Synopsis:

Combining edgy suspense and the vivid period detail that made The Given Day a smashing
success, award-winning, bestselling author Dennis Lehane delivers a masterful epic of
Prohibition-era America told through the story of a charismatic young gangster on his
rise through the glitz and the violence of the Roaring 20s. (Oct 2012)

Commentary: 

This book has already been optioned by Warner Bro. for actor Leonardo DiCaprio. As a fan of Dennis Lehane’s work, I can’t wait to read this one. My favorite books by him are: Mystic River, Darkness Take My Hand, Gone Baby Gone, Shutter Island and Prayers For Rain.

“You lie,” he cried,
And ran on.

Ray Reardon (James Spader) is rich and successful. He runs his own architect business. He’s getting divorced when the movie opens. From chatting with his friends, we learn that Ray prefers the family life to that of being single. His friends take him out to cheer him up on his newly single status. During a party for his friend, Norman (Larry Miller), Ray meets the beautiful Lena Mathers (Mädchen Amick). He accidently bumps into her and she spills her drink down her dress. She rudely tells him off and leaves.

The two meet again at a grocery store sometime later. Lena recognizes him from the party and she is embarrassed about her behavior and how she treated him and apologizes. Ray asks her out for dinner and the two begin to get to know each other more intimately. The film takes the time to show how their relationship develops from strangers to lovers and on up until the two are married.

While celebrating their wedding anniversary one night, a stranger who recognizes Lena, comes up to her and starts to call her “Sissy” and speaks to her as if she knows her. Lena tells her that she’s mistaken and the stranger, horrified by the mistake, quietly apologizes and leaves. This is where doubt and suspicion begins to play a role in the story. Ray soon realizes that he doesn’t know much about his wife’s background and this begins to bother him. The lies and secrets are only the beginning of the hell that Ray goes through to get to the truth.

This movie is not categorized as psychological suspense for nothing. This is a contemplative film about what happens when you don’t bother looking beneath the surface. Lena’s past life doesn’t resemble anything she’s told Ray. The nice twists and turns throughout the movie will have you on the edge of your seat. This is an intelligent thriller for adults. To cap it off, there’s a nice twist to it that I didn’t see coming. I thought it quite brilliant in theory. The movie’s title, Dream Lover, is about Ray’s subconscious thoughts/dreams about what makes the ideal woman.

The twist at the end was surprising to me in a smart and clever way. The suspense is well done. The paranoia and red herrings are well done, too. A lot of people really like the actress who played Lena. Admittedly, she is quite beautiful. I haven’t seen her on much of anything lately. Her filmography shows her to have been on Mad Men most recently as Andrea Rhodes in the episode of “Mystery Date.” I’m not a Mad Men fan.

James Spader is pretty good in here but his best movie role is still tied to Sex, Lies and Videotape. Dream Lover is one of the better movies of psychological suspense. It’s an erotic thriller with twists and turns that will surly surprise you. I’ve gotten all of my family & friends to watch this film. I can’t think of any other movie to compare it with because truly, that ending is original in and of itself.

Sadly, not very many people seem to share my love for this movie. At the Rotten Tomatoes site it shows a 54% fresh rating where only 40% of the audience enjoyed the film. I say don’t let that statistic detract you if the plot of the movie interested you. Other reviews: Janet Maslin’s review at the New York Times and Roger Ebert’s review.

This is my second Dashiell Hammett book and I was in the mood for a light mystery. If you consider murder and mayhem without all the gore “light.” I so enjoyed RED HARVEST that featured the nameless “op” from San Francisco that I was excited to read another one of his books. Samuel “Sam” Spade runs the detective agency of Spade & Archer with his partner, Miles. Sam is described as having a “blond satan’s head” and a face with a v-motif. He’s a somewhat likable character although he does have a problem with authority figures. He’s charismatic at times and attentive. However, he can be stubborn, cold and distant. His trustworthy secretary, Effie Perine watches his back and serves as his sounding board. To sum up, THE MALTESE FALCON reading experience did help pass the time away. There are some slight spoilers ahead.

Even after 82 years post-publication, Hammett has a writing style that is still all his own. He has an excellent turn of phrase: “Spade put the cigarette in his mouth, set fire to it and laughed smoke out. (pg.20) Certain sentences or conversations are written in such a way that they stick out. This along with other things are why I will continue to come back to his books.

Getting back to the story, no one is who they seem to be in here. Even Sam gave me moments of uncertainty. There’s a lot of backstabbing and double-crossing. I thought the motive or point of the plot took too long to come to light. It was well past half the book before we learned the truth behind The Maltese Falcon. An artifact worth millions that once belonged to the King of Spain. Now, several centuries later,various people, namely thieves, want to get their hands on it.

Now, the women in the book are very interesting. Each portraying a different stereotype. Starting with Sam’s secretary Effie Perine, she’s described as “lanky” and having a shiny, boyish face. (pg.5) I think Sam liked her a lot but it stopped short of being anything romantic. She’s his confidant and friend. Next. Sam had had an affair with his partner’s wife, Iva. She’s described as a “blonde woman a few more years past thirty. Her facial prettiness was perhaps five years past its best moment.”(pg.22) She’s the “other woman.” Sam doesn’t even give her the time of day, telling Effie to “keep her away from the office.” He was always seen ducking her or avoiding her calls.

Last is Bridget O’Shaughnessy aka Ms. Wonderly . “She was tall and pliantly slender, without angularity anywhere. Her body was erect and high breasted, her legs long, her hands and feet narrow.” (pg. 6) Immediately, Sam and Miles are blown away by her looks and offer up wolfish grins. But Bridget O’Shaughnessy  is not who she seems. She uses her sexuality to get men to do what she wants. Most of them anyway. I had a hard time with her in certain scenes. She was a hard shell to crack. Her innocent act would often drive me insane. Especially her evasiveness. She did the lower lip between the teeth too many times to count. She acted and admitted to being frightened a lot. I kept waiting for that facade to fall and it does somewhat partially.

The pieces of the puzzle didn’t really come together until you get near the end. The setting is San Francisco once again but after reading this book, I couldn’t even recall anything about the city itself. The setting wasn’t very pervasive to me in that case. Unlike say, Chester Himes, whose books (A Rage in Harlem) often remarked upon the streets of Harlem and the poverty of the city. Back to the book, all the characters are fleshed out well enough. A lot of the violence is not very graphic and took place off scene. Sam as a hero is a mixed bag for me. He has a “detective code” that he follows. He goes through this long speech about it.

The treatment of Bridget O’Shaughnessy by Sam is what brought him down in my estimation. While he was justified in some way to do what he did, it was his cold tone and demeanor that made me re-evaluate his character. He tells her at one point:

You’re an angel. I’ll wait for you.” He cleared his throat. “If they hang you I’ll always remember you.”

Does he mean it? Who knows. It’s hard to say with Sam Spade as we are not privy to his thoughts. None of the characters thoughts are shared. We are only left with facial expressions and conversations. Despite my complaints about the pacing, I enjoyed the story very much. There weren’t many shocks or surprises. While reading, my mind would conjure up Bogart as Spade and I’ve never seen the movie. With lines like the one above and plenty of others, it definitely makes me want to read more Hammett. Source: I bought this book

Note: You can read the first seven chapters free online at Google Books

*not her real name

Related articles

• Red Harvest, By: Dashiell Hammett (avidmysteryreader.com)

This post is just to inform readers who regularly visit that WordPress.com has made changes to the commenting system/discussion. On the comment page there’s an option to subscribe to comments. Before the change, you had the choice to select this option but now this option is selected for you by default. As a WordPress member, I don’t have the ability to change this setting since my blog is hosted on their platform. I appreciate the comments that readers leave when they are moved to do so. The purpose of my post is to ask readers that if you leave comments and don’t want to be notified of follow-up comments via email:please uncheck the box before you hit submit reply. The burden is on you to do this unfortunately.

Fellow WordPress members have expressed their dissatisfaction of the recent comment changes and have asked nicely [g] that they revert back to the old system. What prompted me to post right now is seeing that WordPress.com staff are at this time – sticking to this change. It’s unfortunate that the choice is taken out of our hands. Comments are nice and I realize some readers want to stay involved or monitor discussions and that’s great. But some readers prefer to check back at their own leisure and don’t want the annoying emails. I understand this as well.

Thus this becomes a balancing act of trying to not annoy or upset our regular readers. Bottom line is that I want readers to be informed of what’s going on as these changes affect you. Especially readers who may find WordPress.com’s changes to the commenting/discussion annoying. WordPress.com is a free blogging platform and I love using it. However, whatever changes the staff make to better improve their platform is sometimes out of our control. This is one of the con’s of having a blog hosted for you. Please note I am only referring to blogs that are hosted on the WordPress.com platform which states: “Blog at WordPress.com” in the footer. I went back/forth over posting this and decided I should. This might not be a big deal for people but I don’t know. So it’s better to be safe than sorry and receive upset emails asking me what’s going on. Thanks for your time.

Notes: You are able to manage your subscriptions if you ever get bombarded by emails from previous comments/discussions. If you ever need help or having issues with the commenting system in any form or fashion, please let me know and I will do everything I can to help. Thank You.

Comments off. If this system is ever to change I plan to delete this post. Thanks.

The story – told in first person narrative – of The Pledge explores various themes one of which criticizes detective literature as being “unrealistic” and “deceptive” and goes on to show how. Crimes are solved purely by luck and chance. The narrative of the story is a mystery within a mystery and uses a tone that is low-key at the start but then it slowly crescendos to a quiet yet “chilling conclusion.”

Dr. H is a former police chief from the canton of Zürich. He recounts the story about one of his most capable lieutenants who at the pinnacle of his career becomes tirelessly obsessed with finding an elusive killer. The novel is tightly written and shows us what obsession looks like and it ain’t pretty. My expectations at the start of the novel changed as I progressed further into the story. There were some twists to the tale albeit not surprising ones. Whatever point the author was trying to make, he achieved it. I had no idea what to expect when I opened the book because reading the blurb I was only expecting another regular crime novel but this story is much more than that.

The story was originally titled as Requiem for a Detective that speaks to the lack of closure. The transformation of Matthäi, the inspector, who is the focal point of this parable of sorts, was quite startling. Here you have a man at the pinnacle of his career who throws it all to the side to trap an elusive killer. He’s painstakingly patient and determined. Also he’s deceitful and will use any means to meet his goal. As readers we are privy to the truth when it is finally revealed and so is Matthäi at one point but he’s so consumed that it is a blind spot for him.

This is a well written story. It caught my attention from a review I read at Mrs. Peabody Investigates blog. The Pledge is the study of obsession. I found the novel somewhat credible and the problems of the characters somewhat believable but a bit exaggerated for effect. The pacing was okay, the flow of the story was fine but some scenes did drag a bit with some added repetition. Would I read this story again? Probably. I’m giving this book a B+ because after finishing it, I kept thinking about it. The story is not very violent and is somewhat atmospheric. The best way to approach this novel is to not think of it as a mystery novel. The investigation is significant but it’s not central. The dialogue is probably the best element in the story. The Pledge is not available digitally. It’s print only and available at your favorite retailer. Thank you Mrs Peabody for reviewing this book. B+.

Source: I bought this book

While Samuel is at police headquarters, looking through pages of possible suspects, he looks up and spots a photo of a police officer and it turns out to be the same man he saw kill another cop. Book immediately shares this information with another cop and that turns out to be a mistake. Soon he finds himself being targeted and he gets shot. He picks up Rachel and Samuel from his sister’s apartment in the middle of the night and takes them back home, telling them ominously that there won’t be a trial. As he leaves, his car veers off the road and he is taken in and taken care of by Rachel’s family.

Much of the film shows Book trying to blend into the Amish community while he recuperate from his gunshot wound. Meanwhile, back in Philly, he only has one other ally in helping him gather the facts around the killing of another cop. Book knows that Samuel is in danger if their enemies track them down. Since the Amish shun much of the modern-day technology and don’t own a phone they are pretty hard to track down. The scope of the investigation into the murder of the policeman goes deeper that Book realized. We’re talking corrupt police officers within the department and with him being the only honest cop left.

Meanwhile, a romance slowly develops between Book and Rachel. It was sweet, the attraction both have for one another. I really enjoyed the quiet moments of the film and getting a brief glimpse at what life is like living in the Amish community. I remember being quite fascinated and thinking to myself: I couldn’t live like this.*lol* It was fun watching Rachel being courted by another gentleman from the Amish community while she is secretly longing for Book. There’s a scene where Rachel is bathing and it’s storming outside. He sneaks over and watches her bathe and she turns around and the two of them look straight at each other. Talk about an electrically charged scene. The two say nothing out loud to each other but they silently communicate with one another. Book reluctantly turns around and leaves. The next morning he goes looking for her and says:

If we’d made love last night I’d have to stay. Or you’d have to leave.

The ending wasn’t a disappointment with the climatic showdown with the bad guys and of course that last kiss goodbye between Book and Rachel. Witness is one of my favorite movies and one I re-watch every year. I think this is only movie that Harrison Ford was nominated for a Best Acting Oscar and he deserved it too for his work in this movie. There are a few humorous moments in here with Rachel putting his bullets in the flour can. Or the scene where Book goes into town and a tourist tries to take his picture:

John Book: Lady, you take my picture with that thing and I’m gonna rip your brassiere off… and strangle you with it! You got that?
Tourist Lady: [in disbelief, to no one in particular] Did you hear what that Amish just said to me?

Many memorable moments in this movie. Have you seen it too?

All quotes come from IMDb

Yoshitaka, who was about to leave his marriage and his wife, is poisoned by arsenic-laced coffee and dies. His wife, Ayane, is the logical suspect—except that she was hundreds of miles away when he was murdered. The lead detective, Tokyo Police Detective Kusanagi, is immediately smitten with her and refuses to believe that she could have had anything to do with the crime. His assistant, Kaoru Utsumi, however, is convinced Ayane is guilty. While Utsumi’s instincts tell her one thing, the facts of the case are another matter. So she does what her boss has done for years when stymied—she calls upon Professor Manabu Yukawa.

But even the brilliant mind of Dr. Yukawa has trouble with this one, and he must somehow find a way to solve an impossible murder and capture a very real, very deadly murderer.

Salvation for a Saint is Keigo Higashino at his mind-bending best, pitting emotion against fact in a beautifully plotted crime novel filled with twists and reverses that will astonish and surprise even the most attentive and jaded of readers.

This is a police procedural set in California that follows Pasadena PD officer, Nanette Vining. She returns to work after a year’s absence. She survived a brutal assault on the job where she flat-lined for two minutes and then “jolted awake.” The experience left her with panic attacks and gave her the added, unwelcome psychic ability to hear the dead speak. The author uses those scenes sparingly and managed to make it creepy.

The attacker eluded capture and is still at large. Nanette and her daughter live in fear of his return to finish the job and Nan makes sure she’s ready. Meanwhile, her daughter has this morbid fascination with ghosts and death. She calls him “T.B. Mann” aka The Bad Man. Nan vows revenge and her ex-partner/lover, Jim Kissick, hands her the case files on her assault case. Clearly an ethical issue there. Since she’s found unfit to work homicide by her superiors, Nan is assigned robbery. That gig doesn’t last long. The victim was the daughter of another revered cop, so Nan gets handed the case based on her reputation as a solid cop.

Aside from Nan’s personal life, she takes on the case of the murdered police woman, whose body was dumped by a bridge. The plot indulges in the seedier side of life. The nightclub scene with a villain who regularly assaults women. But he hides in plain sight, managing to blend into his surroundings. The story incorporates the usual police politics and bureaucracy that often derails or hinders cases. I thought those scenes were well done and brought to mind one of my favorite TV shows, The Wire.

The ending was the weakest part of the story, unfortunately. It almost devolved into comical nonsense. After rereading it I still find it weak but unusual. No confessions, just straight shoot-out. There wasn’t a need to explain anything. It certainly isn’t your typical ending so I guess that says something. Ms. Emley has since went on to write several sequels that are out now digitally and at reasonable prices. In fact this e-book is priced at $3.99 for those who have an interest. My grade is still the same, a B. I hope to read the sequel sometime this year. The author has an engaging voice.

First time I saw the news was via TP:

It's On! ~ DOJ Files Suit Against Apple Corp., Hachette SA, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster: teddypig.com/2012/04/its-on…

—
  (@Teddypig) April 11, 2012

It’s on — US sues Apple, publishers over e-book prices (from paidContent)

and the CEO’s are now chiming in, well, one of them anyway, John Sargent with MacMillan

I am Macmillan’s CEO and I made the decision to move Macmillan to the agency model. After days of thought and worry, I made the decision on January 22nd, 2010 a little after 4:00 AM, on an exercise bike in my basement. It remains the loneliest decision I have ever made, and I see no reason to go back on it now.

No, I guess not.

_________________________________________

Update 1: another article of interest from Wired discussing the info from the filing itself

Update 2: Another article from Bloomberg News that I think broke the story first

Update 3: Amazon statement: DOJ suit “big win for Kindle owners” via paidContent and B&N has refused to comment (heh) I guess that’s bad news for them. They’ve gained a lot with the agency model so their reluctance to speak out at this time is quite understandable.

Update 4: Here is the The Apple Complaint if you want to read it yourself