Carl Deuker -- Books, Movies, TV

Russia.  Marshall makes the point that the Russians are vulnerable in a number of ways.  European plain provides no protection.  Their ports freeze over. Their land mass is huge but their numbers are relatively small--smaller than Nigeria and Pakistan, for example.  The annexation of the Crimea totally predictable--Putin sees loss of Crimea as an existential threat.  Geopolitics pre-eminent. Very interesting book.  A gift from Marian for Christmas, and a perfect book for my tastes!

The trial is over. Clyde is on death row.  Appeals. Mom comes out and gives lectures to help defray the cost.  Sort of an early GO FUND ME.  Nothing, naturally, from Sondra or his uncle.  It's all a bit tedious.  You can tell the book is based on a real event, because otherwise there would be no reason for all this. Clyde toys with religion, relives his acts.  I'll be glad to finish!

Clyde's trial.  His defense team decides to present him as a moral and physical coward.  He won't do the right thing by Roberta--at least not at first.  He saves himself when she falls in the water, fearful  she might pull him down. Dreiser very cynical regarding the trial.  Clyde is rehearsed thoroughly and lies fairly convincingly. He says, for example, that he didn't plan for what happened.  Technically correct.  It all happened in a  different way than he had planned, but he did plan on killing her.  The prosecutor wants to make a political name for himself.  Sondra's family heads way out of the area.  Sondra becomes Miss X so that her name is not besmirched in the press. Clyde's uncle pays for the lawyers, but he stays completely away as well. So many problems with Clyde's story:  Two hats (one floating in the water; one for his escape . . . leaving her luggage and bringing his own . . . lying about owning a camera . ....

http://www.suncommunitynews.com/articles/ncl-magazine/tragedy-at-big-moose-lake/

Third movie in the series.  MUCH better than Dr. No.  Pacing, story move along.  Goldfinger is oddly cast. Chubby redhead who seems like a realtor, not a dastardly villain. Music really moves this one.  The score creates drama in mundane scenes of driving here and there. Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore--odd character with no discernible motivation for anything she does or doesn't do.  Two Masterson girls are both killed. James gets over it with amazing alacrity. It is very unclear why they don't just kill him--they have innumerable opportunities. Oh, well.  The genre.

The plan is to present Clyde at a trial as a morally weak character who thought about murder but decided against it, then accidentally killed Roberta, then (morally weak) tried to hide the crime.  The Griffiths name is to be kept out as much as possible.  All the rich are running from him like he's a rat (which he is). The defense team is hoping to get him off with 20 years.  Big problem--he will have to testify.

Dreiser based the book on a notorious criminal case. On July 11, 1906, resort owners found an overturned boat and the body of 20-year-old  Grace Brown  at  Big Moose Lake  in the  Adirondack Mountains  of  Upstate New York .  Chester Gillette  was put on trial and convicted of killing Brown, though he claimed that her death was a suicide. Gillette was executed by electric chair on March 30, 1908. [1] The murder trial drew international attention when Brown's love letters to Gillette were read in court. Dreiser saved newspaper clippings about the case for several years before writing his novel, during which he studied the case closely. He based Clyde Griffiths on Chester Gillette, deliberately giving him the same initials.

In the 1940s the novel inspired an episode of the award-winning  old-time radio  comedy  Our Miss Brooks ,  an episode known as "Weekend at Crystal Lake" and sometimes known as "An American Tragedy." The episode revolved around the characters' misinterpreting the intentions of biology teacher Philip Boyton (played by  Jeff Chandler ), Connie Brooks's ( Eve Arden ) high school colleague and love interest. The characters fear that Boynton plans to kill Miss Brooks during a leisurely weekend at their boss's lakeside retreat. The episode was broadcast twice, on September 19, 1948, and — with very minor changes — on August 21, 1949. The episode was also repeated in 1955, at a time when the show was a hit on both radio and  television . [3]

Clyde arrested. Themes:  Clyde as confused semi-victim of the American dream. Not a murderer, but not innocent. Rich:  Most (Sondra's family, for example) looking for ways to distance themselves from any and all scandal, though the elder Griffiths makes a point that he will not do anything to protect a guilty man. Poor:  Eager to get at the ways of the rich through general hatred of Clyde who killed a poor girl because he wanted to cavort with the upper class. Politicians:  Looking for a way to turn the trial into a political asset for upcoming elections. I'm guessing the remaining 25% will be all pre-trial and trial.

Roy Scheider, based on Wages of Fear. Scheider is involved in a robbery in USA.  He robs a church connected to the mob--the mob puts out a contract to kill him.  He flees to Nicaragua.  Poor, miserable . . . and a contract killer shows up.  He takes his chance--driving a cargo of plastic explosives over a mountain to put out an oil well fire. His would-be killer, though a series of events, becomes his co-driver.  The other truck has a Frenchman involved in a financial scheme who has had to flee France. He, too, needs money to get out of the miserable little town. Driving the trucks is the focus of last half of movie.  Explosion at every turn is possible.  Frenchman and his co-driver blow up when wheel comes off.  Scheider's co-driver killed by bandits (Scheider and he have become respectful of one another.) Scheider carries the explosives in. He will get 40,000 pesos.  He's about to fly out of the little town, with some hope, when a car...

Clyde, trying to climb the social ladder, being pulled down by Roberta's pregnancy.  Fails in all ways to "handle" the pregnancy. Sondra more enamored with Clyde all the time.  He decides to be rid of Roberta after reading of the drowning of a couple in Pittsfield. He plans the perfect crime--and it's riddled with problems.  He "sort of" does Roberta in--part accident, part murder--and is quickly identified and then arrested. Dreiser as newspaper reporter--there is an element that feels based on an actual crime.  The bumbling self-deception.  Dreiser as windbag--many scenes are great, but need to be edited. I could turn this into a 500 page book that is better than this 1000 page novel. Social distinctions are wonderfully described.  Sondra loving sports at least partly because she likes to dress in a bunch of different outfits. Politics:  the murder gives the D.A. a chance to shine in an election year, and he is eager to turn the trial to his ad...

Clyde is moving in two worlds.  Roberta -- lower class working girl with whom he is having an affair.   Sondra -- upper class girl who is infatuated for a number or reasons.  She's slumming it, a little. Clyde is handsome, though, and it's possible he has more money than it seemed at first.  Clyde is like water--he slips back and forth between these two worlds.  His goal, though, is clear.  Sondra . . . money . . . prestige

Clyde, promoted, is restless. Is this one promotion the beginning and end. He has promised his cousin to stay away from "common" girls, but if he has no access to "upper class" girls, then what does he do?  New girl on the shop floor catches his eye.  A canoe adventure, and now a meeting at th end of her block.

 Clyde promoted because he is family. Staying at low job is unsuitable and makes his uncle look bad.  Also the uncle likes him. This is not true of his cousin Gilbert who sees Clyde as a rival and makes it clear that Clyde is not really "fit" to be in the family. Clyde wants to divorce himself from dis "low " friends, but the sex appeal of girls like Rita will be hard to defeat. He is put in charge of the "stamping" part of the factory, a room peopled entirely by young girls.  Clyde tries not to be interested, but he is young and male and girls are throwing themselves at him.  So . . . 

Clyde involved in death of little girl via car accident.  Flees KC and goes to Chicago, then on to Lycurgus--the hometown of his uncle. He works in the basement of the collar factor of his uncle.  His cousin Gilbert is jealous of him.  Tough line:  If he throws his lot in with his fellow workers, then he loses his chance to be part of the upper crust.  But--if he doesn't throw his lot with his fellow workers, then he is lonely and bored.  Meets Rita.  She encourages his advances.  Dreiser knows the power of sex. At this point Clyde has been invited to dinner with his uncle--his chance to become part of the family.  Gilbert is gone, and his uncle and his female cousins are predisposed in his favor.  Looks good for Clyde.

Clyde is in a bind. His mother wants money from him to give to his pregnant sister. Hortense wants money from him for a fur coat. ($125--expensive!). Clyde wants to give the $ to Hortense for the implied sexual favors it will gain for him, but he feels obligated to his mother. He goes out with the guys and gals to a club outside KC.  Some drinking, dancing, playing on ice. Hortense flirts outrageously with others. Clyde morose, but she plays him back.  He's hopeless.  They need to get back to work by six. Snow . . . traffic . . . stolen (borrowed without permission) car . . . the driver, urged by all the bellboys, races through the streets of KC in snow.  Comes around corner, hits and kills little girl.  Instead of staying, driver races off.  He goes to side streets, turns off his lights to avoid detection, smashes into lumber for a new home.  Car tips over.  Clyde manages to get out.  Someone has called the police.  He runs for it! ...

Clyde is now settled at the fancy hotel.  He goes with the guys for a night of drinking that ends up at a brothel.  His religious background wars with his sensuality; not a clear victory for either.  He spends more money on himself, feels a desire for freedom from his parents in many ways--mentally, spiritually, physically--but can't quite sever the ties. He sees his mother in a poor section of town inquiring about a room.  His mother asks him to help her raise $100.00.  Some mystery here--I think it has to do with his sister Esta who fled the household and who is probably now back, pregnant?, disgraced. Excellent book

Walter and Margaret Keane story.  Walter stealing his wife's art work and selling posters, prints, postcards, paintings.  Big-eyed little children.  She gets tired of his theft of her work.  He is frustrated artist but great con salesman.  They make millions before she says enough/ Divorce follows, then she sues him for rights to her work.  Court scene where judge demands both paint for him.  Walter can't paint; Margaret produces a "big-eyed" child.  She wins court case. Strange story to film . . . the art isn't good, and various commentators in the movie say so loudly and clearly.  So, a weird plagiarism of bad art by a good salesman who makes millions for both of them.

Enjoyable . . . like a pretty good TV show.  Sean Connery with his gadgets for the first time.  Ursula Andress as Honey, his girl sorta. Dr. No is a Chinese/German who is planning on shooting down a US space launch.  Radioactivity, sleeping potions, Jamaican black who gets vaporized by a dragon.  Lots of plot holes--who would have ever predicted that this okay film would lead to the series that followed?

Spoilers:  Mom did it.  Sex with casual stranger while her two girls are running around large house unsupervised. Worse, she screams at them to go away just before Lydia (not Kirstie) dies.  Dad isn't a daughter abuser. Mom is on medication to fight depression and she also suffers from selective amnesia.  Dad, though, in a fit of anger, tells her to go to his chest of drawers and READ THE LETTER FROM THE DOCTOR THAT DESCRIBES HER SICKNESS.  SHE DOES. Mom dies out in the sucking mud (trying to escape her house) on a stormy night, while Dad rescues (or at least returns to) Kirstie.  Beany the dog is okay too.  Ghosts????? Dad thinks he sees mom and child on the mud/tidal area.  If the mom is his wife Sarah, and Kirstie is back in the house, then who is that second child?  Could it be the ghost of Lydia . . . Kirstie snaps out of it all quickly.  She regains her own personality and becomes the belle of her new school with all her live...

Kindle book--free; Audible narration $0.99   Really like the start.  Clyde's parents are evangelicals.  He's put off by the shabbiness of their life.  His older sister, unbeknownst to him, is also chafing.  At the first opportunity, she runs off with an actor who promises to marry her.  Clyde starts as an assistant at a soda shop.  He has just been hired as bellboy at 5 star hotel in Kansas City.  The money (tips) and the glamor of the hotel thrill him. Side notes:  He looks down on being a plumber, mason, etc.  He believes being a clerk in a bank would be much more classy.  I'm guessing that this book is before labor unions made plumbing, masonry etc. into trades that paid a living wage.

I'm guessing this book won't make it on a feminist top ten list.  So, plot turns galore.  Kirstie/Lydia tells Mom that Dad was always hugging Kirstie. Mom hears sexual abuse . . . for good reason.  So she hates Angus.  Kirstie/Lydia continues to strike fear into her classmates. She talks to her dead sister, so the kids think she's nuts and haunted. Mom is, naturally, pained by the rejection her daughter faces. But then.  Beany the dog gets lost and almost drowns, or does drown. Angus maybe saves the dog and he almost drowns. Storm coming.  Sarah tells Gus she wants him off the island.  He goes.  He calls. She accuses him of being a daughter molester. He denies it, tells her to read the letter in his bottom drawer, to talk to Kirstie/Lydia again.  Sarah does, and not Kirstie/Lydia tells her that the affection wasn't sexual.  "No, not like the way you kiss daddy. No!"  Sarah, who had a knife in her hand and contemplated murdering An...

Welsh villagers--coal mines all closed--decides to breed a horse.  Dream Alliance.  Against all odds, the horse has some success, winning the Wales Grand National.  The horse suffers an injury, is nearly put down, but returns to race again.  Doesn't win anything, but still alive, and still a source of pride for the village.  Nice story, David and Goliath, with a small victory for David.  Also a class warfare tale.  The Welsh villagers taking on the superwealthy of the racing world and holding their own.

So:  Angus's version.  Mom preferred Lydia. Kirstie jealous. Kirstie kills Lydia, tells Dad, who tells her to keep it to herself.  Now Kirstie is assuming Lydia's personality because she wants Mom to love her.  Kirstie basically becoming both twins.  Mom (Sarah) is becoming afraid of Angus's temper. She discovers Angus has had an affair with her best friend.  Kirstie/Lydia is predictably having trouble at school. I found it slightly boring for a bit, but these new twists have definitely upped the pace.  The visit of Emily Durrant was terrific.  Lydia, in the midst of the play date, starts talking to Kirstie--totally terrifying Emily who never wanted to come in the first place.  There was the definite hint that Emily might be killed by Lydia/Kirstie and, why not, if Kirstie did in fact kill Lydia--which seems likely.  Sarah going through Angus's private chest of drawers, then hearing a sound downstairs, was also nicely scary/tense/super...

Kirstie lived; Lydia died.  Or is it the other way around?  The survivor is taking on the personality of the dead girl. Mom "tests" the girl by throwing her into a panic and listening to her scream.  The scream of fear was the only thing that distinguished the girl.  And yes, Mom decides, the parents got it wrong. Lydia lived; Kirstie died. Marital tension. Drinking. Mom has short affair.  Did Dad have one also? Is the identity resolved.  Somehow I don't think so.  Still very enjoyable, but I'm reminded of the commercial:  Which twin has the Tony?

Two little girls, identical twins.  One dies falling off balcony at grandparent's house.  The parents traumatized as is surviving daughter.  Dad punches boss (architect) and loses job.  Mom, writer, is depressed.  Daughter (survivor) tells Mom she is the other twin, that they have it backwards as to who died and who lived.  Mom can't be sure.  Now they've all moved to a lighthouse on an island in Scotland.  Page turner, great fun so far.  Reminds me a little of Turn of the Screw.

Dale Pearson, Samantha's father, is innocent. No surprise.  But the guilty parties--the reporter Edie and her politician husband--come out of nowhere.  Not satisfying.  Neither did I find the very end (spoiler coming) satisfying.  Both Dad and Daughter have killed for the better of the world, and neither regrets it.  Okay, I guess, for Dad--though killing a prostitute out of fear seems a bit over the top.  Isn't there a chance she's all talk.  Samantha's killing--mowing down the tormentor of her buddy Michelle--is even more forced. Yeah, she's tough.  But a killer?  Doesn't fit with her personality up the then. So, weak ending.  But everything else was really good.  I liked the tone of Samantha; Alex, her investigator, had personality; even Michelle had some.  The descriptions of LA were good.  The tension in the climactic scenes was excellent.  Just a little weak in the plot. I'd definitely give Marcia Clark anot...

Marcie Clark, author, was prosecutor on O.J. trial.  This has the feel of an insider's book.  Enjoying the sassy style as well. Smart talking female defense lawyer.  Good plot.  Double murder of two young females.  Police detective suspected.  Our young lawyer, looking to make a name for herself, throws herself into the fray.  But the cop turns out to be . . .  her father.  The cop is also accused of raping a prostitute who later turns up dead.  The prostitutes friend also turns up dead.  What's going on?  Fun! (Mom is a great character.  No love for anyone but herself, and daughter feels better when she breaks all ties with mom.  Unusual, but convincing.)

Amazingly, I was right.  Tilla did come back to our Medicus.  They are sorta married at the end--our Medicus was a good boy throughout the book, never once falling to the temptation of the many slave girls about him.  Tilla's arm is in good shape, and they are ready to become a good English couple. Ruth Downie's ending was masterfully handled--really well plotted and executed. The book, however, provides nothing regarding early Britain/Roman era, so not for me.  A big part of the reason I chose to read the book turned out to be non-existent.

Well, the pot is boiling!  Tilla thinks Ruso will sell her so she runs away.  She is sheltered by Britons, then tries to return to her village.  Romans capture her.  Returned to (evil) Priscus who will probably kill her.  I was right, he is the murderer.  Ruso spends all his money to retrieve a boy who is being torn from his mother and sold into slavery.  But wait . . . he now needs the money to keep Priscus from selling Trilla into slavery.  And there's more.  One of the other girls is giving birth -- and only Trilla can save her (she's a midwife.)  But Trilla has a poison acorn in her mouth that she will chomp down on if anyone invades her territory.  So, Ruso talks her into being a midwife.  Baby born successfully, of course.  Mom alive, of course.  Now can Ruso talk her into being his wife. (Turns out she's the daughter of a centurion, so not really of slave stock.)  I'll know tomorrow, but my guess is that a...

Someone is trying to kill our good doctor.  A mysterious fire at his home.  A trowel falls from a building.  Priscus, the hospital administrator, acting suspiciously--so he's probably not the villain.  Lightly likeable.

Tilla (slave girl) is planning to run away.  Medicus (Ruso) is little by little falling in love with her.  We have two or three dead slave girls.  Ruso is sort of searching for the murderer.  I've decided that this is a chick book.  I'll make it through, hoping the murder stuff grows stronger . . . but this will be my last Downie book unless a dramatic change.  I can't say I'm learning much about Britannia from any of this.

Not much progress today.  Ruso now has another dead body.  He keeps maintaining that he is NOT investigating the murders, but everyone else assumes he is and keeps passing on information.  My guess, at this point, is that the murderer is our too tidy hospital administrator who is responsible for the death of the custodian's harmless dog.  Our slave girl is catching Ruso's eye.  His need for money grows, and he can't spend any on her, so he must sell her soon.  But of course he won't.

Ruso gets a place for the slave girl whose arm he has mended.  Financial troubles grow.  Letter from his brother asking permission to sell the farm.  Ruso says no, not yet.  Ruso hopeful of becoming Chief Medical Officer--increase in pay.  Continues to live with Valens, another Medicus, who is well-meaning but a slob.  Ruso is being harassed by hospital administration which wants to control so much of the day to day expenses that Ruso feels they are impinging on his medicine.  Moving along nicely.

Our main character has a final encounter with the deathless man. Superstition, mixed with Balkan tragedy of WWII and then post-Tito era.  Beautiful descriptions.  The individual parts of the book were much better than the overall whole. Long scene in a fictional Mostar just before the beautiful bridge was destroyed.  Grandfather and the deathless man eat at the hotel where Anne and I stayed, looking out over the river.

Ruso is a Roman doctor stationed in Britania during time of Hadran/Trajan. Right away he is confronted with a dead prostitute and then a slave girl with a broken arm.  He saves the slave girl's arm and is bothered that no one will do anything about the murdered girl.  Ruso has, back in Rome, a divorced wife.  He has family debts--his father died leaving them for him and his brother. It's supposed to be historical fiction, and I guess it is, but it's more a murder mystery set in historical times.  Ruso seems almost completely modern.  Nevertheless, fun so far. (The slave girl is now his slave girl.  He talks repeatedly about how he wants to get rid of her, so no doubt she will be with him the entire novel (:.

Very arty film. Colin Firth's gay lover is killed in car crash. Firth has lost his will to live.  Scenes with him teaching students, one of the boys reaches out to him.  Scenes with Julianne Moore.  Scene with gay pick-up (Madrid native) who Firth talks with, but no more.  Firth gets gun out to kill himself. He is interrupted.  Meets with boy from his class again.  Dies from heart attack (drugs, alcohol?) In a word . . . boring.  The more one suffers, the more alive one is.  Only dumb people can be happy.  I try to imagine a person who has struggled with poverty watching this. Firth is rich, nice house, housekeeper, has a job that lets him leave at three, has numerous people trying to engage him in the process of life . . . but no, can't be pulled out of his self-absorption.

Another beautiful chapter.  This time the deathless man meets grandfather at a fictional city that is clearly Mostar, the city with the famous Roman bridge destroyed in the war.  They eat at a hotel where I stayed, look out over the bridge, discuss death and war.  Description also of the animals in the zoo bizarre, dislocated behavior during bombing.  Remarkable.

So, my early prediction regarding the fate of Peck (Tiger, Tiger, burning bright) came true.  Really enjoyed this book.  Sandford knows how to move a story along. Other nice touches:  Virgil is lousy with his gun. Peck is constantly screwing up--this time firebombing the wrong house Apple locations is just off a little bit Sandford has random, chaotic stuff perfect.  Sort of an anti-Sherlock Holmes.  Things do go wrong, and they go wrong all the time.

Professional hunter brought in to kill Tiger.  He has interesting past--sister is epileptic who is on verge of death (and dies) young.  Killer is drawn to taxidermy, then hunting, as a life-in-death occupation.  Grandfather wants the tiger to live, wants Luka's wife to be left alone.  In an (almost) magical way, the tiger escapes the traps of the hunter.  Luka's wife, magically, is able to get out at night in the snow and protect the tiger.  Scene concludes with Grandfather (as a boy) killing the hunter to protect Luka's wife.  Was the hunter attacking her?  Not entirely clear that he was.

Gets more and more exciting.   Virgil is on to Peck. Interesting plot.   We, the readers, know before Virgil does the ins-and-outs of the crime.   Then we follow along with Virgil as he figures it out.   Peck continues to commit murders to cover up the theft of the Tigers and for profit.   Both of his accomplices dead and dismembered.   Chinese customer killed as well—this time by his son along with Peck.   Other interesting plot devices:   Peck talking to himself.   Am I a serial killer?   A spree killer?   Neither.   He decides neither because killing is a pain in the neck that he wishes he could avoid. Peck goes out to firebomb Virgil's house.   He screws up his courage—then firebombs the wrong house. Peck hides both bodies in great spots, and both are quickly found. I'll finish tomorrow.

Plot:  Drop of blood leads to identification of one of the kidnappers.  Peck (main villain) kills him with tranquilizer dart, stuffs him in refrigerator, and dumps him in river.  Immediately discovered by fisherman.  Peck then kills again--this time the brother of his first victim--because the brother would kill him once he discovers the first murder.  Peck (MD who can't practice because he drugged and assaulted female patients) feeds 2nd victim's legs to the female tiger still alive. Exciting stuff.  Chase sign with animal activist trying to kill dealer in bear gall bladders.  Virgil's girlfriend beaten up by non-union bosses (she's mistaken for her sister). Funny stuff:  Peck set up nipple emojis that failed.  Fishermen buy fudgesicles, beer, chew for morning cat fishing. Nice mix of suspense and comedy.  Fast-paced.

Grandfather's story of the "Tiger's Wife."  She is a deaf-mute girl who was married off to Luka by trickery.  Luka beats her.  She befriends (apparently) the tiger.  Luka disappears.  Villagers believe she has killed him and had the tiger eat him.  She is pregnant, and the villagers believe that the father is the tiger.  Grandfather, under the direction of Mother Vera who is taking care of him, brings the girl baskets of food.  Villagers believe her child will be a devil child, though they sympathize with her killing of her husband.  Very interesting book.

Virgil is closing in on the names of the tiger killers/kidnappers.  They are on the verge of talking their Chinese payer (40 year old son of a millionaire about to marry a 15 year old) into paying them to  kill his father.

A Mythic Novel of the Balkan Wars By  LIESL SCHILLINGER MARCH 11, 2011 Continue reading the main story Share This Page Share Tweet Pin Email More Save Think back to the wars of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia, with their profusion of names that are difficult to pronounce and acts that are painful to recall: the massacres at Brcko and Srebrenica, the bombing of bread lines in Sarajevo, the destruction of Mostar’s 400-year-old bridge. None of these appear in Téa Obreht’s first novel, “The Tiger’s Wife,” yet in its pages she brings their historic and human context to luminous life. With fables and allegories, as well as events borrowed from the headlines, she illustrates the complexities of Balkan history, unearthing patterns of suspicion, superstition and everyday violence that pervade the region even in times of peace. Reaching back to World War II, and then to wars that came before, she reveals the continuity beneath the clangor. A metaphor for the aut...

Enjoyable, but a little odd for a mystery.  Virgil Flowers is figuring out things we already know.  Tiger stolen for Chinese medicine.  House for sale as staging ground.  White van for an early morning escape.  So, what will be the mystery?

About 40% done. Granddaughter working to inoculate children in  an orphanage following Yugoslavia's break up.  As she does so, a family is up in the hillside trying to dig up the body of a relative and rebury him properly in order to free the family from a curse. Children, ill with fever, are out digging for the body--buried nine years earlier.  Dawn, digging, our main character appearing like a ghost in her white medical coat.  Superb contrast of science/superstition.  Memorable scene--third one!  Also, more reminiscences about her grandfather, contrasting his life (professional and personal) with hers.  Like the book a lot. (Grandfather does emergency appendectomy on Marshall Tito.)

Virgil Flowers Minnesota detective Great first chapter.  It seems we are with the murderers as they kill two people and then drag their bodies away.  Neighborhood is a place where people have "day jobs and their kids go to school."  Chapter two--Virgil skinny dipping with his girlfriend.  Much weaker.  Ch. 3  Not murdered people but tranquilized tigers. Virgil to investigate. We know that one of the tigers has already been killed.  Their is a sense that the second tiger will revenge her mate. Motive:  body parts for Chinese medicine?  Probably not, since that seems to be the motive and it's early in the book. Uneven so far--I don't remember Virgil Flowers as randy stud from other book I read.  Doesn't ring true here--seems like Sandford is pandering.  So, we shall see. Audio version

Chapter Four:  Tiger escapes/freed from zoo during WWII by warfare.  Chapter describes Tiger's movement from zoo animal to wild animal.  Villagers, psychically destroyed by war, are even more undone by the knowledge that up on a ridge above their homes is an animal that doesn't belong there and by their confusion as to what, if anything, should be done.  Terrific chapter.

Back from Cleveland Clinic . . . resuming blog This is very well written and I will definitely give David Jackson another read . . . but . . . the basic motivation here just didn't work for me at all.  Spoiler coming, so stop if you haven't finished.  The whole idea of the murderer being motivated to capture birds and then plant them on the bodies of the police he kills was fine until Jackson reveals why the "birds" are so important.  Our murderer, the photographer Chris, was a little boy at a soccer tragedy caused by police incompetence. 96 people died, fans of Liverpool, 1989.  Liverpool has a bird crest on the uniform, so the dead were all "birds" to Chris.  Just too much. Oddly, I'm guessing Jackson wanted the book as a tribute (we won't forget) to the victims.  But the "birds" theme falls flat for me, ultimately trivializing what must have been a horrific event.  It also seems to me that "tapping at my door" could have work...

Cody comes up with a plan to catch the murderer.  The police will pretend to slack off on their diligence.  Eventually Cody will go out "alone," though other police will be watching.  He will then capture the murderer (a Scot, apparently).  Good plan, but I'm guessing that Cody will be on his own against the bad guy!

Two great, magical scenes in chapter two.  Grandfather brings Natalia out at night to watch an elephant being coaxed across town in the dark.  Grandfather describes to Natalia a strange encounter with a man who could not die.  Village hit by TB.  The man is drowned by villagers, but sits up in coffin and asks for water.  He's then shot in the head twice.  Grandfather (a doctor) arrives. Man is in coffin (again) and sits up again.  Tells GF all about his inability to die.  Challenges GF skepticism. GF, in melancholy, dark place, agrees to a test.  Man puts stones around his feet and walks into lake.  GF has a rope.  The man is to tug when he needs help.  No tug.  GF distraught.  A man is not a porpoise.  After an hour, the man emerges on the opposite side of the lake and walks into the woods. Right out of Murakami, and every bit as good

Two great, magical scenes in chapter two.  Grandfather brings Natalia out at night to watch an elephant being coaxed across town in the dark.  Grandfather describes to Natalia a strange encounter with a man who could not die.  Village hit by TB.  The man is drowned by villagers, but sits up in coffin and asks for water.  He's then shot in the head twice.  Grandfather (a doctor) arrives. Man is in coffin (again) and sits up again.  Tells GF all about his inability to die.  Challenges GF skepticism. GF, in melancholy, dark place, agrees to a test.  Man puts stones around his feet and walks into lake.  GF has a rope.  The man is to tug when he needs help.  No tug.  GF distraught.  A man is not a porpoise.  After an hour, the man emerges on the opposite side of the lake and walks into the woods. Right out of Murakami, and every bit as good

Cody's father hates him because Cody is a copper.  Is this the reason for Cody's wild temper?  Seems a little cliched.  Another cop killed, this time with a gold finch left behind and a line from a Keats ode. the original suspects--the family of the boy the police killed during a protest--seem off the hook, not that they were ever really prime suspects.  Okay so far.

Read that this was one of his best.  First half was slow and annoying at times.  Diane Keaton and Woody Allen have a marriage that is struggling. Keaton is half in love with Alan Alda. Woody is spending time with Angelica Huston, a writer. Then a neighbor woman, recently met, dies.  Did her non-grieving husband murder her?  Keaton is thrilled with the introduction of drama to her life. Woody not at all.  Lots of bickering. First half static. Second half much better. YES! It is a murder.  In the solving, Keaton becomes jealous of Angelica Huston; Woody remains jealous of Alda.  But--Woody comes through in the end, saving Keaton from the murderer who is killed a la Lady from Shanghai mirror scene. Exciting, satisfying ending. So 2.5 stars for first half; 4.5 for second half.  Glad we stuck with it.

This one got panned pretty broadly, but I liked it. Plot: Looking for an exciting career, young Bobby Dorfman leaves New York for the glitz and glamour of 1930s Hollywood. After landing a job with his uncle, Bobby falls for Vonnie, a charming woman who happens to be his employer's mistress. Settling for friendship but ultimately heartbroken, Bobby returns to the Bronx and begins working in a nightclub. Everything falls into place when he finds romance with a beautiful socialite, until Vonnie walks back into his life and captures his heart once again. Love of NYC comes through strongly, as Bobby is lost in LA. Bobby isn't quite the innocent abroad, though, as he works for his criminal brother in NYC upon his return. So, a little gangster movie merged with romance.  Not great, but not pretentious--liked it more than Midnight in Paris.

Two murder victims now.  One linked to Poe's the Raven. Other linked to nursery rhyme "four and twenty blackbirds."  Cody, our detective, is fighting some demons. Murder victims are both police involved in death of bystander at a protest--strong suggestion of police overreaction.  Is this retribution?  If so, why all the "bird" complications?  Pretty good so far, though not exactly fast moving.

Great opening scene--tiger grabs arm of man cleaning up outside cage and mangles it.  Man foolishly reaches in to pet the tiger.  MC sees this as a four year old. Chapter One:  Grandfather is dead of cancer. Grandmother angry because Natalia (mc) knew of illness but kept it secret. Natalia, a nurse heading out to inoculate children, denies knowing of grandfather's illness.  Balkans, during the disintegration period.

Our main character, in a less than great scene, chases down a flasher.  The brilliance of the first scene--thriller--not at all matched by this attempt at comedy. Thankfully it is a thriller.  Next our main character goes to the house of the murder victim where he meets his old girlfriend.  He does not know that she has been assigned to his team.  Filling us in