Scorpion Television Series: A Review by Warren Bull

 

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Scorpion Television Series: A Review by Warren Bull

The series was created by Nick Santora and based (very loosely) on the life of Walter O’Brien, who was one of the executive producers of the show. Elyes Gabel, Katharine McPhee, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Jadyn Wong, Ari Stidham, Robert Patrick, and Riley B. Smith were the primary actors.

The thesis of the show was that genius Walter O’Brien put together a group of intellectual all-stars with specialties in engineering, Computer hacking, psychiatry, and mathematics to solve complex problems that nobody else could solve. The geniuses’ abilities with human interactions were as lacking as their skills at everything else. To help them interpret the world of people, they hired a waitress who had a brilliant son. They helped her understand him. They also had a “handler” from Homeland Security who could manage weapons and fighting.

Interactions with each other, their parents, and “normal” people allowed for warm-hearted moments and humor. The show debuted in 2014 on CBS and became the most-watched drama that year. In its final season, the fourth year and 99 shows later, it was the least-watched CBS show. It was shown on Monday night and CBS struggled to get viewers for all of its shows on that night.

You can read more at: https://www.looper.com/263818/the-real-reason-scorpion-was-canceled/?utm_campaign=clip

65% of new television shows get canceled during their first year. Scorpion lasted long enough to get syndicated, which means the network sells broadcast rights to other networks and actors get paid when the show is aired.

Reviews were mixed. I found that I enjoyed watching, but not several shows in a row. The problem for the writers, it seemed to me, was to consistently find a sufficiently threatening catastrophe and add a series of complications that had to be overcome while the clock ticked down toward disaster.  I imagine it would be like trying to find villains worthy of Superman.

Some shows could manage lighter fare while dealing with the social insecurities of individual characters. Even when the question was: how will O’Brien ruin a date, there had to be some emergency attached.

The humor was also less than consistently successful. There are a limited number of ways to stereotype nerds.

I enjoyed the show partly from seeing how the writers fought to present fresh ideas. I don’t suggest binge-watching. 

Loa Enviados (The Envoys): A Review by Warren Bull

 

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Los Enviados (The Envoys): A Review by Warren Bull

Paramount + showed an eight-episode series from Mexico and Argentina with mystery, suspense, a touch of horror, and blood. Two priests are sent by the Vatican to a Mexico City suburb with the task of finding out if a series of seemingly miraculous healings performed by a local priest are actual miracles or not. The priest disappears shortly after the investigators show up. 

Luis Gerardo Mendez plays Pedro Salinas, a physician and priest who hopes the miracles are real and is habitually rule-abiding. Miguel Angel Silvestre portrays Simon Antequera, an experienced investigator and attorney who is used to uncovering the mundane and occasionally dishonest bases of supposed miracles. He is more willing to break the rules in his quest for the truth than his more naïve partner. Irene Azuela and Miguel Rodarte lend their talents in supporting roles. The cast is excellent. Creator/Director Juan Jose Campanella created a spell-binding show.

The original is in Spanish with more than a little Italian. I saw an English-language version that was very well translated. It was not dubbed in English. The actors spoke in English. I noted a few phrases and verb choices that showed the original Spanish roots, but they would not have been noticeable to someone who does not speak Spanish. 

When signs in Spanish were shown, a voice provided the English translation. I thought it was amusing that a sign on a building spelled H-O-T-E-L was translated. This is an intelligent production, so the watcher needs to pay attention to time shifts and location changes to fully comprehend the plot. I’m certain I missed some of the cultural nuances, and I enjoyed what I did catch such as the tension between Spaniards and Mexicans. Interactions between the characters develop them in depth. The exploration of faith and reality were compelling.

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I recommend this series highly and I’m pleased that a second season is planned. 

  

Blessed Are Those Who Thirst

Anne Holt’s Blessed Are Those Who Thirst, a Hanne Wilhelmsen novel, is the first book by this author I have read even though her novel, 1222, was nominated for an Edgar in 2011 and her first book has been translated into twenty-five languages. 

Although I am rather, “late to the party,” I can understand why her work has an audience all around the world.  Ms. Holt writes about a Norway that Sam Spade or Phillip Marlowe would feel right at home in if he learned to speak Norwegian. Twice I was tempted to abandon the book. First, I found the description of a rape in the book almost too graphic.  Second, I found the police slang given women who are raped after they went home with men they did not know after drinking to excess —“self-inflicted rape” to be infuriating and demeaning.  To be fair, the graphic writing is absolutely appropriate to the plot and, thankfully, fairly brief; the slang sounds like the kind of black humor police would use. I am glad I persisted. I was rewarded with an excellent read.

Detective Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is assigned to investigate a serial killer and a rape during an unseasonally brutal heat wave in Oslo.  She relentlessly pursues the  few clues available slowly assembling a portrait of the criminals. The detective emerges from the book as an enigmatic but real person who balances the demands of her job and her personal life.  If you like hard-boiled fiction, excellent writing and unpredictable twists, I believe you will thoroughly enjoy this novel. 

Note: I will be on the other side of the world when this blog posts. I will be on safari in Tanzania.  I will read the comments when I return.

Editor-Proof Your Writing

Editor-Proof Your Writing: 21 Steps To The Clear Prose Publishers and Agents Crave by Don McNair

Don McNair’s extensive experience as an editor and author show up in his clear, readable book on how to avoid foggy writing.   This is the most complete writing book I have ever read.  Mc Nair takes his reader from the first sentence of his or her work in progress to submitting the polished work to a publisher or an agent.

Editor-Proof Your Writing starts from the premise that to be able to fix problems in your writing, an author first needs to know what the problems are.  McNair has developed a systematic approach an author can follow to discover and correct the type of errors that doom an otherwise well-written submission to the rejection pile.  His book is organized into progressive chapters with exercises to help readers understand the concepts. Readers also are encouraged to apply the knowledge learned to their own work in progress so the WIP improves steadily as the reader works through the chapters.

 McNair covers important mistakes culled from his many years as an editor.  His writing is clear and easy to follow.  Although he focuses on errors, he is not critical. He encourages his readers, noting that writing skills can be improved with attention and practice. 

His advice to weed out the word “had,” touched on one of my personal bad habits. Had I known this technique earlier in my career I would have had less editing to do.

I think his book would be especially useful for authors who have completed a work in progress and who wonder what the next step should be. 

A Review of Blood Lance

Blood Lance A Medieval Noir by Jeri Westerson

             Blood Lance is the fifth book Jeri Westerson has written about Crispin Guest, a former knight disgraced because of treasonous behavior. Nearly a decade earlier Crispin had supported an attempt to overthrow the king and replace him with Crispin’s foster father.  Although other conspirators were executed, Crispin’s life was spared and he was stripped of his knighthood.

            Over time Crispin has carved out a role for himself and become known as “The Tracker” for his ability to solve mysteries.  He has acquired an apprentice, a former cutpurse, Jack Tucker.  The two live on limited means in a poor section of London. Despite his humiliation, Crispin lives by a personal code, like later noir detectives.

            When he sees a man falling from London Bridge, Crispin dives into the Thames only to discover that the man is dead.  Crispin believes the man was dead before he hit the water, even though others believe he committed suicide.  Tracking the truth, Crispin becomes involved in a tangle that involves friends from his past, a search for a religious icon, and a woman whose motivation is as mysterious as her beauty is enthralling.  The dead man was an armorer who promised Crispin’s  friend, Sir Thomas Saunfyl, he would find an icon that would make the knight unbeatable in battle.  Sir Thomas is desperate for Crispin to recover the icon since he has been accused of cowardice and desertion.  Sir Thomas will soon face a trial by combat to determine whether he lives or dies.  Another old friend, Geoffrey Chaucer, is seeking the same item for reasons unknown.

            The author has recreated the mean streets of medieval London where the disgraced knight has to bow to men who used to be his equal or his social inferior.  Crispin is advised to end his search and he knows the advice is warranted. However, he has given his word that he will help Sir Thomas.  His pride will not allow him to break his word regardless of the consequences.  

Archie Meets Nero Wolfe: A Review

Robert Goldsborough is known best for continuing the Nero Wolfe series originated by Rex Stout.  In Archie Meets Nero Wolfe, the author has created a prequel to the famous series using hints from Rex Stout’s work.  The work reads as well as if Stout  had written it himself.

Archie Goodwin arrives in New York from Ohio, hoping for excitement or at least for a job.  He is hired as night watchman on the dock.  When two thieves shoot at him he returns fire, killing both.  Called “trigger-happy” and fired by the company he helped to protect, Archie shows up in the office of honest PI, Del Bascom. The sleuth, allows Archie to take on a case that the detective considers impossible to solve.  Archie uses his brains and shoe leather to track down a husband who tried to disappear. 

On a case where Wolfe needed someone willing to go into New York and investigate, he hires characters known to readers from the novels. Wolfe also hires Del Bascom who invites Archie along.  As the case progresses, Archie proves to be cool, dependable and honest.

I enjoyed reading about Archie acting without Nero Wolfe. It is clear why Wolfe decided to hire him.

Kudos to Robert Goldsborough 

When Archie Met Nero Wolfe; A review

Robert Goldsborough is known best for continuing the Nero Wolfe series originated by Rex Stout.  In Archie Meets Nero Wolfe, the author has created a prequel to the famous series using hints from Rex Stout’s work.  The work reads as well as if Stout  had written it himself.

Archie Goodwin arrives in New York from Ohio, hoping for excitement or at least for a job.  He is hired as night watchman on the dock.  When two thieves shoot at him he returns fire, killing both.  Called “trigger-happy” and fired by the company he helped to protect, Archie shows up in the office of honest PI Del Bascom. The sleuth, allows Archie to take on a case that the detective considers impossible to solve.  Archie uses his brains and shoe leather to track down a husband who tried to disappear.

 

On a case where Wolfe needed someone willing to go into New York and investigate, he hires characters known to readers from the novels. Wolfe also hires Del Bascom who invites Archie along.  As the case progresses, Archie proves to be cool, dependable and honest.

I enjoyed reading about Archie acting without Nero Wolfe. It is clear why Wolfe decided to hire him.

Do you wonder about the origin of other characters?

Review of Skulduggery by Carolyn Hart

Skulduggery by Carolyn Hart

When anthropologist Ellen Christie admits an unknown young Chinese-American man to her apartment, she unwittingly opens the door to adventure, suspense and danger that upends her ordered life.  The young man has come to her, because of a newspaper story labeling her as “the bone lady,” for an opinion about a fossilized skull.  He admits he is being followed and there may be some risk. Ellen is intrigued and agrees to follow him to where the skull and other fossils are hidden.  In a hidden room off a Chinatown alley the anthropologist recognizes the skull as the long-lost fossil known as Peking Man.  The discovery is interrupted by a man who turns out to be Dan Lee, the young man, Jimmy’s, older brother. His entrance is followed by the entry of two thugs who attack and try to steal the fossils.  As Ellen and Dan fight off the attackers, Jimmy uses the confusion to slip out with the fossils.  Both sides search for Jimmy with unforeseen results.

The elements of a classic suspense novel are well presented here; an enterprising and bold protagonist, tight plotting, quick pacing, successes followed by ever bigger problems and surprises.  But Carolyn Hart adds more. She provides information about a little-known American subculture as well as social commentary and fascinating international history. 

The author has a long and successful career writing in a number of genres but I was not aware of the series of suspense novels she has written before I read this. I look forward to tracking down the other novels. 

What is your favorite Carolyn Hart novel? 

Book Reviews : William Casey Moreton’s The Search and Dana Donovan’s Eye Of The Witch

Book Reviews: William Casey Moreton’s The Search and Dana Donovan’s Eye Of The Witch

Jim recently blogged on this site about free books offered on Kindle. He said he had not read anything that made him want to buy another book for the author who offered one book for free.

That has been my general experience too.  Most of the books that I’ve downloaded, I’ve tossed quickly due to editing and writing shortcomings.  Putting up a book that is not ready is a good way to demonstrate your writing weaknesses and to lose potential readers. But I believe the free book strategy can work, if the writer has put in the time and effort that good writing requires.  The two books below qualify.

The Search by William Casey Moreton provides a roller coaster thrill ride.  The pace kept up my interest throughout the entire book.  There was plenty of action and distinctive characterization.  His style was to follow a number of characters individually as the story lines arc toward a collision of conflicting interests and needs resulting in an explosion not everyone will survive.  Interestingly, I read a new version of the book recently uploaded by the author.  Early reviewers reported editing issues that I did not see in this version. Apparently the author recognized the problems and corrected them.

Eye of the Witch by Dana Donovan is a good book with parts that are below average and parts that are exceptionally good.  To deal with my criticism first, there is a lack of continuity.  The book appears to be set in the future but it includes vocabulary of the past, which provides a jolt to readers (or at least to this reader) “boom box” and “video tape” are technologies that are already outdated in the present.  I don’t believe they will be widely used in the future.  Parts are repetitive. One character eats a lot and frequently.  He is described as eating a meatball sandwich, then a turkey, then candy bars and on and on.  I think it's an attempt at humor.  Detectives interview a witness/victim/suspect, asking a few questions. Then they do the same with another person, a third person and then a fourth.  Next they interview the first person again, briefly again and the round robin starts again.  In this mystery the author does not “play fair.” Unlike Christie, Sayers and Tay in the past and Hart, Grafton and Pickard in the present the solution depends on a series of unlikely events and relationships which are impossible to guess from the information given in the book.

What the author does quite well includes: a powerful opening that induces the reader to care about the detective, a strong entrance of the witch and a clear, compelling description of the magic involved in this paranormal setting.  I wish the author had devoted the time she spent developing her ideas about magic to developing knowledge of writing mysteries.  Despite its faults, I can recommend this book due to the author’s skill and her strengths.

Comments?