"Funny as hell.", "Hilarious..." say the blurbs. I was roused to laughter only five times. On pages 170, 287, 260, 364 and 414 of the paperback edition. Never the less, it was entertaining so I am going to try his other books.
QUOTE:
"This is a classy operation,... didn't you notice the napkins?"
BONUS QUOTE:
...Shad...was... reading a large-print edition of The Plague by Albert Camus. The book made Shad feel slightly better about living in South Florida.
Hector swears revenge on the man with one eye (and a big nose) who blackmails his father, causing him to die of a heart attack. Very good, now I have to read the rest of the related books!
I could only find this book in a collection "Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s". It was so ungodly LONG that I'm entering as a separate entry! Since the collection contained four other NOVELS, one can assume the print was rather tiny. It was. I didn't much care for this book, and do not intend to read any others in the Ripliad. There were 340-odd pages of, did I mention it, TINY, print? I didn't feel any sympathy for any of the characters. About eight pages from the end, just before Ripley boards the Hellenes, he mentions THREE murders. I only remember two. I'm sure I just missed the point of the sentence. Hadas recommended this book. I don't hold it against her, though, it just didn't work for me.
Words I Had To Look Up:
celeri remoulade -- a type of salad. (op cit, pg. 175)
faute de mieux -- for lack of something better. (ibid, pg 202)
Joe Leaphorn investigates a rug that was supposed to have been burned a few years ago. Good story. I WAS confused when the gift box of cherries made their appearance on page 199. I cannot find any reference to it before that, and I LOOKED!!
Jim Chee investigates a policeman's death, Joe Leaphorn searches for a missing fleacatcher. Curiously these come across as "clean air", while the Lovejoy books seem so dark.
The classic story of four people who end up in the remote valley in Tibet at the Shangri-La monastery. Non a lot of action, and I was depressed at the end. I wonder how the movie versions came out?
Words I Had To Look Up:
esplanade (pg. 17) -- A long stretch of open level ground (paved or grassy) for walking beside the seashore quia impossibile est (pg. 19) -- From the Tertullian quote, which freely translates as "It is certain, because it is impossible." cantonments (pg. 24) -- A temporary or semi-permanent military quarters. laconic (pg. 34) -- Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise. leitmotif (pg. 45) -- A melodic phrase that accompanies the reappearance of a person or situation. A dominant recurring theme. inculcate (pg. 69) -- Teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions. iniquitous (pg. 75) -- Characterized by iniquity; wicked. convolvulus (pg. 91) -- Any of a genus (Convolvulus) of erect, trailing, or twining herbs and shrubs of the morning-glory family. chiaroscuro (pg. 119) -- Pictorial representation in terms of light and shade without regard to color. illimitably (pg. 177) -- Incapable of being limited or bounded, measureless. altiplano (pg. 177) -- A high plateau or plain.
First published in 1957 as "For Love Of Imabelle", this gritty crime novel introduces us to Harlem police officers Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones.
Quote:
Exclamations in seven languages were heard -- No doubt!!
Quote:
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child. -- I know that song, it's from Then Came Bronson!
Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse #1. When the Krakau command crew is wiped out Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos, Lt. boss of the Shipboard Hygiene and Sanitation team, takes over. Fun read!
Quote:
"...Stick to the plan."
"Krakau make plans," snorted Wolf. "Humans barge in and kick ass."
"Of those two species," said Mops, "Which still has a functional civilization?"
Quote:
Cook had done a nice job of repairing the damage to his restaurant. He'd also added a new sign to the door: "NO BOMBS ALLOWED".
Eleven stories of crime and intrigue. I enjoyed meeting The Saint, Hercule Poirot, and Ellery Queen again. CONTENTS:
The Day the Children Vanished / Hugh Pentecost -- Through a Dead Man's Eye / Cornell Woolrich -- The Disappearance of Mrs. Davenheim / Agatha Christie -- Green Ice / Stuart Palmer -- The Grave Grass Quivers / MacKinlay Kanton -- The Case of the Irate Witness / Erle Stanley Gardner -- Adventure of the Grice-Paterson Curse / August Derleth -- The Headmaster / Michael Gilbert -- The Adventure of the Seven Black Cats / Ellery Queen -- The Wicked Cousin / Leslie Charteris -- The Footprint in the Sky / John Dickson Carr.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Dacoit -- A member of a robber band or gang in India or Myanmar (Burma).
Book I in the Farseer trilogy. Bastard son of a prince becomes an apprentice assassin, 'cause, what's a bastard to do? Good story, really felt the characters were real. Now I gotta find the second book!