Late, as expected, but November in the reading stacks was made up of
Currently Reading
I just had to start The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes as soon as it lobbed. 10+ years waiting for it, and it is worth dropping everything.
The other book I've been dipping into is Sao Paulo Noir - a collection of short stories that has been lurking around here for years.
Finished
Everyone On This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson - follow up to Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone - review to come, but cleverly done. Not as impactful as the first one, but still darn entertaining.
Suburban True Crime by Emily Webb - reviewed as well, series of short chapters going back over many years and way too many murders. Interesting set of cases discussed.
Offline by Anne Holt - sadly neglected (by me) entrant in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series.
The Berlin Traitor by A.W. Hammond - review to come at Newtown Review of Books.
The Wiregrass by Adrian Hyland - review to come at Newtown Review of Books.
The Day That Never Comes, the second in "The Dublin Trilogy" by Caimh McDonnell - listened to this and it's proving to be a rather enjoyable listening series.
And Away ... by Bob Mortimer, his first autobiography, written and read by Mortimer - thoroughly enjoyed this. Insightful and very honest, he's lead a life that man.
Death Comes to Marlow, the second in the Marlow Murder club series by Robert Thorogood - another one which is turning out to be an excellent listen whilst driving.
Reviewed
Exit .45 by Ben Sanders
The Drowning by Bryan Brown
Next Up
Again - no idea, but there are a lot of books that The Year of the Locust stomped over on the way to the top of the pile that need attention.
If, like Kane, you're a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again - by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide - and when to shoot.
But some places don't play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane's experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet are such a place - a place where violence is the only way to survive.
Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West - but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction. A frightening, clever, vicious man with blood on his hands and vengeance in his heart...
On the heels of Rio Noir, beloved Brazilian rock star and best-selling novelist Tony Bellotto ushers another world-class city into the Akashic Noir Series.
Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Featuring brand-new stories by: Tony Bellotto, Olivia Maia, Marcelino Freire, Beatriz Bracher, Maria S. Carvalhosa, Fernando Bonassi, Marcelo Rubens Paiva, Marçal Aquino, Jô Soares, Mario Prata, Ferréz, Vanessa Barbara, Ilana Casoy, and Drauzio Varella.
From the introduction by Tony Bellotto:
Encyclopedias will say that São Paulo is the main financial, corporative, and commercial center of South America. The census will show that São Paulo is the most populous city in Brazil, the Americas, the Portuguese-speaking world, and the entire Southern Hemisphere. Scholars will inform us that São Paulo is the most multicultural city in Brazil, having received, since 1870, millions of immigrants from every part of the planet, and that it is the city with the largest populations of people of Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Spanish, and Lebanese/Arab origin outside their respective countries. Experts will assure us that São Paulo has a high crime rate. Sociologists will confirm that the city has an area known as Cracolândia (Crackland) and that among the violent and neglected communities spread along its periphery one bears the ironic name Paraisópolis. Politicians will roar that São Paulo is the engine that drives Brazil . . .
More than historians and sociologists, writers have always been able to transform cities into great characters. This is the way we decipher devouring sphinxes.
Ernest Cunningham returns in a deliciously witty locked room (train) mystery.
When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.
The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty:
the debut writer (me!)
the forensic science writer
the blockbuster writer
the legal thriller writer
the literary writer
the psychological suspense writer
But when one of us is murdered, the remaining authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime.
Of course, we should also know how to commit one.
How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?
Chilling cases of murder and crime that have happened in the quiet streets of Australia’s suburbs.
Featuring contemporary cases as well as some shocking historical murders you’ve probably never heard of, Suburban True Crime proves you shouldn’t say “it could never happen here”.
This collection of cases that are hard to believe, except they really happened – and all in the streets and homes of the Australia many of us know and live. The suburbs.
These cases range from recent murders to some historical stories that will shock and surprise. Some of the cases you’ll know and there’s crimes you’ve never heard of. These cases will shock and surprise you including the still-unsolved mistaken identity murder of Melbourne mother Jane Thurgood-Dove and the horrifying story of a man who killed in Australia and then was released from prison, only to kill again in the United States.
There’s also some historical crimes that shocked the community at the time but have now faded into obscurity, including cases of child murder in the 1970s. Think nothing ever happens where you live? Think again.
It has been eleven years since Hanne Wilhelmsen's life was forever changed by an assault that left her wheelchair bound. Now, Hanne's self-imposed exile is nearing its end. When Oslo comes under attack from Islamic extremists in a series of explosions, the city is left reeling. A militant group claim responsibility, but the Norwegian police force doubt on the authenticity of the declaration, and the group's very existence. The unfolding drama is brought to Hanne's door by her former partner Billy T., who is convinced that his son, Linus, is involved in the recent events. He begs Hanne for help. But Hanne soon learns that she cannot protect Linus, Billy T. or the people of Oslo. Those bent of destruction are one step ahead, and many lives will be lost before the truth is revealed...Don't miss this unforgettable sequel to Anne Holt's biggest bestseller 1222 - and penultimate novel in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series.
July, 1945. The war in Europe is finally over. But Auguste Duchene, who survived occupied Paris at great personal cost, cannot escape his past. He finds himself helping the Allies to pursue a Gestapo war criminal through the ravaged and dangerous streets of Berlin. Duchene soon learns, however, that, although one global conflict may have ended, another is beginning, and he is in a deadly race against the Russians as they hunt the same man. And, once again, at the heart of all he does, are his extraordinary wife Sabine and his beloved daughter Marienne.
With its vivid evocation of the post-war hardship and desperation of Germany’s capital, The Berlin Traitor pits a man of principle, who hates war and all it stands for, against relentless nationalism and self-interest. Tense, terrifying and compelling, full of twists and turns, this riveting page-turner is a worthy successor to The Paris Collaborator.
Nash Rankin is a disgraced cop trying to escape his past – his career was destroyed when he chose to take justice into his own hands. Now he’s living a quiet life in a small town caring for the local wildlife and trying to stay away from trouble.
Jesse Redpath has a new job in a new town, Satellite – the stormy weather that greets her first few days on the new beat seems like a sign for what’s to come. A local has died in what seems like an accident, but Jessie isn’t so sure that ‘accident’ wasn’t planned. All evidence seems to point to Nash, but Jesse’s not sure about that either.
Seems like Nash has enemies. And what looks like a close knit community might just be cover for dark secrets.
No amount of rain will wash this town clean.
The body of a local teenage boy is found on the beach of a sleepy northern New South Wales town. David went for an evening swim and got into trouble . . . at least, that's what it looks like.
Three weeks before, Leila, a young backpacker, didn't turn up for her shift at the local cafe. Benny, the owner, isn't worried. It happens - backpackers are always on the move. There'll be another one.
One of the locals, Adrian, has been a help to Benny. He's found him a nice little sideline. Not exactly legal. Is that all Adrian is arranging on the coast? He once was a cop but has he gone bad?
And in the back-blocks outside town, a bikie gang is gearing up for a large consignment from South America.
Murder, drugs, liaisons and lies are stirring up this small coastal town.
Marshall Grade returns in an action-packed thrillride through the New York underworld.
When a former NYPD colleague is shot dead in front of him, private investigator Marshall Grade discovers there's far more to the killing than meets the eye.
Ray Vialoux is in trouble. Big trouble. And he needs Marshall Grade's help.
Reluctantly, Grade agrees to meet. Over dinner in a Brooklyn restaurant, he learns that his former NYPD colleague owes money - a lot of money - to the wrong people. But the conversation is cut short by gunfire, and suddenly Ray is lying dead on the restaurant floor.
As Marshall investigates the circumstances leading up to the murder, tracking down the drug dealers, bag men, bent cops and mob players within Ray's orbit, it becomes clear there's far more to the killing than a gambling debt. Just who is responsible for Vialoux's death . . . and why? What secrets are his family hiding? And can Marshall find the answers before his own history marks him as the prime suspect?