BOOK REVIEW; RED HARVEST

Title : Red Harvest

Author : Dashiell Hammett

Hold onto you breath, as I present you the masterpiece of noir fiction!!

Meh. 

I mean, Raymond Chandler (noir fiction champion) obviously adores Hammett. But that doesn't mean we have to agree 100%. Or maybe i haven't quite acquire the taste for noir books. 

Yes, I am taking another English course. Crime Fiction. Hence, Hammett...

Background layout so as to not confuse you why I am so amateur in commenting about the book (one might argue I really am still amateur and yes I agree, you caught me). 

So noir fiction differs from the detective fiction in the sense that it is not as clear cut and the detective doesn't necessarily be innocent like Holmes or Poirot that we usually read about. This is why it is called noir, which means black in French, which signifies that the story will be somewhat twisted and goes against the lines of the normal genre fiction type of books. So you get the gist of it.

Red Harvest is about a detective from the Continental Detective Agency, called to Personville by someone who was murdered right from the start. The Op (detective) sets to clear Personville/Poisonville of its corruption and gangs and basically make the city clean again. What makes him noir is that he pitches the big bosses of town against each other as means to effectively clean Poisonville. While all this is going on there will be multiple dozens of characters to confuse you and yes, multiple murders to make this novel more different than our ol' friend, detective fiction. 

Yes, it is harder to keep track of characters (mind, I read a lot of action novels, I know this) and yes, it's storyline makes me annoyed and feeling like murdering someone (oh no, effects of the murdering!) but it is a good book, nonetheless. 

If you want cobwebs to be intricate, might as well embroil yourself with Hammett. 

Rating : 8/10 

I must remind readers that ratings are totally biased towards my feelings. 

BOOK REVIEW ; JACKDAWS

Title : Jackdaws

Author : Ken Follett

First Follett book. And it was rewarding. 

Picture a week before D-day in occupied France. A team code named Bollinger from the French Resistance had failed in a mission that can cripple the entire German army stationed in France. As the Allied forces prepare for the invasion, German troops under Rommel had to use all their wits to prepare to fight back. Communications was key. The heart of it was Reims; which the Bollinger circuit had wanted to sabotage. 

In London, SOE knew this failed attempt was their best bet. So they sent in the Jackdaws. Code named Jackdaws, 6 women in disguise will try to finish what Bollinger had started. 

Good book. Will have more Folletts in the future!

PS : I knew I read about pip emma and ack emma somewhere. Thanks for the refresher. 

Rating : 10/10 

BOOK REVIEW ; FROG MUSIC

Title : Frog Music

Author : Emma Donoghue

Received the book via Goodreads First Reads. And I was a happy girl. 

Took Frog Music with me for my West Coast trip, so I was happy for the background to be historical San Francisco! Emma Donoghue writes eloquently in a fashion I rarely have read before. I love how sexily thrilling she turns a mystery in, what with the rich profusion of personas and intermingling feelings smashed in a compact and simple storyline. I also love the "going against norms" characters at that period which gives an extra kick to the plot. Some might see the language as provocative, but I must say, brilliant, Emma. Simply brilliant.

Rating ; 10/10 because why not? 

PS : It will be out in the market April 1,2014. 

BOOK REVIEW ; JEFFERSON KEY

Title : Jefferson Key

Author : Steve Berry

Get ready, historical fiction fans!

I will list out the points of interest first. 

Honest Abe. Thomas Jefferson. Andrew Jackson. James Garfield. Andrew Johnson. George Washington. John F Kennedy. William McKinley. Theodore Roosevelt. Ronald Reagan. 

Civil War. American Revolution. Spanish-US War. 

Pirates @ privateers! Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Jolly Roger. 

Jefferson's key and cipher. For the lost Letters of Marque from the Congress. 

Mentions of Masons, Templars, Greeks, Egyptians. 

Okay.

Intrigued enough?

Read it! 

Rating : 10/10

BOOK TO MOVIE ; MYSTIC RIVER

I was intrigued. Not too much because of the book, but for the intepretation of the psycho. 

So I watched it. Quite a while ago. Right after reading the book. And it was quite spot on. The neighbourhood was something different (oh well I imagined a suburb-y feeling but got the Jersey dose) but it sticks to the facts of the book. And it was worth watching. Micro scrutiny of a community. 

I have to watch many more book adaptations. 

BOOK REVIEW ; MYSTIC RIVER

Title : Mystic River

Author : Dennis Lehane

First book, but I have expectations from Shutter Island (movie). 

This story evolves around three friends, Sean, Jimmy and Dave. Normal boys who have different personalities and backgrounds brought together out of habit. One day Dave got into an unknown car, only to come back 4 days later unharmed. Life went on, and by life it means different paths for the three boys. One day Jimmy woke up to the knowledge that his daughter was dead. Sean, already a police officer had to solve this crime for a long forgotten friend. And Dave had to wrestle with the Boy who ran away from the Wolf. Head on. Do or die. 

The grip of this book is mainly on the emotional side, as the story takes the path of the regular NCIS/CSI kind of plot nowadays. Haven't watched the movie, though. Must be worth watching. Okay first book, Lehane. Some parts are nearly good to quote, but me being lazy didn't mark it up. 

Rating :7/10

BOOK REVIEW ; DEFINITELY NOT MR. DARCY

Title : Definitely Not Mr. Darcy

Author : Karen Doornebos

Oh well. Permissible chick-lit as it is about Darcy. 

Although I did remind myself that brooding Rochester is better than brooding Darcy. And brooding Heathcliff (sorry Tom Hardy!) will never ever make the cut.

So, back to the book. This light read transports us to partial 1812, where Darcy is on pursuit of a suitable wife. Modern day Miss Parker, an Austen enthusiast ended up in a reality show about the Regency era. Which transports her from Chicago to the outskirts of England, and live the life she thought she should be born into. She did have the whole nine yards, I must say. Archery lessons, sewing and music talents, not to mention gorgeous dresses in flimsy material, she got all of that going. With an assortment of competing women vying to win Mr Wrightman's heart (and yes $100,000). Toss in some drop-front breeches and other implicit references, there you go. A modern day Darcy. 

With a twist. 

Miss Parker, in the end, did find her match. But definitely, absolutely not Mr Darcy. 

Okay book for an Austen fan looking for a few hours diversion. 

And the straight quote from Pride and Prejudice is sincerely cherished. Along with the references to some parts of Austen. Not to mention the historically accurate explanations. 

And for the damper on Keira Knigtley's adaptation, I must find a nook to sob my heart out. The ending was exquisite! (come to think of it, would someone in that era really do that? Ugh)

Henry, boy, that library is perfection. You don't need to illustrate it, I have it in my head already. 

I. Should. Stop. Thinking. Of. Darcy. 

Rating : 6/10