Raymond Benson

SPOILER ALERT!

For me, the gem in this collection is the short story, "Blast From the Past"! It is a direct sequel to Fleming's book "You Only Live Twice" and reveals more about that storyline. Bond receives a message, apparently from his son James Suzuki (Suzuki's mother is Kissy Suzuki from "You Only Live Twice", now dead) asking him to come to New York City on an urgent matter. When Bond arrives, he finds his son murdered, poisoned by fugu syrup! (again, I hear Homer Simpson shouting "Fugu show more me!") 007 learns that his son was killed in revenge by Irma Bunt, whom he had thought was already dead! And Bunt is also the one who killed his wife Tracy in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"! Needless to say Bond is pissed!

So, for me, it was interesting to revisit the plotline of Bond's son, and to have an old villain return, especially one who had done so much damage to 007's life. Boy that Bunt is one bad gal - kills Bond's only wife AND his only offspring. Bitch. show less

Metal Gear Solid is my favorite video game of all-time. It's an intense and intelligent sci-fi espionage thriller with a gritty, dark atmosphere, a complex story that weaves through deep conspiracy theories and philosophies, unique and memorable characters, and it has just enough silly camp and self-awareness to make it absolutely fun alongside being totally compelling. Hideo Kojima's masterpiece is a work that truly transcends the video game medium into interactive cinematic show more art.

Unfortunately, the Metal Gear Solid novelization is garbage. Raymond Benson doesn't understand the characters at all and most of the action and whatnot just reads like a transcription of someone playing the video game, which isn't very interesting when I'm trying to read a book. Reading about how Snake keeps sneaking around grabbing stray hand grenades in boxes and a billion different guns just doesn't work when the prose is bad and boring.

There's also the aggravating fact that Snake keeps spouting off cringy, totally out-of-character one-liners that most of the time don't even make sense, such as:

"Merry Christmas," Snake said as he delivered two power-house punches, left and then right, into the guards' faces. The soldiers plopped to the floor. "I forgot to tell you — Christmas is early this year."

Or he just has really dumb thoughts all the damn time, like when he finds the Kevlar vest and thinks: You don't find too many of these in Cracker Jack boxes! There's one particularly mind-blowingly awful moment in the sequence where he's running from the Hind-D helicopter between two towers that are being increasingly engulfed in flames and basically thinks "these towers are on fire, but at least it's not as bad as 9/11!" I just...what the actual fuck.

The only time it's actually any good is when he's just copying the cutscenes and dialogue verbatim, but none of that is even actually his own creation so he doesn't even get any points there, especially when in most of these moments he's throwing in his own shitty dialogue and prose, completely ruining any tension or drama in the scenes.

This book is an embarrassment to the legacy of Kojima's creation, and the fact that he was brought back to write the Sons of Liberty novelization is absolutely amazing (and I hate myself for feeling the need to read it at some point as well). show less

I love reading about the darker side of Hollywood - who doesn't love reading about a salacious scandal, a mysterious death (or two), blackmail, the infamous "casting couch", the "fixers" who kept the stars' secrets from becoming front page news, and studio bosses who ruled them all.

"Blues In The dark" covers all of the above, through alternating and interweaving narrative from the present and the past, when a modern-day film maker decides to make a film on a long dead movie start, and in the show more process uncovers secrets many would kill to ensure remain well hidden.

We all know there's a mystery and a film, but how we get there is slowly teased out chapter by chapter, the tension constantly building as both stories unfold before us and little clues click into place. When the stories do merge, what is revealed is a cycle of destruction and sadness.

I was nearly tempted to categorise this as a cosy mystery - but cosy noir is more apt. show less

During the beginning of the COVID pandemic, Scott Hatcher awakes one morning to find his wife Marie gone. He wonders if she went out for a run. Since the death of their son years earlier, their relationship was strained, living more like brother and sister. But when she doesn’t come home, he contacts the police. Only to find out their neighbor across the street, John was also missing. Coincidence? Then the empty house next door is burned to the ground and the bodies of Marie and John are show more found badly burned.

This is the premise of the story as told by a narrator, which had me wondering who was telling the story of the residents of Marigold Way. There is much that is happening on Marigold Way like mischievous boys, a neighbor who likes to do construction on his house early in the morning, a Russian thug, and nosy neighbors.

All this makes for a fun mystery although not too difficult to decipher. Except for the narrator that was unexpected. All in all, it kept me entertained. show less