This little time-burner involves a young college grad in San Francisco who gets a job at an all-night bookstore that seems to have more books and shelves than New York’s Strand. Certain preferred and important customers use the store like lending … Continue reading
“Make me,” a schoolyard taunt, is the title of Lee Child’s 20th and possibly final Jack Reacher novel. The first one, “Killing Floor” came out a decade ago (1997) and the series has been on the top of the sales … Continue reading
I was a fan of le Carré for decades. I read every one of his novels, from “Call for the Dead” to “A Small Town in Germany” and on forward. He was my favorite author and I’d often buy the … Continue reading
This is the kind of airport novel I used to read when I traveled a lot. Since then I’ve learned how to read literature with characters who develop self-awareness over time and stories that illuminate the human condition. I’m afraid … Continue reading
The Novel That Didn’t Know When to Stop Shacochis, Bob (2013). The Woman Who Lost Her Soul. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 713 pp. I’d characterize this as a spy thriller, in the camp of LeCarre, perhaps, although unlike LeCarre, … Continue reading
The Spy Who Went Into the Cold Steinhauer, Olen (2009). The Tourist. New York: Minotaur/St.Martins. This is a well-written spy novel, which measures up to some of Le Carre’s lesser works, such as The Mission Song or Single & Single. As with Le Carre, … Continue reading
A Mild Kidnap Kerrigan, Gene. (2005). Little Criminals. New York: Europa Editions This straightforward cops vs. baddies story mostly focuses on the criminal characters, a gang of Dublin lowlife men who kidnap the wife of a wealthy lawyer. The kidnappers are … Continue reading
A Gentle Crime Novel Abu-jaber, Diane. (2007). Origin. New York: W.W. Norton This novel is in the rarified category of “literary” crime novel, which means the characters are well-developed and the writing is above average (that’s the literary part) AND, it … Continue reading
Wink, Wink; Nudge, Nudge Nabokov, Vladimir (1989) Despair. New York: Vintage. Nabokov wrote this little doppelganger mystery in the 1930’s then revised it in English in the 1960’s. The first two thirds are very slow going, as the pompous, self-aware, first-person … Continue reading
Writing For the Money Grisham, John (2002). The Summons. New York: Random House. A lawyer in Mississippi finds three million dollars in cash in his father’s house after the old man dies. The money is not mentioned in the will, and … Continue reading