Review of “Death of the Planet of the Apes” by Andrew E.C. Gaska

Okay people, I know that most people are not quite as interested in the “Planet of the Apes” universe as I would be so if you didn’t like to the films you are not going to like this. However, if you did like, would you like this novel?

First off, this novel is only partially original. It does cover what happened to Taylor in between two of the films and that is the new part, along with extra stories from the apes. But quite a lot of it is reading what you already know from the films. This makes the first one hundred pages quite laborious to read. There is also the fact that the world will be destroyed at the end, somewhat of a downer to say the least. It’s hard to care about what happens to the apes when you know it’s all pretty pointless as they are all about to die apart from Zira and Cornelius. This is covered in one of the films.

It does clarify that the earth destroying bomb was made when mankind was in the ascendancy and that even the mutant humans didn’t realize they were destroying the planet. As this is fantasy, one must suspend disbelief. The fact that the creation of such a bomb is improbable and who would really build it? Even during the Cold War, there came an upper size limit to the bombs as they became too heavy to transport and so large that they endangered the planes that dropped them.

Also it’s still not explained how humans ended up with faster than light travel during the sixties on the one hand while still celebrating the moon landing on the other.

But, the novel does have many good points. It expands the ape civilization and intriguingly reveals that the upper echelons of ape society knew that humans originally had the upper hand and had a penchant for self destruction. It now makes more sense that they were intent on killing them rather than enslaving them.

I’m still not sure where the White Ones came from though!

Overall, I’d give this novel 3 stars out of five.

Going to start reading my next novel “Of mice and men” later today. It’s nowhere near as long as this behemoth, so my next review should be in a week or so.

Have a few short stories in my mind now too.

Hope all my readers are keeping safe and well.

Review of “The Tomorrow War”

What a beautiful day it is today. Maybe it’s just the fact that I am on my holidays and yes, it does feel good. So, what better way to start them than to watch a film. And if it is to be a film then something with lots of death to keep me in my cheery mood. “The Tomorrow War” was the perfect film for the perfect morning.

The premise is that there is an alien invasion. Always good. Who doesn’t like to see mangled bodies and cities in ruins? It’s a little bit different here in that the invasion occurs thirty years from now and people are being recruited in more or less the present day to go fight in it. It does its best to clear up some paradoxes. You can only go if you have since died, for instance.

In between the action and gore, there is also the heart warming story of the love of a father for his daughter. It’s okay though, it just about avoids getting to the sick bucket stage where your finger is itching to change the channel.

The aliens are never given their opportunity to explain their side of things. They just like to eat and reproduce, doesn’t sound too bad to me either.

The film ends on a positive note, which I suppose is good. Maybe it’s all the horrors I’m watching but an ending where everybody dies is generally more satisfying. Apparently, that is a bit “disturbing” according to my Mum.

This film gets four stars out of five on the markometer.

The film is available only on Amazon Prime. That makes it even better, like I was specially chosen to watch it.

Another film to watch is “The Ice Road” starring Liam Neeson. If you like “Ice Road Truckers” you’ll love this. After a mine explosion, the only hope hope for trapped miners is heavy equipment that must be driven on a “Ice Road” or a river that has frozen over. I found the characters likeable and it proved more action packed than I had at first anticipated.

Four stars out of five once again.

A Most Unusual Murder – Part V

Nobody saw the early morning raid coming, least of all Thomas Ahern. He looked ahead into vacant space dumbfounded as a Garda informed him of his rights. Detective O’Callaghan had made a special effort to get up during the night, to be there in the early morning. He always like to saver the moment of justice.

It had all boiled down to money. Well. cryptocurrencies in this instance. McMahon’s bank statements showed him what he needed to know. As O’Callaghan watched the youngest Ahern being put in the squad car, he wondered what had driven someone with so much ahead of him to such a heinous act.

Then a tall, heavy set man approached O’Callaghan. He had an appearance of another Ahern and it didn’t taken him long to identify himself as Brian Ahern.

“What did he do now?”

“The murder of Ray McMahon.”

“Ah no Tom, why?”

That was a question O’Callaghan also wanted answered and he got his opportunity later that day to ask it. It was in the interrogation room of the local Garda Station. It was a plain room with blue walls and a table at its centre. To O’Callaghan it was just perfect. He could look the killer straight in the eye.

“We have everything we need Thomas, you are going down. What happened? You are a smart guy, you must have known you had left a trail behind you. Why?”

The pretty lawyer gestured for him not to respond but he ignored her and began to speak through his sobbing .

“It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Marks’s party, that’s where it all started. I was drunk, we all were. I started talking about how easy it was to make money with cryptos. A few days later, Ray rang out of the blue, said he wanted to invest. That he didn’t want to have to work for that Mark fucker till the end of his days. At first, I said no but he insisted.

We were making good profits and he kept on getting in deeper and deeper. Then a few months ago, the coin I had invested everything in collapsed. He couldn’t understand, he threatened to go to the cops or worse kill me. I panicked and went for the only solution I could think of. I knew when he would be out of the house, all I had to do was ask Mark some questions about which was scheduled to be with him. Then, I sneaked into his house while he was on duty and put some arsenic in his breakfast cereal.”

O’Callaghan had heard enough and rolled out of the room. The local cops could finish this off. He had other work to catch up on and other victims that deserved justice.

A most Unusual Murder Part IV

O’Callaghan was in his office and looking at the bank statements with glee. Finally, there was something that he could sink his teeth into. There were large monthly payments going into the victim’s account from overseas up until recently. It was the kind of wealth O’Callaghan could only dream of. However, it seemed to be draining from his account just as fast, like he was a conduit. Then, he salivated at the thought of a major bust of a drug or sex trafficking ring.

He rang Mel Linn and asked for an update in his office.

“No enemies, sir”

Nothing could hide her shock when he showed her the statements.

“Come on, Mel Linn. No enemies. This McMahon was in the army for years. He was a trained killer. The people of Mullingar are taking you for a ride. You need to dig deeper! We’ll have more information about the originator account within a few hours”

With that, she left his office slamming the door behind her. He knew what he was doing. She was too content, gone too soft. Ever since she met lover boy, O’Callaghan wanted the tigress back.

(Some time later)

Mel Linn was just about to head home after what had been another exhausting day when she heard the buzzing sound of her mobile phone. It was O’Callaghan. The last person she’d want to hear from at this hour but she knew it would be important.

There were no niceties.

“Thomas Ahern, who is he? Anything to do with that fella in the chair?”

She immediately recognized the name and took out her blank notebook.

“It’s his youngest brother. “What’s this got to do with him, Sir?”

The response was swift.

“Everything.”

A most Unusual Murder Part III

O’Callaghan tossed and turned in his bed unable to sleep. He always had the odd night like this since his paralysis. He just wasn’t able to get comfortable. He tried to console himself by at least recognizing the extra time it gave him to think.

And there was so much to think about as he lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. On his return to Dublin, he put Mel Linn, one of his best detectives on the case. She was to find out who killed Ray McMahon and why? Of course, he told her of his concerns, that perhaps the Ahern fella had something to do with it. He just wasn’t giving off a good vibe.

Mel Linn had looked at him with incredulity. You think that the guy in the wheelchair bumped off his PA so that he could get a prettier one?

Nevertheless, she got straight on to it with her usual zeal. It only took a few days before she provided her first written update. O’Callaghan had read it a few hours earlier. Mr. Ahern’s new assistant was called Janina. The Centre for Independent Living, her new employers were of great assistance to Mel Linn. Janina is twenty-five years old and from Lithuania. She moved to Ireland just over six months ago. No prior experience in the area but was able to step in when Mr. Ahern had recruitment problems after the murder. She has no criminal record.

“I think you’ve got this one wrong,” Mel Linn had said matter of fact as she handed him the report, “I spoke to her. She didn’t even know Mr. Ahern before the murder and quite frankly, seemed quite amused by the line of questioning. Sir, just because you think she is beautiful doesn’t necessarily mean anything untoward is going on.”

O’Callaghan had perhaps been mistaken. Now everybody who knew this Ray McMahon was to be questioned. What darkness was there in his life?

The next day O’Callaghan would take a different tact. He was in the process of getting permission of the court to view the bank records of the victim. Perhaps, that would throw up something.

Review of “The Englishman” by David Gilman

Hello readers, been some time since I last did a review. Been a busy bee lately. Fortunately, I finished reading this during the week. It is a fast paced unrelenting action thriller, that quite simply never stops. The first few chapters can be somewhat confusing but stick with it.

It brings you from a clandestine war in the depths of Africa to a kidnapping in London and taking on the Russian Mafia (a fearsome and loathsome lot). The main character Raglan is a man of steely determination, of good character and intelligence from The French Foreign Legion. It is a world of lies and deceit, but also of loyalty and honour. He is the Englishman by which the novel gets its name.

Raglans quest for answers ultimately becomes a quest for revenge that brings you to the hell that is a Siberian prison. It comes across as utterly beautiful, but truly terrifying as he finds himself surrounded by monsters in freezing conditions.

The action scenes are exquisitely described, no detail is too small whether its the intricacies of hand to hand combat to what kind of gun is being used. The violence and the scenes of torture are vivid. At its best, you feel right in the heart of the action. It’s a long read though, going from one scene to the next and the character development is sparse. I was never particularly worried that a character may die. The only other notable character is a Moscow agent The sex scenes are good but there is little else from her. This is perhaps where the novel could have been improved.

This novel gets four stars out of five for me. If you like the darker James Bonds films, you’ll probably love this. Actually, it would make a great film. However, if violence and torture is not your thing, then this might not be for you.

A most unusual murder – Part II

O’Callaghan pulled up outside the house of Mr. Ahern, a three bedroom semi detached in a surprisingly quiet cul-de-sac close to the centre of town. There was ample parking space at the front of the house, which made it that much easier for him to transfer from his car to his manual wheelchair.

Then he knocked on the front door. It slowly opened to the sound of an overhead motor. Mr. Ahern was in the hallway in front of him sitting in an electric wheelchair.

“Detective O Callaghan? I wasn’t expecting another person in a wheelchair. You can call me Mark. We should have enough room in the kitchen here behind me.”

O’Callaghan followed him into the kitchen. The internal doors could be pushed open in either direction. The kitchen was quite small but it provided a panoramic view of a long garden.

O’Callaghan decided to start off with some small talk before gradually upping the ante.

“Nice place you have here for yourself. Is it yours?”

“Yes, it is. Living here for over ten years now. It wasn’t as accessible when I first purchased it, it took quite a bit of work. Do you want to make yourself a cup of tea?”

“No, I’m fine thanks. Awful thing to happen to your PA, I think they call it?”

“It’s shocking and he was such a nice guy. He worked for me each morning. Always showed up on time, would do anything asked of him. A true gent. He’ll be missed.”

O’Callaghan listened and watched carefully. There was indeed sadness in the voice he heard, but not the emotional toil of someone convulsed in grief.

“Did he have any enemies, this Ray McMahon? He was in the Army, did he talk about it often?”

“No, I can’t imagine him having any real enemies. He was a kind soul. Do you think it was someone from his past?”

“Nothing can be ruled out at this point. Look thanks for your time.”

With that, O’Callaghan left. He still wasn’t quite sure what to make of the Ahern fella. Was he a wolf in sheep’s clothing? There was something else strange. A smell of perfume. Somebody else had been in the house a few minutes beforehand.

Instead of heading straight back, he pulled up at the end of the street.

“So that’s why the fucker isn’t overly upset.”

A tall, busty long legged woman with short black hair walked into the Ahern residence.

O’Callaghan had his first sniff of a suspect.

A Most Unusual Murder – Part 1

Detective O’Callaghan sipped from his whiskey in what he once affectionately termed his “home office.” Now, it seemed more like incarceration. For the previous few nights, he had been studying the different documentation from “The Happyface Killings.” It was proving as difficult as ever to make sense of, and the pressure was building, His behavioural unit needed to be able to show results to justify its existence and this was the biggest case since “The Irish Ripper”. But it appeared that a concrete wall had been reached.

Therefore, he had decided that tonight he would look through some of the other cases that had been referred from across the country over the last few weeks and that he had cleverly left strewn across his desk. The first was a rape case and then a murder over drugs. Neither were the types of cases that he felt his and his department could make a discernible difference in.

Then, he read a file that piqued his interest, it was about a suspicious death in the town of Mullingar. Whatever, it was about that town and its cesspool of criminality O’Callaghan would never understand. It was a man who was in his fifties, who died a few hours after returning from work as a Personal Assistant to a man with disabilities. He had been poisoned and died an agonizing death.

The local Gardai were struggling to find a suspect and were still unsure what poison had even been used. It sounded like something O’Callaghan could dig his teeth into, and just as importantly give the Department some good publicity. There was something odd about it though. He wrote down some of the key details about the case and put them in his shirt pocket. He turned off the lamp and rolled his wheelchair towards what would be an empty bed.

O’Callaghan woke up late. There was still no sign of his wife. They were after having a furious row the week before, but he knew that she would be back at some point. Then he would try to make amends. He took out the notes from the night before and rang the telephone number of the last person to see the victim alive.

It took some time for the phone to answering .

“Hello this is Detective O’Callaghan from the Behavioral Section. I’m looking to speak to a Mr. Ahern.”

“Sorry, from where er.”

The sound was distant as if he was speaking on a loudspeaker. Then O’Callaghan remembered that he was speaking to someone with a disability, perhaps they couldn’t hold up the phone. He repeated what he had said previously.

“Yeah, sorry this is Mr. Ahern. This must be about what happened to Ray. It’s terrible. But, I’ve said everything I know.”

“Are you at home today, I won’t be long I promise?”

With that, O’Callaghan had booked himself a meeting. Mullingar was an hour away, there was no time to waste. He just had a quick call to make to the office that he wouldn’t be in for the rest of the day.

The Godfather (comedy)

So, later today and all going well, I’m going to become a Godfather for the very first time. Like everything I do, this is something that I will take very seriously. Like, I’m even going to wear a tie and everything. To get me in to the right frame of mind I watched all three of “The Godfather” films. It took many hours but it was the right thing to do. I’m sure the parents are going to be very impressed with me.

Now, I finally understand why you become a Godfather in the Church. It’s part of the circle of life and death, so you don’t feel bad when your at the funerals of people you ordered to be killed Life really is simple sometimes.

Oh there is so much for me to do. Build a criminal empire, make lots of enemies (not a problem). Maybe, I can sell smokes to the kids down the road.

If the kid ever asks why are you my godfather? I’ll respond –

“Just When I Think I’m Out, They Pull Me Back In”

Maybe someday, if he really wants my advice about cooking I can tell him –

“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

Oh yes, I am now a fountain of knowledge.

If other kids starts bullying him –

“Take The Gun, Leave The Cannoli”

When he makes new friends at kindergarten –

“A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults.”

If he asks me a difficult question like where do babies come from or where’s the nearest toilet? –

There are negotiations being made that are going to answer all of your questions and solve all of your problems. That’s all I can tell you right now.

If he’s Mammy puts him in the naughty corner –

It’s a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.

When he’s not allowed watch more tv –

“Don’t let anybody kid you. It’s all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of shit every man has to eat every day of his life is personal. They call it business. OK. But it’s personal as hell. You know where I learned that from? The Don. My old man. The Godfather. If a bolt of lightning hit a friend of his the old man would take it personal. He took my going into the Marines personal. That’s what makes him great. The Great Don. He takes everything personal Like God. He knows every feather that falls from the tail of a sparrow or however the hell it goes? Right?

If he is wondering what job he’d like when he’s older –

“Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.” Or maybe –

“The lawyer with the briefcase can steal more money than the man with the gun.”

When he wonders what he can do for me –

“Some Day, And That Day May Never Come, I Will Call Upon You To Do A Service For Me.”

If he ever tries to beat my fortnite high score –

What you think this is the army where you shoot them a mile away, you got to get them close like this and Bada-Bing! You blow your brains over your nice Ivy League suit.

Oh yes, I’m going to be a great Godfather.

Review of “Being Heumann: An unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist” by Judith Heumann, Kristen Joiner

Hello readers, I had intended this post to be a review of a different book, but once I started reading this, I simply couldn’t stop. I first heard of Judith Heumann on a Netflix show called “Crip Camp” which was about the freedom a group of people with disabilities in their teens experienced in an annual camp they would go on. They would get to choose themselves what clothes they wanted to wear, what they wanted to eat and got an opportunity for sexual experiences. This was during the sixties, when their lives at home were very stifled. Importantly key friendships were formed that would later play a key role in the disability rights movement in the US. The camp is mentioned in the book, but it only takes up a few pages.

Heumann was affected by polio from a very early age, leaving her with limited use of her arms and legs. Her fight for anything even approaching equality started at an early age. The doctor told her parents that they should institutionalize her. But having fled the Nazis, this was not something they would let happen. None of the local schools would accept her, with one calling her a “fire hazard”. A regular blocking tactic used against those with disabilities. But, she had a strong advocate in her mother, who eventually managed to get her into a special school at the age of nine. Fortunately, her mother had been teaching her prior to that so had not fallen behind the curve.

From this inauspicious start, she goes on to become one of the most influential disability rights activists in US history fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.

As regards her activism, there are two things she is best remembered for. One is for suing the New York school system based on them refusing to give her a teacher’s license due to her disability and the second is for the role she played in the 1977 Section 504 sit in of Federal Buildings. Section 504 more or less outlawed organizations that received federal funding from discriminating on the grounds of disability. However, the Government were slow to enact the law leading to the sit in. It was the longest takeover of a government building in history. Of course, it wasn’t plain sailing and this was probably the most interesting part of the book as a complex game of strategy and intrigue played out.

The passing of Section 504, was an important precedent of the later American with Disabilities Act whose consequences reverberated around the world leading to many other countries following suit.

An important insight is also provided into the early beginnings of the CIL movement, not only through her own struggles, but also the different roles she played in Berkeley where it all began. She also documents trying to spread the movement internationally, something that has benefited many people with disabilities in Ireland.

Heumann is the type of woman, the movement as a whole was very luck to have. Steely, driven with a supreme intellect I can’t shake the feeling she underplayed her role in important events.

The only drawback to this memoir is that at times it is too heavy on facts and lacks a more personal touch. Her romantic relationships are barely covered and truly intimate details are rarely disclosed. The price is also steep, having paid twelve euro for an electronic version. It’s way too high.

Overall, I’d give this book four stars out of five. But try to get it in the library.