What are you reading at the moment?

[siderussianlegsweep]

A Fifth of Bruen by Ken Bruen.

I must confess to not being a fan of short stories as they have a tendency to bait the hook of interest with me but then be too brief to follow through on my interest.

Bearing that in mind, I picked up this book mainly because Ken Bruen is a very good writer and I was hoping that he would do well.

The book is made up of a number of short stories and two short novels, apparently Bruen sold these stories in his early days at the local pub before he made a big name for himself internationally.

To be honest, the book turned out to be what I expected. The two short novels were sensational, very gripping and worthy of attention, the short stories on the other hand were too brief and unfulfilling for me.

The stories have a number of things in common - they feature men who drink hard and have serious personality issues. They are paragraphs in each short novel that make you sit back and think about what you just read and say Wow.

Taking into account my dislike of short stories, this book is a definite winner with me.

[CaribooRose]

IH Guys
Currently reading Jonathan Kellerman's Dr Death ... I'd kinda given up on Kellerman's Alex Delaware character ... grew weary of "does Robin love me" infused stories ... good grief, either marry the girl or toss her to the curb!! But I couldn't resist giving Kellerman one more try ... more to spend some time with Milo Sturgis than Alex or Robin ... and I'm glad I did.

A grisly crime scene is called in ... Eldon Mate (aka Dr Death) is found by hikers in a slightly remote area ... to say he's a mess minimizes the crime scene ... Mate helped "travellers" leave this mortal coil ... hooked them up to a series of IV meds in a rented van at an isolated location ... yes, they're terminall ill ... but particularly galling was Mate's habit of just leaving the now-dead person in the van at that isolated location ... and more galling was his habit of holding large press conferences trumpeting his services.

Regards!!
Rose

[Keys]

IH Guys
Currently reading Jonathan Kellerman's Dr Death ... I'd kinda given up on Kellerman's Alex Delaware character ... grew weary of "does Robin love me" infused stories ... good grief, either marry the girl or toss her to the curb!! But I couldn't resist giving Kellerman one more try ... more to spend some time with Milo Sturgis than Alex or Robin ... and I'm glad I did.


Regards!!
Rose

Double post ...

[Keys]

IH Guys
Currently reading Jonathan Kellerman's Dr Death ... I'd kinda given up on Kellerman's Alex Delaware character ... grew weary of "does Robin love me" infused stories ... good grief, either marry the girl or toss her to the curb!! But I couldn't resist giving Kellerman one more try ... more to spend some time with Milo Sturgis than Alex or Robin ... and I'm glad I did.


Regards!!
Rose

Couldn't agree more about Alex and Robin ...

[CaribooRose]

HI Keys
HI Keys

ROFL!!

Okay so I'm nearly finished Dr Death ... possibly one of Kellerman's best ... it ranks next to Billy Straight on the Ooook Meter! Wide assortment of characters I'd gladly run over with a Humvee. And enough of 'em to keep me guessing "Whodunit?"

Regards!!
Rose

[jbenham]

Wonder why I don't get notifications any more. Hope all are well! Recently, I have finished The Drop (Probably my favorite Michael Connelly since Echo Park) and Vigilante, The very last Shane Scully. Currently reading Soft Target, a thriller by Stephen Hunter. For Reed Coleman fans, Kindle is offering the new Moe Prager FREE!

[Dakotapix]

Thanks for the tip on the free Reed Coleman book. Got it for my iPad. I found a similar deal on a JLB book on Apple's iBooks site, Jolie Blon's Bounce. That one didn't last long for free though. Have never read Coleman so it's nice to find a new author to try out at that kind of offer.

[Connie Ciampanelli]

One of the teachers at my school suggested that I read Linda Castillo's Kate Burkholder series, about a former Amish woman who leaves her former life and becomes a Chief of Police in her small Ohio hometown. While not of the calibre of JLB or Michael Connelly, it is nevertheless well written with interesting and complex characters, and a wonderful sense of place. The conflicts between the Amish and the "Englishers" seem authentic and heartfelt on both sides. The 'whodunit' sometimes falls apart or is solved too conveniently, but Castillo gets it right. Recommended.

Connie Ciampanelli

@ jbenham: Have you contacted Pamala as to why you you are no longer being notified?

[siderussianlegsweep]

Feast Day of Fools.

There is not a lot to be said about James Lee Burke that hasn't already been said.

He is one of the best writers of today and yesteryear. His fiction is so eloquent that one feels like they are a part of the story and witnessing the events firsthand.

Burke's latest Feast Day of Fools is no exception to the brilliance that he has created over the years. In this novel, we return to Hackberry Holland an older man (over 70) who is Sherrif in a small Texas border town. He is a man grieving for his deceased wife, trying not to have a romance with his much younger deputy and attempting to forget the sins of his past. When an alcoholic witnesses a murder, Hack is drawn into one of the most drawn-out and complex events of his life.

A couple of things struck me with this book (ignoring the quality of the writing), these were the extra violence that seemed to be a part of the book and the extra length (460+ pages) of the novel. Maybe it is me but these were two factors that lessened the novel a little in my opinion.

I must admit that I prefer Dave Robicheauex to Hackberry Holland but I think the characters are close enough in personality to balance my missing Dave.

If you like quality writing from one of the literary greats, then this book is for you.

[Connie Ciampanelli]

Dear siderussianlegsweep,

I've hesitated to post my opinion of Feast Day of Fools, but it seems you and I are in complete agreement. I don't avoid violent books, obviously, since I love the Dave Robicheaux stories and those are hardly non-violent, but I was greatly upset by the level in FDoF. One scene in particularly almost made me ill, and still does when I remember it, but I understand that that's the point. And, yes, I also agree about Hack, who is interesting and complex, but just doesn't hit me viscerally the way Dave does. The only other character who comes close is Michael Connelly's Hieronymous Bosch.

There is nothing that JLB writes that is not worth reading, and FDoF is no exception, but I'm really, really happy that Dave will be back!

Connie Ciampanelli