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Archive for the ‘Gangsters’ Category

Larry Correia–Warbound (Book III of The Grimnoir Chronicles) (2013) [audiobook 2013–Bronson Pinchot]

Posted in Alternate Reality, Bronson Pinchot, Buckminster Fuller, Death, Decadence, Drinking, End of the World, Fantasy, Gangsters, Larry Correia, Noir, Oddities, Steampunk, Supernatural, Technology, Trilogy on February 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: October 2013] Warbound

warboundI loved Book I and Book II of The Grimnoir Chronicles immensely. The first was an amazing introduction to this new world and the second upped the scale and intensity to an amazing level (nearly destroying Washington D.C.).

And since the beginning of Book II picked up shortly after the events of Book II, it seemed pretty safe to assume that we would be heading into the giant conflict that was predicted at the end of Book II–fighting the creature that was coming to kill The Power.  For real context, read the other two reviews first (I mean, really), but for simple context, a sizable minority of the population has the gift of Magic.  This gift comes from The Power and it allows people to do all kinds of things–bend gravity, transport from one place to another, talk through animals, fade into walls, etc.

It has only been recently, through the work of our heroes, that people understood just how people got the power.  It came from The Power, a creature that gave humans magic and then fed off of them when they died.  It was a symbiotic relationship.  But of course people who did not have Power hated those with Power.  Even though the people with Power often use their power for good, there were of course people who didn’t.  Consequently all people with The Power were scapegoated.  This is all laid on a backdrop of alternate reality 1930s America, where the Nipponese are ascending and offer a very credible threat–especially since their Magicals are organized and brutal. (more…)

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Larry Correia–Spellbound (Book II of The Grimnoir Chronicles) (2011) [audiobook 2012–Bronson Pinchot]

Posted in Alternate Reality, Audiobooks, Bronson Pinchot, Buckminster Fuller, Death, Decadence, Drinking, End of the World, Fantasy, Gangsters, Larry Correia, Noir, Oddities, Steampunk, Supernatural, Technology, Trilogy on August 15, 2013| 1 Comment »

[LISTENED TO: July 27, 2013] Spellboundspellbound

I enjoyed Book I of The Grimnoir Chronicles immensely.  I wasn’t really sure what Correia could do to top it.  There’s the inevitable dread for sequels that everything has to be bigger bigger bigger with the cost to the heart of the story.  (That’s more true in movies, but books can suffer as well).

And indeed, Correia does go bigger, but he loses nothing.  Indeed, the higher stakes make this story all the more exciting without sacrificing the characters in any way.

As the story opens, we learn that it is a few months after the events of Book I.  The Grimnoir are dispersed somewhat, with things falling into a somewhat logical place.  Francis Stuyvesant is the head of United Blimp.  Faye and Francis are more or less dating and Heinrich is more or less his bodyguard. The other team members are up to assorted states of resting and recuperating.  And Jake Sullivan is lying low.

But no matter how low he thinks he is lying, he’s still very big.  And he is soon found by a woman named Hammer.  Of course, at first the story maintains the trappings of noir, with Hammer being a (beautiful) woman in distress.  Surprisingly, she is in distress at the library and she asks Jake for help (he is there studying magic and, well, lying low).  He tells her to ask the librarian.  But later when he is leaving, he sees her being robbed by some thugs.  He goes to rescue her (and easy job for a big guy like him), and Hammer uses her power to determine that he is indeed Heavy Jake Sullivan.  And he can still do what he can do.

Hammer wrangles him into a government facility where he accepts a phone call from the dead Chairman.  This whole section is lovingly described and far too cool to try to summarize.  So let’s just say that Alexander Graham Bell created a phone that could talk to the dead–but only if they wanted to talk to us.  The Chairman found the phone and, of all people, he wanted to speak to Jake.  (I’m skipping so much stuff here that it hurts me, but I don’t want to spoil the story or the humor). (more…)

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Larry Correia–Hard Magic (Book I of The Grimnoir Chronicles) (2011) [audiobook 2011–Bronson Pinchot]

Posted in Alternate Reality, Audiobooks, Bronson Pinchot, Death, Decadence, Drinking, End of the World, Fantasy, Flannery O'Connor, Gangsters, Larry Correia, Noir, Oddities, Perfect Strangers, Steampunk, Supernatural, Technology on June 14, 2013| 3 Comments »

[LISTENED TO: June 7, 2013] Hard Magichardmagic

My sister-in-law Karen raved about this book and then gave it to me for Christmas.  And holy cow.  I.  LOVED.  IT.

And before I even get into the story I have to say that a major reason why I loved it is because of the reader–Bronson Pinchot.  Yes, Balki from Perfect Strangers.  Yes, that goofy “foreigner” from the show has an utterly mesmerizing speaking voice.  It is amazingly deep–when he first started speaking the menacing drawl of Jake Sullivan, I was blown away.  And then he pulled out a couple dozen more characters, women and men–German, Japanese, Okies, military men, New Yorkers.  He brought this story to absolutely real life.

I have made a point of looking for anything else that he reads (although I see that he mostly reads books about war (which is not my thing))–but I see a Flannery O’Connor in there and–YES–he reads book two of the Grimnoir series (called Spellbound) and it’s already out!

Okay enough about Pinchot.  No, not enough.  He was stellar!

Okay, now enough.  What’s the story about?  Well, the best thing is that the story itself is also amazing.  It is set in the 1930s, in an alternate reality Untied States.  And in this reality, random people have been gifted with magic.  And there’s all kinds of magic–fades (people who can walk through walls); torches (people who can make and stop fires), mouths (people who can put thoughts in your head); brutes (people who are crazy strong and who can actually bend gravity to their will) and movers (people who can jump from place to place).  There’s also healers and cursers and cogs–really smart people–and other with more mysterious powers.

Each chapter opens with a quote from a real (in our world) person talking about how the magic or the people with magic–the Actives–impacted society.  So Einstein was a cog, and military leaders used brutes to fight in wars, etc. (more…)

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Susan Straight–Between Heaven and Here (2012)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Altar of Plagues, Death, Drinking, Drugs, Gangsters, Huh?, McSweeney's, Racism, Ramen, Short Books, Susan Straight, The Pogues on April 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

between heaven SOUNDTRACK: ALTAR OF PLAGUES-“Scald Scar of Water” (2013).

aopI never think of death metal coming from Ireland.  I think of punk and metal and obviously the Pogues, but noise metal?  Unlikely.   And yet here is some.  And why shouldn’t Ireland produce music like this?  There are fans everywhere.

I heard this from good old Lars at NPR.  I’ve come to expect the unexpected from Lars’ picks.  And this is no exception.  The song is six minutes long.  It has some traditional death metal stuff–growling vocals, incessant drumming and lots of noise.  But there’s a lot more going on here.  It opens with electronic noise and thudding drums.  The drums are punctuated by alternating abrasive guitar riffs.  The song meanders along until it settles down to some heavy heavy verses (I have no idea what the man is screaming about).  After returning to the buzzsaw riffs, and repeating the verse, the song suddenly stops.

At 4 minutes the whole thing stops.  There’s some scratchy noises and then some slow pulsing bass and suddenly the whole song turns into  kind of alternative metal song, complete with chanting.  It’s pretty unexpected.  I can’t imagine what the rest of the album is like.

[READ: April 17, 2013] Between Heaven and Here

This was another book that I did not like in the beginning. Well, that’s not exactly true, I enjoyed the beginning but I really didn’t like the middle and really wanted it to end soon.  Not a good way to feel about a book. The reason I didn’t stop is because it was so short.  It turns out that an excerpt from this book was in a McSweeney’s issue that I recently read (and which I haven’t posted yet).  I didn’t “get” the excerpt then, and while it makes more sense in context I still felt the section was really hard to follow.

And so was much of the book.

This is the story of Rio Seco, an area of California, and the citizens who live there.  As the story opens we learn that Glorette Picard is dead.  Glorette was a crack whore, the kind of girl who would get killed and no one would miss her.  Except that people would miss her.  She had a lot of friends and relatives who cared about her.  She even had a son, Victor, who is 17 and studying his ass off to be able to go to college.  When a boy in town finds Glorette’s body dumped in a shopping cart, he feels compelled to move her, to bring her to her Uncle Enrique because he knows that the police won’t care if some crack whore was killed.  So he moves the body and that sets in place the rest of the story.

What was confusing to me was that the novel was constructed like a series of short episodes–different people and how they knew Glorette and how Glorette affected them.  That’s not a problem, except that there’s very little indication that that’s what was happening.  It felt increasingly difficult to know who was the main character was in each section, especially since so many characters overlapped.  Which again wouldn’t have been a problem except that I really couldn’t tell which person was the narrator or at least focus of each section.  Sometimes they were never identified, other times only after several pages.  The chapter that was excerpted in McSweeney’s has virtually no names in it, it is just dialogue.  And sure the dialogue was interesting and with the novel’s context made some sense, but I’m still not sure who was in the conversation. (more…)

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Hergé–Tintin: The Blue Lotus (1936) [translated 1983]

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Culture Shock, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gangsters, Hergé, Kids Corner, Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper, Michael Turner, Racism, The Doubleclicks, Translation, Travel on February 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

TintinLotusSOUNDTRACK: THE DOUBLECLICKS-“The Internet National Anthem” (2012).

inatThe Doubleclicks are a sister duo from Portland, Oregon.  They are nerdy and fun (perhaps we can think of them as non-accordion, female They Might be Giants?).  Take “The Internet National Anthem”,” a song  with a steady four/four beat, cellos and  a suitably anthemic chorus, that’s all about the internet.

I was introduced to this band from Kid’s Corner, although I feel that perhaps their songs aren’t really for kids (not that they’re inappropriate but they seem more sophisticated than a typical kids song.  Like this song has big words and it is quite funny.  Although in all honesty it’s not laugh out loud funny, just mildly funny.  It’s got the vibe of Garfunkel and Oates, but not the big guffaws.

Check out their albums here .

[READ: February 8, 2013] The Blue Lotus

This third (technically fifth) Tintin book is the continuation of Cigars of the Pharaoh.  One of the characters from Pharaoh returns in this book, despite the fact that it is set in China.  This book also continues with Hergé’s having it both way in terms of other races.  His drawings are caricaturey and depending on your sensibilities/appreciation for drawing skills/tolerance are either really racist or simply in poor taste (although it does seem to be that the bad characters of other races are the most offensive–the good people are less crazy).

But despite the visual insensitivity, there are several section where Hergé explicitly talks about tolerance and understanding between races.  Like when Tintin saves the young Chinese boy, Chang, who says he thought all white devils were wicked.  Tintin explains that white people believe stupid things about Chinese people too  (eating rotten eggs, tons of unwanted babies in their rivers, etc.).  Chang says “They must be crazy people in your country).  As it turns out (quoting Wikipedia ), “The Blue Lotus is a pivotal work in Hergé’s career, moving away from the stereotype and loosely connected stories and marking a new-found commitment to geographical and cultural accuracy. The book is also amongst the most highly regarded of the entire Tintin series, and was the 18th greatest book on Le Monde’s 100 Books of the Century list.”  It’s quite progressive for the 1930s.

The plotlines from the previous book are continued: there is the poison that makes you crazy, the Pharaoh’s logo shows up and there are Indian characters returning as well.  And by the end Thompson and Thompson, the twin policeman who complicate each others sentences and prove to be more bumbling than we originally thought arrive to capture Tintin (although they believe in Tintin’s goodness–they’re only following orders, you see). (more…)

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Hergé–Tintin: Cigars of the Pharoah (1934) [translated 1971]

Posted in Adventure, Africa, Ben Folds, Children's Books, Culture Shock, Egyptology, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gangsters, Hergé, Kids Corner, Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper, Michael Turner, Ralph's World, Star Wars, The Board of Education, Travel, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on January 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

cigarsSOUNDTRACK: THE BOARD OF EDUCATION-“Why is Dad So Mad?” (2012).

dadI heard this song on Kids Corner and I am frankly shocked that it didn’t make the top ten songs of the year (kids have no taste).  Why is dad so mad?  Because of what George Lucas has done to the Star Wars movies!   “Why does dad get so mad about Star Wars.  Mr Lucas what have you done?”

 The lyrics are so good I didn’t even really notice the music at first (check out: “and I wonder why it’s so bad that Greedo shoots first at Han.”  “He’s always excited when those yellow words come on, but by the end he’s mad about that new Ewok song.”

But the music is great too.  It has a kind of Ben Folds vibe (in the slow piano section) mixed with a little Ralph’s World, but the whole package is a wee bit heavier–the guitars are a  little distorted (but not very) and the pace is brisk and fun.

The song is also full of cool spacey sound effects (and a nice nod to the soundtrack).  The chorus is catchy and poppy.   A wonderful song.  I’m going to investigate The Board of Education a bit more.  In the meantime, check out Why is Dad So Mad?.

[READ: January 19, 2013] Cigars of the Pharoah

This second (technically fourth) Tintin book was a lot more focused than In America, which, although excellent, tended to ramble all over the country.

This book sees Tintin in the Mediterranean Sea on a cruise.  The action starts right away when a bumbling man named Dr Sarcophagus, an Egyptologist, crashes into Tintin saying that he lost his valuable papyrus.  The papyrus blows out to sea, but the Dr says, that indeed it wasn’t the valuable papyrus at all, which is safely in his coat.  It’s a weird moment, but we slowly learn that the Dr is more than a little absent minded.  Nevertheless, the papyrus has a map on it that he believes will lead to the undiscovered tomb of the Pharaoh Kih-Oskh (nice joke there).

I said that the last Tintin book wasn’t quite for kids and the same is true here.  Two men, Thompson and Thompson (more on them) accuse Tintin of smuggling opium and cocaine (again, did kids read this in the 30s?).  Thompson and Thompson are funny in that they look alike and when one says something the other twists the words slightly to radically alter their meaning while using most of the same words.  Anyhow, they “arrest” Tintin, but as in America, he escapes in an unlikely way and meets up with Dr Sarcophagus.

Tintin, Snowy and Sr Sarcophagus escape some violent deaths in a number of funny ways (like when the sheik who hates Westerners recognizes Tintin from his adventures (he even has a book–although in this later edition it is actually a book that came out after this one.

In another scene, Tintin rescues a woman who is being beaten, only to find out that he is actually on a film set.  Later, he winds up on a ship of smugglers, is forced to enlist in the Arabian army and is eventually made to face a firing squad. (more…)

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Hergé–Tintin in America (1932) [translated 1962]

Posted in Adventure, Africa, Children's Books, Culture Shock, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gangsters, Hergé, Kids Corner, Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper, Michael Turner, The Diggity Dudes, Travel, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on January 13, 2013| 2 Comments »

tintin americaSOUNDTRACK: THE DIGGITY DUDES-“My Science Project” (2012).

diggityThe Diggity Dudes are getting a lot of airplay on Kids’ Corner on WXPN.  I like them in theory but I don’t really like the style of music they play–it’s a little too generic.  That being said, I do rather like the lyrics of this song.

It’s all about doing, yes, a science project.  “Measure twice or you’ll have a disaster.”  The problem is that the verses are done in a  rap style that’s not very good.  And the rhymes are awful.

I give them credit for writing about cool subjects for kids (like “To the Library” which I would have reviewed but they didn’t have it playing on their site).  But if they weren’t a kid’s band, I wouldn’t like them at all.  Despite that, I imagine they put on a great live show–they seem like they’d be a lot of fun.

[READ: Jauary 10, 2013] Tintin in America

I have known of Tintin for years (Sarah and I even have an inside joke about the boy journalist).  When we went to Brussels, we went to the art museum and saw the history of Hergé’s works (Hergé’s real name is Georges Prosper Remi) and the tons of souvenir Tintin things that are for sale. And yet I’d never read any of his stories.

I saw some in the library and decided to check out volume one.  Interestingly, this volume starts with Tintin in America. While reading it I quickly determined that this was not the first book in the series.  Indeed, America is the third book after Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and Tintin in the Congo (neither of these two are readily available in the US–the first because Hergé later felt it was too crude to redo for collections and the second because the depiction of Africans was deemed offensive).  So, most collections begin with this book (which is only a little odd because he is already well-known and the story seems to start in the middle because he dealt with some of these thugs in book 2).

But on to America. (more…)

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Mac Barnett–It Happened on a Train [Brixton Brothers Book #3] (2011) [audiobook 2011–Arte Johnson]

Posted in Adventure, Arte Johnson, Audiobooks, Children's Books, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Gangsters, Mac Barnett, McSweeney's, Noir, Spies, Trains, Travel on December 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: December 2012] It Happened on a Train

brixton3After the raging success of Brixton Brothers Books 1 and 2 we were thrilled to get to Book 3.

Twelve-year old Steve Brixton has given up on being a detective.  His hero, the author of the Bailey Brothers mysteries has proven to be a thief and a liar and he wants nothing to do with the man anymore.  So he has bundled all of his Bailey Brothers books–his favorite books in the world–and put them in the trash.

His chum, Dana, is not that upset about the closing of the agency, especially since he has now been dating a girl named Dana (“other Dana” as Steve calls her).  Other Dana has gotten Dana into a book series about wizards and dragons which Steve simply cannot believe.

This 3rd novel proves to adhere well to the title–it does all happen on a train.  Well, most of it anyhow.  The boys have been invited to the Model U.N. meeting in San Diego.  After last book’s fake debate club ruse, Steve’s mother is very suspicious of the Model U.N., especially since no one has ever heard of it.  [It turns out that my school had a model U.N., but most of us had no idea what they did either–imagine my surprise to see that very organization appear in an episode of Community!]  The story checks out and Rick (jerk) takes this as an opportunity to bond with Stevie Brix (what, you don’t get it) by tagging along for the nine-hour train ride.

Before the train ride gets underway, Steve is approached by a surfer dude who is looking for help.  Steve hears the man’s case but tells him that he has retired (a recurring joke).  It took us a while to get to the end of the story and we had all but completely forgotten about this plot point by the time we got to the end.

Anyhow, on the train, Steve winds up talking to a girl, Claire, whose uncle is a private detective.  The girl is nice but thinks it doesn’t make sense that 12-year-old Steve is retired.  Steve is annoyed by her, and has mixed feelings about her.  But he sees that she has left her book behind, so he finds her to give it back.  But she is nowhere to be seen. (more…)

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Mac Barnett–The Ghostwriter Secret [Brixton Brothers Book #2] (2010) [audiobook 2010–Arte Johnson]

Posted in Adventure, Arte Johnson, Audiobooks, Children's Books, David Foster Wallace, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Gangsters, Mac Barnett, McSweeney's, Noir, Spies on December 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: November 2012] The Ghostwriter Secret

brixton2We enjoyed Brixton Brothers Book 1 so much that we couldn’t wait to listen to Book 2.  And it did not disappoint.

Steve Brixton (who is 12) has set up his own detective agency (after the massive success of his first case) and his chum Dana is actually kind of on board with it this time.  Of course, his mom’s boyfriend Rick (jerk) thinks it’s all for laughs and he chuckles at Steve’s business cards.

With the agency all set up, all Steve needs is a case.  Which he quickly gets.  A local billionaire has had his diamond stolen and he wants Steve to help (he heard all about Steve’s success in Book 1).  Rick makes a joke about a bird stealing it (that was a plot in Book 1), but Steve knows that isn’t the case here.  The diamond is an incredibly expensive and valuable diamond which the billionaire keeps on display in his house (under intense security).  And yet somehow, the thief got in.  And the security system must be broken because the alarm keeps going on and off.

Steve quickly solves that case and the billionaire asks Steve to hold onto the diamond until they can catch the crook (Steve figured out HOW it was done, but is leaving it up to the police to figure out WHO did it).

Steve gets a ton of cash to hold onto the diamond, but he’s bored by the case.  He wants some excitement as a detective.  And then he gets a letter–from none other than MacArthur Bart!  Bart is the author of Steve’s beloved Bailey Brothers mystery stories (which he has read hundreds of times and has based all of his sleuthing skills upon).  Steve has been writing to Bart for years, telling him how much he loves the books with no response.  Once he set up the agency, he wrote to Bart telling him about the cases.  And now, finally, Bart has written back.  But it’s not a thank you letter, it’s a request for help.  Bart thinks someone is after him! (more…)

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Mac Barnett–The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity [Brixton Brothers Book #1] (2009) [audiobook 2009–Arte Johnson]

Posted in Adventure, Arte Johnson, Audiobooks, Children's Books, Dave Eggers, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Gangsters, Jeff Kinney, Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, McSweeney's, Noir, Spies on November 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: October 2012] The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity

I found this book because I was looking for audio books for my kids.  When we take longish car trips, they absolutely love audio books (which is pretty frikkin awesome by itself).  Anyhow, I was browsing the shelf and saw this title.  Clark and Tabitha enjoy A to Z Mysteries, so I thought this might be a bit more stimulating (it says it’s for 8-10 year olds, but Tabitha (5) enjoyed it and I didn’t find it too harsh for her).

I had never heard of the author [that is not true…more on that later], but the back of the book had accolades from Jeff Kinney, Dave Eggers and Jon Scieszka a triumvirate of trustworthy praise.

The audio book was read by Arte Johnson (yes, that Arte Johnson).  I don’t know if it was Arte’s delivery, but I enjoyed this book more than anything I have read in a long long time.  I wonder if the book would have been as enjoyable had I read it–I assume so because it was really fantastic, but it was a lot of fun listening with the whole family.

So this story is about 12-year-old Steve Brixton, a regular kid who happens to love the The Brighton Brothers Mysteries, a classic series of adventures (think Hardy Boys) in which two brothers get into scrapes and situations, take out thugs using their combination of brawn and brains and solve the mystery.  Steve loves them so much he has written down all of their suggestions for successful sleuthing which he keeps in his Secret Book Box.  He also got the Detective License for 12 box tops and $1.95.

He and his chum (all good detectives should have a chum) Dana have plans for the weekend until their teacher assigns them an 8 page research paper due on Monday.  Topics are randomly assigned and while Dana gets “detectives,” Steve gets “early American needlework.”  Miss Gilfeather suggests that it might be more interesting than he fears.

And boy is she correct. (more…)

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