The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak provides an interesting look at the advent of young computer programmers in the 1980's. Adolescents who were not only fascinated by computers and games, but strongly predisposed to find beauty in writing code.
Fourteen-year-old Billy Marvin has two main interests: 1) writing programs for his own games, and 2) (along with his buddies Alf and Clark) getting hold of the latest Playboy Magazine with Vanna White as the centerfold.
The boys are often amusing with their 1980's teenage angst, and because they are not old enough to buy a copy of the Vanna White issue, concoct a number of elaborate and doomed-to-failure plans to get a copy of the coveted magazine.
As various schemes fail or are discarded, the boys grow more desperate, and a plan evolves in which Billy is to seduce Mary Zelinsky, whose father owns the shop that sells the magazine. The idea is to get the security code from Mary so the boys can get into the shop, grab the magazine, and leave enough money to pay for it.
Mary is an even more accomplished novice programmer than Billy, and his real mission is to get Mary to help him with a game he wants to develop. His agreement with the seduction plan is motivated by the contest Mary has told him about--the best game could win a prize from an admired game designer and possibly a future in programming.
While the premise has many great opportunities, ultimately, I found The Impossible Fortress deviated into something I didn't much care for. The heist, when it finally happened, almost prevented me from finishing the book.
My final assessment: there are amusing portions at the beginning, but the characters failed to make me truly like or care about them and the plot felt hollow.
Maybe I was expecting too much.
Read in November; blog review scheduled for Jan. 21, 2017.
NetGalley/Simon & Schuster
YA. Feb. 7, 2017. Print length: 304 pages.
Behind Her Eyes is a suspenseful and twisty novel that kept me off balance trying to come to grips with the characters.
Louise, David, and Adele form a strange triangle that works in different ways. Louise, a single mom, has an almost fling with a man she meets in a bar. The next day, she discovers that the man in the bar is her new boss. David is married to Adele and the marriage is complicated to say the least. (A whole lot of controlling goin' on.) Adele and Louise bump into each other on the street and form a friendship. Oops.
A triangle of dumb, and dumber, and wicked. Difficult to tell at times who is dumb and who is wicked as the perspectives change from chapter to chapter. What a stew of dangerous emotions.
It's one of those novels that is hard to put down, that keeps moving from one pov to another and from past to present, with a some "OMG-- you are so dense!" moments, a bit of astral projection, and a twist that you are only gradually prepared for at the end.
So...few people will be able to put it down because the need to know is so strong. Some will be pleased with the twist at the end, admiring the author's manipulation of the narrative to keep the reader curious and uncertain. Unsympathetic characters; twisted relationships; a necessary supernatural element to make the novel work. Shades of Edgar Cayce.
NetGalley/Flatiron Books
Mystery/Psychological? Jan. 31, 2017. Print length: 320 pages.
Shadow Play by Iris Johansen
I read one of this series featuring Eve Duncan some years ago. Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor who focuses on the reconstruction of the skulls of lost children, and I liked the idea of knowing more about this kind of reconstructive sculpting. I don't remember which book or when I read it, but the first one was published in 1998. For some reason, the book fell short for me, and this is the first book I've read by Johansen since then.
When the newest in the series was offered on NetGalley, I decided to give it another chance.
Plot: Eve is pressured by a dedicated sheriff into accepting the skull of a child for reconstruction and moving it ahead of other projects. I have to admit that, in spite of the things that bothered me, I was involved with the story.
While Shadow Play did engage me (because I wanted to know the circumstances of Jenny's murder), my opinion changed only a little from the other book I read years ago. Eve is more likable, but still not very believable. Joe Quinn is too perfect, and at every opportunity the author reminds us that he is a former Navy Seal. Once was enough; the way "Seal" worked its way into so many conversations became the equivalent of an earworm. Eve and Joe love each other. Again, over referenced. Actions are often enough and repeatedly informing the reader of the depth of their love--unnecessary. The voice of Jenny, the nine-year-old (who has evidently matured remarkably in the eight years since her death) never felt genuine. I was OK with the other-worldly communication, but wish Jenny had actually sounded like a child. Never figured out how they knew the child was nine-years-old and had been buried eight years ago so quickly.
A readable mystery, but not the kind I most enjoy.
NetGalley/St. Martin's Press
Mystery/Paranormal. Sept. 9, 2015. Print length: 336 pages.
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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
I was late to this one, but was not disappointed! I skimmed the many reviews available when it first came out, planning to read it eventually. By the time I actually got around to it, all that remained in my mind was computer game/treasure hunt, so I was able to read without any real knowledge of events to come.
In the near future, the world is a grim and unforgiving place where poverty abounds. OASIS, a virtual world of remarkable detail, offers an escape from the dreary reality they face each day.
When James Halliday (one of the creators of OASIS) dies, his will sets off a huge treasure hunt. Halliday's entire fortune (billions) will go to the individual who unlocks all the keys to the puzzle he leaves and discovers the Easter Egg (a secret message or item) hidden somewhere in the OASIS multi-verse. For the first five years, no one makes the scoreboard, but then Wade Watts' avatar Parzival finds the first of three keys and opens the first of three gates...and the world goes wild. As does the competition.
The fanboy aspect and the fascination with 80's films, books, music, etc. play into this novel in a huge way. The amount of 80's trivia is almost inexhaustible and will appeal to some more than others, but for those in the competition, the hope for success lies in having an encyclopedic knowledge of Halliday's 80's fascination.
There are some places where the pace slows and some of the detailed information is more enjoyable for geeks than for a novice like myself, but overall, I was fascinated by the book and the characters and had a great (and suspenseful) time reading it!
Purchased.
Scifi/Dystopian/Adventure. 2011. Print length: 368 pages.
Behind Her Eyes is a suspenseful and twisty novel that kept me off balance trying to come to grips with the characters. 
