分類:Terry’s Library

Never Go Back (Jack Reacher #18) 2022#46

Sunday, May 22, 2022

評分:2 分,滿分為 5。

Lee Child

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“Former military cop Jack Reacher has arrived at the headquarters fo the 110th MP, his old unit near Washington, D. C., the closest thing to a home he’s ever had. He’s there to meet – in person – the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner, so far just a warm, intriguing voice on the phone. But Turner isn’t there and Reacher is shocked to be charged with a crime serious consequences.

When threatened, you can run of fight.

Reacher fights, aiming to find Turner and clear his name, barely a step ahead of the army, and the FBI, and the D. C. Metro police, and four unidentified thugs. It is a race for the truth that will make Reacher question who he is, what he’s done, and the very future of his untethered life on the open road."

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I saw this book on the shelf in a second hand bookstore. I picked it up, paid for it, and put it on my shelf at home. And so it’s a book on the to-read list. That’s it. I am not a fan of Jack Reacher. I told myself when I finished a book of the series, don’t remember which now, that I will not read any Jack Reacher’s book. But since it has been on my shelf for some time, I decided I’d better finish it.

To me, Jack Reacher is really boring. His life style is boring. His going from place to place on foot or by bus is boring. The repetition of his fifty-fifty theory is completely boring. His reason to meet Susan Turner sucks.

However, I finished it. Didn’t like it.

A Certain Justice (Adam Dalgliesh #10) 2022#44

Saturday, May 14, 2022

評分:3 分,滿分為 5。

P. D. James

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“Venetia Aldridge is a criminal lawyer of large talents and small personal charm, working at a venerable London firm … As she tries to save a young lower-class tough who is accused of murdering his prostitute aunt, we learn that she is in a position to ruin a number of professional lives, and is of precisely the temperament to do it … [Then] the lawyer is murdered – discovered in her locked chambers in a particularly gruesome tableau … Dalgliesh … moves with grace and acumen through the blood-soaked crime scene, guiding his more volatile staff through the interviews that nuweave the tangled web of multiple deceit and mixed motive."

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This is my second P. D. James’s book. Thed first was The Private Patient. Nither was ipresssive. This one is even more boring. There were murders, office politics, bad mother-and-daughter relationship. A very, very slow reading. Fortunately, I only have two of her books in my library.

Blacklist (V I Warshawaski #11) 2022#41

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

評分:3 分,滿分為 5。

Sara Paretsky

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“As a favor to her most important client, V. I. agrees t check up on an empty mansion. But instead of a mysterious intruder, she discovers a dead man in the ornamental pond – a reporter for an African-American publication whom the suburban cops are quick to dismiss as a suicide.

When the man’s shattered family hires V. I. to investigate, she is sucked into a Gothic tale of sex, money, and power, leading her back to McCarthy-era blacklists and forward to some of the darker aspects of the Patriot Act. As V. I. finds herself penned in to a smaller and smaller space by an array of people trying to silence her, and before she can untangle the sordid truth, two more people will die – and V. I.’s own life will hang in the balance.

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I knew Sara Paretsky from an introdution of another book by another author. Don’t remember which and when, though. She was mentioned as one of the author’s favorite authors. Since then, I started looking for her books here. Not easy. I have two of her books, I guess. This is my second reading of the I. V. Warshawaski series. I don’t particularly like I. V. Warshawaski. She is tough in a way I don’t like. Eve Dallas is tough, too. But she is my favorite. Not like Dallas, who knows what she is doing and do well, I. V., well, to me, seems to be always fighting a war in the wrong way? Poor girl.

Divded In Death (Eve Dallas #18) 2022#40

Saturday, April 23, 2022

評分:4 分,滿分為 5。

J D Robb

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“Reva Ewing was a former member of the Secret Service, and then a security specilalist for Roarke Enterprises – untill she was found standing over the dead bodies of her husband, renowned artist Blair Bissel, and her best friend. But Lieutenant Eve Dallas believes there was more to the killings than jealous rage – all of Bissel’s computer files were deliberately corrupted. To Roarke, it’s the computer attack that poses the real threat. He and Reva have been under a Code Red government contract to develop a program that would shield against techno-terrorists. But this deadly new breed of hackers isn’t afraid to kill to protect their secret – and it’s up to Lieutenant Eve Dallas t shut them down before the nightmare can spread to the whole country.

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The quality of the paper the publisher used for the cover was terribly bad. I had to carry books in my backpack so I could read books on the train. I certainly put it carefully in a compartment so not to damage the cover. I am always careful about my books. But this one, doesn’t matter how hard I tried, it became so ugly after I finished reading.

This is prabably my least favorite book in the In Death series, so far. The conspiracy behind the murders is really boring and tiring.

It was too bad that Roarke couldn’t revenge on those who had stood aside and watched when Dallas was abused by her own father. Too bad!!

Vision In Death (Eve Dallas #19) 2022#36

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

評分:4 分,滿分為 5。

J. D. Robb

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“The summer of 2059 has been long, hot – and bloody. On one of the city’s warmest nights, a call from dispatch sends Lieutenant Eve Dallas t Central Park – and into a hellish new investigation. The victim was found on the rocks, just above the still, dark water of Central Park Lake. She wore nothing but a red ribbon tied around her neck. Her hands were posed as if in prayer. But it is her eyes – removed with such precision, as if by the careful hand of a surgeon – that have Dallas most alarmed.

As more bodies turn up, each with the same defining scars, Eve is frantic for answers. Against her instincts, she accepts help from a psychic, who offers one vision after another – each with shockingly accurate details of the murders. And when Eve’s partner and friend Peabody is badly injured after escaping an attack, the stakes are raised. Are the eyes a symbol? A twisted religious ritual? A souvenir? With the help of her husband, Roarke, Dallas must uncover the killer’s motivation before another vision becomes another nightmare …"

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I am collecting this series as best as I can. Everytime I see a book I don’t have, I have to take it home. This way, I can’t collect the books in the order. I just have to read the series in the order. So, sometimes I buy books from online bookstores, like 誠品, 博客來, 金石堂, 三民書局, Book Depository.

However, this time, I had to skip #16, which I realized too late that I didn’t have, and #18, which I couldn’t find anywhere in my house. After I just tidied up a little part of my library, I so wanted to start my want-to-read list, so I skipped #16, finished #17, again skipped #18, and then this, #19.

The plot itself was not very surprising. The way Eve Dallas looks after (she really is looking after) Peabody is really touching. While Peabody was attacked and fought for her life in the hospital, everyone is just so worried about her. This full-of-love atmosphere really makes J. D. Robb’s In Death series very different from other detective novels.

One thing I didn’t like about this book, or story, was Celina Sanchez’s plan to kill her ex-boy friend’s girl friend. Such a woman!! Selfish, evil, and good for nothing.

專屬我的鉛筆素描練習本 2022#22

Friday, March 11, 2022

評分:4 分,滿分為 5。

趙惠林. 李佾善

翻譯 林千惠. 杜佩瑀

紙印良品

本來是圖書館借的書, 覺得不錯. 加上購買了線上水彩課後, 發現老師講的內容實在太… 蜻蜓點水了, 自己要先做好很多基本功, 才能看她一堂課的內容. 剛好看了這本書,可以從素描練習起. 就上博客來買書囉.

期許自己認真一點, 哈哈.

Pride and Prejudice 2022#4

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

評分:4 分,滿分為 5。

Jane Austen

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“When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks hime arrogant and conceited, while he struggles to remain indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life."

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I found myself less enjoyed reading it this ??th time. I think, when I was much younger, I liked the romantic encounters between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, mostly because Mr. Darcy is so charming. This time, however, when I read it again, when Mr. Darcy is still a charming young man, I found the older Bennet sisters somehow no longer adorable. I had to skip Elizabeth’s monolugue a lot.

I used to say that Pride and Prejudice has been my favorite. I am not sure now.

Police (Harry Hole 10) 2021#51

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

評分:4 分,滿分為 5。

Jo Nesbo

Vintage

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“The police urgently need Harry Hole.

A killer is stalking Oslo’s streets. Police officers are being slain at the scenes of crimes they once investigated but failed to solve. The murders are brutal, the media reaction hysterical.

But this time, Harry can’t help anyone.

For years, Harry’s dedication to his job and brilliant insights have saved the lives of countless people. But now, with those he loves most facing terrible danger, Harry can’t protect anyone.

Least of all himself."

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There are twelve books, so far, in the Harry Hole series. This is the tenth in the series, and the tenth I’ve read. Finally, Harry Hole stopped drinking. Once, don’t remember while reading which one, I was thinking if I wanted to continue reading the Harry Hole series, because I was so fed up with his drinking problems. Now after I finished Police, I am wondering again if I want to continue reading the eleventh, the twelfth, etc. Ok, he stopped drinking. That was great. But Nesbo seems to want to have the police who worked with Hole and Hole cared about a lot got killed. If so, I’m not so sure I want to read the rest. I skipped the part when one, my favorite one character, of the Boiler Room team was murdered.

There are three parts, at least, I don’t like about this book.

First is of course when I had to read about the dirty political games Mikael Bellman was playing. I hate the ways he set up others just to get to the top. Nasty! I hate it when his wife chose to forgive him, just because he had what she wanted. Disgusting!! I hate it when he in the end only lost one eye! And he seized the chance to make himself a hero! Loathsome!!

The second is when Beate Lonn was murdered brutally. Why she? I don’t know!! Who might be the next in Nesbo’s next book?! I don’t want to know!!

And the last is when I finished the book and realized that there were unsolved cases and a potential demon at large who probably was stalking Stale Aune’s daughter. I so hate a book ends without an ending!!

Is Stale Aune, one of the Boiler Room team, going to lose his daughter? Can’t take that much!!

Heartbreaker (Buchanan – Renard 1) 2021#49

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

評分:3 分,滿分為 5。
d

Julie Garwood

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“Bless me father, for I will sin …

In the still shadows of the confessional, a madman tauntingly reveals his plan for a murder his is going to commit, pulling Father Thomas Madden into a twisted game by disclosing his next intended victim: Tom’s sister, Laurant. In a frantic race to protect her, Tom calls upon his best friend, elite FBI agent Nick Buchanan, to track the predator who is closing in on Laurant. Now, as an electrifying attraction grows between Laurant and Nick, so does the danger – and one false move will cost both of them everything that matters."

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Finished it very slowly. It was like reading someone’s diary. You have to read almost very detail that happened from day one to the day they caught the murderer. Quite a boring reading experience.

Didn’t realize that this is the first in this series, and so I read the third, Killjoy, first.

The Defence (Eddie Flynn #1) 2021#16

Sunday, March 7, 2021

評分:4 分,滿分為 5。

Steve Cavanagh

Orion

“Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he become a lawyer. Turned out the two weren’t that different.

He once vowed never to set foot in a courtroom again. But now he doesn’t have a choice. Eddie’s daughter has been kidnapped. And winning an impossible murder trial is the only way to save her."

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Had to buy it because there are not any copies of his books in English!!

Like it well enough. Reading it is like watching a Hollywood movie. Full of actions, exciting, and thrill. However, I hate every parts took place in the courthouse. In order to win, the lawyers had to try their best to destroy the witnesses. No matter what. I don’t like the part of the darkness of humans.

Not sure if I will read another book of the Eddie Flynn series. Since he is a lawyer, there will be more cross-examinations. I just don’t like it.