Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff

The story opens in the psychiatric ward of the Clark County Detention Center (Las Vegas, NV). Accused murderer, Jane Charlotte, explains to her psychiatrist that her alleged crime was authorized by a covert organization dedicated to crime prevention. Jane was an operative in the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons ("Bad Monkeys"), regularly dispatched to eliminated evildoers who eluded the justice system. Her life story revolves around this organization and its departments of Ubiquitous Intermittent Surveillance (Panopticon), Optimal Utilization of Resources and Personnel (Cost-Benefits), internal affairs (Malfeasance), and The Scary Clowns. She tells her story from childhood to date as her psychiatrist gently points out inconsistencies between her version and the official record.

The reader is left to question, "who is Jane Charlotte?" Ruff layers the story with basic questions of good vs. evil (characters named Wise, True, and Love all make appearances) as he leaves the reader with riddles upon riddles about the sarcastically funny Jane Charlotte.

This was a fun read. I was intrigued by the premis of the story of an underground group of assassins. But as the story progressed I started to question what was really going on. I was hoping it wasn't going to be one of those "it's all the dream". I almost didn't see the ending coming as this was a whirlwind tale with a high level of manic energy.

Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, twelve-year-old Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl and the owner of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message all come together.

Winner of the 2008 Caldecott award this 526 page book is a mixture of illustrations and text. Often 10-12 pages of only illustrations will flow into a few pages of text to further tell the story. It felt strange to read a Caldecott winner that was over 32 pages. The illustrations were lovely but I didn't really care for the story until about 2/3 way into it. I felt that everyone was such an unhappy person and would delibertly not tell the truth that it got annoying to me. But I do appreciate the detail the author gives to telling the story of how cinema got it's start in the world. That part was truely amazing.

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

This is a "between-the-numbers" Stephanie Plum novel. We see the return of Diesel, introduced to us in Plum Lovin'.

It's St. Patrick's Day and there is a rainbow in the air. Grandma Mazur stumbles into a duffle bag full of money - lots of money. She thinks that it is lucky money and hers to keep. Let the good times roll. She is off to Atlantic City. But other people have claims on the money. The story has an interesting cast of characters including an ex-jockey who thinks that he is an invisible leprechaun (he is always lucky, but manages to fumble it away); of course there are Stephi, Lula, and Connie from the bailbonds office; Diesel appears from Stephi's past - another man in her life; a short guy hired by Grandma Mazur; the gangster Delvina; and a horse to add to the adventures and misadventures. Of course there is the money.

More of a novela than a full fledged novel it is still packed with laugh-out-loud moments. It's nice to have a mid-year book to help us make it until June when the newest installment comes out. So we'll see what comes out this summer. I guess we'll see Diesel in the mid-year books.

Always by Nicola Griffith

Aud Torvingen thriller

At the start of Griffith's intense third thriller to star Aud Torvingen (after The Blue Place and Stay), the stylish half-American, half-Norwegian lesbian ex-cop and self-defense teacher is still grieving over the shooting death of her lover, Julia, a year earlier. Also distraught over a recent violent incident involving one of her self-defense students, Aud welcomes the chance to leave Atlanta, accompanied by her friend, Matthew Dornan, to visit her ambassador mother, Else, in Seattle.

A film production company is leasing one of her warehouses, and after Aud is a victim of the various mishaps plaguing the group, she decides to take action. Now Aud's interest is personal—in more ways then one, since the female caterer working the set has caught her eye. Alternating chapters in current time with scenes from a self-defense class for women taught by Aud, Griffith controls the pacing with great style and nuance.

Adding romantic tension is Victoria "Kick" Kuiper, a caterer and former stuntwoman, to whom both Aud and Matthew are attracted. Aud's ace investigation reveals political and environmental chicanery, but more importantly, leads to a surprising lesson about love.

I think I tried to read one of the earlier books and not sure if it just didn't stick or not. I did skim the chapters that were more focused on her self-defense course as it got a bit repeative. But overall this was a book that was hard to put down. So I think I'll go back and try one of the earlier books to see how it works for me this time.

D.A. by Connie Willis


Some high school kids would do anything to be an IASA space cadet, but not Theodora Baumgarten in Willis's cheerfully tongue-in-cheek SF novella. "There's no air, you're squashed into a ship the size of a juice can, and it takes years to get anywhere interesting. If you... aren't killed first by a meteor or a solar flare or a systems malfunction." But somehow, without submitting an application, Theodora is accepted to the Academy. Soon, she's green with space sickness aboard the Academy space station (named, appropriately enough, the Robert A. Heinlein), learning the ropes with a class of robust, gung-ho cadets. Getting out will require solving the mystery of how she got into the Academy in the first place, but it might have something to do with the annotation "D.A." in her station records.

This is a very short novella - maybe 50 pages including several full page illustrations by J.K. Potter. But I do love Connie Willis even in such a brief form. I do wish a longer novel would come out or do like Charles De Lint and publish her stories in a collection. I'm thankful I can find her books at the library as it would get expensive to purchase each one on it's own no matter how lovely they are. This was a fun read and I liked how she is writting for a younger audience as we need good science fiction for teens and tweens.

I Love you Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle

After concluding he has nothing to lose, geekazoid valedictorian Denis Cooverman declares, during his graduation speech, his love for Beth Cooper, the way hot chief cheerleader. He is amazed to discover Beth is not completely repulsed by his feelings for her, although her army boyfriend, Kevin, is enraged. Beth, implausibly, later shows up at Denis's graduation party with two interchangeable sidekicks, Cammy and Treece. The party comprises exactly two guests, Denis (aka "The Coove") and his possibly gay best friend, Rich. Once Denis and Rich recover from the shock of being in the presence of pretty girls, they attempt to party, but the awkward celebration is cut short when Kevin arrives with his bruiser friends. Denis and Co. make their first of what will be several escapes, the circumstances of each providing Denis with evidence that Beth isn't the flawless goddess he'd imagined her to be.

I read some reviews of this book and were intrigued. Once I saw the hysterical cover I was hooked. I laughed and squirmed a lot during this read. You can't help but laugh at some of the awkward moments the characters share and sometimes just squirm with the uncomfortableness of it all. But I really did enjoy it.

A

Thursday Next : First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde

Fifty-two year old, Thursday Next, is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. She is still madly in love with her writer husband, Landen Parke-Laine (who, fortunately, is fully restored after his two-year eradication by the fearsome Goliath Corporation) and their three children, one of whom may not really exist. The oldest, Friday, is sixteen, and he has turned out to be something of a slug who grunts, plays in a heavy metal band, and sleeps well into the day. Although Thursday pretends that she spends her time peddling and installing floor coverings for Acme Carpets, she is actually still very much involved in the Special Operations Network, working unofficially and under cover. She has never broken her strong ties to Jurisfiction, the policing agency within books, a job which earns her no money and is dangerous to boot. However, Thursday loves stories and she cannot resist using her considerable skills to help "maintain the continuity of the narrative within the pages of all the books ever written." Using her trusty Travelbook, she jumps into and out of the world of the printed word to hunt down malefactors.

Strange things have been happening lately. Thursday has a surreal conversation with her Uncle Mycroft, a brilliant inventor who has been dead for six years. He has no idea why he has reappeared as a ghost, but Thursday suspects that he has some unfinished business that involves her. Next, Thursday has to cope with two clones of herself who are cadets in training: one, Thursday 5, is a touchy-feely version who eats natural foods, believes in peace and love, and is so timid and nerdy that she is bound to get herself killed in short order. The other is a foul-mouthed, nasty, gun-toting version named Thursday 1-4, who is ruthless, violent, and intent on eradicating Thursday Next and taking her place. Looming over everyone in Jurisfiction is the specter of the dropping Outlander Reading Index. It seems that people in the real world (the Outland) no longer enjoy stories as they once did and the Bookworld is in danger of imminent collapse. This would be an incalculable loss for humankind.

Filled with all kinds of references to television and books it is always a treat to read the latest installment. Now I want to go back and re-read the first 4.

Richard Matheson's I am Legend by Steve Niles & Elman Brown

An illustrated novel than a comic book adaptation of I am Legend. I was surprised by the amount of very long blocks of text with only a few panels. I now want to read the original to see how it compares.

The storyline is basically a terrible plague has decimated the world, and those who were unfortunate enough to survive have been transformed into blood-thirsty creatures of the night. Except, that is, for Robert Neville. He alone appears to be immune to this disease, but the grim irony is that now he is the outsider.

Most of the book is him trying to make sense of how this could happen. Plus he attempts to explain the legendary aspects of the vampire myth in scientific terms. His discovery of a bacterium, which he dubs vampiris, as the true source of vampirism. Although we only get pieces of the story regarding the outbreak of the vampiric plague, including a reference to bombings, it can easily be seen as the fruits of germ warfare. Neville even conjectures that the Black Death of the Middle Ages was caused by this same vampiris germ, and he extrapolates facts and ideas from that history in his attempts to understand why such defenses as garlic, crosses, and stakes driven into the heart actually are effective against the hordes of undead creatures menacing his own time. He studies academic texts and conducts experiments with the blood of these creatures, which is the means by which he identifies the bacterium. The essence of garlic has no effect on the germ when injected into a blood sample, which initially he is unable to explain, but he later is able to explain garlic's effectiveness. Less scientific tests lead him to conclude that crosses are only effective against "Christian" vampires; the cross has no meaning to for vampires who were once Jews and Moslems, but sacred symbols of those religions, such as the Torah and the Koran, do. All of these scientific tests and speculations are just fascinating.

Neville is essentially the last man on earth, and the loneliness of his situation is the central part of the story. Matheson is able to communicate Neville's emotional feelings vividly, making him very real. We gradually acquire the story of the deaths of Neville's wife and daughter, essentially experiencing the pain he goes through when these memories overcome him. We watch him drink himself into a stupor as each night finds him besieged in his fortified house, surrounded by vampires, including his old friend and neighbor, calling for him to come out. We watch him slowly lose his grip on sanity and come very close to giving up. Then, however, we watch him overcome his depression and courageously fight to live in the nightmare world he is trapped in. The scenes with the dog he finds are full of emotion and really gripped this reader. This is Neville's first contact with nonvampiric life, and his attempts to befriend and help the poor creature (at the same time finally finding a companion) touched me greatly and brought tears to my eyes. His eventual discovery of another human being like himself is also powerful and emotional, although to speak more about this aspect of the story is to risk giving something away to the future reader.

This is a story of one man overcoming all obstacles and fighting to defend his way of life and his very humanity. The novel deals with the human condition, the essential ingredient to effective horror writing. Neville struggles constantly with his doubts and fears, particularly as he commits acts that he would have condemned as barbarous in the time before the plague. His needs for companionship of any kind offer us a clear image of the inner soul of man. By the end of the story, he does indeed become legend, both in his world and in ours.