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Alan
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Oct 26, 2017 12:39PM
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A recent Barbara review prompted me to dig out an original Tony Hillerman's
Sacred ClownsMy review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished
In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Finished 3 reads over the past few days. ...
The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Bloodline by Mark Billingham - my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
And
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - my review https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... orhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
‘The harsh lot of the plongeur; the tedious daily run-around of Orwell and Boris in poverty…’ My photo added to review of ‘Down and Out in Paris and London.’https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam
has a good setup, a personable protagonist, and a decent story pulled down by what I hope are freshman writing problems, including a lemon of a finale. I may give Charlie the gentleman-burglar another whirl sometime down the line when I feel the need to see if the author learned from this experience. Until then, I give it 3.49 diamonds, which doesn't round up to four carats.Read the full review here.
The Tartan Noir
Quite Ugly One Morning
is one helluva debut novel: an exercise in extreme attitude that will make you laugh at highly inappropriate things and root for truly cracked characters. It's not for the faint of heart or pure of soul. If this was a movie, it would be a Guy Ritchie movie in the vein of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch. Sound good to you? It sounded like 4.5 stars to me.Read the full review here.
The Power of the Dog
is like the Mario Puzo version of
Traffic
: a generation-long crime opera that encompasses the ruination of individuals and nations alike. When it's good, it's very, very good, but it doesn't always control its own worst instincts. If you liked
The Dawn Patrol
or
Savages
, you might want to circle around to Dog to get the backstory. Be warned, though: this isn't those books. Nobody's charming, and nothing is cool. Four and a half keys.Read the full review here.
Recently finished two good reads:
The Runaway Children by Sandy Taylor. My spoiler free review (despite what it says at the beginning of the review, which I cannot figure out how to remove) can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...The second book was
Killman Creek by Rachel Caine. My spoiler free review can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
I have listened to two really good but very different audiobooks in the past few days.
The Reversal by Michael Connelly a legal thriller/ Detective story. My spoiler free review can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...The second book was
] by Susan Mallery, my go to author for a light amusing read. My spoiler free review can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Finished
Unnatural Causes by Dawn Eastman, a quick and quick paced cosy read. My no spoiler review can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Finished The Flemish House: Inspector Maigret #14
by Georges Simenonhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My final read of 2017 was
The Wanted by Robert Crais my spoiler free review can be found at https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... orhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Enjoyed this Golden Age detective story
Death Makes a Prophet by John Bude. My spoiler free review can be found on https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... or https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Recently finished an amazing debut novel
Where We Went Wrong by Andi Holloway. My spoiler free review can be found on https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... or https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
One of my first reads for 2018. Review found on
https://gutreactionreviews.com/2018/0... or https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
‘Tinker, Tailor...’ is an enduring Cold War thriller given fresh life by the 2011 film and Gary Oldman’s performance as George Smiley: brilliant spy and totally inadequate man... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Night Market
is good, sturdy Chandleresque noir as edited by Philip K. Dick. It has a well-realized plot, a hero who’s reasonably easy to get along with, and enough atmosphere to unspool the movie satisfyingly in your head. If you show up to see the future, though, keep in mind that PKD’s books were always more about identity, memory, and the nature of reality than they were about tech. Don’t expect ray guns or silver jumpsuits and you’ll have a good time. Four snap-brim fedoras.Because I wrote this review for Criminal Element, I can't post it here. For the full review -- and other good stuff -- check the website here.
Harpoon: Inside the Covert War Against International Terrorism's Money Masters
is an interesting take on a little-known aspect of the endless Middle Eastern terrorist wars, one in which the battle cry is “follow the money” and banks are the battleground. You’ll learn a lot about the financial underpinnings of terrorism and see how killing an accountant can have more impact than taking out a whole battalion of gunmen. Take the dust-jacket copy with a few grains of Dead Sea salt and you’ll get a pretty good read. Three and a half shekels.Because I wrote this review for Criminal Element, I can't post it all here. To see the entire review -- and a lot of other good stuff -- go here.
City of Thieves
is an involving quest story set in the real-life post-apocalyptic dystopia of besieged Leningrad in World War II. The city settings and situations are vividly rendered and engaging, and the two main characters are good-enough company if you can put up long enough with the antics of horny young men. Three and a half fresh eggs.Read the full review here.
Diamonds are Forever. To discover just who is filching British diamonds from an African mine, James Bond is sent undercover along a smuggling pipeline…
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Illegal Holdings
is an engaging financial detective story set in an unusual, well-described environment, which unfortunately labors under an action-thriller veneer that isn’t entirely necessary or persuasive. That said, its middle-aged Belgian hero and its subject are different enough to stand out against the mass of terrorism or psycho-killer potboilers. I give it 3.51 bearer bonds, which I've rounded up to four because we need more out-of-shape, middle-aged action heroes.Because I wrote this review for Criminal Element, I can't show the whole thing here. Go here to read the complete review, as well as a bunch of other good stuff.
No wonder it's already a bestseller! Loved The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn. 
5★ Link to my review
Hello!I recently read Where the Sun Shines Out. It was amazing! I would classify it more under the crime side of the genre.
I attached my review below. All likes and comments are greatly appreciated. :)
Here is my review.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Went back to 1995 to start at the beginning of Harlan Coben‘s popular Myron Bolitar mysteries with Deal Breaker. 
3.5>4★ My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "No wonder it's already a bestseller! Loved The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn. 5★ Link to my review"I know! That plot twist nearly caused me whiplash! And I think it's the first thriller make me to cry
Kirsten wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "No wonder it's already a bestseller! Loved The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn. 5★ Link to m..."It didn’t make me cry, Kirsten, but the twist sure surprised me!
Spook Street by Mick Herron is #4 in the wonderful London-based Slough House spy series.
4.5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Another for the James Lee Burke fans. Robicheaux, the latest in the series. It’s the first I’ve read and I enjoyed it without knowing much back story.
4★https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished
The Next Girl by Carla Kovach. My spoiler free review can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Admired by many, An Isolated Incident by Aussie author Emily Maguire has been nominated for numerous awards - but not by me.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If you like your murder mysteries genteel, spiced with exotic locales and fine art, and led by a personable young lady who knows her slice of the world and doesn't take "no" for a answer, give
A Head in Cambodia: A Jenna Murphy Mystery
a try. You'll learn a little, see some sights, and have a good time without the hangovers or jet lag Our Heroine suffers on our behalf. Four dancing Shivas.Read the full review here.
Recently finished
Deadly Secrets by Robert Bryndza.5-stars are simply not enough for this book. My spoiler free review can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've been meaning for ages to read some Agatha Christie but was reluctant to start in the middle of a series. This classic standalone needs no introduction.And Then There Were None is so clever that I can't imagine anyone figured it out.
Link to my review
If I may re-share a classic… ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...’ begins Charles Dickens’ thrilling novel set in England and France during the turbulent years of the French Revolution…
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Heist
is USA's White Collar, but with Castle's Kate Beckett subbing for Peter Burke. It's perfect for readers who think the Stephanie Plum books are too grounded in reality: all the fizz and bubble, all the quirk, all the snark, but only half the calories. Why three stars? It's the average of its readability and fun (5 stars) and its engagement with objective reality (1 star). As they say on the car ads, your mileage may vary.Read the full review here.
Finished this back in February & finally got around to writing a short review. A hilarious look at the life of a 100 year old Swedish man - and yes there are crimes & murder!
The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas JonassonMy review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read and enjoyed debut mystery The Ruin by Irish (now Aussie) author Dervla McTiernan. Cold, wet, mysterious Galway, Ireland. It's Cormac Reilly #1, so more are coming!
4★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group
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