Category: Stu’s Reviews

Genre: Book   

Grade: A-

Notable People: Thomas Perry

Title: Blood Money

Review: The Jane Whitefield series is THE BOMB. What a fascinating character- a Native American woman whose sees spirits and helps people disappear from the world rather than be obliterated by the clutches of very bad guys. Every installment is a treasure with Perry’s wonderful prose style and captivating stories. This one wreaks havoc on the entire family structure of the modern Mafia as Jane reluctantly leaves retirement and marital bliss with her long suffering and beloved husband, to help a young girl inadvertently caught up in their murderous sights. Rich, rich reading-hard to put down-transcends he genre. This 1999 publication is the fifth of nine in the series- but still going as of 2021. Perry also writes several other series I will be pursuing. Many thanks to my old friend and literary mentor, Berms, for the turn-on.

Genre: TV Series  

Grade: B+

Notable People: Hillary Swank, Bert Salke, Tom McCarthy, Kyle Hopkins, Ryan Binkley, Melissa Wells Created by Tom McCarthy

Title: Alaska Daily

Review: Swank stars as recently disgraced reporter, Eileen Fitzgerald, who leaves her high-profile New York life behind to join a daily metro newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska, on a journey to find redemption. Surprisingly intriguing for a network (ABC) show and Swank really digs into the role, after initially being so overtly pedantic as to be a put off. The ensemble cast is really good and the show gets on serous issues for native American peoples in Alaska- which feels very place sensitive except for mostly being filmed in British Columbia. Well written, witty and hard hitting. No doubt for a second season.

Genre: Book    

Grade: B/B-

Notable People: Iris Johansen

Title: Chaos

Review: Hmmm…have you ever wonder what the designation “NY times bestseller” actually means? This work is from a writer who has appeared on that list literally dozens and dozens of times, and has (according to the jacket) a massive worldwide following and has been translated into a billion languages. Must be pretty hot shit, no? Well, not so much. To be honest, I wanted to dump this book after ten pages, but was stranded in San Diego with nothing else to read and then got captivated by its wild story, which is, indeed, very enticing. Chaos is a good word, for the story……and…… for her writing. I suppose it is really not all that bad if you are thinking along the lines of of college sophomore essays, but frankly, pretty bad….and yet…. hard not to want to read this stuff. The narrative of the novel seems written as a long dialog, which is one long-ass play. The characters’ lack depth, the dialog is pithy and context non-existent…. but it does have bit of a ferocious conclusion, and Iris does write a pretty steamy sex scene. That’s all I got- your choice.