Dr. March's Four Sons by Brigitte Aubert

Author: Brigitte Aubert
Original title: Les Quatre Fils du Dr. March
Pages: 240
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format: e-book
Genres: Crime
Goodreads

Blurb:    
   "Les 4 Fils du Dr. March" involves an assassin who kills women for the sport of it. The murderer is one of 4 sons, and he writes his diary in the 3rd person so that anyone who might read it won't know which one of the sons is the murderer. Jeanie, the maid happens to find the diary one day and begins to read it. She also starts to write diary entries of her own, and trying to find out which of the four sons is the murderer.
My thoughts: 
     The entire mystery consists of alternating journal entries from the assassin, who learns Jeanie is reading his journal, and Jeanie. I am not certain about my feelings about this book. I was recommended this book as a great mystery/thriller, but I was not mystified or thrilled. Though, to be honest, I did not guess the killer and the mystery was there, I could not feel the atmosphere of the book. 
     Jeanie is the unsympathetic unreliable narrator who drinks a lot and has a previous conviction. All four brothers seem quite nice and respectable. So it is difficult to sympathize Jeanie and root for her in her investigation. The murder descriptions are gruesome, but seems a bit forced, so altogether I was not impressed by the book, though the ending was ok.

Rating:  

         2/5 

All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Author: Hiroshi Sakurazaka 
Original title: オール・ユー・ニード・イズ・キル  
Pages: 
Edition Language: Russian  
Series: no 
Format: e-book  
Genres: Science Finction   
Goodreads  

Blurb:     
      There’s one thing worse than dying. It’s coming back to do it again and again… When the alien Gitai invade, Keiji Kiriya is just one of many raw recruits shoved into a suit of battle armour and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to find himself reborn each morning to fight and die again and again. On the 158th iteration though, he sees something different, something out of place: the female soldier known as the Bitch of War. Is the Bitch the key to Keiji’s escape, or to his final death?

My thoughts:    
        I decided to read All You Need Is Kill after I watched Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise.  Beat me, but I just LOVED the movie and I found the book a bit boring. It is very much the same as with the Martian: the science and action scenes are much better on screen then on paper.
      The producers changed a lot in a movie. Some of the changes were good, some are unnecessary. The title character could have stayed the same recruit instead of becoming an officer. I rather enjoyed Keiji Kiriya as a character. The narration was rather dry but you can see the rapid development from a hopeless rookie to a war hero. And I feel that the movie would gain more for starring Keiji Kiriya instead of "Major William Cage." I also wish the movie had more of the Japanese and other diverse characters. The diversity would make sense as the entire world was trying to push back the Mimics. Without doubt the book has its own merits, and I like the way the story developed and ended. I am glad that the book avoided happy end clichés.
    On the other hand, what I did not like, or rather say, did not fully understand is the nature if the time loops in the novel. It is explained, but leaves too many questions. I prefer the explanation in a movie; it is much clearer and fits better in the picture.  No doubt I would recommend the movie and the book to all. It is a great action-packed story.
  

Rating:  

    3,5/5 

Police by Jo Nesbø

Author: Jo Nesbø
Original title: Politi
Pages: 636
Edition Language: Russian
Series: Harry Hole #10
Format: Paperback
Genres: Thriller
Goodreads

Blurb:
      A killer is targeting police officers; specifically officers who were involved in the investigation of unsolved murders. The killer lures an officer to the scene of the previous crime and kills the cop in a way similar to the original murder. The investigators believe that if they can only figure out the killer's motive, maybe they can find this relentless killer, who has left them few, if any, other clues.

My thoughts:
      This is such a hard book to review because even the smallest detail about the content runs the risk of spoiling the way the story unfolds.
The book did not disappoint me, this is a classic Harry Hole story with all the gruesome killings and mysterious motive behind them.
        However after finishing it I had some points I am dissatisfied with.
        First of all, I do not like that Harry went from the bright side to the shadow one. I liked him as a law abiding policeman and how he was breaking some rules, but never to the point of no return. Now he is in some kind of gray area, where he is on the side of justness, but not on the side of the law justice.
        Secondly, Jo Nesbo keeps killing really nice and strong characters which also make the story rolling. Maybe it is because they have already stirred up more interest and attention than the main character. I do not know and it feels like a big loss to the book and the series.
       Thirdly, everything must be personal. I guess in the last couple of books every investigation, Harry took part was personal. Why it just cannot be investigation in what he voluntarily takes part as part of, say civil service? And this point is strongly connected to the second point covered above.
       Fourthly, some tropes of Jo Nesbo story development are getting tiresome. I guess it is important to use them to keep the reader on the edge, but when reading the 10th book you already recognize them straight away. I just wish I didn't have the feeling of being manipulated throughout the story most of the time.
        And finally, the ending. Such a disappointment! The book starts out great, but it becomes purposely confusing and misleading, to the point of utter annoyance. The idea is nice: the police officers are punished by the maniac for not solving crimes, but the final scene, the motives and urges of a killer were so down-to-earth and even naively primitive that it almost killed the whole book for me.
I did enjoyed the book and highly recommend it, but it was not the best book from the series.

Rating: 

    4/5 

Lou-lan by Yasushi Inoue

Author: Yasushi Inoue
Original title: Rōran
Pages: 254
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format:  Hardback
Genres: Short Stories, Myths, History
Goodreads

About the author:
Inoue Yasushi is considered to be the last of the Japanese masters, heir to the traditions of classical Chinese and Japanese literature. This journalist-turned-novelist writes poetry, historical fiction set in China and old Japan, and novels of modern Japan. His first fiction was published in 1948, and his choice of settings continues to reveal a superb feel for other times, places, and peoples. 

My thoughts:
       Lou-lan is a collection of stories by Inoue Yasushi. I realized that different editions of the book have different stories. Mine has eight. All of them are situated in ancient China. The first, the title story, Lou-lan, traces the history of a remote kingdom in Central Asia known as Lou-lan (or Kroran) in some sources, beginning around 130 years BC. The kingdom is caught between many local conflicts. The expanding Han Empire sees Lou-Ian as a possible stronghold for the western borders and tries to get influence by force and by sending various emissaries and generals to the area intending to expand the empire. At the end caught between two fires Lou-lan temporarily moved to a different location and the graduate desolation of the old city starts. Later in the centuries the city and even the lake disappear and are re-discovered only in early 20th century. Inoue Yasushi tells the story of the city, twisting it with legends and facts mentioned in ancient manuscripts.
     The following 4 stories of the book reveal different tales from Han Empire history entwining Lou-Ian in them. I have discovered what a huge role superstitions, traditions and conventionalities played in regular life and the war. The scene from the second story "Deluge" is a masterpiece: the troops were attacking day and night the affluent river to pacify the demons of the water, so the leader did not need to scarify his woman to the river. Just brilliant!
    Three more stories from the book are based on myths. Particularly, I like the one about the foundation of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). According to the legend the original population of Sri Lanka are descendants of the man who was half human and half tiger. During later centuries the image of a tiger was replaced by a lion, which became the country's emblem.
      The Yasushi’s narration is really enchanting, though not easy. There are a lot of names and dates and footnotes. But I liked the way dry history comes to life with a colorful mythical touch, and random characters introductions whom we can empathize with.

  Rating:

    4/5 

The Phantom by Jo Nesbø

Author:  Jo Nesbø
Original title: Gjenferd 
Edition Language: English
Series: Harry Hole #9
Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller
Format: Audio book
Read by: Sean Barrett
Duration: 14h53m
Goodreads 

Blurb:
     At the conclusion of the last book in this series, The Leopard, Harry Hole, no longer on the Oslo police force, retreated to Hong Kong where he built a new life. But three years later, his past calls him home. Oleg, the son of his former lover, Rakel, has been arrested for allegedly killing a drug dealer who was also his friend and the foster brother of the young woman that Oleg loved. The evidence seems incontrovertible, but Harry comes back to Norway in an effort to prove that Oleg is not guilty and to find the real killer.

My thoughts: 
     Really, really good. Really, really sad. For me personally, it was heartbreaking.
      Harry is back to Oslo, but he is not a policeman anymore, and that feels quite new. He is on the edge of losing his law-abiding qualities and joining the Jack Reacher-Rambo team. He acquires a macho, hard-boiled, brutal style and I am not sure I like it on him, but I guess he grew up from detective uniform. Without the power of the police force behind him, Harry faces a serious uphill struggle to solve the mystery.
      I don't think I can write a review without spoiling the whole thing. Not much can be said about the plot development without spoilers, but as usual it is fantastic. The story kept me on the edge of the seat. I was truly searching more time to finish one more chapter. I do not know where Nesbø takes his ideas, but it is always rocking. I would not say that the ideas so much unique, but the way he tells his stories! Splendid!
     In this book a new for this series topic is covered: drug trafficking, shadowy world of drugs, criminal gangs and corrupted police and politicians. I am not fan of this topic, but it was a nice change from all the serial killing we face in previous books. Of course the corrupted police topic is not new, but it is clearly visible in this book the rise of a new villain, whom Harry will face in the next books of the series. But though it is exceptionally good book, it is not one of the best in this series.
      It was also very interesting to discover how Oleg character developed during Hole's absence. How his relationship with Harry suffered and what in the end brought towards a shocking finale. After finishing this book, I felt so broken hearted, sad and devastated.  

Rating:

    4/5 

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Author:  Cornelia Funke 
Original title: Tintenherz
Pages: 543
Edition Language: English
Series: Inkworld #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Fiction
Goodreads 

Blurb:

     12 year-old Meggie lives with her father, Mortimer, a bookbinder. Mo never reads stories aloud to Meggi. He also never talks about her mother or tells her different stories that Meggi does not believe in her existence anymore.

When Meggi is 12, Capricorn, an unknown villain is on a hunt to find Mortimer and get hold of a secret book her father possesses. They have to leave their home behind and while they are on the run, Meggi discovers her father's secret and, along with the help of Dustfinger (a very strange and unusual person) and Meggi's eccentric aunt Elinor, fights to free her father and destroy Capricorn.

My thoughts: 

 I took the synopsis from Goodreads, but have to cut it greatly. Really? You want to tell everything in the blurb?  The biggest suspense of this book was actually to find out what was the secret Maggi's father had.

     I have big expectations for a book, it was also easy read, but I believe, this book should be read by me at least 20 years earlier and I would not classify this book "for every age".

     I cannot say I did not like it or place my finger exactly on what irritated me, but it just left me untouched. The plot of Inkheart does not slow down; I love that, through the characters are a little irritating and lack development. Sometimes their decisions are on the edge of stupidity and I do not mean a child, but grown-ups. I didn't feel like I really knew the characters and connected to them.

     Taking into consideration that this is a children’s book (I do not think it is YA) it is quite good. The plot development is consistent, the villains are scary, but not bloody, there is no open violence in the book just references, which makes it accessible for younger children. But overall, it was a little too long and sometimes you'd think you're just going in circles. I expected more magic as well; but it is more realistic than magical book.

      What I really loved about the story that it heavily promotes the value of reading. Reading about books and how people value and worship them is very inspiring and captivating. Reading opens horizons and this is the right message for young reader.

Rating: 

    3/5