The Hungry Detective has been off since mid-March and that means I have watched over 60 movies, I have also made a serious dent in the TBR. The release schedule aligned to help me out with fewer authors releasing books this spring. So between this and the 5 or 6 other books, I hope to read in May/June, I finally feel like I have some breathing room.
I have mostly dealt with the book maintenance as well. I only have the last two Copper/Fry books from Stephen Booth that need to be acquired. I am caught up on James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Craig Johnson, and Alan Furst. The latest Mark Billingham, Michael McGarrity, and Clive Cussler will be read soon. Only Fred Vargas has three books on my shelf. Right now I have 13 books in the wings and while not a totally accurate number (...5 or 6 are not being counted for a variety of reasons) I feel good that the TBR pile could be in single digits soon. Ostensibly meaning that in the near future I will be able to buy a book and have it be the next thing I read instead of going up on a shelf to wait 6 weeks to 6 years to read.
Here is what I have read since the quarantine...
THE NIGHT FIRE - Michael Connelly
I am on shaky ground with the Ballard/Bosch books. The previous entry, DARK SACRED NIGHT, didn't work for me. The rhythm was off. The cutting between the two storylines neutered the tension rather than built it up. THE NIGHT FIRE handled the tradeoff better, but I would rather have a Ballard book with special guest Harry Bosch or vice versa than these two-handers. I am getting half a book for each character that does not quite add up to a whole book for either.
A DANGEROUS MAN - Robert Crais
On the other hand, Robert Crais has figured out how to balance the dueling leads. This is a Joe Pike book, full stop. Elvis is along for the ride, and there is no struggle on Crais's part to make Elvis a co-lead, he is a supporting character here. I enjoy the Pike books because, like Pike the character, the books are spartan affairs. Direct, to the point. There are no wasted moments, just duty and honor from Pike.
IF SHE WAKES - Michael Koryta
Koryta has always written stories about hero's who are down and nearly out. The events of each book only bring about a measure of redemption and in the end, there is only melancholy. I miss the Series characters he began his career with, and that always colors my perception of his standalone work. This aside, I enjoyed IF SHE WAKES quite a bit, and rank it just under THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD which is the best of his non-series work.
UNDER OCCUPATION - Alan Furst
There is a sequence early in this short novel where our lead character, a writer of detective fiction, explains how he writes his books.... and by extension how this book will develop and by extension how all of Alan Furst's Night Soldier books have been written. It seems easy, I remember when I read it thinking "This seems easy...." except it is 100% is not and that is why Alan Furst is the best at what he does.
LAND OF WOLVES - Craig Johnson
I was mixed on DEPTH OF WINTER. Bringing to close a loose arc of books featuring what amounts to a supervillain is tough. What I discovered with LAND OF WOLVES was that I missed Absaroka County, Wyoming. And because I was on firmer ground with LAND OF WOLVES I found Johnson's exploration of Longmire's troubled soul to be deep and satisfying.
SAY NOTHING: A TRUE STORY OF MURDER AND MEMORY IN NORTHERN IRELAND - Patrick Radden Keefe.
A non-fiction book that caught a lot of eyes last year is this concise, but incisive exploration of the Troubles In Northern Ireland from the mid 60's to Present. The broad umbrella here is The Unknowns, people who more or less disappeared by the IRA for reasons owing almost always to collaboration with the British government. I find this particular period to be fascinating, and SAY NOTHING didn't disappoint. I thought it was a good primer, but also an in-depth study for those who have read their fair share.
DUNE - Frank Herbert
At work, we decided to read DUNE in anticipation of the forthcoming film adaptation. I am not a Sci-fi person at all, but DUNE slightly transcends the bounds of that genre. My interest in it has always been piqued in the same way I want to read the classics regardless of genre. I am sure it is dismissive to say that I enjoyed DUNE because I anticipated a slough of descriptive passages about sand. And that was not the case. I also was pleasantly surprised that the story was evenly spread between Duke Leto, Lady Jessica, and Paul. Because my least favorite character in any genre is the 15-year man child that Paul falls fully into. Besides long passages of sand, there is nothing more tiring than long passages following a petulant man-child.
THE ENEMY WITHIN/UNDER ATTACK/THE UNSEEN HAND - Edward Marston
At the tail end of last year, I finished off The Doomsday Series that Mr. Marston wrote in the late '90s and into the 2000s. It was a series that I picked up at the Long Beach Bouchercon. I like historical crime fiction and was happy to work my way through those books over the course of the last 5 years. I procured many of his Railway Detectives series, before abandoning those books unread. I have the first 4 books of his Bow Street Rivals. I read the first but quickly realized the series was not for me. The Home Front Series has always kind of stuck. Taking place in London around the events of WWI, the books follow Inspector Marimon and Sgt. Joe Keedy as they ferret out the worst denizens of London crime. The first three books are quite good mysteries and recommend them unreservedly. But as Marston pushed into books 4 and 5 the quality dropped as the focus expanded past Marimon and Keedy to include long sections detailing Marimon's family. And while they were always present in the early books I don't recall so much time being devoted to their goings-on, especially as their stories have always been independent of the main storyline. Certainly over the course of 8 books I have an appreciation for Marston's exploration of one family's journey through WWI London. However, on individual bases, the main story of the book is often put on hold while we check in with Marimon's wife who offers occasional sage advice but is more often portrayed as a dithering simpleton. Intriguingly the daughter is allowed to join the Woman's Auxiliary Police Force but never given anything to do except act snobbishly toward her partner or kvetch about her as yet to be scheduled wedding date to Joe. Disastrously, the Son character has returned from the war shell shocked. He is a thoroughly unpleasant character whose portrayal while, sadly accurate to the time is so boring. This would seem to present a problem for the enjoyment of these books, but set those elements aside, I thought THE EMENY WITHIN was quite good and occasionally very funny. UNDER ATTACK was also good if I ignored an extended plotline about two warring youth gangs. And about a halfway through THE UNSEEN HAND the main plot is a solid piece of detective fiction as long as I tune out The Invasion of 1910 plotline that follows Marion's wife.
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