TRANS-SCRIBE

Wednesday, 26 February 2020

Marvel Action: Spider-Man #2.1 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

I didn’t realise that the latest issue of Marvel Action: Spider-Man would be the start of a new volume, and was a little surprised by this as the series had only really just begun, and it didn’t feel like it was a time for a relaunch. Luckily, this new series seems to carry straight on from the last issue without any big changes, being more of a normal continuation than the start of something new.

The fact that there were no big, drastic changes to the status quo of the book with this new volume was a relief, as I’d say this is easily the best title in the Marvel Action catalogue and I don’t want to see that quality decrease. Another worry was that the writer for the first volume, Delilah S. Dawson, has been replaced with Brandon Easton. I’d not read anything by Easton, though I had seen his episode of Agent Carter, but quickly found him to be a great fit for the series.

Easton has managed to carry across a lot of what made the previous volume of the series so good, namely the personal relationships between the lead characters. The fun and friendly banter is back, with the trio teasing each other whilst in the middle of combat, as well as some good character development outside of their costumed identities, as we get to see the three of them obsess over science issues and their struggles with them.

This issue also introduced readers to the Marvel Action version of Shocker, the iconic Spider-Man villain. I have to say, I really like the new look for Shocker that Easton and artist Fico Ossio have put together. He’s instantly recognisable as the villain, with an updated version of his classic ‘quilted’ look. I also love the small electrical bolt symbol on his belt buckle as a nice little piece of attention grabbing detail in the middle of his suit.

What immediately jumped out about this new design, however, is that his mask looks very similar to Iron-Man. The fact that he’s stealing tech from Stark Industries means that this might not be a coincidence either. I’m half expecting the character to have an origin that connects in with Tony Stark in some way, similar to the recent Spider-Man movie villains, but hope that he’ll stand on his own as a Spidey villain rather than feeling like some kind of Iron-Man reject. The issue has presented a possible identity for the villain, but I’m not sure if perhaps I’m just suspicious of any new character introduced into the story. I’m eager to find out if this is just a big red herring or not.

Marvel Action Spider-Man has been the best book in the series, and thanks to this issue upholding the standards it’s already delivered I can say with confidence that this hasn’t changed. It might have a new numbering and a new creative team behind the wheel, but it still feels like the same title that I’ve loved since it began. I can’t wait to see with Brandon Easton does next.

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

The Golden Key by Marian Womack - Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

'London, 1901. After the death of Queen Victoria the city heaves with the uncanny and the eerie. Séances are held and the dead are called upon from darker realms.

'Samuel Moncrieff, recovering from a recent tragedy of his own, meets Helena Walton-Cisneros, one of London’s most reputed mediums. But Helena is not what she seems and she’s enlisted by the elusive Lady Matthews to solve a twenty-year-old mystery: the disappearance of her three stepdaughters who vanished without a trace on the Norfolk Fens.

'But the Fens are a liminal land, where folk tales and dark magic still linger. With locals that speak of devilmen and catatonic children found on the Broads, Helena finds the answer to the mystery leads back to where it started: Samuel Moncrieff.'

The Golden Key has everything that I really enjoy in a book. It’s got got mystery, a hint of horror, the supernatural, a strong female lead, and a Victorian era setting that I adore. However, I struggled to really connect with the book even though I’d been looking forward to it for months.

The Golden Key is set in the days following the death of Queen Victoria, and focuses on Helena Walton-Cisneros, a female investigator who has been hired to look into the twenty year old disappearance of the three step-daughters of the reclusive Lady Matthews.

The book is steeped in a sense of spookiness and dread as the story follows Samuel Moncrieff, a young man who is deep into the world of spiritualism and seances. Using the real world craze for the supernatural that was sweeping through London at the time, the book manages to create a great atmosphere that flows through the whole novel. The sense of creeping horror is easily one of the best parts of the book, and only increases when Helena begins to investigate the children’s disappearance in the Norfolk Fens. However, this may be one of the only parts of the book that I enjoyed.

My biggest issue with The Golden Key is a very disjointed and broken narrative. Marian Womack has created a connect the dots style mystery, one that unfolds throughout the novel, but it also feels has though events happen in a similarly unconnected way. There are a few storylines that come together towards the latter half of the book, but before that happens it’s hard to keep track of who’s who, and why their story is being included. This is made even harder at times by the amount of backstory and depth that Womack gives certain aspects.

For example, there are several pages towards the latter quarter of the book that go into great detail about one of the secondary character’s past, specifically her friendship with another woman who’s not in the book, their shared love of fairy stories, and their subsequent falling out. It’s an interesting aside that gives more detail to one of the characters, but it seems like the only reason it’s included is to show that this person felt bad about letting her friend down in the past, so wants to go out of her way to help Helena. I couldn’t help but feel that she could have still decided to help Helena without having to spend the better part of a chapter outlining her personal history.

This isn’t the only time that this happens, as Womack gives readers extra details on a number of side characters or situations that don’t have a huge impact upon the main story. In a way it reminds me of the amount of detail Stephen King can sometimes lavish upon his bigger books. It’s great if that’s the kind of thing you like, but at times it does seem to drag the pace down a bit.

Sadly I also felt that the book didn’t quite stick its landing either, and the conclusion left me a little confused and unsure of what happened. There’s a definite sense of an ending, but I’m not sure exactly what or why. Leaving a conclusion open to interpretation can be a fine thing, but when so much of the book was made around this mystery I wanted to have things confirmed for me, not just vague hints. There is a mention in the acknowledgements that there might be more to come with Helena in the future, but I don’t want to have to wait until a sequel to find out what happened with this conclusion.

The Golden Key is an interesting supernatural mystery, with some intriguing characters and some unique ideas. It may not appeal to everyone but even if it doesn’t set your world on fire you’ll still find some good things to keep you entertained.

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Monday, 24 February 2020

Small Town Residents Threaten To Sue School Over Rainbow Flag

Residents of Marshall, Minnesota, have threatened to take legal action against Marshall Middle School for including a rainbow pride flag in a display about diversity.

The display that has come under fire also contained flags from nations around the world, but parents, and some students, have only cited concern with the inclusion of the pride flag. Last week dozens of members of the local community attended a meeting at the school board chambers to voice their opinions on the issue.

As can be expected from so many other incidents like this, parents have complained about the pride flag as they believe it to 'promote' a 'lifestyle', one that they feel is against their Christian beliefs. More than one of those who spoke out against the flag chose to read from the bible as their argument against it, choosing passages that they believe highlight that God is against homosexuality and trans people. They even said that the pride flag might 'confuse' children.

One parent, Mohammed Ahmed, asked the board, 'What's next? Curriculum? Teaching the lifestyle in our classrooms?'

One of the students from Marshall Middle School took to the mic to talk about how he and other students had begun a petition to have the pride flag removed but it was taken away by a teacher and given to the principal. He, and several other students, then tried to protest the inclusion of the pride flag by displaying flags on their lockers. In this case the 'Don't Tread On Me' flag; a flag that has some connections to racism and white supremacy.

This student complained that these flags were taken down by a teacher. People are now trying to claim that this was a breach of the students constitutional rights to free speech.

Bill Mohram, a local lawyer who has been approached by several members of the community to potentially sue the school over the pride flag said; 'If that young boy accurately described what happened to him, some teacher in your school district violated his constitutional rights unequivocally;'

Thankfully, these were not the only voices on display that night, as other members of the community took turns to defend the flag, and the school's decision to display it.

'Kids can only hear so many times the public shaming and these hurtful online comments,' said Karrie Alberts, the Marshall High School GSA Advisor. 'They are absorbing these words. They cannot hear that they are ungodly, or they are second-rate, or that they should be hidden away in some other room.'

She continued to condemn the attackers for treating LGBTQ+ students as being 'controversial'. Other parents stood up to say that they felt the flag was a symbol of inclusion for their children, some of who are gay, and that taking them down would be demonstrating to queer children that they are considered to be second class citizens.

No decision was made by the end of the meeting, with the Marshall Superintendent Scott Monson saying that he would need to consult the school district's legal representation. Despite this, those protesting the flag have said that if their demands have not been met, they 'will file a lawsuit in federal district court'.

Thursday, 20 February 2020

Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins - Book Review

Dungeons and Dragons is cool. Let's just get that out of the way first of all. Anyone who doesn't think it is has clearly never played it, because as soon as you do you realise its so much fun. But whilst it's a lot of fun to play it seems like it's sometimes hard to watch. A lot of the time this comes down to the fact that most people who play the game are just regular folk like you and me. Critical Role, however, stands out as something a little different, thanks in part to the players being such good actors.

Within the first episode of the web series you'll end up being sucked into the world that the group have created, as well as the characters that they play. It doesn't just feel like a group of friends playing a game, but a group of creatives making something special. That's why there is literally hundreds and hundreds of hours of Critical Role content out there; people recognised that it was something special.

Despite having a hugely successful web series that takes weeks to watch through even if you don't do anything else, fans always want more Critical Role in their life. This is where Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins comes in. Jumping back in time to the very beginning of the story, this book shows readers just how the group first came together all those years ago when they were playing in their homes.

The story begins with elf twins Vex and Vax investigating the strange happenings in a small town surrounded by a swamp, where the young and old are getting sick and dying. The two of them are trying to find out if it's some kind of curse, a poison, or some evil force behind the events when they discover a much bigger plot, one that has drawn in several groups of adventurers.

It's fun to see several members of the group split across other groups, and to see that they actually didn't really like each other that much. Viewers of the series got to see these characters after they'd been together for years and had become something of a family, but here they're just strangers. Instead of teasing there's outright hostility at times.

This isn't the Vox Machina that most fans will know, and it might be something of a shock to see the characters portrayed in this way, but it still ultimately feels like Critical Role, with the same group of misfits and idiots, and the same plans that don't work. One of my favourite parts of the book is when the group are standing around outside the evil lair, coming up with various plans whilst Grog goes running off in the background, attacking head on. It feels like a comic representation of every planning session the team has in the series, where things usually go a little crazy and unexpected.

It won't take you long to read through the book, but if you're all caught up with the episodes and don't want to go back and rewatch this'll certainly scratch your Critical Role itch for an hour or two, as well as shedding some light onto the origins of the iconic group of heroes.

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Tuesday, 18 February 2020

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Martian Menace by Eric Brown - Book review

'A new addition to the Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series from science fiction and crime author Eric Brown. A deadly Plot. For the second time in human history, Martian invaders occupy planet Earth. After a common terrestrial virus thwarted the first deadly invasion, another Martian armada arrived six years later to make peace. Now, mankind enjoys unprecedented prosperity due to the aliens' scientific wonders and technology, and an entente exists between the two races. But when Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson are called upon to investigate the death of an eminent Martian philosopher, they unravel an intricate web of betrayal and murder that leaves no one - human or Martian - beyond suspicion...'

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series by Titan Books is one of my favourite series of Sherlock Holmes books. The series gives readers a broad mixture of stories, some very similar to the original books and could fit in nicely with the tales written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, others, such as this one, mix things up and present weird and wonderful new versions of the Holmes universe.

The Martian Menace combines the classic detective with the science fiction classic of The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells. I've adored this series when it's combined Sherlock Holmes with other classic Victorian era books, such as Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes, and this story continues that tradition.

Set more than a decade after the events of the original War of the Worlds, readers are dropped into a world where the Martians returned following their initial defeat. This time, however, they came with the offer of friendship, explaining that the Martians involved in the initial invasion were part of an aggressive, rogue faction. With these new, benevolent Martians welcomed to Earth a new age of technological development has begun, and Humanity have started to work alongside their new allies to create a better future for themselves.

When Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are approached by the Martian ambassador to England, Grulvax-Xena-Goran, to help investigate the strange murder of one of Mars' most eminent and respected philosophers the two of them jump at the chance. Having previously worked with the ambassador in the past, and desiring to see the red planet for themselves, they quickly find themselves whisked off world and into a much deadlier mystery than they first thought. When the two detectives discover that the new martian friends might not be so different than those in the first invasion, they get drawn into a battle for the very survival of humanity itself.

Before getting into the meat of the story, readers are given a short prologue story where Holmes and Watson investigate the murder of the current Martian ambassador, a story that features H. G. Wells himself. Whilst this was a good introduction to this new world, I was a little worried that the main story would become a similar rehash, though over a longer page count. This was especially worrying as I didn't think Holmes and Watson would be able to investigate a murder on Mars in the same way they normally would. As such, I was hugely happy when it turned out that this case was just a ruse, hiding a much bigger and grander story beneath.

Holmes and Watson aren't big heroes, they're not going to be on the front lines of a fight against the Martians, especially during this time period when they're older men. However, they're both incredibly intelligent and resourceful people, who have ruined far too many evil plans in the past for the Martians to just ignore them completely. This means that we get to see the heroic uprising story told from a point of view of someone other than the leader, or the front-line hero. They dip in and out of the greater story, working in the shadows on small details that ultimately make a big difference to the overall survival of humanity. The two of them just wouldn't work as figureheads leading the charge, and Eric Brown knows this, using them in a much cleverer way instead.

The story draws upon some of the history of Holmes too, with some surprise characters appearing during the narrative. It also throws in some real world figures for the two heroes to interact with, such as George Bernard Shaw and G. K. Chesterton. Brown even throws in another Arthur Conan Doyle hero, Professor Challenger, much to my immediate delight. The book is filled with literary and historical nods that it'll keep any fan of the Victorian era smiling.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Martian Menace is a great example of why this series is not just full of great books, but some of the best Sherlock Holmes books around. It manages to seamlessly put the iconic duo into this wonderful sci-fi setting without it feeling weird or out of place, in a story that's a worthy follow up to the classic tale. An absolute pleasure to read from start to finish.

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Monday, 17 February 2020

The Unholy by Paul DeBlassie III - Book Tour

'A young curandera, a medicine woman, intent on uncovering the secrets of her past is forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop. Set in the mystic land of Aztlan, "The Unholy" is a novel of destiny as healer and slayer. Native lore of dreams and visions, shape changing, and natural magic work to spin a neo-gothic web in which sadness and mystery lure the unsuspecting into a twilight realm of discovery and decision.

'PAUL DeBLASSIE III, PhD, is a psychologist and writer living in his native New Mexico. A member of the Depth Psychology Alliance, the Transpersonal Psychology Association, and the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, he has for over thirty years treated survivors of the dark side of religion.'

The Unholy is a story about faith. It's about colonialism, and the encroaching of white beliefs and practices on native peoples. Whilst this should have been somewhat obvious from the description of the book I was still a little taken aback by how much this narrative took the centre stage.

The story follows Claire, a native american woman that works as a therapist in a small, church run, mental health facility. When just a child she witnessed her mother killed by a terrifying man in a cloak, a figure that has haunted her dreams for decades since. After the death of her mother she was raised by friends of her mother and taught about her role as a medicine woman. Despite being raised with her culture being a big part of her identity it feels like she's almost at war with herself, afraid to embrace her role and her culture in a place where Christianity rules with an iron fist.

This conflict is the central focus of the book, with Paul DeBlassie III making a point of showing the dark side of religion. Yes, religion can be a very comforting thing for some people, and it can provide a lot of warmth and community, but this isn't always the case for everyone. As a psychologist he saw first hand how religion can cause harm, how it can be the route of abuse and suffering for some people; and how this abuse can have long lasting affects.

Claire is the embodiment of this. Her mother was violently ripped away from her. Her culture is repressed and made out to be wrong. She's treated as secondary by people because she's not a white christian. She's constantly on the back-foot, fighting for herself and trying to prove her worth.

This would be a bad enough situation to be in if that was it, if she was just fighting oppression, but there's more going on that just the very real world hatred that so many people live with everyday. The man that murdered Claire's mother is still out there, and wants to kill her too. A killer being after you is bad, but when he's also the head of the regime that's oppressing your people and has been making your life hell forever, it becomes even more complicated.

I was super excited for this story, for seeing this evil archbishop hunting down a native medicine woman. It's a scenario that really appealed to me, especially when it's revealed that there's more going on beneath the surface than just a man turned bad, that there might be something darkly supernatural beneath the surface. And whilst I did enjoy the journey, the mystery that DeBlassie made, I felt a little let down by the conclusion.

There wasn't anything bad with the resolution, and it made narrative sense for the story, but it happened a little too quickly for me. After so long building up this world and the story the conclusion happened over just a handful of pages. I wanted more from the ending. I wanted it to take a little more time. Despite this fast conclusion, the book was still very engaging and interesting, and played with some interesting story themes and ideas that I'd love to see in more books.

The Unholy might not be a book for everyone, especially if you're not open to the idea that organised religion can be a bad thing, or that white society has oppressed countless cultures and peoples. However, if you're open to seeing these harsh truths, if you have respect for native peoples and understand that white cultures have done them wrong you will really enjoy this book. It puts both the historic sins of oppression and conquest, as well as modern divisions centre stage to tell a story that talks about important themes wrapped up in a supernatural mystery.

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Thursday, 13 February 2020

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith - Book Review

'In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren't finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories.

'Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing—a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organising books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materialising as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.

'But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell ... and Earth.'

I think the first thing that needs to be gotten out of the way when talking about The Library of the Unwritten is that I feel a little personally attacked, as I'm sure anyone who ever thought up an idea for a book but never got round to writing it would be after reading this. A book that tells you that your unwritten stories are going to sit away in Hell for all eternity definitely feels like a kick up the butt to anyone who's ever thought about writing, and for that I really want to thank A.J. Hackwith for making me think about going back to my own writing.

In all seriousness, this was a book where I wasn't entirely sure what to think of it for a good portion of it. I knew that I was enjoying it, that the story was interesting and the characters were good, but there was a lot thrown at readers here to try and get their heads around. Thankfully Hackwith was clearly aware that there was going to be a lot of new ideas coming into play, and provided readers with Leto, a wonderfully sweet character who could act as our eyes in this magical new universe, able to ask what the hell's going on (no pun intended), and make the other characters explain things.

The Library of the Unwritten deals with a special library in Hell, filled with books and objects that were dreamed up but never created. These include stories, poetry, beautiful rugs, and even exquisitely crafted swords. Claire is a human who has gone on to become the librarian following her death, a post that means she has to run the Unwritten Wing. Not only does she have to make sure that things stay neat and organised, but she also has to maintain an uneasy neutrality with the demons of Hell, as well as stopping the characters in the unwritten stories from waking up.

However, when one of the heroes not only waked up from their book, but escapes to Earth to find his author, Claire and her small team end up on a path that sees them hunting for a powerful lost artefact; a quest that puts them in conflict with the forces of Heaven.

When I started to read The Library of the Unwritten I honestly didn't really like the characters that I was presented with. Claire was moody and confrontational, Leto was a bumbling sack of nerves, Brevity was overly cheerful and one dimensional, and Hero was a bit of a dick. Over the course of the book I was proven wrong about each and every one of these characters. I got to see that Claire had a heart, that Leto was brave and sweet, that Brevity had depths, and that Hero may actually be the most complex person in the story.

Hackwith did something that I absolutely love, she took a group of misfits that don't really work well together, that you don't even think you like, and makes them into a family that you really care about. There's no big moments where you see this happening either, no obvious points where the characters make a sudden shift; instead you suddenly find that they've slowly morphed into completely three dimensional people who you want to see survive until the end of the story.

It's not just the characters where Hackwith excels either; at first the story felt very grounded in Christian mythology, making Heaven and Hell a central focus of the story. It reminded me of Supernatural, or Good Omens (there were a number of times during the story that it made me think of Neil Gaiman). But over the course of the narrative more religions and mythologies were introduced, and in interesting ways. It would have been easy to just stick to Heaven and Hell and not get too overly complicated, but A.J. Hackwith chose to add more layers and complexity to her world, giving us something so much grander instead.

I knew I liked the book from the beginning, but it wasn't until I reached the end that I realised it had managed to sneak its claws into me, to make more invested in the characters, to want to know what happens next, and to want to read the next book in the series right away. It drew me in in such a subtle way that I'd say it was insidious if I didn't enjoy myself so damn much. A great book for anyone who loves mythology and religion, who enjoys character driven stories, and who wants a read that will inspire you to go and write yourself. Hopefully this book will lead to a few less volumes in Hell and gets us all writing our stories.

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Tuesday, 11 February 2020

The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne - Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

'Engagement season is in the air. Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie “Leo” Kolburg, heir to a faded European spaceship, only has one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin?

'But when Leo’s childhood friend and first love Elliot returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. Elliot was the one that got away, the boy Leo’s family deemed to be unsuitable for marriage. Now, he’s the biggest catch of the season and he seems determined to make Leo’s life miserable. But old habits die hard, and as Leo navigates the glittering balls of the Valg Season, she finds herself falling for her first love in a game of love, lies, and past regrets.'

The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne is something of a strange book to try to pin down. It's a sci-fi story for sure, it takes place on-board ships that are part of a fleet orbiting a frozen earth, waiting for an ice-age to end (it reminds me a lot of Battlestar Galactica in a few ways); however, quite a bit of it also feels very old, kind of like a drama set in high society during the 1900's, it's even very similar to Jane Austen's Persuasion. It's a strange mixture of futuristic and old worldy that shouldn't work, but does really well.

The Stars We Steal follows Princess Leonie Kolburg, Leo to her friends, a member of a royal house that has fallen on hard times. Her family is running out of money, their ship is falling apart, and they desperately need to do something to help change their fortunes. Whilst Leonie has designed a new water purification system that could help improve conditions across the fleet and make them rich, her father is banking on her meeting a rich man to marry during the Valg, an event where royals and rich people enter into a Bachelor like event to pair off and get engaged.

Not only is Leo fighting against this expectation to go off and marry some rich man in order to save her family, she's confronted by a ghost from her past when Elliot arrives at the event. A childhood friend and her former fiance, their relationship fell apart when she was ordered not to marry him because he was poor. Now back, and stinking rich, Leo finds everything thrown on its head when Elliot seems determined to make her life a nightmare.

The science fiction elements of The Stars We Steal are really very subtle, and you can end up forgetting that it's actually set in space a lot of the time. The focus is instead given over to the people, with the human drama being the driving force behind the story. I have to be honest, I'm not normally one for overly romantic stories, and can find them to be a little mushy at times, but Alexa Donne manages to make Leo and Elliot's story engaging and interesting rather than over the top.

Leo isn't head over heels in love for the whole book, wanting to get together with her crush. Instead, she's a determined young woman, one with dreams and aspirations of her own that don't rely on having to get married. Thanks to this, the moments of romance between her and Elliot feel a lot more natural and nuanced, evolving due to the story rather than being the direct force behind the narrative.

The book doesn't just focus on the romance story, however, but exposes the somewhat sheltered Leo to the injustices in the rest of the fleet. Whilst living a life of luxury and pleasure there are people in the fleet struggling to survive, on ships that are falling apart, fighting to get enough food to get by. This plot is probably one of the most interesting parts of the book, and the hints at a criminal underside of this new society, and possible uprisings from the 'poorer' classes was something that I definitely wanted to see more of.

Whilst these ideas ended up playing a part in Leo's story they stayed as background details, concepts that she's aware of but doesn't really get exposed to. Because of this, it felt like there was something missing to the story. I loved the book, and found the character journeys to be engaging and interesting, but if there had been more focus given over to the rest of the fleet it would have become a perfect score.

The Stars We Steal is an engaging and enjoyable character driven story that uses its science fiction setting in fun and interesting ways. It's full of old fashioned interpersonal drama, queer representation, and big stakes. A great mashing of themes and genres that works brilliantly.

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Monday, 10 February 2020

All The Best Lies by Joanna Schaffhausen - Book Review

'The highly anticipated third novel in the award-winning Ellery Hathaway mystery series.

'FBI agent Reed Markham is haunted by one painful unsolved mystery: who murdered his mother? Camilla was brutally stabbed to death more than forty years ago while baby Reed lay in his crib mere steps away. The trail went so cold that the Las Vegas Police Department has given up hope of solving the case. But then a shattering family secret changes everything Reed knows about his origins, his murdered mother, and his powerful adoptive father, state senator Angus Markham. Now Reed has to wonder if his mother's killer is uncomfortably close to home.

'Unable to trust his family with the details of his personal investigation, Reed enlists his friend, suspended cop Ellery Hathaway, to join his quest in Vegas. Ellery has experience with both troubled families and diabolical murderers, having narrowly escaped from each of them.

'Far from home and relying only on each other, Reed and Ellery discover young Camilla had snared the attention of dangerous men, any of whom might have wanted to shut her up for good. They start tracing his twisted family history, knowing the path leads back to a vicious killer—one who has been hiding in plain sight for forty years and isn't about to give up now.'

It's been a few years since I picked up a crime book. I used to read them a lot, and really enjoyed them, loving trying to see if I could figure out who the killer was before the characters in the book did. Because I'd not read anything in the genre for a while, outside of Sherlock Holmes books at least, I was nervous to get back into it, especially with the third boon in a series. I couldn't have been in better hands, however, as All The Best Lies proved to be not only one of the best crime stories I've read, but one of the most engaging character driven ones too.

The plot of All The Best Lies focuses on FBI investigator Reed Markham, who has taken on a forty year old cold case, that of the murder of his own mother. Having been raised with an adoptive family all his life, Reed's shocked when a recent DNA test reveals that his adoptive father is actually his biological father. Suddenly worried that their might be more undisclosed mysteries hidden in his past, and afraid that his dad might have had a part to play in his mothers death, he chooses to investigate.

I loved that the main story of the book is a cold case. So many times with crime novels it's about current killings, often serial killers, or cold cases where the killer suddenly reappears after years. The fact that there's nothing new going on here, that it's a crime well in the past instantly leapt out at me as so much more interesting. There's not a slew of witnesses, masses of evidence, or a race against the clock, instead Reed and Ellery have to fight for any scrap of evidence that they can find.

The people that the two of them had to interview had to remember back over forty years, struggling to help the investigators set up a timeline, and making proving alibis near impossible. Half the officers who originally investigated the case are either retired or dead.

If it wasn't for the personal stakes involved in the investigation I'm sure that the two of them would have given up. Thankfully, this personal involvement didn't just mean that there was incentive to keep the case going, but meant that I got a huge insight into both Reed and Ellery. Even though this is the third book in the series these insights meant that I never felt like I had missed out on anything. There was always a strong sense of who the characters were, their motivations and driving force.

The strong character development also meant that I found myself being dragged into the emotional story way more than I expected to be. I didn't know about the past adventures between Reed and Ellery, and whilst some of this was filled in for me I'd missed out on two books of the two of them together. Despite this, I became invested in their relationship, wanting the two of them to be able to get together, despite the huge hurdles that they would have to make it over to do so.

All The Best Lies didn't just rely on the romance between the two leads, however, but made family a hugely important part of the story, and not just Reed trying to find answers about his mothers death. His adoptive family played a big part, and there were moments of interaction between them that nearly broke me. There was one moment between Reed and his adoptive mother that actually make me cry a little. The fact that I found myself tearing up more than once during the story took me completely by surprise if I'm being honest.

I'd seen reviews about the rest of this series of books that described them as being hard to put down, and I find myself having to agree with that. I read the entirety of the book in a single day, something that I rarely do. Whilst this was helped that I was awake half the night with chronic pain, that was only a small factor as to why I didn't put the book down; desperately wanting to know what happened next was a much bigger factor.

All The Best Lies drew me in in ways that I wasn't expecting. It had a mystery that kept me engaged throughout whilst I tired to figure out who did it, with a satisfying conclusion that made sense and lived up to the mystery. The characters felt real, alive, and the character moments were some of the best bits of the book. This might have been the first entry in Joanna Schaffhausen's series that I read, but it's not going to be the last; I'm one hundred percent going to read the first two books, and can't wait for more to come out soon.

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