Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "Turbo Twenty-Three: A Stephanie Plum Mystery" by Janet Evanovich

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Review of "Turbo Twenty-Three: A Stephanie Plum Mystery" by Janet Evanovich

			In this 23rd book in the 'Stephanie Plum' mystery series, the bounty hunter goes undercover in an ice cream factory. The book can be read as a standalone. ***** In this book a frozen corpse covered with chocolate and nuts may be the falllout from a 'war' between ice cream companies. Former bounty hunter Ranger's security firm has been hired to protect the Bogart ice cream factory.....and to expose a possible saboteur. Needing an undercover operative, Ranger hires Stephanie to pose as an ice cream factory worker. So, in addition to her usual job as a bounty hunter, Stephanie lends Ranger a hand. All this leads to some fun scenes where a conveyor belt spews ice cream everywhere ("there's no big red button!"); Stephanie dresses as a clown to sell Bogart bars; and she gets covered with cooking oil redolent of bacon and fried chicken. You know what to expect with this series, and the story contains the usual comic and romantic elements: Stephanie and her sidekick Lula - a flamboyant former 'ho' who carries a big gun - create havoc in New Jersey. Vehicles crash and blow up; Grandma Mazur snags an elderly motorcycle-riding boyfriend.....and hops aboard in her pink pantsuit and white sneakers; Stephanie's mom compulsively irons and has a few nips; Stephanie gets cozy with both her boyfriend Joe Morelli...... .....and her 'friend' Ranger; and so on. In addition, in an attempt to land a reality TV gig, Lula and Briggs (a whiny little person) make videos called 'naked and afraid' and 'naked bungee jumping.' (Now that's something you'd never be able to unsee! LOL) It turns out the ice cream business is pretty dangerous, and more people turn up dead or missing. In fact, before the perp is snagged Stephanie almost becomes a popsicle herself! The book is entertaining - and I got a few smiles - but it's not as laugh out loud funny as previous entries in the series. I'd like to see Stephanie, Lula, and Grandma Mazur go a little more 'over the top' in future books. If you need a break from serious fare the Stephanie Plum books are fine 'go-to' choices. Rating: 3 stars

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This work of creative non-fiction by Jan Stocklassa offers a comprehensive overview of the murder of Olof Palme. Author Jan Stocklassa Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme ***** On February 28, 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated on the corner of Sveavägen and Tunnelgaten in Stockholm. Corner of Sveavägen and Tunnelgaten in Stockholm After dismissing his security guards for the evening, Palme and his wife Lisbeth went to the movies, then decided to walk home. Olof Palme and his wife Lisbeth As the couple was strolling along a gunman closed in and shot Palme in the back, killing him almost instantly. A second shot in Lisbeth's direction only drilled two holes into her coat, and she was unharmed. The killer then ran away and escaped. The hunt for the shooter spawned a laundry list of suspects and a plethora of conspiracy theories, but at the time of this book's publication - more than three decades later - the killer still hasn't been unequivocally identified. To write this narrative, Jan Stocklassa relied heavily on the archives of Stieg Larsson , the author of 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' series. Writer Stieg Larsson Most people aren't aware that Larsson was originally an investigative journalist and illustrator who did extensive research on white-nationalist, right-wing, and neo-Nazi groups in Sweden. Larsson suspected that far-right organizations conspired to assassinate Palme, and immediately began investigating the murder from that point of view. Larsson's theory morphed over time to include pro-apartheid groups in South Africa, because Palme strongly and vocally opposed this policy of racial segregation.......

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Author Emily Nussbaum is an award-winning American journalist, magazine editor, and television critic. Nussbaum first conceived a book about 'reality television' in 2003, when "reality stars were bumping actors from the covers of magazines" and "every week something weirder debuted." Advised that reality television was a fad, Nussbaum dropped the idea. Yet reality shows continued to proliferate, and Nussbaum resurrected her book idea two decades later. Author Emily Nussbaum Nussbaum did a PRODIGIOUS amount of research for this opus: she watched endless hours of reality programming; read comments and reviews; interviewed cast and crew members, etc. The result is a comprehensive history of the genre, including discussions of reality shows' forerunners; development; themes; contents; creators; producers; champions; critics; stars; racial diversity (or not); editing; long-term consequences; and more. I'll just give a brief glimpse of some of the book's contents, and would urge interested fans and detractors to read 'Cue the Sun.' Reality television has evolved considerably from its early days in the 1940s, when the long-running show 'Candid Camera', created by Allen Funt, began playing pranks on people. Allen Funt - producer of 'Candid Camera' Nussbaum mentions "a wonderful bit in which small-town postal customers, among them a small child, politely chatted with a talkative mailbox." In addition to silly gags, 'Candid Camera' took aim at peoples' prejudices and fears. For instance, in a 1963 sketch "the actress Fannie Flagg pretended to be the first female pilot on American Airlines, triggering bug-eyed alarmed expressions from bystanders." Candid Camera aimed for laughs but a few critics savaged the show, calling it "sadistic, poisonous, anti-human, and sneaky."......

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In this book, journalist Ellin Stein provides a history of the iconoclastic 'National Lampoon' magazine, and the movies, television shows, publications, etc. it spawned or inspired. Stein did extensive research and conducted myriad interviews, and her coverage of the topic - and all the people involved - is very thorough. An iconic National Lampoon cover ***** At the end of the 1960s, Harvard graduates Henry Beard and Doug Kenney moved to New York to be the chief editors of a magazine called the 'National Lampoon' (NL), an outgrowth of the iconoclastic 'Harvard Lampoon' (HL). Henry Beard Doug Kenney A Harvard Lampoon cover The HL prided itself on fun parodies, like a story called 'Alligator' that riffed on the suave James Bond (007) character, who orders his martinis 'shaken not stirred'. Alligator's James Bond is meticulous about his food, and in his BLT sandwich, "the bacon must be crisp, not however over-cooked; lettuce from the inside please, but not the heart." Cartoon of James Bond (007) One of HL's big successes was a parody of 'Playboy' magazine, which was endorsed by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner himself. The Poonies (HL writers) came up with the ideal playmate, a sort of female Tarzan from a Carolina coastal island whose English is restricted to 'My name is Oona. Mama and Papa dive into sea. Berries and herbs, herbs and berries'......

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Dr. Psyche A. Williams-Forson is a professor, speaker, scholar, and author of several books on African American food cultures and history. Dr. Psyche A. Williams-Forbes In 'Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America' Williams-Forson observes that Black people's lives - including their food choices - are constantly being policed, surveilled, and vilified. She goes on to say that, "Somebody is always watching, waiting to tell Black people what they should and should not, can and cannot, eat." According to the author, the custom of policing Black people's consumption comes from a broader history of trying to control Black lives from a position of white privilege and power. In current times, Black people are urged to 'eat healthy'...... .....which would (presumably) require limiting consumption of 'soul food' like fried chicken, candied yams, collard greens with pork, macaroni and cheese, spoonbread, chitlins, etc. Food is central to everyone's culture, and operates on multiple levels beyond merely satisfying our stomachs. For instance, foods we're accustomed to are affiliated with our memories, and help us feel connected to our families and communities. Williams-Forson notes, "African Americans self-define and reinforce group identities through their expressive culture: food, clothing, dance, speech and language, games, and so forth." Asking Black people to change their eating habits is like "interrupting and disrupting [their] lifeways." Moreover, the author observes that Black people are as varied in food practices as anyone else in America. They eat from fast-food chains, Whole Foods, farmers markets, their own gardens, the dollar store, supermarkets, etc. They eat fresh, frozen, and canned. They are carnivores, vegans pescatarians, and vegetarians.......

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In this 25th book in the 'No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' series - set in Gaborone, Botswana - the sleuths look into mischief at a popular hotel and a man having a midlife crisis. The book can be read as a standalone but familiarity with the characters is a bonus. ***** Mma Precious Ramotswe is the founder of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and Mma Grace Makutski is the self-appointed joint managing director. The ladies acquired their sleuthing skills from a book called 'The Principles of Private Detection' by Clovis Anderson, whose wise counsel is sprinkled throughout the story. One day, Mma Ramotswe is approached by a man called Quick Babusi, manager of the Great Hippopotamus Hotel. Babusi explains that the establishment was doing well until things started to go wrong. Misfortunes include food poisoning in the dining room; guests' laundry going missing from the drying line; a carpet ruined by a bathroom flood; a lodger being stung by a scorpion in his room; and more. Babusi confides, "There were bad reviews, and once that starts it's very difficult to stop it."......

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At some time in the not too distant future, the Earth is in crisis. Climate change has led to cataclysmic flooding, drought, hunger, and mass migrations, and a plague has killed two billion people. In the chaos, China led the recovery and took the economic and technological lead..... .....and the New American Union (Union) - which has become more Christian than ever - is struggling to catch up. In this climate, the Union is trying to establish Christian colonies on distant planets. To do this, the Union has to 'lease' Chinese interstellar ships, which are controlled by Chinese engineers. The Chinese engineers have sole access to the ships' engines and inner workings, to make sure no one steals China's technological secrets. The Union's first space settlers were sent to establish a colony called Bethesda, which is 35 years away in space-travel time. For the first ten years, things were going well on Bethesda, with messages going back and forth between Earth and the 5,000 people on the distant colony......

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Billy Porter (b. 1969) is a multitalented American entertainer whose work includes Broadway shows, movies, television programs, nightclub performances, benefits, and more. In the course of his career, Porter won Star Search, received a Tony Award, an Emmy Award, and a Grammy Award; and was awarded many other honors. I became aware of Billy Porter when he played the character 'Pray Tell' on the TV series 'Pose' (2018 - 2021). In the show, Pray Tell is an emcee in New York City's underground ballroom culture of the late 1980s and early 1990s, where gay and trans individuals dressed up in elaborate costumes and competed in different categories on a runway. Billy Porter as 'Pray Tell' in the television series 'Pose' Scenes from the television series 'Pose' In an interview, Porter noted that his life is similar to that of the Pray Tell character in some ways, since they're both HIV+ and were equally ostracized by their church for being gay. This is more or less where Porter begins his memoir, noting that, as a child in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was a 'sissy boy' who liked to jump rope, play hopscotch, play jacks, try on his aunt's pretty shoes, and so on.......

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Lucy Stone, who lives in Tinker's Cove, Maine, is a wife, mother, reporter, and amateur sleuth. As the story opens, Lucy is downcast because her five-year-old grandson Patrick has moved to Alaska with his parents, and Lucy misses him terribly. To cheer Lucy up, her best friend Sue Finch invites Lucy to come along to the 'Heads Up' hat show in Britain. The Earl of Wickham is mounting an exhibition of headgear - including the hat Camilla Parker Bowles wore to William and Kate's wedding.... ......and Sue Finch is loaning the Earl pieces from her personal collection. Lucy agrees to go to Britain and she and Sue set off for the Earl's estate, called Moreton Manor, where they'll stay for a couple of weeks. Lucy and Sue learn that English aristocracy has come WAY down since the days of Downton Abby. Moreton Manor is now a tourist attraction (£10 per ticket)...... .....and the Earl of Wickham and his family reside in the renovated servants' wing. The bluebloods on the estate are the Earl (Perry), his sister (Poppy) and her husband (Gerald), and their staff includes a historian and an archivist, whose job is to document and preserve the manor. Moreton Manor's residents are soon joined by hoity-toity Aunt Millicent and her lady's maid Harrison, who plan to stay at the estate while Millicent's home is being repaired.......

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Jada Pinkett Smith (born 1971) is an American actress, singer, and talk show host. Jada Pinkett Smith I'd seen Jada in several movies and television shows, but knew little about her, other than the fact that she was married to actor Will Smith; had an 'entanglement' with a friend of her son Jaden; and was at the Oscars when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. When I saw Jada promoting her memoir on a talk show, I got curious, and decided to read her book. Jada Pinkett Smith on the television series 'Gotham' One often thinks celebrities, being rich and famous, have easy lives, but reading their memoirs shows that's not always true. Jada begins her book by describing her despair at the age of forty: "For two decades, I'd been putting on a good face, going with the flow, telling everyone I was okay. Yet underneath, bouts of depression and overwhelming hopelessness had smoldered until they turned into raging hellfire in my broken heart." Jada was suicidal, but therapy and ayahuasca sessions (hallucinogens) with a medicine woman helped her heal. After this revelation about her mental health, Jada goes back to the beginning, when she grew up on the mean streets of inner city Baltimore. As a child Jada lived with her mother Adrienne - a nurse who was addicted to heroin; and her grandmother Marion - a refined woman who taught Jada the importance of gardening, being well-rounded, and spirituality......

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Blake Crouch, who's well known for dark twisty sci-fi books like Dark Matter, Recursion, and Upgrade, began his writing career by self-publishing 'Run' in 2011. This debut novel, which was re-released in 2024, is a stomach-churning thriller. ***** Picture this: You're watching television and start to see chyron after chyron reading something like, "45 Dead in Mass Shooting at a Church in Columbia, South Carolina." And then you hear a woman on the local radio station reading off the names of people to be killed, such as, "Jim Barbour....His address is Two Carpenter Court.....and while you're in the neighborhood, stop by the home of Jack Colclough, a professor of philosophy at UNM. He lives at 1414 Arroyo Way. Go now." And YOU'RE Jack Colclough, living on Arroyo Way in New Mexico, with your wife Dee, 14-year-old daughter Naomi, and 7-year-old son Cole. What do you do? What you do is pack food, water, clothes, a road map, weapons, gas cans, camping equipment, etc.....and you RUN. Jack, Dee, Naomi, and Cole load up their Land Rover and aren't even out of their driveway before they see the headlights heading for their house, with gunshots erupting into the night. All Jack and Dee know is that five days ago, a good portion of the American population went insane. Affected people got out their rifles, handguns, knives, axes, chain-saws, and other killing tools.....and they began hunting down and murdering 'normal' people. From here, the book is a saga of the Colclough's flight from New Mexico - their plan being to drive north through Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana and up to Canada, which is said to be unaffected by the insanity. Needless to say, the trip is dangerous and harrowing, and the Colcloughs are in constant jeopardy.......

Barb's Book Reviews

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Review of "Turbo Twenty-Three: A Stephanie Plum Mystery" by Janet Evanovich

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