The Golden Couple, by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (REVIEW) -- All that glitters isn't so gold, in this psychological thriller

Anyone who’s been in a relationship (so, the majority of people who’ve reached adulthood, however that’s defined these days) knows that there’s a fair bit of effort involved in keeping things on an even(-ish) keel. 

Another thing those with a relationship or two under their belts know is that things often look rather different to anyone not in that relationship (so, everyone else).

But what happens when someone outside knows just enough of the hidden bits and pieces—the secrets or lies, the silences or tears... the stuff that isn't all "happy families"  on display—to affect what happens next, in the relationship? When that someone purposefully manipulates things, for an outcome only he or she wants?

Writing duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen follow up their previous psychological thrillers (among them, The Wife Between Us, reviewed here, and You Are Not Alone, reviewed here) with a look at that scenario in their upcoming work, The Golden Couple.

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Marissa and Mathew Bishop are, indeed—to their friends, coworkers, and families—the golden couple. They have successful careers, are attractive and healthy, well-liked by their peers, and live in a beautiful house with their little boy. In other words, they’re the epitome of what a lot of couples aspire to be. 

But that’s only when viewed from the outside… because Marissa isn’t entirely happy with her life—more frequently feeling taken for granted or ignored by Mathew—which, eventually, results in her cheating on him. 

The guilt, afterward, gnaws away at her; she still loves Mathew and really doesn’t want to be that couple, destroyed by infidelity… but she can’t work out just how to tell him outright what she’s done. 

When a friend happens to mention an interesting article  about a counselor with a lot of buzz--one Avery Chambers, who promises to fix any marital issue via her own very specific ten-step series of sessions--Marissa decides it's worth a shot. 

The caveat (which the Bishops only find out once they’re each seated on the sofa in Avery’s office)? She requires carte blanche of her clients… meaning, unfettered access to all the details of their lives, whatever she deems necessary to understanding, addressing, and solving the problem(s). Marissa and Mathew warily agree. 

Once the sessions begin, though, and Avery starts to worm out not only what happened, by more importantly, the why of it all, a lot more than just the expected, underlying issues come to the surface… and to all three of them—couple and counselor—it gradually becomes frighteningly apparent that someone out there will do almost anything to prevent this particular marital problem from being successfully solved.

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Hendricks and Pekkanen continue to showcase their special brand of thrilling-because-it-feels-like-this-could-really-happen storytelling, in The Golden Couple. (Working parents with a kid… and problems? Yeah, this could totally happen, whether to you, or to someone you know well, right?)

Interestingly, I never really completely liked (or trusted) a single one of the main characters—nor any of the secondary ones—yet I still followed the tale eagerly. [So, pretty tight storytelling, to keep me engaged…] I’m not entirely sure if I was supposed to identify strongly with anyone, or if the writers’ goal was to keep the reader a bit off-kilter regarding everyone, the whole time. Either way, though, the story worked for me.

There’s a sub-plot that gets sorted a little too conveniently, as well, but again… I actually didn’t mind that much, so, kudos to Hendricks and Pekkanen, for crafting such a compelling story.

Will this be my favorite psychological suspense of the year? No… but I blazed through it in good time, and was (mostly) satisfied at the end, so I’m definitely put this one in the win—and the “definitely recommend”—column. :)

~GlamKitty

[The Golden Couple is actually set to drop in March 2022 (and holy moly, about writing THAT!), but I’m sharing it now, so you can put it on your Amazon buy-it-soon-as list (or wherever you purchase your books from, of course), because that’s a good thing, too, no? Something to look forward to… :)]

Paper & Blood, by Kevin Hearne (REVIEW) -- A Weegie, a Hob, and a Druid Take on Havoc Down Under (book 2 of 3, Ink & Sigil urban fantasy series)

A very proper Scottish sexagenarian (well, if by “proper” one means at some point in time around the early-to-mid-twentieth-century), who favors an old-fashioned suit, hat, and cane, sports an impressive moustache, and is well-schooled in a field of magical arts known as sigil-making [more on that later]. Goes by the rather-impressive moniker, Al MacBharrais.

A wee hob (as in “hobgoblin”), who might only be taken for a (very) sunburned “little person” by someone who’d had a few too many tipples o’ the Scotch (or Irish, or really, too many tipples of anything), is overly-fond of all mischief-making (including, sadly, larceny), loves whiskey (and loves salsa, even more), and has a helpful (if uncanny) ability to sort of “poof” from one place to another, for brief periods of time. That would be Al’s assistant, Buck Foi [and you’ll need to swap a couple of letters and say it out loud to catch the self-named hob’s bit of tomfoolery, there].

A fabulously-tatted, tough-as-nails pugilist-cum-accountant (who is also sorta something else… although the precise nature of that is a bit in the air), and drives a decked-out wizard van. She’s Nadia.

And, finally [really, isn’t that enough, for now?], a pleasantly-prim, middle-aged manager who somehow schedules Al’s workload, puts up with Buck’s hijinks, and always produces coffees and danishes at the exact right moment. We know her as “Gladys-Who-Has-Seen-Some-Shite” [I kid you not].

Throw ‘em all together and what do you have? The second outing in Kevin Hearne’s nifty little “Ink & Sigil” series, [the somewhat-ominously-titled] Paper & Blood. [And by the way, if you haven’t already read the first in the series, please check out the review for Ink & Sigil, here.]

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When Al receives an urgent communique from one of his fellow sigil-maker’s apprentices, saying her mentor has gone missing in Australia—and his subsequent messages to the other three sigil masters in their small global group confirms that a similar fate has also befallen one of them (in a failed attempt to track down the first missing maker, no less)—he grabs Buck, leaves business in the capable hands of Nadia and Gladys(-who-has…), and arranges for a fairy-aided trip Down Under. 

Once there—and once armed with a few weapons (plenty of the aforementioned sigils, which help protect regular humans, such as Al, from all sorts of fae spells and powerful creatures who seek to do him harm) and a kitted-out wizard van (courtesy of Buck, of course) for navigating the outback—the intrepid duo pick up the scared apprentice and set out for parts wild. 

Which, as fate would have it, is when things get really, truly, actually wild.

It isn’t their run-of-the-mill monster meanies, this time. Some… thing, insanely-powerful, has somehow cobbled together the craziest and most bloodthirsty creatures—beings straight out of a child’s worst nightmares—whose sole purposes seem to be killing every single human in their paths (including several hapless hikers). 

Luckily [or not?], an old acquaintance of Al’s shows up in the midst of all the mayhem… none other than the fearsome Iron Druid, Atticus O’Sullivan [who apparently features in earlier works by the author], along with his “good dugs” [that’s “good dogs” for those of us not Scottish], the druid-worthy (and telepathic!) hounds, Oberon and Starbuck, to help out.

Will this be the one thing to bring down the centuries-old druid… not to mention, Al, Buck, and… well, a few other surprise visitors they pick up along the way? Or will the motley-but-scrappy little group of would-be heroes be able to put aside their differences and histories long enough to battle the purest evil seen on earth in… basically ever?

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Paper & Blood is, first off, deliciously-imaginative and chuckle-out-loud funny. Al and Buck’s relationship (much like Buck and Nadia’s, or Al and Gladys’s) is a real hoot, and continues to provide genuine comedic gold. 

There's a good bit more world building here, too, which gives the story, and the space these characters inhabit, greater depth.

Then there’s the care that Hearne takes to preface each book with a very helpful pronunciations-and-meanings guide, which is not only useful, but makes reading that much more fun. [Yes, it takes me longer to read these books, because I’m actually stopping and mentally saying the words correctly… but I promise, if you’re not Scottish—and really, how many of us can say we are?—doing so adds immeasurably to the experience.]

If I had to nit-pick, though, I can do that easily enough, too. Paper & Blood uses storytelling as a plot device—meaning, the characters tell stories to the others—which, frankly, drag on. And on. (And onnnnnnn.) Whenever one of them told another story, I usually wound up skimming those passages (after realizing the point was going to be a very long time in coming). It isn’t that the stories aren’t interesting, or that they fail to add to the theme of the book, because they are, and they do; the problem is that they needed to be whittled down. [And suddenly, I’m realizing how probably Every. Single. One. of my friends probably feels when I’m telling a story… Yikes.]

That one minor issue aside, though, I found Paper & Blood to be a very good entry in a series that delivers something really fresh, fun, and fantastic in the urban fantasy realm… and I can hardly wait to see what Al, Buck, et al, get up to next.

~GlamKitty

Tango Shalom (Movie REVIEW) -- A Sweet Love Letter to NYC, Cultural Diversity, and Dance

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of one of the single most tragic days of the 21st century: 9/11, the day terrorists from another country (far, far away) succeeded not only in demolishing iconic architecture from a skyline recognized and admired around the world, but—and far, far more damaging—in causing the senseless deaths of hundreds of innocent people, who were just going about their regular lives that fateful morning, with whatever thoughts and dreams were on their minds. 

It’s a day now indelibly etched into not only the memories of most North Americans, but one which will also forever more be a part of the collective, worldwide consciousness… a day when everyone around the globe saw how truly horrible and sad such hatred and intolerance could really be. 

But this post, well… this post is not about hatred, bigotry, racism (or any other form of negative attitudes or behaviors). No, this post is about a little love letter… to the magnificent city of New York. To its beautifully, wonderfully-diverse population. To love, and faith, and dreams, and self-expression, and… to dance.

Because that’s what the lovely little arthouse film, Tango Shalom, is all about.

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You know those crises of conscience? The moments when everything you’ve been taught, or otherwise learned, come crashing into some other idea—some wild hare, that you want (or really need) to do something very much the opposite of what your “common sense” is telling you? [Just nod your head. We all have ‘em.]

That’s precisely what happens to Moshe Yehuda, a very nice (and very ordinary) Jewish family man, who finds himself in a bit of a pickle. He’s always his life to be a good one: a supportive, lovely wife and a passel of kiddos at home, and a job he finds fulfilling, in the community. The only problem? The money part of things; Moshe’s bills and debts just keep growing, while his income dwindles steadily dwindles away.

But one day—as he turns down what would’ve been a second job (from a friend who clearly was only offering it out of kindness, in the first place)—something… well, interesting happens, involving a possible way out of the whole oy-vey-we’re-so-broke dilemma in which poor, hard-working Moshe finds himself.

There’s a catch, though. [Remember that whole crisis-of-conscience thing? Yeah, here it comes.] Moshe has a realistic chance of entering a competition and being able to win a sizable monetary prize… IF he goes against his religion’s very belief system.

What he wants to do? Dance in an amateur tango competition. What his religion tells him he absolutely, under no circumstances, can do? Touch a woman, who is not his wife. [If you don’t know much about the tango, here’s my short version: it’s a distinctly sensual dance, in which one partner (typically a male) leads the other partner (typically a female) around the floor, in a very dramatic display of courtship and seduction.] In other words? Not AT ALL okay for a devout Jewish man to be doing, because it involves a whole lotta touching, and skimpy outfits, and sexy stuff.

But here’s the rub [and absolutely no pun is intended, so behave yourselves]. Moshe is a pretty decent dancer, and his potential partner, Viviana (played by Dancing With the Stars dancer, Karina Smirnoff) is a dance instructor in the neighborhood, meaning he actually could have a chance at earning a windfall… and so could she (because, of course, she has her own reasons for really wanting to win a nice chunk of change).

After a series of vivid dreams [and no, I won’t detail them; you really need to experience ‘em for yourselves], Moshe eventually hits on a possible solution to his problem: seeking advice from other religious leaders in the neighborhood (since he already knows the answer is a big N-O from his rabbi). Surely some other religion would recognize and understand the purity of his intentions, and allow him to continue with the competition… right?? 

The competition--which, of course, takes place, in some fashion or another--is almost a moot point, in fact; it’s the conversations Moshe has with other religious teachers wherein the real beauty and grace of this movie truly lie.

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Tango Shalom is a small film many years in the making (as is generally the case with most small, indie films, actually). But—and again, as is often the case—the end result is well worth all of the intervening years of struggles to get to that point. 

Of special note are two of its most well-known stars—the fantastic Lainie Kazan and Renée Taylor—in fine, hilarious form, as Jewish mothers/grandmothers. Also memorable are (the late) Joseph Bologna (who co-wrote the script), in a touching performance as Catholic priest Father Anthony, and Jos Laniado, who brings heart and believability to the beleaguered Moshe. 

This is a small, simple film, at its core—something which can be said of many greater, more ambitious movies, as well—and achieves its goals very well (almost like an amateur dancer who really wants to win that big prize). It's a celebration of our differences... and a realization that despite them, we are all far more similar than we are unalike. 

Go see it, if it’s showing anywhere near you. And, if not, please stream it, when it becomes available that route, in late October 2021. It’s a feel-good film that hits on all cylinders, in a wonderfully-unassuming, non-showy way. And after you see it? You’ll almost certainly find yourself a better person, for it. (And, quite possibly, googling tango lessons in your neighborhood.) A win-win, all around, is Tango Shalom.

~GlamKitty

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[Tango Shalom is a film that I’ve personally been around for, seeing a lot of rough cuts during its earlier stages, as I'm good friends with some of its crew. That’s neither here nor there, though; a good film is just that… good, and this little film handily earns that praise.]