Keeping Track of my Reads

Have finished The Night Fire by Michael Connelly, this is one of his newer books and it was a good read. There were three different cases involved in the book, one was a cold case that was never solved by Bosch and his partner, who had just died and left him the "murder file". The new female detective was also involved in the cases, Renee Ballard. Bosch has retired in this book and is also recovering from a knee operation so can't do as much "running around". His half brother, Mickey Haller is also involved for some of it. Because of the different cases there was plenty happening and it was fast moving. Would recommend.

Have just finished Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews. This was a great read. The plot was "bonkers" and if it hasn't already been adapted for a Nextflix series, it will be. It was about an author who writes her debut novel and it's a best seller, she writes it under the pseudonym Maud Dixon. A young woman is sacked from her job as an editors assistant in a book publisher and applies for the job as an assistant to Maud Dixon, signing an NDA to get the job. They travel to Morocco to research for her latest novel which she is late submitting to her agent. That's when things go haywire. It was fast moving and slightly ridiculous, but an enjoyable read, it was very hard to put down, you had to see how this story ended. Would recommend.

I’ve finished another book by one of my favourite authors, George Pelecanos called Nick’s Trip. It was a great read in his usual style. Fast paced and full of incident. He’s working in a bar and doing some private detective work as well. An old friend turns up and says his wife is missing, will he try to find her, but of course it’s not as straight forward as that.... Another great read from him.

My latest read - Billy Summers by Stephen King. He's a great storyteller and I enjoyed this. It was a page turner as usual from this author. It was about an ex soldier who was a sniper in Iraq and now does the occasional killing, but only if the target is a bad person! He wants to retire so he takes one last job which is paying big, but of course he's nervous as he knows what happens in films when it's one last big job, they usually go wrong!

If you're looking for a good beach read for your holidays, I'd recommend this.

My latest read was The Killing Kind by Jane Casey. This is a departure from her usual books as it wasn’t a police investigation by Maeve Kerrigan, the detective in her other books. This was about a barrister who is being stalked by a very strange man who is also very clever. She doesn’t know who she can trust, her ex fiancé, the police?...... it was a good read but a bit confusing at times (but maybe that was just me).

Have finished Silver by Chris Hammer. I've read this author "backwards" i.e. I read his latest book first and this is his second book his first being Scrublands which I feel I have to read now! This was good, better that his latest one I thought. It was about a small seaside town in Australia that is about to be developed into a large tourist area. Martin Scarsdale is the reporter who returns to Port Silver, the place of his birth, to start a new life with his partner, Mandy, but when he arrives, he finds a dead body in the house Mandy is renting and Mandy in shock, with blood on her hands. He discovers the body is an old school friend of his, so he sets out to clear Mandy and find out who killed his friend. I enjoyed it but there was a lot of twists and turns to keep track of and of course, there was a dark secret to be discovered as well (isn't there always). 😊

I've just finished Another Life by Jodie Chapman. I enjoyed this book. It is basically a love story set over a few decades from when the couple meet in their teens up to their mid thirties. They work together during the summer at a Multiplex and get together, but there's a problem as her family are members of a religious cult and she isn't supposed to date anyone from outside the religion. The book happens in flashbacks, back and forth, but it's easy to keep track of. The boyfriend has a brother, and as the book moves on it tells the story of his family and the tragedies that occur, and the relationship he has with his father.

Have just finished The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt. It’s set in Kentucky, in the Appalachian mountains. It was about a combat veteran home on leave because his wife is pregnant, but he suspects it’s not his. His sister is the sheriff in the small town and a woman’s body is found. She asks him to help her find who did it while he is home on leave. It was a good read with short chapters and fast moving action. Some of the language and expressions were hard to understand, but also with some lovely prose and descriptions of wildlife and nature. I enjoyed it.

I’ve been away on holidays for nearly three weeks and read 8 books, they were:

Scrublands by Chris Hammer - set in Australia, a page turner with a few too many twists and turns.

Nickel Boys by Coulsen Whitehead - very good, but very sad.

Silverwiew by John le Carre - good, his final novel, but fairly straight forward, not as complicated as his earlier stories.

The Dark Remains by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin - good, again a bit straight forward, this was an unfinished novel by William McIlvanney and finished by Ian Rankin.

Shoot the Moonlight Out by William Boyle - very good, a new author for me, very similar to George Pelecanos and Dennis Lehane, strong Irish content in this book, set in Brooklyn.

Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen - very good, quirky book, set in northern Finland.

A Treacherous Paradise by Henning Mankell - good, a bit different for him, about East Africa Portuguese as it was called.

City on Fire by Don Winslow, very good, didn’t like it as first thought it was a bit cliched, but it was a good yarn. First of a trilogy.

That was it, enjoyed them all.....

Just finished Punishment of a Hunter by Yulia Yakovleva. It’s about a series of murders and is set in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, during in the 1930s when Stalin was in power and the political situation was precarious, to say the least. The detective is arrested and is under suspicion by the secret police, but after 6 months is freed to help solve the crimes. There may also be link to paintings that are disappearing from the Hermitage museum. I enjoyed it but found the Russian names hard to keep track of. It also left a few loose ends, so there may be a follow up to this one. An interesting read.

My last read was something a bit different, for me anyway. It was The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal. I’d read something about it a long time ago and made a note to read it, I just happened to spot it in the library so took it out. It was an interesting read, about Jim Willard, a high school athlete who is gay, it was written in 1948 and it caused a sensation at the time. It’s fairly tame by today’s standards. He has an obsession with a high school friend following a romantic tryst with him that he didn’t follow up on. They went their separate ways. Jim going to Hollywood and later joining the army. He continues his gay lifestyle throughout, hoping to see his pal Bob along the way. He eventually returns home at the same time as Bob who has married and has a child, he’s determined to rekindle the friendship/romance with unsavoury results.

I enjoyed it but the language was very dated.

I’ve finished the latest spy novel by Mike Herron, Bad Actors. I’ve read all of this series of books and really enjoy them. This one was no different. His characters go from one novel to the next, unless they’re killed off! He always has a political angle, this one had characters thinly disguised as Cummings and Johnson. It involved a Russian secret agent arriving in London, but why has he come? The Cummings character called Sparrow, wants to control MI5 and sets out to get rid of First Desk, i.e, the head woman in MI5. These books have been made into a series on Apple I think, I don’t have it so I don’t know if it’s as good as the books, usually they’re not.

I’ve just finished Different Class by Joanne Harris. I really enjoyed this book. It was a psychological thriller set in a boys private school in the north of England. The story started in 1981 and went between 1981 and 2005. It was set around the Classics teacher and three boys that were in his class in 1981 and have reappeared as adults in 2005. One of them arrives as the new Headmaster tasked with turning the school around which means change, just what the Classics teacher doesn’t want. There was a background of alleged sexual abuse weaved through the story. But, parts of it was very funny, especially the Classics teacher wit. If you like a story that slow to unfold and has a few surprises, I’d recommend it.

I’ve finished Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. I’d read his first book which won the Pulitzer All the Light We Cannot See which I really enjoyed. This was not as good, but still enjoyable. It’s based around an old Greek text and follows it’s journey from the 15th century, right into the future through the lives of 5 different people. It was a big book, but I enjoyed it and found it interesting.

I’ve finished a Michael Connolly book Lost Light, in the Harry Bosch series. It’s one of his older ones, published in 2003. Harry has retired from the LAPD and there’s a case that was never solved which he sets out to solve. It involves a murder, followed by a robbery of 2 million dollars. It was a good read, a page turner until the end.

My latest read was The Hard Revolution by George Pelecanos, another one of my favourite writers. This was set in Washington and it was about two different groups of men, one black and one white. It was set in 1968 and was about race tensions and it’s consequences. I enjoyed it, but there was a lot of references to American football and obscure R&B and Soul artists. I think his later books are better. I enjoyed it, another page turner, and easy to read.

Have just finished Free Love by Tessa Hadley. I enjoyed this book. It was about a 40 year old woman living in Suburban London in 1968. She’s married to a senior civil servant in the Foreign Office and has a beautiful Art Deco house and two children, a boy and a girl, life should be perfect, but she’s unhappy and starts an affair with a 20 year old when as the son of an old family friend, he’s invited to dinner. He’s a bohemian and London is ‘swinging’ she starts to visit him in his flat and it goes from there. It’s also told from the viewpoint of her daughter, who is 15 and starting to experiment as well. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it.

I’ve finished The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore. This was like an updated version of the book I read before called The Favour about the Grand Tour. This was set in the 18th century and was about two brothers who came from a wealthy background. Their father owned a shipping company so they were considered not quite good enough by the nobility who went on the Grand Tour. Their parents wanted them to be acepted by the upper class and were hoping this would do it. One brother was all for it, but the other, who was beginning to accept that he was gay, didn’t. He meets a man who he becomes infatuated with, who turns out to be a thief and a bit of a rebel. He becomes besotted with him and they begin a relationship. This of course will lead to tragedy. I enjoyed it, the storyline was unusual and interesting.

I’ve finally finished Ulysses. It’s taken me about two years only reading a page or two a day. Found the Nighttown section the hardest to read, the rest wasn’t too bad. I can see how it was banned back in the day. Somof the “sayings” in the book I remembered my mother using, she was born in the 1920’s. I have a companion book for it. I might try reading it again using it for reference.

Have read The Ruins by Phoebe Wynne. I didn’t really enjoy this. It was told from the point of view of a twelve year old child so I found it a bit disjointed. It was set in 1985 and then also moved to 2010. It was about three children spending the month of August in a Chateau with their parents who are minor Aristocracy who are running out of money. They weren’t very nice people, and child abuse was hinted at but again I found it difficult to tie it down, maybe because it’s told from the point of view of a child, things are hinted at, but not fully said, the adults can’t seem to have a proper conversation and spend their time drinking and fighting with each other. One of the children returns as an adult to buy the chateau and exorcise some of the demons associated with the house. It got better towards the end when the tragedy happens, I was glad that something had happened at last.

Have just finished Sunburn by Laura Lippman. This was a very enjoyable read and hard to put down. I’ve read one of hers before and made a note of the name. They had a few titles by her in my local library so I thought I’d try another one of hers, and I’m glad I did. This was a story about a woman, caught in a violent marriage, and she hatches a plot to get out of it, but also to get enough money to live comfortably when she does. But, a private detective is sent to find her and find out if she has any money, and where it’s hidden. It reminded me of a Raymond Chandler book, the P. I. And the femme fatale. I must read some more of her books, this one was so good and so well plotted, there’s a long list of her books at the front of this one, so she seems very prolific.

My latest read was Suspect by Scott Turow. This was about a female police chief who is accused of asking for sexual favours in return for promotions among her officers. She was single, divorced, and did have sexual relations with some of the accusers, but it was consensual. She hires a lawyer, who is a friend of hers from college to represent her. He has a female investigator who tries to get to the bottom of why it is happening. She’s a quirky character who was thrown out of police college when she failed a drugs test. It turns out that an ex cop partner of the chief who was thrown off the force for drug dealing and a few other crimes, wants to get rid of her as he’s now dealing in real estate to launder his earnings from drugs and she sets out to convict him when she becomes chief. I enjoyed it, an easy read, with short chapters and the investigator was an Interesting character. I suppose it was another Take on the “me too” movement, turning the tables to the male perspective.

My latest read was A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley. This was set in Monterey, California just before the start of the American Civil War. It was about a young girl who was married off to an older man, so she wouldn’t marry a young Irishman she’d fallen for. Her husband brought her out to California to the gold rush, but it had moved on from Monterey by the time they got there. He turned out to be violent and treated her badly, but, lucky for her, he was shot in a bar fight and she was left alone, she had no skills, so ended up working as a prostitute in a brothel. She was well looked after there and saved her money and for the first time had her independence. She also made friends with another prostitute, her first real friend, she said. Over time, girls started to disappear, so Eliza and her friend try to find out what happened to them. It was a good read and really captured the lawlessness of the times, and how cheap life was, especially for prostitutes. I enjoyed it. There was an Irish theme running through it, and even a couple of Irish songs sung.

I’ve finished Heaven’s Prisoners by James Lee Burke. This is a Dave Robicheaux book, set in New Orleans. This is one of his earlier books set in the 80’s. A light aircraft crashes in the river while he and his wife are fishing and 4 people are on board and a little girl, fleeing from South America. They are all killed, except the little girl who he rescues and decides to keep and rear with his wife. But he begins to look into who the passengers are and upsets the local gangster and drug dealers, with disastrous consequences for him and his family. His writing is very lyrical and poetic, but also very violent. But I enjoy his books.