A rather bizarre story, but predictable
595711
This isn't a bad book, but hey, it is predictable.  The writer does however have skill and she kept me captivated.  The story is wittily told in a rather bizarre way.  I do recommend it although I have a few reservations.
149820
I know nothing about the convoluted American political or legal system - BUT -The plot seems basically unlikely and too contrived to be considered as remotely likely. The story does not really flow - it was heading in one direction that sounded interesting, but then took off on another tangent.
Still - the tale held my attention enough to read until the drawn-out ending!
4628214
It's a reasonable story - but (presuming it did not have one) needed an editor.
Much of the story does not really flow comfortably - resulting in an 'awkward' read.
Characters tend to pop into the story unannounced and unexplained and the author uses differing names for some characters.
Still - the plot line is different and imaginative so: held my interest until the rather unsatisfactory/incomplete ending (the story just suddenly stops).
4883668
I don't know why, but something about airports makes me pick up books that I would otherwise have skipped, and something about plane trips makes me read them. Maybe the thin air fogs my brain. Whatever the cause, it led me to this story.

The pieces all look familiar: there's an isolated outpost of harmless, helpless naifs, a mad scientist tampering with forces that should never be tamped, and some suitably scary and bloodthirsty monsters of novel  make and model. The story really centers on the first-person narrator and his uncanny contact with beings hidden from the eyes of ordinary people, however. And, just for the heck of it, there's also some NSA super-spy thing floating around the corners. You know the usual.

Its formulaic and forgettable. If you were going to kill a few hours anyway, this won't do anything worse to them. I just hope my personal demon of airport reading has gotten this genre out of its system, though.

-- wiredweird
4618371
Simplistic writing style and too many silly coincidences detract from an interesting story.
1832965
No real mystery, as I figured out what was going to happen half-way in. Unnecessarily weird and acting wasn't very good either. The premise of the story COULD have been a really good movie, but I didn't enjoy it at all.
2502437
A story of events of cosmic significance taking place in a very mundane urban setting and told in a dry, low-key style that reminds me of the classic fantasy magazine Unknown.

The cosmology does not completely satisfy, and I wonder whether it was fully thought-out.  Of course, the peculiarity of the narrator's understanding of reality may be central to the author's point.  At least one of the characters in this story is unreliable, and it may not be the demon.
2997973
this movie has a story but really non sense.
1698438
This is a very unusual book.  It's sort of a mix between doomer and m/m fiction.  It has a mix of pretty much everything, from graphic torture to graphic sexual activity.  The writing is okay, but the premise--what makes "the world unravel" as the blurb says--is a little contrived and implausible.  Still, if you don't think too deeply about it, it works acceptably well.

In most respects it's a standard post-apocalyptic story with something bad happening and the main characters trying to cope.  As with most such books, the black swan event brings out the worst in some people and that accounts for most of the body count--the dead stack up quickly.
3212829
A very strange tale. Not great for kids under 10
1039184
This is an odd book, not entirely without its charms. The story initially seems to be going somewhere, but, unfortunately, doesn't deliver.  The ending, although not entirely dark, left an unsavory taste. I suppose I should have suspected since a character named Gabriel, introduced in the first few pages, is heroically working toward a medical career by funding his education working as a gay gigolo. The entire narrative is sprinkled with intimations of unorthodox sex, which although never becomes overtly seedy, casts a sordid shadow darkening the book. The author seems to resort to these episodes as a way to add frission to pull an otherwise bored reader through the narrative. I thought it was a gimmick that simply didn't work.

Additionally the writer often uses bizarre syntax. On the first page is written: "There are, apparently-it has not only been rumored but confirmed-whole communities of Africans. They are being taught the language so as to insert themselves. But where they are inserted remains a mystery." Which in my mind is an odd series of sentences. And they are found throughout the book. The author does live in Buenos Aires so perhaps she is thinking in a mixture of Castellano and English and writing has become an odd mix of the two. And since authors basically have to edit their own work these days perhaps these strange phrases inadvertently wound up in the narrative.

The author is certainly not a terrible writer and the book is an easy read. I appreciate her use of the more British word "Argentine" rather than the ear lacerating American term "Argentinean". She also captures the local culture by the use of such things as "Argie" and other pejorative endearments Argentines love to use.

Her descriptions of Buenos Aires are extremely lacking and do not paint any kind of picture of where the story takes place. That is especially disappointing in the story of a city few are familiar with (she could get away with such sparse descriptions if she were writing about New York City). Except for the occasional colloquialism the story could have happened anywhere. I did enjoy some of the subplots such as Isolde, an austrian aristocratic-wannabe, slumming among the Argentine Upper class.

In short, although readable, this book will not end up in my permanent collection.
1795416
Although he never had children, James was interested in and had the skill to penetrate the infantile mind, sometimes in a very peculiar way, as in "The Turn of the Screw". "What Maisie Knew" depicts several years in the life of a girl, during and after the bitter and altogether farcical divorce of her parents. The initial agreement (each parent having her for six months), turns out to be a failure. The father is a merciless, egomaniac, philanderer and despicable man, who marries the girl's nanny, a woman of unrevealed intentions. The mother, after numerous adventures, marries a certain Sir Claude, a young man who develops a close relatinship of protection and sympathy with Maisie. But soon the mother is having other affairs. Far from her parents, Maisie grows basically with the new nanny, the old, ignorant, but kind Mrs. Wix, as well as with Sir Claude. After several plot twists, Sir Calude takes the girl to France (something that today would be a scandal and authorities would consider and international crime: abduction of a minor). But somehow, far from being distressed, the parents seem to be glad about getting rid of the child.

This novel is, undoubtedyl, strange, and necessarily has to be narrated with a dark-humor undertone, as otherwise it would have to be a lacrimous soap opera. Maisie herself couldn't be other than a strange child, living a very odd life back when divorce and open adultery were rare and socially punished. Indeed, the novel sounds more like the story of, say, the child of a couple of Hollywood celebrities, who seem to be in trouble to remember the name of the person lying by their side most mornings. Maisie grows mature precociously, not so much out of comparison with other kids, but because, although clearly resenting the cold manipulation and bad treatment from her parents, she seems to think that life is like that. Not attending schol, she has practically no "normal" family around with which to contrast her situation. With certain naturality, she gets used to her changing circumstances, while contemplating from afar the odd behavior of adults.

With he exception of Mrs. Wix and, at least in terms of his attitude towards Maisie, Sir Claude, the rest of the characters are monsters of egotism. Under current laws, they would deserve jail. And strangely, Maisie seems to traverse her life with no apparent signs of serious emotional damage.

James's literature here is less convoluted and enigmatic than in other (major) pieces, but both dialogue and descriptions are characteristic of his singular style.
4165133
When Asey Mayo and his cousin-in-law Jennie deliver eight buckets of fresh clams to the Whale Inn, they find the place unlocked and empty. That discovery is surprising enough. Added to the dead body they find stuffed in the hotel's phone booth, it's downright disturbing. Especially since they had seen the victim mere minutes before, when they were all stuck in traffic with an Army convoy. What bizarre series of events has descended upon the Cape Cod town of Quissat?

The individuals who gradually surface are examples of the traditional quirky characters found on Cape Cod. The place is owned by the Doanes. Mrs. Doane runs the establishment with an iron fist, while daughter Freddy half-heartedly staffs the desk. Working in the kitchen is Mr. Washington "Washy" Doane, whom Asey recalls as being a cook on his uncle's schooner years before. "Biffer Doane he had been called, owing to his violent tendency to biff over the head with the first object at hand anyone and everyone who disagreed with him. Sometimes, in fact, Washy didn't even bother to wait for any disagreement to take place. Sometimes Washy just biffed." (p. 60) Did one of the Doanes shoot the woman in the phone booth? Or could the murderer be found among the various guests? There's Mrs. Clutterfield, a well-to-do woman with a penchant for speedy but erratic driving. Her own driver and servant, Alfred, is not above bribing officials for the slightest of offenses. Elissa Hingham is a local theater promoter who can summon up a migraine headache on a whim. No one can remember the surname of her second husband Horace, who is also involved in the acting business. Genealogist Jonathan Rankin bends Asey's ear a bit, until Doc Cummings warns his old friend that the man should not be trusted because he hasn't paid his medical bills. And then there's schoolteacher and perennial boarder Olive Beadle, who has been coming to the inn every summer for more than 20 years. Where is she now, by the way?

As usual, Asey Mayo is called upon to figure out not only the identity of the victim, but also the motive for her murder. Jennie and Doc Cummings do their best to help, but the investigation itself belongs to Asey. He finds solace in removing himself from the action and getting away from the incessant inquiries. "[H]e was tired of talking, and of people's if's and how's. Any situation, even one as confused and complicated as this seemed at the moment, simplified itself after you thought about it a little. Usually it was the if's and what's of other people that made it confused in the first place." (p. 183) Asey's biggest quandary comes down to the issue of identity. When someone is murdered while impersonating another, how can we possibly decide which of the two was the true intended target of the fatal shot?

This installment is one of the best ones in the Asey Mayo series, complete with layers of confusion, mistaken identity, and down-home logic. In writing it, Ms. Taylor may have deliberately planned to outdo herself. Most of the action in her previous book, _Deadly Sunshade_, occurred over the course of just one 24-hour period. Here she has narrowed down the timetable to 18 or 20 hours. It seems as if a lot can happen in one day (or less), out on the Cape.
3352646
Interesting premise, but didn't really like the way the story unraveled.
3041616
What a strange movie.  It's well-acted and directed, but the plot is just plain weird.

The movie starts out simple enough. Borgman lives in an underground shelter and is forced out of his home when hunters with a scent dog come by and destroy his leaf-camouflaged roof.  Borgman escapes via a tunnel, alarms a few other underground dwellers like Ludwig and Pascal and runs into the neighborhood, focusing on a wealthier neighborhood in hopes of being able to bathe in a stranger's home.  Borgman seems like a man who simply needs some kindness and luxury, a helping hand.

He finds that with Richard and Marina.  This couple have a modern two-story home with small pond on the edge of a forest. Marina seems sympathetic to Borgman but Richard is immediately suspicious.  Does Borgman know his wife from a previous job?  He gets beaten badly by Richard in a jealous fit, but Marina shows compassion, lets Borgman rest in their small guest cottage on their property, and sneaks him food and gives him some first aid.  It is this action that in the end turns the family upside down.  Borgman is no longer the grateful homeless man, but a man who quickly manipulates the family, the three children, and the young Danish nanny.  Borgman becomes a modern-day Rasputin who haunts Marina's dreams and desires.  The movie becomes a suspenseful psychological horror film, bordering on absurdist realms. The confusion hits the viewer, who doesn't quite know what to think of this all.  The plot would be very probable but now Borgman is part of a group of criminals determined to wipe out all the people who threaten his new livelihood.  Marina, the nanny and the children all watch helplessly and do no seem threatened by the presence of Borgman and his crew.

The end is bizarre.  It leaves the viewer thinking there is more to come.  There is no real conclusion, which only adds to the suspense and leaves one wondering what this movie was all about  other than a struggle between rich and poor, good and evil.
4320017
Weird story. A little bit of humor made the book entertaining.
2925295
A very interesting premise, but the story gets boring and predictable.