Neptune Island lives up to its byline 100% as this one is non-stop from the very first page. Reed is clearly influenced by authors like Reilly and McDNeptune Island lives up to its byline 100% as this one is non-stop from the very first page. Reed is clearly influenced by authors like Reilly and McDermott and he excels at keeping the story moving along at an absolutely breakneck pace. This book is everything you see in a mindless action flick, only turned up to 11. And I absolutely loved that aspect of it.
But then we come to the biggest issue with this book and it’s the obvious and glaring typos, weird sentence structure and overall lack of editing. Plenty of other reviewers have noticed it too, so it’s a clear problem that needs to be addressed.
Yet to me, that wasn’t my personal gripe with Neptune Island. My problem is with Reed’s lack of character development or backstory. I’m all for the explosions and breakneck pacing but I want to have a connection with the characters and want to sympathize with the good guys or hate the bad ones. I didn’t get that here. Everything starts and there is no building up of either Monk or Kane. Both just do their respective things without any real explanation. Which is too bad because I think Reed has potential to write some truly kick ass stories that could rival some of the best out there. Really hoping Jungle Games corrects this and the glaring mistakes with spell check.
And with that, I close out my 2020 year of books. While I think Neptune Island could have been better in some respects, it was still an enjoyable way to end what was otherwise a very unenjoyable year.
I am an unashamed Jerry Seinfeld fan. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and I’m totally ok with that, but to me, I’ve always found him f2.5 stars
I am an unashamed Jerry Seinfeld fan. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and I’m totally ok with that, but to me, I’ve always found him funny, insightful and real. His stand up makes sense to a simple, rational person such as myself. His appearances on talk shows always seems down to earth and lacks the pompous and overeager attitude that a lot of comedians seem to have. And of course his titular tv show is hands down the best sitcom of the last 20 years...If not all time.
But Is This Anything? doesn’t really seem to prove any of that.
On one hand it is a kind of cool experience in seeing Seinfeld’s jokes evolve and change with the times. His material continued to be contemporary and each decade brought new light hearted observations. There’s some decently funny material in here, especially once the book moves into the double o’s and the teens. The stuff on marriage is great, as are his bits on technology and how dumb we have gotten, despite our ever burgeoning growth in science and technology and overall intelligence. Even his last joke on Flex Seal is spot on.
The problem, though, with this book is that it doesn’t really do much in getting into Seinfeld’s mind. By that I mean that it’s not a biography or even really a memoir. It’s obviously just a bunch of jokes. And reading the jokes is an entirely different t experience than hearing the author himself present them. It actually ends up being a kind of empty and unfulfilling journey. Sure you can imagine Jerry up on the stage delivering some of those (and he does some these bits in the earlier episodes of Seinfeld), or you could get the audiobook in which he narrates the whole book, but even then, it’s just not the same. And, even as a Seinfeld fan, reading these jokes for 450 pages just gets kind of old because there isn’t a story or anything behind them.
So in conclusion, Is This Anything? is something, but it’s not something great. It’s there and it’s readable and it has its moments though I wouldn’t even say it’s required reading for fans of Seinfeld (the man or the show). I’m glad I was able to read it, and it’ll look good on my bookshelf next to other Seinfeld related tomes, however I’m not exactly jumping around extolling it’s virtues as an awesome book. ...more
Mountford has grown tremendously as an author and this trilogy has proven it.
The entire Haunted trilogy has been incredibly well written and entertainMountford has grown tremendously as an author and this trilogy has proven it.
The entire Haunted trilogy has been incredibly well written and entertaining...not to mention creepy...which is quite a feat since the haunted house trope is over done and rarely original.
Purgatory wraps up a compelling story and leaves things open for another set of books, which, if Mountford keeps things this way, has the potential to be yet another set of great reads. ...more
Lost City is an enjoyable and fast paced novel but it’s also the moment when I think the NUMA files books started their downhill trend.
Unlike the prevLost City is an enjoyable and fast paced novel but it’s also the moment when I think the NUMA files books started their downhill trend.
Unlike the previous 4 novels, nothing about Lost City really sticks out or is memorable. And that’s especially true because I read this one once before back in like 2005. Couldn’t even remember a single thing about it other than I wasn’t that impressed then and I’m not especially impressed now.
Just as the rest of the NUMA books, Austin and Zavala are indestructible and face off against bad guys and end up saving the day in the nick of time. Obviously these books are formulaic and I knew what to expect but even this book just felt more phoned in than the others. Even the antagonist’s motivations felt like the same from Serpent with some of the same set pieces as White Death. Austin is quickly becoming more of a copy of Pitt with each new story and it’s basically just interchangeable between the two. Same for Zavala and Giordino....more
As has been the case with almost all of the Cussler books I’ve read this year, Flood Tide is technically a re-read...18 years later. Yes I first read As has been the case with almost all of the Cussler books I’ve read this year, Flood Tide is technically a re-read...18 years later. Yes I first read this one way back in 2002, somewhere towards the end of 8th grade, and, also like a lot of Cussler novels, I don’t remember anything about it.
Which is weird because Flood Tide is really freaking good. Right up there with Sahara. But that’s not surprising since this was in the golden age of Clive. It’s got an intriguing story (even if in 2020 it’s a bit dated and can come off as xenophobic and maybe slightly racist), hot women, and of course, tons of requisite action. Basically everything a chubby 13 year old kid in private educations needed to get through late onset puberty.
I’m not going to claim Cussler wasn’t the best author in the world (seriously, some of his metaphors and similes are downright terrible) but I honestly don’t care. Flood Tide was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the hell out of it. ...more
Clearly I’m in the minority here but Traitor is an awful novel, both by general and Star Wars works.
A huge part of that is Matthew Stover whose writinClearly I’m in the minority here but Traitor is an awful novel, both by general and Star Wars works.
A huge part of that is Matthew Stover whose writing is pretentious and far too literary for a simple Star Wars story. I’m an English major so I get the use of descriptive and flowery language but it’s definitely not necessary for a book of this type. 292 pages never felt so long.
It’s also not necessary to needlessly plod on and on and on with Jacen’s emo side as he whines and complains about the Force and questions his place in the universe.
The NJO series is far from a great work of fiction, but with Traitor it hits a new low. ...more
I wrote the almost exact same thing about the last Cussler novel I recently finished but I think it’s probably the best description of this book (and I wrote the almost exact same thing about the last Cussler novel I recently finished but I think it’s probably the best description of this book (and basically all of the NUMA and Dirk Pitt books). And here it is:
White Death is pretty typical Cussler fare in that it’a formulaic as hell. Something of importance happens in the past, some kind of disaster or looming apocalyptic scenario happens in the present, and then by the midway point of the book we learn that the past and present have collided under the evil plans of some bad guy or girl who intends to take over the world because they’re pissed off and feeling slighted by some wrong from years ago. Every Clive Cussler novel follows the same plan and it’s basically a paint by numbers game at this point. Hell, even the characters are the same despite being part of the NUMA Files spin off. Even worse, this one borrows plot points and similar settings from both Cyclops and Shock Wave and feels far from original
And that’s all there to say about that...other than to state I still enjoyed the hell out of it. Austin and Zavala are runners up to their NUMA counterparts Pitt and Giordono, but they still find themselves in entertaining (albeit ridiculous and contrived ) situations. White Death was no different in that regard. Austin’s brush with death in Washington was over the top but in a cinematic blockbuster way. The plot was fairly pedestrian as well, as was the antagonist’s motivations, though it did work in the general scheme of things. I guess overall all I can say is that White Death is just...fun.
It wasn’t my intent to read back-to-back Cussler novels and it definitely wasn’t my intent to read White Death in basically a day, but you know what? I’m not gonna question it. I’m just going to accept the fact that I’ve now read something like 25 Cussler novels just in 2020 and reignited my love affair with the author who got me hooked on reading in the first place. ...more
I know I read Fire Ice when it first came out, smack dab in the middle of my Cussler obsession, but I’ll be damned if could remember anything3.5 stars
I know I read Fire Ice when it first came out, smack dab in the middle of my Cussler obsession, but I’ll be damned if could remember anything about it, other than it being a novel I read during the summer of 2002.
So 18 years have passed and I’m back on the Cussler train, both as a nostalgic experiment and as a way to pay homage to the author who pushed my enjoyment of reading into an obsession.
Fire Ice is pretty typical Cussler fare in that it’a formulaic as hell. Something of importance happens in the past, some kind of disaster happens in the present, and then by the midway point of the book we learn that the past and present have collided under the evil plans of some bad guy. Every Clive Cussler novel follows the same plan and it’s basically a paint by numbers game at this point. Hell, even the characters are the same, despite being the third NUMA Files spin off.
And yet, even if the plot and characters and eventual conclusion are familiar, you gotta hand it to Cussler (well, Kemprecos since the NUMA books are clearly his baby, just with Clive’s name): Fire Ice was still a lot of fun. Obviously not as action packed as the Oregon Files and lacking the adventure style of the Fargo series, but in 2002, those 2 series were 3 and 7 years off, respectfully. The Kurt Austin books were Cussler and Kemprecos’s attempt to branch out and give a new character a bit more of a blank check than Dirk Pitt...and yea, even though he’s Pitt with silver hair, by the 3rd book in this spin off, Austin and his adventures upped the ante in terms of pacing and action.
I didn’t love Fire Ice but this was still a decent enough read and proof that the NUMA Files books weren’t just another cash grab...even if (if my memory serves me correctly) they began to lose their quality quite quickly after this one....more
I love Star Wars books but for some reason, the dog fights and the constant space battles just don’t do it for me. The more they’re written, the more I love Star Wars books but for some reason, the dog fights and the constant space battles just don’t do it for me. The more they’re written, the more boring and repetitive they become.
And therein lies the problem with Rogue Squadron. While I get this book is essentially about the famous group of Reb pilots, it unfortunately devolves into countless pages of exposition regarding training and X-wing specs. Then it’s even more repetitive pages of blasting TIEs out of the sky. There’s only so many corkscrews and locking of S foils in attack position before it gets old.
There’s also plenty of issues with Stackpole’s penchant for mediocre writing. His characters have hardly any distinguishing characteristics. The men are all macho jocks who can fly the shit out of their ships, the women, regardless of their species are all beautiful, slender, and have nice legs. I lost track of who was who countless times because they were all the same. When things happen in this story, almost all of it is carried on through conversation, and not exposition. A fellow reviewer said this leads to some truly awkward moments and it makes sense now why at times I was confused as to how things happened. No outright explanation but more inferring things based on how the characters talked or their italicized inner monologues.
I know the entire X-Wing series is widely regarded as true classics of the Star Wars novels and I get what this series did for the franchise when there was no films or hardly anything happening. I also understand why fans love these books (and hell, I ended up buying the entire 10 books at my local thrift store cuz I am a Star Wars fan and it’s my quest to eventually get through every Legends novel) but for me, this one failed to grab my attention...at least in the way it does for others. It’s not terrible by any means (seriously there is far worse stuff in the Legends timeline) though it’s also not as great as it had the potential to be. ...more
Without a bunch of backstory or history of this spin off series, I’ll just cut right to the chase and say that, up to this point Plague Ship is easilyWithout a bunch of backstory or history of this spin off series, I’ll just cut right to the chase and say that, up to this point Plague Ship is easily the best of the “Oregon” books and probably one of Cussler’s best (even if this was clearly all Du Brul’s work).
Plague Ship reads like a perfect mix up of Christopher McQuirre’s Mission Impossible films, the Bourne movies, and Michael Bay when he directed 6 Underground. In other words, it’s non-freaking stop from cover to cover. Du Brul’s penchant for writing some truly amazing action scenes is clearly on display, rivaling some of Matt Reilly’s older stuff.
Even the story itself is a huge step up from past “Oregon” books, even if it has the ridiculousness of typical summer blockbusters.
There’s a reason this novel consistently ranks as one of (if not the) best Cussler novels of all time. Books like Plague Ship are the reason I fell in love with Clive Cussler (and reading in general) all those years ago. ...more
I liked Atkinson’s humor towards middle age and the sarcastic wit of Pamela, the main character. I even felt kind oShine, Pamela! Shine! was...weird.
I liked Atkinson’s humor towards middle age and the sarcastic wit of Pamela, the main character. I even felt kind of sorry for her.
But then the ending. I mean, what the hell? It’s a good thing the 19.5 other pages were decent because the last 3 paragraphs of this short story were flat out horrible.
Like a few others, I seem to be in the minority here.
I quite enjoyed Bear Witness as it felt vaguely reminiscent of the new iteration of Stephen King.Like a few others, I seem to be in the minority here.
I quite enjoyed Bear Witness as it felt vaguely reminiscent of the new iteration of Stephen King. The interweaving storylines and the eventual conclusion were right out of something he would pen these days.
I feel that had Gaitskill turned this into a full length novel, or should she somehow be able to get the rights back from Amazon and, at the very least expand this to a novella, Bear Witness could have easily been a 5 star read.
At very worst, I now have a new author I may need to check out. ...more
Yet another book in this collection that has clearly taken a ton of influence from P. D. James’s classic Children of Men, although with a slight twistYet another book in this collection that has clearly taken a ton of influence from P. D. James’s classic Children of Men, although with a slight twist.
Decently written and moderately enjoyable. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it. ...more
I don’t know what there is a bird on the cover of The Contractors unless it’s supposed to represent the famous “a little birdie told me...” line that I don’t know what there is a bird on the cover of The Contractors unless it’s supposed to represent the famous “a little birdie told me...” line that is usually the start of some rumor.
Which would make sense since this short is exactly that. The eventual outcome of rumors and shared emails and the destruction of a corrupt company.
Yeah, like most folks, I don’t get this one. I honestly don’t even know what Kepnes was trying to achieve with Swet Virginia.
I suppose it’s a1.5 stars
Yeah, like most folks, I don’t get this one. I honestly don’t even know what Kepnes was trying to achieve with Swet Virginia.
I suppose it’s a critique on popular culture and it’s belief that women who aren’t feminine or fit the feminine mold are looked down upon or seen as less than perfect, but it’s such a meddled mess of a story that I think Kepnes shoots herself in the foot with trying to be to “artsy” or “literary”.
Graceful Burdens reads like a spin-off of Handmaid’s Tale with a little bit of the dystopian landscape that is Children of Men.
And I’m totally ok withGraceful Burdens reads like a spin-off of Handmaid’s Tale with a little bit of the dystopian landscape that is Children of Men.
And I’m totally ok with that since both of those novels consistently rank among my favorites.
Unlike those 2 books though, Graceful Burdens clocks in at a measly 21 pages, which, unfortunately leaves a ton of story to be told.
I know this is part of Amazon’s “Out of Line” collection, so it’s supposed to be short and to the point, but I can only imagine just how powerful this story could have been had Gay been able to stretch it out and give us more history and backstory.
Regardless, it’s still powerful and great way to spend 20 minutes. ...more
Even though this one is cliched as all hell and ridiculously short at only 32 pages, I have to give Strayed credit for being able to tell a complete sEven though this one is cliched as all hell and ridiculously short at only 32 pages, I have to give Strayed credit for being able to tell a complete story in such a short amount of time. ...more
Nevill is way better than this collection of short stories would have you believe. Yes, they’re descriptive and invoke a feeing oHuge disappointment.
Nevill is way better than this collection of short stories would have you believe. Yes, they’re descriptive and invoke a feeing of empty dread, but at the same time, each story is immensely boring and repetitive.
No dialogue. No characters. Just bleak and empty passages that do practically nothing.
I really hate giving Nevill such a low review, as I’ve enjoyed previous works, however Wyrd didn’t do it for me....more
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