Monday, February 2, 2009

Sweet Revenge


Another good weekend for catching up on my alternate reality lifestyle :) I was off work on Friday due to "SkiFest" a boondoggle excuse to take the day off whether you go skiing or not. I spent a lot of time catching up my World of Warcraft warrior to get her ready for the weekend's play, especially a really long dungeon crawl we had planned for Saturday. I also spent some game time on Fallout 3 as well as watching an episode of Stargate SG-1 (up to season 4 now) and about 7 episodes of BattleStar Gallactica (also season 4).

I completed my reading of Diane Mott Davidson's Sweet Revenge on Saturday. This is the 14th of her Culinary Mystery series featuring caterer Goldy Schulz. These books have sort of become an obligation for me, rather than ones I look forward to with baited breath. I will keep reading them I'm sure, because it's like catching up on what's happening with old friends. The actual mysteries are OK but seem to be getting a little repetitive. This time around it's the height of the Christmas season and so Goldy's catering business is packed with business. This serves to drive the hectic nature of the events that occur; actually now that I think about it, all of these books are "hectic" as Goldy struggles to juggle all that comes her way.

I have to say I am a little worried about the future of this series. It is hard for the plot to top previous plots anymore and so Goldy is starting to act more and more outrageously. In this novel she acts spontaeously quite a few times with very little fore thought and gets herself into so many dangerous situations that you have to wonder at her judgement. She breaks the law to get answers to her questions, even though she is married to a cop. And even he seems to be growing tired of the way she takes matters into her own hands all the time. The supporting characters were two dimensional and added little to the plot except to be in the right place at the right time in order for Goldy to become even more of a busy body. And the residents of Aspen Meadow, the Colorado town that is the centerpiece for all of the novels in the series, are as kooky as can be. So much so that realism suffers as well as credibility.

It may be time for Ms Davidson to retire this series and begin a new one.

I also read the next entry in the Deaver More Twisted collection. Interrogation involved a good cop interviewing a villain who turns the tables on him, ingratiating himself to the cop (as well as to the reader). I will follow my "no spoilers" policy and stop there only to say that once again, the twist at the end was predictable, probably because I knew there would be one...it's in a "twisted" collection afterall. Had I read it alone or in some other kind of collection it might have worked better.

Next up, number two in J. Gregory Keyes' Babylon 5 Psi Corps trilogy, Deadly Relations, Bester Ascendent.

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Top 10 Books in no particular order (Well Known Authors)

  • "The Stand" by Stephen King
  • "Kane and Able" by Jeffrey Archer
  • "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara
  • "The Dark Elf Trilogy" by RA Salvatore
  • "Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
  • "River God" by Wilbur Smith
  • "Mortalis" by RA Salvatore
  • "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card
  • "Centennial" by James A Michener
  • "The Repairman Jack" series by F. Paul Wilson

Top Books/ Series in no particular order (Lesser Known Authors)

  • "The Sculpter" by Gregory Funaro
  • "Power Down" by Ben Coes
  • "Revolution at Sea Saga" by James L. Nelson
  • "Black Rain" by Graham Brown
  • "Top Producer" by Norb Vonnegut
  • "Prairie" by Anna Lee Waldo
  • "The Wild Blue" by W. Boyne & S Thompson
  • "Unsolicited" series by Julie Kaewert
  • "Freedom" by William Safire