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Showing posts from March, 2018

I'll Be Gone in the Dark 70%

Criminal moving about.  San Ramon as likely home spot because it's central to the crimes but doesn't have (with one exception) any victims.  San Jose, Contra Costa, Sacramento.  thrill perhaps from attacking couples. men, after an attack, have great trouble coping with their failure to protect. Marriages/relationships commonly destroyed.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark 60%

Rapist has now become rapist/murderer. Sacramento on complete alert, but he still escapes.  Attacks couples, has sandwich afterwards. Violence shifts to Contra Costa County, about an hour from Sacramento, then to Irvine and Santa Barbara.  Clues, but no arrests.  (DNA methods applied years later prove it is the same criminal.)

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

It's amazing that this murderer/rapist was able to escape capture across all of California for so many years.  Amazing and depressing.  The book is full of details but not of life.  Zodiac , which had a similar problem of an unsolved string of murders, was much more interesting. McNamara doesn't humanize the victims.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark continued

More about the crimes.  McNamara first became interested in crime after the murder of a jogger (unsolved) in her own neighborhood near Chicago. She talked with the boys who found the victim and discovered things that didn't fit the official account. She also picked up (!) the victim's broken Walkman.     Crimes in Sacramento and nearby.  Rapist wearing ski mask and gloves.  Oddly unhurried. Smart, seems to stalk his victims, figure out their schedule, then strike.  Starts as just a rapist.  Not discouraged by children in house.  Eventually strikes couples.

Michelle McNamara I'll be Gone in the Dark (?)

not a good title, because I can't remember it.  Listening on audible McNamara died at 46 before completing the book.  Drugs and a heart condition. She ran a blog on unsolved crimes, and this string of crimes was her main focus. So far, the book is as much a memoir of her upbringing as an investigation into the crimes.  Irish, Catholic schools, strained relationship with her mother, youngest of six, fascinated by crime beginning at age 14 when there is a murder (unsolved) near her home. Quirky personality. I wonder if this would have ever found a publisher had she not died.

Girl Who Was Taken 90%

Nice twist--I didn't have the right murderer, but I did get him with about 25% left.  Very exciting for a time as Megan unravels what she has suppressed from her captivity and Donlea feeds us (carefully) the missing pieces of the narrative.  Now that the murderer/rapist has been uncovered, the final confrontations await.  I thought Nicole might be alive . . . doesn't look like it. Livia and Megan in the cellar; Megan's father one of the police notified of the 911 call.  He doesn't exactly fit the profile of the loner without love, but Donlea did a nice job of presenting him as being just a little too unhappy that his daughter is going to Duke and not staying at home and going to Elizabeth State. What father doesn't want his daughter to go to a great school?  Only one who is a bit suspect.

Girl Who Was Taken 60%

The murderer still seems is obvious. Cribbage-playing "rescuer" whom Megan visits--but I'm enjoying the medical examiner/pathologist investigation.  Nice turn in the Megan-Livia (victim/pathologist sister) relationship.  Livia meets Megan and realizes that the obnoxious saved "Megan" of TV and book tours isn't real.  Hypnotism scenes with Megan and her doctor are also very good. I'm hoping I'm off base concerning the cribbage-playing murderer, because a satisfying twist is always nice.  I think we're done with the teen stuff, too, which is great. That was the weakest part of the novel by far for me.

Girl Who Was Taken 30%

Plot:  Nicole's sister Livia investigates Nicole's last boyfriend, a drifter whose brother disappeared when he was young. Nicole's cousin disappeared when she was young. (Lots of disappearing.) Livia's life as a pathologist trainee is described.  The pathologist information is the strongest. Nicole's teenage rivalries with Megan are yawners for me.  So, up and down.

Girl Who Was Taken 17%

Starts with girl escaping her captor.  Then a pathologist examines a mysterious body found floating in the bay--drowned or murdered.  "Saved" girl appears on TV show.  Happy ending, but . . . the abductor took another girl as well, and that girl was never found.  Flashback to high school. Nicole--the girl not found--is on the wild side.  The "found" girl is more conventional.  Twists. 1) the pathologist, Olivia, is the sister of the girl (Nicole) not found.  2) the dead "floater" is a drifter who had been dating Nicole.  Pretty good so far, though there's a Chick Lit side that I could do without.

Falling Glass Finished

I admire writers who are ambitious, and this is very much an ambitious novel.  McKinty doesn't quite pull it off, but  . . . Killian decides that to save Rachel, he has to kill the lawyer and the airline CEO. The lawyer OD's, the CEO is shot in the head.  Killian escapes.  He returns to his "Tinker" roots but is found by the man who hired him to find Rachel in the first place.  "I can't let you get away with failing to do the job." Is our "hero" going to get killed?  Book ends with Killian trying to talk his killer out of killing him. Along the way there are interesting musings on life, art, Tinkers, architecture, relationships, butterflies, migratory birds.  As I said, ambitious . . .

Falling Glass 90%

Killian drowns Markov, the Russian, after a staged attack on the Tinkers.  Killian then goes after Tom, the lawyer of the airplane mogul, and allows him to kill himself with an overdose of H and cocaine.  K. now on the final showdown. A little soft, oddly. Killian is the reluctant murderer, which is fine, but McKinty insists on it in dialogue instead of just showing it to us.  And the Tinkers are just a bit too perfect--even their flaws are presented as endearing.  Finish tomorrow.

Falling Glass 66%

Killian has tracked down Rachel Anderson to an island off the coast of Ulster.  Ivan (actually Sasha) is a couple of hours behind.  K. discovers that the true reason he is after R.A. is to get a laptop back--the laptop has a file showing various high powered politicians, etc., engaging in sex with underage girls. Still top notch, though the porno movie seems a bit overused. Today at the arboretum

Falling Glass 33% done

Killian is in pursuit of the mother of the airline executive who has "kidnapped" their two children and taken off.  Markov is also after the woman, and after Killian.  Killian thinks he has shaken Markov. Wrong. Markov beats him and then says:  Look, I could kill you, but I'm not going to. Just go away. Killian doesn't.  Both men are now at the home of the ex-wife's parents in Northern Ireland.  (Dad has been sending his daughter money.)  Markov may have killed one of Killian's partners. Dark night. Dark deeds.  Terrific.

Falling Glass Day 2

Killian avoids killing a Boston gambler who is short on money.  Killian talks him into selling his house by making up a story about a murder he committed in Uruguay.  Killian established as a guy in the business but with a heart. Next chapter:  Killian is assigned to bring back the mother and her two daughters from Chapter 1. Mother is portrayed as drug addict/danger to kids.  Killian has been hired by a "Branson" type--multi-millionaire owner of an airline that is on hard times.  (Volcano, recession.) Killian accepts (in Macau!), glad to be on the good side for once. Killian identified as Tinker, unable to swim.

Smile . . . Roddy Doyle

This one really sneaked up on me. I was enjoying it, but was a trifle bored. Irish boy having trouble with groping Christian Brothers. It seemed like nothing new. But . . .what an ending.  Fitzpatrick, a boy who claims to have gone to school with our main character, confronts.  "I am you," he says.  "You are me."  The story of a single groping is just that--a story. Both boys were repeatedly raped by the Christian Brother. Both are scarred for life. Main character claims to have been "married" to Rachel.  This is interesting. Perhaps this is all made up.  He admits they were never married officially. He has no pictures of his "son." Fitzpatrick "I am you" says that he is unable to get an erection--it's clear he is sexually disabled by the experience with the Christian Brother.  Is our main character any different? Has he made up Rachel and his son? I listened to this on Audible and don't have the book.  Most of the time, Au

Heavens May Fall

They are at trial, and the case against the nemesis lawyer weakens by the minute.  Sister of murdered woman has no alibi; witness who "saw" lawyer return changes her testimony.  He has to get off.  So . . . a twist is coming

Heavens May Fall, Allan Eskens

Cop/Lawyer intersection story. Cop is wrongly accused of planting evidence by lawyer. Cop hates lawyer, though lawyer insists he didn't know his document was a forgery. Fast forward. Cop's wife Jenny is killed in a hit and run. Lawyers wife Jennavieve is murdered. Cop thinks lawyer did it and sets out to prove his guilt. Is he blinding himself out of a desire for revenge —  1 minute ago Add a comment Twist. Our cop gets in the mail a letter stating that his wife was not killed in a hit and run, but was murdered. A key accompanies the letter--to a storage box somewhere? The lawyer claims he was at a conference in Chicago when is wife was killed. But was he? Or did he get in a car, drive to Minneapolis, kill his wife, and then return to the conference. Lawyer is hated by his dead wife's (rich) sister.

Sunburn finished

Polly emerges, a survivor, at the end.  Laura Lippmann plays it cagey regarding what "really" happened in the ultimate scene, but that also fits into the film noir feel of the book.  Well-written, good length, and again she makes Baltimore interesting.

Sunburn 90%

Polly is (maybe) in love with Adam. She(maybe) thinks he is spying on her. She (maybe) killed Cath. She (maybe) set up Irving to take the fall for the fire that killed Cath. She (maybe) is just the victim of a serious of unfortunate errors and is ready to start a new life.  Adam is in love with Polly. He thinks that (maybe) she is in love with him. He thinks that (maybe) she did or didn't kill Cath.  He thinks that (maybe) she is using him. He thinks that (maybe) they can be happy together. Closing in on what looks like a great ending.  Double Indemnity has been mentioned a few times, so perhaps they will die in one another's arms.  Problem--no guns.

Sunburn 67%

Okay, now Polly is getting suspicious of Bosk who is suspicious of Polly. Nice noir touches.  Polly discovers from her lawyer that Irving (the crooked insurance broker) is aware that she pocketed a bundle from the hospital's botched delivery of her child, Joy.  Polly thinks--why hasn't Irving come after me--and then realizes that maybe Bosk is Irving's agent. (She's right, of course.) Irving notices that although she said she was just going to Dover, she has put over 200 miles on his truck.  Where was she?  Is she playng him for a fool.  Nice, old-fashioned plot.

Sunburn continued

Back story of Polly.  She married her (sort of) H.S. sweetheart. (He was 5 years older than her--more of a cradle robber.  Pregnancy forced the marriage, then she lost the baby.  He is a brute, physically and emotionally abusive.  They have daughter, Joy.  She takes life insurance policy on her husband for 1 million in her daughter's name.  She kills husband with a knife to the heart.  Somehow, Irving--the man who arranged the life insurance--feels cheated out of the money.  Polly ditches her daughter, somehow is not convicted of the murder, and then does a repeat with new husband. Cath, at the diner, becomes suspicious of Polly. She has her brother-in-law check on Polly. She discovers Polly's murderous past and confronts her. Polly decides to just tell Adam Bosk about her past. He is now in love with his prey and does nothing ( he has to fake that Cath has told him, but he's been hired because of her past). Suspiciously, that night, Polly's apartme

Sunburn

Okay, she's playing with expectations, and she got me. Polly--who looked like a victim--is now looking more like a film noir spider.  She's turned on by violence, uses sex to manipulate men, and has a past.  A first husband, an escape from him, a feeling that she has repeated earlier errors. Greg, her husband, hires a PI (female) who tracks her down.  Greg then tries to force her to come back to her daughter (he's freaked out by the possibility that HE might have to raise the child).  He actually pulls a gun on her, but that ends up with Bosk breaking his arm. Bosk is the character I thought was the bad guy.  Instead, his role is murky.  He's definitely following her, but he is also falling under her spell. What does he want?  What does she want? I like it.  Reminds me a bit of Gone Girl, with the girl not being gon

Sunburn Laura Lippman

Our redhead with the sunburn is running away from her husband and her three-year-old.  She's had it with him and feels he will soon run out on her, that she'll have to fight for child care, that she doesn't want the single parent life . . . so go for it.  She is spotted by a "Ken" handsome stranger in a small town in Delaware.  He doesn't make a play for her because . . .  he's planning worse?  Nice start. Page 30, I'm guessing.  Listening on audible.

Way We Live Now finished

The last section was a yawner.  Roger Carbury is too perfect.  Longstaffe girl doesn't marry the Jewish banker but instead hooks up with a penniless clergyman.  Marie in America and possible marriage to Fisker, he of the railroad.  Mrs. Hurdle back to USA, too.  Hetta and Paul married, and Paul has a little income from something.  They will live on the Carbury estate. So . . . the ending fits the age, but the rest of the book was much stronger than the final 100 pages.  Trollope is the master of money.  I don't think there is a character in the book whose bank account isn't examined in one way or another.  Won't read this one again, but I might try Eustace Diamonds in the not too distant future.

Way We Live Now

Yawn.  Melmotte dead.  Nidderdale helps Marie, who looks to be off to America and marriage to one of the founders of the railroad.  Her money is intact. We are supposed to care about Hetta and her love for Paul Montague, but it's impossible. Roger Carbury is too good; Paul is a nothing; Hetta is a nothing.  The death of Melmotte was also the death of the book . . . I think.

Way We Live Now 85%

I had misremembered--it is Melmotte who commits suicide because of his failed ventures.  Melmotte has forged Dolly Longestaffe's name, and then later forges his daughter's name as well as his clerk's name.  An embezzler.   Marie Melmotte has a chunk of money in her name, so she is not ruined by her father's failure. It is possible, still, that she and Lord Nidderdale will be married.  They actually like and respect one another, though there is no passionate love.  Felix was beaten by John Crumb.  Crumb regains Ruby Ruggles.  Felix could have had Marie Melmotte, and her money, but he was unable to get himself to go downstairs to see her.  His pride (his face was bruised) and his incredible lack of initiative.  Hetta is still contemplating Paul Montague.  This is the most interesting of the "love" plots, maybe because it's a bit of a botch.  Don't know how it's going to work out.  Roger Cadbury, the perfect husband, still loves her. Paul seems abou