Books read in January / February
Feb. 27th, 2012 12:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gervase_fen 1) Edge, by Jeffery Deaver
2) Satori, by Don Winslow
3) Strip, by Thomas Perry
4) The Dogs of Rome, by Conor Fitzgerald (New Blood, longlisted)
5) The Drop, by Michael Connelly
6) The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly
Jeffery Deaver's most recent effort is set in the world of witness protection ; I was hoping for something as taut and as well researched as a Greg Rucka or a Michael Connelly, but Edge can't sustain the trick of verisimilitude as well as the reversals/reveals that are Deaver's stock in trade. Disappointing after Carte Blanche.
Don Winslow's licensed prequel to Trevanian's Shibumi (which I haven't read) is an enjoyable 1950s Cold War thriller set mainly in Beijing and Vietnam ; the travelogue sections reminded me of how much I enjoyed Lionel Davidson's The Rose of Tibet. Pure pulp, but the author's enjoyment at getting to play in Trevanian's sandbox comes over well enough. Shame about the inclusion of de Lhandes, a Trevanian original character, a libidinous and prolix dwarf, who bored me stupid every time he appeared.
Thomas Perry is an author I hadn't read before ; the Los Angeles set Strip is an entertainment not a million miles away from Elmore Leonard, with dumb criminals, a world weary crime kingpin and a bigamous police officer chasing them down. Diverting but suffers from an 'is that it?' ending.
The Dogs of Rome is an impressive debut whose lead character, Commissario Alec Blume, is endearingly laconic, shrewd and fallible. The blend of organised crime, police corruption and politics isn't overworked, and the technicalities of Italian criminal investigation procedures are conveyed skilfully without resort to clunking exposition. I thought it refreshing that everyone Blume interviews - witnesses or victims' relatives - tended to be hostile!
Finally, I've now caught up with both of Michael Connelly's 2011 offerings; The Drop is an assured but minor key Bosch tale, and The Fifth Witness a top drawer courtroom thriller that, along with The Dogs of Rome, have been my most immersive and enthralling reads of 2012 so far.
2) Satori, by Don Winslow
3) Strip, by Thomas Perry
4) The Dogs of Rome, by Conor Fitzgerald (New Blood, longlisted)
5) The Drop, by Michael Connelly
6) The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly
Jeffery Deaver's most recent effort is set in the world of witness protection ; I was hoping for something as taut and as well researched as a Greg Rucka or a Michael Connelly, but Edge can't sustain the trick of verisimilitude as well as the reversals/reveals that are Deaver's stock in trade. Disappointing after Carte Blanche.
Don Winslow's licensed prequel to Trevanian's Shibumi (which I haven't read) is an enjoyable 1950s Cold War thriller set mainly in Beijing and Vietnam ; the travelogue sections reminded me of how much I enjoyed Lionel Davidson's The Rose of Tibet. Pure pulp, but the author's enjoyment at getting to play in Trevanian's sandbox comes over well enough. Shame about the inclusion of de Lhandes, a Trevanian original character, a libidinous and prolix dwarf, who bored me stupid every time he appeared.
Thomas Perry is an author I hadn't read before ; the Los Angeles set Strip is an entertainment not a million miles away from Elmore Leonard, with dumb criminals, a world weary crime kingpin and a bigamous police officer chasing them down. Diverting but suffers from an 'is that it?' ending.
The Dogs of Rome is an impressive debut whose lead character, Commissario Alec Blume, is endearingly laconic, shrewd and fallible. The blend of organised crime, police corruption and politics isn't overworked, and the technicalities of Italian criminal investigation procedures are conveyed skilfully without resort to clunking exposition. I thought it refreshing that everyone Blume interviews - witnesses or victims' relatives - tended to be hostile!
Finally, I've now caught up with both of Michael Connelly's 2011 offerings; The Drop is an assured but minor key Bosch tale, and The Fifth Witness a top drawer courtroom thriller that, along with The Dogs of Rome, have been my most immersive and enthralling reads of 2012 so far.
