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Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline – legal process crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/20/2006 6:51 PM
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Lisa Scottoline’s Killer Smile is one of a series featuring a firm of trial lawyers. The book has a good plot, with interesting contextualisation of material about world war two detainees in America. The narrative is well planned for cliff-hangers at suitable times, though sometimes the reader could wish for a quicker move forward. There are longish periods when the literary plot devices of delay become quite tedious. The number of times papers go missing is not just careless but literary boredom. It is, however, professionally written by an author who knows her stuff, and so, even though characterisation is a little superficial, worth a weekend read.
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The Lightening Cage by Alan Wall – enigmatic literary fiction – 4/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/19/2006 11:00 AM
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Alan Wall’s book The Lightening Cage is a novel of erudite but curious literary fiction. The plot as such is fairly simple and undramatic, the story is carried on with two narratives – one historical and one current. These narratives do set up a tension and cause the reader to be curious about what deep, possibly supernatural, happenings are being referred to in the various snippets of letters and poetry quoted. The writing appears impressively scholarly and yet manages to have considerable suspense. It is a pity that the closing chapters are so disappointing – but perhaps that’s it – perhaps my attention drooped to such a low level I missed any point there was. Not my key themes or ideas.
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Entombed by Linda Fairstein – good quality crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/18/2006 2:09 PM
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Linda Fairstein’s crime fiction book Entombed, is the latest in her series featuring Assistant DA Alex Cooper, and is, as usual with Fairstein’s books – well plotted, middling gruesome, and authentically detailed – this time with information about Edgar Allan Poe no less. The narrative moves along with high levels of suspense as relevant clues are only dribbled into the story along with a fair number of red herrings. The characters now verge on the tedious, as Linda Fairstein seems to be gripped by the problem of so many crime fiction writers who carry on a long series – the tendency to have the main characters lives with their partners afflicted by huge and earthshaking happenings as every day occurrences – just like a soap. They get less believable as each book appears. If you can just ride with the characters as backdrop, the book is very readable indeed.
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Last Tango in Abertystwyth by Malcom Pryce – Comic Noir crime fiction ! 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/17/2006 12:05 PM
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Malcom Pryce’s Last Tango in Aberystwyth is a strangely funny off the wall surreal blend between noir fiction and the League of Gentlemen. It is set in an Aberystwyth of 24 hour whelk stalls, opium and toffee apple dens and where young men were recruited to fight in Patagonia. The plot is impossible to summarise with any sense of sanity, and the characters are as weird as they need to be in the imaginative context. It is the effortless way the humour is woven into the structure of the story that makes this such a unexpected delight – the fluency of the writing and off-beat language and contrivances make this book.
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Property by Valerie Martin – Literary Fiction, Orange Prize Winner 2003 |
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By bookworm on
2/16/2006 4:47 PM
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Valerie Martin’s book Property, her Orange Prize winning novel of 2003, is, as might be expected, beautifully and carefully written. The theme of the bondage of slavery – both for the owned and the owner is an original perspective, and for one with little knowledge of the history of slavery in the American South, an eye opener in terms of what the book reveals anew of the unthinkingly cruel psychological as well as physical treatment of slaves by ordinary, even “good” people. The characters are all flawed and unlikeable, even the strange “heroine” narrating, and yet the book is quite compelling and powerful in delivering its moral – though this is not straightforward or easy.
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Donna Leon – Dressed to Kill – Italian Detective Brunetti – literate crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/15/2006 1:37 PM
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Donna Leon’s crime fiction book “Dressed to Kill” is quite an early book (1994) featuring her Detective Commisario Guido Brunetti – the Venetian context makes this novel particularly pleasurable, though the police and crime structure of Leon’s Venice seems very different from that of Massimo Carlotto (see last entry) – though the political manoeuvrings paint the same picture of corruption and intrigue. Not only is the context pleasurable and atmospheric, the plot is, as usual for Donna Leon – very well structured and the literate and polished narrative moves along quickly and deals with great consideration and human sympathy with the violence and horror. However, it is the characterisations that really make the Guido Brunetti books – of the detective and his moral and thoughtful nature, of his wife and family and of his colleagues and the victims of crime – where small pen pictures create an empathy in the reader. These are so good I shall work my way through her back catalogue in time.
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Massimo Carlotto – The Columbian Mule – Trans from Italian – Crime Fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/14/2006 3:49 PM
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The Columbian Mule by Massimo Carlotti is based on fact (so says the author’s afterword) and shows an atmosphere and reality in setting and dialogue hard to capture in crime fiction. It seems true that fact is stranger than fiction given the convoluted plot – where the several threads appear to weave illogically and independently through the narrative. It’s a strange tale of gangster’s honour and infighting, and police ruthlessness. The line usually clear in crime fiction between “good” and “bad” even if not between “right” and “wrong” or even less so with “lawful” and “unlawful” is only for the reader to determine. The author tells a fascinating story. It is worth reading if only for the authentic sense of place – do try it.
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The Ice Harvest by Scott Philips – “Deeply noir” – thriller 5/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/13/2006 9:10 PM
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Scott Philips’ The Ice Harvest is an interesting debut novel. The blurb says this is “white noir” but certainly noir it is. Atmospherically placed in the quiet snow of Christmas eve. Quite relentlessly black in focus – though the blow-by-blow account of the action as Charlie tries to run away is written with sharp wit and insight into human frailties. Though set up to be wicked and deeply malevolent, the reader is increasing tied into reading the story to find out who, or if, anyone gets away with the crimes. The ending is quite outrageously unexpected.
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Tess Gerritsen – Body Double – Bestselling crime thriller 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/12/2006 11:55 AM
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Tess Gerritsen, Body Double - as the blurbs for this book say the plot is “horrific and gruesome” – though it isn’t in-your face at the outset – it’s a plot that keeps you guessing right to the end. There is a good authentic forensic background – for those who appreciate the details and there are some quite tantalising characterisations, though sometimes you wish there was more interest in the rather flat relationships. The narrative is brilliantly taut – being left hanging at the end of chapters is Tess Gerritsen’s forte – and it certainly keeps you reading to the end. A bone-chiller that keeps you on the end of the seat – not for the fainthearted - or pregnant, for that matter.
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Claire McNab – The Kookaburra Gambit – light detective novel 5/10 (and that’s being kind) |
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By bookworm on
2/11/2006 2:50 PM
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Claire McNab’s book - The Kookaburra Gambit is a lightish detective novel. It is easy to read and the plot moves along quickly. There are no complicated devices that slow you down (or add depth or interest for example) and it gets away with pretty grim dialogue with lightweight banter and any additional interest occasioned by following the fairly humdrum (by good crime novel standards, that it) life of a trainee gay detective (or rather a trainee detective who happens to be gay). Some amusing touches but not enough to recommend that you read it.
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