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Exile by Denise Mina. Scottish Noir crime 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/31/2008 10:28 AM
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I really have to give Exile by Denise Mina [ISBN 0 593 04] a high score because it is written with such realism and perceptive insights. It is well written and thought provoking. It has an excellent plot. Its characters are multi dimensional and drawn with amazingly observed human touches few notice. However, I have to also say it is raw and brutal; it is beyond “gritty” it is uncomfortable and deeply depressing in parts. You wish some brightness could filter into these Glaswegian low-lives. It took me a long time to read because I only read relatively little at a time, and that way I could appreciate its quirky ironic humour without being too down afterwards. If you read for escape, you wouldn’t want to escape to here.
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Harm by Brian Aldiss. Science Fiction 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/30/2008 3:22 PM
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Well, the master science fiction writer is certainly keeping his stories up to date. Brian Aldiss’s Harm [ISBN 978 0 7156 3699 2] deals with the current concern about Guantanamo and Abu Graib together with issues of insanity and worlds within the mind. I have to say that it is quite deeply depressing and thought provoking, and if you read books for pleasure rather than getting slugged in the head, then this is not for you. It is quite unrelenting and though it deals with deep issues of the relationship of religious belief, oppression and violence, it does not offer anything as antidote.
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Kill Me by Stephen White. American crime thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/29/2008 12:12 PM
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There’s no doubt about it, Kill Me by Stephen White [ISBN 978 0 7515 3629 –4] is mostly very good indeed. The plot is just a bit different (not particularly plausible, but suspend your disbelief and its OK). Mind you, the narrative is one of those that starts at the end and works back in a kind of haphazard way so the reader reads on to find out what is happening. Something pretty awful, its clear, but why ?
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Shakespeare by Bill Bryson. Literary non-fiction: biography 10/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/28/2008 1:41 PM
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Bill Bryson’s biography of Shakespeare [ISBN 978 0 00 719789 7] is full of his scholarship and research on Shakespeare, meticulously referenced – but what makes it such a brilliant book is how well it is written. Whether you are a particular afficiando of Shakespeare or not, the book is written so cogently – like a very readable story – which makes what little is known about Shakespeare into a highly plausible, interesting biography.
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Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen. American crime thriller 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/26/2008 9:29 AM
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Cody McFadyen’s thriller Shadow Man [ISBN 0 340 84006 4] is seriously gruesome in parts and that’s why I’ve rated it down – it is quite unremittingly noir. The heroine has no respite from start to finish, which though this makes for suspenseful reading, it can be inappropriate for a late night read – or even a relaxing one. Technically, its quite good, though you’ll recognise the plot which has been laundered many times – you know, past nightmares coming back to get you. However, you will not guess what is happening for some time. If you can get the book or it gets lent to you, try it.
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In the Woods by Tana French. Irish Mystery/thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/25/2008 10:54 AM
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Tana French’s mystery thriller In the Woods [ISBN 978 0 340 92476 1] is a debut novel, and very good it is too. There is a stonking plot which hooks you from the outset, and a slowish narrative that has some flashback of an old murder tied in, perhaps, in some way with a current case. It feels, at times, too long for the suspense it has to carry. Large dense books such as this, however, good value, have to be read in several sessions and the more complex the plot the more difficult it is to remember nuances of hints or clues over several days. Having said that, it is so very well planned and written, it’s a pleasure to see a new author so skilled.
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Trial and Error by Anthony Berkeley. Vintage Greenback English crime fiction 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/23/2008 9:49 AM
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Anthony Berkeley’s crime fiction novel [First published 1937] notwithstanding its dated characters (this wouldn’t matter if the authors didn’t make them speak in such a twee way – surely middle class people who didn’t seem to work weren’t as insufferable as this were they? Well yes, they probably were). The story is nicely plotted and though the book is really too long, so the plot is strung further than the reader’s attention span, it shifts gears well. Good ending too.
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The Secret Vanguard by Michael Innes. Vintage English Greenback mystery fiction 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/22/2008 10:04 AM
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Michael Innes’s mystery fiction novel The Secret Vanguard [First published 1940] is reflective of the time and the plot deals with wartime spies and underhand dealing by the enemy. Set mostly in the Highlands of Scotland the story features a very modern Bond-type heroine full of derring do, plus Michael Innes’s Inspector Appleby, who has lightning thoughts but snail’s action. The mystery is set up in a pretty clunky way using a strange, noticeable code and the early and middle part of the book move along quite well. It only gets very strange near the end, but that’s par for mysteries when the time for rational explanation looms.
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The Follower by Patrick Quentin. Vintage Greenback British-ish mystery fiction 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/20/2008 12:06 PM
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Patrick Quentin, it seems, is a British writer living abroad. The Follower [First published 1950] is set first in New York and then in Mexico. Though the contextual details are pretty thin, the plot is OK, and the story moves along quickly. The characters are not as dated as those in English settings of the time, but still one or two are pretty two dimensional. Its not a bad read if you keep skipping.
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More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham. Vintage Greenback English crime fiction 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
1/19/2008 9:47 AM
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Margery Allingham’s More Work for the Undertaker [First published 1949] appears extremely dated, but the plot is not bad, and it is an amusing read. This “press comment” printed in her book says it all: ….”only Margery Allingham’s creations have these impudently inevitable names ….. Here are not only the impeccable detection [not really] one demands of any practitioner ……Miss Allingham carries literacy lightly and if a couple of her latest characters do occasionally converse in quotations from George Peele [hands up all those who don’t know who he is] and the Gentlemen’s magazine that is only, I’m sure, her little dig at the esoteric erudition of the dons who dabble in death…..” So there.
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