David Scrimshaw reviewed Echo Burning by Lee Child
Ex-military cop Jack Reacher returns in this latest in the award-winning series critics call "spectacular" …
Review of 'Echo Burning' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
This one gets delightfully twisted.
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An avid sci-fi and fantasy reader who sometimes does historical fiction or even mainstream.
You might notice that most of my reviews are 5 stars. That's because if I start reading a book that doesn't engage me, I stop reading it. Life is too short. I've realized that it's not fair to review a book I haven't read and nobody really needs to hear why I didn't get into a book especially when they might like it.
My goals with reviews are to be brief and give other potential readers an idea of why they might like the book. I leave it to the marketing people and other reviewers to describe the plots.
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David Scrimshaw's books
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David Scrimshaw reviewed Wisdom in Nonsense by Heather O'Neill
Review of 'Wisdom in Nonsense' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
This fast-read is a delight.
It illuminates what's behind Heather O'Neill's books and it gives a great model for how we can write stories about our own lives.
This fast-read is a delight.
It illuminates what's behind Heather O'Neill's books and it gives a great model for how we can write stories about our own lives.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Declare by Tim Powers
As a young double agent infiltrating the Soviet spy network in Nazi-occupied Paris, Andrew Hale …
Review of 'Declare' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
I like John LeCarré spy novels and I like fantasy stories about djinis.
So I liked this novel.
And I particularly liked that Powers made his story fit the known facts about Kim Philby and other actual people he put in the story.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Echo Burning by Lee Child
Ex-military cop Jack Reacher returns in this latest in the award-winning series critics call "spectacular" …
Review of 'Echo Burning' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
This one gets delightfully twisted.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1) by Mark Lawrence (First Book of the Ancestor)
"The international bestselling author of the Broken Empire and the Red Queen's War trilogies begins …
Review of 'Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1)' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
I really enjoyed my time in this book and look forward to the sequels.
The child Nona is a compelling character and it's fun to read about a convent where novices are trained to be killers.
I really enjoyed my time in this book and look forward to the sequels.
The child Nona is a compelling character and it's fun to read about a convent where novices are trained to be killers.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Without Fail by Lee Child
Skilled, cautious, and anonymous, Jack Reacher is perfect for the job: to assassinate the vice …
Review of 'Without Fail' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
I need to space out my Jack Reacher books. Reading them too close together puts me in a mental space where I think everyone I see is ready to do violence to me.
Unlike Jack Reacher, I'm not ready to handle it if they do. So the tension I feel probably doesn't do me any good.
I need to space out my Jack Reacher books. Reading them too close together puts me in a mental space where I think everyone I see is ready to do violence to me.
Unlike Jack Reacher, I'm not ready to handle it if they do. So the tension I feel probably doesn't do me any good.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Declare by Tim Powers
Review of 'Declare' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
I like John LeCarré spy novels and I like fantasy stories about djinis.
So I liked this novel.
And I particularly liked that Powers made his story fit the known facts about Kim Philby and other actual people he put in the story.
David Scrimshaw reviewed The Amateurs by Liz Harmer
Review of 'The Amateurs' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
This is probably a better book than I am rating it at, but I just didn't like spending time in this world.
This is probably a better book than I am rating it at, but I just didn't like spending time in this world.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Running blind by Lee Child
Jack Reacher is back, dragged into what looks like a series of grisly serial murders …
Review of 'Running blind' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
It seems like Reacher has met a killer who is too clever for him.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
After witnessing the murder of his mother and brother and leading a band of bloodthirsty …
Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
This is pretty good dark fantasy.
But, unlike me, you might want to start it after the sequels are published.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone
Review of 'Full Fathom Five' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
This is a great fantasy series.
And so far, all the books end properly, so if you can't read the next book right away, it's all right. I mean, you will want to read the next one because you'll want to spend more time with some of the characters, but it will be okay if you have to wait a while.
This is a great fantasy series.
And so far, all the books end properly, so if you can't read the next book right away, it's all right. I mean, you will want to read the next one because you'll want to spend more time with some of the characters, but it will be okay if you have to wait a while.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Four Roads Cross by Max Gladstone (Craft sequence)
"The great city of Alt Coulumb is in crisis. The moon goddess Seril, long thought …
Review of 'Four Roads Cross' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
This one carries on in Alt Coulomb with most of the characters from Three Parts Dead.
Very pleasing.
David Scrimshaw reviewed Player One by Douglas Coupland
Coupland's 2010 Massey Lecture is a real-time, five-hour story set in an airport cocktail lounge …
Review of 'Player One' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
This was interesting for a while but then I just wanted it to be over with and to find out what had happened.
Coupland ends the book by telling you what happened to everyone, breaking the writing rule of "don't tell, show".
It wasn't very engaging, but since I'd reached the point where I wanted it to be over, I was okay with it.
This was interesting for a while but then I just wanted it to be over with and to find out what had happened.
Coupland ends the book by telling you what happened to everyone, breaking the writing rule of "don't tell, show".
It wasn't very engaging, but since I'd reached the point where I wanted it to be over, I was okay with it.
David Scrimshaw reviewed The gum thief by Douglas Coupland
Over the course of several months, two retail workers at an office supply superstore--Roger, a …
Review of 'The gum thief' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
This book has a novel inside a novel and then... there's a novel inside the novel that is inside the novel!
I don't really know if that's a good thing. I was not very interested in the third level down. I cared about the characters in the main novel. Maybe it was deliberate that I wouldn't care so much the further levels down.
The main novel characters know each other from the Staples they work at. That was definitely fun.
And I'm happy to report that this book was in my big pile of books to read and now I can put it in one of the nearby little free libraries.
This book has a novel inside a novel and then... there's a novel inside the novel that is inside the novel!
I don't really know if that's a good thing. I was not very interested in the third level down. I cared about the characters in the main novel. Maybe it was deliberate that I wouldn't care so much the further levels down.
The main novel characters know each other from the Staples they work at. That was definitely fun.
And I'm happy to report that this book was in my big pile of books to read and now I can put it in one of the nearby little free libraries.
David Scrimshaw reviewed The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland
Over the course of several months, two retail workers at an office supply superstore--Roger, a …
Review of 'The Gum Thief' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
This book has a novel inside a novel and then... there's a novel inside the novel that is inside the novel!
I don't really know if that's a good thing. I was not very interested in the third level down. I cared about the characters in the main novel. Maybe it was deliberate that I wouldn't care so much the further levels down.
The main novel characters know each other from the Staples they work at. That was definitely fun.
And I'm happy to report that this book was in my big pile of books to read and now I can put it in one of the nearby little free libraries.
This book has a novel inside a novel and then... there's a novel inside the novel that is inside the novel!
I don't really know if that's a good thing. I was not very interested in the third level down. I cared about the characters in the main novel. Maybe it was deliberate that I wouldn't care so much the further levels down.
The main novel characters know each other from the Staples they work at. That was definitely fun.
And I'm happy to report that this book was in my big pile of books to read and now I can put it in one of the nearby little free libraries.