Sara Paretsky may be one of my favorite crime thriller authors. I have read all her books and always catch the latest one. Pay Dirt is her 2024 offeriSara Paretsky may be one of my favorite crime thriller authors. I have read all her books and always catch the latest one. Pay Dirt is her 2024 offering and her intrepid, feminist Private Investigator, V I Warshawski is doing her work in Kansas this time.
She is coming off a horrendous case and is exhausted, a bit weak, disoriented and low on self-esteem. These are all unusual for V I. She decided to take a break from crime and attend a college basketball weekend where one of her protegees is playing. (She likes to help young sportswomen get ahead in sports.)
Instead, she finds herself involved with a case of a missing young woman in a city where she is without people and contacts she knows. This tale is a nail-biter the whole way through. The local police chief does not want her help. The FBI becomes involved. The issue is a local land-use battle with connections to opioid distribution.
Of course, she prevails and busts the case wide-open with the help of some contacts back in her Chicago hometown, but reading about how she does this was gripping! ...more
This was a sentimental reread. I will tell why in a minute.
Travanian is the pen name of Rodney William Whitaker; a writer more reclusive than J D SaliThis was a sentimental reread. I will tell why in a minute.
Travanian is the pen name of Rodney William Whitaker; a writer more reclusive than J D Salinger and Thomas Pynchon. He wrote six novels under that name though Shibumi is the only one I have read, so far. My husband and I read it in the early 1980s and besides both of us loving it, it improved our sex life!
Shibumi is a Japanese word that connotes complete harmony, tranquility and balance. Nicholai Hel, the book’s hero, was able to achieve this state until his career as an assassin caused a spiritual banishment from what for him was mystical. He also was an accomplished player of the Japanese board game known as Go.
The novel is one of the most exciting I have ever read and is a fast read as well. Nicholai Hel has another special feature he called “proximity sense.” It enabled him to be aware of any movement 360 degrees around him. Of course, that comes in handy for an assassin.
He had a hard and hellacious life as a child and young man in Japan between the World Wars. He overcame it all but when he attracts the attention of the Mother Company, a super group of international espionage, he faces a set of circumstances that could bar him permanently from shibumi.
When I began my reading in publication order of Don Winslow’s books, my husband decided to take the journey with me. Don Winslow, with the permission of Travanian’s daughter, wrote a prequel to Shimumi, called Satori and it all led to our sentimental reread of the Travanian novel and a plan to read the rest of his work.
This might be the reading slump breaking novel of all time! ...more
Earlier this decade I read Don Winslow’s Power of the Dog trilogy. It covers the drug scene in Mexico and unsuccessful efforts by the US government toEarlier this decade I read Don Winslow’s Power of the Dog trilogy. It covers the drug scene in Mexico and unsuccessful efforts by the US government to stop the flow of drugs into the country. Each book was great.
I decided, as I often do, to go back and read his earlier books.
A Cool Breeze on the Underground was his first novel. It is a thriller based around a political family whose father is a US Senator, whose daughter is a runaway, whose mother knows terrible secrets about their family. The Senator wants his daughter found and brought home in time for his campaign for re-election.
Enter the hero of this five-book series: Neal Carey. What a character! He grew up on the streets of New York but gains a mentor who teaches him how to be a private detective. That teaching rivaled Samuri discipline and was one of my favorite parts of the book.
Neal sets off for London, where the missing daughter is presumed to be, and trails her to a raunchy bunch of drug dealers and sex traffickers. The missing daughter is one of their victims kept in line by providing her with drugs. It gets gnarly!
I would warn you that Winslow does not shy away from graphic violence. His characters though have depth and right out of the box with this first book, he is deep into the connections between crime and politics. If that is your kind of story Winslow is your guy! ...more
I confess I am a bit obsessed with Rebecca West. I read her 1956 novel, The Fountain Overflows, in 2009 which was when my obsession began. It was one I confess I am a bit obsessed with Rebecca West. I read her 1956 novel, The Fountain Overflows, in 2009 which was when my obsession began. It was one of my favorite novels of all time. In 2013 I read an excellent biography, Rebecca West A Life by Victoria Glendinning. Learning about her life and loves and struggles as a female author induced a strong identification with her in me, being a woman who could have been her daughter and who experienced similar struggles in my 20th century life.
Then I spent about seven years trying to read her magnum opus, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, about her travels through the former Yugoslavia. As I finally penetrated and proceeded through those 1100 pages, I gained an appreciation for her many fine qualities as a writer: her astonishing sentences, her deep understandings about history, religion, war, and the highs and lows that human beings can reach.
Now I have read The Birds Fall Down, her final novel. All those fine qualities are in play here. A young woman, Laura Rowan, daughter of a Russian mother and a British father, travels with her mother to France to visit her Russian grandfather, Count Nikolai. The Count is an exiled Russian aristocrat who is still loyal to the Tsar, that complete autocrat fighting for his existence against the Social Revolutionary Party: terrorists who will usher in Lenin after the Russian Revolution.
Laura learns that a double spy lives in her grandfather’s house. Rebecca West reveals all these layers of intrigue in such a way that I could feel the danger, the confusion, and the pressures of history at work. Laura is 18, is quite conflicted about being a woman, does not intend ever to marry, and is far braver than her years would suggest.
I found the novel difficult going at times. But I recognized the intense understanding of history Rebecca West had developed over her career of writing, her traveling, and her passionate embrace of feminism. The story encompasses the forces that created modern history. To me, that is a form of genius: to be able to have such an overview combine with her convictions and turn that into a spy novel of epic proportions.
All the previously read books mentioned here I have reviewed on Goodreads. Today as I worked to pull my thoughts together, I learned that The Fountain Overflows was originally intended to be the first in a series, The Aubrey Trilogy. Though Rebecca West never published the others, a completed manuscript for the second and extensive notes on the third were pulled together after the author’s death in 1983 at 90 years old and published as This Real Night and Cousin Rosamund.
After learning that, I have decided I am not done with Rebecca West yet. There are four earlier novels from before The Fountain Overflows and the rest of The Aubrey Trilogy. Somehow, I will fit them into my reading someday! ...more
This is Tana French’s latest novel and a sequel to The Searcher. I loved it.
I have noticed that some fans of this author’s Dublin Murder Squad books aThis is Tana French’s latest novel and a sequel to The Searcher. I loved it.
I have noticed that some fans of this author’s Dublin Murder Squad books are unhappy with her latest two books. I get it. They are to some degree different, especially the characters. But I am a firm believer in an author’s right to move on and try new things. One aspect that remains unchanged is her rendering of modern Irish life: the ways it reflects the modern world and the ways it remains distinct.
In The Hunter, a village in the west of Ireland becomes unsettled by the return of one of its own and the arrival of an unknown person who claims there’s gold in them hills. Cal Hooper, the retired Chicago cop who relocated to Ireland in the last book, is still a main character but takes a back seat to Trey, the young person he took under his wing in The Searcher. The returnee is Trey’s loser of a father and the unknown person he brings with him claims to be a millionaire from London and is as fake as the gold he gets planted in the river.
This is mostly Trey’s story. She is as wily and devious as her father but has a different goal: to avenge her brother Brendan’s death. For much of the story I found it hard to understand her actions and I feared for her well-being. I also enjoyed decoding the actions of the village people who are all interesting characters and whose malarky is murky.
The tension builds inexorably, some call it a slow burn, but I was anxious throughout and pulled into the psychological rat’s nest that grows to a violent and troubling climax wherein the women save the day. I say, well done to Tana French! ...more
This excellent spy thriller won the Edgar Award in 1966. It is a timely story though in 1966 I had no idea that trials to convict former Nazis in GermThis excellent spy thriller won the Edgar Award in 1966. It is a timely story though in 1966 I had no idea that trials to convict former Nazis in Germany were still taking place. Quiller, the hero of this tale, has been in Berlin finding Nazis and bringing them to trial. He is an operative of an unnamed British agency and on the eve of his return to Britain he is recruited to stay for another assignment. Apparently, despite the trials, Nazis are on the rise, reaching out to various countries with plans to start another war.
It took me reading the first chapter three times to figure out what was going on. Then I was hooked and found myself reading a novel as good as anything by John le Carre. The most intriguing aspect was being put by the author into Quiller’s mind as he constantly figured out his tactics, which made the story psychological in an unsettling way.
Quote from Chapter Two: “People never start wars. Politicians and generals start them.” So true, so chilling. It still goes on today. ...more
This extremely difficult but entertaining novel won the Booker Prize in 2022. I finally read it for a reading group, though in resonance with the storThis extremely difficult but entertaining novel won the Booker Prize in 2022. I finally read it for a reading group, though in resonance with the story we never met because a key member had a death in the family.
Once I got used to the second person voice (first paragraph: “You wake up with the answer to the questions that everyone asks. The answer to the question is Yes, and the answer is Just Like Here But Worse. That’s all the insight you’ll ever get. So you might as well go back to sleep.” Maali Almeida woke up dead. He was a “Photographer. Gambler. Slut.” He lived from 1955-1990 in the troubled times of the Sri Lankan civil wars.
Once I figured out who was alive and who was dead, and believe me that took a while; once I figured out that Maali had seven days (seven moon rises) to decide what his afterlife would be, I sort of began to get a grip. I admit I knew exactly nothing about Sri Lanka when I started the book. I finally admitted that I needed to look stuff up. Where is Colombo anyway? Let me tell you it was not a good place to live in the late 1980s.
Maali is a complex character you want to love but you sometimes hate. Sri Lanka has been violated in numerous ways since the first European traders landed on its shores. The usual suspects that now loom in almost every country on Earth are corrupted grasping rich guys who have no interest in human rights. Life is cheap and myths from the beginning of time abound.
My favorite character was Jaki whose unrelenting bravery and energy pulsates right along with Maali’s. She is on the order of women like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I am just saying that though I have never watched the show or the movie; I am of the Wonder Woman age: same deal.)
After a rip roaring tale, the book ends with a dose of existential philosophy and I guess that is just about right. ...more
I reread Taipan because it was the #8 bestseller in 1966 and because I barely remembered it from my 1980s first reading. It is a big tale, set in the I reread Taipan because it was the #8 bestseller in 1966 and because I barely remembered it from my 1980s first reading. It is a big tale, set in the newly founded Hong Kong during the mid-1800s. Two of the biggest traders from Great Britain wage a violent battle for the superior position. Dirk Straun, known as Taipan, is the supreme leader of his trading company. His rival is Tyler Brock. Both are equally driven and violent.
This time I understood the history better. I saw that it is a tale of brains over brawn, a tale of fathers trying to leave a company to their sons, and an interesting look into the ideas of trade and penetration into the Chinese market. Tea, opium, ships, Chinese views about the “barbarian” people from abroad, etc, etc.
Clavell is a master of the propulsive tale and I read all 600 pages in five days. I had forgotten the tragic ending altogether. Also I was struck by the growing power of China today and the ways that the balance of trade and power have changed, yet not changed across the centuries. ...more
The latest volume in Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series concerns the Russia of today and his perception of their plans for the world. Of course, art The latest volume in Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series concerns the Russia of today and his perception of their plans for the world. Of course, art is involved. Gabriel gets recruited by the Italian Art Squad to track down a stolen painting and walks right into a conspiracy between a Danish oil company executive and Russian oil. Putin and his methods loom large.
I have read every book in the series and just when I wonder what the author will do next, he surprises me in new ways. This time I was impressed by the plotting: more intricate than ever.
When I am at my reading best, I like to read 100 pages a day. When books are challenging, when life events keep me busy, I don’t make that target and When I am at my reading best, I like to read 100 pages a day. When books are challenging, when life events keep me busy, I don’t make that target and feel disgruntled. At such times I turn to the mystery/crime/thriller genre and pick up books by my favorite authors of that genre.
Laura Lippman is one of those I have lately added to my lists and In Big Trouble, the 4th in her Tess Monaghan series, did it for me. It may speak negatively about me and my life, but getting away from it all in these books is better than any other pleasure I can think of.
Tess is usually found in her hometown of Baltimore, MD. In Big Trouble takes her to Texas, from where a former boyfriend has let her know he is in big trouble. She arrives in Austin, then trails him to San Antonio. Naturally for Tess, she finds herself adrift and confused but determined to find Crow and get him out of trouble. If she can.
I appreciate an author who does most of the heavy lifting for me in terms of style. I suppose it is fitting in a mystery because so much is unknown for both the reader and the PI for most of the book. Lippman’s sharp humor, snarky references to all things that deserve snark, and the breezy way she drops in cultural references, keep me tearing along in the story even when I know less about what’s happening than Tess does. How does the author do that?
Another big plus is Tess herself: the dogged way she refuses to give up, the chances she takes, and her ability to bounce back from mistaken suppositions about the crime she is solving. Though Tess is much braver than I have ever been or will be, she also has her insecurities underneath her rebellious nature.
One warning I would give about In Big Trouble is that it begins with a Prologue that had my head spinning right away. Though it certainly set the scene as it takes place in The Alamo. OK, I was placed in Texas and I felt lucky to get out at the end, when I finally understood the Prologue.
Now I can happily go back to literary fiction, feeling refreshed!
Back to 1966 I go. (That is the year I am reading for My Big Fat Reading Project.*) The Adventurers was the #2 bestseller of the year and I had been pBack to 1966 I go. (That is the year I am reading for My Big Fat Reading Project.*) The Adventurers was the #2 bestseller of the year and I had been putting it off because it is so long. But 2023 is my year of reading long books so it was time.
I first met Harold Robbins ten years ago when I read The Carpetbaggers. That was the #4 bestseller in 1961. I actually, secretly love such big trashy novels and used to read lots of them. They have made the bestseller lists for years but one can learn some American history from them. Also, I must say that the Presidential biographies I have read from the 20th century years are almost as lurid in some ways.
The Adventurers, set in a fictional South American country, features Dax, the son and grandson of revolutionaries, who grows up to understand that the new leader of his country is as much of a dictator as the one he replaced. Such is the way of revolutions around the world. But this book was timely due to events in Cuba and due to the way the American government used its power and money in Central and South America to fight communism: the perceived big enemy to democracy.
Robbins created a complicated hero in Dax and once I got to the half-way point, I suspected he might be doomed but I hoped he would prevail. Violence, sex, money, politics, and a few outright insane characters propelled me along for seven days and I had a good time.
*My Big Fat Reading Project is my plan to read the top 10 bestsellers, the award winners and a select list of other authors from all the years that I have lived. ...more
I managed to read Daniel Silva's 2022 novel in his Gabriel Allon series just as his 2023 one published.
Gabriel has left Israeli intelligence at last. I managed to read Daniel Silva's 2022 novel in his Gabriel Allon series just as his 2023 one published.
Gabriel has left Israeli intelligence at last. He got as close to death as he'd ever been in the prior book and his wife says he's had enough. They now live in Venice. But you can't keep a good spy from spying so once he has recovered enough he gets involved in an art crime scenario and off he goes playing cat and mouse with a ring of art forgers and museum owners perpetrating fraud on innocent art lovers.
Entertaining enough. But I missed the world of international political intrigue. The new book is supposed to have Russians behaving badly. Duh! I will read it soon and then can mark Daniel Silva as one more thriller writer I am up to date with....more
In the 21st book of the Gabriel Allon series the focus is on Russia. Putin, super rich oligarchs, money laundering and interference in American politiIn the 21st book of the Gabriel Allon series the focus is on Russia. Putin, super rich oligarchs, money laundering and interference in American politics, as well as democratic governments in Europe.
How timely can he get? One more book and I will be caught up on the series, at least until his 2023 book comes out this summer.
Somehow these books are much better for me than reading the news....more
This was the #5 bestseller in 1966. Apparently Helen MacInnes wrote a slew of novels in the mid 20th century though I had not read her before.
The DoubThis was the #5 bestseller in 1966. Apparently Helen MacInnes wrote a slew of novels in the mid 20th century though I had not read her before.
The Double Image is a Cold War spy story with many characters. MI6, CIA and the French police are working to solve the reappearance of a Nazi war criminal, thought to be dead, and to find the murderer of an American history professor visiting in Paris.
The story was hard to follow. A bit like reading John le Carre. A bit like Daniel Silva. As good in it own way as those guys and impressive because the author is a woman. Many, maybe too many, characters, have double identities. Thus the title.
I was reminded that the Cold War with its extreme fear of communism, was as all encompassing as the War on Terror is now....more
Sara Paretsky wrote her latest V I Warshawski crime thriller during the pandemic. I for one have enjoyed every book I have read so far that has includSara Paretsky wrote her latest V I Warshawski crime thriller during the pandemic. I for one have enjoyed every book I have read so far that has included Covid in the story. It is important to have these records of those terrible years.
Anyway, I tell you that Sara Paretsky meets Joyce Carol Oates in this one. It is distinctly Gothic in style and psychological in content, though as always with Ms Paretsky, it reads so fast one's head literally spins.
A mysterious teen who speaks in foreign words of trauma about her grandmother, a crumbling mansion, a gang of real estate criminals, all combine to show us once again the evil underside existing to this day in Chicago. Plus bots and the cloud!
This is her 21st novel and now I have read them all!...more
The is the last of the Anna Pigeon series, at least for now. Because it has been 7 years since it was published, I am assuming Nevada Barr is done witThe is the last of the Anna Pigeon series, at least for now. Because it has been 7 years since it was published, I am assuming Nevada Barr is done with Anna, who is a National Park Service ranger. In fact, I discovered my first one of Nevada Barr's books in the gift shop of a National Park, loved it, and have gone on to read all 19 books in the series. I have also gone to visit many of the parks in which she sets her books.
Boar Island is set in Maine's Acadia National Park where Anna and her friends have temporarily relocated to protect her goddaughter Elizabeth from a horrific case of cyber bullying. The story is full of twists and turns, danger and violence, and the usual array of lunatics Anna always finds herself trying to outwit.
In fact, the horrors Anna manages to live through this time are so over the top in some ways that it just might be time for her to find a somewhat less life threatening line of work.
If I miss her too much, because she is such a unique character, I can always read the series again. Also there is one more Nevada Barr book I have not read. What Rose Forgot, her most recent, is a stand alone featuring a woman with dementia!...more
In his 20th novel of the Gabriel Allon series, Daniel Silva veers off the well-trodden path of the Israeli secret service head's fight against global In his 20th novel of the Gabriel Allon series, Daniel Silva veers off the well-trodden path of the Israeli secret service head's fight against global terrorism to take on anti-semitism. Both my husband and I, who read this series together, found it a welcome break.
That is all I am going to say because otherwise I would move into spoiler territory. If you have ever pondered the question of how anti-semitism began on earth, I recommend The Order....more
In Daniel Silva's 19th book of the Gabriel Allon series, the Israeli chief of intelligence decides to ally himself with the Crown Prince of Saudi ArabIn Daniel Silva's 19th book of the Gabriel Allon series, the Israeli chief of intelligence decides to ally himself with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in an attempt to further the fight against radical Islam. What could go wrong? Plenty!
The author admits to having taken fictional liberties with the Crown Prince's character. He was the person responsible for having that journalist killed in Saudi Arabia. It is a bit much to swallow at times but the entire story of The New Girl takes a seemingly informed look at the tensions between Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world powers as they stood during the Trump administration.
As always, it was a gripping read which I devoured in two days. I began reading the series in 2016 as a buddy read with my husband, averaging roughly 3 books a year, so by next year we will be caught up and will only need to read one book per year to keep abreast.
If you are a Daniel Silva fan, can you recommend an equally good political thriller series to tackle next?...more
Here is another Newbery Medal winner I have read. Crispin: The Cross of Lead took the prize in 2003.
For me it was a timely read since I am currently rHere is another Newbery Medal winner I have read. Crispin: The Cross of Lead took the prize in 2003.
For me it was a timely read since I am currently reading The Reformation by Will Durant. Crispin is living in England during the early years of rebellion against both a corrupt, divided Catholic Church and the feudal power of wealthy nobles.
Crispin is a 13 year old in 1377. He and his mother are poor in a way that almost no one is anymore. When the story opens, he does not even have a name but is just called Asta's son. His mother, Asta, will not say anything about his father or why they are outcasts in their small village. When she is killed, he knows he is in deep danger and takes to the road.
By the end of the story, which moves at a breath stopping pace, he has learned who he is, what he is, and gone from thinking he was nothing to knowing his name, his mother's history and his place in the world as a member of the Guild of Free Men.
The author captures so well the hold of religion at the time as well as the tension, the brutality and the passions that inhabit people's souls. Having read Will Durant's The Age of Faith, The Renaissance and the beginning chapters of The Reformation, I can tell that Avi's research for this book is sound.
Crispin, The Cross of Lead is the first of a trilogy and I will be reading the next two books!...more
In the next to last book in Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series, the park ranger sets out for a "vacation" camping trip with friends in the Iron Range ofIn the next to last book in Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series, the park ranger sets out for a "vacation" camping trip with friends in the Iron Range of upstate Minnesota. Anyone who follows this series knows that vacations for Anna are inevitably anything but. Destroyer Angel is no exception.
Her companions are Heath, a paraplegic woman; Leah, a wealthy designer of outdoor equipment (who created Heath's super amazing wheel chair) and also on the spectrum; two teenage girls; and a really cool dog.
Soon enough the villains arrive, intending to kidnap Leah for ransom. Anna is in a different position in this one, always hiding in the woods and secretly following the others while sabotaging the bad guys. The dog is her only ally.
So, plenty of issues as always, but the women and the girls, despite much violence against them, are Nevada Barr's answer to men hurting women.
Each book is this series gets more heart-pounding than the previous ones. This one borders on horror, though that has always been present. I will be sad to read the final book but I suspect the author needed a vacation herself!...more