Tag Archives: book review

Hot Six by Janet Evanovich (BR00102)

Posted on by January 20, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

Plum’s got her latest assignment, no problem. She just has to bring in Ranger, a suspect in the death of a wanna-be gangster, the son of an arms dealer.

WHAT I LIKED

As with most things Plum, there’s a lot going on … Grandma has moved in, she gets stuck babysitting a wild dog, and there’s a killer running around who likes Stephanie. Plus we get to see an old high school pal, Moon Man, who is frequently fun since the elevator doesn’t all the way to the top floors.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

The whole sub-story with gun-runners and missing money, and Ranger being “wanted” gets a little ridiculous after awhile.

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

Plum vs. Ranger…talk about a mismatch

MY RATING

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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 2001
  • Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
  • ISBN/ASIN: 978-8420443379
  • Series: Plum (#6)
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High Five by Janet Evanovich (BR00101)

Posted on by January 19, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

Plum is on her fifth outing, looking for her missing uncle and one angry little man. Uncle Fred was complaining about paying for garbage pickup, and the truck skipped his house. So he went into complain and disappeared. Of course, he’s in the Plum family, so the weird part is he left behind photos of severed body parts in garbage bags. Aunt Mabel wants Stephanie to look for him, although she’s not entirely sure she wants the cheap bastard found and brought home. Plus, a midget missed his court date.

WHAT I LIKED

Stephanie’s family is definitely on the wild side, and the uncle is pretty out there for 70. Fun to see all the pieces at play. Plus Stephanie decides she needs to “diversify” her income sources, so asks Ranger to help mentor her in new areas (i.e. to work for him), so we get to see more of his line of work and meet his crew/employees (like Tank). And Lulu and Stephanie chasing the short guy is hilarious to read.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

Morelli’s family is not as much fun as the Plums, and fairly one-dimensional. Plus Benito Ramirez is back, and is just annoying. My biggest objection though is a “cliff-hanger” ending on the romance side that deliberately plays with point-of-view to keep it vague who Stephanie is talking with at her door.

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

Fully embrace the crazy

MY RATING

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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 2000
  • Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
  • ISBN/ASIN: 978-0312971342
  • Series: Plum (#5)
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Trace by Warren Murphy (BR00100)

Posted on by January 14, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

Devlin Tracy is a claims investigator working for an insurance company. The VP gives him a case to investigate — a friend of the President of the company is in a sanatorium, and one of the other patients changed their beneficiary on their insurance policy before they died, and the doctor at the sanatorium got the winfall. The President is afraid for his friend, that he’ll be pressured to do the same, and wants Trace to make sure there’s nothing weird going on.

WHAT I LIKED

Warren Murphy was also creator of several other series, and while some of those were kind of pulp-style, this one is a full “standard” novel. Wise-cracking, determined, but not always the fastest to figure things out. Trace works hard, keeps poking until something shakes loose, and then grabs on and won’t let go until whatever scheme falls apart. All the elements of the series are here — drinking like a fish, sleeping with suspects, wearing a little frog pin that records conversations, and a bit of a blundering style that worms his way into lots of situations. There are sub-stories with drugs and potential lawsuits, but mostly it is just about Trace shaking things up.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

He has a girlfriend, of sorts, and her portrayal in this one is more annoying than usual for the series. Plus she comes in near the end as a super-detective to help solve the case, but Trace was doing fine on his own. She helps him out, as she often does, but she was mostly superfluous for this outing.

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

Great intro to a great series

MY RATING

Original: January 14, 2017
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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor did I follow him on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 1981 (PB), 2013 (E)
  • Publisher: Signet (PB), Gere Donovan Press (E)
  • ISBN/ASIN: 978-1628580051 (ISBN), B00E50OKNO (ASIN)
  • Series: Trace (1)
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Avenger by William Shatner (BR00099)

Posted on by January 12, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

This is the third in a Star Trek trilogy, with nanites, sentient Borg, and Vulcan terrorists.

WHAT I LIKED

The portrayal of the TNG crew is a little better in this book, perhaps reflecting the better portrayals seen in the TNG movies. It links Kirk, Spock, Picard, and the entire history of the various Enterprises together with Sarek.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

n/a

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

All about renewal and cycles

MY RATING

Original: October 10, 1999
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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 1997
  • Publisher: Star Trek
  • ISBN/ASIN: 978-0671017446
  • Series: Star Trek, ST:TOS, ST:TNG
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The Return by William Shatner (BR00098)

Posted on by January 12, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

This is the second in a Star Trek trilogy, with renegade Romulans working with the Borg.

WHAT I LIKED

There are some decent scenes with Data, and some interesting interactions between old TOS crew and new TNG crew.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

Most of the TOS crew are not really much like themselves, except Spock, so not very “believable”. Bones is almost a caricature. Kirk and Worf have a fight that is ridiculous.

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

Worst of the three

MY RATING

Original: October 10, 1999

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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 1997
  • Publisher: Star Trek
  • ISBN/ASIN: 978-0671526092
  • Series: Star Trek, ST:TOS, ST:TNG
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The Ashes of Eden by William Shatner (BR00097)

Posted on by January 11, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

This is the first in a Star Trek trilogy, with Spock reminiscing about Kirk’s last mission, one that took place after retirement and involved an alluring woman.

WHAT I LIKED

The present time takes place just after Kirk’s death in the movie Generations, and is a great story of the old crew. One of the best I have ever read. There’s even a fight between Kirk and the Enterprise against his old crewmates.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

n/a

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

Almost perfect

MY RATING

Original: October 10, 1999

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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 1996
  • Publisher: Star Trek
  • ISBN/ASIN: 978-0671520366
  • Series: Star Trek, ST:TOS
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Using HTML 4 (4th edition) by Lee Anne Phillips (BR00096)

Posted on by July 2, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

Good resource, short on tutorial and long on information.

WHAT I LIKED

Good for syntax and great appendix sections.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

Not quite as detailed as other books, and not much theory.

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

Good resource

MY RATING

Original: October 10, 1999
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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him / her on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 1998
  • Publisher: Que Publishing
  • ISBN/ASIN: 978-0789715623
  • Series: Stand-alone
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The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating an HTML 4 Web Page (3rd edition) by Paul Mcfedries (BR00095)

Posted on by July 2, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

Good overview from beginning to end

WHAT I LIKED

A bit dated at the point of reading (1999), with some of the “new features” old hat, and as well, some of the “old features” had changed. However, the approach is light, and easy to follow, from beginning to end, and what makes this such a great resource is the CD-ROM disk that comes with it, containing some great software and sample coding to save the tired typist.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

n/a

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

Good overview

MY RATING

Original: October 10, 1999
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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him / her on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 1997
  • Publisher: Alpha
  • ISBN/ASIN: 978-0789714909
  • Series: Stand-alone
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HTML Web Magic (2nd edition) by Raymond Pirouz (BR00094)

Posted on by July 2, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

Instead of going through all the bits and pieces (which it does very quickly), Pirouz instead has focused on some elements that spice up web pages.

WHAT I LIKED

A programmer wouldn’t necessarily want to use all of them, but a new designer will find some really great tips and tricks here. Definitely a fun read as you can say to yourself, “ah-hah, so THAT’s how they do that!”.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

n/a

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

Great resource

MY RATING

Original: October 10, 1999
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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him / her on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 1998
  • Publisher: New Riders
  • ISBN/ASIN: 978-1568304755
  • Series: Stand-alone
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HTML: The Complete Reference by Thomas A. Powell (BR00093)

Posted on by July 2, 2017  

PLOT OR PREMISE

A reference guide for HTML

WHAT I LIKED

Good as a simple reference / encyclopaedia tool.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

Not so great for learning the intricacies from the bottom-up, short on tutorial or theory side.

THE BOTTOM LINE / TWEET

Good simple reference

MY RATING

Original: October 10, 1999
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Legend: 1/5 Finished  2/5 Not bad  3/5 Good  4/5 Enjoyable  5/5 Excellent

DISCLOSURE

I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him / her on social media.

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PUBLICATION

  • Year of Release: 1998
  • Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
  • ISBN/ASIN: B01JQ7RDLQ
  • Series: Stand-alone
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