OYENTE

Keith G

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  • 119
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Pasta, Pane, Vino Audiolibro Por Matt Goulding arte de portada

Not Bravissimo

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-17-25

I rate this slightly better than okay. I purchased the book as a downtime diversion, particularly close to bedtime. I like the topic and I liked most of the way it was presented.

We are given to understand that the author is quoting people he encountered on his journeys, but their reactions and feelings seem so of a type that I wonder if these are representations filtered through the authors own feelings. I felt that was a point or two off the final grade.

The narrator, while good enough, reverts during quoted passages to a stereotypical Italian English patois which is nearly offensive enough, but when joined with the ideas being presented that I referenced earlier are disconcerting.

So yeah, decent enough, but somewhat cliched and at times borderline offensive.

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Falls Short.

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-24-24

For me the vibe of this book was a Scottish detective noir. Unfortunately, I feel as if the author never got all the parts of the story pulled together in a way that was coherent and flowed seamlessly to the conclusion.

Part of this was because there were large flashbacks used to explain relationships past and current of the former detective main character who was investigating a crime. Though interesting in their own right, the flashbacks stopped the flow of the story and I never got back on board to the same extent.

Another problem was stupid decision making by a guy who should know better when he's interacting with potentially devious and possibly dangerous folks around him. I know, I know, bad decisions leading to danger is what can drive some of these stories, but it needs to be done more artfully.

And that's just it. There were inadequacies in the writing that often pulled me out of the moment as I shook my head wondering why.

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A decent start squandered.

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-15-24

This book underperformed. There were moments of engaging writing and narrative development and then there were breakdowns in both of the above. It happened often enough that I really can't recommend this book unless it's on sale and you can get it without expanding important resources.

I usually stay away from procedurals that deal with super villain serial killers. They become too predictable as a near omnipotent baddie has his way as the good guys struggle to unravel the scant and confusing evidence. My prejudice is that the bar for creating such a story is so low that it's lazy for most authors to work in this subgenre. Strangely enough, as the author sets up the narrative, this starts as a rather pleasing read. That doesn't last forever.

In this particular story, the author shows no skill at writing about human relationships in a way that scales with how such relationships should work in a realistic world. Writers have to create tension and conflict in their narratives to propel the plot along. In this particular story, this happens quite often with people fussing if not outright yelling at each other. It's trite. It's rookie writing.

I won't go through the litany of issues that make the MC fall into the category of semi lone wolf detective who has keen insights that others lack. The MC is married, but I don't understand why and that is the faut of the author who doesn't know how to convey how such a relationship can exist. The MC seems to have trust issues concerning information his spouse probably should know because she's his spouse. Similarly while it's understandable the spouse would be miffed at some of her husband's behavior, she is written in such a way that she comes off quite often as an aggressive, angry scold. Geez.

There is another female character at the center of the action. Unfortunately the way she is written I could never know from one moment to the next whether she will be brave or hysterical.

And just to add salt to the wound, this story does not stick the landing.

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Just missed excellence

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 06-19-24

I really enjoyed the series. This book has a lot that's good in it, and at least two weaknesses. First as in the first two installments of the series, I wish there was more detail in the descriptive writing as scenes are set.

Second, and more important to me, is that the writing created a narrative in this book best described as similar to the Perils of Pauline. Some of you may have to look this up. In rotating order, the main characters of the story faced dire predicaments and due to the length of the book, they would wait their turn and then face another round being confronted by great danger.

I would prefer fewer but more elaborate predicaments with higher stakes. Nonetheless, this is a very entertaining book. It's part of a very entertaining series

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A Consuming Story.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-30-24

At first, this story starts as a tale of fractured domesticity in an impoverished Irish family in Boston.

At that point it might be understandable of someone wonders what actually is going to happen that will be so interesting. But soon, a mystery surrounding a potential crime is introduced and the story takes off, first on six and then on eight cylinders and never looks back.

The writing craft is impeccable. There are no wasted words, there are no wasted scenes. Of course, it is a very tough story about one of the toughest times in modern American history. As to that, there are no solutions only a story that comes to an end about a period that keeps on moving.

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Exceptional

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-23-24

Just finished this book. It had been on my list for a while and I kept skipping over it because I wasn't sure how interesting it would be. Gosh, was I wrong. It is an amazing in-depth historical record and written in a very compelling way. It's not a hagiography, it's warts and all.

And like all good works of this kind, it's not just about the people, but about the times (and in this case what ordinary citizens were going through). It's a book I can highly recommend to others.

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The Prince's Poisoned Vow Audiolibro Por Hailey Turner arte de portada

Never caught on

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-21-24

I see this book gets a lot of good reviews. I found it a decent way to pass time, but I just did not find that the writing, both from a creative and technical point of view, created something that drew me in and made me wish to continue on this journey.

I'll give the author props for creating gay characters, but they never became dimensional enough for me to care. As is the usual case when women write gay male romance, there're just things that are off, that don't connect.

I returned the book and won't be continuing the series.

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Never caught on

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-21-24

I see this book gets a lot of good reviews. I found it a decent way to pass time, but I just did not find that the writing, both from a creative and technical point of view, created something that drew me in and made me wish to continue on this journey.

I'll give the author props for creating gay characters, but they never became dimensional enough for me to care. As is the usual case when women write gay male romance, there're just things that are off, that don't connect.

I returned the book and won't be continuing the series.

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Flat And Uninspiring

Total
2 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
1 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-07-23

This is the first Jay Bell book that I'm returning. I just lost interest. Actually, I saw that coming toward the end of the last, second in the series, story, but I kept going hoping that it was just a momentary issue.


I'm going to try to pick my way through the reasons why I just stopped caring about these characters and the story around them.


One reason might be that Jay Bell has decided to dip his toe into the very lucrative young adult fiction market. Or it might be a full-fledged belly flop.

Doing so has caused him to have to pull some of the punches he had been able to use in previous works like the Seems Like Summer series. Where is Marcello when you need him?


In light of the above, so much of what's going on is boring and low-stakes. In order to heighten tension, there is an undocumented resident storyline and also the age-old trope of school bully with a softer side meets nerdy kid narrative. That one should be the most interesting but its action is so cliched and clumsy that it's almost laughable.


Aside from the limitations of the young adult form, Bell has also tried his hand at creating a story with a very expansive list of central characters and their associates and associations. The tally is 5 main characters, five or six secondary characters, then assorted parents, siblings, and teachers. Throw in a grandmother and a pizza store owner.


I think the author shows signs of just having too much on his plate. A smaller cast with more in-depth character and story development might have been a good thing.


I understand that telling a story about a range of individuals of various emotional orientations and social classes can be a good thing. And it has been done successfully. I don't think this author has the chops to turn such a story idea into the type of narrative that doesn't wander around losing interest.


Anthony is the the central character, is out, and I think might be a bit of a stand-in for the author. He is the most developed in that his reasonings are the clearest of any of the characters and basically he is written as a forthright and caring person, perhaps more than any of the others.


Interestingly and not uncommon in young adult writing, the most sexually active character is also eventually the most unhappy and the most unlikely to have their desire for companionship fulfilled. Reminds me of the '80s slasher movies, have sex, and prepare to die.


That's just got to stop.


High school students do have fulfilling, as in the fulfillment of simple needs, intimate relationships without it turning into some horrific morality tale. Yet that seems to be something that can seldom happen in young adult gay fiction, maybe because the gatekeepers will come crashing down.


Anyway, I would like to have seen a slimmed-down cast with a more in-depth and tropeless focus on Anthony as he navigates the world as an out teenager and how his eventual relationship brings out the challenges faced by all teenagers in, temporary, love no matter their sexuality, but also dealing with issues directly focused on young men who are gay.

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Pieces Missing, Pieces Found

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-13-23

Once I had finished this story and set it aside, I was contemplating how the reading of it impacted me. I had to admit it left me a bit more somber than I was used to being at the end of the DC Smith stories.

Upon reflection it's obvious that the chemistry between Smith and Waters was one that created a type of honest levity as each took turns being the straight man to the other's whimsy. And of course, it was often the case that a comedy build up was dispatched by a skillful coup de gras by DC.

And though I at first was not happy, now I applaud the decision to write the retirement of DC Smith and allow this franchise to take another turn. It's good to leave a chapter while at the top of the game instead of letting it descend into a piteous parody.

All the elements of the fantastic Grainger chemistry set are in place. Tight writing. Intense humanity. dark humor. A bias toward the intellectual. Characters and settings extraordinarily well developed. And finally, as an audiobook there is the narrator who is so well suited to the material.

Smith is gone and that allows Waters and his colleagues to grow in ways they couldn't as long as the famed former detective constable was enthroned at Westlake.

This is police detective storytelling at its best.

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