Kwickie Commentaries

The Grandstander recommends a movie and two books for you.....

"Ocean's 8" follows a familiar formula, a caper theme along the lines of a the recent "Ocean's 11" George Clooney flicks, only this time, it's an all female cast with Sandra Bullock playing Debbie Ocean, Danny's sister, who has recently been sprung from jail and calls on a crew of other great looking dames to pull of a monumental heist.

Derivative and unoriginal?  Maybe, but also very stylish, great to look at, entertaining and just a lot of fun to watch. Bullock's crew consists of Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, and Rhianna.  Also, Anne Hathaway does a great turn as the dupe in the entire caper. 

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

Summer vacations and beach and pool time looms ahead.  Here's two great reads for you.....

"Twisted Prey" is the twenty-eight novel in John Sandford's series featuring Lucas Davenport.  Formerly a detective with the Minnesota state police, this is the third novel where Lucas is in his new role as US Marshall.  An old foe of Lucas' appears in the novel that features an attempted political assassination, scarier than hell para-military types, the aforementioned past foe, and all sorts of political treachery.  

You might think that after twenty-eight novels a series like this would lose its steam, but Sandford and Davenport show no signs of needing to be out to pasture.

Three and one-half stars form The Grandstander.

Peter Swanson writes stand-alone thrillers, usually with a New England setting. In "All The Beautiful Lies", a young man, Harry, who is about to graduate from college in Connecticut, is called home to the Maine coast because of the accidental death of his father.  Harry must overcome his feelings of loss, while dealing with his sexy step-mother, Alice (only thirteen years older than he!), and a mysterious and beautiful young woman who shows up at his Dad's funeral.  

The chapters of the book alternate between "Now" as Harry deals with the death of his father, including the revelation that his death might not have been accidental, and "Then" where we are told of Alice and her upbringing, including a rather skeevy relationship with HER step-father, and how she came to meet and marry Harry's father.

Thrilling and suspenseful and fast read.  I finished it in two days.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

Book Review: "The Kind Worth Killing"

Here you go, folks.  The latest terrific thriller for you all to read, "The Kind Worth Killing" by Peter Swanson.

This is much like "Gone Girl" and current #1 best seller, "The Girl on the Train" in that it tells the same story from the viewpoints of four different characters.  Each chapter alternates to the point of view to a different character, and it is told in the first person.  This means you will often see the same scene in the story, but told from a different point of view.  

The book starts when Ted and Lily meet in a bar in London's Heathrow  Airport while waiting out a delay in their flight to Boston.  They get to talking, Ted reveals that he thinks, no, he knows, that his wife, Miranda, is cheating on him.  He is so upset about it that he says that he'd like to kill her.  Could be all those martinis Ted had in the bar and on the flight talking, but then Lily says "Maybe I can help..."

So begins the story, which also includes flashback scenes in Lily's life that shows just how uniquely qualified she may be to help Ted out....and just exactly why she is so motivated to do so.  Kind of like Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train."

This is terrific book and perfect read for relaxing during vacation, or reading on a summer Sunday afternoon, when you just don't feel like watching the ball game on that particular day.  The mix of ingredient that include a rich-beyond-belief cuckolded husband, his beautiful, but scheming wife, Miranda, a ruggedly handsome building contractor, a determined Columbo-like police detective, and at the center of it all, the mysterious and captivating Lily makes for one whale of a story.

If you read this blog, you know that I love these kinds of novels.  There are a few twists and turns, one of which I kind of suspected, and another that took me by surprise. It is a very tightly written story that moves very quickly, and it's one you just...oh, man, I really wanted to avoid this cliche, but what the hell....it's one you "just can't put down" once you start.

Many thanks to my wife's book club, "The Gone Girls", for selecting this book for an upcoming session, and to Marilyn who told me, "I think that you would like this one."  Oh, yeah.

Oh, and note to Loyal Reader and Facebook Friend Kaye Peltier:  The story of "The Kind Worth Killing" is set in the greater Boston area and the state of Maine, so this has got to be a must read for you.