Reviewing Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout

5/5

As usual with most books I read I didn’t actually know what to expect going in. I usually have forgotten how the back cover read by the time I started the novel. The book was a mixture of Norse Mythology and Norse Gods, most who people will not even know the name of because there are only a select few most tend to know, with a pinch of those destined for Valhalla. If you barely remember your Norse mythology from school, have no fear. What you need to know is explained flawlessly and if it’s not important it is just left out completely.

This book gets points for not basing itself around Thor or Loki. Both make appearances, but it’s minor. The story is about the end of the world, Ragnarok, and has its major players as Hermod, one of Odin’s sons, Mist, a Valkyrie, and Grimnir, a warrior of Valhalla. What the book gets the most credit for is that is entirely self-contained. In less than 300 pages man-kind faces the end of the world and the book has a conclusion that works for it. Any other author would have written the same story and taken three books to do it, and maybe their story would not have been bad, but that he could do it in one was amazing.

Now because it’s a short story there are some parts where it seems to suffer. Things happen at an amazing pace and there were one or two points where I sort of sat there and went, “Uh, how did this happen?” While that might have dropped it to 4 stars normally the prose of the novel and the need to read and finish bumped it back up to 5. Excellently told story with a focus on myth and Midgard.

Reasons to Read:

- The Gods as they truly are, not a prettied up version

- Easy and quick read

- Interesting story about the end of the world

Reasons not to Read:

- The Gods as they truly are, some of the most self-serving gods in history

- No interest in Norse mythology

- Very quick so some of the characters suffer as a result

Reviewing Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

3/5

Let me get this out of the way. I hate novels that are written in first person but switch to third person for certain chapters. The entire book should have been written in third person then. The first person was not necessary. It just makes me think the writer’s were too lazy to turn around and change the formatting of it, and it’s a shame to say that of Patterson.

The novel is about a woman who used to have an imaginary friend as a little girl. As an adult she meets him again, this time as a real person. I was expecting perhaps it was a soul mate thing, that as a child she knew who her soul mate would be. Nope. Angel. It’s figured out pretty quickly. In fact, everything in this novel moves fairly quickly, which is common of Patterson.

This novel moves too quickly though. Characters are flat and two dimensional and never really have too much depth to them. The ending was rushed. And contrived. Oh, I actually hated the ending, but I think there was no way at all for me to like the ending of this novel because either it was going to be terribly predictable, or be terribly predictable. The direction they chose was terribly predictable and seemed implausible. Without any development it just seemed like a reach.

Patterson and Charbonnet relied too much on telling us what characters were like and when they decided to show an emotion it was always extreme. Jane was always extremely passive, Vivienne was extremely self-centered, Hugh was extremely short-tempered, Michael was extremely soft-hearted. There was very little fluctuation. Or point.

You would think I would have given this less stars the way I am ranting, however the novel was still a good flow. I read it quickly and did not feel bored to tears, but the moments I’m ranting about keep me from being able to say it was a great novel. I found myself at halfway through thinking how angry I would have been if I had paid for this hardcover novel instead of receiving it for free.

Reasons to Read:

- Quick Flow

- It’s Patterson

- What could be a touching story

Reasons Not to Read:

- No dimension to the characters

- Very Predictable

- Flat story

Reviewing ‘Walking A Golden Mile’ by William Regal and Neil Chandler

4/5

William Regal is an enticing figure you watch on your television screen. His persona never fades and he knows how to tell a story in just the way he carries himself. What went on, though, to bring him to the point the is at today? Let’s face it, everyone who follows wrestling knows he did drugs at some point, but what was going through his mind as he did?

The novel starts off a little dry. It was not hard to follow but did a fair share of bouncing. It was obvious he did not want to actually talk about his family more than he had to. The family was more thrown in to show that someone out there supported him or how he differed for them. His love for his father shines through clearly, but Regal did his best to take the focus off of familial ties.

About 15-20% through the novel it seems to screech and turn and slam on the brakes. It re-evaluates where it is going, and hit’s the gas. Now, instead of taking winding turns the novel is following a very straight path that takes you along a scenic route. Perhaps a little fast, but not too fast you get to see what you came for.

Regal’s story is heartbreaking and something to look up to all at once. He is a role model, even if it’s a what-not-to do sort of thing. Regal makes quite a few mistakes in life, and pays for them. He is repenting now, and forever, for those sins, and it makes for a more interesting read. A man who was sinister and dark on screen is truly a humble, loving man.

My biggest complaint about the autobiography was the reuse of simple words, like “sad”. Sure, Regal even admits he is no literary genius, but if you have another man there to help you write your story he had better darn well not overuse the word “sad”. The audience gets it, having friends die is sad, but how many times did I need to hear the word? Thesauruses rock.

Reasons to Read:

- You are a sports entertainment fan

- You are a Regal fan, in any incarnation he has been in

- You enjoy stories of men overcoming their own addictions

- You enjoy autobiographies

Reasons Not to Read:

- A bit dry in detail

- Overuse of certain words

- Despite stories with other wrestlers, the focus is very much on Regal and everyone else is glossed over

Reviewing ‘Bad Girls Don’t’ by Cathie Linz

2.5/5

Romance novels. Sure, I like them. When they are good. Or hot. Or good and hot. This novel forced eroticism down the reader’s throat without actually making it all that erotic.

Plot: This novel is technically the sequel to Good Girls Do. By the time I had read Good Girls Do, this novel had been out of print. It took me nearly five years to find a copy. This brings “bad girl” sister Skye to the forefront and her foundling relationship with straight-laced sheriff Nathan.

Characters: Sure, there are a lot of characters, but it is mostly about Skye and Nathan. Despite Linz trying her best to bring every character that crosses paths with these two into the plot and giving them a side story, and despite having interesting side characters, the story could have just been Skye and Nathan and not been any different. This is not a compliment in the least considering Skye was having sister issues through most of the book, is a single mother of a four-year-old (PLOT DEVICE), and has the sudden intrusion of a grandmother she never knew.

Oh, this novel was riddled with convoluted plot devices. The little girl inexplicably runs out into the street so that her life can be saved by Nathan. Skye only has a daughter so that Nathan can feel uncomfortable.

Then there are the conclusions to problems. Everything is resolved simply by one quick conversation. Everything comes blurting out because it needs to be said before the ending of the book, and the author was not clever enough to solve any of the problems without the very simply, “Well, we talked it out after this one conversation,” approach.

All of the plotlines Linz tried to introduce could make a soap opera. Bad girl seduces the sheriff. Good girl gets pregnant. Meddling Grandma comes around for suspicious reason. The nun has a mysterious past that results in her knowing how to escape handcuffs. Goth girl ends up dating a football player. Trailer Park Queen wants to work in real estate. Bad ass local vet. Sabotage! But almost as quickly as the plots are mentioned they are resolved. This was 313 pages of great ideas and poor execution.

Reasons to Read:

- You like simple romance novels

- The plots appeal

- You want an easy read

Reasons Not to Read:

- Nothing really deep

- Characters act out of character

- Does not matter if you have read book one to enjoy book two