I love James Ellroy’s writing…most of the time. With White Jazz, he went too far into incoherence, but LA Confidential is still on of my favorite books of all time. But one of the things I hate in genre fiction is the prequel (and not just because of George Lucas). With a prequel (especially in crime fiction), you start losing people who’s lives you can threaten. You know that Dudley Smith won’t be severely injured or killed because he’s still around in the future. You also know the future of the characters. The book starts being more of a spot-the-reference game than a story. So it was with these worries that I started reading James Ellroy’s latest LA novel Perfidia.
Category Archives: mystery
Dexter’s Final Cut by Jeff Lindsay
Just so there is no confusion, this review is of the latest Dexter novel, not the final season of the TV show. I’ve only seen season 1 of the TV show, so I don’t have any opinions on the rest of the seasons of the show. Now as for the book, I wasn’t happy with Dexter’s Final Cut, especially the ending. It wasn’t as bad as Dexter in the Dark, but that’s not much to be proud of (that book was really bad). This book takes Dexter out of his element for most of the novel and puts him in contact with some other narcissistic people who learn to hide their true self, actors. Dexter’s on the movie set and helping out, but it’s not quite what he envisioned.
Sharp by Alex Hughes
In the first novel of the series, Clean (my review), we met Adam, the level 8 telepath who was kicked out of the Guild and now makes his living as an interrogator for the police. The Guild doesn’t trust him outside the Guild since they worry about him telling Guild secrets and the police worry that he’s secretly siding with the Guild. In the sequel, Sharp, Adam must confront the people he hurt directly on his way out of the Guild. Alex Hughes has created an interesting, flawed character that presents a lot of wonderful story telling opportunities. Let’s see what happened.
Red Planet Blues by Robert J Sawyer
Let’s get the obvious out-of-the-way first, Red Planet Blues is a fantastic title (and Sawyer has discussed where it came from). The book is in my favorite mashup of genres, science fiction mystery. The book has a very Heinlein feel with the setting and cast of characters, but it is definitely a Sawyer book. I enjoyed it until the ending, which dragged on longer than it should have, but still liked it overall. Let’s check it out.
You by Austin Grossman
Austin Grossman (twin brother to The Magicians author Lev Grossman) might not have the critical acclaim that his brother does, but his novels are interesting and, in many ways, better than his brother. His first novel, Soon I Will Be Invincible(my review), was a wonderful story of a supervillian. For his new book, the confusingly titled You, Grossman takes us behind the scenes in the history of a video game company. Let’s check out what it’s about.
Clean by Alex Hughes
As I’ve mentioned before, one of my favorite sub-genres is the science fiction mystery. I love the interplay between the gritty detective story and the fabulous future. But it’s not always a fabulous future. In Alex Hughes new book, Clean, the world has gone through some wars and is slowly getting better. The technology is not trusted and now there is a serial killer who might be protected by the powerful Telepath’s Guild. It’s an interesting premise and one that mostly delivers. Let’s see what happens.
Graveyard Special by James Lileks
I’ve been a fan of James Lileks for years, although I’ve rarely read any of his newspaper stuff. His daily personal blog, The Bleat is appointment reading (especially now that he has the RSS feed working) and I loved his podcast The Diner(currently on hiatus). Lileks is best described as an archaeologist of recent public culture with his loving of the ephemera of the early-mid 1900s. He has pages dedicated to old postcards or matchbooks. He gives an amusing and interesting look at our recent past that many people simply ignore. So, when Lileks announced that he was writing a mystery trilogy, I was interested. The first book in that trilogy is now available and I loved Graveyard Special. Let’s see what it’s about.
Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov has a very unique plotting style. His book rarely have any action in them, or more accurately all the action happens off screen. And in places it can be frustrating. A character leaps to a conclusion and the reader is wondering why this crazy character is spouting nonsense. Asimov then clearly and logically lays out all the information that led to that conclusion and the reader then understands. But, during that process, you just get the feeling that every Asimov character is much smarter than you. This is the feeling I had several times while reading The Caves of Steel. It’s a mystery mixed with science fiction in the form of robots, along with a lengthy digression on humans and space colonization. Overall a fun read. So, let’s see what happened.
The Seven Wonders by Steven Saylor
After spending a couple books on the history of Rome, Steven Saylor is back to Gordianus the Finder. But the newest book, The Seven Wonders, is not a novel. It’s a linked collection of short stories with the common theme being, The Seven Wonders of the World. This is actually Saylor’s second collection of Gordianus short stories (A Gladiator Dies Only Once is the other one) and it’s nice to get some more Gordianus. So let’s see what Gordianus is up to.
Sherlock Season 2 review
Season 2 of Stephen Moffat’s Sherlock is done and over with. And, while it didn’t end on a cliffhanger, it is still a bit of a mystery that needs to be revealed. The stories that were adapted for this set were A Scandal in Bohemia, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Final Problem. As with the first season, the first and third were the strongest with a disappointing second episode and the final episode is focused on Moriarty. So let’s discuss what went right and what went wrong with Season 2 after the jump.