Reading: THE WEDDING GUEST - Jonathan Kellerman

This was only my second foray into Jonathan Kellerman, after reading Breakdown a few years ago. That book was a bit of a disappointment, too slow and meandering at times, but with enough ... oomph? to the writing to make me try again with The Wedding Guest. Here, we once again follow Los Angeles homicide detective Milo Sturgis, along with his long-term best buddy/Watson, psychologist Alex Delaware, as the pair show up at a wedding reception gone bad. As if not bad enough that the reception was held at a low-end, overhauled former strip club, upstairs in the bathroom one of the unluckier bridesmaids has discovered the body of a beautiful young girl, dressed to the nines in red haute couture that extends to the dark red gash across her throat. No ID, no witnesses, and with a hundred wedding guests (plus staff) downstairs who swear they've never seen the girl before, Sturgis - the muscle - and Delaware - the intuition - glean right off, from questioning the bride and groom and their families, that something isn't quite right. It's there, with the very dysfunctional families, they start the laborious, sometimes seemingly fruitless task of not only identifying their mystery wedding guest ... but also, in Alex's mind, the kind of murderer who would have taken the time to kill in such a brutal way. I learned with Breakdown that an Alex Delaware novel can be a slow burn; like a modern-day Holmes and Watson (although without nearly as many brilliant deductions from Sturgis, and Watson being the insightful one), Milo and Alex go very much from point A to point B, questioning suspects and working leads, each new contact hopefully sending them further along the trail of the murderer as new clues, motives and suspects are revealed. But whereas I got impatient with Breakdown's slow-moving caravan of action, the secrets of The Wedding Guest, as meticulously as they evolved, felt like comfort food for the detective soul. The friendship between Sturgie and Delaware is deep-rooted, their banter real as they continuously lobby suggestions and theories around like tennis balls, and while it's Alex's genius that generally carries the day, his friendship with Milo Sturgis - the least stereotypical gay cop you're ever likely to meet - keeps the pages turning as much as any action sequence.Every time I had to put this book down, when I picked it up again I felt like I was getting back to old friends, following along with them on the hunt for a killer, and if that's how the other 32 Delaware novels I haven't read yet are, I am in for a treat.  4/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

May Wrap-Up: Graphic, and Graphic-er(?)

Whether graphic novels (which I am trying to get through, as most of the ones I have are e-ARCs I received in exchange for review) or some films graphic in their depictions of violence, May saw an upswing in numbers - though for June am already working on finishing up a few traditional novels I'm reading, as well - but, especially in the films I saw, May was not such an upswing in quality. Also apologize for this late wrap-up post, but May also saw me leaving a job that was literally making me sick to go to, and it took a few weeks to find a replacement (fortunately, one I like and am looking forward to starting). Job hunting BITES, but it keeps you busy.

I've also begun, as of an April post featuring the TV series "What We Do in the Shadows", to do reviews of new television series I "discover" (or at least am finally catching up on). There is still a phenomenal amount of crap on TV, but thankfully cable and streaming services have helped to really upgrade the better projects to a level of quality never seen on the idiot box before. Though I rarely watch television, when I find something good the urge to tell everyone I know how great it is - well, you'll find those here, too. 

Reviews running late, as always - have vowed to catch up in June! - so please check back for write-ups of any titles you see here (as always, click on either image to enlarge) where a review isn't currently posted. Back to chipping away at the TBR Mountain, and I hope your reading/watching month of June is terrific!

Reading: MY BROTHER'S HUSBAND VOLUME 2 - Gengoroh Tagame (writer), Anne Ishii (translator)

The conclusion of the story of what happens when a divorced, single, stay-at-home dad (Yaichi) in contemporary suburban Japan, raising his smart, high-spirited little girl (Kana), is unexpectedly visited for a few weeks by the spouse of his recently-deceased twin brother - a big, burly, happy-go-lucky Caucasian Canadian named Mike. Volume 2 of this highly-regarded manga set continues Mike's first-time visit to Japan, trying to learn more about his dead partner's old life and past, while Yaichi - mostly through Kana's loving, accepting eyes and personality - comes to realize that, though he never fought about or disagreed with his brother's homosexuality before his twin relocated to Canada, maybe their estrangement/lack of communication cost Yaichi more than he's realized until now. As Yaichi witnesses prejudice against Mike, symbolic of today's climate toward homosexuality in Japan, his eyes are opened more and more to the fact that we are all human first, everything else secondary, and as the date for Mike's departure back to Canada looms closer - his visit nearly over - Kana's heart grows heavy with the idea of saying goodbye to her new uncle as Yaichi tries to learn to say both I'm sorry and goodbye to a brother - a twin brother - he'd once known as well as he knew himself. My Brother's Husband, Volume 2, even after the brilliance of reading volume 1, hit me with an emotional impact I was not expecting. It also makes you think - about mortality, what we as people have in common more than what our differences are, and the importance of appreciating who (and what) we have while they are there. Keep a few Kleenex handy, this is a keeper. Also one of those books that, once completed, will leave you with that "book hangover" feeling of, somehow, wishing you could continue to follow the lives of these very-real characters you've grown to care so much about. A truly wonderful duology.  4.5/5 stars

Watching: ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE

Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Director: Nahnatchka Khan
Sasha (Ali Wong) and Marcus (Randall Park) had been next door neighbors and best friends since childhood, even losing their virginity to each other as teenagers ... before a heated argument causes a rift in their friendship, the two not speaking again for fifteen years. By then, Sasha has long left San Francisco and become a big-time celebrity chef in Los Angeles, engaged to a handsome and wealthy man and seemingly with a perfect life - until the opening of a new restaurant in San Francisco takes her home again, where she accidentally stumbles across a Marcus who seems to not have changed in all those fifteen years. Still in a fledgling band, still helping his father out with his construction/handyman business, Marcus has stalled in life, seemingly going nowhere - yet for Sasha, the feelings are still there. The spark still glows, however faintly, for them both. Starting up their friendship anew, just while Sasha readies her new restaurant, both Marcus and Sasha continue to struggle with feelings of something more even as they know that - now - they are way too different to make it work. Always Be My Maybe plays out its romantic comedy tropes in a fresh-faced way, thanks to Wong and Park in the leading roles, though the humor, particularly through the first half of the film, feels on the light side. Thankfully, the bizarre, unexpected entrance of Keanu Reeves later on, playing himself, only adds to and ratchets up the comedy to the higher/randier level you expected from the beginning. But while the ending is terrific, very sweet but no Hallmark Channel sugar coma, Keanu's role in the film goes on for far too long first, almost a distraction/intrusion to Sasha/Marcus's story and pushing them a bit out of the spotlight. A good, well-acted and funny film that just - sometimes - felt like it was playing things a little too safe (though yes, Keanu can do dialogue-heavy comedy; quite well, actually). Oh, and special kudos to Michelle Buteau, who plays Sasha's assistant/best friend Veronica; already blowing up in all things comedic on film and TV, this talented and hilarious lady's star has still only just begun to rise.  8/10 stars

Watching: CAPTIVE STATE

Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Where most alien-invasion films start off with the attack, Captive State - after a very brief attack sequence in a tunnel - opens on a gray, desolate Chicago ten years after the aliens have landed, where now the "Legislators" are in control, pretty much letting humans have their normal lives back in exchange for understanding who is in charge - even as they suck whatever resources they can from our planet to help themselves. The Legislators aren't playing - just one rebellion could bring about the planet's destruction - which makes the job of law enforcement officer William Mulligan (John Goodman) that much harder, as he's sure such a "terrorist attack" on the Legislators is coming fast, led by a revolutionary named Rafe (Jonathan Majors) - the one man who could possibly pull it off - supposedly killed during a previous uprising but whom Mulligan believes is still alive. So much so, he's gone to the effort to bully Rafe's younger brother Gabriel (Ashton Sanders) into helping him keep the neighborhoods in check, in exchange for limited protection, hoping Gabriel will eventually lead him to his older brother. Though Captive State starts off a slow burn, with heavy foreshadowing that, after awhile, becomes a little annoying, it doesn't take too long before the film transforms into a suspenseful political thriller, as viewers are privy to the upcoming plot and attack on the Legislators in nail-biting Mission: Impossible-like detail (by far, the best sequence in the film). And while the film, overall, remains as cold and detached as John Goodman's character and the aliens he's protecting, Ashton Sanders (Moonlighting), as Gabriel, injects some much-needed humanity into the story, shedding some light into all this darkness as Gabriel himself is drawn into the revolution, as well. The quiet "You go, boy" ending, which should leave a smirk of satisfaction on the faces of most viewers invested in the film by then, is worth watching Captive State for alone.  7/10 stars

Reading: ALTERED CARBON: DOWNLOAD BLUES - Richard K. Morgan & Rik Hoskin (writers), Ferran Sellares (illustrator)

Though I have the TV series saved snugly on my Netflix queue (the concept was so intriguing), I've yet to watch it or read any of the other stories from the Altered Carbon universe, so Download Blues was my introduction to a futuristic society where - when you are old, ill or otherwise have no more use for your body - you can simply, for a fee of course, swap it out for another, much younger and healthier model, or "sleeve," reinventing yourself over and over again every time. Download Blues follows series protagonist Takeshi Kovacs, former stormtrooper for the Envoy Corps and a certified bad-ass, as he's pulled in by local police and questioned about a seemingly-routine murder ... that Tak soon realizes, barely in time to save his own life, is just the tip of a much bigger iceberg; a conspiracy involving amped-up sleeves and interstellar smuggling/shenanigans that will grudgingly drag the world-weary ex-soldier into learning the truth - no matter who stands in his way. The artwork here is dark and sinister as the story, action sequences played out in broad strokes and terrific aerial depictions of the city, and Tak is an appealing if way-too-hardcore-for-his-own-good bad cop whose conscious always pulls him to the side of doing right. All the noise and visuals, regrettably, somewhat overshadow a story/plotline that's just not that interesting, by the end leaving this reader little more than in a rush to just finish the book. Good, not great, but Tak is awesome enough I will be pursuing more stories, as well as the Netflix series!  3.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: PRINCESS NINJAS - Dave Franchini (writer), Eduardo Garcia, Robby Bevard, and Maxflan Araujo (illustrators/artists)

Princess Ninjas is the first of a projected series of graphic novels, this one containing three loosely-linked stories all set in the kingdom of Chiyome, which is currently enjoying years of peace and prosperity after the king long ago vanquished an ancient evil from the land. Sadly, before said evil was banished, other nearby kingdoms fell and the Chiyome king and queen had suddenly found themselves raising three baby girls as their own - the first-born princesses of the fallen kingdoms, as well as the last of their people of survive. Flash forward to the three foster siblings in their tween/teen years, the princesses laughing and playing and squabbling like any other set of sisters, not knowing of their true powers or destiny as the Prince Ninjas ... until pushed into service when its learned the ancient evil formerly driven from their land is growing stronger and about to make a comeback - the Princess Ninjas, along with their sidekick Turtle-Bear, in his sights. Princess Ninjas was a cute, fun read with strong messages about acceptance and family love and sibling loyalty (especially when your siblings aren't siblings by blood, though family nonetheless), but overall the three individual stories weren't exceptionally original, at times the dialogue so long and intrusive it felt the words were smothering out the images fighting for space in the same panel. Am wondering if perhaps my disappointment came from expecting, maybe, a slightly darker or more sarcastic vibe from something entitled Princess Ninjas; if so my bad because this is strictly for younger kids, who should definitely enjoy it. Princess Ninjas isn't bad, by any means; you just get the impression, reading it, that it could have been so much more.  3/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Watching: "Years and Years"

Forty minutes into episode one of the six-episode British limited series "Years and Years", I was thinking the story of the Lyons family of Manchester - starting in the near future and moving forward - was interesting, though was wondering where all the hype for the series, as it was blowing up over in the UK, was coming from. Then the episode dropped its bomb - literally - and from that moment until the final minutes of the episode-six finale, "Years and Years" became one of the most compelling, fascinating, suspenseful - even prophetic - television series I'd ever seen. Not always the most uplifting, but certainly vital; fact is, everyone living in today's world owes it to themselves to watch. The series begins in 2019 and follows the various siblings of the Lyons family: Stephen (Rory Kinnear), his wife Celeste (T'Nia Miller) and their two children; Rosie (Ruth Madeley), a single mom whose recently had her second child by a man who bailed when he learned she was pregnant; Daniel (Russell Tovey), an openly gay man who works for the British government; Edith (Jessica Hynes), the far-left protestor/activist always fighting a battle in a war-torn country; and their mother, Muriel (Anne Reid), the widow who acts as matriarch over her children and grandchildren, hosting family get-togethers at her rambling old home in the country. It's 2019 and with Trump decimating the United States and Brexit doing pretty much the same in Britain, the Lyons watch from their TVs as a radical new politician, Vivienne Rook (an incredible Emma Thompson), rises swiftly up the ranks with her outlandish behavior and soundbytes, fueled by a population tired and angry and growling louder each day for change. At first seen as a buffoon with no political experience or connections, as time passes and the chaos of the United States and the UK spread worldwide like a cancer, the wild-card politico gains a firm toe-hold in her country, creating her own "Four Star Party" and aiming for the office of Prime Minister even as it grows increasingly obvious there is something ... "off" about her. What "Years and Years" is, essentially, a series about what happens to the world if the situations currently in place (particularly here in the States and in the UK) go unchecked. It takes place over quite a number of years, during which you see how these events effect the various members of the Lyons family - from the bizarre to the devastating - as they would yours or mine; truly, what the world will become if the path we are on now continues. It is chilling, it is crushing, and many times this limited series comes off more a documentary of our future than fiction - it feels that real. Talk about must-see TV.  9.5/10 stars