DC Comics: Bombshells, Vol. 1: Enlisted by Marguerite Bennett

DC Comics: Bombshells, Vol. 1: Enlisted by Marguerite Bennett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I had originally attempted to read this story through the individual comic issues, but gave up after the first or second issue. Reading the collection of 6 issues reminds me that I cannot judge anything off of one issue.

In theory there’s an interesting possible story here – looking at Superheroes (mainly female) back during WWII, many of whom (all?) are modeled on superheroines and supervillains operating in modern times. In practice? Eh. It isn’t really what the people behind this comic did. They just took modern heroes/villains, and shoved them back in time. Including side characters like that Amanda Weller (whatever her name is). Some of whom actually existed back then, some didn’t – some could have based on what they are and how long they might live, some couldn’t have and still be here in their modern form.

I mean, like, for example, Wonder Woman was around in WWII – both literally in real world terms (first appearance of Wonder Woman in the comics: 1941), and in story terms (depending on the origin story, Wonder Woman has been around since WWI, WWII, or relatively modern times. So having Wonder Woman, the actual one not someone modeled on the concept, operating in World War II is doable. And reading the comics that feature Wonder Woman, read like the Wonder Woman movie – except instead of WWI, stuff is happening in WWII. Oh, and, apparently, Wonder Woman is quite friendly with Mera (who later gets called Aquawoman in the comic issues).

And . . . I’ve lost the plot already. Mmphs. The idea I wanted to note was that some of these people could have been operating back in WWII, but that isn’t the point of the series, apparently. The point is to take people from ‘our’ time, and shove them back in WWII time. Like Zatanna, Harley Quinn, Supergirl, Batwoman, Maggie Sawyer, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Poison Ivy. And have them be basically themselves. Instead of having them be similar and/or parents of them. Well, there’s the ‘Joker’s Daughter’ one, but . . . I’m not really sure who she’s supposed to be.

Just like my review, actually more so than my review, the story line is confusing and disjointed. On the one hand, the story keeps being interrupted so other characters could suddenly have the focus; on the other hand when the story shifts back to a specific character, the story seems determined to be as weird as possible. Like, Batwoman is introduced as being a baseball player playing in the female league while ‘the men’ are off at war; and a vigilante . . . who wears the same costume as the baseball player; the police act as if they wish to ‘question’ Batwoman but do not know who she is as both wear masks. Except . . . . you’d think it wouldn’t be that hard for police to know where and how to contact a baseball player/team/team manager/etc. Then again, it is play acting since Batwoman actually is dating the police in the form of Maggie Sawyer (see, lesbian action! See implied lesbian sex! Etc etc). Except, that baseball story line was there and gone again in like three seconds. Then a weird spaceship like thing (okay, some kind of early helicopter, but still) lands on Batwoman’s roof. And . . . Batwoman is recruited to join the Bombshells, being led by the same woman who formed Suicide Squad in a different universe. Then . . . several other people are visited . . . and when we return, Batwoman is in Berlin, being a spy. As herself. That story line is relatively straight forward, albeit disjointed. Other story lines? Super disjointed and confusing.

Like the one where Supergirl and her twin sister (seriously, I can’t tell Kara and Kostanri (however her name is spelled) apart) join the Soviet air force. I know the Soviets are supposed to be seen as evil and stuff, but there were some good people here and there. And turning the Night Witches, the female piloted air force, into evil harlots is just wrong. Just . . . mmphs.

I’ve read stories wherein Superman landed on Soviet controlled land. This one just happens to have that, but it being Supergirl land there. But . . . the Soviets decide to see Supergirl as a traitor and evil and must die . . . instead of using her for their own objectives? I . . what?

Bah, my brain is kind of messed up, this review is messed up.

All the story-lines are super weird and confusing. Like when Harley Quinn finally turns up. She appears to be sane and working in a hospital. She talks to a patient who used to be her colleague. Then Quinn’s eyeball grows to three times normal, and she rips her clothing off, dances around singing and beating up people and flying randomly to France. WTF? Quinn’s a chaotic character, but there’s usually something more to her actions than random insanity. Though it might sometimes look like random insanity.

So – Supergirl’s story line is fucked up; Quinn’s is random insanity; Zatanna is super powerful but . . . ‘trapped’ by circumstances – her story line is fucked up more by the circumstances than anything else; haven’t mentioned it, but Wonder Woman’s story line is also fucked up (seriously, at some point she ends up in prison because the allies wanted to kill some prisoners and WW wouldn’t let them). Individually fucked up story lines, and together a disjointed mess.

On the positive side, there are both lesbian superheroes and Jewish superheroes in attendance – sometimes at the same time. Talking about Batwoman and Zatanna here.

I read this collected volume in one sitting while ‘wasting time’ before a movie. For what it is, and what I used it for, it entertained me. Story line was too annoying, though, for me to continue the series. If series continued, no clue if it did.

Oh, one last thought – getting back to my inability to tell Supergirl apart from her sister – that happens a lot in this collection. Too many of the characters look the same/similar to other characters. Like I could have sworn Harley Quinn was one of the other baseball players since one of them looked like her, but that doesn’t correspond to her storyline. Then Batwoman runs into another Harley Quinn like person but . . . again not her. And there were times I found it hard to tell Supergirl/supergirl sister and Maggie Sawyer apart. Other times I had trouble telling Zatanna and Catwoman apart. Bah, my poor eyesight? The art itself? Pfft, don’t know, probably my eyesight.

Rating: 3

April 27 2018




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Kill Chain by Andy Diggle

James Bond: Kill Chain by Andy Diggle

My rating: 3.68 of 5 stars


*I received this book from Dynamite Entertainment and Netgalley for an honest review*

I have something of a kind of love/hate relationship going on with the Bond franchise. I got hooked on watching John Wayne films shown late at night or during the day by my grandfather. I got hooked on watching Bond films by way of marathons via my father. Though it was my mother who had collected the books as they were published – the original books – that I found in the basement and read (the Ian Fleming ones, I had to get the others myself). This was back when I was like ten (13? I forget now). Watched and loved the films. Read and mostly enjoyed the books. This was back when Timothy Dalton was Bond, at least on the big screen, my first Bond experience was with the original Connery, though – see: movie marathons), and my first Bond film in the theater was License to Kill.

I just loved watching Bond films. Reading the continuation novels. Then there was a six year gap (something like that) do to legal issues (what I was told at the time, I’ve never looked it up to see if accurate). And I kind of fell away from Bond while he was off the big screen. Oh, sure, I continued reading Benson Bond books, but . . . they lacked something. So I drifted away.

When I looked again, I was smacked in the face, so to speak, by certain aspects of Bond that were despicable (like how Connery’s Bond doesn’t like being told ‘no’ when it comes to sex; and, weirdly, just hates when the woman is all over him (see: Goldfinger for both – with lesbian Pussy Galore being forced by Bond, and apparently liking it so well that she turned on her boss; and … okay, I can’t find which woman I mean here for the other, was she not in Goldfinger? I recall a hotel room, the woman comes on to Bond, he pushes her away, because ?, film continued). So I had that to deal with. And I still watched the films, read the books, and stuff. But it was always there in the back of my mind – the male-thing (saw Lasenby’s film again the other day – weird dynamic there, Bond in that film didn’t force himself onto women, and actually seemed happier when the woman wanted him – the women at the institute he was undercover at; sure there was the ‘bribed to date gangster’s daughter’ part, but he didn’t force himself onto her).

All that just to note that I’ve mostly steered clear of the comic series. But hey, might as well try, eh?

James Bond in ‘Kill Chain’. As the book description notes: the spy world is in massive conflict, there’s a plot against NATO, MI6 and the CIA are in conflict, and the Russian SMERSH (seen a few times in the films, a lot more often in the books) is plotting against . . . well, the West. SMERSH being the Soviet Union spy service in WWII in real life, which was either disbanded or absorbed by the KGB after the war (I forget which), though found extended life in Fleming’s books and the Bond films. The book opens in Russia. Where some unknown man is talking to another unknown man – while that second man literally uses his fists on rocks (okay, not really, he slams two rocks together in his fists).

After unknown man 2 makes an arrow head, the scene shifts to two people fighting – a man and a woman. Presumably the man is James Bond, though, eh, I mostly say that because: 1) of the three men seen so far, he’s the closest to Bond’s looks; 2) he almost immediately gets sexual with the woman. You know, like Bond does. It’s his thing. Afterwards, and I’m only continuing this so I can mention – the woman takes a shower while wearing her clothing? I think? While she does that Bond robs the place. Because, hey, he’s a spy. All of this, by the way, the two men in Russia, and Bond & blonde woman in some undisclosed location – are the ‘precredits’ action. The after title credits action shifts ‘stuff’ to Rottendam. Which I mention because the book description notes that ‘operation in Rottendam goes catastrophically wrong’ so I guess I get to see that now. (Whereupon we learn that Bond and the blonde woman, later called ‘Rika’, were actually already in Rottendam).

Oh bloody hell – so action finally occurs and . .. Bond drives his car through a crowd? Seriously? After everything we’ve had happen lately with so many terrorists driving cars through crowds, the first actual action in this comic shows Bond driving a car through a crowd? Pfft. (counter: he’s trying to get away from a gunman in a boat; counter-counter – so? Just don’t show him driving the car through a crowd, but just along the road, racing away from the boat, while the boat fires at him, showing Bond drive through a crowd just seemed needless; wait, he was chasing the guy in the boat, not racing away . . crap, trying to figure out action in graphic comic form isn’t always easy, hehe).

Right, so, as said, conflict in the spy world – and that’s what the reader reads.

Oh, wait, what the heck is this book doing with SMERSH in it? If it’s set in modern times? At least that’s what I assume when Bond is given a cell phone. Gah – it’s not always easy to tell, some ‘continuation’ novels are set back in Fleming’s time period, some are set in ‘modern’ time periods (most recent ‘continuation’ book I read was set in Flemings time – 1969 – William Boyd’s Solo). Having SMERSH involved made me think this had to be set before the Soviet Union fell, but cell phone. You know what would have helped? Dates. What graphic novel forgets to include dates when giving location data? Pfft.

I’ll devote a second paragraph to this issue: not knowing the date is seriously annoying when trying to read a book. The world changes to bloody fast to be ‘generic 20th to 21st century Earth’. Mmphs. Though the evidence, including Leiter missing an arm, lost in that first Bond film I saw at a movie theatre, plus the cell phone, makes me think this really is 21st century ‘current present time’. Also Leiter mentions that the current administration hates things like NATO and the world. And England’s mentioned to be getting ‘out of Europe’. And Stuff. So, yes, modern times. Mention of SMERSH in book description, plus lack of dates really messed me up here.

Right so – one specific problem mentioned: the lack of dates and the mention of SMERSH without mention of the current date from beginning of book (you know, have ‘present day’ or ‘2018’ listed next to ‘Russia’ as every other graphic novel would do it), caused me issues. SMERSH being mentioned can be and was explained in the book. And I did eventually pick up that this was ‘present day’. The fact that I had to spend so much time thinking about it, though, is a major issue. Heh, I didn’t mean to have a third paragraph on dates. I meant this to be my: beyond that one specific problem, already mentioned, the book was interesting and good, paragraph.

Good strong story. The ‘forcing himself onto women’ didn’t come up, though he did avoid the advances of one woman who was quite clearly desirous of spending ‘quality time’ with Bond. Course it wasn’t the right time – but with Bond, when is it ever the right time?

Rating: 3.68

March 11 2018




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A Matter of Loyalty (A Very English Mystery #3) by Anselm Audley, Elizabeth Edmondson

A Matter of Loyalty by Anselm Audley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Book received from both Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an honest review

I do not recall why I initially tried the first book in this series. I hadn’t read the author before. I’m not 100% certain now if I even know if the book would be a romance, or a spy book, or a mystery, or possibly all three. I do recall that I liked that book and liked the sequel. So we come to this third book in the series.

It’s not a spoiler to note that the author never intended this to be a three book series, but then that author also didn’t intend to die in between book two and three without even a first draft written. Nor is it a spoiler to note that the author who took over the third book, after his mother’s death, has no intention of continuing the series beyond this one additional book. But there are reasons for that – he had worked on the previous two books, and worked on this book before his mother’s death. He may or may not know where the series was intended to go, but only had the outline for this book. So, to the best of his ability, he completed the book for his mother.

This was a difficult book to enter. There seemed to be an amazingly large number of people bouncing around in it, several plot lines that didn’t seem necessarily interesting . . . etc. etc. But then, somewhere along the line, something ‘clicked’ in me and everything became quite interesting. Good solid plot, interesting spy mystery, and the separate plots, that I thought were more of an A/B/C etc. story on a television show (which do not have to intersect), actually turned out to have more connections than I had expected. It was still a large cast, though, and I still occasionally misplaced who exactly specific people were. There’s one specific section, I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit, wherein someone was talked to, talked with, was a large part of the scene and . . . I still haven’t a clue who that individual is/was/could be. I believe his name was Richard.

Right, so, what can I say about the book? It is an historical fiction set in a smallish village in England during the 1950s, and involves a mix of people – high class, mid-class, low-class; a mix of story lines (some mystery, some family-issues related, some spy related). The stories, for the most part, focus on those people, if you’ve followed the series up to now, already meet – those people who live in that old castle in that fictional small village in England called Selchester.

There’s Hugo and Georgia (or was that Georgina? Pfft, I forget now) Hawksworth who are brother and sister, though of vastly different ages (Hugo’s more like 30 something while Georgia is more like 12) and one, Hugo, is the guardian of the other, Georgia, because of the impact of World War II (father’s ship sank; mother was killed in the same bombing in London that trapped Georgia under debris). Hugo is and had been a spy – is/had been because he had been an active field agent until he was shot, and now works as an investigator. Georgia is a kid going to school. Both of those roles come up and are followed in this book.

Also present in the book is a Special Branch investigator, Jarret, who has come to the area to investigate a believed Soviet spy (which quickly becomes a murder investigation), though he isn’t one of the characters who has a point of view. Soo . . . there’s Gus and Polly, the Americans who are now the Earl, and whatever you call the daughter of an Earl, in Selchester. And Freya, she has a point of view, she’s a ‘bodice-ripper’ author, though tells everyone she’s currently writing a history of her family (she’s related to the Selchester Earl, the previous one, though since Gus is the son of that previous one, also related, somehow, to the present Earl). And, um, Vivian, who is putting on a play, and Saul, who is opening a gallery, and Emerson, who is a friend of Saul’s and had been ‘in the Service’ with Hugo, and Sonia, who is Freya’s cousin (and Sonia is the daughter of the previous Earl, though only step-sister to present Earl; different mothers), and . . and . . . well, I did say there were a ton of characters. I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’ve not even tracked down and reported on everyone who has a point of view in the book. Though everyone I’ve mentioned, so far, has previously appeared in the series. Oh, I’ll also note that Uncle Leo, the priest, also turns up (Hugo and Georgia’s uncle), and that Hugo’s girlfriend, Valerie, also makes several appearances.

Despite the massive crowd of characters, and the difficulty ‘getting into’ the book, this was a rather enjoyable book. Quite curious where the story might have gone from here, though, the readers will never know (unless some previously unknown notebook of notes is found, or something like that, though that seems quite unlikely (for reasons – mostly for the reason that the author, Anselm Audley, had noted that they didn’t have enough information to continue the series beyond this book)). This is/was a good book in terms of a spy novel, a mystery, and a historical fiction novel.

If I was to attempt to note things I found ‘negative’, I’d only really come up with three things: there really are way too many characters to follow, who have their own point of views present (and the afterword notes that some of the intended characters were cut); I never really understood the point of Valerie, and she always seemed to be held up as a negative . . . though I never could see why – because she preferred the city? Because . . . um . . . *shrugs*, though I always felt that way about the character, not just in this book; something about how the book was difficult to ‘get into’ though, other than bluntly stating that, I’m not sure how to word things.

So, good solid book. Enjoyable. Glad I was able to read it. And no it wasn’t a capital R romance.

Rating: 4.33

October 10 2017




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Velvet Vol. 3: The Man Who Stole The World by Ed Brubaker

Velvet Vol. 3: The Man Who Stole The World by Ed Brubaker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Comic book stories – told in tiny little snippets, little single issue things of 32 pages at a time (well, most of the time they are around that length), later collected in volumes that collect anywhere from 3 to 10 ‘issues’ (this book here collects issues 11-15 (which would be 160 pages, though the collected book itself is only 137 pages) – can be frustrating to read. Mostly because there is a lot of interesting lead up to . . . many cliff-hangers until a, a lot of the time, disappointing finale.

And a lot of the time, you don’t know until something like the third volume, or way too often with comic story-lines – never. They just fizzle out.

Well this specific story here looked neat from the beginning. A skilled spy who was involved in early to mid-20th century spy craft before taking herself out of the field and working as a secretary for a good portion of the rest of her career. She would be, in effect, like Agent Carter after WWII – at least what the ‘men’ wanted to happen to Carter; though here Velvet took herself out, she wasn’t forced out of spy work.

The story starts after the ‘event’ that set the action in motion, so I’m not actually sure if she was a secretary, an office worker, or something more, though I know one or more men derisively called her ‘just a secretary’ along the way (which shows more their own misogynistic tendencies and less whatever her actual job function had been).

While working in the office, Velvet (which was her spy code name) uncovers some odd information. An agent had died under mysterious circumstances. Practically from the moment she started to look into it – under her own initiative, a trip-wire was sprung; Velvet was tarred as a traitor and chased.

Well, that was what volume 1 and 2 were about. The initial action that unfolded from being targeted as a traitor (volume 1), and an attempt to unravel the mystery behind the conspiracy (volume 1 and 2). Well now we are in volume 3. If I had the volume in front of me I could tell you the date the action occurred, but I don’t so . . . 1950s? 1960s? Somewhere around there. Wait, no, there is a specific historical event that has been tied into the storyline. A specific date that makes no sense for the series – at least since I’d this vague 1950s/1960s vibe; and the historical event took place in the 1970s (view spoiler)[1972 (can you think of any historical events of much significance politically that took place in 1972? Heh, I don’t want to bluntly state the event, but I have given it away) (hide spoiler)]. So, the long and short, the series took place somewhere around that date – (view spoiler)[1972 (hide spoiler)], the early ‘70s.

Neat to see the series unfold – two parts to that 'neatness' – 1 - coherent story told over more than one volume (3 here); 2 - it’s not a superhero story, but a spy story.

And yet . . . I end up giving the book a rating of 3.25. Why? Well, partly because it had been a while since I read issues 1-10 so had to remind myself of the story as I went along, though more importantly because the story kind of fell flat. Oh, a ton of action and suspense occurred, but it still was kind of . . . flat.

Rating: 3.25

January 24 2017



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Club Twelve by Amanda Kyle Williams

Club Twelve
by Amanda Kyle Williams
Pages: 267
Date: May 1 1990
Publisher: Naiad Press
Series: Madison McGuire (1st in series)

Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: September 3 to 6 2016

I do not recall exactly how I ended up on this series, but it looked interesting and, despite there being no digital version of the books, decided to order all of the series despite there being very little information about each individual book.

The Setting and Time Period
First off, this book was published in 1990, but set in the late 1970s (1978) during the presidential term of President Boone (no those with weak memories, the president during that time period was Carter, Boone is a fictional president).

The book moves around both the US and Europe. Spending some time in Colorado (Vail), Massachusetts (Boston, Cambridge), Virginia (Langley, Camp . . . I'm going to say 'Perry' - the training base for operatives), Washington DC, North Carolina; England (London), Liechtenstein, Germany, and Switzerland.

The Players
This is one of those books that jump around from various points of view. There is one main one though - that being Madison McGuire - a long time undercover agent for the NIOS - an offshoot of the CIA.

Madison McGuire
It is difficult, at times, to write something for a physical book. I cannot now quickly locate certain things. Like I am unsure if her actual age is in the 30s or 40s region. Though I do know she is a long time operative for the NOIS. Her father was a London CIA station chief who was murdered (though not in London; and a year before the book started, Madison's long time girlfriend was murdered (this time in London). Madison's girlfriend was killed because she was wearing Madison's raincoat and getting into Madison's car - they thought they were killing Madison (code-named Scorpion).

Terry Woodall
Woodall is a student at a college in Cambridge, and - important to the CIA/NOIS/US Intelligence - she is the daughter of a man who runs the Woodall corporation. They, the NOIS, desire to recruit Terry to go undercover against her own father - though specifically because they suspect that her step-brother is evil (I was going to put what they suspected, realized that would be spoiler-y, then went with 'evil'). As someone about to graduate college, I'd put her as being somewhere in her 20s (I believe it might be a graduate program, so that would raise her age a tiny bit - so that it would be less like someone nearish 40 dating someone nearish 18 - last book I read had someone who was a father of a young woman - the man was 16 when the kid was born, and the kid is now somewhere around 22 - so 22 & 38; she's early 20s).

Right, sorry, jumped the gun there. 1) Terry is a lesbian. 2) Madison is a lesbian (though only the director of the NOIS, Andrew McFaye (who is something like Madison's surrogate father) knows that Madison is a lesbian - otherwise she would be kicked out of the organization for being an 'evil disgusting homo'). Madison followed Terry to Vail to 'recruit' her. Specifically followed her into a gay bar. She wasn't specifically supposed to recruit her through sex; though things happen (no they did not have sex in Vail - just a start of a romance).

Do not be fooled by the book description (though I think the book description is now different from what I'd seen) - the book is not actually specifically about Terry working undercover. Though that is a tiny part of it.

The Spy Chiefs
Various agency heads have their own moments of telling things, specifically the head of NOIS, and the (deputy?) head of the CIA.

The Club of 12, or Club 12
Some of the 'stuff' that happens in the book is in the view of the Club 12 people.

The Helpers
Over the course of the book, Madison comes into contact with people who help her (either agency people, or old friends).

The Plot
The book opens with a man being killed - the prologue. He had a lengthy report on the Club 12 organization, though he did not know all of the top people. He was killed before he could turn over the report, but the US intelligence community already knew of Club 12 (though not the members).

The intelligence community seeks and tentatively gets authorization to investigate Club 12 – specifically because one of the few Club 12 members they think they know is located in the USA. And the CIA and the like are not supposed to operate in the USA.

They tap one ‘Madison McGuire’ to work on the case. She had been one of the best field operatives in the organization before the incident that had occurred in London a year ago. Since then she has worked on the desk. This will be her first case out in the field in a year. I keep saying the same thing over and over, eh?

Madison goes about recruiting someone to investigate the Woodall corporation. Becomes romantically entangled. Follows the suspected Club 12 member to Europe. Hops around Europe.

Things unfold badly.

Lesbian? Romance?
As mentioned – both Madison and Terry are lesbians. No kicking around the idea, they are in fact out and out lesbians. And there is a bit of romance between the two that occurs in the book – though, except for moments here and there (which includes bits of sex), the book is more of a long distance romance.

Overall
An enjoyable book - I liked it.

Note – it might be noticed that I have been somewhat ‘slow reading’ this book. It’s a physical book. Those take longer to read. Since I can’t pull it out at any moment to read (like with a digital book), but have to wait for special moments.

The Strivers' Row Spy by Jason Overstreet

The Strivers' Row Spy
by Jason Overstreet
Pages: 448
Date: August 30 2016
Publisher: Dafina
Series: None

Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: July 24 to 25 2016

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, Dafina, and Kensington Books exchange for an honest review.

This is both the author’s first book (as far as I can tell) and therefore my first book that I’ve read by him (that’s the both part – first book (written by him; read by me).

I’ll start off with something that I normally put at the end, or nearish the end, the rating. Under my long ago and not currently active rating scheme, used pre-web based book cataloging by me, I would have rated this book somewhere between 3.74 and 3.84. I am uncertain how that actually corresponds to my current rating scheme, but, somewhere around 4 stars.

Two things before I move into a more detailed review; women and ‘roaring twenties’/time in general. I put that discussion under spoiler tag, not because there is anything spoiler-y about it, but because I kind of lost whatever point I was attempting to make, and so that section is boring. Boiled down – for the most part the book is focused on the male actors in this ‘Roaring ‘20s Harlem Renaissance’, though there were a few ‘powerful’ women who make brief appearances; other than a few mentions of prohibition, and a few mentions of how people are flocking to the area, many of them arty, the Roaring Twenties/Harlem Renaissance part was kind of thin.

There are a few powerful women in this book, strong, independent, etc. They do in fact appear in this book. But that’s just it. They mostly appear. They have few lines and while they have ‘things’ to do, and the like, they are almost never seen doing them. No, for the most part, the book is focused on the men. Sure, the book is from the point of view of Sidney Temple, but by noting that the book is focused on the men, I do not mean just that point – that it is from Temple’s point of view. Because there are important men who do stuff in this book, and they do do them in the book, as opposed to off stage, or just assumed. So it isn’t that the book is from Temple’s point of view that limits everyone else’s actions and impact. While it is 1919-1925, and while that would/could limit certain things certain powerful women can/could do, that more redirects them than removes them from history.

I’m babbling needlessly. To a certain extent it is because of the nature of the book. I was promised certain things, while realizing certain things when I went into the book. Like the part where a young man is given opportunities during the Roaring Twenties to do things. And yet, while there is the occasional mention of the year, I didn’t really notice anything ‘Roaring Twenties’ about this book beyond the mention of prohibition. To a certain extent, I believe that is because of the type of man Sidney is – focused on his career and his wife (though her slim presentation/barely there character is one of the reasons I babbled about powerful women; she isn’t specifically one – important but not powerful, no it was her friend Ginger who I was thinking of as powerful – independently wealthy, and independent of a controlling man). On the other hand – young man, going undercover in the roaring twenties, needing to do ‘things’ . . . . kind of lends itself to an image of a guy bouncing around some seedy locations and speakeasies. This book isn’t that type of book.

Luckily, for my own enjoyment of this book, I had actually forgotten that description of the book – undercover agent operating in the Roaring Twenties in New York, specifically in Harlem during its renaissance. I mean, this is when Harlem had something like a golden age – yet, you would not specifically know it from the actions in the book (specifically worded that way, because you would know it from the words – it is in fact mentioned several times that ‘grand things’ were occurring, they just, for the most part, happened for Sidney’s wife while Sidney was off being serious and stuff. And the wife’s world, experience of that ‘Harlem Renaissance’ is only seen once or twice when Sidney happened to be present – I only specifically recall two occasions that might fall into this ‘Renaissance’ type situation (well three, but being kicked out of your seats at a theatre kind of ‘ruins’ the ‘good vibes’) – once when the wife had a huge grand birthday party; and once when Sidney was wandering around and ended up in a club).

I mean, Sidney did visit with various people while undercover around the city – places outside of work site I mean, and almost every single time the meeting was in some restaurant or the like.

So, book.

During a college graduation ceremony, while Sidney is actually in his graduation robes and climbing some stairs, some man approaches Sidney and thrusts a card at him (I’m wording this wrong) and indicates that the BOI, Bureau of Investigation might be interested in hiring Sidney – or at least in interviewing him. If interested, call the number on the card. And so begins Sidney’s slide into the undercover world.

Three things to note – BOI – the description for the book is slightly misleading, specifically the ‘And when he’s tapped by J. Edgar Hoover to be the FBI’s first African-American agent’: 1) the BOI did not become the FBI until 1935; 2) Sidney is not the first African-American agent hired by the BOI in the book (the first in real life and in the book is mentioned in the book, and plays a small role – James Wormley Jones – and Jones is described, on Wikipedia, with a task similar to the one he has in this book, and the one Sidney is given – to infiltrate the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) under the leadership of Marcus Garvey – and Jones actions lead to some similar results in RL and in the book); 3) Hoover did not become head of the BOI until 1924, 5 years after the start of this book here (the guy who preceded Hoover, William J. Burns, wasn’t even in office as the head of the BOI by the start of this book (he became the head in 1921; a guy named William J. Flynn was the head when Sidney was hired by the BOI, he was in office from 1919 to 1921 – it is possible the guy before him was actually in charge at the start of this book, since Flynn didn’t start until July of 1919, though the book did mention that the guy Sidney talked with was just getting appointed to be the director – heh, one of the driving forces in this book, and for Hoover, was the bombing of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s house – something that Flynn was brought in as director to investigate; Hoover, though, was with the BOI in 1919, and a new division head – he was head of the new General Intelligence Division).

Real life Hoover was tasked with monitoring and disrupting the work of domestic radicals. And his “Targets during this period included Marcus Garvey, Rose Pastor Stokes and Cyril Briggs, Emma Goldman, and Alexander Berman; and future Supreme Court justice Felix Frankfurter who, Hoover maintained, was "the most dangerous man in the United States". I mention all this because Sidney, in this book, is tasked with monitoring three people – Marcus Garvey (UNIA), James Weldon Johnson (NAACP), and Max Eastman (and indirectly, W.E.B. Du Bois of the NAACP)).

I got distracted by history there, looking up the real life history of the time. Hmms. Dr. James Eason is also a real life figure, member of the UNIA – had a similar end story as to the one in the book.

*shakes self* Right sorry.

This was/is a quite interesting undercover story about a time and place that I knew relatively little about – specifically the time and place of African Americans during the 1920s. There were both times of great ‘sinking’ into the scene, of feeling it, while other times things seemed more surface, more remote/removed from the action. And a few cases where things were just way too rushed.

Only read the spoiler after reading the book read the book yet?Loretta is so annoyed with her husband that she goes to the extreme measure of leaving him, and, for that matter, her country. Going all the way to Paris France. So . . .when Sidney hunted her down? the next words after Sidney arrived at Loretta’s door in Paris were something along the lines of ‘months passed’. Um . . kind of overlooked Lorretta accepting Sidney back into her life, eh?

Overall I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the next book by this author.

July 26 2016

Agent 69: Stroken, Not Stirred by Callista Hawkes

Agent 69: Stroken, Not Stirred
by Callista Hawkes
Pages: 371
Date: November 26 2015
Publisher: Self
Series: N/A

Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: February 20 2016

Been a while since I read one of these erotic interactive stories. This one here is the first story I've read by this author. Let's see how good (or not) it is, eh?

Okay, so, I'm a British secret agent named James Hazard (eww, I'm a boy). So, going in I already know there's one strike against the book - it's a 'you' type book, and the main character is male. And I'm not male.

Okay, book opens with me, or 'you', falling through the sky towards the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Luckily I have a parachute.

Okay, so, I've read enough to know what the first mission consists of - a 'Captain Frost' has (1) kidnapped the daughter of the USA President, and (2) stolen a nuclear submarine. Unable to use his own agents, fearing as he does insiders helping Frost, the president contacted the Brits. And the British PM sent you (well, someone over there sent you, I assume it wasn't literally the PM who messaged you to go. um. me. Messaged me? bah, 'you' books).

Okay, the first choice offered to me is odd. Maybe I missunderstood and I'm not supposed to try to save the president's daughter? bah, back to reading I go.

Well, that little adventure with the president's daughter was both unexpected and actually interesting. Interesting the story I found by always choosing to 'be a gentleman'. Course, that was just the opening scene. Not the whole story. Back to reading I go.

Well, based on everything up to here (opening mission, walking into a serect agent headquarters, seeing a pretty young secretary outside, flirting with her, before your meeting with N) - this is obviously a parody of 007.

Huh. And then the opening with N is almost exactly like the opening with M in the Bond series when M critized Bond's sexism and stuff. Weird, that. This is moving out of the realm of parody into the realm of plagarism.

I keep dodging the chooses which would lead to sex (what, sleep with the boss? eww), but I couldn't turn down the opportunity to flirt with Miss Meriweather (aka Miss Moneypenny). And a good time was had by all. So to speak. *nods*

Right. On to Vienna. And me doing spy stuff. To meet my 'From Russia with Love' Russian intelligence collegue.

Hmms. First time I had to retrace my steps. I like following a single story line to conclusion. Strange how easy the mission/story line ended. Ah well. Back a step and continue, eh?

“Surely not.” Hakan says. “Hugo Kruger is something of a philanthropist,donating millions to develop the townships in his native Johannesburg and elsewhere. He has been lauded throughout the world as a generous humanitarian. Perhaps someone else within his organisation.” (Kindle Locations 1867-1868). - um . . . it's long been the case in fiction and nonfiction that criminals, not all but most, put on a face of 'doing good'. So it always surprises me when this stupid little dynamic pops up over and over again. 'Oh, no! It can't be the super rich guy who likes giving money to charity!' (course by this logic, Bill Gates is a criminal mastermind, but let's not go there shall we?).

Well, it's all done. This actually was a lot more entertaining that other stories I've read that have attempted to add graphic sex to Bond stories.

February 20 2016

A Man of Some Repute by Elizabeth Edmondson

A Man of Some Repute
by Elizabeth Edmondson
Pages: 306
Date: 2015
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Series: A Very English Mystery (1st in series)

Review Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Read: November 6 2015

My first book by this author.

This is a rather neat little book set shortly after the end of World War II in England. The book opens with a man and woman driving to Selchester Castle. The date is 1953. The man is Hugo Hawksworth. The woman is Georgia Hawksworth. I say woman because I initially didn’t realize she was 13. I thought she was closer to Hugo’s own age of [insert age here; he comes off as a guy in his thirties, though he might be in his 20s]. I found her annoying until I realized she was only 13.

Hugo and Georgia are heading off to Selchester because Hugo is heading there to take up a government position there. National government, not local government. Georgia’s heading there because she’s 13. And both Hugo and Georgia’s parents are dead. This is less shocking when you recall that they are the same parents. And that there was this war that just ended. That included bombs falling from the sky. Hugo is watching out for Georgia, now. So she follows him to Selchester, and enlists in the local high school. Joins. Registers with. Hmms. Whichever word works.

It’s easier for Hugo to watch out for Georgia, now, than it had just recently been. Shortly before the story begins, Hugo was jetting around the world. Doing stuff. Secret stuff. The kind of stuff spies would do. Until he got shot in Berlin. He has a cane and limp now from the ordeal. Plus the desk-bound assignment. Hugo’s all set to toss the job and get a non-government one, what, him tied to a desk? But he is talked into sticking around for a little bit longer.

So, as said, Hugo and Georgia are off to Selchester at the beginning of the book. They drive there. This pains Hugo’s leg. They arrive to find an actual castle. Not some Victorian age manor that had some little designs and fake turrets thrown up so it could be called a castle. But an actual castle. The kind that has one tower that’s livable, another that’s ruins, and a really huge servants section. They are greeted by Mrs. Partridge and Freya Wryton.

Mrs. Partridge is the . . . um . . . what do they call it there? Well, the housekeeper like person. Freya Wryton lives at Selchester Castle. She’s the niece of the Earl of Selchester. She’s vaguely put out that ‘Sir Bernard’ forced these people upon her. With short notice. She learned of their arrival shortly before they turned up. Sir Bernard being Hugo’s new boss over at the ‘Government Statistics Bureau’, or whatever fake name is stuck to the front of the building.

I’ve gone a little overboard in describing things. So I’ll just jump to: a dead body is found shortly after Hugo arrives. The police arrive. Find out that it is the missing Earl (missing for almost seven years). They begin a murder investigation (earlier it had been a missing person’s investigation). Their immediate suspect is Tom and Freya. Tom being the son of the dead Earl. Immediately they are suspect because everyone else has an alibi. While Tom and Freya only have alibis for each other. And Tom died in between the Earl’s disappearance and the opening of the book.

So, for various reasons, Hugo the spy decides to do a bit of investigation himself. One of those reasons being the weird cover-up that appears to be in progress by the police who wish to find anyone, someone, immediately to blame the crime on. And a dead guy seems like a good fit.

It’s interesting to see a spy doing investigation work. Murder investigation. Though there’s also some spy investigation going on in the background. A well constructed plot and well defined characters. There were certain things here and there which popped up and to which I gazed at in some confusion. Plot points of no importance during or after the fact. Just . . . there (like when Freya thinks she sees the Earl walking around the train station. But then remembers that the Earl is both dead and looked older than that guy walking around when alive. That was a head shaker. Why is the author showing me this particular event unfolding before Freya? There was kind of an unstated implication that Tom might not actually be dead. Which was reinforced by a chapter/section title that popped up shortly thereafter. But . . . maybe it was a plot point that was going to be expanded on later? And/or got forgotten?).

I believe my biggest regret from reading this book is the desire that developed in me, relatively early on, to continue reading this series. And I knew that there was at least one more book. So I was all satisfied to wait. Until I noticed I couldn’t actually get that second book. Apparently, despite indications otherwise, the only version available to me is the audio book version. And I don’t do audio books. So I’m sad. None of this has anything really to do with the book at hand, of course, so I’ll depart.