Killing Mr. Griffin - Lois Duncan

I picked this one up because I wanted to revisit a blast from my own past. When I was a teenager, I read many of Lois Duncan's books. I remember on one vacation, I brought seven books with me. Most, if not all of them, were Lois Duncan. I finished five before we finished the over 8 hour car ride. It made for a long vacation for me. I was an only child spending a week at a fishing cabin with my parents and grandparents. It was loads of fun, but there was lots of down time as well. After that, I learned to ration my reading materials.

Anyway, this is a young adult thriller about a group of kids who think their English teacher is too hard on them. They decide to kidnap him and scare him into treating them all better, but things don't go quite as planned, and the title kind of gives it away. After that, high schoolers are trying to act like hardened criminals. Some of them are cracking right away while others seem to hold out longer. I won't say much else. The book isn't long. I finished it pretty quick.

This one's held up pretty good. At the time, you didn't have a bunch of security cameras to catch things, and not everyone had a cell phone. I remember really loving the writing, and I still do. I looked into what happened to Duncan, and I was saddened to learn that she moved away from writing thrillers and horror after her own daughter was murdered. The worst part was that the murder went unsolved until five years after Duncan's death.

Anyway, this book is so good. I'd like to keep track of some of the others I remember having. I remember some of the covers of the books I had, and I put the cover I remember on this post. The one connected to my Kindle version has unsurprisingly been updated. Good Book!

RIP Mr. Griffin.

Freedom in the Air - Hamish Ross

Bozdech is a Czech who wanted to fight against the Nazis during WWII. That desire brought him to sign up with the RAF, and he picked up an Alsatian pup along the way. Antis became quite the celebrity, and every award and moment of recognition was well earned. The dog was a hero not only during the war, but he also helped Bozdech escape from the Czech communist regime. Bozdech had to leave his wife and son behind, and he was never able to go back to his homeland again.

This isn't the first book I've read about Antis and his owner. I'd read One Man and His Dog by Anthony Richardson in the past. The reason I bring it up is because the book is also mentioned here. Apparently, Bozdech wasn't happy with the finished product of One Man and His Dog. When I read that one, I was curious where the author got his information. It appears he was given a manuscript by Bozdech, but Richardson changed some of the writing. Examples are given. It's also worth noting that One Man and His Dog has more reviews, so it seems like it was more popular than this one.

I looked at the acknowledgments for this book, and the first one is to Bozdech's wife. He was given access to documents, manuscripts and audio tapes. The structure of it is also different than I'd initially expected. I'd break it into three parts: Bozdech and Antis, Bozdech after Antis, and the evolution of Czech politics near the end of Bozdech's life and after his death.

Overall, I liked this book. I think if you temper your expectations that you're not reading a whole book about Antis, it's a good read. Once I caught on to the structure, I liked that it followed Bozdech after the war. It followed both heroes to the grave. Good Book!

Akira (Volume 2) - Katsuhiro Otomo

It's been a bit, but I finally got around to reading the second installment of Akira.

Tetsuo is still crazy, but he's on the loose now. He's obsessed with facing Akira, and he's discovering more powers. The other "children" are trying to keep him contained, but he's just too powerful. Meanwhile, Kaneda and Kei are trying to intercept him as well.

This story is a bit different from the other ones I'm reading in that it isn't broken down into sections. The whole book is what you get. That's nice, but it pushes me to get it done faster. There aren't easy places to stop. It's not any kind of criticism, just an observation.

I'm still on board with this one, but where does it fall in the list of what I'm currently trying to read? I'd say Berserk has priority, but I'm trying to get those when they're a reasonable price. Then we have Dr. Stone and Akira. I wanted to read Fullmetal Alchemist, and it popped up on WebToon, so I'm caught up with it on that platform. Finally, when we were moving my daughter into her apartment over the weekend, one of her friends told me his favorite manga was Frieren. It sounds really interesting, so I think I'll be looking into it eventually.

So, saying all that, I think Akira is in the second position. I'm anxious to find out what will happen with Kei and Kaneda after they've gotten away from the Olympic site. Good Book!

The Dummy Case (Professor Caldwell #3) - Milton K. Ozaki

This was one of the finds from Half Price Books I was really interested in. The size of the book was unusual, and the cover was interesting.

Professor Caldwell is planning a little experiment for his psychology students. He gets his sidekick, Bendy Brinks, to set up a little demonstration down by the lake. When the police show up, they expect to find a dummy in the lake, but instead, they pull up the body of a woman.

The case has a lot of twists and turns. The professor is the Sherlock of the team, while Bendy is the somewhat amorous sidekick. The inept copper, Phelan, is present as well. Bendy was always checking out the women. Even Anita's mother was getting examined.

It was pretty obvious this wasn't the first Caldwell mystery, but I had to hunt a little more than normal to find the list. Apparently, this is the third one out of three. The author himself wrote approximately two dozen detective novels.

While Ozaki's writing style was pretty cool, I think his life might be more interesting. From what I read, he actually made a Yahtzee style dice game called Murder. The most intriguing parts were the cons he pulled. One of them was a device that was said to increase gas mileage. I think my favorite was the fraudulent mail-order college degrees from places like Colorado State Christian College and Hamilton State University.

Back to the book. It was pretty good, but Bendy was irritating. He would kiss whoever, so I felt bad for the girls, especially Wanda. In the end, the case was solved, and I enjoyed the book. I had parts of the mystery figured out but not much. Good Book!

Dr. Stone #1 - Riichiro Inagaki

My daughter was spending some time at home before she could move into her apartment, so we did a mother-daughter trip to...where else? Half Price Books! We had a great time and got some epic finds. I was on the lookout for some manga I wanted to start (because even though I'm currently reading 4-5, that's not enough) and found Dr. Stone.

All of humanity was turned to stone. Taiju awakens and finds his friend, Senku. Taiju was getting ready to profess his love when he was turned to stone, so he vows to free his love as well. Senku says he can help her, but first they have to face predators and the reanimation liquid is used to awaken someone to protect them. Unfortunately, that has unforeseen consequences, and now the two friends have even more to worry about.

This looks like it's going to be another one I'm going to want to read. I keep saying I'm going to finish/catch up with one before I start another one, then something happens, and I end up breaking my own rules! Honestly, I'd like to say it isn't my fault, but it really is. I like how Senku is going to be using science to rebuild civilization. I definitely want to read more in the future, but I have to come up with a schedule of reading to organize myself. Good Book!

Another Monster - Naoki Urasawa

After finishing up Monster, I wanted to find out if there was anything else. It couldn't end the way it did. Could it?

The book is mostly going over the plot of Monster from an investigative standpoint. In that respect, it's a lot of summarizing of things I already knew. Here and there would be some information of how people were doing in the present, but other than that, it wasn't as expansive as I was expecting.

I was hoping to feel a sense of closure once I finished this book, but I really didn't. It wasn't bad, but I feel like Monster was on a much higher level. I'll leave this one on the fence and stick with the manga/anime.

Berserk (Volume 6) - Kentaro Miura

Short synopsis: A butterfly-like monster is harassing a town, but a little girl has a connection with it. Guts doesn't care about the connections, he cares about the kill. 

Guts goes back to a place he's been before and finds someone important missing. He's upset, but it's pointed out to him, rightfully so, that he left everyone behind. 

A group of Christians called the Holy Iron Chain Knights is after Guts now, led by a woman named Lady Farnese.

There is a lot of plague and famine running rampant through the kingdom, and it seems like the king isn't doing much about the issues. They have a torturer (who has his own sidekicks) who can take care of any dissidents.

Guts has had a dream and is rushing to save one of the few people he really cares about.

Watching the next one in the series. The artwork is engaging and downright disturbing at times, but I can't wait to find out what happens next. Good Book!

Whoever Fights Monsters - Robert K. Ressler

Robert Ressler was an FBI agent who helped hone methods to investigate serial killers. Famous murderers were interviewed to help guide police when they encountered gruesome scenes in the future.

The book has a lot more crime scene detail than I was expecting. I didn't realize that serial killers had so much sexual motivation in their crimes. It made reading some of the details of the scenes a bit rough.

Ressler was against the death penalty because he felt killers were too valuable as fonts of information. The things to be learned from them could help build a profile later on and prevent a killer from remaining on the loose. He figures that as long as they're securely locked up with no chance of getting out, everyone is safe. I'd say the flip side of that is life sentences don't mean life anymore (if they ever really did), and I wonder what Ressler would've thought today (he passed away in 2013). 

While the writing style was easy, the subject matter is pretty disturbing at times. Reading about the insanity that exists and can never be satisfactorily explained is frustrating. I did find it fascinating to learn how the behavior section of the FBI differed from what is portrayed on TV. It was also interesting to read that Ressler was interviewed by Thomas Harris for his novels about Hannibal Lecter. Even though Ressler could still find fault, he was happy to have been asked for accurate input. Maybe I'll get around to reading Red Dragon one day.

I think overall this was a really interesting book. To see how the FBI dealt with serial killers early on and were able to identify patterns that helped profile other killers is pretty extraordinary. I'm glad people like him were around to lend their minds to the fight against the monsters that have walked among us. Good Book!

Monster: The Perfect Edition - Naoki Urasawa (9 book series)

I was addicted to the anime for this title, so I was super interested in the books. You can read my review of the anime on my movie/show blog. I was fortunate to get my hands on the whole set of them, so once I was done with one, I was able to start the next one. Needless to say, it didn't take me long to get these done.

Again, I'm not saying much about the plot. Dr. Tenma saves a young boy who grows up to be a serial killer. Tenma is under suspicion and feels responsible since he's the one who saved the boy.

I was impressed how faithful the show was to the manga. The beats hit very close if not exactly the same. Dialogue was added here and there for obvious reasons, but the story itself remained intact, and I was so happy about that. I was able to catch those small details that I missed when I watched the show, and it's going to be great to be able to go back in the future and read these again.

My copies were all in pristine shape except Volume 6. I have no idea what happened there, but the cover page and the first page of the story were missing. I wasn't lost, and it's not worth pitching a fit over. Seriously, though. If you like a good, complex story where you're not sure where it's going next, see if you can track this down. Give it a shot. Good Book!

When the books are lined up together, they create a cohesive picture.

 

Monsieur Maurice - Amelia Edwards

In the past, I read The Phantom Carriage and Other Stories by this same author. Those were ghost stories, but this one was a bit different.

Gretchen is a girl living with her father in the country. He's a loyal soldier to the king, so when word comes that he needs to keep a prisoner at his home, he readily complies. The mysterious man goes by the name Monsieur Maurice and immediately captures Gretchen's imagination. As time goes by, events get more mysterious and even Gretchen's father is getting suspicious.

This book is short and is something of a slow burn. With it being so short, that's kind of impressive, but it struck me as a bit slow in the beginning and then picked up toward the end. SPOILER: My main issue is that we never find out who Monsieur Maurice really was. They reveal how he got there, but never really why or who he really was.

I suppose it was okay, but the end was a bit strange. M. M. writes them a few times, and then it trails off. The old lady is just telling the story of a man she once knew. I liked the ghost stories better.

 

Before Egypt - Robert Bloch

I've seen Robert Bloch's name many times when I'm watching older movies, and I've read This Crowded Earth and wanted to try his other public domain title, Before Egypt.

Mike and his partner, Nicko (a Martian), are going to take a man and his daughter on a trip through space to find a planet where the early Egyptians originated from. On the way, the ship is attacked, and the old man is kidnapped. The ship is disabled, but they make their way to the ground and have to navigate a foreign world and get back out alive.

Every once in a while, I try to dive into science fiction, but it doesn't work out for me often. It's just a genre that I very rarely enjoy. It was a quick read, though, so it was ok. 

Thunder Dog - Michael Hingson

This is the story of a man and his guide dog on the day of the 9/11 attacks. But it's a lot more than that. Mike and his dog, Roselle, were on the 78th floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center when a plane was flown into the floors above them. 

From there, it's a trek of 1,463 stairs to the lobby. Mike has Roselle to be his eyes, and he also has his friend, David, to tell him what's going on around them. They have no idea what's happened and no cell service, but the smell of jet fuel in the stairwell gives them a clue.

Sprinkled in the tale of the Tower are memories of Mike's childhood. He was never brought up to see his blindness as a handicap, and now he's using everything he's learned to make it through one of the worst days America has ever seen.

At first, I was a little annoyed at the interruptions of the narrative. It made the story pretty nonlinear to start with 9/11, then go back to the past, then jump back and forth. Then, I understood what Mike was doing. He didn't want to just tell the story of that day. He wanted to use his experience to educate people about blindness. Seeing it from that point of view, the story made more sense, and I was more on board with the structure.

I'm going to say this is one of the most interesting things I've read in a while. Experiencing that day from the point of view of a person so close to it, someone who had to describe not what they see, but what they felt and heard, was so different. I commend Roselle for her calm and dedication that day. She helped more people than just Mike, and I was glad to read she was recognized for her work. The downside of loving dogs is we don't deserve their love back, and they're never here long enough for us to even get close to try and earn it. Good Book!