Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About jeverett15

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39 years old. New Jersey resident. Fan of mystery novels, classic literature, and non-fiction about movies, television, sports, and American history.

jeverett15's Reviews:

A Day at the Movies

Double Feature by Donald E. Westlake

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Double Feature is comprised, appropriately enough, of two novellas set in and around the world of cinema. In the first Carey Thorpe, a clever but self-centered movie critic finds himself in a jam worthy of a film noir. He’s killed a woman he was sleeping with (this is revealed in the first sentence) and must deal with two police detectives and a private investigator who won’t leave him alone. In an irresistible twist, Carey finds himself in a position to help the detectives with a […]

When Irish Eyes Aren’t Smiling

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

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Jean McConville, mother of 10, disappeared in December of 1972 after being abducted from a run-down Belfast flat. Her children never saw her again. The story of what happened to her is the focal point of this panoramic look at the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland popularly known as The Troubles. Patrick Radden Keefe ranges from the McConville case in his reporting, but her disappearance is a prism offering a view on the whole confusing era. It’s tempting from across the ocean to view The […]

Why Don’t We Get Together and Call Ourselves an Institute?

The Institute by Stephen King

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Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Stephen King’s new novel is a compelling read with a dynamite premise which unfortunately peters out into a weak ending. King really takes his time setting up this one. The first section follows an ex-cop named Tim on an itinerant journey around the south before settling down in small-town South Carolina. After Tim gets established we’re on to the story of the Institute, and it’s hundred of pages before we find out how Tim figures into it. Child […]

And Hell Followed

The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie

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Amazon’s coming out with an adaptation of The Pale Horse this month and I realized when I looked at a synopsis that I hadn’t read the book, so I decided to amend that ahead of watching the series. Going in, I knew there’d probably be major changes made for the TV show, and now that I have read it, I’m certain of it. To be blunt, this is bottom-tier Christie and a puzzling choice for adaptation. The plot is transparent and thin, with a creaky […]

King in Brief

Everything's Eventual by Stephen King

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Everything’s Eventual is a collection of fourteen stories, all of which were published in the ’90s or very early 2000s. Occasionally that comes through with halting references to email or other tech stuff of that era, but for the most part the stories are somewhat timeless. Quality-wise they are a mixed bag, as I suppose all short story collections are. I’ve been reading this collection inbetween other books for a few months new, so in writing this review I struggled to remember what the lesser […]

Say Goodbye to Hollywood

The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood by Sam Wasson

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When you decide to read a book about Hollywood in the 70s, you have to prepare yourself for a lot of cocaine and misogyny. And of course when you decide to specifically read a book about a movie directed by Roman Polanski, you have to prepare yourself for far worse. To answer some questions I’m sure some of you have up front, yes, the book does address at appropriate length Polanski’s rape of an underage girl and his fleeing the United States, but yes, the […]



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