Carl Deuker -- Books, Movies, TV

Lots of flash but not too much substance.  McConeghey and Harrelson characters snarl at each other but work together  McConeghey goes undercover; all hell breaks loose; biker gang; black projects; gunfight.  The murderer seems to be involved in some Christian cult, but there's no development . . . the cult is just out there being weird.

"Lydia, Alex, Christine trying to work out a plan for the future after Alex's taking up with Lydia. Their children--Sandy (Alex with Juliette), isabelle (Alex with Christine) and Grace (Zachary with Lydia) are finding their way as young adults. Zachary's death looms over all of them. I'll be interested where this ends up; excellent writing."

Loki is a great figure. The saboteur for no reason.  Before reading this, I'd heard the name and thought "Trickster," but he's much more evil than that.  The enjoyment of other people's misery . . . causing problems even when there's no benefit . . . The writing continues to be great.  Gaiman's prose just flows with the perfect feel of myth but without overdoing anything.  Terrific book.

Great start. Loki the troublemaker takes Thor's wife's golden hair.  Goes to dwarf for replacement. Pits one set of dwarves against the other in a competition to make the greatest gift for the gods.  One dwarf, suspicious, says:  "Okay, but if I win I get to cut off your head." Loki agrees, but then tries to sabotage the work. Dwarf wins anyway. Loki headless? No! Dwarf didn't ask to cut off neck as well. Loki Lives!

Great start. The principal cast consisted of  Matthew McConaughey ,  Woody Harrelson ,  Michelle Monaghan ,  Michael Potts , and  Tory Kittles . McConaughey is slightly haywire detective teamed with Harrelson in Louisiana. Macabre, cult-like murder occurs.  The two must solve. 

Kiki Camerana is murdered by Felix's stooges.  Felix is turned in by Sineola "friend."  Felix bribes the capturer.  Felix's followers are meeting to pick up the pieces with him gone.  He shows up and reasserts control.  Rafa captured. Neto captured.  Felix kills the son on the "friend" who turned him and sends the head to the mother.  Set-up for season two.  The DEA sends down new agents with directions to play tough to avenge the death of Kiki. Episode nine:  Kiki's wife Mika is excellent. Charlotte's Web scene works--tough to pull off.  Episode ten: Kiki is great in his final scene with Felix.

Kiki Camerana, having pulled off the greatest bust in history, is ready to leave Mexico.  The cartel is in an uproar. Felix, concentrating on cocaine, is ready to let the bust go. Rafa, the marijuana King, is not.  Rafa has Kiki kidnapped.  They torture Kiki to find out what might be happening next. (We've just seen the State Department decide that nothing will happen next.) Early on, maybe at the end of Narcos Cali show, we were shown Kiki's picture on a DEA wall--presumably of agents who died on duty.  Because of that, there's no suspense as to what will happen.  LIke watching a tragedy play out.  Rafa seems on the verge of being killed by someone in the cartel. Neto and Felix both seem in danger as well. Not as good as the earlier Narcos seasons.

The lives of two close-knit couples are irrevocably changed by an untimely death in the latest from Tessa Hadley, the acclaimed novelist and short story master who “recruits admirers with each book” (Hilary Mantel). Alexandr and Christine and Zachary and Lydia have been friends since they first met in their twenties. Thirty years later, Alex and Christine are spending a leisurely summer’s evening at home when they receive a call from a distraught Lydia: she is at the hospital. Zach is dead. In the wake of this profound loss, the three friends find themselves unmoored; all agree that Zach, with his generous, grounded spirit, was the irreplaceable one they couldn’t afford to lose. Inconsolable, Lydia moves in with Alex and Christine. But instead of loss bringing them closer, the three of them find over the following months that it warps their relationships, as old entanglements and grievances rise from the past, and love and sorrow give way to anger and bitterness.

Superb book. 5 out 5

Naveed, Hayat's father, interesting character.  To my mind, his disdain for religion is right on target. He tells Nathan, as they enter the mosque for service, "We are going to the Middle Ages."  However, he's a horrible, philandering husband and an erratic father. In a religious fervor, Hayat sends a telegram to Mina's ex-husband informing him that Mina is about to marry a non-believer.  This after the wild anti-Semitic rantings of the Imam.  Lots of action:  broken arm, burned Quran. Terrific book!

Hayat is now a teenager.  He is still in love with Aunt Mina who is on the verge of marry Nathan, a Jewish scientist/colleague of Hayat's father. Nathan wants to convert to Islam.  Great descriptions of religious fervor in childhood.  Great family scenes, great debates on religion . . . so far, just a great book.  Fingers-crossed nothing changes.

 Pakistani boy (Hayat) in Milwaukee.  Unhappy parents. Father is a philanderer; mother is bitter.  An aunt arrives from Pakistan with her young son.  She is bright--a writer--but beaten down by Pakistani norms. Divorced. Lots of "illogical" but realistic details. The aunt from Pakistan, for example, teaches our main character about Mohammed & the Quran. Absolutely terrific so far, with touches of humor throughout. Hayat's crush/love for the aunt is wonderfully conveyed.

from publisher -- off Goodreads American Dervish  is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life. Hayat Shah is a young American in love for the first time. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his Pakistani heritage and by the frequent chill between his parents, who fight over things he is too young to understand. Then Mina arrives, and everything changes. Mina is Hayat's mother's oldest friend from Pakistan. She is independent, beautiful and intelligent, and arrives on the Shah's doorstep when her disastrous marriage in Pakistan disintegrates. Even Hayat's skeptical father can't deny the liveliness and happiness that accompanies Mina into their home. Her deep spirituality brings the family's Muslim faith to life in a way that resonates with Hayat as nothing has before. Studying the Quran by Mina's side and basking in the glow of he

Kiki (?) Camerana is new agent just as the Sineola (sp) gang gets going with a more potent marijuana and a turf war of sorts. (They will be farming in Guadalajara after killing a few of the locals.) Good, not great, start.  Miss Pena, but a little exposition is always necessary.

2 highlights (Private) Solid mystery/thriller. I found it a little cloying at times. Nap Dumas loves a lot of people and doesn't mind telling the reader. The Nike missile plant has been converted to a Block Operations unit. Helicopter comes in the same night Leo is breaking up with Diane. Leo gets his buddies (boys and girls) to play a nasty trick on her in retribution. All goes to hell. Retribution comes back on Leo and the others. This is my second Coben novel. I've liked them both.