One of the hottest new shows on Netflix is an extremely outside-the-box superhero show that is equal parts X-men academy and family drama. Thanks to Lois from My Midnight Musing for this review of the recently released second season.
The Umbrella Academy proved to the world that you don’t need Marvel to create compelling superhero dramas. This show took the world by storm with its eccentric family dynamics and bizarre concepts. The second season of the show takes us back to the 1960s where the Hargreeves siblings find themselves scattered through time as they […]
In this 49th installment of the futuristic cop series, Eve Dallas takes on a serial killer that uses the moniker Lady Justice to justify her personal brand of torture and murder.
Eve is set against a foe that attacks men that have used and abused women. She targets rapists, adulterers, thieves-those who Eve would normally seek to lock “in a cage” or an off-planet prison. Unfortunately, these men have become victims, and Lt. Eve Dallas always stands for the victim, no matter whom or what they were in life.
Luckily, Eve doesn’t have to go it alone. She has a whole crew of supporting characters, from the detectives and police officers under her command, to her family and friends that are there to lend a hand or a friendly ear when she needs one. When she has to face off against the granddaughter of a legendary movie star, she’ll have plenty of help to take down the criminal and save the latest victim, all under the auspices and the rules set by the NYPSD.
At this point in the series, the characters, from Eve and Roarke, to Peabody and McNab, even Feeney and Summerset are so familiar. While some circumstances may change and events may alter lives in some way, the characters remain true to their core values. The readers have seen so much of their lives, read as they’ve changed and grown, that it’s easy to feel like we know them; that they are old friends.
However, the stories are still totally absorbing; the way Dallas’ mind works; the way she puts herself into the shoes of the killer she’s chasing, is always fresh and exciting and is a credit to the author for her ability to continue to reinvent the characters with each new novel.
While there is continuity in the series, a reader new to J. D. Robb’s work need not be daunted with the thought of traversing that many books, as each story is a self-contained novel. Still, once one becomes hooked, it’s hard not to grab the next one or go back and discover what other cases are available. It certainly will take a while for most readers to run out new material, as the series also includes a number of short stories in collections.
I give this book five stars, and recommend it to any readers interested in sci-fi, police drama, and action stories with powerful female characters.
As I was driving home from work one night this week, I heard the radio announcer call our current times “The Era of the Staycation.” How apt and how current he was.
Due to the coronavirus that is impacting us all in so many ways, people are staying home. Some of us are working at home, others have lost their jobs, and some are simply choosing to stay home because of health concerns. Many recreation facilities and events that we might normally visit or attend at this time of year are closed, either temporarily or for the duration.
Whatever the reason we are not venturing out, we are spending the time and possibly the money we would normally put towards a summer vacation in the security of our own homes.
Since we are staying home, many of us are choosing to make upgrades to the place we live 24/7. We are spending our resources on sprucing up our spaces; with paint, with landscaping, with pools and recreational equipment. In short, we are making our homes a vacation destination tailored to our needs and desires. If you have a large budget to make upgrades, think how best to spend your dollars so that whatever changes you make will add long-lasting value and function to your home.
If you don’t have a large vacation/remodeling budget, there are still things you can do to make your enforced staycation fun, memorable, and happy for entire family. Even minor changes, such as paint or houseplants can give your space a new look. Try “shopping” around your house for furniture, art, pillows, and lighting that might look better in another spot, or simply refresh your scenery.
Plan activities to set the mood for fun and relaxation. Let the kids camp out in the backyard, and consider moving the TV to a patio for family movie night. If you don’t have a fire pit, you can always make s’mores in the microwave to eat on your deck or balcony.
To get a completely new view, try sites such as https://artsandculture.google.com/ where you can take virtual tours of parks and museums from your computer or blue toothed TV.
The choices for a staycation are limitless; all it takes is a little imagination and effort, and of course, those closest to you for a truly memorable vacation at home! I hope you get to enjoy one soon!
I picked up this anthology of short stories for some “lighter” reading after having concentrated on a number of 500 page plus novels recently. I appreciate the theme the collection contained; i.e. supernatural “monsters” that are not evil, or necessarily seeking to do bad things, but only trying to live their lives.
While the anthology had an impressive list of contributing authors that have won awards and sold numerous books, the stories themselves felt like a mixed bag to me. Some I really liked and enjoyed; others not so much.
While all the stories were very well written, some appealed to me more than others. As a writer myself, I understand the challenge in developing characters into living, breathing entities for a reader’s imagination in only a limited number of pages, as well as creating an entire plot from introduction to climax.
One of the better stories in my opinion is by one of the editors, Jim Butcher, called “Cold Case,” and is a story from late in the Dresden Files series featuring a pair of the minor characters, Molly and Warden Ramirez, who rarely get much individual attention on the page. Unfortunately, I had already read this particular short story in a different collection of Butcher’s, but it is a very good one and I didn’t mind reading it again.
Among the remaining stories are several that are humorous, including one by Seanan McGuire called “Sleepover” that includes a very different viewpoint of a succubus trying to live an ordinary life, which is interrupted by a group of human nerds who kidnap her in an attempt to force her to help rescue one’s kid sister from a bogeyman.
One of my other favorites from the anthology is Kevin J. Anderson’s “Eye of Newt” which features one of his series regulars, named Dan Shamble, who is a zombie and a private investigator. Dan has to help his client, a talking newt, recover a stolen eye from an improbable group of suspects.
The remainder of the stories included contained a number of unlikely heros/monsters ranging from a woman who carries the soul of her dead twin sister to a huntress who has been raised from the dead to lead another member of her organization out of literal hell.
For readers who enjoy a plethora of paranormal characters, or who are looking to sample fare from their old or new favorite author, this collection offers a number of possibilities in a book that can be read one short story at a time, or collectively in a few short hours. I give it three stars, and recommend it to any fan of the paranormal genre-romance, detective or urban fantasy.
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