tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78608891496220876642024-03-13T04:27:51.952-07:0050 N 2008Always up for Nerd Extreme Sports, this blog chronicles John Oak Dalton's attempt to read fifty books in 2008.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-34398047550240007762009-01-02T17:54:00.000-08:002009-02-16T17:55:57.551-08:00Back In The SaddleIf you like what I read and wrote about in 2008, I'm trying it again. Follow me over to my new blog <a href="http://onthebookbeat.blogspot.com/">here</a>.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-37631306406055302772008-12-31T07:32:00.000-08:002008-12-31T07:56:16.551-08:00Wrapping It UpAstoudingly, even to myself, I managed to read 50 books in 2008. That's an average of 4 books a month, a rather brisk clip. <br /><br />Fortunately I am one of those guys that has three or four books going at once; I ended 2008 still reading Ha Jin's <em>Under the Red Flag</em>, David J. Schow's <em>Gun Work</em>, Samuel R. Delany's <em>Dhalgren</em>, Brett Easton Ellis' <em>Lunar Park</em> (on audio book), and started both Cesar Millan's <em>A Member of the Family</em> and Stephenie Meyer's <em>Twilight</em> since Christmas. <br /><br />Still, being conscious of having to keep reading, to read interesting books, to not re-read books, and so on, convinced me that I have already conquered this nerd summit and will look for another challenge in 2009. <br /><br />In the past, for nerd extreme sports, I have done two 24 Hour Comic Book challenges, one 24 Hour Zine challenge, and participated in marathon gaming sessions at Gen Con and other places. People have asked what I will be doing as far as reading goes, and I have answered "Read Smarter." <br /><br />I have been away from literature for a while, after minoring in Humanities in college, and I think I need to get back to reading some good, solid stuff again. It doesn't hurt that my wife has challenged herself to read all of the Pullitzer Prize novels, which has piqued my interest.<br /><br />For the record, my top five favorite reads of 2008 were:<br /><br /><a href="http://jod50n2008.blogspot.com/2008/01/4-stars-in-my-pocket-like-grains-of.html">1. Stars In My Pocket Like Grains of Sand by Samuel R. Delany</a><br /><br /><a href="http://jod50n2008.blogspot.com/2008/01/4-stars-in-my-pocket-like-grains-of.html">2. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon</a><br /><br /><a href="http://jod50n2008.blogspot.com/search/label/Jo%20Nesbo">3. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo</a><br /><br /><a href="http://jod50n2008.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Wandering%20Ghost">4. The Wandering Ghost by Martin Limon</a><br /><br /><a href="http://jod50n2008.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Wheat%20Field">5. The Wheat Field by Steve Thayer</a><br /><br />Though if I thought about it tomorrow I might pick three different ones; the top two will stay the same, methinks, but I also considered Chabon's <em>Gentlemen of the Road</em>, George Axelrod's <em>Blackmailer,</em> Naomi Novik's<em> His Majesty's Dragon,</em> Robert B. Parker's <em>Resolution</em> and Sebastian Faulks' <em>Devil May Care.</em><br /><br />It was the year I knuckled down and finally read Harry Potter, the year I re-discovered Philip K. Dick and discovered Samuel R. Delany, a year of Hard Case Crime and Ace Western Doubles and morose Scandinavian mysteries.<br /><br />I hope this blog gave you some ideas for your own reading list; and thanks for checking in. You can see my ongoing adventures <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.johnoakdalton.blogspot.com">at my regular blog</a>.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-44973652551239218482008-12-24T17:23:00.000-08:002008-12-27T17:44:32.900-08:00#50: Martian Time Slip by Philip K. DickI wanted to finish my 2008 reading challenge with Samuel Delany's <em>Dhalgren</em> to acknowledge my discovery of Delany's work this year, but I haven't finished up the chunky tome in time. However, I also sort of re-discovered Philip K. Dick this year, so it seems appropriate that I end with <em>Martian Time-Slip</em>.<br /><br />This novel bears a lot of resemblance to a later novel of Dick's, <em>The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, </em>that I also read this year. Both involve the hardscrabble lives of Martian colonists, with ruminations on time travel, psychology, and more. But where <em>Eldritch</em> was looser and more hallucinatory, <em>Time Slip</em> is denser, more somber, more filled with philosophical ideas. A worthwhile read, and I understand it will be part of the next Library of America edition of Dick's work.<br /><br />I borrowed this from Morrison-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-18312237742013524382008-12-21T23:39:00.000-08:002008-12-27T17:19:06.611-08:00#49: Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks<p>James Bond chases after a madman with a byzantine scheme to thwart the British Empire, and helps a lovely lady along the way, in Sebastian Faulks' bracing thriller <em>Devil May Care.</em></p><p><em>Devil May Care</em> is a pitch-perfect return to Bond adventures, after a hiatus, released to celebrate Ian Fleming's 100th birthday. Whereas the Bond adventures of John Gardner and Raymond Benson took place in the modern era, Faulks picks up exactly where Fleming left off in the swinging 60s.</p><p>And Faulks has all of the details right (at least the ones I can remember, being hooked on the originals around my middle school era) from Bond's "salt and pepper" showers to his favorite drinks and weapons. Naturally, Bond squares off against a strange bad guy with a deformity (in this case, a monkey's hand) with an equally strange henchman (in this case, a Viet Cong torturer called Chagrin).</p><p>I found this one thoroughly enjoyable throughout and hope that Faulks writes further Bond novels. Recommended for fans.</p><p>I borrowed this one from the Morrison-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana.</p>John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-36756087943925785032008-12-19T21:58:00.000-08:002008-12-20T16:04:32.653-08:00#48: No House Limit by Steve FisherChilly little character study, in the addictive Hard Case Crime pulp paperback series, features an independent casino owner in the early days of Las Vegas who runs up against the mob and, when he doesn't back down, finds himself beseiged by a famous gambler backed by mysterious forces.<br /><br />Author Steve Fisher is probably best known for the definitive noir <em>I Wake Up Screaming </em>(a favorite of mine), but he was a busy writer and I always enjoy his pulp stories when I come across them. This one draws a distinct portrait of that era in Vegas and includes several characters based on real people. A satisfying read throughout, with some really adept writing.<br /><br />I bought this one in a mighty swoop of Hard Case Crime with a gift certificate that, I think, I either got for my birthday or anniversary. A nice compliment to the Hard Case Crime series.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-13569706146335910222008-12-09T21:29:00.000-08:002008-12-11T16:45:01.884-08:00#47: Diary by Chuck PalahniukSkin-crawling horror about a young woman, living with her husband's family in a close-knit island community, whose artistic abilities come to life with ominous consequences.<br /><br />After having my brain flayed by Chuck Palahniuk's latest, <em>Snuff,</em> I went right back to the Kool-Aid bowl for more. This outing surprised me by being more subdued than the last one I read, though with plenty of surprises. Palahniuk is a clever writer, fashioning an interesting epistolary novel focused on a "coma diary" that the protagonist writes to her unconscious husband, who narrowly survived a suicide attempt. The storytelling is creepy-crawly thoughout, with a surprising denouement. Despite my earlier misgivings, I have enjoyed both Palahniuk novels I have read to date.<br /><br />Diary compares favorably to Ira Levin's <em>Rosemary's Baby</em> with a splash of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's <em>The Yellow Wallpaper</em> and a whiff of the original British film version of <em>The Wicker Man</em>. If this sends a chill up your spine, by all means go looking for this one.<br /><br />I listened to a very good audiobook version read by Martha Plimpton that I checked out from the Morrison-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-54057587173477488962008-11-12T19:40:00.000-08:002008-11-15T07:53:45.608-08:00#46: Snuff by Chuck PalahniukDark-humored tale by cult writer Chuck Palahniuk features three actors preparing to participate in a historic porn shoot, gradually revealing their interesting backstories through conflicting perspectives.<br /><br />I couldn't decide if I was too old or too young to read this aggressively outlandish, adult story featuring rape, incest, child molesting, murder, suicide, and not one but two unlikely incidents of corpses being sexed back into life. <br /><br />That being said, I liked Palahniuk's writing style, and he is briming with ideas. I could see how he has drawn such a following from <em>Fight Club</em> forward, and I would--cautiously--approach another of his novels. Interesting for (very discriminating) readers.<br /><br />I listened to a good audio book version on loan from Morrison-Reeves Library. I kept it under a towel on the back seat in case anybody glimpsed the cover through the windshield!John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-30572252326430669062008-10-31T18:00:00.000-07:002008-11-15T07:39:30.384-08:00#45: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling<p>Next-to-last in the Harry Potter series (as read by possibly the last person on Earth to read it) focuses less on the scholastic goings-on at the academically suspect Hogwarts than on the ongoing battle against Lord Voldemort and the Death-Eaters, who have pledged to destroy our teen protagonist. This outing also spends a lot of time in a parallel story with Harry and his mentor, the wizard Dumbledore, exploring the mysteries of Voldemort's upbringing.</p><p><em>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince</em>, despite its length, is a fast and entertaining read; I laughed out loud in several places, and continually enjoyed how Rowling plucked at threads from all the other books in the series. It was so much fun, in fact, that it wasn't until about three-fourths of the way through that I realized that nothing much had happened at all. The last quarter is an explosive battle royale with a fairly surprising body count, including one of the major characters (one of my favorites, who I hope appears as a ghost or in flashbacks or something in the last book, or I fear a loss of steam).</p><p>I checked this out from the Morrison-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana, in the excellent audio book series by the incomparable Jim Dale.</p>John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-43608852937440625872008-10-27T21:58:00.000-07:002008-11-15T07:57:30.152-08:00#44: His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik<p>A British Navy captain engages in a skirmish with one of Napoleon's ships and ends up capturing a coveted Dragon's egg. Before he knows it, the dragon hatches and bonds to him, and our loyal captain finds himself reluctantly joining England's Aerial Corps, where he brings a bit of spit and polish to the rank and file while deepening his friendship to his unique ward.</p><p>Absolutely engaging and entertaining first novel in a series by Naomi Novik is touted as being a little bit Christopher Paolini meets Jane Austen, but I think (for genre fans) a more nuanced comparison would be Anne McCaffrey meets Patrick O'Brian. <em>His Majesty's Dragon</em> sports a fully-realized fantasy world with interesting historic trappings.</p><p>I bought this one for a shiny quarter at a library book sale but immediately went out and bought the second one with a Books A Million gift card my wife gave me for our anniversary. I haven't had a chance to start it yet, though, because my mother tore through the first one and snatched the second out of my hand.</p><p>Recommended for genre fans.</p>John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-89254854397336399292008-10-20T22:59:00.000-07:002008-10-29T11:37:44.871-07:00#43: Priest by Ken Bruen<p>Relentlessly downbeat noir from Irish writer Ken Bruen picks up where he left off with highly tarnished detective Jack Taylor at the end of <em>The Dramatist</em>; coming back from a nervous breakdown after accidentally contributing to the death of a child in his care. </p><p>Things don't get much rosier from there, as Jack starts to look into the beheading of a pedophile priest and tries to help a friend with a stalker, all the while struggling against alcoholism.</p><p>Fairly rough pavement, as one might suspect, but Bruen writes in a dark-humored vein favorably reminiscient of Roddy Doyle, if the author of <em>The Snapper</em> and <em>The Commitments</em> were to turn to hard-boiled detective fiction. But I enjoy Bruen's style and plotting, right up to another punch-in-the-gut finale, and would recommend him to readers who think the Hard Case Crime series is too light and cheery.</p><p>I checked this out from the Morrison-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana, and read it at a good clip.</p>John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-23906335535179509892008-10-14T22:58:00.000-07:002008-10-29T11:26:56.166-07:00#42: Mad River by Donald Hamilton<p>Sturdy western by Donald Hamilton, the author of the excellent (and today, I think somewhat underrated) Matt Helm spy series, features a rancher fresh out of Yuma (after serving a stretch for a crime he didn't commit) having problems fitting back into town.</p><p>Although we have the usual Western templates--the wise older man, the fiery woman, the young hothead, and so on--Hamilton writes clear-eyed and often cool-hearted prose. <em>Mad River</em> also features a rather startingly bloodthirsty denouement before all is set to rights.</p><p>I did not know Hamilton had written in the Western genre and found this outing highly agreeable. I nabbed this paperback for a shiny quarter at a flea market and craft bazaar on a sunny weekend outing.</p>John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-30387994525433760622008-10-10T22:57:00.000-07:002008-10-29T11:13:21.259-07:00#41: The Wandering Ghost by Martin Limon<p>Two military policemen in 1970s Korea search for a missing female MP, and uncover her ties to a string of murders at the wintry edge of the DMZ, in Martin Limon's military mystery <em>The Wandering Ghost</em>.</p><p>Limon's two protagonists, Sueno and Bascomb, follow their own sometimes offbeat code of honor more than strict military protocols as they move through the Red Light districts and the army's corridors of power with equal ease. Sueno, the narrator, remains more reflective, while Bascomb is somewhat more prone to give in to both carnal and violent desires. They bring to mind two of my favorite characters in mystery fiction, Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, the Harlem policemen who run rampant through Chester B. Himes' memorable detective novels.</p><p>Limon also has a real knack for a time and place, reminding me again of some of my favorite authors, Walter Mosely, Michael Connelly, and Ross Macdonald. Limon's stint as an MP in Korea during the time period, uncovered with a little light googling, is obviously what gives the mystery this weight.</p><p>I was an exchange student in Asia way back in 1987 and like to seek out fiction that takes place in countries I visited. I had never heard of Martin Limon before grabbing this from the library on a whim, but will look for more books in the Sueno and Bascomb series.</p><p>I checked this out from the Morrison-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana.</p>John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-2547274880739636502008-09-12T21:12:00.000-07:002008-09-16T09:29:43.877-07:00#40: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. RowlingHarry Potter gets a heaping helping of teen angst in this installment, trying to figure out girls as well as murderous wizards in the fifth installment of the long-running series.<br /><br />Although I don't think <em>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</em> held the dramatic tension of the prior two entries in the series, this novel does include who I think is (to date) the series' greatest villain in Dolores Umbridge, a sickly-sweet-acting teacher with a cruel streak who rises to prominence at the Hogwarts School as Harry's stock continues to plunge. Umbridge does help fill the gaps left by the lack of some of the other memorable characters, including Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Sirius Black, gone for unfortunately long stretches of the narrative. <br /><br />I did enjoy how the storyline continues to pick up threads and minor characters from earlier novels to create its own rich, full world. I still find interest in the depictions of the casual cruelty of the British boarding school, though Harry Potter fans I have spoken to generally don't agree that Hogwarts, when looked at in a clear-eyed fashion, is a rather poorly-run and shabby-appearing school.<br /><br />As with the other Harry Potter novels, I listened to the very good audio book version by Jim Dale, checked out from the Morrison-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-47815706799326225772008-09-10T21:03:00.000-07:002008-09-16T09:10:38.752-07:00#39: The Turnaround by George PelecanosA racial incident between teens that leads to murder in 70s Washington, D.C. reverberates in the lives of the adult survivors in George Pelecanos' compelling <em>The Turnaround</em>.<br /><br />Although Pelecanos is often billed as a crime fiction writer, I have found his work a bit more philosophical, with few easy answers and fewer pat conclusions. I enjoyed his previous two novels, <em>Drama City</em> and <em>The Night Gardener</em>, and find here a lot of similiar themes, including parallel storytelling with events in the past and using Washington D.C. as almost a character onto itself. Pelecanos has a clipped style, but a knack for dialogue and interesting characterizations.<br /><br />Pelecanos is a worthwhile read, and I will be on the lookout for his next novel.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-9010671175237454352008-09-09T20:52:00.000-07:002008-09-16T09:05:50.458-07:00#38: Short-Trigger Man by Merle ConstinerFormer gunslinger turned barkeep gets framed for a murder and has to unholster his guns once more in Merle Constiner's agreeable Western <em>Short-Trigger Man</em>.<br /><br />Constiner's sure-handed plotting, leavened by some surprisingly wry humor, made this an enjoyable read.<br /><br />I have heard pulp writer Merle Constiner's name used in warm terms by fans but was only modestly impressed by the first novel of his I found (reviewed earlier). There were many similarities between the two novels, including a hard-headed protagonist with his own code of honor, a spitfire love interest, and an older, wiser man who helps out the hero. There is another Constiner on the flip side, so I will have to see if this trend continues. Constiner's personal story is interesting, so I keep looking for his work; and <em>Short-Trigger Man</em> I would recommend to fans.<br /><br />This edition was again part of an Ace Double Western that I found for a quarter at a street fair. The pages were falling out as I read it, but I felt compelled to soldier on.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-22433419788069335122008-08-15T18:32:00.000-07:002008-08-20T18:48:00.985-07:00#37: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael ChabonExcellent genre-bender from Michael Chabon (whose <em>The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay</em> remains one of my modern-era faves), about a washed-up cop who takes umbrage at a junkie's murder in the very flophouse he resides in. With his reluctant partner, and his ex-wife/commanding officer breathing down his neck, he unearths a wider conspiracy.<br /><br />Against this background, with its noir conventions tracing a direct line back to Raymond Chandler, is an alternate future based on a real WWII-era plan to create a Jewish homeland in Sitka, Alaska. Chabon does some intricate and compelling world-building that again recalls a great writer in Philip K. Dick and his <em>The Man in the High Castle</em>.<br /><br />I listened to an excellent audiobook version read by Peter Riegert. Although Jim Dale's <em>Harry Potter</em> readings are without peer, I would put Riegert's reading in my top five audiobook recordings I have encountered (with Paul Giamatti's presentation of Dick's <em>A Scanner Darkly</em> right there as well). This audiobook was given to me by a friend, and I plan on donating it to the Farmland Public Library.<br /><br />Highly recommended.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-4374536251706283672008-08-14T18:23:00.000-07:002008-08-20T18:31:50.795-07:00#36: Zero Cool by John LangeA doctor at a European conference is forced to perform a mysterious autopsy, then spends the rest of his trip outrunning a bevy of bloodthirsty pursuers in John Lange's <em>Zero Cool</em>.<br /><br /><br />I may be the last person to know this was actually written by Michael Crichton back in his peanut-butter days of the late 60s. <em>Zero Cool</em> is a suprising departure, not nearly as dense or intense as his later, more well-known work. Our physician protagonist is as quippy as any PI of the time, is accompanied by several mysterious women and a strange, colorful supporting cast of baddies, and jetsets around several exotic locales. The combination reminds me of the James Bond movies of the era more than any sort of medical thriller. A pretty fun read overall.<br /><br /><br />I found this one in a library book sale for a shiny quarter, with a silver, 70s-style cover. It is more recently seen as part of the great Hard Case Crime series with a more appropriately retro look.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-92048743829510463792008-08-01T18:45:00.000-07:002008-08-13T12:53:50.458-07:00#35: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Simon ArmitageThe classic tale of Sir Gawain of King Arthur's court, and the knight's face-off with a mysterious, seemingly immortal foe, gets a muscular new translation from poet Simon Armitage.<br /><br />I am a fan of Seamus Heaney's landmark translation of <em>Beowulf</em> and thought this one followed in its footsteps, from the hard-bitten prose (mirrored on facing pages with the original language) right on down to the clunky, rusty armor on the cover. But it will be hard to beat Heaney's idea of changing the traditional storytelling opening of "Once Upon A Time..." to "So..." <br /><br />Still, Armitage's translation stands on its own merits. He has created a clean and easy read, and the storytelling is highly interesting for its various subtexts and nuances; overall an offbeat tale in the Camelot pantheon of stories.<br /><br />I checked this out from the Morrison-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-18285956174466449212008-07-30T13:44:00.000-07:002008-08-13T12:35:28.756-07:00#34: Money Shot by Christa Faust<p>A former porn star stumbles into a secret, illegal side of the sex trade and winds up--after a murder attempt--seeking revenge against those responsible. </p><p>Christa Faust's <em>Money Shot</em> is a contemporary tale in the Hard Case Crime series, a pulpy paperback line which, for the most part, features lost noir classics with retro covers. Faust's storytelling stands up well alongside her peers and is even more hard-nosed than some; and in the Hard Case Crime line, that's saying something. Like most of the line, <em>Money Shot</em> is not for the faint-hearted, but is well worth reading.</p><p>I read this on the recommendation of my pal Michael, who is a fan of Faust and loaned me his copy.</p>John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-50254584853208202752008-07-27T21:42:00.000-07:002008-08-13T12:26:58.791-07:00#33: The Wheat Field by Steve ThayerA small-town deputy in rural Wisconsin finds himself the main suspect in a double homicide that leads him to become an unwilling accomplice to a larger conspiracy in Steve Thayer's riveting thriller <em>The Wheat Field</em>.<br /><br />I picked this up on a whim at the Farmland Public Library and found myself an instant fan of Thayer, an author I had not heard of before. Deputy Pliny Pennington is a resonant character, a dark angel with sexual hang-ups and killing urges but his own moral code. The early 60s locale is strongly rendered as well. There are plenty of shocks in the storytelling, both pleasant and unpleasant. I enjoyed Thayer's writing style, probably most reminding me of Jim Thompson or James M. Cain.<br /><br />I had been moseying along with fun, good enough reads for a while until this one jolted me into wakefulness again. I would strongly recommend <em>The Wheat Field</em> to thriller fans and will be nosing around for more of Thayer's writing.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-82112569838179597582008-07-26T13:41:00.000-07:002008-08-12T07:10:07.074-07:00#32: You Could Call It Murder by Lawrence BlockBritish ex-pat Roy Markham looks for a missing girl in a small, snowy New England college, quickly peeling back the veneer and exposing dark doses of blackmail and scandal.<br /><br />An early detective yarn from Lawrence Block, this one featuring another one-off P.I. Curiously, a little googling turned up that the novel was a tie-in to an ill-fated television show that went off the air before the book came out. <br /><br />Perhaps because I read this back to back with another Block in a matter of days on vacation (see previous entry), I saw a lot of connections between Markham and the other protagonist, Ed London. Both are more highbrow detectives not afraid to get their hands dirty, both centered in New York but frequently traveling. <br /><br />In the end, a pair of entertaining novels in a collection called "Five Great Novels by Lawrence Block" that I purchased for five dollars on the specials rack at a San Diego bookstore.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-2775122210861345552008-07-23T13:38:00.000-07:002008-08-12T07:00:09.143-07:00#31: Coward's Kiss by Lawrence Block<p>Mystery writer Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder mystery series is a notable achievement (with <em>When the Sacred Ginmill Closes</em> being one of my favorite mysteries of all time), but back in Block's peanut-butter days he penned this potboiler with P.I. Ed London. London is a somewhat highbrow detective who, in the end, isn't above helping his brother-in-law ditch a dead mistress. Naturally this becomes more complicated, and London gets drawn into the dead woman's web.</p><p><em>Coward's Kiss</em> is a muscular, fast-moving detective novel, but to date London has unfortunately never returned in a follow-up case.</p><p>My wife spotted this one in a bookstore in San Diego, in a collection of "Five Great Novels by Lawrence Block" at the good-bye price of five dollars. I am starting on the next one right away on this sunny vacation.</p>John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-49558235801785807022008-07-12T14:12:00.000-07:002008-07-13T14:25:02.871-07:00#30: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. DickTrippy sci-fi, with religious overtones, as a man returns from ten years in deep space with a new drug he is eager to try on the gloomy, drafted colonists of Mars. A precog working for a rival company may be the only person able to stop the spread of the drug, which has possibly alien origins.<br /><br />I decided to take a break from reading the great work of Samuel R. Delany and refresh my palette with another worthy contemporary, Philip K. Dick. <em>The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch</em> is one of Dick's notable works that I had missed to date. It features a lot of Dick's themes and plotting, notably his ability to take everyday people and set them against larger events. There is also a character in this novel that is similiar, in name and mannerisms, to a character in <em>A Scanner Darkly</em>. Some of the religious thinking of <em>Valis </em>and other work is meditated on here. But I would definitely say <em>Three Stigmata</em> is one of the more hallucinatory Dick novels I have read to date, and PDK fans know that's saying something.<br /><br />I checked this out from the Morrison-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana. It was part of the Library of America's excellent Philip K. Dick edition, a present I bought for my son and friends this past Christmas, in the way that people buy presents for others that they secretly want for themselves.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-7072818470586337232008-07-07T17:32:00.000-07:002008-07-10T05:42:02.051-07:00#29: Guns at Q Cross by Merle ConstinerA cattleman comes to town ahead of his herd, planning to sell to a prosperous Idaho rancher, and almost immediately draws the ire of every local resident, culminating in a shootout the first night. Our cattleman hero, with his own sometimes peculiar pride and code of honor, bulldogs along until he busts open a rustling gang, breaking its grip on the town.<br /><br /><em>Guns at Q Cross</em> is the slender side of an Ace Western double that I picked up for a shiny quarter at a library book sale. I had never heard of author Merle Constiner, but a little googling led me to find out he was a well-regarded midwestern pulp writer (from the neighboring state of Ohio) who, late in the life, turned to westerns. This one featured some interesting writing and some stretches of slapdashery, which I suspect was from having to write at a pretty good clip for Ace. Overall a solid oater with some interesting Idaho locations.<br /><br />On the other side is a longer western novel by Tom West, who some people suspect was actually Merle Constiner as well. I will flip it over and keep reading.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860889149622087664.post-21028676861082809812008-06-25T17:01:00.000-07:002008-06-29T17:11:07.925-07:00#28: The Marshal of Pioche by Nelson NyeThis Western yarn was the other side of an Ace Double from Ray Hogan's <em>Panhandle Pistolero</em> (reviewed earlier) and was the first book I read from prolific writer Nelson Nye. The cover promises a "lead pay-off for a tin star in this silver town," which in and of itself is hard to resist.<br /><br />But a bit hard to live up to. Nye writes this one in a first-person dialect as young, hotheaded Arnie Page drifts into town looking for adventure and promptly gets off a lucky shot at the town's top gun. Suddenly Arnie is the new town marshal, and he spends most of the rest of the book's brief page count trying to keep from getting killed while helping out a fiery redhead (as if Westerns boast any other kind).<br /><br />Agreeable enough, but not much to it, and your mileage may vary with Nye's dialect as Arnie uses his shootin' irons 'gainst a bunch of owlhoots and sidewinders. I bought this one for a shiny quarter at a library book sale. I have a couple more that feature Nelson Nye's work, so I will see what I think as I work my way thr0ugh them.John Oak Daltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831008101574718560noreply@blogger.com0