Books: The Man Everyone Was Afraid Of By Joesph Hansen (1978)

 

“When Ben Orton’s head is found bludgeoned by a heavy flower pot, the people of La Caleta are stunned—not because their police chief has been murdered, but because no one thought to do it sooner. A bruising, violent man, Ben had a commitment to order that did not always take the law into account. But as insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter is about to find out, the corruption in Ben’s police force did not die with him. By the time Dave arrives in the fading fishing town, a young activist has already been arrested for the murder. Only Dave seems to care that the evidence against the accused is laughably thin. As the people of La Caleta try their best to thwart his investigation, Dave must do whatever it takes to catch Ben’s killer.”

In the fourth book in this series, Dave Brandstetter we see our trusty, but hard-boiled insurance investigator at somewhat of a crossroad. His father is ill, perhaps close to death, and his relationship with Doug seems more doomed than ever –also considering Doug’s mother is also ill, which has forced Doug to shut down her business and try putting her in a convalescence home. Also, Doug apparently has taken another lover. All of these domestic aspects play against a pretty tight little whodunit, where Dave goes up against a small town 250 miles north of Los Angeles, owned by corruption and hero worship. And like any small town, its secrets must be kept –even if everyone may know about them.

Again, it’s a complex tale only let down by a contrived ending. I mean Dave spends the entire book trying to come up with a plausible alternate suspect only for the reader to discover, in the last few chapters, that a whole parade of people came to visit the Chief the night he was murdered, saw his dead body and then scampered away without calling anyone, thus seemly, content with the idea that an innocent (but gay) man will be convicted. I know Hansen is trying to say most people are horrible human beings and will do anything to keep themselves free from the law, but even Agatha Christie (known to do this from time to time) might raise a finger and point out how convoluted this ending was.

Books: Ordinary Monsters By J.M. Miro (2022)

“England, 1882. In Victorian London, two children with mysterious powers are hunted by a figure of darkness —a man made of smoke. Sixteen-year-old Charlie Ovid, despite a lifetime of brutality, doesn't have a scar on him. His body heals itself, whether he wants it to or not. Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight car, shines with a strange bluish light. He can melt or mend flesh. When two grizzled detectives are recruited to escort them north to safety, they are forced to confront the nature of difference, and belonging, and the shadowy edges of the monstrous. What follows is a journey from the gaslit streets of London, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh, where other children with gifts—the Talents—have been gathered. Here, the world of the dead and the world of the living threaten to collide. And as secrets within the Institute unfurl, Marlowe, Charlie and the rest of the Talents will discover the truth about their abilities, and the nature of the force that is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.”

Ordinary Monsters took way to long for me to finish. Its way too lengthy (658 pages), it sets up an unwieldy system of unexplainable magic, with gifted kids who are keys to saving the world, and all of it is very familiar (I felt Miro cribbed a lot from the Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series -funny, another series I've yet to finish despite owning the last book). I simply struggled to finish it all because there is something great in it –but it’s very hard to explain.

Part of the problem, maybe, is the characters motivations. I struggled to understand how these kids got their talents, how they were found, why an ancient evil needed them to overrun the world with the dead. It all became a massive set-up with a telegraphed cliffhanger. Yes, there are some fine, well drawn characters –Marlowe and Charlie being the most likeable and endearing. And there are some strong female leads here, but there is a lot, I mean a lot, of repetitiveness to the narrative, which made it a slog to get through (lucky we were not dogged down with long chapters).

The writing is great, as well, but it reminds me of why fantasy novels are getting tiresome as I age. It was once a fun genre to read, back in the days. Most series were just three books, some no longer than say 400 pages. Now we get 600, 700, or well over a 1,000 page series that runs into eight to twelve (or more) novels. It’s all a bit gratuitous, were editors are allowing writers to take 40 or 50 pages per set piece and yet the book seems to still stand still, not really moving forward –or at a glacial pace.

If the two other books in this series are just as long, I believe I will not continue on. In the end, I feel there is nothing new here enough to keep me interested. 

Books: Doctor Who: Dark Horizons by Jenny T. Colgan (2012)

 

“On a windswept northern shore, at the very tip of what will one day become Scotland, the islanders believe the worst they have to fear is a Viking attack. Then the burning comes. They cannot run from it. Water will not stop it. It consumes everything in its path - yet the burned still speak. The Doctor is just looking for a game on the famous Lewis chess set. Instead he encounters a people under attack from a power they cannot possibly understand. They have no weapons, no strategy and no protection against a fire sent to engulf them all. Add in some marauding Vikings with very bad timing, a kidnapped princess with a secret of her own and a TARDIS that seems to have developed an inexplicable fear of water, and they all have a battle on their hands. The islanders must take on a ruthless alien force in a world without technology; without communications; without tea that isn't made out of bark. Still at least they have the Doctor on their side... Don't they?”

Much of Dark Horizons is a well-researched historical tale, akin to the franchises early years, but while writer Colgan brings to life the culture, community and well-realized lives of Vikings, the pacing is somewhat difficult to keep me going –hence this took me way too long to read. There are some wonderful “companions” for the 11^th Doctor to banter with, in particular Henrik and Freydis (who believes the Timelord to be Loki). There is a lot going on (including a cameo by the 4^th Doctor, Leela, and K9), but the book sort of looses the thread towards the middle and only slightly recovers towards the end. And while I appreciated a historical tale with some science fiction, and the Doctor is very well done here, a lonely god, an idiot, and both ineffectual and powerful at the same time, the book failed to make me really want to care in the end.