Licia Flynn's Book and Movie Review Blog

Two Deaths  by Kim Philley is a moody thriller about an American journalist traversing the backroads of Cambodia. It focuses on her complex relationship with Jonathan, a Nigerian soccer player, and the bureaucratic challenges he faces while seeking to relocate to Australia. The protagonist is a woman surrounded by tragedy in the underprivileged third world. As she undertakes her work, she encounters death and then is haunted by childhood memories where she often felt blamed for other peoples' transgressions. Arguably, the protagonist's biggest fault lies in being too hard on herself. At one point, she recounts a childhood bee sting and how much she cried. Was she crying from the actual bee sting or the blame she placed on herself for disobeying her mother's warnings? The story begins in Phnom Penh. The young journalist quietly recounts former flames left behind in Portland. Then she describes Jonathan in vivid detail like the 17th-century novelist Aphra Benh describ...

After watching Gaddafi butchered alive, I pulled out a notepad and created an outline for my book Firm Resolve. I divided the book into five sections and carefully broke each part into chapters and sub-chapters before writing. Part 1 was inspired by the disappearance of CIA agent Jim Thompson. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte was a heavy influence for much of the book. Corporal King from King Rat, stories about Vietnam, and the Iran Contra Affair inspired Natalia's father, Aaron Walker, and the backdrop of the entire story. I was also influenced by the structure and style of Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, which is about a Victorian marriage in the Caribbean. There are several plots in Firm Resolve — 1.) The disappearance of Natalia’s parents, 2.) How Natalia survived in the intervening years and changes from a fiery young woman into a very determined agent and why she disappears, and 3.) Curt Steiger’s fraudulent business activities as a pharmaceutical startup founder. The d...

Crichton's State of Fear is an action-adventure about eco-terrorism and an impending global catastrophe. The main character is Peter Evans, a big firm environmental lawyer. His main client is an eccentric wealthy donor named George Morton. Morton mysteriously disappears after pulling substantial funding from an environmental organization. The goal of NERF is to wage a trillion-dollar lawsuit based on global warming evidence. Evans is a nice guy. However, he's relatively passive in his approach to life, whether it be in his acceptance of mainstream propaganda or his relationships with women. His encounters are casual and not exactly meaningful. At one point, Evans is interested in a lawyer, Jennifer Haynes from D.C. But he doesn't pursue her because he assumes it'll never work out. Throughout the book, Evans is in love with Morton's assistant, Sarah Jones, a beautiful blonde from the Bay Area. But instead of taking charge, he whines that Sarah isn't interes...

I was lucky to grow up in a time and place where Eurasians were fairly ubiquitous. Thus, I was always more fascinated by books and movies featuring  strong black women as voices of reason and morality. For example, in Wide Sargasso Sea, a former slave cautions a high-strung woman of privilege by saying, "you can't force people to feel a certain way. You can't make someone love you."  In other books, black women reinforce the meaning of class as defined by how one treats others as opposed to indelible characteristics or wealth.  Quadroons and Octaroons, people of mixed black heritage, are timeless characters in classical works of literature.  Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans , and The Conjure Woman by Charles W. Chesnutt are a few examples. A popular theme is a woman passing for white, but then due to circumstances such as a father brought to financial ruin or death, is sold into slavery. This plot-line reson...

It wasn't by choice that I read The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki. I had already completed a  year of British Literature which covered everything from Chaucer to Orwell. I took an Asian literature class only to satisfy a multi-cultural requirement. I went in with low expectations. However, as much as I tried to resist liking The Tale of Genji , I can honestly say that no book has left such an impression. I remain haunted by its sensitive, melancholy, and psychological aspects. The Tale of Genji in case you're not aware is considered the world's first novel and Japan's most exquisite piece of classical literature. It was written by a noblewoman in the 11th century and chronicled the life of a conflicted, philandering Prince in the Heian court.  For years, I've joked about writing fan fiction to support this ancient tale. In Tension , Ben is the descendant of Prince Genji and struggles as an Asian American in the contemporary United States. He briefly encount...

Dear Licia, I read Firm Resolve because I thought it'd be about modeling. I remember seeing your face on billboards and on T.V. I thought you'd write a love story just like your music videos. Your book was about lawyers and business. There were no pictures. What happened to you? You're not the same. Disappointed in Southeast Asia Dear Disappointed, I'm very sorry that Firm Resolve failed to meet your expectations. Indeed, I was a teenage model; however, that was a long time ago. Yet, my girlish spirit lives on in a future book – Lucifina: The Belle of Hell . It's about an angel too naughty for Heaven, but too pure for Hell. After a fight with Satan, Lucifina is expelled to earth as a teenage model and can only return to Hell if she can recruit world leaders. Love, Licia Amazon eBook: Firm Resolve Facebook Author Page Twitter: Firm Resolve #FirmResolve #LiciaFlynn #FirmDenial #Lucif...

Dear Licia, I loved Firm Resolve. It's not a romance, but I'm dying to know, who did Lana secretly like? From, Curious Dear Curious, Thank you so much for your support and what a great question. I think Lana secretly has feelings for Rob Schneider because she mentions him twice in the book. Alternatively, I think the Cryptkeeper ( Tales from the Crypt ) is a good match because they say that the secret to a good relationship is a shared sense of humor. But I guess you'll have to read Firm Denial to find out. Love, Licia #FirmResolve #FirmDenial #LiciaFlynn #Satire #Mystery #Horror #DryHumor #Political #Adventure #Novel #Escapism #Literature #PageTurner #Thriller 

Secrets by Rick Acker is a very tight, gripping novel that instantly hooks the reader with its vivid description of a stunner coupled with a light joke as to why she was hired by a Silicon Valley billionaire whose death disrupts an impending lawsuit focused on trade secrets stolen from an aerospace startup. The book moves fast capturing the pace of the Bay Area's business world while educating the reader about business, litigation, geopolitics, and tense relationships. On the one hand, you have conflict between two lawyers who fiercely battle wits in the courtroom, but off court, they form a bond that would have surprised a judge who once admonished their adversarial behavior. Then there's the fiery relationship between a Russian mother, a senior research scientist at the Volkov Institute, and her daughter, the alleged spy who stole secrets from the aerospace startup. The book is taut. Every word is perfectly crafted, and each page captures infinite complexity. The a...

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'll blog about my favorite piece of romantic literature: Wuthering Heights which is in many ways more of a gothic horror story than a romance because it dispels high-minded notions of idealism. Since I was thirteen, I've been fascinated by this story about a fiery, ill-tempered aristocrat, Catherine Earnshaw, who marries a man of superior social rank, Edgar Linton, while not so secretly desiring her childhood companion, a man of inferior class and education: Heathcliff, a gypsy orphan found in Liverpool, but raised by the Earnshaws as a servant. Aware of Cathy's scorn, Heathcliff runs off, but years later returns as a wealthy gentleman. Then in an act of revenge, he marries Cathy's sister-in-law, Isabel Linton.  I've always wondered how Heathcliff made his money. Did he run off to America and engage in the slave-trade? Did he work for the East India Company? Was he involved in blockade running or arms dealing? In Wuthering Heig...

I probably shouldn't write a review for a book that I didn't finish reading, but this one is difficult to complete. I began reading Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser because it's considered historically accurate and focuses on the West's conquest into Afghanistan. Unfortunately, it's tiresome reading about the escapades of a racist, misogynistic creep who is physically abusive to women and people of color. Flashman's memoirs chronicle an "illustrious Victorian soldier," experiencing many 19th-century wars and adventures and rising to high rank in the British Army, while remaining "a scoundrel, a liar, a cheat, a thief, and a coward." He's an antihero who often runs from danger, but somehow always ends up being heralded as a hero. That's probably Fraser's point: Flashman is considered a gentleman because of the social status he was born into, but he's devoid of class. So if one accepts that point, the Flashman series is ...