Entertaining, but uneven
353418
A very uneven collection of stories where some truly horrific classics are nearly overshadowed by the unfortunate inclusion of more contemporary 'literary' shorts. Definitely not a book to be read cover-to-cover, but the classics are well-worth the price.
4193059
This was an entertaining read for me, but it had a number of issues that distracted and detracted from it being a 4 or 5 star rating.  I enjoyed the setup and the universe that was created -- the lore, and the way it was revealed, worked well in the context of the story, exposing you to the information as the character discovers it and changing their world views in the process.  The characters are generally well developed and interesting, and some of the interactions and the situations make for a great story.  But as those details of the story emerge, that's when I started to see problems.

First - Arun is different than his fellow marines - because he still cares and has empathy.  This is called out repeatedly, and is illustrated in his way of helping the Aux with the 'party'.  However, after the party gets busted, he doesn't really seem impacted by the possibility that all of the Aux involved may be summarily executed - in fact, he doesn't seem to ever check on them or mention them in passing with the exception of the one ex-cadet who was hidden away by the aliens.  Its all treated as a high-school prank, albeit one where the cost of getting caught could be death of all involved.

Next - the conspiracies.  There seem to be a lot of them floating around, ranging from drugging of the cadets and sabotage, to rebellion and resistance movements. And all of the 'leaders' from the various races seem in on the deal.  This despite the repeated highlighting of how difficult it is to find a quiet place to chat without observation.  None seemed well explained, but they are used repeatedly as the causation for any number of events. There's even the random twin brother who shows up (having already been a marine for several years) even though there is no mention of Arun being frozen after birth to delay his aging.

Finally, the length.  There is a bunch in here that could have been culled to tighten this up.  Hearing how Arun is hated by his company over and over, mainly due to his infatuation with another cadet from a different unit, is just tiring.  I can see how his unit was sick of it, because the readers were certainly getting tired of it as well.

Overall this book ended up giving me the feeling of a cross between Harry Potter / Hogwarts and Sara King's The Legend of Zero series.  Inspired by parts from each, but not necessarily as good as either.  Still an entertaining read, just not the top of my list.
2720010
Overall this was an entertaining book.

So why only 3 stars? Quite a few things seem to have been overlooked in the editing and revision process. There were grammatical issues, repetitive word usage, missing words, and many plot threads were left unexplained by the end of the novel. While this is the first Brad Thor novel I've read, from the reviews of other novels, I expected more.

Many readers will enjoy this book with its Dan Brown-esque take on Boston. However, just overlook the basic issues to enjoy it.
3212966
Well intended movie. Performances a very uneven to the point of being distracting at times, but the film tries to deliver a positive message and I appreciate that.
2772559
Entertaining read, but it wound up feeling like a short story, lotta stuff yet unresolved
1989470
This is more about style than substance. I enjoyed all of the classic mystery elements, from the detective's incessant yelling to the lady journalist's relentless pursuit of "the scoop." Visual quality is pretty good--except for Boris Karloff's makeup. That's just laughable. Overall, this is an entertaining flick, but it doesn't hold a lot of surprises.
120606
This is a nice cultural study of a cross section of upper middle class porteo society and of the symptoms of depression--and in the case of Leticia Brdice's character--personality disorder. It's a bit uneven as a drama, but does offer some good grist for the psychotherapy technique mill as we see the psychologist working with the main male character perform a number of provocative therapeutic techniques. (I happen to think it's too heavy on the confrontation and poorly performed when using paradox, but that's my opinion).

The drama is a bit uneven, though, and so unless you're really into the cultural, linguistic and psychotherapeutic aspects of the movie, which are rich, you might be let down.
1000369
Pleasant read, and a relatively good yarn, but factual and linguistic anachronisms tainted portions of it for me. It appears as though the author rather rushed the job, as there were many missed opportunities to truly fill out the characters and plot-line. I plan to read "Flashman and the Cobra" and give the writer another chance, as the concept has merit--just loses a little in execution. There was the occasional spark of wit which offers me some hope. Still, could've been much more fun.
2562068
This album has its moments, but is uneven at best.
771584
While considerably different in subject matter and content, the Casual Vacancy exhibits many of Rowling's traits, both strong and weak, familiar to readers of the Harry Potter series. (And face it, you probably are thinking of buying this because you know Rowling from that series.)

The story features a large cast of characters, overlapping in a variety of ways, with multiple kinds of sub-plots developing in parallel. While some of these characters are sympathetic, and some fill the role of "bad guys," they all have at least a little of each characteristic, and Rowling takes pains to make them all understandable, if not likable.

There's quite a bit of sex, some of it quite explicit, and none of it romanticized. The depiction of the sexuality of the teenage boys is quite effective--somewhat oddly, the sexuality of the teenage girls is treated with more distance. There is also a throwaway lesbian adult character who seems like she might be there to check off a box.

Pacing is a bit of an issue. The book takes a long time to introduce all the characters, and while it's doing that, it moves slowly. It then develops a nice pace, but suffers a bit from Rowling's habit of rushing to wrap everything up at the very end.

Overall, a decent read; it would be entertaining even if you didn't know who the author was.
121707
This is mostly an enjoyable read.  Diverting and entertaining, no real surprises in the plotting.  A fairly straightforward mystery with some secret society conspiracy variants.  While not new or unexpected, the story holds the attention and moves along at a good pace.  I would be more generous in my rating, but the author fails to be true to the characters he creates.  His protaganist is a priest.  In the process of defending himself from a murderous attack, the protaganist causes the death of the attacker - and then does not demonstrate any qualms about his actions?  I have known priests who would defend themselves in a similar manner if physically attacked, but they would all feel deeply if their defense of self resulted in the death of the attacker.  This is a notable problem with the author, but he shows potential in his pacing and story development.  I hope that he will fulfill that potential and improve as a novelist.  My primary advice to him is that if he wishes to use a priest as his protaganist he should get to know more priests - and if it is to be a priest in orders, get to know the order as well.  (The orders each have their own character, and tend to attract members who find that character amenable.)

While flawed, this tale is still worth you time.  It is diverting and entertaining.
3250886
So many good ideas in this book, but the execution felt uneven. It is a lot like reading a screenplay, where chapters tell the story from different points of view. Yet it intrigued me enough that I finished the novel, because I needed to find put how things ended.
4451456
Entertain movie. Not the best story, kind of contrived.
4556225
For me, Tim Powers is one of a small number of "automatic" authors: Anything he writes, I want to read. Still, while this slender collection of five short stories and an almost-novelette, all previously published in other small collections or as chapbooks, is enjoyable, it holds nothing remarkable. In fact, it's a little uneven. The protagonist of the title story specializes in negotiating with kidnappers for the safe return of loved ones -- after their deaths. "A Soul in a Bottle," which I think is the best thing here, is a spooky little number in which a rare book scout has to deal with a poetess who suicided a generation ago, and who wants to return, and her surviving sister, who didn't and doesn't. "The Hour of Babel" is a pretty lightweight piece about an alien visitation; it reminds me of the Circle's visit in _Flatland_. "Parallel Lines" is also a story about a ghost who wants to return, this time to haunt her elderly twin sister, just as she did when she was alive. "A Journey of Only Two Paces" follows the apparent theme of the volume, being concerned with yet another attempted return from the grave, though this time the magic ritual required is reminiscent of the _Earthquake Weather_ trilogy. Finally, there's "A Time to Cast Away Stones," the protagonist of which is Edward Trelawny, a supporting player in _The Stress of her Regard_ (and a real person, more or less), who here is galloping through Greece with his young wife in 1824, shortly after the death of Lord Byron, and trying to finesse the old gods on Mount Parnassus. While I loved that novel, and while this is the most classically Powersian piece here (as "secret history"), it doesn't really seem to add anything to the story. Well, no one gets it perfect every time, not even Tim Powers.
2794122
Another one of my Bookbub finds, Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie Shes Dead is not quite as good as I had hoped it would be. Written with an engaging voice, the story is interesting but meandering.

Im going to get technical here for a moment. Novels have a certain structure, which you can learn in a novel-writing class or one of the thousands of books written on the subject. Certain things need to happen at approximately a certain percentage through the story, or it comes out feeling like the story is going on for way too long or is way too rushed. Unfortunately, this novel drags on in the beginning and then rushes through the ending.

All of Part One should have been chopped down to only a few chapters and much of the back story cut. Part Two has an abrupt shift halfway through it, the tone going from light and airy and goofy to somewhat dark and sinister. Then the ending, the big fight with the malevolent spirit that wants to take over Maras life, is packed into too few chapters. The result is that the book feels inconsistent and messy.

The good thing about it, though, is that I really enjoyed the main character Mara. Her voice was interesting, her perspective and knowledge of Pagan rituals, and her earnest discussion of the supernatural goings-on was endearing. Except for her fear of rodents, she was pretty brazen and unflinching in the face of all this trouble.

I cant say the same for her best friend, Gus. Im sure Ms. Miller was attempting to create a sassy, fun gay California man, but to me, he was a complete jerk. He insulted Maras weight, made fun of her lack of boyfriend, and when she was being evicted from her apartment in an unfair situation, never once offered to help her, instead picking on her throughout. I was pleased when Part One was over and I didn't have to put up with his jackassery any more. Mara, honey, you deserve respect, and you can do so much better than being a hag to nasty old Gus.

If you're looking for something different in the paranormal vein and don't mind some of the foibles of a disjointed-feeling book, I would suggest Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie Shes Dead. The detail about witch accouterments and rituals is fascinating in and of itselfperhaps even worth wading through Guss terrible attitude.
4180303
The 4th installment in the Will Robie series by David Baldacci is a bit of a disappointment. From a botched mission to learning of his estranged father up on a murder charge, the story while engaging is a bit far fetched and uneven. The story is an attempt to provide the origin tale for Robie and from that standpoint succeeds. Robie was a standout athlete in a small Southern town still in denial over civil rights. With an overbearing father who had already driven away Robie's mother, combined with teenage unrequited love, Robie ran away and began a journey that molded him into the professional he is today. With a bit too much in common with an earlier Camel Club offering (Divine Justice), Baldacci returns to the sleepy, pastoral, idyllic southern town seething with anger and violence below the surface. Robie steps into the middle, peels away the thin veneer of feigned gentility and manages to make a substantial contribution to local population control.

Tradecraft is present but quite uneven with Robie forced to be more of a detective while the locals and FBI stand around doing next to nothing, but tagging and bagging. Robie rescues by both his partner and father seem forced. Along with the seemingly unending inventory of disposable henchmen and an ultimate villain that became obvious made the plot seem like a vehicle for the Robie origin, rather than the main course with his early days as dessert. The convenience of finding a capable hacker is one example of the almost formulaic approach to the whole story.

Hopefully, Robie has benefited from his therapeutic leave of absence and is ready for something more suitable for his unique talents and skillset.
593389
I chose this book after it was suggested to me by a friend, as a good read. In some ways, the storyline is intriguing. The MC was entertaining in his own way, and the side characters Yimt and his dwarf friend were extremely fun to read along with. And who can forget a drunk pelican? :)

However, near the middle, the circumstances became slightly confusing, and the hinted-at romance never came to fruition, or at least some sort of recognition. It mostly faded away. My biggest irritation was two-fold; the end with the Star and the choice the MC makes. And, I was annoyed that the last few chapters--to me--read as if the author was setting up for the second book. Do that in the epilogue, and give me all the action and climax in the chapters themselves.