Olivia Sutton's Fanfic Journal

Val McDermid's Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan books are not for the faint of heart or young readers, however, for the rest of us this is a fascinating, well-written, tightly narrated novel that moves at a quick pace without running into the problem of "I'm running out of pages let's reveal the ending now" that too many books seem to have these days.

I'd first heard of Val McDermid's series when I saw "Wire in the Blood" on BBC America (cable/satellite TV). I didn't however see that series from the beginning, I caught it somewhere in the middle. So I have been slowly collecting the TV series (starring Robson Green and Hermione Norris) on DVD.

But I did also read the book Wire in the Blood (turns out it's the second book) and McDermid's The Last Temptation. It's been awhile since I read those two books in the series. But having just watched series (season) three of "Wire in the Blood" on DVD, I was in the mood for MORE so I downloaded The Mermaids Singing for my Sony e-reader in EPUB format.

The book is really good. If you like TV shows like Criminal Minds you'd probably really enjoy The Mermaids Singing. If you like gritty mysteries that don't shy away from the really gruesome aspects of a serial killer case, you'd also probably really like The Mermaids Singing If you're a fan of procedural mysteries you'll also enjoy The Mermaids Singing.

This novel is the first in the Dr. Tony Hill, Carol Jordan mystery series. It's set in the fictional Northern UK city of Bradfield. McDermid doesn't do a really good job of describing Bradfield, but I get the impression that's delibrate... the city is fictional to make it even more clear the book is fiction and to avoid stereotyping The North of the UK. As a side note, I also got the impression from this novel and other novels and films (Billy Elliott, The Full Monty that Northern England is very industrial and went through a horrible economic depression, especially in the 1970s (similar to the decline of steel and the auto industry in the US at the same time) -- in other words, poor, relatively uneducated people, very "blue collar", etc. That might be a wrong impression (being American even with a good 30 or more years as a British Media fan for both TV and books - understanding the implications of British cultural regions still throws me) but it's the impression I have.

Anyway, in Bradfield, Carol Jordan is a newly-appointed DCI for the Bradfield police. She's the first female DCI in the area, and she's investigating the brutal murder of a young man. There have been two previous murders in various parts of Bradfield and Carol thinks she has a serial murder on her hands, but the Old Guard (British equivalent of a police commissioner) pooh-poohs the idea because the young men who have been killed were found in gay districts of the city. It's worth mentioning the book takes place back in the early 90s if not earlier and was written a bit ago. Carol focuses on her job and building her team of officers and doesn't complain about the blatant sexism of her boss.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tony Hill, who literally wrote the book on serial killers is working with the Bradfield city government and police to establish a local version of a type of national criminal profiling database. This profiling taskforce will focus on all repeat crimes not just murders, and Tony had gotten the job by drawing up a profile for a serial arson case. Two things about the task-force: Tony also thinks Bradfield has a serial killer on it's hands - but he can't say anything because it's not his place, and to "go to the press" or whatever would be not only unprofessional, it would jeopardize what he's already doing - potentially doing more harm than good. It other words, his hands are tied. Tony, however, is an expert on serial killers, he's spent most of his career working in secure mental hospitals, and he's an accomplished profiler.

The database comes up several times -- and it's fascinating because the computer stuff throughout the book seems so out-of-date and anachronistic.

The one person at the beginning of the novel who not only realizes that a serial killer is at work but does something about it is another police officer, and sort-of Carol's direct supervisor. If this sounds vague -- it was, I couldn't quite keep the ranks straight in my head, and I've watched more than one British procedural police drama. Anyway, when there's another murder, he gets Tony in to draw up a profile, and appoints Carol in charge of the entire newly created taskforce to investigate. He also seconds all the individual DCIs who were assigned to the other murders to Carol. That the new victim turns out to be an off-duty police officer from another part of town complicates things. Tony and Carol, then, need to work together with the taskforce.

Dr. Tony Hill is a very damaged person; what surprised me, having read the second book first, is that Tony's issues and problems which I thought were a direct result of what happens to Tony in this book actually preceded it. The things that happen to Tony in The Mermaids Singing only make things worse. But Tony's deeply personal issues also are what created him, what made him, him, and allow him to put himself in the mind of the killer as he writes his profile. And Tony keeps his background secret -- the audience knows it, but the other characters do not, this brings a certain tension to the story.

Carol has her own issues. Yes, she's just come off a bad break-up so she's living with her brother and her cat. But she's got the intelligence at work to "grin and bear it" when dealing with her sexist boss, which is realistic. And she earns the respect of her "men", the officers in her command by being fair, direct, and working hard without complaining or whining. Also, realistically, Carol is in the position of having to be better than a man would be in her position. Again, not fair, but it's how it often is for professional women, especially professional women in a "man's" field.

Because I'd read the second book in the series first, I knew, going in, what was going to happen in the "surprise" ending, but I'm not going to spoil it here. I'm just going to say it's an unusual twist and I really, really liked it.

I also liked the characters, their relationships (Carol's brother Micheal the computer games designer is great, and the writing makes the book a fast, enjoyable read. Well, if enjoyable is the right word for a gruesome book of sorts.

One complaint, I read the e-book version, in EPUB, on my Sony Reader and it was FULL of errors and typos. It seriously looked like they'd used OCR to scan a paperback and never bothered to check the scans ("I've" was frequently "F've" for example). I don't know where you complain about e-book printing quality but it was really, really, really bad. I'd recommend trying to find a paperback copy of this book somewhere instead.

This book started very s...l...o...w...l...y. The Doctor (the 6th Doctor, played on the series by Colin Baker) and Peri land on a planet that seems to be an idyllic garden with a red sun. However, there are no people around. And for at least fifty pages... nothing happens, because there are no people around.

Eventually the Doctor and Peri get separated and the TARDIS disappears from where the Doctor left it. Again, very typical and not that interesting.

So I put this book down for a LONG time... like months. I just picked it up again and finished reading it in a couple of days. Overall, despite the slow start it was an OK read. Bulis really needs to improve his delivery style.

Anyway, when I picked up the book, the Doctor meets Green-8, a sentient gardening robot. Unlike most of the "thinking robots or Cyborgs" in Doctor Who such as Daleks and Cybermen or indeed most thinking robots in science fiction in general (such as the Terminator movies) Green-8 is benevolent, curious, and even somewhat obsessed with philosophical questions such as "Who am I?" and "How did I come to be?" or even "Who made me?" and "Do I have to follow the Lord's orders?" The Doctor convinces Green-8 to help him find his missing companion Peri.

Peri, meanwhile, has been taken hostage by the Red gardening robots and is being used as slave gardening labor alongside a group of other captured people called scavengers. Peri befriends a young scavenger boy named Kel.

Suddenly a large fireball appears in the sky, a huge wind and sand storm hits the land and considerable damage is done to the gardens. Peri uses this as the perfect opportunity to escape with Kel.

Meanwhile, the Doctor has just convinced Green-8 to help him find Peri, when the same fireball, storm, and shockwave hit his section of the planetoid. Green-8 reports the damage to the Lords in the Palace and orders his fellow Green Robots to clean-up and take care of the damage. This delays the Doctor and Green-8 from going anywhere. The Doctor also recognizes the firestorm as bombardment from space... and realizes he must warn the lords in the palace, even if it delays his search for Peri.

Meanwhile, a princess named Oralissa is beginning to have doubts -- questioning things no one else around her questions, such as the mechanical servants that take care of the palace and grounds. She's also less than happy to be forced into a marriage to one of two unsuitable suitors.

Peri and Kel encounter a "ghost girl nanny" then return to Kel's home in the woods. Once there they soon run into a tabloid space reporter who's covering the attack of a megalomanic dictator named Glavis Judd. Peri, Kel, Kel's want-to-be bride, and another scavenger all head to the palace, accompanied by the reporter's automatic camera drones.

Arriving at the palace, they meet the Doctor and the mystery begins to unravel... which I'm not going to spoil here. I will say that I had at least part of the mystery figured out before Bulis got around to explaining it. I also didn't appreciate Bulis' pushing the ideals of anarchy and anti-authority and anti-law and order every chance he got; especially given the epilogue is the exact opposite of his preaching.

Not the best Doctor Who book I've read in the BBC Books Past Doctor series, and overwhelmingly slow at times, but over all -- not the worst book in the series either. The mystery elements were fairly well handled.

I first read this about two years ago on my e-reader, a Project Gutenburg, free version. The book was frustrating because it was told from several different points-of-view. I liked some of the POV characters, such as the Butler (though I didn't understand why he was so obsessed with Treasure Island but not others, such as the girl obsessed with religious tracts. By the time I finished it, which took awhile, I was like, "Wait a minute - I know this story", DangerMouse did it in ten minutes. So, very much a mixed response, though the novel is widely viewed to be a classic.

OMG - this is one of the BEST graphic novels I have ever read, and the best modern graphic novel I've read. One of the things I didn't like about Grant Morrison's Final Crisis was it's lack of emotional resonance. I mean, Batman dies and no one cares? No one even notices? Not even his best friend, Clark Kent (Superman)? Ah, no.

But Long Shadows makes up for that. It investigates the lost of Bruce Wayne on those who knew and cared for him best. This book had me in tears more than once. And I've also read it at least three times since buying it, and I rarely read graphic novels more than once.

The book begins with Superman and Wonder Woman bringing Batman's empty and torn cape and cowl to Wayne Manor. They tell Alfred, Dick (Richard Grayson) and Tim (Drake) that Bruce has died. The rest of the story is a realistic portrayal of loss. From Alfred stating, "my son is dead, I am not all right,"; to Dick saying, "I knew he wouldn't live forever, but I wasn't ready for him to die this soon."; This is a grim, sad story, realistically told.

I loved the interactions of Bruce's family as they dealt with his loss.

Truly, a ground-breaking work. Perfect. And highly, highly recommended.

The telegraph gave rise to creative business practices and new forms of crime. Romances blossomed over the wires. Secret codes were devised by some users, and cracked by others. The benefits of the network were relentlessly hyped by its advocates and dismissed by the skeptics. (Flyleaf description)

Richard Castle is a character on ABC's excellent and fun TV comedy-drama series Castle. A successful author who sold his first novel while still in college, Rick Castle bores of his popular character CIA agent Derrick Storm and kills him off in Storm Fall. Then discovering he needs inspiration to create a new character for his next best-selling series of books, he gets a ride-along with the New York police.

Castle, however, gets more than he bargained for when he meets intelligent, driven, sexy Detective Kate Beckett. Before long they are falling for each other, but both are dedicated to their work, and Castle is also supporting his aging actress mother and teenaged daughter. Castle bases his next series of novels on Kate, creating "Nikki Heat" hot and sexy detective for the NYPD.

ABC has published three "Nikki Heat" novels under the pseudonym "Richard Castle". The Nikki Heat books are fun, and I'm looking forward to Frozen Heat which comes out this coming Fall (2012). The first Derrick Storm tie-in to be released was the A Deadly Storm hardcover graphic novel published by Marvel comics. A second graphic novel is also due this Fall.

A Brewing Storm an e-book novella is only 83 pages long, but it's part of a trilogy of novels. Most of the novella seems to be set-up. The plot involves the kidnapping (and eventual murder) of a influential and powerful senator's step-son. Derrick Storm is brought out of retirement and given a new identity as a private investigator. He's partnered with sexy yet insecure FBI agent April Showers. Yes, even Derrick comments on the unlikely nature of her name. The novella ends with Derrick assembling the suspects and revealing what happened. However, before he can clear-up everything a cliff-hanger event happens, which I'm not going to spoil. This sets-up the next novella, A Raging Storm.

Overall, this novella is fun, though a lot of time is spent on set-up. I suspect I'm going to need to read all three prior to giving a truly complete review. I first saw this book on Amazon, but I downloaded it as well as the second and third parts for my Sony e-reader. If you don't have a Kindle or Sony, you can download the Kindle app for free, then download the novellas. Each volume was $2.99 at the Sony Reader store. The e-books might also be available at Barnes and Noble for Nook but I'm not sure about that - I haven't checked.

• Title:  Batman and Psychology A Dark and Stormy Knight
• Author:  Travis Langley
• Format:  Trade paper