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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
This is a unique mystery/science fiction book. I absolutely loved it. The characters had depth, and plot took alot of imagination. I always look forward to reading Mr. Goldberg's books.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
This was one weird story! I had never read anything from Lee Goldberg before but have seen several episodes of a few of his tv shows. I hope he has plans on writing a series around Beth McDade and/or Calico. Beth is just likeable and interesting enough to be a good MC and Calico is just weird and creepy enough to be a good setting for a series. What do I know though, I’m neither a writer nor a publisher. I’m just an avid reader who would read a sequel or second installment on either Beth McDade or Calico.
The story starts out in Feb2019 and the book summary pretty much introduces a few of the storylines. One being Beth’s banishment to the only CA law enforcement agency (Barstow Sheriff Dept) that would hire her after the scandal back at the LAPD over her affair with a subordinate. The other one being the disappearance of a well-known LA chef/influencer/podcaster, named Owen, last seen at the local gas station, at 2am a couple of nights ago, coming home from Vegas.
As a former Angeleno, I can confirm that Barstow is nothing more than a pitstop on the Mohave Desert highway from LA to Vegas. It’s claim to fame being the famed Route 66 museum. It’s a town whose residents are pretty evenly split between a horde of tweakers, gangbangers, sex workers and the first responder personnel (police dept, sheriffs dept, EMT’s, and CHP) that covers the area. There’s also a Marine base there in Barstow, where even most of the first responders and service members who work in Barstow would rather commute from Victorville than live in Barstow.
Anyway, Beth’s former LAPD subordinate/lover, Trent, alerts Beth to the disappearance of Owen and asks for her help in finding him. At the same time, it’s revealed that the homeless man, as well as the clothes that he was wearing, were more than 100yrs old. Then Owen’s skeleton was found by a crew on a local construction site. It was determined that he had been dead for more than a 100yrs. Ok, that’s when the bizarre and creepy takes over. The story flips back between present-day and the past. None of this is a spoiler since it takes place in the first 15-20% of the story. Without getting into any big spoiler alerts, I will say that this is a time-travel story, and a pretty good one in my opinion.
This was one that was hard to put down and a very late night finishing it because I simply could not go to sleep until I knew how it ended. Not sure if anyone else felt this, but did it seem like the ending was a lead-in to a sequel or a second installment? Please, please, please, Mr Goldberg, let there be more Beth McDade and Calico. PLEEEAAASSSEEE!!!!! I want to thank NetGalley and Severn House for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #SevernHouse #Calico
The story starts out in Feb2019 and the book summary pretty much introduces a few of the storylines. One being Beth’s banishment to the only CA law enforcement agency (Barstow Sheriff Dept) that would hire her after the scandal back at the LAPD over her affair with a subordinate. The other one being the disappearance of a well-known LA chef/influencer/podcaster, named Owen, last seen at the local gas station, at 2am a couple of nights ago, coming home from Vegas.
As a former Angeleno, I can confirm that Barstow is nothing more than a pitstop on the Mohave Desert highway from LA to Vegas. It’s claim to fame being the famed Route 66 museum. It’s a town whose residents are pretty evenly split between a horde of tweakers, gangbangers, sex workers and the first responder personnel (police dept, sheriffs dept, EMT’s, and CHP) that covers the area. There’s also a Marine base there in Barstow, where even most of the first responders and service members who work in Barstow would rather commute from Victorville than live in Barstow.
Anyway, Beth’s former LAPD subordinate/lover, Trent, alerts Beth to the disappearance of Owen and asks for her help in finding him. At the same time, it’s revealed that the homeless man, as well as the clothes that he was wearing, were more than 100yrs old. Then Owen’s skeleton was found by a crew on a local construction site. It was determined that he had been dead for more than a 100yrs. Ok, that’s when the bizarre and creepy takes over. The story flips back between present-day and the past. None of this is a spoiler since it takes place in the first 15-20% of the story. Without getting into any big spoiler alerts, I will say that this is a time-travel story, and a pretty good one in my opinion.
This was one that was hard to put down and a very late night finishing it because I simply could not go to sleep until I knew how it ended. Not sure if anyone else felt this, but did it seem like the ending was a lead-in to a sequel or a second installment? Please, please, please, Mr Goldberg, let there be more Beth McDade and Calico. PLEEEAAASSSEEE!!!!! I want to thank NetGalley and Severn House for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #SevernHouse #Calico
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Lee Goldberg is the prolific author of a number of long running crime series and also responsible for a number of TV shows including Monk and Diagnosis Murder. In Calico he tries out a bit of a genre mash. There is definitely a crime procedural element here. But Calico is also a bit of a western and a bit of a science fiction novel aswell. While disbelief needs to be well and truly suspended, Goldberg has the chops to deliver engaging characters and an enjoyable ride.
Ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade is doing her time as an investigator in the sleepy town of Barstow California. Nearby Barstow are two army bases and the replica mining town of Calico, a reconstructed tourist attraction based on the actual town that flourished during a silver rush in the 1880s. Beth’s world is shaken up when a man is run over by an RV outside a diner near Calico. The man’s antique clothing and appearance is not the only strange thing to happen on the same night which also includes another man going missing. McDade starts to find details about the two cases that do not add up, including an interest of the military. At the same time, and for reasons that connect to McDade’s investigation, Goldberg takes readers to Calico during its boom years. He, of course, includes a bit of lampshading of other books and movies that have used a similar conceit and has fun with the idea of alien conspiracy theories along the way.
The trick with Calico is not to think too deeply about it. Goldberg has delivered pure, escapist, speculative fiction deftly anchored by some standard crime genre conventions.
Ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade is doing her time as an investigator in the sleepy town of Barstow California. Nearby Barstow are two army bases and the replica mining town of Calico, a reconstructed tourist attraction based on the actual town that flourished during a silver rush in the 1880s. Beth’s world is shaken up when a man is run over by an RV outside a diner near Calico. The man’s antique clothing and appearance is not the only strange thing to happen on the same night which also includes another man going missing. McDade starts to find details about the two cases that do not add up, including an interest of the military. At the same time, and for reasons that connect to McDade’s investigation, Goldberg takes readers to Calico during its boom years. He, of course, includes a bit of lampshading of other books and movies that have used a similar conceit and has fun with the idea of alien conspiracy theories along the way.
The trick with Calico is not to think too deeply about it. Goldberg has delivered pure, escapist, speculative fiction deftly anchored by some standard crime genre conventions.
A wonderful mix of crime procedural, western and time-travelling scifi. The story is compelling and successfully manages to entertain you, amuse you and even make you think. The plot is well-thought, characters are fleshed out and you're constantly wondering what will happen next. A 2023 favorite, no doubt.
Wow, what a wild ride this one was and in two dimensions. Calico by Lee Goldberg is as usually well written but he took me by surprise with this great story of travel. It was not what I expected and at first I was a little doubtful but it turned out to be a rivetting story that I had trouble putting down. Such a well researched story and wonderful characters and the story, the story is intruiging to put it mildly. I haven't read everything by this author but so far everything I have read is great. I highly recommend that you try this book when it's out in stores in early November. I give a big thank you to Severn House and also Netgalley for letting me read this advance copy.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced