However, the story also has Christian notes — guardian angels, for instance — that seem at odds with these dark, fantastic twists.
The Peninsula prides itself on its attention to detail, and in most instances that seems to have paid off.
Some of the instances that seem at first glance to be irresponsible breaches of security turn out, on closer study, to be something else.
Other audience members shared with one another instances that seemed lifted straight out of the movie, experiences in which life in suburban paradise had been less than perfect: mothers being mistaken for nannies and fathers for chauffeurs, and young drivers often getting a police "escort" to their door.
Take immigration, for instance, an issue that seems so mired in a thicket of logistical and political vines as to be almost impassable.
Amazon Web Services is making some major changes to how it charges for reserved EC2 instances — a move that seems to be at least partially motivated by the changes Google announced earlier this year.
Just as with Reichl's narrative, you suspect that there is an awful lot that is left unsaid or talked up; the fact, for instance, that Powell seems to be a distinctly more accomplished cook to start with than she lets on.
In many instances, organs that seemed promising for transplant based on the age and health of the donor were discovered to have problems that made them not viable.
The state Division of Water Quality, for instance, has a Web site that seems rather cheery about the condition of our waterways.
He says, for instance, that parents seem to want more structure in their children's play, largely because they are afraid of sending them to a playground unattended.
