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Book Review: King of Paine by Larry Kahn
Summary:
Frank Paine was a Hollywood A-list leading man until he let the woman he loved deal with a BDSM scandal in the news on her own, thereby destroying her career and saving his. The guilt got to him, so he ended up leaving Hollywood and joining the FBI in an effort to bring justice to the world. His first case in the Rainbow Squad, however, involves not child rape or molestation but adult, BDSM style rape-by-proxy, and his ex-girlfriend is a suspect. Meanwhile, a former Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who’s been drowning his sorrows in alcohol finds himself swept up into the life of Angela del Rio and and discovering rumors of a place called The River.
Review:
I’m of two minds about this book. I felt the need to find out what happened in the end, but I also didn’t enjoy the meat of the story very much. It’s kind of like when you find yourself watching a marathon of The Biggest Loser and wondering why, exactly, it matters to you who gets voted off when the show get so many nutrition and exercise facts wrong and why exactly are the competitors cut off from their family anyway? Actually, it’s exactly like that.
Kahn builds suspense well. He’s clearly paid attention to just how much and how often to ramp up the violence and intrigue to keep a reader reading. I also appreciated the two separate story-lines that then intertwined. Of course, the reader knows they’re going to intertwine, but how is not immediately obvious. That was a nice touch.
Kahn also moves smoothly between real life dialogue and the chats on an online BDSM website that are a key part of the investigation. It was definitely crucial to a modern story to include the internet, and he switches between real life and the internet quite well.
That said, other crucial parts of telling a story fell flat for me. Kahn does not write women well. On looking back, it is evident that women in his story are divided into the classic dichotomy of angel or whore. There is no real room for three-dimensional characterization, making mistakes, or understandable motivations. For instance, Paine’s ex goes from calling her brother to threaten to kill him to getting back together within a week. That’s, um, fast? Similarly, although Kahn slips back and forth easily between Paine’s and Roger’s perspective, he never shows any of the women’s perspectives, even though they are the ones being raped, beaten, tricked, used, and abused. I can understand using the perspective of an FBI agent, but why couldn’t the second perspective have been Angela instead of Roger? Or why couldn’t he have made the reporter a woman? Regardless, none of the women in the story were believable, real characters.
Similarly, I was ultimately disappointed with who the perpetrator of the crime ultimately is. Without spoiling it, suffice to say the choice is stereotypical, bordering on racist. It was a choice lacking in creativity or sensitivity.
Overall, although the suspense reeled me in, the content of the story left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I suppose if you want a junk food style suspense, or if the negatives I pointed out wouldn’t bother you, you may enjoy this book. Those looking for thought-provoking, realistic suspense should look elsewhere, however.
3 out of 5 stars
Source: Kindle copy from author in exchange for my honest review
Friday Fun! (Happy Thanksgiving!)
Hello my lovely readers! For once I’m actually writing this a couple of days ahead of time, because it is American Thanksgiving this weekend, and I’m going to be one busy lady. My dad is coming down from Vermont to spend a few days with me in my lovely city of Boston. I’m looking forward to the quality time. It’s something that’s hard to come by when you live in a different state from your parent. I’m also excited for him to see me looking far healthier than the last time he was here, which was almost a year ago!
There will probably not be anything particularly traditional about our Thanksgiving, since I’m a vegetarian, and there’s only two of us. We may go out. We may order in. We may make tacos. Who knows. We will, however, definitely be drinking beer and watching the game. We are traditional Americans in THAT regard. ;-)
Once he heads back for home I’ll be doing the laundry, getting in some quality gym time, and finally getting started on editing zombies. I’m aiming for a release date toward the end of January and am excited about this book. Whereas the Tova Gallagher series is a just for fun romance novella lite, zombies is all about the feminist scifi and horror writer inside me. It’s a different kind of excitement. A more serious one.
I do want to take a moment to ask you all to seriously consider avoiding the crass consumerism that is Black Friday sales this weekend if at all possible. I understand money is tight, trust me, I do, but all you have to do is youtube some videos of the types of mobs that happen to see how disgusting this obsession with stuff can be. Spend your long weekend with loved ones, whether related by blood or by choice. Get outside. Go for a hike. Read a book. Go to the library! Just don’t spend your precious hours off obsessed with stuff. As Tyler Durden says, you don’t own your stuff. Your stuff owns you.
Happy weekend all!
Announcement: I Am Published!!
Hello my lovely readers! So, the super-secret project that I’ve been working on is to finally get my own writing out where people can read it! I’ve been writing since…..well, since I could put pencil to paper. I am completely passionate about story-telling, and this is where I truly feel my talent lies. Since I finished grad school in January, I’ve been cracking down and getting serious about my writing.
Well, I can finally announce that I have published the first entry in a new series to the Amazon Kindle store! I started with my idea to reclaim the old format of serial books. Every entry in the series is 99 cents and short enough to read in one sitting, such as on your commute, a plane ride, a bath, etc…. The storyline is complete in and of itself, but it will be continued in another entry in a few months. Join Tova Gallagher in her paranormal world with the few moments you have to spare in your busy day! It is ideal for the busy, modern, paranormal romance lover.
The first entry is entitled Ecstatic Evil
Tova Gallagher isn’t just your average tough as nails, intelligent Bostonian. She also just so happens to be half-demon, and halvesies have an important role to play in the supe world. Whether they choose to go with the instincts of their demon or human half is supposed to predict the outcome of the endtimes, and now Tova has a deadline to choose sides. But all of that is hard to care about when she’s just met a sexy stranger on the edge of the Charles River.
Please do check it out! I write because I have stories to tell and want to entertain. At only 99 cents, it’s worth the shot, right?
Also, I started with the novella series so I could practice with the ebook publishing software before my first serious novel, which I plan to release in October for Halloween. I am very excited about it and can’t wait to let you guys know more details! In the meantime, be sure to keep an eye on my new Publications page on this blog. <3
Check Out Ecstatic Evil
Friday Fun! (Reflections and Looking Forward)
Hello my lovely readers! Today is the last day of 2010, and it feels to me like it just flew by, in spite of everything that happened during it.
As far as this blog goes, 2010 was my first full year of blogging. I really think I’ve solidified what I want my blog to be and look like this year. My layout and sidebars really reflect who I am, and I think I’ve finally got a solid style going for my reviews as well as weekly schedules. I hope you guys think so too! In 2011, I’m hosting my first reading challenge (sign up here!) and now that I’m out of grad school, I expect my non-review posts to be slightly less librarianship focused. But you never know.
On a personal note, 2010 was the first year I lived entirely in one place since I was 15 years old. It’s been kind of amazing, and I’m loving having the feeling of having roots somewhere. As my first full year living in Boston, I’ve been able to fully experience all the thrills of living in such a historic, academic city. I enjoy every aspect of it–even the ones I complain about. I love it that I can eat any variety of foods pretty much anytime I want. I can’t get over the fact that I can get a veggie burger at pretty much every single pub. I learned how to ride my bike in city traffic and experienced the joy of riding to the park to spend the day on the grass reading while others read, toss a football around, or play volleyball, and cap the day off with a walk to get some bubble tea. I discovered local independent bookstores and their fabulous used book basements that have killed my tbr pile. I went to a free Dharma and meditation session for the first time and found out how awesome it is to be quiet in a roomful of people. I’ve had the bonding experience of struggling with public transit on rainy days and in blizzards. A recent immigrant who barely spoke English once shared her umbrella with me when waiting for the bus, and it was the highlight of my day. I tried container gardening for the first time and encountered the community of urban environmentalists. So many new experiences in so little time.
This year also saw the end of my first real relationship. It’s been sad and a struggle for me, but I view the entire relationship from beginning to end to now as a wonderful experience, and I wouldn’t undo it for anything in the world. My only regrets are some of the mistakes I made, but how else can we grow and learn? Now that I know what a relationship *can* be, I’m working on being ok being alone until the next one comes along.
This year also saw me complete my Masters of Library and Information Science! The last two weeks have been the first time since I was….what? Four years old? That I haven’t been a student. I’m thoroughly enjoying having time to myself to do more of what I’d like to do. I’m nervous about the next step of my career–hunting for a higher paying job with the blessings of my current employer–, but I’m also thrilled to see where I end up. Part of me still can’t believe that I’m a white collar, highly educated, young professional living in a city. Someone pinch me!
I also hope in 2011 to really get down to business with my writing. I want to finish at least one novel, hopefully two, and start shopping them around to publishers. I have faith in my writing, and it’s time to start acting on it.
Don’t worry; this blog won’t suffer. It’s so closely tied to my favorite hobby of reading that I have a hard time imagining ever not blogging again. I’m looking forward to 2011. I’m eager. I will strive for my goals and take everything life throws at me. Anytime I start to struggle or feel down, I just remember how shocked and proud 14 year old me would be of 24 year old me, and I smile. I can’t wait to see what 2011 brings. Everything is a learning experience, and I truly feel that I am beating down more and more demons as I get older. Bring it on, 2011. I’m ready, and I’m not afraid.
Book Review: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
Summary:
In this memoir Donald Miller recalls how turning his previous memoir into a movie impacted his life. When working on the script, Donald learned what makes a good story and started applying it to his current life. He went from sitting on the couch all day watching tv to biking across the country to raise money for clean water in Africa.
Review:
This book could have been brilliant. It contains various clear information on what makes a good story that is quite useful to writers. It also is inspirational in asking us to stop watching characters live stories and live our own. Unfortuantely, Miller persists in plopping in his spiritual ideas, which tend toward the mainstream Christian variety. I don’t mind skimming over a few praise God’s. I do, however, get profoundly irritated when a writer goes from saying something meaningful like life is about what we learn and not about achieving something in particular to saying that the people with the worst lives have it the best because they’ll appreciate heaven more. Um, excuse me, what the hell?! It’s such an odd mental position to take. Can you imagine saying that to someone with AIDs or a starving child or someone who’s being abused? Then, to take the mental oddness further, he goes on to seek to help people better their lives. That’s great that he does that, but it seems that based on his theory that a rough life leads to a better after-life that he’s just stealing a good after-life from these people. My brain hurts just thinking about that mind-fuck.
I guess what made the book such a frustrating read for me is that I can see Miller being so close to a humanist view but then ruining his current life by pining for the after-life. He talks a lot about what makes a good story but I bet even he could see that a movie wouldn’t be any fun if a character spends the whole film pining for something that he isn’t sure is actually going to happen to the extent that he misses things happening right now.
That said, the book is well-written and does contain some memorable scenes and people. Actually, I wish the book had been about some of the people featured in it in lieu of Miller, such as the family that went around interviewing world leaders with their children or the man who went from a childhood in the ghetto to running a law firm to running a mentoring program. At least we get to hear a bit about them though.
On the other hand, Miller’s view of the world tends to rip you from the story and make you want to smack him upside the head. Like when he tells the story of how a man stole his ex-girlfriend’s cat and then told her on the phone he was going to hurt it if she didn’t come back to him then proceeded to squeeze the cat until it cried. Miller called this “depravingly charming” (219). Um, no, it’s awful! And Miller finds this story inspiring because the man “found Jesus” and “changed.”
It basically reads almost as if two different people wrote the memoir. One who recognizes we have one life to live and it’s better to live it doing things than sitting on the couch. The other spends his time with his head in the clouds hoping for the after-life and believing in the power of a dead man. If you can handle the cognitive dissonance in those two stances, you’ll enjoy the book as it is written well. If you find it as troubling as I do, though, you should skip it.
2.5. out of 5 stars
Source: Won from Minski of okay, peanut
On Writing in Books
Growing up, I was taught that books are precious objects that we do not make any marks in. Of course, most of our books were borrowed from the library, so this made perfect sense.
Then university came, along with my two very text-heavy majors–American History and English and American Literature. I was encouraged to mark up my books, both the primary texts of my history courses and the literature of my English courses. At first I was hesitant, using post-it notes stuck to the pages to mark my ideas. After the course was over, I’d remove the post-it notes, leaving just a few highlighted passages.
Along came the year when I took two courses in a row that taught Paradise Lost. The first course was about heresy in history and literature (freaking amazing class, dudes). The second was on the Western Canon. I opened my copy of Paradise Lost in Western Canon and found myself devastated that all of my heresy observations were gone. Gone and never to return. To this day I wish I had the notations I made during the exquisite heresy lectures. Nothing taught me the vast possibilities in good literature like approaching Paradise Lost in these two different manners did. And nothing showed me better the value of writing in a book.
My experience reading isn’t just for shits and giggles, as the saying goes. I learn things about myself, about the world. My perceptions and ideas flux and change. There are the books that I read as a teen that I’ve re-read in my 20s, and I’ve wished that I could see on the page my reaction to the writing as a teenager.
The experience of reading a word or a phrase and having it strike you. Of wanting to underline it. Of wanting to note what it means to you right then. Expand this to include notations of things you’ve learned in relation to this word or phrase, such as the fact that you googled it and discovered it was dangerous for the author to write such a thing at the time. Or even just the definition of a word you didn’t know.
I know many people think it sullies a book to write in it, but I think it expands the book. I know people who are disgusted if they check out a book from the library and it’s written in, but I find that to be a wonderful treasure. I love seeing how someone else reacted to the same book. Someone who I will never know beyond the fact that they were so moved by a passage that they felt the need to write “omg!!” alongside it or that they knew so much about Greek mythology that they noted which goddess a passage is referring to.
Reading should be interactive, and books are necessarily a part of that. When I die and people clean out my personal library, I want the copies of my books to show the wear and tear that comes from truly interacting with the books you love. I want them to be worn from multiple readings and covered with notations and highlighting made in different colors throughout the course of my life. I want my books to reflect the impact that they’ve had on me, so I’ll continue to write in them. Even if it means that when I decide in my minimalist way to let a book go that I have a more difficult time finding someone to swap with.
Friday Fun! (Grad School Returns)
Grad school is fully back in swing. While I still wish I could miraculously have the copious amount of time I had over winter break when I was just working full-time, instead of working full-time and attending grad school part-time, I don’t totally hate my classes this semester. Yet.
One of my classes is on being an academic librarian in science and technology. The professor is an adjunct, which means he works in the field and knows what he’s talking about. Miraculously, I have yet to loathe any of my fellow students in that class. In fact, I even like some of them. A couple of them were in my medical librarianship class last spring, and I enjoy hanging out with them while they smoke on our break. They don’t have this false sense of being superheroes a lot of students in the program do. They just want a good, stable career, like me.
My other class is an online one on academic libraries. I’ve found I learn more in online classes, not sure why. I pretty much can’t stand any of my fellow students in it, but that’s ok. It’s easy to just roll your eyes at the statements made when you’re not trapped in a classroom with them. I like the professor though, and the assignments seem like I’ll actually learn something from them.
I’ve reached the climax in the novella that I’m writing. I’m excited to get to edit it and send it off to a friend for critique. I seem to actually be following through on my, totally not officially made but thought about a lot, resolution to write my novellas/books more. I really feel like the time I’m spending working on improving my writing is well spent, which is a pretty darn good feel good pill. Maybe someday you guys will get to review my books! Lol.
Happy weekend!
Movie Review: World’s Greatest Dad (2009)
Summary:
Lance knows he’s a good writer with a voice that deserves to be heard, but somehow it gets lost in the shuffle of his everyday life as a divorced high school English teacher and dad to his teenage son. His son is a jerk and a bit of a pervert, but Lance’s love for him helps him get through the day. When he comes home to find his son dead from erotic asphyxiation, his world is turned upside down.
Review:
This movie is a wonderful study of multiple, well-rounded, three-dimensional characters. From Lance to his hoarding neighbor to his art teacher, shallow, childish, love interest and everyone in-between, this movie is chock full of characters who are believable as real people. You want to study them more in-depth. You want to know what makes them tick.
Lance is such a likeable guy. He’s sweet, loves old horror movies, strives to write the best he can. All he wants out of life is to be recognized, not just on the level of his writing, but in his life over-all. He desperately wants to be noticed and loved. Parents will appreciate that whatever it is that makes Lance’s son such a jerk, it is never portrayed as Lance’s fault.
Beyond the wonderful characters, the movie makes a great commentary on what makes a book publishable. It points out the hypocrisy of popularity surrounding a controversy and the general sheep-like quality of the masses. This combined with the character studies makes it well worth the watch.
I recommend it to those who enjoy character-driven movies with a wry sense of humor.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Netflix
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This work by Amanda Nevius is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Opinions of a Wolf 