Jason Platt

A great read... more than just the case itself.

Revisado: 04-27-18

Excellent book.

I remember the first time I got done reading Greysmith's book on the Zodiac (this is all related... just bear with me here). This was--oh, back in 1995. And, while reading it, I wasn't really aware of the case. Of course I had "heard" of the Zodiac--but in name only. Reading it was terrifying. And when I got to the end--only to realize that they had never caught him--well... after closing the book I suddenly became aware of every nuanced noise that was around me. I may have fallen asleep that night wide-eyed. You know--just in case. I loved the book. Loved the information on the case.

And when the movie came out in '07 I eagerly went to go see it. And-- you know what? I loved it even more. I know-- I know, usually, the book is better. I know I get it. I have often said, as many do, "oh, the book is SO much better." I've said it and bought the tee shirt. I've said it while WEARING the tee shirt. But I wondered, WHY did I like it better. And the simple answer was that the people who were tracking the Zodiac were fleshed out. You cheered them on. Worried over their obsessiveness. You grew to like them all the while there was a monster out there causing all of this turmoil.

And that's exactly what McNamara does in her book, I'll Be Gone in the Dark. It's the case of the Golden State Killer (or the East Area Rapist, or The Original Night Stalker). It's very informative on the case, but she weaves in and out and lets us peek behind the curtain on who she is, and why she's doing this. The human aspect of it all is what sells this to me.

Unlike Greysmith's Zodiac, this isn't just an info dump. It's much more.

I flew through this book, and was glad I picked it up.

And as good as it was, it was Patton Oswalt's afterward that pulled at the heartstrings. Mostly because of what we all know now, and--at the time of the publishing date--what he didn't.

I'm glad I read this.

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Sometimes dead is better...

Revisado: 04-04-18

When someone ever asks me what my favorite books might be, Stephen King's "Pet Sematary" never maks that list. Even though I think it's excellent.

I first picked up the novel back when I was in High School and found myself devouring it. At the time I thought that it was creepy, but not scary by any means. But I flew through it. Fast forward umpteen years (decades) and I picked it up again. And because of the excellent BBC radio adaption 20 years ago, I remember the story all very clearly (The movie? Meh). And much like aged wine, the older I get, the scarier this book becomes.

According to the authors note at the beginning of the 2000 edition, King himself states that after writing it he didn't like it. And didn't like where he went in it. But apparently had a contractual obligation to provide one more novel with Doubleday before jumping ship. So he pulled out Pet Sematary.

I've never thought that King was truly "scary" or "horror". That type of stuff I place in the same category as slasher movies, where violence is unnecessary and doesn't serve a purpose. But with King's work, even though there might be supernatural reasonings, or has a creep factor--there are moments that you believe that these moments could actually happen (I'm thinking more on this book right now, and not necessarily his screenplay for Maximum Overdrive). The set up for everything in this book are cogs that eventually catch on to a larger wheel, and when they catch you know exactly what's going to happen, and you start to think, "oh my God."

What makes this particular novel terrifying to me, is that it reaches down deep into the heart of all men. And--if they had a choice, would they attempt to play God in the worst moments of their lives, when they are at their most vulnerable. And if they did, would they live with themselves? This book makes you squirm with horrifying sadness, and--at the same time--empathize when the hero starts to spiral downward.

It's funny because Michael C. Hall is perfect for this. His narration--especially as Louis--is excellent (there are some minor sound issues with levels the first couple times he yells as Louis's daughter). But funny because for the first few hours all I could hear was Dexter reading the part of Louis. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

If someone were to ask me, I might not spout out that King's Pet Sematary is one of my favorite books, but that's only because I never think of it. The characters are excellent and the whole thing moves like a shovel to loose dirt.

Fantastic read.

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Ranks as one of my top fave Star Wars books

Revisado: 03-17-18

Admittedly, there are some Star Wars books that are kinda dull. And that's okay. Well... I guess it's okay. As a consumer, you're obviously hoping to get a good adventure out of your purchase. Just like me. And there have been some Star Wars books in the past few years that I've been burned on.

Even with The Force Awakens, I was a little bummed how it came out.

And regardless of what you feel about the movie, this book, The Last Jedi is a well-written book that I didn't want to stop reading. The whole thing flew by.

I would say that there was almost as much hype about the novelization of The Last Jedi as there was the movie itself. And this was the first time that the novelization didn't correspond directly with the release of the film. And we--as readers, were having to wait. But I think it was worth it. The book was hyped up as having "deleted scenes" in it, and--as a reader, it is almost to be expected. But knowing that these scenes were ones that were actually wished, and not one that was made up primarily from the novelizationist's perspective was something that piqued my interest.

Jason Fry does an excellent job translating the script and film into a cohesive piece and makes the pages fly by. I was so enthralled with it that I didn't realize that so much time had passed as I was reading. And for those who are familiar with Marc Thompson's work on Star Wars narration, he knocks it out of the park.

Fantastic all around. And no doubt one I will revisit again.

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Dang--Did I enjoy this book

Revisado: 02-16-18

Sometimes you see the murmurings of a book out there in bookland. You see the book suddenly saturate online, in stores (if you still go to them), or hear others talk about them. And whenever this happens, it always intrigues me. Especially if it's a mystery, thriller, crime, or psychological mystery/thriller. And it did so with this book, The Woman in the Window.

But then lays the problem too.

I've been burned by some of these fly-by-the-wind books that oversaturate. I will often read non-spoiler reviews. And--admittedly--will scrunch my skeptical eye at those who give something a low rating. Are these other people just gushing, and THIS person really knows? It's always hard to say. It really is. This was my struggle with The Woman in the Window. Should I get it? Shouldn't I? Will it be good? Will it be hokey? Because of my schedule, I mostly listen to books via Audible while I'm working, and the narrator is also a huge portion of my experience (I've been burned by awful narration too. I would mention one in particular, but I'm sure this narrator has a family, and I would hate to embarrass them). So after reading some of the reviews, and listening to the sample, I decided to go ahead and get the book.

I wasn't disappointed.

It's all textbook psychological thriller, but don't let that detour your thinking. It's all well thought out and planned--just how you want your psychological thriller to be. It's all very Hitchcockian. Which is a no-brainer. Even the title itself suggests the remnants of Hitchcock's film, Rear Window. AJ Finn even dives deep into the film thriller genre within the story well, mentioning many of the films by name. Which is probably as 'hokey' as it gets. But it serves the story well.

I don't want to go too much into the story, that's what the book jacket does.

The narration in this is top notch. Ann Marie Lee is fantastic in it. Without going overboard with it, she gives some excellent emotion that I feel like I'm in the scene watching this character break down.

But if I had one small criticism it would be that there seems to be a particular character trait that the main character has that seems to be popular within this realm. In that aspect, it reminds me of The Girl on the Train (which I also have enjoyed). And even though it works well within the storyline, it makes me wonder if this character trait is something that we need in order for people not to believe the characters? <-- A little vague, I know... but I'm trying to keep it all spoiler free.

Even though there are some aspects of the story that you could see the punches coming before the windup, I loved this book. AJ Finn does an excellent job of setting the tone, the atmosphere, the characters and the pacing. There are few books I will just plow through like I did this one.

If you like the genre; If you like old classic movies (esp. Hitchcockian feeling ones), you'll love The Woman in the Window.

Give it ago.

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Gripping and Heartbreaking

Revisado: 02-12-18

In the same essence as the first season of Serial, S-Town, or Suspect Convictions, comes an investigative podcast from Audible. As a mystery lover, I had been waiting for this since I saw it on my Audible app about a year ago. I may have had to wait for its debut, but it was worth it.

You've probably have read the description.

You've probably have read some reviews.

So I'm not going to go too deep into anything.

But I dived into this, and even--admittedly--pushed aside the book I was nearing its end to start and finish this one. Because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. The investigation is excellent, and the production of it--all in all--is beautiful. There wasn't a point where my mind drifted, or where I didn't care. The pacing is excellent.

If you like the podcasts that I've mentioned above, give this a go. You won't be disappointed.

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Strangely interesting about the industry

Revisado: 08-15-17

The mass reviews on this documentary are what pulled me in, and also that it was, at least temporarily, free. So I gave it a shot.

And it is definitely an interesting look at how the adult industry has changed in the past 16 years or so. And how it's damaged some of the more innocent views of our society. As it's easily accessible from practically anyone, at any time.

There was something special about NPR's Serial, and while S-Town wasn't as gripping, I thought that The Butterfly Effect lacked something. And I can't place my finger on it. Without going into detail--or giving anything away--I thought that when the &quot;Stamp Guy&quot; came into it, I thought, much like S-Town, &quot;Ah... here is the thread. The human thread that we'll travel with to the end of the series.&quot; In that aspect, it left me disappointed.

And I will admit, that while Jon Ronson's documentary story telling is well done (you can tell that this was a project that he had been working on for some time) his narration, as I had read from other reviewers, is creepy. Not in the same way, but almost as if Peter Lorre had set out to investigate this, and was hosting the documentary series. It was--almost--hard to take seriously at times.

Ultimately it was a satisfying and interesting listen.

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Awesome throw back

Revisado: 08-11-17

When I initially saw that Audible was producing an X-Files radio drama, I about geeked out as geeky as I could. My love for radio drama and the X-File is like saying, &amp;quot;You got peanut butter on my chocolate!&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;You got chocolate on my peanut butter!&amp;quot; --- you get the idea.

So when it was released I got it, and loved that it was multiple episodes, and even then not episodes that are held to a specific time to uphold.

In many ways it was it was like sitting in front of my TV back in the late '90's. It's so great to hear the original cast members reprise their roles, which only made it that much more nostalgic. As I've mentioned to friends of mine, The X-Files is kinda like America's Dr. Who. Except American's as less likely to accept new characters in the leading roles and want their Mulder and Scully as they remember them.

If I had to nitpick on it a little bit. While I did thoroughly enjoy the production as a whole, I felt that some of the performances were stiff and unbelievable. And--at times--felt like I was listening to them read as opposed to feeling like I was in the middle of their adventure. Anderson and Pileggi are terrific. But I think that some of the issues here are because--and I could be wrong--they recorded their dialog individually. And it's harder to react from a type written line as opposed to the reading and performance of an another actor who is right next to you. Like I said, I could be wrong about that. But there is something about the performances that fell a little flat to me.

But like I said, nitpicking.

It's a terrific ride. I can't wait for the next one to come out!

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Decent information on stand up comedy

Revisado: 05-13-17

I thought that the information given here, by Geoffrey Neill was decent and well expressed. The exercises were ones I hadn't thought of before and are ones I will certainly use in my writing. And for less than five dollars, I thought it was a good purchase.

There were only a couple of things that took me out of the audiobook though. And I might be nitpicky, but you can tell that this wasn't a professionally produced audiobook. I don't want to give you the wrong impression. There isn't any audio hiss or anything. But while wearing headphones I could hear, what sounded like, him playing with the mic chord while narrating. And there were times when the levels don't exactly match up; where it will sound like he's not close to the microphone for a moment. And I'm not sure if it was because they were trying to trim the time down, but there are some cuts that seem too close to the previous sentence. Or on the exercise, he says, "Now pause the audiobook to such-and-such". And not a beat goes by before he says, "Alright, how'd you do?"

Like I said, the information given is well done. And even though the production of the audio had its flaws, my overall takeaway was good.

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Audio file not working on my end

Revisado: 04-28-17

This was a much anticipated audiobook, and after trying to download the file three times now, I only get "This is Audible" before jumping to the next part of the book. The file is not playing for me.

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Meh

Revisado: 02-14-17

This was my third attempt at reading this book. And for the third time I've read more than half of it and eventually just get bored with it. I don't believe I will try again.

That's it (no pun intended... but obviously noted), I'm done.

When IT was originally published in 1986 Stephen King was at the peak of the world loving him and his work (me included). And he was at a point where I'm sure, editors were screaming less cutting and more King! People don't want a short King book, they want more. More. MORE! So they gave us more. But at what cost? The whole thing, in my opinion, is drawn out and dull. It goes from character to character and building on moments that aren't that interesting, or even necessary.

I'm sure that when King was initially writing this behemoth of a novel, he was experimenting with the idea of telling a story through the memories of these people who went through a traumatic moment in their childhood. But to me, I wish that it would have just been a linear style of storytelling. I kept reading moments wanting to know what happens in 1958 only to have it answered hundreds of pages later in someone else's memory. After the first moments of the first scene, which is fantastic, you don't go back to those characters, let alone the same timeline for pages-upon-pages.

It may have kept my attention throughout if it was a From-start-to-finish type of a book. But--

Egads.

I understand that this is a cult favorite of his fans. And while I'm a fan of his, this one obviously isn't for me.

Super strong opening, with splashes of interesting points to keep me slightly interested for more than half of the book.

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