Wulf's Book Reviews

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars After having watched the TV shows “ Bosch ” and “ The Lincoln Lawyer ”, both based on novels by Michael Connelly , I decided it was high-time to read a Bosch novel. Titus Welliver’s stellar performance as Bosch raised my expectations sky high… In the novels, Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch is a homicide detective in Los Angeles, who was named after a painter and whose mother was killed when he was young. He has a daughter with his ex-wife, and follows his own code of ethics. He is a loner and a maverick, who often faces conflicts with his bosses and peers. He is also a Vietnam War veteran where he served as a “tunnel rat”, a soldier who explored and cleared the underground tunnels used by the Viet Cong. He is flawed, damaged, and sometimes reckless, but he is also loyal, brave, and compassionate. He has a strong sense of duty and honour, and he never gives up on a case. He is also very human, and he struggles wi...

Luzies Erbe by Helga Bürster My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have been contemplating this book for a few days now and the review it deserves. Helga Bürster, as I learned from the afterword, has told the story of her grandparents. That certainly has its individual value, but so many books and stories have been written about the personal fates of forced laborers in the countryside. I have also read those that depict such forbidden relationships, although rarely resulting in children and most of these relationships ended tragically… So, is this one story so special, so different, or so worth telling? Is Bürster such a great writer that her story would particularly appeal to me or move me (or should it)? The publisher writes: "Helga Bürster tells wonderfully light yet deeply moving about how a fate endures over the decades, how silence about the past overshadows a family. She tells of four generations of strong women - and that it is never too late for reconcil...

Luzies Erbe by Helga Bürster My rating: 3 of 5 stars Ich sinniere nun schon ein paar Tage über dieses Buch und die Rezension, die es verdient. Helga Bürster , so erfuhr ich aus dem Nachwort, hat die Geschichte ihrer Großeltern erzählt. Das hat selbstverständlich seinen individuellen Wert, aber es sind so viele Bücher und Geschichten über die persönlichen Schicksale von Zwangsarbeitern auf dem Land geschrieben worden. Auch solche, in denen solche verbotenen Beziehungen geschildert werden, habe ich gelesen - obschon selten Kinder entstanden und die meisten dieser Beziehung tragisch endeten… Ist also diese eine Geschichte so besonders, so anders oder so erzählenswert? Ist Bürster eine so große Schriftstellerin, dass mich ihre Geschichte besonders ansprechen oder gar bewegen würde (oder müsste)? Der Verlag schreibt: “Helga Bürster erzählt wunderbar leicht und dabei doch tief bewegend davon, wie ein Schicksal die Jahrzehnte überdauert, wie das Schweigen über die Vergangenheit...

Wool by Hugh Howey My rating: 3 of 5 stars I went into this knowing nothing but the title and was somewhat dismayed by the premise of a pocket of survivors of humanity on a destroyed, toxic, dystopian Earth. Nevertheless, the characters seemed interesting enough - Sheriff Holston, Mayor Jahns, Deputy Marnes… And then Howey goes GRRM and kills them all off and leaves us in an even worse situation: » The silo was rotten to the core; an evil man was acting Mayor; a puppet stood where a good sheriff had been; and all the good men and women were gone. « Enter Jules, a gifted technician - who’s sent off to face certain death next; or perhaps death is not so certain after all? The entire beginning was slow-paced and disillusioning: We get introduced to potentially interesting people who are promptly taken away. Most of their backstories are never told, many important facts omitted and only ever alluded to but never properly resolved. Sadly, the pacing is also very uneven: Init...

Gravity by Tess Gerritsen My rating: 1 of 5 stars I must have read a different book from most others… I’ve read an extraordinarily cheap science fiction thriller that feels very dated, e. g. when NASA officials threaten to fax a secret to the newspapers, when they present evidence on a cassette tape and that caters to admirers of body horror at best. Yes, it’s a thrilling page turner but of the 90s variety; think of the old b-movies with body snatchers and smart scientists, a cowboy-infested US government and many more stereotypical characters and story elements. It’s mostly disgusting with cheap thrills and the intellectual depth of a puddle. I finished it less than a day ago and, thankfully, the “story” is already fading into oblivion. I’ll stick to more modern works of Gerritsen. One out of five stars. Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam View all my reviews https://turing.mailstation.de/gravity-by-tess-gerritsen/?feed_id=2554&_unique_id=64d11b8e63769

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn My rating: 1 of 5 stars This was an all-around bad book. Most of the story elements were pilfered from the abundance of old films mentioned here, e. g. “ Rear Window ”, “ Witness To Murder ”, and large parts from more recent films like “ Copycat ”. It also reminded me a lot of an old song by Tom Lehrer: Lobachevsky . It has basically no redeeming qualities. If you want more details, read on, but be warned: Spoilers ahead! [su_spoiler title="Spoiler"] The protagonist, Anna Fox, is an ex-psychologist who suffers from agoraphobia after both her husband and her child died after an accident. She drove the car and was the sole survivor. She still talks to both of them and pretends they’re alive but live separately. Anna is on strong medication but takes those with lots and lots of wine which she’s getting delivered in bulk. She doesn’t quite see dead people yet but suffers from lots of side effects. One day Anna witnesses...

Happy Place by Emily Henry My rating: 5 of 5 stars There seem to be two Emily Henrys : The first one writes straightforward, somewhat simple rom-com novels like “ Beach Read ” or “ Book Lovers ” which aren’t outright bad but decidedly average in many ways. I read both, wrote a review and awarded three stars each and promptly forgot about them. The second Emily Henry writes much more nuanced and complex. With “ People We Meet on Vacation ” she created a novel about a decade of vacations that’s, ultimately, about the concept of home. Now this Emily Henry, the one that I vastly prefer , wrote a novel about long-time friends and keeping up traditions that’s in fact about change and personal growth. » Everything is changing. It has to. You can’t stop time. « Harriet and Wyn were engaged, broke up months ago but never told anyone and now have to spend a week on holidays with their friends. Since this trip is the end of an era, everyone pretends nothing has ever changed and re...