Comments for Drink Books

Comment on A Drink Before the War by A. Browne

A. Browne — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:49:25 +0000

This was a recommendation from Amazon. I wondered if I could take another mismatched pair of American detectives. their interactions , and yet another story set in the mean streets of downtown USA Chicago / new York/ LA/ Miami/ New Orleans ( delete as appropriate)

I was so glad I did.

A great story set in the world of dirty dealing politicos and spiced up with a vicious world of gangbangers. The protagonists are believable people dealing with their own emotional baggage and hang ups. Some exotic supporting characters all in all a book that leaves me wanting to read more by Dennis Leehane.

What a great starting place for a new author to me.

Rush out , get a copy and enjoy a good read.

Rating: 5 / 5

Comment on A Drink Before the War by molko

molko — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 07:32:51 +0000

Private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are called in by a pack of powerful politicians to find a missing cleaning woman who has allegedly stolen confidential documents. The duo accept hoping to be payed big for a pretty quick and easy job. However it soon becomes clear that there is more to this job than the politicians were first letting on. Soon enough Kenzie is being hunted down by gunmen and both himself and Gennaro are thrown into the crossfire of a raging gang war.

This is a story of a political cover up, conspiracies, racism and gang warfare. It rocketed Lehane into the spot light and secured his name as one of the best of the business and it's clear to see why. It's a good enough story that provides the reader with a good mystery to unravel and from this, his first book it's clear to see Lehane's writing talent is one to watch.

Rating: 3 / 5

Comment on A Drink Before the War by Kittycat

Kittycat — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:34:09 +0000

The previous reviewers have discussed the plot so I won’t get too involved with that, other than to say the book is about an Irish-American private investigator, Patrick Kenzie and his sidekick Angie. They are given the job of locating a woman who had apparently stolen government documents, but they discover that the task is not as straight-forward as they are led to believe. The plot is fine (a little unbelievable at times, the PI’s tend to go from shoot-out to shoot-out with not much breathing space in between). What I found annoying was that the author was determined to keep reminding us of how hip Patrick and Angie were. And unless you lived in 1980’s America, some of the references will be lost on the reader. For instance, we know Patrick shopped for clothes at Eddie Bauer and Banana Republic. Angie shopped at Bonwit Teller and The Limited. They drink “cool” labels of beer. Their slapstick dialogue is slightly corny, and they are almost stereotypes of themselves. Patrick is young, hip, drives a Porsche, lives in an old church, wears cool clothes. Angie is young, impossibly beautiful, incredibly smart, is an amazing shot, is extremely witty, all men lust after her. I was a little sick of them both in the end. Oddly, Bubba, the anti-social psychopath gun-runner, was the character I wanted to read more about!

I get the impression that the author was quite young when he wrote this book. I would imagine that with age, his books won’t try to impress the reader so much with how hip everyone is. I don’t regret reading it, it did have some good moments, for instance, the author kept me gripped during the chase through the old tenement district. And his portrayal of the lives of some of Boston’s poorest citizens was quite harrowing. So only 3-stars from me, a little less corny dialogue and less of the hip talk, it would have been 4-stars.
Rating: 3 / 5

Comment on A Drink Before the War by noggy1810

noggy1810 — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:56:03 +0000

Having recently read the reviews for Dennis Lehane’s books here I thought I had discovered my next “favorite author”. I will give his next book in the series a go but I found this book to be a bit of a let down. The principle characters are fine but the plot is a bit ridiculous (PI’s shooting up half of Boston). Attacks and shootouts are poorly described and in places you have to reread to make sense of it. Don’t see what the fuss is about, yet.
Rating: 3 / 5

Comment on A Drink Before the War by Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:46:13 +0000

Sorry, I thought this was a very poor effort. The most grating thing is that it tries much too hard to be funny. But I also thought it was unoriginal and dull in its plot and characters – I got half way through and was so bored I gave up on it, which is very rare for me. I think Mr L would like to be Robert B Parker, but he doesn’t get within shouting distance here.

I’ll try one more, just in case he gets better in later books. But I was very disappointed.
Rating: 1 / 5

Comment on The Original VW Camper Cookbook: 80 Tasty Recipes Specially Composed for Cooking in a Camper: 1 by Agnes Chapman

Agnes Chapman — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:03:58 +0000

My husband and I go caravanning regularly we have found the camping recipes excellent with very little thought you can change the basic recipe into something else and it can become a little “posher” they are two of the best books that I have used I would certainly use them at home as well for speed when you are in a hurry.The Original VW Camper Cookbook: 80 Tasty Recipes Specially Composed for Cooking in a Camper: 1
Rating: 5 / 5

Comment on The Original VW Camper Cookbook: 80 Tasty Recipes Specially Composed for Cooking in a Camper: 1 by RC Islander

RC Islander — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:12:20 +0000

Have you ever been camping and wondered why you see so many people scratching their heads and peering onto your plate while you’re trying to eat your supper, obviously wondering why their dried up lettuce leaves on a bed of stale cheese doesn’t look nor smell as appetising as what you are about to devour? Me either till i bought this book! Ever since I took delivery of the VW Camper cookbook i’m getting constantly peered at and spied upon when stepping out of my van with my plate of delicious genuine VW Camper nosh and settling down with a smile as broad as the amazon (the river, not the purveyors of fine gifts) into my favourite fold-up chair, and drooling like a Bulldog. And you don’t even need to own a VW Camper to own the book; mine’s a Mazda Bongo! So if you enjoy scrummalicious food and like the idea of cooking it in a wendy house on wheels then this book is for you, but if you don’t want to be stared at and drooled over by envious onlookers and you don’t have any 8-foot tall wind-breaks to knock up around your pitch, then still buy it but only use it whilst camping on top of Ben Nevis on christmas day.
Rating: 5 / 5

Comment on The Original VW Camper Cookbook: 80 Tasty Recipes Specially Composed for Cooking in a Camper: 1 by Farlowe

Farlowe — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:06:00 +0000

Handy book for the camper van. Not so good if you don’t like avocado as there are a few recipes with these in. One or two recipes,need a very large pan. The sauce recipes are very easy to make with a double page spread with illustrations.

Overall a lovely illustrated book with some appetizing simple recipes.
Rating: 4 / 5

Comment on The Original VW Camper Cookbook: 80 Tasty Recipes Specially Composed for Cooking in a Camper: 1 by Mr. Aj Smith

Mr. Aj Smith — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:05:55 +0000

what a fantastic book! we haven’t actually tried any of the recipes yet but the pictures of the vans (and locations) are fabulous (and are well worth the money themselves). i, but not my trousers, am looking forward to the chocolate cake!
Rating: 4 / 5

Comment on Schott’s Food and Drink Miscellany by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:24:44 +0000

A great little book of useless (and some useful) facts – from how to make 21 different cocktails, how to say cheers in 32 languages and the history of Captain Birdseye.
Rating: 4 / 5