The Osiris Child – Movie Review

This movie came out in 2016, and it’s original title suggested this was to be more than one movie. I have yet to see anything about a sequel, but it does explain the ending of the movie. The movie is a futuristic science fiction thriller written by Shane Abbess and Brian Cachia. It was produced by Eclectik Vision Studio.

The movie stars Kellan Lutz as Sy Lombrok; Daniel MacPherson as Lt. Kane Sommerville and Teagan Croft as Sommerville’s daughter, Indi. Other members of the cast are : Temuera Morrison, Isabel Lucas, Rachel Griffiths and Luke Ford.

Lt. Kane Sommerville works for an off world military contractor called Exor helping them terraform and colonize a new planet. There is a prison on the planet already, and the prisoners there are being used to help with terraforming. Or so everyone is being told… He is a father who never married his child’s mother and is always having to fight to get to see his daughter. He is working hard to improve his life so he can get legal access to his child.

Sy Lombrok is a prisoner on the planet. He was a trauma nurse, but he was made an example of after he broke public trust in his profession. His wife and daughters were brought into his ER after suffering a horrific car crash – his daughters were DOA and his wife died in front of him before they could help her. The drunk driver who caused the accident was brought into the same ER and when Sy found out, he killed him. Sy is haunted by the deaths of his loved one and doesn’t care about himself any more.

Indi Sommerville is a child who only wants to spend time with her dad. She’s bored on the planet, but she’s willing to wait until Kane is done working so they can visit. She’s staying planetside waiting on her dad to join her from the miliary flotilla in orbit above the planet where he lives.

Kane finds out everything is not what he’d been told, and he escapes the flotilla to try to rescue his daughter from the disaster striking the planet. He’s shot down, and he happens upon Sy who has managed to escape the prison with fellow inmates who have gone their own ways. Reluctantly, Sy agrees to help Kane get to the city and Indi. The pair don’t get along well, but they do manage to get to the city, with help from a couple in an armored bus. I can’t say more without giving things away.

The movie was okay. I’ve seen better, but I’ve also seen worse. Some of the action scenes were good. I empathized with Indi and Sy, not so much with Kane. The dialog was decent. Acting was pretty good. I like Indi’s work, but others with bit parts did fine jobs as well. The soundtrack was nice. I enjoyed it, and I think it added to the overall feel to the story. Costuming was great considering this was a non CGI movie. It’s made in Australia, and I think they did a bang up job making it look realistic and believable. Kudos to them!

I’d rate this movie a 3 star. I found it on Hulu so didn’t waste any money renting it. It’s a good time killer. I’m hoping there will be sequel but after all this time, I won’t hold my breath. Still, don’t take my word for it, check the movie out for yourself and make your own decision.

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

Cargo Literary Magazine – Review

I discovered this lovely site yesterday when I was doing some freelance work. This is an online magazine which “…focuses on narrative and growth through travel and exploration.” – Cargo Literary, About Us page first paragraph and first sentence.

That sentence right there, that part of the sentence actually, is what caught my attention. I’ve never heard of this kind of magazine before, but I don’t read many so, I could be wrong. Has anyone else seen or heard of this kind of magazine, online or in print?? This site offers up perspectives on personal growth through travel, at home and abroad which I think is fantastic!!

The current issue can be found at :https://www.cargoliterary.com

In this issue, there are three poems, two photo essays, a book review, two visual art submissions and three creative nonfiction works. All of these have something to do with personal growth and with travel. One of the photo essays is about the American West, and they are stunning!! The poetry is beautiful, especially the one by Marjory Woodfield called Thumairi Street. She evokes such imagery it’s almost as if I’m there!

I can’t wait for the next issue to come out so I can see what new things are offered!! Don’t take my word for it, check it out yourself!! Cargo Literary at : https://www.cargoliterary.com

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

Lincoln Rhyme : Hunt for the Bone Collector – TV show

This show started in Januaryt of this year on NBC. It airs on Friday night, and I watch the rerun on Hulu since I work Friday nights. The show is based on Jeffrey Deaver’s famous book: The Bone Collector, and it uses a lot of the elements from the book. I especially liked they showed how Rhyme ended up paralyzed in the very first episode.

The show stars Russell Hornsby as Lincoln Rhyme. I first saw him on Grimm where he played Detective Hank Griffin, the partner to the main character. In this show, he gets to play a stronger character – the main lead in a cast of leading actors. He portrays Rhyme a lot like Denzel Washington did in the movie, but he also gives him some humanity.

Amelia Sachs, his “eyes and ears” on the scenes, is played by Arielle Kebbel. I’ve seen her in a couple of horror movies. She was also in a television show called Midnight Texas that didn’t last long. I saw a couple of episodes of it, and I think they could’ve done much better with it…. In this show, she also gets to play a strong character, one with compassion and strength as well as a bit of a reckless streak.

The Bone Collector, aka Peter, is played by Brian F O’Bryne. I think I saw him in Million Dollar Baby, but I’m not sure. In this show, the Bone Collector is known to the viewer, and he’s married which is why I know his name is Peter. In the first episode, you also see how the Bone Collector knows Lincoln Rhyme. I like seeing both sides of this particular conflict.

Due to its very name, I’m not sure how long this show is going to last – planned obsolescence comes to mind. A great many shows, here and in the UK, are being designed to only last a few seasons. Maybe the next season will be based on another Deaver book featuring Rhyme. That would be nice.

The show has episodes mainly about other cases to solve with the Bone Collector being worked in the back ground so, something is always going on. Lots of interesting scenes including one where Sachs builds a thermite bomb in a matter of minutes with Lincoln’s help. I like learning more about New York and its environs – its history features heavily in all the books featuring Rhyme. Makes me want to go visit just to see some of what they’ve talked about, including some of the subway stations.

One of the things I didn’t like was the casting of his wife, Danielle. They used Claire Coffee, another former cast member on Grimm. She doesn’t get much onscreen time as the Bone Collector’s wife, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t think she’s got that much talent. Her facial expressions are pretty limited. If she sticks to playing romance parts where she gets to smile and flirt and whatever, she’ll be okay. Playing a villian or anything else that requires strong emotion, I don’t see her pulling it off.

Don’t take my word for it though, check out the show yourself!

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

Golden Knave Update – An Annoying Setback and Moving Forward

Almost a month ago I crowed about completing the second draft of my sequel novel to Crimson Knight, Golden Knave and how it now needed to be sent off to my Beta readers.

*Note to self* NEVER clean while both having an argument and cleaning!!

I have was having an argument via phone before work one day was quickly cleaning before I left because I had other things planned for after work. I do spur of the moment cleaning as well. At this time, I was arguing with a service trying to bill me twice for something, and I was not happy.

Long story short, my son’s cat had knocked my papers onto the floor and among them were the loose leaf sheets of my finished work. I hadn’t had a chance to add them to the main story in a notebook yet. I write all my work long hand and then, after placing it in one notebook, I put everything on computer.

Cue the tragic music: I threw away the 14 handwritten pages that completed Kitya’s part of Golden Knave. I had been struggling with the ending for some time, and this was a tear jerker – when I realized what I had done almost two weeks later. In that time, I’d looked everywhere several times before I remembered throwing the papers away. I was devastated to say the least.

Fast forward to last weekend. I sat down and wrote the ending again. This time, for some reason, things came a bit easier. It flowed. I wrote it all in one sitting – another 14 glorious pages! Then, I began adding them to the main story, and those pages, those scenes, GREW!! I was only able to get 1 1/2 pages transferred before I got pulled away, but those 1 1/2 pages had become 5 in the notebook!! The scenes had expanded, the dialogue had continued!! I was thrilled!!

I haven’t been able to work on the transferral since because of work and my life in general, but I’ll have the time tomorrow. Then, the tedious chore of putting it all on computer begins. I’ll have to do it in spurts, but it will get done!!

So there you have it, my update 🙂 I hope you all have a wonderful day/evening/night depending on where you are in the world.

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

Crimson Knight print version : https://www.amazon.com/dp/1794494480

Crimson Knight ebook version : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008W9ZH22 This is available for free from Kindle Unlimited.

Crimson Knight audio book version: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RWFD7TC

Please leave a review no matter which version you get. If I don’t know how you feel, I can’t fix things or make things better.

*Note* I know about the formatting issues in the print and ebook versions, and they are being worked out.

The Steel Kiss – Jeffery Deaver

My copy of this book is a trade paperback printed in 2016 by Hachette Book Group. The Copyright of 2016 is held by Gunner Publications LLC. This story was originally published in hardback and ebook by Grand Central Publishing in 2016.

As usual, Mr. Deaver does not fail to put in some plot twists. One is very ingenuous as it’s in what he doesn’t say 🙂 I can’t say more without giving away the story so, I won’t. The story is a real attention grabber as well because it makes you think: what if?

The story is about a man who is using remote access to cloud based “brains” to kill people from afar. This same man also uses a ball peen hammer for close up work. Lincoln Rhyme, our fearless quadraplegic detective, has retired from police work to teach and persue more “civilian” work. Detective Amelia Sachs, his lover and partner, is not happy about that but is working out of police headquarters despite him. Lincoln takes on an intern as he accepts a job helping a family whose father and sole provider is killed by what appears to be a faulty escalator at a local mall. Detective Sachs is hunting for a killer who crushes people’s heads in and whose unusual physical attributes still don’t help her find him. The action revs up almost from the get go and runs almost full throttle all the way to the end!! I read this one in one sitting as well!!

Love Mr. Deaver’s work!! Can’t you tell? 😀

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves crime books and whodunits! Still, don’t take my word for it. Get a copy from your local library and try it out for yourself!

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver! Maybe you should get a tattoo to keep from being possessed. 😀

Tried Something New Today

It’s something you should do yourself – try something new at least once a week – if not more.

Today, I felt like drinking so I went to the local Wal-Mart(I live in a semi-dry county here in East Texas so no alcohol outside of bars unless I want to drive almost to the next town in the next county), and I bought a 6 pack of Blood and Honey.

Blood and Honey, produced by Revolver Brewing here in Texas is called, by their creator, an American Ale. It is described, on the bottle, as being “An unfiltered, deep-golden ale brewed with malted two-row barley and wheat. Finished with blood orange peel, Texas honey and a blend of spices.”

I can’t really tell you what the color is since I am drinking from a brown bottle, but I can tell you it tastes(to me) like malt liquor. I like ale, and I was fully expecting something which tasted a great deal better than what I got a mouth full of. I drank more thinking the initial taste wasn’t something to base a decision on. I have actually gotten to about half way, and I have decided, most definitively, I don’t like the taste of this “American ale”.

Now, you all know me and my reviews – don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself. If you drink, even on occasion, you could give this a try, or not. The decision should be yours on whether or not it’s good. For those of you who like it – huzzah! For those of you who don’t – I can understand. Just don’t take my word for it. 🙂

See you all on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver. Oh yes, and I was wrong about the car – it’s a 1967 Impala or a 1969 Firebird you should drive. Hell, I’ll take a DeLorean if you please! 🙂

Solitude Creek – Jeffrey Deaver

This book is a Kathryn Dancer novel, not a LIncoln Rhyme novel, but I liked it anyway. 🙂 My copy is a paperback published by Grand Central Publishing Copyright 2015. It’s roughtly 579 pages long plus a bit of a lead in to another book and the always present, Author page, every novel should have – if only so we have a picture of the author. 🙂

Agent Kathryn Dance works for the California Bureau of Investigation and lives in the area. She’s a widow with two children, boy and girl, and several dogs. She is friends of Lincoln Rhyme(might we see another pairing of this intelligent and determined duo?) and Amelia Sachs. She is also an expert in kinesics – the study of body language and how to read people. She uses it as one of her main interrogation techniques.

In this story, a man named Antioch March(he prefers Andy) is staging stampedes – for profit! Kathryn is sent as part of an undercover operation for another ongoing case dealing with gangs to the site of the initial stampede, and she decides she’s going to work this case too.

With two cases going and with two men she’s really into, you’d think her dance card would be full! Then, there’s the kids. Wes, her son, is hanging out with new friends and not quite telling her lies about what he’s doing with them. Maggie, her daughter and the younger of the two, is moody and a bit withdrawn – to the point of not wanting to since at her school’s talent show even though she’s a great singer!

Agent Dance manages all of this chaos in her life and doesn’t get shot once! A shocker to me too especially when her demotion means she can’t carry a weapon! Still, she does her job, on all fronts, superbly!

You have to read this book! I refuse to give away the ending or even tell you any of the really good parts – because I can! 🙂 As you all know, I’m a big advocate for doing things yourself: see the movie critics are panning, read the book everyone seems to hate, listen to the music everybody else scoffs at. Don’t be a lemming who just follows what everyone else is doing – you’ll miss out on a lot going over the cliff with the others.

So, see you on the flipside and don’t forget to bring your towel and sonic screwdriver! Who knows, we might run into some evil alien lemmings bent on throwing us off the cliff! 🙂

Secrets in Death – J.D. Robb

My copy of this book is a trade paperback meaning it’s small enough to fit in my purse. 🙂 It’s printed by St. Martin’s Press, the Paperback division. Copyright is 2017 and held by Nora Roberts aka J.D. Robb. It’s a cop driven whodoneit which I like when it’s written well.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas and Detective Peabody (aka Shebody to her beau, EDD Detective Ian McNab) are the main players from the police force, and there’s Raorke, the civilian consultant. He also happens to very rich and very married to Eve though she doesn’t use his last name when she’s working. Not sure what that means, but it’s in the book.

The story starts with Eve going to a swank bar to meet a colleague she really doesn’t like that much and during a somewhat testy exchange of why don’t you like me; I don’t like you because.. Eve sees a woman come staggering into the bar from the lower floor, bleeding. She literally catches the woman before she dies and goes to the floor with her even as she breathes her last.

So begins the mystery of who killed the woman, who turns out to be the gossip queen of a big television studio. Everyone has a reason to kill, more so than others, so motive is a no-brainer. The question is, amongst all the people this woman blackmailed and extorted, who actually ended her.

I enjoyed the book immensely. I’ve actually read most of the series from the very beginning, and the evolution of the Eve character is fun to watch. 🙂 Sex is in the book, but it’s not all that graphic (not compared to many so called “romance” books that are really just soft porn). It’s also between the loving couple of Eve and Dallas, and it’s part of the story – their story.

This story isn’t your run of the mill mystery. People really matter. How they feel, what they’ve been through and the secrets they’ve felt the need to protect despite what it led to – in this case extortion and blackmail. There’s a great deal of depth and emotion, and I really like that as it makes me care more, makes me relate better, to the characters.

I highly recommend reading this book, but as usual, I don’t advocate taking my advice blindly. Check out the book yourself. If it’s not what you like, no worries. I’m not here to judge, just to share a little bit of my world with you. 🙂

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

A Book Review

Well it was what I had planned on writing for this posting but then, when I sat down to write about a book I’d finally found time to finish, I went blank.

I actually have had very little sleep today since I had to stay up after work this morning to go run errands until almost noon. Then, I had issues going to sleep – the world outside my door and window is very loud at times – so there was that. I got maybe five hours of sleep which is supposed to be great. Me, however, I take a medication for my medical condition which zonks me out, once I get fully asleep and waking up is almost as hard as going to sleep. I know, cry me a river why don’t you.

Still, I’m going to say a few words about the book and later, I may do a full blown review – I haven’t decided yet. Here it goes:

Blue Labyrinth by Preston and Child is a good book. I have read them before, but I didn’t like their main “good guy” Aloysius Pendergast. He’s grown on me since reading this book so I’m going to go back and read the beginning book – when I can find it. I recommend it for those of you who like a good “what the hell is going on” book.

As always, don’t take my word for it. Read the book yourself. Following someone blindly will only get you run into a wall, or worse. I merely give you my own honest opinion about something, and it’s up to you to listen or not.

So, it’s that time again. I need to get ready for work soon. I’ll see you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver.

As Promised – Kafka Mini Reviews

Just finished reading the last short story in the collection, and I am ready to write the mini reviews I promised you ages ago. 🙂

The last story I reviewed was The Stoker so I begin this with In The Penal Colony.

This short story, In The Penal Colony, was written in 1914 and published in 1919. It is described as a parable. I agree with this. It’s describes a torture device that is actually put to use. The description of that scene is pretty graphic and if you don’t like blood, you won’t want to read it. It’s not scary, not by a long shot, just puts too much emphasis(in my opinion) on the bloody nature of the device. It’s also one of his longer stories.

A Country Doctor is next. It was written in 1916 and published in 1919. This story must have been one of his “dream logic” stories because it was quite confusing. Either that or the doctor, while freezing to death waiting for a horse to take him on a house call, loses his mind; said mind going on one last house call that made very little sense. Read it if you like, but I saw nothing to recommend it except Kafka’s emotive writing. His use of words to convey surrealism on the verge of horror is fantastic.

An Old Leaf was published in 1919 with no mention of what year it was written – most likely 1916 along with A Country Doctor. Not sure what this story was trying to say but at least it wasn’t that long.

A Hunger Artist, written in 1921 and published in 1924. This short story is about an actual hunger artist who can’t seem to come to terms with how society viewed his idea of “art”. People used to flock around people who were actual hunger artists but only because of the morbidity and oddity of these “performers”. I found it interesting from a historic perspective. I wouldn’t have considered these performances as being art.

Josephine, the Singer, or The Mouse People was also written in 1921 and published in 1924. It’s a longer story, but it also deals with an artist who can’t come to grips with the way her society actually views her “art”. I found this story to be boring. I won’t lie since that would be a disservice to you, the readers of this review. Read it for yourselves as you may get more out of it than I did.

The last story in the collection is actually part of a larger novel. Before the Law, written in 1914 and published in 1919, is part of his completed novel The Trial which was published posthumously in 1925. Before the Law is very short and doesn’t make any sense at all to me. It might to you. Personally, I think I’d rather read The Trial as context might help it make sense to me.

And thus ends my mini reviews of the remaining short stories of Franz Kafka. As always, I urge you readers to read this body of work for yourselves because only then can you truly know how you feel about them – know completely what you have brought away from reading them. I am no expert on anything and thus, you have no need to take my word for anything in regards to this body of work or any other. Don’t take my word, or anyone else’s for that matter – find out for yourself!

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