N's ENJOYED, N's UNREAD

Week 14 on our 2013 Crime Fiction Alphabet journey, courtesy of Kerrie over at her Mysteries in Paradise blog. It's the turn of the N's and a chance to recap on a couple of recent favourites and some more recommended but as yet, untouched books.

Nunn, Nisbet, Nicol........3 enjoyed,

Kem Nunn - Tapping The Source

I must have read this book over 20 years ago, though in truth I'm guessing. Originally published in 1984 this was a debut novel from ultimately a far from prolific author - just 5 books in about 20 years, with the last, Tijuana Straits published back in 2004. Something about this book has remained with me over the years, though it's kind of difficult to recall just exactly what magic spell Nunn wove on me as I read this. I still have my copy somewhere, ready for one last read before passing it on.

People come to Huntington Beach in search of the endless party, the ultimate high, and the perfect wave. Ike Tucker has come to look for his sister and the three men who might have murdered her. His search takes him on a journey through a twisted world of crazed Vietnam vets, sadistic surfers, drug dealers, and mysterious seducers. And if he's not careful, it is a journey from which he will never return.

Jim Nisbet – Lethal Injection

I read this last year and absolutely loved this. It was a close second to Roger Smith when selecting my book of the month last November. I have more by Nisbet to read and I'm looking forward to each and everyone one on the pile. I'm just surprised that he isn't better known.



The gritty noir cult classic is now back in print - and the first of nine Nisbet books from Overlook!

Jim Nisbet's cult classic Lethal Injection, one of the first Black Lizard Books originals, has been out of print in the United States for an unforgivably long time. Overlook is remedying that with this paperback - the first of nine reissues that will make up a Nisbet revolution. 

It's about as noir as you can get. In a bleak Texas prison Royce, an alcoholic doctor administers Bobby Mencken's last 'high,' convinced that the convicted killer was innocent. When Royce's marriage crumbles he takes off for Dallas to search for the real killer. 


Of Nisbet, Germany's Die Welt wrote, 'Neither Norman Mailer nor Truman Capote has in their writing been able to produce such an intensity as Nisbet has achieved.' With sharp humor and a poet's ear for language, Nisbet's world may be bleak, but it is frighteningly real. Overlook is proud to bring him to a new generation of readers.

Mike Nicol – Payback

Another superb South African writer. This is Nicol's first in his 3 book Mace and Pylon series. I have the other two ready to go, but I'm kind of holding back, because once they are gone, they're gone and the feeling of anticipation will have disappeared. October's book of the month last year. If you like Deon Meyer or Roger Smith, you need to try Nicol also.

More than a decade after the end of Apartheid, ex-gun-runners Mace Bishop and Pylon Buso are trying to settle down to a comfortable Cape existence. But when an old contact calls in a favour, they become embroiled once again in the country's violent underworld of crime and corruption - and with the lethal Islamist organisation PAGAD. A gripping tale of narcotics, arms-dealing and international intrigue, PAYBACK heralds the arrival of a major new crime-writing talent.

Nesbo, Neville, Newton......3 unread,

Jo Nesbo – Headhunters

I read Nesbo's Bat/Harry Hole book earlier this year, having undertaken a challenge to read a bit more Scandinavian crime fiction this year. My OCD tendencies dictate, I can't read the next Hole installment because it hasn't yet been translated into English. This standalone will keep me ticking over until then.

   

Roger Brown is a corporate headhunter, and he's a master of his profession. But one career simply can't support his luxurious lifestyle and his wife's fledgling art gallery. At an art opening one night he meets Clas Greve, who is not only the perfect candidate for a major CEO job, but also, perhaps, the answer to his financial woes: Greve just so happens to mention that he owns a priceless Peter Paul Rubens painting that's been lost since World War II - and Roger Brown just so happens to dabble in art theft. But when he breaks into Greve's apartment, he finds more than just the painting. And Clas Greve may turn out to be the worst thing that's ever happened to Roger Brown.

Stuart Neville – The Twelve

I have only had this on the pile a year or so, so not much chance for it to get too dusty. Neville's debut novel has received a fair bit of praise and was nominated for an Anthony Award. He has written a couple more books in this series, Collusion and Stolen Souls. If time allows I'd like to get this read later this year.

Fegan has been a 'hard man,' an IRA killer in northern Ireland. Now that peace has come, he is being haunted day and night by twelve ghosts: a mother and infant, a schoolboy, a butcher, an RUC constable, and seven other of his innocent victims. In order to appease them, he's going to have to kill the men who gave him orders. 

As he's working his way down the list he encounters a woman who may offer him redemption; she has borne a child to an RUC officer and is an outsider too. Now he has given Fate - and his quarry - a hostage. Is this Fegan's ultimate mistake?

Charlie Newton  -  Calumet City

Another debut novel on the pile, published 5 years ago. I got my copy when browsing a few months ago in a secondhand book store in St. Albans. I think the author has written a couple more after this one, but I'm holding fire until I have dipped my toes into Calumet City first. Nominated for a couple of awards, including an Edgar, this should be good though!  

Among the most self-assured and sharply crafted debuts in recent years, Calumet City detonates a Molotov cocktail of character-driven suspense and ghetto-Chicago intrigue.

Meet Patti Black, the most decorated cop in Chicago. On her ghetto beat, Patti Black redefines the word badass. But her steel-plated exterior -- solitary, stoic, loveless -- belies the wrenching legacy of her orphan childhood. Haunted by the horrifying abuse she suffered at the hands of her foster parents, Patti Black sublimates past torments into a meticulously maintained tough-gal persona.

When a series of unrelated cases -- a drug bust gone bad, a mayoral assassination attempt, the murder of a state attorney, the exhumation of a long-concealed body from a tenement basement wall -- all point in Patti Black's direction, she finds herself facing the dark truth: You can't hide from your history, no matter how far into the fog you run. For Patti Black, that history didn't die in the tenement wall; it's alive -- and riding her down.

In researching this electrifying thriller, Charlie Newton rode in the squad car with real-life street cop Patti Black. The result is a powerful fiction debut that captures the precise emotional landscape of one cop's hard-bitten life in the trenches. This first-time author joins that rare breed whose fiction is suffused with profound authenticity.

I'll be back with week 15's O - entries next week.

BILL PRONZINI - BLOWBACK (1977)

Synopsis/blurb.....

He's just gotten some bad news, and its impact has made him immobile and fearful. He's always known that the racking cough was not just something that was going to go away, that the ache in his chest was indicative of something more serious. And now he's found out that he has a lesion on his lung which could be malignant. He's set to sit and wait and do nothing else until he gets the results, but is swayed into action by a call from an old buddy of his from the service, Harry Burroughs. Harry has an isolated fishing camp in Northern California. Currently, he has several people in residence. Recent events have convinced him that the place is a powder keg waiting to erupt into violence. Therefore, the call to Nameless. What Nameless finds on his arrival is a simmering situation, mostly caused by the presence of a very erotic woman by the name of Angela who is there with her extremely jealous husband, Ray, who is even more combustible because he's a heavy drinker. Angela is a woman who plays sweet but gets deep underneath a man's skin and is nowhere near as innocent as she would have folks believe. And then the murders start. The first doesn't seem to have anything to do with the situation when a rug dealer is killed in his van. But then the inhabitants of the camp become targets, including Nameless. He faces more than the usual share of danger as he is entombed in a cave. The book has a little bit of everything—sexual intrigue, theft, murder, violence—all leavened by Nameless searching for the truth in a high tension environment.

My first book in July and this was a fairly decent start to the month. I found Nameless’ fourth outing in Pronzini’s (still going strong) long running series to be interesting and enjoyable without quite hitting the heights of some of the earlier books.

Most of my enjoyment with this series derives from the main character, Nameless and how he behaves and reacts to every situation he encounters. With few friends and currently no romantic interest in his life, it’s hard not to feel a great deal of sympathy for this decent, troubled man. Troubled.......? Since book one The Snatch, Nameless has been plagued by a ratchety cough which concerns him. Book four and the source of the cough has been identified as a lesion on a lung.... but with the test results not in, the inner monologue of the guy resonates.......benign, malignant, benign, malignant.....obvious concerns for his mortality are worrying both him and this reader. We’re all going to die one day, would there be anything worse than dying alone?  

For me the mystery element of the book while interesting was secondary to the on-going mystery of his health. With 40 Nameless books under Pronzini’s belt, I’ll stick my neck out and guess he survives, but such is Pronzini’s skill as a writer, I’m still worrying.

4 from 5

I bought my copy of this book a month or two ago second hand from Amazon.   

APRIL - JUNE AUTHORS NEW TO ME

The 2^nd quarter of the year saw me read a total of 38 books, of which 13 were from authors that were new to me. (1^st quarter figured 18 newbies in my 44 reads, so a bit of a drop, but over 30 and we’re only halfway through the year.)  

The full list is as follows;

Dick Francis – Forfeit (1968) (4)

Leif G. W. Persson – Between Summer's Longing And Winter's End (2010) (4)

Camilla Lackberg – The Stranger (2011) (2)

Tom Robbins – B Is For Beer (2009) (2)

Alan Furst – Mission To Paris (2012) (5)

Seeley James – The Geneva Decision (2012) (2)

Rob Kitchin – Stiffed (2013) (4)

Sue Grafton – A Is For Alibi (1982) (4)

David Corbett – Do They Know I'm Running (2010) (4)

Asa Larsson – The Savage Altar (2006) (4)

Terry Shames – A Killing At Cotton Hill (2013) (5)

Jack Rylance – Copacabana (2012) (3)

Jac Wright – The Closet (2013) (3)

Of the 13 new-timers, 7 of them were encountered during June and of the earlier ones, I have subsequently read further books by both Dick Francis and Leif G.W. Persson.

Highlights were undoubtedly Shames and Furst.

Others of note were Kitchin, Grafton and Corbett.

Francis and Larsson, just behind these in the enjoyment stakes. 

Obviously, from my non-scientific scoring there were a few disappointments, but that's to be expected. I open every new book, hoping I am engaged and interested, but it doesn't always pan out unfortunately.  

M's ENJOYED, M's UNREAD

Well it’s the halfway point on the Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013 journey hosted by Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise. I can envisage some problems ahead, but we’ll worry about that in coming weeks. For now it is some M’s I’ve enjoyed and some on the mountainous pile to be got to at some point in the next 20 years – on the basis that I enjoy the 3 full score and 10!

McIlvanney, McClure, McKinty.........3 enjoyed,

William McIlvanney – Laidlaw

Laidlaw was a book I read late last year. The first in a short series of three about a Glaswegian detective. Highly recommended. I have the other two waiting for me, a couple of scabby, well-read, dog-eared paperbacks which I just love, The Papers of Tony Veitch and Strange Loyalties.....one of these days!

McIlvanney has had a bit of a renaissance recently, not that he ever really went away, but the three in the collection have been or are about to be re-published shortly. 

An extraordinary debut by a Scottish mystery writer, this cult classic of crime fiction presents Detective Jack Laidlaw, a policeman as complex and self-critical as you'll ever meet. Laidlaw follows the trail of murder investigation deep into the underbelly of Glasgow, a world he knows the way Phillip Marlowe knew Los Angeles.

Adrian McKinty - Fifty Grand

I was blown away by this when I read it back in 2009, courtesy of the author's kindness in sending me a copy. I had previously read the first in his Michael Forsythe trilogy, Dead, I Well May Be which was really enjoyable as well. Side-tracked by other books and life in general, I haven't read anything else by him since though there are more waiting for me. 

This knockout punch of a thriller from a critically acclaimed author follows a young Cuban detective's quest for vengeance against her father's killer in a Colorado mountain town

A man is killed in a hit-and-run on a frozen mountain road in the town of Fairview, Colorado. He is an illegal immigrant in a rich Hollywood resort community not unlike Telluride. No one is prosecuted for his death and his case is quietly forgotten.

Six months later another illegal makes a treacherous run across the border. Barely escaping with her life and sanity intact, she finds work as a maid with one of the employment agencies in Fairview. Secretly, she begins to investigate the shadowy collision that left her father dead.

The maid isn't a maid. And she's not Mexican, either. She's Detective Mercado, a police officer from Havana, and she's looking for answers: Who killed her father? Was it one of the smooth- talking Hollywood types? Was it a minion of the terrifying county sheriff? And why was her father, a celebrated defector to the United States, hiding in Colorado as the town ratcatcher?

Adrian McKinty's live-wire prose crackles with intensity as we follow Mercado through the swells of emotion and violence that lead up to a final shocking confrontation.

James McClure – The Song Dog

One of my reading aims a few years ago was to expand my geographical reach in the books I read. South Africa at the time didn't offer me much in the way of choice, apart from McClure. I was ignorant at the time of the excellent Deon Meyer, and subsequently Roger Smith and Mike Nicol have come to the party and entertained me. The Song Dog and the whole series was intriguing in that it's set during Apartheid and features a black/white police double act. I have more of the series of about 10 to enjoy at some point. Excellent cover also!

Publisher's Weekly
McClure adds to his admirable South African series of police procedurals featuring Afrikaner CID lieutenant Tromp Kramer and Bantu sergeant Mickey Zondi (last seen in The Artful Egg ) with an altogether satisfying prequel, jumping back to 1962 and the case that brings the two together. Kramer is called to a backwater town in Zululand after a young white housewife of questionable repute and a respected police officer are blown to bits when dynamite explodes her isolated home. Is the killer her reportedly violent and jealous husband, or was the husband in fact the intended target? It's Kramer's job to learn the truth, hampered though he is by incompetent police and medical staff and by his constant stumbling over Zondi, on the scene to track down a killer of his own. As is characteristic of McClure's series, the novel thrives on the relationship between the acerbic Kramer and the carefully clever Zondi, as well as on its intelligently underplayed depiction of South African customs and attitudes. Mysterious Book Club selection.

Library Journal
McClure's prequel to his Kramer/Zondi series details the South African pair's initial meeting. Already hard at work on the double murder of a beautiful but notorious young lady and an efficient, middle-aged detective, the devil-may-care Kramer appropriates the intelligent black Zondi--looking for a multiple killer and cousin--as assistant. Vivid imagery, crackling prose, and the exotic surroundings of Zululand (complete with racial attitudes) create an exciting package. Series fans will surely want to read this; others may get turned on to a good thing.

McFetridge, Meyer, Murphy.......3 unread, 

John McFetridge – Tumblin Dice

I have read a couple of this excellent Canadian author's previous books, Swap aka Let It Ride and Dirty Sweet. I have had this waiting for me for a year or so. He's been likened to Elmore Leonard, which is pretty high praise in my opinion. He's his own voice though - another recommended author. 

The High, a band with a few hit songs in the late 1970s, have reunited to play the nostalgia circuit at casinos. But for bassist Barry and lead singer Cliff, this tour promises to be unforgettable and even more worthwhile than ever. In this fourth installment of the Toronto series, these two band members turn the tables on the gritty underworld of casinos, as they rob the loan sharks and drug dealers who work at every stop of the tour. After finding their old manager who had swindled millions from them years ago, Barry and Cliff decide to go for the big score and get it all back - and more. But when the Saints of Hell, the notoriously dangerous motorcycle gang, get involved, all bets are off.

Deon Meyer – Dead Before Dying

I've had this baby on the pile for maybe two years or so. I haven't picked my way through his back catalogue just yet, but it's on my to-do-list. Post-apartheid South Africa isn't high on my bucket list of places to visit, thanks to Meyer. I do like reading about it though  

Mat Joubert has lost everything: his wife, his hope and his future. Then a series of murders throws the residents of Cape Town into panic. As the killer works down some unseen hit list, it becomes clear that while Mat is struggling to start anew, the only thing the killer wants is revenge.

Dallas Murphy – Lover Man

I must have had this over 10 years at least. First in a 4 book series, I can't recall where it came from or how the author came to my attention, maybe Murder One in London a long,long time ago. One of these days, Mr Murphy - I will see what you bring to the party!  

Clever, intriguing, shocking, touching and funny, this first novel from playwright Murphy inaugurates what should be an outstanding series. Murphy introduces Artie Deemer, a man whose only discernible hobby is an all-consuming passion for jazz, and whose income is supplied by his dog, Jellyroll, a canine famous across America as the "spokesdog" for a national brand of dog food. Everything in Artie's life is great until two cops show up at his door and tell him his ex-girlfriend, Billie Burke, has been found murdered in her Manhattan apartment. When someone who turns out to be Billie's lesbian ex-lover shows up at Artie's door with a cryptic note in Billie's handwriting, Artie finds himself embroiled in a bewildering mystery that will keep readers turning pages at a breakneck pace. Murphy writes with clarity and power; the prison and morgue scenes are shockingly good. His characters are fascinating and unique no mystery buff should miss Deemer's friend Calabash, his unusual lawyer, nor any of the 20 or 30 characters who make this one of the year's best.

 Next week I'll be posting about some N's in my library.

JUNE 2013 READING LIST

I struggled a bit with my reading in June to be honest, but that said by the end of the month, I reckon I had snapped out of my doldrums, thanks in particular to Terry Shames and her superb debut novel - A Killing At Cotton Hill.

I managed to read 10 books in total of varying lengths and kept to my targets, number-wise and also in my own personal Scandinavian and Award reading challenges.

7 of my 10 reads were new-to-me authors and 3 of my reads were written by women. (See, I am making an effort!) One author - Jac Wright is gender unconfirmed as far as I can see, but I'm not about to make any false claims.

Monthly highlights were Shames and Garfield, with other enjoyable reads from Kitchin, Corbett, Larsson, Grafton and the ever dependable Lawrence Block x 2. No turkeys in the month, but a couple fell a wee bit short of the others on the enjoyment measuring scale.

My mid-month blues, did force me to abandon my ongoing series reads or at least set them aside for the month until I rediscovered my mojo.

My full list is as follows, with my rating in brackets after the book.

Lawrence Block - Eight Million Ways To Die (1982) (4)
 
Rob Kitchin - Stiffed (2013) (4)

Sue Grafton - A Is For Alibi (1982) (4)

David Corbett -  Do They Know I'm Running (2010) (4)

Asa Larsson - The Savage Altar (2006) (4)

Terry Shames -   A Killing At Cotton Hill (2013) (5)

Lawrence Block - Grifter's Game (1961) (4)

Jack Rylance - Copacabana (2012) (3)

Jac Wright - The Closet (2013) (3)

Brian Garfield - Hopscotch (1975) (5)

Two contenders for my book of the month, but by a short-head I'm plumping for A Killing At Cotton Hill, well worth checking out in my opinion.

BRIAN GARFIELD - HOPSCOTCH (1975)

Synopsis/blurb......

Winner of the 1976 Edgar Award for Best Novel

Bored with retirement, an ex-spy challenges his old agency to a game

Miles Kendig is one of the CIA’s top deep-cover agents, until an injury ruins him for active duty. Rather than take a desk job, he retires. But the tawdry thrills of civilian life—gambling, drinking, sex—offer none of the pleasures of the intelligence game. Even a Russian agent’s offer to go to work against his old employers seems dull. Without the thrill of unpredictable conflict, Kendig skulks through Paris like the walking dead.

To revive himself, he begins writing a tell-all memoir, divulging every secret he accumulated in his long career. Neither CIA nor KGB can afford to have it in print, and so he challenges them both: Until they catch him, a chapter will go to the publisher every week. Kendig’s life is fun again, with survival on the line.

“Fun and games: that’s what Hopscotch is all about . . . Garfield is one of the best: he writes as well as any crime novelist around.” - New York Times 

“Great fun.” - Otto Penzler

“Once again Garfield shows his genius for weaving history and fiction into a fabric of fast-paced, high-suspense storytelling.” - Robert Ludlum

I’ve previously read Garfield’s Deathwish book which was made into the iconic film of the same name starring Charles Bronson. I recall enjoying it without actually being blown away. Hopscotch published 3 years later in 1975 was much more enjoyable for me. Incidentally this was also adapted as a comedy for the big screen in 1980 and starred Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson.

We kick off with Miles Kendig, 53, a retired CIA agent, drifting, bitter and resentful after his forced retirement from the agency. Spending time in Paris, he’s approached by the Russians to get back in the game by working for them. Unable to accept, he still needs something in his life to fill the void that retirement has left him with.

Penning his memoirs and drip feeding them a chapter at a time to 14 different publishing houses, offers him the opportunity to prove he still has all the moves necessary to play the game.

What follows, with Kendig anticipating every move his former employer and enemies make, was absolutely brilliant. Garfield brings everything to the table in this 200-odd page long classic.....intelligence, pace, action and humour, populated by a believable, likeable hero pursued by his former colleague and friend, Cutter and his underling Ross, both of whom I grew to like as the novel unfolded.

It’s a testament to the author’s skill when you can empathise with both the protagonist on his last mission and those now in pursuit and tasked with stopping him at any price. Garfield’s novel won the 1976 Edgar for best novel, it’s not difficult to appreciate just why.

5 from 5, and a last minute candidate for my book of the month.

I bought my second hand copy from a local charity shop a couple of years ago.

*Unable to find the exact cover image online, I have taken a happy snap with my phone. I’m unsure why it’s greenish!

  

JUNE ADDITIONS TO THE TBR PILE...SOME OF ANYWAY!

10 of the books I acquired in the month, I don't know how I would be expected to resist something with a title like Shotgun Gravy, though if I read any of these in July it will probably be Chasing Bad Guys and Arctic Chill.

I'm off to spend some time seeing how to format pictures because this post looks like a proper dog's dinner!