Genre: Adult

This is a chaotic novel and not in an exciting bombastic way; rather a mess that feels made up on the fly. Described as a violent and unpredictable noir, the unpredictable part is the only aspect that hit the mark for me (and that’s not a good thing as you soon will see). Perhaps I have high standards as a crime/mystery thriller is one of my favorite genres to read, but the tone of the book didn’t work for me. It jockeys between trying to be a darker grisly man on the run story and a buddy cop/anti-hero slapstick comedy and doesn’t do a particularly good job in either direction. The plot is also nonsensical with things happening with no rhyme or reason and it has a habit of throwing in random flashbacks that derail whatever story is happening in the present instead of seamlessly transitioning back and forth with context. After the first 100 pages or so I stopped reading this as a mystery/crime investigation and as a “what ridiculous things from left field are they going to throw at the wall next”. How a soldier’s training allows a retired veteran to kill someone by impaling them with a…

I was a big fan of the Artemis Fowl series growing up and was interested to see how Eoin Colfer’s adult novels would fare in comparison. At a first glance Highfire reads unlike any of his childrens/YA novels with it’s namesake booze-drinking, adulterating dragon (with as the book would describe, very large balls which can be retracted… yes you read that right), Southern bayou slang, and a host of questionably gray characters. Not only that but the teenage human protag Everett “Squib” could be see as the polar opposite of Artemis Fowl being a school-averse, bayou exploring swamp kid with a history of getting into adolescent trouble. For anyone who has read Colfer’s other works, the colorful language and crude humor can be jarring (I personally found it highly entertaining, you can just imagine Colfer letting loose with giddy excitement with how much crass language and surpassingly violent descriptions are featured). However once the characters are introduced, I could see some of Colfer’s signature strengths and expected elements coming through. While having completely different personalities, Artemis Fowl and Squib share the same element of growing up without a fatherly learning figure and finding it within a older sassy or prickly…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. There are those who believe Murakami is a genius and artist vs those who think he is a hack. After reading two of his novels I align with the latter. While I liked The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle more than 1Q84, that’s a very low bar to pass and Wind-Up has the advantages of being 300 pages shorter and possessing a more focused collection of plot threads vs 1Q84’s introduced and completely dropped elements. My biggest criticism of this novel and Murakami’s works in general is the excessive amount of detail and word length that’s added for no particular reason. The amount of tedious daily activities and movement by that main character adds nothing to the experience, story or characters included which is exacerbated by how repetitive and monotonous they’re written. Worse is how sporadic characters are added in, only to immediately segue into seemingly unrelated stories with no rhyme or reason. Yes there are connections between each story introduced but the execution is so lackluster, you’re just left questioning why it was done this way and what was…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. On paper this book wasn’t going to be my cup of tea as I am generally uninterested and detached from stories focusing on familial drama. While I struggled to stay invested for majority of the first 2/3 of the book, my patience was rewarded by the last 70 or so pages that surprisingly connect all the loose threads in such an explosive and exciting manner (rewarding endings seem to be a trend for me and Matt Haig novels). I was almost taken aback at how much action happens in such a short number of pages vs the rest of the novel that spent so much time setting the characters and pieces into place. As other reviews that covered, the vampire elements and lore take a back seat to the drama and relationships between the Radley family members and suspicious neighbors in the quiet village of Bisthopthorpe, though they do have key moments that are integral to the plot. Would’ve rated the first 2/3 of the book 2 stars and the last 1/3 4 stars so we’ll go with…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. For a book titled the Plotters, I found the plot of this one ironically to be one of the weakest aspects of the novel that left me disappointed. I love the character dialogue and the protagonist Reseng is quite the relatable anti-hero who was cast into and doesn’t know what life is like outside the dark world of assassins. This is very much a book where the journey is deemed more important than the destination as The Plotters sets up a fascinating scene and takes a good stab at the world of political corruption, underhanded deals, and what money can buy (pun intended). Reseng gets tangled up with a plot to overthrow the status quo of the hitman industry but the book never resolves the plotlines it sets up. He goes through a period of self-reflection and discovery as things go from bad to worse and ends with a moment of grandeur for Reseng similar to the climax of a movie where an epilogue would normally kick in showing the aftermath of the events. Except there isn’t one…