Tag: 5 stars

Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist – Jess Keating

Illustrations – Marta Álvarez Miguéns

Shark Lady is the inspiring true story of Eugenie Clark, who I had never heard of but definitely need to learn more about. In this beautifully illustrated children’s book the reader is taken on a journey from when Eugenie first discovers her love of sharks at the aquarium through to her lifelong study of these magnificent animals, academically and in the field.

Defying the cultural expectations of her gender that said girls were not “smart enough to be scientists or brave enough to explore the oceans” (BOO!), Eugenie did both and became known as Shark Lady (WOOHOO!). Throughout her life some of the amazing things she accomplished included writing books and journal articles, discovering new species of fish and dispelling myths about sharks.

Included in this book are some Shark Bites (two pages of information about sharks) and a timeline of Eugenie’s life. Eugenie lived into her 90’s and spent her final birthday scuba diving! How cool is this lady?! 💜 Her story is inspirational and a testament to what hard work combined with believing in your dreams can amount to.

I remember needing to do a report to the class in early high school where you chose an animal and talked about its biology. I chose sharks and no one could understand why. Ever since Bruce nearly scared the life out of me while watching Jaws as a young child I’ve been fascinated by these extraordinary creatures, so I particularly loved Eugenie’s story.

Marta Álvarez Miguéns’ illustrations are so beautiful! I love that the marine life looks real, rather than a cartoon version of them and adored that the clothing worn by everyone at the aquarium when Eugenie was a child were appropriate for the early 1930’s, even including an array of fantastic hats. My favourite illustration is the one where the sharks watch from behind the library shelves as Eugenie studies. There are so many imaginative illustrations and they help bring the wonder and passion of this girl to life.

I’d recommend this book to children and adults alike. Future scientists will be encouraged by her story and I hope after reading this book that anyone with a dream will be inspired to follow it, regardless of what anyone else thinks. This is one of those marvellous books that makes me so proud to be a woman. GIRL POWER! 😃

P.S. I love that my library buys books like this one!!!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

At 9 years old, Eugenie Clark developed an unexpected passion for sharks after a visit to the Battery Park Aquarium in New York City. At the time, sharks were seen as mindless killing machines, but Eugenie knew better and set out to prove it. Despite many obstacles in her path, Eugenie was able to study the creatures she loved so much. From her many discoveries to the shark-related myths she dispelled, Eugenie’s wide scientific contributions led to the well-earned nickname “Shark Lady.”

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Broken Shells – Michael Patrick Hicks

GOREFEST!!!

I had planned on skimming the first couple of pages of this novella before putting it back in line behind other reads that are being released earlier, but I couldn’t help myself. I got sucked in by the mystery of what’s living beneath the surface and once I caught a glimpse of the nightmare I had to continue, because upon Googling ‘leatherback turtle’s mouth’ you’ve passed the point of no return.

While Antoine DeWitt is almost positive that the Money Carlo ticket promising him winnings of $5,000 is a scam, he’s having a bad day and hey, what’s the worst that can happen by checking it out. Arriving at the Dangle car dealership Antoine meets Jon Dangle, who confirms that Antoine is indeed a lucky winner.

Dangle and the generations of men before him have been keepers of an important secret, one Antoine is about to learn firsthand. The latest in an immeasurable offering of sacrifices, Antoine finds himself trapped in a subterranean nightmare.

When Antoine awakes at the beginning of the fight of his life, the description was scarily close to an account of hell I read a number of years ago. And then Antoine’s day gets worse.

If you’re highly offended by expletives and you don’t do well with gore or claustrophobia, then perhaps this is not the book for you. However, if you love getting creeped out by creatures that scratch around, felt but unseen, in the dark and the idea of something unknown tearing chunks of flesh from living people makes your heart race and an internal cheer bubbles up inside you, then my kindred spirit, this book was written with you in mind.

What commences as a certain death trap paradoxically twists into a tale of hope in the darkest of places, yet you’re constantly wondering if your hope is in vain. Knowing this is a horror novella, should our protagonist (and by default the reader) even hold onto this possibly futile hope? How much do you fight against what appears at first glance to be inevitable?

Broken Shells is a visceral experience, with oodles of ooze, gore galore, dry heaves and vomit, and some Alienworthy introductions to razor sharp creepy crawlies. With plenty of graphic imagery of the icky variety and a body count too large to number, our down on his luck hero faces an onslaught of bug monsters.

Michael Patrick Hicks capitalises simultaneously on our fears of the unknown and the dark. The atmosphere throughout the novella was a fun blend of suspense, dread and bloodthirsty anticipation. You’re likely to have some involuntary moments of squirming as you find yourself up close and personal with all of the stabby, slimey, ouchy and itchy details.

What if there were a creature above us on the food chain and that by delivering regular sacrifices to them you could potentially protect millions of others? Would those delivering the sacrifices be the heroes or the villains of the story?

What kind of mind comes up with a scenario so gruesome?! Ha! Who am I judge! I was the one simultaneously cheering on Antione and the subterranean creepy crawlies. As only Lydia from Beetlejuice can declare with the right level of creepy,

This, my friends, is horror done right! I can’t wait for my imagination to be happily grossed out again by this author.

New favourite word: ichor.

My takeaway moral of the story: Never ever trust car salespeople.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and High Fever Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Antoine DeWitt is a man down on his luck. Broke and recently fired, he knows the winning Money Carlo ticket that has landed in his mailbox from a car dealership is nothing more than a scam. The promise of five thousand dollars, though, is too tantalizing to ignore.

Jon Dangle is a keeper of secrets, many of which are buried deep beneath his dealership. He works hard to keep them hidden, but occasionally sacrifices are required, sacrifices who are penniless, desperate, and who will not be missed. Sacrifices exactly like DeWitt.

When Antoine steps foot on Dangle’s car lot, it is with the hope of easy money. Instead, he finds himself trapped in a deep, dark hole, buried alive. If he is going to survive the nightmare ahead of him, if he has any chance of seeing his wife and child again, Antoine will have to do more than merely hope. He will have to fight his way back to the surface, and pray that Jon Dangle’s secrets do not kill him first. 

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The Crimson Five #1: Spin the Golden Light Bulb – Jackie Yeager

Be Curious. Be Creative. Be Collaborative. Be Colourful. Be Courageous.

Spin the Golden Light Bulb is Jackie Yeager’s debut novel. I’ve been having lots of luck finding brilliant debut novels recently and this middle grade novel is no exception. Jackie Yeager takes us on a journey to 2071, where people travel by aero-car and kids are referred to at school by their number, not name.

Kia Krumpet’s number is 718, she has an ex-best friend and no one at her school, Crimson Elementary School, has ever won a Golden Light Bulb in the Piedmont Challenge. If Kia doesn’t secure one of the coveted Piedmont Challenge positions, she won’t be able to enrol in her dream school, Piedmont Inventors Prep School (PIPS).

Instead, she’ll face programming like everyone else, and she can’t imagine anything worse. Programming determines which one of six academic categories sixth graders will study for the next six years – Art Forms, Communication, Earth and Space, Human History, New Technology, and Math.

Kia has dreamed of attending PIPS since discovering her Grandma Kitty won the first Piedmont Challenge. Kia has a list of 67 inventions she wants to create but unless she is successful in gaining entry to PIPS she’ll never have the chance.

I loved so many things about this book:

  • The fact that the main character is a young girl who strives to be given the opportunity to attend the school of her dreams
  • Being smart is a good thing!
  • Being good at more than one academic area is a great thing!
  • While academics is really important, so is character and creativity!
  • It’s okay to be passionate about anything – inventing, mechanics, art, whatever you love
  • The creativity of all of the inventions described is wonderful and makes your brain smile
  • The kids, especially funny, loyal and forgiving Anders
  • Learning to be a good friend, family relationships, loyalty, teamwork, forgiveness, working hard and having fun are all explored
  • Nacho Cheese Ball. I guarantee you’ll want to try this sport when you read about it
  • The writing style. I found myself slipping into this world very easily and found the characters interesting and relatable, and the plot engaging
  • The illustrations. Gabrielle Esposito has really captured the essence of the book in her illustrations. They’re fun, imaginative and correspond well with what’s happening in the chapters.

My only real grumble with this book is that the separation of tasks whilst making the set piece and costumes was so clichéd. The girls made the costumes and the boys made the set piece. I had some hope when Mare knew about the best types of wood to use because of her experience with her father’s constructions work, but when it came time to build and work on the mechanics of their project it was a job for the boys.

I came away from reading this book wanting to strive to achieve my goals (and to believe in myself while I’m working towards them), to be a better friend, to have more fun and to add Jackie Yeager to my ‘read this author’s next book regardless of the blurb’ list. The way this book ends leaves plenty of room for a sequel, which I’d be very interested in getting my hands on.

Favourite sentence:

“Being courageous is the opposite of what it means to conform.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Amberjack Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

It’s the year 2071 and eleven year old Kia Krumpet is determined to build her 67 inventions, but she won’t have the opportunity to unless she earns a spot at PIPS, the Piedmont Inventor’s Prep School. Kia, who has trouble making friends at school, has dreamed of winning the Piedmont Challenge and attending PIPS ever since she learned that her Grandma Kitty won the very first Piedmont Challenge. After she and four of her classmates are selected to compete for a spot at PIPS, they travel by aero-bus to Camp Piedmont to solve a task against forty nine other state teams to earn their place at the best inventor’s school in the country. 

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Everless – Sara Holland

”Snake,” said Fox. “what have you done?”

I’m always wary of books whose hype arrives before it’s on the shelves. Let me tell you, Everless is worthy of its hype – and then some! Before I’d even reached 15% one word haunted my mind without me consciously thinking it … captivating. I was captivated from beginning to end, and I had so much adrenaline rushing through me during the second half that I pretty much feel like the Energizer Bunny right now.

By 30% I already anticipated/feared a sequel and came close to writing to Sara Holland demanding begging for immediate access to it upon completion of her debut. Now that I’ve finished reading Everless I’m fairly convinced that I need get my hands on the sequel in a reasonable timeframe (say, the next 24 hours or so) or I may suffer Sempera withdrawals and if they’re anything like the punishments dispensed at Everless, it’s not going to be pretty.

I don’t want to ruin this one for you so I’m just going to cover a few points because I can’t help myself, then I’m going to tell you to read it for yourself because it really is that good!

The Cover: Kudos to the design team involved in this book. That cover is incredible! The blood dripping through the hourglass and the elements inside draw your attention and make you need to know what this book’s all about. I also really liked the design of the artwork at the beginning of each chapter.

Favourite Character: Hinton. May I please adopt him? Pretty please?

The Boys: I may be unpopular for saying this but quite frankly, Roan bored me. Sure, he’s nice to look at and all. He’s sweet, polite and behaves in a way that would make any mother proud. I’m sure I’d like to look at him along with everyone else, but his personality didn’t grab my attention. Liam, however … I loved Liam. He had mystery and complexity oozing out of him. You weren’t sure who he really was beneath the grimace and his snarkiness kept me entertained.

Jules: I really liked her relationship with her Papa. It was gorgeous, despite her spending most of the book behaving in direct opposition to his wishes. Overall I liked, not loved, her character. I rolled my eyes every time she swooned over Roan. I’m not a fan of swooning – ever, and half expected her to faint and fall into his arms each time they crossed paths. I liked Jules’ story more than her character, and she didn’t make my top five favourite characters.

The Minor Characters: There were a few minor characters who came and went, and others who seemed as though they’d become more important as the story continued but faded into obscurity. I quite liked some of these characters (some of those did make my top five) and it felt like there should have been more to their stories than I learned in this book. I can only hope they return in the sequel as there are several whose stories feel unfinished to me.

The Mythology: The gradual unfolding of the mythology were some of my favourite passages. I adore mythology! The Alchemist and Sorceress. The fox and the snake. The stories told to children generation after generation. I wanted to know more, to go deeper, and while I’m certain there’s plenty more to come I’m also satisfied that a lot of my initial questions have been answered.

The Themes: The big three for me were loss, trust, and betrayal. I love novels where things are not always what they seem. It messes with your equilibrium as a reader when you’re unsure whose words you can trust and when you’re not quite sure if what you’re being told is the truth, part of a bigger truth or an outright lie. While some elements of this novel were predictable there were plenty that weren’t.

Time: Time really is money! I’m obsessed with the possibilities surrounding time travel (no, there aren’t flux capacitors but time is most certainly messed with) and the concept of time in general. Any book that twists my notions of time around into a reality that both ignites my imagination and turns something from improbable to possible and believable in my mind in under 400 pages grabs my attention.

Social Class: Servants and the elite. Higher and lower ranking servants. The whole idea of one group of people believing they’re better than another group for any reason disgusts me and I love that this was explored in Sempera’s society. The imbalance and abuse of power was integral to the way this society functioned and had done for centuries.

The Magic: It’s magic! Of course it was awesome!

Yay, me!: Although I didn’t know how it was going to play out my gut told me to trust one character and not trust another. For once I was right about both!

Okay, so maybe more than a few points. 😃 Now, off you go and read this book if you haven’t already!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hachette Children’s Books, Australia for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Time is a prison. She is the key. Packed with danger, temptation and desire – a perfect read for fans of The Red Queen. 

In the land of Sempera, the rich control everything – even time. Ever since the age of alchemy and sorcery, hours, days and years have been extracted from blood and bound to iron coins. The rich live for centuries; the poor bleed themselves dry.

Jules and her father are behind on their rent and low on hours. To stop him from draining himself to clear their debts, Jules takes a job at Everless, the grand estate of the cruel Gerling family.

There, Jules encounters danger and temptation in the guise of the Gerling heir, Roan, who is soon to be married. But the web of secrets at Everless stretches beyond her desire, and the truths Jules must uncover will change her life for ever … and possibly the future of time itself.

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50 Wacky Things Humans Do: Weird & Amazing Facts About the Human Body! – Joe Rhatigan

Illustrations – Lisa Perrett

I’m all about the weird and the wacky, so between this book’s title and the cover illustration I was in! 50 Wacky Things Humans Do is such a fun book! Suitable for children and adults alike, this quick read is entertaining and informative (and yes, you will learn about farts and snot). Joe Rhatigan’s book gives plenty of answers to questions you won’t admit you didn’t know the answer to … until now!

  • Why do your fingers and toes get wrinkly when you’ve been in the pool for a long time?
  • What causes brain freeze?
  • Why can’t you tickle yourself?
  • Why do bruises change colour?
  • Why does your nose get stuffed up when you cry?

Each wacky thing is explored over two pages, one with just enough information to make it seem as though you’re smarter than you really are and the other with quirky illustrations by Lisa Perrett. The facts are suitable for impressing your friends with, and some that will gross them out. You’ll gain a whole new appreciation for how extraordinary your body is.

Lisa Perrett’s illustrations are wonderful. With bold colours and humour, Lisa brings the facts to life. Her people and animals are very expressive, as are the sun and moon, and plenty of the images are giggly worthy. There are such delights as fart clouds, irritable knees and a completely adorable teddy bear.

Fact of the day:

“your brain can perform 38 quadrillion operations per second”

For those unfamiliar with quadrillions, that looks like 38,000,000,000,000,000. That’s a lot of zeroes!!!

I’d love to receive this as a gift book and it needs to be in public and school libraries. It’s the kind of book I’d have fun sharing with a child, using it to teach them about how remarkable their body is and to trick them into learning some cool anatomy facts. The only downside of this book was that I was enjoying myself so much that I wanted to learn more than 50 wacky things.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Walter Foster, Jr., an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

50 Wacky Things Humans Do describes 50 weird, wild, and unbelievable things the human body is able to do. Science has never been so much fun!

Did you know that when you sneeze it rockets out at over one-hundred miles per hour? How about that the average person sheds about five hundred million skin cells every day? What about the fact that most of the cells in your body are not even human?!

50 Wacky Things Humans Do gives you the dirt on 50 unbelievably weird things about the human body that seem too crazy to be true, but are! Whether amazing, silly, or just plain gross, these peculiar and fascinating things about the human body will surprise and delight fun-fact lovers of all ages.

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Grug Learns to Swim – Ted Prior

In honour of my first swim this season (I know that I’m several months late), I had to read about Grug learning how to swim. Grug is my very favourite animated grassy top of a Burrawang tree and his friend Cara is my very favourite smiley carpet snake.

In this instalment, good ol’ Cara saves Grug from drowning in the creek before he learns to swim. The illustrations of waterlogged Grug upside down in the creek (see cover image) and waterlogged Grug sitting on the grassy bank are now two of my favourite Grug expressions. Of course, smiley Cara is always (practically) huggable.

I keep thinking that I can never love Grug and Cara more, and every new book proves me wrong.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Splash and paddle and float with Grug! 

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The Invincibles #3: The Beast of Bramble Woods – Caryl Hart

Illustrations – Sarah Warburton

In The Beast of Bramble Woods our Invincibles, Freddie Spoon and Nell, are working their Pester Power to try to join Nell’s brother and his two nerdy friends, William and Joe, on an overnight camping adventure.

Nell’s brother Lucas is your typical teenage boy, with some sort of fungus growing out of a coffee cup on his bedroom floor. Lucas spends a fair potion of his time asleep with headphones attached to his head during the day and has a game controller attached to his hands at 3am. In his most likely smelly room he has a doona cover I need because it has sharks all over it!

Nell’s best friend, Freddie Spoon, shows her a newspaper clipping with a photograph of a Mysterious Beast in their neighbourhood. Because they’re going to be wildlife experts when they grow up Freddie Spoon and Nell try to work out what type of animal the Mysterious Beast could be.

Naturally the five kids wind up allowed to join the boys camping – but only until 8:30pm! Once the five start hanging out they tell ghost 👻 stories around the campfire 🔥 which leads to Freddie Spoon showing the older boys the newspaper article about the Mysterious Beast. The night turns into one of dares and scares before we finally uncover the mystery of the Mysterious Beast.

I really enjoy this sweet series. I accidentally read this book first and then followed it up with books 1 and 2, so this is a reread for me now that I know how the story starts. I love the friendship between Nell and Freddie Spoon and also the relationship between Nell and Lucas. As the older brother Lucas is naturally annoyed by his little sister at times but he looks out for her as well. These books have a bit of mystery, a bit of adventure, some humour and a whole pile of feel good loveliness. I smile through these books and feel better about the world when I finish reading each story.

Once again I loved the illustrations by Sarah Warburton. Each book in the series has its own colour and this book is various shades of orange. Keep an eye out for sneak peeks of the beast throughout the book! My favourite illustration is the goofy looking snake in the sewer pipe on its way to bite some unsuspecting toilet user on the bum.

I really hope there’s going to be a book 4!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Nell’s big brother Lucas and his nerdy friends are camping out in the garden. They’ve got a fire and marshmallows and everything! Nell and Freddie Spoon are desperate to join in but they have to go to bed at eight-thirty. Eight-thirty! So they come up with a plan to sneak back out and play some tricks … They steal the marshmallows, and put a frog in a sleeping bag, but their best prank is to pretend to be The Beast of Bramble Woods! But Lucas catches them and they run off into the woods so they don’t get told off. And then they get lost. And then they hear the noises. But it’s just Lucas, isn’t it? 

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Clifford Celebrates Hanukkah – Norman Bridwell

Clifford and Emily Elizabeth celebrate the eighth day of Hanukkah with Emily Elizabeth’s classmate Melissa and her family. They learn about Hanukkah traditions and eat a dinner that sounds so yummy before going to the town square to see the giant menorah. Clifford even has the opportunity to save Hanukkah when the menorah’s lights go out. This would be a lovely book to use to introduce kidlets to the traditions of Hanukkah.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen Clifford look any more adorable than he does in this book. When he first meets Melissa’s family he’s sitting wagging his tail with this goofy cute smile and waving at them. There’s no such thing as a bad Clifford book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Clifford and Emily Elizabeth are celebrating their first Hanukkah. They love hearing the story of Hanukkah, eating “latkes” (fried potato pancakes) and “sufganiyot” (fried jelly donuts), and playing dreidel. 

After dinner, Clifford and Emily Elizabeth take a trip into town to see the giant menorah. But when they get there, they discover that one light is broken. It’s too late in the evening to call a handyman, but maybe Clifford is big enough to help save Hanukkah!

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Clifford the Small Red Puppy – Norman Bridwell

Reading this one for the second time because, well, it’s Clifford’s origin story! The first time around I read a library book. This time around it is one of Mum’s many new hide-and-seek Clifford books. I hide them for her and she finds them. It’s so much fun hiding presents for people at random times. I highly suggest you try it!

Anyway, Clifford. While there are a few sad parts in this book, ultimately it’s a story of the power of love between a child and their pet. Clifford may have been the runt of his litter but with Emily Elizabeth’s love, this little red puppy became the big red dog readers adore. Aww! 💕

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

How did Clifford become such a big red dog? Read and find out how a simple wish from Emily Elizabeth led to Clifford’s amazing growth.

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The Good Samaritan – John Marrs

There’s a visceral quality to John Marrs’ writing that I love! I read the blurb and immediately judged Laura. I mean, there you are, at your wits end and you call End of the Line. A woman named Laura picks up the phone and her voice is soft and soothing. She listens carefully and without judgement to all of your problems. You feel like finally someone understands what you’re going through so you call a second time, hoping to speak to Laura again. Over time she earns your trust and she goes above and beyond to help you … right over a cliff.

How can you feel anything but disdain for someone who actively encourages people to die by suicide? Read The Good Samaritan and you’ll discover that there are many contradictory and confusing emotions you can attach to her character. I found I developed an empathy I wasn’t expecting to feel for this villain/victim. What shocked me was that I found I could understand where she was coming from and why her actions made perfect sense to her.

I really appreciate when an author can take something I see as a moral no-brainer and adds enough grey that I can no longer accurately distinguish whether something is more black or white. The complexities of Laura’s character had me rooting for her, against my better judgement. I wanted everything to turn out okay for her, despite feeling from the get go she was destined to crash and burn. (Or was she?!) Even after I learned more about her from the perspective of other characters I still liked her.

Accompanying Laura on this journey are her husband, two daughters and son. Running parallel to Laura’s story is that of Ryan, who is grieving the loss of his pregnant wife and desperately searching for answers. We also meet a number of helpline angels who are doing their best to support callers through their most vulnerable times. I would love to tell you all about the story but telling you just one more thing would cause an avalanche of explanations of why that is important, who it relates to and why, and how that’s then going to spiral into something unexpected and extraordinary.

While the themes in this novel are dark, the storytelling is brilliant! I got caught up in the intricacies of the major players’ characters, motivations and actions. With so many pieces of half-truths and hints of information to come being dangled in front of me throughout the book I wondered how the author could possibly wrap it all up in time. Not only were my questions answered, they were satisfying and mostly unexpected. When you have so many people involved in morally questionable actions at best and reprehensible ones at worst, how do you determine what outcome is fitting for them?

The exploration of the events that help mould us into the people we become and our responsibility in determining whether we use the potentially devastating events in our lives to propel us forward or to get stuck in the mire was fascinating. The interplay between nature and nurture is an area of interest for me. The half a psychologist in me (the half that doesn’t pay) got sucked in by the character studies of Laura and Ryan, and gave me so much to chew on I expect I’ll be thinking about them for a while to come.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this book. I have to read everything that John Marrs ever writes!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

She’s a friendly voice on the phone. But can you trust her?

The people who call End of the Line need hope. They need reassurance that life is worth living. But some are unlucky enough to get through to Laura. Laura doesn’t want them to hope. She wants them to die.

Laura hasn’t had it easy: she’s survived sickness and a difficult marriage only to find herself heading for forty, unsettled and angry. She doesn’t love talking to people worse off than she is. She craves it.

But now someone’s on to her – Ryan, whose world falls apart when his pregnant wife ends her life, hand in hand with a stranger. Who was this man, and why did they choose to die together?

The sinister truth is within Ryan’s grasp, but he has no idea of the desperate lengths Laura will go to …

Because the best thing about being a Good Samaritan is that you can get away with murder.

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