Showing posts with label July 2020. Show all posts
Showing posts with label July 2020. Show all posts
Friday, July 31, 2020
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: That Affair Next Door by Anna Katharine Green
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: That Affair Next Door by Anna Katharine Green: Reviewed by Jeanne When a body is discovered in the house next door, Miss Amelia Butterworth takes quite an interest. The family...
Bitter Tea and Mystery Review: Detour by Martin M. Goldsmith
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Detour: Martin M. Goldsmith: I believe I first heard of this book at the crime segments blog in 2016. I purchased the book in the next month or so, but it took me until...
FFB Review: Crime Syndicate Magazine: Issue 1 Editors Eric Beetner and Michael Pool
Back a few months
ago I stopped doing FFB Reviews because I felt bad that so many of the reviews
were repeats from the archives. I am not reading/reviewing anywhere near what I
used to do. That had led to a lot of repeat reviews. In recent weeks with all
the pandemic stress that is part of our lives every single day, it has come to
mind that maybe reminding you of good reads is not a bad thing. When this
review came up on my memories deal on FB the other day, it seemed like a good
place to start. So, for this final Friday in July 2020, I offer you my review
of the first issue of a short lived and very good magazine that featured short
tales of Crime Fiction.
Crime Syndicate Magazine: Issue 1 certainly delivers on their idea of “A
Magazine Of Crime Fiction.” From the distinctive cover to the eight short tales
selected by Guest Editor Eric Beetner and Founder/Editior-In-Chief Michael Pool
the first issue delivers in all aspects. As these are short stories and therefore
it is not possible to say much without creating spoilers, the barebones
descriptions below will have to suffice.
After a brief
introduction from Michael Pool, the issue opens with “So Close” by Eric
Beetner. He knew his wife, Shelly, was having an affair with a neighbor named
Robert. Their affair has been going on for awhile now so he isn’t surprised to
find them together at the house. He just never thought he would find them like
this.
Suppose a family
member died because of a crime. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a fully loaded
clone ready to resume life and relationships if the worst happened? Reporters
and other folks call the idea “victim replacement.” Those who work in sales prefer
to call it “Restoration” in the tale of the same name by Art Taylor. No matter
what you call it, sometimes customers have to have an additional incentive to
make the sale.
One of the drawbacks
of social media is that you can find out what others think about you. There are
even a website that serves as the “premier consumer review site for mafia
thugs, hitman, and muscle. Based in Hoboken, New Jersey the man known as Jackson
“Jack the Hammer” Palmer isn’t getting good reviews. For Jack, an online diary
helps him vent in “Jack The Hammer’s Online Identity Crisis” by Jeff
Bowles.
Marco is always a bit
of a jerk when the cards are going his way. For Darius they often don’t and the
Berretta next to him isn’t helping with that. The poker game just the latest
clash between the two in “On Tilt” by James Queally.
Danny needs a miracle
in the form of 10k by next Tuesday or some very bad men are going to come to his
airstream camper and do some very bad things to him. Tyler “The Plumber”
Anderson is the bookie who most definitely wants his money in “Dee The Friendly
Grizzly’s Little Miracle” by Nick Kolakowski.
Zeke is out and now
Don and Jackson need to get to work in “God May Forgive You” by Paul Heatley. A
score needs to be settled.
The familiar theme of being cheated on is just one small piece of “Tuning The Old Joanna” by Tess Makovesky. Roy just needs to prove it by catching her in the act. To do that is going to require surveillance and that will not be easy.
The familiar theme of being cheated on is just one small piece of “Tuning The Old Joanna” by Tess Makovesky. Roy just needs to prove it by catching her in the act. To do that is going to require surveillance and that will not be easy.
Trooper Alvin Mags is
working undercover in “The Line” by C. J. Edwards. The job is dangerous and
that was before things got seriously complicated.
The first issue ends
with an interesting interview with Eric Beetner. He talks about writing,
upcoming projects, and quite a lot more.
Crime Syndicate Magazine: Issue 1 was a mighty good read. The eight short
stories selected are far more complicated than their brief spoiler free
explanations above. These are reads of depth that will surprise experienced
mystery readers. Notably very funny with “Jack The Hammer’s Online Identity Crisis,”
each short tale has quite a lot going on. Simply put, there is not a bad one in
the bunch. Crime Syndicate Magazine: Issue 1 is a real treat for mystery
and crime fiction readers.
Crime Syndicate Magazine: Issue 1
Edited by Eric Beetner and Michael Pool
Short Stack Books
December 2015
ASIN: B01A1FRPXI
eBook (paperback available)
79 Pages
Kevin R. Tipple ©2016, 2020
Thursday, July 30, 2020
My Favorite Books of 2020 So Far
Recently, Lesa Holstine did a piece on her favorite
books of the year so far. We talked about it a little bit and I quickly realized
with the way my mind works—or more accurately does not work—these days, it
would take some effort on my part to go back and try to figure out what my top
five or six books would be. I had planned to do so, but then things here went whacky
as folks know and I did not get around to do it.
With the month of July nearly over, it seemed to be a
good time to come up with my favorite books
read/reviewed from January 2020 thru June 2020. Therefore, the resulting list
is below.
“Set in Mason Falls, Georgia, The Good Detective by John McMahon is a complicated novel of family history, legacy, southern tradition, and in one major way, redemption. In this intense police procedural, deals are made with the devils you know to get not just what you want, but what you need.” The rest of my review from last February can be found here. The sequel, The Evil Men Do, is also very good and my review from March can be found here.
“Among the Shadows: A Detective Bryon Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin is the first book in a police procedural series. Set in Portland, Maine, and the surrounding area, it features Detective Sergeant John Bryon and his team of detectives. Internal politics and rivalries play a role in this complicated police procedural where former officers are dying a variety of ways.” The rest of my review from April can be found here. My review of the second book in the series, Beneath The Depths ran in May and can be found here.
“It is 1982 as The Off-Islander: An Andy Roark Mystery by Peter Colt begins. Andy Roark came home from Vietnam with more than a trace of post-traumatic stress disorder and an inability to easily fit back into the normal chaos of everyday society. He tried college, the police force, and these days works as a private investigator in Boston.” The rest of my review in April can be found here.
“Sordid: Five Crime Stories by Harry Hunsicker is a collection of five previously published tales. As made clear early on, these are “Five Crime Stories about Amputee Strippers, Drifters, Meth Heads, and Other Lost Souls.” The read is exactly as advertised. This is not a cozy style read. This is graphic, often violent, and is a very good read.” The rest of my May review can be found here.
“Throwing Off Sparks: A Riley Reeves Mystery by Michael Pool is the first book in what promises to be a highly entertaining series. There are numerous references to an earlier case which was the focus of the story, “Weathering The Storm,” in The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes From The Panhandle To The Piney Woods anthology edited by Michael Bracken that came out last year. While it is not necessary to have read that short story before reading this novel, it would not hurt as those events still have personal repercussions in this novel set more than a year later.” The rest of my review from last May can be read here.
There you have it. Six of my favorite books of the year so far for the first six months of the year. Eight if you count the sequels. Nine if you count the referenced anthology which is also really good. No matter how you count them, these books are some mighty good reading as I see them.
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Waco, North Korea, Blackberry& Wild Ro...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Waco, North Korea, Blackberry& Wild Ro...: Reported by Kristin Our first Zoom Nevermore member started with A Place Called Waco: A Survivor's Story by David Thibodea...
Beneath the Stains of Time: Murder Jigsaw (1944) by E. and M.A. Radford
Beneath the Stains of Time: Murder Jigsaw (1944) by E. and M.A. Radford: So this was supposed to be a review of Todd Downing 's penultimate detective novel, Death Under the Moonflower (1939), but the poor,...
Review: Outsider: A Novel Of Suspense by Linda Castillo
She was lucky to have escaped with her life when the intruders came for her that cold and snowy night. She had been ready and had a plan, but as often happens with plans, things went sideways from the point her door crashed inward. She fled into the night and by sheer luck survived and got to the vicinity of Painter’s Mill, Ohio. There is one person there she knew long ago that might help her now: Kate Burkholder.
That one person is Chief of Police Kate Burkholder. Many
years ago, Kate Burkholder and Gina Colorosa were friends. Good friends who first
met by happenstance, bonded, and soon went through the academy and joined the
force together. Once employed as police officers, their inner natures took over,
and what had been a close friendship frayed and then broke irretrievably.
All these years later, Gina Colorosa is a wanted fugitive
and in a world of trouble. She desperately needs Kate Burkholder’s help. Can Gina
be trusted?
Outsider: A Novel Of Suspense by Linda Castillo is the latest in her long running series
featuring Kate Burkholder. It is also a heck of a good read with a lot going on
at different levels. Part mystery, part police procedural, and with a lot of
reflection about how our inner nature as well as our experiences shape us to be
the people we are now, the read powers along at a steady pace to the inevitable
violent conclusion deep on a snowy winter night.
Even when you see it coming one hundred pages out, that
final confrontation is very intense. Outsider: A Novel Of Suspense
by Linda Castillo is an intense very good read and is strongly
recommended. Unlike earlier books in the series where it was best to have
read the preceding books, this one can be read and enjoyed by readers new to
the series.
Outsider: A Novel Of Suspense
Linda Castillo
Minotaur Books (Macmillan Publishers)
ISBN#: 978-1-250-14289-4
ARC (available in hardback, eBook, and audio)
320 Pages
I received an ARC of this book by way
of winning one in a Goodreads contest.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2020
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Criminal Minds: What You Should Be Reading by Frank Zafiro
Criminal Minds: What You Should Be Reading: Reading: Please recommend an author who may not be widely known to readers and tell us about them and their book(s). In addition, what books...
Review: One Day You’ll Burn: A Novel by Joseph Schneider
A coyote found the body
first as it lay at the base of a pagoda in Thailand Plaza. Driven by the fires
that had consumed Griffith Park moving her natural food sources away, the
scrawny coyote took off a chunk of thigh before the flashing lights and sirens
of the first officers to arrive on scene sent her scurrying off elsewhere this
new day.
Paramedics and firefighters
soon add to the scene further snarling traffic. Not only does that snarl of
traffic make it harder for morning commuters, it slows down the arrival of
Detectives Tully Jarsdel and Morales. Five years on the force and new to
homicide, the death of a person who was possibly tortured and then cooked alive
at high temperatures much like your Sunday dinner roast, becomes his case to
solve as lead detective in One Day You’ll Burn: A Novel by Joseph
Schneider.
This police procedural
combines a horrific case full of mystery in with elements of history and
philosophy to create a compelling and intense read. Jarsdel walked away from a
very promising career in academia and did so with tremendous personal
repercussions that continue years later. His background is going to play a
major role in the case as events unfold. A role that may encourage Morales and
others to lay off the jokes for a while.
In addition to the main
storyline, there are several secondary storylines at work in this debut police
procedural. One of which involves the killing of family pets and may disturb
some readers. Intense and very complicated, very graphic at times, One
Day You’ll Burn: A Novel is a
different read than a lot of the police procedurals you come across. It is also
incredibly good and very much recommended.
For another take on the
book, make sure to read Lesa Holstine’s review. I would not have read the book without this review by Lesa. The second book of the series, What Waits For You, is currently
scheduled to be released on January 5th.
One Day You’ll Burn: A Novel
Joseph Schneider
Poison Pen Press
February 2020
ISBN# 978-1-4926-8444-2
Paperback (also available in
audio and eBook formats)
336 Pages
My read came my way of the
Downtown Branch and ultimately to me through the “Library To Go” curbside
pickup program at the Lochwood Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2020
Monday, July 27, 2020
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier: Reviewed by Christy Jane is a pregnant, 18 year old pizza delivery girl. A soon-to-be teen mom of a once teen m...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
