Archive for the '52 Books 52 Weeks' Category

The Preacher Series Vols 1-9 by Garth Ennis And Steve Dillon (52 Books, 44-52 Down, 0 To Go)

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Chris
on December 31, 2009
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I’ve decided to lump the lat 9 books of my quest to read 52 books in a year together because they are all tied together. At times, I didn’t think I would be able to complete this quest, especially after spending a month with Infinite Jest this past summer and only getting halfway through (I do plan to get back to it). But here on New Year’s Eve at 9:15 pm I finished book 52, volume 9 of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher series. I’ll state up front that I am not a big graphic novel guy. I tried reading Watchmen earlier this year, got about halfway through, and lost interest. But, after many recommendations from Matt, I decided to give it a spin. It was worth the ride. Preacher tells the story of Jesse Custer, a small town minister who is possessed by Genesis, the offspring of an angel and a demon. Along for the ride is his girlfriend, ulip, and a sidekick, Cassidy, who happens to be a vampire. After the main storyline is set up, about two thirds of the rest of it is spent filling in the backgrounds of all the characters, and what led them to the present. That’s where the beauty of this series lies. And there’s a huge bonus for hitting all sorts of cultural touchstones for me….Yeats, McSorley’s, Blood Meridian. Most Highly recommended.

Branded Woman by Wade Miller (52 Books, 43 Down, 9 To Go)

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Chris
on December 31, 2009
in 52 Books 52 Weeks and Uncategorized
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Yet another release from Hard Case Crime, Branded Woman is perhaps the most frustrating book I’ve read of theirs. Cay Morgan has, quite literally, been branded by a man she has crossed. Her quest to get revenge takes her to Mexico, where, of course, things aren’t always as they seem. The problem I had with Branded Woman is a tale of two extremes. When it is good, it is verry good. When it is not, well, it’s just pretty boring, and the boring parts far outweigh the good ones.It’s not quite as disappointing as the Stephen King Hard Case Crime book that I read, but pretty close.

361 by Donald E. Westlake (52 Books, 42 Down, 10 To go)

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on December 31, 2009
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Donald Westlake died a year ago today. He was peripherally on my radar (I often see book collectors looking for his harder to find novels written under the pseudonym Richard Stark). When he died, I took even more notice as all the tributes from people i respect started rolling out. Hard Case Crime’s reissue of 361 is my first experience with Westlake, and it certainly won’t be my last. The man is a master. Ray Kelly comes home to New York after a stint in the Air Force and meets his father in New York City. On the trip home to upstate New York, their car is ambushed, with the father being murdered and the son severely injured. Thus starts Ray Kelly’s quest to find the killer of his father. Engrossing and superbly written, this is the best of the Hard Case Crime books I have read thus far, and have gotten my hands on some of those Richard Stark novels for the near future. Very highly recommended.

The Vengeful Virgin by Gil Brewer (52 Books, 41 Down, 11 To Go)

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Chris
on December 31, 2009
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Yet another selection from Hard Case Crime…The Vengeful Virgin tells the story of Jack Ruxton, a TV Repairman, and the mess that he get himself involved in. While on a job he falls form a girl who is taking care of her invalid rich step-father. A plan is hatched to murder the old man and get his money, bus as usual, complications arise. More people need the be killed and someone stumbles across their plan. It’s a little simplistic, but then so is most noir. Its a fun, quick read, although at time it didn’t quite hold my attention. Still, a worthwhile pick if you are looking to check out some pulp noir.

Love In Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millet (52 Books, 40 Down, 12 To Go)

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Chris
on November 23, 2009
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Lydia Millet is an author more people should be familiar with. Her latest book,Love in Infant Monkeys, is her first short story collection. When describing Millet to someone recently I said she was sort of a female George Saunders, which only partly does her justice. Her work is filled with dark humor and a startling range. Love In Infant Monkeys are stories about famous people and their relationships with the animal species. They veer back and forth between high and low culture. The book opens with a story about Madonna hunting pheasant and trying to be suitably British. There are also stories about David Hasselhoff’s dog walker and about Sharon Stone and the Komodo dragon that bit her then husband. Mixed with these are stories about Tesla and his pigeons, Edison and the elephant he had executed during his experiments with electric current, and Noam Chomsky at the town dump. Endlessly inventive, Millet is a joy to read.

Say It With Bullets by Richard Powell (52 Books, 39 Down, 13 To Go)

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Chris
on November 23, 2009
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I’ve had mixed success with the Hard Case Crime titles I’ve read. Fortunately, Richard Powell’s Say It With Bullets is just what I was expecting from the Hard Case Crime collection. Bill Wayne was shot by one of his army buddies while in China and left for dead. After a period of recuperation, he is back in the states and wants some answers. He books tourist bus trip to travel across the country, visiting each one of his old buddies on the way. He gets involved with the tour guide, who he knew as a kid and to make matters even more complicated, his old friends start turning up dead just as he meets up with them. The page turner is perfectly paced, very funny,  and highly recommended.

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King (52 Books, 38 Down, 14 To Go)

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Chris
on November 23, 2009
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The Colorado Kid is Stephen King’s contribution to Hard Case Crime’s collection. I probably haven’t read any Stephen King since I was a teenager, There was a time when I enjoyed his books, especially the short stories, but somewhere around the release of Gerald’s Game, I just wasn’t into it anymore. Perhaps King’s writing changed. More likely my tastes veered off to things more substantial. Over the years though, King seems to have gained a a certain amount of respect from the critical establishment, and I have always remained a bit curious. So when I started reading these Hard Case Crime novels, I figured that The Colorado Kid would be the perfect place to dip my toes back into the water. I was wrong.
The Colorado Kid opens with a writer from The Boston Globe meeting with two small town Maine newspaperman and thier intern. He is looking for unslved mystery stories for a piece in the Globe. While they don’t share anything with the writer from the Globe, the two men do share the story with their intern later in the day. Unfortunately, the tale they tell of a body found on the island that couldn’t be identified, is ultimately very boring and tedious. Worse yet is King’s insistence at trying to capture the local witticisms and vernacular of Maine. It’s not just distracting, it’s annoying. Avoid at all costs.

Bust By Ken Bruen And Jason Starr (52 Books, 37 Down, 15 To Go)

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Chris
on November 23, 2009
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Bust is the first book in Ken Bruen’s and Jason Starr’s trilogy for Hard Case Crime that also includes Slide and The Max. Like The Max, which was previously mentioned here, Bust is hugely funny, irreverent, and extremely entertaining. The novel follows the early days of Max Fisher and his success as a businessman. His involvement with his secretary, Angela Petrakos, leads to Fisher to have his wife killed. Blackmail, sleaze, and even more mayhem ensues. Bust is highly recommended for those who enjoy a good mystery sprinkled with heavy doses of sleaze and raunchiness. Good stuff all around.

The Max by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr (52 Books, 36 Down, 16 To Go)

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Chris
on November 18, 2009
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When I started reading The Max I didn’t realize that it was the concluding volume in a trilogy. It turns out it’s not a big deal. It can be read separately, without any knowledge of the prior volumes. In The Max we follow Max Fisher as he goes off to jail, and his former lover Angela Petrakos on her journey from Greece back to the United States to weasel some money out of Max. What follows is a wildly irreverent ride, the type I would expect from a book imprint called Hard Case Crime. Ken Bruen and Jason Starr have composed a very funny and surprisingly meta story. I don’t think I have ever read a mystery that is nearly so self-reflexive to the genre as The Max is. Highly recommended.

Exit Music by Ian Rankin (52 Books, 35 Down, 17 To Go)

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Chris
on November 1, 2009
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Exit Music is Ian Rankin’s seventeenth, and likely final, Inspector Rebus book. After having dipped in and out of Rebus (mostly in) for the past year, the sense of loss that I feel knowing there will likely be no more Rebus books is negated by the way Rankin chose to end the series. Rankin is a true master who transcends the mystery genre and Exit Music may be his finest moment. Rankin sticks to his usual m.o. of tying the story into current events, as Russian oligarchs looking to invest in Scotland may be tied into the murder of a Russian poet. It’s a somewhat slimmer book than Rankin’s previous few, mainly due to the streamlined storyline (there aren’t several story threads being woven together this time around). Simply put, a novelist at the height of his powers.

Grave Descend by John Lange (52 Books, 34 Down, 18 To Go)

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Chris
on November 1, 2009
in 52 Books 52 Weeks
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More from the Hard Case Crime series….Grave Descend is an older novel that Hard Case had unearthed and republished. It was nominated for an Edgar award back in 1971, which surprises me. While these Hard Case Crime books are fun, they really aren’t to the level of something that is nominated for an Edgar. It wasn’t until I had finished the book that I found out the John Lange is a pseudonym for Michael Crichton and that this was published two years before he published a novel under hos own name. Apparently Cricihton did a revision of ths text before his death. I’ve read a few Crichton books in the past and, well, let’s just say I am not looking to read anything of his these days. That said, these Hard Crime books are a fun way to pass an afternoon.

The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins (52 Books, 33 Down, 19 To Go)

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Chris
on November 1, 2009
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I picked up a huge stack og these Hard Case Crime books early this year for two reasons. One, I wanted to start reading some pulp. The second is that I couldn’t resist the covers. Max Allan Collins The Last Quarry is the first of them that I have read and I am pleasantly surprised. These aren’t great works of art or anything, but are a fun way to spend a few hours. I had no knowledge of Collins’ Quarry series before starting this, and, as the title implies, this is to be the last Quarry book. Basically, the professional hitman Quarry comes out of retirement for one last hit.
The Last Quarry has obviously been a hit for Collins and Hard Case because he has since written The First Quarry and Quarry In The Middle, both of which I’ll be keeping my eye out for.

The Naming Of The Dead by Ian Rankin (52 Books, 32 Down, 20 To Go)

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on November 1, 2009
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The Naming of the Dead is the sixteenth in Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series. Like many of Rankin’s other Rebus novels, this one centers on contemporary events, namely the G8 summit just outside of Edinburgh. Like his last few novels, this one is quite a tome, weighing in at nearly 600 pages. Despite the length, it doesn’t have the bloated feeling that the last couple of books had. Rankin is actually quite spot on, balancing events at the summit with that of a serial killer who is killing former sexual offenders.

It’s not much of a surprise that Rankin isn’t a more popular writer in the United States than he is. He is definitely too cerebral for most American sensibilities. Works like this transcend mere genre fiction and are truly works of art. Just one more Rebus to go…

Watching Baseball: Discovering The Game Within The Game by Jerry Remy (52 Books,31 Down, 21 To Go)

Published
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Chris
on October 29, 2009
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Jerry Remy’s Watching Baseball was a summer long project for me. I am a baseball fanatic and it probably shows in my reading output for the year thus far. I recorded and watched every game played by the local team, the Texas Rangers, as well as the nationally broadcast games of the team I grew up following, the Boston Red Sox. All in all, I estimate I watched about 190 games this past baseball season….so much so that I am a little burnt out and am a bit ambivalent about the World Series. I’ve been watching baseball now since I was a kid, played it in high school (.613 average one year…ok it was against small towns but still…) but still don’t have a full grasp of all the little strategies. Remy’s book has helped fill in a lot of the gaps, especially when it comes to the National League, which I almost never watch. I would highly recommend this book to both baseball newbies and seasoned veterans. Both will gain some knowledge. Pick up the most recent edition though…I’ve been reading an earlier edition and many of the players that Remy discusses aren’t even in the game anymore. Here’s to listening to Alex Rodriguez’s muppet voice in the World Series postgame shows.

Fleshmarket Alley by Ian Rankin (52 Books, 30 Down, 22 To Go)

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Chris
on October 23, 2009
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Fleshmarket Alley, also known as Fleshmarket Close in the U.K. edition, is the fifteenth in Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series. It’s another fine addition to the Rebus canon, but, like the previous volume, is over 550 pages and suffers a bit from bloat. There are no less than four storylines, intricately entwined. Much of the book has to do with Scotland and it’s treatment of immigrants. Rebus’ protege, Siobhan Clarke, continues to have a prominent presence as Rebus nears retirement. His nemesis, Morris Cafferty is also taking up more of a presence, leading one to think that, with two books left, the final showdown is going to be a big one.

A Good Hanging by Ian Rankin (52 Books, 29 Down, 23 To Go)

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Chris
on October 14, 2009
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A Good Hanging is not strictly part of Ian Rankin’s Rebus series. Rather it is a collection of short stories involving Rebus that take place in the universe of the first several Rebus novels. In the introduction, Rankin claims he was a short story writer first. Thankfully for us, he is now primarily a novelist. This collection is absolutely inessential for Rebus fans. Most seem like ideas for novels that didn’t quite work out. The only story of any interest is “Sunday,” in which we see Rebus at home the morning after he has killed someone in self defense. I read this to delay the swiftly approaching end of Rebus, but the experience was less than satisfying.

A Question Of Blood by Ian Rankin (52 Books, 28 Down, 24 To Go)

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Chris
on October 14, 2009
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A Question of Blood is the fourteenth in Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series. Rankin’s plots often mirror issues in society and this novel is no exception, dealing with a school shooting. Overall, it’s not a bad effort, but not as well paced as his other recent books. Each successive Rebus novel has been longer than the previous, and this one weighs in at nearly 550 pages. It’s an enjoyable read but probably could have used a bit of editing. Over the past few books Siobhan Clarke has taken a more prominent role, almost to the point of being Rebus’ equal, and that is true here as well. It wouldn’t be a Rankin novel if there weren’t three or four plotlines going at a time and Clarke is prominent in them all. Recommended, with the minor reservation over it’s length.

Resurrection Men By Ian Rankin (52 Books, 27 Down, 25 To Go)

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Chris
on October 14, 2009
in 52 Books 52 Weeks
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Resurrection Men is the thirteenth in Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series. I’m a few books ahead of the posts, and am just starting the final volume. So, taking the final novel out of it, I’d have to argue that this is the strongest and most polished of all the Rebus books, and deservedly won the Edgar award for the year it was released. Rebus, after throwing a cup of tea at a superior, is sent back to the Scottish Police College for retraining. As part of his retraining, Rebus and several other detectives that are also being retrained, are asked to look into a cold case. As it turns out, everyone involved (Rebus included) has a prior connection to the case. Rankin deftly handles several plot threads in this masterful performance.

The Falls by Ian Rankin (52 Books, 26 Down, 26 To Go)

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Chris
on September 27, 2009
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The Falls is yet another very solid outing from Rankin. As usual, Rankin has several story lines going at the same time. In this book, DC Siobhan Clarke starts to become more of a significant character as Rankin needs a detective who can handle the technological stuff as Rebus is still fumbling with text messaging. In this novel the tech stuff takes a bit of center stage as a young woman’s disappearance may tie in to an internet game she was playing.
Rankin continues to work at the height of his powers in his twelfth Rebus novel, but I am continuing to feel a growing sense of dread as I know the series is rapidly coming to it’s conclusion.

Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon (52 Books, 25 Down, 27 To Go)

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Chris
on September 27, 2009
in 52 Books 52 Weeks
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Who would have figured that Pynchon would deliver a book a mere couple of years after his last doorstop. Inherent Vice isn’t exactly a doorstop itself. It is, rather, a relatively easy read (for Pynchon) though I’m not quite sure it’s the “beach read” it’s publishers claim. Set in the surf rock sixties Los Angeles, private investigator Larry “Doc” Sportello is on the hunt for a missing real estate developer. But as with any Pynchon novel, there is so much more going on. In the small selection of books that Pynchon has published, this is a fairly minor, although still entertaining novel. It’s probably not a great place to start, if you haven’t read any Pynchon. I hate it when Pynchon newbies ask me where to start with the condition that they don’t want to start with Gravity’s Rainbow. If you start with something like this, it’s just going to give you the wrong idea about Pynchon as a whole. If you’ve read Pynchon before, it’s definitely recommended.