What we're reading, the MTS edition

I just finished THE PARIS ARCHITECT by Charles Belfoure. You can tell it's a first novel, but it was also a NYT bestseller and I can see why.

I’m about halfway through the MWA’s latest anthology, The Highway Kind (Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers, and Dark Roads.) Loved every story so far and really looking forward to reading the rest of them. A superb, tightly themed anthology. (Full disclosure: I’m crazy for cars.)

The fifteen stories include a sharp Lincoln Lawyer tale by Michael Connelly, a nail-biter about a used car salesman concealing a deadly secret (by Ben Winters), a tense crime story centered on a 1948 Dodge Power Wagon (C.J. Box), to-the-death road dueling between a traveling salesman in a beater Volvo and a mysterious biker on a thundering Harley (Wallace Stroby), and profound coming-of-age stories featuring Vietnam-era muscle cars, a small town waitress who needs a ride, and a rural auto repair shop. (George Pelicanos, Kelley Braffet, James Sallis,).

Ace Atkins, Sara Gran, Joe R. Lansdale, Gary Phillips, and other outstanding MWA authors also placed stories in The Highway Kind. I’ll be reading those soon.

Best wishes,
Peter

PS - If you’re not quite sure whether you like mystery anthologies, I hope you’ll check my post “Five Reasons To Love Reading Short Mystery Stories,” which appeared as a guest slot on the Short Mystery Fiction Society blog.

Just finished The Man Who Watched Woman by Hjorth & Rosenfeldt.

Good read, but I kept getting hung up on the POV changes during scenes.

I just finished Victoria Thompson's MURDER IN MURRAY HILL. I know she's got a "formula" now, but I just love it. I love her recurring characters, I love her scene setting, I love her subtle (and not-so-subtle) feminist subtext. Trying to wait for the price drop on the next one (it's still $12.99 for the ebook, and probably will be until the new one comes out in May), but I'll probably fail. I'm a binge reader at heart. And isn't this what Christmas money is for?

I purchased 5 books at my local library for 5 bucks! Right now I'm reading James Michener's The Recessional. It's a good story about a facility who combines independent-living, assisted-living, and skilled nursing in Florida. It gives a good account of the social dynamics (I've worked in SNFs for 17 years) of the various ways individuals go about aging. Next is Catherine Coulter's Double Take, unless I cave in and go back to my old classics... just finished Treasure Island

Paris Architect looks terrific! Just finished (for the billionth time) True Justice by Robert Tanenbaum (actually written by Michael Gruber). It's number 13 in the series (can't remember what number on now but Gruber only wrote to 15 and those are the only ones really worth reading). Th whole series is smart (reflections on good/evil, the nature of God, opera...) with outstanding characters that have endured in a very engaging way. Adored the whole series and Gruber's own (c redited work)--The Return, the Good Son, the Jimmy Paz books. He's just an awesome writer!!

Prior to that, finished the Night Crew by Brian Haig (military fiction, MC = JAG lawyer) Haig is Alexander's son. Also very witty, smart writing although this plot (Abu Graib, very loosely) didn't grab me as much as his earlier works in the series (which is otherwise very engaging, IMO).

Just finished Peter Pan Must Die by John Verdon. A dark, violent murder mystery in the “impossible crime” vein — it simply could not have happened the way the evidence says. Elegant solution, thriller-style action, well-crafted prose. Verdon has written others in this series. Those are now at the top of my TBR list. (But note that Peter Pan is not the first in the series, so if you like to read in order check the other titles.)

Richard III A Ruler and His Reputation, by David Horspool. A brilliantly researched and well balanced biography. It is also, in a way a who dunnit - because when you mention RIII most people think about the two princes in the Tower of London and wonder what happened to them.

Reading the book I got the impression that Mr Horspool had read all the extant documents from RIII’s time as well as many since his time. The research is not used as a battering ram to make a point but to elucidate events, characters and politics, as well as family relationships. Mr Horspool uses the evidence that he gleans from documents to evaluate what motivated individuals to act in certain ways, what they may have gained or lost from their actions and how they had an effect on others. He goes into great detail and the writing is clear and succinct.

The last chapters deal with RIIIs reputation and how it has been manipulated over the centuries, not just by Shakespeare’s play but by the actors who have interpreted the role. I found this fascinating.

I will be reading the book againg.

I read the book anticipating the death of Edward IV and subsequent events. If you don’t want to know Mr Horspool’s verdict about the princes, do not read any further.


Very simply, there is not enough evidence to say who is guilty and what happened to the princes.

pdichellis said:

Just finished Peter Pan Must Die by John Verdon.

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I love John Verdon. This despite the fact that I usually prefer characters with some sort of a sense of humor--at least a sense of the absurdity of life (which is why I stopped reading Michael Connelly). Perhaps Verdon's character's bemusement substitutes adequately for amusement.

I'm in the middle of Philip Kerr's newest, Prussian Blue. Like all his books, it's incredibly well researched and the characters are phenomenal, especially the MC, Bernie Gunther. He writes the kind of books I aspire to write. Three thumbs up.

Maryn said:

I just finished Harlan Coben's "Missing You,"...Still, I always like his stand-alone thrillers.

Maryn, not as fond of Coben's series

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Like you, I love his stand alone's best. Got a kick (different, though) out of his original Bolitar books. However, I find that since he started his YA series, his adult books have changed (not to my liking), and he includes references to the YA content that I don't get because I'm an "OA" (old adult) and don't read YA.

Still love him, though.

Maryn said:

Then you'll be jealous that I met him and spent most of an evening assigned the same table...Not all the pros in attendance were people I wanted to know better.

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Oh yes, I'm jealous. I suspect (could be out to lunch) that authors whose MC's express self-deprecating humor (as Coben's do) are themselves not overly self-important. Authors who don't see the world that way probably have a tougher time not letting success go to their heads. After all, how can you not think you're overly important when the world keeps telling you that you are?

Rereading a bunch of Lee Child. If anyone wants to see the effectiveness of "less is more" in the sentence length department, he's your man. His short sentences don't seem choppy or abrupt or jarring. They seem to simply follow the pattern of how we think, which is often in incomplete sentences.

Now reading mystery shorts! Turns out May is Short Story Month, so the nice folks at the Short Mystery Fiction Society are posting links to members' stories (free to read) every day.

Today's freebie is "They Die in Eight Minutes" by Yours Truly (so I've read it already), archived at Shotgun Honey.

Reading Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson. I can't believe how some writers (like Julia Claiborne Johnson) can hook me so thoroughly while telling a story that has virtually no visible plot. I mean, it's there (it has to be, doesn't it?), but it's basically a stream of daily happenings while she's nannying a very odd child. But it's told with such voice, it's fabulous.

I just finished The Killing School: Inside the World's Deadliest Sniper Program (good narrative nonfiction), by Brandon Tyler Webb and John David Mann. I'm now reading John Grisham's Camino Island.

Recently finished Citizen Vince by Jess Walters. In the days leading up to the 1980 Carter-Reagan presidential election, a mob snitch in the witness protection program commits petty crimes, dodges bad guys, and prepares to vote for his first time ever. Dark humor abounds.

Hmmm. Sounds interesting (love dark humor).