books
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The Sleeping Doll
Posted by georgemc on 27 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: books
One thing I like about travel is buying the “airport” paperback versions of new hardbacks you can get at Heathrow Terminal 4, and since I am on a trip to New Orleans at the moment, that explains why I just reviewed the new Rebus and now the new Deaver, The Sleeping Doll.
Deaver has a new heroine, Kathryn Dance, briefly introduced in the last Rhyme story, whose forte is reading body language. I read this in one sitting while flying from Heathrow to Houston (modulo a crappy stop at Detroit where we had to go through immigration and customs before reboarding the same aircraft - BA did not mention this on the website when I booked the ticket - grrrr).
Back to the new Deaver: I liked every aspect of it. The plot was twistier than the bad guy was twisted and twisting, and the focus on behaviour rather than forensics worked for me; I look forward to more Dance as well as Rhyme. I can’t publish my only criticism without danger of a plot spoiler, so ask me once you’ve read it, and with curious coincidence, the same criticism applies to the latest Rebus. One clue: Michael Connelly has used the same plot device in at least one Bosch story and I’m getting a little tired of it.
Exit Music
Posted by georgemc on 27 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: books
Ian Rankin’s latest Rebus novel “Exit Music” twists and turns through both plot and Edinburgh in the fine style we’ve come to expect. I say “latest” rather than “last” since although this book charts his final days as a police detective, it is possible that the franchise will continue through Siobhan or even Rebus himself in another mode (I seem to recall that TV’s “Taggert” managed to continue even after Taggert was dead).
Anyway, if Rankin did decide to stop the Rebus series with this one, it would be on a splendid high note - highly recommended.
Obsessive Reading
Posted by georgemc on 20 Apr 2007 | Tagged as: books
While priming my new blog with a set of posts on my reading habits, I noticed a bit of a trend. If I am recommended or otherwise discover a new author, I like to read their work in chronological order and completely, unless, obviously, I take a scunner to them during that process. This has been an alarming trend in my last few years of reading (it can be quite time consuming to scratch a 19 book itch); I am pleased with my serial forays into Price, Dibdin and (so far) Connelly, and a bit less happy with my consumption of Cornwell (though I admit to being strangely compelled by Patricia’s Scarpetta saga, even when it went weird in the more recent books). For some authors it is easier for they have written less; Mo Hayder is impressive - some scary subject matter, but interesting nevertheless, especially the Nanking back-story for Tokyo (I cheated though, I read Tokyo first as part of a 3 for 2 Watersone’s gamble - you can’t always start at the beginning!).
Some of my literary obsessions are more easily controlled because I have been reading them more or less in sync with their publication; probably no surprise that a Scot of my time and place awaits with relish each new book by Banks, Rankin, MacLeod and Brookmyre. My latest Sci Fi serial addiction is the work of Richard K Morgan - great stuff!
The other category is authors you’ve read out of order who you know you have to complete. In this category falls Val McDemird (I blame Radio4’s bookclub for hooking me on the Mermaids Singing - seriously nasty and compelling - so I read all her other Tony Hill books and now have to figure out a strategy for reading the rest of her work).
I’ve also read Jeffrey Deaver out of order, but having read a couple of his early ones trawled out of Amazon’s long tail, I’m not convinced I’ll get around to reading all his stuff. The Lincoln Rhyme series is mandatory of course. The computer non-science content of “The Blue Nowhere” made we wince (I hate when that happens - I bet cops wince when they read lousy depictions of police procedure even though the rest of us go quite happily with the flow).
In summary - if you have any clue that an author may be good - start at the beginning and work your way through (works for me when I so choose!).
Kurt Vonnegut
Posted by georgemc on 20 Apr 2007 | Tagged as: books
As a young teen reader I read Vonnegut avidly, along with my other faves of Philip José Farmer and Philip K Dick. I belatedly realised on the news of his death that I owe the man some serious re-reading, as I probably missed 90% of what he was on about at the time; I remember my mind being tickled, stretched and entertained, but I can’t remember why - I need to report back!
A recent pleasant memory is hearing him on my beloved BBC Radio 4 telling Mark Lawson about his crapness as a Saab salesman.
Michael Dibdin
Posted by georgemc on 17 Apr 2007 | Tagged as: books
I was sad to hear of the death of Michael Dibdin, another author it has been my pleasure to discover in recent years and whose oeuvre I read obsessively from start to finish.
His main protagonist, Aurelio Zen, who if they ever film this stuff must be played by Giancarlo Giannini, is my kind of anti-hero. A great series, with a wit the arid side of dry, Bravo Michael!
Anthony Price
Posted by georgemc on 17 Apr 2007 | Tagged as: books
I took a bit of time off at the start of the year, and following a top tip from friends (thanks Alison and Rod!), I got hooked on a series of spy thrillers written in the 70s and 80s by Anthony Price. Many of them are out of print, but I had no problem getting all 19 of them with the help of Amazon “used” sellers (at reasonable prices too!).
I’ve long been a fan of Le Carré, Deighton, etc., but Price completely passed me by at the time, and I’m very grateful for the tip that got me started on his 1st one, The Labyrinth Makers. It’s perhaps the weakest of the series, but that’s a bit ungenerous since it was obviously enough to get me hooked!
What I like best about the series is the gradual development of the core set of characters; the main thread is the 70s-80s cold war with the USSR, but we dip back into WWII to see the formative years of our cold warriors. The main character Dr David Audley is a marvelous invention, though in my mind nothing like Terence Stamp who plays him in an 80s TV series based on the books (sad completest that I am, I tracked down some DVDs for these too!). The other recurring theme is to echo more ancient history in the back stories, such as the English and American Civil wars, and Roman and Medieval historical settings.
While reading the series I very much enjoyed dipping into David Dyer-Bennet’s informative pages (just be careful not to read the book-notes until you’ve read the specific book!).