About why Chuck put sugar in the vodka bottle in Chapter 47, taken straight from Wikipedia:Other flammable liquids such as methanol, turpentine and E85 have been used in place of petrol. Thickening agents such as tar, strips of tyre tubing, sugar, blood, XPS foam, egg whites, motor oil, rubber cement, and dish soap have been added to help the burning liquid adhere to the target and create clouds of thick, choking smoke.And Chuck apparently doesn't believe in either idle threats or doing things halfway in Fates. Who knew?
:)
Frea
Cheap cliffhanger. Reeeeal cheap.
ReplyDeleteThis does not preclude it from being brilliant, mind. Bust still. Cheap.
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer if you left the reviews on ff.net and commented on the actual topic at hand here, but that's just me. And isn't every cliffhanger, in some way, cheap?
ReplyDeleteI think it was cheap that I didn't let the bottle break and burn my protagonist's foot off. But then, I'm a sadist. :)
I'll write a proper review at FFnet but I have to share a story the cliffhanger reminded me of because I still find it hilarious.
ReplyDeleteBuddy of mine, who now that I think about it is a lot like Casey except he (my buddy) is ex-Army and a high powered alcoholic and a chain smoker, but demeanor wise he's a lot like Casey.
So this guy he's sitting on the couch with his girlfriend of two years, he's watching tv drinking a beer.. All the sudden his girlfriend whose flipping through a magazine or flier from a newspaper points to something and starts saying how beautiful it is and how they should get one. My buddy not looking away from the tv nods and mumbles 'sure whatever' she goes 'really?!' he says 'yea why not'. Next thing he knows she's on the phone with her mother telling her there engaged and my buddy looks over to see a catalogue for Kay Jewelers or some such flipped open to the engagement rings page.
Honest to god that's how he got engaged, and he actually married the chick but it only lasted about 18mos.
Sugar + Petrol = BOOOM (if you add in fire too) (books taught me this) (John Marsden rules)(I'm going to stop this now and move on).
ReplyDeleteAs such I don't see why it wouldn't have effect with vodka too.
JohnClark, that story is amazing and it sounds exactly like something that would happen to some friends of mine. Talk about tricking somebody into marrying you. So, so awesome.
ReplyDeleteAnd Anonymous, that's the second-best reason to put sugar in somebody' gas tank. :)
don't know why I'm telling people this but dissolving styrafoam will get you an even stickier substance. I've heard it called home made napalm.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I knew why Chuck grabbed the sugar, having brewed napalm filled pumpkins on Halloween. (Don't try that at home kids! or anywhere else for that matter.) What I can't figure out how he was going to do was break it. In order for it to be effective it would need to shatter that'd be pretty tough in a hotel room. I think in most cases it would just break a little which would catch fire and the liquid leaked out, but not create a fireball. Try actually breaking a vodka bottle without a stone or very jagged surface sometime. It's harder than you think.
ReplyDeleteGood use of the weapons at hand, but I thought the Russians paid it too much heed. They were closer to the door. If he'd thrown it they likely would have escaped and Chuck and Casey would have been left to die.
My apologies. Though I do have to say, having Chuck's foot burned off would have been a fascinating turn. Horrific, but fascinating. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, Anon, I always found that granulated detergent is best for a longer burn. Doesn't react as fast as sugar. If you have them, you can also mix in some quicklime pellets and (if its at all damp outside) make some good old fashioned Greek fire. Though a vodka bottle wouldn't work so well; beverage bottles are actually made pretty tough, these days. Some Jewish friends actually wanted to use a wine bottle from the dinner where he proposed as part of the ceremony, but test runs with similar glassware demonstrated that the sucker would be too well-made to serve. Though the experiments were a lot of fun, especially gathering the test materials. :)
...you two are scaring me, even as I write all of this down.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, the excellent thing about the scenario with the Russians is that Chuck was 95% bluffing. I didn't think any of them would actually have too much experience with Molotov cocktails, so Chuck bluffed and it (almost) paid off. Also, Chuck/Casey/Russians are all about equidistant to the door, as it's to Chuck's right and to the Russians' left.
:)
That cliffhanger was EVIL, btw. You SUCK. *glares*
ReplyDeleteJK, Cant wait for more.
Didnt know that about a thickening agent, but that makes sense!
On another, pretty much completely off topic note...
ReplyDeleteFrea I saw you post a link on your Twitter, this link to be precise...http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/03/ebooks-and-self-publishing-dialog.html
If as I suspect Barry Eisler has become your new hero I'd like to point out I've been trying to talk you (and everyone else on here) into reading his books for a while now.