Mark Stevens's Blog, page 4

Barbara Nickless, “The Drowning Game”

After a taut four-book series about a railroad cop turned homicide detective (Sydney Parnell) and another brainy, dynamite trilogy about a Chicago semiotician (Dr. Evan Wilding), Barbara Nickless brings us a gripping spy thriller with Singapore as the nexus for … Continue reading →

Hampton Sides, “The Wide Wide Sea”

I’m not a member of the James Cook Society or a James Cook scholar. All I knew before starting The Wide Wide Sea was your basic stuff of high school history and not much more. From what I gather, there … Continue reading →

James Sallis, “Bluebottle”

I don’t know whether to read too much into it, but one of the two epigraphs in Bluebottle is from the Brazilian novelist Machado de Assis: “In justice to my father, one should note that he resorted to elaborate invention … Continue reading →

John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, “Mindhunter”

“People often ask us if, through our research and experience, we can now predict which children are likely to become dangerous in later life. Roy Hazelwood’s answer is, ‘Sure, but so can any good elementary school year.’ And if we … Continue reading →

2024 Top Books

Highlights from reading in 2024. The order is irrelevant. Note: These are books I read last year, not necessarily published in 2024. NON-FICTION: Rory Gallagher – The Later Years by Lauren Alex O’Hagan & Rayne MoralesDead Wake by Erik LarsonAmerican … Continue reading →

Michael Connelly, “Two Kinds of Truth”

Mickey Haller knows it’s true. We know it, too. And we’ve known it for a long, long time. But Haller says it anyway, one page 373 of the 20th Harry Bosch novel, The Two Kinds of Truth. “Jesus Christ, Bosch,” … Continue reading →

Allen Eskens, “The Life We Bury”

The Life We Bury is a story with staying power. More than ten years after it launched, this title pops up in heavy rotation on social media. It’s one of those books that rides a natural buzz of reader enthusiasm. … Continue reading →

Q & A #103 – Lauren Alex O’Hagan & Rayne Morales, “Rory Gallagher – The Later Years”

I can still remember walking into my friend’s dorm room in college. Babla Cariappa was into obscure music like Uriah Heap and early Genesis. He was also spinning the first solo album by Rory Gallagher. It was 1971. I became … Continue reading →

Erik Larson, “Dead Wake”

In his brief “A Note to Readers,” Erik Larson calls Dead Wake a “saga” and refers to the “myriad forces, large and achingly small, that converged one lovely day in May 1915 to produce a tragedy of monumental scale, whose … Continue reading →

Colson Whitehead, “The Nickel Boys”

“There were four ways out of Nickel.” First, “serve your time.” Second, the court might intervene. But if that happens it’s the equivalent of “divine intervention.” Third, you could die. Fourth, you could run and take your chances. Elwood Curtis … Continue reading →