BOOK REVIEW: One Good Turn (Jackson Brodie, #2) by Kate Atkinson

One Good Turn is the second book in Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series. I quite enjoyed the first book, Case Histories, but since there are only five books in the series I am being careful about not reading them too quickly. Atkinson is sort of like the police procedural version of Ian Banks; she is known for her excellent non-genre books as well as being celebrated for her stellar contribution to a particular genre.

The main character in One Good Turn is Jackson Brodie, but like the first book, the story is structured as individual chapters told from the first-person perspective of multiple characters whose connection is not immediately obvious. For example, we spend a lot of time with the internal monologue of Martin Canning, a relatively successful author of World War II era cozy mysteries under the pen name Alex Blake. Martin witnesses a car accident and subsequent act of “road rage” in the very first scene of the book that is eventually completely pivotal to the plot. It turns out that another of the first-person characters we spend time with, Mrs. Gloria Hatter, also witnessed the accident, which happened in front of a long line of people waiting to get into an event during the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. As it happens Jackson was there as well, because his girlfriend (one of the more unusual characters from  Case Histories) is acting in another play being put on for the festival, one that the now-wealthy Jackson has invested in financially in order to support his girlfriend.

The thing that struck me the most in reading this second book in the Jackson Brodie series was how hilariously funny it was. There are several scenes and moments that are simply unbelievably amusing; they literally made me “laugh out loud.” Well-executed humor is very rare in the crime thriller genre (to be honest, it’s rarely well executed in most written forms, I think). I don’t think many other authors even try and even fewer are successful at doing this. One prominent exception that immediately comes to mind is Stuart MacBride; his DS Logan McRae books are absolutely hysterical, almost farcical portrayals of Scottish policing (set in Aberdeen, mostly).

As with most murder mysteries, the question of “whodunnit” is just one of several puzzles for the reader and this is also true in One Good Turn. The first body to show up is an unknown female who Jackson literally stumbles over while playing tourist when visiting the coast near Edinburgh. He’s no longer a policeman or a private investigator so the authorities are unamused when they show up after reports of a man nearly drowned to discover a soaked Jackson with stories about a body he found that has disappeared in the waves. Of course, it doesn’t help matters that Jackson finds himself curiously attracted to the lead detective on the case, a young DI Louise Monroe. Interestingly, we also get first-person accounts from Louise’s perspective. This allows the reader to get information about how various crimes are (not perceived by the police as being) connected. In addition to the mystery of who is the woman Jackson found, there’s the question of who are the two guys who were involved in the road rage incident? And is it a coincidence that Gloria’s husband Graham Hatter happens to have been responsible for building DI Monroe’s house but is now in hospital in grave shape after spending a few hours naked with someone who is a dead ringer for Jackson’s corpse? Probably not.

Overall, in addition to the humor, the puzzle of figuring out the connections between the characters and the crimes are the best parts of One Good Turn. Another strength of the books is Atkinson’s characterizations so the reader does become quickly invested in “what happens next” to most of them. In particular, Jackson, who again takes some hard knocks, both physical and emotional, in the course of the book. He’s the person we spend the most time with (I think) or at least the one readers are likely to care about the most. I’m really very curious to find out what happens next with him. I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series, When Will There Be Good News?, and quite sad I have only three more opportunities to spend time with Jackson Brodie. Hopefully, Ms. Atkinson will write more before I get to Jackson Brodie #5!

Title: One Good Turn (Jackson Brodie, #2).
Author: Kate Atkinson.
Format: Kindle.
Format: 418 pages.
Publisher: Back Bay Books.
Date Published: September 10, 2007.
Date Read: April 6, 2021.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★★  (5.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A-.

BOOK REVIEW: The Last Emperox (The Interdependency, #3) by John Scalzi

The Last Emperox is the final entry in a space opera from John Scalzi, best known for his Hugo-award winning novel Redshirts and his excellent debut novel, Old Man's War as well as his large social media footprint and record-breaking, multi-million-dollar publishing contract. The Last Emperox completes the story began in The Collapsing Empire and continued in The Consuming Fire. 

A reviewer at Locus magazine mentioned that they noticed that the The Last Emperox is dedicated "to the women who are done with other people’s shit" and that this is apparent in the centrality of its three primary main characters who are all strong, decisive women. First among these is the last emperox herself, Cardenia Wu-Patrick ak.a. Emperox Grayland II. Cardenia has been pretty much the most central character in the first two books and this doesn't change in this final entry in the series. However, two other female characters, Nadashe Nohamapetan and Kiva Lagos are also central to the story.

To remind you The Interdependency is set in a Universe where interstellar travel occurs via something called The Flow. In the first book some dude, i.e. Lord Marce Claremont, discovered that The Flow was becoming unstable and was likely to stop "flowing" in the not-too-distant future, which would result in entire planets being cut off from the rest of humanity, and likely falling into chaos and starvation. The Interdepenency depends upon extensive trade between planets, using The Flow as a means to transport goods and services between the participating planet. This economic system depends on a near-feudal political system where Houses control various monopolies on certain commodities and supplies, and the most important monopoly is the one run by House Wu (which is the house the Emperox has always come from, for centuries). Thisis the monopoly for ships.

Basically, the entire series is a metaphor for our current world which is facing a cataclysmic future (due to climate change) and currently has economic-political system which is dominated by soulless, corrupt elites. However, being Scalzi, he takes these serious underpinnings and overlays it with profane humor and ridiculous situations. Oftentimes, this style doesn't work for me, but in each of the three books in The Interdependency I found that it was quite effective. The middle book was probably the most appealing of the three to me, but he does do a good job of wrapping up many of the primary conflicts and the plot takes some very surprising turns (including the death of one of the major characters I have mentioned earlier).

Overall, I would say that I enjoyed The Last Emperox more than the average Scalzi book I have read. And acknowledging the degree of difficulty of combining social commentary, space opera and readability, I believe the book (and the series as a whole) has to be considered a success.

Title: The Last Emperox (The Interdependency, #3)
Author: John Scalzi .
Pages: 308 pages.
Publisher: Orbit.
Date Published: April 14, 2020.
Date Read: August 27, 2020.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★☆  (4.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: B+/A- (3.5/4.0).

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: B+.
IMPACT: B+.
WRITING: A-.

BOOK REVIEW: The Blood Road (Logan McRae, #11) by Stuart MacBride

The 11th book in the Logan McRae series written by Stuart MacBride set in Aberdeen, Scotland is one of the best. The Blood Road has all the elements we’ve come to love from a Logan McRae novel: irrepressible humor and awfully funny jokes, ghastly images of murder and mayhem, and extensive details of police procedure as they try to solve truly horrific crimes, some committed by the dregs of humanity and some by people Just Like Us.

The Logan McRae books have quickly become some of my favorites in the genre of British police-procedural, murder-mysteries. They have all the feature of other similarly labeled books but somehow MacBride is also able to successfully include humor, in multiple forms. The Logan books feature macabre jokes, awful puns, ridiculous encounters, and truly farcical situations. I’m shocked the series hasn’t been adapted for television yet like other series (which are also quite good but not nearly as amusing) Peter Robinson’s DCI Alan Banks, Val McDermid’s Tony Hill & Carol Jordan and Elisabeth George’s Inspector Lynley.

What really makes the Logan books extraordinary is while they are often hilarious they are also suspenseful thrillers and interesting mysteries. The very first book begins with Logan returning to work a few months after being stabbed repeatedly in the stomach and experiencing a near-death experience. In fact, Logan earns the nickname “Laz” (short for Lazarus) by his boss, the astonishingly horrible DI Roberta Steele. Steele is one of the great fictional comic inventions in British mysteries. She’s completely without shame or scruples; she regularly takes credit for Logan’s excellent detective work and is a walking H.R. and P.R. disaster. The interactions between Logan and Steele are the primary sources of comic relief in the books, but there are many others as well; first among these are the antics and descriptions of their eccentric police co-workers.

In The Blood Road, the Scottish police are dealing with multiple major (high-profile) crimes simultaneously: several young children have disappeared recently and the public is increasingly anxious about their whereabouts and safety. The book begins with the body of a Scottish police officer being found in a car—the problem is that same officer had been found dead and buried in an official funeral two years before after a supposed suicide. This means that not only was the officer (known by the sobriquet of “Ding-Dong”) a rotten cop, someone (likely Ding-Dong himself) must have killed someone else two years ago to produce a body that could be mistaken for him and now he’s been killed himself! As usual, Logan gets up to his eyebrows deep in solving multiple crimes (which is odd because after the events of the previous book In the Cold Dark Ground Logan now works for Professional Standards, not Major Crimes).

Overall, The Blood Road is one of the best entries in the series, reminiscent of some of the very best which cemented its appeal for me (books 4-7, in my humble opinion). It has multiple laugh out loud (LOL) moments while simultaneously being legitimately suspenseful. Logan gets put through the ringer again physically and the reader isn’t really sure he’s gonna get out of peril without permanent serious consequences (like death!) All of the best sidekicks from the previous books make appearances in this one (Steele, Tufty and of course Rennie!) and even the though the central crimes are truly appalling the book is quite engaging and enjoyable. The sad part of finishing The Blood Road is the knowledge that now there’s only one unread entry in the series remaining: Book 12’s All That’s Dead.

Title: Ancillary Justice.
Author: Stuart MacBride.
Paperback: 496 pages.
Format: Kindle.
Publisher: HarperCollins.
Date Published: June 14, 2018.
Date Read: November 25, 2020.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★★  (5.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A- (4.0/4.0).

PLOT: A.
IMAGERY: A.
IMPACT: A.
WRITING: A.

BOOK REVIEW: In The Cold Dark Ground (DS Logan McRae, #10) by Stuart MacBride

In the Cold Dark Ground is the tenth in the long-running, police procedural, crime thriller series written by Stuart MacBride starring Detective Sergeant Logan McRae and set in Scotland. What sets this series apart (and frankly makes it one of my favorite reads in the genre) is the sly humor and wry social commentary MacBride brings to the familiar British mystery story. Additionally, the supporting cast in the series is quite strong, even as it has changed (but not matured!) over the years it has taken me to read the first ten books. Detective Chief Inspector Roberta Steel is a singular invention: an openly lesbian, probably alcoholic, always inappropriate, slovenly terror of a boss. One of the long-running gags is that Steel as been promoted multiple times while Logan is still a lowly DS despite having captured 2 or 3 serial killers and solved countless other major crimes, in spite of DCI Steel's presence and "leadership."

Bizarrely, Logan doesn't feel "hard done by" his lot in life despite having been booted from his original stomping grounds of Aberdeen to a rural suburb of the city in Aberdeenshire, having a girlfriend who has been in a persistent vegetative state for nearly 5 years and still being a DS despite multiple decades in uniform. (Actually, he was promoted to Detective Inspector a few books ago and he really didn't seem to like or appreciate the increased level of responsibility and administrative red tape that accompanied the title change, so that was one reason he decamped to the rural outskirts from the big city.)

One of my complaints about the series has been how much **** Logan has been put through over the years. This is also a running theme of the series. The first book begins with Logan returning to duty several months after he nearly died from of stab wounds to the stomach (technically he did die briefly while on the operating table but surgeons were able to save him) and this near-death experience is why Steel calls him "Laz" (short for Lazarus). But since then Logan has been stabbed repeatedly, fallen multiple times from great heights, nearly drowned, been almost incinerated, unwittingly feasted on human flesh, been beaten up countless times by criminals and seriously injured himself pursuing fleeing criminals on foot and by car. MacBride treats Logan like an indestructible cartoon character.

None of that litany of violence prepared me for what happens to Logan In the Cold Dark Ground where it seems like the author is just being masochistic towards his main character. The difference this time is that in addition to the extreme physical violence of not one but three attempts in his life, a lot of the violence is emotional and mental (which definitely does not make it less traumatic). In fact, the way the book ends it made me wonder if MacBride had contemplated ending the series and focusing on his other series starring DC Ash Henderson. (I hope not! I haven't read the two entries in that series yet and find it hard to believe they will be as good as the Logan series.)

The primary mystery/crime to be solved in In the Cold Dark Ground is just one of the many plot threads in the book. Logan makes an astonishing discovery about his family life (which also impacts his professional life) and he is faced with not one, but two agonizing dilemmas which force him to choose between his current ethics as a policeman and his prior questionable choices/compromises. I'd say he makes the right choice in both cases this time but the ramifications will reverberate for a longer time than the depicted in this book.

There's a lot of resolution for Logan in In the Cold Dark Ground. Most of his primary relationships that have been huge features of prior books (with his girlfriend Samantha, with Aberdeen's crime kingpin Wee Hamish Moffat and even with DCI Steel) go through massive "phase transitions" which will mean the subsequent books in the series (so far there are only two more, The Blood Road (2018) and All That's Dead (2019)) will need to deal with the repercussions. And I can't wait to read them!

Title: In The Cold Dark Ground.
Author: Stuart MacBride.
Paperback: 400 pages.
Publisher: HarperCollins.
Date Published: January 16, 2016.
Date Read: July 11, 2020.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★★  (5.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A/A- (3.83/4.0).

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A.
WRITING: A.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: "I Met God, She's Black"

This t-shirt (pictured above) with the slogan "I Met God, She's Black" is starting to go viral. It was created by a 21-year-old Jewish atheist named Dylan Chenfeld. In an interview with Huffington Post, Chenfeld explains the meaning behind the phrase:

The slogan has certainly become a source of business for Chenfeld. When he initially started printing the shirts about one year ago, he says many of his buyers were white. He’s also gotten celebrities like Drake and Cara Delevingne to be photographed wearing his shirt. 

“I like poking fun at sacred cows,” Chenfeld told HuffPost. “I’m taking the idea that God is a white male and doing the opposite of that, which is a black woman.

He also says that he hopes that the shirt will get people to question the idea that God is a white male. Hmmmm, I'm hoping that it will get people to question why they think God exists at all since there is no way of knowing what "he/she/it/they" look like. It is this latter question which the Chenfeld t-shirt addresses.

QUEER QUOTE: Obama: "Are You Gay?" Dude At Counter: "Only When I Have Sex." Fist Bump!

President Barack Obama was in Austin Texas last week when he went into the famous Franklin Barbecue for lunch and walked up to the counter. Then this happened:

As the president approached, [Daniel Rugg] Webb threw his hand down and slapped the counter dramatically. "Equal rights for gay people!""Are you gay?" the president asked."Only when I have sex.""That's when he laughed and said, 'Bump me,'" Webb says.

That's pretty cool. But what is not cool is that Webb could be fired for being openly gay at work in more than half the states in the Union, including Texas.

Hat/tip to Huffington Post

SATURDAY POLITICS: Gay Marriage Map (Literally!)

This is what Joe Jervis calls a "Gay(er) Marriage Map" of which states currently have marriage equality and which states are under court injunctions not to enforce rulings that would lead to marriage equality. It's a very pretty picture!

Source: Washington Blade.

GODLESSS WEDNESDAY: The Bible Put In Costco's Fiction Section; Controversy Ensues

Just in time for Godless Wednesday, this story is hitting the news today:

A California pastor says he found the Bible filed under “fiction” at a Costco store near his home. 

Pastor Caleb Kaltenbach said he made the discovery Friday while shopping for a present for his wife in Simi Valley. 

“All the Bibles were labeled as fiction,” said Kaltenbach, pastor at the nondenominational Discovery Church. 

“It seemed bizarre to me.” 

The pastor said he checked the shelf for other Bibles, and he told Fox News’ Todd Starnes that each copy had a sticker that said: “$14.99 Fiction.” 

Kaltenbach said none of the Costco employees he found would answer his question about the Bibles, so he took a photo of one and posted it on Twitter.

“People are pretty shocked and upset,” Kaltenbach said. “We are supposed to be living in an era of tolerance, but what Costco did doesn’t seem too tolerant.” 

The pastor said he doubted the Washington-based company would have labeled a Koran as fiction and took the label personally. 

“If they don’t believe in the Bible, that’s fine – but at least label it as ‘religion’ as some bookstores do, or ‘inspiration,’” he said. “On the one hand Christians should not yell out.’ We aren’t living in Iraq or Iran. But on the other hand, I believe that we do need to stand up for our faith and we need to be vocal about our concerns.” 

A spokeswoman for Costco told Starnes the Bible was mislabeled as the result of human error at a warehouse,” and that the issue had been resolved.

It doesn't seem surprising to me that the Bible should be labeled as fiction. Where did he want it to be put, Biography? Of course, Costco should have just labeled it as "religion" but I wanted to blog about the story, which of course is now being picked up by Faux News and the conservative blogosphere, as an example of how controversy is manufactured in this country.

And, yeah, it's sorta funny, too.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Religion Is Organized Bullsh*t

The much lamented Atheist Pig cartoon site has some good pieces in its archive. Sadly, it looks like the website is no longer adding new cartoons but the ones that are there always worth a chuckle.

2013 HUGOS: Scalzi's Redshirts Wins Best Novel

In a not too surprising result, John Scalzi's comedic sci-fi novel Redshirts won the Award for Best Novel at the 2013 Hugo Awards at Worldcon in San Antonio, Texas this weekend. I had blogged about the nominations list when they were announced in April and lamented that his book was the only title I had even heard of. I didn't say then but I still think that James S.A. Corey's Caliban's War was the best science fiction book released in 2012. On the strength of the fact that all three of her books in her "Newsflesh" series have been nominated, I picked up Mira Grant's Feed and read it in electronic form. It was fine but I don't feel the desire to finish the series.

Anyway, Scalzi is very well-known in the sci-fi community and relatively prolific. He just finished serving a term as President of the Science Fiction Writers Association (SFWA), which runs the Hugo's, so it is somewhat fitting that he won. As he points out in his very popular blog, Whatever, he was also entering Susan Lucci category because even though he had previously won 2 Hugo awards, he was already at 0 for 6 in nominations in the fiction categories. including 3 nominations for Best Novel (Old Man's War, The Last Colony, Zoe's War). Generally his work is a bit too "light" for my taste but Old Man's War is a brilliant concept, reasonably well-executed and his books do bring something rare to science fiction, which is humor. I may just check out Redshirts (in paperback) sometime soon.

Godless Wednesday: Is America A Christian Nation?

For today's edition of Godless Wednesday I can think of nothing else better than to suggest that you watch Mrs Betty Bowers (a.k.a America's Best Christian) explain to you whether America is a Christian nation.

Enjoy!

Godless Wednesday: Religion is Organized Bullsh*t

I'm sure many of you have been wondering what the difference is between "religion" and "spirituality." Embiggen the cartoon above by clicking on it and the answer will be revealed.

Hat/tip to The Atheist Pig

WATCH: Ad for Amazon Kindle Has Gay Surprise

This is a cute ad for Amazon's Kindle which features a surprise (with a gay twist) at the end. As more and more companies do this, the lies of heterosexual supremacists like the National Organization for Marriage will become even less believable (or palatable) and marriage equality will become more and more recognized as a simple fact of life, which of course it is in 10 states and counting.

Watch the ad, it's fun!

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Godless Wednesday: Funny Comic On Christianity

Hat/tip to The Far Left Side

The Dozens: 12/12/12 12:12

Funny that there's not a word for being afraid of the number 12, like there is for being frightened of the number 13 (triskaidekaphobia) or a bunch of people would be freaking out right now!

Because we only have 12 months in our calendar, today will be the last time this century people can get married on a constant date. (Dean and I got married on 08/08/08.)

Queer Quote: Legalizing Gay Marriage & Marijuana

This funny comment is going viral on the interwebs:

It all makes sense now: Gay marriage legalized on the same day as marijuana makes perfect biblical sense. Leviticus 20:13 "A man who lays with another man should be stoned". Our interpretation has just been wrong for all these years.

The quote is attributed to Katie Stephens and appeared on George Takei's Facebook stream.

Godless Wednesday: Rep. Broun (R-GA) Is An Idiot

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) is being subjected to ridicule all over the internet for recently publicized statements which reveal the Congressman (who is also a medical doctor!) to be a theocratic, anti-intellectual ignoramus.

Here's what he said (and there is also video of his remarks):

God’s word is true. I've come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell. And it’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior.You see, there are a lot of scientific data that I've found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth. I don’t believe that the Earth’s but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That’s what the Bible says. 

And what I’ve come to learn is that it’s the manufacturer’s handbook, is what I call it. It teaches us how to run our lives individually, how to run our families, how to run our churches. But it teaches us how to run all of public policy and everything in society. And that’s the reason as your congressman I hold the Holy Bible as being the major directions to me of how I vote in Washington, D.C., and I’ll continue to do that.

Many commentators have noted that Rep. Broun is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee (along with noted misogynist and Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO)). How do you think Rep. Broun and people of his ilk would react if Rep. Keith Ellison, Democrat from Minnesota, said "I hold the Holy Quran as being the major directions to me of how I vote in Washington, D.C."? Basically just replace "Holy Bible" with any other holy book and the problem with the sentiments expressed becomes obvious. It's the primary point which I simply can not understand about religious extremists who want to combine church and state. Why do they think that their (interpretation of) God will be the one that will be the one that government will embrace and support?

Getting back to Rep. Broun fantastically ignorant remarks, I love how he attempts to enhance the credibility of his statement by saying "as a scientist" and then says "the Earth's [...] about 9,000 years old." 99% of scientists would disagree with this (provably false) statement.

Saturday Politics: Romney and Ryan Kissing!?

Hat/tip to TowleRoad

Homer Decides Between Obama and Romney

Homer Simpson is getting into election fever! The above picture is from a promo for the new season of The Simpsons (it's 24th!) which starts airing on Sunday September 30th.


Hat/tip to TowleRoad.

GRAPHIC: So You Think Homosexuality Is Sinful?

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God