Of Grave Concern

Of Grave Concern

Of Grave Concern (An Ophelia Wylde Paranormal Mystery #1) By Max McCoy

Plot:

The Civil War is over, and many a young widow has turned to spiritualism to contact their husbands on “the other side.” But Ophelia Wylde won’t be fooled twice. After wasting her money on a phoney psychic, she decides if she can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. She leaves New Orleans and heads West, selling her services as a spiritual medium who speaks to the dead. By the time she reaches Dodge City, business is booming. Except for a handsome but skeptical bounty hunter named Jack Calder, no one suspects Ophelia of running a con game–until an unfortunate “reading” of a girl who’s still living exposes her to a townfull of angry customers. As punishment, the mob drags Ophelia to Boot Hill and buries her alive in a fresh grave overnight. That’s when the dead start speaking. To her. For real. And for dead people, they’ve got lots to say. ..

Review:

I like paranormal books, and recently I’ve been on a cozy mystery kick, so when I saw this was on sale I snatched it up.

First off this is an origin story more than it’s a cozy mystery. The “mystery” is mentioned at the beginning of the book but it’s not pursued until the halfway point. The main point of this book was to introduce you to Ophelia Wylde and get her started on her life of mystery solving.

As a character Ophelia was fully fleshed out and I could see her clearly but I didn’t really like her. For most of the book she was basically a grifter, taking advantage of people. When she was a child she’d had a gift but circumstances caused her to lose the ability. So she took her knowledge and manipulated people.

By the end of the book I liked her a little better. She was trying to be good, but what does it say about a character that they had to be almost killed to reach that point?

It was an interesting idea and I liked the paranormal western approach. Now that her origins are out of the way I’m interested to see what’s next.

3/5

Re-Watch: The Stepford Wives (2004)

Stepford Wives

The Stepford Wives (2004)

Director:

Frank Oz

Starring:

Nicole Kidman

Bette Midler

Matthew Broderick

Roger Bart

Plot:

What does it take to become a Stepford wife, a woman perfect beyond belief? Ask the Stepford husbands, who’ve created this high-tech terrifying little town, in a very modern comedy-thriller.

Review:

There are plot holes in this movie. They refer to the wives as robots and machines, yet all Walter had to do was override their programming and they were back to themselves. That makes me think they were just controlled by the chips, but if that’s the case then how was that one an ATM? Or how did that other throw sparks? See plot holes.

I don’t care. I still enjoy it. The women are over exaggerated personalities, both before and after the change. You’ve got these women that are 110% focused on their career and then that focus and intensity is switched to their homes and family. Honestly I think it’s funny, but I’m probably weird.

As long as I’m being honest, there’s a part of me that would like to be a Stepford wife. I’d love to cook and clean and take care of my husband and be happy with only that. Instead I want to spend time watching movies, reading, and writing. As well as all that other stuff. There are just too many things that I want to do for my house to ever be that clean or meals to always be prepared from scratch.

So I watch this movie and it shows that extremes are probably not a good idea. I don’t want to be a career obsessed bitch or a Betty Homemaker. I will settle for somewhere in between.

4/5

Non-Stop (2014)

nonstop

Non-Stop (2014)

Director:

James Collet-Serra

Starring:

Liam Neeson

Julianne Moore

Scoot McNairy

Plot:

An air marshal springs into action during a transatlantic flight after receiving a series of text messages that put his fellow passengers at risk unless the airline transfers $150 million into an off-shore account.

Review:

I guess I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel with Red Box lately. The movie started out slow even though someone died fairly quickly. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mind set? I don’t know.

I had been told there was a twist ending so I was waiting for it but it never came. Or if that was the twist it was hinted at too hard and wasn’t a surprise. I was actually really disappointed by the ending. Didn’t like any of the characters, even though I love Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore.

Just very underwhelmed by the whole thing and a bomb blew up on a plane. Sad.

2/5

Sprinkle With Murder

sprinkle with murder

Sprinkle With Murder (Cupcake Bakery Mystery #1) By: Jenn McKinlay

Plot:

Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are finally living out their dream as the proud owners of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. But their first big client is a nightmare. She’s a bridezilla who wants 500 custom cupcakes for her wedding. When Mel stumbles upon the bride-to-be dead-by-cupcake, she becomes the prime suspect. To save themselves and their business, the ladies need to find the real murderer, before the cupcake killer ices someone else.
Review:

When I read this book I was in a foul mood and yet I still ended up enjoying it. I really liked it. It was mentioned in an issue of Writer’s Digest as a good example of a contemporary cozy mystery. Unfortunately it was not available through my library and it was more expensive than I normally purchase eBook wise. Still after reading the sample I wanted to know more so I begrudgingly spent the $5.99. It was totally worth it. Oddly enough the library has the 3rd, 4th, and 6th in the series. Weird.

Anyway, the story had the perfect amount of everything. The mystery was the main focus but there was also cupcake shop stuff to deal with and just a small amount of romance. The characters were good, though the mother annoyed the crap out of me.

I don’t get mother’s in books. Half the time they’re nonexistent and the other half of the time I want to kill them. So overbearing and nosy and… Maybe I have mommy issues?

Back to the book. I’m really looking forward to this series though I do really wish my library had them because I just don’t have the money to pay $5.99 a book, even though they’re totally worth it. Maybe I can find some money with some creative accounting?

4/5

3 Days to Kill (2014)

3 days to kill

3 Days to Kill (2014)

Director:

McG

Starring:

Kevin Costner

Hailee Steinfield

Connie Nielsen

Plot:

A dying CIA agent trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter is offered an experimental drug that could save his life in exchange for one last assignment.

Review:

I hate scarves on men. It makes them look like douche bags. That’s just my personal opinion, though.

Not a very good spy. He talks too much about his daughter, it’s like he’s asking for her to get kidnapped. Dude have you not seen Taken?

The movie tries to be funny with Ethan, Kevin Costner, trying to spend more time with his daughter while also trying to find some dude and kill him. It just ends up being said and pathetic. It’s an action movie that’s trying to be funny, but it’s too serious to be able to pull it off.

The “albino” wasn’t scary, and he was supposed to be. The women in the film were the only good part. He doesn’t kill the bad guy with the dirty bomb because he told his wife he’d quit. Seriously?

2/5