Drabble Geeks

Geeks…Being Total Geeks.

Tag: mystery

A Romantic Cop Drama?

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I’ll admit, I may have a problem with constantly reading Nicholas Sparks novels. I found two I loved to death, to the point where the covers are falling off. Now, I’m treating his books like Pokémon, and I need to read them all, for better and worse. This book, A Bend in the Road, falls squarely in the middle. Reading the description, I was expecting an adorable romance about two people from previously failed relationships, for very different reasons, coming together and finding love again. That was true for the first half of the novel. The second half was a terribly written cop drama that made no sense.

The second half of the book was a beautiful description of police brutality when of course, the only recourse for the protagonists’ actions was suspension with pay. Other things could have been happening, but I was just so mad. A message to Sparks:

Stop writing cops! You are terrible at it! Just because you made the cop the main protagonist doesn’t mean we will forgive his insane actions!

And by trying to make us forgive him, he did try by having our cop protagonists do a cute flashback to when the book was a romance novel. I one hundred percent support just stopping and the middle and pretending that the ending didn’t happen; you will be much happier that way.

Murder High School

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Think about it: going to high school, only to be locked in, and finding a body a couple of days in. You would think that it’s out of this world, but instead it’s Danganronpa. I’ve played the first two games as my computer can’t handle the third, but I absolutely loved every moment that I played.

Danganronpa is an insane story with so many plot twists that revolve around solving murders in a think-tank style of accusing everyone without having a single piece of evidence or shred of logic. The characters are lovable and hate-able and each have their own unique characteristics that make getting to know each character an experience. There is also an amazing villain to top everything off. If you are not into learning more about the characters, you can skip this. The art style is unique in that everything seems 2D in a 3D world while other parts stick with the typical animal style with a sprinkle other others. Ether way, it is a gorgeous experience, but do know that there are some very dark themes that I don’t know if I could explain without major spoilers.

How Does It Hold Up: Bones Pt 2

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It was over 3 years ago that I started rewatching on of my favorite shows, Bones. As I said in my last post, the first six seasons were my favorite season, and I’m here to tell you that that has not changed. It didn’t take me long to finish the show because I cannot binge watch correctly. I just found better things to do with my time, such as watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from the very beginning. I am 100% confident that the only reason why I finished watching the show was because it was being taken off of Hulu, and I didn’t want to find a different streaming service just to watch one show. It became such as drag to watch that only got exciting every now and again. The last season is probably the best of this later half since it does close some plot holes that have been in the show for years. Either way, if I were to rewatch this show again, I will be sticking to the first six season. As of now, the latter seasons do not really exist and are some random person’s head cannon.

Undercover in a School of Horror

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For whatever reason, mysteries and school life go hand-in-hand. All of the natural drama that occurs in school just offers itself to the subterfuge that needs to occur to have a good mystery. There is a natural tension that can be exploited. That being said, it could be simple or an overall rollercoaster, which is what we saw with Arisa by Natsumi Ando.

I think it was until the very end that I did not know what was going on in this story as we follow Tsubasa, who is trying to figure out why her sister, Arisa, tried to commit suicide. The only information she has is that it has something to do with her school, so Tsubasa goes undercover as Arisa. Going in, I thought this was going to be very shoujo-y, given the author, but I would say that anyone who loves manga and mystery will enjoy this. Yes, there are shoujo elements, but they are overwhelmed by the want to get the full story.

This manga talks about self-harm as these are thoughts several characters have had or actually carried out. Take care if you decided to read this.

Evil Mail Corps

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I’ve never read a full-length tale about finding a conspiracy before, and I think this will be the last. Hearing snippets of what people say on Facebook is one thing, but this was just mindboggling. In all honesty, I’m still not sure of what I read from The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon.

From what I gathered, there were warring factions of postal carriers in the medieval period, and this is the story of finding this feud in a weird series of events. It was an interesting read. It just gave me a headache trying to keep up with all the information thrown at me. I’m not too sure what exactly I read, but maybe someone else can give it a try. I have no clue how you may feel after reading. Buyer beware.

Breakfast Murder Club Pt 2

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Once again, what has to be the worst high school in existence, is up to its same old troubles. It seems they didn’t learn their lesson from the previous book about gossiping. Or maybe they did?

In One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus, our favorite high school is stuck in a game of Truth or Dare. This time, if you choose Truth, one of your biggest secrets gets out. This book is much more the typical mystery series with plot twists coming out of nowhere. Still, the secrets weren’t too bad this time and didn’t really lead you down some dark roads since there wasn’t the suspense hanging over your head. The real problem is that high school is filled with high schoolers. Another book that leaves me ecstatic that I no longer have to go through that hell on earth, but a great book overall.

Breakfast Murder Club Pt 1

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Some have nostalgia over their experiences in high school. I am not one of them. In fact, this book encapsulates everything I hated existing for those four years that I had second-hand dread reading from each character’s point of view. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus is one of the most exciting mystery stories I have read in a while.

The premise of this book is that a student is killed in detention one day, and there are four suspects. You, as the reader, aren’t too sure about what’s going on. You do know that everyone is lying. You follow all four suspects throughout the book that lying about something, but you’re never too sure of the extent of it. I do love this because not knowing what’s being lied about allows your mind to wander. To be fair, my thoughts wandered to some really dark places trying to figure out the lies. There is a second book, but I don’t know how it will stack up, especially since the setting is exactly the same. In my opinion, so far, the author is going to have to come up with a couple more lies different from those found in this book.

Framed for a Life

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In continuing with my love of a good murder mystery, I decided that my next book would be with someone who has innocent but was framed for a murder he didn’t do. Was it cliché? Yes. Did I think everyone was stupid? Of course. Did I love it none the less? Kinda. 15 Seconds by Andrew Gross.

Imagine the typical story: someone is framed for a murder he didn’t do, so he goes on the run while trying to clear his name. Insert that one person who totally should have been a detective but isn’t because life happened, and she’s the only one who believes him. If this was only to the book, I wouldn’t be recommending it. What I found interesting was the killer. Understanding why and how was the most significant thing. Trying to understand his process and how he was connected to things that were going on kept me reading. That’s what I found to be the best part of the book. If that’s what also interests you about these types of novels, I think you’ll enjoy it as well.

Murder of a Lifetime

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I love a good murder mystery and watching the good guys win. Even though I love this, it’s usually in the fictional sense, and no one in the making of the murder was hurt. This type, I dipped my toe into more real-life crime with In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

This classic tells the story of the real-life murder of the Clutter Family in Small Town, Kansas. The story switches from the point of view of different townspeople, the investigation team, and the duo responsible. It’s was intriguing how the story all worked together. You read it as if you’re there in the moment of the events and interact with the twists and turns as they happened. I could hardly put the book down. If you are thinking of reading this book, be forewarned that there is offensive language toward African Americans sprinkled throughout and sexual advances on minors. If these offend and/or trigger you, I would suggest not reading.

Remembering the Lost Soul Pt 1

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I have finally gotten around to reading a book series that I have been meaning to. This omnibus has been sitting on my bookshelf for years, and I gave finally started going through it. The series is the Remember Me series by Christopher Pike. The first book is aptly named Remember Me.

The book starts with the reader finding out that our protagonist, Shari Cooper, is dead. It’s an interesting way of introducing a character, but it did instantly capture me into the story, wanting to know what happened, which is great considering the plot of the book. Shari doesn’t remember how she died, so she goes through this book trying to figure it out. She follows her friends and family around trying to find out what happened to her and meet interesting characters along the way. I wish that I could tell you a bit about them, but they’re huge spoilers for the story overall. Just know that cool ghost powers are discussed, but no true haunting.

If you are interested in mysteries, I would greatly recommend this. It is also interesting to solve a mystery from the dead person’s perspective. I honestly don’t understand why this is a series of books right now. It seems like it is better off as a one-off book, but I’ll just have to continue and see.

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