The 10th Kingdom: A Charming Fantasy Made Up Of Fractured Fairy Tales

The 10th Kingdom By Kathryn Wesely Smoothie Review

When it comes to films and television, I’m pretty a big fantasy junkie. Tin Man. Alice. Neverland. Grimm. Once Upon a Time. Stardust. I can’t get enough. But somehow I managed to miss one. It is a ten year old miniseries that was called the 10th Kingdom. How it got by me? I’m not sure. And even though I can’t find the DVD at the moment, I managed to find the book.

So what is The 10th Kingdom? Well in the book, the 10th kingdom is our world. Through the looking glass is a whole another world consisting of nine kingdoms. The world is made up of scrambled fairy tale elements. There’s the Beanstalk Forest and the Snow White memorial prison. A place where the fairy tales were all true and our land is a fairy tale to them. But the story starts with Snow White’s grandson, prince Wendell, who is about to be king. Before that happens the evil step mother Queen with help of her trolls, captured him and have him switch bodies with a golden retriever, so she can manipulate the prince’s body in plot to take over his kingdom and wage war on the other eight. She commands trolls to kill the dog with prince’s soul. As the trolls do a terrible job with the task and lose the job, she hires a wolf (half human / half wolf) to track down the dog. Wendell accidentally stumbles through a magic mirror as he is on the run. And as he stumbles into our world, the lead character Virginia crashes into him as she rides her bike to work.

Virginia is a common sort of character. She is a girl who’s trying hard and wishing for a better life, but is stuck running in place. She’s in her mind twenties. She was waitress and still lives with her gambling drunk father. Something that we can all relate to. Life doesn’t go as planned. Everything changes toward the strange as she tries to help the dog. He starts writing messages trying to warn her of danger. Trolls are chasing her. Her father takes magic beans, that in a odd chain of events leads him to running from the police. And the bounty hunter Wolf find his conscience as he is struck by the magical “Love at first sight” when he meets Virginia. He sides against the evil queen to help Virginia, her father, and prince Wendell.

So the good? It’s fractured fairy tales. And even though this is a topic that has been done to death, the book done it well keeping things fresh while adding throwbacks to things such as Snow White and Repunzel. Also the characters are fun. The book is never boring because you like them so much. They are so quirky and flawed but lovable at the same time. They make many mistakes throughout the book, that would have been unforgivable, but because there is so much depth, and chemistry does work it isn’t a problem here. Chemistry is amazing in this book and that’s what gave it it’s charms. Something always happening. Dull moments do not exist. Even the love story is engaging. And for someone like me, who doesn’t like romances all that much, that’s saying a lot. I found myself turning every page to find out what would happen next.

That bad? Well the detail could be better. And the ending I felt to was very rushed. I felt maybe the author was tired ( And that is understandable at a 500 page mark) and wanted to do another project. I just felt that the ending lacked the detail and emotion it should have had. But then again I can be a pretty tough critic.

Overall, this is one of my favorites fantasies. It is up there with Percy Jackson, The Golden Compass and Looking Glass Wars. Is it new and original? No. But it surely is a inventive and wonderful read. So if you like fantasy ( that goes a step beyond the dungeons and dragons format) and you love fairy tales then this is what you need to read. It is perfect.

4 smoothies out of four.

Overall rating : A Charming Fantasy Made Up Of Fractured Fairy Tales.

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/

Ice Hunt : A Very Well Written Tale Of A Bunch Of People Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place Over A Pit Of Lava Holding A Tiny Umbrella To Protect Themselves From Acid Rain.

Smoothie Review Ice Hunt By James Rollins

Quick warning. There is a spoiler. It is broken away from the rest of the article with “*********”s. So if you don’t want spoilers, just skip over that section when you see the stars.

Sometimes you can stumble across something you want without not even looking for it. Early this summer a lady down the road had this gigantic book sale. Her daughter finished college and was moving out leaving boxes of books. And it was there where I found James Rollins entire collection of adventure novels. So far I’ve read two. One is Subterranean which I absolutely loved. And then a Sigma Force novel called Sandstorm which I really couldn’t tolerate because it tried too hard to play out as a Indiana Jones story with James Bond like spies. And I like spy novels, but only if they’re set in a form of reality. I mean James Rollins had tones of archaeological science in there, but the unbelievable and somewhat silly spy characters pulled me out of it. So I grabbed the novels that were not Sigma Force related. And here is a smoothie book review of the next novel I read out of the batch called Ice Hunt.

So what is the story about? It is about the top secret Russian ice station that was abandoned somewhere in the 1960’s. The military, archaeologist, geologists, and every other scientist imaginable open it up to investigate. Inside, they find it is a large research facility. And in the lower level cavern of ice (This is built into one giant ice berg) there are frozen specimens of these, great never seen before monsters called Grendals are discovered. They are essentially Great Dane sized killer whales with clawed arms that will tear anyone to pieces. Meanwhile, the story shifts to a divorced couple, Matt and Jenny. Matt witnesses a plane crash in the wilderness and rescues a reporter from the wreck. But as he does so, he finds that men are flying over head to kill them with a plane, and others are coming through the forest to do the same. The two run and seek Jenny for help because she is a pilot and are in the need of plane to get away. They manage to land at a research base near the ice station only to find that they are framed for bombing another. The group is then transported to the ice station to be interviewed by the commander and chief in the military.

That is the set up. From there on out, it’s pure chaos. The research and melting of the ice in the snow caverns thaw out the monsters who were hibernating. They start slaughtering and eating all they can. Meanwhile on the upper levels, the men who were after the trio return. Turns out they are ( at first) homicidal Russians who are trying to take over the base killing everyone in the way. Then comes along American delta forces who come to fight the Russians with suspicious intentions of their own. Along with all of this, is a huge scientific plot twist that feature human experimentation. The whole thing is pure action once it get rolling with at least a dozen plots twist to keep you interest.

So the good? Well it does have a story. Though it does show up late in the book, it had a strong driving force behind all that is happening. The explosions and action are not mindlessly put there. The action is fun as hell. Chaotic at times, but you’ll never get bored. It’s also realistic as well. It’s nowhere near as silly as a Clive Cussler novel where the main character is perfect and spotless after a fight. These main characters have flaws. They get hurt. They make mistakes. And some die because of it. Lastly the characters are a strong. Matt and Jenney’s broken relationship is real. A deaf character named Amanda is portrayed in a fashion where her disability adds to her character. And as for the Russian Admiral, I have to say he is one of the strongest villains I ever seen in a book. At the beginning you see a one dimensional evil character stereotype. But by the end you’ll learn why he’s doing what he’s doing. It delves into his past and his morality. That’s right. A villain with a conscience. A bad guy who is not that bad. So bravo to Mr. Rollins to decide to make him real and blur the lines of good and evil.

The bad? Not much to say. Though I felt a plot twist felt out of place. Its happens late with a character you follow throughout the whole book. A reluctant character that you may even feel sorry for because he can’t hardly handle anything. Then in the last past part……….

***********************Spoiler********************************
He is a evil secret CIA spy operative
************************End of Spoiler**************************

……It just came out of nowhere like the author was stumped and just randomly decided to change the character all together. But the rest of the story is good, so I’ll forgive the author.

Overall, it’s a very well written tale of a bunch of people stuck between a rock and a hard place over a pit of lava holding a tiny umbrella to protect themselves from acid rain. Their chances rely with luck alone and its the second book by Rollins that I love. I really really hope the rest of the books I got are just as good. It may help fill the gaping hole left behind when my favorite author died a few years back. I recommend this book to everyone.

4 smoothies out of four

Overall Rating: A very well written tale of a bunch of people stuck between a rock and a hard place over a pit of lava holding a tiny umbrella to protect themselves from acid rain.

P.S. Like books. Check out my book and ebook website 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/

Under The Dome : A Look Into The Breakdown Of Society In The Land Of Assholes

Stephen Kings Under The Dome Smoothie Review

As always when I grab a book, it is often a compulsive buy rather than smart one. And it usually comes from the most random of places. This time the book was found at a yard sale at the end of my block. An old lady was moving and was selling most of her stuff. And as I browsed, I came across this hard back, and the cover had this image of this entire town trapped underneath this bubble. The title says, “Under The Dome.” And the image alone allowed my over active imagination soar, because I have a love for inventive science fiction I had to find out more. Not a single synopsis was in the book. But did find some words on the inside cover. They said, “Written By Stephen King.” And those words hurt, as I am far from being a Stephen King lover. But on that moment of heart break, I must have had a psychotic snap. I made the crazy choice to buy and read the 1172 page book. And for me, reading a King novel that long is like climbing Mount Everest.

So now you ask, what is the book about? It’s about a town called Chester Mills. A small Maine town like always in King’s books. And randomly one day, a wall come out of nowhere cutting the town off from the rest of the world. A dome covers the whole town. A lot of casualties happen in these first few pages. Following this first town selectman and the second in charge of the town is greatly under the influence of the third who is Big Jim Rennie, the villain of this story. And Big Jim takes control of the town and town police department. He’s a con man who likes power, who has been even in controlling meth labs, black market drugs, laundering money and selling used cars. I’m not sure which is the worst crime. He practically brainwashed the people of the town by causing chaos indirectly and appearing set things right after the fact playing the hero. To avoid argument from the police department, he fires all those with a IQ and hire the dumbest jocks, and hicks to be on the police department. It was done in a way that people couldn’t possibly see what he was trying to do. This police department also includes his homicidal son Junior.

Then there are rebels in this plan. There’s a army man named Barbie (its his nickname.) And as the man was leaving Chester Mills because of bad blood between Rennie and himself, the dome appeared. So not only is he trapped in the dome with a powerful man who wants to hurt him, a old friend from Washington DC sends him a message to control the town, which goes against Rennie’s wishes. Along with him is Julia a reporter, a trio of smart kids side with Barbie. And first selectman’s wife, who want to expose the truth about Rennie and gain control of the town back before things get worse. Later on, they are joined by the new town doctor. And overtime with Rennie’s dictatorship and his basic abusive police squad within the dome, there is break down of society boiling down to fact that everything is being ran by self serving assholes who often times in the book even murder to get things Rennie’s way.

So what is the good? Well I have to say, if King wanted us to hate the bad guys, he done it well. There is no measure to how much I hated Rennie and all those on the police department. There is rape scene involving Junior and his cop buddies attacking a woman for no apparent reason, in here that just made me want to reach into pages and strangle them. There is lot of bad things that happen in this book by Rennie and his police with not logic or reason behind it. It’s just that evil. I also believed that the breakdown of society was done very well. I was impressed with King on that level.

Now what is the bad? One thing that always did bug me with horror writers in general, is that the random person pops out of no where to just to die. Drives me crazy. There’s one or two of those in here. Another is for the first three hundred pages, a segment of each chapter was introducing someone. It seemed scattered brained and was difficult to keep rack of them all, until page 290, it is finally revealed the Barbie and Julia are ones we should be caring bout. And did I mention a lot of those characters in the beginning don’t have any importance or show up again? Time to time it gets off track. One example is Rennie going down memory lane of how always goes to girls basket ball games, which has nothing to do with the story. But those bits are minor.

Then there’s the bit between the good and bad. It’s the ending. The book starts with the idea this might have a religious reason behind the dome. Then it leans toward science fiction reasoning. There is a constant conflict between the two. And in the end it’s open ended. Julia and Barbie have a very sci-fi like theory. But with what happens to Big Jim Rennie at the end leaves room to differ. It is never said who or what these things are that is doing this to him. Alien? Ghosts? Interdemensional Monsters? Demons? Or maybe it’s god? The end feels rushed or at least to me slapped together at the end. Like King wrote himself between a rock and hard place and he didn’t know what to. So he left it open ended. And in some ways, I like that he did that but in other ways (as with the length of the book) I thought there should have been a pay off.

Overall, it’s a scifi book about the collapse of society in the land of assholes. And to be completely honest there is so much evil assholism that me just go “Grrrrrrr!” It made me so mad. What these guys got in the end did not justify for all that they did. Also the pacing was very slow as well that makes reading it painstaking. So if you love King, this might be for you. If you hate jerks, don’t read this, it’ll just make you mad. If you love science fiction like me, then avoid this. Nothing is really explained. That’s my recommendations for others out there. I personally didn’t like it so the rating is very low.

1 smoothie out of four

Overall Rating : A Journey Into The Land Of Assholes.

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