Savages by Don Winslow Kicks Ass!

Read "Savages" by Don Winslow on my nook and finished it in 3 days. It's one of those novels, for me at least, that I could not put down. I really, really dug this story, but what made it for me is Winslow's style. The narration technique is 100% my favorite and I don't know what you call it, but I liken it to Bret Easton Elllis, Chuck Palahniuk, and even John McFetridge. Savages is one of those cool, hip, smooth as silk type of stories that pulls you in and takes you along for a great ride. I want to see the movie, but just from the trailers I have seen ( after I read the novel ) I get the feeling that they changed a lot of stuff and it has potential to be a big let down. But, if my wife wants in, I'll probably part with the cash.  Def going to read more of Don Winslow's novels in the future. Savages was well worth the $12.00 (ouch!) I paid to download from B&N and provided more than enough entertainment and escapism for that price. Highly recommended!

Jarrett Rush @ AToN... & Savages

Another quality story is up at the A Twist of Noir site. This one is titled LIKE CANDY, and it's written by a new to me author ( which is always cool) named Jarrett Rush.  I liked this story right from the start and even more as I read on. Check it out HERE

After a visit to Jarrett's blog, I also found out he has was offering a free download (via Smashwords) of his 8K word short story REUNION, and I downloaded to my nook. His blog can be found HERE

From the moment I saw the trailer of Oliver Stone's latest movie SAVAGES, I knew it was the kind of movie I would dig. Then, I find out it was based on a novel by some cat named Don Winslow. Well, I'm ashamed to say I had not heard of Mr. Winslow, but I did some internet recon and I think he is most def my kind of author. I just downloaded the sample of Savages to my nook ( 11.99 seems kind of steep, but I figure I'm going to buy if I dig it) I was hooked after the first chapter which consisted of:

"Fuck You"

Sold me right then, and I only needed to read a couple paragraphs of Chapter 2 to know I am going to really, really dig this novel. The writing style is right up my alley. Now, I have to read it fast, so I can see the movie while it is in theaters.

IMPERIAL BEDROOMS: Bret Easton Ellis

I have been a fan of Mr. Ellis since I read "Less Than Zero", which he wrote and was published while he was in college. Quite an accomplishment. The movie adaption came out a few years later, with Robert Downey Jr, Andrew McCarthy, and one of my favorite "bad guy" actors of the 80's James Spader. If I think back in time, three movies that tried to capture teen / high school life in the early 80's were: "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Valley Girl", and "Less Than Zero". The thing is that all of these were based in California, and this was nothing like how it was growing up in the northeast US. "Dazed and Confused" was a much more realistic portrayal of how it "really was".

When I read that a follow-up to LTZ was in the works, I was intrigued. I wanted to know what happened to Julian, Blair, Clay, and especially Rip. So when it came out, I ended up buying it for my Nook $9.99, saving $15.00 of the $25.00 hardcover. As it turned out, this was a wise decision.

The novel starts off by slamming the film version of LTZ, setting the reader straight on the facts, and gives some nice harbingers of what's in store for this installment. I was intrigued and ready for the show to start. I'm not going to give spoilers of details about the plot, but I will say that BEE has a big problem with finishing, and I noticed this with "Glamorama"( 4 out of 5 stars) and Lunar Park (3 out of 5 stars). I'm giving "Imperial Bedrooms" (2 out 5 stars). Each of these three BEE offerings would have earned another star, if they didn't completely go off the deep-end in the final chapters.

The 2 star rating is a shame in my opinion because for about 3/4 of the novel it was at about a 4, but I have to call it like I see it. I never read Amazon / B&N reviews before I read a novel, but I do after I'm done. It is good to know I am not alone in my opinion. I would be glad to elaborate on this in the comment section, if anyone so chooses

Sean and the Beanstock

So, on vacation this week, and instead of riding tasty waves at the beach all week like we planned, the foul weather here in Mass has turned the vaca into a game of how much me and the kids can drive the wife shytehouse. It is like being stuck in the friggin' Gulag. I decide to go to Barnes and Noble with my son to buy IMPERIAL BEDROOMS, the follow-up to LESS THAN ZERO by Bret Easton Ellis, which lists at $24.99 for a scant 200 pages (ouch, the price of blow & Cristal must have gone up).

To make a long story short, I sneak a peek at the NOOK just to see if my novel shows up on it. It did, so that was pretty cool. I end up talking to the saleslady, and you guessed it, bought one. I don't know squat about e-readers, but I ended up figuring how to use it, and downloaded the Ellis novel for $9.99

It is a pretty cool device and I can browse the web, listen to tunes, and it has 3G, which my son (10 years old) and the saleslady were nice enough to tell me what that means (it's a good thing).

So, needless to say I had some explaining to do when I got home. I did save $15.00 on the novel, so I'm only down $310.00 (Nook 3G= 199.00, protection case= 35.00, screen protector= 15.00, and warranty= 70.00)

Anyway, looking forward to reading what happened to the LESS THAN ZERO characters and I'll report back on that and my experience with the Nook.

* All was not lost as the saleslady purchased & downloaded a copy of MINDJACKER to her Nook and told me she'll pump it up the rest of the day on the demo Nook with customers, which was pretty cool of her.