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Books read in March / April
May. 1st, 2013 11:38 pm5) The Expats by Chris Pavone (Edgars 2013 Winner, Best First Novel)
6) Black Fridays by Michael Sears (Edgars nominee, Best First Novel)
7) The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye (Edgars nominee, Best Novel)
8) Live by Night by Dennis Lehane (Edgars 2013 Winner, Best Novel)
9) JN-T : The Life and Scandalous Times of John Nathan – Turner by Richard Marson
Chris Pavone’s “The Expats” is a very impressive debut. Kate and Dexter arrive in Luxembourg with their two small children - he's there to work on some top secret banking security job, she's leaving her equally secret past life as a CIA case officer behind - a life Dexter knows nothing about. But her training doesn't leave her - who are Bill and Julia, the new arrivals in the American expat community, and why doesn't their story quite add up? Chris Pavone is a master at hiding clues in plain sight ; the domestic family details and local Luxembourg colour are vivid and convincing. Told entirely from Kate’s point of view, this impressed with its sense of location and dislocation, and has a wonderful reverse and reverse again climax in a small café. The paperback carries endorsements from Lee Child, Patricia Cornwell and John Grisham, and to be honest it impressed me more than the last few offerings I've read from each of them.
“Black Fridays” is a decent page turner which balances financial skulduggery against the protagonist's readjustment to life after a spell in prison - and (the most successful part of the book) his attempts to be a better father to his autistic five year old son. The author's gentle explanations of the technical details of trades and tickets nearly convinced me that I understood what was going on. It features a memorably spectacular death scene for one of the bad guys, killed by arrogant belief in their own ability.
“The Gods of Gotham” is a convincing historical thriller, pitching the reader head first into the melting pot of New York's Five Points district, c 1845 - and the formation of a city police force. The sense of place is vivid, the action set pieces well handled, the central mystery sensational in the traditional literary sense. If it has a flaw then it’s the lack of potential suspects as to the who behind the whodunit. It’s “Ripper Street” relocated to the milieu of “Gangs of New York” (I haven’t seen “Copper” yet so don’t know whether that series echoes this book.)
“Live by Night” is return to form after the disappointment of Moonlight Mile. It’s as entertaining a slice of pulp entertainment as one could wish for - a winning blend of racketeering, Prohibition, speakeasys, tommy guns, time served in the Big House,triple crosses, fast living and brutal force.
Richard Marson’s enlightening biography of John Nathan – Turner is the most candid behind the scenes account of the making of Doctor Who since The Writer’s Tale. There’s a breathlessness about the early, previously under-researched, years of his life which reminded me of a chapter title from a Dickens’ biography – Up Like A Rocket. Richard Marson’s own experiences of BBC culture inevitably colour his account of the personalities at work in the Drama department ; there’s enough anecdotal material alluded to in passing to form the basis of a Shepherds Bush Babylon style book (I’m thinking Matthew Sweet’s Shepperton Babylon as the model). What’s missing? Editorial rigour, critical apparatus, any significant contribution from Eric Saward. But it’s a powerful , gripping story, a portrait of a man broken by his own career, and the account of his final years is heartbreaking.
6) Black Fridays by Michael Sears (Edgars nominee, Best First Novel)
7) The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye (Edgars nominee, Best Novel)
8) Live by Night by Dennis Lehane (Edgars 2013 Winner, Best Novel)
9) JN-T : The Life and Scandalous Times of John Nathan – Turner by Richard Marson
Chris Pavone’s “The Expats” is a very impressive debut. Kate and Dexter arrive in Luxembourg with their two small children - he's there to work on some top secret banking security job, she's leaving her equally secret past life as a CIA case officer behind - a life Dexter knows nothing about. But her training doesn't leave her - who are Bill and Julia, the new arrivals in the American expat community, and why doesn't their story quite add up? Chris Pavone is a master at hiding clues in plain sight ; the domestic family details and local Luxembourg colour are vivid and convincing. Told entirely from Kate’s point of view, this impressed with its sense of location and dislocation, and has a wonderful reverse and reverse again climax in a small café. The paperback carries endorsements from Lee Child, Patricia Cornwell and John Grisham, and to be honest it impressed me more than the last few offerings I've read from each of them.
“Black Fridays” is a decent page turner which balances financial skulduggery against the protagonist's readjustment to life after a spell in prison - and (the most successful part of the book) his attempts to be a better father to his autistic five year old son. The author's gentle explanations of the technical details of trades and tickets nearly convinced me that I understood what was going on. It features a memorably spectacular death scene for one of the bad guys, killed by arrogant belief in their own ability.
“The Gods of Gotham” is a convincing historical thriller, pitching the reader head first into the melting pot of New York's Five Points district, c 1845 - and the formation of a city police force. The sense of place is vivid, the action set pieces well handled, the central mystery sensational in the traditional literary sense. If it has a flaw then it’s the lack of potential suspects as to the who behind the whodunit. It’s “Ripper Street” relocated to the milieu of “Gangs of New York” (I haven’t seen “Copper” yet so don’t know whether that series echoes this book.)
“Live by Night” is return to form after the disappointment of Moonlight Mile. It’s as entertaining a slice of pulp entertainment as one could wish for - a winning blend of racketeering, Prohibition, speakeasys, tommy guns, time served in the Big House,triple crosses, fast living and brutal force.
Richard Marson’s enlightening biography of John Nathan – Turner is the most candid behind the scenes account of the making of Doctor Who since The Writer’s Tale. There’s a breathlessness about the early, previously under-researched, years of his life which reminded me of a chapter title from a Dickens’ biography – Up Like A Rocket. Richard Marson’s own experiences of BBC culture inevitably colour his account of the personalities at work in the Drama department ; there’s enough anecdotal material alluded to in passing to form the basis of a Shepherds Bush Babylon style book (I’m thinking Matthew Sweet’s Shepperton Babylon as the model). What’s missing? Editorial rigour, critical apparatus, any significant contribution from Eric Saward. But it’s a powerful , gripping story, a portrait of a man broken by his own career, and the account of his final years is heartbreaking.
