David Webb Peoples

An ex-cop is forced to hunt down a group of androids.

Great concept, but the movie is all atmosphere and relatively little story. There's a hell of a lot of great atmosphere, though. The theatrical cut is much better than the director's cut; the voice overs might be corny, but a little iconic corniness is just what this movie needs. It takes itself way too seriously otherwise. And while it's possible to follow the plot without the voice overs, it's not easy, and this story isn't nearly show more complex enough to justify having a hard time following it (although if you've only ever seen the director's cut, you might think it is complex). show less

I wound up liking this much more than I thought I would. First, I had found I didn't like the Spaghetti Westerns Eastwood had made--or the ones I'd tried, A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Too violent, too dark, with not one character I could connect with.

And I didn't think in the first few minutes I'd stick long with Unforgiven either--the opening scene was pretty sickening. But then Gene Hackman showed up as "Little Bill" and I was riveted. And it probably helped show more that to begin with the film showed Eastwood's character in a sympathetic light as a widower raising two young children--that I could feel for him. Add in Richard Harris and Morgan Freeman and I couldn't turn away. In a way this is rather subversive of the whole Western genre, and yes, it is dark--but it was also engrossing from beginning to end. show less

Liked this when it came out for the mix of science fiction and noir, and wasn't sure how I was going to take to it without the narration--the director's cut is in every way superior--the events feel more immediate, and even the scene near the end with Hauer, where the best narration was, is elevated. It's clear the director trusted his actors to convey the story. As for the other "cuts," I can't really tell them apart. Nice to have the original again, but this is one of those cases where you show more ask yourself, "How many times do they think I'm going to buy this movie?" This will be three for me. show less

THREE & A HALF STARS--The final book of the S.W. Vaughn's Skin Deep" series/trilogy ended with a quieter finish when compared to the earlier books in the series. This is not in anyway downplaying this book. But if I had read this book first in the series...I still would have liked it, I guess.

This book could be read as a stand alone but I think it would serve potential readers to read the books in order to better understand the history of Cobalt & Will - [b:Skin Deep|7379685|Skin Deep (Fae, show more #1)|S.W. Vaughn|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1261461803s/7379685.jpg|9217818] and [b:Heartsong|8301398|Heartsong (Fae, #2)|S.W. Vaughn|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1274804199s/8301398.jpg|13150125] - Uriskel & Trystan (my fave couple). The author wrote her own version of a prince & a pauper theme.

We have returning to the final book, Braelan, the ex-villain/brat fairy prince from the first two books finally get his shot at love. I'm still on the fence with him getting his own book, but I'm not the author. Who's Braelan's love interest? Why, it's River/Rob/Jeff/Jack (he's a con artist, you see) - a tormented, homeless, suicidal, ex-cop, ex-con, con artist who actually meets the prince while the prince is robbing an ATM machine. Try saying that sentence ten times fast.

Unforgiven's Braelan was way tamer compared to Heartsong's Braelan. Heartsong's Braelan was an evil, sadistic, sensual prick that just hurt so good. In this book he's repentant and cries a bit and falls in love. I'm all for mush but I was hoping brat/prick! Braelan would have made a visit or two. But Braelan was adorable with his innocent act to the human world. I liked it. He went from Jaguar to kitten though.

Also there were some questions that lingered: (SPOILER ALERT-ish)

--What's the meaning of the name River for Rob? He said it was a nickname carried over from prison but...why?

--David MacShayne, he's a human, right? How did he learn so much about the Fae if it's supposed to be a secret? Where did his hatred stem from? Did it start with Harry? What did Harry do to him to get him worked up? Was there a history?

--Why would Braelan's father step down from the throne? He's immortal and chose such an odd time to give up his throne if his son was so wishy-washy with ascending the throne. His father is uber-selfish so why give it away after ruling with such an iron fist?

This book I think ended up being the mushiest out of the three, still had a resolute ending for the series and will appeal to series followers. This series is by far still one of the more palatable fae series I've read.
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