I got a few books as Christmas gifts. I'll update those books and do another entry in my ongoing look at the mystery genre. I might be able to finish it off this entry.
New Books
"In his first work of nonfiction, the creator of the multi million-selling Jack Reacher series explores the endurance of heroes from Achilles to Bond, showing us how this age-old myth is a fundamental part of what makes us human. He demonstrates how hero stories continue to shape our world – arguing that we need them now more than ever.
From the Stone Age to the Greek Tragedies, from Shakespeare to Robin Hood, we have always had our heroes. The hero is at the centre of formative myths in every culture and persists to this day in world-conquering books, films and TV shows. But why do these characters continue to inspire us, and why are they so central to storytelling?
Scalpel-sharp on the roots of storytelling and enlightening on the history and science of myth, The Hero is essential reading for anyone trying to write or understand fiction. Child teaches us how these stories still shape our minds and behavior in an increasingly confusing modern world, and with his trademark concision and wit, demonstrates that however civilized we get, we’ll always need heroes."
"The Irishman is an epic saga of organized crime in post-war America told through the eyes of World War II veteran Frank Sheeran, a hustler and hitman who worked for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino alongside some of the most notorious figures of the 20th Century. Spanning decades, Sheeran's story chronicles one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in American history, the disappearance of legendary union boss Jimmy Hoffa, and offers a monumental journey through the hidden corridors of organized crime: its inner workings, rivalries and connections to mainstream politics. Sheeran would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit against The Commission of La Cosa Nostra, the US Government would name him as one of only two non-Italians in conspiracy with the Commission. Sheeran is listed alongside the likes of Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano and Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno.
In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews, Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and Brandt turned Sheeran's story into a page-turning true crime classic."
"The American police novel emerged soon after World War II and by the end of the century it was one of the most important forms of American crime fiction. The vogue for either Holmesian genius or the plucky amateur detective dominated mystery fiction until mid-century; the police hero offered a way to make the traditional mystery story contemporary. The police novel reflects sociology and history, and addresses issues tied to the police force, such as corruption, management, and brutality. Since the police novel reflects current events, the changing natures of crime, court procedures, and legislation have an impact on its plots and messages. An examination of the police novel covers both the evolution of a genre of fiction and American culture in general. This work traces the emergence of the police officer as hero and the police novel as a significant popular genre, from the cameo appearances of police in detective novels of the 1930s and 1940s through the serial killer and forensic novels of the 1990s. It follows the ways in which professional writers and police officers turned writers view the police individually and collectively. The work chronicles the ways in which changes in the law and society have affected the actions of the police and shows how the protagonists of police novels have changed in gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation, and age over the years. The major writers examined begin with Julian Hawthorne in the nineteenth century, and include such writers as S.S. van Dine, Ellery Queen, Erle Stanley Gardner, Ed McBain, Chester Himes, MacKinley Kantor, Hillary Waugh, Dorothy Uhnak, Joseph Wambaugh, Bob Leuci, W.E.B. Griffin, and Carol O'Connor."
My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - American Legal Mysteries
In last entry for this topic I highlighted James Lee Burke's Billy Bob Holland series. I have two authors left to finish off my look at mysteries so I think I'll talk about them in this entry.
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| Mark Gimenez |
"I've had The Common Lawyer by Mark Gimenez on my bookshelf for awhile and was glad to finally get to try it. I'd seen it at one of my local used book stores and the synopsis sounded interesting and I always like to try a new author.
The premise is this. Andy Prescott is a lawyer in Austin Tx. He's sort of lazy, was a C student at law school and now lives in the SoCo area of Austin getting by sorting out traffic tickets in court. His system, which always works, is to appeal the tickets, await the follow-on hearing, which can take up to two years and then when the cop doesn't appear, the case is thrown out. He rents a small office above a tattoo parlor, spends his time with his three buddies, watching the girls go by, and cross-country cycling. His mother is a liberal art teacher at the local uni and his father is dying of liver disease, was once a budding country singer.
So, with this happyish life style, Andy's life is going to be thrown into turmoil. Billionaire developer Russell Reeves hires Andy to be his local voice for his plans to redevelop portions of SoCo. As well, he wants Andy to hunt down 17 women that he had been involved with in his past to try and make amends. However this second assignment is not quite what it seems and the tension ratchets up from this point on. Andy now has lots of money but does it make him any happier? And who is following him?
It's an interesting premise and the story and action builds quickly as the story develops. Andy is a happy-go-lucky sort of guy, an under achiever and likeable. Austin seems to be a lovely city and is well-described. I found the story to be somewhat John Grisham lite but still entertaining and an easy, quick read, when I settled down to it. I'll check out others of Gimenez's books to see how his writing matures. (3 stars)"
"When a hotshot Dallas lawyer is asked to defend a black prostitute accused of murder, he is forced to question everything he previously held dear."
The remaining Gimenez books are -
- The Abduction (2007)
- The Perk (2008)
- Accused (Scott Fenney #2) (2010)
- Con Law (John Bookman #1) (2013)
- The Governor's Wife (2013)
- The Case Against William (2014)
- Parts & Labor: The Adventures of Max Dugan (2015)
- The Absence of Guilt (Scott Fenney #3) (2016)
- End of Days: Con Law II (John Bookman #2) (2017)
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| John Grisham |
"We expect our judges to be honest and wise. Their integrity and impartiality are the bedrock of the entire judicial system. We trust them to ensure fair trials, to protect the rights of all litigants, to punish those who do wrong, and to oversee the orderly and efficient flow of justice.
But what happens when a judge bends the law or takes a bribe? It’s rare, but it happens.
Lacy Stoltz is an investigator for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct. She is a lawyer, not a cop, and it is her job to respond to complaints dealing with judicial misconduct. After nine years with the Board, she knows that most problems are caused by incompetence, not corruption.
But a corruption case eventually crosses her desk. A previously disbarred lawyer is back in business with a new identity. He now goes by the name Greg Myers, and he claims to know of a Florida judge who has stolen more money than all other crooked judges combined. And not just crooked judges in Florida. All judges, from all states, and throughout U.S. history.
What’s the source of the ill-gotten gains? It seems the judge was secretly involved with the construction of a large casino on Native American land. The Coast Mafia financed the casino and is now helping itself to a sizable skim of each month’s cash. The judge is getting a cut and looking the other way. It’s a sweet deal: Everyone is making money.
But now Greg wants to put a stop to it. His only client is a person who knows the truth and wants to blow the whistle and collect millions under Florida law. Greg files a complaint with the Board on Judicial Conduct, and the case is assigned to Lacy Stoltz, who immediately suspects that this one could be dangerous.
Dangerous is one thing. Deadly is something else."
I won't get in to any of the other books I've read or might have read because I may confuse with the movies. As I said, his books (movies made from books) became somewhat overwhelming. So if you are interested in trying Mr. Grisham the link will take you to the list of his novels.
So over the last months (year?) I've gone through my library to highlight some of the variety you can find in the mystery / thriller genre. My list is probably just a small portion of the books that make up this genre. Check my posts out and maybe it'll lead you to other authors as well. Next in line, I'm thinking I'm going to try and look at my Science Fiction / Fantasy collection, but I may need to do some research to break it down into more bite size sub-categories. More to follow on that. My next couple of entries will look at my 2020 reading challenges. I hope you find them interesting. Enjoy the last day's of 2019. Happy 2020!
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