2013 SCANDINAVIAN BOOK CHALLENGE SUMMARY

After reading a total of maybe 3 or 4 Scandinavian Crime books in the couple of yours preceding 2013, I thought it was probably time to stop talking and blog-commenting about Scandi crime and actually go and read some.

In theory I wanted to read 1 a month throughout the year, but as long as I achieved a total of 12 in 2013, I would consider my challenge met.

5 STARS!

Here's what I read:

January - Jo Nesbo - The Bat (4)

February - Arnaldur Indridason - The Draining Lake (5)

March - Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Played With Fire (4)

April - Leif G. W. Persson - Between Summer's Longing And Winter's End (4)

April - Camilla Lackberg - The Stranger (2)

May - Leif G.W. Persson - Another Time, Another Life (4)

June - Asa Larsson - The Savage Altar (4)

July - Jo Nesbo - Headhunters (3)

August - Leif G.W. Persson - Linda, As In The Linda Murder (4)

September - Karin Alvtegen - Missing (3)

October - Leif G.W. Persson - He Who Kills The Dragon (5)

Nov/December - Leif Davidsen - Lime's Photograph (4)

December - Hallgrimur Helgason - The Hitman's Guide To Housecleaning (3)
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In summary, I read 13 books in the year, the majority of which were very enjoyable. 

4 by Persson, a couple by Nesbo and 1 book each from another 7 authors. 

5 STARS!

10 male written books by 6 different authors, 3 female authors,

8 from Sweden, 2 from Norway, 2 from Iceland and 1 from Denmark.

I'm grateful to my local library for providing 3 of the read, Net Galley provided 1, 4 books were pre-owned and another 4 were acquired (along with unread others) for the purposes of meeting the challenge.

Leif G.W. Persson was my favourite author of the bunch, though I will want to read more from Nesbo and Indridason. Indridason would be my second favourite author if pushed to choose.

Persson whilst enjoyable and entertaining, by turn proved frustrating and infuriating. At times bang on the money......at times long-winded and guilty of wandering off topic. More from him would be good for sure, but hey let's save the rain forests.......shorter offerings please!

2 STARS - BOO 

Scandinavian plans for 2014? None, I will try and get a bit further along with Nesbo's Harry Hole series, but I'm stalled until my local library gets hold of Cockroaches. 

Indridason and Stiegg Larsson, I'd love to read more from in 2014, as much to put the Dragon trilogy to bed as anything. I do feel as though I have scratched the Scandinavian itch for a while.

Regrets? I probably would have liked to read Hoeg's Smilia book as well as a couple from Nesser, but they are lurking on the library, so I will get to them at some point. 

The benefit of this post will mean I can now remove my 2013 Scandinavian side-bar!

DECEMBER ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY.......SOME OF AT LEAST

Well the much talked about embargo was kind of deferred as I ended the year acquiring more books for my delectation and amusement at some point in the months and years ahead.

Here are some of the recent additions to the heaving, creaking shelves.

In my defence, I did get a voucher for Christmas that allowed for some indulgence!

2014 - for now at least will see me battling to tame the inner book monkey demons and adding less to the shelves going forward. I probably won't be able to go totally cold turkey on new books to my library, but I will be more disciplined in regards to my book hunting-seeking-gathering.

A few of the much vaunted embargo rules need proper application!
10 (PROVISIONAL) RULES ON A LIBRARY EMBARGO

Ned Kelly Winner

More Aus fun!

Disher delight!

Down and dirty!

Great title!

Interesting!

Under-rated author!

Intriguing!

Why not?

Chicago setting!

Irish troubles 1 of 3!

An alternative to Himes?

Stand-alone crime!

Irish troubles 2 of 3!

DECEMBER FILMS

I kind of expected to watch a lot of films in the month but that didn't really happen. Can I count a film, if I have watched the first 20 minutes, before dozing off and waking up just prior to the finale and the closing credits? Hmm.....thought not.

In no particular order,

It's A Wonderful Life............I may have seen bits of this previously, but it was an absolute joy. I do like a bit of Jimmy Stewart!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince........second time around, but hey I'm a family guy!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.......ditto above.

The Inbetweeners......... rude, crude and hysterically funny, another re-watch and I guess you wouldn't buy your granny the DVD but it tickled me pink, again.

Single Santa Seeks Mrs Claus...... a certain inevitability about eventually getting snared by a feel-good, Christmas tale. I tried but I just couldn't continue to avoid the back to back festive movie marathon playing in our house.

The Muppet Christmas Carol.......I wouldn't say this is my favourite Michael Caine film, I'd much rather have watched Harry Brown, but the Keane household is a democracy and I was out-voted!

Finding Nemo.......yawn, a few more films like this and I'd be glad about going back to work. Not my cup of tea at all.

OCTOBER TO DECEMBER - AUTHORS NEW TO ME

The last quarter of the year saw me read 45 books, novellas, stories of which a healthy 29 were authors previously ignored.

October saw 14 books read with 8 new authors for me.

November saw 20 books read introducing 13 new guys. I had previously read a collaborative novel co-authored by Collin Wilcox and Bill Pronzini, but this was my first taste of Wilcox on his own, so I am counting him.

December saw 11 books read, of which 8 of the authors were previously untried.
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Standouts - Malcolm Mackay, John Bassoff, John Florio, J.W. Nelson, Wiley Cash

Other notables - Susan Koefod, Barry Lancet, Thatcher Robinson, Mark Pryor, Roger A. Price, Gregory McDonald
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Malcolm Mackay - The Necessary Death Of Lewis Winter (5)

Liam McIlvanney - Where The Dead Men Go  (4)

Mark Curtis - Unpeople (3)

Michael Robotham - Bombproof (4)

Thatcher Robinson - White Ginger (4)

Jason J.R, Gaskell - Darkling Light (4)

James W. Ziskin - Styx & Stone (4)

Luke Preston - Dark City Blue (3)
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Susan Koefod - Washed Up (4)

James Reasoner - Dust Devils (4)

Jose Angel N. - Illegal;Reflections Of An Undocumented Immigrant (3)

Jon Bassoff - Corrosion (5)

Theodore A. Tinsley - Jerry Tracy, Celebrity Reporter (4)

Mark Pryor - The Bookseller (4)

J.W. Nelson - Joey's Place (5)

Margot Kinberg ed. - In A Word; Murder (3)

John Florio - Sugar Pop Moon (5)

Collin Wilcox - The Lonely Hunter (4)

Barry Lancet - Japantown (4)

Stephen Jay Schwartz - Crossing The Line (4)

Ben Solomon - Le Blanc, Grigio, Von Runck (3)
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Leif Davidsen - Lime's Photograph (4)

Andrew Peters - Subtraction (4)

Daniel Curzon - Halfway To The Stars (4)

Roger A. Price - By Their Rules (4)

P.D. Viner - The Sad Man (4)

Hallgrimur Helgason - The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning (3)

Wiley Cash - This Dark Road to Mercy (5)

Gregory McDonald - Fletch (4)

Hopefully I will discover more new and exciting authors in 2014!

DECEMBER, 2013 - READING LIST

An enjoyable month to finish off a fantastic year reading wise. I managed 11 books in the month, which was slightly less than I had hoped for after a fair few in November, but work commitments and tiredness and Christmas all played a part in slowing me down.

Of the 11 books read, 8 of them were new authors for me, 2 were by P.D. Viner - a great discovery! With the possible exception of Helgason, I would happily read all of them again in the future.

My reading allowed me to visit the following locations: Spain, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Manchester, London, Durham, Glasgow, New York, Iceland and North Carolina amongst other places.

I managed to just about stay the course on my own 2 personal reading challenges that I had to complete - Scandinavian Crime Fiction and Award winning crime. Plus I read my Goodreads Pulp Fiction group book of the month for the whole year. Happy days!

Nothing stank the place out, with the previously mentioned Helgason's book still enjoyable, just missing the X-factor ingredient for me. All the rest rocked, with 3 books gaining top score from me.

Mackay - Cash -Viner - can share the accolade jointly for December's book of the month.

Leif Davidsen - Lime's Photograph (4)

Andrew Peters - Subtraction (4)

Daniel Curzon - Halfway To The Stars (4)

Roger A. Price - By Their Rules (4)


P.D. Viner - The Sad Man (4)

P.D. Viner - The Last Winter of Dani Lancing (5)

Malcolm Mackay - How a Gunman Says Goodbye (5)

Charlie Huston - The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death (4)

Hallgrimur Helgason - The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning (3)

Wiley Cash - This Dark Road to Mercy (5)

Gregory McDonald - Fletch (4)

GREGORY MCDONALD - FLETCH

Synopsis/blurb......

Fletch
He’s an investigative reporter whose methods are a little unorthodox. Currently he’s living on the beach with the strung-out trying to find to the source of the drugs they live for. 

Fletch
He’s taking more than a little flack from his editor. She doesn’t appreciate his style. Or the expense account items he’s racking up. Or his definition of the word deadline. Or the divorce lawyers who keep showing up at the office.

Fletch
So when multimillionaire Alan Stanwyk offers Fletch the job of a lifetime, which could be worth a fortune, he’s intrigued and decides to do a little investigation. What he discovers is that the proposition is anything but what it seems.

This book was originally published back in the mid-70’s and won McDonald an Edgar Award for best first novel in 1975. (The second in the series, Confess, Fletch won him a second Edgar.)

An interesting mystery, written at a time when 200 pages was probably the norm for the genre. (Don’t you long for those days?) Enough time to develop the main character and get a decent feel for the rest of the cast and create an intriguing plot.

Irwin Fletcher, intrepid investigative journalist is masquerading as a beach bum, trying to get a story of the drug’s trade being plied on the small town (name escapes me!) beach. He’s approached by a man and offered $20k to kill him.

Fletcher decides to accept the offer and has a week to uncover the raison d’etre for the mystery man’s deathwish. In the meantime, his bosses are impatient at the lack of progress on his drug’s investigation and he walks a fine line regarding his job longetivity. In the background he’s also juggling law suits and court appearances regarding the non-payment of alimony to his two ex-wives, both of whom are still in love with him.

Great fun had here, as Fletcher juggles all the balls to get the scoop on the drugs and after an unorthodox inquiry finally discovers millionaire Stanwyck’s motives for hiring out his own murder.

Fletcher is the obvious star, generally likeable, though you can call me a prude if you like, I wasn’t a particular fan of his actions when dealing with his former wives......a little bit too dismissive and blasé for my liking, but probably all the more realistic for having these warts.

I will definitely be reading more from McDonald, though when I’m not too sure. My copy of this is an omnibus edition and contains the first 3 Fletcher books. McDonald wrote 9 in total, as well as a couple of son of Fletch books and a 4 book Flynn series, which apparently is a spin-off featuring a cop we encounter further down the road with our man Irwin Fletcher.

Full list of the books is as follows, thanks to Fantastic Fiction:

Fletch
1. Fletch (1974)
2. Confess, Fletch (1976)
3. Fletch's Fortune (1979)
4. Fletch and the Widow Bradley (1981)
5. Fletch's Moxie (1982)
6. Fletch and the Man Who (1983)
7. Carioca Fletch (1984)
8. Fletch Won (1985)
9. Fletch Too (1986)

Flynn
1. Flynn (1978)
2. The Buck Passes Flynn (1981)
3. Flynn's in (1984)
4. Flynn's World (1999)

Son of Fletch
1. Son of Fletch (1993)
2. Fletch Reflected (1994

I can’t recall ever seeing either of the films based on Gregory McDonald’s Fletch character, but I can say I have now read the first in the series. Is it heresy to say, I’m not a great fan of Chevy Chase? I did enjoy a few of the Vacation movies, but that’s pretty much it as far as he is concerned. I would now be interested in watching the film of this though.

I have all of the original series of books on my shelves, all acquired cheaply after a friend sent me the omnibus edition, telling me to check Fletch out. Great advice! (Sometimes it pays to take a chance when book buying, re the other 6 I have!)

4 from 5 and a great way to round off a brilliant year’s reading!

As mentioned above, my copy was gifted to me by a friend. Cheers to Cathy in Florida!

WILEY CASH - THIS DARK ROAD TO MERCY

Synopsis/blurb............

The critically acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller A Land More Kind Than Home—hailed as "a powerfully moving debut that reads as if Cormac McCarthy decided to rewrite Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird" (Richmond Times Dispatch)—returns with a resonant novel of love and atonement, blood and vengeance, set in western North Carolina, involving two young sisters, a wayward father, and an enemy determined to see him pay for his sins.

After their mother's unexpected death, twelve-year-old Easter and her six-year-old sister Ruby are adjusting to life in foster care when their errant father, Wade, suddenly appears. Since Wade signed away his legal rights, the only way he can get his daughters back is to steal them away in the night.

Brady Weller, the girls' court-appointed guardian, begins looking for Wade, and he quickly turns up unsettling information linking Wade to a recent armoured car heist, one with a whopping $14.5 million missing. But Brady Weller isn't the only one hunting the desperate father. Robert Pruitt, a shady and mercurial man nursing a years-old vendetta, is also determined to find Wade and claim his due.

Narrated by a trio of alternating voices, This Dark Road to Mercy is a story about the indelible power of family and the primal desire to outrun a past that refuses to let go.

The author’s debut novel – A Land Less Kind Than Home – is something I have had on my TBR pile for around a year or so. I was hoping to get to it sometime last year, but hey, I was going to read a lot of things, but never did. When Cash’s second novel popped up on Net Galley, I couldn’t resist. I will probably re-visit the author’s debut for my USA state reading challenge.

Cash kept my attention throughout. Two sisters, in foster care, fearful of adoption by their maternal grandparents in Alaska, who they have never seen. Wary of their father, who years after apparently abandoning them, comes to recognise his parental duty. A father who may just have committed the most stupid act of his feckless life and may have compounded it by stealing away with his daughters.

This was absolutely fantastic, trying to see Wade connect and form an emotional bond with his daughters, all the while pursued by the authorities and a ruthless bounty hunter, with his own personal score to settle. 

Played out against a back-drop of an exciting climax to the 1998 baseball season when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa went head to head chasing a years old home run record. (I understand next to nothing about the game and I was hooked by this tangent!)

Loss, family, abandonment, foster care, adoption, Alaska, teenage love, baseball, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, bank robbery, beach, the sea, amusement pitches, secrets, pursuit, death, guardianship, responsibility, forgiveness, love.............all figure to a greater or lesser degree.

A wonderful, satisfying, scary but rewarding read to almost finish a great year’s reading with.

5 from 5

Accessed via Net Galley, I believe this is published later this month.