Archives For July
In Norway, the Past Is a Foreign Country – NYTimes.com.
So if there is no road back to how things used to be, to the naïve fearlessness of what was untouched, there is a road forward. To be brave. To keep on as before. To turn the other cheek as we ask: “Is that all you’ve got?” To refuse to let fear change the way we build our society.
-Jo Nesbø
Maj Sjowall – The Godmother of Scandinavian Crime Fiction | Fourth Estate.
Seems that Fourth Estate (an imprint of HarperCollins) is re-issuing the Martin Beck books with pretty new covers. There’s a quickie interview with the author at the link above for those interested. Not sure what to think of the new covers sporting quotes from both Jo Nesbø and Henning Mankell. To me they aren’t all that flattering especially the part about Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, being the “godparents of Scandinavian crime fiction.” I would have preferred something like: “the ones who started it all” or something. No? well, that’s why I don’t work in marketing.
Writer Patrícia Melo has penned a compelling story about an ex-contract killer in search of his family in Lost World (UK 2009). The novel is translated from the Brazilian Portuguese by Clifford Landers. The protagonist is Máiquel, a fugitive who’s been in hiding for ten years. He first appears in The Killer which won critical acclaim. Melo’s work is gritty, atmospheric and very dark. From page one I was hooked into this world. Thoughts after I closed the book: this is a damn good read.
After ten years hiding out as a fugitive, Máiquel resurfaces at his aunt Rosa’s funeral in São Paulo to settle her affairs. He sells the house, gets a set of fake ID’s and decides to hire a detective to look for his family. Ten years ago, his girlfriend, Erica ran off with a preacher who ratted him out to the cops. She took his daughter and his money and disappeared. She left a scathing note that he remembers word for word.
His road trip and mission proves to be a complicated one as his breaks all of his rules for keeping a low profile. The author has him passing through many favela’s (shanty towns in Brazil). Has him shacking up in smelly boarding houses, hiding out in a landless camp and run down hotels. The weather is always hot. Exotic foods are always on display with market vendors selling their wares in different languages around him as he passes through town. Some were er quite interesting. Continue Reading…
Colin Cotterill has been making the rounds I see. He’s promoting his new book, Killed At The Whim of a Hat, the first in a new series. Go buy it. I’m a huge fan of his Dr. Siri books which are set during the 1970′s after communism has taken over in Laos. The novels are a favorite of mine because of the quirky characters and the political satire with the added touch of mysticism and folklore.
There are two Cotterill guest posts if you care to read them. The post gives you a glimpse of his sense of humor. The first is from The Book Page, titled, “The Strange Life of Colin Cotterill and the second one is at Central Crime Zone blog, title, I Am A Cult.” Lastly, the New York Times reviews his latest book and gives a positive review.
Tana French. There’s another Tana French interview I found via Crime Always Pays blog. Just to share, I recently got a email from Tana French. I was shocked when I saw her email in my inbox because I forgot I emailed her. How do you like that? I think I sent her the email after I finished In The Woods and that was a year ago. Anyway, I asked her about the next book in the series and she replied back (!) saying that the next book, Broken Harbour, won’t be out until next summer (bummer!) so no new book out this fall like I had originally quoted from someone else (cough) from the same link above (cough). Guess I’ll crack open The Likeness after all.
Last bit of news is that Amazon is having another major Kindle sale called The Big Deal and this one will last until July 27th. What makes this sale remarkable is that the Big 6 publishers are participating (!) like Random House, Harper Collins, etc. According to the article, there are 900 Kindle books for sale. Browsing the mystery list I saw titles by Ruth Rendell, Stuart Neville, Louise Penny among others. Go forth and buy!
P.S. The title of Cotterill’s book comes from a Bushism: “Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat.” (2004) as mentioned/quoted in the NYT article
The Independent shares their ten best spy novels…I love a good spy novel, how about you? I loved, loved, loved The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum when I read it oh, years ago. Has a very nice romantic subplot too. Too bad it’s still not digitized. Check out the list if you have an interest.
Update: Here is the list from the Independent (not my list and I copied/pasted for your convenience):
1. THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS BY JOHN BUCHAN
2. THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD BY JOHN LE CARRÉ
3. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM BY ROBERT LUDLUM
4. RESTLESS BY WILLIAM BOYD
5. THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS BY ERSKINE CHILDERS
6. THE SECRET AGENT BY JOSEPH CONRAD
7. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE BY IAN FLEMING
8. THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY BY G.K. CHESTERTON
9. EPITAPH FOR A SPY BY ERIC AMBLER
10. CARTE BLANCHE BY JEFFERY DEAVER (interesting that this one made the list)
Omnimystery News: New Motion Poster for The Hunger Games.
I’m one of maybe five people who are not excited or counting down the days till the movie version of The Hunger Games arrives next year. I read the book by Suzanne Collins almost a year ago and thought it was a decent read. It’s non-stop action set during dystopian times where 12 teens are selected in a lottery to participate in a televised event where they must fight to the death in a tournament called The Hunger Games. I’ve yet to read the sequels and probably won’t anytime soon. The motion poster is cool though.
The Rap Sheet: Barry Forshaw on Nordic Noir | Kirkus Book Reviews.
Excerpt:
In your opinion, what are the best, most representative Nordic crime novels available in English today?
The 10 “Story of a Crime” novels of Sjöwall and Wahlöö, of course. [Danish author] Peter Høeg’s Smilla’s Sense of Snow [1992]. [Stieg Larsson’s] Millennium Trilogy. Early-to-mid-period Mankell. And the wonderful Icelander Yrsa Sigurdardóttir.
And which new Nordic crime novels should we watch for in the near future?
Too many to mention! But look out for the atmospheric and allusive work of [Sweden’s] Johan Theorin. [Norway’s] Anne Holt will make a mark. And don’t miss [Norwegian author] Thomas Enger’s Burned!
Never heard of Barry Forshaw but according to the article he’s a crime fiction critic in Britain who’s promoting his “authoritative” work on Scandinavian crime fiction coming out in 2012. He even wrote a book about Stieg Larsson. Listen, I don’t know if I can take anyone seriously when they discuss Scandinavian crime fiction and they don’t even mention Jo Nesbo. Plus, I’ve heard nothing but praise about Thomas Enger’s Burned. I’m skeptical of praise these days…I downloaded a sample of Enger’s latest novel. Oh and The Hypnotist – not reading it for various reasons (read a sample of that one too).
Thought I’d share what someone sent me today. Picture is click-able. Funny huh? I thought so. Comic strip came from this place I think: GoComics.com.
Writer Domingo Villar has impressed readers with his debut novel, “Ojos de Agua” or as it’s known in English Water-Blue Eyes (UK 2008), that introduces Inspector Leo Caldas. This 167 page crime fiction novel is translated from the Spanish by Martin Schifino. It’s the first in a series that takes place in northwest Spain, in the Galician community. No digital copy available at the time that I write this so I was forced to buy paper. Immediate thoughts after closing the book: good story albeit with a predictable storyline.
Inspector Leo Caldas and his new partner, Rafael Estévez are investigating a crime of passion. The victim is a musician found murdered in his duplex by the sea. He’s gagged with his hands tied to the headboard and his genitals are almost unrecognizable. Forensics are baffled at the level of tissue damage. The substance used was formaldehyde which is a preservative used in most laboratories. The coroner had no idea that injecting formaldehyde directly into the body could cause such devastating tissue damage. The skin looks leathery without the heat source (ouch). The victim is said to have had the prettiest eyes or “water-blue eyes” hence the title. Continue Reading…
This news landed in my inbox this morning from a fellow mystery reader. Tom Cruise is set to play Jack Reacher according to Omnimystery News. There’s already an outcry about the role going to Tom Cruise at The Rap Sheet and elsewhere. I have no opinion to share because I’ve never read the books. As I was reading the articles though, it reminded about the outcry people had over Tom Cruise being cast as Lestat (from Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series). The author threw a fit and asked all her fans to decry the decision but then…she saw the film and was all beside herself saying that Cruise did a good job. Back to Cruise, the film adaptation is the fifth novel in the Jack Reacher series, One Shot. Maybe I should read that one…oh and the author is supportive of the choice so…
Fiction Is Stranger Than Fact: An Interview With Tana French [7/11/11].
Time to pimp this book/author again…I loved Faithful Place and if you haven’t read it then…I don’t know what you’re waiting for because she’s one of the best Irish crime fiction writers out there now. I love her writing only because she delivers on all the things that are important to me: characterization, setting and dialogue for starters. Although, I still have The Likeness to tackle which I think I will sometime later this year, the books can stand alone very well. She writes detective fiction in first person narrative with all of them set in Dublin. Her next book, Broken Harbour comes out this fall. Edited: Broken Harbour won’t be out until next summer.
