Book Review: Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

This book is the first of the Pendergast series, and it was initially published in 1995 by Tor Books. According to several sources, this book has sold over a million copies to date.

This book isn’t just about Special Agent AXL Pendergast of the FBI New Orleans Office. There’s a small cast including a Journalist for the Times, a graduate student working at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and several others. I especially like Lieutenant Vincent “Vinny” D’Agosta of the NYPD and the very interesting Pendergast.

The story is about an ill fated expedition into the rain forests of the Amazon Basin where one of the researchers was looking for a tribe said not to exist. Finding signs of them, he and several of his party members followed the signs and, things didn’t go as planned.

Fast forwarding to the present, the American Museum of Natural History is preparing for a huge exhibit called “Superstition” to open in grand style. Unfortunately, two young boys are found dead in one of the many stairwells in the museum, and the place is locked down by Lt. D’Agosta. Not long after, a very singular man appears dressed in a black suit, and he eventually introduces himself as Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI.

With a distinctly Southern accent and gentlemanly manners more suited for the late 1800s than for modern New York, Pendergast is interesting, amusing and irritating in turns – both to the reader and to his fellow cast in the story.

“You see, when someone says “it’s impossible,’ I have this very bad habit, I can’t help myself, I immediately contradict that person in the most positive terms possible. A very bad habit, but one that I find hard to break.” – Special Agent Pendergast The Relic.

I won’t spoil the book for you – I have better manners than that. I do recommend this book highly, and I ask that you don’t take my word for it. Check the book out at the library or find a copy cheap at a thrift store(you can always donate it back or give it away later) and read it for yourself.

This is a well paced story with the right blend of thriller, horror and murder mystery with some history thrown in to spice things up a bit. The cast of characters have their own little side stories as well, and I think this adds to the story rather than detracting as many critics have claimed. There is a reason for all the little side trips, but I’ll leave that for you to figure out for yourself.

I give this a 5 out of a 5 rating.

Also, this book is available in all forms including audiobook so I hope you find a way to enjoy it.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!

The New Mutants – Movie Review

Produced by 20th Century Studios and released in 2020. It’s directed by Josh Boone who cowrote the screenplay with Knate Lee. It’s loosely based on the Marvel comics series The New Mutants. It stars Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt, and Henry Zaga.

The movie is about five teenage mutants being kept in a “hospital” of sort and looked after by a “doctor” who not only tends to their physical needs but their mental states as well. All five have killed people whether by accident or on purpose. They are all quite powerful though Rahne Sinclair is the lowest on the scale with her werewolf alter ego. The most powerful is Danielle “Dani” Moonstar whose psychic abilities are on par with Jean Gray pre Phoenix.

I am a big fan of the comic book series this movie is loosely based on, and I can tell you they mucked up the backstories on ALL of the characters. Illyana is very powerful in the comics and she’s also the youngest of the group. Her dragon, Lockheed is real and not a sock puppet. Illyana, in the comics was never abused in any way, she’s actually a devilish little git with the ability to go to hell and control demons.

In short, the comics are way better than the movie as far as stories go.

Still, the show had a decent plot, and the action was good. The actors were okay too, nobody really stood out as an Oscar winner – not to me. Still, it’s better than a poke in the eye.

As always, don’t take my word for it. See the movie for yourself and then, let’s chat about it. I love discussing things with people, even if they have different opinions than mine – even more so in fact.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!

YouTube Tuesday: Cutest Voodoo

I have something very different for you this week!

If you love horror, sparkly things, gothic stuff and cute things, you’re going to love Bec from Cutest Voodoo!! She makes the dark side mega adorbs!! I have the pleasure of being able to talk to her as well, and she wanted me to share the following video with you as we both thought you might like it!

You really should give the above video a look as well as the other things she has on her YouTube channel. She has something for everyone! If that wasn’t all, she also has an Etsy store!!

Cutest Voodoo on Etsy

If you like what you see, or even if you don’t, please let her know by liking/disliking and/or subscribing to her channel!! Comments are also greatly appreciated!

Enjoy!

Also, don’t forget to enter the raffle I have going on, there’s still time to get in on it!! Don’t know what I’m talking about? Check out the post link below to find out more!

Raffle

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!

My First Book Nook!

I’ve watched quite a few YouTubers making book nooks, and I decided to try my hand at making one as well. I didn’t know anything about painting, making book nooks, putting in mini lights, or anything else that might help me with this build. I researched, asked questions, and watched what other people did. Then, more importantly, I just did it. I just started making a plan on what I want to make and how I was going to make it.

I gathered all the materials, and I began to put the thing together. Some things didn’t work at first, and I had to backtrack. Still, I moved forward and didn’t give up. Now the infinity mirror effect I tried didn’t work the way I wanted, but I have learned why. With this knowledge, I can try again in the future with more confidence it will work the second time.

I didn’t take pictures of the build itself, only the end results. It wasn’t something I planned to teach people to make or anything. I just built as best I could over the course of three weeks – most of the time spent waiting to get materials like the faerie lights. I did take pictures of the end result, and I welcome feedback.

I am a big Stephen King fan, and I thought this would make a nice first try as well as a great addition to my bookshelves once I’m able to have them again. I think I did okay. Feel free to comment on the build and what you think of it.

Note: the box is not made of wood. I had some friends tell me when I showed them the pictures they thought the wood box was great. It’s actually the box Ramen Noodles come is – the 12 pack box. 🙂 I had to actually use two boxes to make the final one because I used the second one for parts, including the right wall.

I had a lot of fun making this nook, and I learned a lot while doing so. I plan to make another one inspired by the book, IT, but I won’t be doing it right away because I have a bunch of projects still waiting to be done.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!

The Limehouse Golem – Movie Review

This movie is a Victorian era horror movie starring Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke, among others.

It’s a fantastic movie. The creep factor is high, but it adds to it. The movie shows the reality of the society in that era. At one point, there was a little Irish girl who spoke only Gaelic. She was a witness to one of the murders, and she was being brought to speak to the police without understanding what was going on. The detective was using a nun to translate, and the little girl told her to tell him she wasn’t for sale. She said her mother had a gentleman coming for her on her next birthday. That was the reality of the lives of the poor of that era.

It’s this attention to detail that made this movie so good! The acting was superb as well. It has a fine cast. The story was well written, and the action was engrossing. Yes, I really liked the movie.

I give this movie five stars and strongly recommend it. I found it on Hulu.com, but it’s also on Amazon, VUDU and iTunes. Don’t take my word for it, of course, see it for yourself!

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!

Stephen King – End of Watch

First off, let me say how much of a fangirl I am of Stephen King’s writing. I can’t say of the man because I have never actually met him, but his writing – OMG!! I discovered Mr. King in the fall of 1984. I was in school and found his book, IT, in the school library. It was a hardcover without a dust jacket. It was gray all over with IT in red letting that looked almost slashed into the cover. I was intrigued as I had not read a horror story before – the book cover gave no clue what genre it was and I didn’t bother to look at the inside of the book.

Anyway, I started reading the book, and I couldn’t put it down. I read it far past my bedtime, I read it during lunch at school and even in some of my classes when I got my work done early. It took me three days to read the entire book and from then on, I was hooked. My second book by him was Carrie as I wanted to start from the beginning.

Now, almost 34 years later, I am still a major fan of his work, and the most recent book of his I have read is called End of Watch.

From the moment I opened the book and began to read, I was hooked. Just like with It, I couldn’t put the book down! Unlike IT, it took me less than 24 hours to read it from cover to cover. I was disappointed not to see the Dear Reader missive I’ve gotten used to seeing at the end of the book – there was Author’s Note instead. Ah well, things do change….

End of Watch is related to two other books written by Mr, King: Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers. It brings the story thread full circle in fact, and the ending is one you should definitely get to.

The main bad guy in this book is Brady Hartsfield, a major psycho if ever there was one. The good guys are Retired Detective Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney with some help from Jerome Robinson. Mr. King has fleshed out these characters so well you loathe the bad guy and really dig the good guys. I actually cried about one of them, and I don’t usually cry over fictional characters so kuddos to you Mr. King.

Brady is a mass murderer who killed 8 people with a car and injured quite a few more in the first book to introduce him. Holly stops him from killing hundreds more using a bomb by smacking him in the head with a sock containing ball bearings – big ones. In this book, Brady has learned how to leave his wasted body and “ride” along inside of other people’s brains. He’s also learned a lot about mind control and hypnosis. Combining all this, he plans to kill a whole lot more people – kids mostly – and not get blamed for it. He is the “prince of suicide” after all.

Bill has retired from the police force since Brady was captured, survived a heart attack and opened up a detective agency with Holly. Now, he’s been told he has pancreatic cancer, and it’s pretty bad. Once people who survived Brady’s rampage with the car begin committing suicide, he thinks of Brady right away. He puts off treatment of his condition until he finds a way to stop the once perceived brain dead man with the help of Holly and Jerome.

The story is often fast paced with heart pounding action Mr. King is wonderful at creating! The feasibility of what he proposes could happen is what is more frightening than anything else in the book. Violence is a bit graphic but not unduly so – be fair warned. The book, as a whole, is happily fantastic and well worth reading!

As usual, don’t take my word for it. Read it, or not, as you wish. I know there are some people out there who don’t like Mr. King’s writing (oh say it isn’t so!!), and that’s their prerogative. I’m not a literary expert or anything and even if I was, you should make up your own mind and not follow what everyone else thinks. You can miss out on a lot of fun experiences that way.

Thus ends my review, I’ll see you all on the flipside. Don’t forget your towels or your sonic screwdriver – someone may need a bureau made at them! 🙂

Lindsay-Darkly Dreaming Dexter

What can I say, sometimes only the dark will do. I am a big fan of the show and was sad when it ended so, I went looking for the books that inspired the show. I’m disappointed to see so few have been written and hope more are on the way. I guess we’ll see.

By the way, as I write this, I have a couple of guys doing some carpentry work close to my window and one of them is singing horribly off key. I can only hear it when the saw is off so here’s to the saw running a lot! I can handle that better than the horrible singing.

Anyway, this book was everything I’d hope for: the birth of Dexter and his Dark Passenger! It gives you the great back story with just the right amount of flare and twisted darkness. Imagine how a police officer, sworn to do his duty yet tired of seeing all his hard work thrown out by corrupt people within the system that is supposed to support him in his efforts to punish those who are threats to society for their crimes. Then, imagine this same officer, tired off constantly losing and almost at his wits end, adopting a little orphan – a witness to a horrific murder and victim of the aftermath. This self same orphan who, as he grows older, is found out by his law and order adopted dad to be a threat to society in the making. What do you do?

If you watched even one episode of Dexter, you know what this poor yet honorable man did, and I, for one, think it was a great idea the writer had. If you look at the incredible Hannibal Lecter character – he is finesse and polish, refined and educated – and a cannibal who is very select about whom he devours. Dexter is a serial killer with only one type of victim – fellow killers. You have to love the irony!

The author has made Dexter believable and interesting – a bit of dark humor in the thoughts running through his head as he gives the reader his inner dialogue. He is as charming as he can be, admits he’s not as “human” seeming as everyone else, but he’s appealing just the same.

The book plot isn’t just about Dexter killing someone – oh no. There is a story here, a purpose behind what he does. He is a Blood Splatter Specialist and he assists his police officer adopted sister with her cases – when she needs him. The book starts with a murder, one committed by Dexter, and then moves on to more murders – not Dexter’s handiwork but oh so close!! It takes both Dexter and his sister, Deborah, to figure out the murderer….and I will not spoil the ending for you!

This book, as you can tell, is one I highly recommend even if you’ve either never seen the show or, don’t like the show for whatever reason. 🙂 I’m working on getting the next one in the series.

That’s it for now my friends, see you on the flipside and remember, please, your towel and sonic screwdriver!

Daemonium aka Daemonium: Underground Soldier(2015 )

This movie was made in Argentina and seems to be only be available on Netflix. There is nothing on who did the sound track or who the company was that actually produced the film. It has subtitles for those who don’t speak Spanish(like me), and I seem to have a thing going for subtitled movies. 🙂

I can tell you the Director is Pablo Pares. Our lead ladies are Caro Angus who plays several parts including Rebecca/Azazel and Rocio Rodriguez Presedo who plays Lisa. Our leading men are Dany Casco who plays Razorback, Walter Counas who plays Lucio Fulcanelli and Chucho Fernandez who plays Cortes/El Lobo. Our main demon, Rufus the Ancient Demon(that is how he is listed no joke!) is played by Jofar Tarruella. I can honestly say I have never heard of any of these people before but Rocio looks familiar.

So this story is set in a seriously messed up world where humans and demons exist together and not all in mutual harmony either. Our leading man, Razorback, is to blame for all that when he is part of a group of idiots who force our wizard Fulcanelli to open the portal to hell so the leader of the group(unnamed in the above because he’s an idiot who doesn’t deserve mention) can make a deal with the summoned demon. The result of this meeting is Fulcanelli runs for the hills and Razorback becomes a despot.

Enter Lisa the poor abandoned wife of Razorback who, at the start of her part of the story, has just found out she’d preggers. Yay Lisa, but not so much since she ends up getting kidnapped by a religious group opposed to Razorback and his demon minions. They manage to get Lisa on their side, and the story progresses.

I won’t tell you much more than that except ole Rufus does his best impression of Skeletor and then, he and Rebecca/Azazel get down to some serious Kung Fu fighting against each other. It was weird and yet amusing at the same time.

Now the beginning isn’t all that great – I had flashbacks of Japanese anime come to life – but it got a bit better after that.

If I didn’t know better I would’ve said this movie was Japanese because of the fighting – lots of martial arts mixed in with gunplay and other mayhem. Costumes were a mix with lots of anime and Steampunk influence. Wasn’t a great deal of music because there was always a lot of action going on. There is some blood and gore, but it’s not that disgusting.

In short, in my humble opinion, don’t expect much out of this movie and don’t take it too seriously. It’s amusing, dark, violent and simply mindless fun to watch. There is foul language, some weird nudity, lots of violence and other stuff so I don’t suggest allowing impressionable children to watch.

Thus ends my movie review, I hope you enjoyed it and might, if you feel bored, take a gander at the movie.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!

Winchester – the movie

I went to the District Theatre in Webster, Texas to see the premier of this show in my area. It’s a horror film produced by Lionsgate starring Helen Mirren and several other actors whose names escape me; I’m not familiar with their work. This movie is directed by a pair of brothers I’ve never heard of, but who had a sound bite just before the movie began introducing themselves to the audience. Wanna be Cohen Brothers perhaps?

The movie is based on the real life story of Widow Winchester, her late husband having invented the famous, and infamous, Winchester rifle. Using the tales of the poor woman and her need to build, always building, on her home around the clock even unto her deathbed, the aim is to draw you into her world of fear and superstition.

The soundtrack was nice, but it was lacking. A soundtrack is supposed to add to the movie it’s with. It’s supposed to aid in developing ambience, evoking emotions in step with the scenes being shown. In my humble opinion, the soundtrack fell short in a couple of key areas.

Maybe I am jaded from seeing so many horror movies in my life – psychological thrillers more than the inane gore fests you see mostly nowadays – I wasn’t really scared. I did jump a couple of times, with a tiny bit of thrill going through me, but that was more due to special effects than the movie itself.

There is a scene that made me reference Poltergeist which made my companion smile – he got the joke. Maybe you’ll be able to spot it too. Let me know if you do. 🙂

I had thought, hoped even, that since this was a Lionsgate picture, it would be more, so much more than it ended up being. I mean, they’ve done some killer flicks in the past full of horror and drama, evoking fear with sound and sight combined. This one, in my humble opinion, fell short of the mark.

Does this mean don’t go see the movie? Who am I to tell you that?? I am just voicing an opinion, something everyone has. If you want to go see the movie, Go! Don’t let me stop you, don’t even hesitate if it’s something you want to do. Feel free to share your opinion, politely phrased in case there are children reading this post too, here and on your own blogs. I encourage you not to allow yourself to be led, and fed, by the so called “critics” out there who think everyone should listen to them just because. Make up your own mind and think, do, for yourselves!!

Okay folks, that’s it for today. I’ll see you on the flipside and don’t forget your towels and sonic screwdrivers – you never know.