Rating: 
Summary: Funny, with a good insight in programming culture
Review: When her brother asks her to help him sort out the problems in his computer game company, Meg Langslow thinks it is the [plain] version of Lawyers from Hell causing the problems, but the dead man on the robotic mail delivery system is far more serious--especially when the police tag her brother as the primary suspect. Knowing that the police are unlikely to look past their first catch, Meg decides to investigate on her own. But every time she tries a late-night investigation at the company, she runs into gaming programmers, psychologists having affairs, and others behaving badly. An assortment of animals--including the pack of dogs that the programmers bring to work and a one-winged buzzard, along with a strange animal-loving motorcycle hood and hints of blackmail complicate the plot and give Meg fits as she tries to sort out what is really important. An excitng and wacky conclusion adds to an amusing and surprisingly thoughtful read. Author Donna Andrews nails the strange chemistry of a group of programmers struggling to create lives for themselves even as they survive a death-march toward product deployment. Meg is an entertaining character, thoughtful enough to be sympathetic, but with more curiosity than common sense. Although the ultimate killer is not especially hard to guess, in CROUCHING BUZZARD, LEAPING LOON, at least, getting to the conclusion is where the fun is. And this novel is a lot of fun.
Rating:
Summary: I think this is the best yet in the Meg Langslow series...
Review: You shouldn't read this book anyplace where you will be embarrassed to burst out laughing. The Affirmation Bears are side-splittingly funny, in my opinion, and the author has such a funny way of stating things and such funny situations. Imagine what she does with a computer game company (the hero-detective's brother's) sharing office space with therapists -- she manages to poke gentle fun that is nevertheless laugh out loud funny at both groups. The description of the computer people (almost all men) painstakingly picking vegetables off their pizza or the competing ideologies of the therapists (one, for example, is a weight-acceptance therapist, whereas another specializes in eating disorder) are examples of the humor that will make people in these professions laugh at themselves. The plot takes a lot of suspension of disbelief, but is still well-done. Basically, there's something very odd going on in this new computer game company ("Lawyers from Hell" is the game) and Meg has been asked by her brother to try to figure out what's going on. She has to take a break from blacksmithing because she injured her hand, so she's trying to manage the wacky office. Not far into the story, one of the computer folk is murdered, and her brother is suspected of the crime -- so she must find out enough to get her brother off the hook. I highly recommend this book -- it's one of the funniest mysteries I've read, and I can hardly wait to read the next in the series. I might even buy the hardback...
Rating:
Summary: I think this is the best yet in the Meg Langslow series...
Review: You shouldn't read this book anyplace where you will be embarrassed to burst out laughing. The Affirmation Bears are side-splittingly funny, in my opinion, and the author has such a funny way of stating things and such funny situations. Imagine what she does with a computer game company (the hero-detective's brother's) sharing office space with therapists -- she manages to poke gentle fun that is nevertheless laugh out loud funny at both groups. The description of the computer people (almost all men) painstakingly picking vegetables off their pizza or the competing ideologies of the therapists (one, for example, is a weight-acceptance therapist, whereas another specializes in eating disorder) are examples of the humor that will make people in these professions laugh at themselves. The plot takes a lot of suspension of disbelief, but is still well-done. Basically, there's something very odd going on in this new computer game company ("Lawyers from Hell" is the game) and Meg has been asked by her brother to try to figure out what's going on. She has to take a break from blacksmithing because she injured her hand, so she's trying to manage the wacky office. Not far into the story, one of the computer folk is murdered, and her brother is suspected of the crime -- so she must find out enough to get her brother off the hook. I highly recommend this book -- it's one of the funniest mysteries I've read, and I can hardly wait to read the next in the series. I might even buy the hardback...
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