New Books
"With superb skill and feeling, Graham Greene retraces the experiences and encounters of a long and extraordinary life. His restlessness is legendary; he has traveled like an explorer seeking our people and political situations. 'at the dangerous edge of things' - Haiti during the nightmare rule of Papa Doc, Vietnam in the last days - of the French. , Cuba, Prague, Paraguay, Kenya during the Mau Mau rebellion. With ironic delight he recalls his time in the British Secret Service in Africa, and his brief involvement in Hollywood. He writes, as only he can about people and places, about faith, doubt, fear and, not least, the trials and craft of writing."
"Tarzan, his monkey friend Nkima, and Chief Muviro and his faithful Waziri warriors prevent Soviet communists from looting the lost city of Opar. The story also prominently features Tarzan's lion ally Jad-bal-ja."
"Wizardry, transforming its master into a cloud of fine mist...cloning, duplicating the ideal man ten times over...Utopia, in a city where almost everyone is perfectly happy...
Ursula Le Guin, author of The Earthsea Trilogy, has a special way of blending stirring adventure with fantasy that has made comparison with such masters as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien inevitable.
Now, in The Wind's Twelve Quarters, seventeen of her favorite stories reaffirm Ursula Le Guin as one of America's outstanding writers."
"For centuries, the small English village of Dunstonholme has been the scene of mysterious tragedies. Local lore traces these strange events back to the year 1300, when a sect of Christian heretics known as the Children of Paul were involved in a bloody massacre. Since that time, there have been railway disasters, mining accidents, shipwrecks, and other terrible happenings. Now a wave of suspicious deaths has the locals on edge and looking for explanations. Dr. Tom Allen and adventurer J. Moldon Mott think they know what is behind the killings: an ancient evil, dating back seven hundred years, lies hidden underground—and it is preparing to emerge to the surface..."
Just Finished
"The DI Tom Thorne mystery / thriller series by Mark Billingham is an excellent, tense series so far. The third book, Lazybones, continues that trend.
Somebody is killing rapists who have served their time and are now released. The one seeming link is that, at least for two of them, they had received correspondence from one Jane Foley, who seems to have been a fan, sending sexy photos to them while they were in prison. Was she involved in the murders or a lure?
Thorne and his team, Yvonne Kitson, Dave Holland and Andy Stone, amongst others, investigate and research the backgrounds of the victims to find clues and search for commonalities. Along with this main storyline is a separate thread following some incident in the past, a rape and trial and after - effects. What has this to do with the current case?
Besides the actual case, we do get an opportunity to delve into the personal lives of the main investigators. Dave Holland tries to blend his police work with his family life and his pregnant wife. Andy Stone's feeling about the worth of investigating the murders of rapists is ongoing. Tom Thorne has his father who is coping with developing dementia and also with a possible new relationship (resulting from the investigation into the first murder), and what is wrong with Yvonne Kitson?
An additional thread includes retired DCI Carol Chamberlin who has been recalled to work on cold cases. Her seemingly minor part does provide vital clues to the case. All in all, it's a well-paced, interesting case with nice little twists and turns as the team follows their leads. The last portion is especially interesting and tensely written. I had a few possible scenarios running around in my head for the denouement. I was somewhat close and thought the ending was excellent. I've enjoyed this series very much so far. (4 stars)"
"Tango Briefing is the 5th book in the Quiller spy series by Adam Hall (AKA Elleston Trevor, etc, etc). Quiller is a British spy who works generally on his own and works for a mysterious British government department. He's supposed to specialize in disinformation, is called an executive when on missions. He doesn't use a fire arm but is capable at defending himself. The stories are told in the first person.
In Tango Briefing, Quiller is flown back from another mission to England and sent almost immediately to Tunisia. A cargo plane has gone down in the Algerian desert with a mysterious cargo and Quiller needs to get to the plane before the opposition (whoever that might be) and determine the cargo. He is assigned to Loman, who is to be his Local Control and also along for comms assistance is a young woman, Diane, from the local British embassy.
It's an intricate story as Quiller and the others must avoid the opposition and coordinate with an oil exploration company, contracting out a French pilot to deliver Quiller to the crash site at a remote site in the Sahara, try to find it before the others do, photograph the cargo and get back to Tunisia to deliver the info. Along the way, there will be efforts by the opposition to get rid of previous 'executives' and also attempts to both track / follow Quiller and finally to get rid of him.
It's an interesting story especially from a couple of perspectives. I enjoyed the trade craft, the communication procedures, the timings and everything of that nature. Also the first person perspective makes it interesting. We get Quiller's thoughts on what is going on, his perspective on this mission and relations to other missions, his thoughts on possible outcomes and their impacts. While there is sufficient action to keep you satisfied from the spy / thriller aspect of the book, there is also a nice thoughtful aspect as we follow Quiller's thought processes. At times it does make things a bit confusing but the ultimate story is quite enjoyable (3.5 stars)"
Currently Reading
"Park Ranger Anna Pigeon stumbles upon a gruesome murder with frightening racial overtones in the latest installment of this bestselling series.
In Deep South, Anna travels cross-country to Mississippi, only to encounter terrible secrets in the heart of the south.
The handwritten sign on the tree said it all: Repent. For Anna, this should have been reason enough to turn back for her beloved Mesa Verde. Instead she heads for the Natchez Trace Parkway and the promotion that awaits her. Almost immediately, she finds herself in the midst of controversy: As the new district ranger, she faces resentment so extreme her ability to do her job may be compromised, and her life may very well be in danger. But all thoughts of personal safety are set aside with the discovery of a young girl's body in a country cemetery, a sheet around her head, a noose around her neck.
The kudzu is thick and green, the woods dark and full of secrets. And the ghosts of violence hover as Anna struggles for answers to questions that, perhaps, should never be asked."
"Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of INKHEART, the book whose characters became real. But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return to the tale has become desperate. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid and plunges into the medieval world of his past. Distraught, Farid goes in search of Meggie, and before long, both are caught inside the book, too. But the story is threatening to evolve in ways neither of them could ever have imagined."
My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - American PI's Part 3
In my last entry I looked at Lilian Jackson Braun, Jan Burke and Jim Butcher. Who is on the list today you ask? Take a look below.
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| Max Byrd |
"P.I. Mike Haller is on the case to find a newsman who suddenly went missing in Sacramento Valley. A tearful, boozy wife has paid him to find her husband, but someone else is attempting to dissuade him—using a .38 with Haller’s name and address on it. Packed with crime-stopping action, romance, and suspenseful twists and turns, California Thriller is an exhilarating journey full of snowballing leads and Mike Haller in a race to save thousands of lives."
"The London night was damp and foggy, and P.I. Mike Haller asked himself why he'd ever left sunny California. His instincts told him this job was a setup for trouble-he never did like nosing in family troubles, especially the mob's. He didn't trust the old man who'd hired him, but the photo of the runaway bride, all peaches-and-cream pretty, had touched Haller's romantic heart. Too bad he forgot to remember the sickening surge of adrenaline that fear brings...because, out of the fog, came the hard, deadly barrel of a .38. The honeymoon was over."
"Muriel Contreras, a high-priced hooker, is informed by PI Mike Haller that she'd inherited a fortune. Trouble is, someone doesn't want her to live to collect it. If he isn't able to murder Muriel, he'll kill anyone who tries to help her!."
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| Raymond Chandler |
"The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler is my first exposure to this excellent writer of the noir genre. Chandler created Private Investigator Philip Marlowe, who worked the streets of San Francisco. There was a movie made of this story starring Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe. I think I've seen it but will now have to watch it again.
Marlowe is hired by a wealthy San Francisco family to try to sort out a black-mailing situation. The wealthy senior of the family has two wild daughters, especially Carmen, who is the subject of 'personal' photos. The investigation moves Marlowe into the criminal underworld and into close contact with various criminals and also murders. It's a nicely confusing plot, with many twists and turns and enough action to keep you very interested in the story.
Chandler has a way with telling his story. His characters are so well-described that you can picture them clearly. They have unique personalities and you do find yourself drawn to some and repulsed or afraid of others. His story telling is straight-forward, with a touch of humour and also a nice flair for the written word. I love this line, "I went back to the office and sat in my swivel chair and tried to catch up on my foot-dangling." I know it's just one small sample but it's so perfect and the story is filled with such perfection.
You don't necessarily get to know a great deal of Marlowe's past but you definitely get a feel for the type of character he is. Even though a private eye, he's got friends in the police force who respect him. He's similar to Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee, a loner private eye with standards. I don't know that I see Humphrey Bogart as Marlowe but I'll have to think more on that subject. I do know I am looking forward to reading the other books in this short series. Excellent and for lovers of great mystery, must-reads. (5 stars)"
b. The Lady in the Lake (1943).
"A couple of missing
wives—one a rich man's and one a poor man's—become the objects of
Marlowe's investigation. One of them may have gotten a Mexican divorce
and married a gigolo and the other may be dead. Marlowe's not sure he
cares about either one, but he's not paid to care."
The remaining books in the Philip Marlowe series are -
- Farewell, My Lovely (1940)
- The High Window (1942)
- The Little Sister (1949)
- The Long Good-bye (1953)
- Playback (1958)
* The eighth book was Poodle Springs and was published in 1989 by Robert B. Parker.
Well, there you go. I'm going to stop at 2 PI's this entry as it's already been fairly lengthy and it's almost supper time; bacon/ mushroom/ cheesy pasta.. Yum... Enjoy your week!
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