Last Book Read...

Barbel

Horse Under Water by Len Deighton.

The one that got away - this was intended by Harry Saltzman to be filmed as part of the Harry Palmer series starring Michael Caine, and lined up to follow Billion Dollar Brain though never shot. A pity, since it's perhaps the most straightforward of the books plotwise - "Palmer" is sent to recover Nazi gold from a sunken U-boat off Portugal - and there's a good film in there (though it would need much CR-style updating to be made now). Still, very enjoyable, all the more so for being less familiar than its siblings such as Funeral In Berlin.

Pendragon

Loeffelholz wrote:

I've never read Wodehouse...

fix this...

eDub1

The Company by Robert Littell .. A great book of the CIA and even includes MI6 .. Chronicles (fictitiously) the CIA from the cold war to 94.. great book, well written and with plenty of action. Reminiscent of a John Le Carre spy novel.

Jamesbondjr

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

To my shame I had no idea that this was a novel. I was familiar with the mini series but hadn't watched it.

After playing through the wild West set game Red Dead Redemption on my PS3 I fancied listening to a Western based audiobook so google searched 'Novels set in the old west'. There weren't many but I was suprised to see Lonesome Dove so I then searched for some reviews thinking it may be a shoddy novelisation of the mini series. I soon learned that it was a Pulitzer prize winner and I couldn't find any creditable negative reviews.

I tracked down an old 'Books on tape' recording and despite a slightly dry delivery I fell fast and hard for this book.

What an adventure. The two main characters, Gus Mcrae and Woodrow Call are fantastic.

I have to say that things did not turn out how I imagined

After Gus' persuit and the subsequent escape of Blue Duck, I envisioned a huge climactic chase and gun battle later on, but it never came.

I also had a feeling that Gus would not make it and was sure he would either be killed by Blue Duck or that he would go down all guns blazing in a big shoot-out, but no, he dies of blood poisoning.

It struck me towards the end of the book that it may be deliberate that things didn't pan out as expected, as this seems to be quite a dominant theme throughout the book.

Despite the fact that my favourite character is killed off I loved the sombre and quite touching ending with Call fulfilling Gus' last wishes and then returning to Lonesome Dove to find Boliver ringing the bell, I found it quite poignant

There were many touching and poignant moments throughout the story, noteably the capture and hanging of Jake and also Gus' care for Lorre after her kidnapp

I found it quite amusing how the whole story and the character's trials and tribulations were all kick started by an unlucky shot through a saloon wall by Jake Spoon.

There are so many wonderful charaters in this book and most of them are given a fair bit of back story and are well fleshed out.

I know I am on that 'just finished high' but this will definitely be up there with my favourite books of all time. A true classic.

Ricardo C.

Jim Thompson's The Kill-Off


After reading the first chapter I see why so many consider Thompson a genuine pulp writer. The fact of the matter is even the greats like Raymond Chandler always had that dashing male hero among the seedy lot. Thompson gets into the grime and dosen't sugar coat because it's life he writes about, everyone out for his or self. This was a great book and I am looking forward to more.

Sir Hillary Bray

Lexi wrote:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

A comment from a friend told me that this book was 'not what you would expect' - and they were right. For some reason I had a pre-conceived idea of what this book was about - some sort of lengthy modern day 'Pride and Prejudice' (don't get me wrong, I love P&P but I dislike modern day takes on it....) but it's anything but.

It's a complex, lengthy debut novel (the first of 3) about a computer hacker, a journalist and a Millionaire CEO who is trying to find the answer to a 20 year old mystery of a family member's disappearance. What unfolds is corruption and a horrific family secret that could destroy the legacy of said CEO.

Craig, I'm told, is in talks to play the journalist - in the Hollywood remake. I wouldn't have put him in the role myself, but now I have a possible picture to the character of protagonist Mikael Blomkvist - it makes the reading all the more enjoyable :x


Now reading the second in the series, The Girl Who Played With Fire.

All I can say, is read it. It's bloody brilliant

I hopped on the Stieg Larsson bandwagon recently, and just finished Dragon Tattoo. Great book -- a quick read with interesting twists and turns that leaves enough loose ends open to avoid being pat. Both the Blomqvist and Salander characters are well-drawn, particularly the latter. You get an interesting sense of "Scandanavian openness" to things like sex and drugs that is a stark contrast the the puritanism here in the States.

Like Lexi, I recommend. {[]

Ricardo C.

I just finished reading my first Elmore Leonard novel, THE SWITCH. The ending is one of the funniest I ever read. I am re-reading GOLDFINGER now.

zig zag

Sir Hillary Bray wrote:

Lexi wrote:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

A comment from a friend told me that this book was 'not what you would expect' - and they were right. For some reason I had a pre-conceived idea of what this book was about - some sort of lengthy modern day 'Pride and Prejudice' (don't get me wrong, I love P&P but I dislike modern day takes on it....) but it's anything but.

It's a complex, lengthy debut novel (the first of 3) about a computer hacker, a journalist and a Millionaire CEO who is trying to find the answer to a 20 year old mystery of a family member's disappearance. What unfolds is corruption and a horrific family secret that could destroy the legacy of said CEO.

Craig, I'm told, is in talks to play the journalist - in the Hollywood remake. I wouldn't have put him in the role myself, but now I have a possible picture to the character of protagonist Mikael Blomkvist - it makes the reading all the more enjoyable :x


Now reading the second in the series, The Girl Who Played With Fire.

All I can say, is read it. It's bloody brilliant

I hopped on the Stieg Larsson bandwagon recently, and just finished Dragon Tattoo. Great book -- a quick read with interesting twists and turns that leaves enough loose ends open to avoid being pat. Both the Blomqvist and Salander characters are well-drawn, particularly the latter. You get an interesting sense of "Scandanavian openness" to things like sex and drugs that is a stark contrast the the puritanism here in the States.

Like Lexi, I recommend. {[]

My sister just gave me all three of these, gonna start 'em soon. From what's been said on here, they should be a very good read indeed.

Barbel

Blood & Ashes by Mark Loeffelholz

I've had a totally pleasurable reading experience reading the first of the Oscar Jade thrillers. Combining the atmosphere of Raymond Chandler with echoes of the one and only Ian Fleming, Blood & Ashes delivers on all fronts. Memorable characters abound, the dialogue sparkles, and each chapter hooks the reader ino the next. Yes, I know I'm his friend, but I can honestly say I can't wait for the next one. Oscar Jade is a character who will last.

Loeffelholz

Barbel wrote:

Blood & Ashes by Mark Loeffelholz

I've had a totally pleasurable reading experience reading the first of the Oscar Jade thrillers. Combining the atmosphere of Raymond Chandler with echoes of the one and only Ian Fleming, Blood & Ashes delivers on all fronts. Memorable characters abound, the dialogue sparkles, and each chapter hooks the reader into the next. Yes, I know I'm his friend, but I can honestly say I can't wait for the next one. Oscar Jade is a character who will last.

Thanks mate ;% I've said from the outset that my goal is to show my reader a good time. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Do me one further massive favour and post a review at the link below:

For all my friends in the U.K., here's a direct link if you're not bothered about having a signed copy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Ashes-Debut-Oscar-Thriller/dp/1432759345/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282884937&sr=1-1 And don't forget the Kindle edition!

Don't forget---the holidays are coming up! Make sure a friend or loved one is 'Jaded' for Christmas! They'll love you for it! B-)

Pendragon

I also just finished reading BLOOD & ASHES...much to the chagrin of my sleep schedule, as last night I was up well past 1 AM because the book was impossible to put down. Well done, Loeffs! -{

and now, I'll sit and wait patiently for book II

Loeffelholz

Pendragon wrote:

I also just finished reading BLOOD & ASHES...much to the chagrin of my sleep schedule, as last night I was up well past 1 AM because the book was impossible to put down. Well done, Loeffs! -{

and now, I'll sit and wait patiently for book II

;% Thanks Pen...I'm increasingly excited by the realization that this book---which I wrote for my 71 year-old father---is finding an audience with intelligent young women :x

Please tell ALL your friends, and point them either to my website, or my publisher's: http://outskirtspress.com/bloodandashes ...and see if B&N or Amazon.com will let you leave a review...I think you have to have bought something from them previously.

Thanks for reading it!

Pendragon

Loeffelholz wrote:

Pendragon wrote:

I also just finished reading BLOOD & ASHES...much to the chagrin of my sleep schedule, as last night I was up well past 1 AM because the book was impossible to put down. Well done, Loeffs! -{

and now, I'll sit and wait patiently for book II

;% Thanks Pen...I'm increasingly excited by the realization that this book---which I wrote for my 71 year-old father---is finding an audience with intelligent young women :x

Please tell ALL your friends, and point them either to my website, or my publisher's: http://outskirtspress.com/bloodandashes ...and see if B&N or Amazon.com will let you leave a review...I think you have to have bought something from them previously.

Thanks for reading it!

left a review on amazon this morning. I've also purposefully been leaving the book out in plain sight while in class, eliciting a lot of interest from those seated around me/the professors ("Who's this Mark Loeffelholz guy?" "a friend of mine who wrote this awesome book...here, check out the blurb..."). they've all got the website, so hopefully (given that most of my friends are broke college students at the moment lol) there will be a flood of orders coming in from Colorado in the near future!!!

Loeffelholz

Just read your review... Wow...you don't kid around, kiddo Thanks again!

Pendragon

Loeffelholz wrote:

Just read your review... Wow...you don't kid around, kiddo Thanks again!

haha there's no reason to kid. no worries

thesecretagent

Blood & Ashes by Mark Loeffelholz

Blood and ashes is a detective novel of the old school American format. The plot is simplistic, though by no means predictable, and the story is set in 1941 (slap bang after Pearl Harbour). This was the era of the American wake-up call. The good times were about to stop rolling and uncertainty had come crashing down overnight. Enter Oscar Jade - the main character. An ex-cop who drinks too much, is making next to nothing as a private detective, but is young enough and smart enough to have been a success. Instantly he has a physical flaw, and as the book progresses, a great many more social flaws which only go to create realism and intrigue. This is Leoffelholz's strength. His characters just hit the ground running and they are so real they could be reading over your shoulder. The pace of the novel is steady and never lulls or flounders for a second. The characters all have a background which unfold as you read, though only enough to bring them into the story and keep the reader informed. Again, the author's strength is not to overwrite and show-off his literary abilities. There is a great deal to be said for less is more, and his writing brings to mind authors like Hemmingway and Chandler. There is also a sound likeness to Ian Fleming's earlier work, and any fan of his should not be disapointed with this book.

Loeffelholz

Cheers {[]

BTW, I completely agree with your assessment of the plot---and it was no accident. One of my dad's requests was that the plot not be too labyrinthine (my word, not his ), as he loses patience with such things...I'm sweating "Storm Maker" as I work on the outline, because it's inevitaby going to twist and turn more than B&A did (at least in more of a traditional 'whodunit' sense...at least at first :v )...

thesecretagent

Believe me, some very successful authors have intricate, almost exhausting plots to read, yet no substance to characters, display poor writing styles, and seem to be trying to put on an endless show of intelligence to the reader. It's all ego.
I read a lot of thrillers throughout the year, but reads like yours are few and far between. It's not a simple plot by any means - I was thoroughly hooked -the book is just written and balanced extremely well.

BTW - Many of my family and friends are big readers and I've recommended yours (I don't/won't lend - as a previously published author it's worse than shplifting ) ) to the point where I think they'll buy it to shut me up. One of my clients says she'll get it onto her book club list to read and review/disguss so there's thirty plus copies to be bought there if she's successful putting the book forward - every little helps! -{

Pendragon

I agree with TSA...throughly constructed/believable characters are worth more to me, personally, than a crazy, twisty plot.

I'm re-reading THE LIAR by the amazingly talented Mr. Stephen Fry.

it follows the life of Adrian Healy, a young man who's almost too comfortable with his sexuality and lusting over a fellow student, Hugo Cartwright. The book cycles through his life's ups and downs, and has the reader come to love Adrian, despite his very glaring flaws

Loeffelholz

thesecretagent wrote:

BTW - Many of my family and friends are big readers and I've recommended yours (I don't/won't lend - as a previously published author it's worse than shplifting ) ) to the point where I think they'll buy it to shut me up. One of my clients says she'll get it onto her book club list to read and review/disguss so there's thirty plus copies to be bought there if she's successful putting the book forward - every little helps! -{

This is the key to Oscar Jade's success, I think---word of mouth---and I can't possibly thank you enough. And your notes on the plot are valuable to me. As I plot the next one, I'm going to take care to stay (more or less) within a formula that seems to have worked with the first one. No reinventing the wheel on SM...but I'm going to give it the old 'slap and tickle' B-)

thesecretagent

Leoffs - what sort of timeline will Oscar have? Will he age a year for every novel, or will it take off almost at once? ie - will someone walk into his life whilst rebuilding the Pelican so to speak? You know, like one door closing and another opening.

Pendragon - The Liar is brilliant. Stephen Fry is a great writer with possibly one of the hugest brains for language and incidentals. Great book.

Loeffelholz

thesecretagent wrote:

Leoffs - what sort of timeline will Oscar have? Will he age a year for every novel, or will it take off almost at once? ie - will someone walk into his life whilst

so to speak? You know, like one door closing and another opening.

I can tell you that Storm Maker begins with a date page that says: "Miami Beach, Florida - March 15th, 1942."

The Pelican is *not quite* all the way rebuilt,

...and Jade finds his little detective agency beginning to get busy as Miami Beach begins to feel the impact of the U.S. Army's increasingly massive presence...

Whilst the books themselves might be separated by one or two years (less if I can get the hell out of my wretched day job, or at least into a 'lower impact' day job!), it's entirely possible that multiple stories will take place within a calendar year---depending, naturally, on Jade's necessary physical recovery period from tale to tale...my aim is to completely control the passage of time/aging of my character(s). So while some fictional series might strive to avoid specifying when their stories take place, the Oscar Jade thrillers will always be date-stamped---snapshots in fictional 'period' time.

Loeffelholz

Miami - Then And Now, by Arva Moore Parks and Carolyn Klepser B-)

A very cool pictorial 'coffee table' book showing dual photos of many Miami area locations---old photos from the '20s, '30s and '40s juxtaposed with those taken in the last decade or so. Fascinating...includes areas I explored in B&A, like Ocean Drive, Lincoln Road, Flagler Street and Hialeah Park...but no Port of Miami---I have a total of two 'period-correct' photos from another book to go on X-( Time for Mr. Imagination :v

Mr Martini

^Sounds like your researching for the second Oscar Jade adventure.

Loeffelholz

Mr Martini wrote:

^Sounds like your researching for the second Oscar Jade adventure.

:v

00-Agent

The Blue Nowhere by future Bond author Jeffery Deaver. The story is about a brutal killer / hacker that uses his computer to gain access to his victims lives. It was a good book, suspenseful, but not really close to a Bond novel. Even though I feel this novel is not bond like I do think he is more suited to writing a bond novel than Sebastian Faulks. He definitely can write suspense, action, and dialogue. I think he is going to turn out a great novel.

I read somewhere that he wrote a book that is more of a detective type novel but can't remember the name. Does anyone have any suggestions on Deaver books that may be closer to a bond type novel. All the ones I came across when I picked this one up were about sadistic killers.

Hardyboy

Today I finished what I presume is the final Spenser novel, Painted Ladies. According to the dust jacket flap, Robert B. Parker finished this a year before he died (January 2010), and it certainly does not feel like a fragmentary work or something finished by someone else. It's pretty much good ol' Spenser as his fans know him and love him--with terse descriptions and rapid-fire witty dialogue. . .but, sadly, Hawk isn't in this adventure. It also has the most intriguing plotline in a few years, involving art treasures stolen from Jews by Nazis. All in all, a fitting end to the great heir of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.

Barbel

Hardyboy wrote:

Today I finished what I presume is the final Spenser novel, Painted Ladies. According to the dust jacket flap, Robert B. Parker finished this a year before he died (January 2010), and it certainly does not feel like a fragmentary work or something finished by someone else. It's pretty much good ol' Spenser as his fans know him and love him--with terse descriptions and rapid-fire witty dialogue. . .but, sadly, Hawk isn't in this adventure. It also has the most intriguing plotline in a few years, involving art treasures stolen from Jews by Nazis. All in all, a fitting end to the great heir of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.

I'm going to have to read this. I've enjoyed his Marlowe novels (and regret there weren't more) but haven't tapped into the Spenser series yet

Ricardo C.

I just finished Red Dragon.

Pendragon

re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in preparation for the midnight showing of the Movie (part 1) on the 19th. I'm beyond excited.