More in than out, which will be no surprise to anyone least of all myself.
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| Pronzini - again. He seems to write them faster than I can read them. |
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| Crime with humour |
Brad Fingerman was a hip art director in the glamorous world of New York advertising. He had the respect of his peers, a beautiful, loving wife, and a bright, promising future.
That is, his future was bright before he spectacularly nuked his career, discovered his wife’s part-time job of sleeping with other men, and witnessed a high-profile Mafia hit in a Midtown elevator.
Now, Brad’s unemployed, divorced, and the government’s key witness in a major murder trial. And one other problem: Brad didn’t actually see the murder. Yes, he was one of the two people present in the 4’ by 7’ Otis, but it’s easy to miss things when your life has so dramatically flamed out.
So Brad lied.
He told the FBI he saw everything, abandoned his old life in New York, and joined the Witness Protection Program, putting his new identity in the hands of an equally self-involved agent with her career on the make and a frighteningly committed bodyguard. Now he has to fake his way through the trial of the century and try to reassemble a meaningful life as the Mob methodically assassinates his fellow witnesses.
Formerly Fingerman is funny, fast-paced commentary on the aggressive culture of American social climbing—like Joshua Ferris’ Then We Came to the End with guns—and presents an irreverent, egotistical antihero for the Maxim generation.
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| Previously read and enjoyed this author |
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| New to me |
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| Brash Books release |
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| Pen name for Steve Brewer |
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| First or second in series |
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| Brash Books re-issue of an 80's PI series |
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| Ditto |
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| Italian setting for this |
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| Follow-on from his 5 Star DEAD END |
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| Another new author, but not a new book |
Col, a fine haul of books. I gather these are both paper books and ebooks. Bill Pronzini is the only familiar name.
ReplyDelete4 paperback, 1 hardback and 7 e-books. I don't think the library can cope with too many more physical additions!
DeleteGosh book covers are getting a bit dull aren't they? None of those really speak to me at all (based purely on the aesthetics of the covers - nothing to do with the actual authors/content). If I were going to judge a book by it's cover I'd go for the man with a chicken head out of curiosity :)
ReplyDeleteThe one good thing about having been rather sick and out of sorts is I haven't bought any books. I haven't read many either but at least I haven't added to my library.
I quite like most of the covers and if saw the books face down on a table would I reckon probably pick up 7 or 8 of the 12 and investigate further. Probably the Pronzini and the Marten ones are the least eye-catching for me.
DeleteGlad to see you back and doing the rounds in the "community" - I hope your recent ailments etc are now firmly behind you. I'll look forward to some more of your reviews and thoughts soon!
hmmmmm...this might be a boy/girl thing....cars, skyscrapers, long-legged women...none of those are really in my wheelhouse
DeleteYou could be right - there are a lot of skyscrapers there - which don't quite float my boat in the way that long-legged women might. Though (I have been taking tips from Moira's blog) I'm not too sure about the material in the dress she is wearing. Less might be more on this occasion.
DeleteI'm not a petrol head - but I do like the lines in old-classic cars pictures and photos. Maybe not as many guns featuring in the covers as on previous months.
Chicken-headed - Formerly Fingerman - book blurb has been added to the post.....above - on the off-chance that you feel yeah I wanna read it!
Bernadette - I did mean to ask for some recent examples of covers that did speak to you, but forgot....
DeleteI feel as though you could make a good noir story just by linking all those titles together. Like Bernadette, I found the chicken head has to be the real come-on.
ReplyDeleteI did play around with the titles but could only link about half of them before getting on with some work!
DeleteChicken-head-man blurb is above on the post. Might be right up your street, Moira!
I am with Prashant, Pronzini is the only familiar name here. I will be interested to see how you like this non-series book. It does sound like your kind of thing. Formerly Fingerman does sound like it could be good.
ReplyDeleteI thought perhaps you may have heard of Solomita. He's been around for years. I think he had a NY police procedural that ran for maybe 8 or 9 books. (Stanley Moodrow) Loads of stand alones also. Maybe a little too hard-boiled for you though.
DeleteYou might be able to catch Formerly Fingerman on Net Galley - a few of these are from there.
I checked NetGalley for Formerly Fingerman. Could not find it, but that is fine. I limit my commitments to NetGalley because they should be done by a certain time and that restricts me too much. Right now I have three to review by end of Jan. I don't read or review as fast as you.
DeleteSolomita does sound good, but I had not heard of him (or forgot if I did). I would be happy to try something by him (someday) if I found it cheap enough. Your response to Glen is so true: "not enough time, not enough money".
Aarrrghhhh.........wrong site - it was Edelwess - Above the Treeline not Net Galley, sorry! I think it has been archived now.
DeleteSolomita - one day, maybe after I've read a couple more? They haven't been too expensive second hand over here. He appears to be an author you see in libraries though more than in shops. Bill James is another like that. I think they share a UK publisher, which may go some way to explaining it.
Col, of your October haul, "Formerly Fingerman" looks best to me (maybe the humor style if not subject matter of a Parnell Hall?). You know I'm a big fan of Pronzini's Nameless but his other books haven't usually appealed.
ReplyDeleteI haven't yet tried the odd Hall book I picked up after you mentioned he was a favourite of yours.
DeleteI must admit, I initially thought the same about some of Pronzini's non-Nameless titles, but a few of them have intrigued me enough to track them down. I will avoid his westerns though - not enough time, not enough money!