Category: Books

Genre:  Novel

Grade  A

Notable People:   Philip Kerr

Title:  The Other Side of Silence

Review:  I finally caught up with all the books in Kerr’s Bernie Gunther anthology series (though a new one is due out this month). Our silent and strong secret anti-Nazi is now almost 60 and living in the French Riviera in 1956….a concierge at a luxury hotel But, menace and intrigue don’t stay away for long. This  one is in the form of an amazing (often based on real history) yarn involving the great Somerset Maughan- also living there in his declining years. It is not long before Bernie is back involved in the underbelly of the Nazi world. Exceedingly well written with great historical zest..…I can’ t put these babies down.

 

Genre:  Novels

Grade  A++++++

Notable People:   John D. MacDonald

Title:  Travis McGee books

Review:  When I was in college, I first read these books by John D. and remember liking them a lot….but recently found myself in Mexico without reading material and a closet full of these very old and frayed  paperbacks. I read three in a week and have been continuing to read these little works of brilliance; each with a cute color in the title (i.e.- “A Tan and Sandy silence”, “The Deep-Blue Goodbye”),the idea of which was originated with John D’s publisher- so people going  through airports could easily remember which of the series they had already read when looking for a book hastily at the airport gift shop. This Man is an American Master. Having revisited him, I am inclined to think he is possibly the greatest American writer of the last half of the 20^th century. A cross between Hemingway and Dash Hammett, MacDonald (and McGee) are so purely American, so larger than life yet humbled and fragile, so much a creature of their times….these books are flat out brilliant. From his boat slip (F-18) at Bahia Mar Marina in then undeveloped Ft. Lauderdale. McGee goes in search of adventure to support his on and off again retirement; often with his faithful sidekick, Meyer, the hairy gentle-giant economist. The books are a jumble of social consciousness, early environmentalism, sex oozing adventure, philosophical questioning on the purpose of man and life…..and whooping whodunits. There are over 40 of them, which he wrote between the early 60s and his untimely death in 1986. If you are any kind of serial reader, and have not read these……..RUN out an find a few. An afternoon whiled away aboard the Busted Flush..…is an afternoon to remember.

 

Genre:  Novel

Grade  A-

Notable People:   Robert Galbraith

Title:  Career of Evil

Review:  This is the third novel in the Cormoran Strike series from Galbraith, who is the pseudonym of Harry Potter creator, JK Rowland. She writes quite the macho novels. Strike is a one legged ex- British secret service private detective with a lot of demons in his closet. The books are all extremely well written and uber-suspenseful. this one involves a sexual serial killer and is a series of twists and turns (though I am apparently reading too many detective noir novels as I had this one pegged two thirds through). A lot of sexual tension in these babies and very eccentric characters abound. Long book and a quick read. I’m waiting for more.

 

Genre:  Novel     

Grade  A-/B+

Notable People:   Linda Castillo

Title:  Sworn to Silence

Review:  This is one of three published volumes in a relatively new series by this Texas author who has zoomed in on Kate Burkholder, the fictional Chief of Police of the fictional town of Painters Mill, Ohio…..a bastion of the Amish country. Kate is former Amish raised child, who broke away from the church, lived the wild life in Columbus before joining the police force, and eventually returned to her home town as police chief. The book is a fascinating story of serial murders in this quiet Amish community, set against the backdrop of small town politics, the unique Amish culture an way of life, and the demons of two polar opposite characters. It’s a good yarn, though I thought there was something missing in the development of the charters and it had some lack of believability at times. Nevertheless, hard not to get caught up in. The book was made into a TV movie on Lifetime…which it seemed very well suited for.  

 

Genre:  Novel     

Grade  A

Notable People:   James Lee Burke

Title:  Jolie Blon’s Bounce

Review:  Burke’s Dave Robicheaux may be the best thing going for old style Raymond Chandleresque crime novels. All set in the Louisiana bayou, they are small works of art, featuring the recovering alcoholic and Vietnam Vet, Robicheaux, who live his demons daily as he strives to be a better man  while facing the worst of backwoods evil in the deep parishes of the South. His former , and sometimes, partner, Clete Purcel is a character for the ages, and the books all contain the type of wired, sociopathic bad guys that are unforgettable. Burkes descriptions of the deep south , both then and now, are riveting ….as are his physical portraits of the place. This 2002 novel, is one of the best I’ve read in this long running series. Burke is an American treasure and should be tried at least once.

Genre:  Novel

Grade  A-

Notable People:   Archer Mayor

Title:  Presumption of Guilt

Review:  this is the 25^th entry in the Joe Gunther series and does not disappoint. Archer brings back a few characters from the past and weaves a mighty yearn of nuclear power plants, lost sixties  dreams, mob hit men and eccentric house burglars…all encircled by his fine sense of place for being  in the Green Mountain state. and, the burgeoning romance in joe’s life , with a long term character in the series, is quite a story line. Not quite as dramatic as last years (“The Company She Kept”) but a solid addition to the his long running detective series. If you have not checked them out-start at the beginning (“Open Season” 1983) and go from there- see them unfold and mature. I finished this book in two days….which says something.

Genre:  Book

Grade  A-

Notable People:   Robbie Robertson

Title:  Testimony

Review:  Robbie, the guitarist, main songwriter and basically the leader, of THE BAND, is a world class raconteur…weaving his Native-American story telling in a fascinating spiral. From his upbringing on the Six Nations Indian Reservation in Ontario, through the wild honky- tonk years playing with Ronnie Hawkins, as The Hawks, to the Dylan- Woodstock years and finally the epic story of the Band up and through the making of the Last Waltz in 1976 (the best rock and roll film ever, directed by Martin Scorsese) and the untimely breakup of the group. It’s a wild tale and extremely well told. If you like the music and the timeless story of this “best-ever” Americana group of musicians, this book is for you. A bit ego-centric and lags in the second half, but a fascinating read…though a sad story in the end, with thee of the group’s members leaving us way too early. It’s also a bit like a Forrest Gump, as Robbie interacts with all the major cultural figures of the second half the 20^th century. Very cool stuff.

 

Genre:  Novel

Grade  A

Notable People:   Philip Kerr

Title:   A Man Without Breath

Review:  Another of Kerr’s dozen or so Bernie Gunther books, this one takes place in Berlin and along the Russian front in the middle of 1943 as it becomes clear the Nazis are going to lose the war. Filled with angst and anguish, out troubled hero continues to struggle with the demons of his participation in this horrible regime and attempts to thwart it at every turn and maintain his integrity in the most difficult of circumstances. As always, the setting sand characters are historically accurate and paint an extraordinary picture of the time and place. If you like history and the WW II era –these are really great books in the great Raymond Chandler mystery tradition.

 

 

                                                                                                                                           

Genre:  Novel

Grade  A

Notable People:   C.J. Box

Title:  Endangered

 

Review:  This is the 15^th in the Joe Pickett series from C.J. Box- mystery novels with the protagonist, Pickett, a game warren in remote Wyoming. If you like offbeat settings and stories, these are not to be missed. Box has won every award imaginable for mystery writers and is clearly one of the master practitioners of this art who is writing today. The novels just keep getting better, with great characters and descriptions of the Rocky Mountain culture and lifestyle. Joes’ sometime friend and colleague, the ultra-enigmatic Nate Romanowski, is a character for the ages. Sit down with book one of the series  for the winter and you’ll be set for reading for the season..…if you are serial type. Vunderful, vunderful, vunderful.

Genre:  Novel

Grade  B+

Notable People:   Sarah Waters

Title:  The Paying Guests

Review:  Very intense and very long (600 plus pages) novel of forbidden love set in post WWI London. Francis at a 27 year old woman (oddly referring to herself as a spinster) living with her 50 something mother (oddly referred to as elderly) in a falling down house that was once grand, before the war related deaths of both of her brothers and then the death and financial ruin of her father. As a result, she and her mother are forced  to take in boarders (called “paying guests” in England) to make ends meet. A simple enough story of the times, it becomes much, much move complicated halfway through the book….almost a suspense thriller, which was wholly unexpected. Well written and quite provocative, but went on about a third too long for my tastes. Still, very evocative of the time and place and worth the read.