JERRY LUDWIG - BLACKLIST (2014)

Synopsis/blurb…..

The last time the United States looked on its own citizens with suspicion, the results were ruined dreams, shattered lives…and murderin Jerry Ludwig’s Blacklist

Today, people point fingers and shout, “terrorist!” Not long ago, the accusation was “Communist!” Many who testified before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee said they did so out of desperation and fear. Those who refused to speak were fired or blacklisted. 

Others fled rather than betray friends…or their belief in American liberty.

David Weber and Jana Vardian were Hollywood’s golden children; their fathers, successful screenwriters, mingled with stars and studio moguls. Then HUAC shattered their idyll, sending David and his parents into exile in Europe; Jana’s father testified and soon became a famous director.

Returning to Los Angeles as an adult to bury his father, David comes to the attention of FBI agent Brian McKenna. The somewhat jaded McKenna remains eager for a big case. Jana Vardian watched her father torture himself after testifying; David’s return painfully reminds her that she once believed in love and loyalty.

When people with ties to HUAC and to David’s father begin turning up dead, long-buried secrets are dragged into the open. McKenna quickly tags David as the prime suspect, but in a world where special effects can turn a man into a beast, Hollywood’s sheen of glamour cannot long mask its dark past.

I read this back in January and it is either my best read of the month or joint best along with Pascal Garnier’s The Islanders. Still deciding.

This one had the lot ……… pace, plot, character, setting - 1959, history, politics, romance, murder, Hollywood, screenwriters, films, studios, Los Angeles, FBI, Edgar Hoover, Clyde Tolson, HUAC, informing, BLACKLIST, exile, Mexico, Europe, family, friendships, informing, right-wing journalism, red-bashing, Communists – suspected or otherwise, surveillance, death, return, career, funeral, reconnecting friendships, resentment, manipulation, loyalty, opportunity, murder, suspects, investigation, cops, blackmail, history ….and after a 300-odd page thrill ride – a resolution!

Our story is told from the three viewpoints of our main characters – David Weaver, son of our exiled blacklisted screenwriter – Teddy – recently deceased ; Jana – daughter of Leo, the screen-writing partner of David’s father and the man who co-operated with the HUAC committee and fractured the two families’ friendship. Lastly – G-Man, Brian McKenna – the man who assisted in the cattle-drive round-up of the HUAC witness gathering. Ten years after the initial pursuit of Teddy Weaver, McKenna is still working the Hollywood studios as the shadow of the blacklist still hangs over the film industry.

David wants a life back home, preferably with Jana if they can get over their troubled history. He’s not seen her for a few long years. McKenna wants a career boosting case to get him back in the big-time with his employers. Our players are on a collision course.

Never a dull chapter, page or sentence throughout, Ludwig absolutely nailed it for me. I was reminded of James Ellroy’s more readable LA novels – still some of my favourite crime fiction - before he became overly complex and convoluted. 

I've decided, with apologies to Garnier – Blacklist best book of the month by a fair distance.

A 6 star read!

Highly recommended if you like a bit of reality and controversial and divisive history attached to your reading.

Author bio........



JERRY LUDWIG is a multiple-Emmy Award–nominated writer for television. He has been nominated for the Golden Globe and the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for TV writing; he has also won the Writers Guild of America Award. Ludwig has written for Murder, She Wrote; MacGyver; Mission: Impossible; and Hawaii Five-O. Jerry Ludwig lives in Carmel, California.

Ludwig has penned a couple of other novels which I will have to look into, including Little Boy Lost (1979) (review - not great) and Getting Garbo (2004) A Novel of Hollywood Noir - 1950's Hollywood tale.

I had access to this last year on Net Galley, but never got around to reading it before it was archived. Fortunately, a kind lady at the publisher – Emily of Tor Books sent me a second copy. Boy am I glad she did. 

LAURA ANTONIOU - THE KILLER WORE LEATHER (2013)

Synopsis/blurb….

Mr. Global Leather has been murdered!

In the Grand Sterling Hotel of Midtown Manhattan, home of the huge annual leather/BDSM/fetish ball and contest, Mr. & Ms. Global Leather, last year's male winner lies dead on the floor of his suite, wearing only very frilly, bright yellow panties. Cormac "Mack" Steel made a lot of enemies in his year wearing the studded leather sash, not the least being his co-winner Mistress Ravenfyre. But she is not alone – there are over three thousand attendees at this year's fetish-festooned event from all over the world, some of whom might have had some very personal issues with the corpse.

Enter Detective Rebecca Feldblum of the Midtown East Precinct. Assigned to this doozy of a case because, as one of NYC's only out lesbian detectives, her Lieutenant seems to believe these are "her people." Shocked, amazed and alternately puzzled and amused, Detective Feldblum must navigate a world of doms and subs, masters and mistresses, pups and trainers, leather, latex and lingerie, and discover who murdered the late Mack Steel – and hopefully do it before the weekend is over and everyone goes home. In the process, she will discover more about the sexual underworld than she ever really wanted to know, and more about her own past than she could have ever imagined.

Written in the classic spirit of Sharyn McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun, The Killer Wore Leather is both an engaging mystery and a humorous glimpse into the world of modern, pansexual international leather/BDSM contests and conferences.

Only Laura Antoniou could write The Killer Wore Leather. In addition to being the author of the best-selling Marketplace series of erotic novels, she has over 20 years of experience teaching, speaking to and occasionally skewering the alt-sex communities around the world. 

With a wicked sense of humor, insider information and a twisted imagination, she crafts a spicy mélange of mystery and mayhem!

The Killer Wore Leather is a deliciously tongue-in-cheek murder mystery set at a leather convention, allowing readers into this private world of personalities and peccadiloes. The kinkiest game of clue ever with a sex toy as the murder weapon and every leather man and woman lacks an alibi. Cleverly crafted and highly humorous, Antoniou is at her wicked best in this page turning fetish fest.

Laura is the best-selling author of the classic BDSM series, THE MARKETPLACE, which has sold more than 400,000 copies and been translated into 5 languages.

A bit of a trip outside of my comfort zone here with a previously unread author. Laura Antoniou is more closely associated with fiction of an adult flavour, but on this occasion has turned her hand to a murder mystery. So how did we go?

Best book ever? Err……no but not the worst either. If I have a criticism it would be that it was a bit too clunky, over 400 pages long which for me was maybe 100 too many. In an effort to display the BDSM community as normal folk with the same hopes, worries, dreams and insecurities as us “normal” non-BDSM folk; the book just seemed a bit too busy with perhaps a few too many peripheral characters given a bit of time in the daylight.

The other major downside was that our victim was a fairly loathsome individual, so I didn’t particularly feel any emotional investment in seeing the culprit brought to justice, other than maybe identifying him/her for the purposes of pinning a medal on their chest!

We had a few likeable individuals which were worth the admission. The investigative duo; one a New York lesbian detective and the other a black, single cop hailing from the Deep South formed an intriguing team and collaborated well to get the job done. Both were interesting, in their own rights, and as a couple overcoming their initial misconceived perceptions and prejudices to work together constructively.

A few likely suspects were thrown up as the investigation unfolded, and it was a decent sideshow having a journalist reporting on the conference, when she lands in the middle of a head-line grabbing murder. The Christian right-wing “You’re all going to burn in the fires of Hell, you perverts!” protestors outside the Global Leather Convention also added a bit of fun to the mix.

On the whole….. an okay read, not fantastic but I’m not wishing my time back either.

Would I read more from the author in the future? Hmm, perhaps – maybe the same detectives in a book two-thirds the length of this one.

Laura Antoniou has a website here, if you want to catch up on this or some of her non-mystery work.

3 from 5

Publishers Cleis Press were kind enough to provide me a copy for review.       

You can find Cleis here.

PAUL D. BRAZILL - GUNS OF BRIXTON (2013/2014)

Synopsis/blurb….

When London gangster Mad Tony Cook gives aging thugs Big Jim and Kenny Rogan the simple task of collecting a briefcase from northern courier Half- Pint Harry he doesn’t suspect that the courier will end up dead in his lock-up or that Kenny and Big Jim will then dress up in drag to rob a jeweler's shop and lose the coveted briefcase. A fast-moving, wild and hilarious search for the missing briefcase quickly ensues, with fatal consequences. Guns Of Brixton is a foul-mouthed and violently comic crime caper that is choc-full of gaudy characters and dialogue sharp enough to shave with.

I've read a bit of Paul D.Brazill’s short fiction on and off over the past year or two, before treating myself to a collection of his short stories at the end of last year – 13 Shots of Noir. Read in December – review here.

Having recently updated this Guns of Brixton short novel, he was kind enough to forward me the all-singing, all-dancing improved version, which took reading priority over my 2013 Kindle edition.

Short, sharp, violent, funny, populated by an interesting smorgasbord of low-life, criminals……. 

Half-Pint Harry, Anarchy Al and the like. The action mainly concerns recovering a missing suitcase, interspersed with an accidental killing, a jewellery heist, dingy pubs and greasy cafes, drug use, lock-ups, a car crash, leopardskin Speedos and a priest addicted to re-runs of Lovejoy with loveable rogue Ian McShane!

Great action, even if I will confess to a slight level of confusion over who was scheming to do what whom at times…..it all played out well in the end though.

Great fun, as much for the jokes and banter between the participants and the one-liners thrown in.

“The North’s all the fucking same to me,” said Big Jim……….

“I wholeheartedly agree,” said Kenny. “Mushy peas, black pudding, Pease-pudding, fishy-wishy-fucking-dishy. I usually start to hear the banjos from Deliverance as soon as I get north of Finchley.”

Another……..

Kenny took a swig of Tizer and spilt the drink over his crotch. It was as cold as a taxman’s heart.

Lastly…..

 Sleepy Pete, a man with a face like a blackcurrant crumble and the smell of a soggy mongrel , sidled up to Richard, shuffling and sniffling, moving in close and conspiratorially like a double -agent in a Harry Palmer film.

Paul D. Brazill is the author of A Case Of Noir, Guns Of Brixton and The Neon Boneyard. He was born in England and lives in Poland. He is an International Thriller Writers Inc member whose writing has been translated into Italian, Finnish, German and Slovene. He has had writing published in various magazines and anthologies, including The Mammoth Books of Best British Crime. He has edited a few anthologies, including the best-selling True Brit Grit - with Luca Veste. 

His website is here. Catch up with him on Twitter - @PaulDBrazill

4 from 5

Read early January, 2015.

Owned copy and author gifted copy.

PASCAL GARNIER - THE ISLANDERS (2014)

Synopsis/blurb………

It's a few days before Christmas in Versailles. Olivier has come to bury his mother, but the impending holidays and icy conditions have delayed the funeral.

While trapped in limbo at his mother's flat, a chance encounter brings Olivier back in touch with childhood friend Jeanne and her blind brother, Rodolphe.

Rodolphe suggests they have dinner together, along with a homeless man he's taken in. As the wine flows, dark secrets are spilled, and there's more than just hangovers to deal with the next morning...

I read two books by French authors last year; Loser’s Corner by Antonin Varenne and another Pascal Garnier offering from Gallic Books – The Front Seat Passenger. Both were 5 star reads, so what odds the third book from France blowing me away? IT DID!

The Front Seat Passenger (one of my 2014 picks of the year) review is here.

Short, dark and disturbing …. at times I felt like I was a witness to an impending car crash, but was unable to look away. It’s hard to turn the pages when you’re peering through fingertips that are half-covering your eyes!

We meet Olivier in the aftermath of his mother’s death. Olivier is a recovering alcoholic.  Crossing paths with childhood friend, Jeanne who lives in the same building as his mother, soon sees Olivier with his head back in the bottle.

A 20 year-old secret: a blind, controlling and jealous brother; a nosey, interfering neighbour, a tramp….plenty of alcohol and plenty of time in Jeanne’s company, with the manipulative Rodolphe seething in the background and you sense we may not have a happy ending. Garnier doesn’t disappoint.

I’m loathe to reveal too much of the narrative, I’ll leave well alone – offering a few snippets that caught my eye…….

Olivier on the train journey…..

A girl tottered down the aisle. Nice bum, nice shaved head, as if she knew she was pretty enough to get away with making herself ugly.

Jeanne reflective…..

The first black doll went on sale when she was twelve. She was sorry not to have had one, but it was too late by then. That was the age she became old overnight. One morning she got up and her toys no longer spoke to her. She touched them, turned them over in her hands as if seeing them for the first time, and began to cry. Her childhood had run away during the night.  

Our homeless dude…..

Roland thought the frescos and sculptures representing hell were a hundred times more appealing than the pale, cold depictions of heaven.    

  

Great story - dark and memorable, populated with troubled, destructive characters, presented at a perfect length with a smooth narrative courtesy of a superb translation from Emily Boyce.

Another compelling 5 star French read!

Pascal Garnier sadly died in 2010. Gallic books are keeping his memory alive with their English translations of his compelling books – 6 so far with another due out this year.

The Panda Theory (2012)

How's the Pain? (2012)

The A26 (2013)

Moon in a Dead Eye (2013)

The Front Seat Passenger (2014)

The Islanders (2014)

Boxes (2015)

Thanks to Gallic books for my copy of The Islanders. 

Their website is here.

2 BY JOHN D. MACDONALD

A couple of years ago I was working my way through the Travis McGee series by John D. before getting side-tracked after maybe the 5 or 6th book, or was it number 4?

Hopefully in the next year or two I will get back to it, or maybe these good looking stand-alones, acquired recently in a charity shop. How could I resist?

MacDonald wrote 21 Travis McGee novels and maybe 50 other novels as well as short stories. Either of these or Cape Fear which I know I have somewhere will probably be my first non-Travis MacDonald book.









I've only taken notice of John D. MacDonald in the past four or five years, foolishly disregarding him for many years on the basis of ..... his books were old, how could they be any good?

What a fool, am I?

Border town Girl (1956)

Border Town Girl, a two-novella anthology from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook.

BORDER TOWN GIRL

In a different life, Lane Sanson was a famous war correspondent and a bestselling author. He had been somebody. Now he's a nobody, bumming around Mexico, lost, lonely, hungry for hope, a pushover for a border town B-girl . . . and the perfect fall guy for a lethal frame-up.

LINDA

As beautiful, as inviting, as treacherous as the sea around her, Linda is a woman who is used to getting her way. And if she doesn't get what she wants, she has no qualms using force to take it. But this time, her betrayals have gone too far for her husband - or the law - to ignore.

Praise for John D. MacDonald

"The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." - Stephen King

"My favorite novelist of all time." - Dean Koontz

A Key to the Suite (1962)

A master of the thriller turns his talent for riveting suspense to the world of business. In this bold novel, John D. MacDonald exposes the backstabbing and betrayals, sordid deeds and savage maneuverings that take place behind closed doors.

Floyd Hubbard arrives at a convention at a busy beach-town hotel with a mission from the top brass: ax a long-time manager in the sales team who has been slacking off for too long. Hubbard's a loyal company man, but his background is engineering, not cold-blooded corporate warfare. Little does Hubbard realize that the first grenade has already been lobbed - and he's the target.

Cory Barlund has heard more than her fair share of odd requests in her years as a high-class call girl, so this one's right up her alley: pose as a journalist, seduce a visiting executive, and embarrass him in front of his colleagues. But after a night with Hubbard, Cory's having second thoughts. Hubbard's a good man. She might be falling for him. And the real hustlers are the ones on the convention floor.

Praise for John D. MacDonald

"My favorite novelist of all time . . . No price could be placed on the enormous pleasure that his books have given me." - Dean Koontz

"To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen." - Kurt Vonnegut

"John D. MacDonald remains one of my idols." - Donald Westlake

LOGGING THE LIBRARY - PART SEVENTEEN

Tub 17......or as it ought to be known Joseph Hansen Suite with Mickey Spillane East Wing and Robert Crais West Wing.

Tub 17

1 by Hansen

Hansen, Hand, 2 x Hosp. Garcia-Roza

Grisham, 2 x Reginald Hill, Arthur Lyons, Randy Wayne White  

Literature in the tubs - Hosseini from Afghanistan  

Elliott Hall, Anne Holt, Hosseini, Arthur Lyons, Peter Hoeg - Smilla book

Another Hansen

Scandi - with Horst, Nick Oldham - UK, Vince Flynn (RIP), Alan Bradley

Terrill Lankford - film-maker

Highsmith from the 1950's

Ellis Peters, Hill again, Highsmith, Hansen and Randy Wayne White

Florida man - Randy Wayne White, a couple from Crais, Howard Engel, Dick Francis

Crais x 2, Hansen x 3 

Shaky camera hand again

5 from Hansen

Mike Hammer - 5-fer from Mickey Spillane

Jesmyn Ward, Val McDermid, Clarence Cooper Jr.

2011 National Book Award Winner

Who else? That man Hansen

Nice cover!

Another nice cover!

Thoughts well I did enjoy the first Joseph Hansen book I read a year or two ago - Fadeout. So it makes sense to get the other 12 or 13 in the series doesn't it? Hansen's main man is an older guy, an insurance claims investigator who happens to be gay.......all appeared between 1970 and 1991. Time to read some more about Dave Brandstetter.

Jesmyn Ward's book looks interesting also........on the whole nothing here that troubles me.

Full list of 50........

AUTHOR		TITLE	YEAR	SERIES	FICTION/NON
BRADLEY	ALAN	THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE	2009	FDLM1	F
COOPER JR.	CLARENCE	THE FARM	1967		F
CRAIS	ROBERT	DEMOLITION ANGEL	2000		F
CRAIS	ROBERT	INDIGO SLAM	1997	EC7	F
CRAIS	ROBERT	SUNSET EXPRESS	1996	EC6	F
CRAIS	ROBERT	LA REQUIEM	1999	EC8	F
ENGEL	HOWARD	THE SUICIDE MURDERS	1980	BC1	F
FLYNN	VINCE	THE LAST MAN	2012	MR12	F
FRANCIS	DICK	BREAK IN	1985	KF1	F
GARCIA-ROZA	LUIZ ALFREDO	THE SILENCE OF THE RAIN	2002	IE1	F
GRISHAM	JOHN	THE KING OF THE TORTS	2003		F
HALL	ELLIOTT	THE FIRST STONE	2009	ST1	F
HAND	ELIZABETH	GENERATION LOSS	2007	CN1	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	SKINFLICK	1979	DB5	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED	1986	DB8	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	THE MAN EVERYBODY WAS AFRAID OF	1978	DB4	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	A COUNTRY OF OLD MEN	1991	DB12	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	DEATH CLAIMS	1973	DB2	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	NIGHTWORK	1984	DB7	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	GRAVEDIGGER	1982	DB6	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	BRANDSTETTER & OTHERS	1984	DB	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	OBEDIENCE	1988	DB10	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	THE BOY WHO WAS BURIED THIS MORNING	1990	DB11	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	EARLY GRAVES	1987	DB9	F
HANSEN	JOSEPH	TROUBLEMAKER	1975	DB3	F
HIGHSMITH	PATRICIA	STRANGERS ON A TRAIN	1950		F
HILL	REGINALD	A CLUBBABLE WOMAN	1970	D+P1	F
HILL	REGINALD	AN APRIL SHROUD	1975	D+P4	F
HILL	REGINALD	AN ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING	1971	D+P2	F
HOEG	PETER	MISS SMILLA'S FEELING FOR SNOW	1993		F
HOLT	ANNE	1222	2010	HW8	F
HORST	JORN LIER	DREGS	2011	WW1	F
HOSP	DAVID	NEXT OF KIN	2011	SF4	F
HOSP	DAVID	INNOCENCE	2007	SF2	F
HOSSEINI	KHALED	THE KITE RUNNER	2003		F
LANKFORD	TERRILL LEE	EARTHQUAKE WEATHER	2004	MH1	F
LYONS	ARTHUR	ALL GOD'S CHILDREN	1975	JA2	F
LYONS	ARTHUR	HARD TRADE	1981	JA5	F
McDERMID	VAL	A PLACE OF EXECUTION	1999		F
OLDHAM	NICK	CRUNCH TIME	2008	HC12	F
PETERS	ELLIS	DEATH AND THE JOYFUL WOMAN	1961	F2	F
SPILLANE	MICKEY	ONE LONELY NIGHT	1951	MH4	F
SPILLANE	MICKEY	THE SNAKE	1964	MH8	F
SPILLANE	MICKEY	THE TWISTED THING	1966	MH9	F
SPILLANE	MICKEY	THE BODY LOVERS	1967	MH10	F
SPILLANE	MICKEY	SURVIVAL …. ZERO!	1970	MH11	F
WARD	JESMYN	SALVAGE THE BONES	2011		F
WHITE	RANDY WAYNE	TAMPA BURN	2004	DF11	F
WHITE	RANDY WAYNE	TWELVE MILE LIMIT	2002	DF9	F
WHITE	RANDY WAYNE	TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS	2000	DF7	F

2015 READING PLANS

I missed a few targets last year in my reading, failing to complete most of the challenges I set myself.

On the basis of that my reading goals this year will be somewhat less ambitious. I have given myself this year and next year to complete my sidebar challenges, my main goal again will be to get to 120 books read.

Additionally.......

Match my wife's reading...... I lost track of what she read in 2014 though I have a fair idea, I want to read her 2015 books as soon as possible after she has completed them, so I don't fall any further behind....plus nibble away at the ones she has gotten to that I haven't.

Play catch-up on certain authors whose progress I had stayed on top of matching them book for book before falling behind. I won't erode totally the sidebar list but it would be good to chisel it down.

Maybe also read some short series, find a few authors that I have 2 or 3 or 4 books from and plough though them start to finish.

Perhaps read some African, Asian and Scandinavian authors this year.

Read and get rid of more books from the library than actually come into it. I'm aiming for 10 months in the year where more books go out of the library than come in. If I can read 120 books this year, I would like no more than 50 coming in the replace - a net reduction of 70 in total. I've got to start somewhere.

50 books in still seems a high figure, but as I had a voucher for Christmas and did some early 2015 purchasing with it, I've already had 20 plus come on board......(what the hell is wrong with me?)

Discipline, self-control and willpower and a steely determination will be required..........ha ha apart from a total lack of those particular attributes, I should be fine.

On the library front, I'm hoping to get more organised and will continue to catalogue the tubs, which will take the rest of the year at least,

I'll report back in 2016!