Skip to main content

The (new) Big Four plus the Gorey

1. Heaven's Prisoners - James Lee Burke
Still number one, and with good reason. There are just too many gaps in my JLB collection for comfort. I am hoping to to pick this up at the big California Antiquarian Book Fair this week in Pasadena. If I can grab this book the fair will be a success for me.

With recent purchases I was able to pick off A Firing Offense and Nick's Trip, two picks that will now never make this list. Let's see how long this book last on the list. I am a big advocate for buying something just so that I can stop thinking about it. This does not cover all occasions hence the reason why I do not have a Xbox.

3. The Beekeeper's Apprentice - Laurie R. King
I am somewhat pinning my hopes on the Long Beach Bouchercon to pull the trigger on this book. The dealer room should have a few to choose from and if past BCons have proven anything most people are not looking to buy expensive books in that room.

4. A Morning for Flamingos - James Lee Burke
After much consternation I went with A Morning for Flamingos in the four spot. For a good deal of time I had a Craig Johnson book in here and then briefly flirted with The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer. Flamingos makes the cut because after Heaven's Prisoners it is oldest book on the list. Playing off what I said about that book above, I think most of the year is going to spent on filling those gaps.

The Loathsome Couple - Edward Gorey
In the months since turning some of my collecting attention to Edward Gorey I have seen exactly zero books by the author. Sure there have been a few recent reprints, but for the time being that falls out of my current purview. I fear I would have better luck on the East Coast finding Mr. Gorey's canon. Time will tell.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Very Best of Mr. Michael Connelly - Part 2

My August 31 post of The Hungry Detective ranked all the non-Bosch books. This list returns to take on the larger task of Mr. Heironimous Bosch. 9 Dragons made its appearance right before the Indy B'Con, and try as I might... ok I didn't try that hard... I didn't have time to read it for inclusion in these rankings. As a quick aside I don't want to undersell any of the books at the bottom of the list. Mr. Connelly doesn't know how to write a bad book, but in my case there have been occasions where I have not connected with his work. 13. THE NARROWS - 2004 It is because I love THE POET so much that this book is at the end of the list. When Mr. Connelly is at his best his works has the precision of a watchmaker. THE NARROWS just felt forced and not worthy of the intricacy of THE POET. 12. BLACK ICE - 1993 Second book. Third read. I thought the story was pretty flat. It has been well over a decade since I read this book, but the story of Mexican drug runner...
1 comment
Read more

The Very Best of Mr. Dennis Lehane

I thought this post would appear in October. Ya, know when SHUTTER ISLAND: THE MOVIE was supposed to be released. And then it wasn't. Something about Leo not being able to do 'press' for the movie. Doesn't really matter the reason, a February release date has one of those fancy Hollywood meanings: Not Good. Look I'll be honest, I didn't connect with SHUTTER ISLAND. I loved the fifties setting, the haunted house atmosphere, and impending doom of the Hurricane. Even the set-up of the story was intriguing but how it played out just didn't work for me. Some interesting characters, a bunch of great set pieces, but the ending announces itself with an expected, thud that went nowhere. Am I still going to the movie? Its Lehane, Scorsese, Leo, and Ruffalo of course I am. Anyway the list. 8. Prayers for Rain - 1999 The last Kenzie-Gennaro book follows our heroes as they investigate a guy who is terrorizing women into committing suicide. The book played like an episo...
4 comments
Read more

Small Mercies - The Return of Dennis Lehane

 A time honored tradition at The Hungry Detective HQ is to perform the twice annual, and largely ceremonial, 'Dennis Lehane New book 20XX" Google search. Nothing comes up on his long abandoned Website, except notification of the script work for his television and film projects.  Grousing aside, 2022 was a big year for Mr. Lehane. BLACK BIRD, a show he created, played on Apple+ to solid acclaim. The show's star, Paul Walter Hauser, won a Golden Globe. But despite that I have yet to watch it. Not for any other reason than I am a movie person more than a TV person. The TV I do watch is watched in an arcane order that is difficult to decipher and even more baffling to explain. Short story, I need to watch ANDOR [Editor's Note: Slow going on ANDOR despite everyone telling me it is amazing.] And then BLACK BIRD, or maybe SLOW HORSES. I'll get there...  Anyway at the dead end of 2022, I did the search. Found out he wrote a book. SMALL MERCIES . I was excited to hear it. I...
Post a Comment
Read more