Tag Archives: book review

The Twelve Apostles by William J. Coughlin (BR00190)

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The Twelve ApostlesPLOT OR PREMISE:

An elite law firm in NYC has 12 full partners, nicknamed the Apostles, and various members wheel and deal with big business clients as an opening comes available.

WHAT I LIKED

The story has a very strong “Wall Street” feel to it, but the back and forth between two companies with their punches and counter-punches are fast-paced and real. Most stories in the genre have one or two “business” tricks, but this is much more complicated and relies less on a single tool to advance the plot. The story mixes experienced apostles, with participating associates gunning for a promotion, and even associates and junior partners slogging in the trenches. 

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

The romance side of the story detracts from the business manoeuvres, as does the one-dimensional side of one of the business clients and their opposing counsel. In addition, there is some seriously flawed treatment of a sexual assault that shouldn’t be anywhere in the story, it’s completely superfluous to the outcome.   » Read the rest

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The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (BR00189)

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The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn HardcastlePLOT OR PREMISE:

A woman dies at a party at a country resort, the solution obvious. But she was actually murdered, and a guest must solve the crime or never leave. Because the same day repeats each day, and each day the guest is in the body of someone else. He has seven chances to get it right.

** Note that when I bought the e-book, all the promotional material including the cover said “The 7 Deaths of…”. Now, a few months later, as I go to review it, the title has changed to the 7.5 deaths. I’m keeping the title I had initially. **

WHAT I LIKED

The Groundhog Day / time loop is rarely handled well in any genre (TV, movie, books), but Turton not only handles it expertly, he adds in a body jumping element that is brilliant. Each day he learns just a little bit more about the culminating murder, and about the reality he is trapped in, playing detective in a country resort.  » Read the rest

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Murder at Hawthorn Cottage by Betty Rowlands (BR00188)

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Murder at Hawthorn Cottage (Melissa Craig, #1)PLOT OR PREMISE:

A mystery writer moves to the country to find some peace and quiet in her life and for her writing.

WHAT I LIKED

The feel is very much an Agatha Christie-style small village with priests, neighbours and a local mystery, with a body dropping shortly after things get settled.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

The romance side doesn’t work, as it’s hard to get a feel for the lead character’s age…one minute she seems like a woman in her late 50s and the next she seems like a girl in her early 20s. Worldly, calm, centred and then naïve, unsure, flighty. The ex and her son seem superfluous, and some of the other characters are a bit superficial with their secrets wildly apparent long before they are “revealed”. She isn’t as bumbling as, say Stephanie Plum, but she’s hardly Miss Marple either, or even Jessica Fletcher. But they are minor complaints for a rich world and sense of Christie mystery.  » Read the rest

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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (BR00187)

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The Great GatsbyPLOT OR PREMISE:

A man observes the comings and goings of a 1920s party host who is both his neighbor and a paramour of his cousin. 

WHAT I LIKED

It is weird to go back and read this book some 35 years after high-school. I remember thinking it was this glamourous world of parties and high society, where people really did act differently from the common folk. As an adult, I see it for what it is — a portrayal of a shallow summer, without substance or value, leading to an inevitable tragedy of people over-estimating their self-importance and narcissism. Beautifully written, harshly portrayed as Nick Carroway observes the desire by Jay Gatsby for a married Daisy Buchanan, the woman he loved but lost years before. All of the summer reads like life without consequences, an embracing of hedonism and simple pleasures, but without anyone asking if it is really what they want or just what they think they want.  » Read the rest

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The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson (BR00186)

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The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good LifePLOT OR PREMISE:

This is a self-help guide to reducing your stress levels by choosing to care only about those things that are important to you.

WHAT I LIKED

I found this a very odd book to read. In almost every chapter, I found myself disagreeing with his evidence and examples, often thinking they proved the opposite of what he was trying to use them to prove, yet at the same time agreeing with some of the premises. It felt more like he had some solid ideas throughout, just not very well developed. Like, for instance, that we have limited bandwidth to care about things and therefore we should not care about a lot of unimportant stuff (hence the title), finding problems you like to solve (i.e. what you love), prioritizing better values for ourselves in line with what we love, and certainty being an enemy of growth (so you should risk failure more).  » Read the rest

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