Category Archives: Review

Book Review: Volker Kutscher ~ The Fatherland Files (2019) (Translator Niall Sellar)

Posted on October 21, 2021 by odeboyz

Fans of Philip Kerr and his wonderful series featuring Berlin policeman Bernie Gunter will warm to this German version. The book reeks of authenticity in its depiction of pre-Nazi Berlin and the insidious take-over of the police by them. The … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Literature, Review | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Reviews: Peter James ~ Find them dead (2020) and Peter James ~ Left you dead (2021)

Posted on October 11, 2021 by odeboyz

Peter James is a prolific author indeed he’s a book-a-year man. His creation is Detective Inspector Roy Grace who’s now a Superintendent and is angling to be a Chief Superintendent. Grace has been transformed into a careerist. The first book … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Review | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Donna Tartt ~ The Little Friend (2002)

Posted on September 27, 2021 by odeboyz

This is the third Deep South novel I’ve read in the last few months and probably the best. S A Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland, was a terrific read but this one hits literary heights. The storyline is based on the impact … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Review, wildlife | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Film Review: East is East (Channel 4 catch-up) (1999)

Posted on August 26, 2021 by odeboyz

This film is so brilliant it’s hard to know where to begin. Humour It’s a northern film (Salford) replete with hard hitting wit. There are no ‘no-go’ areas. The film is set in appalling housing with seven children and two … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Humour, Review | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Police ‘Mafia’ in Baltimore, USA

Posted on August 12, 2021 by odeboyz

Sergeant Wayne Jenkins1 and his officers didn’t just take drugs and money from the criminals they caught: they planted drugs and guns on people who weren’t criminals (or who weren’t doing anything criminal); they broke into the homes of people … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Review | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Curtis Sittenfeld ~ American Wife (2008)

Posted on July 22, 2021 by odeboyz

This book is 635 pages long and a long read. Is it worth it? Unfortunately as I began this review I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t. This makes me feel stupid. The book isn’t a novel it’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Review | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R Sunstein ~ Noise: A flaw in human judgment (2021)

Posted on July 8, 2021 by odeboyz

Reviewing this book puts me in a difficult situation. All I want to do is swoon at the feet of the authors proclaiming their genius. This makes me a groupie. However I’ll try to write something that looks like a … Continue reading →

Posted in education, Philosophy, Review, Technology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Jo Nesbo ~ Nemesis (2002) (Translator: Dan Bartlett)

Posted on June 17, 2021 by odeboyz

The job description of fictional Detective Inspectors is that they should be alcoholics, mavericks, insightful, very persuasive, and yet, curiously, trusting. They get into scrapes where everything says, ‘Don’t do it’. But they do. They lure colleagues into committing crimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Review | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Leif G W Persson ~ The Dying Detective (Translator: Neil Smith) (2016)

Posted on September 28, 2020 by odeboyz

Fans of BBC’s New Tricks* enjoy the idea that decades of experience can resolve unsolved crimes. Intuition, which can’t be taught, and informed common sense triumph over derided ‘modern’ methods. The Swedish author of this brilliant novel takes the genre … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Review | Tagged | Leave a comment

CD Review: Various Artists ~ We Out Here (2017)

Posted on September 21, 2020 by odeboyz

My son despairs of my musical taste which is roughly ‘I know what I like and like what I know’.* Now and then he buys a cd to widen my tastes. Mostly he fails. On this occasion he triumphed. Like … Continue reading →

Posted in Review | Tagged , | Leave a comment