Thanks to his
relationship with the ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan, Oberon the Irish
wolfhound knows trouble when he smells it—and furthermore, he knows he
can handle it.
When he discovers that a prizewinning poodle has
been abducted in Eugene, Oregon, he learns that it’s part of a rash of
hound abductions all over the Pacific Northwest. Since the police aren’t
too worried about dogs they assume have run away, Oberon knows it’s up
to him to track down those hounds and reunite them with their humans.
For justice! And gravy!
Engaging the services of his faithful
Druid, Oberon must travel throughout Oregon and Washington to question a
man with a huge salami, thwart the plans of diabolical squirrels, and
avoid, at all costs, a fight with a great big bear. But if he’s
going to solve the case of the Purloined Poodle, Oberon will have to
recruit the help of a Boston terrier named Starbuck, survive the
vegetables in a hipster pot pie, and firmly refuse to be distracted by
fire hydrants and rabbits hiding in the rose bushes.
At the end
of the day, will it be a sad bowl of dry kibble for the world’s finest
hound detective, or will everything be coming up sirloins?
My Review:
This is the first spin off book from the Iron Druid series that is
narrated by Oberon, everyone's favourite hound. He and Atticus find out
that champion showdogs are being stolen after Oberon gets into a fight
with an angry boxer whose dog companion is one of the missing. With
pressure from Oberon, Atticus decides to investigate and starts by
speaking to the people who have a dog missing.
As this is a
novella I won't really be giving away much more about the actual plot
but it is the kind of adventure that our heroes were going on when they
were just a duo. It felt like a throwback to the times of high jinks
when all they had to fear was dodging the odd angry God! It has murder,
vanishing dogs, angry bears and suspicious police officers that are sure
that Atticus is strange. With Oberon telling the story, there is
constant humour including the merits of not trusting anyone who won't
let you sniff their ass! Now there is advice that we can live by!
Read February 2018
4 stars
Oberon the Irish
wolfhound is off to Portland to smell all the things with canine
companions wolfhound Orlaith and Boston terrier Starbuck, and, of
course, his human, ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan. The first
complication is an unmistakable sign of sinister agendas afoot: a
squirrel atop the train. But an even more ominous situation is in store
when the trio plus Atticus stumble across a murder upon arrival at the
station. They recognize Detective Gabriela Ibarra, who’s there to
investigate. But they also recognize the body—or rather that the body is
a doppelganger for Atticus himself. The police, hampered by human
senses of smell and a decided lack of canine intuition, obviously can’t
handle this alone. Not with Atticus likely in danger. Oberon knows it’s
time to investigate once more-—for justice! For gravy! And possibly
greasy tacos!
Alongside his faithful Druid, Oberon and the other
loyal hounds navigate by nose through Portland to find a bear-shifter
friend with intel, delicious clues at the victim’s home, and more
squirrels. Always more squirrels!
But will our hungry band of
heroes be able to identify the culprit before someone else is murdered?
Will there be mystery meat in gravy as a reward or tragedy in store for
the world’s (or at least the Pacific Northwest’s) greatest dog
detective.
My Review:
Oberon is trying to convince Atticus that squirrels are evil demon like
creatures who have a despicable plan for world domination. Atticus is
having none of this but even he is surprised when the same squirrel
keeps popping up and leading them towards trouble. A chase of the
squirrel through a crowded train station leads Atticus to a dead man
that looks very like him, the suspicious cop who thinks that running
into him again is going to give her another bad day and a whole
conspiracy about alternate energy sources. The investigation brings
Atticus into contact with a bear shifter friend and the people who want
to kill her.
This was another entertaining adventure though I
admit that I do prefer the first one. I liked the whole squirrel
conspiracy and the way it finished should have Atticus very concerned
for the future. Could Oberon be right about the rodents?! The main story
was interesting and it had the return of a few allies made in the first
book.
The one thing I object to is the pricing of the hardback
editions of the book. I have every paperback in the Iron Druid series
but there was no way that I was spending that much money on these
hardback novellas. They are way outside my book budget and it
disappoints me that this route was taken, leaving me stuck with just
ebook copies.
Read February 2018
3 stars
I've always been a film fan and enjoyed nothing better than curling
up in my bed with the lights out and some junk food. That changed when I
became more interested in reading and in the last five years I've
barely watched anything new at all. Now I think I need to motivate
myself for watching films by doing an actual year long challenge and
trying to get them watched!
I actually have two films to report on today, both based on the real life heist at Hatton Garden, where a group of old time robbers decide on one last job to make them rich but of course it goes wrong. There is a third film about it coming out later this year but I picked these two up cheap and watched them back to back.
1) Hatton Garden: The Heist
Following the lead up to one of the biggest robberies of the century,
Hatton Garden The Heist watches the journey of Brian Reader, John
Collins, Terry Perkins, Daniel Jones and the mysterious Basil throughout
the audacious heist.
Starring Michael McKell, Sidney Livingstone, Robert Putt
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5953854/?ref_=nv_sr_1
The plot in this book suggests that the mysterious Basil, who has yet to be caught was the colleague of gang leader Brian who set up the whole plan. He is portrayed as being the real brains of the operation, the only one who wore a disguise and covered his face when he passed security cameras, and the one who took his share of the loot and vanished straight after the raid. He was known only as Basil and nobody seemed to know his real name. The other characters come across as not being very smart, especially Danny who acts like an arse all the time and doesn't seem to take any of the planning seriously. In fact the men seem to spend more time joking about sex, swearing non stop and acting like idiots than planning a proper heist. If they were like that in real life, no wonder it went wrong. One thing I did like was the detail after the raid, showing how the police were watching them prior to their arrest.
It was very slow to get going. After 30 minutes there was very little about the planning and during the drilling of the holes into the vault, we had dreadfully arty shots of the drill going in at the same time as a couple were having sex outside the building. I found that totally stupid and it added nothing to the film. The camera work was also shaky at times and it was clear that this was a cheap cash-in film with some questionable acting. It wasn't great and I had expected something better.
2) The Hatton Garden Job
In April 2015, the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company, an underground
safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area, was burgled by 4
elderly men. The total stolen may have a value of up to £200 million,
the incident has been called the "largest burglary in English history."
Starring: Larry Lamb, Clive Russell, Phil Daniels, Matthew Goode, Stephen Moyer
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5351458/?ref_=tt_rec_tt
This film differed considerably from the first one I watched and I actually enjoyed this one. In this Basil is a younger man recruited by the Hungarian Mafia to assemble a team for the raid, with the Mafia providing them with a way in. Basil recruits old friend Danny who puts together a Dads Army of a team to do the heist. The cop who last jailed Basil is retired but working for a gangland figure who wants something from the vault and Basil is to get it for him. The acting in this was far superior as was the script and the overall entertainment.
There is a lot of detail on the planning stages of the raid which I liked. A heist film should show the planning and the heist in detail the way Ocean's Eleven does. This film does delve into the interactions between the robbers and shows the corrupt gangland world that the men operate in. The heist itself was well done, showing all the details of how things went wrong and what they had to do to rescue the situation. The one thing that was a little disappointing is that it finishes with Basil making his escape, and we only get a minute about how the other men were caught. I'd have liked to have seen the police operation rounding them up afterwards. That extra fifteen or twenty minutes would have been good. Overall I liked it enough to buy a book about the raid.
They say you can't get
to Heaven without passing through the Eternal Rest Funeral Home. And no
one gets into Eternal Rest without passing muster with Elvis--the basset
hound who's convinced he's the reincarnation of the King of Rock 'n'
Roll. Brewing up a big ol' pitcher of Mississippi mystery, Peggy Webb's
delightful new series is as intoxicating as the Delta breeze.
Normally,
Callie Valentine Jones spends her days fixing up the hairdos of the
dead, but when the corpse of local, prominent physician Dr. Leonard
Laton goes missing, it's bad for business. So Callie and her cousin
Lovie (Eternal Rest's resident wake caterer) have no choice but to go in
hot pursuit of the recently embalmed, last seen bound for Vegas by way
of downtown Tupelo.
In Vegas, Callie and Lovie hit the jackpot
when they find the dearly departed inside a freezer owned by his
showgirl mistress, Bubble Malone. But their luck runs out when Bubble
decides to join her man in the afterlife. With the poisonous Laton
family tree providing plenty of rotten suspects, Callie, along with some
help from her basset hound, Elvis, is determined to crack this
case--and have a killer singing "Jailhouse Rock" in time for her next
haircutting appointment.
My Review:
I
decided to read this one for two reasons-I love Elvis and his music,
and because a dog that thinks he is Elvis sounded totally adorable.
There was nothing wrong with Elvis the basset hound. It was the assorted
human cast that I just could not stand.
Callie is our
MC-southern hairdresser, about to be divorced and does make up for the
dead in the family funeral home business. She is obsessed with her
appearance, which I can sort of understand in her chosen profession, but
she is such a dumb vacant airhead that I wanted to slap her. She is
divorcing her ex Jack and fighting him for custody of Elvis the basset
hound, and moans about how much she hates him. So when Elvis goes
missing, instead of looking for him like a normal person would, she
calls Jack, rides off on his motorbike and goes off to have sex with
him. If there is one thing I hate, it is a ditzy female who can't
physically resist one look from the bad boy ex. Ugh. Where is your self
respect and restraint???
Jack is an arrogant ass who I instantly
disliked and I hated how weak Callie becomes every time he is around.
Callie also drove me mad by yet again giving her gambling addict mother
more money to squander and then trying to justify it this 'one last
time'. Cousin Lovie just jumps on every man she meets including the
grief stricken relatives of the funeral home clients. She was another
horrible example of a dumb woman who can't function without a constant
supply of men in her bed. The funeral home clients were all obnoxious
too. Even the basset hound can't stop talking about sex with poodles.
I
read a few chapters and it was just all about sex between characters I
hated and sex for the dog. I found this very dull, and thought the
authors attempts at constant humour just came across as more annoying
that anything else. Honestly, I wasn't even that keen on Elvis. I can't
say that I liked anything about the book and this will end my moseying
into the realms of cozy mysteries! Too much miss and few hits for me!
Read February 2018
1 star
Welcome to Chuckles Chat where great
blogging minds unite to discuss the topics of the day mainly in the book
and blogging world. I'll be sharing my thoughts on a topic and then
inviting you all to share your thoughts. It's ok to disagree but PLEASE
be respectful of each other's views! All of the comments on my blog are
moderated and offensive posts ie racist, bigoted will not be published!
NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by
Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave
comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my
profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.
This week I'm looking at the way we decorate our blogs.
My blog is set up to be how I like to look at it as I am there more than anyone else! I like my blog to reflect my likes and my personality, and I think I've been able to do that. I used to have Count Von Count as my profile photo everywhere I went and it was only when I became aware of the harsh penalties for copywrite that I changed it. My dinosaur profile photo has been legally taken from free usage site Pixabay instead.
I used to have dramatic fantasy art on my blog that depicted the kind of books I read but I took them down for copywrite reasons. I've replaced them with Game of Thrones banner designs from Pixabay. I like the decoration and it lets any casual visitor to the blog see that I love it! I also have a cartoonish Harry Potter figure just underneath that which all Harry fans will also easily spot. I'm always happy to chat on those two subjects! And I'm a devoted Hufflepuff if anyone was wondering! I like badgers and it suits my personality!
I display my blog awards at the bottom of the blog but this is mainly for my reference. My memory is really bad as to which I've done or not done so it's easier to have them in one place instead of searching for them. If I'm nominated for an award I already have, if the questions sound like fun, I'll still go ahead and answer them, and I do like book tags. I like questions that are more book related or maybe about favourite things. I don't do the ones that ask about your social media activities, ones where you have to pick a pile of characters from books and draw them out of a hat to pair against questions. If the questions don't suit me, I pass on it!
I have my virtual pets lined up on the right margin as well and I always love just feeding them for fun. However the stupid player that you need to do that is forever playing up and not working so they don't always appear, which is a shame! Take a moment to scroll to the very bottom of the blog where Count Von Count is ready to sing the counting song to you! This is actually very funny as someone has uploaded the video and bleeped out the word 'count' which makes the song suddenly sound very rude!
I have a few Goodreads related items there as well-displaying what I'm currently reading, my progress in my Goodreads Reading Challenge, my site activity, my favourite book quotes. It's a bit of added info for any interested blog visitor to see what I have been doing. I also have my twitter feed displayed. I am trying to be more active on Twitter but I don't always have the time to spend there!
Last year I decided to add the snowflakes effect drifting down over the blog posts. It looked really nice but I wanted something that would last all year and be decorative so I went looking. I finally found this lovely colourful fireworks effect which is fun! When it works...
What do you like to decorate your blog with and why?
Welcome to my Game of Thrones Gossip,
where us fanatics get the chance to discuss everything we love
about this amazing TV series. I
decided to do a whole series of these discussion posts that let us say
everything we want and enjoy every second of it! Please feel free to comment fully and without restriction!
I have to warn you that it is important
that you have seen all six seasons before reading any of these posts because these posts and blogger
comments will be exploding spoilers all over the place. If
you haven't watched the series and plan to, be warned that it's a bad
idea to be here right now! I take no responsibility if you read on and
things are spoiled for you.
Now I'm looking at the main characters introduced in
season three, what our season two characters were doing and
looking at all the bests bits. Enjoy the season three posts!
Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie are still headed for Riverrun when they are found by the infamous Brotherhood Without Banners, who insist on taking them to their base for the night. The initial plan is to let them go the next day after feeding them but things go wrong for Arya when she hears the voice of The Hound who has also been captured. She tries in vain to sneak past him to the door but he spots her and gives her identity to the Brotherhood, ensuring that the three friends will not be leaving after all.
Hot Pie is offered a job at the inn as a cook and he gratefully takes the chance to get away from the war and bloodshed and have a sort of normal life again. Arya and Gendry are then taken to see the leader of the Brotherhood, Beric Dondarrion, the man that was sent by Ned Stark to kill The Mountain. As the men discuss the fate of The Hound, Arya angrily accuses him of killing her friend Mycah, the butcher boy. Beric declares that The Hound must stand trial for his crimes in a death duel with Beric in front of the Lord of Light who will judge him. To Arya's shock, Beric is killed by The Hound and The Hound is equally shocked when red priest Thoros of Myr brings Beric back to life in front of their eyes. The Hound is declared innocent and free to go to Arya's fury and she tries to take the law into her own hands.
Gendry tells Arya that he won't be going with her to Riverrun, that he wants to use his smith skills to help the Brotherhood protect the ordinary people instead of fighting battles for lords. Arya protests, feeling that her own wolf pack is being destroyed but Gendry says he could never be family to a noble lady. Dispirited, Arya is also angry at the prospect of being ransomed back to her family. Thoros says that Beric, out of respect for Ned, he's like to just send her home without charge but they need their gold to continue fighting the Lannisters. Beric explains that The Mountain killed him on that mission and Thoros brought him back, as he has done on many occasions. Arya asks if a headless man can be brought back and Beric says he wouldn't wish his life on anyone.
Melisandre's sudden arrival changes everything. The priestess is shocked to see the power that Thoros has and then buys Gendry from them. Arya declares her to be a witch and when Melisandre looks at her, she is startled by what she sees. She tells Arya that there is darkness in her and that she will kill many people. Arya turns her fury on the Brotherhood for selling Gendry who wanted to be one of them. When there is a delay in going to Riverrun, Arya decides it is time to run away.
Arya does not get far and is taken hostage by The Hound who has been lurking around the camp rather than leaving as was assumed. Arya is sure that he is taking her back to Cersei and makes an attempt to kill him as he sleeps. He is not asleep and tells her he'll give her the chance to do it but will kill her if she fails so she stops. As she sulks The Hound tells her that he saved Sansa once though she doesn't believe him. Arya is surprised to hear that The Hound is not taking her to King's Landing. He is taking her to The Twins where her mother and brother are attending her uncle's wedding. After stealing a farmer's cart, they drive to The Twins where they find the wedding celebrations in full flow.
Both Arya and The Hound quickly sense that things are not right, and the howling Grey Wind knows it too. As she tries to reach the wolf he is murdered by Frey men as Freys and Boltons attack the drunken Stark men who are drinking to Edmure and his new bride. The Hound locates her and a horse to get them to safety, grabbing a Frey banner to allow them safe passage away from the castles. Her last sight of the place is when she sees Grey Wind's head on Robb's body, paraded cruelly amongst the laughing men. They soon come across a campfire where four Frey men are talking about the part they played in killing Catelyn and Robb. Arya approaches the camp in the guise of seeking food and takes the chance to kill one with a dagger while The Hound kills the others for her. The Hound is surprised to discover that Arya took it from him and asks if it is the first man she has killed.
Arya has now taken her first step down the road of bloody vengeance.
