Book Review - Opening Moves

 

I’ll have to admit: I’m a Patrick Bowers veteran.  Alongside Bowers: I’ve shot criminals; had high speed chases; found important clues; raised an adopted teenage daughter; had my heart broken; been punched in the face, shot, almost frozen to death; rekindled a relationship with my estranged brother; found love; lost love; and many, many other intricate details, that spin a web of intertwined plots that continually keep me coming back for more.

 

If you’ve never read a Steven James novel, then you really are in for a treat.  I can safely say: James is one of the best authors out there, and the best thriller writer in my opinion.

 

I was first introduced to James through the Pawn—which has one of the best opening chapters I’ve ever read—and never hesitated to rip through the rest of his books: The Rook, The Knight, The Bishop, and The Queen.  Really, if Opening Moves is the first novel you read of James’ work, then you get to read Patrick Bowers’ story in chronological order.  The way God intended.  Actually, that’s not completely true.

 

Opening Moves is a prequel to the Pawn, and encompasses the story that Pat Bowers has been struggling to forget for five novels.  But if you’re like me, and have already read the Pawn, through the Queen, not to worry.  The story is fresh, explosive and has an ending that will make a fan of the series happy.  I might go as far as to say that I felt more fulfilled because I had already read his other books.

 

Opening Moves takes us back to 1997, when Bowers is just a Detective in Milwaukee.  He’s already wrestling with gruesome crimes, and also has the affection of a lovely woman.  But I don’t want to give too much plot away, so I’ll be vague.  Bowers notices things that other people don’t—which has made him one of the youngest homicide detectives in his department—and when a string of violent crimes sprout up, he wants nothing more than to solve the case and catch the guy responsible.  Bowers’ determination and drive, packed with a heightened form of intelligence make him a very likable character.  But he always realizes that it’s takes a team effort to catch any criminal.

 

I’ve read articles about how James had nightmares while writing this novel, and now after reading it, I can understand why.  It’s darker than his previous ones.  The other novels have a slight humor to them, which comes in the form of Bowers’ adopted daughter.  Since this book is before that time, there are only droplets of humor here and there, which isn’t a bad thing.  The story is serious, and the writing reflects it.

 

As always, James knows how to weave a story through several points of view.  And it’s this mastery that has a way of throwing the points of view all together in the same room.  It’s as though you’re watching a movie.  I could take a guess and say that’s how James writes: he’ll see it all happening in his head, the camera moving from one actor/character to another, and then he types it out.

 

If you haven’t caught on yet, what I’m trying to tell you is: stop what you doing right now and go out and pick this book up.  Why are you still reading this?  I said to stop and go get the book…now!

 

There’s also a sneak preview of the next installment in the Bowers series at the end of Opening Moves.  It’s from The King, which the book states, is coming July 2013.  My only gripe is: do I really have to wait that long?

 

5 out of 5 stars

DVD Movie Review - Boy Wonder

Just like most people filling their online movie queue, I too, close some gaps with movies I’ve never heard of.  Sometimes they arrive and I barely get through fifteen minutes before turning it off and sending it back.  And sometimes, on rare occasions, I actually find a gem among stones.

This movie, Boy Wonder, was one such gem.

A shut-in teenager, played by Caleb Steinmeyer, spends his time looking for trouble, after witnessing the tragic murder of his mother right in front of his eyes.  Don’t let the DVD cover fool you, or the list of actors you’ve probably never heard of, because this film has realness to it that only a lower budget film can.  The name can also throw you for a loop, because in the Batman universe, Robin was often called the boy wonder.

Sean (Caleb) spends his days reviewing mug shots and case files in the same police station he was taken to the night his mother was murdered during a mugging, in hopes of finding the man who did it.  In the same police station a new homicide detective, played by Zulay Henao, starts a career.  Detective Ames (Zulay), and Sean’s paths will at one point cross, and that’s where the fun begins. 

Even though I’ve never seen many of the actors in this film play in anything else, I couldn’t imagine this film without them.  Each person plays there role perfectly, with Caleb Steinmeyer anchoring everyone together.  Sean’s father (Bill Sage) plays the recovering alcoholic father with a history of abusive behavior.  For a tiny bit of humor, Detective Ames’s partner, played by Daniel Stewart Sherman, adds the much needed dry comic-relief to a sometimes over dramatic film. 

When I watch a movie, I like to be drawn into the world, and this one does that early on.  I also want to have at least some closure.  I don’t like films that take on a downward spiral, only to never bring you back.  When the DVD is ejected, I like to feel as though the events happened with purpose and the characters reacted in a realistic manner.  Those reasons are what separate an enjoyable film from a dreadful one, and Wonder Boy has every one of those special traits.

Written and directed by Michael Morrisey, this movie is definitely worth a rent, especially if you have to fill a couple of empty spots in that online queue.

3 ½ stars out of 5

Mal Lives!

Okay, before all you Brown-coats go running to buckle your gun holster, let me explain.

 

Just like all the other fan-boys who had their hearts broken in 2003 when Fox cancelled the Joss Whedon mega hit, Firefly, I too have hope for its valiant return to TV…someday.  But after the movie Serenity—which some say closed the Firefly series, and some say it didn’t—we haven’t really heard a peep from any TV executives, just some mumbling from Whedon and Nathan Fillion (Captain Malcolm Reynolds), about how they’d like to see the series come back.  For now though, we’re all stuck clinging to our Firefly DVD’s, like children holding their favorite teddy-bear that hasn’t been cleaned in a better part of a decade.   Since we don’t have any idea of what the future really holds for the Serenity crew, I can offer something that might ease the pain…at least for now.

 

If you missed Mal and all his antics aboard Serenity, then you don’t have to look too far.  Back in 2009 a series with Fillion as lead started burrowing its way into more and more fans, and here’s the best part: it’s still on TV.  What show am I referring too?  Some of you out there already know, but for those who don’t, I’m referring to Castle.  (In fact, Castle Season 4 comes out on DVD this Tuesday and Castle Season 5 starts the 24^th of this month) 

 

What made me love Firefly was of course, the great writing of Joss Whedon, but also it had a lot to do with Nathan Fillion and his over the top comedic mannerisms.  His facial expressions, delivery of lines, and his reactions to his co-stars, all played a role in me loving Mal Reynolds.  You might be asking yourself, “What the heck does that have to do with Castle?”  Well I’m here to tell you.

 

Nathan Fillion stars as the middle-aged—but still acts like he’s a teenager—best-selling author, Richard Castle.  When a copy-cat killer starts to murder people the same way as some of the murders in his books; a sexy, strong, confident detective decides to ask Castle for help on the case.  Detective Kate Beckett—expertly played by Stana Katic—gets more then she bargained for, because Richard Castle decides to base his next book’s character on her.

 

In reality, it’s your basic boy meets girl; boy falls in love with girl; girl loves boy, but doesn’t-want-him-to-really-know story.  There’s much more to the show then what I’ve summoned up here, as the duo work to solve a crime every episode.  But not only is the show refreshing from a comedic stand point, the murders and how they’re solved are well written and superbly acted.

 

It’s amazing what the writing crew actually squeezes into only a 42 minute episode.  Sometimes you get lucky and a story arc will spill over into the next episode, but most of the time the twists and turns and zigzags are all present in one amazing episode, after another.  And don’t think the show is all crime drama.  There have been episodes involving ghosts, steam-punk culture, zombies, Super-heroes and on and on…it’s really quite impressive.  I for one cannot wait for the beginning of the next season, especially with where Season 4 left off.

 

What I’m really trying to say is: underneath the witty writer shell of Castle, and underneath the rugged and tough Captain Mal, lay an individual named Nathan Fillion.  See, I believe all those funny mannerisms and excellent performances are just Nathan Fillion, being Nathan Fillion.  And until we see the second season of Firefly in actual production, Castle—in my mind—is the next best thing.

 

So it’s perfectly fine to sport your Brown-coat while watching episodes of Castle—don’t worry, I won’t tell.  It’ll just be between us Independents.

 

Castle Series Homepage

DVD Movie Review - Safe & The Hunger Games

There’s one word that sums this movie up: awesome.  If you’re like me, and found The Transporter to be a very entertaining movie, then you’re in good hands with Safe.  Statham is at the top of his game here.  The difference between the two movies is: The Transporter’s martial arts and choreography are very Jackie Chan-esque, Safe on the other hand has brutal and down-right nasty blows that are more straight and to the point.  The action sequences are shot great too.  The camera is in your face and there isn’t too much shakiness to give you a headache.

Statham plays a down-on-his-luck kind of guy, that’s about to throw it all away.  But when he sees Mei (played by Catherine Chan) all that is about to change.  He realizes everyone and the kitchen sink is after this girl, so Statham goes into Statham-Mode and delivers action scene, upon action scene. 

Yes, there is a story too.  Not too complicated, but it’s not a throw-away either.  The good thing is: it was written with an intelligent audience in mind, so you’re not walked through back story or plot.  You get little hints here and there and build your own conclusions. 

Safe comes out on DVD this Tuesday, and should be a definite rental.  If you really like Statham movies, than a DVD purchase is in order.

4 stars out of 5

Disclaimer: this movie is being reviewed not by a teen girl, maddening for love, but by a thirty-something male, who would rather watch an action movie with Jason Statham.

Read our review of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Welcome to the 74^th annual Hunger Games.  Here are your…blah blah blah blah…whatever.  I’m sorry, but I don’t understand all the coverage this movie received.  I remember picking up the book in a store and reading the summary on the inside flap, and putting it right back on the shelf.  The premise of this movie is just ridiculous to me.

They have districts fenced off, which doesn’t keep Katniss (seriously, Katniss?), from going through the fence anyway in the beginning of the movie.  There was this big civil war, and after it was all over, to keep the peace, we let our children be taken by the gov’t and served up on some reality show to be killed.  This keeps the people in all districts, complacent.  But wait there’s more: they allow one winner, so that there’s a feeling of hope.  Say what? 

Now all that right there keeps the peace.  And if that isn’t the dumbest idea you’ve ever heard of, I don’t know what is.  Oh, wait that’s right, there’s that other ridiculous movie that involves shimmering vamps.

If someone took my child and sent them off to be killed, I would rather die than see them taken from me.  So in my eyes, the gov’t coming to collect children should start another war in my book. 

But let’s get passed all that, and actually watch this mess.  There are some neat (action sequences?) If that’s what you call them.  And going into this, you already know Katniss is going to live, so there’s no worry there.  Why? You ask: Because there are 2 more movies coming.

The leads in this film: Jennifer Lawrence (who hasn’t been in a decent movie yet) and Josh Hutcherson (who just came off of the Oscar winning Journey: 2, in which the Rock sings) are like watching two cement blocks delivering lines. 

But not just them, I wasn’t emotionally invested in any of the kids, family or whomever else graced the screen.  I could have cared less if everyone died in a giant fire at the end.  Sorry to all those fans out there. 

And the supposed love-story between the two…I’ve seen stronger love scenes coming from two dogs in my neighborhood. 

There are two types of people: one’s that loved the Hunger Games and one’s that forgot it as soon as it was over.  I’ll let you ponder which one I am.

1 1/2 stars out of 5 (it’s gets one star for how much money the movie made and a half star for how popular the book is)