William RabkinBesprekingen

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the first one. I thought the first one had a smoother feel to it. It still offered up plenty of violence and horror. Remember if you are reading this series you are reading pulp. LIke a Doc Savage only with gore. Again, the book did enough to keep me satisfied and moving forward to the next installment.

Don't make the mistake of going into reading this book expecting it to be something it is not. It is not an attempt at an intricate mystery or deftly plotted suspense. It is not Lehane or King or Burke. It is a nice little pulp story. A little horror, a little mystery, a little sex.

While it is very obvious this was a first book setting up the story for the rest of the series it had plenty of fun to read. It isn't long and is perfect for that quick read when you just want to read something pulpy and escapist. It did a more than adequate job at setting up the series and did nothing to discourage me from reading the next book. I am looking forward to seeing where it goes.

3.5 stars - A fun, easy read that captured the show's characters but sometimes gags went on a tad too long trying to fill the pages of a book, rather than the tight script of a show. Also, I kept wanting to actually see the characters say the lines rather than just envision them in my head. The strength of the show was not only the sappy dialogue but the delivery by the actors so it left me wanting. Still, it was a fun read and I will probably read the other books in the series eventually when I need a light, pick-up-me read. "You know that's right!"

Not the best entry in the series, but still fun

Based on the tv show Psych.
Shawn and Gus must solve crime. All the evidence leads back to them.

Not quite as good as watching James Roday run around like a lunatic in tv but at least I can imagine it in my head.

Some of the characterizations seemed off -- Jules and Chief Vick especially suffered from the transition to ink, becoming flat and shrill. I did find the descriptions of the Bimbo of the Week entertaining, though. If one is in desperate need of a Psych fix (and away from the internet *cough*), this will do.

I think I read these books just because I miss the show.. and the pithy repartee these two have. And in all honesty, that is why I read the book- which didn't disappoint in the shenanigans department- the mystery was okay, but completely secondary to the interpersonal relationships that Shawn and Gus have within this made up community.

I totally miss that show, and William Rabkin completely recreated the quick repartee and snappy comebacks that Shawn and Gus are known. As well as really nice characterizations for Henry et al. He really did his homework and knew what each of the characters would say (and how they would say it.)
Not to mention that a large part of this story is from Gus' point of view- love that!!!

One of my favorite lines from Shawn Spencer:

(from page 158)
"Not Monty Python funny, but maybe Brady Brunch funny. You know, no big laughs, but a wry smile, a warm chuckle and a nod of recognition that we're all riders in the same cockeyed caravan of life."

Very fun read, if you like the TV show, you'll love the book. As I was reading it, I could picture James Roday (Shawn) and Dulé Hill (Gus) bantering back and forth. If you really like the series, the books seem to allow the fan to get further into the minds of these two "detectives", and in this case, they actually get to get out of Santa Barbara for a bit.

Tie-in books are usually inferior to the thing they are based on, and A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read, the first book to be based on the television show Psych, is no exception. This is not to say that it is a bad book - it is not. It is a very easy read and, as I'm sure anyone picking it up will already be familiar with the characters and the set-up, the reader can just dive straight in. The plot is interesting enough to retain the reader's interest, but is nothing exceptional. Some of the comedic timing is a bit off, though the book does have plenty of moments of humour. But, in my opinion, the book's main flaw is that the essence of Psych is difficult to translate into book form. The bromance between Shawn and Gus depends as much on the interplay between the two actors James Roday and Dulé Hill as it does on the script, and the characters Jules and Lassie (both criminally underutilised here, especially Jules) are reduced to roles as extras, whereas in the show they are important characters who provide a nice foil to the antics of Shawn and Gus. I think that the only relationship that really rang one-hundred percent true in this book was the one between Shawn and his curmudgeonly father, Henry. In addition, the characters introduced solely for this book - Veronica Mason, Dallas Steele, Tara Larison, Bert Coules, etc. - are rather one-dimensional. But no-one's expecting a great piece of literature here, and the book is an enjoyable quick read. Dedicated fans of Psych, having exhausted their series' box sets (and with rumours that the show's next season will be its last), will be grateful for any competent addition to the franchise. Importantly, whilst A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read doesn't really add anything unique or special to the franchise, it doesn't embarrass it either, so Psych fans should give it a go.

A workmanlike end to the tie-in novels of the TV series Psych, Mind-Altering Murder still works because it's, well, still Psych. The books were never going to top their source, because that's the limited nature of tie-ins, but author William Rabkin deserves credit for being game enough not to make them derivative. Each of the books has qualities and characteristics that make them different from the show, even if only books two and three, Mind Over Magic and The Call of the Mild, rise above a serviceable average. If they don't improve on the TV show, it is still very creditable that they don't diminish them either.

Speaking more specifically about this fifth entry, there seemed less moments of outright humour in Mind-Altering Murder compared to the previous four (even if there are still healthy dollops of snark) and the two cases under investigation by our private detectives (and Jules) don't really dovetail with much finesse. Many of the clues and breaks in the case seemed forced, and the revelation of the culprit at the end was rather underwhelming. The computer-game subplot had great potential but its use for the plot was negligible and only once (the Dalai Lama line on pages 158-9) was it exploited for real comedic effect.

The expanded role for Juliet O'Hara was very welcome (and the lack of which I'd been lamenting in previous books), but partially offset by the near-complete absence of Shawn's dad Henry (who is always a delight). It was also interesting that Rabkin chose to delve into the dynamics of Shawn and Gus's relationship, and what might happen if they grow apart. It reminded me that the reason we watched Psych was not for the mystery-of-the-week plots – which the books share – but the characters. And these books allow us to spend more time with the loveable characters we no longer get to see on TV.

"Gus felt a weight lifting off his shoulders. 'I guess it really isn't all about us, is it?' he said. 'Only the good parts,' Shawn said." (pg. 269)

Another good Psych adventure and the best of the three I have read so far. For the first time in reading these tie-in books to the excellent TV series, I was genuinely invested in what was happening and how Shawn and Gus would solve the mystery. Sure, there were flaws in the story: Henry offering his hand at the end seemed a teeny bit deus ex machina, and the events of chapter 39 seemed a bit too dark for what I'd normally expect from Psych. I also still hold out hope that Juliet O'Hara will one day become more than a bit-part player in the books (although this is a personal bugbear; she wouldn't really fit into the story in this one). But The Call of the Mild is a really good offering, with plenty of great moments of humour and, as I said above, a mystery plot I was actually invested in. It helps that much of the story takes place in a confined location, allowing plot strands to coalesce rather than spread out even further, making the story somewhat more taut and focused and overall just better than the previous two books. Author William Rabkin also has more fun with the reader in this one, with a few good twists in the story and also some knowing winks at the reader, such as the clever 'air quotes' scene on pages 45-6. To be honest, there's a lot of good scenes and I think I probably laughed out loud more with this book than the previous two combined. There's been a steady improvement in the quality of the books as I've progressed through the series - let's hope that continues in books four and five.

After reading the first three tie-in books based on the TV series Psych, I'd noticed a steady improvement in their quality and entertainment value. I'd hoped for further progression with A Fatal Frame of Mind, the fourth book, but unfortunately that is not the case. It had less laughs than the previous books and the usual supporting characters like Henry, Jules and Lassiter are underutilised (I also thought some of Lassie's behaviour was slightly out of character). The book's plot is a sort of Da Vinci Code pastiche, but it doesn't really dare to do much to parody or pay homage to this sort of globe-trotting conspiracy thriller genre to the gleeful extent that the TV show might have done. It does have its plus points; one being that, although the regular supporting cast aren't well-employed, this book is the best in the series so far at introducing interesting new characters like Kitteredge. Overall, it's still a decent and amiable Psych adventure, but if you're not reading the tie-in books in any particular order I'd probably leave this one until last.

Mind Over Magic, the second book to be based on the television show Psych, is a quick, entertaining read and, happily, an improvement on the first book. The case that Shawn and Gus must solve is itself more interesting than the one in the first book, and it all dovetails rather nicely. The truism which Shawn and Gus lampshade in the book - that magic tricks always seem less special once you know how they are done - is also true when it is revealed to the reader how the mystery is solved, but this is a minor quibble, as is the fact that Juliet O'Hara is yet again an underutilised character. The book has plenty of humour and is easy to follow, and feels true to the TV series in dialogue and plot development. With the show having very recently decided to end after a fantastic eight-season run, the Psych tie-in books may prove to be a helpful balm for fans suffering from withdrawal.

My one regret is that I can't mark this book any lower.
The one plus about this book is that it's short so the suffering doesn't last too long.
Matthew Cahill dies in an avalanche and then comes back to life three months later. Life has moved on without him and he tries to make a way for himself with someone. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, he sees things that no one else can see--something that points to true evil.
The characters in this book were very flat. The story uninteresting. I will not be continuing the series.

I was able to give this five stars way back when I first read this book. Whenever it was new. The rating back then probably was helped by me reading this while the show was still on the air. There is something lacking without that.

The characterization seems mostly flat, though there's something 'there' for Henry, Gus, and Shawn. The rest are barely there. There's nothing added or taken away from the characterization given to the three. Seemed to match what I came to learn through the show. Chief Vick, and O'Hara seemed to be there mostly to growl, and be annoyed, but had the personality and characterization of wet noodles. Lassiter actually had something more, but just that, slightly more than the other two.

I used to joke that I knew who the killer was, and likely the victim, when I watched Murder She Wrote. It was always the brand new guest star being played by some big name. I mean, that's just the way of television. You can't overload it with people. But still, William Shatner's name would pop up on the screen and, before I knew anything else, I'd gasp out "that's the killer" (or, much rarer, the murder victim).

I say all that because it's pretty obvious where the mystery is going with this specific book here. I mostly got distracted by the humor and the other antics of the fake psychic detective on the television series, so that the mystery part was just something I let unfold. That's harder here as, while there is some humor, it isn't really enough to overwhelm certain things that needed to be overwhelmed. Also, some of the common little traits that popped up most shows, just came out as massively distracting irritations, mostly the stuff Gus was doing.

Now it is true that this here is a reread, but two things: I rarely reread, it's been a while since I read this the first time, so, while I remembered certain things, the things I remembered could just as easily been things I remembered from the television series, as opposed to things I remembered from my prior read.

As crazy as the show.
I liked the "testimony of the iPod"

Fun, ridiculous, hilarious and entertaining. It reads just like an actual episode of Psych in my opinion. I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more in the series.

I'm not a screenwriter and have no desire to become one, but William Rabkin's "Writing The Pilot" ebook popped up on my radar, and because clients are badgering me for video scripts, I thought I'd take a peek (the price -- at $4.99 -- is right)

First, this is not a basic "how-to" book filled with formatting directions and an overview of the industry.

Instead, Rabkin's aiming directly at screenwriters with a command of the basics -- people who know how to write screenplays, but now want to write their way into a TV career courtesy their own spec script.

He suggests the industry is suddenly very willing to look at pilot scripts from freelancers, and the meat of the book tells you how to create (and write) not only the script, but also build a show with some legs.

Along the way he offers up several handfuls of specific examples, working from successful and failed shows as well as a few pitches of his own.

Rabkin includes chapters about characters (lead and supporting), "The Conflict," "The Franchise" as well as "Why Write A Pilot" and even the very hopeful "The Fun."

At times the text feels a hair rushed and unfocused, but overall, it's a worthwhile read (and an affordable one) that offers more than the usual "how to succeed" stuff cluttering the bookshelves.

Psychic detectives Shawn and Gus are commissioned to find a second grade teacher’s lost necklace. Clearly there is more to this case than meets the eye when they are held up at gunpoint and their client turns up murdered. Shawn and Gus realized they’ve stumbled upon a case of high-tech espionage and things only get more out of hand when their undercover assignment to unmask the murderer results in a weeklong retreat into the wilderness. Meanwhile, because their client’s death occurred out of Santa Barbara’s limits, a jurisdiction battle ensues until the other town’s responding police officer agrees to a joint task force only if it means he gets to work alongside his hero – retired SBPD detective and Shawn’s father, Henry Spencer.

Similar to the other books in this series, this book is primarily for viewers of the TV series, to the point that little background information is explained (i.e., the fact that Shawn is not actually a psychic). Likewise, the main characters are not really described in any detail but anyone who has seen the show can immediately picture their mannerisms and so forth. The book begins with a brief prologue set in 1988, just like how the show usually starts with a past exchange between young Shawn and his father tying into that episode's story or theme. This book was still missing Shawn's frequent "Gus-don't-be-a" [fill in the blank with some preposterous word or phrase] but includes some of Shawn’s other verbal quirks like the bizarre names he often gives Gus when introducing him to someone new and the frequent references to 80s pop culture.

The story is told in third person narrative from multiple points of view (i.e., Henry, Officer Rasmussen, etc.) but largely from Gus’s point of view, which allows the reader to be privy to everything Shawn is but still leaves the reader in the position of not having all the tiny clues available to them or drawing together their significance. This still all needs to be explained to the reader via Shawn’s dialogue with Gus. Unfortunately, some regular characters from the show we see little of in this particular book due to so much of it taking place in the wilderness. Lassiter has only a few moments early on, while Juliet and Chief Vick are hardly seen at all.

Speaking of the wilderness section, I felt like this part dragged and that’s why I gave this book a lower rating than the others in the series. Much of this section felt very un-Psych like, with the characters of Gus and Shawn not quite living up to their usual roles while, as I mentioned above, some of the other regulars were not around at all. Also, and this is rather unusual for Psych, I figured out who the killer was long before Shawn did, which made the rest of the plodding on through the wilderness all the more painful to read through. For instance, the ecoterrorists subplot just felt like filler and the book could have just as easily been written without this while still making perfect sense. The denouement was sort of anti-climactic then despite the author’s attempts to make it thrilling.

Throughout the book, there were some typos here and there that were not a huge deal but just enough to be distracting. Overall, the book was very witty and funny, sometimes laugh out loud so. It wasn’t my favorite in the series so far but it was entertaining enough to provide a good distraction from the power being out for days in my home after Hurricane Sandy.½

I really like the premise of this series of novella's. An ongoing series dealing with Matthew Cahill, recently deceased then brought back to life, and his exploits with the evil Mr. Dark, along with attempting to find out why he has been brought back. But I found there was just a certain something lacking. I don't really know if I would class this as horror either, more an action series with really high levels of gore thrown in for good measure. A good horror story leaves me feeling scared, and this didn't.

However I found myself suitably intrigued that I read all three, and have every intention of carrying on reading more books in this series. But for those people out there who are looking for horror novels, this probably isn't for you. And anyone who doesn't like lots of gore? What I want to know is what are you doing looking in the horror section on Amazon?

I like the idea of different authors pitching in with their stories, and the idea of these short novellas carrying on in an ongoing series. I love the concept of that, but don't feel too many authors succeed with it.

I enjoyed it, but felt because it lacked that certain something, and certainly wasn't what I expected as a something classed as horror, I struggled to give it more than 3 stars. But like I said earlier, I am intending to carry on reading them, so it can't be all that bad. Intrigued by what I've said? Give it a try, and if you go in with low expectations you can only be pleasantly surprised.

Mind Over Magic is the second in a series of books based on the characters from the TV show Psych. In this book, Shawn and Gus go to Santa Barbara’s mythical “Fortress of Magic,” the meeting place of elite (and not-so-elite) professional magicians. The place is abuzz because P’tol P’kah, the “Martian Magician” who has been wowing Las Vegas audiences, is set to do an act in which he dissolves in a tank of water and then re-materializes in the crowd – except that he never re-materializes and a corpse is a found floating in the tank. Shawn and Gus are hired by P’tol P’kah manager to find the missing 7-foot-tall green man (a harder task than it seems) while the SBPD is hampered in their murder investigation by the appearance of a federal agent who may or may not be with the Department of Homeland Security.

Like the first in the series, this book is primarily for viewers of the TV series, and fans of the show will find this novel spot on. The characterizations, dialogue, and plot are exactly fitting with the show. There's even a brief prologue set in 1988, just like how the show usually starts with a past exchange between young Shawn and his father (and sometimes young Gus also) that ties into that episode's story or theme. The only thing I felt was missing was Shawn's frequent "Gus-don't-be-a" [fill in the blank with some preposterous word or phrase]. However, in this book, we did have the delightful addition of Shawn’s frequent mistakes of P’tol P’kah’s name, including P’eter P’arker, P’stuffed P’imento, P’Torky P’kig, and a whole host of others that made me chuckle. Detective O’Hara’s characterization did seem a bit off in this book (especially the multiple references to her carrying a gun in her purse – I can’t recall her ever carrying a purse on the show and her weapon always seems to be handier than that when on duty), but to be fair, her character is the least well developed on the show anyway.

With 200-plus pages instead of roughly 40 minutes of airtime, there is more space in this book to flesh out the storyline, provide additional red herrings as well as twists and turns, and give Gus and Shawn the opportunity to jet set to Las Vegas at times. This book’s mystery was much more difficult to disentangle both for the reader and the characters (there were several times when Shawn declared he had cracked the case before he actually did figure out what was going on) than in most police procedurals. Unlike the show, the book’s third-person narration serves to provide a little insight here and there on characters' internal motivations, so that we get some back story on Gus, Lassiter, etc.

There were also some really great self-aware moments where the book mocks police procedurals in general and even laughs at the show itself, such as the following two passages:

“One of these cases we should really change positions,” Shawn said, opening the car door and slipping into his seat. “Then you can have all the really brilliant insights and I can be wrong all the time.”
Shawn slammed his door closed before Gus could say anything. Gus pulled his own door open and leaned in. “And then you can be helpful and supportive, and I can be a smug jerk. And I can dress badly, too.”

”I have an idea on that,” Shawn said. “But let’s hold off on the dead guy for a minute. Instead we should--”
“Let’s not,” Gus interrupted.
“What do you mean, ‘Let’s not’?” Shawn said. “This is my theory, and I get to lay it out however I want to.”
“Sure, when you’re talking to Lassiter or to Chief Vick or to a client,” Gus said. “Then you can lay out your explanation step by step, making sure every piece is in the perfect place to build audience expectation. Then you hit them with the big finale, and everyone’s left thinking you’re a genius. But you don’t need to sell me, so why don’t you just say who the dead guy is now?”
“In the time it took you to lay out that objection, I could have explained everything.”
“No, you couldn’t,” Gus said. “You couldn’t explain a cheese sandwich in less than five minutes.” Gus pressed his fingertips to his forehead and scrunched up his eyes as if he’d been hit with a migraine. “I’m sensing something. It’s a condominium. No, wait, it’s a comic book. No, close to a comic book. It’s—it’s a condiment! Yes, I’m sensing mayonnaise. It’s saying, ‘Put me next to the lettuce.’”
…
“So who’s the dead guy?” Gus asked, bending down to check the last few cabinets.
“I have no idea.”
“You told me you did,” Gus said.
“I thought if I kind of ramped up to it, the solution would come to me,” Shawn said. “And it might have, if you hadn’t distracted me with all that endless blather about mayonnaise.”

There’s also this delightfully clever passage when the book evokes fellow USA network show Monk:

As soon as the body was lying on the ground, Shawn jumped away from it, waving his hand wildly to shake off the corpse-water. “Wipe! Wipe!” he shouted.
“Wipe what?” Gus said.
“It’s not a verb; it’s a noun,” Shawn said. “You’re supposed to hand me one of those little moistened towelettes they give you at barbecue joints.”
“Maybe I should give you half a chicken and a brisket sandwich while I’m at it,” Gus said.
“I’m the detective; you’re the assistant—”
“I am no man’s assistant,” Gus interrupted. “Especially yours. I’m your associate.”
“Fine,” Shawn said. “I’m the detective, and you’re the associate. And the associate is supposed to carry a supply of sanitary wipes in his purse just in case the detective happens to touch something disgusting.”
Gus stared at him. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever hard.”
“Really? I thought it showed some real consideration on the associate’s part. Also, you’re supposed to be a pretty blonde. If you’re not going to carry wipes, you could at least work on that.”

The snarky humor is one of the things that I love about the show, and this book has it in spades also. All in all, this is a fast-paced, light read and I look forward to the rest of the book series.

A woman falsely accused of murdering her rich husband, another woman claiming to be following psychic mind orders, an old schoolmate turned billionaire making vague summons, and the murder of a convict are just some of the things on Shawn and Gus's plate in this novel, based on the characters from the TV show Psych.

This book is primarily for viewers of the TV series, to the point that little background information is explained (i.e., the fact that Shawn is not actually a psychic). However, fans of the show will find this novel spot on. The characterizations, dialogue, and plot are exactly fitting with the show. There's even a brief prologue set in 1988, just like how the show usually starts with a past exchange between young Shawn and his father (and sometimes young Gus also) that ties into that episode's story or theme. The only things I felt were missing were Shawn's frequent "Gus-don't-be-a" [fill in the blank with some preposterous word or phrase] as well as the bizarre names he often gives Gus when introducing him to someone new.

With 200+ pages instead of roughly 40 minutes of airtime, there is more space to flesh out the storyline and provide additional red herrings and twists and turns. That being said, the book does not drag in the least; rather, I think these extras provide a greater challenge in figuring out whodunit, making it a more interesting read. Unlike the show, the book also provides a little insight here and there on characters' internal motivations, particularly Gus's thought process as much of the third-person narrative is told from his point of view.

All in all, this is a fast-paced, light read and I will continue on with the series in the future.