CB2295
Ottawa Public Library
CB2295's Completed Shelf
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CB2295's rating:
Added Oct 17, 2012
Hour of the WolfHour of the Wolf, BookAn Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery
by Nesser, HåkanBook - 2012Book, 2012
CB2295's rating:
Added Oct 12, 2012
Comment:
Yet another intriguing Van Veeteren mystery story, #7 in a series of 10. As with many of the others, I found this one hard to put down and I finished it in a couple of days. I especially liked the small touch of naming a couple of minor policeman after mystery writers Matti Yrjänä Joensuu of Finland and Tony Kellerman of the US. This one in the series is even more like the 10 books of the 1960s Swedish series by Sjöwall and Wahlöö than were some of the earlier ones, with the author skillfully winding in the personal lives of the police officers along with various social commentary. As usual in this series, the motivations and thoughts of the guilty are well presented so that we understand not only what happened but why. The final three books in the series have been out in Swedish and other languages for about 10 years now and I hope they will soon also be available in English. Nesser now has published 4 or 5 books in a new series with an Inspector Barbarotti and I’ll want to read those too if they start appearing in EnglishYet another intriguing Van Veeteren mystery story, #7 in a series of 10. As with many of the others, I found this one hard to put down and I finished it in a couple of days. I especially liked the small touch of naming a couple of minor policeman…
StraphangerStraphanger, BookHow Subways, Buses and Trains Are Saving Our Cities From the Empire of the Automobile
by Grescoe, TarasBook - 2012Book, 2012
CB2295's rating:
Added May 19, 2012
Comment:
I’d like very much to say that this is a good book on an important subject but, while the subject is indeed important, this book is actually not very good at all. It rattles around almost aimlessly and leaves it up to the reader to figure out an overall storyline. A big disappointment.
The book’s chapters and its story are disjointed and not in any logical sequence. For one thing, if effective public transit is central to the theme of the book then the book ought to have started with Tokyo or Paris to provide us with at least some context. Instead, it begins with 100 pages about various American transport problems without providing any overarching context or drawing of meaningful conclusions.
It’s alright to discuss the pros and cons of the urban transport situation in various cities of the world, but it should be done with the intent of providing the reader with a set of reference points for a subsequent non-geographic discussion of historical transport patterns, basic needs and broad approaches to solutions. None of that thought is apparent here. Instead of a tight and reasoned report on the author's research is instead a long and breezy travelogue full of personal history and encounters with various people around the world, complete with more or less verbatim reports of unfocused conversations that the author has had with these various folks only a some of whom are transport researchers. Tsk tsk.
A good editor would have seen this and shepherded a thorough restructuring of the book. That same good editor also would have removed the many paragraphs that, at best, are out of position and interrupt the flow or, at worst, are totally irrelevant. Again, that hasn’t been done. For example, there’s a chapter entitled “Copenhagen , Denmark” in which the city does not actually enter the discussion until after we’ve had seven intervening pages about Spain, a celebration in Strasbourg, the city of Freiburg in southern Germany and various other things. This is stream-of-consciousness writing, where you just put things on paper as they pop into your wandering mind.I’d like very much to say that this is a good book on an important subject but, while the subject is indeed important, this book is actually not very good at all. It rattles around almost aimlessly and leaves it up to the reader to figure out an…
A Bali Conspiracy Most FoulA Bali Conspiracy Most Foul, BookInspector Singh Investigates
by Flint, ShaminiBook - 2011Book, 2011
CB2295's rating:
Added May 13, 2012
Comment:
This is number two in the series and isn't as good as the first book in the series, though it’s not bad. It has good atmospherics that are pleasingly recognizable to anyone who’s been to Bali (though all my own visits were to the less-touristy Bali of 25 or 30 years ago. The main problem I had with the story is that big parts of its denouement are all too apparent long in advance. And the author does not make it clear until about page 85 that Bali is Hindu and not Muslim like the rest of Indonesia, and I would think that not knowing that fact would make it harder for readers not familiar with Bali to make sense of what is happening. And it would also have been helpful to somehow explain along the way about the India-style caste system in Bali, to help such readers to understand why various Balinese characters in the story behave as they do.This is number two in the series and isn't as good as the first book in the series, though it’s not bad. It has good atmospherics that are pleasingly recognizable to anyone who’s been to Bali (though all my own visits were to the less-touristy Bali…
A Most Peculiar Malaysian MurderA Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder, Book
by Flint, ShaminiBook - 2011Book, 2011
CB2295's rating:
Added Apr 24, 2012
Comment:
I liked this book more than I expected; the storyline is suitably complex and overall thankfully the book contains about the right amount of local Malaysian atmosphere, even for a reader who’s been there, though at the beginning she’s a bit heavy handed on the atmospherics; like when she pedantically explains that an automated airport shuttle train doesn’t have a driver; I kept waiting for her to mention the super-tall Petronas Towers in her Kuala Lumpur descriptions (they don’t make their first appearance until page 56 but then they do appear several times after that); but, all in all, the book’s a rather good start for a series and I will look forward to reading the next ones, of which three additional books have been published by the end of 2011, each one set in a different SE Asian country.I liked this book more than I expected; the storyline is suitably complex and overall thankfully the book contains about the right amount of local Malaysian atmosphere, even for a reader who’s been there, though at the beginning she’s a bit heavy…
CB2295's rating:
Added Apr 09, 2012
Comment:
I have just finished this book, #9 in Nesbø's Harry Hole series, and I hardly know what to say without revealing part of the plot. So I will only say here that the book is extremely well-written but its ending dismayed me.
CB2295's rating:
Added Mar 27, 2012
Comment:
This is number 14 in the series and the author seems to be running out of ideas for this series that is more and more wandering away from it's setting inTurkey. This one's set in Detroit, not in Istanbul. The story's somewhat complex, but it was all too easy to see through important parts of it and if I wanted to read a book set in Detroit then I’d read some American thing. And as with the previous book in this series, there are abrupt lurches in the private lives of some of the ongoing police characters, something that a well-thought-out series never has.This is number 14 in the series and the author seems to be running out of ideas for this series that is more and more wandering away from it's setting inTurkey. This one's set in Detroit, not in Istanbul. The story's somewhat complex, but it was…
CB2295's rating:
Added Feb 26, 2012
Comment:
This book is #13 in the series; #14 has just beek published and she’s back on track with this one after #12’s rather sub-standard (for her) adventure with terrorism. I only have one problem with the story, which is that one of the continuing characters in the series has here a considerably changed homelife. That would be okay, but this book says the situation dates back some period of time though none of the previous books alluded to it in any way and in fact the most recent books in the series seemed to point in quite the opposite direction. I found that a bit disconcerting, given that the new (or old) situation is key to the plot here.This book is #13 in the series; #14 has just beek published and she’s back on track with this one after #12’s rather sub-standard (for her) adventure with terrorism. I only have one problem with the story, which is that one of the continuing…
CB2295's rating:
Added Feb 17, 2012
Comment:
I found this book to be annoying throughout, though I did read it to the end in the forlorn hope that it would get better; it’s a typical, fast-moving thriller and not really a crime story; I strongly disagree with the Globe & Mail’s specialist in crime books, who sucked me in with her talk of how the book supposedly has a “terrific central character and a great plot”; the book is written by two women and it seems to me that it will appeal more to women than to men because the plot is built almost entirely on emotional and maternal responses to situations that otherwise cry out for some rational thought and unstupid behaviour; in any case, the plot has noticeable holes in it and depends on a series of very handy but quite improbable events; people know things they can’t really know; the main characters use faulty reasoning, they keep those around them in the dark and they do not go get help from the police, who anyhow are generally made to look ineffectual; people survive what could or should be mortal injury and then immediately do things to move the “plot” forward that require almost Herculean strength that they cannot possibly have; it’s all like a B movie; moreover, the first part of the book is frustratingly and (I presume) intentionally opaque as to what’s going on here and who all these people are; if this is indeed the first of a new “crime” series, then I for one do not want to see any of these characters again and will not be reading book #2.I found this book to be annoying throughout, though I did read it to the end in the forlorn hope that it would get better; it’s a typical, fast-moving thriller and not really a crime story; I strongly disagree with the Globe & Mail’s specialist in…
CB2295's rating:
Added Feb 10, 2012
Comment:
It’s best to read this book quickly because that way you will be more likely to get caught up on the speed of events and less likely to notice the holes in the story. This book is more of a thriller than a police, unlike the previous 11 books in the series. As such, this book shares the common failings of thrillers and particularly the failings of most books that involve terrorism. So, for example, there are leaps of logic you’re not supposed to notice, characters are too often handlily placed, and there are people who get severely injured but who somehow carry on with heavy duty tasks as though nothing serious has befallen them. I have no idea what the reviewer below means about a "very accurate accounting of events" since this book is fiction and not fact.It’s best to read this book quickly because that way you will be more likely to get caught up on the speed of events and less likely to notice the holes in the story. This book is more of a thriller than a police, unlike the previous 11 books in…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 29, 2012
Comment:
This is #11 in the series and, happily, the author continues to avoid descending into sameness from one episode to the next; the ongoing characters continue to evolve and each episode introduces the reader to a different social aspect of Turkey and/or involves a little-known corner of the country; the only downside to this particular book is that the author seems to have been unable to figure out how to have the police uncover most or all of the story bit by bit; so, instead, there’s an unfortunate section of about 25 pages near the end where one of the characters simply pours out the bulk of the story and tells us one corner of it after another. That character does clear up nearly all the loose ends, but diligent sleuthing would have made the book a more interesting read.This is #11 in the series and, happily, the author continues to avoid descending into sameness from one episode to the next; the ongoing characters continue to evolve and each episode introduces the reader to a different social aspect of Turkey…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 22, 2012
Comment:
These books are so much the same from one to another that they now remind me of the series of 70 Amsterdam mysteries by the late A. C. Baantjer. In Baantjer and Camilleri books, nobody ever grows up emotionally. no on-going situations appear among the continuing characters and none of the police guys gets better at his job. No new characters arrive and no previous ones depart.
I guess it’s so that people can read the books in any sequence whatever without getting confused about who’s who, but it all makes for too much sameness from one episode to another. It was sort of fun at first, though all that food stuff has always annoyed me, but I am now getting quite tired of this whole series. And I’m especially tired of the police character Catarelli who speaks bad English that you have to read slowly to decipher. It’s all too cute for words.These books are so much the same from one to another that they now remind me of the series of 70 Amsterdam mysteries by the late A. C. Baantjer. In Baantjer and Camilleri books, nobody ever grows up emotionally. no on-going situations appear among…
The Resurrection of the RomanovsThe Resurrection of the Romanovs, BookAnastasia, Anna Anderson, and the World's Greatest Royal Mystery
by King, GregBook - 2011Book, 2011
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 21, 2012
Comment:
I expected to enjoy this book, but it is in fact very much more interesting than I ever expected it to be.
I remember this controversy from the 1950s until I lost interest in it somewhere in the 70s. I thought I knew at least the basic facts of the case, but I was astonished at how little I really knew and how much of what I thought I knew was actually flat-out wrong.
It was fascinating to read how much important information was able to be kept hidden for such a long time by various people for various reasons, usually involving money. This will be sort of like saying “the butler did it”, but the whole thing in fact continued to be a mystery only because various parties wanted it that way for their own personal reasons.
I highly recommend this book. You will be surprised. even amazed, whether you know a lot about the case (or think you do) or you know little or nothing.
It is a detailed study of human behaviour and human foibles and is especially valuable in an age when stories are so much more quickly and easily spread around than was the case at the 1920s when the Anastasia case began.I expected to enjoy this book, but it is in fact very much more interesting than I ever expected it to be.
I remember this controversy from the 1950s until I lost interest in it somewhere in the 70s. I thought I knew at least the basic facts of…
The Ignorance of BloodThe Ignorance of Blood, Audiobook on MP3 CD
by Wilson, RobertAudiobook on MP3 CD - 2009Audiobook on MP3 CD, 2009
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is the last book in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the book takes off at exactly the point where the last one stopped, rather than being (as it ought to be) a separate story with the characters’ lives as the line of continuity from one book to the next; good thing this is the last book in the series; the story is even more annoyingly filled with melodrama in the style of a typical airport book (even more than the previous ones were) and the last 50-75 pages are especially silly with the characters sometimes acting illogically and with unlikely trysts and with loose ends left never to be resolved.This is the last book in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the book takes off at exactly the point where the last one stopped, rather than being (as it ought to be) a separate story with the…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is the last book in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the book takes off at exactly the point where the last one stopped, rather than being (as it ought to be) a separate story with the characters’ lives as the line of continuity from one book to the next; good thing this is the last book in the series; the story is even more annoyingly filled with melodrama in the style of a typical airport book (even more than the previous ones were) and the last 50-75 pages are especially silly with the characters sometimes acting illogically and with unlikely trysts and with loose ends left never to be resolved.This is the last book in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the book takes off at exactly the point where the last one stopped, rather than being (as it ought to be) a separate story with the…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is book #3 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; once again, the author is choosing a topic where clichés abound (terrorism, this time); and there he goes again throwing Sevilla street names around like confetti; this is basically an airport thriller even more than was the first two were, including features like author speeches masquerading as political conversation and containing long discourses with short interjections by the other person in the conversation; while the story is interesting on the whole, it does not entirely hang together and there are loose ends left hanging with the complete solution not given; worse, the ending seems designed for a movie and comes largely out of nowhere as well as being incomplete; also this time round he seemed to have been reading Andrea Camilleri’s Sicilian mysteries and has adopted his style of throwing local food specialties into the story at times when they simply interrupt the flow of things; he’s even adopted his version of Camilleri’s housekeeper who puts meals into the fridge for Camilleri’s character to devour.This is book #3 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; once again, the author is choosing a topic where clichés abound (terrorism, this time); and there he goes again throwing Sevilla street…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is book #2 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the US title of this book is “The Silent and the Damned”; the book has a suitably complex storyline, but the author seems to be more comfortable writing in areas like Pedophilia where you can get away with lots of clichés than he is when writing in areas like the Russian mafia where you can’t; and again he strews around the names of Sevilla foods and places in situations in which the name of a street or the particular food being eaten is irrelevant, so he has not at all figured out how to infuse the story with the atmosphere of Sevilla in a way that contributes to the story instead of simply getting in the way of storyline flow.This is book #2 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the US title of this book is “The Silent and the Damned”; the book has a suitably complex storyline, but the author seems to be more…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is book #2 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the book has a suitably complex storyline, but the author seems to be more comfortable writing in areas like Pedophilia where you can get away with lots of clichés than he is when writing in areas like the Russian mafia where you can’t; and again he strews around the names of Sevilla foods and places in situations in which the name of a street or the particular food being eaten is irrelevant, so he has not at all figured out how to infuse the story with the atmosphere of Sevilla in a way that contributes to the story instead of simply getting in the way of storyline flow.This is book #2 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the book has a suitably complex storyline, but the author seems to be more comfortable writing in areas like Pedophilia where you can get…
The Silent and the DamnedThe Silent and the Damned, Large Print
by Wilson, RobertLarge Print - 2005Large Print, 2005
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is book #2 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the book has a suitably complex storyline, but the author seems to be more comfortable writing in areas like Pedophilia where you can get away with lots of clichés than he is when writing in areas like the Russian mafia where you can’t; and again he strews around the names of Sevilla foods and places in situations in which the name of a street or the particular food being eaten is irrelevant, so he has not at all figured out how to infuse the story with the atmosphere of Sevilla in a way that contributes to the story instead of simply getting in the way of storyline flow.This is book #2 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; the book has a suitably complex storyline, but the author seems to be more comfortable writing in areas like Pedophilia where you can get…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is book #1 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; it’s a 300-page story sitting in a 433-page book and somehow the excess pages get in the way of making the storyline clear; the story’s sort of interesting but the biggest problem with it is that the story depends almost entirely on the contents of what are supposed to be a set of diary pages, but these purported diary pages quite improbably contain loads of exact dialogue instead of the sort of summary information that would actually be seen in a real diary, making this “diary” into a first class “literary device” that is way way too artificial; worse, the author includes a lot of unnecessary mentioning of local Seville foods and uses Sevilla street names in way too many situations in which the name of a street is irrelevant, as though mentioning all these foods and street names were actually a good way of recreating the special atmosphere of Sevilla within the novel (which they are not).This is book #1 in a four-book series featuring Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón of the police in Seville, Spain; it’s a 300-page story sitting in a 433-page book and somehow the excess pages get in the way of making the storyline clear; the story’s…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is the first book in a Swedish Detective Inspector Irene Huss series of eight police procedurals that address social issues; only three of the eight are available in English; but to my dismay, this is an annoying book with a story that’s been Americanized to the point of silliness; it’s taking place during early December but all the characters are fixated on Christmas instead of on Sweden’s traditional mid-December Festival of Light, which actually is a lot more important to Swedes; and things get cleaned with Ajax, a product that might be well known to Americans but is virtually unknown in other countries, particularly in Sweden; and many of these references are totally unnecessary because the book could say “a chocolate bar” without having to mention the name of an American product that’s not likely to be sold much in Sweden, if at all, or making repeated references to MacDonalds; worse, the story seems about 100 pages too long and is padded with lots of pointless melodramatic stuff that makes it into an airport sort of book; and the police mostly behave like American police out of control and definitely not like Swedes because they constantly use interrogation techniques that are questionable from a legal standpoint in most of the world (if not necessarily in the US); but it will fly well with American readers; also, the book uses Kronor amounts as though they were American dollars (“everyone” knows that the US dollar is the only currency that matters); and 500,000 Kronor is not “bigger than his fortune”, as he book actually says, since that amount of Kronor is only about C$75,000; maybe the next ones in the series are better but I wouldn’t expect so.This is the first book in a Swedish Detective Inspector Irene Huss series of eight police procedurals that address social issues; only three of the eight are available in English; but to my dismay, this is an annoying book with a story that’s been…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is the first book in a projected series of four psychological thrillers (one per season) set on the island of Öland just off the southeast coast of Sweden; some UK reviewers have said that this book is “a masterpiece of a crime novel; the characterizations are strong and Johan Theorin makes the characters come alive” and “masterfully expresses strong emotions” and “very well written, at times ... lyrical”; I don’t understand the lavish praise for this book and I think the quotes above are completely over the top; and I don’t think it’s that I don’t somewhat understand the setting on Öland because I have spent some time there; I do think this is a nice story about murder, but it’s in no way a police procedural since the police are almost completely on the sidelines, and it’s not some sort of literary masterpiece; the characters too often act in dumb ways, they try to keep the police in the dark and they generally hide evidence and knowledge of relevant events; the characterizations are good in one or two cases but most of the characters are only two-dimensional (UK reviewer comments notwithstanding); I got quite annoyed at the persistent tendency to go it all alone in what were clearly dangerous circumstances.This is the first book in a projected series of four psychological thrillers (one per season) set on the island of Öland just off the southeast coast of Sweden; some UK reviewers have said that this book is “a masterpiece of a crime novel; the…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is book #2 in a projected series of four psychological thrillers (one per season) set on the island of Öland just off the southeast coast of Sweden; unlike lots of other authors, this one’s learning to write well and this second book is considerably better than the first one was, though the two books have one or two characters in common; the book is heavy with the special atmosphere of the island during winter and makes good use of the general style of local folklore; the reader is drawn into the story very quickly and it’s difficult to put the book down; but there are one or two story elements that just don’t hang together very well and the solutions to the various mysteries come rather too easily near the end; however, the book as a whole is an engaging one; I have now changed my mind about this series and look forward to reading the thrd in the series.This is book #2 in a projected series of four psychological thrillers (one per season) set on the island of Öland just off the southeast coast of Sweden; unlike lots of other authors, this one’s learning to write well and this second book is…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is the first book in a projected series of four psychological thrillers (one per season) set on the island of Öland just off the southeast coast of Sweden; some UK reviewers have said that this book is “a masterpiece of a crime novel; the characterizations are strong and Johan Theorin makes the characters come alive” and “masterfully expresses strong emotions” and “very well written, at times ... lyrical”; I don’t understand the lavish praise for this book and I think the quotes above are completely over the top; and I don’t think it’s that I don’t somewhat understand the setting on Öland because I have spent some time there; I do think this is a nice story about murder, but it’s in no way a police procedural since the police are almost completely on the sidelines, and it’s not some sort of literary masterpiece; the characters too often act in dumb ways, they try to keep the police in the dark and they generally hide evidence and knowledge of relevant events; the characterizations are good in one or two cases but most of the characters are only two-dimensional (UK reviewer comments notwithstanding); I got quite annoyed at the persistent tendency to go it all alone in what were clearly dangerous circumstances.This is the first book in a projected series of four psychological thrillers (one per season) set on the island of Öland just off the southeast coast of Sweden; some UK reviewers have said that this book is “a masterpiece of a crime novel; the…
CB2295's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2012
Comment:
This is book #2 in a mystery series featuring Assistant Superintendent David (Kubu) Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department; this book’s better than was the first one in the series and has a suitably complex plot; like the first book, this book is imbued with local atmosphere that adds to the reader’s enjoyment and is not a superfluous addition that just gets in the way as is so often the case; this is the UK edition, which is not so heavily Americanized as is US edition (which is entitled “The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu”); if I had to wade through a lot of irrelevant Americanisms I would probably give the book a much lower rating; I would read the next one in the series but I again would try to read the UK edition.This is book #2 in a mystery series featuring Assistant Superintendent David (Kubu) Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department; this book’s better than was the first one in the series and has a suitably complex plot; like the first…
Comment: