Mark Martinez

An entertaining working vacation with Ray Lilly and his boss, Annalise, who travel to Portugal for some hard questions from peers of the Twenty Palaces society. An encounter with a predator puts Ray's life at risk. At this stage in his story arc, he seems resigned to death, but he turns the tables on everyone's expectations again and shines an uncomfortable light on the fragile foundation of the First Palace.

An enjoyable return to the Raza after binging on the final season of the television series inspired by this graphic novel. The art by Garry Brown translated well to the tube. I wish we could see the story of the Raza's crew resolved in some way.

A brief, but engaging character study of Nyx, her team, and the world they live in. I think this story might be a good introduction to the Bel Dame Apocrypha trilogy, for folks who aren't already on board.

Alas, poor Buffy.

A very entertaining tale. The daughters of classic horror novel characters take control of their own fate as they investigate their origins, with assistance from a consulting detective and his sidekick.

I've lost track of the number of times I've watched the movie First Blood. This is the first time reading the book and it wasn't quite what I expected. Rambo and Teasle are two sides of the same coin. That's not quite how it was played in the movie. I like this story better.

A terrific companion and prequel to the new television series. Well done Mr. Mack!

This book collects the four issues of The Expanse: Origins featuring the crew of the Rocinante released as digital comics and adds a new story featuring Josephus Miller written by Hallie Lambert and illustrated by Huang Danlan. Set on Ceres, Miller's backstory feels as gritty as the character we get to know in the books and television series. It's only a brief look at his past, but it's compelling. The art is stark, which is fine for this story, but doesn't really align with the scenery in my head when I read the dialogue. Still, this collection is a nice addition to the Expanse saga.

Another entertaining mini-series featuring Peter Grant. The brief history of the Met and the snippets of history in the previous issues are a nice bonus.

Weird and somewhat disturbing.

Andrew Mayne's latest novel kept me on the edge of my seat all the way thru to the blood-soaked conclusion.

Dr. Theo Cray is a suspect in the death of a former student until local law enforcement decides that a bear is responsible. Theo doesn't agree and uses his computational biology expertise to uncover a terrifying pattern suggesting that a brutal serial killer is at work in the Montana backcountry. With each new lead that his computer model predicts, Theo gets closer to the truth, while the killer studies his pursuer.

I got a kick out of Theo's tenacious efforts to track a killer while explaining the science to readers and getting the crap beat out of him several times. Where this novel falls short is in the underdeveloped secondary characters. This story is the “Theo show” and there isn't much room for anyone else. Is that what a typical scientist's life is really like? I'm not sure, but I'd be interested in reading more of Theo's exploits, particularly if he also gets a life with some fleshed out companions.

Whoa doggie!

Another terrifying and exhilarating ride in Miriam Black's twisted world. Keep them coming!

A comforting story.

A little light on plot, but the characters in their feline form are just right.

Five stars because I was rooting for the book!

An entertaining group of characters, and an engaging examination of how sentients should treat each other.

An interesting survey of comics as commentary on nuclear weapons. I wish there were color reproductions of the highlighted comics.

Interesting characters, a fast moving plot, and lots of snark. A fun read. I'll be back for the next installment.

The narrative is well-written and flows smoothly, with all the basic Western tropes, but poor old Doc Spectros is just too honorable to do what's necessary when he has the villain in his talons. You heard right. Talons. There is more to Spectros than meets the eye.

An enjoyable time travel tale that reads like the science fiction novels I devoured as a kid, but with a little bit of 21st century snark. Thank god Pilot X was there for that third planet out, because that's “where coffee will come from.”

A character study of a flawed human. Not quite what I expected, but interesting to read.

Mr. Older upped his game in the second book of the Bone Street Rumba series, fleshing out existing characters, introducing some fascinating new characters, and keeping an entertaining story rolling at a breakneck pace. Nice work!

Sandman Slim gets his groove back. Nice!

An entertaining look back at one of my favorite movies!