> Which reminds me, isn't Small Crimes supposed to be
out by now? Is
> it out?
>
> Mark
>
Mark, Small Crimes will be out in the UK March 20th, and
sometime in the Fall in the US--I haven't been given a date
yet. Serpent's Tail does advertise on their web-site free
postage world-wide, so I'd have to think it could be ordered
from them anywhere after March 20th. They also have the first
chapter up now on their web-site.
End of commercial ;)
About Deadly Beloved--yeah, Collins does give away who the
heavy is very early, and yeah, maybe Ms. Tree is really just
a female Mike Hammer, and all the clothing observations are a
bit too obvious, but the book is highly readable. Probably
because Collins is just such a damn smooth writer. Anyway,
regardless of its faults, it still a fun, pulpy read, and
those are few and far between these days.
I'm finishing up Stark now. This is my first Edward Bunker
book--although I am a big fan of the movie Straight Time. I
take it you've read other Bunker books--is this at all
representative of them? I guess it's readable enough that I
haven't put it down, but the dialogue is bad B movie stuff.
If I had the energy I'd copy some of the exchanges between
Stark and the cop trying work him--it's pretty awful, and the
characters are pure cardboard cutouts. I guess it's a period
piece--early 60s, and does have that bad Gold Medal feel (bad
as in the worst of the Gold Medals). According to the
Afterward, this book was found after Bunker died, and was the
first book he wrote. Unless this is representative of his
other works (which I find hard to believe given his
reputation), you'd have to think he would never have wanted
this published. Anyway, this book is probably a good one for
debating whether discovered books should be published
posthumously.
I've also just finished Diablerie by Walter Mosley. This book
has taken a beating by some critics for its contrived
elements. Yeah, some of it is contrived, but I think that
fits with this weird dreamlike-nightmarish atmosphere Mosley
builds. I liked this one a lot--at least until the last few
pages, and probably kept me as engrossed as any book I've
read over the last year. It's kind of an interesting blend of
existential dread and noir, and Mosley is a masterful writer.
The ending was a disppointment, though.
--Dave Z.
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