Books: Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World By Mark Waddell (2025)

“Colin is a low-level employee at Dark Enterprises, a Hell-like multinational corporation solving the world’s most difficult problems in deeply questionable ways. After years of toiling away in a cubicle, he's ready to climb the corporate ladder and claim the power he's never had. The only problem is, he’s pretty sure he’s about to be terminated. Like, terminated. That's tough, because his BFF has just set him up with a great guy. In fact, maybe he's a little too great. And asks a lot of questions. When Colin meets a shadowy figure promising him his heart’s deepest desire, he can’t resist the urge to fast-track his goals. In return for a small, unspecified favor, he asks for the one thing that will improve his life: a promotion. But that small favor unleashes an ancient evil. People in New York are disappearing, the world might be ending, and Management is starting to notice. Getting to the top is never easy, and now it’s up to Colin to save the world. It's the ultimate power move, after all.” 

During the last season of Buffyverse series Angel, our hero vampire took over running the law firm of Wolfram & Hart, which was a powerful national and interdimensional law firm, run by an ancient cabal of demons known as the Senior Partners, who worked through their powerful principal agents in the Circle of the Black Thorn. So in this book, there are some similarities with that company and Dark Enterprise in the often amusing Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World. There is also a large dose of corporate satire mixed in, along with horror and some romance.

 

Part of the fun of the book is Colin himself (though some of the secondary characters come off better), a man who desires power and wants to achieve his goals no matter who gets in his way - but he’s also more empathetic than other anti-heroes. In one way, I don’t see Colin as truly evil, it’s just he sometimes allows horrible things to happen to people and property in pursuant of his goals. But he also explains, near the end of the book, intends to continue working for Dark Enterprise, murdering people, because basically this is him doing self-care and actualizing his self worth! So beyond dealing with therapy issues, it also parodies relationships,  along with taking a sledge hammer to all the selfishness we see every day as we struggle for success.

 

So it’s full of dark humor, with morally gray characters (especially our protagonist) and lots of death and the near destruction of New York. But while all of that is terrible, it's sort of humorous death and destruction (also note that due to its supernatural nature, Dark Enterprise can be rebuilt and restaffed rather quickly, as the entire staff can slaughtered, and the building heavily damaged and within days, it’ll was back to operating condition with the entire staff replaced). And that’s a great distinction. So while Colin really is a maniac, and boyfriend Eric is thicker than a Christmas Yule log, author Waddell is able to keep the balance between humorous fiction and a psychotic murderer as a hero.

 

Not sure if Waddell will write a sequel, but to be honest, there is a TV series somewhere in this book.

Books: Curtain Call to Murder by Julian Clary (2024)

“It is opening night at the London Palladium, and tensions are running high amongst the feuding cast of "Leopard Spots." Amongst them are an ageing lothario, a national treasure, an amateur psychic and a comedian-turned actor all vying for the spotlight. When an on-stage accident forces an unexpected intermission, it is clear only to dresser Jayne that the drama has turned deadly. Can she step out of the wings and identify the killer before it is too late? Or will murder make an encore.” 

Clary does take an interesting, if often tedious, route setting up this whodunit. Instead of starting with the murder, we go roughly 170 pages into the backstory before we get to Peter Milano’s death on stage. I mean, it’s another way to set the table for the murder by giving all the exposition upfront instead of incorporating throughout the book. It tries hard to give the reader a better chance of figuring out who the killer “will be” instead working it out through the rest of the tale. 

Also the story is told from different perspectives: first person diary entries from the protagonist, WhatsApp chats, newspaper articles, and notes from Clary, who exists as a minor character within the tale (I’ve always had issues with authors who insert hyper-reality versions of themselves into their own books. It’s weird and arrogant). 

Clary also gives a piss-poor look at a certain gay character, who while probably does exist in real life, but I still found Gordon a terrible human being. There are a few plot holes that made me role my eyes at, and that’s not even counting some of the typos and sentence structure that should’ve been caught by a better editor. 

In the end, despite attempting (as noted in the prologue) to upset the apple cart in telling these British cosy mysteries, Curtain Call to Murder, while sometimes funny and odd, never fully gels and becomes more than just a bit too campy and trashy, and not very deep, for my tastes.

Books: Falling By T.J. Newman (2021)

“You just boarded a flight to New York. There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard. What you don't know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot's family was kidnapped. For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die. The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane. Enjoy the flight.” 

Over the decades, there has been a lot of fiction set on airplanes, from the melodrama of Airport (and it’s mostly silly sequels), to the action films like Passenger 57 and Snakes on an Airplane, to the sobering tale of United 93, and to parody classic that is Airplane!. Unfortunately, Falling becomes a parody of different kind. Former Flight Attendant T.J. Newman wrote this book during her years flying red-eyes, and in the post 9/11 world, she brings a great eye for detail and some action, but the premise is so problematical and unrealistic, that you can’t help but wonder if maybe she should’ve just worked the idea out more. 

Now, I was sort of expecting this to be a bad book, but for $1 at the Friends of the Library here in Culver City, I thought I would give it try. The characters are right out of Stereotypes R Us, all thinly-drawn, all shallow characterizations you expect from 1950s B films. The heart of the books many problems is the motivations of bad guys (I didn’t really think of then as terrorists, but I’m sure the Universal movie version will pump that up). It’s a huge and problematic plot hole. I guess it can be hard for any American who has lived the last 100 years in a fairly stable country with no wars and no real sacrifices of family and home life, but both Sam and Ben’s choices for why they’re doing what they’re doing seem not that deeply explored. 

The books also uses the trope of flashbacks (which pop up is the weirdest times), which sets up a plot point that somehow is usable in the present. Which itself not bad, but it’s so paint-by-number that I swear this book came out the same factory James Patterson uses to push his trashy tomes out of. 

Yes, it is a good book to read on a long flight, but you won’t remember much of it once you’re done. And would also be remiss if I didn’t add that I give a lot of kudos to the publishers of Falling for creating a great marketing for what is, in the end, an utterly dull action novel.

Books: Sandwich by Catherine Newman (2024)

“For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too. This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers. It's one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, though it looked fun and interesting. And after two long books, I thought a fluffy free comic novel would be a great palate cleanser. I’m not exactly the target audience for this book (mid 50s menopausal woman), but, again, I thought it looked amusing and I don’t often read a lot of women writers. As I read, as I pondered Rocky’s situation, I felt the relationship with her two kids, well, adults (24 year-old son Jamie and 21 year-old lesbian Willa) too open and not believable. Perhaps it’s just me; I did not grown up with a very close family. We were not upper middle class folks who could drop the amount of cash this family does once a year. Plus, what 24 year-old modern male, with a successful job and a beautiful girlfriend, still honoring such a family vacation tradition? It makes no sense. 

It reminded me of little seen TV series Wonderfalls where psychiatrist Dr Campbell asks Jaye Tyler (who was in crisis after having a wax lion talk to her. Long story.) “When's the last time you told your sister you loved her?” and she responds “I don't know how you did things in your family, but we weren't raised that way.”

I’ve never run into a family that is so open and maybe even a bit crude (and I’m not that prissy, or a pearl clutcher, but Newman took it to a bit extreme) about relationships and sex. It’s very liberal, which will limit the audience, and very creepy at times because I can’t grasp the closeness of this family. There is no real plot here, as well, just a monologue short novel about one woman’s struggle with her feminine body; abortion, depression, menopause. 

And the title? I get it: Rocky is “sandwiched” between her millennial kids and her aging parents, and not sure where she feels comfortable with. 

So I’m not going to read the sequel, Wreck. Because I think this was one already.

Books: The Devils By Joe Abercrombie (2025)

“Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters, and the mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends. Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it's a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.” 

This is my first attempt at reading a Joe Abercrombie book. I’ve seen his books for some time, aware they were more violent than what I’m used to in standard fantasy, though I’m not sure if that is good or bad, as the mainstream fantasy field has not surprised me for years (the usual suspects of being too many volumes, most overlong, and, ugh, romantasy). The Devils is also part of a subgenre of fantasy called Grimdark. That variety features a more darker, grittier, morally ambiguous world with violent and often nihilistic themes. It is defined by its bleak settings, anti-heroic and selfish characters, and frequent depictions of corruption, violence, and tragedy, blurring the line between good and evil. 

So the book follows a monk, a cursed knight, a pirate, a werewolf, a vampire, a magician, and elf whom are tasked by the church to escort a former thief to Troy, where she is heir to the throne. So all the ingredients are here for the perfect novel, but something feels off and I can’t quite put my finger on why. Perhaps, part of the problem, lies with the feeling I’ve read this all before – like some forty years ago. It reminded me a lot of David Eddings The Belgariad and The Malloreon, which is not bad, as I enjoyed those novels. While Eddings work was not super complex, as it is here, both writers have a sense of humor and created memorable characters. The Devils is also episodic, despite the fact is has fast paced action, with barely a breath between set-pieces, and short chapters. And it works, but for someone reading a novel by him for the first time, I do not fully love this book, the first in a new trilogy. 

Also, it’s a bit overlong, but I’ve finished it, and got at least a year wait for the next book. We’ll see if I will pick up book two or maybe, like other fantasy novels of late, have found nothing new to want me to continue on.