Just got back from Tom Franklin country. We stopped for the
night in Montgomery and after dinner the girls wanted to shop
so I let them go their way and I checked out a local
bookstore. I've mentioned that although I'm primarily a
paperback reader, I've recently run into hardcovers that are
cheaper than the paperback editions.
When I first discovered Vachss, I liked his work and started
at the beginning and worked my way towards the latest. By the
time I finished FALSE ALLEGATIONS and SAFEHOUSE, I was tired
of his novels and gave up on him a couple years ago. I found
a hardcover of his DEAD AND GONE, and a quick look told me it
was another in the Burke series, so I bought it at about
one-third the price of his trade paperbacks. It's time to
give him another go.
I also picked up Stark's BREAKOUT. I seem to recall some
comments on this book on the list, but I don't remember what
they were. Although I've read Westlake's THE HOOK, I've never
read anything under the Stark name. I hope this is a good
Stark. I'd hate to start out with a poor one.
I had about the same experience with James Ellroy as Vachss.
I was having a great time working my way through everything
he wrote that came out in mass paperback, but by the time I
was finished with the LA quartet, I was wore out on the huge
cast of characters and tremendously complex plots. I found
THE COLD SIX THOUSAND at a fantastic price and I thought I'd
give it a shot. I flipped through and read a bit on several
different pages and sadly put it back on the shelf. I didn't
want to read a whole novel written in that short-sentence
style.
To AJW: Thank you for the off-line comments on Tom Franklin,
and thanks also for the suggestions for things to do in
southern Alabama. I read your suggestions several times and
meant to write you off-line and thank you but I accidentally
deleted the letter and lost your email address.
miker
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