Last Book That You Read- Fiction

Revisited Chandler's "The Big Sleep" recently. I'd love another adaptation of this put to film by a competent director, perhaps shot like Don Siegel film.

Some great lines from the book:

"I took my dark glasses off and tapped them delicately on the inside of my left wrist. If you can weigh a hundred and ninety pounds and look like a fairy, I was doing my best."

"Cute, aren't I?" she said.
I said harshly: "Cute as a Filipino on Saturday night."

"It was raining again the next morning, a slanting gray rain like a swung curtain of crystal beads. I got up feeling sluggish and tired and stood looking out of the windows with a dark harsh taste of Sternwoods still in my mouth. I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's pockets. I went out to the kitchenette and drank two cups of black coffee. You can have a hangover from other things than alcohol. I had one from women. Women made me sick."

RED EYE
Richard Allen

:3*:

I'm re-reading THE MAGUS by John Fowles. I got hold of the early edition--I've only read Fowles' revised version--and am making my way through that. It's splendid.

After this, I intend to work my way through Anthony Burgess' EARTHLY POWERS again.

The Path of the Storm -Douglas Reeman

you never go into a book from Mr Reeman expecting prize winning work. He's almost like Patrick O'Brian in his knowledge of the sea and everything on top but unlike O'Brian bases much of his work on his WWII career (chiefly on MTB's).
They follow the same pattern: main character is an officer with some kind of problem in the past, there's a ship with a certain history and needs pulling together, there's subordinates who either dislike the captain or are troubled in some way relevant and there's a woman who the captain falls for and at the end there's a battle.

this story was tricky. It's Americanised. The lead is a man tortured by the Viet Minh (setting seems to be the late 60's but has a lot more Chinese aggression than Vietnamese) given an old WWII submarine chaser in the USN. The problem is all his characters try as Reeman might sound as his regular (British) characters do. Despite backstories of San Francisco, Washington DC etc they might as well be his British people.

A good story and I'm loathed to dislike it. Reeman was awfully decent when I met him. Probably surprised that he has a fan under the age of 50.

Finished Preston and Child's first book, Relic,published 1995. This was the book that introduced the enigmatic FBI Special-Agent Pendergast, who has featured in 11 of their 17 books.

The book was even made into a 1997 film with Penelope Anne Miller and Tom Sizemore, but filmmakers wrote out Pendergast.

Having energetically ploughed through the last 10 thrillers produced by this pair, I have finally decided to go back and read their early stuff ( the first 7 books). Relic was a serious page-turner. Now reading Mt. Dragon -a scary tale of genetic gene splicing. The sequel to Relic is Reliquary which is up next, when I'm done with Mt Dragon.

THE HORROR :4*:
2007
Dan Simmons

Genre: Historical Fiction



Excellent all around historical/horror/fiction thriller. You will follow these men and their minds as they sink to knew levels of hither-to-fore unknown depths of disparity and depravity as their ship is falling apart (trapped in ice), their food supplies turning rotten, mutiny being whispered about, and with so few choices left for rescue and food, ultimately one seaman turns to killing his mate and eating his body, which sets off another chain reaction of violence. Not to mention an enormous, 14-16ft abominable snow monster tracking and killing and eating these able seamen.

Based upon a true story of the John Franklin Expedition that went to search for the North West Passage back in 1845 and never returned, nor has the slightest trace of them ever been found alive.

Novel was a bit longer than it needed to be. I think some of the conversations and dialogues could have been cut. A person not familiar with ships may find a lot of terminology confusing. But overall, a great read.

THE HIGH WINDOW and PLAYBACK by Raymond Chandler.

Extraordinary.

PLAYBACK is great.

I picked up POODLE SPRINGS a few weeks back and still need to read it. I'm wondering if it'll be worth my time, considering Chandler only wrote the first four chapters. And I guess the guy who finished it also wrote an unnecessary sequel to THE BIG SLEEP.

Control wrote:

PLAYBACK is great.

I picked up POODLE SPRINGS a few weeks back and still need to read it. I'm wondering if it'll be worth my time, considering Chandler only wrote the first four chapters. And I guess the guy who finished it also wrote an unnecessary sequel to THE BIG SLEEP.

You mean Robert B Parker of course imho one of the true inheritors of the genre in which Chandler belongs. His Jesse Stone and Spencer books are very much prove of that.

Finished the Preston and Child thrillers, Mt. Dragon (1996) and Reliquary (1997). Riptide is next. 4 more to go (also Thunderhead, The Ice Limit and The Cabinet of Curiosities) until I've read them all.

However, in the meantime, I've picked up the lasted Jason Bourne continuation (the 7th) by Eric Van Lustbader,The Bourne Imperative. It's not bad. These books are readable espionage thrillers but not real grabbers. Bourne though is an interesting character. He remains an extremely lethal operative, as Ludlum intended. Actually Ludlum wrote him as having no equal. The continuation author has made him a little more vulnerable over these 7 books.

Jo Nesbo's THE REDBREAST.

My wife is over the moon about these Harry Hole novels (no, the name is not pronounced in the way you think) and I have to admit that the guy has a pretty good style. And when he relies on a hokey coincidence, he has the smarts to reverse on it so the information never gets disseminated to anyone else alive (except the reader.) But there's a disturbingly lifelike sense of doom and bad-guys-win to it that makes me think I won't read the rest (especially since I've heard enough about the sequels to realize that some bad guy in these makes RICH MAN POOR MAN's evil murderer/rapist Falconetti seem like Otis from the SUPERMAN movies by comparison.)

Jim Butcher - Changes - The Dresden Files.

Okay, you've read one, you've pretty much read them all, but I like his blend of traditional folklore with an original twist. I've not read any of the other series he's written, but I expect it's similar.

Unfortunately, I got all these from the library, and I'd really prefer to own them. I've got a couple of them, but there's about 14 I think so far. It's an expensive job getting up to date. I just hope some book shop does some cheap deal eventually.

BEAUTIFUL RUINS by Jess Wells.

The notion of centering a novel about the madness of love and desire around the production of the disaster film CLEOPATRA and the tumultuous Burton/Taylor romance at its center is a lovely one, but Wells does hardly anything with it, beyond indulging in some empty sentimentality and some not-very-clever satire.

Ravenstone wrote:

Jim Butcher - Changes - The Dresden Files.

Okay, you've read one, you've pretty much read them all, but I like his blend of traditional folklore with an original twist. I've not read any of the other series he's written, but I expect it's similar.

Unfortunately, I got all these from the library, and I'd really prefer to own them. I've got a couple of them, but there's about 14 I think so far. It's an expensive job getting up to date. I just hope some book shop does some cheap deal eventually.

I have them all and they are fun, preferable start at the beginning.

Just finished the two Gideon Crew novels by Douglas & CHild. Written to be immidiately filmed by mr. Cruise. Like Ludlumbeach reading.

Are currently reading Ben Aaronovitch third novel about the magical department of the London Met. Whispers Underground.

After that three Sunny Randall nooks by Robert B Parker and Jerusalem a biography (non-fiction)

Fatherland -20th Anniversary edition, Robert Harris

Germany at the heart of Europe.

Ghost Story Jim Butcher.

I do like the Dresden stories. I must find a way of getting them. And I must try his other series.

GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, THE :4*:




Well, that's that. I've read the entire trilogy. I thought the book started off slowly, but then built to a frenetic pace; the proverbial page-turner. Once the trial began I didn't want to put it down.

Now I would like to see stand alone adventures with Lisbeth Salander....solving crimes; not stories that probe into who she is or how she got that way. She's a unique character and I'd like to see her inhabiting other people's worlds and solving their crimes. But I don't know whether that's in the cards or not with the publisher.

Ravenstone wrote:

Ghost Story Jim Butcher.

I do like the Dresden stories. I must find a way of getting them. And I must try his other series.

So you start with the last two books of a series?

That is another way of approuch.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, THE :4*:

Well, that's that. I've read the entire trilogy. I thought the book started off slowly, but then built to a frenetic pace; the proverbial page-turner. Once the trial began I didn't want to put it down.

Now I would like to see stand alone adventures with Lisbeth Salander....solving crimes; not stories that probe into who she is or how she got that way. She's a unique character and I'd like to see her inhabiting other people's worlds and solving their crimes. But I don't know whether that's in the cards or not with the publisher.

There are apperently notes and part of a manuscript for a fourth book when the writer died. His girlfriend who lived with him wanted to finish the story as she did know what way he wanted to go with his story. But his kids from a previous relationship and inheritants do dislike her and have decided that they will not use her knowledge.

So if a 4th book arrives know that it will be something different from what he actually wanted to achieve.

The Fear Index, Robert Harris

somehow after Fatherland it felt inferior or maybe because I've read Fatherland more. Much of the financial jargon, stock market stuff etc passed me by. Harris says he wanted to do a 'remake' of 1984 more or less and I guess to a point he did.

The book's cover, as with Harris' reprints (Fatherland included), suffers from the latest craze of book covers featuring a silohuetted figure. Swear, on virtually every book in Waterstone's you see this.

saint mark wrote:

So you start with the last two books of a series?

That is another way of approuch.

No, I have read them all. I've bought a couple as they were available, if they were on special offer. The only ones I haven 't read yet are Turncoat and Side Jobs. But I have bought those to read. The library didn't have them.

Ravenstone wrote:

saint mark wrote:

So you start with the last two books of a series?

That is another way of approuch.

No, I have read them all. I've bought a couple as they were available, if they were on special offer. The only ones I haven 't read yet are Turncoat and Side Jobs. But I have bought those to read. The library didn't have them.

You have plenty of time left before "Cold days" the next Harry Dresden novel gets a release. Either the end of this year or the beginning of the next year.

One of the lesser funs of reading is cathing up in a series and then having to wait every year for the next one.

You should try John Connolly's Charlie Parker novels (but do read them in sequence!)

saint mark wrote:

You should try John Connolly's Charlie Parker novels (but do read them in sequence!)

They do look interesting. I shall keep an eye out for them, thanks.

Knocked down two more Preston-Child offerings; Reliquary, the sequel to Relic and the 2nd Agent Pendergast novel, plus Riptide, their 4th effort. Riptide is a great yarn about digging up buried pirates treasure on a heavily booby-trapped island off the coast of Maine.

Now reading their 5th book, Thunderhead, which introduces archaeologist Nora Kelly and returns the smart-ass journalist, Smithback, from Relic and Reliquary. This book serves as the Kelly-Smithback origins story, as in later Pendergast novels we know them as a married couple.

Thunderhead is an American southwest desert adventure, with Nora Kelly as lead character spearheading a search for a lost city. Spooky stuff.

Preston and Child seemed to like these man against nature, Michael Chrichton, Clive Cussler type adventures, until they later switched their focus to the Sherlock-Holmes-like adventures of Special Agent Pendergast.

Next up will be the last of the Cussler-like novels, The Ice Limit, and then the Pendergast stretch starts in earnest with The Cabinet of Curiosities, at which point I will be all caught up. :)

Len Deighton's Berlin Game and Mexico Set. I've just started London Match.

I'm enjoying them, but sometimes the mystery of it all is lost in the oftentimes-slow pacing. And on occasion, the plot only really advances because of Bernie Samson's speculation about the KGB's intentions.