A Good Thriller discussion

This thread is where you can chat about all things PIFM, ask questions and once books have been read, review your selected reads. A complete free for all.

PLEASE NOTE:

PIFM is meant to be FUN and not to be taken seriously. I would appreciate it if all participants just chilled and not get worked up about voting, who votes, who doesn't, etc. Please bear in mind that some will just want to vote, many don't come on everyday and most of us have time constraints. I just want a relaxed approach to it all and for you all to just enjoy the process! I'd really appreciate your courtesy in this matter. Many thanks.

Thanks, Janet! Hope everyone is having a great Spring. Ours has been very unpredictable (and too darn windy!)

Kirsten wrote: "Thanks, Janet! Hope everyone is having a great Spring. Ours has been very unpredictable (and too darn windy!)"

The same in Germany. This week we had a day with 4°C/0°C (~40F/32F) and in a couple of days they expect 21°C/14°C (~70F/57F) to go down to 9°C/4°C (48F/40F) over Easter.
Last weekend people were forbidden to go into woods to prevent unnecessary deaths by falling trees. At least it's not raining today :-D

I wasn't aware Jack Higgins died yesterday. I'm so glad you let me know and now I have to let my father know (from whom I have the book and who's actually the fan in our family). For me Solo will be the first of Higgins' books (as far as I know - with the many pen names he has I can't be sure though but will check sometime.)

Now it's snowing! In April!! Its not supposed to snow in April!!

Kirsten wrote: "Now it's snowing! In April!! Its not supposed to snow in April!!"

Depends where you live. In Germany it's quite common even if rarely welcome. I hope you still have good time and can snuggle somewhere warm with your favorite drink and a nice book.

Kirsten wrote: "Now it's snowing! In April!! Its not supposed to snow in April!!"

Snowed where I am just as we were starting to play tennis on Saturday afternoon:- and an hour later brilliant sunshine.

I can't believe that it was 80 yesterday and today it is raining. It is good for our new little orchard trees. 2 peach, 2 pear and 2 apple. Too bad they won't produce for another year or 2.

Patricia wrote: "I can't believe that it was 80 yesterday and today it is raining. It is good for our new little orchard trees. 2 peach, 2 pear and 2 apple. Too bad they won't produce for another year or 2."

An orchard is so cool. I loved all the time I spend in my grandmother's orchard - even all the work during the harvest.

Happy Birthday, Sophie!

Patricia wrote: "I can't believe that it was 80 yesterday and today it is raining. It is good for our new little orchard trees. 2 peach, 2 pear and 2 apple. Too bad they won't produce for another year or 2."

We only have the 1 apricot tree, but it is such a joy every year when it blooms

I love apricots. We have now added a fig and a nectarine.

Sophie, Happy Birthday.........

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE!

Many happy returns Sophie!

I am late but added my list for May. Please vote if you can!

Thank you all for the birthday messages. It was a little different to normal as my whole family had Covid and my daughter had chickenpox but the sun shone and I was able to work on my tan whilst eating chocolate so it wasn't a total bust! haha

Dana, I will certainly let you know what I think of The Duke and I. My friends and I all binged season 2 on Netflix a few weeks ago so I am in need of a bit more of a Bridgerton fix in some way!

Sophie wrote: "Thank you all for the birthday messages. It was a little different to normal as my whole family had Covid and my daughter had chickenpox but the sun shone and I was able to work on my tan whilst ea..."

Oh bummer. I hope your family is well again.

Sophie wrote: "Thank you all for the birthday messages. It was a little different to normal as my whole family had Covid and my daughter had chickenpox but the sun shone and I was able to work on my tan whilst ea..."

Oh no Sophie that sucks! Hope they are all okay now. I like your perspective though.

I just finished too! And was wondering if I should try the books. I just don't want too much romance, as it's not my thing. So let me know how they compare :)

My current book is going slower than expected (don't think I'll finish it this month) but wanted to share with you the title of the first part: Pride and Extreme Prejudice *grins* - no connection or similarities to the great classic (so far?) but made my day anyway.

Dana wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Thank you all for the birthday messages. It was a little different to normal as my whole family had Covid and my daughter had chickenpox but the sun shone and I was able to work on m..."

If you dont' want romance, why were you watching Bridgerton? It's a romance tv show based on historical romances.

Kirsten wrote: "If you dont' want romance, why were you watching Bridgerton? It's a romance tv show based on historical romances."

But there's romance and romance. I'm no fan of the 'plain' romance as I call it, but love romantic suspense, romcoms or (humorous) cozy-mysteries with romance in it.
I have the impression some of the readers of historical fiction often appreciate all the intrigue around the characters much more than the actual romantic parts. Additionally some of the historical romances have so much information about the time period and circumstances of the characters/nation packed into it the romance appears of secondary importance.

I suppose. But, it just seems such a blanket statement. Usually puts my hackles up.

Kirsten wrote: "I suppose. But, it just seems such a blanket statement. Usually puts my hackles up."

I can understnad that sentiment very much.
Tough after I stepped into a few situations that ended up with a lot of hurt feelings I try now to see if there's another possibility to understand messages than the first and most obvious to me. It got a bit better but miscommunication still happens way too often for my taste.

You are so right, Agnieszka. I am unfortunately a sarcastic person, and I have to be careful since sarcasm is very hard to convey in text.

Dana wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Thank you all for the birthday messages. It was a little different to normal as my whole family had Covid and my daughter had chickenpox but the sun shone and I was able to work on m..."

Everyone is back to being fit and well again thank you, and we're having a family BBQ next Saturday to make up for the fact everyone was unwell over Easter weekend. We have another long weekend as 2nd May is a public holiday so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more fabulous weather!

I finished the first Bridgerton book over the weekend. There's definitely no getting away from it being a romance (as I'm sure you can probably imagine) lol. The book focusses exclusively on Daphne and Simon - the only other characters to have more than a brief mention are Anthony, Lady Bridgerton and Colin but all of their interactions are directly with Daphne and/or Simon. For that reason it was a pretty quick read and very one-track because it didn't have any of the side stories with Penelope, Eloise, Queen Charlotte etc.

I have to say that I think I preferred the TV show personally (which almost never happens!).

Kirsten wrote: "You are so right, Agnieszka. I am unfortunately a sarcastic person, and I have to be careful since sarcasm is very hard to convey in text."

Oh yeah. I already noticed it.

Sophie wrote: "Dana wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Thank you all for the birthday messages. It was a little different to normal as my whole family had Covid and my daughter had chickenpox but the sun shone and I was able..."

So glad you're all better.
I love your new picture!

The only times I've liked movies/TV shows better were novelizations (books written based on a movie - October Baby & another one I can't remember anymore) or as additional feature to a TV show (Veronica Mars). Other than that I can understand your feelings very well.

Kirsten wrote: "You are so right, Agnieszka. I am unfortunately a sarcastic person, and I have to be careful since sarcasm is very hard to convey in text."

Kirsten - I understand why a blanket statement like that doesn't make sense. And I somewhat disagree that the show is romance - I considered it more "Gossip Girl" meets Downtown Abbey maybe? Literally everything has romance in it, I just don't care for things that are too heavy on it. And I didn't find it was.

One example of one is Virgin River - I loved the show but the books are just too cheesy for me. Men are just NOT like that (unfortunately for us) but that's a whole other conversation!

Sophie wrote: "Dana wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Thank you all for the birthday messages. It was a little different to normal as my whole family had Covid and my daughter had chickenpox but the sun shone and I was able..."

Interesting! I had a feeling I would feel the same. The show is well done I thought, very unique.

And I agree Agnieszka with Veronica Mars, the extra books weren't as good but were still a nice treat :)

Well, I think that I have missed May, so I will dip back in for June.
I didn't get to my April read yet anyway so all is well.

Happy birthday Sophie!

Agnieszka wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Dana wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Thank you all for the birthday messages. It was a little different to normal as my whole family had Covid and my daughter had chickenpox but the sun shone..."

Thank you Agnieszka :) It was taken at a wedding a couple of years ago. My daughter is getting too big and "cool" now to have pics taken with her poor old mum hahaha. I like that little pic at the bottom of your comment too lol

Dana - I definitely feel like the show is a bit more "rounded" than the book. Perhaps they've taken elements from all the books and added them in at different times to give it more content. I only recently found out that Queen Charlotte's character was specifically written in for the show and she doesn't appear in any of the books at all, which is a shame because her character in the show is brilliant. I don't think I'll rush to spend money on the second book, although I might read it if I happen to see it in the library or on Kindle Unlimited.

Vicki Willis wrote: "Well, I think that I have missed May, so I will dip back in for June.
I didn't get to my April read yet anyway so all is well.

Happy birthday Sophie!"

Thank you, Vicki :)

Dana wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Dana wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Thank you all for the birthday messages. It was a little different to normal as my whole family had Covid and my daughter had chickenpox but the sun shone..."

That is a good example of one that drives me crazy. Virgin River is one of the reasons I always try and read the book AFTER I've watched the series. Otherwise I just get so worked up and angry at the changes they will make.

Sweet Magnolias is better at being close to the books. The new Reacher is terrific!!

But one thing I've noticed about adapting a series of books is the fact that in books you only have a couple of characters, but actors need decent contracts. I just disagree when they make huge changes. Like in Virgin River, the whole (view spoiler)[pregnancy of Jack's ex (hide spoiler)] is a huge mistake.

I agree, especially if you really love a book! I should read those, I enjoyed both seasons of Sweet Magnolias. It is just very wholesome

I also just like the actors in Virgin River so that helps, but I do HATE the Charlene character from the show, I could live without that storyline too. I am excited for the next season though, and am contemplating reading the third book.

I really enjoyed Sweet Magnolias too and have been thinking about reading the books. That and Virgin River were a couple of my lockdown/isolation Netflix binges to bring me some light relief from all the true crime serial killer documentaries haha

I've seen a couple of episodes of the second season of Virgin River and found I couldn't really get into it as well as I did the first season. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood, so I'll try again one weekend. Although I have to say, might be an unpopular opinion, I didn't really like Hope's character. I found her intensely annoying!

Dana wrote: "I agree, especially if you really love a book! I should read those, I enjoyed both seasons of Sweet Magnolias. It is just very wholesome

I also just like the actors in Virgin River so that helps, ..."

The Virgin River books are terrific! I also just love Sweet Magnolias tv show. It is SOOOgood.

Yes Hope is very annoying! It's a character that isn't really in the books much and doesn't have a storyline with doc. I really like how they changed characters for the show, I like the doc actor.

I was the same Sophie, there was enough dark stuff going on so they were a nice retreat! I was also on maternity leave and couldn't handle as much murder stuff post partum lol.

I am going to pick up the sweet magnolia books, may be a nice summer series to get into.

Happy May! May we have better weather this month than last!!

I have a tie between Screwball and Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s.

Any tiebreakers?

I didn't vote this month, so I can break your tie if you want.
I would pick Dynastic.

Vicki Willis wrote: "I didn't vote this month, so I can break your tie if you want.
I would pick Dynastic."

Thank you!!

Dana wrote: "Yes Hope is very annoying! It's a character that isn't really in the books much and doesn't have a storyline with doc. I really like how they changed characters for the show, I like the doc actor. ..."

Happy May everyone! One step closer to summer...

I'm glad Hope wasn't a major character in the books. I think it might actually put me off reading them if she was!!

I have a bit of a weird obsession with the true crime docs on Netflix - yesterday I watched The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe and some of The John Wayne Gacy Tapes while I was catching up on my ironing. I couldn't finish that in one sitting and had to put Schitts Creek and Benidorm on to raise my mood before bed haha

Sophie wrote: "Dana wrote: "Yes Hope is very annoying! It's a character that isn't really in the books much and doesn't have a storyline with doc. I really like how they changed characters for the show, I like th..."

Good call on the Schitt's Creek! That's one of the best shows. I live a couple hours from where it is filmed. I've met Dan Levy too back when he worked at MTV Canada lol!

I love true crime too, but I found since having a daughter it's hard to stomach. The last one I watched was "Ill be gone in the dark" - was sooo good but so creepy.

I can't wait to watch the JWG series. He is the worst!

So terrible!! I forgot I watched Netflix's Night Stalker documentary recently too. Also the worst

Yes, I saw that one too. So creepy and terrifying.
I remember when his spree was going on and everyone was on edge.

The Night Stalker one was awful. Besides the obvious of course, I felt one of the most horrifying things about that was the smell of him that people reported. As if being assaulted isn't horrific enough, but he had to stink too?!

Gacy and Ramirez were notorious. But I prefer the ones of lesser known criminals. Did anyone see the Tinder Swindler? The one about the Times Square killer was good too.

That Tinder Swindler was a genius criminal! If it seems to good to be true, it probably is!

The Tinder Swindler was insane! I felt for those poor women because I can see at first how it might look convincing.

The other one that was nuts was Don't F**k With Cats

Don't F**k With Cats was like a train wreck!! It was SO horrifying! I just couldn't look away.

Sophie wrote: "The Tinder Swindler was insane! I felt for those poor women because I can see at first how it might look convincing.

The other one that was nuts was Don't F**k With Cats"

I agree! I can't believe the dude from The Tinder Swindler is just out there living his best life on TikTok now too! (simonleviev90). It's wild!