Nigel Bird's Blog, page 60

One Man's Opinion: KELLER IN DALLAS by LAWRENCE BLOCK

Keller.  What a gent.   A stamp collector who won’t take up contracts on children.  My kind of hit-man.
He began life on the page in a collection of killings that ran from one to another.  Because of that, he’s the perfect character for a standalone short. 
You don’t need prior knowledge to enjoy this one – Block provides enough back-story  to keep a newcomer informed without alienating those familiar with the work.
Here, Keller is a new person.  He has a new identity, new home-town, a family and a socially acceptable job.  Unfortunately, his work is suffering from the recession, so when his ex-boss Dot (no longer in White Plains or having the same name) gets in touch about a job, it’s difficult for him to turn it down.   The icing on the cake is that he can combine the killing with a stamp-collectors’ conference.
Keller’s different in his approach on this one that I’m used to.  A little rusty.  Not prepared to do all the careful planning.  He has Google (and maybe easy access to information has made us all a little complacent) to help him and something to lose. 
Thankfully he’s still agile in terms of improvising at the scene. 
This job plays out unexpectedly.  The twists and action keep the interest levels high.
It’s a pleasure of a read.  In some ways this read is a little bit like a classic car.  There might be the odd splutter from the engine and a dent or two in the body-work, but it purrs and flows when it’s on the open road.  It’s all you’d want from a hit-man story.
I had high expectations when I bought this and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. 
Super.
UK  US

One Man's Opinion: BULLETS AND FIRE by JOE LANSDALE

A couple of freebies for you:
Doug Lindsay has Lost In Juarez (US) for you and that should satisfy your needs.
If it doesn’t, you can still get Beat On The Brat (US).
If you’re still not satisfied, think about Joe Lansdale’s Bullets And Fire (you’ll have to pay for that one, mind).
Bullets And Fire (US)opens with the first person narrator relaxing in a bar after attacking a twelve year-old girl and breaking her nose.  He might not be that proud of it, but it’s what he had to do to prove his worth as he aims to achieve initiation into one of the local gangs.
Job done, he asks the men with him about their own initiation.  For me, the questions are a little bold for the narrator to be pushing at such an early stage and the lips of the gang members are a little too loose given their responsibilities.
Passing his test, the protagonist is taken along to the old bowling alley, not the gang’s hangout.  It’s a grim, primitive space, vividly described and bordering on the setting for a horror piece.  The setting shows Lansdale’s work off well.
From this point, the story unfolds with 3D smellivision and non-stop action.
It’s a good story, but not a great one.  There are many strengths to the piece as you might expect, but for me it lacks a little something – the dark edge of humour perhaps, a little more of a test for the main character or a little more deviation or some deviation from the path upon which things start.
Good work.  Solid work.  Worth reading.

One Man's Opinion: THE DUPLICATE by HELEN FITZGERALD

Before starting, may I thank all those who've supported my giveaway of Beat On The Brat (and other stories) [US] - it's up there as the #1 Short Story in the freebies just now and I'm delighted by that.  You can still pick it up over the next couple of days if you're so inclined.I'd also like to push you in the direction of another couple of freebies from Josh Stallings.  Out There Bad [US] and Beautiful Naked And Dead [US] are available as free kindle books today.  Now to THE DONOR [US] by Helen FItzgerald.I’m pretty sure I’m not in the group of readers to which this book might mainly be targeted, but I picked it up as a fan of the author and of Snubnose Press and I’m glad I did.
In Part One of the book, Barbara tells her story.  She’s a misfit orphan who lives in a mansion with her crazy mad-scientist uncle.  She delivers the most amazing (and shocking) of projects at the science project presentation day, inspired in part by her being an assistant back home to the cloning of animals; in the mansion, they’re paving the way towards to cloning of a human.
Barbara is infatuated by a boy and she’s prepared to do anything to get him.  She has a lot to do, mind, being and unkempt crazy with hairy legs and a taste for the macabre.
For help, she turns to a self-help book, which might not seem like a bad idea.  Taking it as gospel, however, isn’t necessarily the way to go. 
Barbara’s obsessive nature is a wonder to behold.  The sequence of events that follows the project presentation as seen from her perspective is emotionally charged and tinged with a disturbing trust in empiricism and a reader’s knowledge that not everyone is as naive as she.   
Barbara might be autistic.  Definitely has serious attachment issues.  She’s emotionally scarred and is impulsive to boot.  It’s difficult not to warm to her and to want to turn the light on as she fumbles down  passage of darkness to allow her to see the bigger picture.  It’s funny, hilarious at points and always edgy and original.  Superb stuff.
In Part Two, I felt a little less connected with the book.  This might be because I’m a middle-aged man and was in slightly unfamiliar reading territory (only at this point did I feel the strength of this as a Young Adult book).
We follow the story of Barbara’s cloned daughter. 
This allows us to consider how much Barbara’s state of mind is nature and how much nurture – that’s still got me thinking quite a while after reading. 
Barbara knows that there is no chance for her to put the pieces of her shattered life back together after the experiences she’s had in Part 1, but she’s hoping that science might allow her the opportunity to witness the recreation of history to produce a new outcome.  Better still, she’s motivated by a need for revenge.
For me, this is a book of 2 halves.  The first is wonderful and, if you’re up for watching the unfolding of science-fiction nightmares and their likely impact on matters of the heart, you might feel the second part is too.
Dip your toe and let me know.

One Man's Opinion: LUSH LIFE by RICHARD PRICE

Richard Price is a heavyweight of a writer that’s for sure.
For the first seven rounds of Lush Life, he’s out like Cassius Clay, speed and footwork, nifty combinations and power, mouth and trousers.  From then on, it’s more of a case of the later Ali, all rope-a-dope with the occasional flurry of brilliance (and sometimes merely a flurry).
Lush Life is set in Manhattan.  The beginning centres upon a group of characters whose lives are soon to intertwine, each of them vividly described and full of life - full of life, that is, until one of them is shot.  The fallout from the murder is huge and the police are quick to arrest the victims boss, barman Eric, on the grounds that he’s been identified by two eye-witnesses. 
Eric is put under immense pressure as the cops try to find the information they need.  As the investigation proceeds, the locality is laid bare and explored quite beautifully.
The day-to-day of police work and cop-politics are also exposed.  Loyalties are stretched.  Favours called in.  Relationships explored.  The need for people to ‘become something’ is analysed.
Most importantly, the interest level is maintained at a high-pitch.  The descriptions are superb and the dialogue purrs.
A new dimension is introduced when the victim’s father arrives in town.  He falls apart as the pages turn and it’s a painful thing to witness as it seems so very true to life.  
So far, so very good.
Up until the point where conflicting stories to those of the eye-witnesses come into play and the resolution to that particular issue is reached I was completely involved and delighted that there was so much more of the book to enjoy.
Not long after this point, I found myself having to make a real effort to move forwards.  There was a lot of revisiting of themes, scenes seemed to be repeated, situations seemed to drag on without any sense of moving towards resolution and it actually felt like the author had lost the plot. 
I became rather bored.  It wasn’t that the writing was of a lesser quality taken sentence by sentence, it just seemed that there was a dilution of purpose.  I had a feeling that Mr Price wanted to include all the ideas and knowledge he’d picked up during research and was determined to find angles that would allow him to do so.
I did battle with my fatigue and made it to the end, mainly because of the investment I’d made by then and because I really cared what happened to each of the main characters. 
The book is far too long for my liking and I really feel the same story could have been told in half the space and would have produced a wonderful result if it had. 
Richard Price has written great books, but for me this isn’t among them.  It almost made it, but lost on a split decision.  5 stars for Part 1, 2 Stars for Part 2 - overall, somewhere in-between.

One Man's Opinion - HER LAST CALL TO LOUIS MACNEICE by KEN BRUEN

I love the title of this book.  It's a lesson in how to suck a punter in.  The link to poetry was a strong pull for me and also the fact that it doesn't give anything away, the latter possibly explaining why it took me 3 or 4 pages to find the rhythm.

It opens with a fast flow, like the floodgates have been opened on a river-of-consciousness. 

Once I'd worked out how to surf the waves, a simple case of going with the tide, I was completely taken by the style and the first-person narrative.

Page 1, there's a bank robbery going a bit wobbly.  Our man Cooper shoots a cashier in the face with his shotgun.

Next comes the story of how things came to this.  Why, after a successful run of raids this is the one that's not gone to plan. 

It turns out it's all to do with a woman named Cassie.

Cooper meets Cassie when he saves her from a security guard while she's on a shoplifting spree.  She's young and attractive and has an impulsive nature, all of which lead to the pair ending up having amazing sex. 

As it happens, Cassie is rather unbalanced.  She makes Cooper's headcase of a partner seem sedate.  Not only is the woman obsessed with MacNeice, she also walks off with a stash of Cooper's cash and one of his guns before he wakens from a Mickey Finn she slipped to him.

From that point on, Cooper's life becomes rather complicated. Cassie keeps turning up at the most inopportune moments and it's all highly entertaining and unpredictable.

I have the feeling that Bruen had a lot of fun writing this.  He's pushed all the angles to breaking point, throwing in poetry snippets (whether they be transparent, translucent or opaque to this reader), lively humour, a marvellous police detective and lots of poking at the British class structure.

This was a real pleasure of a book and I'd heartily recommend it.

Available via these links -  Amazon UK   US 

                                            Mysterious Press

One Man's Opinion: WEE ROCKETS by GERARD BRENNAN

Gerard Brennan is one hell of a talented writer.  His new novel, Wee Rockets (US), is proof of this.  It’s a step up again from his hugely enjoyable novella The Point (US) and I suspect is another stone along a path destined for big things.
The subject of the book is a gang of kids on a Belfast estate.  They’ve been lead by Joe and his sidekick Danny to mugging local pensioners in order to raise money for fags and booze.
When a local Bruce Lee fan (Stephen McVeigh) decides to take on the gang, Joe and Danny decide it’s time to move on (it becomes especially complicated when McVeigh starts sleeping with Joe’s mother in order to gain further information).
Problem is the new leader of the Wee Rockets is unbalanced and greedy, so it’s not long before the Rockets have spread their wings and taken on some bigger targets.
Enter Joe’s estranged father.  He’s returned to his home after time on the run.  He’s still on the run, only this time he’s escaping England.  It’s through his eyes that we get to see some of the changes in the city and get to feel a sense of sympathy for those who have no way of adapting to the pace of change as quickly as it’s happening.  It’s also through him that we get to see that things were ever thus – the neighbourhood is tough and those who live there need to display the hides of rhinos to get by.
Tracking the plot wouldn’t be of help.  The Rockets get themselves into increasingly brazen robberies and assaults and the lives of everyone involved overlap with entertaining and sometimes disturbing results.
There’s no doubt that this is a crime book given the mischief that goes on and Brennan never shirks the darkness or the brutality.  It’s hard-hitting when the time is right and he chooses those moments very well indeed.
It’s also the case that the development of the crime plots themselves isn’t the key to the quality of the work.  What is really striking is the way the characters are so well-crafted and always engaging.  It didn’t take me long at all for me to feel I knew them all and had done for a while.  I can best honour that (and it’s intended as an honour) by mentioning the Coronation Street residents who are so well penned that years can go by and they can be revisited and pinned-down again within seconds of tuning back in.
The other aspect of the characters that I particularly liked is the way they are likeable in the main in spite of the things they get up to.  They are presented warts and all, yet in such a way that there are parallels with situation comedy – Brennan uses humour with great variety in a way that suggests he might try turning his hand to film and TV very successfully at some point (if he hasn’t already); there are one-liners, pratfalls and situational plays all the way through.
I’ve become a big fan over a fairly short space of time and would recommend this highly in the hope that it helps to gets the book the audience it deserves.
A real joyride of a read you should be seeking out before long. 
Another winner from the Blasted Heath camp. 
Champion.

One Man's Opinion: WHAT IT WAS by GEORGE PELECANOS

Given that George Pelecanos has been one of my long-time favourite authors, it came as quite a surprise to me to realise that I haven’t read anything by him for a couple of years.  I have no doubt that this has something to do with my patterns of reading since I bought my kindle.  I suspect I’ve become used to being attracted to cheaper options.  ‘What It Was’ (US) came as a great reminder that some things are just worth paying a little extra for.
Even the author’s note was interesting, a brief explanation of the way the book came about.  It reveals something of his researching and how the bigger stories aren’t always the ones to catch the attention.
Last time I did have a Pelecanos in my hand, I was with Nick Stefanos.  He’s in the opening here, too, so I was immediately on familiar territory, though Stefanos only makes a cameo appearance in this book – it’s his drinking partner, Strange, who is telling the story.
It’s set in 1972 and paints a picture of a familiar yet faraway place. 
Red ‘Fury’ Jones is based loosely upon the criminal Raymond ‘Cadillac’ Smith.  Jones has had a hard life and, as a consequence, is a hard man, his philosophy: ‘Take what you want.  Take no man’s sh#t.  No police can intimidate you, no sentence will enslave you, no cell can contain your mind.’  He’s out to make a name for himself and to make sure that people remember him when he’s gone.  He’s already half-way there – ‘Legend was, an ambitious young dude had tried to shank him in jail and the blade had broken in Red’s chest. It wasn’t a legend.’
To nurture the legend he’s creating, Red knocks off a herion taster.  That’s when he gets the information he needs to move up the food-chain and also when homicide detective ‘Hangdog’ Vaughn (‘Dude got no quit’) gets involved.  It’s also when Strange is employed to trace a gold ring that went missing during the killing.
From there on the book follows the different players – hookers, police, mobsters and killers – as their lives converge.
There are the trademark references to music throughout the book and cares are described in ways that even got me interested (not an easy thing to achieve).    All the characters feel very real – they’re all flawed and capable of extreme acts.  I was struck by the way he shows the impact of war on three different generations of Americans – it’s subtle but raises powerful questions.
The multiple perspective is handled brilliantly as Pelacanos always does and the plot is fully satisfying in the way that the grip is held all the way through and that the climax plays out with an honest feel without offering any hard-and-fast solutions. The story has been ‘What It Was’, just the way life is. 
It was great to be back and I shan’t be leaving it for so long before my return.   

One Man's Opinion: MILES TO LITTLE RIDGE by HEATH LOWRANCE

Even though he’s cool as a cucumber, Gideon Miles is the kind of US Marshal who creates waves wherever he goes.  It’s not just the badge he carries that sets people against him, it’s the colour of his skin.
In Miles To Little Ridge (US), the folk he meets when he rides in to town don’t take kindly to him for other reasons, namely that he’s there to pick up a clean-living pillar of the community who’s also the only living parent of a young girl.  The Miles is to take the man in for trial, the charge being armed robbery.
Serendipity has it that the guy he should be paying attention to, an axe-wielding Swede, is the first to set eyes upon him.  The Swede and Miles have history and the Swede is determined to get his revenge.  Problem for Miles is that the sheriff in Little Ridge is racist enough to want to tilt the odds in The Swede’s favour.
It’s a great tale.  The opening description sets the scene perfectly. The flavour of Western is so strong I could practically smell the body odours, the heat and the horse-sweat.  Great, too, the way the blacks and the whites are merged to greys as the plot unfolds.
I’ve also picked up a new line in swearing – ‘You stumblebum fiddlefoot’; I’ll be trying that one if I ever get into a tight spot.
A very enjoyable and stylish read.

One Man's Opinion: DIRTY WORDS by TODD ROBINSON

There are so many aspects to America that make for great material in entertainment - prisons, mobsters, barflies, boxing, petty-criminals, jazz, private-investigators - not to mention the melting-pot that is New York.

Dirty Words (US) is something of a melting-pot too, and it's great to have all the themes mentioned and more besides touched on in the one collection.

Todd Robinson certainly doesn't short-change the buyers of his book.  Each story is really substantial (and there are 11 of them altogether).  Better still, he delivers tales skillfully, playing around with ideas and telling them in an almost conversational way; imagine taking a long bus-ride and sitting next to Ed Bunker (I know Ed's dead, Baby - imagine)  and how fully entertained you'd be and now you're on the mark for what you'll find in Dirty Words.

The voices of the stories always flows.  The characters are superbly drawn.  The themes seem familiar, but the way Robinson approaches them, you'll never know what's coming; in a way he's pulling a scam of his own every time he takes us on a journey and he's always clever enough to stay at least one step ahead.

The dialogue is exceptional.  There's one point where part of a conversation is in Italian.  My Italian is non-existent, but I understood the meaning and appreciated the humour, not to mention the situation (a mafia boss telling his crew to drop their trousers).

There's a lot of humour in their, too.  Todd and his characters are quick and sharp with their lines and deliver with the deadpan look of a slapped fish.  You'll also find a huge amount of humour in the way things play out.  Thing is, it's all done with a grace of writing that makes it look like it's all been completely effortless, when I know that writing this good takes a huge amount of graft.

I'd love to hear that someone of the ilk of Quentin Tarantino would get hold of this and try and roll it together and make some kind of Short Cuts.  That would be quite something to see on the screen.

Set to it.  You won't regret it (unless you have serious issues with sex, violence, swearing and illegal activity).

Big smiles.

One Man's Opinion: MANHUNTER'S MOUNTAIN by WAYNE D DUNDEE

Before starting the review, here are a couple of bits of news.Dirty Old Town (and other stories) (US) has now made it’s 1999thsale, which is amazing.  If you see ticker-tape falling from the sky, you’ll know where it’s coming from (Dunbar).
A mention also that there are 2 free books available today that you should have.  The first is WeeRockets (US), an absolute joyride of a book.  The second, very appropriately for this piece is Bullets For A Ballot - US - (another in the Cash Laramie/Gideon Miles series). Go get.
Now for Manhunter’s Mountain (US).
Silver Gulch is a mining town that’s all but run out of metal to mine. Those who stay are either born optimists or are too lazy to move from the mountains.
In rides US Marshal Cash Laramie.  He’s there to collect an armed robber, Lobo Ames. 
Between Cash and his man is a bartender with a sawn-off shotgun and a walrus moustache, not that Cash is going to be scared off by a little bit of facial hair.  In the process of arresting Ames, Cash ends up spilling blood and burning down the only bar in town as well as all the booze in it.  That doesn’t please the miners, who don’t cheer up much when he takes the only two women (prostitutes) with him as he sets off to bring Ames to justice.
A posse of miners go after the girls.
The situation gets further complicated when bounty hunter Cole Bouchet turns up hoping to take Ames in for the reward.
The impending winter storms look like they’ll have something to say in the outcome and you’ll have to read it to find out whether they do or not.
It’s a fairly uncomplicated Western.  The men have hard names and are used to living with nature.  The horses are noble.  The prostitutes have hearts of silver. The description is evocative and the action comes thick and fast.
Cash Laramie isn’t as full of contradictions as he seems in the collection of stories The Adventures Of Cash Laramie And Gideon Miles (US), but that may be as much to do with the nature of the job involved in this novel.  He remains a character I’ve come to love reading about and this did more than enough to have me itching to read more (and so I did – review later in the week).
A solid, unflinching Western.