Some more displacement activity
Feb. 20th, 2006 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gervase_fenOK, I'm only two days past a self-imposed deadline for the microsite... and I'm only two-thirds the way through writing an emergency replacement article for a commission that never came in.... nevertheless, I really wanted to get a review into the next edition of "The Verdict", so here it is.
York, 1906. The railway capital of the North, with the biggest and busiest station in the country – home to fourteen platforms, thousands of passengers, miscellaneous lost luggage, and now two murders.
Jim Stringer, hero of Andrew Martin’s two previous railway thrillers, returns as a bona-fide detective in “The Left Luggage Porter”. His dreams of becoming an engine driver in ruins, he’s the newest recruit to the railway police, and sent out deep undercover to foil a heist. The villains won’t know he’s the law – but will he be able to keep in with them without giving himself away?
Andrew Martin presents a panorama of the York underworld, a succession of dingy pubs and smooth characters, before the narrative goes hell-for-leather as Jim Stringer is plunged into deeper jeopardy. Imagine Jack Bauer of “24” against the backdrop of “The Lost Worlds of Mitchell and Kenyon”. Fascinating social history, and first-class page-turning entertainment.
"Verdict" magazine has gone full colour, but with a reduced page and word-count - otherwise I'd have gone into more detail about the York setting (like Lyra in Oxford in "The Subtle Knife", the reader could take a Jim Stringer street by street walking tour if so desired) and the terrific domestic scenes between Jim and his pregnant wife, a 'suffragist'. The two previous books are both pretty good, and "The Blackpool Highflyer" has a tour-de-force set piece at the resort itself - but the new one had me racing to the end to find out what the outcome would be.
York, 1906. The railway capital of the North, with the biggest and busiest station in the country – home to fourteen platforms, thousands of passengers, miscellaneous lost luggage, and now two murders.
Jim Stringer, hero of Andrew Martin’s two previous railway thrillers, returns as a bona-fide detective in “The Left Luggage Porter”. His dreams of becoming an engine driver in ruins, he’s the newest recruit to the railway police, and sent out deep undercover to foil a heist. The villains won’t know he’s the law – but will he be able to keep in with them without giving himself away?
Andrew Martin presents a panorama of the York underworld, a succession of dingy pubs and smooth characters, before the narrative goes hell-for-leather as Jim Stringer is plunged into deeper jeopardy. Imagine Jack Bauer of “24” against the backdrop of “The Lost Worlds of Mitchell and Kenyon”. Fascinating social history, and first-class page-turning entertainment.
"Verdict" magazine has gone full colour, but with a reduced page and word-count - otherwise I'd have gone into more detail about the York setting (like Lyra in Oxford in "The Subtle Knife", the reader could take a Jim Stringer street by street walking tour if so desired) and the terrific domestic scenes between Jim and his pregnant wife, a 'suffragist'. The two previous books are both pretty good, and "The Blackpool Highflyer" has a tour-de-force set piece at the resort itself - but the new one had me racing to the end to find out what the outcome would be.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-21 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-21 12:45 am (UTC)This year so far = 7, although one of them is Kim Newman's "Doctor Who", which is a very long (and of course, very excellent) five chapter dissertation. So 6 and a half would be more accurate...
I have an excess backlog on the shelves which divides into four categories:
Really good stuff I've had for a while from various 3-for-2 deals : e.g. Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa crime series, Sarah Waters' first two books, Martin Cruz Smith's "Wolves Eat Dogs".
Really good but old proofs of books now available in 3-for-2 deals : John Harvey's "Ash and Bone", Julie Hearn's "The Merrybegot", Ronan Bennett's "Havoc in its Third Year".
Tantalising, shiny new crime/historical lit. proofs due out in hardback in couple of months - Mark Billingham's "Buried", Harlan Coben's "Promise Me", Jane Harris' "The Observations".
A camera ready, unbound manuscript. Not quite sure why I agreed to read it,except it's crime (again). I'm putting that one off for a bit.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-21 08:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-21 11:03 am (UTC)If you happen to spot a copy of her new one, "Triptych" lying around, I can give a good home... well, actually, it will end up in category three of my home archive system as outlined above :- )