world so well. So much so, I was more astonished by the many layers Ember has, that I was more entertained reading about it than the characters. Ember is a fascinating city that is literally on the brink of a civil war.

The bad? Well the characters are very shallow and unrealistic. But the thing that got me more so, was not that. It was a tale dark, sad, gloomy fallen utopia being used as a kid book. It just doesn’t fit. The city is falling apart and people are beginning to starve, and then the book will jump from that to Lina Mayfleet (one of the twelve year old main characters) excited because she got the job of messenger and she loves it and she loves to run everywhere. It just felt inconsistent. The book would be all dark and heavy and then the next page would be light hearted kid friendly. If the author decided to make this for adults it could have been so much better too The author barely scratched the surface of all of those issues, yet does not do much with them which I feel may be because she wanted this to be aimed at kids. And one last complaint. It is not all that exciting. If I step into little kid shoes for a moment, I feel I would be bored and may find the majority of the book depressing.

Overall, the imaginations great. Older science fiction readers will love reading about Ember. But because the concept of a fallen Utopia is very layered and deep topic, I feel that the author not sure how to balance the kid and adult audience creating a kind of blunder, which is shame. It had so much potential. I can’t even give it two smoothies. It should have been a great book. I want to love it, but just can’t bring myself to do it. I can’t even give it mediocre rating.

1 ½ smoothie out of 4

Overall Rating : The Dark Gloomy Setting Makes A Blunder Of Potential Kids Book

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

Alan Wake : An Authors Nightmare Supplied With Little Detail

Alan Wake By Rick Burroughs

Once upon a time I was an teenager who had a slight addiction to video games, (Mainly survival horrors and final fantasies) and at that point in my life, I would see novel adaptations of say Resident Evil or Silent Hill in Barnes and Nobles and wonder why would someone read a book when they can get everything they need from the video game. Well fast forward a decade to where I pay bills, go to college, and hold a job. And I have found the answer. I don’t have the money to buy the new spiffy game systems or time to even beat the game. And even though not much comes out the video game world that excites me anymore, I couldn’t take my eyes off of a game called Alan Wake. And story wise, it just seemed so original. So I ended up being one of those weird people who bought the novelization of the game.

Like the X Box title it shares the name Alan Wake, which it was adapted by Rick Burroughs. And I believe this is also his first book. The book involves a temperamental writer suffering from writer’s block who is eventually convinced by his wife to go vacation at a small rural town called Bright Falls. And things seem simple enough until he and his wife get into on argument. And was it that moment when a strange darkness pulls her down into the bottom of the lake and Alan passes out as he tries to save her. He wakes up in a car wreck exactly one week later with no recollection of the week passed. He only knows that he needs to find his wife and at night people are being possessed by the darkness. Alan has no clue of what is happening other than these loose pages of an manuscript he keeps finding that tend to narrate what he is going and predict the future events.

So the good? Well, first of all this is a really really good story. It keeps you guessing because there are so many loose ends. Is he crazy? Did he write this to make it happen? Or is he himself just a character in some other author’s novel. It’s a very interesting concept.

And here comes the bad. The bad is detail. Bland or dull details I can handle. But no detail at all, bothers me. For instance there is a scene where Alan finds a man dying. There is no mention of anything other than him splitting up blood. And then in the next chapter Alan thinks back to that same man and how he had his intestines ripped out. Shouldn’t that have been mentioned earlier? It’s just not written really well. The author should have elaborated more in detail and emotion as well.

Overall, it’s not great. But it’s fair. If you’re looking for a sort of mystery story (and can’t afford a X Box) this is the answer. If you’re looking for something scary, look elsewhere. I’ll give a little better the average grade.

2 1/4 smoothies out of four

Overall rating : An Authors Nightmare Supplied With Little Detail

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

Pig Blood Blues :Join a Ex Cop Into The World With The Weirdest Climax In History.

Pig Blood Blues by Clive Barker Smoothie review

Right now I’m in the process of a very long Stephen King book. Over a thousand pages, I might add, but decided to get through the thing I would take breaks to read a short story every once and a while. (Its very hard to commit to a long novel sometimes) And I decided to read the next short story in the Book of Blood collection by Clive Barker. And this one is called the Pig Blood Blues.

I started reading having no idea what this was about. The title itself brings to mind two things; Johnny Cash and a slaughter house. Thankfully it is about neither of those. It is about ex cop named Redman who takes a job at a rehabilitation center for young boys who have a criminal nature. The ones who are wildly borderline psychotic. The type who would find joy in setting the neighbor’s cat on fire and trying to run over it with a ATV as it runs away. The compound is reinforced with bars and locks. Redman quickly finds it to be a prison. And within the first couple pages you would guess it would be about evil children, but this story is smarter than that. There is a boy named Lacey. A boy who seems to be abused by both the children and caretaker. Redman feels sorry for the boy and tried to help him. And the boy confesses to Redman that his best friend who he was told had “escaped” is dead and is after him as a ghost. Suspicious of the center and the goings on of what appears to be a conspiracy, he tries to protect Lacey, but when the boy vanishes, he discovers a twisted truth that he couldn’t see coming.

So the good? Well the fact that it breaks the mold and is not afraid to do something new is great. Even if it might not work, you have to give this man a cookie for having a imagination. Unlike the other Clive Barker works so far, this feel much more real emotion wise. Barker nails down the element of crazy and Redman has emotion in him. And though it might not be apparent at first, you learn more about the character as you read. Also it is a mystery. Clues here and there lead up to a climax. The pacing is great. Lastly, it asks you to put these clues together. You see all this through Redman’s eyes, therefore not all questions are answered giving more to the horror of it all.

The Bad? This is a general complaint for all horror tales. And of you read these often, then you know I’m not spoiling anything. But why do the main characters have to die in every one of the stories? The author takes out time to make us care and the kills him off. What’s up with that? My only complaint.

And there is a borderline good/bad issue with this story. It’s a the twist. When you find out what is really going on in this story, you may either buy into it or think it’s stupid. I, for one am teeter tottering on whether if it was really that scary or not. Because on one level, I read it and go “That’s really messed up.” And then I will remember how pigs are just so cute and it just makes it seem silly. It really does depend on what sort angle you look at it when you read the story. And this is the first story that I felt so split about. But regardless, the twist is otherworldly insane weird, so it is something you won’t see coming.

Overall, a very entertaining read. It is unusual and original. But whether it is scary, or not is up to you, because its just so damn weird it just be hard to buy into.

Overall Rating : Join a Ex Cop Into The World With The Weirdest Climax In History.

3 ½ smoothies out of four.

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