In an earlier post I talked about the new Susan Hill novel. Went and had a look at her website and it looks like the books will be coming to TV in the UK - the rights to the first three novels have been bought by Bentley Productions the people behind Midsommer Murders. Have to hope the series is picked up by BBC America. Her new one 'Risk of Darkness' it is out in hardcover here in March.
Matt Reilly's sequel to 'Six Sacred Stones' is 'Five Greatest Warriors' and it comes out in UK in October '09 and the new Larsson 'The Girl who Played with Fire' should be out in July.
Feb 24, 2009
Revenge of the Spellmans - Lisa Lutz
In this, the third of our visits to Spellman world Izzy’s latest hobby case – Ernie Black - whose wife may or may not be having an affair seems like a simple surveillance job. But if its so simple why is a rival PI firm following Izzy around? Why is her father so keen on lunch all of a sudden and what’s with all the life changes? Henry Stone is dating. Younger sister Rae can almost be charged as an adult, brother David has turned from successful lawyer to eco warrior. Everyone is evolving or moving on - only Izzy remains static.
Izzy, in court ordered therapy and squatting in David’s basement apartment has a month to decide whether to take over the family PI business or have it sold out from under her.
The Spellmans still put the fun in dysfunctional and the characters grow with every book. A great read.
Izzy, in court ordered therapy and squatting in David’s basement apartment has a month to decide whether to take over the family PI business or have it sold out from under her.
The Spellmans still put the fun in dysfunctional and the characters grow with every book. A great read.
Comment on Good Thief's Guide and a drought in the arcs department
Thanks to Chris Ewan for his comments re the Good Thief's Guide to Paris post!
I knocked off all 3 Torchwood titles as I suspected they really didn't take long to read. I'm trying to get hold of a copy of The Manual of Detection by Jedidiah (spelling) Berry but our copies haven't come in yet and I can't find an arc for it - bummer! Also I noticed that the new Lisa Lutz is out so I'll post the review of that next. Where are all the good arcs??? I went through the whole pile yesterday while searching for the Berry arc hoping I might come across the new Susan Hill or the next Matthew Reilly or even the next Larsson but natch.
I knocked off all 3 Torchwood titles as I suspected they really didn't take long to read. I'm trying to get hold of a copy of The Manual of Detection by Jedidiah (spelling) Berry but our copies haven't come in yet and I can't find an arc for it - bummer! Also I noticed that the new Lisa Lutz is out so I'll post the review of that next. Where are all the good arcs??? I went through the whole pile yesterday while searching for the Berry arc hoping I might come across the new Susan Hill or the next Matthew Reilly or even the next Larsson but natch.
Murder in the Museum of Man
As I mentioned a few weeks ago this book by Alfred Alcorn caught my eye whilst I was shelving and now I've managed to read it. I went into work yesterday and bought the second one.
Norman de Ratour is a tall prissy academic (think Niles Crane) working at the Museum of Man which is being threatened with takeover by Wainscott University. As we join him he's contemplating the disappearance of the Dean, thinking of writing a history of the museum and preoccupied with the woman that he let get away. Then the Dean's remains turn up and Norman decides that rather than be regarded under the same pall of suspicion as his esteemed colleagues he should find out who killed the Dean and served him with pesto. Some things are rotten in academia including mad chimpanzee research, dubious funding, strange goings on at the genetics lab and a rumoured 'cult' of cannibals some of whom may still be on campus. Then the replacement Dean vanishes...
Norman de Ratour is a tall prissy academic (think Niles Crane) working at the Museum of Man which is being threatened with takeover by Wainscott University. As we join him he's contemplating the disappearance of the Dean, thinking of writing a history of the museum and preoccupied with the woman that he let get away. Then the Dean's remains turn up and Norman decides that rather than be regarded under the same pall of suspicion as his esteemed colleagues he should find out who killed the Dean and served him with pesto. Some things are rotten in academia including mad chimpanzee research, dubious funding, strange goings on at the genetics lab and a rumoured 'cult' of cannibals some of whom may still be on campus. Then the replacement Dean vanishes...
Feb 19, 2009
Feb 18, 2009
Rainy Paris, the arc that shall not be named and Murder in the Museum of Man
Would you believe I was in Paris on Monday and it rained. Well I cheated a tad it was Paris - Las Vegas but the rain, the grumbling, it could easily have been the city of light. Late Valentines pressie from hubbie and now back to reality.
I rarely get assigned arcs but yesterday I did and I hereby invoke the 50 pages rule. Plenty happened in those first 50 but nothing I want to really remember. Don't get me wrong I like dark, twisted mysteries but this was way too graphic for my taste so will be handing that back tomorrow.
As an antidote I've started Murder in the Museum of Man and so far so good.
I rarely get assigned arcs but yesterday I did and I hereby invoke the 50 pages rule. Plenty happened in those first 50 but nothing I want to really remember. Don't get me wrong I like dark, twisted mysteries but this was way too graphic for my taste so will be handing that back tomorrow.
As an antidote I've started Murder in the Museum of Man and so far so good.
Feb 11, 2009
Safer by Sean Doolittle
Who watches the watchers? While reading Sean Doolittle’s latest novel you may ask yourself that question more than once. Less than five months after moving to the small town of Clark Falls the police arrest English Professor Paul Callaway for allegedly making kiddy porn. As his life gets ripped apart Paul explains the sequence of events that led to his arrest. How can Paul possibly prove his innocence when evidence and witnesses keep disappearing, when his lawyer is threatening to fire him and his only ally is a promotion hungry TV journalist. Paul is up against a pillar of the community, a grieving widower, caring neighbour, a man who just wants to make his town safer and will go to any lengths to do so.
Silent Man, Mesmerizing Steig Larsson
In the middle of Silent Man at the moment. When I first started it I thought maybe John Wells name should be changed to Jack Bauer but for a action thriller this is more cerebral than I would have given it credit for. Not only does it explore the consequences of the so called 'war on terror' it shows that every man has a limit and when he is pushed beyond it by whatever means his judgement and emotions are blunted and the animal in him takes over. By a combination of luck and sheer balls a group of jihadists get their hands on two nuclear bombs and smuggle them out of Russia. At the same time John Wells is suffering the consquences of his actions from six months previous. The bomb is headed for up-state New York but the men waiting for it don't need the detonation codes they want the fissile material inside. Wells is a unguided missile heading for Russia. At some point they are going to collide and then it's going to get really messy.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is Larsson's first book (he submitted three manuscripts which were all accepted but then sadly he died before he could see them published.) I am loving this. Lisbeth Salander isn't even the main character but she jumps right off the page at you and spits in your eye. Salander is an investigator for Milton Security - their best. She is also deemed mentally incompetent and has been assigned an Advocat. This is common in Sweden. The Advocat has the equivalent of power of attorney, controlling their charges bank accounts and keeping them on the straight and narrow. Salander has just completed an investigation of M Blomquist for the powerful Vanger family. Blomquist is about to go to jail for libelling a business magnate without proof. Blomquist is hired by Henrick Vanger to look into the disappearance and possible murder of his niece Harriet and as new information emerges engages Salander as his researcher but at the same time Salander's old Advocat dies of a stroke and her new Advocat is something else altogether. If Lisbeth is this engaging when she isn't the central character I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is Larsson's first book (he submitted three manuscripts which were all accepted but then sadly he died before he could see them published.) I am loving this. Lisbeth Salander isn't even the main character but she jumps right off the page at you and spits in your eye. Salander is an investigator for Milton Security - their best. She is also deemed mentally incompetent and has been assigned an Advocat. This is common in Sweden. The Advocat has the equivalent of power of attorney, controlling their charges bank accounts and keeping them on the straight and narrow. Salander has just completed an investigation of M Blomquist for the powerful Vanger family. Blomquist is about to go to jail for libelling a business magnate without proof. Blomquist is hired by Henrick Vanger to look into the disappearance and possible murder of his niece Harriet and as new information emerges engages Salander as his researcher but at the same time Salander's old Advocat dies of a stroke and her new Advocat is something else altogether. If Lisbeth is this engaging when she isn't the central character I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.
Feb 3, 2009
busy busy
At work yesterday picked up two of those arcs I asked for - although they weren't in my box just sort of lying around. Silent Man and Scavenger's Manifesto. I also bought Murder in the Museum of Man by Alfred Alcorn - not Acorn!! Tomorrow I'll be working on T'ball it's that or start a completely new project. Until I hear back from Jennifer I don't want to do any more to draft 3.5.
Sad to report that our writing group has pretty much bitten the dust. We're all doing our own things and although it was so great to see everyone again we didn't attempt to nail down a meeting date. The Rose and Cactus society however is up and running. We spent Sunday morning pounding keyboards at Diva's. They've opened up the green dome and even though there is a sign on the table at the far end people didn't read it or didn't really understand what it meant. I do that's why I didn't sit there, it's like the whispering gallery of St Paul's Cathedral in London. Every word clear as crystal from that table right into my ear!
Sad to report that our writing group has pretty much bitten the dust. We're all doing our own things and although it was so great to see everyone again we didn't attempt to nail down a meeting date. The Rose and Cactus society however is up and running. We spent Sunday morning pounding keyboards at Diva's. They've opened up the green dome and even though there is a sign on the table at the far end people didn't read it or didn't really understand what it meant. I do that's why I didn't sit there, it's like the whispering gallery of St Paul's Cathedral in London. Every word clear as crystal from that table right into my ear!
Feb 2, 2009
Dog on it
Dog on it is by Spencer Quinn and I've had the arc in my box for about a week and having read it if you can pardon the pun its doggone good.
Meet Chet - he has a good eye for colour a keen sense of smell and his favourite foods are hotdogs and leather handbags. Chet partners Bernie Little a down on his luck PI. Bernie takes on a case of a missing 15 year old as a change from divorce work. She could just be a teenage runaway but Bernie doesn't think so, he has a nose for these things. Through Chet's Sam Spade narration the case unfolds and it's a tangled one involving kidnap, dodgy land financiers, abandoned mines and the bright lights of Vegas. Quinn is working on his second Chet and Bernie mystery right now so lets hope we hear more of this canine detective.
Meet Chet - he has a good eye for colour a keen sense of smell and his favourite foods are hotdogs and leather handbags. Chet partners Bernie Little a down on his luck PI. Bernie takes on a case of a missing 15 year old as a change from divorce work. She could just be a teenage runaway but Bernie doesn't think so, he has a nose for these things. Through Chet's Sam Spade narration the case unfolds and it's a tangled one involving kidnap, dodgy land financiers, abandoned mines and the bright lights of Vegas. Quinn is working on his second Chet and Bernie mystery right now so lets hope we hear more of this canine detective.
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