PAUL D. BRAZILL - MAN OF THE WORLD (2020)

Synopsis/blurb....

Ageing hit-man Tommy Bennett left London and returned to his hometown of Seatown, hoping for respite from the ghosts of the violent past that haunted him. However, things don’t go to plan and trouble and violence soon follow Tommy to Seatown. Tommy is soon embroiled in Seatown’s underworld and his hopes of a peaceful retirement are dashed. Tommy deliberates whether or not to leave Seatown and return to London. Or even leave Great Britain altogether. So, he heads back to London where violence and mayhem await him.

Man of the World is a violent and darkly comic slice of Brit Grit noir.

Praise for MAN OF THE WORLD:

“Hitman Tommy Bennett’s first-person narration is spot on [in Man of the World]. He’s perceptive and fills each page with dry and often hilarious commentary, taking in everything from politics to pop music, social order and criminal disorder. Paul D Brazill excels at dialogue too. Cold fatalism is as evident in the conversation as it is in the violence. There’s a strong theme here and it’s one of the author’s favourite topics: fading glory. Tommy Bennett, like his colleagues and counterparts, like Britain itself, is staving off the inevitable…and he knows it.” —Crime Fiction Lover

Ticks in all the usual boxes..... pace, story, character, setting, humour, action, violence, a smattering of farce and a sense of the absurd, at times whimsical and nostalgic, before deadpan old school retribution is divvied up, cultural references, dialogue and of equal satisfaction, the sense that the star of the piece, hitman Tommy Bennett might have another adventure or two left in him for future enjoyment.

Classic one liners that are Brazill's trademark......

"Isn't the phrase 'reality TV star' an oxymoron?"

"It is a truth universally acknowledged"........ "that all Jane Austen needed was a bloody good shag."

References that establish the book as quintessentially Brit Grit, with the inevitable American undertones and influences seeping into UK culture.

Seatown, London, aging, health issues, family, old friends, old enemies, long memories, gangsters, cops, guns, death, booze, pubs, cafes, kebabs, jukeboxes, ciggies, cocaine, a secret Ministry, Thatcher, Bowie, Ripley and Highsmith, AC/DC, Carol Vorderman, Camden Market, Donna Summer, Elton John, Warsaw, and an intended retirement that just won't stick.

A busy book and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

5 from 5

Last Year's Man, the first Tommy Bennett book was enjoyed last year. 

Read - May, 2020

Published - 2020

Page count - 136

Source - purchased copy

Format - paperback 

MAY 2020 - ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY - 6 OF THE BEST!

Half a dozen added to the collection in May.... 2 from authors I've read before, 4 from newbies.

Garrett Phillips - Lookout for Shorts (2020) - reviewer copy from Book Sirens

A punt in the dark, but I do like prison tales...

An arrest and conviction for trafficking ecstasy can be comical. The character-strewn path of corrections that followed is entertaining and enlightening. This is the story of a "book-learnin' smart-ass" who endured a three-year minimum-security tour of the slammer and lived to make fun of it. And who emerged a humbled and better man.

Lookout For Shorts is a departure from hardcore prison fare; it is gonzo and humorous in tone. Picture the worst cruise ship imaginable, full of guests from The Jerry Springer Show, that never reaches a port. Tales abound of inmate absurdities and administrative follies juxtaposed against the coarse subculture of lockup. Along the way, Phillips unflinchingly describes his drug-dealing days, a rehab stint, and his misspent youth.

We've all heard of Orange Is the New Black, the fish-out-of-water story that provided a glimpse into a fascinating micro-society. Lookout is similar but zips several steps further into humor. The main hazard the author faced was his head exploding from being immersed in a sea of weirdos and misfits. The nuttiness nearly made him forget about the ever-present threat of losing teeth and suffering fresh scars.

Culled from copious journals, most of this tale is prison-based. The story begins with the arrest of a Generation X slacker, for dealing drugs at a jam band concert. Description of an upscale rehab stint and living in an AA-based halfway house follow, then the incarceration hammer comes down. 

Recounting lockup, Phillips focuses on how the other other half lives and the light-hearted cynicism he found from being there. "If you ever wanted to be the smartest person in the room, just go to state prison for a while. You'll probably be that guy the whole time," quips the author, in Sedaris-like style. Still, he ends up deeply empathizing with his downtrodden fellow felons along the way.

Phillips described his odyssey thusly: "I spent most of my life lying around, killing time. This led me to the slammer, where I lied around, killing time. I ended up in prison because of a lack of dedication, patience, and my failure to postpone gratification. So after my release, I wrote a book, which requires enormous amounts of dedication, patience, and postponing gratification. It's a start!"

Owen Laukkanen - Lone Jack Trail (2020) - copy from Net Galley

Second in series, I enjoyed the first - Deception Cove, so I'm looking forward to this one.

A veteran Marine and an ex-convict find themselves on opposite sides of the law in this propulsive new thriller from award-nominated suspense master and "powerhouse writer" Owen Laukkanen (Kirkus Reviews).

Could your closest friend be a killer?

When a body washes up outside Deception Cove, Washington, Jess Winslow-once a US Marine, now a trainee sheriff's deputy-is assigned to investigate. But when she realizes it's "Bad" Brock Boyd, a hometown celebrity lately fallen from grace, things become complicated. The last person seen with Boyd was her own boyfriend, Mason Burke.

An ex-convict and newcomer in town, Mason is one of the only people who can understand Jess's haunting memories of her time in Afghanistan-and her love for Lucy, her devoted service dog. Finding one another in Deception Cove has been the best thing to happen to either of them in years. So Jess knows Mason could never be guilty of murder-doesn't she?

As the facts of the case point ever more squarely at Mason, Jess must face that everything she thinks she knows about him might be wrong. A thrilling sequel to Deception Cove, and a heart-pounding adventure all its own, Lone Jack Trail pushes Jess and Mason to a shocking confrontation and will test everything they've come to love and trust in Deception Cove.

B. R. Stateham - Lenny (2020) - purchased copy

Read Mr Stateham before - A Killing Kiss was enjoyed back in 2015.

Lenny has stared death in the face many times, from the jungles of Thailand & Vietnam to the mountain passes of Afghanistan.Now after a career of service he’s back in his hometown of Ballard, Texas looking for what comes next.Sheriff Greene knows an asset when he sees one and it’s not long before he signs Lenny up as his new deputy in the fight against the narcotics cartel that has over-run their quiet border town.20 years in the army have taught Lenny never to underestimate the things people are capable of but as the bullets begin to fly and the casualties begin to mount it’s just possible that his investigation may bring him closer to home than he ever expected.

Praise for B.R. Stateham

“Cooler than a fridge full of beer…”“This is modern noir at its very best…”

“B.R. Stateham is at the top of his game right now…”“Lenny may be the best thing B.R. Stateham has ever written, and as readers of his work will know, that’s quite a high bar to hit.”“B.R. Stateham has created an action packed tale - another winner from Fahrenheit Thirteen…”

W. Glenn Duncan - Rafferty's Rules (1987) - purchased copy

First in an interesting looking series of six from the author...

Bikers kidnapped her daughter

She wants Rafferty to kill them all

And she’s willing to pay …

Rafferty ain’t in the revenge business.

So when he gets told to gun down the low-lifes who kidnapped Vivian Mollison and put her into a drug-induced twilight zone, it’s no can do.

No matter how much money Vivian’s mother is willing to throw at him.

But stirring up trouble amongst five outlaw bikers who picked on the wrong girl?

Now that’s more like it.

Years ago, Rafferty saved Vivian’s life. Can he do it again?

Robert J. Randisi - Full Contact (1984) - purchased copy

Third in a series of six, billy bargain at under a pound for Kindle

Boxer-turned-private-eye Miles Jacoby tangles with karate experts and porno filmmakers in a fast-paced novel of New York crime.

Said Loren D. Estleman: "Stripped for speed and fueled by his best dialogue yet, . . . Full Contact races in high gear from start to finish."

J. A. Konrath - Banana Hammock (2010) - Amazon Freebie purchase

I've a few books on the pile from this prolific author. I suppose I should read him at some point.

Private Detective Harry McGlade is hired by an Amish woman who suspects her husband is cheating on her. Going undercover into their community, Harry must untangle a web of lies and deception to find the truth. This will be his biggest challenge yet. Because Harry McGlade is an idiot.

Lead Harry through a series of comic misadventures and bad puns as he traverses the J.A. Konrath universe, popping into many familiar books and stories. Prepare to be shocked and amazed by scenes that are just plain wrong.

 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH PAUL D. BRAZILL

Long time blog favourite Paul D. Brazill's latest book Man of the World dropped recently and Paul was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions for me.......

Your latest book – Man of the World dropped recently.

Can you pitch it to a potential reader in 50 words or less?

Ageing hit-man Tommy Bennett leaves London and returns to his hometown of Seatown, hoping for respite from the ghosts of his violent past. However, he is soon embroiled in Seatown’s underworld and his hopes of a peaceful retirement are dashed.

How long from conception to completion did MOTW take? Was it a smooth process or were there many bumps in the road along the way?

Once I knew I wanted to bring Tommy back into action, it went quite smoothly but it did need a couple of rewrites. I also cut about a third from it as I wanted it to be pretty action packed. I think it took about 8 months to write, off and on. Writing can be a bit irritating at times but it’s not working down a mine, for sure.

Did the end result mirror your expectations at the start of the process, or is it a very different book to what you imagined?

Yes, it has the balance of violent, vivid pulp fiction and sixties Britcom that I wanted. I also wanted more gaudy characters and packed in as many as possible. But, as always, I just started writing until it seemed like the right time to stop.

Would you say it’s your best work?

It seems as good an example of my cobblers as anything. It’s not a cure or Coronavirus and it won’t unblock your toilet but it’s enjoyable, I think.

MOTW features Tommy Bennett, previously seen cavorting in Last Year’s Man, did you know at the time that he was someone you wanted to continue writing about?

Well, I made the mistake of rereading Last Year’s Man a bit back and, though I enjoyed it, I thought there was room for more. Tommy and his cronies entertain me, at least and it’s a fun world to visit.

Any scope for Mr Bennett to pop up in future books?

More than likely, in one form or another.

Regarding future books, any hints about what’s coming next from you? And when?

I’m in the middle of writing a London based thriller novel which seems to be going well. And there’s The Seatown Blues serial I’m writing for Close To The Bone Magazine. I’ll also have stories in a couple of anthologies.

You seem to be busy with Punk Noir Magazine which showcases various artists across different formats. Does this take a lot of your time and creative energies curating the project?

Not really, as submissions have never been open. It’s just word of mouth recommendation and people whose stuff I like. The real work comes from the writers.  I try to be invisible though it’s a bit too easy to get into all that ‘branding’ tommyrot on the interweb.

How important is it to create a platform and try and offer an audience to up and comers

Was the same support available to you when you were starting out?

I think people just made it up as they went long ‘in my day’ but now there are all sorts of podcasts and conferences and Facebook groups and other things with hashtags, so they’re never alone.

How’s life in Poland currently around the pandemic? Is normality slowly returning to everyday life, or are things still skewed?

Poland went into lockdown and closed its borders quite early on in the game. They also introduced wearing facemasks quickly. People adapted without much melodrama. The infection/ death numbers are relatively low though the number of tests has also been low! However, the lockdown has been eased a bit over the last couple of weeks- the pubs are open! – things are easing back to a slightly slower version of normal.

What’s on the radar for the rest of 2020?

The Seatown Blues. The international thriller novel. A serial killer comedy. And I’ll have stories in  couple of anthologies.

-----------------------------------

RANDOM TRIVIA FUN QUESTIONS

What’s your favourite vegetable?

The humble potato – so versatile!

When did you last have a fist fight?

Sometime in the ‘90s, if I remember correctly! Maybe a scuffle a few years ago but nowt flash! I’m as soft as shite!

Have you ever been thrown out of a bar or a club?

Not as often as I should have, I expect. I remember being thrown out of a magicians’ club in Madrid!

Do you have any tattoos?

Good lord, no! I’d rather stick needles in my eyes. As it were.

What was your first pet’s name?

Darkie.

Do you have any irrational fears?

Heights is the main one. I get vertigo in thick socks.

 

What’s your favourite holiday destination?

Every day is a holiday, maaan!

When did you last tell a lie?

At least once, at some point, today, I’m sure. Or maybe I’m lying?

----------------------------

Many thanks to Paul for his time ....

and don't forget to check out Man of the World, published by All Due Respect Books

Ageing hit-man Tommy Bennett left London and returned to his hometown of Seatown, hoping for respite from the ghosts of the violent past that haunted him. However, things don’t go to plan and trouble and violence soon follow Tommy to Seatown. Tommy is soon embroiled in Seatown’s underworld and his hopes of a peaceful retirement are dashed. Tommy deliberates whether or not to leave Seatown and return to London. Or even leave Great Britain altogether. So, he heads back to London where violence and mayhem await him.

Man of the World is a violent and darkly comic slice of Brit Grit noir.

DEON MEYER - COBRA (2012)

Synopsis/blurb....

Why would a mathematics professor from Cambridge University, renting a holiday home outside Cape Town, require a false identity and three bodyguards? And where is he, now that they are dead? The only clue to the bodyguards' murder is the snake engraved on the shell casings of the bullets that killed them.

Investigating the massacre, Benny Griessel and his team find themselves being drawn into an international conspiracy with shocking implications. It seems it is not just the terrorists and criminals of Britain and South Africa who may fear the Professor's work, but the politicians too.

As the body count begins to spiral viciously, Benny must put his new-found love life aside and focus on finding the one person who could give him a break in the case: a teenage pickpocket on the run in the city. But Benny is not the only person hunting for Tyrone Kleinbooi...

Relentlessly suspenseful, topical, hard-hitting and richly rewarding, Cobra is a superb novel from an author who is acclaimed around the world as a brilliant voice in crime fiction.

Second time of listening to this one - the previous occasion was about 18 months ago.

No new stunning insights or revelations. I enjoyed it last time, I enjoyed it this time.

Fast-paced, contemporary SA crime fiction with a non-cliched struggling alcoholic cop at its hub.

If I listened to it again, I reckon I'd still be enthralled. It just makes me want to pick up another book from Meyer again soon.

4.5 from 5

Deon Meyer has been enjoyed before. 
Trackers (2011) before I started blogging
and the following ...
The Woman in the Blue Cloak (2018)
Blood Safari (2008)
Heart of the Hunter (2003)

Read - (listened to) May, 2020
Published - 2012
Page count - 344 (12 hrs 45 mins)
Source - purchased
Format - Audible
----------------------------
October, 2018 thoughts below - they still stand.

Another audio book from my library and nearly thirteen hours invested in listening to this one. Time well spent in my opinion, as I enjoyed the narration in addition to being sucked into the mystery at the heart of this.

It starts quite slowly with the minute forensic examination of a murder scene where three bodyguards have been executed and their charge, an English professor has gone missing. The professor had been developing a financial algorithm which could enable the banks to track dirty money. However the banks and politicians were somewhat reluctant to put this technology to use, fearing embarrassment at the exposure of some malfeasance on their behalf. Our professor, not easily cowed pressed on with his work and thus made himself a target.

There's a few different strands to the book and I enjoyed all of them. There's the investigation, a slow unpicking of the facts, a reluctance of the British authorities to divulge too much information about our missing professor but a keen interest in wanting to know what the investigative team have uncovered. With the cops themselves there's a main focus on Benny Griessel, an alcoholic detective and a relic of the old SA police force. We have Griessel's struggle to maintain sobriety while juggling his work around a new found love. A relationship fraught with danger as his partner is also a recovering alcoholic. We also have the team around Griessel, his bosses and fellow officers each with their own skills and boundaries. There's also a seemingly separate story line running through the book concerning a young pickpocket who steals in order to support his sister through university.

Murder, kidnapping, financial corruption, British intelligence, South African security services, political interference in the investigation, alcoholism, love, a pick-pocket and his family, a team of assassins, more death, a memory card, an opportunity, a game of cat and mouse, an outcome.

I really enjoyed all of it. There's the topical nature of financial corruption, there's a look at South Africa post-Apartheid, there's a few personal stories running in tandem with an investigation into murder. There's also an element of danger throughout and the story of an underdog presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I liked the setting, I enjoyed reading about the characters and the minutiae of their lives. There's a reasonable pace, after a slow-ish start, which I didn't mind, with a steady increase in urgency and a big build up of tension towards the inevitable climax, which didn't disappoint.

I think the only downside with audio is that I'm sketchy on details regarding names when trying to pen a few thoughts (as much for my own benefit when looking back as for anyone else). 

4.5 from 5 (probably a 5 from 5 if I'd read a physical copy as opposed to listening via audio)

Deon Meyer has written eleven novels in total including five in his Benny Griessel series, of which Cobra is the fourth. I've previously read Trackers, Blood Safari and Heart of the Hunter.

Read in October, 2018 (ok listened to)
Published - 2012
Page count - 344 pages (12 hours 45 minutes listening time)
Source - purchased copy probably when on a free trial with Audible
Format - audio - listened to on laptop

TEDDY RENNOC - VAN WARS (2019)

Synopsis/blurb.....

The real story of the Glasgow Ice Cream Van Wars. In Glasgow in the 1980s, you could earn more money selling Ice Cream than you could from selling drugs. The lack of shops in the vast run-down housing estates with thousands of families with money to spend was a captured market providing a very good living for the Italian families who controlled the Ice cream trade in Glasgow. Tam McGraw was building a reputation as an up and coming gangster who led a team who specialised in post office, factory, and cash and carry raids throughout Scotland. He stumbled across the vast profits to be made in the Ice Cream trade by accident while on a raid on the premises of Marchetti brothers cash and carry. Tam McGraw decided that night that he could earn a lot more money a much easier way than robberies. He was going to take over the Ice Cream trade in Glasgow. But first Tam had to test the strength of the Italians and the reaction of the police. So he started with Carntyne one of Marchetti's most lucrative routes. McGraw went for the jugular right from the start. He knew Marchetti would not give in easily, they would try and defend their territory, but they were about to suffer brutality and destruction that they could never have imagined in their wildest nightmares. McGraw planned to be the Ice Cream King of Scotland, and Carntyne is where he would lay the foundations of his throne. Nothing or no one would stand in his way. This is the story of the start of the Ice Cream Wars. Written in a broad Glaswegian dialect with a lot of swearing, the author writes as he speaks. This book might not be suitable for those who prefer perfect grammar and proper English. Violent with a splash of humour, I am sure you will find it an enjoyable read. Teddy Rennoc.

An enjoyable memoir from Teddy Rennoc, recounting his time as an ice cream van man back in the 80s - a simpler time, but a time of violence, beatings, police intimidation, turf wars, criminality and money.

Teddy gets the chance to have his own van and be his own man, albeit with a few strings attached and once he's paid off and bought out his silent partners. A couple of shady characters set him up with a van and send him in rival territory in order to break the grip of the dominant Marchetti family in Glasgow. Ice creams = big money and profits and Rennoc's backers fancy a share of it.

I enjoyed Teddy's story. He'd be the first to admit that he's not the best writer in the world, but I was massively entertained by his tale. From his first job, earning a few quid as an assistant on a van part time, to being on the front line at the start of a vicious rivalry. His early naivety is soon dispelled as he toughens up. You can't help but marvel at Teddy, as day after day he takes his van onto rival turf, knowing that confrontation of some sort is inevitable. Big balls or what.

Violence, protection, assault, baseball bats, laughs, camaraderie, local radges, community, loyalty,  outsiders, trust, suspicion, friendships, family, fear, police attention, ex-cons, meetings, tactics, infighting and eventually arson and the death of a family of six.

After reading this I was minded to find out a bit more about the tragedy that Rennoc discussses towards the end of the book. One of his original backers was convicted of the crime and spent 20 years in prison, before his conviction was over-turned.

Despite the violence and brutality displayed in the book, none of which Teddy was directly involved in, there's also a lot of humour and warmth on display. Best book ever? No, but an enjoyable couple of days reading.

4 from 5

Read - May, 2020
Published - 2019
Page count - 276
Source - copy received from author, after I had already purchased a Kindle copy
Format - paperback

KATE PILARCIK - THE DAMP FEDORA (2016)

Synopsis/blurb.....

THE DAMP FEDORA introduces 1940's detective Nelle Callahan, gal gumshoe with gumption, with a case that struts its stuff like the breeze off a good Narragansett sail. Brisk. Brash. Knowing where the wind's coming from, and yet … wondering. Nelle's job? Cut through some slick con's shadow, lift a corner of chintz off the mist, let some truth shine in for the chippies and the chopper squad — you know — menfolk who measure themselves by how big their tommy guns really are.

In this outing, Nelle finds herself helping a damp fedora wearing Harry — who's not a Harry — Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus, MLB pitcher Paul Katcher and her OSS handler-agent, none other than former White Sox catcher Moe Berg.

Praise for THE DAMP FEDORA …

"Original, distinctive, and quirky, there's something legendary about Kate's writing. 'Writing' doesn't fully describe the evocative prose, it sings off the page with the sultriness of a Hollywood starlet and raps with the cool of the Rat Pack. I can't decide if she carries her pen in a holster on her stockinged thigh or in a violin case alongside her Tommy gun." — Matt Hilton, author of the international bestseller Joe Hunter thrillers

A 40s set novella featuring a confident female PI, Nelle Callahan. The Damp Fedora is the opener in author Kate Pilarcik's Callahan series, though I've yet to uncover a follow on from this one.

Callahan juggles a few cases here....... help the mysterious new client recover a will, try and get sidelined baseball man, Eddie Waitkus's career back on track and then go off gallivanting to help the OSS on some overseas mission. (The last event remains a work in progress.)

I did enjoy this one. There's an intriguing blend of fact and fiction surrounding the narrative. Some featured characters and events might be better known to an American reader and student of baseball history and personalities, than to this UK reader. But it was fun checking out Eddie Waitkus on Wikipedia after reading this. Moe Berg I had heard of previously. Paul Katcher and the A.J. Reach sports company were others interesting features. I enjoyed how Pilarcik wove some of their histories into the story.

Callahan is bold and brassy, pretty fearless and quick witted. Her mouth runs a mile a minute and Pilarcik has captured the persona and lingo of the era perfectly. Or at least as I've seen it portrayed in the tough guy films of the era.

The resolution to one of her cases did seem to be a bit too reliant on coincidence to be fully convincing for this reader and the second issue seemed to require no investigating as such, just a word in someone's ear. That said there was enough about it for me to keep an eye out for future installments whenever they may drop.

I loved the setting and the mainly coffee shop back drop to most of the events. There's an interesting dynamic between Nelle and the owner, Albie. Albie almost seems like Nelle's guardian or protector. We also learn bits about her family history, something she doesn't spend too much time dwelling on.

4 from 5

Read - June, 2020
Published - 2016
Page count - 121
Source - purchased copy
Format - kindle read on laptop

LAWRENCE BLOCK - THE CRIME OF OUR LIVES (2015)

Synopsis/blurb....

An MWA Grand Master tells it straight:

Fredric Brown: “When I read Murder Can Be Fun, I had a bottle of bourbon on the table and every time Brown’s hero took a drink, I had a snort myself. This is a hazardous undertaking when in the company of Brown’s characters, and, I’ve been given to understand, would have been just as dangerous around the author himself. By the time the book was finished, so was I.”

Raymond Chandler: “You have to wonder how he got it so right. He spent a lot of time in the house - working, reading, writing letters. He saw to his wife, who required a lot of attention in her later years. And when he did get out, you wouldn’t find him walking the mean streets. La Jolla, it must be noted, was never much for mean streets.”

Evan Hunter: “In his mid-70s, after a couple of heart attacks, an aneurysm, and a siege of cancer that had led to the removal of his larynx, Evan wrote Alice in Jeopardy. And went to work right away on Becca in Jeopardy, with every intention of working his way through the alphabet. Don’t you love it? Here’s a man with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, and he’s perfectly comfortable launching a 26 book series.”

Donald E. Westlake’s Memory: “Here’s the point: Don’s manuscript arrived, and we had dinner and put the kid to bed, and I started reading. And my wife went to bed, and I stayed up reading, and after a while I forgot I was having a heart attack, and just kept reading until I finished the book around dawn. And somewhere along the way I became aware that my friend Don, who’d written a couple of mysteries and some science fiction and his fair share of soft-core erotica, had just produced a great novel.”

Charles Willeford: “Can a self-diagnosed sociopath be at the same time an intensely moral person? Can one be a sociopath, virtually unaware of socially prescribed morality, and yet be consumed with the desire to do the right thing? That strikes me as a spot-on description of just about every character Willeford ever wrote. How could he come up with characters like that? My God, how could he help it?”

An MWA Grand Master and a multiple winner of the Edgar, Shamus, and Maltese Falcon awards, Lawrence Block’s reflections and observations come from over a half century as a writer of bestselling crime fiction. Several of his novels have been filmed, most recently A Walk Among the Tombstones, starring Liam Neeson. While he’s best known for his novels and short fiction, along with his books on the craft of writing, that's not all he’s written. The Crime of Our Lives collects his observations and personal reminiscences of the crime fiction field and some of its leading practitioners. He has a lot to say, and he says it here in convincing and entertaining fashion.

I read this one a few years ago and enjoyed it, but was happy to revisit via an Audible listen.

Here we have Lawrence Block talking about fellow authors and friends, recounting anecdotes and conversations as well as discussing some of their books.

I believe he covers 15 writers in total, most of whom I've familiar with to varying degrees....... Robert B. Parker, Donald E. Westlake, Ross Thomas, Charles Willeford, Jim Thompson, Evan Hunter aka Ed McBain.

I think the only downside of this listening to this was the compulsion to check my book collection and start filling in gaps, even though some of these authors I haven't read for a few years and I've got plenty by them already waiting for me. I was halfway to buying a few Ross Thomas books, before checking myself and curbing my impulse.

I think he's stirred the pot at the very least regarding my intended reading for the rest of the year. A couple of authors, Ross Thomas for one I probably haven't thought of in a few years and they are now back on the radar.

I already had it in my head to revisit Westlake's Richard Stark Parker books soon.

If you're tempted to read or listen to this, its probably sound advice to have a pen and paper handy beside you for the inevitable inclination to add to your TBR pile.

4.5 from 5

Read - (listened to) May, 2020
Published - 2015
Page count - 250 (8 hrs 0 min)
Source - Audible download code from David Trevor, one of LB's assistants
Format - Audible

-----------------------
* thoughts from April, 2015


My first non-fiction read of the year and a book about other books, or more specifically authors that Lawrence Block has written introductions for. There’s a brief chapter on maybe 20 people most of whom are familiar to me, but a couple of names that are new to me – Henry Kane and Spider Robinson. Mr Block’s introductions for each book are reproduced.

The chapters on the authors I have read and enjoyed were most interesting for me, especially when they were contemporaries of Block and he includes anecdotes about meetings in bars and lunches and writer events.

Lunch with Charles Willeford is described, with some curious questions thrown into the conversation by Willeford. Cue discussion on hemorrhoids and the eating of cat. Block discusses his writing and the success that arrived towards the end of his life and the feelings of loss and sadness at hearing of Willeford’s passing.

So in that sense the news was not unexpected. But it was shocking all the same; when one meets with so clear and distinct a voice, one expects it to be around forever.

Block discusses his start in the business in the late 50’s working as an Associate Editor at the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. Work which seems to be little more than a con – writers sending in their work to be assessed at $5 a pop. He meets Donald Westlake here, which is the start of a friendship that stands more than 50 years.

What’s apparent about Block is the warmth he has for the writers he regards as his friends.

This was a really enjoyable and interesting read. I liked the stories and the anecdotes and the snippets of gossip that permeate every page and the hat-tips towards a few author and books that may have escaped my attention thus far. Thankfully there weren’t too many added to the list, probably because I have most of them already!

A snapshot of authors covered….Ross Thomas, Robert B. Parker, Mickey Spillane, Jim Thompson, Al Nussbaum, Evan Hunter/Ed McBain, Gar Anthony Haywood. There’s more, but these were the ones that most interested me.

I think if Lawrence Block wrote a telephone directory, I would be entertained reading it.

5 from 5


I received my review copy courtesy of an invitation from the author himself. (Probably one of his assistants, but I can delude myself thinking Larry Block e-mailed me!)