Books read in September / October
Nov. 4th, 2013 07:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gervase_fen15) Something You Are, by Hanna Jameson (New Blood, Shortlisted)
16) Solo, by William Boyd
17) Rage against the Dying, by Becky Masterman (New Blood, Shortlisted; Gold Dagger, Shortlisted)
Something You Are is an accomplished, and quite extreme, debut thriller - Hanna Jameson creates a convincing, seedy London populated with dysfunctional, broken families, where hair trigger violence is never far from the surface. Reminded me of early Simon Kernick (the milieu) mixed with the bracing nastiness/nihilism of Karin Slaughter. Sanitised, would make a terrific Channel 4/BBC 2 drama.
Solo is a diverting page turner, engaging and interesting enough as far as it goes, but apart from some well executed action set pieces, it doesn't feel as if William Boyd gets out of second gear. Kudos though for the scene where Bond beats up an insufferable Daily Mail foreign correspondent.
Rage against the Dying is one of the best first crime novels that I've read - the most assured debut that I've come across perhaps since Karin Slaughter's Blindsighted. Our heroine, recently retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn, finds herself dragged back into the fray, out of her peaceful retirement rockhunting in Arizona. Masterman is a natural when it comes to high-stakes, tense scenarios (chapter 43 is a masterclass in steadily deepening dread as we listen in on an FBI operation going very wrong indeed.) Brigid is a combative, sassy but also reassuringly flawed lead character who doesn't always make the right choices. Very impressive. This is bound to be an Edgar nominee next year, and I would not be surprised if there was a movie or TV adaptation on the horizon.
16) Solo, by William Boyd
17) Rage against the Dying, by Becky Masterman (New Blood, Shortlisted; Gold Dagger, Shortlisted)
Something You Are is an accomplished, and quite extreme, debut thriller - Hanna Jameson creates a convincing, seedy London populated with dysfunctional, broken families, where hair trigger violence is never far from the surface. Reminded me of early Simon Kernick (the milieu) mixed with the bracing nastiness/nihilism of Karin Slaughter. Sanitised, would make a terrific Channel 4/BBC 2 drama.
Solo is a diverting page turner, engaging and interesting enough as far as it goes, but apart from some well executed action set pieces, it doesn't feel as if William Boyd gets out of second gear. Kudos though for the scene where Bond beats up an insufferable Daily Mail foreign correspondent.
Rage against the Dying is one of the best first crime novels that I've read - the most assured debut that I've come across perhaps since Karin Slaughter's Blindsighted. Our heroine, recently retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn, finds herself dragged back into the fray, out of her peaceful retirement rockhunting in Arizona. Masterman is a natural when it comes to high-stakes, tense scenarios (chapter 43 is a masterclass in steadily deepening dread as we listen in on an FBI operation going very wrong indeed.) Brigid is a combative, sassy but also reassuringly flawed lead character who doesn't always make the right choices. Very impressive. This is bound to be an Edgar nominee next year, and I would not be surprised if there was a movie or TV adaptation on the horizon.
