Capsule book reviews in 255 characters or fewer. Ish. A reading diary (1st Jan 2019 onwards) by Eamonn Griffin.
An ex-journalist investigating an art theft is accused of murder. The second of the Fletch series (originally published in 1977) is a sprightly mystery well up to the standards of its predecessor. Lean, dialogue-driven, and confident throughout. A movie adaptation is due in 2022.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
The prison diaries of a fraudster, focusing on an initial nine months in HMP Wandsworth. A privileged perspective as the author notes (a middle-class documentarian), but a vivid account nevertheless, evidencing the UK penal system as chronically underfunded, dysfunctional, and counter-productive towards rehabilitation. Darkly funny throughout, though more focus on the regime mechanics would have been interesting.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
The lives of two career criminals and a robbery/homicide detective intertwine over a long decade. This follow-on novel to Michael Mann’s 1995 heist movie epic Heat is undeniably contrived, but equally undeniably thrilling: bags of detail, tonnes of cool under pressure, with prose that does an admirable job of replicating Mann’s cinematic storytelling. For fans, naturally, but that’s a broad church: the congregation will leave feeling redeemed.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
Recuperating with family after combat injury, military cop Mick Hardin investigates the death of a drug dealer as a favour. The second Hardin thriller offers the same pleasures as the first: laconic Kentuckians, a sense of ordinary lives, a conspiracy. Plenty to relish: a third book is keenly awaited.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
A corrupt cop-turned-PI seeks a murderer while scouring 1950s Hollywood for sleaze for the scandal sheets. While it teeters on the edge of parody Ellroyism at times, this is nevertheless swaggering stuff if you go with it. A minor work in the canon, perhaps, but fans will come away pleased.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
The 9/11 report, distilled into a graphic novel. Excellent summary of the report, offering clarity and comprehensibility into timelining the events leading up to 9/11, into what went wrong, ongoing failures of national security, and from that what needs to be done to make different agencies work together. It’d be fascinating to read an updated version.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
A military investigator returns home to face his estranged wife, and to help his sister catch a killer. Terrific austere thriller – first in a new series – strong on lean characterizations and small-town Kentucky working-class troubles. Plenty for genre fans to get their teeth into: like a Jack Reacher novel written by James Sallis. Highly recommended.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
Providence, Rhode Island, 1980s. Irish and Italian crime families go to war: a reluctant leader emerges in Danny Ryan. A smart, breathless gangland take on The Iliad – the first part of a trilogy – that does precisely what you’d expect it might, and with some verve. Long-time fans will know what to expect and new genre-friendly readers will wonder what they’ve been missing out on all these years. Recommended.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
A veteran lawman recounts a story from forty years earlier, of cultists, a lost child, and regret. This second stand-alone story (anthologising issues 7-12) introduces a horror element: as before, it’s all very capably done if a little on the nose. Nevertheless, if you like tall but bittersweet cop stories and tales told in diners over pie, you’ll be right at home.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
Brothers collaborate on a farm-to-table restaurant: a rare ingredient promises success. While there’s some wonky plotting and not all the story and character threads pay off, this graphic novel is nevertheless a hugely entertaining, brilliantly paced (a rushed coda aside), and authentic-feeling exploration of foodie hubris. Lots to recommend it.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
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