Cal Hooper is a Chicago detective who retired to the village of Ardnakelty on Ireland's West coast. The Hunter is the second installment of Tana FrencCal Hooper is a Chicago detective who retired to the village of Ardnakelty on Ireland's West coast. The Hunter is the second installment of Tana French's trilogy of Cal's attempt to penetrate the self-contained and internally policed village. The novel builds on his mentorship of Trey Reddy, a troubled teen from the Ner'e Do Well local family, and his evolving relationship with Lena, a feisty local widow. The story centers on the return of Trey's slick and fast-talking father, Johnny, who brings a shady get-rich-quick scheme to extrapolate gold from the village lands.
French understands small-town Ireland, and Ardnakelty's character is the focal point of this dark, atmospheric, and finely crafted novel. I listened to the audio version, and the narrator, Roger Clark, brings the town to life. Highly recommend...more
Thanks to GR Friend Lisa for inspiring me to begin this series.
Slow Horses is great fun. It is a different spy thriller that focuses on agents who 3.5
Thanks to GR Friend Lisa for inspiring me to begin this series.
Slow Horses is great fun. It is a different spy thriller that focuses on agents who inhabit the British Secret Service's margins. These Operators either made a terrible mistake or were framed by higher-ups. Their punishment is assignment to Slough House, where they are given tedious and meaningless tasks in the hope that they will quit in frustration.
The head of the Slough House, Jackson Lamb, is a wisecracking outsider who reminds me of the cynical, hardboiled PIs of Hammett and Chandler. He works to insert his motley crew into the operations of M15 at Regent Park. In this introductory novel, the focus is on the kidnapping of a 19-year-old Pakistani, the nephew of a high-ranking Pakistani official, by a group of right-wing British militants. The novel's numerous twists and turns and Herron's lively writing style make for an intriguing summer read. Recommend ...more
Long Listed for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2022
The Fortune Men is a finely crafted work of Short-Listed for the Booker Prize 2021
Long Listed for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2022
The Fortune Men is a finely crafted work of historical fiction that examines the life of Mahmood Mattan, a Somali migrant to the UK who in 1952, was executed for a murder he did not commit. Nadifa Mohamed deftly depicts the interplay between Mattan’s inner world and his life in Tiger Bay a vibrant multiethnic seaport community in Cardiff where sailors from all over the world dock and sometimes settle. Mattan left his home in Somalia at age 14, travelled to South Africa where he took a job on a ship and began a life as an adventurer, gambler and sometime petty thief. He married Laura Williams, a white working-class Welsh woman from Cardiff and they had three sons.
In alternating chapters, Mohamed provides the back story of Mattan and the family of the murder victim, Violet Volacki. a Jewish shopkeeper, who suffered from a spinal disorder. Violet lived with her sister Diana, a resistance fighter and war widow and her niece Grace in an apartment next to the shop. On the night of the killing, a tall black man rang the shop doorbell. Violet opened the shop for him and was robbed and killed. The police arrested and charged Mattan even though Diana and Grace both testified that he was not the man they saw in front of the shop that evening. Despite a weak case based upon circumstantial evidence Mattan was convicted and hung. He was the last man to be hung in the UK.
Nadifa Mohamed painted an in-depth sympathetic portrait of Mattan who was neither a saint nor a murderer. She did extensive research and included excerpts from the trial. She did and excellent job capturing the time, place and the rampant racism which initially limited his life chances and ultimately led to his wrongful conviction. In 1998, the Criminal Cases Review Commission overturned the conviction. The Fortune Men is a troubling and thought-provoking book. I recommend it.
When I was ten, I came down with the measles. My father brought me home a copy of Treasure Island, and I reveled in the escape. Then, last week, I recWhen I was ten, I came down with the measles. My father brought me home a copy of Treasure Island, and I reveled in the escape. Then, last week, I received an injury to my right eye. I had to lay in a darkened room with cold compresses pressed to my eye for two days, so I reverted to the coping strategies of my ten-year-old self and binge listened to Billy Summers.
Billy Summers is NOT a horror story; it's Stephen King noir. Billy Summers is the penultimate anti-hero, the hitman with a heart of gold, a code of honor, and a soft spot for literary fiction. He is an ex-marine, a trained sniper, one of the best, who only uses his skills to take out " bad " people. The book is the story of his last hit. It could become a cliche in the hands of a less skilled writer; however, King makes it work.
King is a master at building slow-burn suspense. He introduces the specifics of the hit and details Billy's elaborate plans for its execution ( no pun intended) and his escape. Billy takes up residence in a small town for three months, waiting for his mark to arrive at the courthouse. His cover is that he is writing a book, and his office conveniently overlooks the courthouse. Billy decides to attempt a quasi-fictional memoir to pass the time. This device allows King to integrate Billy's backstory smoothly while building the tension. It also permits King to share some insights on writing and the writing life.
I have only read two other novels by King, but I like the compassionate way he depicts ordinary people in America's small towns. In Billy Summers, he skillfully describes Billy's interaction with his neighbors and the cohabitants of his office complex; the barbeques, local carnivals, monopoly games with neighbors' kids, and after-work drinks. King creates the kind of everyday normalcy that will one day leave these folks stunned to learn that they have been socializing with a paid assassin.
While planning the hit, Billy also develops an elaborate disguise and an alternate identity. He rents an apartment on the sparsely inhabited, poorer side of town to provide him with a safe harbor after the hit. All goes as planned and he resumes writing in his safe house until one night, about a week before he thinks it will be safe to leave the area, he sees a van drop the body of a semi-conscious woman nearby. Billy's picture has been circulated all over town. He can't call an ambulance without risking identification, and if he leaves the body, the police will find her and come knocking on all the nearby apartment doors. Besides, he has a code and doesn't want to leave her to die. I won't say more except that it was an engaging suspenseful book and is an excellent choice if you need to escape.
3.5 This is a great book to read if you are are looking to escape for a while. An up and coming artist, is accused of murdering her husband and eviden3.5 This is a great book to read if you are are looking to escape for a while. An up and coming artist, is accused of murdering her husband and evidence is overwhelming. She does not admit guilt nor claim innocence. She does not speak at all. She is deemed mentally ill and sent to a home for the criminally insane. The story is told from the point of view of her psychotherapist who seems obsessed with the case and reaching her. He investigates varying aspects of the case, interviews people who knew her and attempts therapy in unconventional ways. This is a quick read. It is fast paced an engrossing... perfect for a summer escape! ...more
3.5 Long Bright River provides a frightening, yet compassionate view of the opioid epidemic in the US. Its set in the Kensington district of Philadelph3.5 Long Bright River provides a frightening, yet compassionate view of the opioid epidemic in the US. Its set in the Kensington district of Philadelphia, a white working class area that has seen better days. The story centers on two sisters Mickey and Kacey Fitzpatrick. Both of their parents were addicts. Their mother died of an overdose and the father disappeared leaving the sisters to be raised by their overburdened and resentful grandmother. Kacey follows in her parents' footsteps and becomes an addict, while Mickey becomes a cop.
Ostensibly, the book is about Mickey’s search for her missing sister during a wave of killings of women on the streets. However, the plot takes a back stage to the family saga and the portrayal of addiction and neighborhood decline. It is a well- drawn portrait and the book’s strength. It is an engrossing read....more
**spoiler alert** 3.5 I genuinely like Anthony Horowitz's work. His Hawthorne series is a clever pastiche of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Horowitz wr**spoiler alert** 3.5 I genuinely like Anthony Horowitz's work. His Hawthorne series is a clever pastiche of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Horowitz writes himself into the book as an unwitting Watson to Hawthorne a modern day, quasi hard boiled version of Sherlock Holmes. Its great fun.
However, I was a bit disappointed in the plotting in this book. Despite the many suspects with excellent motives, I figured out "whodunnit"early on. When Horowitz as Watson discussed the suspects with a plausible motives, he consistently left one out. I figured Horowitz was hiding him for a twist at the end and I was right. I expect more from a master plotter and the creator of Foyle's War. Still, it an enjoyable read....more
I was drawn to this book because I am interested in Harper Lee and Truman Capote's collaboration on the research for In Cold Blood and the evolution oI was drawn to this book because I am interested in Harper Lee and Truman Capote's collaboration on the research for In Cold Blood and the evolution of what became know as the "new journalism." Unfortunately, the book didn't shed much light on that movement.
However, I found the book interesting in its own right. It focuses upon Harper Lee's attempt to write a crime novel based on the strange case of the Reverend Willie Maxwell, an African- American serial killer, who took out multiple insurance policies on six of his relatives all of whom met untimely deaths under suspicious circumstances. Law enforcement was never able to gather sufficient evidence to convict Maxwell of any of these crimes, but the community believed in his guilt and he was shot by a member of his family, who felt he had to be stopped.
The first part of the book describes the crime in depth and includes interesting anecdotes on the history of the insurance industry and life in small town Alabama during the 1970's. The second part of the book provides a biography of Harper Lee, a discussion of her 10 years researching the case and attempts to explain the writer's block which kept her from completing, her second book The Reverend.
I found the first half of the book really interesting as was the first part of Lee's biography. However, the analysis of Lee's ongoing writer's block was overly long became tedious to read. It provided a weak ending to an otherwise well- done book. ...more
3.5 Maddie Schwartz is a dissatisfied middle-class Jewish housewife, who at 36, leaves her husband and 16 year old son to " find herself and make her 3.5 Maddie Schwartz is a dissatisfied middle-class Jewish housewife, who at 36, leaves her husband and 16 year old son to " find herself and make her mark on the world." In high school she dreamed of becoming a journalist and through ingenuity, chutzpah and luck manages to insert herself into two murder investigations. As a consequence she comes up with with a block buster story that launches her career. The story is set in Baltimore in 1966 and deals with the sexism and racism of that period. The writing is light and breezy with a noir feel.It is told from multiple point of views with each character's view advancing the story. Its meant to be a period piece and in a sense it is. The reader gets a vivid sense of the male dominated newsroom and the systemic racism that leads the police and the media to ignore the murder of African-Americans. However, little is mentioned of the broader historical context and the social upheavals of the 1960's. Lady of the Lake is an engaging, light summer read.
3.5 When I was a teenager, I had the misfortune of seeing the movie The Exorcist. I slept with the light on for several weeks afterward and swore off 3.5 When I was a teenager, I had the misfortune of seeing the movie The Exorcist. I slept with the light on for several weeks afterward and swore off horror or anything dealing with the supernatural. As a consequence, I had never read anything by Stephen King. However, I heard that The Outsider was a mystery and decided to try it. I should have realized that since it was written by Stephen King, there would be a supernatural component.
The Outsider is set in Flint City, Oklahoma, the quintessential American small town. Terry Maitland, English teacher, baseball coach and all- American good guy is accused of a heinous crime of molesting and killing a young boy. The police have an air-tight case and Maitland has an air-tight alibi. King really understands small-town America and his portrayal of the local residents' wrath against their "fallen hero" and his family is really chilling.
The book is well-written and an engrossing page-turner. There were certainly memorable characters. However, I find that I still do not enjoy mysteries with supernatural solutions. While I don't have to sleep with the light on, if I wake up in the middle of the night, I feel an eerie sense of discomfort. I guess that means that Stephen King is good at what he does.
I always enjoy Atkinson's Jackson Brody novels. This installment deals with a human trafficking ring. As always, the writing is excellent with well-defI always enjoy Atkinson's Jackson Brody novels. This installment deals with a human trafficking ring. As always, the writing is excellent with well-defined characters and a kind of cynical realism that make the books come alive. I couldn't put it down....more
This is a well written and researched account of an ugly chapter of US history, that I knew nothing about. In the 1920s oil was discovered on the OsagThis is a well written and researched account of an ugly chapter of US history, that I knew nothing about. In the 1920s oil was discovered on the Osage Indian Reservation making its inhabitants some of the richest members of American society. Members of the surrounding white community sought to obtain Osage land rights through a murder spree that included shootings and poisonings. The few honest" lawmen" wound up dead as well.
The fledgling Bureau, the precursor to the FBI, was finally brought in to investigate and they succeeded in obtaining convictions for a group of men who had murdered 24 Osage from one family constellation. However, over a hundred murders remain unsolved, author David Grann believes, due to the power and prominence of the perpetrators in Oklahoma society.
It is an interesting, yet depressing read. I highly recommend it.