I’ve long been an advocate for the work of Steve Cavanagh, most of whose books are centred around former con artist and now lawyer (possibly a tautology) Eddie Flynn.
Just finished a stand alone effort called ‘Kill For Me Kill For You’ which takes the premise of ‘Strangers On A Train’ (two people carrying out a murder on behalf of the other) and twists the bejeezus out of it.
It’s pacy and entertaining and, just when you think you’ve got a handle on what’s going on, the author turns everything upside down. Most enjoyable and hard to put down. 8/10
The latest Eddie Flynn ‘Witness 8’ is also out now and on my wishlist.
Having finished ‘Girl Falling’ last night, I have to agree with Senor Noonan.
There is no doubt that Hayley Scrivenor writes very well, but I found the story quite dull to the point of being boring. Kudos for the surprise ending but, in a word, meh. 6/10
For those on the Cormac McCarthy train I finished (and loved) Blood Meridian. Felt quite the dunce though. So many words I never knew existed appeared in the text. Anyway, was going to start On the Road but happened across a cheap hardcover copy of The Passenger in an Albany bookshop yesterday so am tossing up…
Also found a couple of (hopefully) interesting non-fiction books in the same shop;
Operation Mincemeat by Ben McIntyre- about a British intelligence ploy to suck the Germans into believing a drowned British solider they’d found was In possession of Top Secret allied invasion plans, and
Buried by the Times by Laurel Leff, an account about how the New York Times ‘failed in its coverage of the fate of European Jews from 1939-45.’
Just finished the latest (4th) in AK Turners Cassie Raven series.
Stumbled across this by accident and absolutely love it.
For fans of British thrillers/crime procedurals, this series shows the reader a bit more of the other side of criminal investigation teams by focusing on the mortuary techs. Specifically, bi badass Cassie Raven who shows everyone you should never stop at appearances, and she does it with style and a sharp wit.
The characters are beautifully written. Possibly my favourite series in a long time.
A witness to a murder knows both parties and makes an anonymous call to the cops, but the person she dobs in is not the perpetrator. Eddie is hired to defend the innocent accused.
The story is shaping up well early in the piece and I know there will be lots of surprises and twists along the way as is Cavanagh’s style.
He’s done it again. ‘Witness 8’ is a most worthy addition to the Eddie Flynn series and Steve Cavanagh, like his protagonist, is the master of misdirection. I found it intriguing, surprising, entertaining, well paced, twisty as always and a recommended read. 9/10
Like any other series, new readers would be advised to start at the beginning, in this case 2015’s ‘The Defence’ if they wish to discover the joys of Cavanagh and Flynn. (There are now eight books in the series.)
Finished Dirt Town last week. It was ok, but maybe I expected more due to some of the hype. Given the thoughts from both you and @OBITV on her new one, I won’t be indulging.
Just started Sarah Bailey’s latest, then on to The Hitchhiker, the new one from Gabriel Bergmoser. Hopefully by the time I’ve read these, the latest Chris Hammer will be out.
I loved Bergmoser’s previous effort ‘The Caretaker’ and have duly ordered my copy of this new one. Should arrive in the next few days.
Chris Hammer’s new book ‘The Valley’ is published on 1st October and will be an automatic buy for me. I was only commenting to a fellow Blitzer last week that a new Hammer was due. I’m pleased to see that Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic make another appearance.
Yes, I think CH nailed it when he made Nell and Ivan his central characters.
Looking forward to the Bergmoser offering, his books are genuine page turners!
My light relief at the moment is re-reading some Elmore Leonards. I’ve read Rum Punch (Jackie Brown) about 5 times, and also Get Shorty, but I’ve got every one I’ve ever been able to get hold of on my bookshelves (not the Westerns), many of which I’ve only read once, so I’m going through them again. They’re not all equally good.
I read Freaky Deaky, which is about a couple of former Weather Underground types who twenty years later have realised that they have skills (eg bomb-making) that can be used to make money instead of political statements. Okay, but none of the characters were really all that interesting.
Yesterday I read 52 Pickup from beginning to end (partly to get the memory of Friday night out of my mind). Excellent. It’s about businessman who falls for a girl he meets in a bar and subsequently finds himself blackmailed by some low-lifes on the edges of the sex industry. Leonard likes to put strong-minded and strong-bodied women in his novels, and the man’s wife is one. Good plot and good characters.
I’m about to start on Glitz. I have virtually no recollection of it.
I think i got rid of my Elmore Leonards when I cleared out of a lot of my library.
Yeah…I’m not really that sure of why people are talking up Hayley Scrivenor so much. But i just picked another climbing book in Claire Sutherland’s The Crag set at Mount Arapiles.
Currently I have Black Wolf on Audible by Juan Gomez-Jurado, sequel to Red Queen. Seems like it’s them trying to curb the Russian mob down in Marbella on the Costa Del Sol. The narrator is a tad over-acting to me, without even mentioning he doesn’t pronounce Marbella properly - Marbellya rather than Mar-baya.
Finished Andrew Roberts’ Napoleon the Great, a cheerful 38 hours’ worth.
Finished the first trilogy. It’s an interesting ending. I kind of saw one part of it coming a fair way off but there’s such a ripple effect on the whole cast of characters.
I appreciate it wasn’t a typical ending but yeah it is unsatisfying in some ways I guess.
I was given some Tami Hoag books and struggled through two of them but wished I hadn’t made the effort. She could really do with a decent editor as the stories themselves aren’t too bad but they are twice as long as they need to be with lots of unnecessary padding combined with a predictable and irrelevant romantic sub-plot.
On a brighter note, I thoroughly enjoyed finally catching up with David Sedaris and his very humorous 1997 collection of essays titled 'Naked’. Although largely based on true events in his life, Sedaris does like to jazz things up and it makes for a most entertaining read.
Made a start on the new Bergmoser today and it looks very promising indeed.
This turned out to be a quick read at a mere 260 pages but it kept me enthralled for the entire journey. ‘The Hitchhiker’ is a terrific yarn with unpredictable turns, unexpected events and an ever present sense of foreboding. I enjoyed it immensely. 9/10
Rest assured you won’t feel like listening to the Bee Gees after you’ve finished it.
