Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

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You might have seen Annihilation, a 2018 science fiction horror film based loosely on this book.

It is a bizarre book.

The novel follows a team of four women who are sent out into a government-managed, uninhabited location called Area X to study and survey the land and ecosystem. They are the twelfth expedition, with previous expeditions having fallen apart due to disappearances, suicides, aggressive cancers, and mental trauma. …

… the biologist discovers copious bloodstains and a large hidden pile of hundreds of past expeditions’ journals, some detailing battles against a monstrous presence …

It won the 2014 Nebula Award for Best Novel — but I can’t really recommend it. I won’t go on to the sequels.

Amazon – Annihilation: A Novel (The Southern Reach Series, book 1)

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Firestarter by Stephen King

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Firestarter is a science fiction–horror thriller novel by Stephen King, first published in September 1980.

It tells the story of a young girl, Charlie McGee, with the ability of pyrokinesis, whose destructive force a ruthless government agency tries to harness for their own purposes. 

A miniseries follow-up to the film, Firestarter: Rekindled, was released in 2002 on the Sci-Fi Channel and a remake from Blumhouse Productions was released on 13 May 2022.

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Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs

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I never got hooked on her (many) Temperance Brennan Books.

BUT gave it another try.

I’m still not convinced. Reichs writes in an interesting, unusual style.

But the plot of this one was not convincing. The killer simply surprising. There was no ah ha twist to the story.

Fire and Bones (2024) by Kathy Reichs is 23rd in the series.

… forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan finds herself at the center of a Washington, DC, arson investigation with deepening levels of mystery and, ultimately, violence. …

The devastated building is in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood with a colorful past and present, and when Tempe delves into the property’s history, she becomes suspicious about the ownership.

The pieces start falling into place strangely and quickly, and, sensing a good story, Tempe teams with a new ally, telejournalist Ivy Doyle.

Soon the duo learns that back in the 1930s and ’40s the home was the hangout of a group of bootleggers and racketeers known as the Foggy Bottom Gang.

While interesting, this fact seems irrelevant—until the son of a Foggy Bottom gang member is shot dead at his home in an affluent part of the district. Coincidence? Targeted attack? …

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

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Mixed feelings.

The Night Circus (2011) is a phantasmagorical fairy tale set near an ahistorical Victorian London in a wandering, magical circus that only opens at night and closes at dawn.

Called Le Cirque des Rêves (The Circus of Dreams) …

Well written. But what is it?

Magic realism?

A romance novel?

We are supposed to get interested in some sort of contest between two talented people: Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair.

I couldn’t get into it. And neither could either of the two.

It’s more of an ongoing history of a unique circus.

Mixed feelings.

Unbound by Stuart Woods

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Unbound (2018) – #44 in the series.

This one features more Teddy Fay, one of our favourite characters. And not someone you want to mess with.

Teddy’s wife is killed by a drunk driver. He takes a leave of absence to grieve — and considers revenge.

One thing leads to another, as always in the Stone Barrington, books. And we end up well entertained.

Among the Wicked by Linda Castillo

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Among the Wicked (2016) is very popular with fans. And was quite well reviewed.

I found it to be poorly written. Repeating points unnecessarily, for example. A pet peeve of mine.

Pacing too slow.

But the plot is interesting.

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called upon by the sheriff’s department in rural, upstate New York to assist on a developing situation that involves a reclusive Amish settlement and the death of a young girl.

Unable to penetrate the wall of silence between the Amish and “English” communities, the sheriff asks Kate to travel to New York, pose as an Amish woman, and infiltrate the community. …

Kate infiltrates the community and goes deep under cover. In the coming days, she unearths a world built on secrets, a series of shocking crimes, and herself, alone… trapped in a fight for her life.

The Underground Man by Ross Macdonald

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The Underground Man (1971) is an interesting read — looking back from 2026.

One in the series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featuring private detective Lew Archer. 

The slow pace. The odd, jilted dialogue. The attention to details.

Interesting.

But — ultimately — you have to conclude this is a BAD BOOK.

The plot is confusing and dumb.

The ending inconclusive.

As a mysterious fire rages through the hills above a privileged town in Southern California, Lew Archer tracks a missing child who may be the pawn in a marital struggle or the victim of a bizarre kidnapping.

What he uncovers amid the ashes is murder—and a trail of motives as combustible as gasoline.

If any writer can be said to have inherited the mantle of Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler, it was Ross Macdonald.

Between the late 1940s and his death in 1983, he gave the American crime novel a psychological depth and moral complexity that his predecessors had only hinted at.

It was adapted as a TV movie in 1974. You can watch the entire thing on YouTube.

Peter Graves is Lew Archer.

The movie is not very good. 😀 Worse than the book.

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The Night Manager – season 2

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Night Manager season 1 was excellent.

I was less impressed with season 2.

All the right pieces — but to me it seemed they tried too hard. Perhaps a bit more humour would help.

Set eight to ten years after the events of the first season, Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is living a quiet life as “Alex Goodwin,” a low-level MI6 surveillance officer in London. His peace is shattered by a chance encounter with a mercenary from his past, pulling him into a new mission in Colombia. 

  • The Mission: Pine must infiltrate the operation of Colombian arms dealer Teddy Dos Santos, who is smuggling weapons to train a private guerrilla army intended to overthrow the Colombian government.
  • The Twist: A major mid-season revelation confirms that Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) is still alive, having faked his death in Egypt. He has been rebuilding his empire from Colombia and was the true mastermind behind Teddy’s operation. 

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Deadly Equation by Gary Gerlacher

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Recommended.

Deadly Equation (2024) is #4 in the entertaining AJ Docker and Banshee series.

A trauma patient’s dying request of AJ Docker leads him and his retired police dog, Banshee, to embark on their latest adventures.

Partnering with his patient’s sister, they embark on a quest to uncover powerful research that could alter the course of humanity.

Shadowy enemies pursue them in Washington DC, in a race to capitalize on the information, while a new threat reveals itself at Doc’s hospital. A greedy corporation is attempting to take over the emergency room, threatening the quality of healthcare nationwide.

Doc has to fight a billion dollar company to save more patient’s lives, as well as the careers of competent medical professionals.

Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer

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Very good.

Clifton Chronicles:

Archer is a terrific story teller.

I’m finding the A.I. mode summaries on a Google search increasingly useful:

The Clifton and Barrington families through the late 1960s and early 1970s. The novel is known for its intricate plot, multiple character storylines, and trademark cliffhanger ending. 

The book explores several intersecting storylines for the main characters:

  • Harry Clifton As the newly elected president of English PEN, Harry embarks on a dangerous mission to free fellow author Anatoly Babakov from a Russian gulag in Siberia, a quest that puts his own life at risk.
  • Emma Clifton Now Chairman of Barrington Shipping, Emma must navigate the fallout from an IRA bombing on the family’s flagship, the MV Buckingham, while also fending off an old adversary, Lady Virginia Fenwick, who is determined to bring about her downfall.
  • Giles Barrington A Minister of the Crown with ambitions for higher office, Giles’s political career faces jeopardy after a diplomatic trip to Berlin ends in disaster. His long-standing rival, Major Alex Fisher, seizes the opportunity to run against him in the general election.
  • Sebastian Clifton Harry and Emma’s son is making a name for himself at Farthing’s Bank and proposes to his American girlfriend, Samantha. However, a deceitful colleague, Adrian Sloane, schemes to ruin Sebastian’s career and personal life. 

The narrative builds to a climax featuring two major court trials—a libel case in London and a politically charged show trial in Leningrad—which leave the fates of the characters hanging in the balance at the book’s conclusion. 

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