… Hit Man follows an undercover New Orleans police contractor who poses as a reliable hitman as he tries to save a woman in need.
The basic premise was based on the true story of a college professor who worked for the Houston police in the late 1980s and 1990s as a fake hitman …
Adria Arjona as Madison Figueroa Masters is gorgeous and most charismatic.
The HIT MAN is Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, college professor and tech guy turned undercover mole. … Or it might be Justin Hartley as the HIT MAN. Those two are probably the same actor. 😀
On Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 295 critics’ reviews are positive.
“Listen for the Lie,” (2024) … Stephen King called “a world-class whodunit” …
It’s a comedy, as well. Laughs on every page.
It follows Lucy Chase, a woman believed to have killed her best friend years prior.
Lucy, who has amnesia about the entire incident, was never officially charged or arrested for the murder, though it is generally believed that she did it.
When Ben Owens, a true crime podcaster, digs up the cold case again for his podcast five years later, Lucy joins in helping him uncover who the true killer is.
The comic actor returns as the worst-informed person on TV for a one-off that tackles the big issues – and quite possibly causes permanent damage to the baffled academics she interviews …
As ever, she interviews a variety of experts “to ask some of the most significant questions you can ask with a mouth”. …
Prime Suspect — the book — was published by Lynda La Plante in 2019, long after the end of the TV series.
Not nearly as good.
I found DCI Jane Tennison mostly annoying.
The pace too slow.
Not recommended.
When a prostitute is found murdered in her bedsit, the Metropolitan police set to work finding the perpetrator of this brutal attack. DNA samples lead them straight to known criminal George Marlow. The police think they’ve found their man, but things are not quite what they seem….
Desperate to remove all doubt around her suspect, Tennison struggles to make the charges stick. And then a second body turns up.
With the team against her, DCI Jane Tennison is in a race against time to catch a dangerous criminal - and prove she’s just as tough as any man.
A glutton for punishment, I next read Prime Suspect 3 – Silent Victims (2019).
Better — but I still wanted to push Jane Tennison into the river.
When a body is found in one of London’s poorest districts, the coroner’s report identifies the victim as young, black and female, but impossibly anonymous.
One thing is clear to Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison about this victim – that news of her murder will tear apart a city already cracking with racial tensions, hurling Scotland Yard and Tennison herself into a maelstrom of shocking accusations and sudden, wrenching violence.
As London’s brutal killer remains at large, Tennison is locked in a struggle to overcome her station house’s brutal chauvinism and insidious politicking. And as the department’s deeply rooted racism rears its head and threatens to overshadow every facet of her new investigation, the trail of her prime suspect is growing colder.
I didn’t get very far into Prime Suspect 2 – A Face in the Crowd.
I streamed season 3 of Shetland because I’d seen a few pundits saying it was best of the 9 seasons, so far.
Shetland is critically acclaimed for good reason. The acting and writing is superb.
But it is hard to watch, at times.
For example, the rape aftermath depicted in season 3 even disturbedAnn Cleeves, the author of the books on which this TV drama is based.
DI Jimmy Perez faces a gripping new single mystery.
When a young man disappears on the overnight ferry to Shetland, the team embark on a challenging case that leads them from the suspicious close-knit communities of the remote Shetland Islands to Perez’s old stomping grounds in Glasgow.
As they start to unpick this increasingly complex conspiracy, Perez is aided by, and becomes romantically involved with, enigmatic police official Asha.
But he is unprepared for the ruthlessness of his adversaries, who are willing to take an appalling step to protect their interests: one that will have a devastating effect on them all.
Wicked Prey is 19th in the Lucas Davenport “Prey” series.
Another good read.
The Republicans are coming to St. Paul for their convention. John McCain will be getting the nomination.
Throwing a big party is supposed to be fun, but crashing the party are a few hard cases the police would rather stayed away.
Chief among them is a crew of professional stick-up men who’ve spotted several lucrative opportunities, ranging from political moneymen with briefcases full of cash, to that convention hotel with the weakness in its security system. …
And then there’s the young man with the .50-caliber sniper rifle and the right-wing-crazy background, roaming through a city filled with the most powerful politicians on earth…
Having got hooked on the books, the only place I could find to watch the TV series was on YouTube in low resolution. Surprisingly, I liked the show just as much as the books.
Angie Harmon was a terrific choice to play Lindsay Boxer, the main protagonist. She has the gravitas — though Lindsay in the books is a blonde.
I laughed out loud many times. A bit of a black comedy.
Eleanor Oliphant, our heroine, is a disaster. Anti-social. Disconnected from society and culture. A functioning alcoholic. Potentially suicidal. Perhaps slightly autistic.
Her only previous relationship was abusive — ex-husband putting her in the hospital multiple times.
Somehow … you can’t help but cheer for Eleanor.
She lives in Glasgow, Scotland, and works as a finance clerk for a graphic design company.
The novel deals with themes of isolation and loneliness, and depicts Eleanor’s transformational journey towards a fuller understanding of self and life.
It’s modern. Exploring loneliness in an internet age, the vulnerability of being uncoupled in a culture that prizes relationships.
The character I liked best in this book is Raymond Gibbons, an I.T. help desk co-worker who awkwardly tries to help Eleanor.
Uniquely, the most important relationship in this novel is friendship.
Name another hit novel without some kind of romance central to the plot.
Jenny Colgan, reviewing for The Guardian, described the novel as “a narrative full of quiet warmth and deep and unspoken sadness” with a “wonderful, joyful” ultimate message. …
Sarah Gilmartin of The Irish Times called the title character “one of the most unusual and thought-provoking heroines of recent contemporary fiction”. …
Rick McCharles 