A few recent reads of mine may be of interest to those on the
list:
Woe To Live On, Daniel Woodrell: Wow. Woodrell is such a
strong writer and his Civil War novel is a great read full of
bloodshed, gore and Woodrell's ever present gallows humor. It
took me longer than it should have to pick up on what
Woodrell was doing w/ dialogue, which reads like outtakes
from the King James Bible, but I'm often a bit slow on the
uptake and the effect worked very well.
Hell at the Breech, Tom Franklin: Speaking of Woodrell, he
praised this debut novel in the Washington Post last fall
(thanks, J.Ho!) and it's been on my TBR list ever since.
Another violent tale set in the late 1800s, Hell at the
Breech covers gang wars in Alabama after the Civil War.
Franklin writes good, tough prose with a wicked sense of
humor and a plot that really moves.
Bangkok 8 by John Burdette: I really liked this one, which
follows Sonchai Jitpleecheep, a Buddhist cop in Thailand as
he investigates is partner's murder. Having a Buddhist cop
could easily be a silly gimmick, but Burdette's affection for
his protagonist makes it work. I was reminded a bit of Lionel
Essrog from Motherless Brooklyn as Jitpleecheep explained his
religion and culture. I saw a review that referred to
Burdette's portrait of Thailand as hallucinogenic, and don't
think I can top that for accuracy.
In Midst of Death by Lawrence Block: I thought I'd read all
the Scudder novels and short stories and then I stumbled
across this one in a used book store. Now I wish there were
more that I hadn't read.
The Light of Day by Graham Swift: I was disappointed with
this one, which is not at all hard boiled, but is about a
private eye. I can't say more without creeping into spoiler
territory, so consider yourself warned. It is a first-person
narrative of a day in the life of a Wimbledon P.I. I enjoyed
this book to a point because the writing and plot structure
reminded me a bit of Joan Didion's Latin America novels and a
bit of Thomas Cook's mid-90s novels (all books and reread a
number of times). Thus, the whole set-up of the book left me
expecting a big twist toward the end and there was nothing,
just the end of day. I know that that was probably the point,
but I was hoping for more.
If anyone else has thoughts on any of the books mentioned
above, I'd like to hear them.
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